Happy Halloween 2016

Posted on October 31, 2016 by Sheila

Celebrity Chefs

Saving on Saturday-10/29/2016

Posted on October 29, 2016 by Sheila

Everyone has heard of No- Shave November. I am going to attempt a No/Little Spend November for groceries. I am sharing this to be accountable and also to see if anyone wants to join me.

First lets talk about the reasons, I want to do this type of challenge. One of the bigger struggle with budgeting for me is always the grocery budget. This month we are sitting right at $650. We were extremely over budget in both September and July. As we look ahead to the holiday season with extra spending coming in everywhere, I need to find extra money in the budget to use for the holidays. Next is the simple facts, we have been able to take advantage of several sales and Zaycon has helped to fill our freezers. Therefore, we have on hand lots of items and even are over stocked in others.

I had a wise friend tell me “the best way to not spend money is not to shop.” So I have decided to take that advice to heart, at least for the month of November. I talked with Matt last week about the idea of not shopping for groceries in the month of November. By planning ahead this allowed us to really look at the pantry and freezers and identify any immediate needs that could ruin a no spend month very quickly.

Now on to the how this is going to work for us. I know that we will need to purchase items like creamer and eggs so I am going to start by pulling out $50 in cash to use for these items. I also want to be able to take advantage of any “Black Friday” deal that CVS may have so my plan is to “earn” a 25 gift card from Swagbucks to use. I should be able to cash out of this card during the first week of November and simply won’t shop at CVS till then. Cash is very hard for me to spend and this way if a true need arises then we will be able to purchase the need but not go overboard. The gift card is free money that is not from the budget so it will be part of the game to see how far I can stretch this card and what real deals, I can take advantage of. Because it is a gift card unlike ECB it can be use to pay tax on the items I purchase.

Final step in this challenge is planning. I have already started working on a list of meals that we can cook this month. One advantage we do have is our scheduled trip to Georgia for Thanksgiving. This will eliminate at least 3 if not 4 days of cooking and eating from home. Since Matt and I have already talked about this challenge we actually started meal planning last week. I know that in order to save money, I need to make sure that we are not wasting money especially by allowing food to go bad, so the focus this weekend is to finish up leftovers and find new or favorite dishes to cook with the items we have on hand. Look for lots of menu plans for November.

Five Things Friday-10/28/2016

Posted on October 28, 2016 by Sheila

This week has been a really hard week for me. I am think that the stress of the last several months in addition to our crazy busy schedule caught up with me. I have been struggling to just keep my head above water and even lost it several times this week. However, I do see light at the end of the tunnel and God continues to provide blessing big and small on a regular basis. I have decide that I am going to stop “trying to catch up” and enjoy the moment. What this did mean for me was that I shredded all the receipts on my desk that I want to write about. This weekend is not full and should give us all some time to slow down and catch up.
Lily is loving charter school. Even on the days that regular school is out. I am continuing to see progress and hear her working to finish assignments. This is officially the end of the first quarter and I am 100% confident that we made the right decision with NC K-12.
Zach’s last baseball game was Monday of this week. He LOVES baseball which is a huge surprise to me. He is already talking about the spring. He is also growing and will need new cleats and a new uniform. I hope he continue to try different sports, but if baseball is what he loves than guess we will spend more time on the baseball field.
The three little kids all had Dentist appointments on Thursday. We are excited that no one had any cavities. But the even better news is that it was discovered that Kendall had several wires that were continuing to rub against her cheek. She thought this was normal and therefore had not complained. Our orthodontist office was closed and will be closed to Monday morning but the dentist cut the wires. Kendall already is acting much happier and is back to eating regular food.\
The weather here is strange but enjoyable. We were able to turn off the air in mid September and are still not using the heat. Our electric bill for Oct is below $200 and I am hopeful for an even lower bill in November. The other benefit to the weather is that we are still harvesting a few tomatoes and peppers. In fact this is by far the best harvest of pepper that we have ever had. I am so excited to be able to flash freeze and may be able to use for the entire winter! Our first frost is still at least 2 weeks away according to the weather, so I am watering and growing!

Wordless Wednesday

Posted on October 26, 2016 by Sheila

Lily went on a Middle School Beach Retreat last weekend….

Zach had his last baseball game on Monday…

: on 2nd base

Menu Planning

Posted on October 23, 2016 by Sheila

Our crazy life continues but it appears that we may slow down just a bit after this week. One of the advantages to doing a monthly menu plan is that it allows us to adjust if wanted or needed without running out to the store. I made some big changes from our original plan this week for two reasons. The first was that I was given several food items that need to be used in the next week. Secondly, the weather has finally turned to fall and our garden should be much slower in production in the next couple of weeks. We have been letting our green peppers grow and were rewarded with a HUGE harvest today. I actually had enough to make stuff green peppers for dinner, put away a bag to freeze to use in soup and have enough left to make breakfast burrito bowls later this week.

reakfast– Saturday- Sausage Cresant Rolls(the fill was actually left-over from last week). Sunday- Choices. Monday-Overnight Apple French Toast. Tuesday- Choices Wednesday- choices. Thursday- Breakfast burrito bowl Friday- Choices. Choices include : leftovers, eggs, grits, French toast, pop-tart or toaster strudel, Breakfast croissant, toast or cereal.

