The Worst Travel Day EVER!

Posted on January 9, 2014 by Sheila

I have been travelling between North Carolina and Michigan, for over 10 years now. I have made this 800 mile journey probably 15 times but the worst trip ever occurred last week. The adventure started early in the evening when I was woken up half an hour earlier than plan by the sound of Kendall coughing and throwing up. I really didn’t give it much thought because I had made her eat earlier when she was not hungry. After we loaded up it was off to Krispy Kreme for our late night snack. Unfortunately, I had made a mistake and we missed closing my 20 minutes. Next was an usual chain of events that caused a relatively long trip become a really really unforgettable trip. Our GPS sent us on a totally different route than we had ever take, we have since discovered that by mistake we told it to avoid toll roads. We headed west to Tennessee, I will spare all of us the details but Kendall was sick twice more in the first four hours. Matt and I had a serious discussion about turning around and heading home but Kendall did not want to because in her logic ” We have packed everything in the van for the trip.” The route itself was very twisting and turning, it felt like we were in the mountains for ever. Our most uneventful period was between 4am and 9am. We stopped and ate at Cracker Barrel around 6am and thought okay we are about half way with the additional stops we should be at the hotel around 2pm. Things turned from long to worse in Kentucky around 9:30 when it started to snow heavily. In the next 6 hours we travelled less than 200 miles in terrible condition that included “white outs” and long periods of sitting waiting on wrecks to clear. At around 5pm we made it to Ann Arbor and discovered that the further north we headed the better the travel and weather appeared to be. So we decided to continue on. We arrived at our hotel around 8:30pm a mere 22 and half hours after we left! We were both exhausted!

I am completing this post after our travel back to North Carolina on Sunday January 5th. The weather was again awful for travel and we ended up in a wreck in Ohio. Our van hit a patch of ice, did a couple of circles, hit a guardrail. The van was driveablel l will post pictures next week, however we managed to arrive home in 16 hours and so the trip to Michigan remains the worst Travel day EVER!

Menu Planning-Using up leftovers

Posted on December 28, 2013 by Sheila

I have said before that we enjoy eating out! For me it is more about the convenience and speed than the actual food. Another thing that we have learned is that if we fail to make a plan then we are going to end up eating out regardless of our good intentions or need to stick to a budget. I am proud to say that we have not eaten out in 7 days! The plan is to continue with this trend until Thursday when we are travelling.

I also ~~hope~~ plan to be able to take some prepared food with us so that we will be eating out only once per day instead of three meals. The first reason is that feeding 5 people, 3 meals a day for 5 days can cost close to $500, which as you can probably guess is not in our budget. Another big reason is the time involved in just stopping and ordering a meal and consuming it, even grabbing fast food is a bare minimum of 45 minutes to an hour of time that we end up ~~wasting~~ adding to our travel time. Finally, when travelling 800 miles you realize that your choices are often limited based on the area you are at especially with the 2-3 days of actual travel involved.

I realized on Friday that we had a large assortment of food in our refrigerators that I was not crazy about leaving for a week unattended. So I decided that I would try to use up as much of the leftovers and other items prior to leaving on the trip.

First up is the leftover Boston butt from Christmas Eve at my parents.I decided to make Pork Fried Rice (followed 30 day Chicken Fried Rice Recipe). I was able to make enough for 2 complete meals, one we enjoyed for dinner tonight and the second was frozen to use later. We do have enough left that my plan is to reheat, add dip, and serve for dinner either Monday or Tuesday evening.

I purchased some green peppers the first of the week with the intention of using in omelets this week but they are still unopened on the top shelf. So they will become stuffed green peppers for dinner tomorrow night. I will be able to top with mozzarella cheese that is starting to turn. The other ingredients are easily accessible in the freezer.

One of the items I plan to take on the trip is Taco soup. I was able to grab all the ingredients out of the freezer to complete this today as well. We will enjoy one meal for lunch tomorrow (Sunday) and another will be frozen for eating in Michigan.

I used some of the leftover chicken from last week to make a pot of Chicken and Rice on Thursday. We have already frozen a dish of this to travel with us as well.

