Today

~I woke up and got up first!

~I'm reading a great book aloud. It's called Secrets Of The Best Choice. It was in those boxes of books that that lady gave me. Everyday has a short story, questions to talk about, and a Bible verse. It has spurred some really good conversations with my big kids b/c there could be many answers that might work. Of course everyone has their opinion. I think there are 3 or 4 of these books that I've pulled out so far.

~Invited 2 more friends to Bible study and I think they will come.

~School school school. I forgot to do grammar and geography. Everyday there is something that I leave off.

~Our frige and pantry are quite bare. Payday tomorrow! I meant to clean them both out really good today but didn't get to it. Tomorrow maybe.

~I went to the pre-op appts with Honey. His sinus surgery is Monday. I looked through lots of magazines and copied down a new recipe.

~Read "new" books to littles.

~CT made cereal for dinner tonight. Lane and 6yo made cookies. Honey and I ate on the way home.

~I found a new photography book for Honey. Still going through those books....

~Talked to Nana on the phone.

~Watched RR. I'm thinking on Super Bowl foods.....just can't decide.

Gone!

LB lost her very last baby tooth last night. Being the sentimental one, she held onto it as long as she could. When it finally fell out, she cried and cried. Yep, it's over for her. No more prizes for lost teeth. A part of childhood that is gone forever.

You'd think I'd be the one to be sad about that. I guess she was sad enough for both of us.

I love you LB and I promise that there will be lots more funner things than teeth in your growing up future!!

Girl Manners

that works for boys too!

I'm reading aloud Personal Help For Girls And Boys by Pearables at teatime. We just finished the chapter on manners. These books are written in an old fashioned way and some things come across funny, while others are quite insightful. Here are some manners that go beyond the "don't talk with food in your mouth". It's sort of common sense sort of things that I probably gripe at my kids about but never saw in print. It got a lot of laughs from my bunch.

~If you drip catsup on your best blouse, get out the cleaning solvent and attend to it yourself.

~Never sniff suspiciously at unfamiliar foods.

~Never sprawl your legs out.

~Never scratch your head at the table.

~Food should be seen and not heard.

~Do not eat and run, or stay until your hostess is on the edge of exhaustion.

~Do not monopolize the conversation or sit in gloomy silence.

~Never send your crackers or bread to a watery grave in your soup.

~Do not pick your teeth.

~Never carry off souvenirs from the table.

Today

~Took my new green purse to church.

~Bought a new car battery.

~Raced a goose.

~I got to listen to the whole sermon! Honey took Z out and sang him to sleep.

~Ate left overs.

~Enjoyed a beautiful day at the park and took some pics.

~I found my planner!!! Oh yes!

~We hardly saw Mayfee Boy as he took a gigantic nap.

~Had blackened salmon and fries for date night. I saved you some, Son.

~Such a better day than yesterday. Actually my day was ok yesterday but Honey's was horrible. Our car got broken into. The other one wouldn't start. Yelled at the kids....we'll skip the details. Let's just say that today was better.

Tagged

Here ya go Love...my modified version

8 Things I'm Passionate About:

1. My Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. How I want to be more like Him!
2. My fun and quirky, precious and funny, beautiful and best family
3. My sweet and awesome friends. I miss you!
4. Making my bed.
5. Reading in bed.
6. Trying new stuff in the kitchen. Thank you Rachael, Alton, Paula, Emeril, ....and maybe a little bit of Duff.
7. Date nights with Honey.
8. Bargain shopping.

8 Things I Want To Do Before I Die:

1. Have more babies.
2. Read Meg's book.
3. Travel with Honey to watch my boys' MLS games.
4. Hang out with ALL my adult children.
5. Help raise my grand babies.
6. Go see lots of touristy things.
7. Read all the books I own.
8. Finish all my scrapbooks.


8 Things I Say Often:

1. What happened?
2. Who messed this up?
3. Honey,.....pleeeease??
4. No! Well, ok.
5. Report.
6. Where's my planner?
7. I'm the show.
8. Naptime!

8 (+2) Books I've Read Recently

1. Les Miserables. Got 1/2 through it until SOMEBODYS rented the movie!
2. Fellowship Of The Ring by Tolkien
3. The Preacher Had 10 Kids by Frances Bradsher
4. The Finishing Touch by Chuck Swindoll
5. True Faced by Bill Thrall
6. 1John
7. Secrets of the Best Choice (aloud to the kids)
8. A Child's Story Bible by Catherine Vos (aloud to the kids)
9. Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew
10. Living A Beautiful Life by Alexandra Stoddard


8 Things I've Learned This Year

1. I never want to be a single mom!
2. God's timing is not the same as mine, PTL.
3. Farm life is good except for bugs.
4. New things can be pretty good even if they're not the same as the old things.
5. Goo Gone gets black crayon out of the dryer.
6. Nine children are better than eight.
7. Lock the car.
8. I love my handsome Honey and never want to live a day without him.

