Munday Monday...

Well Kevin had to work on his day of today to cover for a couple guys. I got up and finished the laundry, straightened the house and made a pot of Chicken Vegetable Soup. My day was pretty mundane. I just got some computer files in order and deleted a million emails. Why don't we just delete them when we read them or open our email. It really can create a huge backlog.

I'm planning on working tomorrow and going to a coupon class at church tomorrow night. I love learning this savings stuff. You should see my pantry...it is really paying off.

Kevin got home just in time to walk to the bus stop to get Breanna. Cameron had math tutoring after school. I started Bre' on her homework, while Kevin went to get Cameron. They got home and started on his homework. We all just ate and the kids are showering. They plan to watch Ice Age 3 tonight. Kevin and I are going to just relax and watch Heros and maybe a movie of our own.

I bought a oven chicken roaster somewhere many years ago. It is a little 3 piece contraption that allows you to roast a chicken standing up in your oven. It took Kevin and I both to put the thing together. We just now put the chicken in the oven that I had forgotten I had thawed out. Should be ready around 8:30 p.m., it will be a good start for dinner tomorrow. All we will have to do is heat up the chicken, I know we are going to grill some corn and I was thinking of mac and cheese or stuffing (I'll leave that up to Kevin). I'll let you know how my little roaster does.

I just want to say that I am so thankful for the wonderful family I have. God has truly blessed us all and especially me.

Waiting

I've been a little blah this weekend. Kevin had to work all weekend and of course Breanna is gone as well. I just don't do well when the family isn't together. I did have Christopher so that helps a bit. Friday after dropping Breanna off, the boys and I ran to Walmart for a quick meal from the deli. Funny how kids love little things. Equally funny is how I tell them I'm going to bed to watch t.v. in my bedroom and for them not to stay up too late and by 9:00 p.m. they are both sound asleep.

Saturday we had the breakfast pile. Pull a biscuit apart, top with scrabbled eggs, hash browns, bacon or sausage, gravy and then shredded cheese...a favorite for the kids. We cleaned up and headed to Serenity Pointe's Open House. The kids had a great time and enjoyed hot dogs and sweets. They had a pretty good turn out. Made taco salad for dinner. Seemed like we ate all day long. Not really. The boys ended the night playing the Wii. If you have kids I suggest that you let them play video games in earshot, you're sure to get a big laugh.

Today arrived and seemed to be pretty good. Everyone was ready for church and Cameron got sick to his stomach and crawled in my bed. Ended up sleeping for over two hours until I woke him. He said he felt better but had a little fever. After we took Christopher home he came home and ate a dinner of chicken, rice and carrots. We piled on the couch and watched Sleepless in Seattle. I love moments like that. I hope he never outgrows showing his love for me. Nothing like an 11 year old that still likes to hold your hand and hug you.

Nothing Special

Well as soon as the kids got on the bus, Kevin and I headed out to get some good bargains. We really enjoy going from store to store together looking for the best deals they have to offer. We really racked up on meat today. Best time to get meat is first thing in the morning, right after they do the markdowns. Also we go a great deal on turkey today. Walmart had Jennie-O Turkeys for 40 cents a pound. We picked up a 23 lb turkey for Thanksgiving for less than $10.00. Hit CVS and saved 52% and had to make a quick trip back to Walgreen's and saved 56%. Stocked up for the month of November for food and household items. Now I can focus on Christmas, Holiday Dinners and Baking. We had leftovers for dinner...nothing wasted here. Kids pitched in an helped us stock the pantry and Kevin organized the freezer (I'm not allowed to by anything else for the freezer). The kids just went to bed and I'm about to sort laundry and get started on it so I don't have to spend the weekend doing it. Breanna goes to bio-mom's tomorrow and I plan to relax around the house with Cameron and Christopher. By the way we couldn't get the coupon to pull up on the link I gave. We went to CVC anyway, $4.99 wasn't a bad deal for the movie. When we got to the register I had a coupon that printed out for $2.00 off and the cashier let me use it so I got the movie for $2.99, yea!

Busy day at work.

The day started early with me rushing to get ready and Kevin helping me get the kids off to school. Headed out to work at 7:30 a.m. and worked busily all day long. Kevin ran to the grocery store and got dinner along. Kids got home from school and he helped them with homework. By the time I got home dinner was well on its way. We had Turkey Meatloaf, Pinto Beans, Mashed Potatoes, Peas and Cornbread. It was so good. Even though we cook just about every night, there is something so comforting about a meatloaf dinner. The good news is there are plenty of leftovers for dinner tomorrow. So Kevin and I can do our grocery and coupon shopping until the kids get home and have dinner on time. Cameron had a bad night last night, took a while to get to sleep and was upset from getting in trouble so he is tired. Breanna can't seem to get enough sleep. Kevin and I seemed to toss and turn all night. Must have been something in the air. We are going to just stay home tonight. Hate to miss church but we all seem to be dragging. I think showers, set the t.v. timer and slip into a deep sleep sounds like a pretty good way to end the day. Praise God it was beautiful. I should have took pictures while I was working on the mountain today, the colors were amazing.

