Freezer Meals

Today I got together with a friend and we made up 4 meals for each of us for Sundays for the next month.  It was a lot of fun and really didn't take that much time at all.  Besides cooking with a friend is always more fun. (Thanks Kim!) 
So we made Tater Tot Hotdish, Creamy Chicken Casserole, Enchilada Casserole, and Cheeseburger Lasagna.  Next time I will make 5 meals as we finished at supper time and after making all those yummy meals we had cereal.  Anyway I am excited for the next 4 Sundays as all I need to do on Saturday is pull out a meal and pop it in the oven on Sunday. 

Grocery List

A tip to making it easier for grocery Shopping.  Make up a list with all the groceries that you normally keep on hand.  Divide them up into the categories of Produce, Dry/Canned, Dairy, etc. and put them in the order you would find them in the grocery store.  Leave a few blanks at the end of each category for menu specific groceries you will buy on your next trip.  Then hang the list up on your fridge and when you run out of something say Ketchup, you just circle it, check it, mark it in some way.  Then when it's time to get groceries, half of your work is done already. 
It also helps to have a column on the list to mark whether you have a coupon or not.  I sometimes forget the coupon when it comes to pay but having it on my list I remember to pull out those coupons.

Meals

Do you hate planning out meals?  Sometimes I wish we could just eat once in a day, wouldn't that make life easier?  I don't mind planning meals but to think of all those ideas and all that prep work for each meal.  You just finish one and on to the next. 
Well instead of always doing all that work here are some other ideas to eliminate some of the meal planning.
1) Make one meal you can use for both lunch and supper.
     I am home during the day so I do this at lunch time sometimes.  I will make up a big batch of taco meat and do all the prep at lunch time.  So I can have the same tacos or use the meat in a taco salad at lunch and hard shells at supper.  Or Softshells at lunch and taco salad at supper, etc.  All the prep work and thought are done at once and you have at least 2 meals out of it.
2) Cook up meat ahead of time
   Example:  I made a chicken casserole the other night and I knew that 2 days later I would be making Chicken Noodle soup so I cooked up  twice the amount of chicken and then when I made the Chicken Noodle soup my prep time was cut in half and less cleanup. 
3) Add sides to leftovers
  When Making my Chicken Noodle soup I made a  big batch so  I would have leftovers.  Then if you don't have quite as much or want a little something different add some sides like biscuits or a salad and your meal feels more intentional instead of just leftovers.
4)  Use theme nights
  When Making your menu plan for Italian Mondays, MExican Tuesdays, Soup and Sandwich Wednesdays, and so on.  Then you just vary things like one Monday is Spaghetti, the next Lasagna, the next Ravioli.  One Tuesday is Tacos, then Chimichangas, then enchiladas, etc.
That's it for now, hope it helps

Vacation

We wanted to take the kids on a little trip, so while we were at Jamie and Adam's House we went to the Omaha Zoo, and the Iowa State Fair. 
If you have not ever been to the Omaha Zoo, I highly suggest that you go.  It was very nice and tons to see.  We got there at 10:00 and stayed until 5:00.  We only didn't go into one exhibit.  We could have spent a lot more time there though, we rushed through a few exhibits because it was getting close to closing time. 
They have this huge dome and on the main level it is a desert, then underground is the Kingdom of the night where they have a swamp, and a cave.  The swamp is totally dark and you are walking on a little bridge with alligators swimming around in the water below, talk about freaky.  I am looking at the alligator and I can't see where I am walking and I step on  something strange, I jumped quite high.  It was just the crack in the bridge but it gave me quite a fright.  There is also a huge building that has a jungle inside with the different jungle environments from around the world.  At one point we were walking through a cave and there were actual bats in there, that will make you jump when you don't realize they are so close to you. 
All throughout the zoo you are so close to the animals.  We were about 6 feet from the elephants.  They also have a huge building with lots of Gorillas, that was a lot of fun to go through there.
We also went to the Iowa State Fair.  The kids really enjoyed this exhibit called Little Hands on the Farm.  They pretended to work on a farm, they planted a seed prentended to harvest it, picked an apple from the orchard, got soybeans that they turned into soy diesel.  They pretended to fill up these little tractors and got to ride them around.  Then they went through the sheep barn, and got some wool.  Then at the dairly barn they pretended to feed the cow the corn they had, then milked the cow and collected a milk carton.  Then they went to the Farmer's market turned in all their produce and got a fake dollar and went to the market where they got to actually buy a treat with their fake dollar.  They got to choose from stuff like oj, twinkies, popsicles, a loaf of bread, etc..  I thought it was pretty neat myself.
Overall it was a nice little vacation.

