Teeth Thursday

Linebacker had speech this morning... We then headed out the door to Peanut's Show N' Tell... This is her last Show N' Tell of the year... She wanted to bring Little Guy and Big Boy... Teacher thought that was a good idea... We showed up and they returned from their trip to the Zoo and had Show N' Tell... Her class had a great time asking questions and playing with them...

We then went to a friends house who is near the school and visited... My friend S. made a DELICIOUS baked chicken lunch... She also taught me how to make a Lady Bug out of pretzels, apples, PB and raisins/craisins... I then went back to pick Peanut and Monkey for their dental appointments... Peanut is CAVITY FREE! Monkey is also CAVITY FREE! He however has adult teeth that need to come in... So, we are going to pull a couple of baby teeth to make room for these adult teeth... Peanut also had speech....

First - Friday

It is the 1st Friday of the month... Has a whole week of May almost gone by? WOW! Time sure does fly... We had our last CCM formal meeting... Other then a few park days during the summer... I won't see everyone till the Fall... Big Boy saw a SLP for a feeding eval... It was concluded he is a slow/lazy but impatient eater... You may ask yourself... How do those two things go together? Well, when he is ready to eat solid food... You have to feed him when he's ready to eat it... However when he's eating it... It is a slow process... If you don't start feeding him when he is ready he protests... He wants nothing but his liquid food and to be left alone! After eating that he will nap and you can try again with the spoon... I started watching Financial Peace University Home Kit DVDs... WOW! I thought I learned a lot from the borrowed CD set... LOVIN! the DVD presentations... I'm learning by leaps and bounds now... Dave Ramsey is entertaining, informative and no-nonsense... I really like his style... I just casually browsed through my kit... Right now I'm just watching the DVDs without filling out the workbook... I plan to go back and do that... Watching the DVDs over and over will be the key to making this stick in my mind...

Taking a chance and Trying again - Thursday

It has been a while since I last blogged... Umm, like over 3 months?!?! ::smirk:: I've decided I'm going to try again... A lot has happened since my last publishing... An amazing event has happened which has lead me to try again so I can document this... I'm expecting again... Nothing too amazing about that... LOL!!! Here is my 20 week guess the gender belly shot (with Linebacker sneaking in there too):




However...
I'm expecting TWINS... Yep, right there in that ultrasound PIC you can see TWO heads which are connected to 2 seperate sweet bouncing BOYS! At the time of the ultrasound I was 20 weeks and 6 days... Baby Boy A was 21 weeks and 5 days and Baby Boy B was 21 weeks and 3 days... I bet you weren't 'expecting' that huh? So, our family is now a family of 8... Gender Count of Offspring is 5 Boys to 1 Girl... So, lately I've been filling my hours with eating ::smirk:: and talking with friends about their twin births plus reading online and various books I own what new things I'm to expect this pregnancy... If you have had twins and have recommended reading... Let me know... How do I feel about this news... Well, I have to say I'm still shocked (found out on Monday) but excited... I've decided during Lent to make Friday's internet free so my next posting will have you waiting till Saturday... On the bright side tomorrow is Good Friday and the last Friday of Lent...


In other news... We bought a new minivan (which will be FULL in a few months) 98 Plymouth Grand Voyager Expresso... Engineer is now 10, still in the 4th grade and doing awesome in his program... Monkey is now 7, still in 1st grade and he is doing well also... Princess is still 4 with a birthday coming up this summer and very excited to be FIVE and a Kindergarten this fall... Linebacker is 22 months and into EVERYTHING... I'm planning a trip to the clothing store with a friend of mine to ::gasp:: buy shorts (maternity for now)... Which she assures me will be modest and look good... ::smirk:: She promises to help me find jeans also that fit good/modest plus appropriate for a mom in her 30s without being frumpy after the twins arrive... Of course when I'm ready for jeans (aka willing to give up my maternity wear, hehehe)...


