Wednesday, December 2, 2009

December Menu Plan

Yay!  I was able to sit down while Levi was napping, and I was able to get a menu plan together for December.  (Now, whether or not I stick to it is another story...)  I may change around the days, but I usually am able to conquer all of what I have planned in one way or another.  :)

This month is busy with birthdays, holidays, surgery (my mom's), shopping, baking, etc.!  January will be here before we know it!  So, hold on~

Here goes December:
1 - Fried Chicken Tenders, baked potato, broccoli, corn
2 - Tacos, rice and veggies
3 - Chicken and Noodles (Wish I could make them like my Mom!)
4 - Baked Sandwiches (maybe turkey and provolone ~ YUMMY!)
5 - Chicken Enchiladas
6 - Ham Macaroni and Cheese
7 - Sausage Gravy and Biscuits
8 - Bean Burritos (Meatless meal)
9 - Baked Chicken and Rice
10 - Spaghetti (From this day on for a couple weeks, I'm planning on cooking for us and Mom and Dad.  Mom will be coming home from the hospital on this day.)
11 - Pork Chops and Stuffing
12 - Donato's Pizza (I don't really care for this, but it's Rob's birthday and he wants Donato's.  So, I'm going to be a good wife and suffer...)
13 - Pulled Pork, Chips, and Fruit Salad (Hoping to get a cheap piece of pork and slow roast it.  We have to feed the college students lunch on this Sunday.)
14 - Chicken Manhattan
15 - Chicken Pot Pie
16 - Pancakes (I'm going to try Pumpkin Pancakes probably.  They sound so good!)
17 - Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup or Leftovers
18 - Planning on traveling to Tennessee, so probably eating on the road.
19 - 20 - Tennessee
21 - Spaghetti  (We love spaghetti at our house!)
22 - Fried Chicken Tenders
23 - Potato Crusted Chicken Casserole (Kind of like chicken pot pie in a crispy potato crust)
24 - Ham  (Would like to bake a ham with the works!)
25 - Dinner at my Aunt's house
26 - Ham Macaroni and Cheese (or something else with leftover ham)
27 - Taco Soup
28 - Chicken and Dumplings
29 - Chicken Beans and Rice
30 - Beef Burritos
31 - Chicken Parmesan

As you can see, we eat a lot of chicken.  I might (in my spare time) look for different recipes to try with chicken.  Of course, this may be the wrong month to attempt this!  Anyone want to share their favorites?


Random Pictures










It's been a while since I've blogged, and I'm always amazed how time flies so fast!  Time seems to always get away from me.  (I'm sure that NEVER happens to anyone else...)  I'm so far behind, I haven't done my December meal plan yet.  I have the next couple days done, but I need to finish it by Friday.  This is always a very busy time of year!  But, we are enjoying our time with family and friends.  Can't wait for some snow, too!  (I could live without the cold, though...)

I don't have much time right now, gotta get Levi in the bath tub, clean a little, do some laundry, work on my meal plan and grocery list, finish up Christmas gifts, tidy up around the house, and (if time permits) work on some crafts I've started.  See what I mean?  And all of this has to happen while entertaining a two-year-old!  And so goes our life...

I'll try to actually put together a "real" blog very soon.  Hope you are enjoying this time of year!  It is definitely our favorite time of year!  Merry Christmas (a little early)!!

(Explanation of the photos:  Two pictures are from our back yard, playing in the leaves.  Levi falls asleep with his hands folded like praying - So Cute!  Chris and Paula gave Levi a cute little apron with race cars on it, since he LOVES to help Mommy cook!  We took a picture of Levi with Mamaw and Papaw in front of our Christmas tree a couple weeks ago.  (Mom actually didn't blink in this one...)

Sunday, November 15, 2009

NOEL SWAP













Two of the blogs that I follow had a Noel Swap, and it sounded like something that I would enjoy.  We used to have Secret Sisters at church, but, this year, it didn't work out.  So, when I saw "The Homespun Heart" and "With All That I've Been Given" were having a shoebox gift swap, I thought I'd give it a try.  My swap partner lives in Pennsylvania, and it was fun to meet a new friend and get to know her a little.  We plan on staying in touch, as well.  I really enjoyed putting together some gifts for Christmas, and I LOVE what she sent to me!!  So glad I was a part of this!  Here are pictures of the box I sent her and what she gave to me.  Thank you, ladies, for hosting this wonderful swap!

