Amy J. Bennett

Gardening Outtakes

April 17, 2012 by Amy 4 Comments

A friend messaged me a few days ago asking if I might take some pictures of the girls in the garden for a magazine article about gardening with kids. You know I signed right up for that. I had already taken the pictures in my head, one child happily watering the flowers while the other was picking out weeds.

Um, yeah.

Right off the bat I snapped this one of Lexi pulling on the tangled hose. What *is* this evil look on Lexi’s face?

Emma started helping with the hose but became distracted by some dirt on her hands.

Then there’s this one of Lexi’s shocked face after Emma squirted her.

Lexi quickly became preoccupied with her balancing act.

And apparently she got thirsty

And then dirty

And then decided to dance a jig between the two beds

And then do other crazy…

…things…

They finished off our gardening session by testing out how much the Stream setting “felt like lightning” on Lexi’s feet.

I can’t imagine why they might not use our pictures.

Weekend Recap

April 16, 2012 by Amy 4 Comments

Not lying here, this weekend was tough. Emotionally and physically I was just drained. I was in bed by 8 all weekend. That said, we did have a full weekend.

Saturday morning we did some yardsaling. The girls made some great decisions spending some of their money from Easter. It always makes me ~~laugh~~ ~~crazy~~ proud how very careful they are with their own money. Saturday evening the girls and I went out with my mom and sister since both my dad and Scott were working. We had a great dinner out (yummy filet at Hickory Tavern!) and did a little shopping.

Sunday’s highlight was a tea party. The girls really had a blast. Both the girls were Bingo winners, got to do a craft and hear some great speakers. Emma couldn’t quite figure out why everyone was crying during the poem readings.

Scott is in training all week and after a tough weekend, I’m trying to pull it together to be a single mom for the rest of the week. Pretty sure I have PMS and it’s making it all the more dramatic. This morning I had a beautiful sunrise to greet me though and I know Friday will be here before we know it.

Make sure to check out the Simplify Your Family Life eBook Sale! Hope you have a great week!

Simplify Your Family Life eBook Sale

April 16, 2012 by Amy Leave a Comment

If you like eBooks you need to pay attention to this post. If you don’t like eBooks yet and you want to, you should listen too.

Mandi from Life Your Way and Corey from Simple Marriage have come together for the second time to create a 96 hour eBook package including $375 of eBooks for only $29. It includes 38 books and let me just do the math for you…that’s .75 for each book. You cannot get all these books at the price at one time anywhere else. And I’m so honored they have included my eBook Entangled!

A few familiar others that jumped out at me were:

Blogger Behave by Laura @ 10 Million Miles ($4.99)

Tell Your Time by Amy @ Blogging with Amy ($4.99)

One Bite at a Time by Tsh @ Simple Mom ($5.00)

That Works for Me by Kristen @ We Are THAT Family ($8.00)

Truth in the Tinsel by Amanda @ Impress Your Kids ($6.99)

That right there is $30 worth of AMAZING books and well worth the other THIRTY-THREE books you’ll get. Click here if you just can’t wait. If you’re just dying to see the whole list first, here ya go:

Entrepreneurship & Blogging

Blogger Behave by Laura @ 10 Million Miles ($4.99) How to Have Your Cake and Eat It, Too by Mandi @ Life Your Way ($12.00) Make Money Blogging by Tara @ Feels Like Home ($4.99) Tap Into Your Unique Creativity and Self Expression Webinar by Lisa @ WellGrounded Life ($39.00) Tell Your Time by Amy @ Blogging with Amy ($4.99) Your Blogging Business: Tax Talk & Tips from a Bookkeeper Turned Blogger by Nikki @ Christian Mommy Blogger ($4.99)

Food & Cooking

Get Lean Recipe for Success by Nisha @ Healthy Mom’s Kitchen ($37.00) Got Dinner? by Susan @ The Confident Mom ($4.00) How To Cook For Yourself: A Complete Beginner’s Guide by Rachael @ Kitchen Courses ($35.00) Plan It, Don’t Panic by Stephanie @ Keeper of the Home ($4.99) Real Food Basics by Kate @ Modern Alternative Mama ($6.95) Real Food, Real Easy by Erin @ The Humbled Homemaker ($9.95) Smart Sweets by Katie @ Kitchen Stewardship ($9.95) The Everything Beans Book by Katie @ Kitchen Stewardship ($9.95)

