Down with the Chimney...

The chimney came down most of the way today. They will finish and clean up tomorrow then we have to decide if we want to move a corner window and wall it in to add it to the space the chimney used to be in or make that a wall only with no window.  We also have not decided if this is to be our dining room or living room . Lots f choices.. And tomorrow is the day he will bring us more siding in the colors we are down to for siding.  Khaki or Clay.  I wish I  had a computer program that would color my own house.

Asbestos siding removal & marital disagreement

Something that my husband Was very upset with me about was that I would not allow him to put his mask on from the military and a suit and remove the Asbestos siding on his own. I realize that the Military mask is made to allow a soldier to breath in the event of military warfare. BUUUTT...   I worried about his health and the pieces of siding getting in the air on his suit and getting around the house. Today a company came in to remove it for us at a cost of  $700.00  This is a 8 x16  piece of the house that needed removed. Jim could have removed it for free. If I could have made it up to him by paying for it out of my own pocket I would have, however we have the same money being married so  that was not possible to pay him with his own money.  So Here are the steps they take to remove the Asbestos Siding. If you mention the siding my husband gets mad about it all over again... Every time.

Babies standing in the crib. They watched the Dumpster be delivered for the yard and construction waste . Then the Truck pulled up for the asbestos Removal

So happy to see this sight.
It means that they are starting the work that we have been waiting for. 

{

This is the guys sizing up the job before putting suits on.

Once the guys had suits and masks on they  removed a large board that was covering a hole in the house.
{This was a house that had been foreclosed on  when we purchased it. The main part of the house was a one bedroom. One story built in the late 1800's. Since many additions have been built as the house has been burnt 3 times due to electrical. The last time it was rebuilt was 1957. In the 70's a loan had been taken out to remodel as well. This is the loan that  resulted in foreclosure.} (All information about this house has been from older people in our town)  

If you look to the left hand side of this pic you will see
the spray handle and also the tape that is taping the area off.
One of the things they had to do to begin was tape the area off with tape that says warning
 asbestos. They also had to
  cover everything on the ground with plastic
and spray it with water. It all went into this cardboard bucket which was taped and sealed shut to be sent to a
Dump site.  They will take the bucket to their dumpster they then take that to the dump site near Lansing where they  cover it with clay so it does not blow into the air.  

They had to try to remove each piece without breaking it. If any was broken then the
guy with the sprayer had to  spray    as to not get any in the air. 

stouffers enchilada bake my version recipe

Sorry the pics are horrible.. "This is what I came up with when I was trying to replicate the stouffers  enchilada bake as I hate paying 12.99 a box for the amount you get in it.

2 cans green chili enchilada sauce,
1 large family size can of cream of chicken soup and one small size
2 large cans of canned chicken and one small sized can
 18 corn tortillas,
chicken broth,
 3 boxes chicken fajitas rice.
Shredded Cheese
Step one: Soak the shells in chicken broth for 5 minutes to soften them
Step Two: cook the Rice using box directions (this is the hardest  part) 

Step 3: Mix the cream of chicken soup
 and enchilada sauces. Set aside 1 cup of the mixture for the top. 

Step 4  starting with a layer of 6 shells across the bottom of your pan, Spread chicken, sauce mixture   and sprinkle some of the chicken, rice  and cheese. Keep layering. When you get to the top layer of shells add the sauce that was set aside and sprinkle with cheese. 

Cook for 40 minutes at 350 

Get your kids to eat calcium

Milk
Yogurt Dipped  fruit
cheese
calcium fortified soy milk
orange juice
tofu
fish bones like in Salmon
almonds
sweet potatoes
hummus
peas
cucumber
apple
mac and cheese  (when you cook it using milk and real cheese)
Add milk to items you cook like hot cereal adds

Grilled Chicken Salad

Grilled Chicken Salad

 Being that we had no menu it was a spur of the moment food night. Here is what I threw together for Mondays Recipe of the week

1.I Thawed out bonless skinless chicken and had jim cut it into strips

The mommy panel Question personalty traits

What personality traits do you hope your kid will grow up to have?

