Category Archives: Life

Quick Harris Teeter Trip

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It has been a long, busy, emotionally draining week around here. My plan/intention is to write several blog post this weekend about all the happening with Zach and a month in review. But to the good stuff… last night Matt and I both were exhausted and craving something sweet. Our solution..DONUTS! Because the little kids were already tired and close to bedtime we decide to get everyone in pjs and head to Salisbury for donuts.

Of course, I thought we are 5 minutes from Harris Teeter so I wanted to make a quick trip. I have not even looked at the list on Southern Savers but as Matt got Z and Kendall dressed, I took a quick look, printed and clipped a coupon of coupons. I honestly spent less than 5 minutes doing this! I had a raincheck from several weeks ago for 11 boxes of Poptarts for $10. That was the start. I also grabbed a 24 pack of water, 2000 flushes, cottage cheese, sour cream and some creamer for Matt. Total spent $17 total saved $28 or 63%. I am extremely happy with this for two reasons, first the Poptarts were HT brand so no coupons and second I did not have a coupon for creamer either! This is proof that if you are organized, couponing does not have to take over your life!

Beef Stew

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I am not a risk taker. I like to know what I am getting into and if I find something that works then why in the world would I change it. I am especially not a risk taker with food. I will try new recipes and made that one of my goals a couple of years ago. My thought is if it sucks then I don’t make it again and I usually only make things that I like the sound of the ingredients. But all that changed today. We have plenty of food in the house the problem is that none of it is fast food. I decided this morning that I wanted to make soup for dinner. Matt found some beef stew in the freezer and so that was the starting point. Of course I searched my cookbooks with no luck for a recipe that I had all the ingredients for so I decided to look on the internet. By this point I am starting to really that most are all based the same so finally as I hit my favorite site for cooking A Year of Slow Cooking I have been following this site for about 2 years. I decided to try something new I just add the ingredients to a recipe and substituted what I had the results were AWESOME! My cockpot ended up not working, it took me 3 hours to check it so I transferred everything to the stove, add another portion of the liquids and heated to medium, reduced to low and simmered for 2 hours. Here is what I used

1.5 lbs stew beef- thawed and sauteed in oil
1 bag of frozen Cauliflower
1 bag of frozen green beans
1 lb of carrots- chopped to small chunks
1/2 cup of chicken stock leftover from Christmas- didn’t use this the second time because I was out
1/2 cup of Pinot Wine (red)
2 cups of beef broth made from a cube
1 teaspoon of Worcester sause.

A couple of things I will change next time- no cauliflower and maybe less wine.

We will be having leftovers this week with cornbread!

By the way this may be the only cooking post I ever make but I was excited that something worked!

Random Thought Tuesday

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The street out front of the house was a solid sheet of ice until around 2pm today so I was forced to call my scheduled patients and cancel for today. I have therefore been in my pjs all day and plan to change tonight after a long hot bath.

The most repeated phase in my house today “stop screaming” and this is usually to Zach. Why am I so lucky to be blessed with 2 children that like to scream?

Lily is learning so much everyday. Today we talked about measuring and telling time. I love the idea of homeschooling but simply know I am not qualified and could not possible do it.

The girls including D took lots of pictures outside today so hopefully I will have some neat ones to post tommorow.

Matt and I are both continuing to use the Wii Fit everyday. We hope that we both can lose some weight by our trip to Disney. With the ice, the older girl have been using it as well and both Lily and Kendall stand beside a girl and exercise along with them! It is way to cute.

Zach goes to Brenner’s Children Hospital on Thursday to see a Gastrointesinalologist. I hope this will give us answers as to why he is not gaining weight and also to how long he needs the soy formula.

A diet is hard to maintain in a house of people who want to eat all the time and when you have lots of time to cook.

Randon Thoughts Tuesday

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Yes for the record, I waited till today to write this blog on purpose.

Super Doubles starts this week at Harris Teeter..Matt and I will be headed that way on Sunday. We are planning on two separate transactions to get more free stuff!

Matt and I got a Wii for Christmas, we both have been good about using it daily to get some exercise. I am so excited because I have lost 3 lbs already!

My hours at work (hospital) have to increase to 20 starting this week and so far it is going to be a struggle to readjust. I am hoping to have some time off at the end of the week but so far I have worked 2 full days YUCK!

I did not go to CVS this week..nothing I wanted! Matt did make a trip tonight to purchase eye patches for Lily.

I am tired and going to bed!

