Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Quick tip!

  Hey! Just wanted to pop in and give a quick tip that I am really enjoying and seems like it will be saving some money in the process! I wish I had a camera in good working order so that I could post pictures with this. Ok, so I read that you could pour some fabric softener in the bottom of a big bowl, and then take an old t shirt or hand towel ( I used a cheap terry cloth rag from Dollar General) and let it soak in the fabric softener. After it has absorbed the fabric softener take it out and allow to dry thoroughly. Guess what?? You have a dryer sheet that will last through many loads!! I am on load 20 right now and it is still working great! When your new dryer sheets starts not working as well you just add a little more fabric softener to it and repeat!! I love finding new easy ways to save money!  Take care!

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Family Pictures












We hope you have a verry Merry Christmas!
Pictures by Brittany Rose Photography
                                                         

Friday, November 16, 2012

  Wow! It is hard to believe it is the middle of November! We have finished school for right now until after Thanksgiving. This year I decided to take a week off from school for the Thanksgiving holiday. Our time off started today with a family photo shoot. We have never been regular about getting pictures taken so it was way overdue! A talented young lady at church has started a photography business Brittany Rose Photography and does a great job. I am excited  to see how they turn out!! After the photo shoot the children played at the park for a while and then we had pizza for lunch. It really was a lot of fun!
  Tonight we are having sloppy joes and homemade curly fries for supper and are playing Monoply Millionaire. It is supposed to be a faster way of playing Monopoly. I am planning on buying a game a week from now until Christmas for us to play on Friday nights. The children will enjoy getting a " surprise" every week and it will build up our game collection as well!! I like having activities we do together that build lasting memories. ( This will be coming out of my grocery budget).
   Tomorrow we will be having a Thanksgiving supper at our church. it will be nice to fellowship and eat together. There are turkeys and hams to bake and gravy to make. I will be the green lady tomorrow as I will be taking broccoli  casserole with jalapenos and broccoli salad. The broccoli casserole w/jalapenos is a recipe I tried while a guest at someones home. I really liked it. The broccoli salad is a request from Kevin. Hey, if he is happy I am definitely a winner!!! All of the ladies bring side dishes so I know we will have lots of yummy food!!
   On Sunday we will be having a visiting missionary for lunch. I am still thinking about what to fix for that :).
    I will leave with the recipe for Cheesesteak Sloppy Joes.

                           Cheesesteak Sloppy Joes
                       
                       1 lb. of hamburger or deer burger
                       onion
                       bell pepper
                       beef broth
                       streak sauce
                       provolone cheese
       
      Brown the ground beef with the onions and bell pepper. You can cut these to taste and add as much as you would like. Drain the meat. Add just enough beef broth to cover the meat. add 2 Tbsp. of steak sauce.
Let the meat simmer until most of the liquid is evaporated . Put it on hamburger buns and add provolone  cheese. Our whole family liked these and that's saying a lot!!

Take care and have a blessed weekend!

Friday, November 2, 2012

  Hey! Just wanted to post a little of our last two weeks. We have picked up family, dropped off family, enjoyed time with my mom ( and a little time with my dad),welcomed a new neice who is just adorable,loved on nephews and a sweet sister in law that we rarely see, cooked, cooked, cleaned, had more family in and still found time to do school everyday!! It has kept me on my toes a little more than normal.
  The children and I have been battling sinuses and colds this week. It has been wonderful to be able to stay at home and do school while still being able to rest some if needed!! With the cooler weather we have also been able to run the fireplace in the mornings which makes for a cozy spot to have my devotions and read with the children throughout the day.
   I have come across two recipes in the last two weeks that we really enjoyed. One was  "cheesesteak" sloppy joes and the other was taco casserole. I will try to post the recipes in the next day or so.
   Today we are having canned chicken noodle soup for lunch. After only getting three hours of sleep last night due to being so stopped up it sure does sound yummy and easy. I will probably take a small nap a little later to give me an extra boost. -)
   My aunt and cousin and her family are down and will join us for supper tonight . We are having chili and monterey jack cheesy cornbread. Maybe we can whip up a dessert as well.
   I cannot close without sharing some special blessings. On Sunday night our church had a fellowship meal after the service. Kevin and I were blessed by a card for me ,signed by the ladies of our church, and one for him signed by the men.. A sweet young lady also made us a beautiful cake!! Not only was it pretty, it tasted really good too :) God has been so good to me!! Salvation was the greatest gift He has given me and along the way He has added so much more!! Have a blessed weekend!

