Holiday Happenings

Been awhile since I've posted and I thought I'd do an update. :) We finally moved! The end of October to be exact. It was a bit rough at first... Amanda is never good about change, so we had about a week before she felt "ok" about living here. She was the one that BEGGED us to sign the lease and then once we moved she wanted to go back to the apartments. (She was like this when we moved into the apartments as well, but I thought it was because we moved from Smithsburg because we HAD to, not WANTED to.) I was very stressed about about various things and that was the icing on the cake. On the plus side of it all, I did lose 10lbs. lol School-wise things are up & down. We started off ok back in Sept. then with the move we kind of slacked off since we were packing and what-not. And since we've been moved & unpacked things haven't restarted yet. The Holidays came up quickly and we were wrapped up in that. We did manage to sneak in a field trip in Nov. We drove to Triangle VA to the Marine Corps Museum. We had a really nice day. There was a LOT to see there.

We've done a bit of baking since early Nov. Cupcakes, pie, coffee cake, and cookies. A LOT of cookies!

Jake also turned 16, so that's why the slice of pie is getting a candle stuck in it. ;) Mid-Dec we attended our homeschool groups Christmas party. We wanted to go since we really aren't "active" in the group much anymore. There aren't many older kids in the group so there just isn't anything going on for my 2. :( But anyways, we went and had a great time. The kids each got a gift from the kids' gift exchange. Jake got a recycled butter box with about 27 tiny wrapped "presents". He had to open each one to find the Gamestop gift card. We had a fun time watching Jake open them. Amanda got a cool Hello Kitty "lunch-box" with 4 Hello Kitty Pez dispensers. I had seen this at AC Moore and told the mom about it. So Amanda was happy about getting that. For the moms gift exchange, anyone participating just brings a gift. we draw numbers and go round choosing or stealing a gift. Whoever gets #1 can go again at the end to steal if they choose. I got #1 (again) this year. My first gift was a bunch of nice ornaments and scented items. It of course was stolen. My 2nd one was a really nice crochet shopping bag. It was stolen. The 3rd time I thought I was picking up some candy or something, but it was a Port City Java gift card, a really cute coin purse and a handmade Golden Snitch ornament. I LOVED it. And I warned everyone if they took it from me I would be stealing it back at the end. So of course, I kept it. :) I had made a really awesome recycled newspaper sparkling tree. I have to make one for myself yet. So hopefully will get that done this week. lol

Amanda and I also made cranberry & popcorn garland for the trees out back. I meant to get this done for the Winter Solstice, but we were a day late. Christmas has come and gone and we had a very nice one this year. Kids got a lot of cool & fun stuff. I guess they were pleased as they both dove into their games and such. lol

Here is sweet little Dwight posing...

Amanda's pile

Jake's loot

Family gifts

Now we just need to figure out what to do for New Year's Eve, besides eating Chinese Food.

Menu Plan Monday

Quick post with our menu for the week -

Monday - Moussaka, veggies and orzo
Tuesday -  Chicken Parm with garlic bread
Wednesday - Pulled BBQ Beef sandwiches (in crock), veggies and rice
Thursday - Creamy chicken and wild rice soup, grilled cheese sandwiches
Friday - Pizza

Menu Plan Monday

Just a quickie post for my menu this week:

Monday: Sausages with onions & peppers, veggies
Tuesday: Swedish meatballs with noodles, broccoli
Wednesday: Baked haddock, mac & cheese, peas
Thursday: Ham & corn chowder
Friday: Chipotle
Saturday: Pizza
Sunday: No clue... lol

Menu Plan Monday

I missed posting last week, but wanted to post really quickly our menu for the week. It is a "cheap" eating week here. LOL

Monday - Tuna patties (I use a box of cornbread stuffing mix, mayo, relish, and cheddar) with orzo & peas
Tuesday - Chicken of some sort (not sure yet what I will make), rice & veggies
Wednesday - Cheese-steaks and fries
Thursday - Creamy chicken & wild rice soup
Friday - pizza

And one of these days this week I am going to do some baking. I want to use up some apple butter and bake a cake. Then I have some Golden Delicious apples to use, so I am hungry for apple crisp. And I need to get some mini pizza crusts made so the kids can have pizza for lunches.

