I feel like I just survived some sort of marathon. Last week was spring break for the kids. They had the whole week off. This is an incredible amount of time when there is no holiday nearby, no funds (or time off) for a vacation, or no fun outdoor activity to go do (like the pool or the park...too yucky of weather). At other schools they usually pair spring break with Easter which works very well with our work schedules and usually allows us to travel to visit family. So, we ended up taking a night away after work last Thursday and then back home by Friday morning. We rented a nice suite at a motel in Pella (about 20 miles away). Then we went out to eat, swam at the pool and watched cable T.V. The hot tub was out of order and the in-room jacuzzi had yucky stuff in the jets when it was turned on, so the girls just played in the big tub while we watched TV. It was a good break but we all were extremely out of sync the next day!
Then there was a huge wedding at the church over last weekend which I had to work my cleaning schedule around (challenging!!) and husband had a "gig" at a church for Saturday night and Sunday morning (he did come home for the night however). That made the weekend somewhat stressful!
So we ended up wrapping up our "spring break" with a girl day yesterday with some friends (mom and her daughter who is friends with Lydia). We went shopping to Target, JC Penneys and Herberger's .....some great sales!!! And Elias went to their house and had a boy day with his friends and played Rock Band on the Wii. We all ended the day watching Celebrity Apprentice last night. We enjoy the business lessons that get portrayed by those on the show. It also gives some good life lessons to the kids. We also made a wish list for items needed at the house (as well as some repairs). We are expecting our tax refund soon and the final closure of my mom's estate. After blessing our church and putting away a chunk for an emergency fund (something that I have always wanted to do!!!) we are going to get at some appliances that need replacing and some other things....EXCITING!!
Blessings to you all.....Mary
Monday, March 23, 2009
Friday, February 27, 2009
the ultimate cheap meal
Before I begin this final menu of the cheap week (today is payday and groceries!!!)....I must preface by saying that I saw my first robin!!!! Hurray....now I know that spring is almost near. I probably need to go to the YMCA and start doing some mild weight lifting to prepare for the gardening season (I have been having problems with my shoulders with pinched nerves that get aggrevated when I do lots of strenuous work...such as gardening :-) !).
Anyway...our meal last night was not served at home. It turned out that the 2 older kids had food at the Tech Club meeting (which they brought some leftover punch from campus ministry stuff....husband had it) and the rest of us ate some food in the kitchen before an event held at our church. Husband actually got to go through the line and said ALL the food was fabulous. The 2 younger kids and I had some green bean casserole and ham balls and apple slices. So yesterday was the ultimate in CHEAP!!
I did have to make an item for the meal at the church...it was escaloped corn. Super easy and cheap too and I had all the ingredients on hand (had to use powder milk in it....but with baked stuff nobody knows the difference). I had some crumbs left of garlic croutons which I used on the top of the dish. Spencer said it was Awesome.
Hope you all enjoyed this view into our homelife on a very interesting week.
Anyway...our meal last night was not served at home. It turned out that the 2 older kids had food at the Tech Club meeting (which they brought some leftover punch from campus ministry stuff....husband had it) and the rest of us ate some food in the kitchen before an event held at our church. Husband actually got to go through the line and said ALL the food was fabulous. The 2 younger kids and I had some green bean casserole and ham balls and apple slices. So yesterday was the ultimate in CHEAP!!
I did have to make an item for the meal at the church...it was escaloped corn. Super easy and cheap too and I had all the ingredients on hand (had to use powder milk in it....but with baked stuff nobody knows the difference). I had some crumbs left of garlic croutons which I used on the top of the dish. Spencer said it was Awesome.
Hope you all enjoyed this view into our homelife on a very interesting week.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Wednesday's meal
Wednesday's menu: I did manage to get bread going in the bread machine while I was home for lunch (that was leftover macroni and cheese with a peanut butter sandwich and a side of carrots). So for supper we had:
homemade bread
mashed potatoes
hamburger gravy (husband makes the best gravy and 2 of our kids just can't get enough of it...this is the ultimate compliment!!)
the rest of the pinapple chunks and some canned orange slices
It was a good meal....something for everyone. I ended up making scones for breakfast this morning. It's an easy recipe and I can make powder milk to use with it (nobody notices that when I use it for baking....it does taste gross for just drinking :-) !!). I have been making latte's in the morning with my espresso machine....that certainly gets me on the move. However, with no milk to add to it this morning I just put sugar in the espresso (it was probably a double shot worth). It was VERY strong but tasty. Husband kept trying to sneak a sip!! He's funny that way.
Tonight is the grand finale of our cheap eating week.....not sure what we will come up with. I think that I have some chicken nuggets left....I'll probably work with that.
Till tomorrow....blessings!
homemade bread
mashed potatoes
hamburger gravy (husband makes the best gravy and 2 of our kids just can't get enough of it...this is the ultimate compliment!!)
the rest of the pinapple chunks and some canned orange slices
It was a good meal....something for everyone. I ended up making scones for breakfast this morning. It's an easy recipe and I can make powder milk to use with it (nobody notices that when I use it for baking....it does taste gross for just drinking :-) !!). I have been making latte's in the morning with my espresso machine....that certainly gets me on the move. However, with no milk to add to it this morning I just put sugar in the espresso (it was probably a double shot worth). It was VERY strong but tasty. Husband kept trying to sneak a sip!! He's funny that way.
Tonight is the grand finale of our cheap eating week.....not sure what we will come up with. I think that I have some chicken nuggets left....I'll probably work with that.
Till tomorrow....blessings!
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