Family

Happy 200th Birthday Louisiana

April 30, 2012 by Tiany Leave a Comment

I have lived in Louisiana for over 18 years, it’s the place I have called “home” the longest {yikes, I suddenly feel really old} and where my children were born. My husband was born and raised in Baton Rouge, LA and frankly it is the only place he could happily thrive and survive as a Jazz musician.

This is Troy on drums at the Ascona Jazz Festival in Switzerland…

{watch till the end for his solo! I know, shameless wife}

Today is a BIG day in Louisiana, we are celebrating Louisiana’s Bicentennial and the very first International Jazz Day, not to mention the world famous New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival is taking place this week. If you are going to Jazz Fest, Troy will be performing on Thursday and Saturday at the Zatarain’s Jazz Tent.

200 & Never Been Better!

On April 30, 1812, the United States admitted Louisiana as the 18th state into the Union. Louisiana was the first state to have a majority Catholic French- and Spanish-speaking population, reflecting its origins as a colony under France from 1699-1763 and Spain from 1763-1803. Following the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, Louisiana’s road to statehood was not all smooth. Federal law required citizens of a newly admitted territory to apply to congress for statehood, and the admission of the Orleans Territory as the 18th state followed years of lobbying efforts by prominent citizens—both American and Creole (French-speaking Catholics). Men such as French-born congressman Julien Poydras and American attorney Edward Livingston sought the greater political rights that statehood bestowed and convinced Territorial Governor William C.C. Claiborne that the Orleans Territory qualified for statehood. Finally in 1811, Democratic President James Madison signed the bill allowing the people of Louisiana to form a state constitution. Following the state constitutional convention in New Orleans where 43 American and Creole leaders convened, on April 14, 1812, President Madison signed the bill approving statehood. The bill designated April 30, 1812, as the day of formal admission.

Louisiana’s unique Creole-American society can be traced to these French Catholic Creole roots that eventually blended with the English-American Protestant culture introduced after statehood.

Being married to a French Creole has been interesting to say the least, I have learned so much about the rich creole heritage. We have even traced Troy’s lineage back to Jefferson Davis!

Bicentennial Education Guide & Resources

Filed Under: Family, Homeschool Savvy · Tagged With: Baton Rouge, bicentennial, Cajun, International Jazz Day, Jazz, Jazz Fest, Louisiana, New Orleans, Troy Davis

A Few Good Green Living Tips

April 11, 2012 by Tiany

We teach our boys to be good stewards of the many blessings God has given them, this includes our home and our environment. We have been intrusted with this beautiful place we call home and it is our responsibility to make sure the earth is not just used and exploited but conserved or stewarded.

Here are a few good green living tips from our home to yours….

Watch consumption patterns for energy and water needs and curb unnecessary consumption. Turn off lights when they are not being used, turn off water while brushing teeth, only wash clothes when you have a full load. Use rain water to water gardens.

Reduce the amount of solid waste generated by reusing and recycling. We use a small compost pile for old food, and anything else that can go in it such as guinea pig and hamster waste and bedding. Don’t use disposable cups and products when possible. Buy a favorite water bottle or coffee mug and use it on the go.

Live off the land, grow your own gardens, plant trees, fruit and veggies! You can use the smallest area to create a vibrant, robust garden. A raised garden or garden pots work great too. Why garden? Taste, safety, cost and health. Not to mention that if each of us ate just one meal a week composed of locally and organically raised meats and/or produce, we could reduce oil consumption by over 1.1 million barrels of oil every week?

Donate it! Don’t throw out your old clothes, kitchen items or furniture… donate it to your local Salvation Army or church. They will usually pick up for FREE!

Remember, small changes make a big difference!

