Home

So we've been home for a few days and obviously I still haven't updated my blog.  I've been trying to catch up on the laundry and the household stuff.  Being away from my house just throws me off.  I feel like I get behind.  Alas I will need to be getting used to it though because with Bens mom moving only 3 hours away instead of across the country we will be taking long weekends out there much more often.  I am happy about it all though.  I can't imagine not seeing my mom for so long and I hope the two(hubby and mom in law) can build there relationship. 
Being away from home not only makes me feel behind on my household duties but apparently in the fitness area also.  While the hotel we stayed in had a workout room and I did use the treadmill 2 of the 3 days we were there(yay) I still ate like crap!  Seriously when we returned home my scale was up 10 pounds!  :(   I thought the next day it would look better....Nope.  2 days later and I'm only down a few ounces.  I have got to get back on the right eating track and keep losing!   I feel awful and like a fat slob and I hate it.   I need to learn to make healthy choices outside the home as well as in.  I can do pretty well when I'm at home but get me out to a restaurant and its a free for all.  Good thing we dont go out to often! 

Hopefully I'll be back with some pictures soon!

Spills and sleepless nights

 Oh today is just not my day.  Last night Emma woke me up at 3am,,I do not know why she does this.  She's been doing it quite often.  She wakes up and runs through the house(sounding quite like a crazed elephant), stomp stomp stomp super fast in a dead run, so I know shes coming before she gets there. She has to come all the way across the house to get to our room.  Does she try to crawl into our bed?  NO.  She knows she not really allowed to do that.  She wakes me up(although shes already awoken me with her stomping run through the house) and says "Mommy, take me back to bed".   Now really, what is the point of that besides to just wake me up?   I know shes only 5, I know she has probably woken up and having trouble getting back to sleep, but all that just to make sleeping me get up and follow her back to her room and tuck her back in and turn on her music box.  This is almost a nightly occurrence.  I guess it wouldnt be such a big deal accept for once I get up and go back to bed I have such a hard time falling back to sleep.  I lay there dog tired but toss and turn and think of things,,things I need to do, things that are emotionally bothering me, last night it took me 2 hours, so from 3-5am I was laying in bed feeling bad cuz I wasnt very nice to her this time when I took her back to bed, thinking about the food I was going to make today to put in the freezer for  quick meals for the kiddos in busy times, thinking about missing my dad, wondering why he doesnt call or come around, thinking I need to be a better mother......seriously people my mind races.   And this normally doesnt happen unless Im woken up by the lovely Emma.  ugh...   Enough of that,, just so you know, I love her to pieces and I'm just venting because I'm tired and dont know what to do to make it better.

So fast forward to 6:30am,, Jess wakes me saying I need to write her a check for a yearbook,,I get up do that, send her off to school, hop in shower to get ready cuz fairly new babysitting girl is coming at 7:15 this morning.  Before I'm even out of the shower Emma is up,  once new girl arrives shes crying and sad,, She doesnt like her mom going to work and is having a hard time with it bless her heart, but it sure makes for a long day.  I hope this wont last long!
I didnt mean for this to be a day in the life post so lets skip forward to around 10am, I start my getting ingredients out for my marathon baking and spill almost a whole container of cocoa powder all over the kitchen floor,,, what a stinking mess!!!  That was not easy to clean up, especially when I have to tell a 1 year old to stay away and out 500 times while Im trying to clean it up and every time I tell him to get out he throws a fit.  (deep breath)  First I get the pancake sausage muffins done, then corn dog muffins, and applesauce bread!  I sure thought it seemed like more than it looks like here

LOL   the hot dogs in the muffins arnt really a surprise are they?

