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Category Archives: Haley
Wordless Wednesday Prom 2013
Stretching Your Dollar and Ground Beef
I wanted to share today how we have managed to stretch our ground beef over the past several days. These are simple and fast, but because my family really does not like left overs this is a way to stretch the ground beef.
Start with 3-4 pounds of ground beef and simply brown.
Tacos are first, add the seasoning and water. Enjoy!
Sloppy joes are next add one can of rotel and enough ketchup to make the remaining meat look “soupy”. Let this mixture simmer for about 30 minutes or so. Add bread and cheese.
The remaining mixture can be used in several different ways; chili(or sloppy joe) cheese fries, hot dog chili, spaghetti sauce.
We actually have practiced this for the past couple of days. We have actively been raising money for Haley’s summer youth trip to the National Youth Conference. Our first meal was pintos, I brought home leftovers and made refried beans. The next meal was a “Mexican Meal” we used the refried beans and add Taco meat. I definitely over purchased the meat, so we frozen the remaining 10 or so pounds. This past Sunday was our “Soup and Sandwich” Meal. I used the above recipe to change the taco meat into sloppy joes. Because the meat had been frozen one time, the remaining meat was sent home with several families. Matt has enjoyed several meal of Sloppy Joes but the kids really did not like this idea so the other idea became part of the plan. Tonight Matt was able to use up the remaining meat mixture in a baked spaghetti which was really good!
Crazy Busy Weekend
This has been one of the busiest weekend so far. Friday night and Saturday, Haley and I spent time at our District Bible Quizzing Meet. We were joined by people from Georgia, Raleigh and South Carolina. Haley left around 1:30pm to start preparing for the prom. Above is one of the many pictures I plan to share from pre-prom. Matt is playing around in Lightroom to see what he can come up with. I was planning to do it myself but he has much better eye and a lot more patience with it than I do. One of the things that we realize is that our camera which is now close to 8 years old or more, needs to be updated. I think* this time I am going to save up some money and purchase a real camera instead of a point and shoot. I have considered it in the past but I really do like pictures and with the prices of pictures continuing to rise not counting the time it takes to get the professional pictures taken. I think now may be the time to invest in something along these lines. I was able to catch a nap, and talked Haley home after prom. On Sunday, we had a fundraiser for Haley’s Life trip this summer. Enjoy the picture!
Wordless Wednesday 4/17 Beach
PF Changs
Cheeseburger in Paradise
Convention center
Wordless Wednesday Easter 2013
No I don’t want my picture taken with them!
Random Thoughts Tuesday- April Catch-up
So this is the perfect chance for me to get all the information that I had intended on post on the blog out in one great list! The order is how it pops in my head.
- We were able to sell our old lawn mower for $100 after posting it for less than 3 hours on Craigslist. This makes our first payment on the new lawn mower
- I was able to confirm that if we can pay off the new lawn mower in 12 months without a late payment it will be interest free so that has been added to my financial goals!
- Haley complete her driving requirements of 52 hours on our trip to the beach. She is now an official licensed driver without restrictions in NC!
- We all really enjoyed our short trip to Myrtle Beach to watch Lily’s competition. The girl performed really well on Saturday and did a great job on Sunday. They ended up placing 4 of 7 teams!
- One of the fun things we did on this trip was shop. Haley has lots of new summer clothes. I was able to find Nike shoes for both Kendall and Zach for under $20 each. Matt also has a new pair of Nikes for less than $50. Finally I was able to grab some flip flops and camis for myself at the Old Navy outlet
- Myrtle Beach was COLD!!! With the wind and the temperatures only in the 60s I did not even step foot in the sand. I did enjoy our awesome view from our balcony! Pictures will hopefully be posted this week as well.
- We enjoyed several great meals on our trip. On Friday night, we ate at PF Changs. It was awesome and even Haley said she enjoyed it! Saturday night we ate at Cheeseburger in Paradise, another great meal for I do wish I had tried the Key Lime Pie. So that means that it is on my return list!!!!
- This was probably one of the most STRESS FREE trips we have taken in several years and I hope that we can do it again!
- This week we have returned to our crazy schedule and I have decided that it is time to get serious about my diet. I now want to catch up to my goal of 4# a month by May which would be a total of 25 # down!!! I have gone back to a food journal in hopes that it will keep me accountable and on track!
- The weather has been awesome the last several days, Matt has done some improvements to my Square foot garden and I ordered dirt this year! I hope this will double the amount of food we are able to harvest!
- Haley has been excepted into the Early Childhood program at our local community college. She will begin in the fall with 16 credit hours.
- It is 12 weeks till Kendall’s birthday, random fact I discovered at work today!
3/21- A Day to Remember
Today has been one of those day, where we have been constantly on the run! I had a long list of things to accomplish and I can proudly say that I finished them all. Zach had his pre-op appointment this morning. It was really a joke, he does weigh 30 pounds and is officially 3 feet tall. The remark that sums up the entire visit was when the CNA asked “Do you think you can get him to pee in a cup?” My response “Seriously?” So without the aforement test Zach was cleared for the surgery. We celebrated by visiting Burger King…..
Next I was able to head to the Beauty Salon and get my hair colored. No picture of that of course. So to end the day, Haley and I headed to the DMV. Haley discovered last week that her permit would expire on Saturday, her birthday. If she chose to wait till after that to attempt to get her license then she would be required to retake the written test. Today, she only had to pass the driving test.
Yes I passed!
The part I don’t understand in North Carolina is that she is now allowed to drive “unsupervised” between the hours of 5am and 9pm, in addition she is required to complete an additional 12 hours of supervised driving of which 6 must be at night. In 6 months, if she has not had any tickets and these requirements are met she will become eligible for a full fledge license.
Wordless Wednesday Cheerleading
Breakfast
Crazy & Sick Weekend
Friday afternoon while I was still in my class, Matt took the girls to Vision Works to pick up their new glasses. Both of the new glasses are plastic and thicker frames. We plan to use these at the pool this summer. Kendall’s are purple and Lily’s are a deep redish purple. I had a really hard time in class on Friday and did not feel good so I went to bed around 8ish Friday night. By early Saturday morning, I was totally sick and knew I need to get something for this. I was unable to drink or swallow so off to Salisbury to the Urgent Care both Matt and I went. Matt was starting not to feel well either and I did not feel comfortable at all driving. Haley was awesome, staying with the kids, fixing lunch and even doing some housework. Matt decided to go ahead and be seen since it would take the same amount of time. Both of us ended up with Strep, so we stopped by the pharmacy on the way home and headed to bed. I will say the antibiotic started to work and I could even eat Chinese on Saturday evening. Saturday most of the day was spent…
sleeping
We had already made the decision that church would not be an option for any of us today. By Sunday, I am getting back to normal. We were able to wash our sheets, catch on some housework and even get the menu for the week ahead. I made this soup
in the crock pot by adding things from the freezer. I was also able to use the new Kitchen Aid mixer and all 3 attachments today.So hopefully both Matt and I are on the mend and no one else gets sick this week!