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Cheesy Broccoli Chicken Noodle Soup

Hey! I thought I would share the recipe from our lunch today. It has a LONG name but it is yummy!
                       
                Cheesy Broccoli Chicken Noodle Soup
                                     
                 2 chicken breast ( I use bone in)
                 1 bag frozen broccoli
                 Velveeta  or sliced cheese
                 1 bag of egg noodles
                  Milk
 
Boil your chicken in a pot big enough for the soup. Don't add too much water since you want to be able to add a little milk at the end. After chicken is through cooking remove from pot and dice, cube or shred. Add egg noodles and frozen broccoli to the pot. By the time the noodles are through the broccoli will be too :). You need to keep an eye on it since you there is not a whole lot of extra liquid in the pot. When the noodles and broccoli are done add in your chicken and cheese. I just eyeball the cheese. Today I used 6 pieces of sliced cheese and it was a plenty. At the very end add a little milk to make it soupy. You probably don't HAVE to add the milk but it does add a creamy texture. I wish I could have added a picture but my camera is on the blink :(.  This was the first soup I thought of with this cooler weather today. I like soup anytime of year but there is something special about having it when the temperature starts to fall :)  Have a great day!

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

It's Tuesday!

  Hey! I  really like Tuesdays. The week is rolling along, school is at a steady pace and most of the time the house shows the fruit of a good Monday of getting things back in shape from the weekend. Well, not today! There is lots of cleaning and laundry and schooling to do today. It's not too bad though as we have gotten off to a pretty good day with school and the house.
  My personal goal today is to get my kitchen table cleared again. The paint has dried in my kitchen cabinets so I can put everything back now. It was fun to eat and school in the family room for a little while but I am ready to be back in the kitchen. We are having beef enchiladas, spanish rice and refried beans for supper. Lord willing we will be eating our supper at the table!!
   I am hoping to get my camera working soon so that I can post a few pictures of our family and our days. I hope you are having a good week! Take care!

Monday, September 3, 2012

Happy Labor Day!

   Hey! We had a great weekend!I was able to go on church visitation for the second month in a row!! I am so thankful for a sweet friend and my sweet sister staying with the children so that I could go. I also had a sweet friend go on a visit to a lady who had visited our church! I am surrounded by sweet people!! :) I came home and made some chicken and rice, cream corn and homemade biscuits. Guess what??? the biscuits were good!! Yay!  My little niece stayed over night with us. She is an only child ( for another 6 wks) and she enjoys all the playmates she has when she comes over. While our little one was taking a nap I snuck off to Walmart, Lowes and Big Lots to look for a new curtain for my kitchen. It was nice to have a little while to clear my head and look around. I did all of this in about 1hr. For supper we had an easy pancake meal, gave the little ones a bath, had devotions and laid out everyones clothes for Sunday!! Sunday we had chocolate chip muffins and blueberry muffins for breakfast. We had a Wonderful day of services! The messages were a   blessing and the Spirit of the Lord could be felt in the singing and testimonies! God is soo good!!
   Today we have been invited to my sisters house for lunch! Yay! I am taking baked beans,chili and buns since I was planning on cooking that for us already -). It will be fun to be able to go visit with her for a little while! We will have cajun red beans and rice with smoked sausage for supper. I recently bought $100 lbs of red beans for $40! A friend also bought 100 lbs of black beans for $40! We split the beans 50/50 so now we both have 50 lbs of each bean!! We are planning on going to a revival meeting tonight so we will need to have supper pretty early. Tomorrow we will start back on the school schedule again bright and early!!
  Please pray for a dear friends mom who will start radiation and chemo treatments this week.
Take care! Have a blessed week!

