Emmy's B-day!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Silent Sunday......almost

On Saturday we ventured out to our favorite Christmas Wonderland....we had a pretty good time even though the place was PACKED!! And don't let Emersyn fool you she was all about seeing Santa! All Max wanted to do was pull on his beard, good thing it was real! We only had one disgusting diaper and by the end of it everyone was still mostly happy! With 8 of us, I call that sucessful!

'til next time

me

Failed

I am so disappointed. I failed, failed, failed. I was doing pretty good. Not perfect, but pretty good and then BOOM! Thanksgiving, Black Friday and no blogging for me. I will back on top of things tomorrow. I actually like having to "write" a little something everyday. It helps keep me focused.

On a good note, Thanksgiving was nice and we were able to get everything that was on our list for Black Friday! I am this close to being done, done, done!

'til next time

me

Venti Eggnog Latte

This is how it happened. I procrastinated, I waited too long, I put it off, I cut it too close to the wire. However you want to say it, that's what happened and that's what put me in the grocery store this morning at 9:30 a.m. the day before Thanksgiving, with both of my one year olds. Yes people Emersyn is still one. 23 months and 3 days is STILL a one year old last time I checked! Bah!

I was lulled into a false sense of security do to the fact that I had Brenna and Griffen here to load them into the car. I was blissfully blocking the fact that I had to drop Brenna and Griff off at school BEFORE hitting the grocery store. I was even tricked by the fact that once I arrived at said grocery store, amid the never ending,

mommymommymommymoiveon? mommmmmmmyyyyyyon! mommymommymommymovieon?,

that there was a parking space right by the door! Yes! What glorious luck, thank you, thank you! And then I started to get them out of our bus, I mean car, hmmmmm...... can't carry both babies in by myself. Ok, lock them in the car, run to the cart corral, grab cart, GO!

Awesome, carts are all wet from our never ending drizzle. Here is the point that I look around like maybe magically some paper towel will appear. Nope, mentally kick myself for talking Brian into cleaning out the kidmobile for me. Finally, use the sleeve of my sweater to wipe the cart down.

Grab Max out of his carseat. Place Max in the car with the belt around him. Reach back in to grab Emersyn, go to place her in the front of the cart, ooops, Max is already twisted backwards and trying to stand up. Throw, I mean gently deposit Emersyn into cart. Twist Max back around and taking a deep breath walk into the store.

Ok, in the store, doing good, stop to get some sweet potatoes. Stop looking at sweet potatoes and turn Max back around, doesn't this stupid belt tighten? Oh sorry lady didn't realize my cart was blocking the whole walk way. Move cart, turn Max around.

Grab my potatoes, grab some pies, the lady in the bakery hands me cookies for the "Cutest little kids, and oh my look at her hair!" Give Emersyn her cookie, give Max his cookie. Emersyn takes a bite, Max throws his on the floor. Perfect.

Moving on, continue you grabbing items on my list, continue turning Max back around, listen to Emmy say "cookiecookiemommymommy" over and over and over and over.

Finally get to the checkout. Turn Max back around, unload cart, agree with the cashier that Emersyn does in fact have just the most adorable hair. Turn Max back around. Ask cashier for suckers so that maybe Max will just stay SEATED!!

Tell the man who is bagging my groceries that I can take them to the car myself as I am going to stop at the Starbucks in the store first. He politely tells me that I have my hands full and he will just wait with me. GREAT!

Pay the cashier, hand Emersyn her sucker, turn Max around, hand Max his sucker, cashier hands me change, Emersyn hands me her cookie and sucker wrapper, I grab my purse, the cart and what's left of my sanity.

Walk down to Starbucks with the Helpful Bagger Man trailing behind me with my groceries. Walk in the wrong way for the Starbucks line, yes she's cute, yes her hair is adorable, yes, doesn't he have the biggest eyes, pick Max's sucker up off the floor, give Max his sucker back (sue me). Hand one of the workers Emersyn's cookie and wrapper for the garbage. And order a VENTI EGGNOG LATTE!