I gave the kids some corn dog muffins for lunch along with some peaches and chex mix,, they really liked them.  Im hoping to put the rest accept for maybe a few cuz I know Gary is super excited to try out those muffins when he gets home from school today, in the freezer.  Soccer season is starting and things are about to get crazy here!
After I got the kids started I got my lunch ready, leftover crock pot fried rice and grilled chicken from last nights dinner.  Ben made sure to save me some so I could have some for lunch.  I was so excited,,, put it in the microwave(which we keep in the laundry room due to lack of space in the kitchen), got it out.  It smelled so good! I was carrying it out to the table and low and behold that bowl slipped right out of my hand and spilled all over the floor!  :(
I was so sad I could have cried.  I didnt even bother cleaning it up, the dog was already there enjoying what I was supposed to be eating... So instead I tried out the corn dog muffins I made and they were really good so I ended up eating 2.  Plus some hummus chips with hummus and raw carrots and grape tomatoes.  Over 500 calorie lunch that was only supposed to be around 300.  
Lets hope the rest of the day looks up,  ,I think we are going to Apple Bees for dinner tonight for a treat so at least I dont have to cook anymore!

And I hope you all dont think I'm a terrible mother now for complaining about Emmas sleeping habits.

Homemade poptarts

So the kiddos had school canceled Monday due to snow(Spring is here but the snow and cold weather are also still here :(  Anyways we have been talking about taking a try at making homemade pop tarts and I decided today was the day.  I am loving Laura's recipes and cant wait to receive her book I ordered in the mail! I mixed up the dough and let the kiddos help with the rest.  We decided to fill them with strawberry spreadable fruit and nutella! (notice the flowers in the background? Bennie was sweet and got them for me the other day, just because) 

Here's a few on the pan waiting to go in the oven.

Emma pressing the edges with a fork to seal them.

Enjoying the fruits of her labor!  Still not a low calorie snack but the ingredient list is all healthy and homemade so I feel better about serving these as a snack instead of the boxed poptarts.

And just because,, here's a pic of my girls..  I love when Jess helps out and acts loving with her sister :)

Just another Monday

Oh Monday how I loathe you. Today was a busy one too. I played catch up with the laundry( actually still have quite a bit of folding to do). Bens mom was here over the weekend! They came all the way from California and are moving to Ohio so instead of being across the country they will only be 3 hours away. So it will be a easy long weekend trip to get to see them. We are thrilled. Anyways I disnt really do any laundry owr the weekend.
I put a whole chicken in the crockpot this morning for dinner. A couple hours before it was time to eat I threw in some carrots. That was a super yummy and easy dinner. We also had baked potatos to go along with it.
I Made some pumpkin chocolate muffins for the kiddos. I only kept out a few and put the rest in the freezer to rtake out as needed for lunches. I also made some smoothie pops. Ill talk more about that later. We are really excited about them!
Then this evening we had a freshman soccer meeting for Jess. Even though shes not a freshman yet apparently they start conditioning tomorrow for next school year. Crazy!!! Im excited for her though and I know she is going to learn a ton and I hope she makes some great new friends and enjoys being part of this team.

Life in pictures

We've been busy.  And I didn't wanna go to long without posting so I decided to post some recent pics from my phone for you guys...
Here is Ms Emma hangin cool in the car reading her books

She just looked so darn cute I had to snap a pic!

Here is a pot beans ready to be cooked and transferred into re fried beans without the re fry.   There are pinto beans, a whole onion, lots of garlic and some seasonings. Then I filled up the crock pot with water, turned it on high for 4 hours, then low for about 2 or 3 hours.  Then I drained out just a little water then used a potato masher to mash it all up. .It was delish!!  It made a ton so we froze some and ate some. :)

Here is me.  Ben told me to send him a picture while he was at work on Friday and I was busy so just snapped this one of myself really fast.. He asked how many times I took a pic to send him because he said this is the best looking picture of me in a long time.  lol..  I dont see it.  But its sweet of him to say that.

And here is Gary and Emma, we went to the Home and Garden show with my parents yesterday and they had a little booth with a real live tortoise.  The lady asked Emma if she wanted to pet it and she wouldn't but Gary did!  Arnt they just the cutest kids!

Now I'm waiting for Ben to get home from work, then we are gonna have lunch then hit the gym.   Its day 2 of our free 7 day membership at the fitness center.  It was sooo nice working out there yesterday and having all the options of the different machines.  

