Christmas Pictures

Here are just a few pic's from our Christmas day adventure. This is at our house at about 6:15a.m. Christmas morning!! Here's Ben with his new hunting blink I got him,,, he was so excited and couldnt lelieve how big it was,,, as I type he and Gary are out in the woods now!

This is at my moms house around 9:15a.m. The 2 babies in their matching dresses:)

And here is Miss Emma with one of her favorite presents,,, shes been toting that baby around with her everywhere she goes.

The 5 of us

Menu plan

Monday:b-blueberry muffins
l-mac n cheese, brats
d-spaghetti and garlic bread

Tuesday:b-oatmeal and toast
l-leftover spaghetti
d-chicken tacos, refried beans, nachos

Wednesday:b-egg sandwiches
l-peanut butter and jelly
d-stir fry (need to figure out some snacky stuff for new years eve)

Thursday:b-biscuits and gravy
d-cabbage casserole

Friday:b-cereal
l-
d-beef cubed steak, green beans with potatoes


I'm not very motivated right now,,, I'll figure out something for Saturday and lunch Fri. later,,,, happy menu planning!

Great Christmas.

Well I had a big invisionment of my post with lots of pictures from Christmas for everyone but for some reason my camera card is not registering on my computer... hopefully nothing is wrong! We had a wonderful Christmas though, the kids got everything they wanted and more,, I even got what I wanted! The wii fit game and board!! Hubby got it for me, I was so excited. Its pretty fun, the whole family enjoys it not just me. It told me how fat I was though, but I think it will be encouraging for me,, there are games you can play but its exercise at the same time, and it tracks your progress along the way....motivation is exactly what I need right now! Hubby and I both agree that come the new year we are getting real serious about losing some weight and eating healthier!! Over the past week or so we've ate all kinds of junk,, people keep giving us sweets!!! I got hubby the ground blind for deer hunting hes been wanting, he was really happy!


Well, once I figure out whats going on with my camera card I'll try and post some pictures.

Adventures in gingerbread houses

Well tonight was or first attempt at making a gingerbread house. It was rather fun and everyone enjoyed it! I let one kid do one half and the other the other half.

They both did a wonderful job. Actually daddy even helped

I made up the icing and he applied it for them. They stuck on all the candy. While they were doing that I made home made doggie treats! Another first for me. It was also fun. You use regular ingredients and roll it out and we used our Christmas cookie cutters and cut out trees, snowmen, and snowflakes. We are keeping some for shelby(our Boston terrier) and the rest will be given out to family members doggies! I thought it was a nice special treat. I let Shelby try one tonight and she really liked it so its doggie approved!!

All in all it was a fun filled night with my family! Tomorrow we are going to make sugar cookies and decorate them with the babysitting kids. It should be fun, then we will save some for Santa Claus and let the babysitting kids take some home for them. Tomorrow will be their last day here before the holiday so I will be giving them there presents also! Exciting!

Cold and a menu plan

Wow,, its been a very cold weekend!@! I'm talking -3degrees with a windchill of like -25degrees. Needless to say we spent most of the weekend indoors. There was a big ice storm and so many people lost power. We were lucky because ours only flashed on and off, it never stayed off for more than 15 minutes. Yesterday my parents and grandparents came and hung out for a little while because they had lost power. It was crowded but nice to see and spend time with everyone,, its times like those though that I wish for a bigger house,, one day we will get there!

So for the next two weeks all kids and hubby will be home, plus the babysitting kids for most of the days. So for my menu plan I am writing out breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I want to make sure Iam gonna have enough food for everyone! :)

Sunday:B-pancakes, ham steak,
D-frozen pizza, leftover hot wings

Monday:B-cereal
L-grilled cheese, ravioli
D-pork loin chops, baked potatoes, green beans

Tuesday:B-scrambled eggs, toast
L-pizza bites, carrot sticks, cottage cheese
D-pork shoulder steak, corn, green beans

Wednesday:B-cereal
L-Christmas eve get together at dad's
D-pizza delivery

Thursday: Merry Christmas
B-big breakfast at moms for her Christmas
L-at moms
D-leftover pizza or whatever is easy

Friday:B-oatmeal
L-Ramon noodles
D-chicken patties, french fries, cottage cheese, peas

Saturday:B-fried eggs, sausage
L-lunch meat
D- company's coming and we are making homemade pizza!!!



Now I do realize that 4 out of the 7 days are pizza...hhhmmmm.. well Sunday just kinda happened that way, and I am ordering it on Christmas eve because its simple and I want the leftovers for Christmas day because normally once we come home from moms we are super busy playing with new things and organizing all the new stuff from Christmas.... then Sat. is homemade pizza this was at the request of our company,,,,, and in my opinion you can never have to much pizza!!! But we probably wont eat it again for a few weeks:) lol

Soon to be walking

Can you believe my little Emma has taken her first steps? 11 months old. She isn't actually walking but I'm sure it wont be long. She is so brave. We don't have a coffee table but she will go from the couch to the recliner which is a couple of steps, and sometimes she just lets go and starts going in the open but she falls after a couple of steps. She get so excited,,, as do I. I tell you what, that girl has no fear! Oh to be young and worry free. Also I noticed today that part of her 1st molar is through,,,can you believe that.... shes gonna have a mouthful of teeth before shes one! Time is just going so fast. I am trying to savior every minute because I know from experience that in the blink of an eye she will be off to kindergarten:(

Apple jack cookies

Tonight instead of hot chocolate I decided to make some cookies with the kids. Gary had brang home a recipe from school a week or so ago called apple jack cookies, I had never heard of them and it seemed fairly simple so we gave it a shot!

