My Schedule Recently

Let's catch everyone up since I've been completely overly busy lately!
Last week I was babysitting... as I will be through this month and then hopefully the lady I'm babysitting for will be going to full-time. It's not that I dislike watching her kiddo but I know her family could really use her being full time and once she does that they will move her to days which I work days too so I'll be unable to babysit any more.


Thursday:

So have you seen this recipe floating around facebook for Red Velvet Chocolate Cookies?

Well I happened to have about everything around the house though not many chocolate chips so I took some melting candy and broke it up and threw it in too.
They were interesting. They weren't bad but very soft! I ended up putting the ones we didn't eat that same night into the fridge because I was afraid they'd go bad otherwise.

Friday:

I finished up sewing my microwave potato bags for the ladies at work. Today (Wednesday) is actually our luncheon so I was cutting it close.








Saturday/Sunday:

So the ladies in the area and myself have started something called...
Stitch N' B* (fill in the blank).Where we meet once a month and we all work on our various crafts and talk.
Brielle wants to make bags for her friends for the holidays and we even bought the fabric but I had never used the pattern before so I cut up a pair of old slacks that couldn't be donated and made one out of them.
I even recycled one of the back pockets to make the inside pocket and removed the zipper from the slacks and used it on the purse!
Peter was rather impressed with what I did with his old pants.
I started Saturday with cutting up the slacks then went to the Stitch N'B* and got the pieces cut out (oh I also worked on copying the pattern because I didn't want to tear it up so I traced it out on some wax paper). Saturday night after I got home Peter went out to go play games with some boys so I stayed up until 3am! sewing. Sunday I picked it back up and finished it up.

Saturday Brielle worked on woodburning an item she got for one of her friends for the holidays. She did a really good job for her first big project so we just need to find some time to finish it up.

Sunday we brought out the decorations and at least got the tree up though haven't gotten anything else really done. A few other things out but nothing put together right yet. It's all pretty chaotic!




Monday:

Monday the folks I babysit were able to get a different babysitter for that evening so we could go to the Homework Diner with Katherine.
It's something our school got a grant for where we have dinner at the school (yum school food *cough*) and then have homework time.
Katherine really wanted us to go for the last few months but this is the first time we've made it out.



This was Monday's schedule.
Monday got pretty messed up because when I took Brielle to get to where they were picking up for the field trip we found out the bus had already left but that wasn't on us that was the instructor so the kids carpooled with some of the parents.
I then tried to go to Aldi then realized they don't open until 9am so then I went to Walmart (I try to avoid there but it is cheaper to get my oil done there) and after I handed them the keys to get my oil done I asked how long it would be and they informed me it would be 2 hours!!
Determined not to let this set the tone for the day I went over to Subway and got a breakfast sandwich, some coffee and sat down with my coupons and started to organize and go through them.
While at the doctors office for my 2pm appt I get the phone call that Brielle is actually going to be at the school at 2:15 to be picked up even though I had 3 o'clock wrote down. Thankfully wasn't in for long it just was my B-12 injection but it was 2:30 before I could get down to pick her up.

Tuesday:

This was Tuesday's schedule. It was pretty packed but most of the stress was making sure everyone was where they needed to be and then I tried to help out at the Extension Service Holiday Extravaganza.

 The kids made crafts and enjoyed themselves though when we got home it was back onto school work and getting ready for bed.

Thankfully I had thrown stuff in the crockpot for this night.

Wednesday:

Today is pretty straight forward but I do need to be running because I'm falling behind schedule. I have to get ready for work and I probably should try to look a little festive and nice as we are going out. I do have to pick up Brielle at some unknown time because of Monday's field trip she missed one of her big tests so she's making it up today after school. 

Thursday:

Goes absolutely crazy again. We were suppose to go to the cooking Holiday Extravaganza but then I got told that there is an Orchestra Concert and also Katherine has a field trip with Champions Club which is through the school.

Needless to say this has been and will be one heck of a week!







Friday:
Pretty straight forward with babysitting and I will help Brielle get started on her sewing project while Peter is out at Friday Night Magic.
I will also start cooking because the cookies I make take two days because the dough has to be chilled.

Saturday:
We have a potluck... thus the cookies so I'll be making cookies that day and whatever else I can whip up and then that afternoon we'll be going to a Christmas Potluck with friends.

Sunday.... I think it's open! OMG!

Anyways that's what's going on ... that's why no post recently though not a lot of excuses last week.
I'm still alive and kicking!!!.... Barely!

Busy Monday, December 1

Today's 'To-Do' List

• Write this Blog 
•  Make Menu
• Lunch with Peter
• Groceries
• Work on Christmas Presents
• Sign the kids up at 4-H center for the upcoming STEM project also sign up for the Holiday Extravaganza.
• Babysit

Menu

• Turkey Pot Pie (Should be the last day for the Turkey to be good need to get it used up)
• Pork
• Spaghetti w/Meatballs
• Tacos
• Pizza
• Chili Dogs
• Grilled Chicken & Pasta

This Week's 'To-Do' List

• Babysit - Yes, I've picked up a second job so after I get off my first job at 2 I am on the road and running to pick up my second job. A 6 mo old baby girl that watch for about 7+ hours Monday-Friday. The first week was hell because that was last week while I was trying to get ready for Thanksgiving. 
• Continue to work on Christmas presents. I have decided for lack of better ideas on what to get the ladies at work that I was sewing up potato zappers. Little bags you put your potato in and then stick it in the microwave. 

