Today, I am participating in Kelly's Korner- Show us your Life series. If you are new to my blog, hello! I'll admit there's a bit of dust around here, but slowly but surely I'm getting back to more updates!
Have a wonderful weekend, friends! Thanks for stopping by!
Friday, May 04, 2012
Monday, April 02, 2012
Grateful
Just popping in for a minute. Gosh, there's been a lot going on lately! I have a lot to catch you up on. That will come this week. But first. While driving to work, I was in a really good mood. Surprising for a Monday morning at 7:15am! HaHa! Anyway, I was thinking about all the recent things that I am grateful for.
So here they are. I thought I'd share.
1. I am grateful that my children are feeling better. There is absolutely NOTHING that is worse than seeing your child suffer. I've seen my fair share of times that they have suffered and it's been TOO often. (That's a blog post for another day, soon). I'm so grateful that everyone is feeling better and we can enjoy being together.
2. I am so grateful that my sister and her best friend invited me on a girl's night this past Saturday. I enjoyed first row seats (yes, you read that correct! :) ) to the Blues Hockey game, a fantastic dinner, and party hopping on Washington Ave and in Clayton. Best of all. I spent $0! Thank you God for wonderful (and generous) friends!
3. I am so grateful for the sweet young girl at the Walgreens pharmacy that urged me to join their prescription savings club. By spending $20/year, I will save $26 every time I fill this one prescription of mine that insurance doesn't cover. So, by signing up, I saved $6 instantly. That's a win in my book! Thank you, sweet girl.
4. I am so grateful for a great preschool/extended care facility for Trey. It is almost too good to be true to have such a wonderful place that is so close to our house. Seriously, we could walk there! He is so happy there and learns so much. So grateful to have found such a jewel!
So, that's that. What are you grateful for today??
So here they are. I thought I'd share.
1. I am grateful that my children are feeling better. There is absolutely NOTHING that is worse than seeing your child suffer. I've seen my fair share of times that they have suffered and it's been TOO often. (That's a blog post for another day, soon). I'm so grateful that everyone is feeling better and we can enjoy being together.
2. I am so grateful that my sister and her best friend invited me on a girl's night this past Saturday. I enjoyed first row seats (yes, you read that correct! :) ) to the Blues Hockey game, a fantastic dinner, and party hopping on Washington Ave and in Clayton. Best of all. I spent $0! Thank you God for wonderful (and generous) friends!
3. I am so grateful for the sweet young girl at the Walgreens pharmacy that urged me to join their prescription savings club. By spending $20/year, I will save $26 every time I fill this one prescription of mine that insurance doesn't cover. So, by signing up, I saved $6 instantly. That's a win in my book! Thank you, sweet girl.
4. I am so grateful for a great preschool/extended care facility for Trey. It is almost too good to be true to have such a wonderful place that is so close to our house. Seriously, we could walk there! He is so happy there and learns so much. So grateful to have found such a jewel!
So, that's that. What are you grateful for today??
Monday, March 19, 2012
Happy Birthday Trey!
It is hard to believe that Trey is turning 4 today! Four years ago, on March 19, 2008, I became a mom for the very first time! I remember going to the hospital for my planned c-section. My mom was going to meet us and she surprised me when she came with my Grandma! She brought my sweet, then 93 year old, Grandma to enjoy the excitement too! I was in total bliss and so happy to be surrounded by my loving family.
(I tried to post a few different pictures so they'd be different than the ones I've shown in the past)
So, here we are in the Year 2012. What is Trey up to, you might ask? Well, a LOT!
For the sake of documentation, here are a few things that Trey loves:
-Disney Cars ....and the movies. 1 and 2. And yes there is a difference. And he can tell you the difference!
-Toy Story
-Legos
-Puzzles
-Pizza!
-Chick Fil A (definitely prefers it over McDonalds! And I'm happy about that!)
-Clifford the Big Red Dog cartoon and books
-Dora/Diego
Here's some funny things that Trey has said:
-When he was trying to say "a few days ago", he would say "a couple days a week". It went like this-- "A couple days a week, I went to school and we had a St. Patricks Day party!" I was really confused at first, but then I started understanding what he was saying!
-He ALWAYS tells me (or his Daddy) that "I'm your best friend!" and "I love you!" It is so sweet!
-Speaking of sweet, he says a lot "That is SO sweet!" (like in the precious way). One day we wer talking about my Grandma Maude, and he said, "Awe, she is SO sweet!" It was hilarious!!
We have several fun things on the agenda for Trey's birthday. First, he will bringing Pizza to lunch for his class! Instead of bringing cupcakes or the likes, I'll be delivering pizza for lunch! How fun is that!?! Then, after school, we'll be going to Chick fil A for dinner, a little play time and cookie cake!
