We have the sickies in the house

BLAH! The girls have been out of school since December 18th. Since that date we have dealt with:

double pink eye

sinus infection

ear infection

all of the above was just one kid

Then the other kid got a stomach bug and vomited for a day.

Then the first kid got scratched bit on the face by our cat. She had a nice black eye from the scratches and two major bites in her cheek.

And now

that same kid now has the stomach bug her sister had last week.

So far the last kid and parents haven't gotten anything *cross your fingers*.

Idon't mind ending a good year with illness, but I don't want to start a New Year with the sickies!
Cross your fingers that we get past this quickly!

Menu Plan -the last of 2009!

I'm posting a day late because we left early and came home late yesterday. I made the plan on Sunday though!
go here for Menu Plan Monday.

Spaghetti

Potato and ham chowder this recipe is what I'll be using because I've never made it before.

Pancakes and fruit

Pizza casserole and salad

Beef fajita burritos (Crock Pot recipe below)

Hamburgers

And of course, Clean out the Fridge Day


Beef Fajita Burritos

This is a totally made up recipe. It really doesn't have the true fajita flavor of grilled veggies and meat but it was the first name that came to mind after eating it the first time LOL

1-3 pd Beef Roast
salsa(of choice, we like green)
cumin
onion
bell peppers(we like both red and green)
cheese
sour cream

So, basically just throw the roast in the crock pot, toss some cumin on it, and pour salsa over the roast. Cook on high for two hours and then kick it down to low for 4 hours. Once the roast is able to be shredded, I take the roast out, shred and return to juice. I then "grill" the veggies on the stove top with a little olive oil.

Using a slotted spoon, I then top a large tortilla with the beef, veggies and sour cream & cheese.

Christmas card picture

This is the picture I used for our Christmas card. I love the colors and their smiles are exactly as they are. Wyatt is sly and up to something, Sophie sweet, and Maddie a little hesitant.

Monday

YAY! Not only is it MenuPlanMonday at orgjunkie but it's Christmas week and I only have to plan a few meals!!

I usually peek over at Lauras' site before posting my menu...I didn't do it this time...can't wait to see what everyone is doing for their Holiday meal! Go check it out too!

Sunday-leftover ham with mac & cheese and carrots

Monday- hard shell tacos with refried beans and tangerines

Tuesday- fried rice with ham and steamed broccoli

Wednesday- Leftovers

Thursday-Dinner at Sisters-I'm making hot artichoke dip

Friday - late lunch at the in-laws. Bringing hot artichoke dip here as well.

Saturday-leftovers from the in-laws(they're leaving town today so they will be giving us all the leftovers from Christmas dinner)

The official countdown begins

It's the week before christmas where I realize I have forgotten gifts for 10 people and I scramble from store to store. It's also the week where my Dad calls and says " I have some money for you". That's his code for "I need to get your Mom a gift but I'm not stepping foot in a store". UGH. I am not a talented gift giver. I struggle to pick out the right thing for each person so this added stress of buying gifts from someone else just stinks.
And to top it all off, I haven't even sent my cards out yet! I made the card first(bad mistake) and then looked for an envelope. Not so smart on my part LOL. I do this every other year at least. You'd think I'd have learned by now!




Sunday-General Tso's Chicken with rice(from a mix)

Monday-Crock Pot Roast with Veggies and mashed potatoes

Tuesday-BBQ beef(from leftover Roast)

Wednesday- frozen pizza and salad (scout night for both girls)

Thursday- Fend for yourself day

Friday- Bean and cheese burritos (Santa is in the neighborhood this night)

Saturday - Spiral cut ham, mashed potatoes, green salad

Today is Menu Plan Monday over at orgjunkie . And I'm super proud to say that I am on top of this! I actually have about 16 meals planned from what I have going on in the pantry/freezer right now. Of course there are a few things I'll need to replace between the meals(eggs, milk, potatos etc) but the bulk of all the meals, I already have on hand! be sure to check all the awesome meal plans/ideas at Laura's site!

What? Snow !

Yep, we got snow here in Northern California! The kids were so excited and we now have two snowballs in the freezer. It has melted away already but there is a chance for more tonite.

We also are back to Menu Plan Monday. Love this. And I did great last week. We did eat out one night because we had one less kid and some free meal coupons. It was nice for us to spend time with just the girls. So the chili got moved to last night. Totally works for me as I now have a 2nd meal planned with the leftovers!

Sunday-
Chili & garlic bread

Monday-
Breakfast for dinner pancakes, yogurt/granola, bacon, apple slices

Tuesday-
Baked Potato with chili

Wednesday-
Spaghetti & salad

Thursday-
Leftovers

Friday-
Tortilla Soup

Saturday-
something with chicken- will look for a new recipe this week.

Back in the Saddle Again...

The menu planning Saddle that is! Weeks off of planning didn't hurt the bottom line of eating from home though so that is good! They say that it takes 21 days to form a habit so even though I haven't posted my plans, the habit of eating from home is firmly embedded.