I am going to stop here and not even get into the drama of the parking lot, not even the part where Helpful Bagger Man takes Emersyn out of the cart while I am trying to get Max in the car and sets her down in the parking lot. Not the part where I almost spill my flipping latte, and definitely not the part where I told Helpful Bagger Man that my babies are from Ethiopia and he said it looks like I was doing a good job fattening them up. Nope not going all the way there.

What the hell was I thinking ordering a VENTI EGGNOG LATTE! Do you know how my flipping calories are in that things? Not to mention the sugar and the carbs. I don't think I can eat for the rest of the week. Sigh, I got stressed and ordered the most awful thing possible I think.

Serious, f***ing 610 calories, 27 grams of fat, 69 carbs, and 64 sugars. I know because I came home and checked, you know you really can find ANYTHING on the internet nowadays.

So what do I do? Pour it down the drain? Nope I'm flipping drinking it. I Suck.

Moral to the story: Procrastination is bad!

Crazy Day...

Dropped half a box of Cheerio's on the kitchen floor

Max (aka Stretch Armstrong) dumped my coffee all over the rug and the carpet in the dining room

Brian got a ticket for get this Impeeding Traffic? Seriously?

Had to skip Brenna's volleyball game because Brian had to work late putting up Christmas lights.

Ummm.....5 kids and me in the bleachers, two of whom are 1. Nope.

Missed Alainna's Thanksgiving Feast because

1. I have it on the calander for tomorrow

2. Miss Alainna did not give me the paper she had with a reminder on it

Had Alainna in tears because I missed her Feast even though she was happy as a clam when she walked in. Ooops shouldn't have mentioned that I meant to be there.

I am done with today! I made it through, with NO freaking MT. DEW!!! but now I am done! I am not sure if all these kinds of things happen on a day to day basis ALL the time and I am just noticing because I can't stress eat it away or if this was just a rare over the topper. Whatever the case, DONE!

'til tomorrow

me

It's Official

The Picture Plan has started! If you gaze up to the right you will notice that I have added "the counter" so everybody can see how much longer I have. And, well, to keep me honest. We now have 4 people doing it. So it will be interesting to see how we all do. I am doing good today but like one person said to me, it is amazing how often I think about food. So true and so pathetic.

I still haven't finalized a work out plan or a food plan but I know that those will come. The sheer terror of having my pictures mailed out to all those poor unsuspecting people will force me into it.

Can you imagine, you get a letter from me, you think to yourself, hmmmmmm I wonder what Jillienne sent me, you open it and BAM!!!!! Scarred for life. No, I am not being overly dramatic here.

I have a strange feeling that anyone who knows me will be very cautious when opening mail from my address now. Don't be scared people that envelope from me next month is just a Christmas card, I promise!!

'til next time

me

Silent Sunday

This little piggie got some new jamma pants.......

'til next time

me

The Picture Plan..........

Here it is. Starting Monday (look below)! My Aunt and I did this about 2 years ago and it really worked! Fear is a powerful motivator. But without that motivation I really suck. So I am going back to it. I wrote it up this time and there are 3 of us doing it so far. And I put in scary new part (highlighted in red below). I am a determined!

Also, someone (Harmony) told me that maybe if I blogged about it I would stick to it better. I don't know about that but let's throw in some more fun.

On Monday a countdown will go up.

For the number of days that I have to reach my goal.

And on that final day I will post a picture!!

If I met that goal it will be a current picture, if not I will post one of me from the start of this Picture Plan.

This is gonna be really good or really bad.

