Busy Monday, October 27

Today's 'To-Do' List

• Get kids to bus 6:40 & 7:15
• Make menu / Grocery List
• Write Blog
• Get Groceries
• Laundry
• Finish Laundry Soap - Nope never finished this. I got it all made up... the easy part and then it hit the bucket and I never got around to remixing and bottling it so I need to do that today I've been making it through with the little bit of store bought I had tucked away for occasions like this. 
• Lunch with Peter
• Catch up hand wash dishes (griddle and things I don't want Katherine to wash since dishes is her chore normally)
• Mow the lawns
• Pull out Halloween Decorations -- Well I got the inside ones done. I just need to get out and mow the lawn again before I can get some of the outside ones taken care of.
• Parent/Teacher Conference late this evening

Menu

Found on healthfulpursuit.com

• Breaded Pork, Mashed Potatoes, Peas
• Crock Pot - Beef Stew (going to try one of those premade meals again)
• Crock Pot - Pulled Pork
• Spaghetti w/Meatballs - I saw this picture floating around Facebook for the stuffed bell peppers and I decided this was a must for this year!  
• Chili Dinner - This is Halloween and we will be trick-or-treating at a friend's house and she always makes a big chili dinner. I'm sure I'm going to pick up something later in the week to bring too since there will be a whole bunch of her family there and then our family too.
• Beef Pot Roast, Mashed Potatoes, Corn (held over from last week) 
• Pizza - I may change this depending how I feel later in the week but it seemed like a simple meal after a busy week and let us wind down before the next week. 

This Week's 'To-Do' List

• Work -Tu-Fri 
•  Clean up around the house - This is a permanent main stay. 
• Tuesday Morning I have to be fasting and get to work very early for yearly medical check up (blood drawn and handed a little cup for the bathroom).
• Tuesday - Project Club. The girls are going to learn how to cross stitch. 
• Wednesday the kids both have their yearly dental check ups. 
• Thursday - Katherine has her After School Halloween Party
• Friday - Halloween, enough said.
• Saturday - Peter's work has rented out one of the farms for a family fall festival so we will be there during the day. During the night Peter and I will be going to an adult halloween party for a little while. 
• Sunday - Rest? Peter may go visit a friend this day but otherwise it'll be time to rest and catch up on whatever we have fallen behind on around the house. 

Last Week

You do know I generally have to go to my own Facebook page and read my statuses. On my 'actual' Facebook page I post obsessively but it does help me keep track of what I'm doing. 

So yeah the picture to the left is really fuzzy I see. 

Remember when I said last week we were going to have chicken and rice? Well I forgot to buy stirfry veggies so instead we had "Throw it in the Pot" curry. I cooked some chicken separate for Peter and Katherine. So basically I went through my fridge I found potatoes, carrots, onions and mushrooms and I had some curry sauce so I got it all chopped up and threw it in the pot with some chicken and made a side of rice. 

Curry always looks awkward. I'm not sure if I actually 'like' curry. It is one of those things that it tastes so odd so I just keep eating it because I really can't make my mind up about it. 

Curry also makes a LOT of food! I just realized that due to this last week I think I still have some in the back of the fridge that sadly I will have to toss out now.
(Which writing that meant I had to take a break because I realized the trash didn't even go out to the curb. I probably looked a little odd walking over and checking my neighbors garbage can but I wanted to see if trash had came yet. Thankfully it hadn't so the little bit of left over curry and whatever else trash wise went out and trash is on the curb. Horray.)

Friday the girls and I stayed up very late (We stayed up until 1:30 for myself and Brielle though Katherine passed out earlier than that.) making chocolate covered oreo cookies. The cats and eyeballs were normal and the brains and pumpkins were gluten free for our friends that can't tolerate gluten. 

There's some left over cookies as you can see too that I need to start handing out to the kids after dinner so they stop tempting me. 

Saturday, Peter and the girls went to a game shop called Big Bang for comic books and the costume & coloring contests. The girls won prizes and had a good time down there. 

I did cheat and go down and buy Katherine a hat instead of sewing her one. By time I got to that point I was just so tired of sewing and I really need to get my machine down to the shop now I already called them up and found out how much it will cost me to have it serviced. 