They really did turn out good. and we had fun making them! Soon we will have to try our hands at some Christmas cookies. I have some cookie cutters that I have never used. One year I tried to make sugar cookies but they turned out bland and not yummy. Anyone have a good sugar cookie recipe?

Thankful

I have this overwhelming feeling of thankfulness right now for some reason. This morning was kinda rocky, there was a two hour delay so all the big kids were here and I was yelling way to much! I hate when I do that. I just get upset because I feel like they are constantly running around making messes and not cleaning them up, and I guess my way of thinking is they are big enough to clean it up but they don't so then I get angry. I need to remember that they are just kids, and right now it is their job to have fun and play and learn. I need to remind myself to just relax. The world will not end because there are stuffed animals laying in the hallway pretending to be pumpkins waiting to be picked. And the stacks of books all laying out in my sons floor are there because his room has been transformed into a library for the time being. And the piece of paper that has been taped to his door with my tape that is now lost because he lost it is there because last week his room was Walmart. (the sign says "Come in to Walmart, its a great place to be".
Now that they are gone I realize that I need to be thankful that my children have these great imaginations! So many things could come from that! And I am thankful that we are blessed to be able to provide the with these things they are playing with. I am so thankful that I have this warm cozy house to sit in when it is freezing outside and some people have no where to go to to get warm.
When my kids walk in the door from school today I will give them a huge hug and tell them how much I love them! And since its Wednesday that means we will be having our hot chocolate date since daddy is bowling and I will explain to them that I am sorry for getting upset and once again tell them how much I love them. Have a super day and remember to be thankful!

Lemonade award

I recieved another award from my awsome bloggy friend Shannon. Thank you, your great!! This award is meant for people who are positive, show gratitude, and of course: make lemons out of lemonade!



The rules for this award are:

1. You post the graphic for it.
2. Write a post that links back to the giver.
3. Pass it on to up to ten others.
4. Leave a comment on the blogs that get the award, so they know what's happened.


I never have people to give the awards to because usually the ones I would pick have already recieved it but their is someone that I think deserves this one because when he wants to he can always make people feel better. He is new to the blogging world but his posts are normally very encouraging to me. Most days it feels as if he is speaking directly to me. so hear is one for now and I will be sure to update if I think of some more. Oh wait,, I just thought of another one:

big daddy

momzoo

Menu plan

Here are some menu items we will be enjoying this upcoming week.

-chicken fajitas
-bean taco bake
-biscuits and gravy, fried eggs
-chicken sandwiches, chips, corn
-stroganoff,green beans
-chili mac, cornbread

Some people might find that my menu plans always seem simple and not fancy enough but I find that its just easier for me this way. Also my family never complains and always enjoys what I cook. I would rather not spend my entire day cooking a fancy 5 course meal and instead spend it playing with my kids and doing the things that really matter to me! As long as I am getting in the food groups and my feeding my family fairly healthy meals and they are happy then i am happy too! :)

A day in the life of me.

Okay, hopefully this wont bore to many of you, buy here is a little run down of my day today. For privacy's sake I will call the babysitting kids BK1 -3 .
bk1 is 7 years old
bk2 is 3 years old
bk3 is 12 months

6:20am. -alarm rings, and I get up for bk1
6:30am. -receive text message from sister, bk3 is coming today
6:35am. -bk3 arrives
6:45 -bk1 arrives
7:00am -feed bk3
7:20 -wake up my big kids to start getting ready for school
7:40am- Emma is up, change her and give her a bottle
8:00am -bk2 arrives (how her mother doesn't get fired amazes me,, she is supposed to be at work at 8 but never gets here until then)
-get breakfast for older kids
-receive call from hubby who tells me he is just getting off of work-he was supposed to be home over an hour ago
8:25am-send big kids to bus
-attempt to give Emma her oatmeal (this is the second day she hasn't wanted to eat it for some reason)
8:40am-smell something stinky....bk3 has left a surprise for me...change her
-play with kids
-clean up kitchen
9:30am-lay babies down for morning nap,,,,settle bk2 down with some cartoons so I can go take a shower, check email, put chicken in crock pot for dinner, make up a budget for the next two weeks, pay bills online, dry hair
10:30am-Emmas up, change her
11:00am-bk3 awakes, change her diaper
11:15am-CRAZY TIME BEGINS, that would be lunch....feed bk3 first, give bk2 her food, feed Emma, then give babies Cheerios to occupy then while I grab a quick bite.
-clean everyone up, then play time again
(PLAY TIME CONSISTS NORMALLY OF ME ON THE FLOOR WITH EVERYONE, READING BOOKS, PLAYING WITH TOYS,,,, WHEN YOU HAVE A 11 AND 12 MONTH OLD, AND A 3 YEAR OLD YOU JUST HAVE TO STAY AND REFEREE,, NO ONE IS TO BE TRUSTED ALONE!! :) )
12:15pm-bk2 is being mean and whiny so she goes down for a early nap
1:30pm-change diapers...again:)
2:00pm-lay babies down
-fold laundry
-computer time
-sweep floor
-do dishes
-tidy bathroom
3:00pm-Emma wakes
-start green beans cooking for dinner
3:15 -bk2 and bk 3 wakes up
-change diapers
3:40pm-give everyone a snack
4:00pm-bk3's mom arrives to pick her up,, we talk a little then she leaves
4:10 -school kids arrive home, give them a snack
4:20pm-hubby awakes
4:45 -bk1 goes home
5:00-start cheesy potatoes for dinner
5:20pm-bk2 goes home for the day !!! At this point it is finally just me and my family now! Yaayyyy,,,plus my head is throbbing,,, I think I have a sinus infection or something, but I am trying my best not to be in a bad mood.. and not think about my head exploding
5:30pm-sit down for dinner with family (we always have dinner together,,, that is something we have and will always do, we talk about our days, and all say the best and worst parts of our day,, its fun!!)
6:00pm- clean up kitchen after dinner,,,,ask my 9 year old to help but she says she has a paper cut on her finger so she couldn't possibly do the dishes...WHATEVER... I do them,,,,all the while head throbbing
hubby starts on his 4 one page papers that are due on Saturday morning....he always waits til the last minute,,, I hate it!
7:00pm. - I must look like I'm in pain because my awesome daughter tells me she will help watch Emma if I want to go take a bath!!! (This rarely ever happens,, the only time I take a actual bath instead of a shower is when I feel terrible, I love to soak in the bath but who has the time right?) I was so happy with her,, Iran the tub as hot as it would go and just layed there for about 15-20 minutes. It was great...don't worry I could hear everything that was going on in the living room and hubby was in the kitchen working on his paper,,, I would never just leave my baby with my 9 and 7 year old alone!!
7:30pm.- sent Gary for his bath,, got Emma in her jammies...gave her a bottle
8:30pm-kiddos to bed
9:00pm-say goodbye and good night to hubby and now here I am typing this post..



