2012 Goals - February Update

Ok, I got an extra day this month but still not sure I did great on the goals. Let's check in:

1. Start and maintain a blog.
2. Eliminate caffeine from my diet. So not going well.
3. Teach my oldest to tie his shoes.
4. Switch to natural cleaners. I have eliminated windes and pledge and use e-cloths instead. This month I also eliminated toilet cleaner for baking soda and vinegar. Its seems to work great. I went to a Norwex party and will hopefully be taking the chemicals out of the kitchen next.
5. Spend $300 less each month. (could be a tall order) We
   switched to a cash-only system. We have saved a bit the last two months but not as much as I would have liked. Some unforseen expenses have come up such as needing a new printer but I will continue to work hard!
6. Maintain my current weight (at least not gain more). So far so good.
7. Eat more fruit and vegetables each day.
8. Teach my youngest his colors. I have to give credit to my husband as I think he reinforces this in the tub but I also work with him in simple ways by always referring to the color of things. He knows green, red, blue and purple.
9. Go on a weekend trip with just my husband.
10. Reduce the sugar consumed by my family. Have eliminated pop from the house and trying to not bring in any outside junk food. I will never eliminate baked goods. We all need some treats.
11. Begin biking again.
12. Finish the first two years of each of my boys scrapbooks. I have a scrapbook date set for March and I have worked on a few pages in my spare time. Each page completed gets me closer to the goal.
13. Read, read and read some more. Hopefully Lent will help this with having no tv as a distraction.
14. Expand my garden.
15. Help my husband finish the trim work in the house.
16. Make homemade marshmallows.
17. Incorporate lentils into our diet.
18. Go to adoration.
19. Set up a more regular learning time with my oldest. We are doing so much more than we used to. I try to work with him 3 afternoons a week but its been tricky. Its getting better though.
20. Try brussel sprouts.
21. Establish a regular prayer time with my husband.
22. Get out of bed whem my husband does.

I added two more goals in red. I don't think I completed any tasks in Feb but I did work on a few. There are a couple that I am getting ready to get rid of like the one on caffeine. I read that one cup of coffee or one pop a day was not bad for your health so now I seem to justify my morning chai.

I hope you are doing great on your resolutions or goals!

Count My Blessings Wednesday

Wow, where did the week go? I blinked and it was a week later. I have to admit a lot has been going on which is why I have been so absent. They have all been great blessings so lets add them up!

1. We started the season of lent which is just a great time to stop being of this world and really trying to dive deeper with Christ. My resolutions have been great at really focusing me on what is important - God first and family second. I love the no tv thing. There are moments I wish I could just unwind on the couch but instead I either serve my family by getting things done in the house or I turn to God in prayer or study. I hope I will be able to lessen my tv time even more after Lent ends. Last year, I reduced all daily tv but now I hope to lessen even the evening stuff. So refreshing!

2. Jason completed his retreat. I meant to ask for prayer support but well, I forgot a lot of things last week. He LOVED it and I can already see that he is truly trying to grow deeper in his faith. PRAISE GOD! I am not sure what more I can say than God is good!

3. While Jason was at the retreat, the boys and I spent time with my parents. Again, I helped my mom around her house and the boys got to play outside. My dad made the mistake of taking the boys into the hog barns in the only coats I had with me. STINKY! But they loved it. So I suppose the memories were worth a few stinky coats.

4. My niece made it to state basketball. We got to watch two of her sub state games last week and watched her first state game yesterday. THEY WON! So we get to watch them again tomorrow. I really hope they win. What an experience making it to the finals would be. I never pray for them to win but to do their best so please help me ask the good Lord for strength, speed, wisdom and most of all, safety! Go Wolves!

5. I have completed one week of my 40 bags, 40 days and it feels so good. I actually do not have quite as much to give away as last year but still, to be cleaned and organized is heavenly. I just feel so much more peace in my house and I hope my family does to.

How is your lent going?

God bless!

Crockpot Freezer Experience

I mentioned in my Friday Quick Takes that I was going to try some crockpot freezer meals. I chose this method because I love crockpot cooking and while I have no desire to do the freezer meals for an entire month, I do like the idea of having a few meals in my freezer so that I don't have to spend time cooking every day. I do a weekly meal plan on Thursdays and then shop for the week every Friday. I include the week's events and there is always a day or two where we will be in a rush so a quick meal would be nice. I love to cook though so I could never do freezer meals for an entire month. So this option was very enticing to me.

