Author Archives: Sheila

Monday Menu Post 5/24

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I did okay sticking to the Menu plan last week. We ended up with Pork Chops on Wednesday and eating out on Friday. That makes a total of 3 times eating out last week. The kids and I had lunch out on Thursday, Matt, myself and the babies ate out on Friday and again on Sunday after church. Friday night was a necessity as it was 6:30pm and everyone was starved so. This week I hope to do better and stay on track. I will be posting about all my shopping this weekend later but I wanted to make myself start to plan first.

Monday- Matt has a dinner meeting and I have ALOT of food to prepare so that it does not go bad so it will be sandwiches or pick a meal for everyone at home.
Tuesday- Steaks on the grill… pasta salad and fruit
Wednesday- Crockpot Lasagna with a batch to freeze for the summer
Thursday- Chicken ??? not sure how or why, may try a new recipe or just make a chicken pie or fried chicken
Friday-

Potty Training- Kendall Style

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Kendall is approaching 2 so the dreaded potty training is looming over us! We actually got down the small potty several weeks ago and I bought and put up (out of sight) the rewards. Kendall has been sitting on the potty at least once a day with no results. But I had decided to not stress and just be laid back with this effort. Yesterday, Amanda, Lily, Kendall, Zach and I went to Winston to Target and Costco for groceries and items for Amanda’s baby shower. We decided that Olive Garden would be good for lunch. So after we ate I took Lily and Kendall to the bathroom. Kendall was still dry and asked to “Pee on Potty” because that is what Lily was doing. I decided to let her sit and she DID IT! Within a minute of sitting down,she had peed! I was so excited and let her use my cellphone to call Matt! I am hoping this will be the start of an easy journey but I doubt it.

Harris Teeter Super Doubles Trip

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I am super excited after getting back from my first trip to Harris Teeter for Super Doubles. I had made the comment to Matt that I thought Super Doubles would be better right now then Triples and I was right :). I actually made the trip today with a friend, this was her first trip to Harris Teeter so it was awesome to help her “find” the deals. So I spent a total of $27 and saved $124 or 82% this is the highest this year besides one trip to CVS. I was able to grab 9 free items, 6 boxes of cereal, 4 cans of Tomato soup, 5 containers of juice and 3 frozen pizzas. Those are just the highlights. I did use a Raincheck to grab 2 packs of diapers at 0.09 cent each, but these are included in my totals so this was AWESOME! No picture today because my kitchen table is a mess and since it was lunch time when I came in. I decided to clean and take a picture was not worth the effort!

I am super busy this week and now understand how hard it is to keep up with blogging and my crazy life. I will try to get better but the rest of the week includes a second trip to HT, Amanda’s baby shower and a quiz meeting. So I wonder if I actually will!

Monday Menu Post 5/17

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So last week we threw out the menu plan on Thursday and actually ordered Pizza on Friday because that is what we wanted. But at least we were able to spend $20 and feed us all with enough left for breakfast for Matt, Haley and I on Saturday. This week is going to be difficulty as we have something scheduled every afternoon except on Monday. The idea this week is convenience. I am hoping to do the Crockpot Lasagna on Wednesday and put one back in the freezer but it will depend on how long I spend at Super Doubles. But you will notice I have a back up plan just in case or I can always switch my Friday and Wednesday. Flexibility is good this week.

Monday- Country Fried Steak, vegetable and pumpkin pie (Angel Food)
Tuesday- Left-overs from our Mexican dinner party 🙂
Wednesday – Crockpot Lasagna or Frozen Pizza
Thursday- Seafood night- steamed crab legs /fried shrimp
Friday- Shake n bake Porkchops

This should work, next week I hope to use some of the food I purchase at Harris Teeter!

A “Normal” Weekend

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For the past several years (since prior to Lily’s birth) it seems that every weekend during the school year is filled with activities and places/events we need to attend. In addition to that for the past 3 years we have been working on the addition with any and all of our spare time especially on the weekend. But this weekend feels different and I am working if this is what a “normal” weekend is suppose to be.

On Saturday we had Angel Food distribution which meant that Matt was at the church at 6am and I arrived about 7:45am. We have had to move the distribution times forward and it seems like we almost had an extra day as a result. Matt ended up on call this weekend and had to make a trip out after the distribution but that was ok. I was able to come home and make a quick trip to CVS while the little kids napped. Saturday evening after Matt got a short nap we decided to work in the addition. He was able to put up modeling and baseboards to finish out the bathroom closet. So I started moving items and organizing some things as well as cleaning out more junk that needed new home. We ended up at supper time and I spent a couple of hours watching TV.

Today, Sunday, we had church this am. My mom fixed lunch this week so we ate lunch with my whole family today which is a nice treat about once a month! Matt and I decided to invite some friends over for dinner before the variety show at church tonight. We had a Mexican feat that will provide leftovers on Tuesday evening for dinner. I stopped at Aldi and CVS to do my weekend shopping. Matt stayed home and did the last minute cleaning :). Dinner and the variety show were fun! Now tonight I am blogging and working on coupons which I enjoy. The best thing is that I am tired but not exhausted as I usually feel on Sunday night and I “think” I had a weekend! So is this a normal weekend?