(I shared out some pictures on my facebook page for Burnt-Out-Mom because I couldn't figure out how to link them up over here. I think I haven't had enough coffee! Though if you feel so inclined you can click them and go to the game website and vote. The kid with the most votes by Halloween gets a $50 gift card to the store!)

My Pumpkin

While the kids were out at the game shop with Peter I was home feeling ill and trying to work on things for the kids Halloween Party. I had set in my head I was doing a puking pumpkin chip tray. I actually did do it but I never got a picture of the tray after it was put together. In fact there are no pictures of this event at all because Peter said afterwards, "You never told me to take any pictures." I'm not sure he quite grasps how much this disappointed me.

Saturday night we got Katherine's friend Sarah and we went over to the Kids Halloween Party. The kids had a blast and the adults talked. It was a pretty good evening. After the party we had Sarah stay the night and then on Sunday we started a new adventure with Sarah in tow....

We went apple picking....

We all headed down to the orchard and picked apples. It really didn't take very long at all and I was surprised. We picked 20 lbs of apples and paid $15 for it. 

Afterwards we went out for lunch at the chinese buffet (an expense I hadn't counted on but that's okay) and then we took Sarah home and the kids played some more and we left them some apples. 

Sunday night we tried to take it kind of easy. We switched up dinner plans to chicken nuggets and french fries that I already had in the freezer because all of us were still pretty full from lunch. 

We watched shows and the kid folded clothes. 

I took it upon myself to try and make applesauce. Katherine doesn't like spiced applesauce at all so I just made it plain apples with nothing added (other than a bit of lemon juice and water).

1-1/2 cups sauce from 4 apples

I've got a lot more apples to do up and there has been a request for apple pie too. 

I've got all these apples now I need to make sure I do something with them because I think they will go bad before I can get through the 'apple a day' routine. 

I want to can up applesauce for use in other things. I also wouldn't mind canning up some apple pie filling. I want to make apple butter too but that can only be froze they don't suggest canning it any more. The commercial stuff they sell has to go through apparently higher temps than most home canners can reach from what I was reading.
(*Update: I'm not seeing the article on why not to can apple butter instead I'm seeing many things now about canning it. I'm going to do further research but as of now I may can some. Oddly enough I'm seeing lots of water bath canning also which temperatures aren't as high in water bath canning meaning it does not penetrate through thick items such as fruit butters and purees as well. That is what the danger is. It is also why it is not suggested to make your own pumpkin puree but instead can pumpkin and other squash in chunks and puree it when it is time to use it. There is so much conflicting information out there that sometimes it can be hard to figure it out and it is best to just make a judgement call for what you feel safe with.)

I think that was pretty much it in a nutshell. I do need to make up some more recipe pages with directions on how to do things like the applesauce. I'm going to try and put that onto my to-do list.

If there is anything in particular you'd like me to blog about let me know and I'll sure try! 

Busy Monday, October 20

Today's 'To-Do' List

• Get kids to bus 6:40 & 7:15 -- Brielle's bus never showed up or came early so I ended up driving her to school. 
• Make menu / Grocery List
• Write Blog
• Dentist at 12 o'clock
• Get Groceries
• Laundry - Well I've got it all pretty much washed I just need to get to folding! 
• Buy more & Install new kitchen hardware - We were short a few.

Did some other various stuff but really not up for rambling off all my running around today. Let's just say I had a lot of running around to do but I got it done. I also made a Sam's Club trip since hamburger is so much cheaper there and got a few other various things we needed to restock and then grabbed a hot dog and soda for $1.80. I really do love how cheap I can grab lunch there when I'm in the area. 

Menu

• Tacos
• Hamburger Helper
• Lasagna
• Chili Dogs
• Pizza
• Grilled Cheese & Tomato Soup
• Beef Pot Roast, Mashed Potatoes, veggies and all that jazz. 

