Catching Up

Catching up... Saturday was a huge cross country invitational that took up time. In the evening dd E watched the kids while dh and I went out for pizza. It was a rare occurrence but really nice. Sunday we took family time. The kids played in the leaves outside.

and Mel played inside with a pair of socks, lol. Who needs developmental toys ;-)

Monday was dance, girl scouts, and a boy scout committee meeting. Tuesday unfortunately was calling at the funeral home. A local man crashed his ultra light. He has a 7 year old daughter. It is very sad. This morning I'm babysitting so another mom could go to the funeral. These occassional wake up calls do make you think that you should quit worrying if they picked up their socks or left their toys in the yard and just enjoy being with them. If I get hit by a bus I don't want their memories to be all about me griping. On a brighter note we're going to the orchard this afternoon. According to the kids apples taste better if you pick them yourself.

Insulation Issues

Cellulose insulation is fluffy, cushy, soft and floaty. It reminds me of wool or snow so... why does the machine that blows it into your house sound like a cross beteen an elephant belching and a dentist's drill? I'm seriously rethinking if a second bathroom was really necessary, afterall we could have let the utility room collapse and just pretended the whole mess didn't exist. I'm standing up for the ostrich with his head in the sand. I'll bet he's a very happy ostrich.

Bad Blogger

Well, try as I might, I just can't seem to post as often as I'd like. To catch you up (since if you're reading this you must be interested...go figure), Sunday was church and a bike ride. Of course the 3 year old has such little wheels on his bike this means the older four leave us in the dust. It also means I need tthe patience of a saint and just sort of sit on my bike and push Amelia and I ahead with my toe. Hmm, Monday was just the usual. Did laundry, cleaned house, scrubbed the bathroom. Sunday night dh and I watched a show called "How Clean Is Your House?" I was inspired to scrub after that. Yesterday I took F to pre-school and then L and I went biking again. I actually got to pedal that time. This morning I went to L's kindergarten class to help. My kudos to anyone who teaches school. What else? Oh, I was going to post menus , which are late but this seems to keep me on schedule so:
Wednesday: Veggie fried rice, oranges
Thursday: Homemade Pizza, pudding
Friday: BBQ Chicken, corn, broccoli, cookies
Saturday: Hamburger Stroganoff,peas&carrots,ice cream
Sunday: Turkey breast, sweet potatoes, green beans,apple crisp
Monday: Turkey&noodle soup, dinner rolls, fresh fruit
Tuesday: Spaghetti, broccoli, garlic toast, fudge bars

Last week I stuck pretty close to my menu. Now that the kids are busy it helps to know what I'm doing, at least as far as I ever know what I'm doing ;-)

Brownies ,Boy Scouts and Busy

Can you tell we made brownies? You'll notice they don't have the beater, because I did! How come the batter is even better than the finished product? I was able to make brownies because I went grocery shopping. You'll be crushed to know I threw away the receipt so you don't get a detailed list, Aw darn. I do know I spent $80 and change. I'll have to make up menus. I realize you don't care but it is a convenient way for me to keep track :-) I haven't had time to think about it because Friday morning wa sshopping, Friday afternoon I took the little three on a bike ride. We made the above brownies. Friday evening oldest dd went to a high school football game. She caught a ride in (high school is 17mi away) and I went to a boy scout meeting. I took the littles with me which is always a balancing act, help the boys, correct the kids, repeat. We went home, puttered awhile and then picked up dd and her friends at 11:00. It was too late for me. I let her go because they had a campus life event after the game, pizza, pop, kick a field goal for $100 that sort of thing. How about she stays home with the kids and I go to a fun event? Today is a cross country meet and S is going to a friend's house. The boys are missing going to the corn maze because I just can't get them there today. I offerred to take them out to a field and leave them but they didn't feel it was quite the same. Well, off to finish laundry and return library books before going to the meet.

"What do you DO all day?"

In response to Paula, after 17 years dh will now eat carrots, salad and broccoli. Not much but three more veggies than he ate when I met him, lol. Oh, and green peppers and onions if it's cooked in something. Most of the kids aren't any more thrilled than he is but they're still at my mercy.
A quick review of yesterday and this morning follows for my nephew who wonders what it is I do all day.
Monday: Cook breakfast and get all off to school. Run errands to the bank, bike shop and library. Take littlest two to the park. Come home, fix lunch, clean playroom, do dishes, vaccuum, bathe Mel. Make dinner to warm up later. When kids get home throw snacks at them and head right back out the door to a cross country meet. Carry 21 pound baby around cross country meet. Hurry home in time for mother of child I keep to pick her up, reheat said dinner, take L to dance, start laundry, supervise dishes and kitchen cleaning, pick up L, bathe F&L, call in dss from playing, reassert that it is dark and they need to shower, help check homework. Take E to dance, come home, put little three to bed, eat my own dinner, tell dss to go to bed, pick up E from dance, read paper, check computer and go to bed.
Tuesday: Breakfast and school thing. Take F to preschool, leave him kicking and screaming. Go home, take bike ride with Mel and L. Do L's homework, read stories, do dishes, hang laundry, check computer. Half day of school today so S wants to bake a cake and needs help with decimals. E plans to write a paper and will need spelling help. Etc. Etc. So that dear nephew is what I do all day. You will notice a shocking lack of TV and bon bons, lol.

Menus and Groceries

Well, I'm a little late with the grocery list/menu plan. I'm purely copying Chris and Kmom's (I don't have the energy to figure out how to link that either) idea because
1) I'm feeling decidedly uncreative this evening
2) I went shopping yesterday and have all the reciepts
3) With school and kid activities back in full swing I need to be more organized.