I decided to follow this cooking day. To make it easy, I followed her plan exactly. I used her grocery list (which is missing teriyaki sauce and garlic) and used the same recipes. I even prepared the balsamic pot roast for a meal that weekend.

I started on Saturday afternoon and probably spent about 2 -3 hours doing all the work including preparing the roast for Sunday. Overall I was happy with how it went but have yet to eat any of the meals I actually froze. That will be the real test. I am also not sure I could just take any crockpot recipe I have and use this method. Like I said, I will not decide how much I like this idea till after I try the meals.

Lucky for me, Jason kept the boys occupied so I could do this with minimal distractions. As you can see from the picture my kitchen was in chaos! I used my food chopper to do the onions and I actually browned the meat in the microwave with my pampered chef microcooker. I didn't have hamburger so I used ground turkey. I also used baby carrots so there was less cutting and peeling. Finally I am using the Ore Ida frozen potatoes. Not sure that was a good idea but I read there were lots of problems with the potatoes freezing.

Everything was actually going great till right up to the end. The grocery list failed to include teriyaki sauce and I had none on hand. The recipe said to add 1/2 cup sauce to the bag and then also another 1/4 cup the day you cooked it. I was not sure if it was necessary to freeze some of the sauce since they split it up. So I checked my fridge and I had an open bottle of Island Soyaki sauce from Trader Joes. Its a combination of Teriyaki and Soy Sauce. I decided it had to be close enough. So then the next problem arose when I realized I only had a half cup instead of the whole cup it called for. Oh well, each bag was going to have half what it called for and I would just add more the day I cooked it. Well, I quickly dumped in the sauce and then a second later realized I had dumped a 1/4 cup of soyaki sauce NOT into the Teriyaki chicken bag but into the BBQ chicken. Ugh!

Seriously?! Here I had spent hours on these meals and I just ruined 2 of them. It was seriously disheartening but of course, I was trying to keep it in perspective. Thankfully my great husband, said, its ok. Haven't you heard of Teriyaki BBQ? Um, no but we will find out when I pull the bag out. Also, we will find out if its necessary to freeze the meals with the sauce included. Now we just have to wait....

By the way, the Balsamic Pot Roast was really good. I would just suggest not trying them with carrots. They really soaked up the vinegar and became very bitter.

Other than my little mishap, I think the trial went well. I will report back in a month.

7 Quick Takes Friday

Happy Friday! Hope this post finds you well and joyful!

1. Quick update that the Asian Pork and Mushrooms that I tried from SkinnyTaste was also fantastic. I accidentally laid out a beef roast instead but it was still great.

2. I am going to try some freezer crockpot meals this weekend. It will be my first experience with bulk freezer cooking. Wish me luck and thanks Amanda for the idea.

3. We are heading to my niece's basketball game tonight. She starts as a junior and her team is in the playoffs. I am not trying to brag but she is a great athlete. She also ran state track her freshman and sophomore years. I just love telling people because we are not an athletic family. I am not sure where she gets it from.

4. My husband and I are in a couples spiritual study and we started a new session called the Great Marriage Experience. Last night we had to take an assessment regarding several areas of our marriage. It was a great survey to take and it was nice to hear how we really are in agreement of most aspects of our marriage and both actively working to improve it. I think its something every married couple should do every 8-10 years or so.

5. I have been scrapbooking again. I finally got my scrapbook corner organized, so now I can take 10 minutes here or there to work on a page. Hopefully I will accomplish a lot more this year.

6. I am very much looking forward to the weekend!

7. I had to really stretch my brain to come up with 7 things!

Ha ha! Hope you have a great weekend! Go to Conversion Diary for more quick takes.

Lenten Resolutions

I am not sure if resolutions is the right word, maybe goals or promises. Anyway, I wanted to share what I am hoping my family and I will do this lenten season to draw closer to God and to remind us of what Christ did for us. I am usually an advocate of keeping these between God and you but its also nice to share ideas and have some accountability here on earth.

1. Last year I did the 40 bags, 40 days challenge. I loved it! What a great way to give my service to the Lord, simplify my house and reduce the stuff in our house. I also think its a blessing to my family to present them with a clean home that is less cluttered and more peaceful. I urge you to do this challenge with me.

