2012 January Update

1) Finish my house so it can be rented out

We have been rockin' out on this one! Many hours have been put into getting it done.My husband is really the one to thank for most everything. I am typically home with the kids.

2) Pay off Lowe's credit card

We have sent in a few payments but I don't think we got a bill this month so I think I will have to go in and check it out.

3) See family in Pennsylvania

We are planning on going to see Jimmy's family March 8th-13th. 

4) Pay off Jimmy's student loans

We are working on the Lowe's credit card first.

5) Clean out the down stairs

Yep, haven't touched a thing.

6) Save $2,000 emergency fund

We have got the $1,000 saved but haven't started working on the second $1,000.

7) Develop 12 new habits

My January goal was a big flop. I wasted a lot of food. But I did become more aware near the end of the month and I think we are doing a little better.

8) Read 1 book each month

Does like 70 pages count?

9) Exercise increasingly

I did exercise increasingly til last week rolled around. I am hoping to be able to put Joel down a little bit more this week and get back on my bike. I sort of miss my bike time. It was just me, a book, and my bike.

10) Freezer meals once a month

I ended up doing a few freezer meals. I did BBQ shredded pork, BBQ meat balls, and some hamburger helper for my hubby to bring to work.

11) Make cleaning the house more of a priority

Not so sure this is totally happening. It's a work in progress.

12) Date night 1 time per month

Jimmy and did get a date night this month! We always fill up on our entree so this time we did it back words and had ice cream first. It was great and we really enjoyed it. Then we had dinner at Carrabba's and after that we went to a nice hot tub place. We were really tired and almost fell asleep while in the hot tub. He drove home and I got to sleep on the car ride to pick up our kiddos.

13) Record meal and times daily

My silly system has been down multiple times this month. It seems as though every time I want to get it going, it is down. I haven't been doing very good at this goal as a result.

14) Plant and maintain garden during summer

It finally started to snow around here. I have been looking a seed books though. Not sure what I am going to do.

15) Devote 1 night a week to family game night

We have actually done this more than 1 time a week! It's been a blast and it's a great time for us all to sit down and forget the busy life we have. We can just be together for that moment.

16) Get together with friends 1 time per month

We did this early on in the month. We went to dinner and got to chat for a while after that.

17) Write down birthdays and send cards

No where close to even thinking about this. I didn't even catch my sister-in-laws birthday til a few days later.

18) Blog increasingly more

I feel like I have been, with the exception of last week.

19) Read with kids at least 3 times per week

We read in the car almost every morning before school. I would like to get some more night time reading in.

20) Make and keep budget

Jimmy and I have made progress on this. We put away our debit cards! I am excited not to have those crazy things around any more. We were spending a ton of unnecessary money.

21) Learn to knit and FINISH a project

Done Done DONE!!! It's not very pretty but it's done. I finger knitted my first item. It was a scarf. Now I am on my second item which is a cowl. IT's going well.

22) Lose some weight

Well.... not really yet.

Weekly Goals

After a busy week of taking care of Joel and even more that I didn't have time to post, I didn't accomplish much at all. But here is a re-cap of my week, and this weeks goals as well.

Last weeks goals:

Family/Mothering Goals

1) Buy Bottle Brush

Since Joel won't be eating any thing for a while, a bottle brush is useless.

2) Volunteer at Caleb's school

I had a blast! My mom wanted to see Joel so I got to volunteer twice :)

3) Make morning muffins with Caleb

4) Get invites cut out

I didn't get them cut out but I did have a good friend come over and check out my ideas for his birthday party. I am not very craftsy so it was nice to hear that my ideas sounded good.

Personal Goals
I didn't get anything done off my personal goals list.

1) Get to page 150 in Julie and Julia

2) Ride stationary bike 1/2 hour 3 days this week

3) Get 36'' knitted by Friday

I worked on this a ton but I think 36" was just to bold of a goal. I did get through a whole skein of thread and onto my second though. And I was MUCH further along than the rest of my class. Here's how it looks so far.

Home Management Goals

1) Make weekly menu so we don't waste any food this week

2) Get right paint color for bed room

Even after using their "color matching software", we weren't able to get the right color. We ended up having to paint the room a shade darker.

3) Put Debit cards away and get Cash system flowing again

We did get our debit cards put away! Cash systems aren't quite flowing smooth though. But... no more debit cards!

4) Get all dishes cleaned and put away

Finally got those last hard ones that I had been procrastinating about!

Business Goals

1) Continue entering times and meals daily

My system is down again! I am getting so sick of it. But what can you expect, nothing will ever be perfect, it's the government.

