Wednesday

Oh boy, What a day!! I had my sisters baby today. It actually went really well! I was very pleased, the two babies are so cute together. They do take toys from each other though but obviously 7 and 9 month olds do not get the concept of sharing. We will worry about that later. I will have her again tomorrow. The day does go pretty fast though because I stay so busy.
It is pretty much impossible to get free minutes on the computer though, so that's sad:(
I guess I will just have to wait til the evenings to get on when I have her. I'm excited for the 3 day weekend. It will be nice to just have some family together time.

Ramblings..

Thought I'd jump on here real quick for an update. Right now I have potatoes boiling and eggs boiling on the stove for the potato salad tonight. Things are going well. Yesterday I made chocolate zucchini bread! It was soo yummy!

I started my little babysitting girl on preschool yesterday. It was fun she enjoys it. I do too, I used to want to be a teacher, so I find it fun. We just work for about 30 minutes everyday. And I found a great website that pretty much lays out the lesson plans for me. Its called letteroftheweek.com. I found it really interesting!

Emma got her shots yesterday. She is such a trooper though, she didn't even cry! I sent my husband to get them with her though., because if she would have cried so would of I:( He said she didn't even flinch. Maybe its all the padding she has in her legs:)

I found out Ben starts bowling league this week!! He's excited, I'm not. But I guess its good for him to get out. His golf league just ended last week so there was not even one week in between. Oh well.

We are starting to get green peppers out of the garden now..Finally!! I don't want to let any go to waste. Does anyone know if you can freeze them?

Hamburger Zucchini over Rice

Someone asked for this recipe. I got this recipe from my friend Stephanie and changed it a little bit to suite my families taste buds. Its very good and easy!!


Hamburger Zucchini over Rice
Ingredients:
1 lb. hamburger
minced garlic to taste
1 med. onion
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp. oregano
1 can tomatoes or 4 fresh tomatoes (peeled and chopped)
3 small zucchini-sliced

Brown hamburger, garlic and onions. Add remaining ingredients. Simmer for 20 minutes. Serve over rice and season with soy sauce.

With the soy sauce this reminds me of like a stir fry!! It also calls for Lima beans but I haven't had them when I make the dish, so we have never tried them in it.

Menu plan Aug. 25

Wow, I cant' hardly believe its the end of August already!! Summer is coming to a close. Do you change the things you eat with the seasons? I know we have more hot soups and such in the winter time. Well here is this weeks menu, please understand that this is very likely to change depending upon my mood. We will most likely eat everything on here just maybe not the days that I had planned. The main reason for this is I know I have a plan for everyday of the week and I have that food on hand, so I don't have to worry about not having things to make supper for my family and not having to run and eat out!

Monday- spaghetti & bread sticks with salad

Tues- hot dogs, potato salad, creamed cukes

Wed-hamburger zucchini over rice

Thurs.-pork chops, pot., corn

Friday-kids eating at moms, Ben and I going out with my sister

Sat.-lunch, biscuits and gravy dinner-pizza

Sunday-ham steak, baked potatoes, green beans

Just another day...

Today was a good day. I planned out the next 3 weeks worth of menus using pretty much what I already have on hand. Of course I will have to buy things like milk and eggs and stuff but most everything else I already have. Today for dinner we had BLT's on homemade bread with pasta salad and fried zucchini. It wasn't' what I had planned for dinner but it sounded so good and we are getting quite a few tomatoes coming our way.

The kids are sure enjoying school. They seem to be doing well with everything so far. Of course usually the first couple weeks are review. They are enjoying getting to see their friends. I have been considering homeschooling my kids, but that is one of the main things holding me back, them not having that outside contact with all the other kids that is. But that contact is also something making me want to home school, some of the things they come home saying is just ridiculous that other little children have told them!!! I remember my daughters first day of kindergarden. I picked her up and she told me that she needed to become one of the popular kids!! I didn't think popular was even in kindergartners vocabulary. Anyways, it started with that and only got worse from there. I love my kids and I just worry about outside influence. I did some crazy things when I was younger just because I thought they were "cool".

