Tipton Children's Home

Helping spread the word...

(Visit tiptonchildrenshome.com)

Tipton Children's Home will soon be recognizing 91 years of child care.  TCH exists to help those who are in need. It is a residential care facility for abused/neglected children ages 5-18 located in Tipton, Oklahoma. The children are in cottages....homes....each home with a mom and dad who serve as houseparents.

Children at TCH often come from referrals from people such as YOU.  There are current openings available for those in need.  Do TCH a favor, won't you?  Please help share the news about TCH.  So many of those who need our help get caught up in the system and fall through the cracks never knowing of the services TCH can provide. If TCH can help you or anyone you know in any way, please call or have them call the office at 580-667-5221.  And, if you're on social media, please share this post or one of the pictures. Thank you.

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Family Fun - Stir Fry Bowls

I know I posted something similar to this a month or so ago, but this is different and even more fun, so I wanted to share it with you!

Last night I made fried rice using the packets in the photo at the top. It was GREAT!  Although, I've made some from scratch that were great, too. In fact, I posted a recipe from my sister not long ago that she said is really good.

I used chopped up bell peppers, sliced red onions,  chopped squash, carrots, fresh green beans, and broccoli florets.   I also opened up the sweet and sour chicken sauce, stir fry sauce, and the small seasoning packets and put them in separate containers.  Salt and pepper were out, as well. I used chopped up chicken for the meat, but steak, shrimp, pork would all work, too!

Each person got a bowl and placed their meat, veggies, and sauce/seasonings in there, then brought it to me - the make-shift Hibachi chef!  I rinsed out their bowl (because of the raw chicken) then stir fried each bowl of goodies individually.

The fried rice was placed in the bowl, then was topped with each family member's creation.  It took a while with five people (good thing Lauren isn't here!! Ha ha!), but it was lots of fun and well worth the time.  It all tasted great!  We're looking forward to making this a regular family meal that's healthy and delicious.

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Homemade Christmas Gifts

A fun family tradition on my husband's side of the family: Homemade Christmas gifts.  I'll go through each of them for the next several posts, but will start with mine.  

I hadn't ever done this gift before, even though my mom had actually posted a recipe for it on here several years ago. It didn't seem "homemade" enough for me - just mixing together three ingredients.  But, this fall, when I got some at a ladies' retreat, I thought, "Why is it NOT homemade 'enough'?"  I couldn't figure out why I had thought that before :).  So, homemade gift, it was!

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You will need: 16 oz. baby lotion (My favorite is Johnson's brand.)

8 oz. Vitamin E cream (sorry for the blurry pics). Each of these little jars is 4 oz.

And 8 oz. coconut oil (solid, not melted.)  Mix together with handheld mixer until it resembles icing.  It makes a wonderful, light moisturizer that smells good, too!

To make it even more "homemade", I used these little burlap bags I had bought at The Container Store several years ago.

The bag was stamped with a design on both sides using black ink. After the bag was filled I attached a stamped "Merry Christmas" tag.

I put the cream in a small plastic jar with a black lid. I found these jars in the art section of Hobby Lobby (in the artist's painting section, near the framing station).  I hot glued Chevron ribbon around the jar and topped it with a burlap flower.

With the extra lotion, I filled a few bigger jars that will be used in the future for gifts.  The burlap flower fit on the outside for this size of jar.  My mom got one of these in her stocking.  They were found in that same art section, but are double the size (8 oz., I think.)

Why is everything cuter when it's small???  I loved seeing these little bags all piled up! :)

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Canton First Monday

This past weekend several family members of my husband's side of the family met up for a girls' weekend.  We met in Frisco, TX, at one relative's house, then headed out early Friday morning to drive to Canton First Monday at Canton, TX.

The only thing I knew I was going to buy was seven bottles of Mexican vanilla.  I had just run out of the two bottles I bought last year, so getting new bottles was perfect timing.  I was excited about my purchases, until I got my 'proud bubble' burst!  Apparently I can get this vanilla any time at a restaurant about an hour away from home - at any time.  It's $12 instead of $10, but not bad for the huge bottle.  And then my bubble got burst even more.  Apparently I can get this same vanilla at WALMART!  Hmmmmph!  Can you believe it?  Me, either!

I did buy a few other things at Canton.....mostly decorating mesh and a big OU item for my son's class auction basket...and a candle.

In reality the trip isn't about the shopping.  It's about getting together as a family.  (And, it's about making it through Dallas area traffic in a small way!) We don't have the opportunity to do that very often with busy schedules and our own family activities/obligations.  It was fun talking, laughing, playing cards, and eating together.

Thanks for the fun time together, ladies!

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