Doctors

Who likes going to the doctor?  I don't think too many people, at least not a lot that I know of.  I have great doctors, but still.  It usually means you are sick if you have to go, and that's never any fun.  Then it costs so much money, and no one likes that.  It is nice to feel better though, of course I think it would be best to just be healthy all the time.  Unfortunately I was not blessed with that option, but I am still very lucky. 
 So to all of you who are very healthy, don't take it for granted, it's a wonderful gift.

Late nights and sleeplessness

I haven't been able to sleep lately so I have to stay up really late until I am so exhausted I can fall asleep.  This however does not contribute to a good pattern because then if I sleep, it's late when I wake up.  Of course you know this then makes you not be able to fall asleep and you stay up even later, and so the cycle continues.  Of course if you do get up early one day sometimes you are tired in the afternoon and take a nap which only puts you right back where you started.  You can see my dilemna, it's very hard to get out of this crazy cycle I have started. 
Not being able to sleep is not fun at all, I want to go to sleep but my mind just won't turn off.  You would think I would get a lot done, but when you aren't sleeping then your body is too tired to really do that much and well that starts a whole other crazy cycle. 
I hope to get off this crazy ride soon, but since I don't really don't know how I got on, I fear I shall have a hard time finding the exit.

Cookies and Cake

Why is it that Cookie dough is so good and the cookies fresh out of the oven are so good, but once they have cooled they are well you know?  I love to make fresh cookies, emphasis on the fresh.  I guess I got the baking bug in the family while some others got the cooking bug.  We always have goodies on hand at our house.  But of course the reason for that is that they are so yummy fresh, but usually once they have cooled they just aren't as good (at least not to me). 
Now cake that is the opposite.  I have a delicious Homemade Chocolate cake recipe.  It is so wonderfully rich and chocolatey.  By the 2nd or 3rd day it is nice and moist.  It has a wonderfully smooth texture that melts in your mouth and satisfies even the worst chocolate craving.  Now yes it is delicious with a little cool whip and strawberries but I only really need those on the first day when all the flavor hasn't quite sunk in. 
So why do somethings acquire more flavor with a little time and others seem to lose it.

Temporary Blindness

Do you ever think you have become temporarily blind or are only seeing part of the picture?  So I walk into the kitchen last night and walk over to the fridge and I'm looking for Kacee's cup and I am looking everywhere, and then I bump into something with my foot and realized I must have walked over the cup at least 2 times and not even when I walked into the kitchen did I see it.  I remember looking in that direction and seeing nothing.  Then today I am at the waterpark and I walked into the pool and was looking for Lexi and Kacee, I am looking everywhere.  Then Dana says Nicole they are right by you and I look down and am standing within one foot of them, plus I almost stepped on them, but I only recall seeing empty pool.
Of course there are the more mindless things like freaking out looking for a baby in a crowded store only to realize she's been on your hip the entire time, or looking for your sunglasses only to find them on your head. 
Those aren't quite the same though, one is mindless and the other is like you are not seeing right.  Another good example would be when you read something and you are convinced it says one thing, so someone else reads it and tells you what it really says, and sure enough when you look back at it, it seems like someone has put different words right there on the page.
 Maybe of course I am the only one who has the pleasure of this phenomenon. 

Fridays

Who doesn't love Fridays?  For they are our mark on the week, we can look back at reflect on all that we have successfully completed (or not) that week, look ahead to a few days off and well overall just a great chance for us to relax a little.  Even in the work world they realize the need for a day with a little less stress, they do call them casual Fridays.  I do believe this isn't just because the employees are allowed to wear more casual attire.  I bet if you monitored meetings throughout the week at any business you would find a slightly more relaxed environment on most Fridays(barring any major deadlines that is). 
People are certainly in need of Fridays.  When I am directing plays, the Friday audience is always more rambunctious than the other crowds.  My opinion on this is that are most in need of relaxing and having some fun. While the crowds on Saturday and Sunday are more subdued because they have had a chance to relax and thus are more laid back. 
Now for a stay at home mom Fridays well they still work pretty much the same, the weekends bring a whole different routine or lack thereof.  Of course for me personally Fridays a lot of the time are cleaning days as I want to be able to enjoy my weekend in a nice clean serene environment.  Then after the cleaning is done, it's time to celebrate that we have completed another week, time to get out of the house.  (Of course this is done mostly so as to not mess up one's now and what will  be a very shortlived clean house.)
So Celebrate on this Friday and especially more as this is a holiday weekend, but that topic will have to be broached on another day.  Happy 4th of July everyone.