2. I am giving up TV. I don't watch much now but I think 40 days of less noise in my life will bring me more peace and give me more time working on my relationship with Christ. Is it bad that I do have exceptions? - family movie night and my workout time. I am going to try to read while I workout but sometimes it hurts my eyes too much. I will try to watch stuff that is more uplifting though.

3. As a family we are going to truly make Sunday a day for rest and family. We are not going to allow tv that day and Jason and I are going to focus on doing more as a family.

I also hope to attend church on Wednesdays and to spend more quiet time with the Lord.

I hope you all have a blessed Lenten season as well.

New Favorite Cooking Blog

I don't think I mentioned this Web site yet but I am in love with Skinny Taste. In the last week, I have made four of her recipes and they were each fantastic. I have made her pumpkin banana bread several times and it barely lasts a few days around here. We also tried the shrimp quesadillas. This was Jason's review: "These are really great. I mean it. I am not just saying that, these are really good!"

We used her method of searing scallops for our Valentine dinner and they were fantastic. Now it was my turn to say to Jason, "These are so good. Like scallops at a restaurant." some chewing, "No, better than a restaurant, these are so good!" Later on the couch, "Did I tell you how great the scallops were?" It was a simple way to sear them but I have to give her the credit.

The next night we had her turkey meatloaf. It was moist, flavorful and you would never believe it was turkey. So good.

Tomorrow we try the asian pork and mushrooms in the crockpot. I am sure it will be great.

Best of all she follows weight watchers. Granted, I do not do weight watchers and I am not a big fan of diet plans but at least weight watchers tries to get their followers to eat more fiber, more vegetables and less simple carbs which is how I like to eat. So the recipes really fit into my cooking philosophies. Happy cooking!

Count My Blessings Wednesday

1. I am reflecting on what a blessing Sunday is. Today I heard a wonderful talk reminding us why going to Church on Sunday is not for God but for us. A way to start a new week by going to the cross and laying down our burdens and strifes so we can head into the week light and refresh. I just sat there thinking, ahhhhhhh. I am ready to go to church right now.

2. I love Valentine's day and I was blessed with a great day. My honey made me breakfast and supper (very yummy scallops) and we went out to lunch. I didn't have to cook much and I spent most of the day playing with my kids and showering them with love.

3. I am blessed with two healthy boys that are full of spit and fire but they also give the best cuddles and make me laugh each day. They each received a dollar from their grandparents as a valentine. Logan could not decide if he wanted to use it to buy a plane ticket to Arizona to see those grandparents or put it in the collection box at church. It filled my heart with warmth. Aren't my little supereheros adorable?

4. The day care at my church is such a blessing. Kellan and Logan love going there and the two ladies who take care of my children are angels here on earth.

5. I am so grateful for my ipad. Typically I shun new technology but was enticed by it last fall. My husband wanted to knock my socks off for my birthday so he surprised me with one. I love that I can set it up in the kitchen and follow a recipe while listening to music from it. And less paper waste!

6. Just an extra bonus blessing: I am working out of my rut with the help of my awesome husband. Tonight he helped me get back on my cleaning track by watching the boys and having them help him with some chores. I love sitting in a nice clean living room and waking up to a clean kitchen.

7 Quick Takes Friday

1. I am trying to figure out if it is just my child or if its because he is the oldest, but he cannot seem to entertain himself. I shouldn't make such a sweeping statement as he has his moments but more often than not Logan, my oldest, is asking me to do this or that with him. Even if he is playing by himself, then he wants me to sit and watch. I know I probably sound like a neglectful mom but I am not. I really try to make sure I spend time with my children daily and Logan gets his very own "mama time" every afternoon while Kellan sleeps. We usually play games, do workbooks and make crafts. Like today, we just got done doing a bunch of stuff and now he is having a hard time while I try to do this post. Maybe its the computer competing for attention. :)
   
2. If you have preschoolers, I highly recommend this blog for great worksheets and learning activities. We have been having a ball with Valentine's Day packet.
   
3. I am not sure what is going on with me but I am rebelling against myself. For the last two weeks I can't seem to follow my usual routine or stay in any of my habits. I must be in a stay-at-home mom rut.
   