What I sent:  snowman dishtowel, Noel pot holders, snowman, memo book, 2 mini loaves of Pumpkin Bread, hand lotion, hand sanitizer, FAITH nativity ornament, snowflake ornament

What I received from Sarah:  snowman box, peach butter, Christmas apron, recipe cards with a couple recipes written on them, homemade gift tags, gold ribbon and silver ribbon, snowman dishtowel, Welcome snowman/sled, snowman ornaments, white snowflake pail

Such cute items and so much fun!  Looking forward to the next one...



Saturday, November 7, 2009

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas...

I know, it's only November 8th.  And we're actually having an INDIAN SUMMER this weekend.  (Yay!  70 degrees again!)  But, last week, my husband came home from work one evening and told me that he wanted to put up the CHRISTMAS tree.  Sure, why not?  So, we put up our CHRISTMAS tree and lights.  I'm waiting to put up the snowman decorations around the house.  Still too early for snow, so I'm going to wait a few weeks.  But, I love to turn off the lights in the house and watch the CHRISTMAS lights.  So relaxing and serene!  And, of course, like I mentioned a few weeks ago, we are listening to our CHRISTMAS cds.  We love this time of year!  You really should try it!  :)  (Of course, your neighbors might think you're a little weird...)

HaPpY bIrThDaY!!!

This is a special post for my friend who is having a BIRTHDAY!  I have known SHELLEE for 33 of her 34 birthdays...  (Sorry, Shellee, I just gave your age away.)  We spent several SUMMERS together, went to SCHOOL together, went to CHURCH together, CHEERed, SANG, etc.  Now, she is living on the other side of the world (Japan) faithfully SERVING the Lord in a foreign country.  Since pride is a sin, I won't say that I am proud of her.  But, I am very HaPpY to see her doing the Lord's work with her husband and eight boys.  Her mama, PAM, would be so HaPpY, too!  (She is, I'm sure!)  

So, as she celebrates her birthday, I am praying that Shellee is able to enjoy a special day.  She deserves it!!  Wish I could be with her to give her a hug!  For those of you who know her, if you have her email or phone number, let her know you are thinking about her.  She would LOVE to hear from you!

Thank you, Shellee, for all that you've done for me!  LOVE YOU!

Thursday, October 22, 2009

HALLELUJAH!

"For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth" ~ HALLELUJAH!

"And He shall reign for ever and ever, King of kings, and Lord of lords" ~ HALLELUJAH!

He is still in control!  What a relief!  What a great and mighty God we serve!


Friday, October 9, 2009

Just Levi



Signs of the times...

As you can see, fall is upon us.  Levi was bundled up, but at least it was nice enough to go outside for a while.  The sun was shining, the leaves were starting to fall, and there was a brisk wind.  But what a wonderful day it was!!



I LOVE BIG TRAINS!!

Franklin Library had trains set up last weekend.  Rob was working, so Levi and I jumped in the car and took a ride to see the choo-choos.  He loved them!



Levi in Jail!

Levi was sharing Peanut's cage at mom's house.  No, don't call CPS on us... 


Special Day with Maw Maw and Paw Paw

Train Expo at the Fairgrounds



Menu Plan for October

Well, here it is...

1 - BBQ Shredded Chicken
2 - Pizza (Domino's had $5.00 large pizzas.  Couldn't resist!)
3 - Chicken Parmesan
4 - Fried Chicken Tenders
5 - Ham Mac and Cheese
6 - Hash Brown Casserole
7 - Baked Lunch Meat Sandwiches
8 - Mozzarella Chicken
9 - Chicken Fried Rice
10 - Steak on the Grill (We only do this when there is a good sale.  Haven't had it for a long while...)
11 - Pulled Pork BBQ Sandwiches (Serving college students lunch and staying at church all day)
12 - Potato Crusted Chicken Casserole
13 - Pizza Burgers
14 - Egg, Bacon, Cheese Wraps
15 - Pork, Rick, Broccoli, Cheese Casserole
16 - Chicken and Dumplings
17 - Lasagna
18 - Beans and Rice in the Crock Pot
19 - Pancakes
20 - Veggie Beef Stew
21 - Enchiladas
22 - Baked Lunch Meat Sandwiches or Calzones
23 - Spaghetti
24 - Going to Tennessee
25 - Going to Tennessee
26 - Biscuits and Gravy
27 - Grilled Chicken
28 - Fish Sticks
29 - Burritos
30 - Burgers
31 - Chicken Manhattans