Now if only the habit of excercise would stick!


Week of Nov 29

Sunday
Enchilada casserole
mandarins
applesauce

Monday
Tortellini with red sauce
green salad
garlic bread

Tuesday (pta night)
Chicken noodle soup
crescents

Wednesday
Dressing croquettes - recipe below
mixed veggies

Thursday
leftovers/easy fixes

Friday
White chili
garlic bread

I'm hosting a cookie exchange this night(i hope--i've had responses of yes, but no one has said anything else-yikes) so I will be serving some snacks as well-nothing major since it will be after dinner and it will mainly be desserts.


Saturday
baked chicken
twice backed potatoes
green salad


Okay. so the Dressing Croquettes. I made the name up but I ran across the base recipe a few years ago when trying to figure out what to do with all the leftover dressing from Thanksgiving. It is really very easy:

cooked, crumbled bacon
grated cheese of choice, I use cheddar since I always have it on hand
dressing/stuffing
butter

Cook bacon and add to dressing mixture. Stir in cheese. Form patties in your hand and brown in butter over med-high heat.

The dressing I make is pretty wet/sticky so I don't need a binding agent like an egg. If your recipe is dry, you probably will need to add something to hold it together.
It's not an altogether healthy recipe, but it tastes so yummy!

Projects

So this is what I did all weekend. Soccer is ending this week and the awards ceremonies are scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday. The pinwheels will be the centerpieces for the tables and the little envelopes are gift card holders for the coachs. I also cut 8 inch soccer balls and will mat a picture of each girl to give out. Didn't get a picture of those though. Being a team parent is a lot of work I tell you! But I love that the girls love that I do this stuff. That makes it worth it.

And you notice that little cheese dome there? I got that for $1 at the Salvation Army last week. I plan to paint the wood and maybe put it on a pedastal to make it look more like the cloches I've been seeing on all the blogs lately.

I'm also working on getting more decor up in the house. I've decided to throw a cookie exchange party this year and a lot of the invitees have never been in my home. I really want it to look it's best for as little cost as possible. I did buy 2 yards of burlap and a large photo ledge to go on the tv wall. Everything else I will be using things I already have on hand on that costs next to nothing. And I am hosting Thanksgiving! So I only have a week and a half to do all tht I'd like to do!

Another Sleep Update

Isn't he a cutie?

Wyatt is in his bed! WOOHOO! So here is what we did to perservere over this parenting beast.


We ignored him.


When he came into our room, we acted like he wasn't there.


The first night he whispered "Mommy" over and over again. A few times I had to stifle a laugh because he was so persistent! And he poked me. A lot. I just turned over.


Troy eventually couldn't handle it any longer and took him back to his bed. And talked to him. That just amped Wyatt up. But I let Dad deal and he finally came back to bed and Wyatt stayed in his till the sun peeked over the horizon.





Eventually Troy realized that by giving him ANY attention gave Wyatt what he wanted. Once he stopped responding to him, Wyatt stopped waking us up. Yeah, some mornings I'd find him on our floor but he made due without waking us. Now he's in his bed every night.





Oh and I close his door. We never have done this with the girls but I think he tunes himself to our noises so I try to muffle them as best as possible. Closing the door is working.





Now it's time to work on Sophie.

Pumpkin patch Pictures

I love the patch. But I'm so upset that every patch around us charges you to be there! We've been going to the same patch for a number of years and this year they began to charge for parking as well as any adventure like the maze, haunted house hay rides etc. Next year I'm going to the grocery store for pumpkins LOL. Patches do have awesome photo ops though!

Here's a little more BOO for you!

So here they are, a hot air balloon pilot(not balloon boy as many people thought), a "swat team guy" and a 50's diner waitress. The kids got loads of candy and are still coming down from the sugar high.

So how did Maddies' costume come about? Well, I was reading Country Living magazine last month and I saw the idea there. Maddie loves to be different and to stand out so she was the perfect kid to wear it. She got a ton of "Honey you have to come see this!" and of course, the uniqueness won her a few more pieces of candy at some houses LOL

Monday

Good Morning. Menu Plan Monday at Orgjunkie.com so make sure to check This out . Tons of ideas and loads of inspiration!

Veggie Chili & garlic bread

Baked mac & cheese with steamed broccolli

Pasta with artichokes and tomatoes

Meatloaf(much to my families dismay)

Frozen pizza

Leftovers/fend for yourself

Rib eye & roasted potatoes

Still loads of beef. If I can get up the hill where the In-laws live, Nugget is having a sale on boneless/skinless chicken breasts. YAY! i really didn't realize how much we do eat chicken until I was completley out. I can't ever let that happen again LOL

Menu Plan Monday

check out orgjunkie.com for literally 100's of recipe and menu ideas.



so here's mine for this week. It's going to beef week here because I missed the last chicken sale.





