Small town Tuesday: Brady's letter to our town cop

This is my weekly installment of Small Town Tuesday. If you have a small-town story (with pictures is even better! ) please send me a message at vash_ii@yahoo.com or on Facebook.

Even in our little town we have crime. It breaks my heart. I wish we could be immune, but of course we are not.

A couple weeks back someone cut the cables on one of our vehicles and stole the battery. It couldn't have gotten them more than $10 and it cost us $70 to repair and replace.

This really seemed to get to Brady. He was immediately fired up, ran and got his scooter and said we needed to go "look for suspects" in the 30-degree weather. So we rode/walked around town - it doesn't take long, ha! - and looked at people we saw.

If we knew them, Brady was certain they were not a suspect. Or if they were a "little old lady" he was just certain they couldn't be involved.

When we were done, he ran in the house, grabbed a pencil and paper and wrote our town cop a note which we mailed a couple days later. Here's a picture of page 2:

I love that he knows our town cop by name and feels so comfortable communicating with him. The next day we saw the guy up town, across the street, and Brady hollers out: "Hi! I sent you a letter. There's a criminal in town!" The affable officer smiled and said, "Okay!"

I also love that Brady feels so strongly at 8 in his ability to affect change. I hope that quality stays with him as he grows up.

It's unlikely the culprit will ever be found. But at the very least it served as a learning experience for my boy.

Fels-Naptha laundry bar review, giveaway & poison ivy home remedy?

Disclosure: I was given this product for free to try and review. There was no monetary compensation involved and all opinions are 100 percent my own. 

I was surprised to learn the Purex Fels-Naptha Laundry Bar & Stain Remover has been around since 1894. I'd never heard of it! 

So when I received one to review I asked my Mom if she had heard of it. Her immediate response was: "That's what we used to put on poison ivy."

What?

I checked it out and sure enough, it's here on Wikipedia and I also found this blog entry. I know all too well the agony of a poison ivy outbreak, so you can bet I will keep this on hand! When I have a poison ivy rash, I'll do ANYTHING to make it go away. If I am unfortunate enough to get the opportunity to try out this home remedy, I will let you know how it goes. 

In the meantime, I used it for its intended purpose as a stain remover:  

"Purex Fels-Naptha is a laundry bar that works overtime to remove your toughest stains. Whether it is dirt, grease, or ring-around-the-collar, a bar of Purex Fels-Naptha can clean up the mess."

If you want to know more or get updates, you can "like" Purex brand on Facebook.

We found this blanket in a car we bought and it was too cute to trash, so I thought I'd try to get the stains (bottom right corner) out. 

I hate to throw stuff away if it's still useable.

To use the bar, you get the laundry wet and rub it on.

You can also shave some off and put it in your load of laundry. 

Here are my before and after photos. I think it did a great job of removing the stain and I would certainly use it again. It can flake a bit, so I keep it in a little container in between uses and the smell is a little strong when putting it on, but not bad.

 

I'm also holding my first-ever giveaway, which will run through Dec. 8! Purex gave me 3 coupons for FREE bars of Fels-Naptha. I kept the entry process is short and sweet and I'll mail the coupons to the winners! Good luck and thanks for stopping by!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Quick - like canned - chicken noodle soup

One of my favorite quick light snacks is my own homemade chicken noodle soup.

I've been playing around with it for awhile, trying it different ways and I have come up with one now that tastes a lot like the canned version you get at the store!

This was out of necessity when hubby was sick and desperately wanted chicken noodle soup but I had none.

So here's how it goes:

Quick chicken noodle soup

2-1/2 cups water
2 chicken bullion cubes (I crush mine first)
1-1/4 cup mixed vegetables (frozen or canned)
1/2 cup mini pasta

* You could probably add a little canned chicken or a few herbs too.

Throw it all in a pot and boil until the pasta is done, about 10 minutes.

These are the only ingredients.

My aunt sends these adorable alphabet noodles from California!

Plain old frozen mixed veggies.

The end result. Mmmmm.

Small town Tuesday: unexpected birthday guests

This is my weekly installment of Small Town Tuesday. If you have a small-town story (with pictures is even better! ) please send me a message at vash_ii@yahoo.com or on Facebook.  

We recently had a little party for Brady's 8th birthday. We invited family, his 2nd grade classmates and some other friends outside of his grade.

But we ended up with a few unexpected guests in a way I imagine wouldn't happen often in a larger city.

Birthday party chaos!

We had the party in a building we have up town. We use it for storage, family get-togethers and parties. It's very close to our house, so the day before the party Brady and I were hauling plates, cups, toys, cookies, drinks etc. from our house up to the building.

