Month: November 2005

  • TERRIFIC TUESDAY.......

    The week is moving right along again.   Tonight I am working late and hope to accomplish a lot of paperwork.  Tommy separated very well from me this morning for preschool.  


    YESTERDAY


    Our morning went ok...rocky start to the day with Erik.  Tuesday morning was great though!   This is usual for the transitions between the two homes over the weekend. 


    Sunday night was terrible night for sleep again.  Tommy tossed and turned and hit me in the face numerous times.  YIKES!   Per our pediatrician's advice we started the ticket program last night.  Tommy gets 6 "sleep in Momma's Bed" tickets a week and when he runs out he has to sleep in his bed.   We will see how it goes when he runs out of tickets.  He is very aware of the concept though.  


    I worked until about 6:30 last night and then went straight to the graduation party planning meeting.  Luckily the meeting was short and I hooked up with the food committee.  Our committee won't be meeting until early January. 


    Our evening was spent picking up the house again and both my hubby and I had to complete our open enrollment for benefits at our works.   I can't believe how much I spent each pay period on benefits.  I have almost $500.00 a pay period taken out for benefits alone.   That doesn't include the loan payments have also come out of my checks each pay period.  WOW...will I be rich once I don't have to have family coverage or pay daycare.  Individual coverage is free to employees.  Though we are considering having Tommy in parochial school so that will take the place of daycare costs. 


    Tommy and I spent the evening doing puzzles and writing his last name.  I had to force him to stop to go to bed.  I was so tired! 


    TODAY


    Took Tommy to preschool.  He separated well and I got to work earlier than usual.  YEAH!!   I had morning homevisits this morning and now I am in the office until about 9;00 tonight to get paperwork done! 


    Tomorrow I will be working from home as my parents are coming into town for Grandparents Day at preschool on Thursday.  I do need to try and get groceries early tomorrow morning and work on paperwork the rest of the time until my parents come.  I will need to work on some laundry too...a never ending battle against Mt Washmore!


    RECIPES OF THE WEEK:


    Cheesy Broccoli Soup



    • 2 Tbsp. butter
    • 1/4 cup chopped onion
    • 2 Tbsp. flour
    • 2 1/2 cups milk
    • 1 lb. Velveeta prepared cheese product, chopped into 1-1/2" cubes for easier melting
    • 1 pkg. (10-16* oz., depending on how much broccoli you want in the soup) frozen broccoli, thawed and drained
    • 1/8 tsp. pepper
    • 1 tsp. marjoram
    • 1/4 tsp. Adobo

    Melt butter over medium heat in a large saucepan (6 qt. is good) on stovetop. Add onion and saute until tender. Add flour, stirring constantly for 1 minute over medium heat.


    Add milk, stirring constantly. Bring to a gentle boil and reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer 1 minute. Add all remaining ingredients and cook until cheese is melted and soup is heated through.


    Menus 4 Moms recipes 
    Jello Fruit Salad


    • 1 small package orange gelatin
    • 1 cup hot water
    • 1 cup mayonnaise
    • 1 cup evaporated milk
    • 1 cup crushed pineapple, drained
    • lettuce leaves

    Mix gelatin in hot water until dissolved. Add all other ingredients, pour into a mold or 8x8 pan and chill until set. Serve on a lettuce leaf.


    Later....Have a great day!

  • Currently Reading.....


    Skipping Christmas - John Grisham


    Currently Listening To.....


    Blessings - Ann Quindlen

  • OOOOPS....gained .4 pounds - so less than 1/2 a pound, which I am ok with considering we went out to eat twice!    I hope to maintain over Thanksgiving!

  • HAPPY MONDAY

    It is Monday again....how does that keep happening?   I had a great weekend.  I really got to relax some and get caught up on chores too.  I finished reading two different books and watched 1-1/2 movies.  I need to finish the one movie tonight so I can return it.  


    -TODAY -


    Today I have to weigh in for Weight Watchers.  I am not sure I did very well, since we did eat out twice this weekend.  But I did get alot of walking in shopping on Friday.  I am working only until 6:30 tonight.  I have a planning meeting at the high school for the graduation party. 


    GLANCE AT MY WEEK


    Tuesday - going into work late as Tommy has Preschool


    Wednesday - my parents are coming into town.  I hope to get groceries in the morning.   Church in the evening.


    Thursday - Grandparents day at preschool.   Tommy is very excited.  Book group in the evening.


    Friday - working all day


    Saturday - Baking Christmas Cookies at church and puttin on the Community Baby Shower. 


    Have a great day!!!


     

  • Well I have wrapped most of the presents we bought on Friday.   I have all my children's done and everything that needs to go to South Dakota is wrapped and ready to go.   Whew....Tommy is outside playing so I am going to get him in and take our nap.  It is about that time.   Have a great afternoon. 

  • Happy Sunday......

    Hello  -   not a good night sleep was had by anyone here at our home.  Hubby woke up around 3:00 to use the bathroom and Tommy woke up and would not go back to sleep until after 5:00am.  ARGH!!  We all were still alseep when it was time to get ready for church.   Being up most of the night did allow me to get a lot of my book read.   So this morning I finished another book.......


    The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown - 4.5/5


    Now I have showered and had some breakfast my hubby made.  It is now time to get on with my day.  I am going to switch laundry around and wrap presents for the afternoon.  I need to have everything wrapped before Erik and Josh are home again.  


    Have a great day!

  • Saturday Evening.....

