Christmas Musical

Jonathan and Gracie did such a great job in this year's Christmas Musical.

Menu for December 14-20

	Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner
Mon	Sausage Eggs Biscuits	Leftovers	Chicken Enchiladas (because we never made them last week) Spanish Rice Refried Beans
Tues	Cereal	Soup Grilled Cheese	Cheeseburger Soup
Wed	Dutch Babies	Lunchmeat Sandwiches	Leftovers
Thur	Egg In a Hole	PB&J	Red Beans & Rice Green Beans
Fri	Muffins Smoothies	Tuna	Pizza
Sat	French Toast	Lunchmeat Sandwiches	Roast Carrots Potatoes
Sun	Cereal	Beef Stroganoff	Leftovers

Menu for December 7-13

	Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner
Mon	Oatmeal	Leftovers	Chicken Pot Pie Cranberry Sauce
Tues	Breakfast Casserole	PB&J	Sloppy Joes Slaw Fries
Wed	Muffins	Soup Grilled Cheese	Chili Slaw
Thur	Eggs Biscuits Sausage	Hot Dogs/Chili	Chicken Nuggets Mac N Cheese Green Peas
Fri	Cereal	Tuna Salad	Pizza Salad
Sat	Pancakes	Turkey Sandwiches Chips	Chicken Enchiladas Corn
Sun	Cereal	Chicken Alfredo Rolls Salad	Left overs

Back from the Dead

I feel like I am finally back from the dead. We had one horrible week of the flu ( I think probably Swine Flu from all our symptoms). It ran through our house like a wild fire.

Then, just as I was beginning to feel better, I started feeling sick again. Only this time it was a very "familiar" sick. Yep... we are expecting our ninth little sweetie! I have been in the bed sick for almost two weeks straight. Dave and  the kids have been so good to me. They have waited on me, brought me soup, even changed poopie diapers. I am finally (as of the last two days) feeling a little better. The sickness kind of comes and goes. I can deal with that.

My plan is to be back on top of things, have a new menu posted tomorrow and get in a full week of school with the kids this week. Very high and lofty plans, I know, but I'm just going to think positively. :)

Free Old School House Magazine Download

This is a great downloadable magazine for ideas for the holidays. It is a homeschool magazine, but would has great ideas for any family this holiday season. Enjoy!

http://thehomeschoolmagazine.com/Digital-Supplement/Thanksgiving&Christmas.html

Menu for November Week 1

	Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner
Mon	*Pancakes *Scrambled Eggs	*Sandwiches *Chips	*Pork Loin *Mashed Potatoes *Broccoli *Fruit
Tues	*Cereal	*Soup *Grilled Cheese	*Tilapia w/ Rice *Asparagus *Orange Jello Parfait
Wed	*Smoothies *Muffins	*Ramen Noodles	*Chicken Alfredo *Green Beans *Italian Bread
Thur	*Oatmeal *Toast	*Sandwiches *Veggies w/ Dip	*Steak *Salad *Baked Potatoes
Fri	*Eggs *Sausage *Toast	*PB&J	*Pizza *Salad
Sat	*Cereal	*Leftovers	*Grilled Chicken *Rice Pilaf *Green Peas
Sun	*Pop Tarts	*15 Bean Soup *Italian Bread	*Leftovers

Trying to Plan a Menu

Well, I'm trying to plan a menu for next week. We have ALL been sick this week. It started with Abby on Monday, has worked it's way through everyone of us up to Alex (the last one of us) and he got sick today. I'm not sure if this is just a mean virus or the flu or what.  All I know is that it is really hard to plan a menu when no one wants to eat anything and just the thought of food is grossing us all out. Can you plan a menu on chicken noodle soup, saltine crackers and Gatoraide? I may just pull out an old menu and pray that we all feel better soon.

Menu for October 26-November 1

	Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner
Mon	Sausage, Egg, Cheese Casserole	Sandwiches Chips	Potatoes Green Beans Sausage
Tues	Egg in Hole	PB&J	Chicken Tetrazinni Green Peas
Wed	Eggs, Sausage & Biscuits	Soup Grilled Cheese	Baked Ziti Salad Bread
Thur	Monkey Bread	Tuna Salad	Eggs, Bacon, Toast
Fri	Oatmeal	Mac N Cheese	Hamburgers With Fixin's
Sat	French Toast	Hallow Him	Pork Roast Sweet Potatoes Green Beans
Sun	Cereal	Left overs	Soup & Salad

