Guess what’s wrong with me!

Today, I went and ran a few errands. While out, I discovered something. I realized that I am starting to park close to entrances and while still in the car, plan out the quickest path to take to get to my desired location. (No, I still like to window shop.  I just don't do it as much anymore. ) I also have started realizing that I stay seated for as long as possible whenever possible. The poor kids must feel like my personal servants, because I ask them to help me with everything. Thankfully, they are really sweet about it. :} Anyway, while leaving the local Wal-mart with tears in my eyes, I realized this “little” foot problem of mine is getting out of control. I decided to go ahead and do what Mike has been asking me to do for weeks/months. I called the doctor. Why is it SO much easier to call the doctor for a sick kid instead of for myself? Oh well. I called and they were miraculously able to fit me in this afternoon. I hobbled into the kids schools and got them out a few minutes early so I would be able to leave the girls at home with supervision and go to the doctor appointment alone. Funny thing is, none of them seemed to mind leaving school early. Haha Well, I was able to get a pretty picture of my foot for all of my prosperity to see later. I have been blessed to find out I have a bone spur about 5-7 millimeters deep on most of my heel. Yeah me! I also found out that this doesn’t just ‘go away’ on it’s own. Yeah me again! Haha Oh well. I will try to make the most of it. Maybe I’ll get to use those sexy wheelchair carts in the grocery store. Hey, that might help me buy less, right? Woohoo! Mike and I got to go out tonight and he was very patient with me. We found me a pair of new tennis shoes with great support as well as some super-duper support inserts. And thus my life in orthopedic footwear begins! Haha

When Mike and I returned home, Elaina was all excited to share with me a new game she enjoys on the computer. I was quite impressed. After she showed me how good she can play, I made my way to my place on the couch. She came over and handed me a piece of paper on it with the website of the game she played. She was going to make a paper for Mike as well, but I told her I would share with him. ;} In case you want to know the website, it is coolmath4kids.com. Who knew my child would enjoy math games? I still have a hard time with simple math, let alone playing games with them. haha

I need to quit!

Dang it!  I made dinner again.  It was really good.  I had big hopes of just eating until I was full.  Problem was, I didn't notice I was full until I was about to explode!   Tonight, I made Copy Cat Sesame Chicken from Mommy's Kitchen.  I'll admit I was impressed.  It was pretty easy and tasted really darn good.  haha  You take a bag of frozen popcorn chicken (I used the cheap Banquet brand and it was fine) and fry it up so it is nice and crispy.  Then while that is sitting on a paper towel to absorb the grease, you mix the sauce.  Look at the link above if you want specifics, but basically, you take some honey, sugar, ketchup, vinegar, salt and pepper and let it boil on the stove in a big pan.  Once the sauce thickens, you add the chicken and coat it well. Then garnish with sliced green onions and sesame seeds.  I added the sesame seeds when I mixed in the chicken, so it was all over.  :)   It's as simple as that.  We had it over rice.  We also had some salad and mixed vegetables on the side.  Way simple meal that was tasty!

 

It's all Dana's fault!!!

My dear sister, Dana. She knows what I like, bless her heart. She came across a blog, Owlhaven, and I have had the hardest time getting away from her blog. Then I found out she had written a book~ 'Family Feasts on $75 a week'. Well, who would have thunk it, but they had the book at my Sam's Club. I spent the $10 (which I usually don't do on a book, but I had already checked the library and they didn't have it), and I have been reading/cooking with it ever since. I made some pancakes last night from the book that turned out delicious! I also made some chocolate-chocolate chip cookies that were absolutely delicious! I'm not kidding. I know my chocolate! haha

I also took another look at a blog that I had used for making corn dogs a while back. I absolutely love her blog as well. Check it out if you have a few hours and nothing better to do. haha It is called Mommy's Kitchen. Tonight, I tried her Monterey Chicken. I forgot to take pictures (You can look at hers. I made monterey chicken a link to the actual recipe on her blog). I can't figure out why I didn't. Maybe it was because I was trying to cook, listen to Josh argue at me, have Elaina want me to give her a spelling test, and have a friend come over to see the work done in the bathrooms all within a 30 minute time frame. Anyway, trust me. It is divine! Super easy too. I took my chicken breast out and marinated it in BBQ sauce for about an hour (the amount of time it took to caramelize the onions). To caramelize the onions, you, thinly slice an onion, put a little oil on them with some salt and pepper and put them in a covered dish in the oven. How simple is that? I just had to toss them around a bit every 15 mins until they were golden brown. The sweetness was GREAT! Anyway, back to the chicken recipe. :) Take the chicken out of the fridge and put it in a skillet and sauté it until it is mostly done. Once it is mostly done, put your onions on top. Then sprinkle a little cheese and put a piece or two of bacon on top (I put a couple toothpicks in the bacon to help it not to curl up, it worked really well). Put it in the oven on broil until the bacon is crisp and the chicken is done. I'll be honest. Raw chicken scares me. I cooked the chicken in the pan until it was just barely done then put the stuff on top to broil. I didn't want to take my chances. :) I also made some homemade mashed potatoes, butter beans, and salad to go along with it. My kids were quite impressed. Apparently I was either really hungry or thought it was good as well, because I ate WAY too much! :} For not much effort, it was a great meal. Really worth trying. :)