The Picture Plan

Start date: November 23, 2009

Picture date: November 27, 2009 (last day to turn in)

End date: May 14, 2010

The goal is to lose 50lbs by May 14, 2010. I am calling this the Picture Plan because, of course, the pictures that are involved. The motivation behind this Plan is the pictures. Everyone MUST take and develop 5 pictures of themselves at the beginning of the Plan, in either a 2 piece bathing suit or modest underwear. Included with the pictures will be 5 addresses and 5 copies of a letter to be mailed to the 5 addresses. The letter will simply state that, said person, is receiving the letter and picture because of your failure to stick to the Plan. Exact wording is up to you. The addresses provided must go to people that you would NEVER, EVER, EVER, EVER want to see these pictures. Which means you can’t send them to great friends or family members that you are close too. We are talking ex-boyfriends, the super skinny bitches that we all know, etc., understand?

BUT THESE LETTERS WILL NEVER BE MAILED!!!! You WILL stick to the Plan.

The Plan is simple, to lose 50 pounds in the following six months. How you go about it is up to you, how you eat or chose to exercise or not is TOTALLY under your control. As long as it’s healthy, and if what you are doing works really well, YOU SHARE!

There will be a weigh in on Monday November 23, 2009 to find starting points and then every, or every other Friday after. Weigh-ins change to Fridays because there are 5 extra days factored into the end of the Plan and so will end on a Friday. You know for those pesky weekend screw-ups. All weights will be recorded so that we can see how awesome you are doing. Also because knowing each other’s weight will be help to put you on even ground. NO FUDGING! Also remember the goal is to lose 50lbs. not to hit a certain weight.

If you DO NOT lose your 50lbs by May 14, 2010 then, and here comes the motivation, your 5 pictures accompanied by your 5 letters will be mailed out to the addresses you provided. Remember ex-boyfriends, skinny bitches……got it. Really the sheer terror of these letters and pictures getting stamped and sent should give you all the motivation that you need to get going!

Ooops, did I mention that the letters and pictures are to be held by a 3^rd party? That’s correct. After you take your picture and write your letter and get your addresses, the whole bundle goes into a sealed envelope and handed over to the other person that is doing the Picture Plan with you. And then that person will give it to a husband, parent, etc. that they can trust to mail out the letters if necessary. This person will NEVER open the bundle and NEVER look at what’s inside, the sole function of this person is to mail out the letters, because you know the other people doing the Picture Plan would never REALLY do it, even though they say they would. Terrified yet? Good!

Extras

1. +/- category, there will be a 5 pound lee-way. So, if let’s say you only hit 45lb. your pictures will NOT be mailed out.

2. After 12 weeks there will be a step back to look at the BIG PICTURE, to make sure everyone is on track and to adjust as agreed upon by all parties participating.

3. Be VERY sure you want to do this once the pictures are exchanged there is NO GOING BACK!! No changing your mind and no quitting. You are in it for the long haul.

4. And the biggie, obviously you can choose to keep going if you have more weight to lose but if you choose to be done, here is the last and forever clause:

If you gain back 15lb you will get 3 months to take it off or your pictures go out!!! PERIOD! I know that this seems harsh, but I did this 2 years ago and lost my 50lbs, I have since put that back on plus. I am not going to do that again and I am not letting anyone else either!

___________________________________________

sign here that you saw and read number 4 and that you understand!

Good Luck Ladies!

I Have Nothing.....

*I'm just putting this in 'cuz I think it's cute and I know it will annoy him* That's the kind of mood I'm in.*

I'm sorry, I have been pretty much worthless all day. I have no thoughts, ideas, or anything that I can even pretend is interesting to say. I am only posting this because of the whole November blog everyday thing.

As I have looked back over the last few days, I realize the quality of my posts have GREATLY deteriorated. But I have something good in the works for tomorrow.......something that scares me to pieces......stay tuned!

'til next time

me

Wordless Wednesday Almost.....

LOL....I really LOVE this girl (yes capital LOVE!!)

My Favorite New (Old) Invention

******Breaking News******* We have two one year olds!!! At least for another month or so. And something that we have found with having both of them at home is that we have to find more ways to keep them contained, ooops I mean safe.