Tacos, refried beans, mandarin oranges



Spaghetti garlic bread and salad



Rustic Italian Tortellini soup (with modifications)



Hamburgers, tator tots, fresh veggies and dip



Italian beef sandwiches and salad



APple cinnamon pancakes and scrambled eggs


Leftovers/clean out fridge

Operation Sleep - Update

Ok so we are on say whatever of Op:Sleep. Last night was probably the best night so far. I'm trying a new tactic where I totally ignore him when he comes in. Night before last, he came in and for about 30 min Wyatt whispered my name and poked with his fingers in various places on my body. He was quiet and not crying. Until Troy lost his cool. Wyatt cried and yelled etc. When Troy came back into the room, i gently pointed out the difference between what I was doing and what he ended up doing. Long night regardless.

Last night, though, wonderful! He came in once, whispered and poked, I ignored. He went to dad who helped him go pee(he did it on his own the night before), dad put him in his bed..... We got up at 7am!!! It was great..except Maddie and Sophie decided to play the part of Wyatt last night. Between the two of them, we had 4 visits. Can't win, for losing sometimes. But there is definite improvement- Yay for consistency!

What is coming up: Pictures from the patch, soccer pics, Menu Plan Monday(totally fell off the wagon there) and anything else I want!

Got Sleep?

Because I don't. and I'm looking for it. We(meaning mostly me) are working on keeping Wyatt in his bed. He goes to sleep most nights ok in his bed but staying in his bed is a whole other story. Oy! We are a working on being consistent with him and are not letting him in our bed at all-no matter how tired we are! So Operation SLeep has been underway for three days. Here is the status report:

Night one-pure hell. He was up for two hours between 2-4am. Everytime we put him in his bed, he was out within seconds. It was exhausting.

Night two- A bit better, he still got up and cried. But it took less time to get him settled down. I did stay a bit longer in his room each time though. It just worked better for him.

Night three- Going to bed was tough. He ended up out in the living room and fell asleep on the couch. But he stayed in his bed till 540am! Troy told him he could come in when it started to get light outside. Boy, Wyatt took it to heart because he was in our room when the sky was starting to lighten.

So tonite, we shall move forward with Operation Sleep.

RAIN!!

PS- I wrote this on Tuesday when it was crazy raining and forgot to post....

Front page news. Breaking news.That's what the first big rain of the season does to our city. Everything will center around the weather for the next few days. But it does give us the excuse to hunker down in the house, eat some yummy comfort food, and decline any request to leave the house. The weather allows us to slow down a bit, to take an unplanned breather from commitments like sports and committees and errands.



I'll make baked chicken tonite with mashed potatoes and the last of the fresh,frozen corn from the summer. We'll get homework out of the way and put in a movie. A treat for the middle of the week. And we'll all sleep great tonite.

Menu Plan Monday

I need this. I truly do. I don't know why I forget this fact. Last week was a mess. Eating out twice, apathy about what to cook the other days. Bad. I guess I need to schedule this into

my calendar of events, like soccer practice and Scouts. New week=New plan.

We are expected to have some major weather this week. Lors of rain and wind..Fun. I love this weather! So I think comfort food is in order. And an FYI, I have not pre-planned at all so what I post will be thought of right now...Hope it works! Oh, and I think I like planning Sunday-Sunday so I'll be including last nights meal with my menu.

-White Chicken Chile with rolls

- English Muffin Pizzas with salad

-Chicken Noodle Soup with crackers

-Sloppy Joes with roasted potatos/veggies

-Leftovers/Fend for yourself

-Tacos/Burritos

- Baked chicken with mashed potatos/gravy & veggie

Over Committing - The Curse of the Do-Good Mom

I love doing things for my childrens school. I admit, I like that the other kids in their classes know who I am when I'm on campus. Their yells of " Hi Sophie's/Maddie's Mom! " and the little hugs from spindly arms are awesome. The recognition makes my girls feel proud of me and themselves-It's another way that I show them I care.



But. I have over committed myself to activities and groups. Now that most of my "to-do" list is done ,I'm sitting in reflection of what I did to myself LOL. In that reflection I have come to understand what works for me which will absolutley help when I find myself offering help to another committee.

What did I figure out about myself? Well, I dont like never-ending projects. Projects that just seem to need "one more thing" for forever. I want to know what is needed of me and when it's needed and then I can get it done. I don't like things to hang over my head. I think this very simple understanding about myself says it all. I won't be committing to long term projects.

Time and Birthdays

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MADDIE GRACE!

That saying " time flies by" is so totally relevant when talking about your children. One day you are bringing them home from the hospital(with the new dad driving about 15 miles under speed limit because "HIS" daughter is in the car) and the next you are taking her to the first day of 4th grade.

You weren't totally prepared for what lay ahead, you knew mistakes would be made, but you knew you had to do your best by and for this little child. As time passes, you see the good stuff-she is respectful to others, she has a totally awesome sense of humor, she is curious about things and is always asking questions. Those things make the memory of the eye rolls, the stomping of feet, and the drama over, well, over everything a little less sharp. She got the good stuff you wanted to teach her. You're proud of her. Heck, your proud of yourself! LOL

So, here's to your 9th birthday Maddie. You couldn't have been a better first kid! We love you lots and can't wait to see what the next 9 years bring us!

