Busy Monday, April 27

To Do List

• Get kids off to school
• Write this Blog
• Go to work
• Go to supervisors house, bringing lunch with the other ladies from work because he's still laid up injured at home. -- This is the plan at least I haven't heard back if Monday works for him or not I'll know when I get into work.

Menu

• Monday - Tacos
• Tuesday - Eat Out 
• Wednesday - Spaghetti with Chicken
• Thursday - Crockpot Royal Round
• Friday - Pizza
• Saturday - Chicken Bake
• Sunday - Burgers, beans, chips and other BBQ type stuff

This Week's 'To-Do' List

• Monday - See above
• Tuesday - Brielle Orthodontist, 4-H Project club -- Still no clue what the project will be.
• Wednesday - All clear! 
• Thursday - CLEAR!!
• Friday - Get Brielle to school by 5am for her all day Orchestra competition.
• Saturday - So far clear!
• Correction Free Comic Book Day! so something fun!!
• Sunday - Woot no plans! 

This week so far is not shaping up to be overly busy and I'm so glad of that!

Last Week

Do I have to cover last week? I'm tired thinking about it. 

Monday we went to the last Homework Diner of the year. This was a new program they were trying out and we really enjoyed it and I wish it would have been started years ago since this is Katherine's last year at the elementary school (my word I can't imagine her in middle school!).

Thursday we went to the 4-H Awards Dinner. I ate entirely too much and got my 4-H shirt for this year along with the kids. It was an enjoyable evening if for nothing more than I didn't have too cook!

Friday I got out of work early and came home and took the plants outside to take care of them and get them staked. I've got way too many tomato plants and I really should sell some! 

After taking care of that I spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning the backyard up and getting things ready for the storm front that was moving in on Saturday. I ended up tossing out whatever plans I had to drive a friend down to the ER thankfully it was nothing too serious but it did toss a wrench into things but that's okay just glad I could be there for them.While my friend was going through the ER stuff there wasn't really a reason for me to stick around the hospital I know how the ER goes so I went ahead and did some running around and got myself a table ironing pad.

Later that night after I got my friend home I went out to visit my husband at the game shop. There are benefits to the kids being older I can leave the house for longer periods of time. Mind you I was stopping in through the evening because I am over protective. I ended up going out to eat with my husband and another one of our friends for a snack and just to BS and talk for a little while. By time we got home, sat dinked around the house and got to bed it was after 12:30am! I had to be back up at 6:40 the next morning.Oh! And I got myself a little friend that evening! She's just absolutely adorable!! (Little mousy)

Saturday I picked up a friend and we dropped her daughter off at my house and then my friend and I went to the botanical garden and it started sprinkling on us so after I got way too many plants we left and I went to the swap meet but my silly butt didn't pay attention to the time so we drove around it and no one was there and I thought it got canceled but really I was like over 30 minutes early. So then we drove out to the farmers market where I bought honey (which is what I wanted at the swap meet) for way too much from a local farm because local honey is best. After the farmers market we drove out to the public library and I showed my friend the seed library since my friend is trying her hand at gardening for the first time ever this year so she got some seeds from the seed library and loaded up with books then we came back to my house and I let her go through all of my information on gardening. 
I got to rest a little bit at home after taking my friend and her daughter home but then it was back up and going to take Brielle to one of her orchestra events. (Katherine was at Pokemon League)
I went over then to Hancock Fabric I was on a hunt for an adjustable temp mini iron and I struck out but I did find sewing boxes on clearance and I had been wanting to get the kids their own sewing boxes so I got them each one, each a set of pinking shears and this cute little lipstick case one for each of them and one for me for about $28 and if you've ever looked at the cost of sewing boxes alone you know that's freaking awesome! I used a gift card I had from my birthday and paid a lot less out of pocket so I was happy! 

Bitch 'N Stitch was Saturday evening too so I went out to that and got there thankfully before the storms hit. We were very lucky that in our town it was more just a big bark and no bite to the storm but other towns weren't as lucky. So there we are doing our crafts (mine was sewing) and listening to the building rumble it was quite humorous really. I was able to get two pillowcases sewn together though. I had them cut out but that was it when I got there I even had to re-iron them. I was quite proud of myself.