See you all on Holy Saturday...

PS: Don't forget to check me out on FB a.k.a. where I've been hiding the last few months... ::wink::

Slow Saturday

Kind of a quiet day... I went through Engineer's clothes today... Packed up all the 'warm' things and reorganized all his shelves with all his 'cool' weather things... It should make it easier for dressing for school and dressing for bed... I watched Ladder 49... Pretty good movie... I didn't care much for the ending... I guess not every movie can have a 'happy ending'... Definetely a tissues movie... I didn't expect it to effect me so deeply... I chatted with a friend on the phone and another one in IM... It is good to catch up with friends... The day is gone now... I'm off to throw in a load of laundry, start the dishwasher and head to bed... Night All...

Feeling The Cold - Friday

Brrrr... Winter is coming... We had our first really good frost this morning... Right now our drawers are packed with warm and cool clothes... So, that had to be taken care of today now that it will stay cold and not flip flop back and forth... So, out came all the warm stuff minus one outfit for that odd day and in went all the cool weather stuff... Talk about a PROJECT!!! Whew! Every one's drawers were a messed... We had drawers w/ a pair of shorts in them, t-shirt, pair of jeans, socks, underwear, etc... All in ONE drawer! I'm like no wonder everything looks like it was in a crumpled heap on the floor when you put it on... ::smirk:: I'm glad that is taken care of... I don't know if I updated.... I did some reorganizing and found those missing pieces for the quilt I wanted to work on... I'm ready to sew next week... I only have one appointment and the rest of the days I'm sewing!!! I had my 2nd Women of Grace Study Group meeting today... I just love Johnnette... She is just a breath of fresh air in this flat world I live in... Short post today but changing of seasons is a big task for a family of 6 which I know many of my readers with families of my size and larger can completely relate to... Talk to you all tomorrow...

::before and after PICS to come... need to download them from my camera::

Many Lists Monday

It was a quiet day... I ran to the store and the bank... My husband had a dental appointment... Peanut had speech today because her regular day has an appointment so we moved it... I worked on several lists today as it is the beginning of the month... So, I had to make perishables list, freezer/pantry list, and non eatables list... I had a mom's night at my house with some friends... I made a new grilled chicken recipe... ENJOY!

Golden Glazed Fryer

8 Thighs and 10 Legs (2 nights worth for our family) or 3-4 lb Broiler/Fryer Chicken, cut up

1/2 C. Oil
1/2 C. Cider Vinegar
1 Egg, lightly beaten
Chicken Seasoning
Salt/Pepper to taste

Coat grill rack wit nonstick cooking spray before starting the grill. Preheat grill. Grill chicken skin side down, covered, over medium heat for 15 minutes. Turn; grill 15 minutes longer. Meanwhile, combine the remaining ingredients; brush over chicken. Grill for 5 minutes. Turn and brush with glaze; grill 5 minutes longer or until meat thermometer reads 170 degrees in the breast and 180 degrees in the dark meat. Discard unused glaze.