Tomorrow I am going to try to sweep and mop the whole house, do the dusting, and try to figure out what to make to take to the family reunion. I'm thinking maybe peanut butter and jelly cookies, but I'm not sure yet.

Babies

Yesterday my sister called and wanted me to watch her baby for a little bit while she took her hubby to the doctor. Here they are playing in the exersaucer and walker. It went pretty well. Until it was time to eat and they both wanted food at the same time. It got a little stressful then but I think when she starts coming more on a regular basis hopefully we can work out a schedule. They are so close in age, hopefully they will be great friends!


Today is one of the little girls birthday that I babysit for so her and I made cupcakes. When the older ones get home from school we will sing happy birthday and have cupcakes, and I will let her open her present then. I got her a Dora the explorer play dough set.. She's 3 and very much into "Dora". She is gonna love it I'm sure.

Since the older kids are in school now, in the afternoon the little ones take a nap so I actually get some quiet time. Its nice! It gives me some time on the computer and also time to get exta work done that is hard to complete with them awake.. Have a great day!

Whats you opinions on stocking up??

Sometimes I think I'm going crazy! (Isn't that a great starter sentence) No but seriously, I don't know if its because I'm home so much without adult conversation, but my mind is constantly going a hundred miles a minute! I'm always thinking about things and planning way ahead in my brain. But rarely do things ever end up happening like I plan them out. My main thoughts as of lately have been finances. I try not to worry myself about things, but constantly thinking about it and trying to find solutions in my head I guess is my way of dealing. Anyways here is my latest dilemma that I've been thinking about and I would really like feedback from anyone reading this to. You can remain anonymous if you'd like.
My usual way of thinking is to buy things when they are on sale. You know, like stock up. Even if I don't particularly need that item I know that I will use it eventually so I figure I should get it if its a good deal. But lately I've been thinking if I am short on money already maybe it wouldn't be very wise to buy things that I am not in need of at the time. My husband kind of pointed that out to me, I told him I wanted to go to CVS(because I always can get awesome deals there), and he said I thought we were short on money, to which I replied, "but I am saving money", and he said"BUT YOU HAVE TO SPEND MONEY TO SAVE MONEY". Which of course at the time I got all irate and mad at him, but now I see how he kind of makes sense. (don't tell him that).:)
So I think that maybe for the time being I should only buy what we absolutely NEED. Because there is always going to be come kind of sale somewhere, and when we need that item, if I look around I can probably find a good deal.
What do you guys think? How do you do it?

Menu Week of 8/18

Ok, well last weeks menu plan got soooo messed up, but I pretty much made everything that was on the menu, just kept switching the days around. And on Sat. I made the most delicious meatballs ever!!! Well we thought so at least. So that is a new one that I'm gonna start adding to our menus. So here is this weeks menu....

Monday-tuna noodle casserole/french bread

Tuesday-zucchini pizza\cheese bread

Wednesday-spaghetti/garlic bread

Thursday-pork chops/rice/zucchini patties

Friday-pizza

Sat.-???we have a family reunion this day so we will be eating there for lunch, not sure about dinner

Sunday-roast\potatoes\carrots

For more great menu ideas check out orgjunkie.com !!

Good old back yard fun..