8 Things That I Like To Hear:

1. My MP3
2. Honey's IPod
3. 3rd Day
4. Christmas music
5. My kids' laughter
6. Teenage insight
7. The pastor's sermon
8. "Daddy's home!"

A Day With LB

LB lost her next-to-the-last baby tooth last night. As her tooth prize I took her to lunch today. She picked Chilis. Hadn't been there in awhile......maybe since we left AR. We talked and shared her fries.

After that we went to Savers. She got a new pair of jeans, shoes, and a new book. She picked out a new coffee cup for Bird's Valentine present and laughed at the green purse I picked out.

It was a good day.

Pirates Movie

I took CT and Jes to see the Veggie Tales movie today. We had the entire theater to ourselves! It was like a special show just for us. Going to the movies is HUGE for the little boys. Jes sat by me and shared his M&Ms with me. Instead of getting them out of the bag one by one, he would pour out some in his other hand to hold. By the time I was ready for another one it would be nice and sticky. He had lots of fun and was fairly quiet during the whole show. When it was over he looked around and asked, "How do you turn it off?" He is so cute.

A Yummy Warmer Upper

13 years ago when I was pregnant with #2, I was sick with a horrible cold. I had a huge round baby belly and a 2yo that wanted me all the time. My mother-in-law came over and made this for me and took that busy baby girl to her house for the day. I made these last night for Honey and me after the kids were in bed. Everytime I make it it brings back good memories.

1 mug of hot water
1/4 lemon squeezed
1 generous tablespoon of honey
1 candy cane from the Christmas tree

Ummmmm........

He Smiles When He Sleeps

Happy Birthday JOEY

Our good dog Joey is 3!

The boys made some Happy Birthday signs to decorate the room for him.
We're going to make dog and bone shaped sugar cookies for tonight.
I'm cutting a roast to make fajita meat for dinner and he'll get the scraps.
We have doggie treats in the pantry. It'll be a good day for Joe.

~He is big and sweet and obedient.

~He loves being wherever we are.

~We don't have a gate but he won't run off.

~He loves the snow, or the farm, or the water.

~He's a klutz and has a hard time getting a footing on this hard floor. He often slips and falls.

~He growls at workers.

~He LOVES Uncle Steve.

~When G'ma is here he follows her all around the kitchen cause he knows she's a softy.

~He likes to wrestle.

~He lets babies do whatever they want with him.

~He likes other dogs and chases the cat.

Happy Birthday Joe!!

Happy Birthday Mom!

I love you.

Freedoms

There are so many freedoms in being a stay-at-home mom. I have the freedom to make my own schedule and stick to it or not. I can work outside or inside. I can take a break or a nap right in the middle of the day. I can eat whenever I feel like it. I can talk to my kids whenever I want. I can answer the phone and take a personal call or let the answering machine get it. I can wear whatever I feel like or just stay in my pjs.

I finished school with the boys today and spent most of quiet time in the book room. I worked on their school for the rest of the week. I moved things around, cleaned, and organized. I put the gate in front of the doorway to close it off after I left. I don't want any littles getting in there to undo what I did.

There were so many things to do today during quiet time. I enjoy the freedom of choosing which one sounds best. At one point I thought, "Wait I need to work on dinner right now. I forgot what I planned for tonight." But then I decided that it didn't matter. If I didn't have time to do it later I could just pull something out of the freezer. I'm getting quite a lot of freezer meals stored up. That just adds to my freedom!

Today

~I'm so cold! I've been cold all weekend. Tomorrow night it's going to be -5!! That's crazy cold. It's snowing right now. Lots of hot chocolate and soup for us.

~Baby woke up so mad this morning. He woke up yelling an angry cry and I was dead asleep. When I went into his room, he was standing up! That was a first. I'm not sure why he was so mad...maybe he got up there and couldn't get back down.

~Church this morning. I had to take Zekey out today. He's been doing better though. Soon, I think he'll be able to make it for the whole service.

~I took a nap.

~Honey hung our bathroom door! Now every bathroom has a door. Progress.

~The little boys played outside. Actually it was kinda warm during the day. (It's NOT warm now!)

~I did our menu for next week and went to Sams with LB.

~Baked blueberry muffins for breakfast tomorrow. It's hard to save them!

~Honey and I went out to Red Robin for date night. Yummy!

~Meggy's watching the football game. I think tears will flow tonight.

NEXT WEEK.....
Somebody's birthday. Can you guess who?
Bible study at our house.
New recipes to try.
Lots of babysitting for Meg.

Today

~My bread pan and paddles in my bread machine need replacing. When I started looking up replacement parts online I was shocked. It would cost about $70 to replace them! I posted it on my food loop and asked if anyone knew of a good place. A lady in FL has offered me hers just for the cost of shipping! Her bread machine is broken in the garage and it uses the same pan and paddles as mine. Yippee!!