Homemaking

2012 Confident Mom Weekly Household Planner by Susan @ The Confident Mom ($9.00) Clean Start: Your Guide to Natural Home Cleaning by Michelle @ Open Eye Health ($4.95) Complete Printables Download Pack by Mandi @ Life Your Way ($7.00) Food on Your Face for Acne & Oily Skin by Leslie @ Crunchy Betty ($7.99) From Debtor to Better by Barry @ Debtor to Better ($15.00) My Buttered Life {Summer + Gift Giving Editions} by Renee @ MadeOn Hard Lotion ($10.00) Not a DIY Diva by Melissa @ The Inspired Room ($3.99) One Bite at a Time by Tsh @ Simple Mom ($5.00) That Works for Me by Kristen @ We Are THAT Family ($8.00)

Marriage & Relationships

A Simple Marriage by Corey @ Simple Marriage ($4.99) Buck Naked Marriage by Corey @ Simple Marriage ($2.99) Entangled by Amy @ Permission to Peruse ($4.99) The A to Z Guide: 26 Ways in 26 Days to a Happier, Healthier Marriage by The Dating Divas ($9.97)

Minimalism for Families

101 Ways to Simplify Your Life by Laura @ Journey to a Simple Life ($9.95) 321-Stop by Lori @ Loving Simple Living ($9.97) Inside Out Simplicity by Joshua @ Becoming Minimalist ($11.99) Simple Ways to Be More with Less by Courtney @ Be More with Less ($9.97) The Minimalist Mom’s Guide to Baby’s First Year by Rachel @ The Minimalist Mom ($9.95)

Parenting & Kids

4 Moms of 35+ Kids Answer Your Parenting Questions by the Moms @ 4 Moms, 35+ Kids ($7.99) Flourishing Spring by Michele @ Frugal Granola ($5.95) Mindset for Moms by Jamie @ Steady Mom ($4.99) Nurturing Creativity by Renee @ FIMBY ($3.00) Parenting with Positive Guidance by Amanda @ Not Just Cute ($9.00) Truth in the Tinsel by Amanda @ Impress Your Kids ($6.99)

The Simplify Your Family Life Sale is brought to you in part by Plan to Eat, an online meal planner that makes eating at home simple. Receive an exclusive coupon code on a one-year membership with your purchase!

Isn’t that an amazing list? Remember, this collection is only available from Monday April 16th 8 a.m. to Friday April 20th 8 a.m. Click here to purchase your collection today! You’ll be taken to the Life Your Way page and it will have the link for you.

Raised Garden Beds – The Before

April 14, 2012 by Amy 2 Comments

Alrighty, this is it. My little baby garden. I ended up switching out marigolds for more lettuce and broccoli. I keep getting the feeling there’s too much in there. I guess we’ll soon see.

Raised Garden Bed Layouts

April 13, 2012 by Amy 11 Comments

So this is the weekend! Time to plant our first garden. We had two cold nights the past two nights but the gardener told us to plant April 15th and the weather this weekend looks amazing so we’re going for it. Today we went and bought all the plants and these are the temporary plans. They seem to change hourly but this will give you a sense of where we’re headed:

The entire goal of this whole thing is to make really good salsa, tomato sandwiches, pesto, salads, tomato soup, zucchini bread, and jalapeño poppers. Hopefully, that’s just the beginning. For a total of $35 for all the plants I just don’t think you can beat that.

Our beds are 3×6 but Scott put a trim around the top and it’s taking up a few inches on each side so I treated it more like 2×6 in the plans if things look off a little to those trying to do the math. Since it’s raised beds and my first time, I just really didn’t want to squish anything. If I find things have extra room, I’ll know I can squeeze some more things in next year. Assuming of course that this is not a total fail!

Honestly, I could have easily done a 3rd bed. I was drawn to spinach, onions, more peppers and maybe even some corn. There was something captivating about ALL THE PLANTS at the farmer’s exchange that made you want to plant it all.

So, experts, before I plant, do you see any pitfalls in this plan?

