Menus

Menus for the week
I have to conform to USDA standards for daycare so some people think its overkill to have so many side dishes with the food, but honestly it helps cut down on our food bill. I make one serving of the main dish for each person and allow seconds on sides. I think it is helping all of us kick the overeating habit too.

I generally way overcook for breakfast items, like pancakes and waffles and english muffins (yes i make them) and then i freeze the leftovers so i only have to make breakfast stuff once or twice a month. I also try to make as much ahead as i can, and spend sunday cooking things for the week and stock them in the freezer or fridge.

Our pintos and cornbread meal use the pintos i canned around christmas time.. I am almost out so i suppose i should go buy some more and cook them up! I found an arse load of lids in the closet (yes mom, i had like ten hundred lids and did not know it!) so i can officially can a bunch more. we have been eating way more beans since I canned up the last bunch. While this is at time assaulting to my nose, it is great on the food budget. And nothing tastes better than Adan's refried beans. We have a deal - i cook and can the beans, he refrys them!

As always, if you want a recipe, let me know!

Sunday:

• Breakfast - blueberries and pancakes
  
• Snack, AM & PM - Pickles & Milk
  
• Lunch - Spaghetti, meatballs, green beans & pineapples
  
• Dinner - Antipasto Salad (pepperoni, hard boiled eggs, cheese, broccoli, tomatos, olives, cauliflower)

Monday:

• Breakfast - Apple slices & Oatmeal
  
• Snack, AM & PM - Biscuits & Cheese
  
• Lunch - Antipasto Salad
  
• Dinner - Lemon Thyme Chicken, strawberries, Salad & Bread

Tuesday:

• Breakfast - Zucchini Bread & fruit
  
• Snack, AM & PM - Apple juice & string cheese
  
• Lunch - Lemon Thyme Chicken, strawberries, Salad & Bread
  
• Dinner - Macaroni and Cheese, mixed veggies, corn

Wednesday:

• Breakfast - Strawberries & Waffles
  
• Snack, AM & PM - Yogurt & Crackers
  
• Lunch - Macaroni and Cheese, mixed veggies, corn
  
• Dinner - Chicken Nuggets, Salad, Mashed Potatoes

Thursday:

• Breakfast - Oranges & Cereal
  
• Snack, AM & PM - Hummus & tortilla chips
  
• Lunch - Chicken Nuggets, Salad, Mashed Potatoes
  
• Dinner - Penne Pasta tossed with olive oil, tomatoes and cheese, green beans

Friday:

• Breakfast - Apples & Pumpkin Muffins
  
• Snack, AM & PM - Bell Peppers, Black Bean Dip
  
• Lunch - Penne Pasta tossed with olive oil, tomatoes and cheese, green beans
  
• Dinner - Pinto Beans, corn bread, veggies, fruit

Saturday:

• Breakfast - Mandarin oranges, English Muffins
  
• Snack, AM & PM - Peanuts & Grape Juice
  
• Lunch - Pinto Beans, corn bread, veggies, fruit
  
• Dinner - Broccoli lasagna, fruit cocktail

Ice and snow and snow and ice and chinese food

So Kentucky has been declared a state of emergency. Yup... we had an ice storm. A big one. So tonight we decided to go for Chinese food. A little background first. We had not left the house since Sunday afternoon. Tuesday school was canceled. (We are hoping school will be back in session on Monday.) Wednesday our power went out and was out all day. It was pretty dang cold in the house so we decided not to chance it over night. We were packing up to go the shelter when the power came back on. YAY us! the world is icy cold and sparkling so we did not venture out of the house the rest of the week either. Today, seeing as we had no food left in the house, and everything is still closed except the one Chinese buffet in town, we decided to go to dinner. First we chiseled the 8 inches of ice off the top and sides of the car. Then we spent 20 min. trying to start the car. We finally got it all good and started and the kids packed in, and we tried to back up. Yeah, the tires were iced to the ground and the whole car was pretty much surrounded with ice. We had to get out of the car and chisel away the ice that was under the tires. Finally, we made it out of the parking lot and to the chinese restaurant. As we slid across the icy parking lot, Lucy declares: It smells delicious here! It makes me want to eat the walls!

Guess it is time to feed the kids!!

You can see pics of the weather on this other local blog...

Jerking skills

Alex has created a new weapon. He showed me his shoe lace tied to a hanger contraption, and told me:

Mom look I combined my jerking skills and my fighting skills to create this weapon. I can jerk really fast.

Poem for BK

Shame on you,
Burger King,
For your convenience, and cinimini goodness,
For your greasy tater tots, and relatively cheap prices.

Shame on you,
Burger King,
for singing your siren song
every time i venture to the PX.
My will power crumbles like your delicious cookies
at the mere sight of your glorious crown.