We purchased the Super Cage, I mean Super Cage and gates that stay at the top of the stairs and gates for the bottom of other stairs, latches and lock, oh my. But in a time of desperation I went out and bought the handy dandy $10.99 wooden gate.

I LOVE these gates!!!!! So many uses, who knew? You can put these things anywhere and they can GO anywhere!! They can go to Grandma's, they can keep babies in the playroom, they can keep babies out of the playroom. They can keep babies out of the den and they can do laundry, ok I am just kidding about that last part. But they seriously have been a little portable life saver.

Being portable is the key. Sometimes it isn't convenient to have a gate that is stationary. I mean yes, they are great for the stairs or places that you NEED a gate at all times. But there are times that you need a gate in a bedroom door for a minute or over at Grandma's house and they are there for you, no questions asked!

These little wood and plastic miracles are something I never knew we needed. Thank you little wooden gates, I LOVE YOU!!

Hmmmmm...... I haven't yet put a lot of thought into meals this week, so let's see,

Monday: Sweet and Sour Chicken over Rice w/ green beans

Tuesday: Tacos with mexican rice (creative huh?)

Wednesday: Cheeseburgers with french fries

Thursday: Slow-cooker Chicken Parmigiana

Friday: Pizza!!!

Saturday: Teriyaki Grilled Chicken with Pineapple and Sweet potatoes

Sunday: TBD

Oh, we finally got around to making the Taco-roni that has been on the meal plan for the last few weeks. This is a MUST TRY!! It was soooooo good. I doubled the recipe and there were no left-overs to speak of! Yum. Jump over to Cooking During Stolen Moments for the recipe and make it SOON!

'til next time

me

Silent Sunday

If I could live anywhere, I would live where I could see THIS out my windows......

'til next time

me

Happy Happy Weekend!

I am so enjoying the last couple of weekends! Soccer is over outdoor and basketball has not started yet. Brenna's plays her indoor games on Friday's so the last 2 weekends have been ours to do with as we please. It has been a much needed break.

While our weeks are just crazy with volleyball, soccer practice, dance and just life with 6 kids the weekends have been little islands of calm. I sure I will be bored soon and itching to get back to it but for now......bliss!

'til next time

me

*real post coming soon, I promise.

Quick Update

Oooops it's 11:37 p.m. so I better get on here quick!

Are you sick of me yet? This has been and interesting experience so far. Trying to think of something everyday to post. I am having fun though.

Today the kids were off of school so we watched G.I. Joe and went up to the big kids conferences.

Later I went to the Salvation Army and scored some great stuff for the babies and even some snow pants.

After was Brenna's weekly Friday night soccer game, got love it! Tomorrow we are off to find Brenna some boots and taking Kieran to a birthday party.

Sorry for the pathetic update but I got it in right under the wire!

'til next time

me!

Random Thoughts

Let me share something with you. We are T.V. people. There I said it. We have a 2 flat screens, one in my bedroom and one in the family room, Brenna, Kieran and Alainna have t.v.'s in their rooms (Ki and Alainna share). Griffen used to have a t.v. in his room but it now lives in the rec. room of the basement, but he still has mostly full control of it.

We recently switched from Charter to U-verse and I pretty much live off of my DVR. Really I do, it's sort of sad. While I have imposed some pretty good limits on T.V. watching a lot of our evenings are planned around what we watch.

The rules are no video games on weekdays, and no T.V. until 1 hour before bedtime on weekdays, on weekends the rules are much more lax. This works out pretty well for us, but some days I find myself parked on my butt sitting in front of the t.v. instead of accomplishing anything.

I find myself thinking about what I am going to watch next or in what order. A lot of our evening conversations revolve around t.v. shows and you can find us sitting on the couch vegging out to some GLEE or SYTYCD or Grey's or Private Practice or I guess you probably get my point.

We also pay close to $200.00 per month for the U-verse. This is for the service and for high-speed internet. And we don't even have a premium package! We also have Net*flix for our movie pleasure and maybe we even run to the Red*box every once in a while.

