Teenage Responsibility

This guest post from Edgardo Rosa

I have recently rejoined the work force after being a stay at home more for the past 15 years. At first I was going to hire a babysitter but my 15 year old told me that would be like calling her a baby. So starting next week she will be in charge of watching herself and her 2 younger siblings that are 13 and 11. I am confident that she will do just fine but I can’t help but worry, I am a mother after all.

 I was worrying so much that my husband calledBurbank ADT to help ease my mind a bit. It has about 80% or so. Of course we still have to lay out the ground rules for her. She’s not allowed to have any friends over unless we say it’s okay. They are to come straight home when they get off of the bus and do their homework. I just hope they can all get along. I am confident that she will be able to follow all the rules just fine.

Unique Gifts

It's hard to come up with different gifts or treats for all of those who are important in our lives.  The age range, the difference in style and taste.  It can take days or even weeks to come up with the perfect gift. That's why I had to share my new find with all my friends.

I was looking for Easter baskets for both young and old and came across www.gourmetgiftbaskets.com this is an incredible site!!!  Not only do they have the Easter baskets that I was looking for, they have baskets for every occasion that you can think of.  I just couldn't keep this one to myself, so check them out I'm sure someone you love will be glad you did.

Country Living

Guest post from: Joe Castro

My husband and I are moving to a suburb of Nashville, Tennessee and I am so excited! He is in the country music industry so it just makes sense to move to the country music capitol! I absolutely love Nashville.

 We went there a few weeks ago on a home finding mission. And we found one and purchased it! I logged on to www.directstartv.com to check out the services there. And then I called all the other utility services and scheduled those appointments. Once moved, we should have all utilities on within a couple of days. I am going to spend some time driving around Nashville and other surrounding towns where the country stars live and look at their homes!

 Nashville residents are great about leaving the stars alone to live among them. They do not crowd them for autographs or pictures, which they appreciate. We will live in Antioch. All these small towns that surround Nashville are great communities. And the land is so spread out with white picket fences surrounding the tracks of land, homes and horses! It is just beautiful!

Filipino Chicken Adobo

• 4-5 lbs. chicken (breast or thighs)
• 1/2 cup white vinegar 
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 tsp. black peppercorns
• 3 bay leaves

Directions

Combine all ingredients in a large pot. Cover and marinate chicken for 1-3 hours. Bring to boil, then lower heat. Cover and let simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Uncover and simmer until sauce is reduced and thickened, and chicken is tender, about 20 more minutes. Serve with steamed rice.

Breakfast with the Kids

I had big plans for getting up in the morning and making a big breakfast since everyone would be home, but there was only one catch, I remembered I have to work tomorrow.lol   So I did the next best thing, I got up this morning and made chocolate gravy and chicken biscuits.  It took me a while to remember exactly how to fix the gravy it had been so long since I had made it.  Chocolate gravy was my Mom's signature dish!  My kids and their friends grew up with that as a special treat. (Chocolate gravy recipe is posted one Oct 26, 2010)

It was really nice to have breakfast with the family before everyone had to go their separate ways.  I hope you all have a blessed day.

Chicken and Gravy

Have you ever had fried chicken and gravy for breakfast?  Try it sometime!  Make southern fried chicken, gravy and homemade biscuits.  I can promise you that it will be a big hit!

Moving Out Of Town

Guest post by Gerard Mcdaniel

A few years ago my husband and I decided to move out to a rural area. We were both raised in that fashion, and wanted our three children to have a simpler life. We also missed having a large property to roam. We wanted to get back into riding horses and growing some of our own food. We felt like our children were being swallowed up by big city.

We spent all of our free time shuttling them between school and extracurricular activities, and they knew absolutely nothing about the outdoors. They actually thought food came from a supermarket, and they had no idea about the process involved. We knew moving would be a major change for our family, but we also knew it was the right move.

 When we spoke to the kids about it, we told them we would try to keep most of the modern luxuries we had to get them on board. We had to get our internet service from get.wildblue.com, so that would be a little different. The only thing that would change is that they would have more free time, and be able to spend most of it in the great outdoors.