Shame on you,
Burger King,
for luring me in
with the glorious idea of no dishes to wash.
Your food is doing nothing for my waistline.
Shame on you,
Burger King.

Growing a waist

Lucy asked for seconds with dinner today. She told me she is growing her waist and then she will be fat like me but she won't mind. I asked her if she just called me fat and she stuttered for a minute and said no... i said i was going to get a fat belly. uh-huh.. sure.

I want to be the queen of Thailand.

It is dangerous to insult the reigning family of Thailand. Don't believe me? Just ask this guy.

Please note, his book sold SEVEN copies. Yes, Seven.

The Dreaded Pictures

So this weekend, Adan took pictures of me in my used-to-be-cute bathing suit. This isn't the suit i wore when i was skinny. It isn't even the suit i wore after i gained some weight. This is the latest bathing suit i bought about 18 months ago. I am also going to attempt to find a skinny picture and we can look at that for comparison. Yeesh... but now everyone will see the tub and i will HAVE to lose the weight if only to save face. and have some awesome before and after pics.

As a side note, no, I am not pregnant. Just fat.

As another side note. those are not my curtains... They belong to the hotel we were vacationing at. No, i did not go in the pool.

Food Friday - Miracle food?

"Exactly how dedicated are you to the concepts of recycling, scrimping and using all-natural products in your food?
If you're willing to put your money-shot where you mouth is, you'd send away for a copy of the cookbook "Natural Harvest," which goes into stomach-churning detail about how to store, prepare and serve semen as food.

Yes, it has really, erm, come to this."

You will also learn how to get the most output and how to make your juices taste better, as well as other little tips along the way.

Read the rest of the review here:

Natural Harvest book review

I think some people (men I am sure) have too much time on their, umm, hands.

Devastated

I feel like my boyfriend has broken up with me. Will we ever see Grissom again??

Okay maybe devastated is too strong of a word. And I did totally love how he hooked up with Sarah in Costa Rica at the end.

Case Worker Blues

Our adoption case worker is coming by today. I am really stressed about all of it. There is so much paperwork to go through and just so many little things to do. I think we have finally finished all of our paperwork, but we still have to have 3 references turn in questionnaires. They were all sent out back in Sept. and not a single one of them has done it or turned it in. YeeGads that is not a good completion rate. I think once that is done we are still waiting on our FBI background check and then we are done. We will just have to wait until they type up our homestudy and then it will be on to the next scary step. Finding children that mesh with us. I am just ready to be done with all of this and have the kids... Like i need that remote from click. But i guess if i used the remote from Click i would be missing the moral of the movie which is something like you have to have the bad parts to appreciate the good, or maybe life sucks and if you skip the crappy parts you will miss it all. I am not sure which.

Flat Tires and other nonsense

Our tires are popping.. one by one. The week before Christmas we had a flat tire. We got it fixed. Then on Monday, we got another flat tire. We got it fixed yesterday. I can't take any more flat tires! I think the walmart tire center is going to know us by name soon.

I had a big ole check from my daycare that I had to mail into the bank. I think that I forgot to put our account number on them. oops. So they took forever and were not posted to our account. I finally called up the bank and bitched them out about how they should let me have deposit at home even though i don't have a credit card with their company and they were like, yeah.. ummm.. no. So i got off the phone all pissy and mad about how i wanted my money for new tires and i could not get to it. That night, they posted the checks. Guess they found them.

So yesterday we got a new tire, YAY! I never thought i would be the mini van type, but i love my van. I am soooooo glad to have it back.

We also got new couches, yay! Our old couch was freaking disgusting.. like really gross. It was dirty inside the cushions and you could not clean it.. i would clean it and then it would still be dirty. ICK! The whole back of the couch where the cushions attached to the frame at the top was ripped and stuffing was coming out. it was horrible. Our new couches are used, but very nice. They just need to be cleaned.. a job for next week.

We also paid all of our bills, and it feels super good to be able to do that for once LOL. Hopefully we will be heading in the right direction again with everything. It is just so hard to coordinate with Adan when he is never home or home but asleep.

And that leads into the next piece of good news! Adan is going to days!!! YAY ME! I will actually not be a shift work widow any longer. I can not wait to be able to share parenting responsibilities again.

Makin' Babies

I saw this picture today and laughed.

Resolutions?

I hate to make resolutions... I never seem to make it past 2 weeks with all the grand ideas I have for the upcoming year. There is too much "life" going on here for me to plan anything at all! I think instead of resolutions I am going to have some projects for the upcoming year.

During 2009 I want to:

*Finish our Home study and adopt 2-3 children. We are looking to adopt a sibling group of 2 to 3 children. Hopefully God will bring us children that are in Kentucky, but we are open to the possibility that we will be traveling to another state to adopt.