Rearranging

I love to rearrange things.  I'm always looking for a better way for the house to be organized.  I think I might feel like if I have it arranged just right, it will keep it from getting messy.  So far that has never worked.  I do know that I think it feels cleaner when it is all rearranged.  I don't just move furniture around in one room when I rearrange.  I move furniture from room to room, I repurpose rooms as well.  Ask my kids where the toy room is, they might not know, since it frequently changes.  I even switch bedrooms.  So today I am switching bedrooms, and computer rooms and stuff like that.  The kids asked me what the bathroom was going to be.  I said well I can't change that, but I would if I could.  I thought it was pretty funny, I guess they know me a little too well.

One more day of School!!

Remember how great it used to be to count down the days until the end of school.  Just waiting for what felt like forever for the last minutes to tick off the clock.  Then finally it was summer break.  The long lazy days of summer. 
Ok a break in thought here, as I'm typing this, I hear Josie crying "Dad, can't you watch Kacee for just one minute so I can have some alone time!!! " Way too hilarious. 
Summer break I believe I was discussing.  Oh forget it the train has left the station on that thought.  Well anyway. That's it I guess. 

I never know what to say

I'd blog more but I never know what to say.  I type something up and then think that is stupid and delete it all.  Interesting things do happen here, but by the time I get to the computer I've forgotten half the story.  That's probably why I don't keep a journal because I can't remember any thing that happened.  Of course if I did keep a journal it might help me remember what happened.  That is one of those chicken and egg things I guess.
I do recall one item from the day, Emily and Isaiah were talking and she was saying something to him about back in the day....  I thought this was hilarious as she is only 9 and 3/4. 

Well I did warn you that I didn't have anything to say so if you read this anyway you can't blame me.

In the News

So first of all it's been a while since I've blogged but I updated our antivirus and it messed up my computer and we just got it all straightened out. 
So I'm watching the cbs evening news and there is a story about a planet in another galaxy, so already how is this affecting me.  The point of the story was that the planet is too close to it's sun and it's orbit is getting pulled in or something and that it will melted or dissolved or something into it's sun.  So maybe a little interesting but then they say it's not going to happen for 10 million years.  1st of all seriously how do they know that, 2nd of all if this is not going to happen for 10 million years why waste my time telling me, because no one listening to this story will be here to see it happen.  There had to be something more pressing in this world that they could have spend that time telling us. I just found it rather hilarious.

Babies and Phones

What is a babies fascination with a phone?  I think it is hilarious.  They will hold up anything with buttons or even mildly shaped like a phone to their ear.  Well actually they hold it up to the back of their head which is even funnier.  I have countless pictures of my children trying to talk on a phone.  I thought of this as I took away my phone from my daughter and then she found my lablemaker and put that up to her head and tried to talk into in. 

Pictures

I decided with it being a little cloudy out it would be a great day for pictures outside. ( Which they turned out really cute, you can see them on facebook. )  So I started the process of getting myself and the 2 girls ready for the pictures.  Within 5 minutes Kacee had already gotten something on her clothes and so on it went.  I recall now why our family picture is so outdated.  It is no fun trying to get everyone ready for a picture, keep them clean and then get them to stand still and smile. So we have a family picture scheduled for next week, it should be interesting to say the least. 

Josie Isms

Josie "Cops are good people, they put the bad people in jail and they have to stay there until they get nice."
Josie " When I put my hands in my armpits I look like a chicken, (chiken noises) The chicken said it would lay an egg in 16 minute."

Isaiah's Field Trip

So today I got to Chaperone Isaiah's class trip to the Science Museum.  If this doesn't say we love our children I don't know what does.  We rode on the bus for about 1 1/2 hours up there went through the museum for an hour ate lunch watched an Omnimax presentation and rode the 1 1/2 back.  So most chaperones had 2 maybe 3.  I got 4 boys.  Overall they were pretty good, but if you know how loud my son is one of them was louder and more hyper than mine.  Plus they all wanted to go in different directions, almost lost one once(never fear he didn't get to far).  Overall they were pretty good though. 

On the way home we were riding in the back of the bus (which I am way to old to do, very bumpy ride) and of course they were wound up and they were playing around.  They were playing some kind of game where bombs exploded and they all died.  Well that gave me an idea, I bribed them with something they were going to get anyway which was rootbeer floats back at school.  I told them whoever played dead or was the quietest all the way back to school would get their rootbeer float.  Worked like a charm 20 minutes of silence.  The other chaperones joked with me as to why I didn't think of that in the beginning. 

Kids

I love how kids think they know everything.   Josie says the silliest things.  Yesterday she was telling me something I don't remember what but it had a First of all and a Second of All.  Then today I tell Kacee to come back and she says yes mom and keeps on running away. 

Too much to do to little time for fun.