First of all I want my children to love God and respect him. I want my children to grow up to be honest, kind and compassionate. To have compassion for other human beings no matter what country they live in.  I want them to be their self no matter what others think.  I want them to be the kind of person that knows they do not have to be perfect to be Christian.  I want them to know the power of honesty and the destruction of lies so that they will take pride in honesty. Stick up for yourself when needed.

another surgery this week court..late menu update 2 many pics sorry

 I had this done just not posted. ha ha We had court MONDAY which made it a busy day as well as Monday is a homework day. We ate frozen pizzas; This does not happen in this house very often at all so I think we can handle it for a day. Alex and James were busy playing cars and having a blast. We took some time to read and when it was bed time we read a book to get all of their wiggles out. Sierra and James have been working on following directions for school. A much needed lesson for Alex is Listening and following directions as well as paying attention. A great game that works on this is Simon says so the book I have  was great It is clap your hands by Lorinda Bryan Cauley. Each page interacts with the child by asking a question or having them do an activity like “reach for the sky, wiggle your toes.” The kids loved it.

Surgery  Was Wednesday during the day so I told the kids they would  have to help Jimmy Daddy with Dinner. That is okay though as Alex loves to be the Jr cook.


How did court go monday???.. Well  one of these days when I no longer want this to be a family friendly blog I might tell ya...  we do have another hearing though..
 Tuesday was a great day for the babies as they all got a present from Mrs Judy for our part in the reading challenge we did with them....

Wed Surgery went well ..My blood pressure was very low and they had to get it back up before they would release me but other than that  I was fine. I came home and helped kids with reading homework and chores... Once they seen mom doing work after the surgery they knew I meant business and got the chores done.. ha ha.  yeah right.. they all decided they would clean the bathroom as that is the easiest chore.. ha ha.

Wednesday at the hospital very swollen and trying to share my
food with Matthew .. had to eat to leave... 

Matthew and his book

Matthew and his book 2 

Sierra and her book Tuesday

School at the house with the babies and the teacher .. we get down on the floor and make a mess and have
a blast

James and his book and certificate 

Tuesday

The construction starts Monday and so we had to get some things in the house done as well as clean around the outside of the house so there is nothing that the guys  have to step on while working... As much as I tried to stop working so I could heal things had to be done. I am sore and beat... the kids had a blast playing in the yard. especially Alex and the baby boys.. The other kids got bored quicker but Alex and the baby boys kept playing until we made them come inside. Mosquito repellent worked pretty well though they have some bites. Ugggh  I am so sore and Dead and If you are a mom you may know what I mean when i say don't go in for surgery and expect to come home to relax to heal. I still had tons to do and Jim told me on Friday my 3 days were up.. The doc said i should be ready to work within 3 to 4 days... if they just explored... since they cut and burned some adhesion's and some Cysts.. I think I get more days. .. but hey.. I did dishes while sitting on a stool as no one could.. Kate still made it to church on Wed and Sunday 2 times and meg still got her cookies baked for class.  This is a week late.. and I need to make a menu for monday of this week.. I was so swollen from surgery this time as they had to breath for me and they bruised me everywhere.   If  Jim every has to have a surgery he better hope his mom is around to baby him because if it is up to me I will teach him a lesson... If someone is going to tell me to sit and  don't worry just rest they better be wiling to work.... get the things done that need to be done and know that we have a deadline means get your butt motivated..... I was   on my hands and knees working on wed... and it was BULL @#$# quite honestly... Thats about all I have to say about that subject... 

Monday: Frozen pizzas… Yuck

Tuesday: Crockpot steak with gravy, mashed potatoes and green beans.

Wednesday:  Taco salad

Thursday:    Leftovers

Friday:    Grilled chicken sandwich. (Boneless skinless) with homemade fries and chips and dill pickles the kids love.  that is too much work with my surgery so I am opting for something easy... Tacos are very easy as we still have lettuce cut up and lots of tomatoes...

Saturday: 

For breakfast we make  the green eggs and green juice for the kids as well as green pancakes while we listen to Irish music. Somewhere I have last years pictures.  Anyways this year I am not sure f we will do the breakfast hing or not as I am still sore from surgery and just now getting Mondays menu plan on the site.. We have had to go to the file on  my computer to see what was for dinner all week.