    What  a peaceful day this has been.   The TV has been off all day.   Josh is at work as so the house isn't full of kids.    Tommy took a good nap and is up now and playing with Daddy on the computer.   I spent about an hour enjoying the quiet of my living room and finished my book for book group.  


    The Night Flying Woman: An Ojibway Narrative - Ignatia Broker - 3/5


    Next up....Finish  The Da Vinci Code - I put this book down when I needed to read some other things for book group, so I am going to hopefully finish that this weekend too.   Next up in Book Group for December is Christmas Carol by Dickens for the holidays.  


    Now I need to go and clean up the kitchen for a bit and figure out some supper!    Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

  • Saturday Afternoon......

    I just got up from my nap.....aaaah....Tommy is still napping so I will do a quick update and then read until he wakes up.    This morning I did a couple of loads of laundry and spent some time straightening the living room and bedrooms.  I also put some of the clean clothes away.   Then we went to the library.   About 1/2 of the books I had reserved for Erik were too hard.   I had to have the reference library help me find a few more books for him.   I have about 6 for him to pick from now that are between 3-6 grade level of reading.  


    I got a few books for Tommy too.   I am going to start doing the Book Adventure site with him after we read his stories.   He has pretty good comprehension already I think.   We stopped at Target to get some inserts for Josh's shoes.  His feet hurt after he has stood all day at work.   Then we used Tommy's meal reward certificate to eat at Chili's.    It has gotten so nice to go out to eat.  Tommy now is able to sit and wait for his food and stays seated. 


    Then it was home and nap time.......Now I am  off to read until Tommy gets up!  have a great afternoon!

  • Let the Weekend Begin..........

    Happy Saturday!!  Hope everyone is having a great day!


    YESTERDAY - FRIDAY


    We got up early.  Well early for a day off!   Took Tommy to his 4 year Physical.   Everything is great!  He is in the 75% for weight and height.  If he maintains that % he will be around 6 feet tall like his daddy.   Cognitively his is doing great....the Dr tested his knowledge of colors and shapes.   The Dr said...great that he knew them.  I laughed since he has known them for over a year.   I said he knows his uppercase letters and can write his name too.   No concerns there.   We also had the conversation about Tommy sleeping in his own bed.   The Dr wants me to try a ticket system.  We will see.   His ears had no fluid in them and were good.  YEAH!   Tommy got his flu shot and we were on our way.   He didn't even cry for his shot, but the Dr said the nurse would bring in a surprise.  Tommy didn't think that was a very good surprise!  The Dr gave him Two stickers!


    Then we dropped him off at daycare at his aunties and we started our massive day of shopping!    I am very very happy to say I am done with all my Christmas Shopping except I need to buy something for my hubby!    I hope to get everything wrapped this weekend so that I can send the South Dakota presents home with my parents when then come next week.  We shopped from about 10 to 4:30.  We did stop and have lunch at the Great Moon Buffet.  Then we stopped off at my inlaws to drop off the gifts for the boys.   It is hard for them to get out shopping so we buy the gifts for them to give the boys. 


    We picked up Tommy and headed home.  It was hard to keep Tommy awake.  He always wants to fall asleep on the way home.   He stayed awake.  Josh and Amy carried in the Christmas presents for us.  


    Josh is so busy this weekend.   He worked last night from 5 to 10.  Then he went straight to the overnighter at church.   He just got home at 7:00 this morning.  He is now sleeping until he goes to work again this afternoon.  Then tonight he is going to the Sadie Hawkins dance with Amy.   The boy is busy!   But it gives us a quiet weekend too, which is nice once in a while. 


    Oh yeah....I made a great Broccoli and Cheese Soup that Tommy just loved!   He ate a whole bowl of it.   We are going to have it for lunch again today.  (I will share the recipe later)


    TODAY


    Hmm....we should be home most of today.   We will be going to the library this morning of course.  I have a lot of books to pick up for Erik to review due to all your great recommendations.


    Then I want to just get caught up around the house with laundry, wrap presents, cook some meat and cleaning.   Life gets so busy!     I need to finish my book this weekend too for book group next week.   Well I am off to get ready to start my day.  Have a great one!

  • THURSDAY..........

    Hello.....today was my first day off!  Yeah.....though I was busy all day.   I got up and got Erik off to school.  Than I realized that hubby got paid early since tomorrow is a holiday.   So I paid bills and worked on our budget.  


    I took Tommy to preschool and he separated really well from me.   He knew we were out of apple juice and I told him I had to go so I could get groceries and he was fine.  LOL!!  He wanted me to buy apple juice!   I stopped at the bank and picked up cash for groeries,  the kid's allowance and Christmas Shopping tomorrow.   I like to use cash in envelopes for groceries and Christmas shopping....when it is gone.....it is gone.   I have a better understanding of how much money I have left when I use cash.  I absolutely never charge anything for Christmas.  I don't want to ever be paying for Christmas in the new year. 


    I came home and went through all the Christmas gifts I already have bought.  We buy gifts for about 30 people.   I have about 1/3 of the gift all done.  I made a list of the gifts we need to buy yet and should be ready for our big shopping day tomorrow.   I can't wait to be done with all my shopping. 


    Then I made my grocery and menu and got groceries.  I had budgeted $119 for groceries since I hadn't made it to the store in two weeks.  I only spent $101.00 so that was pretty good.  I would like to get to where I only buy groceries only twice a month, but with the amount of fresh produce we like to eat, I dont' think that will work. 


    Time to make supper and get going on with our evening.  Tommy is napping...ooops!