Haven’t you heard that orange is the new green? Seventh Generation and Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax have joined forces to inspire families to conserve the earth’s resources with conscious consumption. Created with your family, future generations and the environment in mind, Seventh Generation is the natural choice for high-quality and effective products that preserve the air, surfaces, fabrics, pets and people in your home–as well as the world outside. Make a difference by choosing Seventh Generation products, now offering free shipping for orders over $50. As the Lorax says, “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”

How do you live like the Lorax? Tell Seventh Generation below and be entered to win a Green Your Home prize pack!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Seventh Generation. The opinions and text are all mine. Official Sweepstakes Rules.

Filed Under: Family, Gardening, Social Savvy · Tagged With: earth day, green, green living

Easter Traditions, Treats & Sweets

March 28, 2012 by Tiany Leave a Comment

While at the BlissDom conference, we had the wonderful opportunity to get to know some of the Hershey’s reps as well as create our very own Hershey’s Easter baskets. We choose our basket color, filler and our favorite Hershey’s candies! I made sure to include a bag of each one of the boys favorites {and mine}… Twizzlers, Kit Kats, Jolly Ranchers, Hershey’s Kisses and of course Cadbury Eggs. Needless to say, we were beyond excited when our Easter basket arrived at the house early one morning.

Ashton and Noah crack me up!!

Since Easter is just around the corner, I thought I should share a few of our Easter traditions and a recipe. We don’t do the Easter bunny with our boys but they do wake up to a Easter baskets full of goodies {a tradition started by my sister}. We usually include a book, small toys such as puzzles, marbles, cars, games and of course chocolate.

One of our favorite traditions has to be our Resurrection Easter Eggs. Resurrection eggs are a fun way to tell our children the story of the resurrection of Jesus, using 12 colorful eggs filled with symbolic objects and passages from the Bible.

Resurrection Cookies

Another favorite tradition is making Resurrection Cookies. These miraculous Resurrection cookies are made the night before Easter, children wake up to a neat surprise when they go to find the hollow cookies in the morning!

You will need:

1 cup whole pecans
1 teaspoon vinegar
3 egg whites
a pinch salt
1 cup sugar
a zipper baggy
1 wooden spoon
scotch tape
Bible

Instructions

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
Place pecans in a resealable plastic bag. Using a rolling pin or heavy pot, crush the pecans into small bits. Read John 19:1-3
Put 1 teaspoon vinegar into a medium bowl. Let children smell vinegar . Read John 19:28-30
Add egg whites to the vinegar. Eggs represent life. Explain that Jesus gave His life
to give us life. Read John 10:10-11
Sprinkle salt into the egg whites. Read Luke 23:27
So far, the mixture isn’t very appetizing. Add sugar. Read Psalm 34:8 and John 3:16. Beat with mixer on high speed for 12 to 15 minutes until stiff peaks are formed. Read Isaiah 1:18 and John 3:1-3.
Fold in broken nuts. Drop by teaspoons onto parchment paper lined baking sheet. Read Matthew 27:57-60.
Place cookies in the oven close the door and turn the oven off. Read Matthew 27:65-66.
Go to bed. Read John 16:20 and 22.
In the morning open the oven and take out the cookies. Read Matthew 28:1-9.

Oh, I met this guy while making our basket at BlissDom too…

Be sure to visit www.CelebratewithHersheys.com to follow the blogging bunny trail and check out the great collection of Easter tips, memories and stories!

What are some of your favorite Easter Traditions?

Filed Under: Family, Parenting, Photo Savvy, Recipe Savvy · Tagged With: BlissDom, easter, hershey's, resurrection cookies, twizzlers

Seventh Generation Tackled Our Laundry

March 13, 2012 by Tiany

A random fact about me that I don’t think anyone other than my husband and maybe my sister know… I have been using Tide as my one and only laundry detergent for over 15 years! I have tried other detergents in the past and I always returned to old faithful Tide…..until I tried Seventh Generation’s Free & Clear Liquid Laundry 2 X Concentrate. The fact that this product is “Green” {a healthy solution for the air, surfaces, fabrics, pets and people within our homes–and the community and environment outside of it} is a plus but with four boys, getting out dirt, stains and smell was most important! I was pleasantly surprised to see {and smell} that Free & Clear Liquid Laundry 2 X Concentrate did the job!