~My boys all lost their soccer games this morning. :( Both games were lost 5-3. Fun anyway though and Jes did much better.

~I cooked spaghetti sauce in the crockpot for lasagna later tonight.
~5 loaves of bread
~yogurt
~6 trays of apples in the dehydrator

~I read some new books to my littles.

~I cleaned some of the crayon out of the dryer. Not done with that one yet.

~Honey took Lane and LB to the movie.

~Had a visit from Emo and Mangnay and showed them how to speed stack.

~LB sold a bag of homemade cereal for $10.

~We all watched the little boys game from this morning and evaluated it. Lane taped it for us. It was almost as fun as watching it in person.

~All is settling down for the night. The littles are in bed and Meggy is sleeping downstairs in order to finish the read aloud she has started with her sisters. I need to get ready for church tomorrow and I'm thinking about trying out a homemade egg nog recipe to surprise Honey.

It's Simple

But not easy.

"He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." Micah 6:8

Sometimes I get bogged down in what I "should" do to make the day seem good in my own eyes. I tend to pile on plenty of things that seem good to me. But is it what God is asking of me or am I just asking it of myself? I make things much harder than they need to be sometimes.

Today

Today has been a wonderfully quiet day. I woke up so tired. You know that feeling when you get out of bed and feel like you could sleep another 8 hours? I am glad that happened on Friday and not Monday!

~Today was gym day. This was the 2nd one for cup stacking. Since the first cup stacking gym day, my kids have been speed stacking like crazy! They hardly even put them away before someone is pulling them back out. They are all getting pretty fast and always trying to break their last time. It is harder than it looks. Honey and I were playing with them last night. I think my fastest was 47 seconds. Sooo slow considering my kids usually get around a 17!

~We had the soup in the crockpot that didn't get done in time yesterday. It was yummy. I think the flavors married better in the frige overnight. We had it with a loaf of LB's bread and butter. Mal ate 3 bowls!

~Mayfee took one look and declared it "yucky". He ate nothing.

~I took a short nap and feel a little better.

~I shopped the grocery sales. Bread was on sale for $1 a loaf. When I got to the check out it was $1.39. I'm cheap enough to investigate and discover that it was the split top bread that was on sale! Too lazy to put it back and get the right thing, I considered it a learning experience and will know to be more careful next time. I like to keep store bought bread in the freezer b/c no one like homemade bread for burgers or sloppy joes.

~I returned 3 library books while I was out. Our library is about to close for a month for a remodel. Really, I can't imagine it being any better than it already is! We are getting more self-checkout stations. Those are so handy and fast.

~I got to talk to my friend on the phone and hear how the Lord has worked in her life this week. Yay!

~I got orange rolls rising for tea to go with chocolate/strawberry milk. 6yo is COW today and wanted to go to the grocery store with me. He picked choc and strawberry syrup as a special COW treat. It worked out great since the syrup and the milk was on sale too!

~I have pizza dough working in the bread machine for dinner.

~It is snowing like crazy. I had CT pick up dog poop before it was too late. He came in saying it was snowing too hard and the wind was blowing too hard to get it into the bag. Oh no--I turned him around and made him finish the job.

~Honey is home early since he worked late last night.

~I have a little time to read before babies wake up.......

SOMEBODY left a black crayon in his pocket and it went through the dryer. Big mess all over the inside of the dryer. Big mess on a load of clothes. I guess the good thing is that it didn't ruin anything that I care much about....but STILL!! yuck.

Today

~Baby Boy slept till 7am! A good start.

~Lane woke up sick. She's been in bed all day.

~I started soup in the crockpot and breakfast in the oven.

~The house was getting out of hand. I decided to do the day backwards and have us all work on some house cleaning projects first. I've noticed that I have more energy in the morning.

~Flylady has helped me notice some details that I usually miss. Today I cleaned the big kitchen set toy and the doll house in the Zekey's room. Both of these are over 14 yrs old and I don't know if I've ever really taken a soapy rag to either of them. They look better now.

~I cleaned my room and bathroom really nice! I love it and I love my new sink in my bathroom. It made for a nice get away during nap time.

~Honey came home and lunch wasn't ready. I thought that the soup would be done by now. Oh well, we had enough left overs to make do.

~LB made a loaf of bread and a bunch of burgers for tonight's dinner. Great job! She even had to grind the croutons into bread crumbs with the food processor. She took the time to shape a special burger for #1. She's picky about burgers that are too thick.

~I worked in the book room. It's a hopeless mess. But Honey just hung some cabinets in the garage for me to store stuff out there. That ought to help. It looks messier every time I leave that room. Maybe that means progress??

~Mal helped me sweep my room.

~I finished part of the boys' school. Still gotta do math with them. That'll have to come after nap time.