Let me say I understand if your eyes are glazing over. Please feel free to skip on...
Ok..We'll start with breakfast. This week I'll make in no particular order:
Breakfast--
biscuits
eggs & toast
pancakes & sausage
oatmeal/cocoa wheats
hashbrowns and bananas

Saturday is usually find your own and Sunday I make something sweet--coffee cake, cinnamon rolls, etc
Lunch--
My kids and dh take lunches so it is usually either sandwich, fruit, juice, crackers, raw veg or pudding--they pick and pack. I just keep the stuff handy. They can also take leftovers in a thermos if they want. At home we eat leftovers or pbj.

Dinner--
Sunday- Steak, oven fries, salad and biscuits
Monday- Homemade mac&cheese with ham bits, broccoli
Tuesday-Meatloaf, carrots, potatoes and yeast rolls
Wednesday-chili(any leftover meatloaf goes in too), cornbread
Thursday-spaghetti (I'll add any leftover chili),green beans
Friday-chicken or cheese quesadillas, corn
Saturday-minestrone, garlic bread sticks

Oldest dd and myself usually too, don't eat meat so I usually take a small amount of a meat entree out for us so our spaghetti and chili are veggie, mac&cheese without ham. We always have a full fruit bowl or a big fruit salad in the fridge.

Now the grocery list. I don't have a set budget I just try to get the most for the least money. I of course have some stuff and home I don't have to buy each week.

sirloin $6.99
salisbury steak $1.69
skim milkx2 $3.98
corn $0.33
alfredo noodlesx2 $0.89
skillet dinner $0.89
applesauce $0.79
sandwich bags $1.69
italian saladx2 $2.98
cheese slices $2.69
frozen peas $0.79
corn chips $0.99
carrotsx2 $1.98
chick breasts $6.99
broccoli x2 $1.98
apple juice $0.69
sp rings x2 $1.00
butter $2.29
macaroni $0.50
cot cheese $1.59
cheese sticks $1.19
gummi bears $0.99
tuna $0.49
raisins $1.29
pbutter x2 $2.58
ravioli $0.59
tomato paste $0.33
turk ham $2.97
yogurts $1.69
grape juice $0.69
choc chips $0.99
avocado $0.79
fruit $1.39
lunch meat $2.60
gr sirloin $5.58
eggs x2 $1.18
sugar $1.79
english muffxw $1.18
12 pk mt dew $3.30
12 pk 7-up $3.30
pumpkinx2 $1.98
________
I think that's $78.61

Sinking in Salsa

I've been MIA this week. Every stinking tomato became ripe at the same time so... I've been making salsa and spaghetti sauce. Also the grapes were ready so I made jelly. These must be the messiest endeavors a cook can undertake. I'm trying to put the impending visit to the orchard out of my mind. It will ultimately lead to apple butter and apple sauce making. I wouldn't bother with these things but I can't seem to waste food. It must be some psychological residue from my depression era parents. Just to add more fun the past few days the construction guys found a nest of yellow jackets under the house. This led to lots of yelling on their parts, then spraying, and swatting. All this succeeded in sending some hearty flying souls into the house so I have to periodically run to kill stinging insects. That about sums up the past three days. Oh, the excitement. Tomorrow is a cross country meet so a long day. I also need to call SILs in Florida to see if they are ready to move yet. I'll take the boring midwest anytime.

Labor Day

I warn you now, if you don't want to see a bunch of pics of my kids stop reading....ok now that only family members are left..
We went to the park for hours
We skated


We biked

We skated some more

Mom made us pose for some really lame pictures..note the thrilled looks on their faces, lol

Then we went to the kids favorite restaurant ---Ponderosa---I think it's the ice cream that's the big draw.

After this mom and dad collapsed with a beer in the swing.

My New Baby

There she is, the object of my affection, the apple (har, har) or my eye, my newest baby. She is shiny and new, is uncorrupted and free of pbj print!! I did condescend to let oldest dd IM her friends, but it took all my maternal goodness, it really did.

A pretty quiet holiday weekend here. Friday oldst dd had a friend over, Saturday oldest ds had a friend over. No one else is coming over! It poured rain all day Friday and yesterday was cloudy. It is now stinking hot and humid. This reduces our options for fun considerably. We are definitely a go to the park, go swimming, go bike riding kind of family. Yesterday we all sat around trying to think of something to do or somewhere to go that was inside. We came up with nada. Dh took the boys off to a sporting goods store (Gander Mountain--or Gender Mountain as dd and I call it) to look for glow sticks. I might take dd to look for jeans when they get back, but I dread it. It is very hard to find something to fit her and what does fit her is "ugly" thus it becomes a tad tedious for dear old mom. On the bright side Mel is showing musical prowess

Ok, maybe maracas aren't really a musical instrument but when she stands up and rattles them her little moneymaker shakes. Maybe with a feather boa and a fruit bowl on her head she could make a living?

The Big City

Today I went to the big city..Indy. It's big , really (I hear all of you who live on the coasts laughing). I went to the Apple Store and bought a new 'puter! Yeah!!! My iMac has been taken over by the kids so I saved b-day and x-mas money and got a new eMac. It is so very cool. I'm still trying to get all my favorite stuff loaded on but I think I'm going to like it. While I was in Indy at the chi-chi poo-poo mall I looked around a little. I am either hopelessly rural, boringly practical or depressingly middle aged but it was all stuff I don't need or even want. Church or the school are about it for the dressing up occasions and I can't see doing the house in Pottery Barn when I'm still living with boxes and a freezer in the living room. I wanted to post a pic of the new 'puter but the batteries in the camera are dead. Hopefully I can take care of that tomorrow. On other fronts, would anyone like a snarky, whiny 10yo boy? I'll make you a great deal! Maybe even pay you to take him?? ;-)