Nice weather

Well first let me start by telling you I have been awake since 4 a.m. this morning. Don't ask me why. I woke up and you know how you just think...I'll lay here and fall back asleep any minute. As usual I was wrong. Kevin's alarm clock went off at 4:30 a.m., he reset it I guess. At 5 a.m. I said, are you getting up (I had nothing else to do). He got up and yep I still laid there. At 5:30 a.m. he left for work and I gave it another 10 minutes and I had enough. Fluffed clothes in dryer, started the coffee pot (might as well let things work for me a little) and jumped in the shower. Managed to Swifter mop bathrooms and kitchen, finish 4 loads of laundry, put pintos in the crock pot and headed out the door at 9:30 a.m. to lend a helping hand. While out I ran to Greenlife Grocery and picked up some frozen cherries for a recipe I want to try (it better be worth it, over $4 for a small bag of them). If we like it I'm freezing my own next year. Headed home around 4:30 p.m. and went to visit mom who is still recovering from her surgery. I got there as she was preparing dinner (why is she doing this) helped her finish cooking and invited myself and the kids, don't you love it! So just before 7:00 p.m. we got home and Cameron finished his homework, the kids got baths, Bre' went to bed shortly after her shower, she just couldn't stay awake...Kindergarten is a Killer, lol. Cameron is playing the Atari that Carl gave him and is fascinated. Don't you just love a flash from your past and your children getting a kick out of it. All those newly digital mastered game systems and he's playing the Atari Pong game...love it! Kevin just called and worked over tonight so I guess I'll wait for him in the bed and try to stay awake...I am exhausted. Thank God it was a beautiful day...God is good.

Savings tip from friend (haven't printed mine off yet, but I'm on my way):

Get the brand new Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs DVD for only $2.99 this week!! Here's how: Follow the link below to print a $2 off coupon, go to CVS and buy $20 worth of Coke product 12pks on sale for $3.66 each, the DVD will ring up $4.99, use your $2 off coupon and get the DVD for $2.99. YAY!!!!!

http://coupons2.smartsource.com/smartsource/index.jsp?Link=QR7W6QB5B2VPW

Monday, Monday, Monday

Well we have basically survived the first day of the week. After the kids went to school I got the house in order, started laundry, did the coupon thing and cleaned off my desk (seems like everything ends up on my desk). I made more banana bread (my mom wanted more). I adjusted the recipe; added brown sugar, cinnamon, vanilla and have already went back and changed the original recipe on the post. If you wrote it down you might want to go back and add the items and amounts on your recipe. I can't wait to taste this bread since I added those new things and I'm not telling but forgot to put the milk in it. Let's see if anyone says anything. I went through Breanna's clothes again today and yes found a few more things that I can get rid of. I swear she is a weed, lol. Cameron had math tutoring after school today. I had Breanna go ahead and clean her room until time to go get him. He had tons of homework; 4 pages of Math, 3 pages of Spelling and had to finish a letter they started in class. I'm so glad the project was finished yesterday. He actually took it to school this morning and was the first to turn it in. I'm so proud of him. Breanna got 6 of her 9 items done tonight. We always try to do several on Monday because you never know what the rest of the week has in store. We just finished all the homework...finally. Now everyone is taking a shower and going to relax for a little bit before bedtime. Breanna goes to bed at 7:30 p.m. and Cameron goes at 8:00 p.m. I found if they stayed up later that were exhausted in the morning. Breanna has had to give up her naps and of course Cameron is like me and suffers from insomnia, so it take a little bit for him to go to sleep. This going to mostly be organization week. Getting ready to put up Christmas decoration. Yep, I like to put them up early because it is my favorite time of the year and I like to enjoy them for as long as I can. Well I'm getting off here for the day. I might look up some recipes and try something new for dinner tomorrow. Be sure to check it out.

Trunk or Treat a few days late.

Well I got so busy this weekend, I just couldn't find the time to get on here. Forgive me faithful followers, lol.

We got up Halloween morning and Kevin, Christopher and Cameron went straight outside to work on carving pumpkins (they spent over two hours working on their creations). Breanna stayed inside with me and watched the Halloween on Ice show and made more ghost suckers to hand out. It was a real trying day...I think the kids were just so excited they didn't know the concept of listening. For lunch we had leftover pizza...can't go wrong there with the kids. We started getting ready for our trunk or treat. I decorated the trunk with fall items. Everyone knows I'm not that into Halloween, so I was really limited on my selection. I think I did pretty good. The kids got ready; Breanna was Hannah Montana and got all glamorous with the makeup and all, Cameron was a Stick Man (would have looked really good in the dark but you know kids, costume off after about an hour) and Chris was the Hot Dog Vendor. As you can see he had a walking dog for advertisement. Dobie was out hot dog, Opie was the clown and Mojo was the bee...they were a hit. It was a little cold for them but the kids really enjoyed it. We had close to 700 ghost suckers made and came home with maybe 30. I have to admit that towards the end we gave more than one out and we did have a few repeat treater's, but a lot of kids showed up...at least over 500. My Beef Stew was a hit. I am going to go back and change the 2 cans of peas to 1 on my recipe (just didn't need the other).

Sunday we got up and went to the early service. With the time change nobody seemed to really notice. Cameron had to work on a Civil War Report. He had to do a poster, 1 page report and prepare to give and oral report. He decide to do it on the Battle of Bull Run. I was very impressed once he got started how well he did. Of course Kevin kept him interested and guided him. When you have a child like Cameron you have to pick a good day to do a project like this. Thank goodness all went well. For lunch we had hamburgers and Cameron sauteed mushrooms and onions. He was so proud...he is become a good cook. I made some baked beans, which always seem to be a hit. Not much was left over. Thank goodness we got the house cleaned also. It was a very productive day.

One thing I did do is check out the saving at Walgreen's. So excited...I bought $108.82 in items and only paid $49.47. That was a savings of $59.35 and 55%. Awesome!!!!