Our Saturday was pretty uneventful around here due to everyone not feeling real great. Ben had a golf tournament, so that took up most of the day for him. The kids and I just hung around the house. It was a beautiful day so we played outside. Jess rediscovered the sandbox this weekend. She hasn't played in it in ages but decided to practice cooking with the sand. She made up all kinds of make believe things to eat. Emma just loves her swing. Sometimes when shes grumpy all we have to do is take her outside and then she calms down and is happy again.
And here is big brother swinging along side her.
Also i thought I would introduce the other member of the family, Shelby, our Boston terrier. We have had her for about 4 years. She really is a good dog, the only problem with her is she likes to lick, and gets extremely excited when company comes so I usually end up having to put her up when we have visitors.
All in all it was a good day. Also just to let everyone know, the kids had a great day at school on Friday. They both liked their teachers and the people in thier classes. Believe it or not though they both had homework. I thought that was a little crazy for the first day of school and also a Friday. Oh well, they didn't mind. I am blessed with kids right now who love school. Lets hope they stay that way for a long time:)

First day of school

First day of school today for the big kids!!! Aren't they just the cutest things, they were very excited!

I never realized how much taller Jess was than Gary!! I hope their day is going well. I'm always so excited to hear about everything when they get home! Jess was a little nervous about her ouchies still from the "crash", at the campgrounds.

I told her everything would be fine and she will have an awesome story to tell everyone!

I am soooo tired today. Emma had me up all night last night. She has a stuffy nose, about 10:30pm, she started waking up crying, so I would get up and give her the Binky back and get her all situated, then lay back down in bed and 15 minutes later she would wake up again. This continued all night long. Bless her poor little heart, shes still smiley today, but her nose is all runny. I feel so bad for her, I hope she doesn't get to sick. There is just about nothing worse than when your babies are sick. You just want to make it all better, but you can't. I'm just trying to make her as comfy as possible, and trying to keep my eyes open:)

Look at my award!!

Thanks Shannon for this award. You made my day! My only problem is gonna be figuring out who to give it to because most of the blogs I read already have this award. But thanks again so much!

Dinner

Here was our dinner tonight. Totally not what was on the menu but this whole week has been messed up . It was sure good though. BBQed ham steak, green beans, sauteed zucchini, and corn bread! YUMMO....the best part is I made extra cornbread so I can have cornbread and milk later:)

Lack of posts..

Sorry for the lack of post lately. I have been trying to spend as much time as possible with the kids before they have to go back to school(which is tomorrow). It's going to be very weird around here. But I will start watching my sisters baby also when she substitutes(teaching), which should be a couple of days a week. That should be very interesting. 2 babies under the age of 9 months, plus a three year old. I think I will be fine, I did tell her though that I if it turned out I cant handle it I would be letting her know. I'm sure it will be okay,, now it just sounds like I'm trying to convince myself:) Anyways I just wanted to let everyone know that I'm still here. And will hopefully have some interesting posts to share soon!!

Wizards game

Well we had fun at the Wizards game last night. The kids enjoyed themselves. It was the first time any of us had ever been to a professional baseball game. Personally I enjoyed the extra things that they came out and did between endings the most. It was a good time and Emma did very well. There were so many people and distractions that she was entertained the whole time.

We would probably go back next year if we could get a good deal on tickets. Gary said he really wants to go again. They won 4-0 !

Happy Birthday to me and our crazy weekend!