Trey, Mommy loves you to the moon and back! :)
Looking back...
2011-(so, um, kind of didn't post last year for Trey's birthday. Blame it on his 3 month old brother! But THIS is as close as I got!)
2010- Here and Here
2009- Here and Here
(I tried to post a few different pictures so they'd be different than the ones I've shown in the past)So, here we are in the Year 2012. What is Trey up to, you might ask? Well, a LOT!
For the sake of documentation, here are a few things that Trey loves:
-Disney Cars ....and the movies. 1 and 2. And yes there is a difference. And he can tell you the difference!
-Toy Story
-Legos
-Puzzles
-Pizza!
-Chick Fil A (definitely prefers it over McDonalds! And I'm happy about that!)
-Clifford the Big Red Dog cartoon and books
-Dora/Diego
Here's some funny things that Trey has said:
-When he was trying to say "a few days ago", he would say "a couple days a week". It went like this-- "A couple days a week, I went to school and we had a St. Patricks Day party!" I was really confused at first, but then I started understanding what he was saying!
-He ALWAYS tells me (or his Daddy) that "I'm your best friend!" and "I love you!" It is so sweet!
-Speaking of sweet, he says a lot "That is SO sweet!" (like in the precious way). One day we wer talking about my Grandma Maude, and he said, "Awe, she is SO sweet!" It was hilarious!!
We have several fun things on the agenda for Trey's birthday. First, he will bringing Pizza to lunch for his class! Instead of bringing cupcakes or the likes, I'll be delivering pizza for lunch! How fun is that!?! Then, after school, we'll be going to Chick fil A for dinner, a little play time and cookie cake!
Trey, Mommy loves you to the moon and back! :)
Looking back...
2011-(so, um, kind of didn't post last year for Trey's birthday. Blame it on his 3 month old brother! But THIS is as close as I got!)
2010- Here and Here
2009- Here and Here
Wednesday, March 07, 2012
Tuesday, March 06, 2012
Menu Planning
I can't believe that Tate will be 15 months old. Time has flown by! In the last several months, we have been in the transition stage for his meals. He definitely took me by surprise when he completely rejected table food! I was stunned! Trey was NOTHING like that. Thus began our experimentation with every type of food possible and me turning in to a short order cook. Ugh. Those months were no fun. I thought I was the only mother on the planet with a 13 month old that still ate Sprout baby food pouches several times a day.
Luckly, things have gotten better and Tate is 100% eating table food. And a lot of it! :) As everyone in our family can eat the same meals, I have been doing quite a bit of cooking now. It was such an important thing when I was growing up to eat as a family at the dinner table. Because I was raised in that manner, I wanted to have the same principles for my children. Life does get crazy and sometimes we have to run thru the Chick-Fil-A drive thru, but at least 4 days a week, I'm cooking dinner at the table.
I have seen throughout the blogosphere about menu planning but had never given it a thought. Honestly, it just seemed like something a very organized mom would do. A mom with PLENTY of time on her hands. Well, let me tell you...I was surely mistaken.
One Sunday, I decided to meal plan. And I'm serious, my life (and my wallet) has never been the same! :) The absolute #1 reason why meal planning is so great is because it saves a boat load of money! I had NEVER even thought of that! So on this monumental Sunday, I planned out my 5 meals for the week, wrote my ingredients that I would need, added a few other staples on the grocery list (milk, bananas, cereal bars) and headed to the store.
My grand total for my entire week's shopping? $85.00. For one week. For a family of 4. People, I die. As in, that is so unbelieveably less than I have ever spent for a weeks worth of groceries! In the past, I'd buy WAY too much, buy a mish mosh of things that didn't go together and at the end of the day, I had a fridge and pantry full of food that couldn't possibly be paired together to make a decent meal. So, from then on. I was hooked!
I've tweaked my process, adjusted my budget and now I plan for 5 meals to eat throughout a 7 day period on a budget of $100/week. Someweeks I go overbudget. And some weeks, I am under. It's almost like a game. Like a puzzle to figure out what I can do to stretch my dollar and make a really good dinner! (For you number crunchers out there, our budget of $100/week can be calculated to $3.57/day for each of us. That is obscenely crazy. But it works! ...not taking in consideration if we go out to eat. ...which we do. )
The kicker for me is that I have to cook on the weekend or prepare the night before. On weekdays, I walk in the door at 5:30pm. My children cannot wait for longer than about 20 minutes for dinner. So everything is made or prepped the night before or the weekend before. Then I pop it in the oven or re-heat and serve. There definitely are things I cannot serve during the week becuase it takes too long, but I just save that for the weekend.