2) Do a Fire drill

3) Exercise with kids each day with youtube videos (They love these!)

This weeks goals:

Family/Mothering Goals
1) Volunteer at Caleb's school

2) Make morning muffins with Caleb

3) Get invites cut out

4) Hold Joel tons and don't really care if I get stuff done as long as my Joel is ok.

Personal Goals

1) Get to page 150 in Julie and Julia

2) Ride stationary bike 1/2 hour 3 days this week

3) Get 36'' knitted by Friday 

Home Management Goals

1) Make weekly menu so we don't waste any food this week

2) Get Jimmy's dresser drawers put back in his dresser

3) Get all every thing cleaned up in my room.

Business Goals

1) Continue entering times and meals daily.

2) Do a Fire drill.

3) Exercise with kids each day with youtube videos (They love these!)

Toss Out Tuesday

With Joel sleeping in my lap, I figured I would post the Toss Out Tuesday! Here's what I tossed out this week:

Biscuits that were opened. And even though I had just cleaned out the fridge, the date said October!

Now the date on the salad said it was good for a few more days however, the date was Very Wrong.

I also tossed out two cookies that I took a picture of but now the picture is lost.

They were subway cookies... I haven't been to subway in a few months...

I wasn't able to make dinner these last few nights as I have been dealing with sicky Joel. Plan for tomorrow is to find some way to either use or freeze the stuff in the fridge that's going to go bad this week, before it actually does!

Life At Home

Life at home has been busy. With my child care kids coming and going, starting my 4AM-7AM job, volunteering at Caleb's school, trying to fix up our other house, Joel being sick, and the duties of life, we have been busy!

Sunday started out great. Caleb and I had a date, just him and I. We went to Old Country Buffet and enjoyed eating, and sitting there talking about the most random things. Then we went home and Caleb went down for a nap. I went for a quick grocery shopping trip. And when I came home I got Caleb ready to go to his special date night with Jimmy.

There are the two of them in all their winter gear. They went tubing on the snow hill about an hour away from our house. They had a great time out there. But Joel and I had a rough time at home. 

I tried my darndest to get him to eat. And nothing... He didn't eat anything. A little back round on Joel here. Thankfully he had a g-tube (a tube hooked up to his belly that feed his belly directly with out having to go through his mouth at all) so I hooked him up to that and let him play. Well his line got wrapped around his IV pole and then he fell and pulled out the entire g-tube! Since Jimmy was a ways away, I called my mom to come over and help me put it back in. It was leaking formula a little but we figured it would since it had just had a big balloon pulled out of his little tube hole. He did fine all day Monday but then on Monday night the g-tube site got really read and snotty looking. When he finally took a bottle at 7 pm on Monday, it came right out of his g-tube site! Which meant that nothing was staying in. I called the surgeon and went in this morning (Tuesday). They told us it had tore to much and we needed to go get an GJ tube. A GJ tube is where the tube goes right into his belly but then goes into his intestines. So it bypasses the stomach all together. We went into the hospital and got that done at 11 this morning. Now we are home and he has been sleeping for the last 3 hours.

He is on a constant pump so it feeds him all the time day and night. The only bad thing about this is that he is so mobile now and he wants to crawl/walk all over but he has this tube, bag, and pump connected to him! It used to come out all the time when he had an NJ tube (a tube that goes down his nose, throat, bypasses the stomach, then ends in the small intestine). When it does come out, he has to go back to the hospital and get a radiation x-ray movie. They gave us the G-tube so we could stop that! It's a vicious cycle.

I am thankful that through all of Joel's struggles, God has given us peace. There is no need to panic, what good can come from panicking? Nothing. God has keep us calm in most all situations and I has had a serious plan for us. The last time we were in the hospital, I was supposed to have several kids and they all called off for those few days. Even before I had a chance to call them! And now today, I was supposed to have 2 kids and they both called off. I was kinda ticked but God is good. HE  has a great plan for us :)

When Joel has these sort of changes he requires more care than normal (and normal is at least 2 dr's appointments a week and lots of feeding issues). With that being said, I am going to focus on getting Joel back up to shape and not focus on my weekly goals so much.

Weekly Goals

Last weeks goals:

Family/Mothering Goals

1) Finish reading Mummies in the morning with Caleb. Start the next book in the series

We are finished Mummies In The Morning and have started Night of the Ninja's

2) Find a place for Joel 1st birthday party

I called my grandma and begged asked if we could have the party at her house. She has a very large basement that will be perfect. She will be in Florida during his party but agreed to let us have it there! 

