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Movies I've Enjoyed These Last 2 Years

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I often watch movies but rarely think to share about whether I enjoyed them or not! I thought this was the year to start sharing more about what I've watched. So I'm starting with a large round up of movies I've really enjoyed watching these past 2 years. Not all of them were made during the last 2 years but that is when I "discovered" them.  I would happily re-watch any of these and, to me, that is a sure sign I enjoyed the movie!  I Like Me (2025)-- I LOVED John Candy movies growing up and this documentary about him and his life was so darn sweet.  Jerry & Marge Go Large (2022) -- I love a good based on a true story movie and this one about a man who cracked a mathematical loophole in the lottery. Then him and his wife revive their small Michigan town driving back and forth to Massachusetts to buy their tickets and create a whole company pooling investments from townsfolk that they pour back into the town.   Happy Gilmore 2 (2025)-- While not the most int...

Beef & Kale Pasta One Pot Dish

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 I love a quick and easy one pot meal and we've been making up lots of them this time of year. To me, they are usually the ultimate comfort food with pasta, veggies, a sauce of some kind, and a kick of protein too.    Ingredients: (serves 8) Olive oil for sauteing onions & garlic 1 onion; chopped 2 cloves garlic; minced 1 lb ground beef; I use 93% lean 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper 1 Tablespoon Italian seasoning 10 ounces frozen chopped kale 5 cups beef broth 1 16 ounce box pasta Top with:  4 strips precooked bacon crumble Parmesan cheese shreds, to taste   1. Heat oil over medium heat in a large pan and saute onions and garlic until fragrant and onion is lightly browned.  Then add in ground beef.  2. Once the beef is cooked add in pepper flakes, Italian seasoning, and kale. If you are using a fattier cut of beef you might want to drain out any fat before adding in the seasonings and the kale.   3. Once kale is thawed out add in beef broth a...

A Very Valentine Hodgepodge Wednesday & 10 on the 10

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 I decided to combine 2 posts into 1 today. Joyce's Hodgepodge and Marsha's 10 on the 10th. Both had a Valentine theme this week/month.   1. What's something recent that had you 'tickled pink'?    Alec stopped in for all of maybe an hour last Friday. He was actually in our area to pick up a mannequin head from one his friends for a play he's in at school but it was so nice to see him and hear all about how life has been going for him this semester. He is very excited about the Percy Jackson play and it was so neat to see as he's never shown any interest in theater (other than seeing shows!) before.  2. A bed of roses, everything's coming up roses, every rose has it's thorn, stop and smell the roses, rose-colored glasses, a rose among thorns...which rosy expression might currently be applied to your life in some way? When grocery shopping this weekend I picked up some flowers and actually did stop to smell the roses.  3. What makes you feel loved ...

Throwback Tuesday: A Typical Day of Winter Unschooling

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*Originally posted February 6, 2013 when the boys were 5, 7, & 8  The boys slept great last night and had so much fun sleeping together in the fort they asked if they could do it again tonight.  I did say no but promised they could do it again another night. We could hear them giggling, reading books using their book lights, and playing a bit before they finally settled down to sleep last night.  We heard footsteps up and down the stairs as they brought down more stuffed animals, a few toys and even some Lego's.  For the most part as long as they were getting along and staying quiet we tried not to get too upset.  Luckily, we don't have to get up at a certain time to be off to school for the day.          They were overjoyed to find it had snowed last night and first thing this morning Ian headed outside to shovel and plow.  Evan brought over all his Pigeon books by Mo Willems and asked me to read t...