Prepping for the week

Its Sunday night and were ready for the new week. Tomorrow we have 2 orthodontist appointments. Wednesday Emma and Bennie get to do fathers night at preschool! And Thursday I go to the preschool and help with the 3 year old fathers night. So a busy werk ahead.

Saturday Ben worked and then we had our appointmant to get our taxes done. He gave us a rough estimate of what we would be getting back. Its a decent amount but not as much as Id like. I was hoping to be able to pay off more debt than I will be able to. But its better than nothing I suppose and I will just need to make a strict plan to pay off the rest.
Today Ben was off and we had a nice relaxing day at home. Jess and I knocked out our last day of The Shred!! I really am proud of myself. I stuck with it and finished it out. I know Im stronger and tomorrow morning Im gonna take my measurments and see the results. Ill post them here!
Besides that we watched a couple movies. I also made granola bars and banana chocolate chip baked oatmeal muffins to eat through the week. Then we watched a episode of Pretty Little Liars. A new netflix show Ive become sucked into.;-) oh the little guilty pleasures.
Days like today are some of my favorite. When we stay home and veg!

Contentment

Contentment.  This is something I have struggled with and worked on my entire life.  As a child it always seems your friends have bigger and better things,, the grass is always greener concept.  Well unfortunately as an adult I still struggle with this.  Lately it has gotten so much better though.  Here's the thing. Most days I am happy.  I am more or less living the life I have always wanted.  I have a husband that loves me, I've got great kids, I am able to be home with them.  There have been quite a few times I have despised my house but I have finally come to terms with the fact that this is where we are meant to be right now.  The payments are right and we can not afford a bigger house payment.  Everyone has there own room,, granted it is only 1000sq feet and there are 5 of us, plus extra littles here through the day but we all fit and its cute and comfortable.  It is our home and will more than likely be our home for quite a while. It could be so much worse.  The main thing I want right now is to get out of debt!!!! I want it so bad! I wish every other thing in life wouldn't keep coming up making it near darn impossible to pay down the credit cards.  All in good time.  If we want something really bad and are willing to work for it we can make it happen eventually right?

The only time I get down about my life is when I'm around other people,, listening to them talk about where they are going or all there grand things,, mostly I'm home though and hardly talk to anyone besides my family. lol   I guess that's something I need to work on.  Jealousy of other people.  I'm sure somewhere out there in the world might be jealous of me.   Like I said my life isn't bad at all!  I'm so lucky to have these great kids and man that would walk to the end of the earth if I asked him to.

What do you do when you feel the jealousy monster creeping in?  Or is it just me that this happens to?

Keeping it Real

In reading through my last few post I notice I sound pretty darn happy. Happy, healthy, fit and active. What a great life I must have. Lol. No really my life is just fine but it is defiantly not all those things. Honestly in the last 4 days I have had two major meltdowns where I was bawling and feeling life life couldn't get much worse. I also get teary eyed quite often during my workouts. Sounds silly doesn't it? I don't know what it is but sometimes it just seems so hard and makes me wonder if I will ever look like what I want to look like. Idk but i keep pushing right through the tears because the only way I will ever find out is if I keep on going.

Ben and I the opposite of a perfect relationship, but we try, we push through all these roadblocks life keeps throwing at us. Some days I wonder why did I ever marry this man, he is so unlike me, but i did marry him and I had 3 kids with him. He provides the best he can for me and them. He tries. He would give me the moon if he was able so I have to keep looking past faults.

My kids, I love them so much. I would die for them. They are great, get great grades, but they arnt perfect either. They are just like any other kid. They are mouthy, tend to not listen. Gary keeps disobeying like crazy! For two years Ive told the kid do not get breakfast at school. I feed him here. I cant afford to buy school breakfasts. He continues to eat breakfast at school every chance he gets. SMH. I don't get it. We punish him. He still does it. I told him dont download anything on the ipod without asking me first. He still downloads stuff. We know cuz whatever he downloads automatically goes to Ben's phone. He knew this. But still did it anyways!!! I just dont get it!
I could go on and on with the woes thats is me, but I wont. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't giving anyone the wrong impression. Actually I dont even know if anyone is reading this!
I just keep going, doing the best I can with what I have. Im reading this book right now. Hoping I can learn a thing or two.

