End of September Already!

Wow! I cannot believe how quickly this month flew by. Our temps are finally dropping and I was cold most of today.

Before I forget, here is this weeks dinner menu.

Monday-turkey burgers

Tuesday- tatertot casserole

Wednesday- homemade potato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches

Thursday- homemade chicken pot pie

Friday- sloppy joes

Saturday- meatloaf

Sunday- ravioli

We've really been doing well on the not eating out! Though I've been tempted a few times and then I think of the cost of that one meal out compared to how many meals I can make at home for the same cost! The kids haven't even been asking to eat out either, which is a surprise!

This weekend was busy. Saturday, Abby participated in her first Junior Bible Quiz meet in Nyssa, Oregon. She did pretty good for her first time, she needs to just be quicker on the buzzer, but her team took first place in their division. We all went with her and got to help out, Jacob even ran the buzzer box once. That pretty much took up the whole day! Picture of Abby with her ribbon is above. Sunday we got up for Sunday School and Church. We came home made lunch and then just worked around the house, this week I started working on cleaning out our bedroom closet and the bedroom, Paul and Jacob worked out in the yard, and Abby helped everyone.

Yesterday, Abby had gymnastics again. She did very well, they worked on the balance beam and the swinging rings. Her arms and calves are sore today! Last night Paul's dad and stepmom came into the airport from their trip to Georgia. We had their car here while they were gone the past couple of weeks. So Paul and Jacob picked them up last night and brought them here. They stayed the night and drove home early this morning. They had a great time and sounds like a highlight of their trip was visiting the Kennedy Space Center in Florida over a couple of days. The kids loved the souvenirs they brought back, Jacob got an autograph from a real live astronaut ,so he's been asking to go look for some astronaut books all day(library trip will be tomorrow!) . Abby got a really cute tote bag that says "I Need My Space" on it. They were both surprised and not expecting anything. I can't wait to see their pictures!

Today, the weather has turned. It's cold and windy and looks like rain might be coming. We've just stayed home, worked on school lessons, played some math games, just about finished laundry, and some picking up that needed done. Just a cozy day at home. Actually put on a sweater late this morning. It was warmer when we got up at 7 then it is now!

Well dinner is in the oven and just about done, need to go steam some veggies and Paul should be home soon.

I almost forgot! Happy Birthday to my sister, Jessica, today and to my brother, Jason, yesterday! I'm still older than both of them! LOL

Be blessed!

Zucchini Corn Cakes

Here is the recipe for those that wanted it. It's out of the Woman's Day magazine.

Microwave 1 shredded small zucchini for 2 minutes on medium high. Drain.

Combine zucchini, 1 pouch(6.5oz) cornbread mix, 1 large egg and 1/2 cup milk. Let stand for 5 minutes.

Heat oil in a pan, drop heaping Tbsps of batter into hot oil. Cook 1 1/2 to 2 minutes on each side. Makes about 14 pancakes.

Enjoy!

Be blessed!

Thankful for Health

The kids and Paul had been sick with colds since the middle of last week. So far I have managed to escape this round! Paul usually ends up with a sinus infection every time he has a cold. We think he missed out on the sinus infection this time around! WoooHooo!

Today was a fairly normal day. We did school and then Abby had her gymnastics class after lunch. She is still a bit timid but the teachers are great about getting her to try. By the end of class she was doing really well and flipping on the tramp. She did hit her face with her knee a couple of times though!

It was cold this morning. The air conditioner has been off all day. Hoping to not have to turn it on again. We switched the sprinklers to every other day and are anticipating a call from our landlord that they will be coming to blow out the sprinkler system for the cold weather soon. Had Jacob go through his cold weather clothing and looks like he is pretty good for this season, his growing has seemed to slow for awhile. He's almost 14, so I think he will grow a bit more, but probably not alot. I still need to have Abby go through her things.

Made some zucchini corn cakes to go with dinner. It was a new to us recipe, very simple and very good :)

Paul and I got in a walk after dinner. Hoping to keep that up. The kids are doing well at home for short amounts of time. They get along. Jacob likes staying home, Abby not so much yet, but as long as it's not for more than 30 minutes or so, she doesn't fret too much.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow. I don't have to go anywhere! LOL I did move laundry day to Tuesday though, because it just wasn't fitting in Monday's schedule anymore.

Well, I will close as I'm sure you were all so excited to read about my normal day! LOL

Be Blessed!

Weekly Dinner Menu

Thought I would post my dinner menu for the week. We've been working hard the last 6 months or so on not eating out so much. It was very draining on our food budget, especially since the kids don't eat off the kid menus anymore!

Monday- Taco Soup
Tuesday- Breakfast for Dinner
Wednesday- Sub Sandwiches(this has been a hard night for dinners, Abby and I leave for JBQ practice before Paul even gets home from work. Then Paul and Jacob meet us at church. We weren't eating unitl after 8:30 or later and that was too long for the kids, so I'm trying to find things I can make for Abby and I to eat at 5 before we leave, and then Paul and Jacob can eat at 6 before they head out to meet us at the church)
Thursday- Chicken Fajitas
Friday- Homemade pizza
Saturday- Spaghetti
Sunday- Pot Roast

I saved $17 in coupons at the grocery store today. We've started putting what I save in coupons in the savings account. May not seem like much, but it's adding up!

