Did I tell you of my last trip to the Grocery...

Oh, my...where do I start?
There are staples that I buy at the store, you know we all have them...milk, bread, cheese slices, eggs, ham slices (for sandwiches), apple juice, you, know staples. At least those are some of the basics here. Anyway, our fav bread is $3.09 a loaf now, the cheese slices have gone from $9.99 for a large package of 72 slices to over $15.00 for the same size of package. The ham slices that I normally buy when they are on sale for about $3.79 for a one pound package, to now $5.29. And I already might have mentioned the Apple Juice, that was $4.29 for a gallon before, which is now $5.99...You cannot squeeze blood from a turnip people... What can we do about this?
One thing that I have done is taken to making bread here at home, and sadly, instead of buying things here at the local store, about 2 miles away, I now stop at the Walmart Store in a bigger town about 20 minutes away after class or after a doctor's appointment, since I am already there. So much for hoping to keep money in the town where I live.
Another thing, my hubby is a farmer, it is truly sad when I cannot go into a store and be able to afford those things that he grows...such as potatoes, corn and the like. That is truly sad.

Another morning, early but with high hopes...

I know, I know it is early, especially for me, but as I said, I have high hopes! I have the usual to get done today, laundry, dishes, get my preschooler off to her first day of class for the week, and also study for my Final in the class I am taking, that is in two weeks...but I really have a good feeling about accomplishing all of that and more today...Optimism is a great thing! "Optimism...Not Just a Good Thing, But Great!"
Anyway, Teenager has made it to Cheer Practice all week this week, and am amazed that we were only startled awake by her activity on that first day...and when she even gets home so she can finish getting ready for school, she is more polite about that...yes!
I saw a blog from a person I know that was listing thing that she was greatful for, I just thought I would share something that I am greatful for with you...I am greatful for my family, which is a given, however I am greatful for not just the good time, but also the trials! Those are the moments that make us stronger as a family and me as a person. I was told once to not just pray for help when you are going through trials and diversities, but when you are praying remember to thank God for those trials...That is Great Advise! Ooops! There I go again with the Optimism. Have a Great Day Everyone!
p.s. Need to make some more bread today, so we will be having warm rolls and homemade jelly for breakfast. Why is it that we appear to consume more bread this way, than when we buy it at the store? Am I really saving any money with doing that?

This Cheerleading Stuff is Stressful!

Our teenager is a cheerleader, and while that is fine and dandy, her getting up at 4 a.m. is not...I wake up, only to nod back off, then wake back up again, plus the little kids are waking up a different times, and that throws off the schedule for the day...so much so, my 4 y/o old just walked into the office just now and told me "Mom, I had cereal..." Daddy must have given her some before he left for work, but I didn't realize that. That is really okay, because she will be hungry again in an hour anyway, and so we can have a warm breakfast then.
Have you ever been compared to someone you feel is you idol? Well, I was, last night. MY hubby was saying how much he liked dinner, and said to me..."You are the next Paula Deen after all..." To that I of course, said "What?" Then I was quick to add, "No!" But his reply was, "I think so." I guess that is all that matters, that I prepare and feed my family to the best of my ability, and that they like it.
Today, will be a simple morning of pancakes, and for a treat, maybe I will add blueberries to the mix...that sounds really good... I am off to the kitchen! Have a great day!

Being awoken at 5 a.m. is NOT fun!

The problem is that this will be the norm for the rest of the school year, then it will be a little later in the summer and start again in the fall. Why you ask, because our teenager is now a Cheerleader, and that is when practice is...Yuck! This morning, she woke us up just to tell us she was leaving, then she woke us back up at 6:15 a.m. to tell us that she was home to get ready for school, by then four of the five of us were awake...again, I say...Yuck!
This morning, I decided to take an easier approach than yesterday...We had scrambled eggs, bacon, hash brown along with toast made with homemade bread, but as for today we had turkey and cheese slices on crackers. That is a favorite of the little girls and doesn't take much time when they have it for lunch so I figured that it might work for breakfast too.
The Food Nanny will once again be our friend! I am planning the next two weeks of meals this morning, so I am once again friends with that wonderful calendar!
I do want to share a thought though...Love One Another and Jesus Loves You, Try and do Kindness in All that You Do...Have a Great Day!