3) Make morning muffins with Caleb

We didn't make morning muffins but we did have a really awesome Sunday together!

Personal Goals


1) Get to page 93 in Julie and Julia

I am still at page 60

2) Drink 5 glasses of water each day.

I have been drinking at least 5 glasses.

3) Ride stationary bike 1/2 hour 3 days this week

I have ridden 3 days this week for 1/2 hour.

Home Management Goals


1) Make weekly menu so we don't waste any food this week

Done. You can view it here.

2) Get right paint color for bed room

3) Put 25 items in the good will bucket

Business Goals


1) Continue entering times and meals daily.

I have been doing times but I am behind on meals

2) Do a Fire drill.

We, once again, had an accidental fire drill. (The lasagna spilled over the sides in the oven and set off the alarm)

3) Call Minute menu so I can print off my parents tax forms

I called and finally got intelligent life on the other end. (Each time I have called, they act like they have never heard of anything I am talking about.

This weeks goals:

Family/Mothering Goals

1) Buy Bottle Brush

2) Volunteer at Caleb's school

3) Make morning muffins with Caleb

4) Get invites cut out

Personal Goals

1) Get to page 150 in Julie and Julia

2) Ride stationary bike 1/2 hour 3 days this week

3) Get 36'' knitted by Friday 

Home Management Goals

1) Make weekly menu so we don't waste any food this week

2) Get right paint color for bed room

3) Put Debt cards away and get Cash system flowing again

4) Get all dishes cleaned and put away

Business Goals

1) Continue entering times and meals daily.

2) Do a Fire drill.

3) Exercise with kids each day with youtube videos (They love these!)

Weekly Goals - 1/2 Way Update

We are 3 days into our weekly goals and I figured, for accountability reasons, I had better let you know how I was doing. So here's the update thus far this week.

This weeks goals:

Family/Mothering Goals

1) Finish reading Mummies in the morning with Caleb. Start the next book in the series

We are finished Mummies In The Morning but haven't started Night of the Ninja's

2) Find a place for Joel 1st birthday party

3) Make morning muffins with Caleb

Personal Goals


1) Get to page 93 in Julie and Julia

I am at page 60

2) Drink 5 glasses of water each day.

I have been drinking at least 5 glasses

3) Ride stationary bike 1/2 hour 3 days this week

I have ridden 2 days this week for 1/2 hour

Home Management Goals


1) Make weekly menu so we don't waste any food this week

Done. You can view it here.

2) Get right paint color for bed room

3) Put 25 items in the good will bucket

Business Goals


1) Continue entering times and meals daily.

I have been doing times but I am behind on meals

2) Do a Fire drill.

3) Call Minute menu so I can print off my parents tax forms

I called and finally got intelligent life on the other end. (Each time I have called, they act like they have never heard of anything I am talking about.

What I Ate Wednesday! - Taco Salad Recipe

I finally made a menu plan this week! I am super excited after to be planning ahead to use up what we have in the house and what is about to expire. I do not want to have another Toss Out Tuesday like this week. So this week my camera was lost. (We honestly are really bad at keeping track of where that thing is!) So I didn't get a photo of my taco salad. But I did find it for tonight and will be taking a photo of dinner tonight. :) This week we have had taco salad, some ramen, and BBQ pork. The BBQ pork was a quick and easy meal that just went into the crock pot in the afternoon and was ready by dinner.

I promised a taco salad recipe and here's how it turned out.

Taco Salad Recipe:

1 full head of lettuce chopped up into bit sized pieces

1/2 packet of taco seasoning

1/2 bag of nacho flavored chips

1 can chili beans (I searched all over for mexican chili beans and couldn't find them)

1 8oz bag of taco shredded cheese (We like our cheese)

1/2 bottle of 1000 island dressing

Next time I will try a smidge less dressing. It was just a little to much for us. I had tried 1/3 bottle at first though and found that it wasn't enough. I think this is going to be a trial and error thing. I may have to actually measure with a measuring cup next time instead of my eyes :) Other wise, we loved it!

I linked up to the following sites:

My Girlish Whims
Blue Cricket Design
Someday Crafts
Southern Lovely
This Chick Cooks
Sweet Sav
Lil Luna

Toss Out Tuesday

Ok all, one of the major reasons I started this blog was for accountability. Something on-line that (hopefully) others will see. Something that I can post my successes and failures. Something to give me praise during the great times and encouragement during the hard times.