,

It's here again! Laura is hosting Menu plan Monday at orgjunkie and she has a giveaway this week so be sure to link up at orgjunkie!

in no particular order:

Crock Pot Chicken Tacos with refried beans and fresh fruit

Spaghetti(still haven't made it from weeks ago lol) with salad and garlic bread

Grilled Rib Eyes with grilled veggies

PAsta Primavera - unsure of the sides at this time

Grilled hamburgers with spinach salad and fresh cut veggies

Crock Pot Roast with mashed potatos, rolls and veggies

Clean out the Fridge night........As always


So I didn't make a menu last week but we did pretty well about eating at home. Pizza one night due to an activity running very late. I did make this and it was really good. Got 3 thumbs up -Sophie and Wyatt are not too into soup. Will make it again!

Love my new mirror!

Oh my how i love my bathroom mirror now! Thanks to this awesome blog! When we painted this room a few months back and I began to accessorize, I realized the builder mirror just wasn't cutting it. It was plain and blah-therefore there is no before because, well you can imagine plain and blah for yourself. So after seeing the post at Shanty2Chic, I had to find Mirr-Edge for our bathroom. The picture is meh but it gives you all you need to know-I now have a beautiful mirror!

Some info about Mirr-Edge. The material is a coated wood that I primered and then spray painted black. I left them out to dry and unintentionally forgot them til the next morning. After Troy turned the sprinklers on! I wiped them dry and noticed they had distressed themselves out in the elements. There is some crackling on the corner pieces and some marks on the straight pieces ..Ah well. Glad I was going for the shabby chic look in this room. Lol

You may also notice the 3 circle items to the left of the mirror. The bird I posted awhile back but the other two took longer than I thought to get done. I used chalkboard paint on dollar tree kraft boards. Love this stuff. I have painted a silver tray and plain to paint chalk labels on my pantry containers.

It's all about the Food!

This is getting to be one of my favorite days of the week. It's like getting a chance to start over every Monday...and Goodness knows I need it! Especially when it comes to prioritizing my responsibilities. I failed miserably last week with our menu. We went out twice last week for dinner! Unnecassary expenses that I'm trying so hard to eliminate if they aren't planned for first! Head over here for TONS of inspiration!

Monday- Waffles and eggs and watermelon. (making extra waffles for breakfast)

Tuesday- Chicken Parmesean and green salad

Wednesday- T-bone, roasted potatoes, veggies

Thursday- Spaghetti & Meatballs(pushed forward again), salad

Friday- Fridge Clean out

Saturday- Chicken stir fry with rice

Sunday- Grilled Sirloin, corn on the cob

This is another week where I'm trying to use up what we have. I find that this helps me focus on food for my family. I'm going to rock the kids world this week though LOL. I plan to make home made granola and applesauce-cranberry muffins. They are so used to cereal or pancakes for breakfast , I can already hear the protests! Change is good.

First sign of Fall out our home!

Fall, hands down, is my favorite season. Cooler weather, earlier nights, and homier type meals makes me feel so cozy! I have been pulling things together from my shopping excursions and will have Troy pull down the decor from the rafters and things will begin to really look like fall!

I made the wreath after seeing this. I did buy plywood and will make a "M" template for Troy to cut for me this week. I love that the wreath materials were all purchased at the Dollar Store. The wreath, leaves, and picks were a total $6!

PS This isn't a great picture. The close-up I took of the wreath is sideways and I'm not sure how to flip it yet..yeah, not so handy with the computer! If you click on the picture, you can see it larger!

Menu Plan Monday

Laura at orgjunkie has her Menu Plan Monday post up...Love this because it has really been helpful to me in eating at home. Even if I don't follow the original menu to the letter,planning a menu each week keeps me motivated to cook from the pantry.

Last week was definitley a week of menu plan juggling. The beef verde was so popular with Troy that there were no leftovers for enchiladas. Then we decided to have the in-laws over for a bbq today so I didn't want to have ground beef two days in a row. But it worked out because I knew what I had on hand.

A bonus to Menu Plan Monday this week is that some regular posters have linked to their free menu plan printables. If you are saving your menu plans for future reference, having them on a form with dates helps in organization.

Monday-Grilled burgers and hot dogs, potato salad, and fresh fruit

Tuesday- grilled chicken

Wednesday-Spaghetti and meatballs(carried over from last week)

Thursday- T-bone

Friday-leftovers

Saturday-tacos

Sundays- Chili

GoodWill

Ok, so crazy me got up at 515am to hit the 50% off sale at GoodWill . There has been something I've been eyeing for a few months and I was willing to get up at the crack of crazy time to get an even better deal. Didn't hapen that way. The item I've been coveting is an over the toilet shelf -new in box Originally from Target. When I first saw it, it was priced at 40.00. Yeah, no. So then it was marked down to 24.98-awesome! With 50% off even better! i didn't see the fine print on the ad that indicated new in box items were not part of the sale.!!!!! UGH! Bought it anyways because it was still a good deal. I also got a key holder thingy that I need to revamp a bit before hanging.