Sometimes I dream of just turning it ALL off. Ok, ok, I am not saying like take our t.v.'s and throw them away. Brian would probably divorce me if I tried to get rid of his "baby"(flat screen). And I like movies WAY too much.

But when I think about it this way, I am paying some company almost $200.00 a month to help me sit my ass on the couch and entertain me. Instead of just entertaining myself, hanging out with the kids, cooking more, playing games, dancing to the ipod, well we do the last one so much it's almost embarrassing but you get the idea.

Also we are American's! And Americans! have cable and watch t.v. and really who wants to go against the status quo? We do that a lot already and do I really want another raised eyebrow? And who is this person thinking these thoughts? 'Cuz I hardly recognize her! Paging Jillienne, paging Jillienne, could you please get back in line!

Is bonding over television really bonding? Can I break the addiction? Do I really want too? What are your thoughts?

'til next time

Wordless Wednesday

Gotta love those boys......

'til next time

me

"How we live our days, is how we live our life." Frances Chan

This quote is making it's way around Facebook right now. I had a post all planned out about having Alainna home sick again and all of the crazy things that happened to us (me) yesterday but I just keep coming back to this.

"How we live our days, is how we live our life." Hmmmm.....

It's interesting how you can read things like this and all of a sudden you just "get it". It's interesting though how many times over the years I have just "gotten it".

That wonderful epiphany where I am on top of the world, moving full speed ahead as Wonder Woman, blissfully ignoring the fact that the dishes are piling up, and the laundry is overflowing. Living in the moment with the kids, cuddling on the couch with my man, finding ways to, even small ones, make a difference.

And then the teen-ager runs out of clean pants and the babies cups are sitting in the sink with curdled milk. The diva can't find her other tap shoe and if I step on another one of the boys Legos I will go through the roof! BAM!!!! Reality sets in.

There has to be a balance. Wouldn't it be nice if there was a little bottle (like in Alice in Wonderland) that was marked BALANCE. Balance between the work and the play. Or how about a bottle marked WISDOM. The wisdom to know when it's time to stop what you are doing and have that conversation with the Teen-ager or listen to the Boy try to crack you up with his jokes. To stop doing dishes and cuddle with the baby (either or both you pick). And when it's ok to say wait, at this moment it's time for me.

In the end this is so true "How we live our days, is how we live our life." I just hope that the scales tip in my favor because all we can do is try to do the best we can.

'til next time

me

Menu Plan Monday

I need some feedback. Do you all like the menu plan and the recipes? Or do you prefer just the family updates and insights into our small dramas?

I am having a hard time deciding which way I want to go. With the other blog being focused on savings and being more frugal I think maybe that I should have all the recipes and such over there.

What do you think?

In the meantime, this week's mealplan

Breakfast: cereal and bagels

Lunches: Sandwiches, mac and cheese, cheese and crackers and leftovers

Dinners:

Monday: Sweet and Sour Chicken

Tuesday: Pot roast with all the fixin's

Wednesday: Pancakes and Bacon

Thursday: Taco-roni (still haven't made this

Friday: PIZZA!!

Saturday: Grilled Ham and Cheese Sandwiches w/ Chicken Noodle Soup (from a can)

Sunday: Left-overs!

'til next time

me

Silent Sunday

Happy Birthday!!

Today my man turns the big 35!! I know you say, 35 with 6 kids! Man he must of been busy!! LOL

Happy Birthday Honey!!!! You are one of the best men that I know. Thank you for taking the time to figure me out and being patient most of the time. Thank you for being the perfect father for our children. And thank you for packing for me when it's time to go home from vacation!

I LOVE YOU!!

Family Friday

It's been a while since I have done a kiddo update so I thought, hey why not?

The Teenager

She is becoming such a young adult. I swear that everyday I look at her she changes more and more. She is such a driven soul. She works hard at everything that she does and refuses to back down from a challenge. She just took up volleyball for the first time and is having a good time with that and of course soccer.