Menu Plan Monday

Another thing I want to begin (again) is writing my menu plans on the blog. I am pretty good about making a menu Sunday morning before grocery shopping, and for the most part I stick to it. There are some days I just don't feel like making anything I wanted to on Sunday though. :) I also write things on a day of the week, but don't always make it that day. Depends on time, how hot it might be, etc. So while I'll assign a day here, doesn't mean that we are having it on that night. ;)

Monday - Tuna something or other. (We only like a few fish items, tuna being one. But I have been trying to have a fish dish every week, or at least every 2 weeks.) Haven't quite figured it out yet. Maybe tuna patty melts. And we'll most likely have broccoli and some side with whatever I decide on.

Tuesday -  Meatball subs, fries, and corn

Wednesday -  Ghoulash (from Bobby Dean) & a veggie of some sort

Thursday - Baked Chicken Penne (from Our Best Bites) & a veggie

Friday -  pizza and possible these pizza roll "planets"

Saturday - leftovers or whatever they can find in the fridge and/or cupboards. :)

Halloween Updates

Here are some things we've been doing to prepare for Halloween:

October 1st - we brought out the Halloween decorations. In doing so, I realized how little I have. But we put a few things about and I left the rest for another time. I then started making a list of things we can do for the rest of October. I found some fun crafts, we have a few "spooky" science kits/experiments to do, and of course some baking.

October 2nd - We put the rest of the decorations out. The kids decided to get rid of the cheesy window clings finally. LOL I gather more supplies for some crafts we'll be doing on the coming days. At the store we picked up some mini pumpkins and gourds.

October 3rd - we've been doing some fall baking today. Brownies have been baked and are cooling. Then we'll be icing them and adding fall colored sprinkles. I don't usually ice my brownies, but hey, it is just more chocolate. :D Right now I have 2 loaves of zucchini bread cooking. Then I have to bake 2 loaves of banana bread to take to our homeschoolers picnic tomorrow.

While the brownies were baking, Amanda and spread glue onto the stems of the pumpkins and gourds then added glitter. They look really cute.

I'm Back!

I can't believe I haven't blogged in so long. (Well ok, I can believe.. I was never that great at blogging regularly.) But I'll try harder. ;)

We've had many things going on since I blogged last. The major event was we moved at the beginning of August. We are now apartment dwellers. hehe That's been quite an adjustment. We were living at my husband's fathers place, we had a small house on his same property that was about 6 feet away from the main house. While it was "our" place, it was way too close. We had planned on moving 3 years ago but then Randy hurt himself at work and was unable to work at all for 2 years. So we were planning to move sometime this fall, then began having major issues with his dad. And we ended up moving before we had wanted to (or I should say before we were planning.) But we are moved and much happier.

Another event was my oldest turning 16 in August! I can't believe I have a 16 yo. She didn't want a big party or anything, but I kind of made her invite her friends over. She had about 10 kids here last weekend. Then girls chatted, played Guitar Hero and walked around the neighborhood a bit. The boys ended up playing a game of Risk. lol They all ate and ate (lots of pizza & cupcakes were consumed!). They all had fun, I had to keep quieting them down some. ;)

But anyways, I have LOTS of updating to do on school-ish stuff. So I'll be working on that this weekend. School started last week, so I hope to post soon about what we're doing weekly. :)

What can I say?

I just keep forgetting to update here. I'll keep at it, but I really don't think I'm cut out to be a blogger. LOL

So what's been going on with us? April went by really freaking fast! We had a lot of colder, yucky days with a few really nice ones and then a few ridiculously hot ones.

We had 2 Earth Scout meetings, 2 book club meetings and 2 co-op days. They all went well.

With Earth Scouts, I'll be changing the schedule a bit for the summer months. We usually have a hard time getting enough kids there to make the meeting worth it, so we're going to cut back to once a month. And those will be outdoors. So this weeks meeting will be the last indoor meeting until Fall. If the weather is too nasty we'll come up with something else.

Book club is going very well. This weeks meeting, we'll be discussing the 4th Percy Jackson book, The Battle of the Labyrinth. I must say, these books are really good! The 5th book is released today, The Last Olympian. So we are heading to Border's this evening to grab it up. I really wish Amanda would read these, I think she'd enjoy them also. So, with the kids reading the Percy books, we'll be holding a Mythology Bee. This will be on May 15th, not our usual book club day. Some of the kids will either be on vacation or moving, so we bumped it up a few days so they can participate.

Co-op has ended for this school year. May 1st was the last meeting, which the kids and I missed due to some UPS deliveries I needed to be here for. :( I'll miss co-op, but also thankful for the break. I am not sure what we'll do come fall. I might just rejoin for Jake and I, and Amanda can come along if she wishes. Jake really likes it, and so does Amanda... but for her, its just so terrible to have to wake up so early. I think starting at 11am would be a good idea though. LOL Hint hint Marti if you read this. ;)

So we have some fun stuff coming up in May with Earth Scouts and Book club. Plus we'll be continuing with the Geo-Club, once a month.

