Merry Christmas

I hope you all had a great Christmas!! I know I did. ;)


Alex and I were up and ready to start a lot earlier than the girls, but waited patiently for them to rise. Gracie was up first and her excitement just grew and grew as she looked around the living room. First the presents Santa brought, then the plate where cookies/milk were left, her stocking and back to the presents. She woke up Lillie who was just as excited. Both had their wishes come true!


This year we were blessed to be able to celebrate Jesus' birth at church. After a nice service, we finished our Christmas at home and head to Alex's aunts for a couple hours and dinner.


I won't keep you long, but do want to warn you that you are not safe at our house. All of us got nerf guns for Christmas. And Gracie shows NO mercy and takes no prisoners. So, if you wonder in my house unprepared, you may leave wounded. ;)


Now on to the new year.................

Back to the Blog

I have been absent for a few weeks due to my browser not working with Blogger and needing to download Google Chrome for access. I finally broke down and did it (it was free so what did I have to lose) and now have access again. I will plan on getting back to blogging soon. Did anyone else have issues??

Little Bits

It has been a couple of weeks since I updated and not much has changed. We are still trucking along.

School is going strong and both girls are doing awesome.

We have gone on a "field trip" to the Creation Museum in Hebron Kentucky (outside Cincinnati) with a good friend and her family.

We have had family pictures taken.



And now it is November and the time we take to focus on being thankful. There are som many blessings in my life that I am not sure where to start with the list. I will post my list in the near future. For now I leave you with these lyrics:

I am grateful for the things that You have done
I am grateful for the victories we've won
I could go on and on about Your works
Because I'm grateful, grateful so grateful just to praise You Lord
Flowing from my heart are the issues of my heart, is gratefulness

Painting Pumpkins

We painted small pumpkins Saturday. It has beeen sort of a family fall tradition around here. :)

Here are the girls posing:

Here is Gracie concentrating:

Lillie working away:

The finished pumpkins:


Now, they are just waiting until we carve a big pumpkin.

Catch-up

I really liked my meal planning the past two weeks and am going to try and implement it from here on out. I am currently getting ready to plan the next two weeks out and hopefully have good results. I don't know why I haven't really made more of an effort to stick to it in the past.

School it going pretty good. For the most part, we have great days, but every once-in-awhile a grumpy (not so good) day sneaks in. It is those days that I feel like I should just throw in the towel. However, the good out weigh the bad and I can't imagine not having them home and teaching them.

Lillie has made me stand in amazement at how much she has picked up. The other day I caught her reading the subtitles on a movie!! Which makes me smile extremely big. :) Her favorite subjects are math and history and she loves making her timeline for history.

Gracie has learned quite a few of her letters, but only a few from me. lol Lillie has sat down with her and taught her how to write and make the sounds of most the letters. Gracie loves the attention that Lillie is giving her. She loves her big sister and any time she can "play" with her makes her day.

My Menu

Here is my menu for two weeks:

Week 1
Monday:
lunch - Nuggets/fruit/pretzels
supper - Roast/Potatoes/Carrots/French Bread

Tuesday:
lunch - Burger King (We went to IHOP and I ended up having to buy them lunch)
supper - lunchables (we went to the movies so I didn't want to fix a big dinner, so I flipped-flopped with Wed dinner. Wed is usually a busy evening)

Wednesday:
lunch - Fish Sticks/Cheez-it/fruit
supper - Beef-N-Noodles/Mashed Potatoes/Corn (the beef was from part of the roast I cooked on Monday.)

Thursday:
lunch - Grilled Cheese/pretzels/fruit
supper - Pork Chops (hopefully grilled)/roasted potatoes/peas/biscuits

Friday:
lunch - Noodle Soup/PB crackers/Fruit
supper - Tacos/Mexican Rice

Saturday:
lunch - leftovers
supper - Breakfast for supper

Week 2
Sunday:
lunch - planning to go to Little Caesars
supper - sandwiches or leftovers (we have church so nothing fancy)

Monday:
lunch - PB&J/fruit/pretzels
supper - Stir-fry (chicken/veggies/rice)

Tuesday:
lunch - pizza rolls/pretzels/fruit
supper - Lasagna/garlic bread/green beans

Wednesday:
lunch - Nuggets/fruit/cheez-its
supper - lunchables

Thursday:
lunch - Noodle Soup/crackers/fruit
supper - Roasted Chicken/potatoes/broccoli/corn bread

Friday:
lunch - Grilled Cheese/pretzels/fruit
supper - Chicken-N-Noodles/mashed potatoes/corn

I should note, that I don't do a big lunch. It is the basics and pretty much the same sides with each meal. I keep a variety of fruit (grapes/apples/bananas/ raisins/fruit cups/applesauce) on hand for some choice. I usually offer them leftovers as well, if they don't want what I have planned.

Plan in Progress

I sat down last Friday and wrote out two weeks worth of meals (lunch and dinner). In the past, I have just planned the main course, but this time I listed out everything I needed for the WHOLE meal.

Then Saturday (the worst possible day to go)I went shopping for my groceries. I made goal of how much I wanted to spend and made myself stick to the list. I even put something back after I had it in my cart for two aisles. lol

I got to the check-out and waited for my total after-coupons and it was $32 under budget - yay!! I really didn't plan around the sales or used a ton of coupons. In fact, my savings percentage was only 19% (pretty pathetic, I know). This told me that I spend too much money on things I think I will need, but in reality don't. I am sure telling my hubby NOT to come with me helped greatly too!! hahaha

I am doing well this week with sticking to my lunch and dinner plans, I know it is only Wednesday......