~I gotta make cookies to take to Bible study tonight. Next week it meets over here.
I'm making my friend's cookie recipe that she posted on her blog. These are so yummy *and* healthy. I think she called them WW Oatmeal Cookies. I changed the name to "Hobbs cookies".

~Babies are napping, boys are playing, Lane's still in bed, and the rest are working on school. Gotta get busy on those cookies.

Talking with a friend yesterday and we were wondering....

Why are Mondays so hard?

No matter how well I think I've planned it seems like I'm always behind on Monday and I spend the day catching up to myself. Tuesday is always better, but why can't Monday be good too?

I gotta think of a better Monday plan.

My baby's growing up!

And he can finally crawl! Poor guy just couldn't get going on the hard floor with pants on all the time. I can see how babies would have an easier time learning to crawl in the summer. At 9 months, it's time he got around. He's slow now but soon enough we'll be chasing him everywhere.

He got a tooth! A big top fang! Only one. Kinda goofy looking. He hasn't figured out what it's for since he *still* won't touch solids. He hates everything except crackers. Last night I gave him mashed potatoes. He gaged and choked until he finally threw up. So dramatic.

Speaking of growing up, 6yo announced to me today that he was too big for story time. "That's for babies," he said.

whatever!

The weather here is hilarious. Today will be 60, tomorrow will be 18 with snow! Just when I get tired of being cold, we have a warm spell and all the snow melts. Then the snow hits again and by that time I'm ready for it.

We spent July here and got a little taste of what summer is like. Nice! I'm looking forward to enjoying all 4 seasons. I come from a place with only 2 seasons: Way too hot, and not so bad.

I'm looking forward to spending the not so bad season of May there!

New Books!

The lady we bought our tread mill from gave us boxes and boxes of books today. Wonderful appropriate books of all kinds! There are books for my teenagers and books for my babies. It was great fun shopping through these and seeing what everyone picked as "mine". Seriously, it was like Christmas. There are so many of them that I haven't even had time to see them all.

We will have lots of new reads for tea time.

The Lord gives us all kinds of sweet things, doesn't He? I've been excited over these books all day.

Three Months!

Today marks 3 months in Colorado! A lot has happened in 3 months and I'm glad it's behind us. I can say with honesty that if given the choice I don't think I'd want to move back to AR. I think.

I miss it and sometimes cry when I see pics of us in the old house. I miss it all.
But I like it here too and it's feeling more and more like home every day. My friends are sweet to me and e-mail and cell phones let me stay close.

The house continues to get better. Tonight Honey put in our bathroom sink. That was the last one. He hung up a light and even found a mirror to hang until we get a real one. Yay! We're to the point of talking about paint.

I'm making some friends. I'm hosting the ladies' Bible study here every week starting next Thurs. I'm looking forward to that.

The homeschool group is ok. Gym day is lots of fun and that is every other Friday. It is like a big PE class structured around a different sport each time. Next week is cup stacking.

Soccer is wonderful.

I'm learning my way around.

The library is fabulous!!

I like the weather.

It's been a good 3 months.

Menus

After struggling for years (literally) I think I've finally learned to menu. I don't know why this is so hard but it is. And I know it's not just me cause my friends have issues with this as well. When I finally figured it out, there was such a freedom in not having to think about that one thing again. Here is what works for me.....

~ I'm working on seasonal menus. Winter menus where I can use my oven as much as I like, and summer menus with colder meals and less cooking.

~I've divided my menus into "mostly beef" or "mostly chicken". This is to try to save money when one is on sale or when I have beef from my parents. So now my menus are labeled "Winter Beef".

~I'm making new ones and keeping old ones so when I don't have time to make a new one (or don't feel like it), I can pull out an old faithful. I have a section in my cookbook just for menus so I always have a place to put them and know where they are.

~When making a menu I start by asking everyone what they want to eat next week. They are usually simple requests. This week my son asked for spaghetti and my daughter decided on all her b-day meals. This gives me a good place to start.

~I check the ads and try to plan around stuff that is on sale. I don't find this to be all that helpful though b/c most of the sale stuff I use is produce.

~I check to see what I already have and plan from that. I actually plan around what I don't have. For instance, if I'm almost out of tuna then I'll plan some tuna dish. I'll buy enough tuna for what I need plus extra for the pantry. This usually keeps me from completely running out of too much. It gives me something to work with if I can't get to the store when I want.

~I get out my notebook paper, pen, and cookbook. I look at anything new that I want to try and add that to my list.

~I try to plan at least 7 days' worth of breakfast, lunch, tea, and dinner. I use my cookbook and browse through those sections

~I decide on each meal and write it all down. Then I work on a grocery list to go with that menu.

~I put the list and menu together and put them both in a page protector. I will keep out my current menu to work from all week. After that it goes in the menu section of my cookbook.

