This week has been rainy and icky and slow as molasses.

My daughter has been reading Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell. I'm so glad because it was one of my favorites when I was younger. She was afraid to start it because someone at school told her it was a sad book (thanks, Old Yeller), but I convinced her she'd like it and she pulled my old copy off of the shelf and is loving it.


Has anyone heard of Five Nights at Freddy's? My daughter's school friends have been playing this game and she asked me if she could. I looked it up and told her absolutely not. It's about murdered children being sewn into evil animatronics? I'm sure some 10-year-olds can handle that, but she was afraid of the Weeping Angels from Dr. Who, so that's a big old no from me.

Anyway, her dad took her to the library and they had a Five Nights at Freddy's book in the children's section so her let her get it. So she's telling me about the book and yes, murdered children in animatronics. Geez. 

My husband has been working like mad for a transfer closer to home. Hopefully, that will happen very soon and it will cut a 2-hour drive out of his workday.

Schools were canceled on Thursday because there was a lot of flooding around the county. That was a looong day. We ended up making flavored lipgloss and I let my daughter do my makeup, so here is a pic from that. Enjoy! ;)

"Thanks, honey. I feel so pretty!"

My son is on his High School's Varsity Tennis team this year and they've been practicing hard before matches start. He also participated in the Academic Decathlon in Nashville and brought home all the medals. Either first or second place in all the categories and highest individual score in his division. I am seriously so proud I could burst!

This week I made this Mississippi Pot Roast for the first time in a long time. I forgot just how dang delicious it is! I used a whole jar of pepperoncini and a little of the juice and it was so tender and flavorful. I served it with these Sea Salt & Olive Oil Baked Potatoes. Yum. I also forgot that there will be no leftovers. Darn.

On a whim, I ordered this Instant Pot from Amazon, so I'll be experimenting with some of my favorite slow cooker recipes soon.


I was actually shopping for a new slow cooker because mine seems like it's dying. The temperature settings are being weird and 'Keep Warm' seems to burn everything.

I came across the Instant Pot and read more about it and it sounds amazing! I could have made that Mississippi Pot Roast in an hour!!! There have been a few times I planned a slow cooker dinner then forgot to start it in time, so this will come in handy for those days. It also slow cooks, can sauté your meat before cooking, steams, makes rice, yogurt, cheesecake...I can't wait.

The thing I've been worried about are the horror stories of people being hurt using them. This Crock-Pot Instant Pot has a safety system so you can't open it until all of the pressure has been released so I felt a bit safer with this brand. Plus, it's waaay less expensive. Score!

I'm thinking of doing an Italian-style Beef Stew or a Beef Bourginon (which I love but the kids think tastes funny, lol wine) Instant Pot-style. What Instant Pot recipes do you think are a 'must make'? Do you want to see some recipe roundups for the Instant Pot?

Well, that's my week. What has your week been like?