Sunday:    Hoping to have a Sunday dinner after church if i feel like going.. Don't even feel close to going.. 

Easy Cure for a squeaky bedroom door...

My bedroom door was squeaking so loudly when I opened it that it would wake up the babies every time so a while ago I put some vegetable oil on the hinges and just wiped off the excess so it would not ruin the wood. It has been awhile and it was starting to  squeak again so I just did it again.
My Sons dad told me in court he reads my blog... Hey Derek! Maybe you could do that to Alex's door on the car so it is not so hard for him to open.... It only takes a few seconds... and works for a long time... 

Ratatouille Recipe

Ratatouille

Ingredients

Egg plant

Red pepper (small)

4 zucchini

Large onion

 Garlic clove chopped up

Large can chopped tomatoes

Tomato puree

2 tablespoons’ olive oil

2 pinches basil (dried or fresh will do)

 5 seasons: a container with an equal mixture of Salt, pepper, seasoning salt, onion, and garlic powder. It is easy to mix them up as I use this mixture for almost everything I cook.  

Vegetable Pizza

 Veggie Pizza

Use anything you want for pizza crust. 

They sell packets to make your own crust, Crust that is made already and Crust that comes in a tube like Refrigerator biscuits. We have also used the crescent rolls that came in a tube before. In that case line the pan with them so they are flattened out like a crust.

Cook the crust and let it cool. 

Mix cream cheese  with a ranch packet to flavor and spread it on the crust. Be sure to add your Ranch a little at a time and taste it so you don't get it to strong. Top with your choice of veggies like carrots, broccoli, radish, onion or whatever you prefer. 

mommy panel first two weeks of being home with your new baby

What was the most challenging thing during the first two weeks of being home with your new baby?


 This one is funny when I think back to my 17 year old. My first baby.For one, I was still shy and too embarrassed to breast feed him in front of my now Ex husband. Second was that I had to take him to the bathroom with me and everywhere else I went. My mom laughed at me. She said "Miss you don't have to take the baby with you everywhere. It is okay to let him stay in the other room so you can use the restroom. Last was that I slept with my arm up in the bassinet that was next to my bed so I could feel him breathing and I checked on him every second so I got no sleep. I laugh at this but that thing where you keep making sure they are breathing does not go away with your 8th child either. 

Michigan unemployment, a graph for electric

Michigan Unemployment is ending soon and will leave a big dent in our income.  I want to first thank God that we own our home free and clear. When Jim was in Iraq we  paid it off. I wanted him to come home and not have to worry about a house payment on top of  us getting used to all the life changes we have made.It is time to do the spring cleaning of our bills.   Do we need this or that? If not it has to go. We have to figure out what we are doing as I am in the middle of surgery after surgery and Jim being injured still and going through the VA we have not had enough discussion with anyone  about options for his future. If you remember  or have been here long enough, that Nursery project took him months to complete because of his back. So this is where we are with everything and I made a list of ways we can try to save. 

First thing we need to do is look over our bills and see which ones can be lowered.

1. Home owners insurance: I know that we have it on the insurance that we are able to have a fireplace. Since we are having the fireplace removed in the construction project I need to have the insurance company take this off the insurance. We had it on in case we wanted to burn wood but have never used the fireplace.I know it also cost extra money because I left the smoking clause in there. The truth was if one of the children ever decided to find a cigarette (god knows where As we don’t smoke and they go no where) Then we would be covered.  I am pretty sure we can take that off of there and save some money. Ha Ha I think I was a little over cautious on that one.
2. Cable bill can be lowered by us shutting off the cable television. We do not allow the kids to watch many shows on it anyways besides children’s shows. We have a ton of movies and if we hook up one of those TV boxes we can get lots of channels. My girls watch the regular TV at my dads and love it. They watch all the oldies like Shirley temple. 
3. Using leftovers when you menu plan saves money as well. Think about all the otherwise wasted food. This one is a big one in our house. If you look at last weeks menu you can see how I planned my menu based on things I had and then made a shopping list to go with it.
4. With our big family we have been having a challenge to see how much garbage we can recycle. This will save us the cost of one container a month. Right now we have 2 that they pick up.Because it is spring we will keep both for one more pay cycle and then we are cancelling one. I figure we should try to keep it for the spring cleaning. This money will  go towards family fun trip of some sort.  We are down to one by the way as we have been recycling so much but I am using this for spring cleaning so that is why we are keeping it for one more billing cycle.
5. Making sure we are planning ahead for meals and always making a menu plan for the week saves money.  
6. Going to the grocery store 1 time a week with a list. 
7. We need to start using coupons again. I am running out of supplies that I had stocked up on like soaps. 
8. Having the kids do the electric challenge seems to be a great idea. I will share this with you.They just have to try to beat last years at this time. We have really done it this time as you can see by this graph. This is in our account for Electric with consumers. I love all these great features of paying online. Oh and it saves us money every month that we woudl otherwise have in fees. 