Saturday happenings

Oh lovely Saturday.. I love them.  No extra kids here besides my own.  Ben worked this morning, and he has to work tomorrow.  He's bummed, but it sure helps out with money.  This morning the kids and I slept in , had breakfast, then Jess and I did the Shred.  Shes been doing it with me, which helps out.  Its always more fun to have someone suffer along beside me :)  Then we all took showers(cuz we were sweaty and stinky), and then Ben came home.  We had lunch, cleaned up, then made our grocery shopping list.  Tomorrow is super bowl Sunday we planned out a fun and fattening filled day for that, then made the menu plan for the rest of the week.  

All our lovely fruit, I love when we get home from the store and have a overflowing fruit basket,, although it wont look like that for long,, This wont even last until next weekends shopping trip.

 Shopping took forever!! The stores were packed,, guess people were stocking up for super bowl?? When we came home we had dinner, then decided we needed desert.  So Jess was looking online for a recipe and I suggested we look at momto9's blog.  She has yummy deserts  We found this recipe for heavenly bars.. 

Cooking at home makes for lots of dirty dishes

 The bars turned out just as heavenly as promised!  Jess did a great job as always.  I don't even want to know how many calories were in that little square I ate. Good thing we exercised this morning!  

My nice clean shiny sink! (wanted to make sure everyone knows I don't leave a  messy kitchen for to long!)

PS..   For the whole entire time I've been typing this Miss Jessica has been sitting beside me making fun of me and the way I type and write and spell and talk,, and shes laughing right now..  Good thing I know she loves me deep down.

Weekend birthday party



We had a great weekend.  We had family over to celebrate Emma and Gary's birthdays.  We had the party here at our house and I made food and Jess made the cakes!

 

 

She did a amazing job!  She wants to study culinary arts in school! Its nice having someone else that likes to cook around the house although she prefers to make deserts I think,  Which is fine and dandy unless you ask my waistline. LOL

It was nice to have everyone over to our house.  I'm so glad everyone could make it!  The kids both got things they wanted and everyone was happy I believe. 

 

My family has been begging me to make granola bars again... that's right, we don't buy those anymore either.  this is the recipe I have been making.  Everyone likes it accept for Gary, not sure why.  I cut them into 24 bars and they come out to 120 calories.  I do want to try some different things out and see if I can make them healthier.  This recipe uses butter,, I'm wondering if I could replace it with coconut oil.   Here are the bars setting up before I cut them

 

 

 

And here they are in the "cookie jar". (which we never have cookies in)

Homemade is the only way

Oh, I really need to start doing better with this blogging business. . I just cant decide if I wanna do it or not, I can totally write the post in my head while I'm folding clothes or making dinner, but to actually take the time and sit down to type it out and upload pics is hard.  

Anyways we have been doing fabulous not eating out and  making things from scratch.  In fact if I mention buying something from the store, for example tortillas, Ben about goes crazy.  He says why buy something when we can make it ourselves.  Its all good and dandy, but geez it sure is a LOT  more work and a LOT more kitchen clean up for me!  We have been making all kinds of pizzas, we've done tortillas

, I made some breakfast hot pockets that went in the freezer for a quick and easy breakfast for the the kiddos before school.  We made homemade egg rolls the other day and they were delish!!!  All this yummy food and we are still trying to lose the weight.  Its coming off still, slowly but surely.  43 pounds down,, it was 50 but I gained some over the holidays.  We try to fit in our exercise most days.  I've decided without it I wont be losing any weight.  So elliptical and weights it is along with some exercise videos thrown in here and there.  And counting my calories on myfitnesspal.com  feel free to add me on a friend on there!