"What are you guys doing?" came a voice from down Main Street.

There were four girls. I knew one of them. She used to be in Brady's class but had moved to a city 30 miles away. I guess she was in town visiting cousins.

Brady knew most of them and some still went to his school. They ranged in age from 8 up to early teens. They all looked similar, hence my idea they're sisters and cousins.

They  hung out there the whole time we went back and forth, back and forth, carrying supplies.

At the end, one of the girls said, "Can we come to the party?"

I couldn't see any reason why not, so I said, "Sure." I thought they might forget or their parents would say no, but even if they did come, we had plenty to share.

To my surprise, all four girls showed up to the party. I have no idea if their parents knew they came. They ate food and drank pop and played with all the other kids and just in general had a great time.

It worried me a little that they were unsupervised, but we all kept an eye on them. They were the last to leave.

It made for a fun party and Brady was quite happy to have them there. Another unusual little slice of life in our tiny town.

5 cool 31-day series: ADHD to wardrobe to husbands

Last month, several bloggers participated in a challenge to post for 31 days on a specific subject. The idea of doing that was too overwhelming for me, but I really enjoyed several that I came across during the month and wanted to share them.

I thought they all had interesting and practical ideas throughout their series. And here they are: 

1. Rochelle Barlow's Learning American Sign Language. This series stops at Day 16 but it was so interesting and so helpful that I had to share it!  

2. Creative Home Keeper's 31 days to a wardrobe you'll actually love. Victoria's posts inspired me to go through all of my clothes and purge and be intentional about what I wear.

3. Serving Joyfully's 31 days of loving my husband intentionally really helped me see my husband in a different light and change the way I respond to him. It was a great reminder of how my words and attitude can set the tone for our entire household.

4. Beth Cranford shared 31 days to find your ideal business. She has several interesting ideas for making money through self-employment. 

5. And Nerdy Mom had a great series on 31 days of ADHD. I just think in our world today you can't know enough about ADHD. If you aren't parenting a child diagnosed with this disorder it's likely you will have a family member or friend who experiences it themselves or with their child, or someone in your work place or school. I think it's worth learning more.

I can tell these gals put a ton of work into their posts. I am in awe of what they have accomplished and am inspired for my own blogging future. If you have a minute, go check them out!

The joy of reading & new teaching techniques

Brady had an "aha" reading moment the other day that tells me he will not give up on reading.

We purchased the book to the left, October Ogre - which incidentally is about a small town mystery - from the school. I read it to him at bed over several nights.

On the last night when I finished it, he sat back and said, "Awwww. It's over." He sounded so sad and I thought YES, yes kid, I know just what that feeling is like.

That let down at the end of a really great book. The feeling that propels you to pick up another, and another, and another.

Then he said, "Will you read it to me again from the beginning?" Of course! I told him then that someday he would be able to read great books like that to himself as well.

The next weekend we started something new. For 15 minutes, we sit side by side on the couch. He reads a book of his own and I read a book or magazine of mine. He told me, "You know that really was kind of fun."

Another tip comes from his reading teacher. Her and I keep in contact through email and, given his love of numbers and tangible expressions, she made a chart so he could see his progress as the year goes on. He LOVED that and it seemed to fuel his motivation to improve more.

If you have a reluctant reader, perhaps giving them a visual display of their progress in speed, accuracy, sight words, minutes read, reading level, whatever, just might help.

Stuffed bell peppers recipe

I have to say off the bat, I am so excited that all the peppers pictured here were from my garden! It just took me this long to post it!

This recipe is a slight variation of this Betty Crocker Stuffed Pepper recipe.

Stuffed peppers

4 large bell peppers (used 6 medium ones)
1 lb ground meat (I used venison)
1 cup cooked brown rice
1 clove garlic
2 cup spaghetti sauce
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 small onion, chopped
1 tsp salt
Black pepper to taste

Cut thin slice from stem end of each bell pepper to remove top. Remove seeds and membranes, rinse. If necessary, cut thin slice from bottom of each pepper so they stand up straight.

In large pot, add enough water to cover peppers. Heat to boiling, add peppers and cook about 2 minutes, drain.

Cook ground meat and onion in skillet over medium heat 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until browned, drain. Stir in rice, salt, garlic and 1 cup of the sauce. Cook until hot. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Stuff peppers with mixture. Stand them upright in un-greased 8-inch square glass baking dish. Pour remaining sauce over peppers. I also put any remaining meat/rice mixture all around the base of the peppers with some sauce on it.