http://whipperberry.com/

Bi-polar parenting M's new attitude

I was standing in the Kitchen the other night telling  M, I do not understand where her new attitude came from and that she needs to do her chores. "No! I am not doing it!" "Fine M, If that is how you want it then you need to stay out of the living room with no Television, no computer and you are  still grounded from leaving the house"  Her homework is behind, her clothes are not being hung up and I do not understand where this new attitude came from. Suddenly Z comes up and says "Mom, Can I call my Grandma?" I turn to him and say "Yes, Honey that would be fine."  M turns to me and gives me a rotten look and says "bi-polar, You were just mad at me and you talk all nice to him" I said "M, I can not punish him and be upset with him because I am mad at you for not doing your chores or homework. Do you want me to get mad at you when he gets in trouble?"  Sigh.... It just seems like I went through this with K who seems to be getting over it... though she is still behind on her homework and needs to get caught up.  Her step mother was good enough to help her the other weekend when over there. This was a nice change as usually it has been that when they go to their dads they do not do homework and end up further behind. hoping for her to get some caught up this weekend. M on the other hand seems to have left hers here. Conveniently.

simple woman's day book night 3 am edition

FOR TODAY    NIGHT let’s take the sugar coating off the cereal.

Outside my window...The drunks are speeding by here and there. Oh, come one who else is out this time of night? I know a few in particular that it would make my day if they would get pulled over just once more. Of course the Christian in me prays that they will have good things happen to them. So I better throw those last thoughts out the window. P.s it is not snowing this week on Friday for a change. Of course it could change by the AM. this is Michigan.

I am thinking... that my daughter Sierra is going to end up one spoiled rotten little girl the way her dad does anything and everything for her when he hears her cry.  It is begging to upset me because it is getting worse. Of course her and her strawberry milk are in my bed right now and I am up.

I am hearing: wow the sound of Sierra crying when Jim tried to put her back in her own bed. Oohhh… nope there she went in ours again.

In the kitchen...   Yeah… I am not real big on the kitchen at this time of night.

I am wearing... Pajamas

I am creating...This blog post

I am going...  no where this time of night but would be really interested in sleep at this point.
I am wondering...  how I will ever get everything I need to get accomplished in the next 1 week. It will have to be with God’s help because it is a lot.

I am reading... this blog post to proofread it as I write it. That is about it.
I am hoping... I am always hopeful that is what keeps me going.

I am looking forward to... a very busy week to end and get some rest and relaxation though I think that will not be until after construction starts that I might get to relax. They are starting with the outside and siding.

I am learning that all seasons pass and then we miss them. I am learning to enjoy even the nights like these where I am up at 3:30 Am and my daughter is in my bed and will not sleep.

Around the house...Busy busy busy

I am pondering...  the blog posts I started and did not post yet. One is on lowering some of our bills around here. Pretty mush nothing I post will be in a set order as I post it as it is happening. I do try to do this day book every Friday though and the menu on Monday.

A favorite quote for today... the one that was on grandmas’ night stand when she passed. Life is not measured by the breaths we take, but the moments that take our breath away<<< I want to point something out about last week’s quote. Grandma, sometimes those moments that take your breath away are not good ones! Did you realize that? I am sure you did. I wonder what the quote for that is? Oh I know “BREATHE JUST BREATHE”

One of my favorite things...  right now it would be sleep.

