More March Snow in Virginia

March 27, 2013 By 2 Comments

We had more snow Sunday night into Monday. It is mostly gone now. You can still see it high up in the mountains which is beautiful. One day I will have the opportunity to get pictures of the views we see daily around here. Until then, you are stuck with views of our yard … which is still beautiful.

So this picture was sent to my mom to show her the snow was sticking the road … again. The farmer in his big ole John Deer tractor had plowed our street once that morning.

March Snow in Virginia march-snow-v3-still-snowing-sb

This picture was out back and I sent this one to my mom too. I asked her if I had moved to Ohio and hadn’t noticed.

March Snow in Virginia

We grew up going to Ohio every Christmas to visit family. As kids we LOVED to find snow in Ohio as we didn’t get that much snow here in Virginia.  Maybe you caught snow post one and snow post two here this month. Three snows that closed schools in March is a big deal around here. We often get snows in March but normally it is one … I think maybe winter is done now. Maybe?

I do have to say for the first time EVER I feel like the kids snow boots had some actual use in the winter time!

Are you enjoy the late Winter or are you ready for Spring? Leave me a vote and let me know!

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A Virginia Snow Day – January 2013

January 24, 2013 By 10 Comments

All of the kids didn’t have school today … we actually had snow this was a big fun Snow Day! We had between 2-3 inches of snow … and yes that is enough to cancel school here!

This didn’t do much good for Brian’s to-do list. I decided to not chance the still snow covered roads this morning and stayed home too. I took a morning break to go outside with everyone to play in the snow. The best part of the snow playing was that for the first time in six years, none of the kids screams at being out in the snow! YAY!!!

Here is the snow adventure in pictures …

 

 

Our backyard … do you see our dog in the picture? ;)

Don’t all kids play on the playground in the snow?!

 

Do you have snow on the ground where you live? Leave me a comment and let me know!

Filed Under: Charlottesville, Kids, Simply Family, Simply Local Tagged With: , , , , ,

Supporting the Virgina Tebow Bill (Homeschool Sports Participation)

January 18, 2013 By 3 Comments

Do you live in VA and homeschool? If you do, you need to read this!

We don’t homeschool but we fully support the decision to homeschool. We know it is the right decision for many families and who knows, maybe one day it will be the right decision in our family. We do have a built in High School teacher! ;)

Our Delegate, Rob Bell, has introduced a Virginia version of the Tebow Bill to the Virginia General Assembly. This is his second year trying to get this bill passed. He needs help!

What does this bill do? It allows homeschooled kids to play sports in the public school district they live in! Want more information? Check out VirginiaTebowBill.com!

What help does he need from homeschoolers in Virginia? Here is what Del. Rob Bell sent out in his email …

Dear Homeschooling friend:

I wanted to give you a heads up that the “Tebow Bill” will be coming before the House Students and Early Education Subcommittee for a vote at 7:30am on Thursday, January 24. This will take place in the 5th Floor East Conference Room in the General Assembly Building in Richmond.  (Any information about previous dates is no longer valid.)

Please contact my office at (804)-698-1058 orRob@delegaterobbell.com if you would like to come and testify.

Even if you do not want to testify, I hope you and your kids will still come show your support! Please find directions to the General Assembly Building and information about visiting the Capitol here.

I also strongly encourage you to contact your delegates and senators to let them know your support. You can find your legislator here.

Sincerely, Rob Bell

Maybe you can’t head to Richmond, VA on January 24th … You can still sign the Petition on VirginiaTebowBill.com to show your support!

** Please note this is not intended to be a political debate but informational. This is our personal opinion and we have no connection to this bill besides residing in Delegate Rob Bell’s district.

Filed Under: Kids, Simply Family Tagged With: , , , ,

Hot Air Balloon Ride over Virginia

November 14, 2012 By 3 Comments

My sister took all of these pictures except for the last one that some stranger took and emailed to her when they landed. Her dear husband bought her a hot air balloon ride for her birthday … her dear husband that is scared of heights. She was so excited! I love the picture that shows the trees in full color here in Virginia.  The picture looking up at the balloon is a favorite too! If anyone is wondering, they did this ride with balloonsovervirginia.com. Which picture is your favorite?

 

 

 

Have you ever taken a Hot Air Balloon ride? Would you? Leave us a comment and let us know!

Filed Under: Memes, Simply Life, Simply Local, Wordless Wednesday Tagged With: , , , ,

Friday Favorites: A School Bus Wait Memory

August 31, 2012 By 17 Comments

This isn’t a typical Friday Favorite but I hope you can play along …

Grace rides the school bus. Sophie and Matthew love to wait for the bus with Grace. This morning I was coming up the driveway from dropping off the last of the trash at the street and Sophie says “look mom! It is Matthew’s favorite color.” I could see something on the sidewalk but not what it was so I asked her and she said she didn’t know. To my surprise it was a little red lizard.