The best deal of all though wasn't even from GoodWill. I hit CVS on my home to check out these bright green adorondiak chairs that were $7 last week. Well, scanned the price and with my handy dandy CVS member card, the grand total for each chair was $2.49 each!!! Major deal!
They will be placed next to the pond for additional seating in the back yard.

Menu Plan Monday

Laura at Orgjunkie is hosting Menu plan Monday. Make sure to check out all the bloggers who link to their weekly menus..TONS of inspiration!








Okie Dokie...the stromboli was "eh" . not sure if it was a cook-induced "eh" or recipe related.


The chicken blt pasta was good. I will tweak the recipe a little and post it after.








Monday- Roasted Turkey ; my mother-in-law defrosted a turkey and cut it in half so I'm picking "my half" up this morning.

Tuesday-Pancakes, eggs, fruit





Wednesday-Beef verde





Thursday- Enchiladas(using leftover beef verde)





Friday-Fridge raid





Saturday-Potato and sausage casserole





Sunday-Spaghetti and meatballs



We'll use whatever is left of the turkey for sandwiches. We aren't overly fond of dark meat but I will probably freeze it for a pot pie later on. And I plan to make double the meatballs for freezing as well.

Pictures of our yard

We re-sodded the yard a couple of months ago and added some new plants and stuff. It's not perfect of course, but it's a WHOLE lot better than what it was!

The water feature/plants and patios were already in the yard. It's beautiful in the summer, but the green/orange bush on the fence turns into bare twigs in the winter.

The side yard with the play structure has 3 cherry trees. We were so excited about the cherries we would be eating in the summer. Yeah. The birds really liked them too! We ended up picking them a little soon so most were still a little tart. Maddie wants to put a scarecrow in each tree next year.

The shot showing the table is the expanse of the yard. Small, yes but good for us. The kids have plenty of room to throw and kick a ball around. We have a spot for a table and shade. Perfect! Oh, and we now have a tree in the middle of the grass there. It's a linden maple and should get to be about 25 feet. Enough to shade the back of the house since the sun sets behind us.

The picture that goes along the house is all new plantings and bark. When we first moved in, it was all dirt and rocks and ants. Troy built a planter using the pallets from the sod delivery. i have a two different types of daisys in it.

Things I'd like to add:

A small loveseat or small table and two chairs to sit next to the pond.

hanging baskets to go along the fence

more lighting-probably small solar lights

I haven't figured out how to post a picture yet...working on it though since I think it allows a post to flow much better!

Menu Plan Monday

Really late posting this but it's MENU PLAN MONDAY at http://orgjunkie.com/

Monday-Chili Dogs and fruit

Tuesday- Stromboli

Wednesday-Chicken club pasta salad

Thursday-Grilled tri tip & leftover salad

Friday-Fridge Raid

Saturday-Tacos

Sunday-Crunchy Chicken Salad





The colored entries are new recipes I'll be trying for the first time. If they pass with the family,I'll post them next week.

A Long Time Ago...

I said i would be posting pictures of things I'm doing in the house and I haven't followed through as of yet. That shall be changing however. I'm in the process of putting the finishing touches on a few things and I will be posting the results in a few days.

I failed last week in posting my menu. I was just feeling uninspired and only managed to get 3 meals planned. Even with my lack of planning, we did eat at home every night but one! This week I will be fairing much better..the menu is already done and I'll be posting once OrgJunkie has her MPM post up.

First Day of School

Crazy that we are already starting school! I remember when I was young, school always started the Tuesday after Labor Day. That's still a month off! Anyway, Maddie is going into 4th grade and Sophie is in 1st grade. She was so nervous last night, bless her heart. She cried and and cried and finally went to sleep about 945pm. Of course both girls were up at 515am, ready to go! They'll both sleep well tonite LOL.

So what is Mom going to do now? The same thing she's been doing: keeping the house together, planning meals, running errands and shuttling kids to activities.

Menu Plan Monday

It's Menu Plan Monday at Orgjunkie And I am on week 3 of posting a menu! I did vary one night from dinnerlast week because Maddie and I had a special day to ourselves and we went out to eat. One on one time with our children is rare so we like to make the time special! We've been working so hard at eating from home that Maddie jumped at the chance to eat out when I asked her what she wanted to do.



School starts today and we started soccer last week. This is the first time I've had the kids in weekly activities so planning a menu for this first week has been a little challenging. But I will take advantage of the full week and plan some easy things for dinner. So here it is :



BBQ Beef Melts and cantaloupe( on sale for 33 cents each!)