So there you have it.....oh yeah,, the laundry was being done all throughout the day,,, that's kind of a never ending thing,,, I can always find something to wash,, and I love the smell of laundry!

That's just one day in the life of me...it can get hectic when bk3 is here,,, two babies so young and close together can get crazy, but today was a pretty good day accept for my feeling crappy. Hopefully this wont last to long, I've felt like this since Monday and its not getting better.. so many colds and stuff are going around right now....it stinks!! Have a great day!

post coming soon....

Just wanted to let everyone know tonight I am going to post a breakdown of my day today. What goes on in a regular day for me here at home with the little ones. I am taking notes throughout the day and once everyone is in bed tonight I will try and getit typed out... Ta Ta for now :)

HMmmmm

Well my archive says 99, and my dashboard says 102,,, well just to even it up heres 100 for sure!!! Happy Holidays: )

Over 100 and fun with boxes!

I realized as I looked at my blogger dashboard this morning that yesterday I posted my 100th blog post! I didnt realize I had posted so many. When I started this blog I honestly didnt think anyone would read it and it was just a trial thing, but I rather like blogging. I love reading others and my favorite thing is when people comment on my blog! It makes me feel connected to the outside world even though sometimes the only adult I talk to here in real life is my husband!! IT is neat knowing that people in other areas of the world can read my thoughts. So anyways I am going to keep on blogging. I would love to be able to help others through my blogging experience. I dont know everything but I have learned a few things in my little lifetime so far, so does anyone have a particular topic of interest that I might be able to talk about that would help you. Or maybe just some topics or things that you think I should blog about,, any input is welcome!!
Also I ordered a few things online for Christmas this year, it sure has been fun getting packages in the mail. Today we got a really big box that had Emmas giraffe I ordered her in, so I let the little ones play with the box, they have been having so much fun in it. I think I'll just keep it around a while til it starts getting torn up, Its not the prettiest thing but the kids have fun with it.
Thanks for taking the time today to read my blog. Have a super duper day!!!

An award

Look at this cute award my friend gave me. Thanks Shannon!

Menu plan for the week of December 7

Hubby and I went out to Olive Garden Saturday night while we were out Christmas shopping,,, it was so good. I love that place. I sure wish I could recreate their food!! Anyways here is the menu plan for next week.

pancakes and ham steak

cheesy ham and potato bake

roasted crockpot chicken with green beans and potatos

chicken noodle soup --- made with the leftover chicken

spagetti and garlic bread

chili dogs, mac and cheese, broccoli and califlower

cream of broccoli soup with chedder bisquts


Its time to tighten up my purse straps again and make sure we are eating at home again. We spent a LOT on Christmas presents and I need to really watch our money. I am proud to say that we did use all cash, no credit. So that is a good thing!! I keep telling hubby that the kids have plenty presents but for some reason he just wants to keep buying more. THis is the one time of year that he really likes to spoil them.

Fruits and veggies

This morning for breakfast I had toast and an orange! I am trying to incorporate more fresh veggies and fruits into our diets around here. The other day when I went shopping bought a bunch of fruits and I have them sitting out on the counter in a cute basket to help remind me and the little ones to grab that as a nice snack instead of the other junk that we tend to eat!! They love fruit so they are happy,, now the goal is to get those veggies in. I have been trying to have more cooked veggies with our dinner,, hubby always turns up his nose, but he does get a little and eat it, just so the kids cant say that daddy didn't have any so why do they have to. I really don't mind cooked veggies. I like them! This is just one step along the way towards a healthier lifestyle. I've been talking to the kids about getting 5 servings of fruits/veggies in each day, and we are making that our goal. Its kinda hard when you never used to really think about it, but if you have one with each meal, then some snacks its not to bad. Have a great healthy day!

Yummy smells...

There is a yummy smell coming from my crockpot. Pork roast with potatos, carrots, and onions. I think I will make some mixed veggies to go along with it. I love my crockpot. The only problem is that whenever I use it it makes me hungry all day long!!! For those of you that read my last post and then noticed it disappered, I deleated it. I didn't want the wrong person to read it and get the wrong idea. Thank you though to those of you that commented.

Menu plan

Here is this weeks menu:
spaghetti
baked chicken, rice, green beans
taco soup
roast with potato's and mixed veggies
wet burritos
stir fry with rice
Bennie and I eating in Ft. Wayne, and kids eating with grandma while we hopefully finish up our x-mas shopping.