Nowadays, I'm looking for good recipes. I've been through a lot already and we certainly do have our favorites, but make sure to leave me a comment with a favorite recipe or link--I'd love to try it!
Here's a few things that have been on my table in the last month or so...
-Poppyseed Chicken
-Italian Beef in the Crockpot served on French Bread
-Enchaladas
-Burgers
-Venison Meatloaf (no joke-out of this world amazing!)
-Spaghetti and Homemade Meatballs
-Broccoli, Rice, Chicken Casserole
-Sweedish Meatballs
-Baked Talapia
-Rigatoni in Rose sauce
-Roast in Crockpot
I hope this might have encouraged you to try out meal planning. If not for the budgeting, take a minute to sit down with your family for a nice meal. I know it's a keeper in my house!
xoxoH
Luckly, things have gotten better and Tate is 100% eating table food. And a lot of it! :) As everyone in our family can eat the same meals, I have been doing quite a bit of cooking now. It was such an important thing when I was growing up to eat as a family at the dinner table. Because I was raised in that manner, I wanted to have the same principles for my children. Life does get crazy and sometimes we have to run thru the Chick-Fil-A drive thru, but at least 4 days a week, I'm cooking dinner at the table.
I have seen throughout the blogosphere about menu planning but had never given it a thought. Honestly, it just seemed like something a very organized mom would do. A mom with PLENTY of time on her hands. Well, let me tell you...I was surely mistaken.
One Sunday, I decided to meal plan. And I'm serious, my life (and my wallet) has never been the same! :) The absolute #1 reason why meal planning is so great is because it saves a boat load of money! I had NEVER even thought of that! So on this monumental Sunday, I planned out my 5 meals for the week, wrote my ingredients that I would need, added a few other staples on the grocery list (milk, bananas, cereal bars) and headed to the store.
My grand total for my entire week's shopping? $85.00. For one week. For a family of 4. People, I die. As in, that is so unbelieveably less than I have ever spent for a weeks worth of groceries! In the past, I'd buy WAY too much, buy a mish mosh of things that didn't go together and at the end of the day, I had a fridge and pantry full of food that couldn't possibly be paired together to make a decent meal. So, from then on. I was hooked!
I've tweaked my process, adjusted my budget and now I plan for 5 meals to eat throughout a 7 day period on a budget of $100/week. Someweeks I go overbudget. And some weeks, I am under. It's almost like a game. Like a puzzle to figure out what I can do to stretch my dollar and make a really good dinner! (For you number crunchers out there, our budget of $100/week can be calculated to $3.57/day for each of us. That is obscenely crazy. But it works! ...not taking in consideration if we go out to eat. ...which we do. )
The kicker for me is that I have to cook on the weekend or prepare the night before. On weekdays, I walk in the door at 5:30pm. My children cannot wait for longer than about 20 minutes for dinner. So everything is made or prepped the night before or the weekend before. Then I pop it in the oven or re-heat and serve. There definitely are things I cannot serve during the week becuase it takes too long, but I just save that for the weekend.
Nowadays, I'm looking for good recipes. I've been through a lot already and we certainly do have our favorites, but make sure to leave me a comment with a favorite recipe or link--I'd love to try it!
Here's a few things that have been on my table in the last month or so...
-Poppyseed Chicken
-Italian Beef in the Crockpot served on French Bread
-Enchaladas
-Burgers
-Venison Meatloaf (no joke-out of this world amazing!)
-Spaghetti and Homemade Meatballs
-Broccoli, Rice, Chicken Casserole
-Sweedish Meatballs
-Baked Talapia
-Rigatoni in Rose sauce
-Roast in Crockpot
I hope this might have encouraged you to try out meal planning. If not for the budgeting, take a minute to sit down with your family for a nice meal. I know it's a keeper in my house!
xoxoH
Sunday, March 04, 2012
March 4, 2012- Update
Well, hey there! Wow, I can't believe it's been 6 months since I have last posted! So many times I want to sit down and catch up, but then life just gets in the way. Oh well! Here I am!
Life in the Fabulous household has been really good, I'll have to say. I am really at peace with so many aspects of life right now. After spending the last two years asking lots and lots of questions to God, I finally am in the direction of starting to understand why particular life events have happened.