Friday, August 24, 2012

Glad to be back!!

  Hey! We have completed our first full week of school and I have to say I am glad to be back! Back to normal routines and schedules and hopefully some blogging too :). The children seem to be adjusting well and I am slowly working out the kinks to make our days run a little more smoothly. It seems like it usually takes me a little longer to get in a groove when I have a new little one in phonics. Lydia is doing great though!! She loves to learn and feels so grown up being in "real" school. Hannah and Hope are in 6th grade this year! Wow, where does the time go! Faith and Caleb seem to be right on track with there schooling which is good considering the first part is usually a review of the previous year -). Joy has been a different story. She is 2 so we are in the middle of  all kinds of training. A friend of mine who also happens to be a veteran home  schooler gave me some tips on some things to keep her entertained so I will be putting together a "busy" box tomorrow. Even though our days are full there is still time for hugs and laughs and good times together!
  Tomorrow will be an unusually not busy day so the children and I and maaayybe daddy will be going on a little shopping outing in the afternoon. All of us are looking forward to it!
  Tonight we had homemade pizza for supper then the children rode their bikes outside while Kevin and I sat on the tailgate of his truck and watched. It was so nice just to sit outside together in the nice weather and enjoy the family. I did ride a bike for a few minutes just to give the children some entertainment ha ha!!
  On Sunday we are having Missions Sunday at the church. We will be having the preacher and his wife over for lunch. I know what I am cooking for the meal but am still undecided on the dessert. On Sunday night we will be having a missionary and then an international supper. Since I grew up around Mexican food that is usually what I take but this year and i am looking for something a little different. I love to try new foods so I am really looking forward to it!
   We'll that's it for now! Take care!!

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

What I like about Tuesday and Wednesday

   I like Tuesdays because that it is the day our week really gets going, since our Mondays are like most peoples Saturdays. We usually do a lot of cleaning and laundry and I cook a "meat and Potatoes" kind of meal. The girls have piano so that usually gives me about 30 mins to either go in Goodwill or Dollar Tree.
It is normally a busy day but it also gives a good feeling of accomplishment! During the summer we have been watching some kind of movie or show together at night . These are mostly from the library or Netflix. 
 I like Wednesdays because we get to go to church! I always enjoy the laid back atmosphere of Wednesday night services. It is also when our church family shares more of there prayer request and we have a time of prayer. 
  I also check out all the sales ads and make my menus and shopping list for my grocery shopping trip on Thursday! It is fun to see what the deals are. I like planning the meals based on sales and what will be going on the next week. Lately, I have been trying to cook something new each week. Sometimes it has turned out great! Sometimes, it has been a flop!! I usually try to cook something in the crockpot or have something that does not require a lot of prep time. Tonight we are having crockpot shredded bbq beef, squash, roasted ranch potatoes and green beans. If I get a chance to run to the store I make the squash into a squash casserole!! 
  So there you go. That is what I like about Tuesdays and Wednesdays!! Most of all I enjoy being with my family and serving the Lord together!!
  Take care and God bless you!

Monday, June 25, 2012

Happy Monday!

Hey! It has been a happy Monday around here! I hope that yours has been as well!
  They finished the flooring in our addition today! it looks like we are almost through. We may possibly be finished by the end of the week, YAAAA!! We are all very excited.
   They also finished work a little early. Since Kevin didn't have a lot to do this afternoon we got to spend some good family time together!! We enjoyed our time with "daddy"!
   I am hoping to use this time of moving things around to purge some of our stuff. As we move room by room I plan on going through everything. There are always high hopes of getting everything "just right" but I am somewhat of clutter bug so just getting it better will be a task!!
   I ordered our Math for next year today! I really like Math U See. This year our Lydia will be joining the official school crew! She loves to "read" already. She will find a book that she likes the cover of and just look at it for a long time,even if there are no pictures. Caleb, our boy, is just the opposite! He is really good with numbers, but give him a book at he looks at it like he doesn't know what in the world it is! He is slowly improving so maybe this year he will take off!
  Well, I'm off to finish our night time routines! Take care and God Bless You!!