I am so excited because over the weekend I made plans with someone to buy half a beef from them!!! It should be ready in April or May. I know its a while off, but it will be so nice to not have to buy meat at the store, plus I can feel safe in knowing that my meat wont be contaminated with any crazy harsh chemicals or diseases, because I know directly where it is coming from!!!

Thanksgiving and a family picture

Yesterday was a good day! We stuffed ourselves full of turkey and stuffing, and all the goodies that go along with thanksgiving. First we went to my mom's, then we headed over to my dad's house. It was so nice to see my dad. I hadn't been to his house in way to long, Emma got to play with her papal, it was great!

Today my mom and sister went out at 4am to head for the black friday sales!! I was told I could go but all that crazy madness just isn't for me anymore. I cant deal with the crowds. I did tell them what the kids would like out of the Walmart ad though, and had them pick me up a new coat for 8 dollars! I havent seen it yet so I dont know how it will fit/look, so we will have to see. My husband and I are going out tonight to do a little shopping without the kids. Hopefully the big part of the crowds have mostly went home by then.

I had my sister snap a picture of all of us yesterday. Its not the greatest pic in the world, Emma's not smiling, but out of the 6 she took this was the best one.

Happy Thanksgiving

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving here. So I wanted to wish all a happy thanksgiving. I really do have so much to be thankful for. So everyone have a happy and safe holiday!

Thanksgiving meal quiz

Here is what my thanksgiving meal says about me,,,,(another quiz,, so fun!!)

What Your Thanksgiving Meal Says About You

When it comes to the holidays, you follow and love the big traditions. You look forward to them every year. You see the holidays as a time to be close to loved ones. It's a good time to reconnect and make memories. You like the aspects of the holiday that remind you of your childhood - opening presents, treats, and old favorite foods. During the holidays, you are likely to feel comforted. At your worst, you feel a bit over-indulgent. You consider yourself to be a bit of a purist, and you're proud of it. You tend to spend your holidays doing everything and anything. You really get into the holiday spirit.

What Does Your Thanksgiving Meal Say About You?

Christmas Ornament

You Are a Tree

You love every part of the holidays, down to the candy canes and stockings. And you're goofy enough to put a Christmas tree ornament on your tree!

What Christmas Ornament Are You?

Our weekend and this weeks menu:

Over all we had a good weekend. yesterday was my niece's first birthday party. It was fun,. they reall went all out. They had lots of food, people, corn hole games, and a big bouncy blow-up thing, my kids enjoyed the bouncy thing., Emma really wanted to go in so we let Jess take her in.

I cant believe she will be one in less than 2 short months. And it will go fast with all the holidays approching.

Hubby is still on the hunt for his deer. NO luck yet, he goes out and sits in the woods for hours and never sees anything, he is getting very discouraged.

My menu is fairly simple this week due to the thanksgiving holiday.

*bean taco bake

*hamburgers, french fries, mixed veggies

*ham steak, potatoes, corn

*turkey day

*L-hot dogs/macorni D-pizza

*pancakes, sausage, eggs

Results from a challange

Yesterday I took the challenge from a friend to do something nice for someone that I love and expect nothing in return. My husband is out on Wednesday night so I decided to take on my 2 oldest children. I love those guys so much, but I'm afraid that sometimes since they are older and can take more care of themselves they get pushed on the back burner occasionally. I do not want them to feel like that. So my littlest one isn't feeling the greatest again, so she went to bed early and Jess and Gary and I had a hot cocoa date. ( That's what I decided to call it). I fixed up 3 glasses of hot cocoa and called them into the kitchen for our date. They looked at each other quite funny when I said it was date time,,, they had no idea what I was talking about. So they came in and sat down and had the biggest smiles on their faces, ( it was so cute), then I explained what a hot cocoa date was, (a special time for just them and me to sit and talk about whatever they want without interruption), they loved the idea. Then I went on to tell them how much I loved them and how important they were in my life. Then they went on and told me about their days at school and other little things, no major deep conversations, but it was so enjoyable, and I know they loved it. We sat and talked until we finished out cocoa, then went and got ready for bed. i asked them if they liked our "date" and they said yes, so we decided that this will be our new tradition. We vowed that at least once a week we will have our cocoa date and if it is needed more often all they have to do is let me know and I will always take a time out for them.
Thank you Andy for helping me start a new tradition!

Vinegar

I have a question. My dishwasher doesn't work very well, I keep having nasty film and icky stuff on my dishes when they are supposed to be clean. I have heard of people using white vinegar in the rinse agent dispenser. I was wondering if anyone has tried this and how were your results? Did your dishes come out cleaner? Did your house/dishes end up smelling like vinegar, cause I don't know if I could stand that. Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Mad Mondays

Today was a good day, but I was quiet lazy... well you cant be too lazy when your taking care of a 10 month old, a 11 month old, and a 3 year old all day long, but I dont feel like a got very much accomplished. Oh well,,, I got my everyday chores done and a lot of laundry. I was hoping to cross off a few things on my TO DO list but the only thing that got done on that was I cleaned the microwave. ITs just to hard to get the big things accomplished when your day is spent chasing around to crawling babies trying to keep them out of trouble. Oh well my list awaits me. Maybe this weekend will bring some big accomplishments!

Menu plan for the week of Nov, 16, 2008.


*tater tot casserole

*white chili

*pork chops, garlic potatoes, green beans

* Burritos, Spanish rice

*spaghetti., garlic bread

*homemade pizza

*leftovers, Amira's birthday party

A little break

Just wanted to write a quick post and let everyone know that I havent given up on blogging. I am just taking a little break., once again I 've had a lot on my mind, and been very busy. I am trying to get some things accomplished around the house so I might not be posting as much for the moment, but dont give up on me. I am still reading other blogs. Maybe I can post some before and after pics of a few things for everyone.