Life is good

Hectic but good.  We have had 2 pretty great weekends.  Weve gotten out at least for a little bit 2 weekends in a row!  Thats big for us.  This past Saturday we went to a really nice restaurant and I had sushi for the first time.  It was good,, different but good.  The whole atmosphere of the restaurant was so nice, defiantly not a place I would take my kids due to the prices but just a really nice place to get away for some adult time.   Plus it made me feel so sophisticated.  lol

Sunday we got a new kitchen table!  I love it!  It kinda makes the rest of  my kitchen look a little crumby though.. But the plan is to paint the walls, get new counter top and replace the floor.  I'm so excited for this to happen,, you have no idea!  I've wanted to redo the kitchen forever! 

Yesterday I started watching a new childcare kid.. He is a 5 month old little guy.. He's super cute!  A lot of work though,, its a lot harder to get things accomplished around here but so far its going pretty good.. My husband being on 2nds is home in the mornings and he has been a great help with the baby.  He loves him and now says we should have another one!  NO thanks I said.  I love little ones but they are a lot of work and take a lot of money and I just feel that I'm to a point in my life I don't really want to add to our family.  Its hard enough with the 5 of us.  Watching this little guy will give me plenty of babytime without having to have our own. :)    I hope that doesnt sound to selfish!  

There are so many things I am starting to want to accomplish, do and get right now.. I'm trying to figure out how to make it all work.   Patience  that's what I need to remember. :)

Friday night

Right now I'm sitting on the couch,, snuggling with Miss Emma, watching Beauty and the Beast for the millionth time. :)   Gary is in his room,, Jess is out at a basketball game.   Ben's at work,, Friday nights arnt to exciting around here since he's been on 2nd shift.  Sometimes it gets me down but I know he doesn't have a choice in the matter of working and this is just the way it is.  I'm actually getting quite used to him being gone in the evenings now.  It's hard and a lot of days I feel like a single mom but I know I'm not and I'm thankful he has a job.  I mentioned to him today about me feeling like I have no friends,, he says he should be all I need.   I dont think he gets that sometimes guys just don't get it.  Most of the time when I tell him things I worry about he just tells me not to,, its not my life just don't worry about it(his words).. Its not that easy for me.  Although there is some truth to what he says, I have a caring heart so naturally I think of others and hurt when others are hurting.    I worry about others and I just can't help it.  I wish I could shut it off sometimes.   Oh well...

on a different note,, I've been making blankets for lots of people.  They are the new sew fleece tie blankets and they are so cute and warm!  I've made on for each kid,, myself,, I'm making one for my 2 babysitting kids, and making one for a surprise for Bennie!  When I was buying the fabric I asked him if he wanted one and he said no,, but every since I've been making them he's been stealing mine(which is giraffe print on one side and hot pink on the other. lol),, plus I guess he's said to Jess that he now wishes he would have had me make him one so I went out and bought him some fabric and made him one.. Its wrapped up under the tree, I hope he likes it.. His is camo,,,he will look much better in that one than my pink one. Hahaha

9 more days til Christmas!  I can't wait to see everyones faces when they open there presents!

Anxiously awaiting

Thought I'd sit down for a quick break and blog.  I've been doing a bit of decluttering today.  Cleaned off my counter top to make room for my new mixer!  It hasn't arrived yet but it is supposed to come today and I'm still hopeful.  I think I'll make some blueberry muffins tonight to break it in,, and tomorrow I'm going to try it out for making my pizza dough!  Its a little silly how excited I am for it to arrive. 
It has been so fun lately having packages delivered to our door....Christmas presents for the kids I've been ordering online.  I'm getting very excited about Christmas and seeing there faces light up up with joy while opening their presents. :)   I can't wait!
The three little girls here right now are playing nicely,, the only problem is they are dragging things all over the house that I've been cleaning all day..   Emma just walked in here to the living room and said she was going to get married to her daddy.  :)  So cute! 

My new Mixer is on its way!