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

I'm still here!

Hey Ya'll ! (ya'll being anyone who still comes to look even though there hasn't been an update in some time:)
 We are busy, busy and the summer has just started! We finished school near the end of May and the children went off to stay with both sets of grandparents. They usually go sometime during the summer but they have never stayed with both in the same trip! They were gone for TWO weeks! except for my little Joy who is not old enough yet and my Lydia who came home after one week. They had a great time but I doubt we will be doing the back to back weeks again. This mama missed her babies too much!
  The home addition is coming along great! We should be painting by the end of the week!! YAY! It has come along WAY faster than we though possible! A man from our church has been coming almost everyday but Sunday and my wonderful husband has been working along his side as much as he can! There have been several other men from the church that have given there time to come and help . The Lord has blessed us with some very faithful friends who are willing to help as much as possible.! I have to say that the last year has led me to see some of the worst in church members and some of the best. God has been so good to us!!
  Our garden has really taken off the last few days. I will be freezing some squash tonight. Hopefully, we will be making a batch of pickles this weekend. we may even get to can some green beans we will have to see the next day or so. We are all excited since it didn't look like the garden was going to do to well. We love our veggies!
  I hope you have a great week!!

Friday, April 13, 2012

Exciting news!

  It's Friday and we are having a great day! We started the day with school . We are winding down for the year. Yay! My favorite times of the school year are the beginning and the end. :) Then we divided the rooms between all of us and did some "house blessing" It makes the weekend much more relaxing. Speaking of the weekend it looks like the girls and I may get to go yardsaling in the morning! It will be our first Saturday outing of the year. I always enjoy yardsales because you never know what you might find.
  We are excited about the garden we were able to plant. We had to cover our plants the last 2 nights because of some late frost. Lord willing they will be just fine and we will have the harvest we are looking for.
  The good news.. we are getting a home addition! This is such an answer to prayer and a huge blessing to our family. The Lord has blessed us with a great church who is making this possible for us!! i really can't quite believe it is real until the work starts:). I'm sure our summer holds lots of work, but it will be SO worth it!I will try to post pictures of the addition as it comes along. I don't know about you ,but it doesn't matter how long I pray about something I am always amazed and humbled when God answers my prayers. He loves me as small as I am!
   Have a great weekend!!

  

Monday, April 9, 2012

It's Monday!

  Hello! I trust you had a great Easter Sunday Ours was very good. We had a good morning service at our church. There was no traditional ham feast at our house. I had a rough night on saturday and wasn't able to prepare the ham. Kevin was so kind to get us McDonalds for lunch. We had a restful afternoon and I started our supper. We had a joint service that night with some local like minded churches. The service was a blessing and I enjoyed getting to see and talk to some dear friends. After church my sister nad her family came over and we had a joint supper of what I had cooked that afternoon and leftovers from her lunch with her husbands family. I enjoyed sitting under the carport and talking with her while the children played outside.
  Today has been great! We have done school and started spring cleaning. I am amazed at how much I was able to accomplish today. The kitchen was my starting point.The children all helped by starting the process in the living room. The house smelled very fresh until  I started our supper of enchiladas and spanish rice. It smelled good but it was definitely a different smell -).
Our Family!
  Now I am going outside to play some volleyball with my family. Have a blessed night!

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Happy Birthday Naomi Joy!