Grilled Chicken Salad



Taco Salad/Nachos and cantaloupe



Pasta with Cream Sauce, garlic bread and broccoli



Leftovers



Boboli Pizza(free Boboli) and Side Salad with homemade croutons



Beef Shish ka bobs with White Rice

Menu Plan Moday

Menu plan Monday is being guest hosted at The Happy Houswife


In no particular order:



~Tacos & Fresh Fruit



~Asian Chicken Salad(from a free mix I was given to try) and wontons



~Chili and Cornbread



~Chili Dogs and Fresh Fruit



~Grilled Steak and Pesto Tortellini Salad



~Pancakes, Bacon, Fresh Fruit & Scrambled Eggs



~Leftovers



I'm going to throw in breakfast and lunch options this week. We are pretty loosey-goosey when it cames to these meals but we are getting in a rut.



Breakfast:

yogurt & granola, cereal, peanut butter toast, cinnamon toast & fruit



Lunch:

sandwiches- tuna, pbj, grilled cheese, & ham

chicken nuggets



Another thing for the week is that I'm not hitting the stores until this weekend. We have lots in the pantry/freezer(canned and frozen fruit/veggies) and I'd like to get these items used up as they have been in there a while. I did pick up some milk and strawberries & bananas at Costco today but that will be it. Wish me luck!

Day 5

I have just completed day 5 of my planned menu. Not to pat myself on the back, but I'm very proud of myself! I normally would have succumbed to the kids by day 3 and made mac & cheese or frozen nuggets. But not this week...I prevailed!! I did have to shuffle one dinner around though so tomorrow is leftovers as we had the pizza on Thursday, and Thursdays dinner tonite. LOL. We got carried away in taking things to Goodwill and ended up doing a major clean up in the garage. It was a great though. I had a lot of stuff from when we moved in a year ago that I haven't touched. So I followed the rule "don't use/need it in a year, get rid of it" and downsized a lot.
There was a bit of extra incentive though with cleaning stuff up out there. Troy has agreed to get a small upright freezer! We have @!*& side by side and I abhor it! I have to take everything out just to find the thing I'm looking for and I'm unable to really stock up on things. Plus my girls are playing soccer this year through October and I want to be able to double up and freeze some meals for a quick meal on busy nights. I can't do that now with such a small freezer.
And all of this cleaning on Thursday continued today. I swapped out dressers in Sophies room and then preceeded to clean every nook and cranny of her room. She is a little hoarder and I'm trying very hard to keep up the purgin in there. I love the dresser change and have had some brainstorms on further decorating her space. I also helped in Maddies room. It wasn't as bad as Sophies but she needed some help in her closet. I'm excited for her because I'm going to repaint her desk and chair! It's going to be PINK ! She is heading into the tween stage and is totally up for funky and different. I plan to post pics of the before and after!

More Bathroom Stuff

I made this for $1! The plaque is from the Dollar Tree, the image from cricut Home Decor cartridge, and the paint I had. It will go in the bathroom on the wall above the light switch. i plan to make two more, one with a floral and one with a word. maybe "simplify" or " beauty" or something like that.
I stopped at Michaels today and noticed that there was a major sale going on. They had all the paintable wood(like a clipboard material) for 60% off! I got a small clip board and a house shape for less than $2! Better than the Dollar Tree!

I'm getting frugal......Again

So Troy is tightening the cash flow a bit so I'm really trying to do my part by planning my spending. The first step for me is menu planning. I have a love/hate relationship with this task. I love making lists of ingredients on hand and coming up with meals from the list. It's like a food scavenger hunt to me I guess. The part I don't like is actually having to make a meal EVERY night. You see, Troy works till late in the evening so it's just the kids and I at dinner. The kids don't enjoy these time intensive meals that I like to make so it sort of feels like a waste when Troy isn't here to enjoy the meal with us. I'm sure they would be happy with a bowl of cereal every night but then I'd feel like Troy is being cheated from a nice meal when he gets home.

Anyway, so I'm back to meal planning and for this week we have:

Monday~Hamburgers, corn, and fresh fruit
Tuesday~grilled chicken Sundried Tomato Pasta Salad ( i will take liberties with the recipe though due to an allergy)& strawberries

Wednesday~Grilled Rib eye, roasted potatoes

Thursday~ Meatless enchilada casserole, refried beans, fresh fruit

Friday~homemade pizza & salad

Saturday~leftovers

Sunday~Stir fry with rice and wontons

There is a wonderful website here: I'm an Organizing Junkie and I'm joining her "Menu Plan Monday" which is why there is a Mr Linky on top of this post. I'm hoping to be part of this every week. I'm doing this for two reasons: 1) It will help me stick to meal planning(hopefully) and 2) I will branch out by trying new recipes.

Bathroom Re-do

So This is probably the best photo pf the bathroom we just re-did. It's small and has no window so the coloring is a bit off. So what we did:

-paint is Benjamin Moore Lemon Souffle- Troy was a little scared when we first started painting because it was really bright. But we love it now! The black and white really tone it down. The reflection in the mirror shows the color the best.

-next we changed the faucet out. I love the two handles. The previous faucet had the single round knob that you twisted left or right. This is much more user friendly.

-Changed out the shower curtain of course.