You would think that I would be out, right?

Well, I am not out...of banana bread that is. I took out banana bread for everyone to eat for breakfast, and first off, I was shocked that there was still some in the freezer, but also, there is still a "nub" off of the end left after everyone else "had their fill" today. That is shocking!
Busy, exhausting and painful day today...Transplanted veggies into bigger pots, did some laundry with the help of my teenager, supervised her mowing the lawn, while watching the little kids play outside, with the occasional shout to stay away from the hot fence of the pasture. Helped roast hotdogs for dinner with roasted, or rather burnt marshmallows for smores for dessert. Now I smell like the campfire, which was fine when we were outside, but now, in the house my hair just stinks!
As for tomorrow, the kids will go outside and pick up plastic eggs that we will be filling after they go to bed. And I will do my best to make sure that they at least eat something other that chocolate and other sugary concoctions first thing...Wish me Luck!

Okay, so I have been thinking alot...

Alot, about the economy and the consequences of my family's habits, and what we could possibly do without if need be, you know contemplation. As for things that my family can most definately do without...TV, and by TV I mean the highest number of Satelite Channels, we can do without all of the name brand things that we enjoy...Name Brand Clothing, Name Brand Food Items, the only thing that the Name Brand does for the item is bring along with it a status symbol. There is nothing wrong with buying knock off jeans at the outlet mall, especially when they cost me less than $7 a pair, versus $50+...also, store-brand tuna fish, tastes just like the name brand tuna fish when it is slathered in mayo on a piece of bread, and you are hungry. What difference does it make? The milk my kids had with breakfast this morning did not taste any different just because it had a store brand label on it instead of a the fancy packaging that usually accompanies the name brand.
I am not saying that we do not indulge in some of the name brand items, because we do. A big ticket item in our house is Mayonnaise. You see we are a split down the middle household. I like Hellman's/Best Foods, and my hubby loves Miracle Whip. With my teenager siding with me, and the little girls are undecided, but have had both kinds. We have tried the store brands, but we just do not prefer them in this case. Another for my hubby is, he enjoys Pepsi to drink occasionally. I don't mind the store brands of soda, actually in some cases, like orange and grape soda, I prefer the store brands, but for him Pepsi is it... So, I do make sure that he always has that. But with the economy going in the direction that it is, we have to be more mindful of our spending habits.
One think I have started doing, especially when the Case Lot Sales come around twice a year, is buying bulk, and not just flour and sugar, but also canned food items, toiletries, and similar items. I even have a friend who is emailing me a Food Calendar, so that I can figure just how much that I will need to have on hand for my family of five, for one year. That is something everyone should consider. If you or your spouse were to become unemployed, or some other event were to occur where you would not be able to sustain your lifestyle as you know it for a time, what would you do? I am not saying that you need to go out and get all of the items you need for one year, all at once, that is not it at all, but you and I can start a little at a time, one or two items a week, or what ever we all can. Every little bit helps, because you never know what will or could happen, and we all need to be able to be a help to our family.
Just a thought.

Monday Morning in Panic Mode...

Just logged onto the Assignment website for the Math class I am taking to realize that the homework was due LAST NIGHT...Oh, CRUD! I emailed the Professor, and am hoping that he will allow me an extension, this one time. I have never had to ask that before, and am truly hoping that I can at least have today to get the assignments done. What happened you asked...all my fault, I wrote the due date down as that 18th, which is today, instead of the 17th, which of course was yesterday...
aaargh!
Blueberry Muffins for breakfast this morning, but I literally should not have to put as much sugar into them, because of all the marshmallows that were eaten last night out by the fire pit...I think we were all really sticky fingered after that experience. So, there might even be a residual sugar high, who knows!
I have to share something I have discovered though...
Went to the grocery store. Have you also noticed how much prices have jumped, literally over night? The apple juice we buy for the kids is pretty pricey, but the taste is so much better, it usually runs $4.39 at the local store, when I went two days ago...$5.99, yes, $5.99...for the same gallon of apple juice. I guess until I can get to Costco again, we will be sacrificing taste for sustinance...
What have you niticed about prices in your area, are they about the same here...Gradual price alteration would not be such a shock, but as my hubby pointed out. When they raise prices on something, and it can be anything, it goes up quickly, if the price for something is set to drop, people and companies take their sweet time doing it...another, aaargh! Just something to notice.

