I’m sure there were quite a few of you who had a busy week or weekend too, so we’ll give this another shot. This week’s tidy Tuesday challenge is to get caught up on your laundry. I won’t hold it against you if you leave a few half a load or so in the laundry basket, but for the most part it should be mostly caught up. This means all hampers in the house should be empty (luckily we only have one), and all clothes picked up off the floor.

Since some of us are way behind, I’ll leave the putting away part up to you. Right now I’m going to be the mean mom and make the kids put their clothes away but I won’t be putting away mine (now there’s a good lesson for the kids…..not!). In my defense though, I don’t have a closet right now. They are still working on my room and it’s in pieces.

Here’s to high water bills this month!

If you’ve spent any time at all on this blog, you know I get addicted to PC games pretty easy. Well, any game for that matter, which is why we don’t own multiple game consoles. The computer sucks up enough of my time.

Anyway, a few years ago I was talked into the buying THE computer game - The Sims. I loved it, played it all the time. Until we lost the disk that is. Every once in awhile I would see the box and pout a little, wanting to play it again. But never did actually replace it. Just sorta put it out of my mind.

Well the other day I found the disk. Rather strange actually, since it was wedged between my desk and the wall where lots of stuff falls, and I’m just sure we looked there before. But there it was, on the top of other stuff, like it had just fallen back there yesterday. WEIRD! Ironically enough I also found the missing remote, and I was actually looking for something else (isn’t that always the case? Whenever I look for one thing, I find the last thing I was looking for….).

So I was pretty excited, and popped the disk in. Only it didn’t work, and I couldn’t even reinstall it. Tried on the other computer too, and it still didn’t work. MAJOR BUMMER! I fought with the “game computer” for awhile, but to no avail. It was a loss cause really - the disk is just too old and who knows where it’s been the last two years.

Alright so now I’m REALLY wanting to play The Sims. BAD. So of course, I buy a new one. Actually, mine was the original and there’s now Sims 2 out, so I see that as justifiable for buying a new copy.

Since I just couldn’t wait any longer, I bought the instant download copy of The Sims 2 Double Deluxe off EA’s main site. However, if you are more patient, then you can probably get a MUCH better deal and a hard copy elsewhere. I would check for The Sims 2 at Amazon. There’s tons of options for different versions here, but make sure you buy the main copy (The Sims 2, The Sims Deluxe, or The Sims Double Deluxe) before you buy the expansion packs. There’s PLENTY to do without the expansion packs and extras, so it may be wise to try out the cheaper, less flashy versions first before you upgrade or add on anything.

Now, as for the game itself………it’s awesome! As mentioned before, it’s been a few years since I played the original Sims games, but I still know this version is LOTS better. They’ve added quite a bit to do, and the game play is slightly different. Plus if you have any expansion packs at all there’s other stuff to do within the game.

The load time is a bit slow on our computer, but it’s also almost 3 years old. With a newer computer I’m sure it would load faster. The actual game play isn’t that bad though, it’s just in between “moves” that’s a bit slow (like when you leave the house of the Sim you are playing, it takes a bit to load and get somewhere else, but when they are doing things in the house it’s pretty smooth - at least on my computer it does).

I’ll warn you though, this game is extremely addictive. After downloading it all day Friday (”instant” download took 8 hours), I played it all weekend. You can bounce from family to family in your choice of neighborhood, and so far I’ve only played two families - one that was already set up and one that I created. There’s just so much to do this game can go on forever.

Highly recommended!

One dish in particular I love to make because it’s so easy and tasty - plus it goes great with grilled food. Any time we grill, this is what I make.

Summer Pasta w/ Balsamic Vinegar

1 package thin spaghetti
1 can sliced mushrooms
Minced Garlic
Balsami Vinegar
Tomatoes, diced

Cook pasta as directed, drain and cool a bit. Add in the rest of the ingredients. Amounts will depend on your own taste, so do test as you go. I don’t usually use more than one tomato or more than 3 TBS of minced garlic. Add in other ingredients like walnuts or other spices for new easy pasta recipes of your own.

This recipe is best made with home grown tomatoes, so use them if you can. If you need more pasta recipes, check out the Easy Pasta Recipes at Idea Queen.

This activity is perfect for a rainy day. In fact I just heard thunder outside, so it’s something we might be doing today. To start you’ll need to pick a place or time. It can be a fantasy world, or a real world in any area you chose. Here’s a few ideas for real world eras:

- Roaring 20s
- Modern day (as in today)
- Pioneer days (1800s)
- Pilgrim and Indian days (late 1600s, early 1700s)
- Medieval times
- Dinosaur age

Once you pick your place and time, you’ll need some characters. Take a little time to study up on your chosen era, unless you chose fantasy, then you can make up whatever history you want. Describe your characters in their clothing, homes, and modes of transportation. The more details the better.