I usually use Oxy stain remover and Bleach to whiten our clothes, Seventh Generation sent me alternatives for these too. I tried out Seventh Generation’s Natural Laundry Stain Remover on some old stains that I could not get out previously and Natural Oxy Stain Remover in the place of our bleach. Who knew healthier products would do the same job or better than what I considered to be the best?

Seventh Generations Natural Laundry Stain Remover is a nontoxic and biodegradable formula that combines an advanced triple enzyme system with a powerful plant-derived cleaning agent to remove the toughest stains.

The Natural Oxy Stain Remover is powerful Chlorine-free oxygen bleach fights stains in the laundry room and beyond by boosting detergent effectiveness and using the power of oxygen bleach to brighten and whiten.

I have often heard that fabric dryer sheets are not safe, I have to admit that this is not something I have looked in to. Fortunately, Seventh Generation also sent liquid fabric softener, which I am embarrassed to say I have never tried. Our clothes came out soft, static free and smelling fresh.

With a house full of people that have allergies and eczema, I’m not sure why I didn’t choose to go with a Free and Clear laundry alternative before. I’m thankful that Seventh Generation gave me this opportunity to find something safe and effective in cleaning our clothes. I’m a new fan!

Seventh Generation and Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax have joined forces to inspire families to conserve the earth’s resources with conscious consumption. If every U.S. household replaced just one bottle of 50 oz. 4X concentrate petroleum-based laundry liquid with Seventh Generation’s 50 oz. 4X concentrate plant-derived product, we could save enough oil to heat and cool 15,700 U.S. homes for a year. Make a difference by choosing high-quality and effective products from Seventh Generation, now offering free shipping for any purchase over $50! As the Lorax says,“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”

How do you live like the Lorax? Tell Seventh Generation below and be entered to win a Green Your Home prize pack!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Seventh Generation. The opinions and text are all mine. Official Sweepstakes Rules.

If you can not see this post post in your reader, please click on the link to go to this original post online. You wont want to miss the chance to win your very own Green Your Home prize pack!

Filed Under: Family, Photo Savvy, Uncategorized ·

Giving Back as a Family

March 8, 2012 by Tiany 4 Comments

YES! I love Members Unite, our family is really excited to join this wonderful community. {Really Excited} We are always trying to find ways to give back as a family. We strive to teach our boys to give and have servants hearts. The boys were so excited after my trip to Guatemala with Save the Children, they still love looking at the pictures of the mothers and children we visited throughout the remote villages in Guatemala. A family mission trip is on our bucket list and we hope to check it off sooner than later.

In the mean time, Members Unite has filled a need and a longing we have had to give back globally.

Members Unite is a simple, interactive, fun way to fund amazing projects. They find the most interesting, impactful, meaningful projects and then let their members decide which projects get funded. This is possible because the projects are funded through member contributions. And the members ultimately control the outcome each month. We’re all in this together. One person giving $20 is a drop in the ocean. One thousand people giving $20 brings clean water to a village for a lifetime. Members Unite helps us all do more than we could do on our own. For as little as $5 a month, we are able to take an active role in deciding which projects get funding, and how much funding they get. And 100% of our monthly contribution will go toward the winning projects.

We let the boys read over the many projects currently listed on Members Unite. Talk about a great learning experience for them… they learn of the needs of people all over the world and the amazing projects being put together to meet those needs. The boys have agreed to put their money together {$1.25 each) to pay for the monthly gift and vote on their favorite project each month.

This month we are voting for a project for infants in Guatemala (no surprise there) If this project wins, Members Unite will provide 20 infants with milk for 500 days – over a year’s worth of sustenance.

I encourage you to check out this fun community of folks giving back for as little as $5 a month; the best part is seeing where your gift goes each month and how the recipient is being blessed by the gift they receive. Priceless!! There is an annual fee of $25 and then the monthly fee of $5 a month.