-removed the towel bar and replaced it with 3 robe hooks

-added a few decorations-the black bucket was yellow , but the wrong color so I spray painted it. The silver tray is from the dollar tree store and the yellow bird is from michaels-clearanced at 2.50 I think. And there is a rub on saying above the towels hooks that says "Celebrate every moment"...When I first put it up I realized people could mis-read it as "celebrate every MOVEMENT" LOL...Oh well, gotta find humor in everything.

-We also changed the light fixture. The original was a long bar of big round bulbs. Ugly not energy saving.

i still have a few things I'd like to do: paint the cabinet black, install a chair rail that will run behind the towels and add some decor-ish things behind the toilet and to the side of the mirror. I might also frame out the mirror in black...

Busy Busy!

(These two photos were from Sophies birthday)

Wow, this month has totally flown! Between the 4th, a birthday and a girls weekend away, I have been swamped!

Our holiday was really low-key. Friday the 3rd we watched fireworks at a local park. That was fun...but short! They only lasted about 10 minutes! The kids had fun though and to me, that's all that matters. On the 4th, Troy had to work so the kids and I just hung out. Did a little craft organizing and bbq'd. We watched with the neighbors while they did fireworks. We provided the sparklers.

Then it was Sophies 6th Birthday. She had a great time and was so fortunate to have great friends to celebrate with her. We had a ladybug theme that we carried over to the decorations, the craft & the cupcakes. I still need to get a day of photos of my now 6 year old.

A really fun part of July was my first overnight without the kids or husband! I drove to a cabin in Tahoe with friends from work. The owners of the store have access to a family home that is just beautiful! 4 stories, an elevator, gorgeous view, and lots of friends. There were a total of 16 of us and it was wonderful being around these creative ladies again. I truly miss them!

Our last activity for July is tomorrow. We are going to the Jelly Belly factory tour. It's a short drive and free! We'll be meeting our great friend Diane and her family and will grab a bite to eat together when the tour is over.

School starts in 2 weeks and soccer starts next week. This is the first time either of the girls has played and Maddie is really excited. Sophie is hard to read...she was stoked to begin with and was the one who asked if she could play. Now that it's upon ius, she is showing a major lack of enthusiasm. We told she has to complete the season regardless of how she feels about it. I think she is just getting nervous about doing something new and different.

A Verbal Sneak Peek of our Home

We've been in our home for almost one year and I really wanted to start changing things right away but my wonderful, wise friend Diane advised me to live in the space for awhile before making any major changes. I'm glad I listened.

We started easy- painting the girls rooms. I love love the colors- Benjamin Moore sky blue for Maddie and Ben Moore ballerina pink for Sophie.

Then it was time for the front living area of the house. This was challenging to me(all things decor are) for two reasons. 1.) the family room,dining room, and kitchen are all connected in one large room. 2.) I am not overly fond of our couches. But, hey, they were generously gifted to us and we were being careful with the monies. And they are the biggest pieces of furniture and I had to use a color from them. Blech. So I found this awesome warm gold/brown color from Behr(had the paint mixed through Valspar though) . To separate the kitchen from the living/dining room area, I had the same color lightened by 25% , changed it to semi-gloss and painted the two kitchen walls. This was a stroke of genius I tell ya! It is a subtle but noticeable difference. Exactly what I wanted !

My husband Troy fancies himself a carpenter. Not having built anything before, I was a little anxious about his skills in regards to something practical yet decorative. But two of the main components of a good marriage is belief and trust in your partner. So he built a bookcase for Wyatts room. And I was pleasantly pleased at the outcome. Very practical and useful and well built. He even used his saw thingy to cut out car shapes that we will paint and attatch to the sides.

I was impressed with his skills so I asked him to build me a bookcase. We have a short wall that seperates the family room from the dining room and I wanted something to fill the wall space in the dining room that I could use for craft/school/supplies. This was a major piece-6ft long, 3 feet tall and 16 inches deep. He completed the piece in record time and now I need to find baksets/bins for the shelves. We have very little storage options in the house so I needed something functional and stylish. He delivered once again. Ahhhhhh....

We took a little time off but in the last week we have: pulled up the lawn, removed the rocks, and leveled it to ready it for sod.

In the last two days we have laid sod, painted the front bathroom, replaced the light fixture and faucet and hung robe hooks instead of the towel bar. I am aiming for "whimsy" and will decorate with black and white.

I'm loving all the changes and I'm so grateful for the chance to turn a house into our home.

Pics to come!!

Blog Stalker

I'm a blog stalker. It all started with Ree. I was looking at sites about photography and a link to her website was on one of the sites. I was hooked. Her writing pulls you in as much as her photography. She writes with such feeling about her life and her family. She really allows you to understand her love for them.

Then I started putzing around scrapbook/crafting blogs and I found Morgan and her blog with a number of links to other crafty/foodie blogs. Morgan has a strong, apparent love for her family. And this is the same site that lead me to NieNie. Like, Ree's blog, her writing and affection for her family just makes you want to read more.