Making menus is NOT something I enjoy. I don't like it at all. But I love that feeling of having it done and knowing what is for dinner. It ends up being a big time saver for me in the long run.

Morning Meeting and Tea

These are 2 great times of the day for us.

Morning Meeting.
This happens after breakfast and when I get the babies in a good place of contentment. COW rings the bell and everyone gathers in the living room. Mal sits on a pillow and Zekey usually sits on COW's lap...unless COW is too little himself. We work on our memory verse. I read the Bible. I pass out any extra chores. I give the menu of the day. We talk about any ideas someone might have for making something run smoother in the day. I give any announcements and just try to make sure that every kids knows what is going on.

Tea.
This is at 3:30ish. School *should* be done. I make some sort of fun drink. In the winter it is usually hot tea. In the summer, lemonade or tea. I try to make a snack but if that doesn't happen we just eat graham crackers or fruit. I like to get out all the tea dishes but if there is no time we just eat off paper towels. When I first started this I intended to use this time to work on table manners with nice dishes. Yesterday I was reminded of this when my 5yo was sucking his tea from the spout of his tea pot.

Our tea dishes are nothing expensive. Except for a pretty set that my mom gave me, all of ours came from thrift shops or garage sales. Everyone has their favorites and they all try to be careful with them.

We pray and I read whatever read aloud book we're reading. Right now it's 2 books from Pearables, a boy one and a girl one. We switch off a chapter of each. When tea is over it is time to straighten up the house before Dad comes home and get the kitchen ready for the final dinner prep. I pass out orders and everyone scatters. Lately we've been lighting all the candles upstairs after the house is straightened. It makes for such a cozy, homey feeling when Honey comes home.

Going Fishing In A Sea Of Socks

I like using those zipper garmet bags to keep dirty socks in. When used faithfully, it keeps everyone's socks together and separate from everyone else's. It is not fool proof. We've had some broken zippers and some little boys that can't keep up with their own bag.

So..we had a crazy amount of mis-matched socks to pair. A whole basket full! So my kids put the basket in the middle of the floor and gathered around. All the ones that were big enough played "Sock Go Fish". They mixed up the socks, closed their eyes, and each one pulled out 5 to start with.

There was so much laughter as they asked, "Does anybody have a blue Hanes?"
"How 'bout a short sock with a pink stripe?"

In no time most of the orphan socks had their partner.

Oops I put the wrong link....

Here it is..

www.readitreviews.blogspot.com

What is it?

There is some sort of chatty thing down on the left of this blog. I don't exactly know what it does but somehow you can type a note to me. My daughter did it and she knows far more about these things than I do. See if you can make it work...or explain to ME how to do it!!

Speaking of my daughter, check out her movie and book review site here..
www.readitreviews.com We went to see Enchanted together this week and she gives a great overview of the movie. Fun show to go see with a daughter.

Happy Birthday DAD!

We love you!!

Croutons And Pizza

These are some good use-up recipes when you have some left overs.

CROUTONS:

bread cut up into cubes
olive oil
spices

Toast the bread under the broiler until barely toasted. Transfer to a bowl and drizzle with oil and sprinkle with spices. I used s/p, italian seasoning, and garlic powder. Parmesan cheese is also good. Shake the bowl and do it again until all the pieces are coated. Transfer back to the baking sheet and broil until toasty. These are great in the freezer and you can just take out what you need. Also you can blend them into bread crumbs.

CHICKEN (TURKEY) ALFREDO PIZZA

Left over chicken cut in strips
1/2 can artichoke hearts quartered
fresh spinach cut into ribbons & 1/4 onion chopped

sauce:
1/2 stick of butter
1/4 C. flour
1 cup of chicken stock
1 cup of cream or milk
5 cloves of crushed garlic
parmesan cheese
spices

To make the sauce: Melt butter in sauce pan. Stir in flour. Add liquids and spices. Cook over med heat stirring often. This will thicken nicely as it heats.

Spoon sauce over crusts and top with toppings. Bake until cheese is bubbly at 425.

Marshmallow Cream

Anybody ever tried that marshmallow cream stuff that you buy in a jar? EEwwwww! I needed it to make Aunt Barbara's fudge for Meggy's b-day. This stuff just explodes out of the jar the minute you break the seal. While you're trying to get the seal off it is oozing all over your hand. And just when you think you have it under control, wash your hands, and change your shirt cause it went all up your sleeve it's time to scoop it out and you have a whole other problem. It won't come out of the jar. What was eager to spill out everywhere now stays put and you have to dig it out with a spoon that gets sticky all the way up the handle. Man!

I have a new respect for my Aunt Barbara who made who knows how many batches of fudge for us all at Christmas time. I don't think I'll be doing it again.