Book Review: The Grace of God

April 12, 2012 by Amy Leave a Comment

Two chapters into Andy Stanley’s The Grace of God and I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to finish. Even this book and word lover (and Andy Stanley fan) was finding ALL THE WORDS awfully boring. I am of the sort which cannot not finish a book though so I determined to move on. About halfway through the book I found the rhthym to the writing and idea behind each chapter. Towards the end I hit the chapter “Filled By Grace” and I knew that was the reason I’d read the book. Powerful chapter about relying on God’s grace to fill us.
Beth Moore says on the front of the book that “Andy Stanley has captured grace with a wide-angle lens.” Practically what that means is this book uses each chapter to retell the Bible in chronological order, choosing a Biblical character for each to draw out how grace was woven into God’s story from the beginning.
After having just read the Bible through at the beginning of the year I have to admit that a lot of it was redundant. However, perhaps because I had just read it I could appreciate the additional history behind each story. How come I didn’t remember that Matthew was a hated tax-collector named Levi? Why didn’t I remember that after Nicodemus went to visit Jesus at night, he was there for his burial after the resurrection? Little things like this and even bigger things like political and cultural facts surrounding each story helped me understand these Biblical stories and gave me a greater understanding of God’s grace in each of them. More than that, it was a great reminder that I’m a lot more like the Jews than the Gentiles and I a lot to work on where grace is concerned.
I think for many this book has the capability to completely change your viewpoints on Biblical stories and grace. For me, it wasn’t one I will call my favorite but I definitely had some takeaways and think it was worth the read.

I was provided Grace of God by BookSneeze in exchange for this blog post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

American Idol Top 7

April 11, 2012 by Amy 1 Comment

Skylar – I think that was my favorite Skylar performance yet. Really, really good.

Colton – I liked that but wasn’t blown away. The chorus with his falsetto is my problem. I think he hit the note but it was too like, not shaky, but not confident enough or something. Just made me uncomfortable.

Elise and Phillip – Wasn’t a fan of their last duet but that was really good. Very cool vibe.

Jessica – I have no idea what song that was but it could be her first single. So beautiful, powerful, controlled. Wow.

Joshua – Wow, I just didn’t see quite as much as the judges did. I love Joshua’s voice I really do and he sang that well. I just felt like it aged him instead of showing something current. I don’t know. Just not my favorite.

Skylar and Colton – The front end of that was shaky but I think they got into it as by the end I was singing along. Nice job.

Hollie – There were some pretty moments but I just don’t think she brought the emotion to it that the song requires.

Phillip – So basically Phillip has this female vote. I’m to the point where he could sing the phone book for me and I’d be happy. Maybe not my favorite song to date but still good.

Joshua, Hollie, and Jessica – eh.

Elise – Wow, I really enjoyed that. I think one of her best to date. I think after Hollie’s night she could have just saved herself.

Bottom – Hollie

Favorite – Skylar, Colton and Jessica

Gluten-free Strawberry Pie

April 11, 2012 by Amy 1 Comment

Gah, two recipe posts in one week, back-to-back, no less? Promise I’m not going to become a gluten-free recipe site but do you see this?

Mmmm. Gluten-free or not, this must be shared and must be shared immediately.

I had some Bob’s Mill All Purpose gluten-free flour on hand so I went with this pie crust recipe. Next time, I’ll cover the edges with foil, be sure to poke holes in the bottom and maybe knock off about a minute. My oven is rather toasty compared to others. Now to be fair, a gluten-free crust isn’t nearly as yummy as a regular, but it’s definitely good and honestly I’m not sure anyone would know the difference if you didn’t tell them.

The filling I got from this recipe. You basically cook some strawberries, water and sugar and thicken with corn starch and then fold in whole strawberries to your cooked strawberry mixture. I don’t like big strawberries to bite into in the pie, so I cut the second batch of strawberries into halves and quarters. But my favorite part about this one? You can see it a little in this picture but there’s a layer of sugary cream cheese on the bottom of this pie. I said yum, right?

Neither of these recipes were hard or time consuming on each step but a little time consuming overall because you have to cool things in between steps and then you have to let it all set in the fridge. Definitely give yourself time on this one. In any case, make one while the strawberries are good and juicy. If you’re in my area, be sure to get your strawberries from The Peach Stand. We’re actually looking forward to going strawberry picking soon and this gives me just the motivation!