*Finish our furniture. All the furniture we have owned, besides the boys bunk beds, has been purchased used or given to us for free. W have moved 262,000 times in the last 11 years, and we are apparently very hard on furniture. Everything we own is falling apart, on its last legs or already dead. Soooo, we have plans to build our furniture. Adan got a set of power tools for Christmas (Thanks Black Friday!) and we will be building 3 sets of bunkbeds, 1 queen size bed, 2 entertainment centers, 6 dressers, 7 nightstands. We are also building a drum composter, and a PVC pipe bike rack (the bike rack will have some modifications to make it fit 8 bikes.

*Plan and execute a fantastic garden, and then preserve the bounty. I plan to get the Square foot gardening book this coming payday and read that over. I will be starting the compost as soon as we get the compost drum built. We will be buying lumber for our raised beds as soon as we get our tax return and we will be on the way to gardening!!

*Get moving. I will be getting up earlier than normal to be able to use the elliptical or the home gym, every day. Also, we are going to take a family bike ride every Saturday that Adan doesn't work. Once it is warm again, we may do a hike at the nearby state park as well.

*Spend time with God. Spend time in daily Bible study before I exercise each morning. I have been lazy about my personal time with God and I desire to get more serious about it. Also, encourage Adan to continue daily Bible study with the kids before he goes to work.

*Finish some household projects. I have a billion and two things started. I need to prioritize and get them done. I think I may go room to room instead of the global ADD method I have been using. Here is the list:

Video Game Room (small, small sitting room off the boy's room): curtains, rug and bean bag chairs

Boy's Room: 2 quilts, curtains and rug

Lucy's Room: quilt, curtains, rug

Our Room: curtains, afghan, rug, quilt

New Children's Room: Rug, Curtains, afghans, quilts (They have to pick the colors first though)

Living Room: curtains, rug

Playroom: Rug

Kitchens: Curtains, Rugs, dishcloths, 15 for each kitchen.

I also need to finish my scarf and mittens, and sweaters for everyone. I finally decided to hold off on the sweaters, and make them this summer/fall. That way everyone will have a sweater when the cold starts.


I think this will be plenty to keep me busy between the daycare, diaper decisions and perpetual paper works! I am considering ideas to pare down but they are still rumbling around in my brain.

Lucy Channels Grannie

The other day Lucy asked me to go pee for her. She told me she really had to go and could I please go and do it for her. I did a double take. I have NEVER EVER asked her that. Took me back to when I was her age and Grannie would ask me the same thing, in the exact same way. weirdness.

Food Friday

I thought I would start a tradition! Food Friday! Here is the menu for next week... if you want a recipe, let me know! (I also add a protein to breakfast, but I don't feed it to the kiddos, so it isn't listed.)

Sunday:

• Breakfast - blackberries and pancakes
  
• Snack, AM & PM - Rice Cakes & Peanut Butter
  
• Lunch - Taco Soup, Salad, & rolls
  
• Dinner - Bubble Pizza & Salad

Monday:

• Breakfast - Blueberries & Oatmeal
  
• Snack, AM & PM - Carrots, Celery & Cheese
  
• Lunch - Bubble Pizza & Salad
  
• Dinner - Chicken Nuggets, Peas, Potatoes and Rolls

Tuesday:

• Breakfast - Bananas & Banana Bread
  
• Snack, AM & PM - Toast with Peanut Butter
  
• Lunch - Chicken Nuggets, Peas, Potatoes & Rolls
  
• Dinner - Baked Chicken, Broccoli, Carrots, Bread

Wednesday:

• Breakfast - Strawberries & Waffles
  
• Snack, AM & PM - Banana Bread & Milk
  
• Lunch - Baked Chicken, Broccoli, Carrots, Bread
  
• Dinner - Baked Potato Soup, Celery & Carrot Sticks, Bread

Thursday:

• Breakfast - Oranges & Cereal
  
• Snack, AM & PM - Apples & String Cheese
  
• Lunch - Baked Potato Soup, Celery & Carrot Sticks, Bread
  
• Dinner - Spaghetti & Meatballs, Tomatoes, Bell Peppers

Friday:

• Breakfast - Apples & Pumpkin Muffins
  
• Snack, AM & PM - Tortilla Chips, Black Bean Dip
  
• Lunch - Spaghetti & Meatballs, Tomatoes, Bell Peppers
  
• Dinner - Hot Dogs, French Fries, Mixed Fruit

Saturday:

• Breakfast - Peaches, English Muffins
  
• Snack, AM & PM - Yogurt, Crackers
  
• Lunch - Hot Dogs, French Fries, Mixed Fruit
  
• Dinner - Baked Ziti, Broccoli, Salad

Lucy is an angel

Today Lucy declared that she wished she could be an angel. An angel of Christmas who talks to shepherds, an angel of Fall Break, and an angel of babies, specifically to make babies stop crying.