Q-tips and Dolls

I went to Goodwill the other day  looking for something to put my Q-tips in.  I found a jar  that I thought would work really well for $1.  Mike even liked it.  ha  Then came the challenge of finding a soap dispenser that matched.  I found one at Target that was just clear and I think it works really well.  It was $2.99 for both the soap thing and the toothbrush holder.  The kids are jealous.  I find kids in my bathroom all the time for Q-tips now. haha  I need to figure out what to do with their bathroom.  I wish a had a smidgen of decorating in me!  My sisters are great at decorating.  My mother is great at it.  Mike is better at it than I am for heavens sake! 

Elaina found a doll on sale after Christmas for $13.  Then once we got home, she did something.  I wish I could tell you what she did.  I just remember that she got her doll taken away for a couple of weeks.  She finally earned the thing back.  Have no fear.  I had it marked on the calendar so I would remember to give it back to her.  Well, she earned it back and has been in love ever since.  :)  That doll even went with us to the library today!  Then, tonight, she borowed the camera and got a picture of her doll.  I thought you all might want to see it. 

Yep. We're finished!

This has been a busy weekend. I am SUPER tired! Saturday we spent much of the day doing this…

Because of this…

And turned it into this…

Then did this…

We added these to both the hall bathroom and the master bathroom...

Sunday, church was cancelled again due to the church flooding. ~We didn’t have church last week either because of busted pipes. Apparently it is pretty bad. ~Anyway, we decided to go ahead and paint the walls while we were at it as well (we bought the paint Saturday night, just so you know). The walls were a mint green. Don’t ask why or how… just know they were that color. :} We decided to paint them the tan color of the other bathroom. It turned out really nice, but I am tired now!

To help make things more interesting, Jake had youth conference this weekend.  Mike got the pleasure of transporting him and his friends to and from the different locations. I’m not sure why we are the only parents that know how to drive, but most times, that is the way it is. Jake wore his new suit for the testimony meeting Sunday night. I’m so glad he likes it. I found it at the Resale shop for $1.97 each piece (the jacket and pants). It fits him really nicely if I do say so myself. :}

Tom also came and brought a load of wood for us to use during this unusually cool winter. He also brought the gift he had gotten for Elaina. A huge dollhouse. I’m not sure where it’s going, but the girls both LOVE it!

What do you do when the faucet doesn’t work?

The faucet in the hall bathroom finally died. It was really cool. You could turn that thing ‘round and ‘round and it would never turn off. After a week or so, it was becoming a problem, so we decided it was time for it to go. :} Mike and I decided that since we had to get new faucets, we might as well change out the countertop as well. The coating has been coming off the counter even before we moved in 4 years ago. Haha We looked at the countertops with the sink built in, but the way our vanity was set up, it would have been major moola because it would have to be custom made. Being custom made would also mean it would take longer to get completed because we would have to wait for it to be manufactured. We figured that wouldn’t work because the way Mikes’ schedule has been, we didn’t know how long he would be in town. We decided to buy a new countertop and just custom build it ourselves. Now realize when I say “we” I am really meaning Mike. Haha

Mike and Josh took off the sink/countertop in under 5 minutes. I was really impressed.

Then Mike had to custom fit the laminate countertop since it was too long and deep.

While Mike was working on the countertop, Emma and I were working on the sink. We actually attached the new faucet and hoses to the sink. Of course, Mike had to help us occasionally.

We also got some wonderful wood restoring stuff. (I know… I get technical every now and then. ) The difference is amazing. We went ahead and did all the cabinets in the bathroom.

We haven’t changed the lighting or mirror, but that is in the works. I will let you know when that happens. haha

Let's go Krogering

Due to the weather, the boys had to go to school while the girls' school was closed.  Poor boys.  haha  I did what any self respecting mom would do.  I took the girls grocery shopping.  I figured I was already out and I had a couple of coupons that were about to expire.  :}   We all went to Kroger.  They are having a GREAT sale in case you happen to have one near you.  I went in for the chicken and came out with about 15 hundred packages of beef.  I kid.  It was more like 300.  haha  They have their roast meat on sale for $1.77 a pound, with their club card of course.  I don't usually want to spend that much on meat alone so, we usually eat cheaper meats.  :}  I have been craving roast, so this was good timing.  I got a butt roast and 4 london broil meat packs.  Ok.  I have a confession.  It wasn't 300 like I said earlier, but it's a heck of a lot more meat than I usually buy.  :} 

 I looked at the stew meat and it was $4.39 a pound!  Can you imagine?  This is better quality meat for less. I decided to use one of my london broil packs for stew meat.  Can you say BARGAIN? I got home, and cut the meat.