Menu for October Week 4

	Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner
Mon	Breakfast Burritos	Chef Salad	Chicken Noodle Soup Homemade Bread
Tues	Dutch Babies	Lunchmeat Sandwiches Chips	Hamburger Helper Green Beans
Wed	Sausage Eggs Biscuits	PB&J	Steak Fajitas
Thur	French Toast	Soup Crackers	Leftovers
Fri	Oatmeal Fruit	Tuna Salad	Chicken Parmesan Pasta Salad
Sat	Breakfast Casserole	Sandwiches Veggies /Dip	Pork Roast Potatoes Sweet Peas
Sun	Cereal	Leftovers	Fallapalooza

Gracie's Baptism

After several months of talking with her Dad and I, Gracie was baptized last Sunday morning. It is so sweet to see the faith of a little one. She truly loves Jesus and wants to please him with all her heart. To top it all off, her Daddy had the privilege of baptizing her.

The Fellows

All four of my "big guys" have joined Boy Scouts this year.  They are so excited about it. They have been working hard on memorizing everything for their first badges. I really think they are more excited about the campouts and spending more time with their Dad than anything else...and they are all so handsome!

Menu for October Week 3

	Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner
Mon	Scrambled Cheese & Sausage Eggs   Crescents	PB&J	Cheddar Chicken Spaghetti   Yellow Squash
Tues	Cereal	Tomato Soup   Cheese Quesadillas	Pork Chops Potatoes Green Peas
Wed	Pumpkin Bread or muffins	Lunchmeat Sandwiches Chips	Baked Penne Pasta Green Beans Italian Bread
Thur	Eggs Sausage Toast	PB&J	Leftovers
Fri	Oatmeal Fruit	Sandwiches	Pizza Salad
Sat	Breakfast Casserole
Sun	Cereal	Roast Beef Sandwiches Slaw	Leftovers

Free Eggs

Visit The Good Egg Project to get a coupon for buy one get one free dozen of eggs. The site will let you print 2 coupons. Just hit your back button and reprint.

October Family Feasts Giveaway at Owlhaven.net

I love reading the "Owlhaven" blog. Right now she is hosting a giveaway for her book "Family Feasts for $75 a Week." Check it out at October Family Feasts Giveaway .

Menu for October Week 1

	Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner
Mon	Scrambled Eggs Smoothies	Tuna Salad	Beef Roast with Gravy Rice Salad
Tues	Cereal	Mac N Cheese	Baked Ziti Salad
Wed	French Toast	Ham or Turkey Wraps Chips	Red Beans & Rice Green Beans French Loaf
Thur	Eggs Sausage Biscuits	PB&J	Leftovers
Fri	Oatmeal Fruit	Soup Grilled Cheese	Pizza
Sat	Eggs Hashbrowns Toast	Sandwiches Veggies /Dip	Tater Tot Casserole Corn on the Cob Cottage Cheese & Pineapple
Sun	Cereal	Seafood Gumbo Salad	Leftovers or PB&J

My First Walgreens Run

First thing I learned today... Don't take kids with you when you are trying to "do coupons!" I got so confused. I'm still not sure if I really saved that much money. I won't even go into the details, but I checked out 4 times and had to do 2 returns, all of no fault of the Walgreens staff. I used the wrong coupons for the wrong items, purchased the wrong items for the Register Rewards, etc. I guess I'll try this one more time, since I do have $24 in Register Rewards that have to be spent. I'm still certain that I got some good deals, but I'm gonna do better next time!

Shopping Day

Today was my grocery shopping day. I'm doing the Grocery Game and it has given me new energy to shop. I'm always a sucker for a bargain and the Grocery Game is making shopping so much more fun. I'm beginning to wonder though, how many boxes of cereal and mac n cheese do we really need? One of my best deals I got this week were those crazy AirWick automatic sprayers that I wrote about Friday night. The only problem is that I have one on my desk right above my computer. It sprays every 33 mins or something like that. The crazy thing sounds like a cat hissing and nearly gives me a heart attack everytime it  sprays. Then I sit an laugh at myself. I am such a scaredy cat. Anyway, it was fun to watch my total go WAY down as the cashier scanned in all my coupons. Now I have two of my neighbors giving me all their coupons too. Next week I should do great.

Other than that today has just been about trying to control the chaos. The kids just seemed to be extra loud and grumpy today. Then tonight Seth tried to ride the skateboard down the driveway, on his stomach, face first and yep...disaster. He hit a bump, flew forward and busted his lip. Poor little guy. He did get to eat a popsicle for dinner and then very willingly went on to bed. I think he was exhausted from all the drama of the day.