Last but no least are all the breakfast items that need to be used up. This morning the fridge contained; baked oatmeal, French toast, pancakes, gravy and bacon. I decided that no cereal could be eaten until we clear out these items! A spinach quiche, which will be an option in the morning, used up a single pie crust and some of the bag of spinach in addition to leftover bacon from Christmas Eve.

It does appear that at least one evening meal, most likely Tuesday will be a left over choice depending on what is eaten for lunches. Another option will be baking sweet potatoes for dinner which are quick easy and well liked.

Here is the plan and we are sticking to it!

December 26th – A Day of Reflection

Posted on December 26, 2013 by Sheila

On Christmas Eve, I received a phone call that provided proof of how busy this fall has been. The portrait studio called to remind me that I could pick up my pictures. “You must have the wrong person” was my first reply. After a couple of confirmation questions, I realized they were talking about Zach’s birthday pictures that we had made the first week of September. I honestly had completely forgotten about them. If you know me or have seen the inside of my house or even “enjoyed” my wordless Wednesday post you realize, I love pictures, to completely forget about pictures is not something I would normally do. We just have stayed extremely busy with all kinds of activities. This phone call proved what I had already decided to do for Christmas, enjoy some quiet relaxing non busy time at home.

I am glad to report that this has been a success. The plan for today is a little shopping and dinner with friends but in reality if I ended up at home until time for dinner so be it.

Christmas Eve was spent catching up on some chores and make breakfast for the next several morning. Amanda and Scott arrived at noon, some opening of presents and a quick trip to Walmart, resulting in all the kids enjoying new toys for an hour. My dad called and we left to go over for my family celebration. It was fun and relaxed with lots of laughing and some more gifts. I can’t forget the traditional game of Rook, that was won by myself and my brother! The kids were exhausted and all asleep early by 7:45pm.

Christmas Day was even less eventful. We did awake early, Santa had arrived! Another area that has been successful this year is we greatly scaled down Christmas. The little kids received one gift from Santa; Zach a drum set and headphones, Kendall and Lily both American girl dolls. Stockings had candy only. In addition, each had 2 additional presents from us, one from Grandpa Abbott and one from Aunt Deanna under the tree. But the lack of 6-10 gifts a piece was not noticed. We had a quick easy breakfast of bagels with the entire morning spent playing with the toys. The little kids have been the most engaged and happy I can remember. Amanda is working today but checked in this morning and Haley stayed till breakfast. She has spent the rest of the day celebrating with her Dad’s family. Everyone, well except Matt, stayed in pajama’s all day and alternated playing together and alone.

I can honestly say this has been one of the best most relaxing Christmas’s in memory.

Christmas Eve in Pictures

Posted on December 24, 2013 by Sheila

First thing this morning the little ones helped make French Toast….

After finishing a few chores, we decided to play some board games…

Next Amanda and Scott came over and we opened a few presents….

Finally we headed over to Pawpaw and Granny where there was lots of fun and even more presents…

We ended the night by reading the Birth of Christ from Luke and of course some milk and cookies for Santa.

Planning Ahead- How I Spend Time on Sunday Afternoon

Posted on December 8, 2013 by Sheila

We live a very busy life. Our “normal” schedule includes four night of extra activities a week, in addition since August, I have been working till 5:30 at least 3 if not 4 nights a week. In the mornings, I enjoying taking the girls to school and try to get out the door in time for me to have 15 minutes for my devotional time once I get to work. So I am going to share with you, a couple of time and money saving tips that make our weeks at least a little more smoother.

First is the clothing issue, both Kendall and Lily have every strong opinions about school clothes. On Sunday afternoons, our first chore is to pick out clothes for the week. This is a process as each outfit has to be approved by me. Today, we finished quickly in less than 30 minutes. After we pick out each outfit, it is placed in my room or closet so that there are no “last minute” changes during the week. I offer suggestion and even let the girls decided which day they are wearing each outfit. I have my required scrub uniform with optional undershirt. I try to wash these on Saturday so that I can just grab and go during the week.

Next is food, this school year both Lily and Kendall are required to take a snack for each school day. Lily is also allowed to bring a bottle of water. I do keep a small stock of easy to grab items such as Rice Krispy treats and fruit roll up. However, both the girls like to take other things such as popcorn or even chocolate pudding. We pick out the items they want to take for the week and pack it in their bookbags. This is especially important so they can always grab out a snack and one less item on my list.