A few plans for the rest of the week:  Well the insurance did not cover the Doc I had planned for my son so I am waiting for an appointment with the one that it does. Then there is court on Monday (His dad is fighting the order the judge signed as he does not agree with it) this is reality people. As I said in the header up there, I did not follow Gods rules and now I have things that I would not otherwise have had. Like Child support cases, Court dates etc etc… It is so funny lots of times when I post anything to do with god I lose readers then I get readers from a Christian based sight and I lose readers if I blog about anything that Is not in a perfect little world. Well this is my world and it is not perfect. As I stated before we are not the Duggars. he he  Which by the way I am not so sure that those girls are happy about always having their moms baby on their hip taking care of it. I still have not watched the show though only been reading about them. My daughter is sleeping in there and I am off to bed .

Foods to eat for the "Health" of it

        This was my dinner tonight. I looked forward to it since last week
when I  bought this Asparagus. It is on my
 menu plan Monday  though I made some stuffing to go with it.

Avacados/ Eyes

Nopales “prickly pear” lowers blood sugar (we have this in our yard.) 

Kale fight cancer

Brussels sprouts reduce blood pressure

Kiwi for fiber

Edamame instead of meat to lower cholesterol

Basil and asparagus for inflammation

Green tea or green peppers for antioxidents

Green beans for your blood sugar

Asparagus for your intestinal health

Source: This web page

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Nutrients that can be sprinkled on food for starving children

Future Fortified  is saving lives and helping women and Children around the world get proper nutrients. If you are like me and don't have money to donate to this great cause you can help with the click of a mouse. Share this post. The more people that share it the more that will see it. Spreading the word is a great way to get this information out to those who may able to donate.

Sprinkling a packet of future fortified on her childrens'  food  3 Cents 

The ability to give her children nutrients that will help with brain development and overall  health.

 Priceless

Check out these Nutrition Stats

• Nearly 2 billion people around the world suffer from a lack of proper nutrition.
• Globally, 1 in 3 of all childhood deaths are due to maternal & child under-nutrition while malnutrition contributes to 3.5 million maternal and childhood deaths each year.
• 11% of diseases globally are caused by under nutrition.
• 60% of the developing world is physically stunted which is generally caused by diets that are lacking sufficient nutrients and by high rates of infectious disease.

Sources: The World Bank, "Scaling Up Nutrition: What Will it Cost?" 2010 The Lancet, "Maternal and Child Undernutrition," Special Series, 2008 Copenhagen Consensus Challenge Paper, "Hunger and Malnutrition," 2004 The Micronutrient Initiative, "Investing in the future, a united call to action on vitamin and mineral deficiencies, Global Report," 2009.

Not too long ago I was able to win a music DVD for myself and a $40 donation to Bright Future International.    I ran across a question that someone was asking, “why not American Children?”  Here is some of my response. “I know I have heard so many times by people that we should help those in our own country first but I believe that we are ALL gods people not just Americans. I wish more people understood that!) (It is nice to see an organization to help in the United States as well but I have never seen where god said that his people only resided in one country. I have been taught since I was a toddler "Jesus loves the little children of the WORLD" That is just the way I see it.” 

With that being said we all know that I am really touched by people helping people.  I was recently asked to look over a campaign for future fortified and let Mom central know if I would be interested in writing a blog post on it.  

I looked over the material and learned that Future fortified is a small packet of vitamins and minerals that can be sprinkled onto food to provide essential nutrients to women and children that would otherwise not have access to healthy food.  People donate money to them and they make the packets available to women and children at an affordable price.   If you would like more information feel free to check out these links.

 Check out Future Fortified by clicking here.

Frequently Asked Questions 

Download »

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FutureFortified
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/futurefortified

“I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Future Fortified. To thank me for my contribution, Mom Central donated $20 to the Future Fortified campaign.”

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Penne Noodle Lasagna

Penne Noodle Lasagna type baked dish

2 pounds penne noodles, cooked and drained.

Then we added 2 jars of spaghetti sauce (It could have maybe used some more sauce I thought but maybe only ½ jars more.)