 

Well I had to look him up. He is actually a Red Eft which is a young Red Spotted Newt. They are common in this area but like wet areas. I am not sure why he was in our sidewalk and then garden but he was beautiful. The kids loved seeing him and talking about him. It was a good reminder to not touch animals we see outside too.

This morning was a good reminder to take a minute and just wait for the bus and not run out like a crazy mom trying to get Grace on the bus that may or may not be 5 minutes early today.

Filed Under: Charlottesville, Friday Favorites, Memes, Simply Local Tagged With: , , , , ,

Natural Bridge

August 22, 2012 By 3 Comments

Do you know where the Natural Bridge is? If you guessed, Virginia then you are right!

This amazing site is only two hours from our house. This was my third visit to the Natural Bridge and Brian’s second. I still remember the first visit there. My parents were taking me visit Virginia Tech as I was searching for colleges that offered a degree in Computer Engineering and I begged to stop there. My brother and sister probably could have killed me but I love see history and this history was so close yet we had never been there. The second time I went to Natural Bridge is also memorable as I was 7 months pregnant with Grace when Brian and I went there. I waddled down the steps and the little path to falls. It was a nice walk is what I remember. This time we went with three kids in tow. What a different experience that was!! Here is our visit in pictures …

We managed to get a great family picture in front of the Natural Bridge! (Did you know that Rt. 11 still drives over the bridge today?!)

We also some how managed to get a picture of each child with the bridge  … no idea how we managed that!

Plus a picture of all three kids looking at the camera!

Then we walked the path down the falls where we saw nature …

the Native American Village …

and Lace Falls. Grace took some pictures at the end of the trail!

Our ticket also included admission to the Toy Museum and Butterflies at the Bridge exhibit. The kids loved the butterflies … especially the one that landed on my pants at one point!

Our tickets also included admission to the Natural Bridge Caverns but the kids were completely worn out so we skipped that part. Brian and I did the cavern tour back during our pre-baby visit and it is a great cavern to visit. I loved that the crowds were smaller and the tour wasn’t really long which were both good for a very pregnant lady. I hope that our next visit to the area, I remember to take sweatshirts and the kids have a little more energy to do that tour too!

Looking for a great escape?! Natural Bridge offers great specials year round that budget & value-minded traveler would appreciate!  Example offers are the Escape packages for 2 people start at $89 (45% savings on hotel, attractions passes, and breakfast that runs through Labor Day and $8 off combo ticket admission! Current offers can be found at www.NaturalBridgeOffers.com. Plus there are special events coming up at Natural Bridge like the Girl Scout Day on September 22nd and Homeschool Day on October 4th. New fall promotions will be posted after Labor Day so watch for those if you want to visit the beautiful Virginia mountains in the fall!

Have you ever been to Natural Bridge? You will want to be sure to visit if you are ever in this area of Virginia!

 

Filed Under: Lifestyle, Promotional, Reviews, Simply Life Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

How Do You Love the Moment in Virginia Beach?

May 4, 2012 By 1 Comment

We went to Virginia Beach several times growing up. We lived about 2.5 hours from Virginia Beach. At one point, my mom had a co-worker who had a small place down there. She let our family stay at her small place a few times. It was so much fun. Well maybe not for mom and dad as I remember dad trying to pack three bikes in the minivan to take them down there to beach. There were great areas to ride bikes so we would beg to take them. Dad always fit them in the van some how. I don’t really know how he did that but I guess it bought him peace with three kids so he made it work! Peace between three kids is hard to come by but we often found it down at Virginia Beach when we would visit.

My favorite stops that I still remember … the Virginia Aquarium. This was a favorite stop on super hot days as it is inside. The aquarium is beautiful and so many exhibits. With modern technology, you can visit the aquarium through their web cams!

The boardwalk … the boardwalk is huge in width and made of cement. I remember packing up the roller blades and roller blading on the boardwalk. I don’t know if that is even allowed but it was great fun even with all of those elbow and knee pads mom made us wear!

I also remember the food down at Virginia Beach. The ice cream place we would always go to. The pizza place that we all loved … I am not sure why but finding a really good pizza place while on travel can be hard. I am impressed there are now Food Tours down there. Brian would love to go on the boardwalk food tour. The two loves of water and great food can’t be beat so I can hardly blame him.

I can’t wait to take our family down to Virginia Beach. The waves are calmer than some other locations and the environment is so family friendly. Plus the pizza and ice cream. Maybe Brian should practice packing bikes in the back of our minivan so we can be ready to head down there to enjoy the summer sun!

Visit the Virginia Beach Web site to learn more about all there is to do in Virginia Beach!

Note: I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Virginia Beach blogging program. For more information on how you can participate, click here.