I got the email that this is shipping out to me today!!!!   Yay!  It's a Kitchenaid Pro 600 Mixer!  I'm so excited!  I've wanted on for about as long as I can remember, but with the cost of them it been out of the question.  Well hubs knows how I've wanted one and he told me I could order myself one for Christmas,,, I had declined  because of the money but then yesterday found out about a amazing Cyber Monday sale that amazon was having.  The normal cost for this bad boy is $499.00.  I got it for half that plus a $50.00 mail in rebate! When I saw that I called him in to show him and told me to go ahead and order it!   I know it will get good use here in our house and I'm really hoping it will last a long long time!  Now I can ask for some of the awesome attachments for my birthday!  They have ice cream maker, pasta maker, food grinder,,,all different cool attachments you can get to go with it!   I'm just so excited for it to get here and start using it up!  Just in time to whip up some goodie treats for Christmas!
Anyone out there reading this have one?   Do you love it?  What do you use it mostly for?

I'm alive

Just wanted to say I'm still alive.   Pretty much same old same old around here.  Can you believe it is less than a month until Christmas??  I've been doing quite a bit of online shopping this year because it seems so hard to get to the stores especially without the kiddos.  We've set a spending limit this year and are going to stick to it(we dont have much of a choice this year because the bonus that hubs was supposed to receive before Christmas isnt coming now :( ,  the kids will still be happy though.  It's not about the presents anyways right?  We put up our little tree over the weekend.  It's cute... nothing fancy and a lot of homemade ornaments on it but thats ok,, it makes it special.   I'm going to do my best tomorrow to get on here and tell you about my amazing present for myself that hubs let me order today!  Here's a hint...there will probably be a lot of baking going on around here!

Money question and colors

As if making hubby go to second shift wasn't enough,, his employer has now decided that he will be working12 hour shifts for the next few weeks while another boss is out recovering from a surgery.  This means because he is supposed to be there 30 minutes early and stay 30 minutes late, that he will be working from 9:30am-10:30 pm.   Lovely.   The good thing is he should be getting a few really nice paychecks along with the extra hours.  I'm gonna do my best to be smart with the extra cash and either pay off some more bills or build up the savings.   That's my dilemma right now,, we don't have much in savings and I'm really not comfortable not having anything to fall back on,,, so do I bank the extra cash now or pay off other things?  I know Dave Ramsey would say bank it for the emergency fund first,, what's your all's opinion? 

I've been keeping myself busy with housework and kiddos...the story of my life really. LOL   I've really been focusing a lot of my attention lately on working with Emma on some learning stuff,,, for the most part she enjoys it but she does get tired of it now and then.... She will tell me  " I don't want to learn my colors right now MOM"!   :)   Of course were working on more than just colors but for some reason she still doesnt have them all down and I really want her to get it.  

Busy days and other thoughts

 Man, how time flies by,,, seriously everyday I think I will have time to sit down and blog for awhile but my days are consumed with cooking, cleaning, childcare...lots of childcare!  My work is never done,,and thats ok, it sure can be exhausting sometimes though!  

Our weekend went well,, super busy.  Saturday morning the kiddos had a dentist appointment... That went well!  NO cavities,, although the dentist did say that we really need to get the 2 older kids in to see a orthodontist.  I knew this but had been putting it off but now that the dentist has said it I feel like we really need to get started,, I was trying to get a few other things paid off before we have huge ortho bills.  Gary has a tooth that should be through but isnt coming through though, and Jess has teeth coming in in crazy places due to lack of space in her mouth.  So the time is now I guess. 

 After the dentist we went straight over to my moms for my step-dad's birthday party.  That was fun,, he had sat up a 9 hole golf course in the yard and we all did that,, we also did some jump roping,,, hilarious and fun!   Then Sunday the kids and I went with mom and Dave, and Grandma and Grandpa  to Stone Trace,, its a historical site and there is lots of booths set up there and very educational...the kids loved it!  Here is Jess stirring and making apple butter like they did in the old days. 

