beanbag

First a huge thank you to LeeAnn! I ran across her when she was making beanbags for another blogger (A Daily Scoop)… and talked to her (via email) about ordering a beanbag for Iz. She asked about color and size, looked at Izzy’s blog to see her… and then we agreed when she got to it she would let me know how much for the beanbag and shipping. So… yesterday I walked out to put things in the car for the day (pause…)

Saturday I was leaving the house with my hands full and pushing izzy’s stroller. I got to the front door and was trying to manuever all the stuff and her and her chair started rolling down the sidewalk. I took off and realized my hoodie sweatshirt was caught on the storm door handle and I couldn’t move. I accessed the situation in about .2 seconds and forfeited the shirt. I ran anyway ripping the shirt apart. I caught her before she went maybe 5 feet, but it scared me. That’s why I am making multiple trips to the car and not trying to take it all in one swoop. I’m also using the brakes on the stroller!

(resume…) There was this ginormous, seriously huge box on the front porch I could barely carry in. Guess what it was? It was from LeeAnn. It was the beanbag! She sent it without telling me. I emailed her immediately and excitedly asking her how much to send because i know the shipping had to be outrageous for this huge box all the way from Nevada. Guess what she said? “It’s my gift to Izzy and you.” Is that not the sweetest thing ever? I thought so! I’m working on a care package to send her as a thank you! For all the bad things you hear about people and the world I am amazed at all the kind and generous good people!

food and stuff

We’ve been having lots of soups the past several days. Matt heard of then bought a book about volumetrics which is basically eating the same amount of food but redistributing the ratio of vegetables to other food. We had homemade pizza two nights also. The first night I bought a refridgerated crust just to save time (so I thought) and then yesterday I was making several pizzas for the whole fam so I made homemade crusts I saw on orgjunkie.com. This is the crust recipe and a sauce recipe too…

Pizza Crust:
1 tbsp active dry yeast
1 cup warm water (105 to 115 degress F)
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 1/2 cups flour
Dissolve the yeast in the water. Add the rest of the ingredients in and mix. Dump onto a floured surface. Knead into a smooth dough (five minutes or so). Roll out and press down onto a greased pizza pan. Add some pizza sauce and your toppings. Bake at 450 degress F for around 12-15 minutes until the crust looks crispy and lightly browned. Dough can also be frozen as well.

Pizza Sauce
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
1/2 cup red wine or water
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon vegetable oil or olive oil
1-2 tablespoon parmesan cheese

I covered matt’s pizza (2 of them) with tons of veggies… onions, green peppers, olives, mushrooms, zucchini, tomatoes and a little canandian bacon aka lean peppered ham. I liked being able to make one for everyone to enjoy. Matt said they were better than carryout pizza. I think we’ll be having pizza often for a while.



Last night I knew I wanted to have something made for after church and had planned to make a soup using chicken. We made beef/veggie stew Thursday and had been eating it for a few days… it was finally gone. It was really good and especially tasty since I have been fighting a cold/sore throat. I put a big container (48 oz) chicken stock in the slow cooker and then a big can of petite diced tomatoes, a can of rotel, a palm full of chili powder and cumin, some salt and pepper, a jar of green chilis, can of mushrooms, can of mexican corn, small can of peas, big can of rinsed and drained black beans and a package of frozen chicken tenders. I diced an onion and sauteed it in a little butter with pressed garlic and added it in when it was translucent. I put it on low and left it for the night. I shredded some cheddar cheese, had tortilla strips (chips) and some advocados. It was a healthy version of tortilla soup and it was delicious! Another new favorite!

We’ll have the soup again tomorrow because there is a ton, plus a lot of pizza leftover…

Tuesday we’ll have turkey burgers (a recipe from the volumetrics book using bulgar which I’ve never used…)

Wednesday I’m going to make a pot of beans and cornbread.

Thursday frito chili pie with turkey.

Friday more pizzas!

It’s freezing cold today and I think me & Izzy are going to bed to read for a while…

What’s on your menu for the week? Making any healthy changes? I need to add walking back in to our schedule this week!

I made bookmarks for my teen girl’s class showing the scriptures to read so that they can read the bible in one year. If they bring it back each week with each day checked off they will be rewarded… I hope they stick with it. I gave them the 15-20 minutes in class today to start to show them how they can actually get it done and it’s not that hard. Since daily bible reading is at the top of my goals for 2009 it helps to have company!

wrapping presents

I've been wrapping tons of presents today. I tried something new I saw on a friend's blog. She makes bows with the paper. It turned out okay, but a little messier than I like. Maybe it's the paper?

last weekend...

How was your Sunday? Saturday? Mine were incredibly uneventful. But, that’s a good thing. Saturday I didn’t leave the house one time. Not once! I shopped for groceries Friday and just didn’t have to get anything. I had french bread pizzas for lunch and ham sandwiches on the sourdough bread I bought Friday at Panera for dinner… had pork loin to put in the crockpot for dinner Sunday after church and let everyone hit the freezer for dinner.

We have a guest speaker this week at church… Sherlock Bally. Pretty interesting. He speaks about prophecy and is informative and entertaining at the same time. I really enjoyed the day.

I had a ton of good coupons to different stores that all expired yesterday… and a great one that was for today only. But I guess there is something to be said for not spending any money all weekend… even though I could have saved so much money by spending? Oh well, tomorrow brings a new day and more coupons! I remember the days of cutting out coupons for disposable diapers.