 Today our baby girl, Naomi Joy, turned 2! Naomi Joy has lived up to her name. Noami- happiness and lots of Joy. before she was born we had several names that we liked and couldn't really decide on one. I had gestational diabetes so they began doing an ultrasound every week to monitor her growth in case of early delivery ( not likely in my case) or her getting to large for a safe delivery. during one of my ultrasounds she smiled! Yes, really! We have the picture too :). We then decided to name her Naomi Joy. Whether the smile was REAL or not is up to bebate but it is a sweet memory for me!! She loves to talk. She also loves to make you laugh by saying and doing funny things. She is a mess :).
 It has been a fun day for all of us. We planted the garden. YAY! and then we went to the park this afternoon. We picked up Little Ceasars pizza and had cake. She really enjoyed opening her gifts and cards. She was so sweet getting excited over every little thing.
 I thank the Lord for daily blessings on me!!
Joy     (picture by Brittany Watson)

Friday, March 16, 2012

Friday!

Soo what do the only boy and the baby girl do when their sisters are gone for the day???

He pushes her in her car!

She plays with sidewalk chalk

He shoots his mama with his water gun:)
 They also got to go out to eat!!! No pictures of that but we had a good time. Have a blessed weekend!

Monday, March 12, 2012

Happy Monday!

 It was a happy Monday! I am glad to be starting another week. Lord willing, this will be a very productive week with lots of loving,learning,playing and working!
 Today Kevin was gone to a preacher's fellowship meeting so it was just the children and I all day. We had a little school and play in the morning and ham biscuits( the ham was leftover from lunch yesterday) with mac n cheese for lunch. Then the Joy went down for a nap while the others finished school. Lydia does"school" too :). I cleaned the kitchen and loaded the dishwasher for the second time since i went to bed on Sunday night with dirty dishes in the sink :(. Not good, I know, but I was really tired after supper and everyone else was not ready for bed yet so I left it all and went to bed.
 The children really enjoyed being outside in the wonderful weather we are having and I was able to get my linen closet cleaned out and straightened back up. For supper we had pancakes!! It was a fun meal for us to have. Some of the pancakes were chocolate chip. Yummy!!
 Kevin got home during devotions so he was able to pray with all of us and give hugs and kisses before the children went to bed. I have been blessed with a wonderful family and I was reminded once again today of how precious the time I have with them is!!

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Laundry and Slumber Party

 We have had a good week around here. My mom was with us a couple of days so we really enjoyed that! We had the normal school, cooking,cleaning and washing of clothes. There was only one thing missing from that list.... putting away of the clothes!! I just kept washing them and piling them up in my room:(. Soo, on Friday afternoon while Kevin was gone to do some preaching, in the prisons with Rock of Ages Prison ministry, I decided to attack the laundry monster! It took about 4 hrs. all together(there is ALWAYS more to wash when there are 8 people in a house) but by the time I went to bed the "monster" had been conquered !! It was such a good feeling for my room to be back to normal.
 Last night the children had a slumber party in our living room. They had so much fun! They pulled out the sofa bed and a couple of them slept in the recliners. They ate ice cream and watched a movie. Now I wish I would have gotten a picture. I know that these are memories I will cherish later on when they are grown and gone.
 Today was a restful day for all of us. I cleaned out my pantry closet with the help of Caleb and Lydia. They thought it was so fun to pull out all of the food. It looks much better!! For lunch we had quesadillas with salsa, guacamole and chips. For supper we had shrimp fried rice and corn on the cob! The children had there baths and got in the bed early. With the time changing tomorrow I wanted to be running ahead.
 Well, the kitchen is clean and clothes are laid out for tomorrow. I am going to bed early too. Tomorrow will be a busy day. I enjoy Sundays and I am looking forward to a great Lord's Day!! I pray that you will have one as well!

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Weight loss update week 2

 OK! This week I lost .7 lbs. I have got to get this thing in high gear!! I am going low carb this week in hopes of jump starting this weightloss! It is bad when you don't feel good in your clothes no matter what you are wearing!!  This is something that I can change and I am determined to do so!