 Emma getting her face painted

 We didn't go bowling this weekend but I felt like I needed a pic of Gary in here and apparently he sneaked out of all the photos this weekend. :)

Life is hard but good.  I'm so thankful for what we have and have been trying to make the most of it.     I remind myself daily to appreciate what we have and try to not want so much more,, we are so blessed for what we do have!
I'm also working hard to not get upset over Ben(hubby's) crazy work hours, and other commitments he has,, not to get upset over his lack of enthusiasm over what we do have and his constant wanting more and more.  Leaving it in God's hands to help him realize these things.  My constant nagging gets us nowhere but in arguments.   I must go on and try and have a cheerful attitude!

I'm back!

I just couldn't stay away.....  Things are on my mind through the day or the kids do cute little things and I dont have anyone to share with besides the great big web!    So I've decided to start blogging again,, also its so neat to look back through my blog and see pic of the kids or what we were doing on cetatin days... Its like my own personal journal,,accept the whole world can read it. LOL

A lot has changed since Ive blogged last,,, one of my childcare kids left me to go off to full day kindergarden!  She's the one I've has since she was 13 months old,, and she's 6 now!  We miss her and I wonder how she's doing everyday... I also had a new addition to my childcare buissness,,, she is 3 and is fitting right in with the rest of the crew.  The neat thing is she shares the same name as me! :)   I am really enjoying the group of kids I have right now.  Two 3 year olds and a 2 year old,,,along with the 3rd shift girl that I still have.  We are working on our own little "preschool" and trying to learn some new things.  It going good and the kids are having fun!  I just love watching them play,, they are so adorable and creative.  Emma's new thing is singing...she turns everything into a song...I love it!

As the norm around here financial times are tough....I think I've been blogging for around 3 years now and thats been the one constant thing,,,there was a short period of time where we seemed to be doing well but then I had some medical issues and now am having to pay the bills for that and we're very tight again.    When things were going good instead of indulging ourselves and getting some things that we had been wanting for awhile  I guess we should have just banked that money.   Lesson learned!  Now I'm trying to get us back on track again. 

I'm glad to be back,,,just wondering if I have lost all my readers,,, if you do see this give me a shout out so I know who I'm talking to. :)

Weekned and our menu for the week

We had a pretty good weekend.  It went by way to fast.
Friday night Ben worked, so he slept Saturday for a while,
while he was sleeping I was cleaning.  Then Saturday
evening my sister and her husband came over for dinner and to hang out for awhile.  It was fun.  Emma just

 loves her Aunt Dawn and Uncle Johnathan.  I made taco salad and tacos for dinner.  Then we just hung out, sang karaoke and had a camp fire.  We were up late so Sunday was a lazy day.  We slept in and layed around for most of the day.  I did manage to get out and get some groceries for the week. 

On Sunday our cable box stopped working completely. :(   So until we can get someone to come out and fix it its just netflix in the living room for us.  Its not to big of deal for me.  I've been hinting around to Ben that we have been having so much trouble with our cable company we should just cancel it completely.  He doesnt agree though. LOL.   This week is our towns fair.  I think were going out to it on Tuesday night,, thats kiddie day so all rides are just a dollar.  Besides that I dont think we have any plans.  I really need to start limiting our trips into town so we can save our cash.  I need to fully focus really hard on building our savings and paying off debt.  I've not been doing so well with that lately so I'm gonna be going gung ho!!   
Here's my menu for the week:
Monday-B-zucchini muffins, sausage pattys
              L-hot dogs, mac n cheese, frozen fruit
              D-BBQ ribs, baked potatoes baked zucchini sticks, peas
Tuesday-B-cereal
              L-make your own pizzas
              D-? not sure if we will eat at the fair or not
WednesdayB-waffles
                  L-noodles
                  D-sausage lentil soup
Thursday B-cereal
               L- tater tot casserole
               D-BBQ chicken, pasta salad, green beans
Friday-B-pancakes
            L-homemade version of hamburger helper
            D- hamburgers