I admitted to you guys that food waste was a huge problem in our house hold. I want it to be my habit for January 2012 to not waste any food. Well I have royally failed. Not just a little. Like a ton! Here is a photo of some of the food waste for January.

Yes, this is a full sized trash can. It's our kitchen trash can. Yes, everything in that trash is food wasted. Yes, you can see that it is over 3/4 of the way full! Yes, this is a serious problem. Especially, if you knew that this was not our only food waste. We have also wasted 18 chicken breasts, 4 bags of salad lettuce, tons of produce, and much more.

I am completely embarrassed  by this waste. This just shows all of you how un-prepared I am, how slobified I am. How can I complete my goals, especially my financial goals if I am throwing away this much food? I can't. That's the truth. I have got to get this under control. That is why I plan to make Tuesday, Toss Out Tuesday. Where I will post pictures of what I have tossed out.

This will be my first post for Toss Out Tuesday. I am hoping that by having to post photos, I will be much more responsible about what I toss. I hope to stop buying to much for a weeks worth of produce. I hope to do something with that COOKED chicken on the stove. I have been boiling them 6 at a time and have let them rot on the stove top 3 times now! I hope this will some how encourage others. I can bet your waste is no where close to mine but I hope that you can still reduce your food waste.

Are you up for this challenge with me? Do you have a food wasting problem? This is a judge-free zone. Please post your great times (for encouragement to others). Please post your hard times (so you can be thankful for your great times).




I have linked this post to:
Tip Junkie
Sugar Bee Crafts
reasonstoskipthehousework.com

Menu Plan Monday

Our breakfast always seems to be the same. I have a home made sausage, egg, and cheese wrap. Caleb has toast or a bagel with peanut butter. Joel has just finished his pump (he's on a night time feeding tube drip). And I'd be lying if I said Jimmy ate something. That only leaves me guessing lunch and dinner, Ever Day Of The Week! I am so bad at thinking ahead. Ok, I guess I don't have to think much about lunch since we always end up having left overs from the night before. So I am trying out this meal planning thing that everyone always raves about.

Monday - Taco Salad I ended up making this and will post a more detailed recipe this week. But it was GOOD!

Tuesday - BBQ Pork

Wednesday - Grandpa Bills Chicken and Veggies over biscuits

Thursday - Lasagna

Friday - Salad

Saturday - Cream cheese, Chicken, and pasta

Sunday - We normally have a late breakfast around lunch time which pushes back our "lunch" to dinner so we will have left overs.

I am linking up over at orgjunkie.com



What are you having for dinner this week. I am always open to suggestions and ideas. Please post a link to your blog below or just post what you are having :)

Weekly Goals

Last weeks goals and results:

Family/Mothering Goals

1) Finish reading Mummies in the morning with Caleb

This is our before school book series. Meaning, we only read this when we are early for school (which is every day because if we don't have reading time, we have a melt down). We would have this finished but there was no school on Friday or today. So I think we'll be done with this Tuesday.

2) Family game night 1 time this week

This became a few times this week. I am not complaining :)

3) Read with Caleb 3 times this week

Personal Goals


1) Finish reading Animal, vegetable, miracle By Barbara Kingsolver Almost done. I promise!

Done and returned!

2) Drink 5 glasses of water each day.

3) Ride stationary bike 1/2 hour 3 days this week

I actually road it 5 days this week and I went to the gym 2 days!

Home Management Goals


1) Make weekly menu so we don't waste any food this week

Didn't make menu AND we wasted more food! I need to get going on this.

2) Get Windows painted at our other house

My husband did this and they look great!

3) Put 25 items in the good will bucket

Business Goals


1) Continue entering times and meals daily.

The program I use was down for maintenance so I was unable to do this.

2) Do a Fire drill.

3) call Minute menu so I can print off my parents tax forms

This weeks goals:

Family/Mothering Goals

1) Finish reading Mummies in the morning with Caleb. Start the next book in the series

2) Find a place for Joel 1st birthday party

3) Make morning muffins with Caleb

Personal Goals


1) Get to page 93 in Julie and Julia

2) Drink 5 glasses of water each day.

3) Ride stationary bike 1/2 hour 3 days this week

Home Management Goals


1) Make weekly menu so we don't waste any food this week

2) Get right paint color for bed room

3) Put 25 items in the good will bucket

Business Goals


1) Continue entering times and meals daily.

2) Do a Fire drill.

3) call Minute menu so I can print off my parents tax forms




What are your goals this week? I would LOVE to hear about them. Please either post them below or post a link to your blog. I will check them out for sure!