Year In Review

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I am determined to get this published tonight before the ball drops. I woke up this morning with the verse “This is the day the Lord hath made, let us rejoice and be glad in it” in my head. I knew this meant I need to spend time in praise today. I really didn’t feel like praising or doing anything for that matter but I did begrudgingly. Several times through out the day I have again been urged to “rejoice and be glad in it.” Today was long, I was in a fog most of the morning. This afternoon had been one speed bump after another and another and another. I am reminded to “rejoice” So I am rejoicing that at 8pm tonight, I have time to write and think.

These were the goals/ areas for improvement that I set when I started this blog in January. The good the bad and the ugly is as follows:

Blogging- I have posted 195 post this year. Initially, the idea was to help me stay focused on why I was at home and enjoying the time I had with the kids. The Lord has way different plans for me and as the year ends. I am rejoicing that I now have something to look back on for this year. To remember and reflect. To reestablish that “his ways are not my ways but his ways are always better!”. I plan to continue a goal in 2011 for blogging mainly so that I stay accountable in this area.

Financial- Change, change, change. I can honestly say that we are ending the year in a more secure spot than we start. We are currently playing catch up with our mortgage but that is the only outstanding regular account. Our grocery budget has been at an average of $703 per month with December begin a high month of $1100. Look for this to be a major goal in 2011. I am rejoicing that we are able to afford for one of us to stay at home while the kids are young.

Preschool- This is a goal that won’t be repeated in 2011. The reason for this is that it was a total success. Matt and I have gotten a routine together. School is occurring on average 4 days a week which is greater than my goal of 3. Lily is blossoming and learning. She will be reading prior to June and regardless of if she is placed in first grade or Kindergarten, I am rejoicing that we have been able to encourage and train Lily in this area.

Bible reading- I have improved in this area but it is still one of the weakest. I average a devotional or bible reading twice a week. This also will be an area of improvement for next year.

Diet- FAILED!

Christmas

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Christmas is my favorite time of the year. As I am posting this on Christmas morning the three little one are in my bedroom playing with new toys. Actually I think the girls are now playing with Zach’s new toys as he watches.

This morning was EARLY as usual what made it seem even earlier is that Kendall was up several times last night and Zach threw up again at 3am. We were all in front of the tree to open presents by 6:45am. We tried to let everyone open one present at a time. Lily was so excited by the Tangled playset, we were unsure if she was laughing and crying. Everyone seemed to enjoy their presents. Lily has spent a long time in her room playing with the Barbie doll clothes that she received. By 7:45am both the older girls had taken their stuff to their rooms. Haley has been playing with her camera as well as trying on the new clothes she got. Her favorite so far has been the skinny jeans. Amanda, of course, is back asleep until lunch or so. By 8:45, breakfast has been eaten and cleaned up. The plan for the rest of the day is to enjoy some quiet time, letting the kids play with the toys as much as they want, and starting to work on dinner for Sunday evening. I am slowly taking pictures all day and will hopefully post some starting later today.
Last night, was really neat. We headed over to my parents after nap. We ate open presents and spent the rest of the night playing Rook. It was a neat experience and I hope we do it again in the future :). Matt ended up bringing Zach home around 6 but the little ones and I stayed til 8pm. Amanda and Haley ended staying to 9:30pm then going to Steven and Tara’s church for candle light services.

The Christmas Sprit

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I LOVE Christmas, everything about it except for wrapping of present but hey a girl has to have something to complain about. We are actually ready for Christmas this year. Our balance of work, family and life finally seems to be as close to normal as it ever will be. I set up my snow village prior to Thanksgiving and the tree was up the first week of December. Matt and I spent a whole day working on getting things decorated prior to Lily’s Birthday. The presents are all purchased and wrapped but to be honest I still don’t feel like it is so close to Christmas. I really want to enjoy the kids and everything Christmas related. I have been able to extend Christmas at least by a day so that we can have a huge meal on Sunday next week. No pressure to get the decorations down to quick. I even mentioned this to Matt on Friday and he suggested that our trip to Tanglewood for the lights might just make this seem more Christmas real. Let’s hope so! I know that Blogging will not occur very much next week but maybe some pictures will at least keep me on track for blogging more than last November. So here is the schedule for the week!
Monday-Large trip to Costco for groceries
Tuesday- Lights at Tanglewood
Wednesday- Christmas service at church
Thursday- nothing yet!
Friday-Christmas Eve, working then Dinner at my parents.