My Menu for this Week...

Lunch

We are going to mostly do sandwiches this week. I bought a variety of meat and cheeses, mayo, lettuce, and I found some wonderful ripe tomatoes. Yum! If someone gets tired of the fare, we have on hand Mac and Cheese, Ramen, and one last can of Beef Stew.LOL

Dinner

Heavenly Chicken
Baked Salmon with rice and veggies
Hamburgers, french fries, and veggie tray (This is the third try.lol)
Grilled Chicken, rice and veggies
Spaghetti, garlic bread and salad
Grilled steak, baked potatoes and spaghetti squash


We made it to BJ's yesterday and I nearly wore myself out.lol I walked all the way to the back of the store and wasn't sure I could make it back to the car. I ended up spending the rest of the day laying down. Boy, the rigors of pregnancy!LOL

Today we got the regular shopping done while the three older kids went with their grandma to a Fall Festival being held by our little town. Afterwards, grandma's taking the older two to their football practice and will spend some time with Genevieve.

I think I'm entering the tired phase of my pregnancy. It's amazing how little I can do and still be very tired.LOL At least the big stuff is done for the week and I can always scale back my organizing to fit my new energy level.

My new goals for this season will be focusing on the kids. Now that we are entering the cold and flu season, I need to step up the nutrition for my kids health. We need to stay healthy this year. Jon has not been handling illness well since the move and I need to make sure that I'm doing all that I can to keep him healthy. Also, Isaac's next surgery is next month and I need him to stay healthy for it. He only gets them every three months so he really can't miss one due to illness. So I'm going to make sure I make smoothies at least 3x a week. I've bumped up the fresh fruit and will be making healthier breakfasts in the morning. I'm going to get more fresh veggies into their diet during lunch and will continue to make healthy meals for dinner. I will also limit sweets to one small dessert a day which will be homemade if possible.

I'll post my household goals tomorrow. I have to admit that I'm worn out and am going to go lie down.LOL I hope everyone has a great Sunday.

Blessings,

Lisa

Here's Genevieve with her new pink cowgirl boots that she picked out last Saturday. She absolutely loves these things and I can see her still trying to stuff her feet in them once she's outgrown them.LOL You can also see some of her paintings on the fridge.

Blessings,

Lisa

First the blessing! We went to our first football practice last night and found out that both kids are on the same team! Whoohoo! The coach will be doing one practice a week and then the games should be on Saturdays. What a big relief. I was worried how I was going to handle so much running around and God took care of it for me.lol

Today has been a good day. The kids finished all their school work and I was able to do a little tidying up while they were busy. For lunch we called my Mom and went to Larry's again.lol It was a very nice visit and we ended up hanging around for two hours! The little ones amused themselves by running around the empty restaurant. After lunch mom took Genevieve to her house and the rest of us came home. Isaac has fallen asleep again at 4:30. I turned on some music in his room and will see if that helps him sleep through the night. He hasn't slept well for several days so I'm hoping this is one of those sleep for 14 hours days. We could really use one of those today.LOL

The public schools were out today and we decided not to go to the park. It was also hot outside and I just didn't think I could take the heat. A cold front is supposed to come through next week and I will make an extra special effort to go on that day.

Oh, before I came home from lunch there was a tent sale in the parking lot selling used cars. I took a look since Eric has been considering trading in one of our vehicles for a more gas friendly car for him to take to work each day. Well they had some really good prices and are willing to take a trade in. Who knows if anything will come out of this but if Eric likes what the guy says we may have a new to us car at the end of this weekend or the next.lol Right now, it costing him $60 a week to go to work and back. It would be so nice to have that bill lowered. The guy said he may be able to make a fair trade with us, and then we wouldn't have to pay anything! That would be really nice. I know that we wouldn't do it if we had to pay more than sales tax and title.

I'm making salsbury steak for dinner tonight with mashed potatoes, gravy and steamed veggies. I was going to make hamburgers but the grill is out of gas and I'm too tired to go get more. lol I'll save that errand for this weekend.

Really, that's our day. Nothing too exciting...lol

Blessings,

Lisa

Here are the two little ones playing in the rain that collected in the lid of their sandbox. This is right before the downpour hit.lol

I'm a bit grumpy today. LOL O.k., so I'm just extremely tired! My littlest evidently does not need sleep and will never need it again. I kept him up ALL day yesterday, even though he was just plain horrible and we finally put him to sleep at 9pm last night and he slept a total of 4 hours. ugh. I feel like I have sand in my eyes. I found my dh sleeping on the floor this morning, lol, you know things are getting desperate when he's resorted to sleeping on the floor. The poor man. I've done everything I can think of to get this kid to sleep but nothing is working. We even tried the let him cry technique and all that did was wake EVERYONE up. Not pleasant.LOL

Enough complaining.lol I have a lot to be grateful for. I finished all my goals for the week! I am going to celebrate by not doing anything else til next week, except basic maintenance. The pie was excellent! I ate 2 pieces for dinner last night and a piece after lunch today.lol There is definitely a plus to being pregnant. No one said anything about my indulgence.lol My little ones were enjoying the outside for the first time in two days and it started downpouring on them.LOL They were having such a great time and Genevieve came running in to tell me that it was raining "A WHOLE LOT!"LOL I got a towel and dried them off and they stood at the open back door screaming in delight with the rain pouring down. Ahh, to be little again.

The older kids are at P.E. right now and I'm going to go pick them up soon. We've had a nice afternoon and hopefully we'll have a good evening at football practice.

Blessings,

Lisa

I know it seems like all I ever post about is organizing, menus, and the like but I also want to share with you about the heart issues that God has been working throughout all this. For the past few years, I had lost sight of the amazing blessings that God had given me. They were lost in a cluttered home, a disorganized mom, and mostly in my fear. I was afraid of what God had given me. I just knew that I couldn't handle it. I had a lot of people telling me that I couldn't handle my children, house, or life in general.lol I let that fear be my focus and I lost touch with how to make things better. A few months ago, I prayed that if my life was to be blessed by more children, that God would give me the strength to rise to the occasion and instead of drowning in the chaos of my, then, current life, that I would be able to have a vision of what our lives should be. God has given me that plan. He has, slowly over the past 4 months or so, helped me out of the fear and chaos that we lived in. I prayed for a schedule that would fit us and he has provided. I prayed for organization and he has met our needs--ten fold! I prayed for strength to keep my house in working order and God has not only given me the ability to keep it clean but he has given me more hours in my day to do it in.lol (Of course, I fight this one, but it's really been a blessing!) I prayed for the strength to be able to feed my family healthy meals from scratch and with my menu system, I've been able to meet that goal also. I am no longer afraid of my family and no longer do I fear more children. This new baby will be met with the same amount of excitement that the very first one produced in my heart, because, I know that I can do it and that my children are well cared for indeed. What a blessing God has given me! I am learning mostly about trust, to guard my heart from those who would have me lose focus, and not to fear anything that comes from my Lord and Savior. So in my cleaning, organizing, and my life in general, I am finding joy.

Blessings,

Lisa

Here's my pie. Looks yummy! I can't wait until after dinner tonight.

Lisa

Yesterday was hectic, today is much more relaxed. Isaac decided that his wake up time was at 1am this morning, he pretty much kept Eric and I up all night. Therefore, we're slow going this morning.lol Well, the older kids are trucking along with our schedule but they're having to drag me along. I've got a lot that needs to be completed today, so I'll rest later if it's all done. So far, I've made a pumpkin pie that was touted to be the Best Pumpkin Pie ever by some magazine I was reading at my mom's house yesterday. It is made with real milk instead of evaporated milk, which means I can adapt it to my needs.lol Not that I NEED PIE but I would love to have some kind of pie for the holidays that I can actually eat.lol (When you can't have fruit, most pies are out.) Here's the recipe in case anyone is interested...

Best Pumpkin Pie

1 15oz can pumpkin
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cloves
3 eggs
1 1/4 cup milk

Mix and put in pie crust. Bake for 30 mins with foil around the crust. Then 25-30 mins without the foil. Let cool, then refridgerate.

Enjoy!

I'm also making Pizza and smoothies for lunch and will start the yogurt after we eat. I'm working on our laundry today and will try to begin the laundry room clean up while I'm working in there. I need to make homemade playdough either today or tomorrow, since I received the playdough cutters in order to make the Toddler Bags for Bridget's trade thing we're doing. I was able to get some really neat cutters from Oriental Trading for about $12 for a 100 count. I figure that is pretty reasonable for making 20 bags to send along and then I'll get 20 bags from other women! Should be fun!

We got the call that Football practice starts tomorrow. I'm really hoping that we don't have to do too much running around this time. The kids are very excited! I will be too, after I see the schedule and see that they both have coaches. We had a snafu last season and Jon didn't get a coach until the week before the games started. He was a great coach but it was hard on the team since they didn't have much time to figure out how the game was played. I guess we'll see tomorrow. This also means I need to start working on more crockpot meals in my weekly menu. They'll be having practice 2x's a week, maybe on different days, and 1 game each on the weekends. Hopefully there won't be any games during the week this time. Some weeks we were at a game or a practice 6 days out of the week. Yikes! I just need to remember to breathe. The kids love this and I know that it's only for a short 8 weeks and then we'll be done.lol

Well, the pie's done and cooling. The pizza's in the oven. The smoothies are consumed and I'm trucking along.lol I better post this before I have to rewrite it.lol

Blessings,

Lisa

The traveling computer bug...