Putting it in a bowl as I went along...

Then I made a huge mistake.  I asked the girls if they would like beef stew for dinner.  A resounding "NOOOOO" was yelled in my direction.  Apparently these kids caught me on a good day.  Usually a response like that comes across as a big fat "yes" in my brain.  I decided maybe to go ahead with the potato soup like I had planned.  I then put the meat chunks in a freezer bag (single layer, of course).

Now we are set for whenever I make beef stew.  Ahh, who knows. Maybe tomorrow night?  I'm sure it will be soon, though.  :}

Oh, the situations kids put us in!

Tonight I took Emma to Activity days and while she was there decided Elaina and I would go to Walgreens to pick up my medication. I don’t know what I was thinking. I know better than to go inside the store with Elaina. I just hate waiting in the drive thru line for 30 minutes. Have no fear. Next time I will patiently wait outside, thank you very much! We got inside and not so surprisingly, there was a line inside as well. What was surprising is that we were in and out of there in 10 minutes. It was as if they were in a hurry for us to leave. Was it because my child was running up and down the aisles? No, it wasn’t that. My sweet innocent child, as soon as we turned the corner to the pharmacy, ran and situated herself into the chair with the massager. Normally, it’s not that big of a deal, but she has been getting a bit more vocal with her feelings. As I was standing in line, I hear moaning of “yeah baby” and “ooooh baby” and “yes, yes, yes”. I immediately hid my head while waving my hand in her direction to stop. Have no fear. She didn’t stop. She moaned louder. Finally, she screamed, “oh, this feels SO good”. I sheepishly told her, “well, I wasn’t sure, but I’m glad to know that.” The two women in front of me didn’t make eye contact with me once they got their prescriptions. I was thankful. The guy who rang up my medicine didn’t make eye contact either. I’m ok with that as well. :} I’m just glad I won’t have to go back for another month. Maybe they will have forgotten about the little blond kid who likes the massager a little too much!

1-1-10~ That's gonna be hard to remember

Wow it's New Year’s Day.  I had to make a 2010 folder in my picture file on my computer and I got almost giddy.  I hope I get used to this whole 2010 thing.  haha

Today, Emma wanted to make sugar cookies. Mike and Josh wanted Cheesecake. What’s a girl to do, but supervise Emma after making cheesecake? Haha

I made a brownie chocolate chip cheesecake. It was pretty simple to make.   Here is the recipe in case you are interested.  Josh asked "Mom, why aren't you putting it on a pretty plate since you are taking a picture?" I told him, "Son, it doesn't get much more 'high class' than a transformers plate." haha

Emma made funfetti cookies. She did really good. I didn’t have to do anything but supervise and take them in and out of the oven. She is still intimidated by the oven. Plus Elaina started riding her bike and somehow the cookies were forgotten while they were in the oven. Haha  She made it back in time to frost them.  Sorry about the picture.  I forgot to take pictures until half were eaten.  haha

Josh also used one of his Christmas gifts. It was a mento’s rocket thingy. I took some video of it, but I don't know how to load it on here.  Maybe someone with better know-how can help me out.  Hint hint  :}

New Year's Eve

Here at the Roberts home, we had a rip roaring good time. First, we were on the reciving end of some snow on Tuesday. We didn’t get as much as Christmas eve, but still, snow is snow! It was all melted by 7 PM, but it was still fun to have.

Thursday (New Years Eve) we had our Mountain men come home. Don't worry.  They were able to camp in the snow, so they didn't miss out on the adventure.  :}  They were allowed back into civilization on New Years eve. Here is Mike. He made most everything he was wearing. The only things he didn’t make were his hat, shoes and his pants, although he did attach the fringe. :}

New Years Eve, Jake went dancing with the church, so we got to stay home and enjoy one another’s company. Josh and Elaina kept themselves occupied for a little while.

We also played old maid, in which I was usually given the old maid card even if it wasn’t my turn. :} I, of course, have no problem with being an old maid. I feel like one most of the time anyways. Haha  Have no fear.  Lots of TV was watched and food was eaten. 

Then, we blew our horns when the clock stuck 12 and then went to bed. I know. Pretty exciting stuff. How much fun can you actually fit into one night anyways? Haha