This Week's 'To-Do' List

• Work -Tu-Fri 
•  Clean up around the house - This is a permanent main stay. 
• Pull out Halloween Decorations -- yeah... Still not done. We had some storms move in so it seemed silly to pull them out when the wind would just pull them out and probably ruin them. 
• Friday I have to start making chocolate coated cookies for the kids party Saturday. If I'm thinking I'll snap some pictures. 
• Saturday we have an event at the card shop I believe (trying to remember so many dates to keep track of ) and then the kids party that evening. 
• I absolutely have to make laundry detergent probably tomorrow. I wanted to do it today but it just didn't happen. I've got enough for one more was and that's it. I already bought the Fels-Naptha last week but I just never got around to making the soap I've been talking about it for weeks but what can I say, I can be very lazy at times. 

Last Week

Can I be truthful about last week?

It is all pretty much a blur. I know I went to work and dealt with a lot of various stress there as my workload keeps stacking up and I don't have enough hours to keep up. 

Let's see here hmm last week news. My 14 year old daughter got her first boyfriend... My husband's response when we found out through Facebook of all things was... "Who is this boy and why shouldn't I shoot him?" Typical Dad response right?

Wednesday I took the kids to 4-H STEM Club and they took apart bat pellets... Remember that thing you did in science class where you separated out the bones from the fur and other stuff to try and see what the bat ate? Yup. Needless to say I did not get my hands in on this one LOL.








Thursday I took Brielle down and we purchased her a violin because we were maxed out on 'credit' through the instrument rental place so we basically bought the same model of violin she had already (the one she really wanted was $1300! Um no!) and we did this for two reasons. The first reason is so she'd have an instrument of her own when she got out of High School which is one of the things that really stops children (myself included) from playing later in life and the other reason is we were able to get the instrument for a little less than what it would have cost us in rental fees for the next 2 and half years.


Wednesday and Thursday were both very busy so I did the crockpot meals like I planned. We tried two of the free meals I won through Crockpot.
Wednesday we tried the Creole-Style Andouille Sausage and Chicken. The family was a bit disappointed in this as it seemed rather bland. You'd think with a name like that it'd have some spice but we all ended up with the pepper shaker to give it some zipp.
Thursday we tried the Stroganoff. It had very large chunks of mushrooms and some pearl onions though they were hard to find once it had cooked. Again it was very bland and had I paid the actual price these are (around $30 per meal!) I would have been very unhappy but since I get to try them I can't complain too much. It really did remind me of when we'd go to the Armory though on the holidays when Peter was still in the Guard. During Christmas they'd always have a big party for the Guard members and their families. The food was always very bland because there was no way to really tell who had what type of allergies. That is what this reminded me of. It was edible but I think the 'chief' tips on the side might be needed and not just suggested. Types were like for the Creole... to use chicken stock (which I did do this one) and to add shrimp which I did not do because Peter can't stand anything that comes from water. The Stroganoff  suggested white wine to cook it in which I did not have so I didn't do anything for this meal.
I like being able to throw things in the crock pot and going but $30 a meal is not doing me any favors so I don't see me ordering any anytime soon.

Friday I took Brielle down after school to set up her first savings account. She had two checks from family from her birthday last month that she wanted to use for her starting balance. 
Her friends apparently didn't think it was a big deal but she was just absolutely giddy about being able to start saving money at the bank. 








Saturday I finished up Katherine's dress and made the little arm guards but have elected to not sew the hat. I have the fabric and part of me screams I should do it because I have the stuff for it. Just between time and stress I've decided just to try and dress up a premade hat some. I still need to do some work for accessories for Brielle's costume too so time really isn't on my side. 

This weekend I had planned to do pumpkins with the kids so will have to do that soon but the kids had homework. Lots of homework.
Katherine made a carved soap canoe and a tepee for her school project. She really enjoyed that I pulled out the needle and thread and let her hand sew the cloth around the sticks. Later she painted it but I wasn't smart enough to take a picture of that.




This weekend Peter and I also worked a little bit more on the kitchen. Since we changed away from those gold colored light fixtures to the silver ones we decided to buy new knobs and handles for the kitchen cabinets match.

I think that's the really big things. I know more went on this past week but it's all pretty much a blur as I get ready to step into another work week.