Yes, I got the bug too.lol For some reason, my internet access went down last night at 9pm and Eric finally got it working again tonight at 9:30pm. I went through some major withdrawls but seemed to have survived with my sanity mostly intact.lol It took 4 phone calls to our internet provider to get it working again and who knows why it quit in the first place.

Here was my day...

Today started at 5:45 this morning, before dawn, with a little boy who has decided that he likes to sleep odd hours. He's been doing this off and on ever since he caught this last cold. He will be up all night the first night and then will sleep 14 or more hours the next, always starting at around 4-5pm. Now if I could sleep when he does, like I did with my first child, I'd be in good shape, but alas, I'm getting to bed by 10:30-11:00pm and then getting the bugle call at 05:30 every other day.lol Of course, that'd be a great amount of sleep if it wasn't interrupted by Genevieve most nights, trying to sneak into our bed...lool

For my goals, I was able to focus on the Hot Spots today and got most of them cleaned up again. I also finished all the bedding. I had P.E. to contend with this afternoon and almost didn't make it.lol I promise I just laid down for just a minute and well, before I knew it, I was being paiged for an emergency run to the P.E. class. We barely made it in time and I was so groggy I really didn't want to go home but that's where we went. When we picked up the kids, I needed to run by my parents home because my brother asked if the kids could help him move an entertainment center but when we got there it was way more than just one piece. It ended up being two bedrooms of furniture and took until 5:oopm. Then they went to get the new stuff and I left Allison with them and rushed home to make dinner. Unfortunately, when I arrived home, I found a sleeping baby in the carseat.lol He had passed out from the excitement. I tried to coax the little guy back awake but it was useless. He was completely out. Who knows when he'll wake but I'm praying it'll be tomorrow.lol After getting him changed and in bed, I made dinner. We had Shepard's Pie and it was good. Eric spent the whole night talking to BellSouth and I took Genevieve for a walk in the sprinkling rain. She was quite upset that daddy was busy and needed to be given some one on one time, so off we went.

Well, everyone is in bed, and that's were I'm headed. I noticed quite a few comments and I'll tackle those tomorrow, God willing. I'm beat.lol

Blessings,

Lisa

The attack of the little people!lol They had Allison pretty good.

Here is a picture of my very first water lily flower! It bloomed this weekend and we were very surprised! I just figured that we wouldn't get any flowers and then here at the end of the season, it bloomed.LOL

Lisa

Well, this weekend went by way too fast. Here it is Monday, and I'm not ready!LOL My asthma is bothering me again today, so I'll probably take it easy but for the rest of the week, these are my goals.

Clean Laundry room-I've never had a laundry room and since it's in the house, I'd like to keep it neat. It has some shelving above the washer and dryer and I use for bulk items and cleaning supplies and it's gotten quite messy. Also, the trash can for the lint and other items I find in pockets hasn't been dumped ever and it's spilling over onto the floor.(How's that for real and gritty.LOL)

Check Hot Spots for build up. I've noticed that some of our more popular "spots" for setting things down have some build up. I'm going to concentrate on getting everything put away.

Wash everyone's bedding. Some people, who will remain nameless, have not brought me their bedding in a while so I figure I'll just do everyone. I finished all the regular laundary yesterday since we bought new clothes over the weekend and we needed them so I'll just use today as a catch up on bedding day.

Make yogurt. I have to admit that I've been buying it lately but one reason I bought the yogurt maker in the first place is that Publix runs out of the organic yogurt all the time and I wanted to have the ability to make it on those weeks and this is one of those weeks. I have some left and will make the new yogurt with it before it's used for bottles.

Put Isaac on the potty every diaper change during the day, for the whole week. I'm only looking for more chances for him to get the "point". If after the end of the week, he's starting to figure things out, then we'll try going bottom-less next week. If he doesn't go in the potty this week, then we'll continue what we're doing this week for a little while longer.

I'm also going to work on getting more activities put together for the little ones out of the books The Toddler's and Preschooler's Busy Books. I haven't been spending enough time getting these together and the littles really need it. They are always asking for more to do but I end up giving them the same stuff over and over and they are bored. Believe me, I can tell.LOL

I think that's it for the week! Today is going well so far. I reviewed the older kids work from last week and they both got a B on their Module tests for Biology and finished all their work. I'm proud of their hard work. We've made a lot of progress! I spent an hour going over what they did, grading, and scheduling out their work for this week. I also spent some time discussing the books that they read. I've also given both little ones a bath this morning and they've been taken for a walk. After that, I swept the back patio, straighten it up and I fixed lunch.LOL

Blessings,

Lisa

My menu for the week...

Lunch

Pizza
Publix Mealwheel
Sandwiches
Ramen


Dinner

Hamburgers-hotdogs on the grill w/french fries and veggie tray
Fried Chicken-mashed potatoes and steamed veggies
Shepard's Pie
BBQ Chicken-rice and steamed veggies
Minestra Soup-bread
Grilled shrimp-rice and veggies

I found FRESH SPINACH at my local Publix grocery store today and bought some! I am very happy to see it being sold again.

Isaac had his first temper tantrum that couldn't be redirected in a store yesterday. I guess he's hitting the 2's early.LOL We were all at Walmart getting some warm clothes for Isaac because we were a bit blind-sided by the cold weather that greeted us yesterday morning. While there, Jon and Genevieve wanted to go to the toy section and look around. Well, when we went to pick them up, Isaac found the car aisle and went balistic! He REALLY wanted one.LOL As we left the area, he blew up! Eric picked him up and headed for the exit and you could hear him all the way out of the store. It was so funny! The rest of us were in fits of laughter and I mean the WHOLE store was laughing with us. All those little old ladies were giving me pointers as I paid for our stuff and left the store.

It's so hard being that age! I was a little worried taking him to Publix today but he was fine. I'll just chalk it up to the irregular-ness of the age.LOL I'll be on a look out for the next explosion though.

Blessings,

Lisa

Semi-success!

I've been putting Isaac on his potty everytime I change his diaper and usually I'll leave him sitting on it until he decides to get up. Well, I came back from throwing his diaper away and there he is standing up and he had gone both #1 and #2 in the potty! Then he proceeded on finishing up by spraying my great room.LOL It looks like we had a success! I'm hoping that he'll start figuring it all out and be potty trained early. What a blessing that would be! He was quite excited about what he did! Pretty great! (I'm so glad I have my Little Green Machine. This would be a very stressful experience without it.lol)


Blessings,

Lisa

Today's been a good day! We went to the park this morning and it was just beautiful. The weather couldn't have been better. I always bring bubbles to the park and I'm beginning to feel like the pied piper.lol All the little ones run up to me and start yelling Bubbles! and I blow and blow until I feel like I'm going to pass out.lol Isaac brought one of his little match box cars and had a really good time burying it and digging it back up. Genevieve spends a lot of the time collecting acorns to feed the multitudes of squirrels and Allison has been spending her park time drawing some of the paintings inside of the park. She really has a talent for art. She can recreate just about any picture now a days. It's fun to see what she decides to draw. Jon spends his time actually doing "park stuff" like swinging and running around on the play structures. Really he disappears while we're there and reappears when we're ready to go.lol My mom met us there and went to lunch with us. Afterwards she took Genevieve to spend time with her and we went home to get some work done. It was nice to spend some time with her.

The kids are almost finished with their school work for the week and I've been cleaning. The kids are really making progress in their studies! They are really enjoying the topics this year and Jon keeps telling me I should read the book that he's currently reading.lol I keep reminding him that I already have read them all but he's just so excited that he forgets each time.lol Allison really loves her reading this year also and she loves her writing! She says the topics are really interesting. Her writing has really improved this year. Here's her latest paper...

The Strength of Writing
by Allison G.

With his mouth the godless destroys his neighbor, but through knowledge the righteous escape.-Proverbs 11:9

The battles of Trenton and Princeton are considered by most historians to be the first major successes of George Washington's campaign. There is no doubt in my mind that the powerful words written by Thomas Paine in his essay "The Crisis" are the reason they won. The words that Thomas Paine wrote were so incredibly strong they did what no man or weapon could do, they inspired an entire confidence lacking, down hearted army! If Washington had not read that essay, I know they would have lost.

The power of writing is amazing; a book can take you to completely different worlds. As we have seen, the pen can be used for good, but it can also be used for great evil. Written works can completely change a person, as it did for a man named Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. A book wrought destruction on his soul.

Vladimir was at a down point in his life, nothing seemed to be going for him so a friend brought him a copy of the book "Das Kapital" written by Karl Marx. He had seen the book a couple years prior to this but he did not think much of politics then. That literary work spoke to his soul and totally transformed him into a tyrant, who we now know as Nikoli Lenin. That book changed him forever.

As it says in the Bible, "With his mouth the godless destroys his neighbor." That is the strength of writing.