The Boy

The Boy is really starting to work it out this year. In the last few weeks he has really stepped up and is starting to take on the responsibility for his schooling, I am pretty damn proud! Also he is just so funny. He has the ability to crack some of the best jokes. His timing is great. And how he remembers all sorts of lines from movies simply amazes me.

Drama

The name just says it all. His emotions just run so close to the surface. You never know what he is going to do next. But he just love, love, loves me with all his heart which is something every mother needs. He is doing AWESOME in school. His teacher says that it is a challenge to keep up with him because he is so smart. It really enforces the decision to put him in the young five class a few years ago!

The Diva

She used to be The Princess but lately I don't think that fits. Diva is a much better description. She has really developed a strong personality. Cute as a button and stubborn as a mule. This girl knows what she wants and she is determined to get it. I think we are all in trouble in a couple of years! She is having a great year at dance and their first number is going to be a little MJ, Billie Jean!

Miss E

I think this one is gonna be another strong woman. The boys in this family better watch out. And she is smart, smart as a whip (why do people say that anyway, smart as a whip? Huh). She can sing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star as clear as day and count to 10 and her vocabulary is amazing. Oh and she is fabulous at coloring on my walls. True talent there!

Mister Man

Now I say this with much love and adore but this child is a little ball of destruction! If it can be broken, he will brake it, if it can be thrown, he will throw it. If it can be spilled he will spill it. I think you see where this is going. He is for sure a high maintenance child! He loves to be held and cuddled and is still very much trying to find his place as the baby of the family. If he is unhappy he doesn't hesitate to let you know. But the belly laugh on him, oh it is priceless! And the giggles, so sweet. He has taken off know and will walk and TRY to run everywhere. He is the reason baby gates were invented!! But when he sticks that thumb in his mouth and lays his head on my shoulder all is right in the world!

'til next time

me

Christmas

I am sure that I am going to receive tons of flack from this and lots of those “looks”. You know the ones I am talking about, those looks where someone hears the words coming out of your mouth but they aren’t making any sense at all. I, myself, have probably given that look a few times in the past and I would be lying if I were to say that I won’t do it again.

Let me start from the beginning. I LOVE Christmas! Yes capital LOVE! It is my all time favorite holiday and from now until that big day is one of my favorite times of the year. This would be made perfect if I lived somewhere that it wasn’t freezing….. I love the smells, and the trees, and all of the get togethers and of course the food. I love the lights and the music and the excuse to sit on the couch all together watching fabulous movies.

And for years I have loved the presents. Really who doesn’t love presents. I have gladly bought into the hype and foraged out buying my kids and family everything that wasn’t nailed down. Then I got smart (I thought) and discovered BLACK FRIDAY! Now I could get everything and anything at a fraction of the price! YES!

Catalogs come flying into the house happily perused by my masses. Items are circled and crossed out and then circled again. Cries of mommy come look at this can be heard through the house when a super cool item flashes a commercial across the screen. And on Christmas morning everyone wakes up to mounds of presents and after 20 minutes you can barely see the children under the mounds of wrapping paper that daddy has labored for weeks to tape on (that’s right mommy doesn’t wrap, it’s not pretty). We are happy and content and bloated on stuff.

This is the year that stops. Yes, I plan to love, enjoy and surround myself with cheer this holiday season, to drink hot choc. (or a Pumpkin Spice Latte) with whipped crème every night for the next month and a half. But the buying spree has ended. The catalogs are thrown out as soon as they arrive. On Demand children shows are in (none of those dreaded commercials). And Black Friday, ok well I will still probably go.

This year my kids are getting 3 presents each, and a donation in their name to an organization of their choice. We have enough, we, at times, have too much. But we don’t give back enough. Each one of my kids will get:

1. Something they REALLY want (this might be more than one thing if it is something that GOES together.)

2. Something that is personalized

3. Something that signifies Africa

We will be doing stockings as usual and still believe that we can have a MAGICAL Christmas. One that helps us to remember what Christmas is really all about and not just about presents.