Do you have any family favorites?  I'd like to hear what other families enjoy for dinner.  We'd like to try some new things.

I can't wait to hear from you...

More APPLES!


Still haven't made it to the APPLE ORCHARD yet...  All of the APPLES will be gone by the time I get there, it seems.  I still had a few APPLES left from my quick trip to Adrian's that had to be used up.  I was going to make another half recipe of the APPLE Dumpling Dessert from my previous post, but, instead, I thought I'd make some APPLEsauce to go with our Mozzarella Chicken (another yummy dish) dinner last night.  So, I found this recipe, cut up the APPLES, added the other ingredients, threw it all in the Crock Pot (my best friend!), and went to prop my feet up!  (Okay, I wasn't able to do the last thing.  I have a 2-year-old, you know...)  When dinner was ready, I opened the crock and ummmmmmm ~~~~ nothing smells better than hot APPLES with cinnamon!  (Rob actually had to ask if he could eat it.  He thought it was potpourri.  I had to laugh at that one for quite a while.)  It was very yummy!  In fact, I got some APPLES today at the grocery to make more on Sunday for our lunch with the college kids.

Rob will be going to a men's conference tonight and tomorrow, so it's just me and Levi tonight.  Probably going to run to the library after dinner to return some books and videos.  I have several train books and a train video waiting for me, too.  Then, CVS and Walgreens maybe?  Oh, also have to go to Office Max to make copies of our church bulletin for Sunday.  

Tomorrow, my mom and Mrs. Holloway (a.k.a. "Mickie"  ~  I don't call her that.  She was my 3rd grade teacher way back when...  I still call her "Mrs. H.") will be going with me and Levi to the Covered Bridge Festival.  We'll be heading to Bridgeton for a COLD day of eating, shopping, eating, walking, eating, talking, and... oh, did I mention eating?  Okay, I won't be eating that much.  But, maybe some hot chocolate, some soup in a bread bowl, and definitely PUMPKIN ICE CREAM!!!  I don't care HOW COLD it is outside ~ I'm not leaving there until I get my PUMPKIN ICE CREAM!!  I look forward all year to this ice cream.  It's the best I've ever had!  (Kind of like waiting all year for Pineapple Whip at the State Fair...)  Anyway, enough about the food, the ladies from our church will be going, too.  Hopefully, we'll meet up with them this time.  (We went to Edinburgh last month with the ladies from our church, but we never saw them!)  

We hope to be going back to the Covered Bridge Festival on Tuesday with my parents, my aunt and uncle, and my husband.  He took off work for this.  Hope the weather is nice!  (We originally were planning to go today, but we changed the day since it is RAINING.  I'm not complaining because we really needed it...)

I still have some pictures I need to post from our recent doings.  Maybe I'll have a chance tonight after Levi goes to bed.  Also, now that October is close to the halfway point, I'll finally get around to posting my October menu plan!  I'm just a little behind...

Hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful time of year ~ the changing colors, the brisk fall wind, etc.  It will be gone before we know it!  Then the dreaded SNOW!!

Have a wonderful weekend!


Tuesday, October 6, 2009

APPLES!!

I love apples!  Haven't been able to actually go pick apples, but I did stop by Adrian Orchards on Friday to buy some apples.  I needed to use them up, so tonight I made my newest favorite apple recipe.  It is called "Apple Dumpling Dessert", and my husband said it tasted better than apple dumplings.  (Don't anyone tell Bro. Dean...)  That's saying a lot!  Here is the link, if anyone is interested.

Saturday, October 3, 2009

I'M DREAMING......

Can you believe it's October already?  It sure felt like it today!   A little bit too cool...