Friends Friday

Boys were off to school... Peanut went to test to see if she qualifies for any services or not... I have a feeling with all her gains she won't be in ECSE this fall... That is a good thing because she will be able to spend a whole year with Mommy before starting Kindergarten... She has shown an interest in knitting so that will be our fun 'girl' project we are going to do this year... Once the cool weather comes we are going to quilt together if she shows an interest and maturity for such an activity... She finished all her early childhood testing except for a few things... She will do those when she meets with the speech therapist next week.. The teacher who tested her and the speech therapist both worked with her all year last year and they also worked with Engineer his first year of ECSE... So, they know us well... Today is our 5th Anniversary for our marriage convalidation... We didn't do anything exciting to celebrate it... We watched half of Forever Young... We do more on our civil anniversary (10 years this year) which will arrive in a few months... I dropped the bars off at a friends to be taken to the parish bake sale... We rested and picked Monkey up from school... On Friday's respite staff picks Engineer up directly from school... We walked from school to home to drop off things then walked to our friend's garage sale... We were there 2 hours... I found 2 dresses for Peanut and if we can switch the handle from our wagon to theirs we will have a new wagon too!!! I had planned on heading over to MN for Play Date at the Park but the van was acting funny so we stayed close to home... We walked back home and did 'mail'... Thank you to my friend (and blog reader) for the wonderful card... It was special to read it... ::smile, tear:: Yes, I will try to be as prompt as I can be with updates so you and all my readers know what is going on here... Remember my some times cryptic messages are because this is a public forum... Always feel free to email me for the decoded version... ::smirk:: We had our first Sloppy Joe dinner... We also had Alfredo broccoli noodles and steamed broccoli... All the children went to sleep without much fuss... Woo hoo! I walked 16 blocks (1.6 miles) yesterday... Go me!!! I transferred my chicken scratch menu planning into a printed version... I design the layout... I also now have a complete respite schedule till move in day that I also designed (layout for that too) and printed copies for every one... My program I usually use I can't find the disc to install it on this computer... I didn't like any of the 'free' ones I could download so I just designed my own 'form' to fill in, that's printable, in the word processing program...

Mean Monday

Life was kind of mean to us today... I was up early and took all the children to an appointment... They were mostly good... I had feared the worst taking all 4 of them to such a small office... We came home... My oldest and I then went to run errands... We dropped off an update for some paper work for him... We mailed a quilt block I made... We came out and I had the same problem I had on Saturday where the van makes the sound like it is going to turn on but doesn't... We were downtown... It would be too far and too long to walk home... We had missed the bus we would have needed to catch to be home when we needed to be... Thankfully I saw an old homeschooling friend who was able to give Engineer and I, a ride home... My husband had a private 'session' with just him today and I didn't want him to late because of me... Thankfully he was just late on his own... I called around to see if A. I could find out what might be wrong with it and a ride back downtown to see if the van would start... On Saturday after it sat a bit it started just fine... It ran fine the rest of the day... I finally asked he neighbors if they were available to help... The neighbor lady (the one I mentioned before who's 80 this year) sat with the children while her husband gave me a lift downtown to see if I could start the thing... I tried it and it started right up like no problem at all... I drove it home... We received a call from our car insurance company... Not a good call... Something we were over and done with in June has come back that we have to deal with again... UGH! Now our rates will probably go up... Lovely... My husband comes home and here is bad thing #3... His session did not go well at all... He was 15 minutes late... The person is refusing to see him again... ::sigh:: So, we had not such a nice day today... We had a few nice things happen today so it wasn't all bad... A friend stopped by and gave us some fleece she didn't need... We were excited about that... Now the children and I will have to find some kind of project to make with it... We are anxious about tomorrow... I need to do some more cleaning to have the house ready for tomorrow... The laundry monster is growing!

To Do List Thursday

I had many things on my to do list today... This morning I made garlic mashed potatoes and brussel sprouts in a butter sauce to go with our hamburgers I made last night... I made a few phone calls... My husband had a dental visit (routine check up)... Monkey and Peanut had Speech... I chatted with my neighbor next door... She is 80 this year (born in 1929)... I will be 30 in less then a month... She calls me 'kid' instead of by my name... Always saying how beautiful the children are and that they keep her young... She has 3 grown children and several grandchildren (all school age)... We were talking how Engineer will be in 4th grade this year and Monkey in 1st grade... When we bought the house Engineer was 2 years and 7 months old, Monkey wouldn't arrive for another 5 months, and I had just turned 23... Look how our family has grown! I didn't do any sewing because I'm more tired then I thought I would be... Guess the week is catching up to me... I knitted some more on Peanut's hat... It should be done soon... I then can start working on the boys' hats and then scarves...

Tasty Tuesday

I made a fun recipe today... ENJOY!

