Sunday Supper Plan 10/31

This was the Orange Beef  Orange Beef crockpot recipe that I made on Monday with rice and salad (made some adjustments.  Added juice from two oranges and then cut them and put on top of meat. No peppers).  It was very zesty and my husband and ODS LOVED it!  My two and three year olds were a little weary since the meat was extremely juicy and looked different than the usual beef they eat.  But overall, I give it 8 out of 10!

 

The rest of the week went according to plan, except for Saturday's dinner.  We quickly cooked stirfy and then swapped with Sunday dinner, in which my mother made her Spooky Halloween Dinner for the kids.  Complete with a brain jello mold (pictures coming soon!)

Sunday Supper Meal Plan 10/31

**With cooler weather coming our way this week, I am going to be utilizing our outdoor grills! We have a propane and a charcoal grille. My husband LOVES meat cooked on the charcoal because of the smokey taste and smell and I am very excited to learn more about grillin', especially since Vu usually handles the grill! However, I will only be cooking charcoal on the nights that he is off...it's a tad bit too dangerous to utilize on my own with kids underfoot.  I also reviewed this Goof Proof Grilling Article for some helpful tips!

Breakfasts:  Cold cereal, scrambled eggs (we have a TON to get through!), smoothies.

Lunches:  Turkey sandwiches, Cheese mini-me', left overs.

Dinners:

Monday:  Rons Grilled Shrimp (I actually have every single ingredient in stock!  yay!) with rice, peppers and salad

Tuesday:  Cranberry Grilled Chicken (with chicken breasts) with rice and salad.

Wednesday:  Leftovers with rice and fresh broccoli.

Thursday:  Meatloaf on the Grill (I am very excited to try this one!) with rice, sweat peas, and salad.

Friday:  Hot dogs, grilled corn (fresh corn stalks, peeled, smothered with butter and wrapped tightly in foil and salad) this is getting up geared up for this months camping trip!

Saturday:  Steak and potatoes with sweet and tangy marinade   

Sunday:  Frozen chicken nuggets and tater tots

Do you have some grilling tips or a favorite grilling recipe?  Please share!  I would love to learn more!

Friday Kidisms 10/29

We are very excited about this weekend! There are lots of super fabulous fun events in town and daddy has three whole days off! With this amazing cool weather headed our way, I am looking forward to grilling some meats outside...so come on back on Sunday to view my Sunday Supper List, I'm going to be trying some new recipes! I hope everyone has a marvelous weekend and a happy and SAFE Halloween!!!

Friday Kidisms 10/29

"Underneath your skin is muscle. Underneath your muscle is bones. But NOT dinosaur bones!!! Dinosaur bones are fossils!" -- Peyton.




"I hope they don't think I'm poisoness!" -- Braylon in reference to wearing his mushroom Halloween Costume to school.




"It's ok guys! It's ok guys!" --Kyan after his potty accident.






"That's it! I'm getting my toys and going to go live with Lily at her house!" --Peyton getting frustrated with Kyan after he took her toys.





"I'm going to marry Paxtyn." --Peyton

"Oh no you're not. You are way too bossy!" --Braylon

"Thank you for ibaryary (aka library) books." --Kyan's first time saying grace and what he was thankful for at dinner.

October School Project is Finished!

Today is the day that Braylon has his big presentation at school :) He /we have worked extremely hard on this months school project. It was very simple... read a mystery novel and make a WANTED Poster about a character that was wanted for doing something. The book he chose was a Chapter book (which took him a LONG time to get through!). He made a front side with a description of the character and drew a picture (with glued on sparkles and all!) and then wrote a summary on the back (which of course took days). It takes Braylon a long time to get through reading and writing assignments, and we are so very proud of him! Now, he was also getting graded on his presentation. He was SCARED to death (the one a few months ago he actually threw up he was so anxious and nervous). He has had numerous presentations before, but it was always optional to speak in front of the class...this is the first time that he is graded. We practiced a ton and my mom came over yesterday and also helped, too. I have been thinking of him ALL day!!! It's so foreign to me to have a child who is shy and afraid of public speaking. I was always the one in the front rowing yelling, "Ooo! Ooo! Me! First! PLEASE!!!"

I will let you know how it went!

What tips do you have for children with fears of oral presentations?

Organizing Children's Clothes

I'm not neurotic about too many things. At least, I don't think I am? hmmm... But when it comes to rotating the childrens clothes, after 7 years, I think I have it down! I have included the picture for my "system." It's very simple, but I'm sure over the years it has saved me countless hours of washing, sorting, and organizing the childrens clothes and not to mention LOTS of money since I know exactly what pieces of clothing my children already have!