Made me get a CHRISTMAS cd out!  And, oh, did it sound good!  I sure LOVE that time of year, so I thought I'd get a little taste beforehand...

When Rob got in the car and heard what I was listening to, he couldn't believe it.  But, what's funny is, when we got home, he took the cd in the house and we LiStEnEd to it some more...

LOVE it!  (And, him, too, of course)   :)

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Where have I been?

Wow, it has been a loooonnnngggg time since I've posted something here.  Where have I been?  Well, I guess I've been busy...  Time just seems to fly by!  Everyday, there seems to be something going on around here.  For example, here is last weekend's schedule:  Saturday was a cook-out with the college class at church which took most of the day;  Sunday was church, college lunch, nursing home, church, and church fellowship afterwards.  Busy, busy, busy.  I know I'm not the only one.  Those of you with more than one child certainly have your hands full!  Don't know how you do it!

On another subject, has anyone else noticed how fall snuck up on us?  It is here!  But where did summer go?  I do love fall, but it just seems too early for it.  I'm not quite ready.  Oh well, can't go back, so I'd better just enjoy it!  I do love to have the windows open and let the fall breezes blow through the house, but these last few days have been too chilly and windy to do that.  The temperature in the house with all of the windows closed has been in the low to mid 60's.  Hoping it warms up a little bit soon!  Looks like tomorrow will be very nice, then rain on Friday and Saturday.  We still need the rain, so I'm not complaining about that.  My tomato plants have new blooms on them; not sure if they will make it, but I'll wait and see.  My strawberry plants are still growing, blooming, and producing.  They are spreading everywhere.  I'll have to try to contain them, so I can have other things, too, in my garden next year.

It is time to pick apples!  What will I be making this year when I get some apples???  Hmmm....  Gotta look at my recipes and choose.  I need to get over to the orchard.  We were heading there this morning in Grandma's car when Levi threw up all over the place!  So, needless to say, we turned around and came back home.  Had to give him a bath, wash clothes, etc.  (You know the drill, Moms.)  Grandma had to clean out her car, too.  Fun, fun!  (Glad we weren't driving my car...  lol)  Levi isn't showing any other symptoms of illness, so hopefully this too shall pass.  I hope he doesn't get sick!  I was really looking forward to taking him to the orchard to pick apples!  And he was really wanting to go, too.  For the last two days, he's been talking about going to the "farm, pick apples".  I'm hoping we are able to go tomorrow afternoon (if Levi doesn't get sick).

Tomorrow evening ~ DAVE RAMSEY!!  We have been looking forward to this for several months now.  We have had our tickets for about 6 months!  Dave Ramsey will be at the State Fairgrounds for a seminar.  We have been working on getting out of debt for a while now.  Still have a little ways to go, but we are getting somewhere.  We just have my car loan left, and the house, of course.  Dave Ramsey has given us some great ideas on how to budget, pay off debt, stay out of debt, pay with cash/debit, NO CREDIT, etc.  Of course, all of this is common sense, but sometimes you need someone to smack you in the face with it!  He doesn't hold back, that's for sure.  He says it like it is!  Can't wait to hear him live.  Maybe it will give us another little push...  Looking forward to it!  Several families from our church will be there, as well, so it will be a good time.

We have an appointment on Friday to get Levi's two-year pictures taken at Penney's.  I know I'm a couple months late, but... (I think I lost another couple months somewhere.)  I'm hoping he will be more cooperative than last year.  He wasn't happy at all last time, but they still managed to get some great shots.  We'll see...

I have some pictures that I need to post from Saturday.  (When we went to the cook-out at church, Levi went to a train expo with my parents.  Levi LOVES trains, of course!)  Also, since October starts tomorrow, I probably need to work on my monthly meal plan today...  I'll try to get that posted soon, as well.  

Hope everyone has an enjoyable day!

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

AMAZING Fruit Salad

On Labor Day, we had my parents and my aunt and uncle over for a cook-out.  We chose to make pizza burgers, which is one of our new favorites!  So, my mom brought dessert, homemade chocolate chip cookies and carrot cake.  My aunt brought a fruit salad.  It was probably the BEST I had EVER tasted.  I plan on making it many times around here and probably for our next church dinner.