Today is my birthday!! I'm 28 years young. And I feel the same as I did yesterday for all of you who would ask,,,,"So do you feel any older?". :)
We had an eventful weekend. Sat., I went with my mom, sisters, and daughter to Michigan City to the outlet malls. Its kind of a tradition to go shopping with my mom for my bday, we have done it for as long as I can remember. When I was younger my bday was always right before school started so we would go and buy school clothes. Now, she just gives me money and I go and get clothes or whatever I want. I didn't get very many clothes due to I am planning on getting my size back down..., its not quite working out how I'd like but that's a whole different post for another day. Anyways, it was fun to have a girls day out!!
Yesterday we went to a campground about an hour and a half away! My sis is staying there until Wed., and she wanted everyone to come hang out for the day. It was fun, we layed by the pool, the kids swam for a little bit but it was pretty chilly. So we went back to the campsite and hung out. The boys went fishing(surprise, surprise)..and Jess decided to try out grandmas electric scooter. THAT WAS A BAD IDEA!!!! She fell off. Majorly! Scraped up both knees, both elbows, tore the skin off of the inside of her hand, Scratched up everything else!! Oh, and scraped up her face pretty bad too, which she starts school this Friday so shes not to excited about all her friends seeing her face all torn up. Luckily she didn't need stitches or anything, so it could have been worse. She cried on and off for like an hour, but I thought she was pretty tough. My mom cleaned out all her wounds, and I know that it had to majorly hurt BAD! She's gonna be sore for a while.
Besides that it was a good day. We just probably wont be riding any scooters for a while. Tonight we are going to the Wizards baseball game. My sister got us tickets for free from her work!! So that will be fun for the kids. I am sure gonna be happy when life slows down again though. I am a stay at home kinda girl and all this running around is about to wear me out. There seems to always be so many things that need to be done at home, so when we are gone I feel like I get behind! Lots of work to do! Hope everyone reading this had a great weekend also.

Menu, week of Aug 11

Here is my menu for the week. Tonight we are going to a baseball game so we will be eating dollar hot dogs there(courtesy of my mom). We have had a crazy weekend and I am gonna tell you all about it as soon as I get a chance to have a longer time to sit here and type.
Tuesday-crock pot roasted chicken, baked pot., green beans
Wednesday- spaghetti and bread sticks
Thursday farmhouse chicken casserole
Friday-stuffed pepper casserole
Sat.- pizza
Sunday-BBQ sandwiches, garlic pot, green beans

$Broke$ But stocked up

Well after paying for the kids school tuition the other day and buying school supplies I sat and made out our monthly budget. It was a pretty sad looking situation:( But I am being optimistic because I can pay all of the bills that need to be payed, and that's whats important. After bills there wasn't much left over but after some good planning I have it figured out. I have to live on a $50.00 grocery budget for the next two weeks and that includes baby's formula and diapers and baby food. So the most important thing is that Emma has what she needs, so I went to Walmart last night and got her enough formula to last. I also got her some baby food but I will still have to get more of that. I got just a couple of things for us. Anyways I spent $30.00. So I have $20.00 left to last two weeks. I am not going to let this get me down. I can make it work! It will be a fun challenge. So this morning I sat and made a menu for the next two weeks(until next payday). I chose things that I already have on hand. See that's the thing, we arn' t rolling in the dough right now, but we have full cabinets, and meat in our freezer, so I"m not to worried. I can be creative when it comes to our food. No one will be going hungry. I am not going to stress over this, but my husband on the other hand will and does. I don't know why, because I am the one that handles the money and he still gets the same amount of money for the week (which is a whole entire weeks worth of pay from one of my babysitting kids, and I only have one right now so I'm more or less working so that he has money to blow!!!). Wooo, sorry didn't mean for that to come out....Anyways we are gonna be just fine. And one of the reasons is because of my lovely smarts when it comes to deals. In times like this I am sooooo glad that I stock up on things when they are on sale!!!! For example...We will defiantly have clean clothes because I have 4 1\2 containers of laundry det., 2 1\2 things of fabric softener, and 1 1\2 boxes of dryer sheets!!!

We will also have clean bodys and teeth(thanks to cvs)!!! All these were practically free!!!!
And we can wipe our bums and faces!( Also thanks to cvs)




Emma can also have a clean and dry tooshie! Actually these probably wont last 2 weeks.

So we are gonna be just fine. some may wonder why in the world I want to put this out there for everyone to know my business. I don't know, maybe this will help someone else. Maybe make them realize that even in tough times you can work it out.

So as of right now I have a positive attitude, if at any time you start to hear me complain or something like that feel free to remind me that it will all be okay. Just keep smiling!:)

Cookies!!!

This is what I did this morning while Miss Emma was napping.Chocolate chip m&m cookies.Mmmm....