Count your Blessing

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Growing up this was one of my favorite songs. I woke up this morning with the tune and words in my head. So after waiting all day to decide what to blog about, I figured this might be a good day to be thankful for what I have and not focus on what I don’t..Will you join me and leave a comment with your “blessing” today?

1. A wonderful husband who is willing to help with laundry, dishes and house cleaning as long as I ask.
2. 5 wonderful children who every day I can see making stride and enjoying life. (OK only the three little happen every day but I still love my teens!)
3. A borrowed van that allows me to work and do simple errors but more importantly give me the ability to not be stuck at home!
4. A job that allows me to work a couple of hours a week.
5. Money to cover the bills for the month and “promised” money to be able to cover the unexpected expense of a new transmission.
6. A garden with growing plants and flowers that is exciting to watch grow!

Count your blessing with me today!

DITL- Thursday May 13th

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So it I was wondering what to blog about today and decide it would be neat to do a Day In The Life post and try to keep updating it all day long. Unfortunately it is already 10:30 before I start so I will go on memory for the first part of the morning!
I heard Zach start waking at 5ish this morning but it was 6:15 am before I realized that Haley had gotten a shower and had brought him to our room. Kendall was also awake so I started with the morning diaper changes. Breakfast was cereal for the kids and I finished the gravy from my breakfast Sunday(Mother’s day) morning. I did spend some time off and on on the computer printing coupons and reading my coupon blogs. I drove Haley to school and Amanda was in a hurry because she had a court date today for a speeding ticket. Amanda left right after I got home around 7:50am. This morning the kids have been playing in different rooms. I folded 2 loads of clothes, washed sheets, towels and a load of Zach’s clothes. Lily and Kendall decided to go outside and play for almost an hour while I was hanging out the sheet and making some phone calls to pay bills.

After coming inside the girls watched about 10 minutes of TV while I finished ordering ink on ebay. For preschool today we did our calender and then worked on puzzles. Kendall was able to complete a 8 piece insert puzzle by herself several times. She tried to work a harder “duck” puzzle but after 30 minutes of puzzle and snack she was too tired. Lily is working on “small”/tiny fairy puzzle from the Dollar Tree. I knew this was too hard but it was the one she picked so she is going to work on it for an hour. The puzzle is 50 pieces and for ages 5+, with moderate assistance it took her an hour and 5 minutes to complete. I am helping her along between writing and telling Kendall to leave Zach alone! For snack while the girls were working on their puzzles, I made Celery boats with peanut butter. They were a hit and I had to clean both Kendall and the puzzles afterward. It is now 11am and I am finishing the puzzle with Lily. The girls are watching Clifford and Dragon Tales while eating lunch which is hot dogs by Lily’s choice.

Naptime-my favorite time of the day! Today was a success, EVERYONE including me got an hour of at least an hour. The little ones slept almost 2. I had 4 phones calls and Lily joined me after the first 45 minutes but still i slept. So we got up had snack and head out to get Haley! Opps forgot I have folded another load of laundry this afternoon!

First Walmart Coupon Trip

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A little back ground is necessary before I actually tell you about my trip. First of all, I live in a small town. The only “grocery stores” in town are Food Lion, Aldi, Save A Lot and Super Walmart. I regularly drive out of town to go to Harris Teeter for any of there special events or for a really good sales week. Food Lion does not double any coupons EVER or accept competitor coupons or even stack coupons. So basically both Food Lion and Walmart make it difficult to save on my grocery bill. I have been consistently couponing for around 3 months now. I decided yesterday after my EXCELLENT trip to CVS that I would attempt a trip to Walmart. Matt was out of coffee creamer, which he is brand loyal and Zach was running low on baby food. I couldn’t find a sale worth driving to for the baby food so I thought lets just see how I do. I have heard from several people in the past 3 weeks that Walmart is no longer accepting printed internet coupons so I decided not to even take one in. I did look at the list on Couponing to Disney to find out some dollar deals. I was actually pleased when I checked out and spend $40 and saved 17 or 29%. The saving were only from coupons as it does not show you or give you as way to figure in “roll backs” or sale prices. I was able to pick up Diet Cokes for 0.98 each and other sodas for the kids for 0.66 so overall this would be considered a successful trip in my book. I will never be able to save over 40% realistically at my local grocery stores so for a first trip with the whole family it was not bad!

Monday Menu Post 5/10

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We stuck to our plan last week for every night except for Friday. I actually ended up working 4 hours so Matt was at a lost of what I had planned for dinner. So he made Kielbasi with rice. It is one of the recipes he remembers his mother making so it is like a comfort food for him. We are both disappointed with the Kielbasi from Angelfood as it was rubbery but it got eaten. Because of our van troubles it is going to be even more important that we stick to the menu plan this week. I will be working on both Wednesday and Friday night so those have to be quick or prepared ahead items. I am seriously thinking that we may re-arrange the meals but stay with the basic 5.

Monday – Grilled chicken and steak. (My parents are coming over for dinner, my mother works full time so this is a real treat for someone else to cook.
Tuesday- Chicken ciccatore
Wednesday- Meatloaf
Thursday- Sausage and egg pie or pork chops???? ( yeap I am going to decide at the last minute)
Friday-Tator tot casserole with half frozen for another “summer” meal