Finally are lunches. We allow both girls to pack 2-3 times a week depending on the menu. The first step of this process is we print a monthly lunch menu, each girl then reads and circle what items they will be eating or writes pack. No matter what day of the week they chose to pack on we prepare ahead on Sundays. I purchased two years ago “lunch boxes” they are plastic containers with 3 separate areas, the down side is that they will leak but they is usually not a problem. The girls pick what they want in their lunches and it is pack. The “finished” box sets in the fridge until the morning they are packing. We have discovered several easy and favorite meals, they include:
Sandwich sushi- this is a tortilla with meat, cheese and mayo rolled and sliced into bite size pieces.
Toasted peanut butter and jelly sandwiches- by toasting the bread it stays fresh for the week.
Chicken nuggets- Think lunchable on this one. I go ahead and fry the chicken nugget on Sunday, place in a container with ketchup or other dipping sauce. This is Kendall’s favorite and she has never complained about it being cold.
Pickles – I cut these to fit in one container.
Carrots and Ranch dressing.
Tomatoes and/or green peppers- this was a favorite during August when we had lots of tomatoes in the garden.
Graham crackers with nutella to dip in.
Applesauce, jello or pudding- I usually pick one of these and mix up a batch. One box of either jello or pudding fits perfectly into 4 of the small compartments. I pour each into the compartment and set in the fridge, it doesn’t spill because it has settled prior to going in the lunch bag. This is a huge money saver as I can make a box of pudding for less than a dollar compared to a pre-packaged 4 pack for around $1.50. The girls also enjoy having a choice each week.
Cheese and crackers- either American slices or cheese sticks depending on what is available.

I also take my lunch most days, I can pack with the girls but I usually grab a dinner plate that is made from left-overs, because I can use a microwave at work. Other days I have a soup stash at work.

Do you have an easy lunch idea to add?

Best Laid Christmas Plans!

Posted on December 4, 2013 by Sheila

At the start of last week, I was excited, in my mind, I had a list of things to accomplish over the holiday weekend which would have me well prepared for December. So the best laid plans have now been way scattered. First Lily was sick on Monday and stayed home from school. Next Matt became sick on Wednesday and pretty much was out of commission till Friday. Finally, the Christmas tree that I was so excited to arrive on Thanksgiving morning and even comment how much fun and easy it was to decorate has fallen twice now! Which resulted in late night re-decorating and cleaning.

Third time decorated!

So now I have a list of things that I need to get caught up on prior to Lily’s Birthday, which is Friday. Here is the short version:
1. Complete and order 3 photo gifts including a calendar for my dad!
2. Seal, address and send Christmas cards.
3. Wrap all presents so that we can use my closet again!
4. Complete decorations outside.
5. Complete Christmas shopping, luckily this involves only 1 more present besides the photo gifts.
6. Ship gifts to family out of state.
7. Budget for December as well as a new system budget for next year! I may be able to postpone the new budget another week as I am sure this is more brain power than I have left.

Matt has graciously agreed to take over the house cleaning this week so that it is presentable for Lily’s party but I still need to order tickets for Disney on Ice on Saturday!

Moving Rooms-Remodeling on the cheap!

Posted on December 1, 2013 by Sheila

The old master bedroom has seen it’s fair share of updating and painting. Prior to her senior year, Haley decided to paint it a bright blue and pic, (check it out). The other big change came in 2010 when we pulled up the carpet and placed a laminate floor down. At the time, we chose a cheap laminate with the idea that in about 5 plus years we would need to update and replace. However in less than three this is what the floor looked like…

Part of the problem was a cat with a major behavioral issue but I firmly believe that the majority of the problem was the quality of the laminate.

With Haley’s decision to move to her father’s, we knew we would need to replace the floor prior to Lily moving into that room. So that is what we have been working on the last several days. I am very pleased with the result. In total we spent $500 for a new toilet, paint for the half bath that is attached and new flooring for bedroom, walk in closet and half bath. This is a vinyl laminate that is self adhesive. It took us about 4 hours to lay the floor and that included the mandatory breaks that occur with three children in the house.

Lily’s bed with the new floor

New commode with the opps paint we purchased for $10.