Today is Cinco de Mayo, so we're having a potluck picnic at the park with friends. I really, really, really hope the weather cooperates with us today!

So that's what's going on in a nutshell (or a nuthouse?) with us lately. :)

Goodbye 2008!!

This year seemed to go by really fast. I dunno, maybe it was because the kids and I were involved in more things this year. We certainly weren't bored! Here is a look back at some of what we've done:

Homeschool co-op: This is an ongoing group that meets the 1st and 3rd Fridays of the month (aside from summer months). We've had so much fun with our co-op. We've done science classes, cooking classes, gym classes, a Wizardology class, the kids have had plenty of time to just hang out and chill, they've made some really funny videos. I've been able to watch all of the kids grow, not just my own. I've watch the babies go from just newborns to toddlers. I really love our group of homeschoolers. The new semester starts in a few weeks. YAY!

Earth Scouts: We got this group up and running in April. We met twice a month on Tuesdays at a local library. We've had some members leave and have gained some new members. So right now our group is staying at about 8 families. We did a lot with the Respect for Nature principle. Some things we did include: made field guides and went on a nature walk along the C&O canal; made bird feeders & nesting bags; made glass lanterns & some of us braved the cold and went on a nighttime stroll around the local park during the Christmas lighting; Trick or Treated for Unicef - the kids raised almost $200!! There were a lot more we've done since April, and it has been a blast facilitating this group.

Parties: Oh so many parties & potlucks!! In April we celebrated Earth Day with a huge potluck. We had a speaker come in from the recycling plant, the kids & parents enjoyed that. Our food spread was to be only earth friendly foods (meaning organic if possible, using the least amount of energy as possible to make it, etc); We had a park potluck for Cinco de Mayo, everyone brought lots of yummy foods; in September, we had our annual "Not Back to School" park picnic. As always TONS of food and great time being spent with each other. Then the year ended with our Geo-lunch international holiday party. There was lots of food, gift exchanges, games, and just some fun hang out time for kids and moms.

Field Trips: In March we had a trip to the local PetCo. My kids have done this before with another group, but they never pass up a chance to hang out in the pet store. It was a crazy day, we had the store totally overwhelmed with kids. The manager was a little crabby due to a misunderstanding on her part. But all in all, the kids had fun so that's what matters; April brought around a trip to a local Martin's grocery store. The kids learned about eating healthy and making good food choices; We also headed out to Philly for a day in April. We went to the Franklin Institute to see the Star Wars traveling exhibit. This was great. We all really enjoyed seeing the actual costumes and props from the movies; June brought a very impromptu field trip to Winchester to the Discovery Museum and Sonic. hehe It all started with a discussion of the Sonic drive-in's, so of course to make it educational, we went to the Discovery Museum which the kids had to themselves for the most part. Half of our group worked in the "apple orchard" business, the other half worked in the "hospital" business. LOL Of course, my kids were in the orchard. No big surprise there, since we live in one. ;) But they had a great time!; We headed back to Philly in October. Again to the Franklin, but this time to see the Pirates exhibit. It was nice, but I was pissed because we couldn't take photos. But the kids still had fun.

Geo-lunches: one of the moms in our group decided to start monthly Geo-lunches. Each month we'd have a different country, everyone would bring a dish from that area and if the kids wanted, they can share something they've learned about the area. We attended a few and had a great time. The kids were bummed we didn't get to them all. They'll be continuing in the new year, but I *think* we'll be doing the US this time around. We ended the year with an International holiday potluck/party

Losses: In June we had Amanda's cat put down. He wasn't very old but had a lot of health issues. I had really put this off for way longer than I should have. I don't think he was suffering, but he was getting worse. And it would have been way more traumatic if she found he died rather than just putting him down. And then if that wasn't enough, either on Halloween day or the day after, something killed her bunny. We are pretty sure it was a fox as we've had one stalking around all summer. But whatever it was, took the bunny. we couldn't even find any trails of fur; And not as sad & upsetting as the pets, but Amanda had her wisdom teeth removed in Sept. She did WAY better than I ever expected. So either she is really tough, or everyone else is wimpy. hehe We had planned to start back with school that week, but that was put on hold. Jake didn't mind one bit. ;)

Fun & Entertainment: I like April sometime I had won tickets from a local radio station to see John Mayer playing at Merriweather Post. So a friend and I headed off one icky day in July. Yep, it was storming something terrible on the day of the concert. We still went, in the rain. And wouldn't you know it, the rain stopped during the last song of the night. Aww, how kind of you monster nature. LOL We also saw a few movies throughout the year. Not as many as I had planned on. But oh well.