3 bags of cheese, 3 cup each. We like it cheesy but this was a little much

2 pounds of hamburger seasoned, cooked and drained.

This fit into 2 regular sized cake pans to make 2 dishes.

Spring is here for the day.. so let us go out and play

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Linking to the following wordless Wednesday Parties.

http://mamato3blessings.blogspot.com/  1. {Not Quite} Susie Homemaker  2. My 3rd Baby:EllieAdorn  3. Mommying On The Fly  4. Proverbs 31 Wife~N~Mom  5. The Domesticated Mom  6. caiafa craziness linky  7. Crazy About My Baybah  8. Grampys World W/Linky  9. Fête Foreign  10. The Better Half Blogs  11. Natural Parents Network w/Linky  12. Locomotion of Expressions  13. The Scoop on Poop  14. Joy @ Joy of Desserts (LINKY)  15. All Sewn Up  16. Pinke Post LINKY  17. GrammyMouseTails w/Linky  18. Tina´s WW - Linky  19. Rachel's Giveaways: WW Linky  20. ErikaPrice {Linky}  21. Crinkle Photography  22. Marriage from Scratch (*with Linky*) 23.http://jamonkey.com/sweet-baby-girl-has-a-name/

Menu plan monday clean out that refrigerator

Monday

Breakfast: cereal  

Lunch: leftover chili I made Sunday that was not on the menu last week.

Dinner: This is what I came up with to do with some of the leftovers. Cut up the sausage and add it to sautéed onions mushroom and peppers and add some cooked frozen stir fry veggies I have. Serve over rice.

Tuesday

Homework comes home today.

Breakfast: cereal  

Lunch: cereal for mom leftovers for babies

Dinner: spaghetti

Wednesday

Breakfast: cereal

Lunch: cereal for mom leftovers for babies

ADHD IN CHILDREN AND DIET

The book I am reading I bought at 2^nd avenue thrift store for 1.50. It is called super foods for children. In this book it has a short few pages on using a child’s diet as a way to calm them down.  I learned a long time ago about how you should not give a child chocolate milk before bed as the caffeine will keep them awake. In this book it says not to give them food containing natural salicylates as it has been known to cause hyperactivity in children. Food that contains this  is almonds’, apples, apricots, berries, black berries, raspberries, strawberries, and currants, cherries, cucumbers, grapes and raisins, nectarines, oranges, peaches, plums, and prunes, tomatoes and tomato products.  So reading this I asked myself what could he eat then that follows this? He could not eat off my menu on most days as I use fresh fruits and vegetables.  It says in the book to cut out these items for 4-6 weeks and then introduce them one at a time. It would be hard to do so with Alex as he is at his dads on Tuesday and Thursday evening. I am not sure that they would not feed it to him.  I have thought about a few things concerning Alex’s diet and I realized that his Yahoo’s that his dad send to school for snack along with the chocolate milk he gets at lunch may play a part in hyperactivity.  Chocolate does have caffeine.  Aside from that small article in this book about ADHD this book is packed with great healthy recipes. I am loving looking through it when I get the chance.

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Simple womans Day book late post from Friday..

FOR TODAY

Outside my window...It is Friday again and the roads are slushy.

I am thinking... that this past week has been very different for me. As soon as I posted my day book last Friday I got the call that my grandma had passed. I am usually home all the time and have actually been out and about this week. I went to the hen meeting with grandmas friends. I had a great time and met some very nice ladies. It may take me some time to learn their names. There are 6 new Grandmas in my life now.

I am thankful... for my pain the butt husband. Last week at Grandmas memorial I was so upset that I did not want to speak. He spoke for me.  He also stood up and spoke about grandma to everyone there and gave a good word. He was really there when I needed him.

In the kitchen... I went shopping and bought stuff for chili for next week as well as cereal. I am going to eliminate any cooked breakfasts and eat cereal to save calories. We eat very healthy meals around here but I need to lose some weight and have not been able to exercise with my health problems so it is getting to my waist.

I am wearing...this shirt that came open at my sons’ kindergarten graduation last year. My husband took pictures and did not notice and no one told me. I don’t wear it anymore after that. It was a great picture with my bra showing.  Oh well more embarrassing things have happened

I am creating...a list of what must be done before construction starts.