Menu plan

Last weeks menu was awesome, I followed it to the tee, and everything tasted so good! We loved the Mexican lasagna!! This week I am trying something new. I will be making some dried beans in the crock pot, then separating them into individual meal sized bags to have ready when I need them. Dried beans are so much cheaper than canned, and beans are so much cheaper than meat. So even though beans arnt really my families favorite food I am trying to find new ways to use them. Times seem to be getting tougher for everyone and the more frugal ideas the better!! With my beans this week we are going to try bean taco bake. So here is the whole menu:

dinner at moms

bean taco bake

chili, cornbread

meat loaf, fried potatoes, corn (Bennie b-day choice)

pork roast, potatoes, veggies

tater tot casserole

un-stuffed pepper soup



For more great menu ideas visit menu plan Monday on.. orgjunkie.com

Great weekend spent with family

We had a pretty nice weekend. Friday night was spent at home just relaxing. Saturday morning the kids and I stayed home while Ben was at school, he had to give 2 speeches and did well on both, so that was a relief for him to get out of the way!! Then once he came home we had lunch, the potato and sausage soup recipe that was a new one and it was wonderful!! Then I made some chocolate zuchinni bread to take over to my cousins house. We went to my grandmas while Bennie went hunting, he didn't get anything but at least he saw a couple this time. It was nice to visit with grandma and grandpa, then once Ben came in it was off to my cousins house for game night. We had a great time visiting and playing games. We have all known each other since we were babies. Its so weird that we are all grown with our own families and different lifestyles now. Its also funny how you don't realize how much you miss your friends/family, til you see them. Then for me anyways it makes me wish that we got together more often. Good times.... the kids also had a fun time playing with the other kids, Emma did wonderfully, I was a little worried about how she would react to all the new faces but she smiled and laughed for everyone!!

Now today, we are going to celebrate Bennie's birthday with my moms side of the family. He is napping now, then I will wake him up and we will go over there for dinner and cake and ice cream. He is turning 33 on Wednesday!! It's weird, we are all really growing up. Time just keeps passing by, faster and faster, whether we want it to or not. We all need to cherish every moment that we can and just remember what matters most to us! Hope everyone else had a great weekend also!

A little braging on myself :)

It's been a long day today. I dont see much of hubby on Wednesday because he sleeps through the day, gets up to eat, goes bowling, then straight to work without coming home.:( No fun!

I just deal with it though. I've decided there isn no point in whining about all the little things, they arnt likely to change anyways. I have really been focusing on my job as a mother and wife. Not to brag on myself, but I really have come far in the homemaking aspect of my life. And I love it. I never go to bed without my kitchen being cleaned anymore. And years ago I would do that quiet a bit, now I just do it. I would rather be a little tired and spend 15 minutes in the kitchen cleaning after dinner than wake up to all that dried disgustingness in the morning first thing. I am not a morning person and looking at a mess is defiantly not the first thing I want to see!! I like my nice clean sink:) (That might be the flylady coming out in me though).

I do laundry every day, with the acception of maybe sometimes not doing it on the weekends. Its pretty much always caught up, if I dont do it, it just piles up to fast, then people are saying,,, mom I dont have any jeans, or Jill wheres my work pants???? I hate to hear that!!! You know your doing well in the laundry department when you have to tell your hubby and kids not to wear that because they just wore it yesterday, then they say but it was clean and in my drawer..:) Now thats keeping up with the laundry.....

God knows I am defiantly not perfect but i have came quiet a long way......:)

A quick money tip.....

I have found the answer to my money problems.....

DONT GO SHOPPING.....
Or more like dont go into stores unless absolutely necessary. Seriously, the only stores we went to over the weekend was Aldi's. And that was for groceries. And guess what, the only money spent over the weekend was at aldis, besides the bills that I had to pay online!! it may seem obvious to some, but to me until recently I guess it never hit me that if I stay home I wont be spending any unnecessary money!! Dahhh.

Now when I do go out I am going to have a list and stick to it. Christmas is around the corner, so every extra dime I have is going to go to that. Christmas is one thing that we always splurge on for the kids, and I think that is okay. My mom always did for us and so I guess I have just followed suit.

I realized that my husband is making almost twice as much a year than he was making when we first got married. That is pretty good, I dont know how we even survived back then. Really we didnt. My parents bailed us our more times than I would like to admit. But now we are self sufficient and I am sooo proud of that! I feel like we have come such a long way! Dont get me wrong, money is still extremely tight, but I make it work, and I pay all of our bills. I have learned so much over the years. I am still learning. Now I am really trying to get smart about things, I want a savings!!! I want no debt, besides my home. Thats a long way off, but I am really trying, and as for now, its not going to happen until I get all these doctor bills payed off that I have payment plans set up on. So I'm really trying to pinch my pennies.

What are some of your money tips?

Menu plan November 2

That's my yogurt. I turned out well, and made a lot!! I'm excited about my menu plan this week, we've got some yummy things that we are having and 3 new recipes!

Sunday-hamburgers, curly fries, cottage cheese and applesauce

Monday- Mexican lasagna, salad (this is a new one)

Tuesday-easy chicken fingers, mashed potatoes, corn(new recipe)

Wednesday-spaghetti, garlic bread

Thursday-easy potato sausage soup, cornbread(new recipe)

Friday-pancakes and sausage

Saturday-homemade pizza

Halloween costumes and home made goodies

Here are all 3 little ones in their Halloween costumes. Jess was a fairy princess, Gary a boxer, and
Emma a ducky! Isn't Jess just beautiful,,, I think so, but maybe I'm biast:) Gary didn't want to smile for this picture.

And here is some of the after affects of trick or treating. Don't worry, we didn't let Emma eat the candy, she just played with it a little bit.