The End.


So I'm planning on finishing up some last minute cleaning and I'm going to finally get to the granola. It's been a pretty good week despite the doctor visit but I'm glad that Eric will be home tomorrow. LOL

Blessings,

Lisa

The Value of a Menu...

I've had some people ask why do I make a menu each week. I think one of the main reasons I make a menu is because it helps me to keep my grocery bill managable, which in turn makes me a better steward of the money that I have. A lot of people think that having a menu for each week can stifle your creativity but I have found the opposite to be true. It makes me really be creative while making my list but also, I need to be creative WITH my list so that if things don't work out, I still have ingredients to work with. Here are some examples of how I use my menus...

First I come up with 5 main ingredients that I want to use for the week. I only do 5 because I've found that left overs take at least one day and usually someone wants take out on Saturdays.

Let's say I decide on 2 ground beef, 2 chicken, and one bean for this week. Now I decide on the secondary ingredients that give me the most freedom with these main ingredients.

First meat:
I will usually buy one spaghetti sauce and noodles. I will also make sure that I have 2 cans of tomato sauce in the pantry and different kinds of cheeses in the fridge. If I'm out of something, it goes on the list.

Now with those ingredients I can make: spaghetti, chili, baked spaghetti, soup, I can also branch out to make meatless spaghetti with garlic, butter, and cheese. I can also decide to use my sauce to make pizza.

I can also make salsbury steak with the meat, some flour, seasonings and water and serve with rice. (If rice is in my pantry.) Now, with those two ground beef dishes, I just got a total of 7 dishes! This was just using staples and the few ingredients from the store. If I buy the ground beef in bulk, it will be cheaper and I'll have it in the weeks to come and it becomes a staple in those weeks, lowering that bill for that week. If I buy frozen veggies in bulk, then I can also expand my menu to make even more dishes. (Like De'Etta's shepard's pie.)

Now lets look at the chicken...depending on what I have in my pantry, it may be the only thing I need to buy! I can grill it, saute it, use it in stir fry, fry it, bake it, BBQ it, kabob it, make it into soup, whatever! Depending on my staples. I usually buy BBQ sauce in bulk from BJ's. It usually lasts me for 2 months. I also have soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, flour, season salt, taco seasoning, and broth. Now all I need is my secondary ingredients: I usually buy frozen veggies, potatoes, rice, and egg noodles. With these ingredients, I can make at least 8 different meals that week. Pretty cool, huh?

Next my beans. We love black beans. They are usually a staple here, so on bean night I just need to check my pantry and purchase any secondary ingredients that I may need. I make sure that I have bacon, onion, rice, canned diced tomato, canned corn, tortillas and salsa. With these ingredients, I can make two different meals: Black beans and rice, or beans, corn and salsa on tortillas. Usually, I have most if not all the ingredients for this meal, without even needing to buy anything extra.

I've found a lot of freedom with my menus and I've saved a lot of money. I would recommend this to anyone who is on a budget or is looking to cut back on their spending in this area. Use your favorite main ingredients and add your favorite secondary ingredients and you'll see that you have almost endless possiblities.

Blessings,

Lisa

Here's the inside of the truck with compartment. Notice the double finger-knitted straps and the cargo.LOL

Lisa

Here is the back of the truck. I'll post the inside next.

Lisa

Update: the sauce was terrific! It's definitely a keeper in this house. Thanks for posting the recipe, De'Etta.

Blessings,

lisa

Here's De'Etta's recipe for those interested...

PIZZA SAUCE
2 6 oz cans of tomato paste
1 15 oz can of tomato sauce
1 tsp Thyme
1 tsp of Basil
1 tsp Marjoram
1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
1/2 tsp Sea Salt
2 tsp Oregano
1/2 Tbl Honey (I used sucanat)
1/8 tsp Crushed Red Pepper

I add a bit of crushed fennel to some of the sauce - yum.
*add 2 Tbl water as needed

Mix all ingredients
Cook on low to simmer 10 - 20 minutes.

Makes - enough for two pizzas....We quadrupled the recipe and got four quart size bags. We're going to make 8 times this recipe next time. I freeze them and pull out a bag on Friday a.m.

I finished printing out 66 photos today! It's slow going with my picture mate but I'm enjoying seeing the photo album fill up. I made it to April 8th, 2006. Maybe in a day or two I'll do some more but for now, I'm done.LOL

I also cleaned out both cabinets in the dining room and straightened the house. I think I'll have one of the older kids vaccum for me since I'm exhausted.

I'm making homemade pizza for dinner tonight. I'm going to try De'Etta's pizza sauce with my crust. NO this isn't on my menu but I'm hungry for it and we have all ingredients on hand, so we'll just chalk it up to pregnancy cravings.LOL I really dislike the sauce we usually use, so I'm excited to try something different. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Blessings,

Lisa

Jon made this costume for Genevieve. She said she wanted to be a truck, and while everyone else scratched their heads at her request, Jon just got started.LOL He even made a back compartment where she can put things while she's driving around. Pretty creative!

Blessings,

Lisa

Today has been a pretty good day so far. The kids are working hard on their studies and the little ones are feeling a little better today. I was able to clean out the big pantry yesterday and will work on our two white storage cabinets that are in our dining room today. I usually store bulk snacks in one and extra buys in the other, like mac and cheese, ramen, and cake mixes. The snack cabinet is a mess as it's frequented by little hands but I don't think I'll need to do much to the other. I've got most of the surface areas in the house clean and orderly, so now I'm focusing on the inside stuff, like cabinets, drawers, shelves, and a few boxes left over from the move. I feel like I've never had a house so organized! It's great to wake up each morning and know that I don't have a huge mess to clean up. I just need to stay healthy so that I can keep it up. The kids are in training mode right now and if I went missing in action then the house would fall to chaos.LOL I still have to remind Jon to unload the dishwasher each morning and if I don't remind the kids to switch activities, they don't.LOL I'm guessing that after about 2 months, they should be able to keep things up without the constant reminders.

I'm also planning on a baking session either today or tomorrow. I still need to make bread and I need some muffins for the freezer. I'm going to play it by ear though, since yesterday was so stressful. I only have to do the minimum but anything extra will be a real boost right now.

I'm still printing out pictures. I've printed the most current and now I've gone back to 1-1-06 and will print everything from there to catch up. It will be so nice to have all the pictures printed and in books so that everyone can enjoy them. I got a shipment of picturemate paper and ink in the mail today so I should be able to print all the pictures. I'm also dating them as they come out of the printer, so everyone will know when these were taken. I'm only printing each date at a time so when one batch is done, I just mark them all and start the next date.

I bought Isaac a Potty. It came in the mail today. He thinks it's a vehicle of some sort.LOL I'm hoping to introduce potty training gently within the next few weeks. He may not be ready yet but it would sure be nice to only have one in diapers at a time. He has figured out how to get naked now and I'd at least like to have a potty for him to try out on naked days.LOL

Well, I guess that's it for now. I better get out of this chair if I'm ever going to get anything done.LOL

Blessings,

Lisa

The Suds...

The suds have returned. Isaac, my worst patient, was up all night last night, showing his unhappiness at having to re-live the whole dramatic snottiness of it. The poor kid just doesn't know what to do when his nose isn't working properly.lol I've caught it and Genevieve, the culprit who began this mess, is almost through with it. I'm dreading when Jon get's it. He just can't fight these little illnesses. He'll be on breathing treatments and such by the weekend.

My MIL is staying with us for the next day or two. We found her on our doorstep at 9pm last night. Evidently, she called but we didn't hear the phone. Good thing she got here before lights out or we may have found her this morning.lol She's having her ceilings redone and her plans for staying with a friend fell through. The kids have enjoyed having her here, though, so it's nice that things have worked out.

I have my doctor's appt today. It was supposed to be tomorrow but I got a nice little post card in the mail stating that my doctor won't be there and I needed to reschedule. I really don't know what to do. I keep praying that God would help me to decide but so far, I'm on my own here.lol I think I'm going to talk to the nurse today and tell her I'm not happy. Maybe she'll have some suggestions. She really seems to listen when I'm talking, as opposed to the doctor, who just smiles and then does what he wants. The kids will have to miss homeschool pe because of this doctor and I'm tired of having to go in on days that are not good for me. This is the 2nd reschedule I've had and this appt will be my third appt over all. Not good.

I made the banana muffins yesterday and the kids have promptly eaten them. At least they're efficient.lol I guess I'll need to make some chocolate chip muffins for the freezer. I think that I'm going to work on the pantry today. I figure it'll keep me from thinking about my appt all day long. I'm also going to make a stew in the crockpot for tonight. I've been grilling a lot lately but I could use a break.lol I made some awesome shish kabobs last night! We had garlic-butter shrimp kabobs, chicken terriaki, and steak with nature's seasonings. Very good! I loved the grilled shrimp ones the best. I served them with rice and steamed veggies. Yum!

I'm pretty exhausted today as you could probably guess from this discombobulated post, but I'm still standing, so I'll take that as a good sign.lol I'm also happy to report that this baby has finally started wiggling around a lot lately. I always feel better when my residents start making their presence known. That is definitely a big blessing!

