Holiday Grand Plan, Week 2

Last week was just an extremely busy week, what with my husband going back to work, the kids starting school, our adventure to Northwest Trek. This past weekend I just needed to unwind. So here's to HGP Week 3 and the start of a new week!

Week 3 of the Holiday Grand Plan focuses on cleaning up your Foyer/Entry way. Christmas prep is making a batch of cookies for the freezer, an extra meal for the days you're super busy, etc etc.

Check out these links to get more detailed information on your Foyer cleaning and Christmas Prep.

I can't really do the Christmas prep this week as there is NO room in my dinky little freezer. As it gets closer to Christmas, I tend to pick up more supplies and make room in the freezer, but for now, it is much too early for me. The foyer and entry way will be really easy as we have such a small one. I am thinking I will re-do the porch along with this week as it needs a bit of sprucing up. My rose bush also needs to be pruned and some plants thrown away as they are dead, and well beyond hope of fixing.

In other news, those of you who are wondering where Domo is, rest assured, he is ok! It was a busy back-to-school week, so he needed to get his strength back. Domo should be back in full force soon. Keep an eye out for him, he's sneaky.

I also spent the weekend making some hair curlies and bows for my youngest daughter. I REALLY wanted to make an Owl one like Kate had on her blog, so I searched Etsy for the pattern. I couldn't find it, but I did find the seller who sells the Owl's wholesale, and just copied it free hand. I will do a post about those soon, I am really happy with how it came out, especially since I did it without a pattern.

Tomorrow is our first day back at MOPS. Though I am excited to see my friends again (I've been going to this group for almost 4 years now!!), I go with some reservations, so I am going to wait to pass judgement on this year till I've gone a few times. I'm just not sure it's for us anymore, so I have to see how it goes.

I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Mish Mash

First off, thanks to Rina over at Gotta Little Space to Fill, for including my post "Biscuits, The Easy Way" in this week's edition of the Make it From Scratch Carnival. Maybe one day I'll get around to hosting, haha.

Secondly, tomorrow is the first day of school for us. Yaay!!! That means tonight I get to go to bed on time, wake up at the crack of dawn and go exercise. Oh joy! In all seriousness though, the kids are excited, and I am looking forward to getting some order back in our lives. Today we get to meet the Teachers and drop off our supplies. Last night at 10:15PM I realized I hadn't gotten the supplies together, so I was up till just after 11PM labelling boxes of crayons and sorting everything out. We're all ready to go now though.

Third, my intention to do the Holiday Grand Plan went to shit last week due to my husband being home. I might have to skip this week as well, or at least not post about it. I'm trying people...trying, haha. Maybe I can do the Week 2 post tomorrow.

And finally, I ate at Cold Stone Creamery for the first time a week and a half ago. I don't know what I was missing. It was the best ice cream ever! I had the Apple Pie A La Cold Stone, which was divine. I attempted to re-create it the other night. I think I did a pretty good job, but I will try some different brands next time as I didn't like the flavor one of them gave me.

Here it is, my delectable version of Cold Stone's Apple Pie ice cream:

Apple Pie A La Joanna

Ingredients:
Several scoops of vanilla bean ice cream
1/3- 1/2 cup of graham cracker pie crust pieces
Apple pie filling apples (as many as you want)
Cinnamon to taste
Caramel sauce

Mix everything in a bowl and dig in.
You can use as much or as little of the ingredients as you want.
That's it.

Holiday Grand Plan, Week 1

Every year, every single year, I say I am going to follow through with this plan. I have never succeeded. 2005 I was pregnant and too exhausted, plus we moved into a new house. 2006, my computer was broken. In 2007 I just forgot, plain and simple, because I didn't have a computer or internet access. And in 2008, I failed again. I've made it my goal to try and get as far as a I can with the HGP. Thanks to OranizedChristmas.com and the lovely Cynthia Ewer and Katie Leckey, I hope to accomplish it this year.

The Holiday Grand Plan is a 16 week plan to help you get your house in order for the holidays to ensure a stress-less holiday for you and your family. It includes house cleaning, baking, cooking, shopping, gift making, decorating etc. If it involves Christmas, it's included.

I actually missed the start of Week 1 since we were gone yesterday, so I'm starting it now. My plan is to post each monday and friday to show how I am doing, with Monday being the day with the week's tasks, and friday being the day I tell you how I did. That's the plan at least.

Without further ado, Week 1

Week 1 is LIST WEEK, and the cleaning/decluttering focuses on cleaning and organizing the FRONT PORCH.

Feel free to join us at the Holiday Magic message boards if you want to discuss this plan further with the other members. Or let me know on here how you're doing with it, if you decide to participate!