Do you ever find that chores get in the way of fun?  I made pancakes for supper because they were easy, while I really wanted to order out, but alas my checkbook and I didn't agree on that one.  Anyway after picking up Tim from work, the kids asked what was supper and my husband responed Orange Chicken and Rice, to which I smiled and you already know that of course was not what we had for supper.  So I told Tim that we were going to have pancakes, he says why do you even have a menu if you aren't going to use it.  I said it was so nice that I didn't want to make supper, so I took the kids to the park for an hour instead.  After such a long winter it is very hard to be motivated on housework and such when the sun is shining so beautifully calling to me to come out and play. 

It's Spring!!!!

Yes Spring officially kicked off at 12:32 yesterday.  I personally didn't notice much difference from 12:31 but I guess they need an official start spot.  I did enjoy the weather and go outside for a walk today.  Kacee wanted out of the house, she went and got here coat and was ready to get out I guess.  I took her outside and she headed right for the van, trying to get in.  I thought that was pretty funny.  I wasn't sure if she would want to get in the stroller, but she loved it.  I also thought it was much better than the non stop screaming I was enduring from her while in the house.  I guess even babies know when it's spring and want out of the house.

The asthmatic barking Dogs

I have new neighbors who have these two little pugs.  They bark incessantly.  One of them is what sounds to me like asthmatic, so it's these deep wheezy bark.  I swear it sounds like it is about to die every time it breaths or barks.  It is very annoying and slightly disturbing. 

Tired

I'm tired today which is funny because I actually got some sleep last night.  So yesterday when I had no sleep I felt better than today when I got a little sleep.  I guess I can function on no sleep or a full night's sleep but the in between doesn't work.  That's all I have to say because even typing this is tiring today.  Guess it's going to be a lazy day, kind of.

Girl Scout Cookies

I thought I would try to talk about something more positive, so why not Girl Scout cookies.  I went to the store and they had Girl Scout Cookies so of course I had to buy some.  Plus the sign said  I would be helping our soldiers over seas get cookies as well. (That way I can justify all those calories).  I was good I only got one box of Samoas and one box of Thin Mints.  MMMMM they were good. 

Water and More Water.

Every once in a while we get water that seeps in under the wall in the basement.  Usually it's not too bad, spring when there is a lot of rain and then later in the summer only if the gutters are plugged.  With all the snow melting and the rain, maybe because the ground isn't thawed,who knows why really but we've got water.  It's really more annoying than anything.  Every five minutes we have to go down and suck it up to keep it in check. I am a little concerned though because it isn't usually this much.  There is still a lot of snow to be melted so I am little concerned about how long this could last. 

AHHHHH!!!!! The smell of fresh clean laundry.  I just got my new washer and dryer today so of course I had to do some laundry.  I really like my Norwex laundry detergent so I decided to keep using it even thought it doesn't technically say HE (high efficiency).  I sometimes use the Norwex Odor Eliminator so since there is a spot for fabric softener I put that in that slot.  My towels came out so fresh smelling, very cool. Plus you use less than a tsp. of the laundry detergent which someone says makes it less than 4 cents a load, the smell of saving money is a pretty nice smell as well.

Little Boys and Basketball

Here is Isaiah on the sidelines playing paper, rock, scissors.

Isaiah had basketball practice and today was the last one so they played a full court game.  It was quite hilarious.  Isaiah believed if he yelled loud enough they would miss their shots.  Then everyone would be down the court and Isaiah would be on the wrong side.  Everyone was playing basketball except Isaiah he would be running around in circles, then he would decide to play for awhile, get bored and be goofy again.
I wanted to put some video on but couldn't get that to work, maybe later.

Washing Machines and Purses

What do the 2 have in common, well nothing really.  I got the joy of spending my tax money on a new washer and dryer, real exciting right?  I mean I like clean undies as much as the next person but I wouldn't call washing clothes fun.  So I thought I should get something fun for myself so I bought myself a new purse, which is quite cute, plus it definitely says Hello Spring (ask my brother-in-law TJ about that LOL:)

To my awesome blog followers

This is a blog for my 2 followers I feel so loved.  If I ever win an oscar or emmy or blue ribbon at the fair I will be sure to thank you in my acceptance speech.

Tim

IsaiahKaceeJosieNicole (josie took this picture)Emily

We took the kids to the Children's museum on Valentine's Day, we all decided to get our pictures taken inside the turtle shell. 

I love the sun, but it's very deceiving this time of year.  You look outside and see the shine pouring down and think wow it looks beautiful out.  Then you step outside and wham, it's still winter.  Granted 35 is still a lot warmer than 0.  I am looking forward to 60 or 70 and no snow.  I would like to take a walk outside with the kids or a bike ride, go play at the park, and so on.  I shall try to wait but those things are at least 2 months away and well if you know me, patience is not my strong suit.  So for now I shall sit in my house staring out at the sun and pretending it is one of those beautfiul days.

I decided it would be fun to have a blog, so here it is.  Hope you enjoy our family and our dramatic happenings:)