4. I have spent every extra minute this week researching a new printer. Ugh, I finally ordered one on Amazon. After so many hours, I finally just ordered one really fast. Like ripping off a band-aid. I decided if I waited any longer I would just spend more hours comparing and contrasting. I pray its the perfect one so that I don't have to do that again.
   
5. If anyone has any great recipes that are freezer-friendly and kid approved, I would love to have them. I have a friend whose husband is leaving for 10 weeks for Afghanistan and she stays home with 3 little boys (the youngest is only 7 weeks). I would love to bring her some freezer meals but I have never really found that great recipe to use (I cannot make lasagna to save my life).
   
6. I loved this article this week.
7. As you can tell my life was a little boring this week so I sort of stretched to come up with 7. It must be the rut-thing.
   

Have a great and blessed weekend. Visit Conversion Diary for more quick takes.

Count My Blessings Wednesday

1. I am just so happy and blessed that I have a husband that does bath time. What a great bonding experience and well, it gives me the chance to actually do this post on a Wednesday as it should be.
2. I am doing an Acts study at church with Jeff Cavins. He grew up Catholic, became an evangelical minister and then decided to return to the Catholic church. I am blessed that he chose that life path, as God willed, or else I would not be getting this history lesson from the Bible. I think the Catholic church benefits from those who seek wisdom in other Christian churches and brings their learnings back home to Catholicism. The history and richness of Catholicism combined with the fresh air of protestants is a great combination.
3. My friend Michelle gave us a toy vacuum yesterday. Today my boys could not wait for me to vacuum so they could "help".
4. I already shared this but my prayers were answered this weekend when my husband decided to sign up for a parish retreat for men. Please pray God will work in his heart that weekend - Feb 25 & 26.
5. I am sorry for all those that think alcohol is the devil but I am grateful for wine. I do believe its sinful to indulge too much but even Jesus turned water into wine so it can't be all that bad. Somedays its just nice to unwind with a glass and a good snuggle with my honey. Chocolate is good too. :)

This is the rose that my sweet hubby, Jason, left in my V-day mailbox last week. It is still beautiful!

Answer to Prayer!

6 years ago, I participated in a wonderful retreat at my church. It was an amazing experience for me and jumpstarted my faith again. Since then I have been praying that my husband would also participate in the weekend. He has told me for years that he would never do that as its just out of his comfort zone. He is very shy and does not like to go to social events at church without me. I have not pushed it but have prayed for a change of heart. This weekend, Jason signed up for the retreat! Wow! I truly cannot believe it and I know it was all God.

They had been talking about the upcoming retreat at church for a few weeks but I didn't say a word about it. A few of the guys he knows at church encouraged him to sign-up and I was surprised that he did not tell them no right away. I was even more surprised when out of the blue, at the dinner table, he said "maybe I should sign up for the retreat so people will stop asking me about it." Well, I doubled my prayers after that and Sunday morning he signed up. Now my prayers are that God will work in his heart. Jason is a believer but I just want to see him deepen his faith and grow closer in his own relationship. This will be a wonderful thing for him and our family. Thank you, God!

Quick Takes on Saturday

I must be off a day this week. We actually had a great week full of lots of things that were out of our normal routine hence the late posts. Lets see if I can sum it up in 7 quick takes.

1. On Thursday, the boys and I went to my parents' house. They get so excited about going to grandma and grandpa's because well, they live on a farm and what little boy could resist that. This trip did not disappoint. We went to the local corner station for some good fried pork tenderloin sandwiches (mama's big treat) and met my brother for lunch. LeRoy is a farmer too and he had driven his tractor with the bale fork to the restaurant. So he took the boys on a ride and they helped him move round hay bales. They even got to visit the coop which Logan has been begging to do. LeRoy also has a new horse that we got to feed and pet. On top of all that, Grandpa took the boys on another tractor ride. The boys were pretty tuckered out by the time we drove home that night.
   
   
2. I wanted to do something special for Valentine's day so I found these really cute mailboxes at Target for a $1. I decorated one for each member of the family and surprised them with it on Feb 1. The idea is that we will put secret notes or treats in the mailboxes to tell another how much we love or appreciate them as we wait for Valentine's Day. I know its such a commercial holiday but just like we have holidays to remind us to give thanks or what wonderful things our Savior did for us, here is a holiday to remind us to tell those around us how much we love them. So far its been a big hit. Logan begs to make little cards for everyone and sneak them in. The boys get so excited to see if their flag is up. Even Jason surprised me the other day with a note and a rose in my mailbox. It has really been fun!
   