When we got home tonight I made my new granola recipe.

And here is my yogurt all nestled up and ready for bed. I'm up for anything you can cook in the crockpot and this recipe you let it sit over night. So only morning will tell how it turns out...

Yogurt

I am going to make home made yogurt tonight for the first time. I am very excited to see how it turns out. Everyone accept my husband likes to eat yogurt, and its fairly healthy for us. I don't get nearly enough dairy. I am also going to make home made granola to go with the yougurt. I have done that before, its sooo yummy. I am trying a new recipe though. I'll post about it and let everyone knows how it turns out. Also I need to post our Halloween costume pictures, the kids were so cute. It was fun. Later though... I need to get some things done right now...

Happy Halloween

I've been getting a lot accomplished these past couple of days. I am really trying to simplify my life and make things run smoother around here, the better things go the less stress for all of us right? Anyways yesterday I cooked up some biscuits and made some sausage patties. Then I assembled up some sausage and cheese biscuits! Instead of eating them I froze them for an easy breakfast or snack for anyone to have. It was really quiet simple and really economical because in the store I believe they are quiet expensive to buy, even more so at Mc Donalds or wherever. I got the biscuits on sale for 98cents, the cheese I used I got for 98cents, they were have a really good sale at Marsh. The sausage I already had in my freezer from when my parents gave us half a hog, so all together it was less than 10 cents a sandwich. Not to bad if I say so myself. I have 3 more rolls of those biscuits in my fridge that I will probably do the same with. I told hubby about it and he thought it was pretty awesome:)
I also cleaned and organized my laundry room a little yesterday. It was in desperate need of that so that was a big accomplishment!
When the kids got home we carved pumpkins, that was fun. Today I roasted the seeds from the pumpkins. I had never did that before so that was cool, easy to. The hardest part was getting all the nasty pumpkin guts off the seeds and cleaning them.


Here are the pumpkins that the kids carved. Emma didn't carve hers obviously but the older kids did theirs all by themselves. Normally Bennie or I help trace out the shapes or something but not this year. They are getting so big and grown up:)

Here is little Emma in her pumpkin outfit today. Notice the matching orange binky,,,so sweet:) Tonight for trick or treating she is going to be a chicken....i cant wait. I will take pictures and post them for y'all.

Here is a couple of Jess and Gary getting all the gooey gunk out of their pumpkins.

Happy Halloween!

Some things I am thankful for

I know its not thanksgiving yet, but sometimes I think its nice to remind ourselves what we are thankful for in our lives. So I am going to list a few:

-my 3 awesome kids. I can not imagine my life without them


-being able to have the 3rd child Emma, we thought we were done having children and then one day decided to try for another-she has blessed my life in more ways than I can list-I can honestly say she changed my soul and the way I do things in life


-my husband for giving me my 3 children

_my husband for providing for my family so I can stay home with my children and be the mother and wife that I always wanted to be.

-my parents for setting a example for me. Its amazing how the way we are raised affects how we turn out in life and how we do things

-the few true friends that I have. I don't see nearly enough of them, but deep down in my heart I think that if I really needed them they would be there.

-the changing colors of the leaves in the fall and the crisp fall air

-coffee!!

-living in America!

-snuggling under the covers

-LIFE!


I could go on, but those are just a few that came to my mind at the moment. Have a wonderful day!

Menu plan October 26

-stir fry with rice
-Ravioli with garlic bread
-roasted crock pot chicken, potatoes, green beans
-cream cheese chicken enchiladas, refried beans
-ham steak, rice, potatoes
-chili, cornbread
-tater tot casserole

Our weekend

Well our weekend went very good. Hubby managed to stay awake for his class Sat. morning after working all night. Then he came home and slept for about 5 hours then off on our date night we went. We had a great time. Red Lobster was wonderful! Then we went to a couple of stores and came back home just to enjoy being alone together. He was great. While we were out he would open my car door for me, and he held my hand. Sometimes he can just be so sweet. We had a lot of fun!!!! Then this morning we went and picked up the kids and came back home. Life back to normal! No, I love my family! I honestly cant imagine life without them. Bennie and I did a lot of talking while we were out together about the kids and when they get older. We discussed how we might handle things that come up,,, I dread the teenage years. I really do have pretty well behaved kids. I hope they keep it up as they get older.
when I woke up this morning I felt like trash! I finally caught the cold that everyone else has. It sucks!!! But I've got to keep going. Over all it was a great weekend. Ben even said that he had the best time. WE haven't had that much fun together in so long. Its nice to be alone sometimes. Now he is back to work tonight. He took a little nap today. He might have to stay over until ten a.m., everyday this week. Poor guy.:( He really is working hard for us. And I love him!

The Serenity prayer

I found it. I need to print this out and put it on my fridge or something.

The Serenity Prayer

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can;and wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time; Enjoying one moment at a time; Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; Taking, as He did, this sinful worldas it is, not as I would have it; Trusting that He will make all things rightif I surrender to His Will;That I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with HimForever in the next.Amen.
--Reinhold Niebuhr

Bad week :(

I have had kinda a bad week. That's my explanation for lack of posts. I feel like I whine and complain on here to much already, but then I was thinking, and the reason I started this blog was really just to get my feelings out. So anyone reading this I'm sorry for the down mood.
First off my kids and the kids I babysit for have been sick. I haven't felt the greatest either but I wouldn't really say I'm sick. Second my husband got switched to third shift. I think that's my main problem. It wasn't his fault and there is nothing that can be done about it so I need to just get over it but it makes me sad to not have him here at night and to have to try to keep the kids quiet through the day when they arnt used to that. He used to be on thirds a long time ago and we had sooo many problems. I think that's what I'm afraid of. I don't want it to go back to the way it was. But he is different now so I need to just keep hoping for the best.
i need to be thankful, because the reason he had to go to night shift was because they fired the 3rd shift boss, So he is more or less replacing him. At least he has a job right?.