Next you’ll need to have your characters face a challenge of some sort. For example, a pioneer faced many obstacles traveling to the west. If you’ve done a little research on the time period, you’ll find lots of information.

Finally, have your characters resolve the problem. Get creative with this part, describing how they saved the day. Turn your fictional characters into heroes!

When you do this project as a family, you can either have everyone pick the same setting or chose different settings. Once finished, read your stories out loud. Mom and dad might want to do some minor editing (grammar, sentence structure, etc), but really the purpose here is to get creative.

Have fun!

Anyway, this week will be dedicated to laundry catch up. I don’t know how it happens as we do laundry almost every day, but it still gets piled up. Regardless, it’s time to dwindle that pile down to nothing. I’m tired of there never being any towels clean!

To get as much as we possibly can done in the next week, we’ll have to do at least two loads every single day. The kids will have to chip in too, putting away their clothes as they come out of the dryer. Mine unfortunately (or maybe not, he he) will have to stay in a pile in the laundry room. I have no use of my closet right now due to construction in my room. Darn. =P

The biggest challenge this week will really be getting the kids to put away their clothes. Since it’s summer, sometimes it’s extremely hard to catch them before they are out the door. We’ve been putting away clothes in the morning before they can go out and play, but sometimes friends are knocking on the door before I’m even out of bed. In fact, just a few minutes ago I had to send a kid home so mine can do their morning chores.

Since  both are now in the house, it’s time to get to work. Wish us luck and join in!

You’ll need a bread machine to make this recipe, but they are well worth it. I’ve had mine for several years and use it a LOT.

Jalapeno Cheese Bread
3/4 cup Sour Cream
1/8 cup Water
1 Egg
3 cups Flour
1 1/2 teaspoons Salt
1/4 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 cup Sharp Cheddar Cheese (shredded)
3 tablespoons Fresh Jalapeno (I use frozen sometimes if they are out of season)
1 1/2 teaspoons Yeast

Put all the ingredients into your bread machine in the order shown above. Regular setting, light crust. YUM!

See more Bread Machine Recipes on Idea Queen.

This week I challenge you to take a look at your budge and all those monthly memberships. How often do you REALLY use half of them? Are you going to the YMCA, gym, or an online site as much as you told yourself you would?  Are you using your membership several times every single month, or just “once in awhile”?

Run the numbers in your head really quick - if your gym membership is costing you $15/mo (hypothetically - I have no idea what it really costs, we don’t have them near here), and you only go once every three months, is $45 for one day really worth it? Same goes for YMCA memberships. Those can be paid for daily, and possibly worth it if you are only going once or twice every few months.

Sit down with your budget and take a real close look at those monthly membership. If you aren’t getting your money’s worth out of them, cancel. You’d be surprised how much you end up saving!

Their tent was simple and they put it together without any help. Just a few chairs and a blanket is all it took, with their old rocking horse in the middle to hold it up. The rocking horse was also their “divider” between them.

They took in popcorn and a flashlight, reading books and telling scary stories. Plus of course pretending they were on a real camping trip with a campfire. I didn’t interrupt them really, but just let them use their imagination to it’s fullest.

Good thing they were camping outside because it’s storming pretty good today and has been for most the night. I think camping inside was more fun for them anyway.

At Free Kids Crafts there is an entire page dedicated to craft recipes. You’ll find both edible and non-edible recipes like peanut butter play dough,  bubble recipe, clay jewelry, and a whole lot more.

The clay jewelry recipe we’ve got our eye on for today, since that project can be done over several days (painting and all).

This week while my bedroom is still in pieces (I did manage to find my bed last night though - another night on the couch was not a pleasant thought!), I’ll be working on the kitchen. This includes all of the following:

- Doing the dishes
- Cleaning off counters (are you guilty like me of leaving out things like flour?)
- Scrubbing counter tops, cupboards, and appliances (don’t forget inside the microwave!)
- Cleaning out the fridge
- Sweeping and mopping the floor (when was the last time YOU mopped?)
- Cleaning under/behind the stove and fridge, time permitting

The chances of me getting to that last one are slim to none, but it might happen. Although the rest of it really needs to be done. For some reason the kitchen just seems to be one of those rooms we breeze in and out of in a hurry, only grabbing what we need and forgetting about the clean up until later. It doesn’t help that both kids make some of their own meals (cereal for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch, and sometimes a fend for yourself night for supper). While they are at least starting to clean up their own spills, there’s just some messes they don’t see (cereal on the floor for example).

So anyway, the challenge for this week is to make your kitchen shine. Make your own list similar to the one above to make the job easier. We tend to get so overwhelmed that we put it off until later. Remember later never comes - just pick a task and jump in!