Tomorrow

It's 10pm on Sunday night and I should be in bed. Problem with that is that I'm NOT ready for tomorrow. We've had a good b-day weekend and I'm just not mentally ready for the back-to-school Monday. But, the longer I stay up the more "not ready" I'll be when the day hits. I guess I gotta go to bed, huh? There is much on my plate tomorrow and I feel inadequate to the task.....

Big laundry day. Lots of loads, matching orphan socks, a little ironing, and cleaning the laundry room.

I promised to take #1 to the movie at nap time as part of her b-day. Anybody see Enchanted yet?

I gotta bake 30 muffins to try to sell at Emo's shop. I'm excited about this though. I hope they sell. She picks them up Tuesday.

A couple of phone calls. One to follow up on CLEP tests for Meggy's college work and one to the treadmill lady. She wants me to look at her homeschool books and some kids' bikes.

A new memory verse to work on and some new geography questions. I'm out of grammar worksheets too but probably won't get to that tomorrow.

I hate it when I feel like this and sort of "dread" what is before me. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE this life of home with my kids and husband. Just sometimes when I look at all there is to do I feel fearful that I am not managing it all correctly and all will come to ruin. Ok, that's a little dramatic, but you know what I mean. I just want to do it right.

Lord, please walk with me and teach me not to fear. I'm so thankful for this work! Amen.

Happy Sweet 16 Sweetie!

Thanks to Meggy I've been a mom for 16 years! My baby is 16 years old!! What a short time it's been.

Here's Meggy
~She hates surprises...(but I like to do it anyway).

~She has a funny combination of interests. She loves football, swords, soccer, and non-girl type movies. At the same time she is very feminine and likes purple and pink, cute clothes, and girl movies.

~Books are her love.

~She is a fabulous writer and we all hope she writes her own book someday.

~She loves helping her brothers with their soccer by coaching, cheering, and sometimes working with them at home.

~She hates Monopoly.

~She loves computer games, e-mailing, and talking to her friends on the phone.

~She love junk food but tries to like healthy foods too.

~She is a movie enthusiast and likes to make her own.

~She's great with magazine clippings. I'll show ya my cookbook.

~She enjoys bargain shopping and even window shopping when she has no money.

~She is super generous with her money. She hardly ever spends it on herself but usually on her siblings.

~She has lots of opinions. (Don't all teenagers?) And I like it when she shares them with me.

~She is a fantastic baby sitter.

~She's a great cook even though it's not her favorite thing to do.

Here's her foods for today:
Breakfast: bread and gravy (even though her brother tried to talk her into donuts)
Lunch: Fudruckers
Dinner: Mexican feast
Dessert: Aunt Barbara's fudge

We gave her all her b-day presents early so she could enjoy them when the Wingses were here. Today we gave her the last one....a trip to AR in May for the wedding of the year! YIPPEE!! How fun it was to see her so happy!! Tomorrow she and I are going to go see Enchanted at the theater.

Happy Birthday Honey Girl!

More Of The Crock Pot

I wish I could take a picture of my crockpot but it's dirty. :( Anyway, it's a 6qt Rival with the buttons that let you program how long it cooks. It's got the oval shaped insert instead of the round. I'm hoping it is as good as my old one. It's a Rival too. Big difference though cause it's avocado green with a broken lid.



Here's what I've been doing in it....

Breakfast: I made an apple/peach crisp by cutting up a whole bag of apples and putting them in the bottom. I topped this with a bag of frozen peaches and some raisins. Then I made a topping with oatmeal, nuts, sucanat, and butter. I don't remember how long I cooked this. It was very good but came out a little dry. So we ate it sort of like oatmeal and added milk.



Since Honey comes home for lunch our lunches have become a little more elaborate than they used to be. I feel guilty feeding him pb&j everyday. I do a lot of soups though since it's so cold here. I can do the prep work for a soup in the morning before school and let it cook in the crock pot til lunch. I can also get bread started in the bread machine and they're both done about the same time with little effort from me.

One of the greatest benefits of a crock pot for me is the ability to make something ahead of time and have it ready when I need it. Since I have so many little ones I have to take advantage of nap time in a big way. I don't have time to start dinner at 4:30 or 5pm b/c everyone is up and babies need my attention. I need to do it at nap time instead. I also try to start lunch at breakfast time.

With this programmable crockpot I will also make more freezer foods. Meaning, I can cook something all night and in the morning package it to bank in the freezer. That is so handy to have for a busy day. I did that this week with beans.

So here's some of my crockpot faves:

Ziti...

1 box of ziti noodles
1 container of cottage cheese mixed with 1 egg, 1 T. italian seasoning, s/p
grated mozzarella
spaghetti sauce to cover
about 2 cups of water

Mix all together in the crockpot and cook on low until noodles are tender.