   
3. There is always a day where your kids just get bored with about every toy they have. For those situations, I keep the cheapest and simplest toy at hand - balloons. Seriously! I keep a sack of balloons in the cupboard and when the boys are bored or under afoot too much, I just blow up a few balloons. Problem solved, at least for an hour or two.
   
   
4. I try to make a new recipe each week and this week I decided to give tilapia another try. We decided we still do not like it.
   
   
5. Its been snowing all day today. I swear its the first real snow we got all winter. It is creating the most beautiful winter wonderland out there. It makes me just want to stare out the window all day.
   
   
6. A good friend of mine watched the boys Friday night so we could go on a date. We saw the new Twilight movie at the cheap seats and went to one of our favorite local restaurants, The Flying Mango. It was a wonderful night! If you don't do a fairly regular date night with your significant other, even if its just in the house after the kids go to bed, start planning one now!
   
   
7. While I was home with my family two amazing thoughts came to me. The first is that my brother LeRoy is a great person and he is made out of that old fashioned stuff we were raised on. He is the oldest of four children and ten years older than me. He lives very close to my parents and has been farming with my dad since he was 18. He is the one in our family who keeps up with all the relatives we have (and we have a lot!) and attends all the funerals and weddings and visits people in the hospital or nursing home. I feel bad that I don't stay in touch with family. Especially my great aunts and uncles. I grew up with only one grandma who passed away when I was 18 but she still has some living siblings. They are so much like her and if I would just spend more time with them, it would probably be like being closer to her. Plus, life is based on family. I wouldn't be where I am today if it weren't for all my family who went before me. So why don't we give them more of our time?
   
   My mom hurt her knee a few weeks ago and has not been able to move around well since. She has to use a cane and is probably going to have surgery in a few weeks. When I decided to come down with the boys she asked if I could do a few things around the house for her; mainly just dust and vacuum. In the afternoon, she had a hair appointment and was gone for a few hours so I started to clean. I will admit, at first, I didn't want to but as I started, I couldn't stop. It felt so good to help her. She has done so much for me and it was so nice to repay her a little. I didn't tell her what I all did, and I really should keep it to myself and be humble, but I cleaned the heck out of that house. Wiping down all the appliances and cupboards, vacuuming windowsills and dusting doorways, wiping the walls and cleaning up cobwebs. It just felt good and in the end she was so grateful even though she probably didn't even know half of what I all did. There truly is something to giving back.

Count My Blessings Wednesday...on Thursday

Whoops, yesterday got away from me. I think it was because it was such a beautiful day and because I was trying to get a lot done as I will be visiting my parents tomorrow.

1. Its been a nice winter and this week especially has been wonderfully warm. The boys have been to the park 3 times and today, while at Grandma and Grandpa's, I am sure they will get plenty more sunshine. (I try not to think what all this warm weather in winter means.)

2. I am blessed with grandparents that just love to see and play with my boys. Logan and Kellan adore the farm! They ride tractors, feed pigs, help grandpa with the combine and just get to play on one huge yard. Logan is all set to be a farmer some day. Makes Grandpa so proud.

3. I am so thankful that Jason does not have to work late each day. He is usually home between 4:30 and 5. He doesn't travel for his job so I have a husband who is truly with me each day. I know so many friends that their husbands will be gone for a week at a time or that they don't get home till their children are in bed. They make it work, bless their hearts, but its not the life for me. I am happy with the one I have (until it changes of course).

4. On Monday I actually had a maid service come in and clean my house. Oh wow! She did a fantastic job. On a whim this summer, I bought a groupon for the service and then I treasured it for almost 6 months. The other day I looked and it was going to expire on Feb 2. I am so glad I did not miss that one. My house was sparkling but unfortunately with two boys it only lasts for a few brief moments. Oh well, I still got a little break this week.

5. Logan has been extremely feisty this week. He is testing all the boundaries and has had no coping mechanisms. I am not sure where the blessing is in all this but there is one. He was done with naps but due to this new phase he is in, we have established quiet time again. I guess I am blessed with having a little more quiet time in the afternoons. I desperately need it after the exhausting mornings.

Hope you are all having a blessed week too!