New Tool

I know last week was a busy one for just about every household! The clothes, the Easter meal, the programs, Easter baskets... it goes on and on! I spent Monday getting things for my Easter tablescape. (Oh, how I love to do that!) While I was at Bed, Bath & Beyond I thought I'd ask about my Calphalon pan. My dutch oven's non-stick surface was coming off and I wanted to check on the warranty. One of the clerks asked if I needed help so I asked about the pan and he said it shouldn't do that and to just bring it in and they'd give me a new one since Calphalon has a lifetime warranty. Then I remembered that some of the lids have a seal that was coming off and I asked about that... No problem! Bring in the whole set and I'd new one! So, a couple of days later I packed up the whole set and exchanged it for a brand new set! The set is valued at $550.00, and it was funny to make Rachel think I bought them just because mine were showing some wear!! Lesson learned: buy quality and they will stand by their product.

I suppose that the pan set is a "tool" I use to keep my family fed and happy, but the new tool I wanted to mention is a web site: http://www.cozi.com/. It is a family information center. It has a calendar, list center, journal, and a photo thingy I haven't used. Now if you have little kids and you are the one that plans and executes all of their activities, it may not be as useful to you. But on the other hand, the main reason I like it so much is because of Larry. He was constantly asking what my schedule is and would forget as soon as he asked!! Now, my schedule is online and it is color co-ordinated for each family member. So, Larry can now look at my schedule without having to wait for one of us to get home or whatever. And with older kids and all that fills their schedule it is nice to keep up with their plans. This is still pretty new at our house and the kids haven't exactly participated other than what I put in the calendar, so we may have to see how that goes. But for Larry and I to stay in sync it is working good so far!

Another tool I got this last week is a Cricut!! I am so excited about that! If you are thinking I am getting ready to go fishing you couldn't be more wrong!! I suppose I could do a scrapbook page about fishing.... anyway, I have wanted one for quite a while. My sister-in-law has one and when I was at her house for Thanksgiving I used it to make lettering for my Sunday School bulletin board. It will make letters up to 24 inches!! I am actually more excited about the many bulletin board uses I will get from it than I am for scrapbooking. It sounds like a "good" excuse, but it is true: It is for church work! The "It's All About" is from the Cricut. Our unit was named "Move Over Santa" so I wanted to do a bb using that.

On Sunday we had our friends, the Stewart's, over for Easter Dinner. I set the table using 3 plates and I'd never done that before. It was a little awkward when serving a meal family style and not in courses. It was pretty, though! I meant to take pictures of the table after the tablecloth was ironed and after all the chocolate crosses were put on. I couldn't put the crosses on until the last minute because Bo is a Fye and loves chocolate! He usually is very good about not getting onto things but I didn't want to tempt him!! The menu was alot like everyone else's: I made ham, sweet potatoes with pineapple, green beans, corn casserole, cauliflower, and cheese chunks.... Amelia made a wonderful layered salad, stuffed eggs, and broccoli salad to compliment what I made. For dessert I made a Paula Deen recipe, strawberry cake, and banana pudding. We were stuffed!!

I used the blue Fostoria I got from my step-mother and a white on white set I got from my mother-in-law. Last month my centerpiece was too tall for conversation and this one is a little on the short side. Next time maybe I will get it just right!! This year was different all around. We had never had company over for a holiday meal. We didn't take one picture of us in our Easter clothes or in front of our usual Easter background, the purple budded tree out front (I don't know what it is). And the biggie for the year was that this was the first Easter we celebrated without Rob here. It was a bit hard for me and it was probably good for me to have company and not focus on him not being here. I hope to get Easter pictures of Makenzi soon!

It is Monday and I have yet to figure out how to do the meme thing.. but here is the menu for the week:

Monday- Easter leftovers

Tuesday- balsamic bbq chicken, scalloped potatoes, and carrots

Wednesday- spaghetti, french bread and salad

Thursday- cubed steak and gravy, mashed potatoes and green beans
Friday- we will be gone... McDonald's?

Saturday- taco salad

Sunday- pork roast, baked potatoes, broccoli, rolls and deviled eggs

Well, I hope you have a great week. We have another busy one lined up, as I am sure you do too. I have come across this quote twice lately and thought I'd leave you with it:

"You can't speak a kind word too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late."

-unknown