And now I find out that he has to work tonight, actually he has to go in a 6pm then work til 6:30am, then he will need to be at school for his college class at 9am til 11:45am Sat. morning., hopefully he can stay awake for class. We are supposed to go out Sat. night for our anniversary, its only been planned FOREVER! He is gonna be exhausted though. Hopefully he can come home from class and sleep for a few hours then wake up and be in a good mood to go out. We will see. The thing is none of this is his fault, so I cant be mad at him. Its just the whole situation that gets me down..

My weight loss this week was non-existent. i know it was due to the fact that I was sad and lonely and did a little emotional eating. Totally my fault and I need to stop it!!!

Hopefully I can get out of this funk and have a better week next week. I know there is some saying,,, I cant remember how it goes exactly, something about change what you can, accept what you cant. Darn it, I cant remember it. Have a great weekend!

9 years

Well today is my husbands and mine 9 year wedding anniversary! Its amazing to me. We have definatly been through some tough times. There were times that I thought we wernt going to make it but our love always pulled through. Marriage is very important to me. Neither of my parents are still married to each other. I want to stay true to my vows always and forever.
I really do love my husband and I know he loves me. Since its the middle of the week we wont really celebrate today, but Saturday my mom is going to babysit and we are ging to Red Lobster. I am very excited. We dont get much alone time together. I will let you know how it goes.

Menu Plan 10-19

Here goes for this week. I'm trying a couple of new dishes:)

*spaghetti with garlic bread

*cumin chicken W/ apples, rice, green beans

*pizza casserole

*stir fry w/ rice

*bisquts & gravy

*Red Lobster for hubby and mys anniversary---I'm so excited!

This weeks weigh in

Good news! The new scale is working beautifully, its consistant so I know its working..
Drum roll please......................................lost 2.2 lbs.... Yay! I'm happy with that :)

An unexpected compliment:) and Emmas dr. appt.

My husband said something really nice to me tonight, and gave me a compliment without him even realizing he did it i think.

A lot of the people reading this I think know who flylady is. Well a couple of years ago I signed up for her emails and got her book. I loved it and learned a ton...Then we got rid of our Internet so i didn't receive the emails anymore, I still kinda followed the same schedule but just fit it to suit me. Anyways, fast forward to now, last week I re signed up for the emails just to give me some encouragement and such. Well today hubby was on the computer and started looking at the emails, those of you that know my husband know how grumpy and such that he can be and how few the compliments come around here., .. he said..."whats all these flylady emails", to which i cheerfully replied, that I signed up again to get her emails....then he said ,"Well that's dumb, you don't need her, you do a good job keeping up with things without it"
Now to my ears, that was wonderful to hear, because that means he is happy with the way I am keeping house and he really does know and see what I do. I had to smile, it made me very happy!

Emmas doctors appt. went okay, she weighs 26 pounds and is 30 1/2 inches long...so of course she was off the top of the chart on both of those, she only actually gained 3 pounds since her last visit. She grew like 4 1\2 inches i think,, everything checked out good accept he is worried about her cold. He gave her some medicine and I have to do breathing treatments on her 3 times a day:( It is awful because she hates it and doesn't understand what I'm doing or why I'm doing it and she screams and fights the whole time... in the meantime I feel like awful because she thinks I'm just being mean...I hate it! Unfortunately it looks like she is going to be like Gary when it comes to getting colds. Its only the 2nd time shes really been sick but both times she has had to have breathing treatments...poor thing.. Its ok though, it could be worse, I hate when my kids are sick.. I just love them so much....

Do you know what this is????

I have been a busy girl today! Do ya know what this is????? Apple butter! Yay..first ever made. I put everything in the crock pot last night and then canned it this morning. Then I went on to the juice that I got from the apple peels and TRIED to make apple jelly... stress the word tried...I'm very sad. I don't think its going to turn out. The first time I did it this morning it was so runny. and I read that you could try again with another package of pectin, so I tried and guess what it is still looking pretty runny:( It is pretty in the jars but when you pick up the jar its just like water... I know what happened, I was stupid. I was working away at everything this morning and I had my juice and pectin working on the stove waiting for it to boil, I looked at my water bath canner and was worried I wouldn't have enough water so I went and filled up a container with water to add to the canner...well my brain had a lapse or something and I poured the water into the apple juice~~~~~VERY BAD!!!!~~~~I knew immediately what I had done,,, so you know what I did,,,I didnt know what to do so I just scooped out some of the liquid from the apple pot,,,now I know that there was pectin in it and I don't know exactly how much I poured in or how much I scooped out....I was freaking out here guys...I panicked! So I just thought well maybe it will still turn out and kept on going,,,,and as I already said it didn't work....then I saw you can try again if it doesn't set so I tried again, but I'm thinking its not gonna work either....So while it looks beautiful in the jar, I'm not sure if I could do anything with it. Here is the apple jelly one the left and the apple butter on the right... The apple butter is very yummy by the way, it turned out great.

So here is the question I post to anyone who might know... can I do anything with the not turned out right apple jelly? Is it okay if I use it as like apple syrup or something? Any help would be appreciated. thanks,,,,,,,,,,,,,

In about an hour I get to take Emma to the doctor for her 9 month checkup.. I will let you know how it goes, she has a little cold right now, so I'm glad he can check that while we are there too.

-leftover meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green beans

-taco night

-something with cabbage, heads were on sale so I bought one, any suggestions on a good recipe?

