Have you ever....

....gotten the stares or sometimes glares from people whenever your child is acting like a possessed tiny person?  I definitely have.  Many times.  A few weeks ago, my precious Nora decided to start screaming at the top of her lungs right when I was heading to the checkout at Target.  Her timing was perfect.  If she had started beforehand, we would have left the store and gone home but no...she waited to unleash her incredibly loud, ear piercing screams right when the buggy was full of cold items and had to be checked out.  It gets better.  As I walked down the line looking for the one with the fewest people, the cashier's had this look of horror on their face as if to say, "Please please please don't get in my line."  There was a small part of me that felt bad for them and then there was that mean part of me that decided to choose the cashier who had scowled the most.  It's only fair right?

Well...this evening's experience has now trumped the Target experience.  It's a short story but my friends with youngsters will understand.

Today was a big day for us.  We were able to go and pick up our new MINIVAN.  My best friend has compared it to a limo for Mommies and she couldn't explain it any better.  To all Mom's out there who say they would never drive one, you're crazy.  There, I had to put that out there.  I am very excited but my 4 year old is even more excited.  She decided at 4pm that she "needed to take a ride in the minivan to go get some butter."  How can I say no to that?  I was happy to just be able to smell that new car smell.  Sigh.  Nora had another idea.  She decided that she would rather throw a fit for 15 minutes for no apparent reason, or at least not one that I could put my finger on.  She stopped, calmed down and I loaded the monkey's into the "limo."  We drove one mile to the grocery store, I pushed my nifty new automatic doors, went to get Nora out of the car and that unleashed a temper tantrum that I have only seen a few times.  At this point, I was holding on to her for dear life and couldn't get to keys to open the doors back up.  The screaming was horrific.  There was a nice, understanding man in the parking lot who thankfully I have met before through friends, who offered the normal, "Don't worry.  I have one of my own.  Do you need any help?"  That was nice.  It was what happened after that made me want to crawl into a hole.  Please keep in mind that my child doesn't just cry, she wails and for an added bonus, screams so loud that it could break glass.  She was in the midst of this blood curdling screaming fit that Winn Dixie employee's decided to come outside to see what was going on.  They stood there staring at me as if I had been beating my child.  That's not to say that I didn't want to but I had an enormous amount of restraint.  It was one of those fits that you know has to play out because anything I could have done would have just made it worse or prolonged it.  I was so embarrassed.  I've been embarrassed many times but this was awful!  To have employee's come out of the store into the parking lot was just a nightmare.  Needless to say, we got back into the car and came home...without Ava's butter.  Don't worry, I took her back, alone, once her Daddy got home.  We now have butter.

If only I had a dollar for how many times I've heard, "You have your hands full" or "And you have another on the way? (as if we have lost our minds - and we have)"  I would be a very rich woman or at least be able to pay cash for my "limo."

To lower my blood pressure, I sat in my new car and just took in the smell.  It works surprisingly well.

Just in case you now only have an image of a screaming Nora in your mind, this is what my precious girl is like when she doesn't have a serious case of the grumps.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Kevin had a great birthday!  Ava and Nora decorated for Daddy with Iron Man, Transformers and Spiderman.  We had the best time!  Watching Kevin, Ava and Nora play Just Dance for Kids on the Wii was worth every penny spent on the Wii.

I'm going to let the pictures do the talking.

 

"Kevinary"

We are pretty big on birthday's at our house.  We don't have to have huge parties or outlandish plans and gifts but one thing we are good at is making the person feel pretty darn special during their birthday month.  It's all about favorites and time.  The latter being the most important of course.  January is all about celebrating Kevin and we have kicked it into high gear this week.  Tomorrow we will celebrate this guy....

I don't think anyone can say it better than Ava has for years, "Daddy, you're the best Daddy I ever saw."  And...he is.  I'd have to throw in that he is the best husband as well.  We are making sure he knows it this week.  Ava wanted to take him to dinner last night.  She chose Moe's and Kevin treated it as if it was a 5 star restaurant.  Ava was thrilled.  We also went shopping for party decorations, a cake and wrapped his presents.  Ava picked everything out by herself, including his gift.  How she has kept a secret from him about his gift for so long is beyond me.  She's impressive.  Today, he was surprised with this being delivered to him at work.  Who can turn down COOKIES!  

Tonight, we get to have dinner with...wait for it...just the two of us!  Hallelujah!  After the screaming I have put up with today, 5 o'clock can't come fast enough.  Tomorrow will be his "party."  I have a very excited 4 year old who is ready to decorate and party with her Daddy.  I think I have an even more excited husband who can't wait to see what his daughter has up her sleeve for him. 

Happy Birthday Kevin!  You are AMAZING and we celebrate YOU!

Our 1st Freezer Cooking Day

It's a brand new year and what an exciting year it will be for us.  We will welcome Baby Jackson in the Spring.  Then we will have to start shopping for school uniforms, school supplies and send our "baby" off to kindergarten (tears).  Add in shopping for a new car, the potential to put a "For Sale" sign in our front yard as well as decorating two rooms for our kiddos and you can see that we have a packed 6 months ahead of us.  Oh...and let's not forget Kindermusik, T-ball, gymnastics, dance and art class. So, when I sat down with the husband to go over our January budget, we decided it may be a good idea to try a freezer cooking day to help out with time management, weekly shopping and our grocery bill.  Good thing I love to cook and I have a 4 year old who already had her apron picked out for the event.