Awesome pictures

This lady takes some amazing pictures.. Happy Sleepy

I have had her bookmarked for a while because I wanted to do this: Awesome Container Garden

Our new house has a brick front! I think I will contact Pizza Hut tomorrow.

Weight Loss

It is officially time for me to start working at weightloss. I weight approx. 20 lbs MORE than i did 5 minutes before I gave birth to a 9 lb. baby!! O.M.G. So I am starting Body For Life again. More info can be found at www.bodyforlife.com Adan and I both used this program 7 years ago with great results. I swear the stress of living with my MIL caused me to gain 30 lbs LOL. I have only gained 3 lbs since we moved to KY and that was all since Thanksgiving. Darn Pumpkin Pie and Santa Cookies!! I am going to do an update each week, not that anyone reads this but I pretend i have tons of readers so hopefully that will keep me accountable. Anyway, my stats are as follows:

• Upper Arms: 14.25 inches
• Thights: 22 inches
• Waist: 31.75 inches
• Belly Button: 38.75 inches
• Hips: 37 inches

My body is all out of wack, and I am ready to look good again! I am going to post a truly heinous picture of myself in a bikini tomorrow or so, and then I will be super duper freaking motivated to look better!

Moving is super fun!

I have not posted hardly anything in the last 2 months.. my life slowly, err, rapidly spun out of control! In October, we put in a request for a bigger house. When AJ turned 10, we became eligible for a 4 bdrm house but of course the waiting list for those was like 162 years. With our adoption coming up, we figured we would write in and ask if we could go ahead and get a 5 bdrm house. The 5 bdrm houses here on post are actually 2 house put together. Soooo that means 2 kitchens, 2 living rooms, 5 bdrms and 3 baths. This would be perfect for the day care because I would have dedicated space... My fingers were triple crossed.

We were told that we had to wait 10 days to find out if we were approved for the 5bdrm. I called back 2 weeks later and found out that they had said yes!! YAY us! Unfortunately we were #15 in line and our anticipated a move in February or March. We were told to call back at the end of November to check on our place in line.

I called back 2 weeks later on November 15th, because I am super patient, as anyone who knows me can tell you. :D They told me that our house would be ready next week. Next week? Whaaa? They won't release any more information, but I should call on Friday (5 days away). So, I call Friday, and they say that the house will be ready on Monday. Monday of Thanksgiving week, we walk into the office to find out what is going on. The lady at the desk tells us that our house will be ready on Friday at the latest. She tells us that we will have 5 days to move, but they won't release the address to us until the day we are to start moving. UMMMM so how to I transfer our phones and cable? How do I forward our mail?? I asked her what street the new house is on and she tells us the same street we already live on. KICK ASS! The houses on our street rock, and that means we would have like 2500 square feet with no stairs!!!!!

On Tuesday we decided to drive down the street and figure out what house will be ours. We found a double house that had construction workers in front and begged them for a tour. They obliged us and we walked through some awesome luxuriousness. The master closet alone was big enough for my kids to live in!

At lunch that afternoon we began to wonder if the lady at the desk was possibly not smart. Maybe she looked at our current address and just told us that street instead of the street the new house was on. We became paranoid and decided to call the housing office again. We spoke to a different lady, and she told us that our house was actually ready right then. She invited us for a tour. I knew at that instant we would not be moving into luxurious awesomeness.

Instead our new house was smack dab in the Army Housing Ghetto, AHG for short. Our little street is fairly quiet but the 2 neighboring buildings are all double houses also. That means 5 other families requiring 5 bdrms. That is a lot of Army brats to have deal with on a daily basis LOL. It seems that each family has at least 1 dog. At least 2 of those dogs are outside daily before 6 AM. Barking dogs are super fun at that hour.

The inside of the house was okay. Nice mocha colored walls. BUT the living rooms are small, and there are basically 2 sets of stairs. YOu have to walk up or down stairs to get anywhere.

Adan really did not want to take the house after seeing the crazy awesome flat house, but if we had turned it down, it would have been 6+ months before we were offered another one. So we took it.

The wanted us to move over Thanksgiving weekend, but we said no... Luckily they gave us some extra time to move. My mom and dad came down from LVille to help us move, and we managed to get everything done in 4 days.

I was able to get the daycare unpacked and looking good with in a week and had my inspections the next monday. On tuesday I started back up. I was glad to be able to get everything going so quickly but it has meant that I have had no time for the rest of the house. We finally got the office mostly unpacked and the sewing room mostly unpacked this weekend. We hung up the paintings and family pictures today. Slowly this house is starting to look like home.

We have moved an average of every 9 months since we got married. The last 2 moves though, have been much closer together. We moved in Nov. 07, in Apr. 08, and then again in Nov. 08. I am ready to stop moving!!!! Hopefully this is our last duty station. Hopefully we can stay in this house(s) until we get out. I would love 7 years of no moving!!!