Sunday, November 30, 2008

CHRISTmas time!

Can you believe it is already almost Christmas? This year has gone by sooooo quickly. We had a great Thanksgiving. We went to my sister's in laws home. It was decorated for Christmas already! She said nobody ever sees her Christmas decorations so she did it early so we could all see. It was beautiful. It was nice of them to have us all over. I had a lot of fun visiting.

I came home and was (am) sick now though. My throat hurts and a headcold. But I took down all my harvest decorations yesterday (with the help of a couple of my children) and put a few things up for Christmas. I plan to decorate more for Christmas today (after church). I'll take some pictures to post.

My hubby is up splitting logs for our fire as it is starting to get cold here. (Although I spoke with my sister today and it is snowing there!) Just some rain here so far. The sun is actually back out now.

Just wanted to say hello and let you know I'll be posting photo's later.

Make sure to have your kids write their letters to Santa and mail them to "The North Pole".

Talk to you all soon!!!

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Thankful For

I am following suit and listing things (In honor of Thanksgiving) that I am thankful for.

1. I am thankful to be alive this long after being diagnosed with such a rare and aggressive Cancer.

2. I am thankful for my children. Each of them. They are all four a blessing to me in so many ways. I can't imagine my life without them in it.

3. I am thankful my sons surgery went good today.

4. I am thankful that I have a husband who loves me and who is always there for me even when he doesn't agree with me. =)

5. I am thankful for a sister who is also a best friend.

6. I am thankful for parents who are able and willing to help me out with my children and other ways.

7. I am thankful for friends who are so close they are like extended family.

8. I am thankful to Jesus for dying on the cross for my sins and for my church family who is always there for me and willing to help anyway they can when a problem comes along. At the very least they are there to encourage me.

9. I am thankful to live in a country where you have the ability to pursue dreams.

10. I am thankful to have wonderful neighbors on the lake and in the community.

Grocery budget

I didn't stick to my $25 grocery budget when our family was down but I'm back on track again. I've also been packing the girls lunches everyday and making sure they eat breakfast at home (and not at school). It's been an adjustment for them but they are doing good with it overall.

A friend of mine decided to come on board with me and do the $25 a week challenge and she says she is doing well and has about 5 other people who have joined the challenge. Very cool!

A couple tips on stretching your meals is left overs.

1. Make sure to keep your left over vegetables. Even when you only have a few left, place them in a container in the freezer and just add them each night. When you have enough you can pull them out and use them in vegetable soup or stew. Even those small amounts add up pretty quickly.

2. BEANS BEANS BEANS. They are very cheap and they really are so many things you can do with them. You can put them in the crockpot the night before and let them cook all night or you can boil them on the stove. I like to make a large batch of beans so they are already cooked for ease and they freeze well too! You can make beans and ham hock (yum), Chili beans, plain ol' okie beans, Mexican beans that can be left whole or refried (I have a great recipe for this and it is soooo easy). You can make a casserole and add beans (great filler). And using cornmeal and making cornbread from scratch is very easy and very good. I add honey to mine and the kids LOVE it, they prefer my homemade version over the boxed/bagged cornbread I used to buy and it's much cheaper from scratch.

3. We are still doing our breakfast for dinner one night a week. The kids love it. Pancakes are a great hit and very cheap.

4. My sister is saving a lot of money using coupons. You can look up the store you go to online and it will show you their sell ads and it will also (many times) give you printable coupons. Some stores have double coupon days, or will match other stores coupons. Great way to cut back if you have more time than money. =-)

My brain is dead today so that is all for now but I will back on more often, things are getting back to normal soon (hopefully). LOL

Take Care!

It's been a long time

Hi everyone! Sorry it has been so long. Soooooooo much has been going on around here. We had family in from out of state who stayed with us for one week. They came in for a funeral. I had to let my office girl go and now I'll be in the office everyday (until the kids get out of school, I'll be able to pick them up) and work from home after that. And my son had hernia surgery today. He is home sleeping now and I'm trying to play catch up on laundry etc.

I'll be posting an update on my budget and kid tips as soon as soon as I catch my breath. Was great at the hospital they gave Kevin a board game. I said PERFECT for our family game night. Just love that hospital. Sadly I know it well from the past. But thankful he is doing good today.

I'll write more soon.