Lisa

My menu for this week.

Lunch

Pizza
Turkey sandwiches or Ham
PBJ
Ramen
Mac and Cheese

Dinner

Hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill
Grilled chicken
Irish Stew
Shish-Kabobs
Pork chops


Blessings,

Lisa

We had a good weekend. My dad took the older kids skating on Saturday and my mom took both littles to the zoo! All the kids had a good time. Since Eric and I had the Saturday to ourselves we decided to clean the garage.LOL It looks great. I just wish we could figure out a way to store the bicycles. They take up so much room but the kids use them everyday so hanging them is out of the question. We have 4 adult bikes and 2 trikes. We also have 1 electric scooter and 3 regular scooters.LOL They end up taking half the garage! We also bought some more sand this weekend. The kids have really been enjoying the new sand. (I decided to go with regular white this time.lol)

I had trouble with my asthma on Sunday so just about everything was put to the side. Eric did the shopping for me, after I got the list made and Isaac took a nap from 4-9pm. He wasn't feeling well, so we let him rest. We think that he's finally getting that last tooth! He woke up at 9pm and stayed up until 11:30. Then he slept through the night. Genevieve on the other hand was up at 5am this morning. Eric was able to convince her to go back to bed after a little while.lol

We ended up having an early morning, which means I've been able to get a lot done. Most of the wash is finished and I've already vaccumed the house. The older kids are 1/2 way through with their work and the littles have been outside almost all morning! We finally had a real cool front come through and the weather has been a pleasant 68 degrees all day today and yesterday. (Thanks, Jodi!) My kids don't know what to think of this weather but I'm happy.lol I can actually stand to be outside again. Isaac keeps pulling at his long sleeved clothes like he thinks there's something wrong with the length and Genevieve keeps trying to wear her summer clothes.lol

I finally dug my Epson Picture Mate out and began printing out some pictures. I wanted to try to get the photo albums updated since our move. I've just been too busy and since I couldn't do much yesterday, I did this. My kids love to look through the albums! My hope is to scrapbook the pictures eventually, but I like having them avalible in albums for now.

Here are some things I hope to accomplish this week...

Banana muffins
granola
bread
and clean out the pantry. I hate this chore but it's sorely needed.

Blessings,

Lisa

Today's been a good day. We went to the park for a hour and everyone had fun. I would've stayed longer but it was just too hot. Evidently, the schools were off today, so the park was crowded but everyone seemed to play well and I didn't feel uncomfortable with the crowds. After the park, we went to Larry's Giant Subs again because I was craving it and was far too tired to make my own.LOL It was really good and once again, everyone belonged to the clean plate club. I don't mind spending the money if the food actually gets eaten.

The older kids had some work to finish when we got home and they've already completed it. Eric has been amazed that our schedule has allowed the kids to not only get the work done but on Fridays they usually finish early. He asked me last night if they needed more work.LOL I said no, they are just getting the time they need to finish these complex subjects. What a blessing it is to have this area of our lives working again. The kids worked on part 1 of a pond experiment that they had in their Biology book today and it was pretty interesting. We happen to HAVE a pond in our front yard that I've been taking care of, so we didn't even have to find one.lol I have been growing different water plants in there and I have noticed quite a bit of life in the pond. I'm sure that they'll have the different creatures that they need to finish the project. They are really enjoying Biology and are getting really good grades so far.

I think that Genevieve is going to be a lot like her older brother Jon. She loves science and requests a Magic School Bus book every night before bed. She loves to find out how things work and she absolutely has to see in the microscope everytime the older kids are using it.LOL

I guess that's our day so far. I'm pretty worn out and my asthma is bothering me so I think that I'll be resting shortly to give my lungs a break. I'm glad it's Friday!

Blessings,

Lisa

I've hit the half-way mark!

20 weeks down, 20 to go!(lol) It's amazing how fast time is flying lately! My next Dr's appt is on Wed and I should get an appt for an ultrasound then. I am really excited to find out if this is a girl or boy! I think I've nailed down names for this baby either way but I'm not going to reveal it until he/she gets here. I've had people in the past say not too nice things about my choices before the baby arrived, so this one stays hidden until birth day.

Eric and I had a great day yesterday. Dinner was great and dessert was better.(LOL) We had pork roast with buttered noodles and salad. For dessert we had brownies with various toppings. After dinner, I told Eric about the Organic Rice Crispies I discovered and he took me to WinnDixie to buy some! When we got home, we took Genevieve for a walk and talked with the neighbors for a while. Isaac fell asleep at 5:45 last night and Allison stayed home to keep an ear out for him. Well, he slept until 5:30 this morning! Wow, he must have been tired! I was tired at 5:30 this morning but was able to stay awake until around 7:00 when Eric left for work.(LOL) Eric trapped Isaac in our room with a baby show on tv for me so I could rest and Isaac was happy and I went right to sleep. Genevieve got up at 7:30 and was delighted to find her brother awake and ready to play. lol She promptly let him free from his bedroom prision and he promptly laid down on the great room floor and fell back to sleep. lolol She was so upset. She came to me and said she couldn't find Isaac and so I got up and there on the floor, was Isaac, sound asleep. She was not amused. lol Allison put him to bed for me, as it's hard for me to bend and pick up and he slept until 10:30 this morning. Boy was he tired! Well, now we are getting ready for the park and hopefully it won't be too hot. Oh and I made my first batch of rice crispie treats this morning and we will eat them after lunch! YUM! lol

Blessings,

Lisa

15 years today!

Today is Eric and my fifteen year anniversary! Here's an old picture of us at our wedding. Boy we look young.LOL

Blessings,

Lisa

LOL

Genevieve comes running in and says...I've lost all my cute little Zoombini's! They all fell down the swirly whirlpool and now they are all gone! She was upset because she left the game running during dinner and evidently this is what happened while she was gone. She's really enjoying this game, even with all the pitfalls.lol

Lisa

Today was a low energy day. I've been sore lately, so I'm guessing the baby is growing. I've been taking it easy. The little ones have settled down from the exciting weekend and are back to their usual selves. I received a video I ordered in the mail and the little ones enjoyed watching it. It's called Wee Sing King Cole's Party. My older kids loved this video when they were little, so much so that it wore out. Amazon now sells the DVD, so I bought it. It's a real treasure! Even my older kids were excited when they saw the video.lol

It's so nice to have a clean and organized home. I've always wanted one but I am a very cluttered person so it always seemed like something *I* could never have. For some reason, I've just been able to let material things go lately. No more holding on to it "just in case", I just let it go. I've been cleaning each room in cycles. First the room gets a very basic "clean." Then the next time I do that room, I go for less clutter and work through any hot spots. I liberally throw things away or put in my car for Goodwill. Then the next time I go through that room, I go for deep cleaning. Now, that means that I have to keep that room up to whatever level it's at during the week and time that it isn't it's turn but so far it's working. Keeping this house up makes me realize that I don't want a bigger one, though.lol I'm stretched thin already. In fact, if I ever move, I think that I'd go for something just a tad smaller. It's nice to have the extra room but the responsiblity is more than I'd like to have with this many small ones. I'd rather spend the time with the kids but I also want to take care of what God has given me.

I bought some fudgesicles last night at Food Lion and gave one to Isaac today in his highchair since he is STILL teething. He loved it so much that we had to move him to the tub.lol I'll try uploading the picture here, if it doesn't work I'll upload it in a new post...o.k. it worked but put the picture at the top. Good enough for me.lol

I was going to take the kids to the park but the older kids wanted to wait until Friday to see if they could finish some subjects up and who can argue with that? So here we stay.lol I'll take the littles outside to play in a little while once it's cooler and they will be just as happy.lol

I need to make some goals for this week or nothing major will get done. For one thing, Eric and my anniversary is tomorrow! 15 years, what an amazing, wonderful life I have! I am so thankful for my wonderful dh and all the blessings God has given me over these 15 years. Not everything has been good but everything has worked out for good through our Heavenly Father. I will choose to rest in His arms more for these next 15 years and I will be more thankful for the good times that come along. I will also make sure to look for the good even during the harder times. I have seen God's grace during even the hardest times and I need to make sure that I am thankful and resting in that grace.

Back to goals...lol

1. buy or make something for dessert for tomorrow

2. buy Eric a card and some dark Chocolate

3. make more ice cream and yogurt

4. go to the park on Friday

5. fix a nice dinner for our anniversary

Well, that's probably all I can do in 2 1/2 days. lol

Blessings,

Lisa

Here's a picture of Isaac and I taken by Allison today. This is a much better picture than the Avatar I have. lol Maybe I'll see if it'll fit.

Blessings,

Lisa

Today was a good day. We are plugging along with our school work and were able to make it to Homeschool P.E. The older kids had a great time. They played "Gator Ball" and some other things. They love going and are trying to earn patches this year for the Presidential Physical Fitness tests. I think they can make it if they work at it.