Cover tightly with foil. Bake 10 minutes. Uncover and bake about 15 minutes longer or until peppers are tender, sprinkling with cheese the last 5 minutes until it melts. They tasted great.

The whole meal involved cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers from the garden, and venison my husband hunted. Somehow that made it taste even better!

Small town Tuesday: An All Day Halloween!

This is my weekly installment of Small Town Tuesday. If you have a small-town story (with pictures is even better! ) please send me a message at vash_ii@yahoo.com or on Facebook.

* A quick update: Our church's chicken noodle dinner raised $2,300 to help a teenage boy with brain cancer. It just amazes me what a few people can do. 

And another note, from now on I'll be posting two days a week, on Tuesday and Thursday. I'll do Small Town Tuesday every other week. Thanks for being here! 

Holidays can take a different shape in a small town sometimes, perhaps because things are more laid back within the borders of a little place.

I grew up in a town of about 45,000 people and I remember walking around my own neighborhood on Halloween but then driving to other neighborhoods. I don't recall knowing most of the people whose doors I knocked on back then. 

In our little city this year, Halloween was an all-day affair. In the morning, my son's elementary school gathered in town to parade up to the nursing home and around to local businesses. 

I then volunteered to lead the craft in his classroom which was a total blast! Gosh I love working with kids. 

Then it was around town to knock on doors. In one case Brady told the occupants, "I used to live in this house," which we did before hubby and I were married. In another case, when wonderful grocery store lady's two choices were - Reese's peanut butter cups which Brady does NOT like (how can this be?) or Snickers which has egg - she invited him into her kitchen to rummage in her candy drawer for fruit snacks.

He told our banker on his front steps, "When Mom was talking to the grocery store lady I kept whistling while they were talking and then they both frowned so I stopped."

To which banker guy said, "Oh you should have whistled louder!"

Brady loved that. 

Every group of kids we pass includes someone we know. "Hi Brady!" Sometimes we knock on a door and say, "Oh hi. We didn't know you lived HERE!" 

Then it was off to a spook walk 10 miles away where we always see one of Brady's best friends who helps her mom run a booth there. 

Here are some photos from our very full, very fun small town Halloween. 

On parade. Look, he's Boba Fett! From Star Wars! With a jet pack! I'm so proud :)

Awwww, he made a cyclops mummy.

Who can resist walking through leaves?

Headed down Main Street toward home.

"I'm a hippie, Brady." "What's a hippie?" "Well, someone who likes veggies and nature and peace and love." "Well that's you already, you can dress UP as that."

Happy Halloween! He carved this himself with just a little help from Mom :)

Free $10 to Pizza Hut & Bath & Body Works item

A few years back, I discovered if you work a few freebie deals it can be like Christmas all the time when you go to get your mail. And this is not any kind of sponsored, review or affiliate post, I just love these two programs and wanted to share :)

Here are two things I received in the last month.

1. A free $10 gift card to Pizza Hut. This is such a treat for hubby and I as we don't order out a lot. I got this by using MyPoints and building up enough points in a few months to order this. All I ever really do is click through links, sign up for a few things, use their search bar and maybe take a few surveys.

2. A free full-size product from Bath & Body Works. They are a great company to keep an eye on. Often they will have a Facebook offer where you print a coupon for a free travel sized item. I signed up for their newsletter and gave them my email in store and I periodically get discount cards or in this case a totally free coupon. Anything you can sign up for with them, I would totally recommend doing it! 

Another wonderful way to cook okra

If you've been here for awhile and read posts about cooking and gardening, know I'm The Queen of Okra. I'm telling you, I think it is the most under-rated vegetable (or is it a fruit, I'm so confused since my pumpkin research) in the universe.

A lot of people outside of the southern U.S. just don't know about it or aren't inclined to try it. But I'm telling you, it is really tasty. I'll be researching its health benefits for an upcoming post.

Back in the summer, I posted this crispy fried okra recipe. Angel over at Household Savvy commented that sometimes she just sautes okra in the skillet. I just had to try it.

I've also stewed it, pickled it, put it in gumbo. Regina over At the Lake also posted this recipe on frying it with cornmeal only. I need to try that one too! 

But the sauteing method turned out glorious. In fact, my husband - who grew up on breaded fried okra - said he prefers it this way because it is lighter. I have to admit I do too. But there's another reason I like it better.

It is SO much easier. Just slice it, toss it in the skillet with a little olive or canola oil, add spices like salt, pepper, garlic and Head Country and cook it for maybe 10 minutes. Then let it drain a bit on some paper towels.

It is awesome. Thanks Angel for the idea!