Last week I did lots of cooking!

With the help of my bread machine I made several loaves of bread for meals. Karis and Jack helped make biscuits, jello and pudding. We were running out of dessert, so near the end of the week I even made homemade pudding. It was a success.

We also ate lots of fruit. Aldi has 3lb. bags of tangerines for $.99 and my kids couldn't get enough of them. By week's end, we were out of bread and finished off hamburger buns from the freezer. Everyone is being a good sport and sticking with the plan.

The menu for this week looks like this:

Breakfasts:

waffles

biscuits & gravy

eggs & hashbrowns

blueberry muffins

cereal

sausage & biscuits

Lunches:

pb&j, chips, fruit

grilled cheese & fruit

pizza roll ups

ham sandwiches, chips, fruit

Dinner:

Leftovers (this is for several nights b/c we had so much left from last week, not to mention what this week will have left over)

Stuffed shells (these were from my freezer cooking in Dec.) & homemade bread, salad

turkey noodle soup & homemade bread

ritzy turkey casserole, salad

Snacks/Desserts:

oatmeal cookies

yogurt

fruit

popcorn

another dessert to be decided

I'm having trouble with this $25/week budget I gave myself. If I had any kind of a stockpile, it might be easier. I spent $33 this week. I had to buy more flour, butter, vanilla and milk, fruits and veggies. I'm a little worries about next week because Jack will need diapers & wipes, Abby will need dog food and we need to eat.

Danny thinks $25 is not realistic, but I really want it to work. We'll see.

Eat From the Pantry Challenge

Crystal at MoneySavingMom and FishMama at LifeasMom are hosting an eat from the pantry challenge for the month of January and we are participating!

I have done a horrible job of couponing and stocking up since we moved in July. In fact, if I'm honest I haven't done much CVS or Walgreens shopping since last February when I decided to see if I could feed us for $100 for the entire month. ( We still have plenty of shampoo, conditioner, body wash and are just now on our last toothpaste.) I ended up over budget last year, so I'm hoping to do a little better in 2010.

I have no concrete rules for this particular challenge. Others are limiting what they buy at the store to produce, dairy, etc. I'm just trying to use what we have and only buy the necessities to make it. Danny has agreed to be a good sport and support my efforts/meals. I should mention that we normally eat Sunday lunch out and this is not included in our budget.

Thanksgiving brought good sales on turkeys and we had a 15lb one in our freezer just waiting to feed us. Here's what our meal plan for this week looks like:

Breakfasts:

eggs & toast

country ham & biscuits

sausage & biscuits/ eggs

banana muffins

cereal

Lunches:

pizza roll ups

pb & j

ham or turkey sandwiches

grilled cheese

Dinners:

roasted turkey, corn, freezer potatoes, salad

homemade pizza, salad

turkey spaghetti (This is actually the Pioneer Woman's chicken spaghetti and was delicious)

turkey pot pie

fish sticks, fried potatoes

pancakes

leftovers

Snacks/Desserts:

Chocolate sheet cake

Chocolate pudding

Jello

fruit

chips

raisins

We spent $37 at the grocery this week so I'm really going to have to be careful the next 3 weeks. The first week of this challenge and we run out of diapers, toilet paper, garbage bags and paper towels. Hopefully there won't be any surprises for the next 3 weeks!

Paradise

This is where I'd like to be right now. On a warm beach somewhere listening to the waves lap against the sand and relaxing. Karis, Jack and I were lucky enough to get to join my parents for a long weekend before fall break. It was fantastic.



Even Jack thought so.



Both kids liked building sandcastles with Poppy.



Jack really loved swimming in the ocean with Poppy.


So did Karis. She even wore won of Poppy's hats.



Such a big smile that Danny's mom almost didn't recognize her when she saw this picture. Can't blame her though, it's not often Karis treats us to a smile like this.



See what I mean?



Even though her eyes are closed, they're touching and neither one of them melted from the effort.



Jack looks happy and sweet, not at all like the little terror that he is.




One of my favorites, fake smile and all.


Why has it taken me months to post pictures you ask? Because my internet at home is painfully slow and crashes when I try to upload photos. I'm in Louisville at the Giddens home, stealing their quick internet and attempting to catch up. I have one more set of photos to post tomorrow and then another drought is coming. I left my camera and all the pictures on it at home.

Bug

I have a few posts I want to write and pictures I need to add, but none of that will happen today.

Earlier this week mom told me I needed to update my blog.

Here's the update: Jack started throwing up around 6 last night. Every hour on the hour he was like clockwork with the puking until 3. He waited until 3:30. I couldn't sleep on my bed because the mattress was still wet. He couldn't sleep on his bed because his mattress was wet. He couldn't sleep on the rug beside the couch because he kept throwing up on it. He slept on top of me. Thankfully, I didn't get thrown up on in my sleep. All 3 hours of it.

No matter how many times I've washed my hands, they still smell like vomit.

Hope your Wednesday is bug free.

Just For My Benefit

I’ve told a few people this story, but I’m writing it here so I can remember it as the years go by.
Karis was listening to “Lord, I Lift Your Name on High” and asked what the grave was. Anytime we talk about Jesus dying, we talk about the tomb. So I explain the grave to her and how Jesus rose again, but how he’s the only one who can do that b/c He’s God, and only God has power over death.
She then tells me that Jesus can’t be God. When I ask her why he can’t be, she tells me, “Because when Jesus was born, God put a bright star in the sky to help people find him. Babies cannot put stars in the sky.”
That’s when I asked her Daddy to use some of his Seminary education and take over. He told her that Jesus was God incarnate. “Incar WHAT?” He explained it to her and she was satisfied.
I’m almost positive that I have never, ever thought like that. She must get it from her Daddy.
*** I also want to remember that right now my favorite thing Jack says is “No Way Hosey Posey!” instead of No Way, Jose! *** I also love to hear him say “It’s Amazing! I’m friend of God”*** Thanks again, Jeff and Annie, for the Veggie Tales cd.

Louisville Zoo, We’ll Miss You

Going to the zoo was one of our favorite pastimes in Louisville. Seeing the animals and playing in the Splash Park never got old. The time was especially sweet on summer nights when the zoo was open late and we met up with friends.

As we realized our time in Louisville was coming to a close, there was no better way to spend one of our last Thursday nights than at the zoo with the Giddens family. (They have an awesome blog but I’m not linking to it b/c I’m writing this at home with no internet. Sorry, friends, but I don’t have that much time when I’m using free WiFi) I had to get a picture of Karis with her best bud, Abigail, in the wagon they spent so much time in.




Karis loves the splash park.



So does Jack.



I’m kicking myself for not getting a picture of both of our families together. There is no zoo 15 minutes away from us in Columbia. We’ll have to drive 45 minutes and I’ve heard it’s not that great.

I guess that will make us appreciate what we had in Louisville even more. Thank you, friends, for spending one of our last Thursdays at the zoo with us.

Don't Blink

because when you do, this:


Turns into this:


My baby is in kindergarten and loving it. I had parent teacher conference tonight and he told me she was a joy to have in his class. I about fell over and wanted to make sure he knew whose mother I was! He said she’s shown no signs of being strong willed or stubborn. I’m saying, “ Thank You, Jesus! Please let it continue!” She hasn’t even gotten in trouble for talking too much. I honestly don’t think any of her Sunday school/choir/Wednesday night teachers would have ever said she was a joy to have in class. I’m telling you, it’s a kindergarten miracle all the way around!