I'm feeling pretty good, so we cleaned the back patio this afternoon for our clean-up time. Summer had left it's mark on it and it was no longer fun to go out there.lol Everytime you went outside you ended up with blue feet from the blue sand strewn everywhere.lol It has left a permanant mark on my carpet also. Next time, I think we'll opt for traditional white sand.lol We also picked up the numerous bottles of empty sunscreen, the thousands of sand toys and pool toys and re-arranged the patio table so that we have more room outside for fun. Now that we are getting into the cooler season, I really need to add some things outside for the littles to play with. I think we'll start with some white sand. (I'm a glutton for punishment.lol) I really like to take advantage of the cooler weather. We'll definitely have more park days, walks, and outdoor activities.

I brought out the video camera and set it up on a tri-pod for the kids to play with today. They spent an hour just hamming it up for the camera until the tape ran out. I just love these tapes! We've done this many times over the years and they are the most fun to watch. We take out the old ones and watch them all the time. Seeing how much the kids have grown is amazing!

I also measured Genevieve on the "measuring stick" today. She has grown about an inch since July!

Really, that's about all we did today. I have to admit that I'm still trying to recover from the weekend and so I've been taking it easy. Well, as easy as you can with 4 kids.lol

Blessings,

Lisa

My menu for this week...

Lunch

Pizza
Turkey Sandwiches with pineapple and chips
PBJ's with fruit and cheese sticks
Dinty Moore Beef Stew
Ramen


Dinner

Pork Roast with noodles, broccoli
Chicken, Mashed potatoes, asparagus
Blk beans and rice, salad
Steak, rice and cooked carrots
Hash, canned veggie
Stoop(ground beef and greenbean stew), bread



We're doing great on the schedule and things are going smoothly. I just finished helping my brother with his writing and now I am resting up while all the kids go for a walk. Normally, we save outside time for later when it's cooler but the little ones are a little riled up from all the weekend's activities and are needing to get rid of some pent up energy.lol

Blessings,

Lisa

Here's the Swiper game that Allison made. The kids loved it!

I just love this picture of her.

Here's everyone singing to Genevieve. The look on Jon's face is priceless.lol And Genevieve looks so happy.

Here's the party!

Here is the pull string pinata and everyone poised to pull. You can't see Sammy who is beside Genevieve but he's there too.

My little Genevieve is 4!!!

Whew! What a whirlwind weekend! Have I mentioned that I'm not much of a run-arounder?lol Well, if you judged me by this weekend you'd think that I live for this stuff.lol

Friday night after we got the littles to bed, we left Allison in charge while we made a run for Target. We spent the next 2 hours there getting everything we needed for Genevieve's party. Eric is the one who remembered that Target would have everything we needed and it would mean less running around. God Bless him! We were able to get all the party supplies and her presents that night. We got home at 10pm and we were wiped out.lol

Saturday we spent doing the things I usually do on Sundays. I made a grocery list, the older kids went skating and Genevieve went with my mom, shopping for her birthday. Eric and I made a run to BJ's and then to Publix. I also made calls and invited some friends and family to the party. Then I started cleaning.lol Now, I've been keeping the house pretty clean but I really wanted to get the deep cleaning done and get rid of all the different hot spots in the house. I ran out of energy on Saturday and took a nap.lol When Genevieve got home she had a bunch of new clothes and a new pair of shoes and was so hyper I was worried how she'd handle the real party.lol

Sunday came bright and early. Genevieve was excited. So excited, that she ended up in time out for most of the day.lol I cleaned, while the older kids went with Grandma to church. I even shampooed some of the carpets! I also washed the curtains in the great room and dusted everything. It was a long morning. Eric went to get the cake. It was a cute little Dora cake and then we had to put it on top of our china hutch because the littles wouldn't quit trying to touch it.lol We had Genevieve open the gifts from us at 2pm just to give her something to do and really she'd been as good as could be expected with all the waiting she had to do. She loved her gifts! She got a Playmobil castle and two new games featuring Dora and Diego. She also got a China doll dress up costume and a Blue's Clues puzzle. Oh and a little bead kit that target had for a $1. We had a good party. We invited a family from the neighborhood that has a little boy just her age and we invited all of our family. Everyone came and I think the party was fun for everyone! We ended up with an extra child from the neighborhood that just showed up and so we had 7 kids at the party! Genevieve was so excited! We had a pull string pinata and Allison made a pin the tail on Swiper the fox game that the kids enjoyed. Allison is quite the artist! She freehanded the drawing and he looked just like the fox on the Dora show. We had pizza and cake and ice cream and lots of soda in Coconut cups. The party lasted for about 2 hours and at the end Genevieve opened her gifts. She got a Dora trike, a Princess Genevieve barbie, a Doodle Pro Glow, a princess crown, and some curtains for her room with butterflies on them.

Genevieve has such a wonderful sharing and loving spirit. She kept making sure that all her guests had everything they needed and kept asking if they needed more gum or candy.lol What a blessing to see, even in the midst of a party just for her, she was most concerned with her friends. When we lit the candles on her cake, she said that everyone should help her blow them out and when one of her friends didn't get ice cream with their cake, she made sure that I went and got him some. She got a pack of gum in her gifts and she proceeded to give most of it away, to share with others.

My plan is to upload pictures next but I'm going to be tutoring my brother sometime today so I'll get as much done as I can. This was a good weekend! I'm so glad that everything went so smoothly and that Genevieve had such a good time.

Blessings,
Lisa

Here are the rolls that Jodi has on her blog. I made them and they are good! I did the cinnamon/sugar ones and they are mostly gone already.lol In addition to making these, I also did another batch of granola because the batch I made on Monday was supposed to last 2 weeks and it only lasted 5 days.lol I've also started a list for my every two month run to BJ's and will try to get that done either tonight or tomorrow morning before our run to TRU. Now, I need to work on dinner. We only have Chili left on the list of dinners so I guess that I won't have to make too many decisions.lol

Blessings,

Lisa

Look at this sweet little guy! He's going to be a great big brother. He found Allison's Vision Forum doll and just fell in love with it.lol

Lisa

Genevieve and Isaac setting up Duck, Duck, Goose. They love this game!

Genevieve and Isaac playing in the sand...

Allison blowing bubbles cause mom got tired.lol

Pictures from the park...

Today was a great day! I woke up feeling pretty good and decided that it was a good "park day." So off we went! We were able to get up and going before 9:30 and the park was so nice. Another cool front came through last night and the temps were perfect for being at the park. The little ones were so happy that we ended up staying until 11:00! I got tired then and decided it was lunch time so the older kids and I discussed the options and decided to go to Larry's Giant Subs. I've never been there but the kids go there on the weekends with their grandparents sometimes and they love it. Well, now I love it too!lol It was a tad expensive for lunch but the food was much better than most places we've gone to lately. Isaac and Genevieve shared a turkey sub and they ate the whole thing.lol I had the Philly Cheese Steak and it was very good. O.k., I had the steak part, no onions, with lettuce and mustard and a pickle on the side. lol This is the first time that we didn't have any leftovers. Everyone ate everything.lol I think that on payday weeks we'll splurge on this.

Now the kids are working on finishing up their school work for the week. They actually finished most subjects yesterday, so they don't have too much to do. I'm so thankful that the kids are really taking their work seriously and working so hard. They are making a lot of progress this year.

I talked to Eric and he's been working on the requirements for the Bright Futures Scholarship. He's found that the state has pretty simple rules for homeschoolers and that we'll be able to qualify without too much hoop-jumping. He's really stepping into the guidance counselor role that I asked him to take on if the kids decided to homeschool for highschool. I'm thankful that he's so willing to help me. What a blessing he is!

Well, the little ones are setting up a game and the olders are busy with their work so I must go.lol This schedule is really perfect for us. Everyone is getting what they need each day and I'm not stressed at all. What a blessing.

Lisa

Well, the schedule is going great.LOL We've been pretty busy today just trying to keep up with everything. Genevieve's birthday is on Sunday and we are going to get some party supplies from Party City on Saturday and pick up whatever we are getting her for her birthday. It's hard to figure out what she might like this year. She really hasn't outgrown anything, toy-wise and we just bought her new clothes because she all the sudden had a growth spurt, after being in size 3T for 2 years. She couldn't even put her panties on they were so small.LOL We thought about taking her somewhere but she's so young I don't think she'd understand that THAT was her birthday.LOL So we're buying party supplies even though we don't really have any kids to invite and we'll just celebrate it within the family. As for gifts, I have no idea. I've been looking on the internet at different stores but I really don't see anything that she'd play with.

We just got back from the YMCA. The kids take homeschool P.E. there on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Usually, I just go home and wait the hour and go pick them up but today decided to stay and chat with the other moms. Well, the little ones went crazy!lol Isaac thought the water fountain was "magic" and kept running over to it and pushing the bar to make the water appear. Everytime the water appeared he would scream with delight.lol Let's just say we were a little distractive. I'm guessing I'll need to find a better place to wait for the kids from now on. It's been starting to get a little cooler here. Every week or two we'll have a nice cool front that will take the heat to barely manageable so I'm thinking about this little park that is down the street that might make a nice place to wait. It has no trees so I've been avoiding this particular park but the good park is too far away to get there and back in an hour.