Good News! I got the kids pic for our Christmas cards and ordered them last night. I’m really please with the picture and can’t decide if I should post it or not… what do you think?

I plan to make chicken spaghetti tomorrow night. We’ll have salad and garlic toast.

I bought a huge bag of chicken breasts from Sams so we’ll probably have chicken a few times this week.

Maybe bbq chicken and baked potatoes Tuesday! Sounds good. I wish my family shared my love for bbq sauce and did you see that special on channel 13 about the taste test? Bull’s Eye won blind test after blind test so I bought some. It is good. Mom makes delicious homemade bbq sauce but hasn’t lately. Mom! Make some!

Wednesday we’ll have burgers and fries. health food.

Thursday french bread pizzas… and salad.

Friday I’m thinking about having carryout chinese food… or something like that.

They had this fudge at Sam’s Friday when I was shopping for food. They were passing out samples. It’s called fudgie wudgie. I accepted a sample and I have to tell you it was like having a little piece of heaven right in my mouth. I bought a pound. I ate it all. Well, not all… I shared it. But it’s gone and now all I can think about is going back to Sam’s and buying more. Sad but true. Tis the season.

my new boots

So I have mentioned at least twice, maybe even three times what I remembered to be the worst Christmas present I received (as a child). So on Black Friday mom and I were shopping. I saw and tried on a pair of boots greatly reduced for early bird special at JCP. Mom swooped in and paid for them happy to have a Christmas gift bought. I didn’t object. Until Sunday. I got dressed in a brown long skirt that I had in the spring/summer months and wore really cute brown sandals. It was like 40 degrees so those shoes were completely out of the question. Knowing what a nice person my mom is I called her (at 9 a.m. as I was rushing out to church) and said, “my outfit today would be perfect with those brown boots.” to which she replied, “do you want to wear them?” duh … “why, yes! I would love to wear them!.” She left them on the front porch on her way to church and I slipped them on and out I went.

I came home and put them back in the box, not saying goodbye… just til we meet again at Christmas. Mom asked later in the day how the boots were and I said that I really like them and had packed them up to return to her for wrapping. She said I could just keep them with one condition. That I never mention that gift again from my childhood. So… I won’t. It’s as if it never happened. Thanks mom. I heart you.

this and that

HappyThanksgivingEve! My day will be full and busy... more than usual. I have all the ingredients to make a triple batch of spinach dip, and some casseroles to take to Tulsa tomorrow. Bailey has a friend over (spent the night)... the kids are out of school until Monday. I am planning to get a picture for Christmas cards today! I got an email from Dayspring about Christmas photo cards you design yourself. The email also had a coupon to Save 25% on Your Order!
Using Promo Code studio25. I have mine all ready! Just need the perfect pic of the four kiddos.

So... more good news about Iz. She did standing with Camilla yesterday and did great. Camilla and Melanie commented that her head control has greatly improved since the Summer. She was dangling her legs while sitting on a table and kicked her legs when asked by Melanie. Doesn't sound like much but with the high tone in her legs for her to be able to relax and kick each leg is a big deal. We are just building towards the kid walk. I can't wait to see her in it.

My new cell phone came Monday! I was so excited. I've been dealing with that stupid phone that I dropped in my drink for weeks and the buttons wouldn't work so I couldn't call a number unless it was stored and couldn't text. My new phone is WONDERFUL! It has gps and a cool camera with a flash... and a full keyboard and a cool trackball and the buttons all work and it is great!Did you know you can buy cellphones on Amazon.com and use your upgrade (mine was ATT). This phone was .01 cents! That's using my upgrade. On the ATT website the upgrade for the same phone would be a LOT more! I am going to be using Amazon for all my future upgrades, it's a great deal! Not a refurbished phone or anything either. It came with all the cords and even a case. I need a memory upgrade.

I got some great ideas for new books to read. Gail and Susanne both mentioned "Uncharted," by Angela Hunt. I ran by the library yesterday and got that one to have for the weekend. I really hope to have some time to read it! Camilla mentioned a book called "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society." I am going to read that one next!

today

For Today…

Outside my window… it’s chilly and sunny!

I am thinking…Monday mornings are one of my favorite times of the week. Time for catching up and having a little quiet time…

I am thankful for…Great improvements in Izzy’s feet today. I am measuring each Monday as instructed by the orthotist. I wasn’t sure about my last measurement because I thought maybe I wasn’t getting it right, but after our visit last Monday we were right on track with what Gary measured so I felt confident today to measure and to tell you that I think we have made huge gains in her feet. I’m seeing 8 degrees at least just in this one week. That is HUGE!!! I know the difference has been her wearing them while sleeping. I am so thankful that she has been able to do that now for several nights and she seems less and less annoyed when she wakes up and realizes they are on her feet.

From the kitchen…I bought a big pack of lean ground beef and you know you can’t just throw it in the freezer or you have a brick… so I need to fix it today or it will be bad, gb just doesn’t keep long at all! I am going to cook it all and then make a big batch of chili. I may freeze half for later when turkey is getting old.

I am wearing…the t-shirt and pajama pants I slept in.

I am reading…nothing really… although considering re-reading the twilight series after seeing it Saturday. Any suggestions for a good read?

I am hoping…to get a lot done today!

I am creating…a picture of me and mom for a frame that has had the picture that came in it. I put a picture of me and mom that I printed in black & white from the family reunion with my grandfather. He is not doing well at all. Please keep him in your prayers.