Birthdays: Amanda turned 15 in August. She just invites some kids over anymore, they hang out and chat, play Rock Band, etc. This year though they did Henna tattoos. This was fun, but stinky. lol I am glad the evening was nice and they could go out to the patio. Jake turned 13 in November. So know I have teens in the house!! He had some boys over, and of course, they played the Xbox & the Wii all day. lol Parties get easier & less expensive as the kids get older. :D

Work: Randy FINALLY got back to work in July. He was off for 2 years with a work related injury. He likes the job and it seems to be going quite well. So keep your fingers crossed for another raise next month. LOL

That's our year in a nutshell. I am sure I forgot to tell you something really exciting. But I figure this post was extremely long as it is. ;) Have a wonderful and safe New Years!! We'll be staying home as usual. I don't like going out on New Year's Eve anymore. We're ordering Chinese food for dinner tonight. YAY!

Brrrr!

It is so freakin' cold here right now! Winter certainly has slammed into us hard here in MD. Monday it was almost 70* and now this morning it is a toasty 11* (-7* with wind chill).

I am sick. :( Started feeling bad Thursday evening. It hit me all of a sudden. I was fine all day, then by about 8:30 that night I started with a bad sinusy headache, the major nose drippage. then when I woke up Friday morning, I felt horrible. I was feeling much better yesterday, but I guess being out grocery shopping wasn't the smartest thing to do, but hey ya gotta have food in the house. So this am. I woke up and my throat is on fire, I can't talk but a bit of a squeak (tried talking to the cat because no one else is awake). So I am downing hot tea today. Getting ready to make my 2nd cup here in a second.

Last week started our Christmas/winter break. Monday was our homeschool groups holiday party. After much craziness, we made it there. I had invited my mom to come along, but then she ended up not. So that left us without a ride. So we were bummed about having to miss the party. Then after some emails & phone calls back and forth we had a plan. :) One mom would come pick up 1 of of us (Jake) and another mom would come pick up the other 2 (Amanda and I) because she had 2 seats left as her littlest one was sick. :( So she stayed home with her daddy (and he ended up missing his Christmas party so the rest of the family could have theirs). This is what the holiday season is all about... being with your loved ones, lending a helping hand, and making others happy. So we have several people to thank for helping my kids and I get to our Christmas party: Mindy & Kim for the rides; Jim for giving up his party to stay home with poor little Maggie; Marti, Krista and Pat for their offers of help. I love my group of friends.

So then on Tuesday we had our Earth Scouts meeting & book group scheduled. But the weather was totally the opposite of Monday. It was cold, snowing/raining/sleeting. So I went ahead and canceled. The roads were most likely ok, but I didn't want to take that chance. So the kids and I finally got to decorate the tree. And Amanda and I baked some oatmeal raisin cookies.

The rest of the week we had nothing planned until Friday. Which was our co-op's last day for the Fall semester. We were going to build gingerbread houses, but of course we missed that because I woke up sick. But Marti's oldest dropped off our house before taking her sisters to co-op. So another thanks goes out to Emilee. :)

So I was hoping we could have done the house over the weekend with Randy, but I just didn't feel good enough to. I am hoping maybe this afternoon or at least tomorrow I be feeling better. I have a TON of baking to do also. But I did get the grocery shopping and Christmas shopping finished. Our ham is ordered, Randy will pick it up tomorrow evening. So we'll at least have food, maybe not too many cookies though. But I'll at least get a batch of chocolate chip cookies made. hehe

Food is good

A meme from Frankie.

What’s the last thing you ate? A slice of leftover pizza :)

What’s your favorite cheese? White Vermont Cheddar

What’s your favorite fish? To eat, haddock. To look at, any that are brightly colored and clown fish (Nemo)

What’s your favorite fruit? strawberries or apples

When, if ever, did you start liking olives? I only like them on pizza or in certain dishes. Not sure when I started liking them.

When, if ever, did you start liking beer? Never have, never will. Can't stand the taste or the smell. But I love beer bread!

When, if ever, did you start liking shellfish? no clue

What was the best thing your parent/s used to make? spaghetti, but I think I ate so much as a kid, I can't eat it that often anymore.