Thanksgiving 2013

Posted on November 28, 2013 by Sheila

This was a somewhat different Thanksgiving for us this year, out of the past 10 years we have travelled to Michigan for at least 7 or 8 to celebrate with Matt’s family. However this year, I am required to be available for work on Friday so travelling was out of the question. I have spent the day shopping and eating! This morning I shopped online at JC Penny’s prior to a quick trip to CVS to pick up candy, soda and Nyquil. Matt and all three of the kids are fighting colds. Lunch was at my parents and then the adults sat around looking at the Black Friday ads, while the kids played. One of the highlights of the day was my hour and half nap. We decided to decorate our live Christmas tree and since it is smaller than normal we chose to use only about 1/3 of our ornaments. I hope to post pictures of all our decorations later this week.

I ended the night with a trip to Walmart. Matt and I had planned to have a black Friday date but since he is feeling really bad, I decided to venture out alone. I did miss both the skillets and crockpots but I managed to grab a steam mop, pajamas, socks and Zach a guitar.

A very different low pace day but I have to say it was one of my favorite.

Just Too Busy! What Have We Been Doing?

Posted on November 7, 2013 by Sheila

I knew that the past several weeks had been busy and I felt exhausted, but I didn’t realize how tired and busy we all were until last night! Because of the kids whiney, crabby and bad behavior, I made the decision that no one was going to church instead it was going to be an early night for all. I debated this decision as the kids needed to practice for their veteran’s day performance, but I am feeling very strongly like it was the best one. Everyone was asleep by 7pm and although they did whine today the improvement is very noticeable!

I actually have been off work for two days; yesterday, Wednesday, I went with Amanda to have some pilar cyst removed from her scalp. Today, the little kids, Matt and myself headed to Matthew for eye appointments for Lily and Kendall. Lily received awesome news because her left eye is getting strong and we most likely will be getting a lower prescription when we return in three months. Kendall, whose teacher voiced some concerns to us, is going to start patching her left eye daily. The doctor does not feel like this eye is getting weaker but that instead as Kendall grows we are noticing the weakness more and they will be able to get a more accurate prescription for her as she now can read the letters.

After the appointments, we headed to IKEA. A quick stop at the OLD Navy, provided Zach with a jacket and a coat. But the most exciting news for all of us was the Zach is now officially tall enough to play in the play area at IKEA. Matt and I enjoyed 90 minutes of shopping kid free but I still think Zach was the most happiest about it. We ended up going to the Dollar store for items for Operation Christmas Child and ended up stopping at Olive Garden for dinner. Today, was another busy day but all the little kids really enjoyed it and both Zach and Kendall are again asleep by 7pm! Here is proof he can get it!

Finally tall enough!

October in Review

Posted on November 2, 2013 by Sheila

Financial goals: I will start by saying that I almost did not post this update because of how poorly we did in this area.

Pay off Lawn mower by March 2014, so no interest is charged. Payment of $100 made, almost a triple payment. I have also made a plan to pay this completely off in January!
Pay off all outstanding debt except the mortgage by June– We missed this goal obviously but my new goal is June 2014!
Emergency fund to $2000– Need to start forming a plan to met this goal. I have currently zapped this fund.
Maintain a budget using a form of the envelope system -I know how much I spent last month but it is way over budget
Groceries: Spend $600 or less a month I have ended up spending double this amount this month. The only bright spot is that I have an monthly average of $650 for the year so I am going to try and reduce this to $600 for the year.
Gas- Goal Met!! We currently have $49 left in our gas budget which is going to help cover the groceries.

Blogging: Goal: 15 per month I had 14 post in the month of October. The last week was super busy and I just did not get caught up. I guess that is why it is a goal!

Devotions: Goal is 5 a week Goal Met! I am really enjoying my morning time.

Weight: Goal to exercise 3x a week and to be down to 150 by December by losing around 4 # a month.. Continuing to look at and think about this goal.. Enough said.

I have met one goal this month… Room for lots of improvement! Since I failed on both my blogging and budget in October, I am going to set a goal to post at least one post a week about how we are saving money in November. This will hopefully keep me accountable and focused on saving not spending!

Teens Tots and Everything In Between

Life, Love and Coupons

Category Archives: Life