It will be one year next month that one of the biggest life changing events happened to me and my family. I cannot believe that almost a year has gone by since the Good Friday Tornado of 2011. There are so many events that have occurred because of that natural disaster for us. It was so hard to go through that having a curious three year old as well as a new 4 month old baby. You know you have an issue when your child continuously asks why we're in the basement. And when you're supposed to be savoring such a beautiful time in your life with a new baby, you're stuck dealing with the aftermath of holding your family business together...not to mention keeping cash flow alive in the meantime. For all you business folks, I don't think I need to tell you about what happens to your sales the week after your headquarters and production plant is destroyed, huh?
Ok, so let's move on, shall we? One year later. Things are not how they were pre-tornado, but, I have peace. I spent a lot of time in the last few months deciding what I want to do with my time. Work or stay home. Or a little of both. After carefully considering and trying out all of my options, I have decided that I am a much better mother, wife and person if I work outside the home. I have found the answer that I am not a stay at home mom. That is not me. I love to work. I feel good about it. I feel good about where my children are....Trey is at a wonderful preschool that he loves. Tate is with a new sitter who loves him so much. I feel so good knowing that I am doing what I love and I have chosen people to help care and teach my children the way that I want them to. It's good. I've found the answer when it comes to this.
It has also been almost a year since Mr. Fabulous has started his new job in a brand new career. He's doing very well. He does quite a bit more travel than we first expected, but it has been a great experience for him. I'm really happy that he is so happy with all the new things he's learned. He has taken a lot of his new knowledge (mostly technical) and applied it to some of our family business practices and it has been really great. He's such a smart guy. Sorry, I'm biased. :)
And here he is striking a pose! LOL
We had a wonderful holiday...Christmas and New Years were great. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful family. Here's the picture that was part of my family's Christmas card. (I'm the one in the back row next to little Tate)
Here's a few pics of the boys from the last month or so. Can't believe how much they are growing!
Ok, well, that's about enough for the update! I hope to have many more upcoming. Catch ya'll later! xoxo
Life in the Fabulous household has been really good, I'll have to say. I am really at peace with so many aspects of life right now. After spending the last two years asking lots and lots of questions to God, I finally am in the direction of starting to understand why particular life events have happened.
It will be one year next month that one of the biggest life changing events happened to me and my family. I cannot believe that almost a year has gone by since the Good Friday Tornado of 2011. There are so many events that have occurred because of that natural disaster for us. It was so hard to go through that having a curious three year old as well as a new 4 month old baby. You know you have an issue when your child continuously asks why we're in the basement. And when you're supposed to be savoring such a beautiful time in your life with a new baby, you're stuck dealing with the aftermath of holding your family business together...not to mention keeping cash flow alive in the meantime. For all you business folks, I don't think I need to tell you about what happens to your sales the week after your headquarters and production plant is destroyed, huh?
Ok, so let's move on, shall we? One year later. Things are not how they were pre-tornado, but, I have peace. I spent a lot of time in the last few months deciding what I want to do with my time. Work or stay home. Or a little of both. After carefully considering and trying out all of my options, I have decided that I am a much better mother, wife and person if I work outside the home. I have found the answer that I am not a stay at home mom. That is not me. I love to work. I feel good about it. I feel good about where my children are....Trey is at a wonderful preschool that he loves. Tate is with a new sitter who loves him so much. I feel so good knowing that I am doing what I love and I have chosen people to help care and teach my children the way that I want them to. It's good. I've found the answer when it comes to this.
It has also been almost a year since Mr. Fabulous has started his new job in a brand new career. He's doing very well. He does quite a bit more travel than we first expected, but it has been a great experience for him. I'm really happy that he is so happy with all the new things he's learned. He has taken a lot of his new knowledge (mostly technical) and applied it to some of our family business practices and it has been really great. He's such a smart guy. Sorry, I'm biased. :)
And here he is striking a pose! LOL
We had a wonderful holiday...Christmas and New Years were great. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful family. Here's the picture that was part of my family's Christmas card. (I'm the one in the back row next to little Tate)
Here's a few pics of the boys from the last month or so. Can't believe how much they are growing!
Ok, well, that's about enough for the update! I hope to have many more upcoming. Catch ya'll later! xoxo
Sunday, September 11, 2011
God Bless America,
Land that I love.
Stand beside her, and guide her
Thru the night with a light from above.
From the mountains, to the prairies,
To the oceans, white with foam
God bless America, My home sweet home.
Today, I pause to think about the lives lost and heroes made. This day, 10 years ago, I was standing in the gym of a local elementary school getting ready for school picture day. A teacher walked in and shouted that America had been attacked. Then... we photographed 300 bright-eyed, and smiley little children. The feeling was unimaginable to think that their future will forever be changed.
Please take a moment today to reflect.
If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
2 Chronicles 7:14
God Bless America.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)