After SnB I went over to Starbucks (the storm had blown through at that point) and had coffee with friends until the shop was closing up. It was a lot of laughs and I was happy to see all the ladies and really have a day out/evening out.

Sunday I wasn't feeling too well my neck was out so I ended up tossing out all my plans other than grocery shopping for that day which I did so late in the afternoon Peter started calling me asking me what he was suppose to do for sides for dinner we were kind of just throwing things together we had around the house. I didn't even realize it was near 6 I had spent most the day resting because I was in a lot of pain. It all worked out though and was for the most part a good day.
Katherine had a friend spend the night Saturday night so they were still playing all Sunday.

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Oh there was other running about and stuff past week but my mind is quickly trying to forget last week as I move into this week.
Hope everyone has a great week!!

And I need to come up with an idea for another project to post up on here. I haven't been taking on very many projects lately of any sort so if you have anything I've done in the past or anything you'd like to see me try give me some ideas I might be able to fit it in on the rare weeks like this one where I'm not constantly running around.

Busy Monday, April 20

To Do List

• Get kids off to school
• Write this Blog
• Lunch with Peter
• PTO - Homework Diner - We've really enjoyed this program and I wish we would have started going earlier this school year but we were always 'busy'. 

No grocery shopping or menu planning I've been doing that on the weekend because I've been taking Johanna out shopping with me since it means we get to hang out but also we can try and make healthier choices together over all and watch our budgets. AKA have someone around to slap our hands when we reach for candy bars in the checkout area.

Menu

• Monday - Homework Diner
• Tuesday - Breaded Pork, Mashed Potatoes, Peas
• Wednesday - Lasagna
• Thursday - 4-H Awards Dinner
• Friday - Pizza
• Saturday - Subway
• Sunday - Grilled Chicken, Pasta & Corn

This Week's 'To-Do' List

• Monday - See above
• Tuesday - Nothing so far thank goodness
• Wednesday - Also nothing woot woot! 
• Thursday - 4-H award dinner
• Friday - Peter goes to All Pro-Dad's breakfast at the school with Katherine and Peter has FnM at the game shop. 
• Saturday - I go to the botanical garden for their annual plant sale in the morning, Katherine has Pokemon League in the afternoon, I go to Bitch 'N Stitch that evening and then after BnS I'm suppose to go have coffee with some friends. 
• Sunday - Blacky finally gets down to the groomers it's been way too long and I ended up giving him a silly hair cut a couple weeks ago just so the poor dear wouldn't be so hot while his groomer was gone on vacation. I will probably go grocery shopping again Sunday. 

Last Week

Ah... Last week. I worked a bunch and never did get down to the gym... again. 

Friday I said, "let's cook out!" because it was going to be a hot day so that is what we did. I invited Johanna to come over with her baby Nora because her fiance wouldn't be home until late from work and then one of our other friends and her daughter came over too and we had a cookout and then started a fire and made smores!

Saturday there was the OMG Convention preview. They had a little cosplay competition, video games, board games, etc. I really didn't get to be in there for very long.

See what happened is Friday, remember Friday? Well it bled into Saturday aka I slept in as did Peter. By time we got out the door it was 10:30 which was no real biggie since the convention hall is only like a 5 minute drive but on our way there Katherine went full on exorcist in the car... Just BLARG!!! all over the back of my car because she had spun herself in my computer chair right after eating breakfast so we had to turn around and I dropped off the family so they could get Katherine cleaned up and see if she was feeling any better later and I went off to the car wash where I gave my car a good scrub on the inside. Katherine did feel better though so we loaded back up in the car but by that time it was time for lunch so we took the kids to Feta Pizza and then Peter and the girls walked over to the convention and I went back home to meet a lady I know for my massage hour... always nice to know someone going through massage school. Afterwards though I did go back by the convention just to check it out for a few minutes and play a few video games in japanese so we never knew which option we were choosing.
It was then time for Brielle to start getting cleaned up and for us to have a quick dinner (and the parents a quick nap) and then I took Brielle to her orchestra concert at the performing arts center. 