This soup is delicious!
Meatball Minestrone

1 chopped onion
2 crushed garlic cloves
1T oil
1 can of small white beans, undrained
32 oz chicken broth
1 T. each oregano, basil
16 oz frozen meatballs (or homemade)
1 28oz can diced tomatoes
1 shake of crushed red pepper flakes
1 C. small pasta, uncooked
1 package of fresh spinach washed and torn.

Put everything in the crockpot except the spinach. When the pasta is tender add the spinach and cook a little longer.

Last night I put navy beans in the crockpot before I went to bed. I covered them with plenty of water and peeled a head of garlic to dump in with it. I set in on low for 6 hours. The beans were done when I woke up. I made these for the freezer to use later. I ended up with 4 quart sized baggies.

At Christmas time we took advantage of the grocery sales and bought a big turkey. I cooked it this week. We ate the breast for dinner then I picked off as much of the meat as my stomach could take....Oh, I hate touching that stuff! Then I tore off the smaller bones and filled up the crockpot and cooked this on low all day covered with water. The whole carcass was too big to cook on the stove at one time. It was a huge bird. I cooked the bigger part on the stove until the meat fell off the bones. We got a bunch of meat from this as well as 5 quarts of broth. I froze all this to use later. I'll use this meat in all my chicken recipes.

Here's another yummy one. It takes a bit of prep work but it's worth it.
Smothered Chicken
3-4 lbs of whatever boneless skinless chicken pieces are on sale
6 cloves garlic, minced
3 T. soy sauce
1/4 C. dried chives
4-8 oz sliced mushrooms
2/3 C. water

Place all this in the crockpot and cook on HIGH for 3 hours. In the meantime, make the sauce:
4 T. butter
2T. oil
6 heaping T. flour
4 cloves garlic minced
1 C. chicken broth
1 C. cream or milk (cream makes a good difference but milk works)
1T soy sauce
s/p

In a sauce pan, melt butter mixed with oil. Add garlic and saute briefly. Whisk in flour and cook until smooth. Add milk and broth and cook until bubbly. Add spices. This will thicken as it gets hot and makes a nice gravy. I usually double this. The left over gravy freezes well.

Pour this over the chicken at the end of 3 hours and cook on HIGH for 1 hour. Check the doneness and continue accordingly. You can also cook this on LOW if you're gone all day.

I got a brand new fancy crockpot this weekend. Can you believe it came from *MACY'S*? That makes me laugh just to think of it.

Well Honey got 2 shirts from Macy's for Christmas. They weren't quite to his liking and they had the tags on them so we took them back. The lady gave us a store credit and we got 5 Christmas ornaments and a beautiful crockpot that matches all the appliances. Nice!

Our old crockpot is still great. It was my grandmother's so who knows how old it is. It has been a faithful servant but now she needs help. 11 mouths to feed was just too much for one lonely crockpot. So now I have 2! This one can be programmed to cook for a certain amount of time and switch to warm. I told ya she was fancy!!

I've had something in it ever since she hit the door. Tomorrow's breakfast will be an apple/peach crisp nice and toasty when we wake up. I love a new toy!

Wingses Favorite Recipes While They Were Here

Pizza Sauce

1 28oz can of tomato sauce
2 T. Italian seasoning
2 tsp onion powder
1 1/2 T. honey
1/4 tsp salt
2 cloves of crushed garlic

Mix all together



Oatmeal Muffins

1 C. ww flour
1/2 C. brown sugar (double this if your oatmeal is not already sweetened)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Mix all this together in a bowl.
Next mix wet ingredients:

1/2 C. oil
2 eggs
1 C. leftover oatmeal
1/2 C. raisins
1 tsp. vanilla

Combine both bowls. Pour into muffin tins and bake at 350.


Hot Chocolate Mix

Mix all together:

2 C. powdered milk
1 C. sugar
1/2 C. cocoa powder
1/2 C. non-dairy creamer
1 dash of salt



Ranch Dressing Mix

Blend in blender until fine :

1C. dried parsley
1/2 C. each saltine crackers, dried minced onion, garlic salt,
1/4 C. each garlic powder and onion powder
2 T. dried dill weed

Mix about 3 T. with about a cup of mayo and sour cream. Whisk in pickle juice until it is pouring consistency.

Quote of the day

The little boys and I were playing Animal Alphabet Go Fish. 3yo Mayfee has a "Q" with a picture of a quail. He calls out,

"Do you have a "Q" with a big chicken?"

Our Day

Some days just seem to go by on roller skates! All of a sudden it's lunch time then all of a sudden it's bed time! Where did the rest of it go?

The Christmas tree is down, our friends are gone, and Honey went back to work. That means back to school for the rest of us.

Today.....

~I woke up at 4:30am with Baby. We gotta work on that. We both went back to bed and didn't get up til 6:45. Gasp! I'm late!

~I read my Bible, started laundry, and got the day going. Boys are up, girls are all asleep. They're late too. I send the boys to wake the girls and get Honey off to work.