Notice a theme found in all 3 blogs? Family. I feel inspired to be better to my family when I read what these ladies write. Don't get me wrong, I am good to my family(as much as I know how to be) but when I am able to glimpse into how other women love and care for theirs, it pushes me to better. Do I succeed in every endeavor to improve my role as wife and mother? No, but everytime the women above allow me a glimpse into their way doing and loving, I edge closer to the type of woman I want to be.

This is what I put together for my husband from the kids. I asked each of them what they loved about/to do with Daddy and then I included the answers with a picture of each of them. It was simple but I love the colors and patterns! The biggest bonus is that I made it for my husband who is a great father!

Besides the book, we had a nice lunch of BBQ tri-tip, grilled corn on the cob, mac salad and fresh strawberries. Troy gets off work well after dinner so it was nice to have a full sit down meal with the entire family onr extra day this week.

Some Afters and Befores....

These are out of order and I haven't figured out all the blogger stuff so bear with it!

So this was our master bedroom closet on Monday. The pile of clothes up front are winter clothes that have been sitting on the floor since April. The white thing in the corner on the chair is a mattress pad for our old bed. The rest is just jumbled stuff like purses, pillows, blankets etc that are not put away. Now, the floor is not covered like things are together, clothes are put away for the summer! YAY !

I'll post some more before and afters (hopefully in the correct order) soon. Mt. Saint Clothes is next!

The urge to purge...

Is strong. I have formed a list of things to clean and cull and my plan is to accomplish 1 to 2 things a week.

So far:
-went through my crafting/scrapbooking stuff. I took stuff out of bags (been buying a lot since the store is closing) and then cleared stuff out that I now know I won't use. We are working on a space for this stuff so it is still in my crop in style and large plastic totes. But I have all like things together

-I emptied the linen closet because our sheets to bed ratio was too high. I narrowed down the sheets to three sets per bed and the sets will be stored in the appropriate room. So I now have room for the winter blankets, table linens and extra tp/kleenex/etc.


Next on the list:
-3 kids rooms
-bathroom cabinet
-pantry
-kitchen cabinets-I'm the odd man out in that I haven't accumulated a lot kitchenware. I actually have empty space in my cabinets. I;ve decided I need to organize what I do have a little better.
-clothes-Oh Lordy I have clothes to go thru. I have stacked and bagged outgrown clothes, winter clothes, hand-me-down clothes all behind my bedroom door. I need to go through them again and seperate out what needs to be kept.
- Then after all that, I need to organize for a garage sale/craigslist bonanza.

In the middle of all of this cleaning/organizing I am hoping to get some home decorating and crafting done.

Sunday

It's Sunday and I wish it it could be a lazy Sunday..The kind where you read the paper slowly while ingesting too much coffee and you realize you're still in your pajamas when it's lunch time.
But that will not be for me today. I am working my last weekend and have only a handful of Wednesdays left before the store closes. It's bittersweet for me because I have made new, life long friends from working but the reality of the time it was taking up is apparent in the current state of my house. Something has gone south in the fridge and my bedroom floor has been eaten up by clutter.

Farmers Markets

I love farmers markets. The first one I remember going to was Denios Farmers Market and Auction. Denios is a mix of farmers market and flea market. One part of the property was filled with people selling their own things, much like a yard sale. Then there were stalls with tools, furniture, purses & accessories, toys etc. It was so fun to walk along the stalls and find that one thing we really wanted. And finally there was the fruits and veggies displayed on long tables that spanned from one long building to the next. Sellers would yell to turn your attention to their melons or tomatoes or corn. They'd offer you samples to prove their produce was better than the next guys. The sellers would yell friendly insults to each from stall to stall. It was loud and crowded and totally fun.

Denios is still around but a little too far for me to to drive to but luckily there have been other Farmers Markets that have popped up. A local mall hosts one on Saturdays in a rear parking lot. That one is fun as there are usually a few folks playing music or a clown making twisty balloons for kids. And there is a local bakery that has a stand there and they sell great jalepeno cheese bread..YUM!
Then there is a farmstand at a local farm. This farm is famous for its sweet white corn. When corn season is in full swing, you can get 20 ears for under 3 bucks. That is where I picked up the yummy stuff in the picture above. The peaches are fantastic and the kids have eaten all but two of the apricots.
Farmers markets are one of those things that says summer to me.

Looks are deceiving

This is Beau. She is 3 months old. Look at her cute little face. Doesn't she look sweet and innocent?

Looks can be deceiving. This cat is hell on wheels. She routinely banzais the kids and makes them scream and cry in pain and fear. But they can't get enough of her. They want to hold her, snuggle her, kiss her. She wants to claw them, bite them, scar them. It's the ultimate battle of man and animal. Not sure who is going to win this one.

My introduction

Finally! A little piece of the internet just for me! What will I do with it? The possibilities are endless I guess but mostly it will be about my little life. Life of kids, and home, and husband, and maybe some crafting. And me.
Will it be boring?
To most, probably.
To me, not at all.