Breakfast Pizza and Marshmallows...yum!

And so, not joking about the marshmallows y'all! Ha, ha...we are having the marshmallows this evening actually. Hubby wants to "make fire", and so we are going to roast hot dogs on the open flame and what goes with them better than burnt sugar? Nothing, if you ask me. But, pretty much everyone else just likes the marshmallows straight out of the bag, what is wrong with them, I ask...
As for the Breakfast Pizza, a very dear friend of mine sent me a recipe for that, and so I will be adapting it for our family, and making that this coming week. As for today though, the kids are set to eat Daddy's Special, you know, the eggs and Velvetta, on toast, open-faced sandwich...they seem to like it, so who am I to judge...
Off to Church I go, in about half an hour...and sometime this afternoon, I am going to go over to my parents house here and dig up raspberry bushes to transplant here at our house. I have their okay on this, and I am actually looking forward to seeing if they do well here. My parents house is closer to the river than we are, and their soil is more like sand than our so we are hoping that the bushes do well.
One thought before I go...The Lord loves you no matter your faults, just don't keep reminding Him or he might say to you, "Enough Already!" Have a Great Day!

I so agree with blog that I saw...

Actually it is someone that I know. I use to work with her husband, and the wife is a stay-at-home Mom, just like I am now...Some of the points that she shared about being a stay-at-home Mom, and comments she and others have heard?
~So, when the kids get older are you going to go to get a real job?
~I wish my husband were rich, so I could stay at home all day.
~So, what is it you do all day?
~I wish that I could waste my college education.
There were others, and of course this is not exactly what was said, only what I could remember, but I so hear something similar, and along those lines all the time...my favorite being, So, what is it that you do all day?
Let's see...
Feed the family 3-5 times, clean up spills, do the laundry, clean the house 2 or 3 times, run errands, wrangle little ones, get them cleaned up, not let them stare at the TV for longer than 15 minutes at a time, not let them paint the dog, or each other, read stories, try and eat something myself, possible get a shower in for myself and brush my own teeth, and many many un-named things...that is what being a Mom is...A FULL TIME, NON-Paying, but the MOST REWARDING Experience I have EVER had!!!
Just saying!
LOVE is full circle! You love them enough until they love you back, then you just keep it up!

For a Monday and a Tuesday...

things yesterday were an omg...what was I thinking?
Okay, what was I thinking when I needed to start laundry, and ended up doing eight loads. At the start of which, I ended up spilling 3/4 of a brand-new, full bottle of Chlorox 2 all over the floor in front of the dryer. Which wouldn't have been too bad, because my laundry room floor was dirty, and needed to be cleaned, but that lovely bottle of laundry stain booster cost almost $11. Yes, I said $11. What an expensive product to try, as it was an impulse to purchase that product, and at that the largest size possible at the store. What was I thinking...
Also, I have been trying for days to hook up the Netflix that I have a "trial" for, I bought the Roku machine, hooked it up, bought the adapter for my broadband internet, even upgraded it's installation software, and still no wireless reception reaching the Roku machine less than 20 feet away...Am at a loss as to what to do, and still don't know what I was thinking...
As for today, need to finish the laundry, YES, I said finish, I still have two or three loads of sheets to do. Time to go get the baby out of her crib before she starts climbing out herself! I think today will be a toast kind of day, am not feeling so good!

A Quiet Moment...