Here is the recipe she passed on to me:

AMAZING FRUIT SALAD 
(This isn't the "official" title, just the lasting impression it gave me...)
  • 2 cans of pineapple chunks
  • 2 cans of mandarin oranges
  • 1 bag of frozen strawberries (can use fresh, if in season)
  • 4 or 5 bananas, sliced
  • 1 can of peach pie filling
This is really delicious!!  When I make it, I probably will add chunks of apples, as well.  Especially since they are in season now.

My mom's recipe for carrot cake is from Nestle Very Best Baking.

I am not a fan of carrot cake, so I didn't taste it.  (Yeah, I know, my mom has already given me a hard time about it...)  But, everyone else was raving over it.  So, I am passing it on to you.  I had to get the recipe from Mom so I can make it for Rob.  (Gotta keep the Hubby happy!)  I will probably make this for a church dinner soon.  Maybe our Thanksgiving dinner at church.  (Is it that time of year already?)

Hope you have the opportunity to try these recipes.  Enjoy!!

Old Friends, New Friends

I was able to spend an hour on Monday morning with a friend from the past.  Stacey flew in from Texas for a few days to visit with family.  She has twin girls that are about to turn two.  It worked out for us to spend a little time together for a "play date".  We met at a playground where the girls and Levi could play together.  What's funny is that they had way more fun playing with the rocks than the playground equipment!  Oh, the simple things in life...

Stacey is the cousin of a dear friend that is a missionary in Japan.  So, I am glad that I had the opportunity to spend time with her in Shellee's absence.  




Ice Cream!


Yes, Levi loves ice cream, just like his mommy!!

Levi has a truck book that has a picture of an ice cream truck in it.  Well, his Daddy decided to teach him the name of that truck.  He calls it "Mommy's truck".  Funny, Rob.  Real funny...



I LOVE BIG TRAINS!!



























Another train-centered getaway!  We went to Metamora, 1 1/2 hour drive east of Indy.  It is an 1838 canal town located along the 
Whitewater Valley Railroad.  It's been maybe 25 years since I've been there (wow, am I that old???).  I went there with my family and my friend, Shellee, and her mom, Pam.  Oh, the memories...

The reason we went this past weekend was because they had an old steam train there.  And, since Levi is so obsessed with trains, I thought it would be a nice opportunity to see a train up close.  We didn't ride it, for one reason, because it was so expensive.  But, I also thought that Levi would have much more fun watching it from the outside.  We were able to walk around in it while it was parked at the train station; that was pretty exciting!  Then we watched it leave and return for two of its trips.  It was VERY LOUD, which had two different effects on Levi:  screaming in fear or holding his ears.  

When the train was gone on its trips, we walked around and looked in some of the shops, ate lunch, walked through the mill, rode on the horse-drawn canal boat, and ate an ice cream cone.  What a long, but WONDERFUL day!!  Lots of memories!


Friday Night Boredom :)

No surprise here ~ 
Levi found the John Deere tractors first thing.







We went south to the booming metropolis of Edinburgh to the "Heartnut Festival"...
Pretty interesting.  We saw some tractor pulls (really just souped-up lawn mowers), Levi rode a little carousel ride (thanks to Paw-Paw), we found a swing set, and we found the little trains.  These trains are small; you actually ride on top of them.  They are only $2 a ride, but they weren't giving rides that night.  We will hopefully go back on the third Saturday of October to ride.  I'm sure Levi would thoroughly enjoy it.  Hopefully, Daddy can go with us then.  (He was in Chicago for a business trip for the weekend.)

Thursday, September 10, 2009

CIRCUS!











Today's expedition was a last-minute trip downtown to the CIRCUS PARADE.  The Ringling Bros. Circus is in town, and they had a parade around the Circle.  I found out a little late, so we were driving around looking for a parking space at a meter when we saw the elephants walking down the street.  We were a block away, but Levi could still see them.  I finally found a place, and we ran over to the circle.  We missed the elephants and the marching band there, but we did see some miniature horses and acrobats.  They gave out free circus hats, and Levi got one.  It's a little big, but he likes it!  Trying to get as much summer in as we can before it's gone...