Filed Under: Simply Family Tagged With: , , , , ,

Wordless Wednesday: Fall in Virginia

November 9, 2011 By 18 Comments

I had the chance to join Grace on her field trip a few weeks ago. Part of the field trip was a hayride around the host farm. We are so fortunate to live in an area where there are still family farms and at the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains here in Virginia. These pictures were taking during the bumpy hayride and show the beginning of Fall here at the edge of the mountains. We had a late peak in color and still have beautiful colors right now so fall is still in “full bloom” here in this part of Virginia!

 

Let us know where your Wordless Wednesday post is so we can come visit!

Leave us a comment and let us know how fall looks where you are!

Filed Under: Charlottesville, Home & Garden, Memes, Simply Life, Simply Local, Wordless Wednesday Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Friday Favorites: Cville Saver

July 22, 2011 By 1 Comment

Friday Favorites is another almost weekly feature here at Simply Budgeted.  The whole point of this feature is to share some of our favorite finds.  Anything is game. Food. Cleaning supplies. Kid stuff. Garden favorites. Recipes. Anything that I really like and want to randomly  post about. Reminder/Disclaimer/Whatever: Everything in Friday Favorites is something that we use and bought on our own.

Up this week …

Cville Saver (cvillesaver.com)

Do you love deal sites? I do. I have a little obsession with those emails that show up in my inbox. And then there are ones that people post about on Facebook … umm, yeah. Small problem on my part. But this small problem has let us stretch our budget in some of those present spending budget pie areas … you know entertainment, eating out, and other “extras”.

I recently discovered Cville Savers. This is a deal site local to Charlottesville, VA. I love it. You see there is no Living Social or Groupon or whatever accounts for Charlottesville so I tend to buy the online deals at those sites. But with this site it is all local. I hear you, you aren’t from around here. That is fine. Check your area. I have heard of others on the radio recently and I am sure if you look or ask around you might just find a local deal site in your area!

So why is local good? Well I have bought a pass to Bounce-n-Play (the indoor bounce place in this area) and then summer dance classes for my girls at Charlottesville Ballet.  The Charlottesville Ballet deal is one of my all time favorites at it include the registration fee for the year which was a bonus added savings for us during the school year! Our summer budget has been tight so I have watched my deal site purchases but in these cases the deals were beyond their worth for sure since they involved activities for our kids.

Do you have a favorite deal site? Is it a big one or a local one? Or maybe you lucky enough that the big sites are in your area. Leave a comment and let us know what your favorite deal site purchases have been!

Filed Under: Charlottesville, Friday Favorites, Memes, Simply Local Tagged With: , , , ,

Meatless Monday: Zucchini Parmigiana

July 18, 2011 By 17 Comments

We had such a great response to our Zucchini Tacos last week (if you missed it, find it here) that we decided to go all in and offer up another recipe this week so that you all can use up those mountains of zucchini.  We get ours from our local CSA at Liberty Mills Farm.

In this variation on the classic parmigiana, we use zucchini that has been fried and layered in a casserole dish with tomato sauce and covered with mozzarella  cheese.  It is served with a side of whole wheat pasta dressed in olive oil and basil.  It takes a little time, but is so easy and so good!  As a bonus, all three of our little ones (even our 2-year old) ate this up like nobody’s business.  If that’s not a selling point, I don’t know what is!

For more information on why you should participate in the Meatless Monday movement, click here.

Layered Zucchini Parmigiana

 

Ingredients

3-4 large zucchini
3 C all-purpose flour
3 eggs
3 C seasoned bread crumbs
salt and pepper
water
oil for frying
1 large jar pasta sauce

Directions

Preheat oven to 350.

Cut ends off of zucchini and cut zucchini into 3-4 inch sections.  Using a mandoline, slice the zucchini lengthways very thinly and set aside.

Prepare a breading station.  Pour flour into one long, shallow bowl or casserole, season liberally with salt and pepper.  Mix eggs into a second long, shallow bowl or casserole.  Add a touch of water and season with salt and pepper.  Lastly, pour bread crumbs into a third long, shallow bowl or casserole.

Heat 1/2 inch of oil in a heavy pan over medium to medium-high heat.  Prepare a casserole dish by laying down a thin layer of pasta sauce.

Coat zucchini 3 or 4 at a time in flour.  Dusting off the flour, coat in egg wash, then move to bread crumbs.  Coat thoroughly and dust off before placing carefully in the hot oil.  Let fry 2-3 minutes on each side.  Remove from oil to paper towel.  Place into casserole dish. Repeat.  Fill up bottom of dish with fried zucchini, then lay down a thin layer of sauce.  Continue until you have run out of zucchini or room in the casserole.  Cover with mozzarella and place into preheated oven for 15-20 minutes or until cheese is melted.  Let rest for 10 minutes before serving.

Note:  You will find a bit of a system here.  I would do about three at a time.  I would put 3 in the oil and ready the next batch.  When the next batch went in, it was time to flip the old batch, by the time I prepared the next batch, it was time to remove one batch and flip the other.  It was constant, but pretty simple work.

Filed Under: Charlottesville, Meatless Monday, Memes, Recipes, Simply Food, Simply Local Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,
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