I need to catch up a bit. My internet connection has had some spotty moments in the last few days, so I figure that I might as well catch a good minute, since I can! We have been trying to spent some time together as a family a lot in the last week, and since we have had snow and wind for 3 days out of the last five and wind the other two, that has been possible! I am getting antsy though! As you may know, I started some vegetables in a seed starter kit that I bought and as I also mentioned, I had sprouts in most of them after 3 days...I now worry, I don't want them to start to get too big before I can either transplant them into bigger pots or actually put them into the ground...Plus, this time last year, the little girls and I were able to walk at the track by the middle school, and get no only exercise, but also some fresh air and sunshine, which we are craving right now.
This past week has been busy for me. I had my first of many physical therapy appointments, we are now going to try a different approach to my pain. We, and I mostly mean the Physical therapist with bits of assistance from me, are going to try and realign my hip position, so that I can try to put a more equal weight on both of my legs. The two exercises that he gave made the back of my hamstrings so sore, but that was good. Then on Friday, I had another dental appointment, just for a cleaning and to fit my crown, but I was still sedated. The funny part was, you know with sedation you cannot eat or drink after midnight the night before, so I was really hungry, my stomach was growling and everything, and we were going to be really early to my appointment, so I asked my dear hubby if he wanted something to eat before we got there. We stopped at the drive-thru of a fast food place and got him a sausage, egg and cheese sandwich meal, with a large orange juice, to which they "forgot" the hashbrown, how rude. As he ate his breakfast in the parking lot of the dentist office, all I could think about was how good the sausage patty smelled...my tummy started growling all over again! Aaargh!
We are still enjoying the granola cookies that I have made and put in the freezer. The general consensus seems to be that the applesauce oatmeal with the butterscotch chips are the best...but I have said that before I make more of those, the others need to be eaten first!
Since it is Sunday, I would like to share a thought...Don't forget to thank the Lord for the trials as well as the blessings in your life, they are both put there for a reason! Have a great day!

There is nothing like toast!

Toast with butter, not all the extra jelly, peanut butter or made into a sandwich when you are not feeling well. The only thing missing was Sprite. Not very hungry today at all, and had plans, but nothing got done, except one load of the baby's diapers, you see if you didn't already know, we use cloth, thanks to my wonderful and talented Sister-in-Law who made them for us.
The exciting thing, after reducing our cable channels down to almost the basic package, which is suppose to save us some money, our Roku box arrived, so that we can watch Netflix. That will hopefully get hooked up either tonight or tomorrow. The exciting thing, the kids shouldn't miss Nickelodeon at all...the shows that they liked are in abundance on Netflix, so I am really happy about that! As for show I like, there are quite a few, I am sure that the teenager will find some that she likes, and as for the hubby, I saw some that I know he will enjoy, I just hope that he likes some of the others.
Teenager's car is giving us trouble, again. She hasn't gotten a job, which I now see as her not really making a major effort, she seems to only want to work certain "cool" places, and she isn't as persistent as she should be, and as we have wanted her to be, we told her that we would give her until this month, then we would have to cancel the car insurance, and sell her car, and she doesn't seem too worried. But, with the trouble that her car has been and her lack of care as to if she actually works or not, her lack of responsibility when it comes to our family, and her opinion that we "owe" her...We are done. We pretty much know that her nice attitude will diminish, much like it always does when we cut back on buying her things, but she is 17, and should be getting some things for herself, instead of expecting it to be handed to her...

So, we made a decision...

I talked with hubby over the weekend about putting food at From Seed to Store, and we decided that with the effort, time and money it was going to cost, it is too much of a risk on our limited budget. Plus, I do not know if my body will hold out to bake that much. There is just a lot of risk involved. If anyone wants something though, you can contact me for a list of items, and I would be happy to discuss with you pricing and shipping if necessary, but for right now, we are going to hold off on baking items for the local store.
As for the items that I had set out to thaw, so that I could package them up really cute, almost all of them are put away again. Hubby picked out a gallon sized bag of applesauce oatmeal cookies with butterscotch chips and is perfectly content to take the whole bag to work. To which I said no, but he is in the kitchen by himself right now, so we shall see.
Hubby did give me a really nice compliment this morning though, he said that I could be the next Paula Deen, to which I scoffed, but that is really nice for him to say.