Whew! I guess I'm just rambling. I woke up tired today and am just trying to make it through the day. All the kids have been great today and that really makes my day.lol The house is clean, the wash is done, even the little ones are bathed. So in my books, that's a good day!

Blessings,

Lisa

Here is the inside of my new dishwasher! I put stuff in it so that you could see the different levels. This will save us so much time! It holds a lot and it cleans better than I do.LOL

Lisa

I get my dishwasher today! Yipeee!LOLOL I'll take pictures once it's installed. This is the most amazing dishwasher that is made! It's the Maytag Jetclean 3. It has three levels to put dishes in and has four cleaning wands. It also heats it's own water and has a sterlize button for bottles and when everyone has had the icks. Pretty cool, huh? lol Who knew an appliance could make me so excited!

I implemented a new schedule today and the day is going really smoothly. I think it's a keeper! Normally, when I change things it's chaos for a couple of days but today has been quiet. I think this routine fits us as a family. I am really looking forward to each change of subject/routine each hour.

Well, it's my lunch hour/clean up time, so I better get finished.

Blessings,

lisa

Here's an activity out of The Preschooler's Busy Book that Genevieve and I did today. She was so proud that she found all the matches! We just took index cards and wrote the upper case letter on the left side and the lower case letter to match on the right side and then cut them apart into puzzle pieces. She had a hard time with some of the letter matches and was proud when she got them all done. I am really enjoying this book! It has a lot of great ideas and everything seems to be right on par for her needs. Not too easy and not too hard. The older kids and I will be putting more of these activities together during our free times for Genevieve to do during school times.

Blessings,

Lisa

O.k. so far today I've completed most of our laundry, made two different fudge sauces, made a huge batch of granola, and just put our dinner in the oven for tonight. I also straightened the house and made a trip to the Post Office.LOL

On the little kid front, they've:

played playdough
played store
played McDonalds
bubbles
painted
went to the post office with me
and are now wrestling with the older kids while I write this.

I think we've really accomplished a lot today. I'm ready for a rest.LOL If I don't watch out, we may end up becoming "over achievers."LOL

Blessings,

Lisa

The Art of Sauce, Chocolate that is...

:Edited to say that Alton Browns recipe has turned into a brick and it's no longer tasting very good.LOL In fact, my dh just threw it out. Now the Emeril sauce is the winner and everyone likes it. Don't waste good chocolate on AB's recipe.


O.k. I've made both sauces. If you make Alton Brown's cook it no more than 3 minutes. It gets grainy with time. I sampled it throughout the cooking process and it is good but grainy if you cook it too long. It is what I think Fudge sauces should taste like, a cross between icing and candy. It's thick and rich! Very good! Just be careful not to cook it too long.

Emeril's sauce, which was tested by my tasting panel, was judged good, but more like pudding. Genevieve likes this one best as she keeps bringing her spoon back for more.LOL Both older kids liked it and said it was more like pudding.

So there. My fudge sauce making is done and I would say that we have 2 good sauces to choose from on Ice Cream day.

Here are the recipes:

Chocolate Syrup

3/4 cup water
1 1/2 cups sugar
(Bring to gentle boil over med.high heat.)
Wisk in:3/4 cup dutch cocoa
pinch of salt
1 tbsp honey
Continue to cook allowing the syrup to reduce and thicken, 3-5 minutes.
Add 2 tsp vanilla
Allow to cool and strain.
Enjoy!

Emerils Chocolate Sauce:
3/4 cup half-and-half
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/2 pound semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Melt together and enjoy!

Blessings,

Lisa

My menu for this week.

Lunch

sandwiches
pizza
hot dogs
fish sticks
salad sandwiches


Dinner

Chili with toppings
Oriental Pepper steak with rice
Nacho dip and chips
BBQ chicken and salad
ham and bean soup and rolls
baked chicken and roasted veggies


I'll be making granola this week to last us for 2 weeks and maybe yogurt near the end of the week. I never made the chocolate chip muffins, so those will be done on Monday but I did get the Blueberry ones done last week. We will also make ice cream sometime this week. I'm hoping to try making Alton Brown's Fudge sauce for the ice cream. I hate the premade stuff and really, Genevieve can't eat it, so this will be a good way for her to have something other than vanilla. I may even decide to make some strawberry sauce, if I have time. Then the kids can have banana splits. Should be a good week! I've even gotten my shopping done already!

Blessings,

Lisa

Here is our city and roads that we made. Isaac is really enjoying this! That is a Clean diaper behind him, he emptied out his diaper holder right before I took the picture.LOL Even right before I put him to bed, he was playing with this.

Here is Freaky Fred.LOL

Today was a looonnnnggg day.LOL Isaac was up again last night, several times and it just makes it feel like yesterday never ended. We've had a pretty good day, nothing exciting just regular. We were stuck at home today because we were waiting for Terminx to arrive. We were able to come up with many different activities to keep us busy. First, the kids played with the Easy Bake Oven. They made blue cake, chocolate chip cake, and pretzels. After they finished with the oven, they moved on to crafts.LOL First, Jon took Genevieve around the block to collect flowers and then they shaved crayons and made stained glass windows by having me iron it all between two pieces of wax paper. Then they all made two scarecrow door hangers from Oriental Trading Company. They named Genevieve's Freaky Fred. LOL He had three eyes and he was put together pretty interesting.LOL They all had a good time. I gave Isaac some cotton balls and glue and he glued them onto a piece of paper with a face drawn on it. The hardest part was keeping him from eating the glue.LOL After all this fun, the older kids worked on their school work and Isaac had a bottle and watched a little t.v. while I worked with Genevieve. We did some cutting and pasting and then I set her up with some paint with water. Then I went to snuggle with my little Isaac who was just rolling around on the floor being as cute as can be.LOL He's such a sweetie.

I bought The Toddlers Busy Book and The Preschoolers Busy Book and finally had a chance to look through them today. It has really good ideas! Reminds me of Slow and Steady Get Me Ready. I decided to try one of the activities in the book which was to tape a road onto the floor for the kids to drive their cars on. Well, I didn't want to chance ruining the carpet so I used a box and drew a road and town. It turned out to be alot of fun for both little ones. My ds helped to draw the city and roads on the second part of town and the little ones played with the box the rest of the day. I'll upload the pictures of the town next. There's a couple of things I want to try out in the book next week but I need to collect some supplies. I think we'll try the puffed rice "sand box" next and I thought I'd try to put together a Baker's box and a Busy box. I really like the books a lot!

It was a good day.

Blessings,

Lisa

It was a busy day! I feel like I've accomplished a lot! I spent the day cleaning out Isaac and Genevieve's rooms. Well, first we went to the park. LOL The kids had a great time and the little ones were able to play with some friends. After the park I started on the little kids rooms. Isaac has been growing so much that it was time to sort through all the clothes and put away the ones that he's out grown. It was so sad to see so many of my favorite outfits being put in a bin for the next baby! He's also out grown two pairs of shoes and I even found a stray bib or two hiding on the changing table.LOL I also went through all the toys and was able to find at least 4 bags to give to Goodwill. I also found 2 bags of trash or broken toys to throw away. His room looks so nice now. Next I worked on Genevieve's room. I organized all of her clothes because she's been putting things away lately and well, it was a mess.LOL I also found a bunch of things that she's outgrown that I put away just in case this one's a girl. I was able to find at least 2 bags for Goodwill and one bag of broken stuff in her room. Most of her things, she's just grown into so mostly it was just organizing and cleaning. My plan is to move Isaac into the "big kid" room when he's around 2.5-3 years old and keep Isaac's current room as a nursery. That way, as he grows out of the toys in his room we'll just move him up to the toys in Genevieve's room. If this new baby's a boy then eventually the boys will share a room but not until they can both have big kid toys.LOL

All in all it was a very productive day. I'm glad that I made the time to go to the park! It was another beautiful day and I would've hated missing it.

Blessings,

Lisa

Today has been a good day! I woke up at 4 this morning and couldn't go back to sleep. Instead of just laying there, I got up and began my chores for the day. I was able to get most of the wash done before 8 this morning! I was also showered and dressed by 7 this morning and ready for the day. See, I had a surprise for the kids. Last night, the very first cool front came through and the weather was reported to be fabulous, so today was our first official park day! I got everyone out the door by 9 this morning with lunches packed in case they lasted that long.LOL The weather was nice and the park was just wonderful! The kids had a blast. Isaac got tired around 10:30 and we decided to come home to eat lunch. When we got home we had two boxes sitting on the doorstep! Yea! It was the Catch a Bubbles that I ordered! While we prepared lunch, we took turns blowing bubbles. The little ones were so happy!

Now that lunch is almost finished, the older kids will get back to the grind stone and complete their work for the day and I'll play with the littles. Gotta love these kind of days!!!