I just got the last of the kids through the shower and all is quiet...finally. I think I'm gonna get my shower, rummage around and find some chocolate, get in the bed and read my book, Love and Respect, by Emerson Eggerichs. Dave & I are taking this class at church and it's been great. Then maybe lights out by 10:00 pm. That would be great!!!

Menu for September Week 5

	Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner
Mon	Breakfast Casserole Smoothies	Chef Salad	Easy Chicken & Feta Bake Broccoli Black Bean Salad
Tues	Pumpkin Bread	Bologna Sandwiches Chips	Tacos Mexican Corn Churros
Wed	Sausage Eggs Biscuits	PB& J Carrots	Baked Potatoes (topped w/ chicken, cheese, broccoli, sour cream, etc)
Thur	French Toast	Mac N Cheese	Leftovers
Fri	Oatmeal Fruit	Sandwiches Chips	Pizza Salad
Sat	Sausage Eggs Biscuits	PB&J Celery & Cream Cheese	Chicken Pot Pie Jello & Fruit
Sun	Cereal	Crockpot Lasagna Salad	Leftovers

Date Night

I just got back from a romantic date with my husband. We went to Colton's Steak House (my favorite place and we had a buy one get one coupon) and then to WALGREENS! We HAD to go to Walgreens though. They had AirWick Air Fresheners on sale for $6.99 and I had THREE $6 off coupons. You just can't beat that. Now that makes for an exciting date! I did have a great time talking with my sweetie along the way.

Happy Birthday Gracie

My sweet Gracie just turned 6 years old. I can't even believe it. She has had the "never-ending birthday". First we celebrated at Grandma and Papa Goose's house with a huge, yummy birthday cake.  Then on her actual birthday Dave and I gave her gifts and she got to blow out candles on another cake. Finally, last night we had a party for her cousins and friends. We had such fun at her party. We decorated cookies and then Josiah taught everyone how to make a bead and pipe cleaner cross craft. I think her birthday "season" has finally ended... and just in time for Josiah to start planning his party for next month.

$75 Week Challenge

Okay, we have 8 children, so I'm not so sure about $75 a week and if I understand correctly, Mary's challenge was for a family of four (someone please correct me if I'm wrong). I have just recently begun The Grocery Game and it has helped tremendously. It actually energizes me to get out all my coupons and see what kind of deals I can find. Right now I've been spending about $125 a week, but would love to see that come down as well. The temptation is to spend money on "goodies" bought with coupons that are not really necessary. I love to cook from scratch, but it is nice to reach in the freezer once in a while for a quick frozen pack of chicken nuggets or corn dogs. I guess balance is the key.

Menu for September Week 4

	Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner
Mon	Scrambled Eggs Smoothies	Leftovers: Tuna Sloppy Joes Or Chili	Easy Chicken Parmesan Acorn Squash Salad
Tues	Dutch Babies	Lunchmeat Sandwiches Chips	Tilapia Brown Rice Broccoli Cooked Apples
Wed	Sausage Eggs Biscuits	PB&J	Ratatouille Italian Bread Fruit Salad
Thur	French Toast	Mac N Cheese	Leftovers
Fri	Oatmeal Fruit	Soup Grilled Cheese	Pizza Salad
Sat	Breakfast Casserole	Sandwiches Veggies /Dip	Tater Tot Casserole Corn on the Cob Cottage Cheese & Pineapple
Sun	Cereal	Grilled Brats & Dogs Fries	Leftovers or PB&J

Menu for September Week 3

	Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner
Mon	Banana Crumb Muffins Smoothies	Tuna Salad Chips	Taco Pie Corn Salad
Tues	Eggs Sausage Toast Apple Juice	Lunchmeat Sandwiches Chips	Meatloaf Mac N Cheese Green Peas
Wed	Cereal	Meatloaf Sandwiches	*Grilled Fish Brown Rice Green Beans
Thur	Pancakes	Ramen Noodles	Leftovers
Fri	Oatmeal Fruit	Soup Grilled Cheese	Sloppy Joes Tater Tots Slaw
Sat	Biscuits Sausage	Sandwiches Veggies /Dip	Spaghetti Green Beans
Sun	Pop Tarts	Chili Rice Slaw	Leftovers

 *Grilled Fish: This is very easy. I like to use Tilapia Filets. Brush them with a melted butter and garlic mixture. Then place them on a hot grill for about 3 mins. Flip, cook another 3 mins. Top with salt and Pepper and they are delicious.

Menu Plan Monday