Sausage gravy, toast and After Prom Info...

I made the sausage gravy and instead of making biscuits, I made toast. Everyone at all that was put on their plate, so it couldn't have been half bad. Our teenager was grumbling about having to get up to eat, but she did anyways. She gave us the 411 on her night. She picked up her friend, they met up with 4 other people, had dinner, talked...made it to the high school by 7:30 when the "grand march" happened, for the parents to see all of them, and I guess there were a lot of parents, too. She stayed until midnight, when the dance got over, wearing her heels the whole time...what is up with that, I took mine off right after pictures, when I went. After the dance, she waited for the parking lot to clear out a bit, which was very responsible of her, since she had my vehicle, then dropped her friend off, they talked for a bit, then she was home by about 1 a.m. Not too bad, I got home about 4 a.m., but don't tell her that, okay. Did I say before that I was glad that she was going with a group of friends instead of on a one-to-one date...still am! Right after breakfast was cleaned up, teenager, hubby and little girl all went to bed, 4 y/o is playing with the play horse that Daddy brought home for her yesterday, and I am thinking about a nap too...have a great day all!

Labels, Laundry and Prom...

I am working on labels for the cookies I am making, which in my head are so cute, hopefully will turn out even cuter on paper. Lots, and lots of laundry to do. Had to go to the store and get some more soap, I can't believe how much the High Efficiency Laundry Soap is, I never had to buy it before, but with the new washing machine that we got because our old one died, and the warranty dept. allowed us to get a newer version instead of fixing the old one, I now have to buy certain soap, according to the directions/instructions.
Tonight is Prom! Our teenager went to a friends house this morning and got her hair and makeup done, by the time she got home, the wind had picked up so much that she had to zip her coat around her head to protect her newly curled hair. The wind has not died down yet, so the trip out to my vehicle, to her friend's house, to the restaurant, then into the school will be a challenge. Her hair looks nice though and I am sure that she will look great once she is all put together. Speaking of that, she wants to go and get dressed, so I will need to sign off for now!

According to the Hubby...

According to my dear sweet hubby, "We will win the lottery if we play today..." It took me just a few seconds to remember that it is April 1st, or rather April Fool's Day...ha, ha, ha...ha!
Monday is the day, so I am still making batches of cookies and freezing them, so that they stay fresh. I bought some food bags yesterday before class, and some raffia, to tie them with, and I will be making the labels, and print up my "menu" for the Owners of From Seed to Store, so that they can look at the items I would like to provide to their store. I have decided though that if they are interested in what I have to offer, I am going to make the dough, then bake the cookies off a little at a time, hopefully doing that will be easier on me.
Saturday night is Prom here, and our teenager is going, with a bunch of girlfriends, instead of on a boy/girl date, to our relief, thanks to my Mom and wonderful Sister-in Law, she has a really cute dress, with matching jewelry, and high heels, that match. She and another friend are getting their hair and makeup done by another friend in the morning, then before the dance, a bunch of them, some with dates, some without are all meeting at a local restaurant to have something to eat, then off to the dance. I am even letting her drive my vehicle instead of hers, so she is happy about that. So much so, that this afternoon, after school, she is going to clean and vacuum out the interior and wash the exterior by hand. All without me asking...that is truly a shock for me!
Sunday will be fun for the hubby, there is an ATV ride in King Hill, if the ground is not too wet, and he is thinking of going. I know that if he does, he will have a great time! I want to go too, but if I do, we will need to take the smaller kids and that may be a stress, and hubby only has one day off a week now, so I want him to enjoy himself!
The house smells like applesauce/oatmeal cookies right now, and my tummy is rumbling! But, you should be glad to know that I did not burn breakfast, like I did yesterday. That everything bagel is, after all a thing of beauty, especially with a fried egg, piece of cheese, and a sausage patty on it!