~Breakfast and dishes. This takes way too long.

~Morning Meeting. Today we talked about how your outward behavior is a testimony to people that don't know you.

~I checked rooms, made soup for the crock pot, and got LB started on a loaf of bread.

~It's not even 8:30am and we've already had 2 spills plus a broken picture off the wall.

~I do grammar with the 13, 11, and 10 year olds while #1 takes the littles downstairs for workout time.

~Baby goes down for a nap and we all start school. I work on reading and spelling with the boys one at a time while the other one works on math with his buddy. Lane takes the 2 and 3 yo for a playtime.

~Baby decides to scream instead of take a nap.

~11am. We get baby up and the littles and I head to his room while I do diaper changes. I switch the laundry. By now, I've done 4 loads.

~We go downstairs to the book room. In the meantime my 5 and 6yo sons are squabbling. I give them the "don't pay back wrong for wrong" speech and assign them that as their new memory verse.

~We read books and play Memory. We work on the 100 chart. Diaper changes and laundry.

~Lunch time and Honey is home. The soup is done and so is the bread. This is a fun time of the day. It's a good break. Today he worked with the boys on a soccer training video.

~Dishes, laundry, and nap time.

~I'm taking a break to blog this for a few minutes. I'm off to the post office and bank. I'll leave the littles in quiet time while the older ones work on school.

peanut butter cookies for tea.
sloppy joes for dinner.

Hello 2008!

Yay! Another year to look forward to!

I woke up at 4:30 this morning excited to get it started. I always like new beginnings.

Here is my verse for the year:
"My eager desire and hope being that I may never feel ashamed, but that now as ever I may do honor to Christ in my own person by fearless courage." Phil 1:20

I'm excited about this new year for lots of reasons. First of all, we're HERE!! I do love Colorado. I'm looking forward to settling into a church, making some friends, and just being done with the move. It's sorta fun to start over.

We have lots of b-days to enjoy and hopefully lots of visits from our family and friends. I'm looking forward to inviting people over in our new house even though it's not "done". The pastor's family comes over Saturday night, then the Superbowl party for a start. Ok, not really a "party" but fun with the cousins anyway. I'm hoping Nana and Gram are making their way here and Wingses are coming in the summer for camping at Echo Lake.

I have a teenager to teach to drive this year....wait, is that a GOOD thing?? We have little boys that will continue to learn to read, a baby that will learn to walk and talk, and kiddos to help to meet their New Year's goals. We're hoping for a fun full year.

If I learned anything from 2007 it would be to enjoy the day right now. Not boasting about tomorrow for we do not know what a day may bring forth. I want to enjoy all 365 days of 2008 and be thankful for each minute of being together. This Christmas reminded me that we may only have a handful of years of things being just as they are now. Our kids are getting older and we're probably on the threshold of change.

Sooo all that said, here is the Tagg list of New Year's resolutions that we made up last night....

#1 (15yo) Sew, Experiencing God study, make new friends.

#2(13yo) Read her Bible in a year, not be angry, not be sassy

#3(11yo) Remember to take out the trash without being told.

#4(10yo) Finish her Bible, make bread from start to finish, make new friends, spend more time with her little siblings.

#5(6yo) Read, have a good attitude about school, memorize more Bible verses, tie his shoes

#6(5yo) Read, memorize more Bible verses, tie his shoes.

#7(3yo) Read, memorize more Bible verses, not cry as much

#8(2yo) Be more friendly! Use the potty.

#9(8mo) Be content. Walk and talk....can't wait to hear that cute baby voice!

Honey...speak sweetly, play his guitar more, work on photo business

Me... memorize Ephesians, learn to post my own pix on my blog, finish baby's scrapbooks, flylady, more cooking lessons with kids, make more freezer foods.

Thank you Lord for 2008!!

Good Bye 2007!

And good riddance!

I hafta say that it was just about the hardest year I can remember. So many life changing events in one short span.

The best thing about 2007 is the addition of Zekey-O, our sweet love of a son! He was definitely the "smile" of the year.

A GIGANTIC move is tops on the list of 2007 events. I'll be 80 years old and probably still talking about "our move". Being separated for 4 months (cuz of "the move"). New job, new house, no friends, no church.....yikes. Throw in my mom's breast cancer, my sweet granddaddy dying and also losing my kid's new kitty. I'm glad it's over!

BUT, now I can look back and say that it was good. Ok, it's always easy to say that when it's over...but really. I would do it all over again for the good that came of it. My mom is doing great. We got to spend some wonderful time with my parents that will probably never happen again and I got to see my granddaddy another time. My boys loved being barefooted and dirty on the farm and have memories that will not soon be forgotten. We learned that being together is NOT something to be taken for granted and we got a fierce kitty out of the deal. (Seriously, she's mean!)

So I say...Thank you Lord for 2007 (but I'm still glad it's over!).