Have a great week folks. I've been going through Pinterest recently so many be when things slow down a little I can do another project and get it posted it up!

Busy Monday, October 13

Today's 'To-Do' List

• Get kids to bus 6:40 & 7:15 -- Brielle's bus never showed up or came early so I ended up driving her to school. 
• Make menu / Grocery List
• Write Blog
• Search for Coupons
• Lunch with Peter
• B12 Shot
• Get Groceries
• Laundry
• Pack up old kitchen lights
• Whatever other various cleaning I can get done or tasks... we'll see how the day goes

Menu

• Roasted Chicken (pre-cooked), mashed potatoes, gravy, veggie (haven't decided if I'm going to do corn or pick up something on sale in the fresh selection)... maybe stuffing I have some up in the cabinet to use. 
• Hamburger Helper w/Green Beans
• Crockpot - Creole Chicken
• Crockpot - Beef Stroganoff
• Pizza
• Fishsticks & Tater-tots w/alternative Chicken Nuggets & French Fries (since Peter won't eat Fishsticks or Tater-tots)
• Spaghetti w/Meatballs

This Week's 'To-Do' List

• Work -M,Tu, W,F - Thursday off. 
•  Clean up around the house - This is a permanent main stay. 
• Tuesday - School Picture Day!! for Miss. Kat. 
• Wednesday - 4-H STEM club
• Thursday - String Instrument Sale (Brielle's Orchestra teacher has suggest we go ahead and invest in buying Brielle her own instrument instead of renting... It does make sense in a way but I'm afraid of if something happens to the instrument because as it stands renting means that if god forbid something happened they would replace it without cost)
• Friday - Peter goes to Friday Night Magic and I work on Katherine's Halloween costume. I'm running out of time. I've almost got the zipper in. Then I need to hand stitch in the bodice lining, hem up the bottom and then make all the accessories. I also need to make some accessories for Brielle's costume. I have 2 weeks to get this done and at my current rate I'm not going to make it!!
• Pull out Halloween Decorations -- yeah... I never got this done last week. 
• Find a place to put old kitchen lights.
• Put away stuff that belongs in the shed... I have quite the large box full of 'shed' stuff that has just been left in the house. 

Last Week

So last weeks post I actually went through Tuesday it just has been very busy as of recently. Wednesday I just went to work nothing special there. 

 Okay now here's a reality check. I haven't had the time nor the energy to try and take care of the kids room nor do I believe I should be in after a 14 yr old and 10 yr old. The sad reality of it is though that we have younger kids that come by here and they love to dump all the toys and then when it's time to clean up everyone throws things everywhere. The below is REAL life! And the sad thing is the 'Before' pictures are me already an hour and a half into it before I decided pictures needed to be taken.
I normally don't do this kind of thing but had stayed in such a state for so long after so many kids I just couldn't stand it any more. I know once it's done the kids won't have that big of a problem keeping it that way until the next time we have guests and the next parent that wants to leave within 10 minutes but knows their child enjoys dumping out ALL the toys I shall beat them with a ball bat or something... take out their knees!
I didn't finish with this project as can be seen around the desk where I piled up papers that should be kept plus I never got to organize everything on that dresser and desk. After 6 hours on Friday of working on this I was just done. I figured the kids could handle the rest so I will be keeping these pictures handy as a strong reminder.

Pretty bad right? Well at least progress was made. The sad thing is people say... oh well they just have too much but the fact is I had empty bins after I organized everything. Though the tote on the dresser there is full of items I deemed we could donate. Everything else was just organization and trash clean up. 

Here's my darling husband working on changing out the porch light.
When we had the new siding put on when they re-installed our porchlight they cut the hole too high up so we couldn't take off the cap to change the lightbulb so I've been without a porch light for awhile now.
They finally had some white porch lights in stock and we found this one that is a dusk to dawn light with a motion sensor to 'brighten'. I thought this would be a good way to cut down on spending because I often forget to turn off the porch light. I also thought this would be nice so that I don't have to remember to turn on the porch light when we leave during the day but won't be home until after dark.