This is part of my quest to save money and be frugal. I haven't been buying pre packaged snacks for the kids so I've been doing everything homemade!! Even our bread has been homemade. Its a lot of work, but its also fun, and makes me feel good that I know exactally what is going into the ingredients of the things I am making. I found out yesterday that our school lunches are going up in price. So guess what two kids are going to be packing their lunches more often:) I will just need to come up with some creative ideas for them to pack. Maybe if I make it fun then they will enjoy it more.

We are not usually so tight with money, but with all the doctor bills from having Emma and Ben's surgery its just about killing us. And unfortunately it will be awhile before we get them all payed off. :( But I am trying to make the best of it. I am truly blessed with what I do have. My family is great and we all love each other. We are healthy and happy, what more could I ask for.

Everyday life

Today was a nice day. We got to go sign the kids up for school and that is always very exciting. They found out who their teachers were. Jess was really happy cause her little friend is gonna be in the same class as her. Gary got the same teacher Jess had in 2nd grade. He wasn't thrilled but it will be fine. They start next Friday, its gonna be so weird not having them here during the day. Emma and my other babysitting kid will keep me busy, I' m going to start doing like preschool with her so that will be fun. For dinner we had Bennie's new favorite, BBQ pizza

and a really yummy salad


Poor Emma couldn't have any pizza but she seemed to enjoy her rice cereal and spring veggies, I cant wait til she can start eating the same food we eat!!!

She can get quite messy when she eats! Isn't she just a doll!! I cant ever get enough of her. So all in all it was a pretty good day!!

God's Coffee

This article was in the new hillbilly housewife's newsletter. I really liked it and wanted to share it with you.


GOD’S COFFEE
Author Unknown
A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life.
Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups - porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, someexpensive, some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to the coffee.
When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said:
“If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress.
Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink.
What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups… And then you began eyeing each other’s cups.
Now consider this: Life is the coffee; the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain Life, and the type of cup we have does not define, nor change the quality of Life we live.
Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee God has provided us.”
God brews the coffee, not the cups………. Enjoy your coffee!
“The happiest people don’t have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything.”
Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God.

Makes you think doesn't it? We concentrate so much on looking good having the best of everything and worring about what others think. We need to all remember what matters most!!

Menu Aug 4

I am proud to say that this menu planning is sooo working! Didn't go out to eat not even once last week and probably not for the next month due to the extremely ridiculous cost of back to school everything! So here is the plan for this week, next weekend is very busy so we wont be eating at home very often but don't worry I wont be paying for going out to eat. Oh by the way, I'm going to try to start listing breakfast and lunch also:
Monday-B-yogurt, zucchini muffins ... L-leftover lasagna....D-hamburger zucchini over rice
Tuesday-B-yogurt, granola...L-homemade mac n cheese...D-taco soup
Wednesday-B-pancakes....L-leftovers....D-BBQ chicken pizza
Thursday-B-cereal...L-leftover pizza..D-stir fry w\ rice
Friday-B-smoothies...L-spaghetti o's...D-chicken paprika's

Lasagna and Green Beans

Happy Sunday All. Tonight instead of my scheduled meal we had lasagna and italian herb bread, that I put cheese on and stuck under the broiler. We also had green beans from the garden.







It was yummy. But my husband still managed to complain. He has been complaining about having to many green beans\zucchini\cucumbers\corn.....all the things from the garden. I try to explain to him that he should be thankful and not complain. But he just doesn't get it. Oh well.
I feel like I've been living in the kitchen lately. Every since I've been doing the homemade from scratch things I'm continually in there. And of course I feel under appreciated. Deep down I know they do appreciate it, its just not there nature to show it I guess. I do love doing these things for my family though. Lets give it up for the mothers and grandmother of long ago, that had no choice but to do things the old fashioned way... I can only imagine how tired and worn out they felt everyday. There has got to be a secret to it all. One of these day I will figure it out.