Be Blessed!

Saturday, Sept.19, 2009

Couldn't come up with a title. LOL

All day yesterday I thought it was Saturday, so now I'm really off today.

Since Paul is off on Fridays, we usually don't do sit down school work, unless we've gotten behind. Abby forgot though, and by the time I got up had finished most of her math. LOL She was mortified that she did so when she didn't have to, but I told her I wouldn't give her a new math assignment for monday :) LOL Paul took the van in for it's oil change yesterday. I for some reason was worried I would get a phone call saying it needed X more dollars worth of work done, but I didn't. Just an oil change. Which is good because we just replaced tires and had a bunch of work done a few months ago!

Abby went to a sleepover last night with the other girls at church. She came home tired, but had a great time. Paul took Jacob to the Hobby store last night, needed some paint and glue(and I'm sure looked around quite abit), I stayed home and worked on some Christmas gifts. While at the hobby store Paul heard about a dirt track for racing their remote trucks. So I'm sure they will be checking that out soon.

Today has been slow. Paul hasn't been sleeping well because he is so congested, so he's not wanted to do anything. Jacob as well. Abby is a bit tired from her sleepover, but we did go up to Michael's for a little while. They were doing American Girl crafts. There were three of them, but when we got there, there was only one left. She was still happy though. I was able to pick up some stocking stuffers too. They have the clear rubber stamps in a bin for a penny each! Couldn't pass those up! Dropped some books off that were due today, renewed ones online that we still needed, so didn't go in to get more. Stopped at Winco and bought ice cream. I was excited to find they carry the lactose free stuff and it was so much cheaper than at Albertsons! It's usually around $6 at Albertsons and the same was $2.67 at Winco! So had me an ice cream cone today :)

It's been a nice day weatherwise. It's kind of cloudy but still warm, not too hot. Have the a/c off and the windows open. Hoping Paul will be up for a walk after dinner. Well, that's all that's going on around here. Hope to post again soon :)

Be Blessed!

So maybe I should blog again.....

It has been way too long, I know. I got out of the habit and I also started pen and paper journaling again during my Bible study time. The kids do that with theirs and I was setting the example(or trying to anyways!). Just didn't get it done online too. Then Facebook exploded and I know most of who read my blog are on there, but not everyone! So, yes, I need to blog again. I WANT to blog again.

I don't have any exciting things to share at the moment. Just in the middle of our regular day to day life. Paul was gone more than half of the summer for work related things. He was home most of July, and with help(gas money!) from my dad, we made a quick trip back to Washington to visit. We stayed a week with my brother and his family and tried to fit in seeing everyone. Had a great time, we did find that while we very much miss all of our family and friends, we do not miss living in Wa. state! That was a shock to me, as everytime we have moved away, I've desparately wanted to get back there. This time, not so much, looks like Idaho was made for us :)

Anyways, Paul is finally home to stay for at least the next year. I commented the other day to him that it felt like summer just passed us by and we didn't get to really enjoy it at all. I mean the kids and I stayed busy while he was gone, but he missed so much of it :(

We finished up our last homeschool year in June when my sister came to visit for a week. We started back up with our newest year(Jacob 8th grade and Abby 6th grade) the first full week of August. We took the week before Labor Day and half the next week off since Paul was home and off. We are in the swing of things and our co op starts back up next week. Abby started a homeschool gymnastics class this past monday and we are still waiting for the archery schedule for Jacob. Abby and I are participating in a mother/daughter book club that a friend started up and Jacob is looking at maybe joining the teen advisory at the library with a friend of his. Both children would like to have music lessons(Abby-piano and Jacob-drums) but we are waiting to see what our full schedule is like and also to see if we can fit them in finance wise. There are so many great opportunities and options for extra curricular activities out there but there is not enough time or money to do them all.

We are really enjoying our church and talking about becoming members when the next membership opportunity comes around. We started attending sunday school this past sunday when they started back up after breaking for the summer. We all enjoyed our classes a lot. Jacob really likes the youth group on wednesday nights, Abby loves her Girl's Ministries class, and Paul and I both really like the Pastor's Bible study. We had to miss out tonight as both kids have colds and Paul is starting to feel one coming on as well. Abby is also participating in Junior Bible Quiz and is doing a great job with it. She memorized all of the first set of questions very quickly. I liked them because they actually correlated with what she was learning during her Bible time. I knew she was actually learning :) She's working on the 20 point questions right now and getting them down quick. Jacob is picking them up quickly too, and had the opportunity for Teen BQ, but is not quite ready for something like that. He just does not like performing in front of others. That's okay though!

So that's about it for right now. Nothing profound, but thought I'd catch you all up with what we are doing around here. I'm going to make a point to post more often. And hope to include some pictures as well.

Be Blessed!