Lunch- Our lunch menu has changed as Kendall had a really rough time with her braces and we decided to buy thermos for both Zach and Kendall to use. Monday-Egg salad for Kendall and chicken nuggets for Zach. Tuesday- Macroni and Beef, Wednesday- Kendall wants left over soup and Zach has chicken nuggets again. Thursday-Tomato soup and goldfish, and Friday- Spaghetti O’s. I have already made two salad for this week and will take leftovers otherwise.

Dinner- Saturday- Lunch- leftovers. Dinner- Kimonos(eating out).
Sunday- Lunch- Broccoli- Cheese Soup. Dinner- Stuffed green Peppers. (I also frozen enough stuffing for another meal.)
Monday- Squash peperoni pie. ( Made this up trying to use what we had, if it works will be awesome and easy to throw in again)
Tuesday-Mexican casserole- already in fridge
Wednesday- Kielbasa and rice
Thursday- pulled pork and carrots
Friday- country style steak and gravy or leftovers depends on how the week goes.

5 Positive Things Friday-10/21/2016

Posted on October 21, 2016 by Sheila

Our family has received several blessing and/or positive things are happening this week but instead of me shouting from the rooftop, I am still sitting in the pile of life is not fair. So I am going to be very intentional in being positive and thankful this week.

My mother’s health is continuing to improve. She received good news this week and has started taking small steps on her temporary new leg. She probably has another 8-10 weeks before things are “normal” again but definitely improvements this week.
Kendall has been tolerating her new braces for the past three days without needing medicine. In fact tonight she is eating chips which is a huge step for her.
Matt and I both received a small increase in wages this week. I have to keep reminding myself any increase is a good thing.
Matt and I have both been earning extra money with several apps. So far this month we have received an additional $110 this month so far! In addition to a box of food items and a box of dog items.
A very sweet friend offered to stay at cheerleading last night so that I could “experience” an entire baseball game in person. I got to watch Zach get a hit and score a run with this team WINNING!

Wordless Tuesday- Sweet Potatoes

Posted on October 18, 2016 by Sheila

We still don’t have our first frost in the forecast but at least one of the sweet potato vines has started turning brown. We decided it would be best to go ahead and dig up the potatoes while they are still healthy. This is always fun!

We feed the vines to our neighbor’s goats and bull.

The potatoes were HUGE! Now to enjoy the fruits of our labor! The best part is these potatoes were completely free because I started from potatoes from last year!

5 Things Friday 10-14/2016

Posted on October 14, 2016 by Sheila

This week was suppose to be a slower week but my work had an quick sudden unexpected increase and so it has turned into a long long busy week.
Kendall’s brace are bothering her. I am sure it is not to the extend of some of the folks I have talked to. She is not a complainer in fact she will often say that her mouth is not hurting but takes every suggestion to heart and tries to make it feel better. I am hopeful that by the end of the weekend she will be back to normal. I am also a bit concerned because today, her face appears to be swollen.
My goal for this weekend is to get the sheets all washed and bed smelling wonderful followed by getting all three of the kids rooms really clean.
The weather continues to be on the mild side so we are harvesting a few tomato and peppers still. We are planning to wait until the first frost to harvest sweet potatoes the longest growing period but it is very tempting to want to grab some now.
Lily is learning to cook, this week she made dinner on Thursday night which was a turkey pot pie. She needs a lot of supervision for the chopping but it turned out wonderful.

Thursday Thoughts with Pictures

Posted on October 13, 2016 by Sheila

Kendall received her first set of braces today. Based on her mouth and the way her teeth are coming in way early, this is the best options. She will be wearing this set for 9-12 months and then a second set will go on in high school when all her permanent are in place. She chose blue for her color today. Kendall is excited to change colors several times! We are seeing an orthodontist in High Point, he is very informative and goes out of his way to explain and make everyone comfortable with this process. The office staff was also very willing to work with us on payment. My insurance should cover approximately half the cost of these braces. I made a down payment today and they will wait until January for my remaining portion so that we can use our med flex for next year.

This is Lily completing her science lesson today. She is actually listening to a lecture at the same time. Nothing like multitasking at a young age.

I really was in the mood for Chinese food today. After Kendall’s braces, Matt had a couple of meetings for work so we decided to meet for lunch. This was Matt’s fortune, we needed a reminder that God’s is in control and this is what we are supposed to be doing.