Blueberry Focaccia

Flurry of Activity Friday

Today has been a crazy busy day... The morning started early with a call from our Disabilities Case Manager... The word for my oldest is the opening will be coming available soon and that his application is on file... Just a waiting game now... After that it was a pretty quiet morning with things picking up just before the noon hour... I chatted online with a friend for a bit then cooked breakfast... After that we were off and running... My husband run out for a few errands... Next it was remodeling... It ran later then my husband had said it would... Finally I said I have stuff I need to do and ran out to do it... I went to the local Catholic bookstore... I picked up the children some items using their gift certificates they won for reading lots during CCD... They have several new books and a 'quiet time' tote for during Mass... Next I headed to Walmart and returned 5 things that were either too small or just impractical for our family... I ran in Sam's to see if they had Linebacker's 'milk'... They don't carry the children's version only the adult... So, I went back to Walmart and shopped till I drop... I bought 4 - 6 pks of his 'milk' bleach, fabric (hey a girl has to treat her self every now and then), a retractable clothes line and 100 clothes pins (now where to hang it), a ball for Linebacker to play with in the back yard, 2 classic board cames in HARD plastic boxes vs those the old school cardboard ones that always rip and bent up right away, cooking magazine and several items for Peanuts birthday coming up in just a few short weeks... Next I went to the mall and bought a $50 dress for $2.12... Aren't I a savvy shopper... It's for our camping trip... I ran into my fav 2nd hand store but they didn't have anything that would work for our camping trip... I remember where I saw what I was looking for and it was at Kmart so next I headed there... I picked up two of the dresses I was looking for, an apron, another cookbook, and some covers... I plan to ask a friend of mine some advice on covering... She uses the basic scarf type cover with bobbie pins... I think I will start with that route and see how it goes... It was good to have some time alone and pick up some much needed things... We grilled out burgers, sausages and hot dogs for dinner...

What Else Needs To Be Done - Wednesday

I paid one of my last three bills due this month... I ordered Peanut her Aqua Head Band and earplugs for her ear tubes surgery... So, we all set for that... I picked out fabric for the anniversary mystery quilt...
I'm not sure when I will cut or sew the pieces but I have my fabric set aside... I also picked out fabric for a surprise birthday gift... I took Monkey to the store and picked up a few groceries including more Milk... It seems to be flying out the door these days... Going to have to do some milk intake/wasting adjustments... I visited a friend and took her a meal (a portion of my famous 17 lb lasagna)... She had surgery last week... She looked good but tired... We only stayed for a little bit then left so she could rest... I watched another episode of Highway To Heaven... I'm half way done with the disc... I planned out all I have to accomplish tomorrow...

To Do List Tuesday

I normally post some tasty recipe... I'm taking off this week because I had too much to do to whip something up and we ate the left overs... I ran to the library and dropped a DVD in the slot... I went to grocery store for a misc list of items... I ordered our camping items from BePrepared.com.... Awesome site... Peanut had Speech... I had an wonderful evening with a new FMCHE friend, Mary, and her two sons plus puppy... We chatted and looked at my recent quilting projects... I scheduled a Pedicure (Mother's Day Present)... I'm not big on them but this person likes to buy them for me so I'm like ok it's only once a year... Why not... My husband wants me to pick fuchsia nail polish this time... I may just have to post a picture of my toes... LOL... I bought Father's Day cards, mailed the ones that need it then hand delivered the rest... I ordered the middles a Mass Bag... It will be here in a couple days... I watched one episode of Highway To Heaven...

Tasty Tuesday

Today was a typical day... I ran one errand... Peanut had Speech at her new time... We met a good friend and mother of 8 (this includes twins!) at the park... The always constant picking up, vacuuming and laundry... My fun task for the night is cleaning off the desk so we can do drywall work in here... I will post before and after PICs later below the recipes... Thank you for all the replies to yesterdays publishing... Of course back by popular demand... It's Tasty Tuesday... ::smirk:: I guess this weekend I will share my latest version of the very common Mexican Casserole... ENJOY!!!