1. Purchase 18 gallon storage containers (I have found these to be the largest sized bins that I can arrange in our closets). I recommend buying multiple containers at a time since there will most likely be more clothes than you anticipated. My children are 7, 3, 2, and 5 months and I currently have 16 containers.

2. Label the outside of your container with gender and size. I also color code mine by simply cutting small pieces of red (girls) or yellow (boys) construction paper. It really helps when things are packed tight.

3. Wash (duh) the clothes before you sort and store them.

4. Sort the clothes by category (ex: shirts, pants, socks, ect) and put them into individual grocery bags before you place them in the bins. This will extremely helped when taking them back out...grab a bag of shirt to hang, a bag of pants to put in the drawer, ect.
**sort by "true fit," not by size on tag ( ex: Some of the clothing my 3 year old daughter is in is labeled a 5T...store what fits when).

5. Store the clothing bin until your next baby or until you want to sell/donate your childrens clothes! :)

It's a little bit of work and extra time at the beginning, but I am convinced it makes everyones transition into their next size up muuuuch easier. Not to mention it's a bit nostalgic to see my 5 month old in his big brothers 7 year old clothing!

Do you have a system for organizing your childrens clothes?? Please share!

Sunday Supper Plan!

We had a wonderful weekend, although we dearly missed daddy AND Braylon. Dad worked on Saturday and then was up five hours later to give two lectures at a conference in Tampa. Braylon spent the weekend at his biological fathers weekend in Jacksonville. It was difficult for me and very difficult for Braylon, especially since he had not seen his father in over 5 months. *sigh* We're all still adjusting to the "new arrangements."

I had only three kids on Saturday! We spent the morning at my long time friends home eating a delicious pancake breakfast with her family. Yum yum yum!!! Peyton is also in LOVE with her oldest daughter, so all the kiddos had a grand time playing together! After breakfast, we made a quick trip home to rest then headed North county to enjoy another long time gal pal of mines sons 2nd birthday. LOTS of fabulous Saturday fun!!! Today we relaxed at home, ran errands, caught up on housework, and worked with Braylon on his big school project :)

Sunday Supper Plan

Breakfasts: Cold cereal, hard boiled eggs, and smoothies.
Lunch: Turkey sandwiches, leftovers, cheese quesadillas (tortillas with cheese in between heated for 30 seconds in the microwave).

Monday: Orange Beef (making some adjustments. Will add juice from two oranges and then cut them and put on top of meat. No peppers) with rice and salad.
Tuesday: A pre made frozen pasta dish cookin' with toast and salad.
Wednesday: Cranberry Pork Crockpot (very easy peasy) with rice and salad.
Thursday: Spaghetti with broccoli and toast.
Friday: Leftovers and rice.
Saturday: Dinner at the H. Farms!
Sunday: Grilled cheese and tomato soup...getting geared up for Halloween trick-or-treating!!!

Christmas Shopping for the Kids is FINISHED!

As of 10/22 we have finished our Christmas Shopping for our children. And I'm not talking about most of it, I'm talking about ALL of it! I am sooo excited, relieved, and proud of my husband and I...major teamwork, baby!!!!


Last year (with three children) we decided to give each child 1 gift from Santa, 1 gift from us, and put a large portion of money into their individual accounts. It worked beautifully! Therefore, we will be doing the same this year and also giving a "family present" which could be a vacation, annual membership to a local park/zoo/aquarium, or a large present everyone can enjoy. This years presents will be.....drumroll.....


Paxtyn (7 months at Christmas time): A new extended rear facing carseat from Santa (I know he is going to be ECSTATIC!), regifted baby toys from us, and money in his account.


Kyan (2 1/2 years): 75 Thomas Trains (I won them on an ebay auction!!!) from Santa, Braylon's old train table from us, and money in his account.


Peyton (3 1/2 years): MOSI Puzzle Cake (she saw this at a local museum last month and has not stopped talking about it) from Santa, a dollhouse from us (scored 10% off from Lifeasmom), and money in her account.


Braylon (7 1/2 years): Real Construction Deluxe Set from Santa, Bowling Game for the Wii, and money in his account.


Family Present: The Wii!!! We have heard such wonderful things about this gaming system and now that we have two children old enough to play, we thought the timing was perfect!


We are so very excited to have the major shopping done and are looking forward to just enjoying the Holiday Season and not worrying about present crunch time. Let the joyful holiday season begin!

What is on your children's present list this year? How do you determine how many presents each will receive?

Tennessee Pride Hashbrown Casserole Recipe!

Here is a FABULOUS recipe, courtesy of my mother :) Not only is it extremely easy to make, but it can be served as a breakfast as well as lunch or dinner. I always double my casseroles and make 2 at a time. One for a current meal and one for a freezer cooking to eat at a later time OR to deliver as a meal to new moms.