Blessings,

Lisa

My Menu this Week: (completely done by Allison)

Lunch

Pizza
Hot dogs and chili
Lunchables
Ramen
Mac and Cheese

Dinner

Baked Tilapia
Hamburgers and Fries
Steak and Potatoes
Salad Bar
Grilled Chicken


Today is muffin making and bread making day. I love to have muffins in the freezer for lunches and snacks. It's a great traveling food. I bought some frozen blueberries, so I'll make blueberry muffins and I'll make some chocolate chip as those are everyone's favorites. I will also make at least 2 batches of bread today. That usually makes 4 loaves or around 35 rolls. I usually make two loaves and 18 rolls. I use the Family Homestead's whole wheat bread recipe but I use unbleached flour instead of ww. I just can't seem to digest ww, so I figure unbleached is better than nothing.LOL I love the King Arthur Unbleached Flour. Very good! My yogurt from yesterday turned out great! We now have 2 quarts of very good quality vanilla yogurt for the week. I've found that the more I make myself, the cheaper the grocery bill. I've also found that I can get this all done with 4 kids in the house, even though 2 are little. LOL And I've found that my little ones can do a good job of helping.

Blessings,

Lisa

Why does he always look guilty?LOL Maybe it's the tape or maybe it's the car alarm he's poised to set off...LOL

Blessings,

Lisa

Here is Genevieve, using different tools for her playdough. Yes, that's a screwdriver.LOL At least she's having fun....

Blessings,

Lisa

Here is Isaac's new do. He was starting to look a little rough around the edges and grandma fixed that up for us last night. You can also see the missing tooth that is causing so much trouble. He is actually missing all four eye teeth so far. They come in and then they go back under. It's killing us!LOL You can also see the messy counter behind him. So much for the background of this picture.LOL

Blessings,

Lisa

Yesterday was not a good day for me.LOL I had lots of tummy trouble and pretty much stayed home all day. Sometimes, I just get the "Lousy's" and there's nothing to do but wait them out.

Today was better. I'm exhausted but feeling better. We went to the store and got our shopping done today. Boy am I glad that's over! I am not a happy shopper.LOL Thankfully, Allison made most of the grocery list for me this morning and all I had to do was go. We got the shopping done in record time and we spent way less than normal! I don't know how, but we did.LOL Usually, our bill is around 250 and this week it's 150. Pretty good savings, I'm hoping we didn't forget a bunch of stuff.LOL

After we got home, I started making more yogurt. I've doubled the recipe and I'm hoping it'll turn out just as good as the first batch. We'll see. I also laid down for a little while because Isaac hasn't been sleeping again. I don't know what to do with that boy, but this all night thing is really getting to me. I'm definitely not functioning as well as I could.LOL He's given up his nap and isn't sleeping at night, really, you'd think he would need sleep sometime!

I think I'll save bread making for tomorrow. Normally, I try to get most of these things done on Monday so that the kids can help but it looks like it'll just be me and the littles making the bread tomorrow.

I guess that's all the excitement for today. LOL Maybe I'll post some pictures to make up for our boring lives...LOL

Blessings,

Lisa

O.k. so I found the Catch a Bubbles at Amazon.com and they are currently 1/2 price. They sell a 5 pack for $10. The reviews are mixed but I really like them.LOL

Blessings,

Lisa

Another busy day! This is becoming a habit.LOL My mom called this morning and wanted to go to the mall, so off we went! We only ate lunch there, I didn't actually buy anything but they were having a book fair and both Genevieve and Isaac got a free book. They were quite happy.LOL

Afterwards, we went over to Target in search of Catch a Bubbles. Unfortunately, they don't carry those after summer, so I'm going to have to track them down on the internet. Isaac loves bubbles but it is soooo hot here that I only like to blow them inside. These bubbles are not made of soap and clean up just by rubbing and they are firm enough that you can catch them on your fingers. Well, the kids love them! And I, of course, love to indulge them in these small little pleasures. I'll leave no stone unturned!LOL

Target also had all their maternity shirts on clearance, so I bought 3 new ones to go with my 3 that I bought on line. I now have enough clothes! I had previously bought 14 pairs of pants on ebay and they are on their way. I know that I don't need 14 pairs of pants but this was the best auction and I was able to get them for less than $5 a pair including shipping.

After we dropped my mom off at home, we went over to Walmart to see if they had the bassinet and carseat that I was hoping to get. They had both, so now I have somewhere to put the baby and a way to bring baby home when he/she arrives. I got the pooh bear themed stuff and it is just so cute.LOL We also bought the pooh bear bedding to go on the crib and an outfit ( in yellow). So now the baby has one thing to wear.LOL

After we got home, we bathed both little ones and they are now squeaky clean. (For the moment.LOL) They were sticky from the lunch we had at the mall and from the cookie at Target and the M&M's from Walmart.LOL Yes, they are wired.

Oh and the big kids have been gone all day with my dad. He takes them roller skating every Saturday that they are healthy. They really love spending the time with him and they just love skating! They'll get home around 5:30 and will be quite worn out.LOL I'm glad that they can do something special with him each week!

Well, that's it. I'm about to start on my menu for the week and then fix dinner with whatever I can find in the house. From there, our day is just about done.LOL

Blessings,

Lisa

Today was a good day! First, I got my new mattress this morning. It is very nice and I'm hoping that it'll be comfortable tonight. It has to be better than our old one. On our old one, we kept looking to see if it had a place to add air or something because it was getting flatter and flatter!LOL

Then my mom came over and took the kids to the park so that I could tutor my brother on writing an essay. He's almost got it all figured out. He needed help learning how to order his thoughts before the actual writing because he has a tendency to ramble. We spent a couple of hours using word-webs and I think after one or two more essays, he'll be ready to take his GED. He's been working so hard and I'm glad that I was able to help him towards his goal. His plan is to join the Army after he passes the GED.

While we were working, mom took the kids to lunch after the park and to a party store. The kids really like costumes and this is the time of year to get them cheap. Also, Genevieve's birthday is in 2 weeks and we're still trying to find a good theme. She had Dora last year and it was great! Birthday Express has these ultimate kits that come with everything except the cake and they deliver to your door. She really doesn't have any friends up here yet, so I really don't know what to do for her birthday. I'm guessing we'll buy her a kit and then maybe invite a neighborhood kid or two over. She is our party girl, so it needs to be special in some way.LOL

My older two are being industrious and are trying to accomplish their school work. Isaac is asleep and Genevieve went home with my mom, so all is quiet right now. I am so glad that Genevieve and my mom get along so well. They are a lot alike! They both always need to be busy and are very hard working. And they both like to shop!LOL

Well, I think I'm going to try out that new mattress of mine while I have the chance. LOL

Blessings,

Lisa

Isaac is 20 months today! Time sure has flown. I'm amazed to watch my little one grow into this incredible little person. No longer just a baby, he has his own personality that makes him oh so lovable and hugable each and everyday.

What a blessing to have this chance to watch each of my children grow and develop into such unique and wonderful people! God has blessed me a million times over and I'm grateful that I get to be with them, teaching them and loving them each and everyday. If I've learned anything over these last 14.5 years, is that time is short! You have to take each day as a blessing and spend time with those kids before they're gone. When I get to heaven, my first words to my Heavenly Father will be Thank you, dear Lord for these wonderful years!

Blessings,

Lisa

If you want your children to enjoy working, start early! Hard work= a happy preschooler. She loaded all the dishes into the dishwasher and was cheerful the whole time! LOL

Blessings,

Lisa

A quiet baby= being caught eating your sister's cake.LOL

This is how most pictures of Genevieve turn out. She just loves to see her silly faces on my digital camera. Notice that she's wearing clothing, well a few weeks ago I told her that she was simply too old to wear only panties around the house and that as an official big girl, she would have to be dressed all day long.LOL Worked like a charm! She's been wearing clothes everyday since, with the occasional panty moment.LOL

Here is a picture of Isaac after his daily walk. He just loves his walk. He'll go as many times a day as you're willing to push him.LOL

My menu for this week, made possible from the wonderful ladies on SHS!

Lunch

Ramen
Pizza
Hot Dogs and chili
Sandwiches
Egg and Bacon Biscuits


Dinner

French Dip sandwiches
BBQ Chicken
Bean soup and cornbread
Hamburgers
Potato bar

Blessings,

Lisa

Let's see, Isaac is finally starting to feel better. He's been having some nasty diapers but is back to his old happy self. What a relief! Genevieve went to bed at 5:30 last night and didn't get up until 7:15 the next morning. She seems to be in a better mood, although, she is quite stuffy. Jon is trying to hack up a lung. He may succeed before this illness is over, he is a very determined kind of guy. You know, he doesn't like to do things half way. LOL Allison seems to have squeaked by with just a little sore throat...and I seem to have done the same, praise God! And dh is fine. Whew! Everyone may live through this!(The jury is still out on Jon...)

Now to figure out how to clean this house! 10 days of neglect may be too much. We might just have to move and start over again...LOL If you happen to fly over my house, I'm the one who has made an S.O.S. sign out of tissues and clutter. And no, don't expect any pictures of my kids anytime soon. I'm too afraid that you'll see the mess in the background. LOL

Blessings,

Lisa

My next doctors appointment is tomorrow. The kids are hoping that the doctor will order my next ultrasound. LOL They really want to know whether the whole family will be boy heavy or girl heavy. I'm just hoping that this appt. is quick. I hate having to wait in the waiting room for an hour just for a 5 minute appt. They want me to respect their time and get there early but then they keep me waiting! Oh, well. I'll just be happy to hear my little one's heartbeat. I just can't get tired of that. LOL

Blessings,

Lisa

Various thoughts...