If you decide to join us on Members Unite, please let me know in the comments below! I’m going to do a contest and giveaway a $25 gift card to to one of my readers that joins Members Unite!

{The giveaway is not hosted by Members Unite or Clever Girls Collective. Solely hosted by Social Savvy Mom}

Members Unite Launch Video from Members Unite on Vimeo.

Filed Under: Causes, Family, Parenting, Uncategorized ·

A New Year’s Prayer and Black-eyed Peas

December 31, 2011 by Tiany Leave a Comment

Hard to believe that another year has passed us by. It has been a wonderful, busy year full of many blessings and amazing experiences. My trip to Guatemala was by far the highlight of my year and the perfect way to start off the new year. I will be ringing in the 2012 at home with my blessings. New Years day is also my Mother-in-loves birthday, we usually head over to her house and enjoy a traditional New Years day meal of cabbage, black-eyed peas and pork roast!

Here is a wonderful recipe for Black-eyed peas from Frank Davis of New Orleans…

Black-eyed peas

1 pound dried black eye peas
4-6 cups chicken stock
1/2 pound sautéed bacon, diced
1 cup diced yellow onions
1/2 cup diced celery
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon ground thyme
1 tablespoon dried sweet basil
2 bay leaves
3 tablespoons bacon drippings
2 teaspoons Frank Davis Vegetable Seasoning
Sea salt and coarse-ground black pepper to taste, if needed

First, rinse the peas well under cold running water in a colander and set them aside momentarily to drain.

Next, take a 5-quart heavy aluminum Dutch oven (one that has a tight-fitting lid) and bring the chicken stock to a rapid boil. Then drop into the stock the chopped bacon.

Now bring the stock to a slow boil.

Then add and stir in the onions, celery, garlic, thyme, sweet basil, and bay leaves, cover the pot tightly, and over medium-low heat continue to cook until the vegetables soften, which should take about 15 minutes.

At this point, drop in the black eye peas and the bacon drippings and stir the pot well, making sure the mixture is uniformly blended.

Then bring the peas to a boil, but immediately reduce them to a simmer, cover the pot once again, and cook the peas until they become tender and full flavored (this should take about an hour or so on a very low fire).

Oh—be sure to stir the pot occasionally to keep the peas from sticking to the bottom.

Finally, just before you’re ready to eat, sprinkle in the vegetable seasoning and the salt and pepper and season the peas to taste.

Remember—you already have salt in the chicken stock, the minced bacon, and the bacon drippings, so you may not need to add much more if any.

Then, when your pork loin and your cabbage casserole are ready, serve the peas directly from the pot, piping hot, over a short pile of steamed rice and accompanied by a hearty chunk of hot buttered corn bread.

There couldn’t be a more “Naturally N’Awlins” way to start a brand new year!

A New Year’s Prayer

May God make your year a happy one!
Not by shielding you from all sorrows and pain,
But by strengthening you to bear it, as it comes;
Not by making your path easy,
But by making you sturdy to travel any path;
Not by taking hardships from you,
But by taking fear from your heart;
Not by granting you unbroken sunshine,
But by keeping your face bright, even in the shadows;
Not by making your life always pleasant,
But by showing you when people and their causes need you most,
and by making you anxious to be there to help.

God’s love, peace, hope and joy to you for the year ahead.

Filed Under: Family, Spiritual Food, Uncategorized ·

Thanksgiving Traditions

November 12, 2011 by Tiany Leave a Comment

Our family has a few simple everyday traditions such as as reading nightly at bed time and pizza / movie nights on Fridays.

Each holiday season, I try to add a new tradition to the mix. Thanksgiving is the perfect time to begin new family traditions, as we are often inspired to remember all that we are thankful for. After all, traditions are the glue that keeps a family together.

Our favorite Thanksgiving tradition is our Thankful tree, we usually make a tree with twigs in a clear glass vase. We write something we are thankful for on leaves we make and hang them on the tree. Much like a Christmas tree where you might add a few new ornaments each year, we grow our thankful tree by adding new “Thankful leaves” each year.