Tennessee Pride Hashbrown Casserole

Ingredients

2lbs of Tenn. Pride sausage (hot or mild)

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1 can (10 3/4 oz) cream of chicken soup

1 cup sour cream

1 (8oz) container of French Onion Dip

1 cup of chopped onion

1/4 cup of green and red bells peppers

1 (30 oz) package frozen hashbrown shredded potatoes, THAWED


In skillet, cook sausage until browned and drain well.











Spend 10 minutes attempting to open French Onion Jar. Finally sent Bray to the neighbors for assistance...



In large mixing bowl, combine cheese, chicken soup, sour cream, french onion dip, chopped onion, bell peppers. Next fold in thawed hashbrowns. Mix well..





Layer the bottom of pan with 1/2 the hashbrown mixture, like so...




Then layer with 1/2 of sausage...




Then repeat with remaining hashbrown mixture and top with sausage and sprinkle with a little cheese on top.

Cook @ 350 for an hour and 10 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through. I didn't get a photo of my finished products! Boo.

I always get lots of requests for this recipe and I hope you enjoy it as much as we do! :)

--Marissa

2010 Christmas Cards Idea

I'll admit it. I'm a total nerd when it comes to Christmas Cards. I love love LOVE coming up with super creative cards...it seems to be the only "project" where my creative ideas actually translate into something cool. The past two years I have used my mothers Mac Computer to create our colorful cards which consisted of a collage of family pictures on the front and text on the inside along with two rows of family photos. I LOVED them, especially since I was able to give a short summary of what each family member accomplished over the past 12 months and they looked really professional. However, now with four children, there is no longer adequate room within the text to include details of all the kiddos...hence my hunt for new cards!

So with all of my free time, I searched and searched...

And...

I believe I had found them! While searching the net, I discovered a site that allows you to download a template design. The one I LOVE reminds me of a Newsletter. It is two pages and I can insert pictures and plenty of text. And best of all, the download is under $3.00!!! This means all I need to do is create our "Christmas Newsletter," and send to Kinko's or Staples to print...and vio la! That's it!!! **happy dance**

Ch-ch-check it out!!!

Christmas Cards

If you send Christmas/Holiday Cards, what do type do you send? Cards, picture cards, letters, or something else?

Change of Plans Due to Toddlerhood!

Well, today started off like any other day. Kids up, dressed, breakfast, B dropped off to school, laundry, and reading time. Wednesdays are super fun because we take the 3 little ones to Open Gymnastics and let them run their hearts out! Well, I was nursing little guy on the couch and realized my 2 year old had been miiiighty quiet. My investigation led to this discovery...Kyan had climbed onto his big brothers top bunk!

Such a little rascal!

We asked him to show us how he got up and he showed us how he methodically climbed up his drawers. When he got to the top he yelled, "see guys!"

Let Operation Disassemble Bunk Beds commence!

Of course, our drill had died (isn't that always the case with minor home repair emergencies?) so we raced to Lowe's to purchase another battery only to find that our drill had been discontinued. Sooo, we purchased another one, headed to gymnastics, raced home to rearrange the room before daddy left for work and I piled the kids in the car to pick up B. Unfortunately this meant naps had to be postponed and we ended up missing Lego Club at the library. However, we got it done and the room, although looking somewhat hodgepodgy, is safe again for my daredevil two year old!

Here is the "new boys room."

In these types of quick thinking/immediate attention required mommy moments, I have found that...

1. Being flexible is key to sanity when things get a bit crazy. I'll admit, I have my schedule and what I plan to do during the day and to stray from our activities makes me feel, well, a little out of control. However, if we don't make it to Lego Club the world won't stop turning...

2. Being calm and patient is crucial. When mom is calm, the kids are calm(er) and I really need to let it go, be patient, and remember to them the drill does look like a totally awesome new toy and 50 reminders not to touch it will be needed...and that's ok. They're kids. Be patient.

3. Just laughing sometimes does the trick. I was a little out of sorts by the time we made it to Open Gym, and explaining the story and laughing about it with friends reminded me that it was noooo big deal! Dude. It's a bed. He's a boy. Totally.

In these types of quick thinking/immediate action required moments, what keeps you calm and collected?

:)

August and September Adventures! :)

Smiley Little Prince!

Mommy and the little guy

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Where's the Music!?!?

We rented a music cd from the library and the kids thought this song was HILARIOUS! I finally had to pull over and record their giggle attacks :)

I'm Baaack!

It's been a very challenging 6 months involving TONS of legal paperwork to establish custody of my older son. It's been an emotional and exhausting journey. I feel like a huge weight has been lifted :)