I modified the recipe to feed many... The recipe says you can make this in one of those tiny round 2 Qt casserole dishes... I expanded it to a 9 x 13 so we have more then a snack from it...

Flour Tortillas (2 pks of 10)
1 Qt. of Refried Beans (I make my own from scratch but you can use a can of the store bought kind)
1 Jar of Salsa
2 lbs of Taco Meat (hamburger w/ taco seasoning {I was out and mixed chili mix in mine})
2 lbs Cheese Shredded (I used mozzarella and colby/jack and medium cheddar {had several open so used it up})

Heat and mix the refried beans and salsa to make it a spreadable mixture... They recommending greasing your pan but I didn't... Who has time for such things... ::wink:: First is a layer of tortillas... Next is half the bean/salsa mixture... Next is a layer of 1/2 the taco meat... Follow that with a layer of 1/3 of the cheese... Repeat... Tortilla, Bean/Salsa, Taco Meat, Cheese... Finish with a layer of Tortillas and Cheese... Bake 25 minutes covered in a 350 degree oven... Remove foil and bake 15 minutes to finish heating it through and brown the cheese a bit on top... Serve with lettuce, tomatoes, olives, sour cream and guacamole as desired...

Computer Desk Before:
::photos appearing soon::
Computer Desk After:

Free Friday

After talking to my good friend and mentor Michelle (she is really awesome and I admire her greatly) last night I decided to make some changes in my life... I know I posted a while back about a full plate... I made the positive step forward of emptying things off my plate... However I made the negative step forward of just filling those places with other harder to recognized comments because they were not routine but sporadic in nature... I became even more over worked then before... I've another change... I'm going to take one day for myself a week... Right now it's just about 2 hours in the morning but I hope to expand it to a longer time... I won't be spending these days catching up on housekeeping, grocery shopping, or running to appointments... It is about time for ME... I also changed some other things in my life like going to bed and when I take a shower... Since it's Winter can't take one in the morning before the children wake up because my hair would freeze... I don't own a blow dryer so that's not an option... I do enjoy a nice shower when my hair won't freeze... Good way to help you wake up... I'm also making an effort to remember to take my vitamin and eat 3 healthy well balanced meals in a day... Does anyone have any links with print outs where I can write down what I ate so I know I know if I had all my servings of each of the food groups? I thought about looking on a diet set I won't be using it to lose weight but I'm sure they might have that sort of thing.. Any input would be helpful...

Thankful Thursday

10 Things I'm most Thankful this week

1. A freezer full of food
2. A clean home
3. Celebrating another birthday with Monkey
4. A family doctor
5. Outside help to provide the best environment we can for our oldest
6. Linebacker is a healthy growing boy
7. Loving, Faith-ful/filled Husband
8. Staying At Home to care for household
9. Family
10. My husband's employer

Not to much going on today... Monkey had Speech... Peanut had Speech to make up because one day the therapist son was sick so she had to reschedule... My oldest had a psychiatry appointment... It was only 1/2 hour and we didn't talk about all I wanted... So, we will go again before the end of the month... We also need to do labs... I will do those that morning and see him in the afternoon to discuss the rest of what's going on and lab results... It was a good day... Talk to many friends online and on the phone... I'm going to make some changes in my life but that will have to wait til tomorrows message because it is late... Night all...