I am going... to start Zumba as soon as I can.  I missed the Day of Dance this year. We were at Grandmas memorial service. I am not sure if the girls realized we missed it or not.

I am wondering...  how I will ever get everything I need to get accomplished in the next 2 weeks. It will have to be with God’s help because it is a lot.

I am reading... nothing…. To myself as I am too busy. I always make time to read to my kids though. With the boys I am reading Geronimo stilton books. Then we get books from Alex and the kids library books they bring home. We are quite a bit into our reading challenge as I added many of the books they  had read so far this year. I am not able to add.

I am hoping... That my surgery will help me so that I can get back to normal activities

I am looking forward to... a very busy week to end and get some rest and relaxation though I think that will not be until after construction starts that I might get to relax. They are starting with the outside and siding.

I am learning that it is nice to get out of the house alone.

Around the house...Busy busy busy

I am pondering...  what to cook tomorrow. I went of my menu plan and had tomorrow’s meal today. Today was leftover night which I will make for lunch tomorrow. I may end up making that chili.

A favorite quote for today... the one that was on grandmas’ night stand when she passed. Life is not measured by the breaths we take, but the moments that take our breath away

One of my favorite things... a hot relaxing bath.

A few plans for the rest of the week: Today I went to my appointment for Adhesions and my surgery is scheduled for the 14^th.   We are working on rearranging some things as we have less than 2 weeks before construction. Also we have dental appointments and my son has an appointment as he is overactive in class. He does not stay on task. I have looked over some methods of changing his diet to see if that may help though most of the things it says to eliminate, we already don’t use. We also have school for the babies this week and the teacher will be here on Tuesday.


A peek into my day...

It was before he had his hair cut  
but I love the picture of him praying
this was Matthew this year 1 year old. Yes, it looks as
though he could not see through his bangs but he
usually has it wet so it curls up and is not in
his eyes.

This one was James last year 1 year old  he is now 2 . His siblings say Dear lord Thank you for this dinner and day please bless this food to our body AMEN He says "Dear lord thank your for this food and this body AMEN"

http://thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com/

Sheppard’s pie

Sheppard’s Pie

2 pounds Ground beef cooked with one onion salt pepper seasoning salt garlic

12 servings of instant mashed potatoes made per the box directions!

3 cans corn

         8 ounces shredded cheese

Layer ground beef, then corn, then potatoes and cover with the cheese Bake 350 for 35 minutes until cheese is lightly browned on top! Cook longer if you like it browner!

My first Hen meeting with grandmas friends.

First of all so you know what kind of grandma I had, although christian she had a sense of humor.  The first time I met her she asked me for a contraceptive device  to put on an old mans pipe. "What did you say grandma?"

"No I really want one to put on his tail pipe of his car so it will blow up when he starts it." then she burst out with the biggest laugh that I will miss forever. "Yes!!!  I will take this grandma. She is a match." She was a foster grandma in a mentoring program. throughout the years I forgot she was not my real grandma.

Last year grandma asked if I wanted to go to a hen meeting with her. She said its just a bunch of us women sitting around laughing visiting  and eating. "Don't worry we don't pass dirty magazines around and drool at them." she said Well in between being sick and all the stress going on around here with my sons dad in court (which is another blog post I don't get into on here) I did not go with her. I did not make it to fix her computer and I should have tried harder too. (that is a post on taking time for ones you love while they are here even-though I seen her every Tuesday.)

My huge taco salad tonight YUMMY

Off the subject Missy, I went to the hen meeting tonight. My very first one. I met some  of grandma s friends at the what ever (Craw daddy's is called now) I ate this huge taco salad. The one where you eat the bowl. I am planning on going to Zumba with one of the Grandmas. Their were 5 of them there tonight.  I have my doctor apointment tomorrow to talk about my pain from the scar tissue and what can be done about it so we will see how the Zumba does  with the lower back pain. That was night. Jim was sick and was left home with kids all evening. I went shopping before my hen meeting lol... oh 3 of us there tonight have husbands named Jim.  Can the world take any more Jim's? ha ha