They were the lobby entertainment for the cities professional orchestra.
There for a little bit I got to join the orchestra during practice because the bass player was sprinting there just having come from a play and she forgot her music so I got to be a page turner because I actually am or was a musician... I played for a lot of years but I'm rusty but I got back into it. I found it entertaining to be back in the orchestra again.  

That evening we left the kiddos to their own devices for a little while and went over to a friends to hangout around the fire and talk for a little bit. It's nice when the kids are old enough you can leave the house for a little bit (mind you with everyone making sure they had cellphone charge and going over the rules and locking everything up and generally being a bit over protective). Pete and I stayed and talked for awhile then came home to tackles the next day.

Sunday I picked up Johanna and we went out grocery shopping that was about the extent of the day. Peter went to a play later that evening and the girls hadn't gotten all the dishes done yet so I ended up taking the girls out for Taco Bell because I didn't want to mess around in a kitchen with dirty dishes in it. I nagged the girls a bit but overall we came home in a better mood than when we left because I wasn't happy about the state of their chores when we were leaving. 

Wednesday Edition

This Week's 'To-Do' List

Today- 4-H STEM Club (Brielle & Katherine & myself)
Friday - FNM (Peter)
Saturday - Orchestra Concert (Brielle)

... Maybe a trip to Indiana Sunday to Lincoln's Boyhood Home since it is a free weekend at National Parks. 

Last Week

Well this isn't so much 'last week' as it is the last few days because my blogging schedule is completely off! 

Saturday a couple friends asked if we wanted to go out to lunch so we dropped the kids off at the game shop (with a cellphone & let the shop know they know us well) for pokemon and then we went out to lunch at a local resturant we'd always heard great reviews on though all of us were not impressed with the actual food. The prices were high, they weren't taking plates off the table unless we caught someone to ask, we rarely saw anyone to even get drink refills and then we couldn't figure out where to pay and my husband and I were going to order a dessert but we couldn't get the waiter over at all so we ended up just asking where to pay and we all left pretty dissatisfied. On top of that their payment system was basically on a tablet and it automatically put in choices for 18-20-22% tip. My husband was very upset with this because he did not feel our waiter deserved an 18% tip and I'd have to agree. My husband also brought up a good point that since when did tips start at 18%? This is a new thing probably because businesses refuse to increase the hourly rate of tipped employees and I think it is BS. There are some places I tip very well but that is because the folks working there really deserved it. In any case later that day I picked up my friend again after she did some running we left her 11 month old with my 14 yr old to babysit (she's really good with baby's and if she was going to be home this summer I'd let her take a summer job of it) and my friend (Johanna) and I went around town. I took her over to Aldi since she hadn't been there since the opening since she doesn't drive and then I took her over to Dollar Tree which she hadn't been there before and I blew her mind with all the wedding ideas and decorations for her daughter's upcoming birthday and such. We dropped off groceries and checked in with the kids to make sure everything was still going alright (I had forgotten my cellphone so I picked that up) and then Johanna and I went out for dinner at Fetta Pizza which is one of those places I DO tip very well without being asked to do so because everyone there is so SUPER nice and they are always right on top of everything even when they are busy! After which Johanna and I went over to Gambrinus Libation Emporium and had a few martinis okay Johanna had more than I did but we'd take sips of each others because they have such fun drinks. After a night out what else is left to do? Well go to Kroger and finish up our grocery shopping of course because that's how us girls roll!
Saturday was fun.
... Oh also Saturday in the lull between lunch and going out with Johanna, Peter and I went to pick up the girls at the game shop and we bought a new board game called Dungeon! so we're hoping to play that soon!

Sunday I spent all day outside pretty much and was transplanting my tomato plants into bigger containers.

We grilled out and ate outside and it was really nice especially since the bugs aren't out yet. 

Monday I made Chicken Enchiladas  though I changed up the recipe and used corn tortillas instead of flour and I didn't have mozzarella but I had a bag of italian blend cheese. Everyone said they had a really sweet taste to them. They were interesting and I saved the recipe for something different some other time. I have had better but they weren't bad. 