I can't say that we will save a ton of money because we are very picky when it comes to the meats we eat.  We don't like cheap fatty meat.  I buy organic meat when I can find it and the lean, natural, hormone free, no pesticides, etc...kind.  Rarely can I find it on sale but I'd rather pay more and be confident with what I am feeding my children than pay less for chicken/beef that have been shot up with who knows what.  Ew.

First, I started by organizing my thoughts by using the forms located here.  Thank you to moneysavingmom.com for having these available.  I also asked my fb friends for advice, read several blogs, listed my trusted recipes and went shopping at my Mom's house for her extra food saver (thank you Mom).

I planned items that could be used in different ways, didn't require too much prep and weren't a bunch of casserole's.  Basically, I just wanted to make dinner time less hectic and give me more time to make sides....and play with the girls.  So, after meals were planned, coupons clipped and the shopping complete, I made the prep list in an order that was manageable.  

I don't think anyone wants me to go into detail about what I did when but I did make sure that the crock pots were full, the oven going and things on the stove cooking at the same time.  It really was so much fun!  We accomplished most things while the Nora was sleeping.  Ava helped with absolutely everything and Kevin was right behind us washing bowls, etc... Without his help, it would have taken much longer.  It really was fun because it was a something we did as a family.  In approximately 4 hours, we accomplished all of this...

4 packages marinated chicken breasts (3 in each)
2 marinated pork loins
2 packages of Southwest Burritos
1 extra burrito mix
1 baked ziti
1 taco meat
1 chili
2 vegetable soup
2 pulled pork for sandwiches/baked potatoes
2 cooked/chopped chicken for salads/chicken salad
2 packages of hamburger patties
2 packages of meatballs
17 packages of muffins (blueberry, blackberry and apple raisin) - Kevin likes these packaged in 3 or 4 because he takes them to work in the mornings.

Here are a few of the recipes I used.

Baked Ziti

1 lb ground beef

1 15oz container of ricotta cheese

1 jar of spaghetti sauce of your choice

1 box ziti noodles

Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

Tomato sauce of your choice

1.    Brown meat and cook noodles separately.

2.   Mix all ingredients together except for mozzarella cheese.

3.   Sprinkle Mozz cheese on top and bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

4.   Warm tomato sauce to put on top if desired.

Blueberry Muffins

Blue Willow – Bible of Southern Cooking, page 156 – Makes 12 muffins

1 egg

½ cup milk

¼ cup vegetable oil

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

½ cup sugar

2 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

1 cup fresh blueberries or ¾ cup frozen blueberries, thawed and drained

1.    Preheat oven to 400. 

2.   Coat blueberries in a thin coat of flour before mixing into batter so that they do not automatically sink to the bottom of the muffins when baking.

3.   In a large mixing bowl combine the egg, milk, oil, flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and blueberries.  Mix lightly.  Pour into greased muffin cups and bake for 20 to 25 minutes.

Blackberry Muffins

The Lady & Sons, Too! By Paula Dean, page 130 – makes 18 muffins

½ cup (1 stick) melted butter

½ cup milk

2 large eggs at room temperature

2 cups all purpose flour

1 ¼ cups, plus 4 tsp of sugar

2 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

2 cups fresh blackberries, or frozen blackberries, thawed and drained.

1.    Preheat oven to 350.

2.   Coat blackberries with thin coat of flour before adding to mixture.

3.   Grease muffin tins or line with foil liners.

4.   In a bowl, stir together the butter, milk and eggs. 

5.   In a mixing bowl, sift together the flour, 1-¼ cups of the sugar, the baking powder and salt. 

6.   Make a well in the center and pour the milk mixture all at once; stir until blended (but not too much).  The batter will be lumpy.  Do not over mix.

7.   Fold in the berries.

8.   Divide the batter among cups and sprinkle the remaining 4 tsp of sugar over the batter. 

   Bake for approx. 25 minutes or until golden.

Apple Raisin Muffins

Lady & Sons, Too! By Paula Dean, page 134 – makes 5 dozen miniature muffins

2 cups water

2 cups sugar

2 cups grated apples

2 cups raisins

1 cup butter

2 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg (will use less and dried)

½ tsp ground cloves

1 cup chopped walnuts

2 tsp baking soda

3-½ cups all-purpose flour

1.    Preheat oven to 350.

2.   Combine the water, sugar, apples, raisins, butter, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves in a saucepan; bring to a boil.

3.   Remove from heat and cool completely.

4.   In large bowl, combine the nuts and baking soda into the flour.

5.   Add the cooled mixture to the bowl and stir until blended. 

6.   Fill muffin tins and bake for 10-15 minutes.

Southwest Roll Ups

2 cans refried beans

½ cup salsa

2-4 cups cooked chicken, chopped

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

16 tortillas

1.    Mix together beans, salsa and chicken.

2.   Spread 1/8 of mixture onto one tortilla.

3.   Sprinkle with cheese.

4.   Roll up and turn ends under. 

5.   When ready to bake, thaw and bake in a pre heated 350 degrees oven for 20-30 minutes until heated through.  Sprinkle with more shredded cheddar cheese, if desired.  Serve with salsa.

Chili

2 lbs Ground Beef

2 cans Bush’s Chili Beans

2 cans Black Beans (Ranch's are good!)

1 28oz can Diced Tomatoes

1 can Tomato Paste - regular size

2 packs of Chili Mix

Shredded cheese for Garnish

1.    Brown beef & drain.

2.   Add tomatoes, paste, beans and seasoning mix. Heat till hot stirring occasionally.