I know you are out there feeling sorry for my poor kids, feeling bad about how mean their mommy and daddy are and that’s ok. I doesn’t change it but it’s ok. We have talked to the kids and they are on board. The little ones know that Santa is bringing one present and mom and dad are also. Everyone is happy. I am not naïve enough to think that there won’t be some hurt feelings when they talk to their friends and family members and learn how MUCH others got. But I hope I am helping to teach my kids not to determine their worth on how many presents they receive. And I am hoping the donations that they make help them to feel pleased with themselves.

And there you have it, wow, I can feel the “look” already.

‘til next time

me

Yum

Jump on over to my other blog A Couple Coupons and check out the fabulous recipe that I stumbled across for a easy (cheap) homemade pumpkin spice latte! So Good!!

'til next time

me

Wordless Wednesday

Tuesday Tip

Sometimes even the most simple of meals can be made into something that "seems" a little bit fancy and at the same time is a big hit with everyone!

Here is one of my favorites: Stuffed Shells with Garlic Bread and Salad (basically spaghetti but much yummier!)

This meal can easily be made and doubled for freezing or even tripled or better for a larger get together. And it is the one meal that EVERYONE loves.

1lb of ground beef (to get REALLY fancy combine ground beef and italian sausage)

1 box of jumbo shell noodles (yes that is really what they are called)

1 large jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce

2 cups of mozzarella cheese

I also like to add in some of my fav. Italian seasoning blend but it's up to you.

Cook up the ground beef and drain grease, return the beef to pan and add the spaghetti sauce (you can heat this up but it's not necessary)

In the meantime boil the noodles according to box and then rinse in cold water. ( These noodles have a tendency to stick so make sure to stir them.) Pre-heat the oven 350 degrees.

In a 9x13 pan smooth some of the sauce mixture into the bottom of the pan. Now here is the really fun part. Fill the noodles with your sauce mix, one by one. It doesn't have to be perfect just use a tablespoon and drop some in. Then place the filled noodle in the pan. Keep going until the pan is full of noodles. Then top the noodles with the remaining sauce mixture. And top the whole thing with your 2 cups of mozzarella. Bake for 30 min. and then serve with garlic bread and salad and you have an easy simple fancy meal!

This is a tried and true for us over the years, and there are NEVER any left overs, ever!

'til next time

me

Monday Meal Plan and a Recipe

Some items on this meal plan might look very similar to last week as I did not get to them so we are going to try again!

Monday: Stuffed Shells (and one for the freezer)

Tuesday: Chicken Enchiladas (made this one already YUM!!)

Wednesday: White Chicken Chili (I am going to try using dry beans!)

Thursday: Hamburgers and Hotdogs with Fries

Friday: PIZZA!!

Saturday: Can't seem to remember and can't find my list......

Sunday: Chicken and Rice

And a recipe for Chicken Tortilla Soup......

1lb. Chicken Breast (cooked) (I like my chicken shredded which means cooking it in the crockpot which GREATLY increases the amount of time this takes since you have to cook the chicken first and then add the other ingredients but....)

1 can of Rotel or add Salsa if you don't have Rotel

2 1/2 cups of Cheddar Cheese

1 cup of milk

4 cups of water

Add everything into your Crockpot and let cook for 4-5 hours!! When your ready to serve add some yummy tortilla strips or just use torn up tortillas or even crackers, it's flexible!

I would have liked it to be a little thicker and I think it would be good with corn added but Brian and the kids really liked it!! Great easy fall meal!

'til next time

me

NaBloPoMo

Could we all just pretend that I posted yesterday? Is there a rule that because I missed the first day that I am no longer allowed to participate? Maybe I have already been disqualified.