What’s the native specialty of your home town? Town of birth: Hagerstown. Hmm nothing really that I can think of.

What’s your comfort food? baked mac n cheese

What’s your favorite type of chocolate? Depends, I love a good plain Hershey bar or Hershey Kisses, Andes Mints, Endangered Species Dark Chocolate Hazelnut (and I am not one to enjoy dark chocolate). I don't usually turn down chocolate. ;)

How do you like your steak? well done

How do you like your burger? well done

How do you like your eggs? dippy or scrambled

How do you like your potatoes? Mashed potatoes I like a little lumpy, baked potatoes I like with sour cream, cheddar and bacon bits

How do you take your coffee? with a little sugar and creamer, prefer hazelnut creamer

How do you take your tea? depends on the tea: Iced, very sweet; hot tea, depends on the type: Mint - with a little sugar and milk; chamomile (and other herbal teas) - with either honey or agave

What’s your favorite mug? My Hershey Kisses mug Amanda bought for me a few years ago, the handle needs fixed though. 2nd favorite is my Scooby Doo mug

What’s your cookie of choice? can't go wrong with a fresh from the oven chocolate chip cookie :)

What’s your ideal breakfast? One someone makes for me?

What’s your ideal sandwich? Turkey, lettuce, mayo and sometimes cheese on wheat

What’s your ideal pizza (topping and base)? Bought would be Pizza Hut pan meat lovers; homemade with all sorts of veggies, pepperoni and bacon bits

What’s your ideal pie (sweet or savory)? Apple

What’s your ideal salad? Baby Spinach with shredded parm, dried cranberries, and Newman's Honey Mustard dressing

What food do you always like to have in the fridge? Milk, eggs, applesauce, cheese

What food do you always like to have in the freezer? chicken

What food do you always like to have in the cupboard? pasta

What spices can you not live without? salt and pepper

What sauces can you not live without? tomato and pesto sauce

Where do you buy most of your food? Martins (branch of Giant)

How often do you go food shopping? Once a week

What’s the most you’ve spent on a single food item? No idea

What’s the most expensive piece of kitchen equipment you own? Refrigerator

What’s the last piece of equipment you bought for your kitchen? Cusinart Blender/Food processor

What piece of kitchen equipment could you not live without? microwave

How many times a week/month do you cook from raw ingredients? Daily usually

What’s the last thing you cooked from raw ingredients? Italian sausage and eggs for supper last night

What’s your favorite thing to make for yourself? brownies

What meats have you eaten besides cow, pig, chicken and turkey? deer, rabbit, squirrel

What’s the last time you ate something that had fallen on the floor? not sure

What’s the last time you ate something you’d picked in the wild? over the summer, I found a berry bush. :)

Place the following cuisines in order of preference (greatest to least) - Italian, sushi, Chinese, French, Indian, Thai: Italian, Chinese, French, Thai, Indian, Sushi

Place the following boozes in order of preference (greatest to least) - Whiskey, tequila, vodka, brandy, gin, rum: hmm I prefer wine. Rum is only used here for daiquiris

Place the following flavors in order of preference (greatest to least) - Garlic, ginger, basil, aniseed, lime: Garlic, basil, lime, ginger, aniseed.

Place the following fruits in order of preference (greatest to least) - cherry, apple, orange, pineapple, watermelon: Apple, cherry, watermelon, orange, pineapple.

Bread and spread: Wheat bread, no spread preference

What’s your fast food restaurant of choice, and what do you usually order? Hmm don't have a favorite place, but KFC is higher than any other. Usually get a m. potatoe bowl. Taco bell - Crunhcwrap supreme

What are three of the best dining-out experiences you’ve had? A restaurant in NH called the Galley Hatch. They have the most awesome clam chowder I've ever tasted in my life; pretty much any time we go to the Cheesecake Factory in Baltimore's Inner Harbor; And when we went to Olive Garden for my 30th (I think?) birthday. I had a lot of family and friends, we all ate and had a great time. The waiters sang Happy Birthday to me and one decided to go off on an operatic tangent. It was hilarious!

What’s your choice of tipple at the end of a long day? I don't need a drink to make me sleepy. I can barely stay up past 9:30am anymore. LOL Just some ice cold water will do.

Favorite cookbook/s? Love my Better Home & Gardens cookbook

Got any favorite food blogs? A Year of CrockPotting

What’s the next thing you’ll eat? Tuna casserole for supper tonight, yum. (Sans peas, though.)