Peter and I got all the lights changed in the kitchen. We found a 3 pack of lights for under $70 and we've been talking about it for years so it was hard to pass up clearance.

So I got the zipper basted in. This is a pain in the rear! A 10" zipper in a HUGE fluffy dress... it's not ideal and makes things very hard.
I tried it on Katherine last night and it seemed to work though the zipper tried to stick but I believe that is due mostly to loose threads because I've zipped it up and down a couple times.
It is not the best zipper and I was hoping to have it hidden a little better but it functions and hopefully no one will judge me too harshly. 

Katherine seems to really love it at least.

Have a great week folks! -- Oh and I started finishing up my 'Lost Socks' board I'll take pictures of that later don't feel like walking out to where I have it at the moment. :)

Busy Monday, October 6

Today's 'To-Do' List

• Blog
• Groceries
• Lunch with Peter
• Clean up around the house
• Sew?

Menu

• Brats & Chips - Still held over need to eat this week so the buns don't go bad.
• Spaghetti
• ?
• Pizza
• ?
• ?

It's just myself and Peter all week and trying to figure out how to cook for 2 is really hard.

This Week's 'To-Do' List

• Work Tu-Fri
•  Clean up around the house - This is a permanent main stay. 
• Mow the lawns - actually didn't get to it last week kept meaning too but just didn't
• Pull out Halloween Decorations - Nope didn't do this either again meant to and I kept walking towards the shed and then getting side tracked onto something else. 
• Work on Katherine's Halloween Dress - I'm totally running out of time! 
• Saturday sometime head to Nashville. Going to stay there overnight most likely because the kids' flight gets in around 6am I want to say. 

Last Week

So while at 4-H the kids tried out archery and now really want to do it! The first meeting would be this Tuesday but of course the kids are gone... So the next meeting will be the last Tuesday of the Month. We will try it out. I'm not going to buy anything so they will just have to deal with taking turns with the learner equipment because until I know this is something they are serious about I don't want to put any money into it. 

Over all though the kids had a lot of fun at the 4-H stuff and are looking at keeping me on my toes!!

Last week if you remember correctly I was excited that I got into the Rain Barrel class (or did I say I didn't?) In either case at one point I didn't because they ran out of space and later they opened up more slots so I was able to get into it!
I'm now being such a pusher to get people to make rain barrels. I of course in my own procrastinating way have not gotten mine set up under the gutter yet. With it being so late in the season I may just wait until the Spring.

In case you missed it I went a little batty last week. 

I posted up what I did. It cost me $2 not counting the cost of printing up 4 templates. 

Halloween Bats

It is also in the DIY section.

That was pretty much my week I think. I don't remember much and my phone doesn't have more pictures so I'm guessing so. 

We were suppose to go to the air show this week but Friday it rained and was super cold so we didn't go and then Saturday my In-Laws were in town and we had to help them which ended up taking up the day. It's kind of sad though not the end of the world since there is always next year. 

Halloween Bats

I've gone a little batty....

I take no credit for this pattern I actually got it from Country Living. I copied the image (Newer Windows 7 and up have 'Snipping Tool' just type into your search command and you should find it or you can use alt+Prt Scr and it will copy the page you are on so make sure the part you want is fully visible) and then I brought it over to MS Paint (use the 'paste' option if you used the alt+prt scr method) and then cropped the picture down because it was covered with text I didn't want to waste ink on.
Resize the drawing how ever you want. Personally I just saved the drawing to my desktop, right clicked and selected 'Print' which brought up a print screen with options for different sizes it can be printed at.
I cut out the pattern and then traced it onto cardstock. I found this card stock at Jo-Ann's on sale for 5 for $1 and I ended up only using 4 sheets.
I stuck mine up with glue dots that I found a package of 36 for $1 at the Dollar General. 

It's just pretty easy and really cheap but it is a little time consuming and my hands did get rather tired trying to clip around with the scissors especially on all the little ones. My littlest one woke up this morning and came out and stared at the wall and was just like 'wow' and very apparently happy with the result as I got informed I was awesome. 

Here's the link for the template: http://www.countryliving.com/cm/countryliving/data/bat.pdf