In case you missed it November is National Writing month and National Blog Posting month! The challenge when blogging is to blog everyday for the whole month. In light of the fact that I missed yesterday I am going to post, wait for it, TWICE maybe even THRICE today!!!

Wish me luck!

'til next time

me

Meal Plan

Here it is:

Monday: Chicken Tortilla Soup

Tuesday: Meatloaf and mashed potatoes and corn (comfort food)

Wednesday: Ham and Cheese Omlets and hashbrowns

Thursday: Taco-roni

Friday: Pizza!!!

Saturday: Dinner @ Grandma's!

Sunday: Chicken Stir-fry

This week, I will post recipes after I make them, too make sure that I can endorse!! A couple of weeks ago I made one and Blah!!

'til next time

me

Chicken Tortilla Soup was yummy, I will post that tomorrow!

Illness week 2009

Interruption

We interrupt this blog do to the FLU!!!

4 of the kids have the flu, we thought Max did also, but now I am thinking not so much. The teenager is good and everybody else is a mess. Luckily I am ok and so is Brian, except for the finger that he squashed and is now a big red puffy sausage. My whole house smells like Lysol. I have gone through 2 bottles of liquid Motrin, and 2 bottles of Infant Tylenol. And am thinking I might need more. Our counter looks like a pharmacy. I am tired and cranky and praying hourly that I don't get it too. It goes away for a day and then it comes back, it's sneaky and I HATE it!!!

Brian and I came home, after our first long weekend away in three years, to find this starting in our house. My bags are still packed and the laundry is out of control. The dishwasher doesn't want to break apart the washer tabs and the house looks like it threw up (but at least it's only the house throwing up!) I called the doctor because the media says I have to and she said STAY HOME!!!!!

If this doesn't end soon I am seriously contemplating becoming that parent that sends their kids to school sick. If I didn't HATE that parent so much I probably would have already. Seriously though, if it doesn't end soon I am going to have to figure out how to have caffeine pumped directly into this house, because that is all that is keeping me going right now! Do they make caffeinated air?

'til next time

me

(pictures of the poor little creatures when I can remember where I put the camera after using it)

Tuesday Tip

At our house we make A LOT of lunches! Which means most time A LOT of sandwiches! A life saver has been making up sandwiches before hand and then freezing them. This works out great for many reasons.

1. It helps the lunch meat stay fresh longer.

2. A frozen sandwich is a great "cold pack" subsititute. Helps keep the whole lunch cold.

3. The morning rush isn't so bad when you can just pull a sandwich out of the freezer.

We don't put any mustard, mayo, etc. on them before hand, I just keep the little packets on hand to throw in lunch boxes.

In these pictures we made 14 sandwiches (2 aren't in the pics.), and that did not make the week for us but it was all the lunch meat that I had! We usually do this on Sundays so we are ready to go for the week. Making school lunches definitly does not rank as one of my favorite things to do but with 4 kids in school full days it would cost me almost $60.00 a week for them to buy lunch!! And most of my kids would pick pizza everyday and where is the nutritional value in that! This way I am saving money and hoping they eat the fruit or veggies that I pack.

'til next time

me

Menu Plan Monday

Meal Plan for Oct. 12-Oct. 18

Monday: Pizza Bake with Green Beans

Tuesday: Apple Casserole with Bacon and Fruit

Wednesday: Potato Soup with Rolls (Yum)

Thursday: Hot dogs and Hamburger with French Fries

Friday: Pizza Day!!

Saturday: Chicken and Rice with veggies

Sunday: Meatloaf and mashed potatoes

Bri and I are going to be out of town Thur-Sun. So those meals will be at Grandma's whim. I will make the Meatloaf when I get home on Sunday.

I have been doing a TON of blog searching in an attempt to find out what makes a blog go BIG! In my search I have found so many GREAT blogs with tons of info and recipes. The highlighted recipes are from 3 of those different blogs. If you have a moment take a look around, they all use creative ways to make fabulous tasting frugal meals!

Silent Sunday