Sickness

 It is wierd to be posting on a Sunday morning. I am home with a sick little girl. We went home to NC for a funeral on Fri. and came home on Sat. Our Lydia (lele) woke up sick on Saturday morning and was sick the whole day even on the 6 hr drive home. That 6 hr.drive is normally 4 1/2 hrs. I did my best to make her comfortable. She had her pillow,blanket,trash can, and paper towels. Poor girl!! She is some better today. Now to see if she can eat something. Praying this virus is gone gone gone!!
 I bought a frozen lasagna at Sam's last week. After such a busy weekend that will be the perfect lunch along with a salad .
My mom was able to come back with us for a few days. I hope we stay well so that we can enjoy our time with her! Every time we go back and see our family we are reminded of how much we miss seeing them on a regular basis.
 Have a wonderful Lord's Day!

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Weight Loss Update Week 1

 Well this has been a great week !! I lost 1.7 lbs. I know this doesn't sound like much,but we were in a missions meeting this week and ate very delicious cooking by the ladies of our church :). Hopefully next week will be lots better!!
 The spiritual benefits from this week far out weigh the physical! What am I doing that will spread the Good News of Jesus Christ? It could be surrendering to go to a foreign country or witnessing to a neighbour or the lady at the cash register or teaching my children about Jesus and praying every day for their salvation!
 Just a thought :  If my children see me telling people about Jesus or giving a gospel tract will it make them more likely to want to tell others about Him too? 
 Have a wonderful Lord's Day tomorrow!!

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Getting Ready for Our Missions Meeting!

 Today will be a busy day! We are starting a missions meeting at our church tomorrow. Yesterday, I got the church all cleaned and ready while Kevin (my husband) cleaned the fellowship hall. Last week, he and a brother from church painted the fellowship hall so he was mostly cleaning paint "stuff". They did a great job! Kevin also painted our hallway here at the house! Yaaa! After 10 yrs. of wear and tear by little ones it NEEDED it!
 Today, I will be getting the house and study ( the place where the preacher will stay) ready for the week! I am going to try to have all the laundry caught up so that I can get all of our outfits ready for the week. I don't know why I have never done this.?? I usually just get it ready every day. I think it will help things run a little smoother.
 It looks like there is a stomach bug making it's way through our family:(( Lord willing, it is on it's way out!!
 Our days will be filled with cleaning,school,lunch w/the preacher and his wife,more cleaning, supper w/the preacher and his wife and a family or 2 from the church, getting everyone ready and then we get to go to church!! I always enjoy going to church so these special meetings are an extra blessing!
 Some things will be easier this week. I will be fixing lunches every day for us and the missionary, but the ladies from our church will be cooking the suppers so that will free up some time in the afternoons. The ladies in our church are such a blessing!!
 I love missions and missionaries! I am looking for the Lord to stir my heart this week!
  I pray that you have a wonderful weekend!

Friday, February 17, 2012

Sweet Kitchen Helper

Every time I am working in the kitchen she pulls over her chair and "helps" me!
I love it!

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Weight loss goals

Ok, so I want to start posting about my weightloss goals and achievements. Not that anybody else will be that interested in it, but I would like to hold myself a little more accountable!
 I will be turnung 30 on May 6 so I thought it would be fun to see if I can lose 30lbs. by the time I'm 30!!
I am not very fond of having my picture made,but I am going to try and have my picture taken every other week so that I can see the changes. A picture is worth a thousand words to so I know it will help motivate me!! I will try to post a picture of me now sometime in the next day or so. I will also tell a little about what I am eating. I will probably not tell my weight but only post the # of lbs lost. You will probably be able to guess by my pictures. :)
Take care!

Saturday, February 11, 2012

It's Been Forever!

 Wow! It has been a long time since I posted anything on this blog!! Things around here are going good. I am going to try to post about some of things going on around here and in my life personally. Hopefully, that will include more pictures of my sweet children. They are growing up so fast!
 I am also going to write about my weight loss goals,some menu and pantry plans,some decorating ideas and maybe even share some of the things that God is teaching me through His word.
 Talk to ya soon!