This weekend was a busy one! Normally, we aren't big going out-ers but we needed to accomplish a few things and pretty much got everything done.

First, we needed to get to Sears because the mattress and box springs we bought from them just last year was breaking down. I could no longer see Eric when I was on my side of the bed. His side was a full 4-5 inches lower than mine. LOL So off we went to Sears, we tried all the beds, which made me have to go to the potty, (LOL) and we decided on the Serta. Now we were very blessed! We just happened to go there on 50% off week! We got a very expensive mattress set for $900 above what we spent on our original set. It comes on Friday! We are very happy and hope that this one lasts.

Next, we looked at their dishwashers but the guy at work was not knowledgable and we didn't feel comfortable buying something from them so on our way home we stopped by Lowes and looked at their dishwashers. See, we were looking for the same dishwasher we had in Miami. It was amazing! It washed everything without prerinsing and it even heated the water if the water temp wasn't hot enough. It was the Maytag Jet Clean 3 and almost no one sells it. It has 3 levels and 4 cleaning jets. Anyway, the Lowes could get it for us and they didn't charge us sales tax and they gave us a $50 gift card. It will be here in about 20 days. I'm very happy! This is the very best dishwasher I have ever had.

Well, I was tired after all the running around and thought we were done but after dinner the kids wanted to go to Walmart and dh loves that place so off we went. I don't usually go on these outings but I needed a few things. Well, they had these cute little toddler beds for $30 and we decided to get Isaac one. Since he's going to be sharing with the new baby for a while we thought this would fit in the room better than a twin bed. We also got him some Tonka bedding for his new bed.

In other news, I am now fat.LOL Yes, it's true. I am now wearing my maternity clothes because I can't squeeze myself into my old fat clothes. I am on the lookout for maternity pants on ebay and am hoping to have a selection before it gets cold here.

On the sick front, most of the kids are still holding on to this illness. It must be a stubborn one. I'm exhausted from the all nighters I've been pulling for 9 days now. All the kids woke up cranky today and I'm thinking about selling them. LOL O.k. maybe not, but I NEED some sleep soon.

I guess that's it for now. I have to admit that I'm having trouble thinking right now.LOL Maybe if I'm good, I'll get a nap today.LOL

Blessings,

Lisa

My son knows who I am!

LOL I know this sounds funny but for the longest time I've been hoping to hear that wonderful word....Mommy, coming from my littlest one, Isaac. Now for a long, long time he has been able to not only say Daddy but he even KNOWS who that person is! Well, I finally told Eric, my husband, that Isaac doesn't know who I am. At first Eric thought I was joking but after observing him for the whole weekend, he decided to make it his mission to have Isaac be able to identify me, by name. LOL See, whenever you would ask Isaac who I was, he would just point to me and smile. If you asked him "Where's Mommy?" He would look at you like you asked him what's the third planet from the sun? So Eric's been spending a lot of time telling Isaac who I am and every time I'd enter a room he (Eric) would get excited and say "Look, it's MOMMY!" and well, today, I got up and walked into the living room and Isaac said....."Bobby!" LOLOL I'm just so happy that he has finally noticed that I do have a name and that he can now call me! What a blessing my dear husband is.

Blessings,

Lisa

Bwaaahaaahaaa....

It's alive! lol O.k. maybe not alive, but it worked! My yogurt is a success! Here is what I did...

3 1/2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup natural sugar

Heat to 185-190, stirring occasionally.

Cool to 110-115 and take some of the cooled milk and mix it with your starter (2 tbsp yogurt). Add the mixture to all the milk and stir. Add 1 tsp vanilla. Stir.

Pour all into yogurt maker and cook until set. Mine took 7 hours.

Refridgerate 3-4 hours and then enjoy!

The test subjects, I mean my kids, all said that the yogurt is sweet and not sour but that it is creamier than the Stoney Field yogurt. I'm thinking that they must do something special to make the cream rise to the top because mine stayed incorporated into the yogurt but it even so it was a success! I did just about everything that the instructions said not to and it was fine. It said not to add flavored yogurt as your starter and I used the French vanilla yogurt that I had on hand. I also added the flavoring before it cultured and it doesn't say that you can do that. So what I've learned is as long as you heat the milk to the right temp and let it cool to the right temp and add a good starter, you will be fine.LOL

Blessings,

Lisa

I forgot to mention that the consistancy is thick and creamy, not liquidy like other yogurts I've made. It really looks a lot like the Stoney Field yogurt.

Edited to say that the cream is rising to the top! And Isaac is now drinking a bottle of the new yogurt and milk and he hasn't noticed the difference. This is a BIG DEAL! He normally notices when the yogurt is different and then he won't drink it but this, he's really enjoying. Whoohoo!

My menu for this week...

I know, I'm late in posting this but it's hard to think food when all you're seeing is snot.lol So here it is...

Lunch

hot dogs and chili
bacon and egg biscuits
pizza
sandwiches
chicken salad


Dinner

Crockpot rotisserie chicken
Pepper steak oriental
Chicken potato chowder
Shepards pie
Turkey meal wheel from Publix

Have a great week!

Blessings,

Lisa

Well, I'm making yogurt right now. I totally didn't follow the instructions so we'll see if I really end up with it at the end.LOL I really like the taste of Stoney Field Farms Organic French Vanilla Yogurt and decided to try to recreate it. I took 3 1/2 cups of whole organic milk, added 1/2 cup cream and 1/4 cup natural sugar. Heated it and am now waiting for it to cool. Once cool, I will add my starter with 1 tsp vanilla and put it in my yogurt maker. I'll let you all know how it turns out. I know that they don't get that taste or consistancy by adding those ingredients after the yogurt has cultured, so I'm experimenting to see if this will work. I'm just a maddd scientist!LOL

blessings,

Lisa

We have the suds...lol

There's an episode of Sponge Bob where he catches "The Suds", an illness that makes him sneeze bubbles through every pore in his spongy body. Well, that's us. If I have to see anymore snot today, I think I may run away from home.LOL

It started with Isaac, who has to be the very worst patient I have ever experienced. He will throw up any medicines other than one flavor Tylenol, cherry, all over you the second you get it down him. (That happened to me on Sunday.) And he loves to scream the whole time he's sick. Temper tantrums where he won't let you pick him up. He just writhes on the floor, kicking and screaming, acting like the world has dealt him a heavy blow.LOL

And now, we ALLLLL have it. Snot everywhere. ugh.

So if you all don't hear from me, it's because I've run away and I'm not coming back until the suds are gone.lol

Blessings,

Lisa

Here is the hamper and towels. I really like the colors together.

Blessings,

Lisa

This week went by so fast! It was one of those weeks where you really can't believe that it is all gone.LOL On Thursday, my mom and I went out to lunch at Chick fil a. We had a good time and decided that Friday we would go shopping for a hamper and bath towels for my bathroom. Now you all have to know that I hate shopping. Normally I just get most things from the internet. Running around with a bunch of kids, two of which who just don't mind very well yet is not my cup of tea.LOL BUT it was ME who really wanted to go. This is the very first house that my dh and I have bought that we could actually afford and I really would like to decorate it over time using only avalible funds. So off we went at 10 am with 3 out of four of my kids.(Jon spent the night with his other grandma to help her out because she had cataract surgery.)

First, we went to Tuesday Morning. I found a lot of Christmas presents for the little ones but the hampers were $150 or more! and I just refuse to spend that much on something to store my dirty clothes.LOL We found Playmobil, a little toaster that has pretend toast that pops up, and a little washing machine that really washes doll clothes. I also bought myself an ice cream machine, mandoline, and a yogurt maker. I didn't care for their towels so we moved on.

Next, we went to lunch at Golden Corral. I was far too hungry to continue shopping.LOL We ate until we were stuffed. Enough said.LOL

After lunch, we went to TJ Max. I found some cute little embrodered jeans for Genevieve and a few more toys for Christmas, no hampers or towels.LOL

I was beginning to feel like this was hopeless.LOL I almost called it quits but then spied the Bed Bath and Beyond and decided to make a last ditch effort and check them out. Well, they had exactly what I was looking for! I got a blue hamper and choc. brown, beige, cream, and blue checked towels for the towel racks. Very me and very nice! I was so pleased that I actually accomplished my goal!LOL I had a good time with mom and the kids were great. Isaac ended up falling asleep in the van on the way home and Genevieve went home with mom.

Well, we made ice cream yesterday after dinner and I think that the kids felt it was a little too rich. I think that I may cut down on the fat content and see if it is better. I like that I feel confident enough with my cooking skills to change a recipe without worrying if I'll mess it up. I remember how I was when I first got married, I never would have even thought that you could change a recipe.LOL Now I just think, hmm, this might be better with this instead of that. I guess that's either confidence or recklessness but either way it works.LOL

Well, that's it for this week. I'll post a picture of my new bath towels later. I'm going to go finish watching tennis.

Blessings,

Lisa