-lasagna, garlic bread

-homemade pizza

-broccoli soup (never got around to making this last week)

Apple and pumpkin picking

Sunday Gary was feeling better so we decided to go to the apple and pumpkin place. Emma seemed cranky but it was such a beautiful weekend and we know that there arnt gonna be many more weekends like this before the snow comes! We had never been to this place before. I was very impressed. It was so much fun. You go and get your buckets then its off to the apple orchid.
This is what I call team work. Most of the apples on the bottoms of the trees had already been picked, so we had to reach up high.
We picked around a bushel of apples, probably a little more. It cost us $33.00, but it was so worth it because we know where what we are eating came from.

Her is Emma amongst a bunch of pumpkins, it was a little set up they had to take pic's but she wasn't very happy. She was hot and cranky. But I think this picture is so cute!

We all got in a hay filled wagon then and rode to the pumpkin patch. We let the kids pick there pumpkins, Emma even picked a little one.


It was a great day. When we got home I was so excited and made my first batch of applesauce! It is so yummy! I didn't even have to add sugar. So I'm really excited cause I can give Emma this also! It is so much tastier than anything in the store!

I still have about 1/2 a bushel left. I'm trying to decide what to do with them......maybe apple butter...or more applesauce,,,,I don't know yet.

Update on my sicky boy,

Well I thought my little man was feeling better yesterday, so we loaded everyone up to go to Walmart. We got there and got out of the van. Started walking through the parking lot towards the door and he started throwing up everywhere! Lovely.....Thank goodness we wernt in the store yet. So we loaded everyone up back into the van and went back home,,,major bummer!!! Emma was not happy, she didn't want to go back in her car seat so she screamed! Today he seems better but I'm not gonna chance it. We will just stay home and hopefully get some outside chores done that we have been putting off. I really hope he is better because we were supposed to go pick apples this weekend, maybe it will work out tomorrow.

New weigh in...

Okay. I got my new scale last night. It seems pretty accurate, but I was very disappointed. The number difference in the new scale and the old scale was like around 10 lbs., higher than my old one, so it makes it look as if I haven't lost anything..:( so I say ....whatever, I am starting over as of today. I am going to go with this scales numbers, (I threw my old one away this morning). Today is like day 1, I am going to do this darn it!!!! The thing is I am not going to get all obsessive about it, I am just trying to be more healthy, and I know from past experience that the weight will come off, hopefully sooner than later though!

Weigh in postponed

Just wanted to jump on here real fast and say that i will be posting my weigh in tomorrow, We are going to Walmart tonight so I will pick up a new scale while I am there, I just don't feel I can trust mine anymore.... but don't expect much as in a loss ,, I just feel fat so I am not expecting much. Tune in tomorrow

Sicky

My son is sick. He has a really bad cough. Poor thing, every since he was a baby, whenever he gets a cold it instantly goes to his chest and is awful. One time he had to stay overnight in the hospital with pneumonia. Finally after a couple years the doctor sent us home with a nebulizer(breathing treatment machine), because that is the only thing that would help break up his cough. Every time he would get a cold we would end up having to take him to the doctor because it would get so bad, but after we got that machine, whenever he starts sounding bad I use the nebulizer on him a couple times and he gets better. So hopefully he will start getting better, he is staying home from school today, supposed to be resting, but its hard to keep him laying down, he wants to be playing. Right now he is in his bedroom sooo excited because he just found my c.d. that has the song "black betty" on it and that for some reason is his favorite song in the whole wide world. So he is rocking out to it right now. He is so funny. Anyways hopefully his cough gets better so we can go apple picking this weekend. I want to make some home made applesauce and maybe some apple butter, and I found a u-pick place that Bennie said we could go to this weekend. I need to call today and find out how much they charge. Right now in the stores apples are running around a little under a dollar for a pound so I wanna make sure its a better deal than that.

Big loaf of bread

Check out my big humongous loaf of bread that I made. I used Tereza's basic bread machine recipe.I put all the ingredients into the bread machine and let the dough cycle run. Then I took it out and free formed it into this loaf. It got even bigger when I baked it. I normally take it and divide the dough into two loaf pans but I wanted to try something different this time. It turned out wonderful! Here is one of my babysitting kids enjoying a piece with my homemade jelly!

The Zoo

We had a great weekend. It went by way to fast for me,but it was wonderful. I just love doing things that make my kids happy. Its not very often that we do special things like going to the zoo, so when we do , I think the kid appreciate them more. I took lots of pictures while we were there. Here are a few.. this one is of Emma sitting in the kangaroo's pouch, she was kinda scared when I sat her in there. This is a peacock, that was sitting right beside of us on the rail as we were waiting for the zoo train. I couldn't believe it was so close.
And here are the kids on the train.
The goat that they let you feed and pet. We didn't get to feed them because it was the end of the day and they have to regulate how much the little goats eat, but there were brushes there that the kids used to brush them. Daddy enjoyed the baby goats too:)
This was a little set up they had for fall out at the front gates of the zoo. We tried so hard to get Emma to look at the camera but with all the people she was to busy looking around.
Jess and Emma in the big dinosaur egg,

and Gary in his:)
We took Emma on the carousal for the first time. She liked it until it started moving, it went up and down, so she was a little scared but it was fun.
Oh, this was real cool, Bennie was holding Emma letting her look through the fence at the wallabies and one just hopped right up to her and stood there for the longest time. Then she burped and it scared the little guy away:)
And here is Gary in the kangaroos pouch.
It really was a lot of fun. I had never been there in the fall. They had the whole place decorated up with pumpkins and corn husks. It was beautiful. After the zoo we went out to eat, then to toys r us and Sam's club. the kids behaved very well and everyone had a great time! I couldn't have asked for a better day.