Ash Wednesday

Happy Ash Wednesday... I don't know why we have Ash Wednesday... I just know we fast, don't eat meat and go to Mass to have a cross of Ashes put on our forehead... I will have to do some research as to the whys of Ash Wednesday... I welcome my readers to share their resources... I'm always learning new things as a convert... The children colored some Ash Wednesday print outs (photo to come)... I picked up a veggie pizza which the children revolted and refused to eat... I gave it to a friend and her family of 10... We had plain ole boring cheese only pizza for dinner instead... I guess I will know better next time... I have Mac & Cheese scheduled for the children on our first meatless Friday... Peanut had ST this morning... I tried to rest this afternoon but the Schwan's man came and knocked on my door... ::smirk:: I flipped through the new catalog and saw several items I'd like him to bring when he comes again... Nothing for today... I'm still fighting off various ills... I'm going to rest and watch my newest to arrive movie Kit Kittredge... She's an American Girl for those who don't know... I've seen Molly, Samantha and Felicity's movies... I'm not sure if Chrissa's movie is available through netflix or not yet... I will have to do a search... I wish I could go to sleep but the tub is clogged (read hair cuts on Sunday) and I'm waiting for my husband to unearth the snake where ever he put it so I can unclog it... Maybe tomorrow I will have some good rest time... We will see...

Frosty - Friday

We had quite the snow event today... They had said 1-3 inches but we had at least 4-6 in my part of town... It was beautiful snow... Very light and fluffy... I ran out for errands around the new hour... I also took Peanut to the doctor... She failed her hearing screening... She has a cold and a sore throat but no strep or ear infections... I baked the bars for the funeral... I picked Monkey up and we went to Soccer... The children had an awesome time... I dropped off my many items to my friends... I saw so many of my FMCHE friends I hadn't seen for a while... Each of us has had our share of illness not to mention weather that keeps us from being able to visit each other as often as we would like sometimes... I cleaned up a lot of papers that had been cluttering the computer room... Filled on our of 'paper' trash cans... I watched a couple Netflix movies online... Now I'm going to head to bed early... I'm sure tomorrow will be another busy day...

Tasty Thursday

I did a load of laundry as soon as I woke up... I dropped off the oldest three... I also made Tasty Mozzarella Chicken before picking Peanut up from school... I took a nice nap and picked up the boys... Monkey had ST... Our Pampered Chef order came in... I talked to several friends about what I will bring with me to soccer... My group is serving the reception after a funeral on Saturday... I won't be able to help in person so I'm making bars... I wasn't able to make them tonight like I had planned... Here is the recipe I promised...

Tasty Mozzarella Chicken

1 egg, beaten
2 T. water
2/3 C. bread crumbs
1 envelope onion soup mix
1/8 t. pepper
6 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1-1/2 C. spaghetti sauce
8 oz pkg mushrooms, sliced and sauteed or 7 oz can if you like them like that
8 oz block mozzarella cheese, shredded

1. In quart zip lock, place egg and water. In gallon zip lock, combine bread crumbs, soup mix, and pepper. Coat chicken in egg mixture, then shake in crumb mixture till well coated.
2. Place in greased baking dish. Bake, uncovered, at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.
3. Place mushrooms over chicken, pour spaghetti sauce over chicken. Bake another 10-15 minutes until chicken is done and sauce is bubbly. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake 5-7 minutes longer until cheese melted.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Here is our Thanksgiving... ENJOY!

Prep for Thanksgiving is HARD work!

Moved to a more comfortable spot...
Turkey: One wing stuck out from under the foil after we covered to prevent over browning...
Table All Set (minus noted items below)...
Here is our healthy, happy, and very Thankful family...
Myhusband always reads Proclamation of Thanksgiving by Abraham Lincoln that they print in the paper ever year...
My husband has the honor of carving the turkey...

Our fridge full of 'leftovers'...

Our Menu:
Cheddar Potato Soup
13 lb Turkey
Stuffing
Mashed Potatoes
Gravy
Squash / Onions sauteed in butter
Green Bean Casserole
(doubled)
Carrots/Peas
Glazed Sweet Potatoes
Deviled Eggs
Cranberry Sauce

(not pictured see bread note)
Cornbread
Bread

(not pictured forgot to remove from pan till after photos)
Apple Crisp
2 - Sweet Potato Pies
Pumpkin Pie

Thank you for all those who helped to make our Thanksgiving Bountiful!