Monday I did some additional grocery shopping and ran across a lot of quick sale produce so I stocked up and changed my lunch menu to salads pretty much this week. 

I also went to Jo-Ann Fabrics because their Simplicity patterns were on sale and I ran into another lady and we started chit chatting. Now Johanna and I are looking at buying an embroidery machine together but neither of us really know anything about those machines other than they are neat. Well the lady I was talking to at Jo-Ann Fabrics did use an embroidery machine and I found out all sorts of things that I didn't know that changed completely my opinion of what we should buy so Johanna and I are back at the drawing board trying to make up our mind plus it means the cost has gone up so we'll have to save for a bit longer.

Tuesday it was work as normal and home as normal though I have been trying to help Katherine with a lot of math studying they are testing here soon... lots and lots of mandatory testing and it drives me batty but we have to get through it. 

Today is picture day for Katherine so I got her all gussied up well we put a dress on her and I used some anti-humidity spray on her hair. I don't really see the point of a 10 year old wearing make-up we don't need to make our kids look older they'll grow up too fast as it is. 

Catching up a little

We are officially on Spring Break here... well the kids are.
Let's see if I can catch us up a little though I know I'm going to forget a lot. Most of the last few weeks has been 'work' though I have started on a new dress this one for myself I'll try and get that posted if I ever find the time to finish it.

I want to say it was Monday after the trip to DC I finally finished up Katherine's dress I was sewing. It was shorter than I would have liked but Katherine really liked it.











Friday night I had the kids dye eggs.

(pictures of eggs at bottom of blog)











Saturday we went to an Easter Hunt party/cookout so Friday I spent shopping and cooking since it was a paid holiday for me.
I tried two new recipes.
One was a Potato Salad that personally I thought was light on taste but my oldest daughter who doesn't like potato salad said that she liked this one better and other people seemed to like it. I may keep the recipe I haven't decided.
The other recipe I tried was for a Lemon Bundt Cake. I had problems with this recipe. First the liquid was too little so I had to add a bit more lemon juice and then the glaze tasted horrific at least by itself. After it was put on the cake and left overnight the next day it didn't seem as bad and some folks really like the tart but needless to say I didn't use all the glaze because they have you make a lot of it!


Sunday of course was Easter. We took it pretty easy and I cooked a HUGE ham. We've ate a lot of ham recently.








What happened to busy Monday? Well I had all my normal monday stuff like shopping and such to do plus a retirement party for one of the Engineers from work I needed to attend and I also was trying to take care of some insurance claim information which had me chasing my tail and I had my B-12 shot so it was overly busy so I didn't take the time to put up a post. Truthfully I didn't take the time to make dinner either we went to Sam's Club for some food there before we went shopping there for a resupply which blew my budget out of the water but it was all stuff we were going to need soon and won't have to resupply again for months.

This past Tuesday I tried to use up some ham. So I took chicken and swiss I had found at Aldi on clearance a few weeks ago and made a baked no breading version of chicken cordon bleu. It was a touch bland it needed something else but I may call this recipe a keeper (which probably means I should write it down sometime). 

Wednesday was Taco night. I had bought these taco salad bowl molds at Aldi on clearance as something to try out. It was... chewy and of course very small because I was using corn tortillas to cut calories. It'll need some tweaking but it is something I'm definitely willing to try again. 

Thursday we went to Gattitown (think Chuck E Cheese) because Peter and I have been at work all week it's left the kids home alone just glued to the TV and the computer so we wanted to at least take them out once to let them have some fun. It happened that Thursday's apparently they have their quarter a play games too so we all  got to play lots of games for a lot less money than we would have normally had to have spent. 

Right now it's storming so I'm just trying to wait until the brunt of the front hits then I'm going to bed after making sure we don't lose power.
This weekend we need to get caught back up on the house, I need to transplant my tomatoes into bigger pots and I think that is the bulk of the 'to do' we are hoping for a quiet weekend for once. 

Eggs