Last Week

So I didn't take a lot of pictures last week as I was rather busy. Monday I worked which is why you didn't see a post and also it was the first day I started Babysitting so I was super busy.

Tuesday I worked and then Peter watched the baby (with the mom's ok) while I took the kids to 4-H Project club. Prior to past Monday (I believe it was Sunday) I went out with a friend to a city an hour away where they have a huge Jo-Ann Fabric and got the craft stuff for this club activity. No pictures of it yet because the kids haven't finished yet.
Oh you might remember a couple weeks ago I said the kids had STEM club... well they never gave a time or anything official in the newsletter so I called them up and they said they weren't having the club. Later I see on Facebook they did have the club. I was livid and I made sure they knew it. The lack of organization is driving me batty! 

....
So after 4-H this past Tuesday (Nov. 25) we came home and started working on Lefse. We had to peel and slice 10 lbs of potatoes and then instead of using the potato ricer I decided to use the ffood millI had just purchased when I was making apple sauce and it seemed to work much better as far as time goes.

Wednesday, the day was spent making lefse and baking pies. I had a total break down where I was screaming and jumping up and down by the end quite literally. Trying to deal with a very fussy, teething 6 month old and dealing with my children while needing to get the lefse made .... Well it was all too much. Brielle picked up the little one and walked to the other room and let me have my 10-20 seconds of total meltdown. It sounds unprofessional but I let the mom know what happened.

Thursday, was Thanksgiving of course and I was up early in the morning cooking. We had some friends spend Thanksgiving dinner with us and it was a good time. I was afraid after the day prior that everything was going to fall apart but it worked out. Later that night the lady I watch the little one for, her fiance and her little one came by and stayed until the wee hours of the morning talking and playing Rockband. It was a good evening. I wish the little one had been that good days prior... I think a lot of it has to do with gasiness too. I had mentioned it to them and they started using some gas drops which seemed to help. Because Tuesday wasn't just fussiness I was being continuously thrown up on... Gassy Gassy baby.

Friday.... Black Friday. I did go out and brave things but I only went out at 10am with the kids to Jo-Ann Fabrics. It was very busy but it wasn't 'crazy' and I wasn't out there to fight anyone for anything.
We bought a few discounted items, we got a few knick knacks, we bought some pillow forms, a couple decorations and got some cuts of fabric.
I tried to do some sewing Friday but since I was babysitting again it just didn't work out. 

Saturday I spent a good part of the day sewing on a fabric book for the baby I watch. That is her present a little Christmas fabric book. I used batting so it did get a bit annoying to try and sew through at the end. 

That evening we went to a birthday party... I had a bit too much to drink aka an entire bottle of wine after this past week. No one has ever seen me like that. Apparently I'm a hoot.... It's a very rare thing for me to drink. It's an extremely rare thing for me to a have a few too many. It all turned out good though and everyone had fun so I'm trying not to stress over it but now there's a story floating out there of the time I've had too many and a couple days after I've yet to live it down.

Sunday, I spent the morning dinking around with fabric again. This time Katherine had picked out some fabric she wanted me to make pillows for the house with. She really loved this fabric when we went out to the craft store and because it was a 'door buster' sale I was able to get a yard of it for like  $2.50 so that's really cheap. 

I spent the morning watching youtube videos on sewing to make sure I wouldn't mess up my measurements and then cutting out fabric.
I took a break that afternoon to get dressed and meet up with a bunch of ladies for coffee for a couple hours.
After coffee I dropped a couple of the ladies back off at their homes and then I went out and bought a headlight. I had noticed the night before when I went to the party that one of my headlights was out so I wanted to get that fixed as soon as possible.
A quick cheap fix and I was back to legal again.
We went out as a family and watched Hero 6 at the theater since it was still matinee time. It was a very cute movie and the kids kept laughing out loud really loud and we had to keep reminding them they weren't at home but it was a very funny movie so I don't completely blame them. 

After the movies we decided that our diets (Mine and Peter's) are already shot so we went to the Chinese Buffet.
Here's where the 'real' fun comes in. (That was sarcasm by the way)
As an off question Peter asked the girls if they had any homework they needed to finish up before school. It was 6:30pm and we figured after so many days off of school that the answer had to be 'no'. Well our teenager springs it on us that she's got this project due that she hasn't started on, that her computer isn't working, etc. So needless to say as Peter tried to fix the computer and ultimately hasn't been able to find out the problem I then had to download the program to my PC so she would have a place to work. Needless to say she got a huge lecture!
Since my computer was in use I went ahead and made up the pillow covers.

It was past midnight when Brielle (my oldest) finally finished her homework and she and I were able to get off to bed. Needless to say I'm dragging.

Well I need to finish getting ready for the day. I still need to fit in a lot of stuff on my "day off" before I start babysitting.