Too Quiet Around Here

Chelsea, Nick, Alex, and Anthony are staying with my mom and dad until Friday. That means I only have 2 sweet babies at home with me this week. It is too quiet in this house! We miss our "guys" and can't wait for them to come home on Friday. I put them on speaker phone last night and Lily wouldn't say a word she just kept staring into the phone like she was trying to find them. Christian and Lily are doing a good job playing together. Lily follows Christian around and so far he is taking it pretty well and has had done a good job sharing with her. You can tell he is a little bored without his brothers but I am trying to keep him busy while getting a few things done that need to be done. They both have been helping take care of dogs and chickens. Yesterday we rearranged the living room to make room for the Christmas Tree we are going to get on Sunday. Today we are going to finish up setting up Lily's big girl bed (I never like moving them to a bed it makes them seem so grown up!) and clearing a path to the closet to the attic so daddy can get the Christmas decorations down. Tomorrow hopefully we will get out of the house for a little while for a playdate. I am also cleaning up and rearranging our school books and deciding on what we will be working on until Christmas. During Lily's nap, I am hoping to be able to work on her scrapbook. I have only done 2 pages and would like to have it done before the baby is born. I can give Christian some of his own supplies to use on his own page if he wants to "help."

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Menu Plan Monday

This week I am minus 4 children. They stayed at my parents house to visit for the week. It has been a long time since I have only cooked for 4. I made my grocery list Sunday morning while working in the church nursery so it does not have a whole lot of inspiration this week. I did find a lot of meat on sale at Walmart so I bought some things ahead for next week, plus my DH got a deer Saturday morning, and we got our annual free turkey from the company he works for so I hopefully will be saving some moneyon groceries over the next couple of weeks.

Fri 11/26-pizza
Sat 11/27/ spaghetti
Sun 11/28- chicken noodle soup
Mon 11/29- ham steaks, mashed potatoes, green beans
Tues 11/30- sloppy joes and french fries
Wed 12/1- pork chops, noodles, corn
Thurs 12/2- leftovers

To add some inspiration to your weekly menu, go to http://www.orgjunkie.com/.

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24 Week Pregnancy Update

We were planning on heading to my parents house on Wednesday afternoon for Thanksgiving. My doctor's appointment was also supposed to be the same day, and since it put us about 40 minutes in the right direction plus saved me the trouble of another long drive on a different day, I decided to keep the appointent and then head to my parent's house from there. The children loaded up the van while Art was at work and he went in to work early and skipped his lunch so he could get out early. The children brought some books and coloring books so they would be busy in the van while I ran in to the doctor. The visit should have been a very quick one. I just needed to be weighed, have blood pressure checked, get measured, and listen to baby's heartbeat. Well, once again I waited for over an hour in the waiting room for a 5 minute visit. Every time I have been there except for once I have waited at least an hour and once it was 2 hours. At least the children handled it well and after my next visit (I have to wait an hour anyway for my glucose test) I am going to try to switch my appointment time to right after lunch. Maybe I will have better luck then. Anyway, blood pressure was perfect, baby's heart rate was great, and I gained 4 pounds making my total weight gain 9.5 pounds. At my last visit, the ultrasound had showed that baby was measuring small for her "age" but at this visit my uterus measured perfect for 24 weeks. Baby is growing and on the move constantly, so even though I still am feeling not that wonderful, it has gotten better, and as long as baby is doing well that's the most important thing.

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Being Thankful

It is so easy for us to look around and see all of the negative in the world right now that we forget about all of the good. As I was preparing Children's Church lessons for the month of November, it said children need to be reminded not just to be Thankful because of Thanksgiving, but need to remember to be Thankful always. Grown-ups need to remember this too and that no matter what our circumstance there is something to be Thankful for.

Be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:20

In honor of the Thanksgiving holiday and as a reminder off all I have to be Thankful about, here is my short list of things I have to be Thankful (and not in any particular order.)

1.The Lord for creating the universe and everything in it and for sending His Son to die for us that we may be with Him forever in Heaven.
2. My wonderful husband who is such a good husband and father and works so hard to support his family.
3. My 6 precious children and the one we are expecting in 16 more weeks.
4. My wonderful family and friends.
5. My church and the freedom to worship.
6. Our country and all of the other freedoms we have living here.
7. the men and women who are serving our country even as I pray for the day when they don't have to.
8. Every moment that I get to spend at home with my children.
9. My children do not have to go hungry, clean water, and have a warm place to sleep at night.
10. When the children are sick I can take them to the doctor.
11.Running water, flushed toilets, disposable diapers, a washer, dryer, and dishwasher.
12. Chocolate
13. Every sweet hug and kiss
14. Our health
15. Our home

Have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving!

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Favorite Recipes: Baked Ziti

1 box of ziti pasta
2 cans spag sauce
1 can undrained diced tomatoes
6 oz cream cheese cubed
1 8 oz pkg shredded mozzarella

Cook pasta as directed on box. Cook sauce over medium heat until warm add cream cheese and tomatoes. Stir until smooth. Mix pasta with sauce mixture. Pour half in a 13x9 baking dish sprinkling half the mozzarella cheese over top. add other half of pasta and cheese. Bake at 375 for 15 minutes or until heated through.

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Walmart Announces it Will Price Match Black Friday

Last week I wrote this post about shopping on Black Friday. Walmart has announced that it will price match even on Black Friday again this year. You can read a copy of Walmart's Corporate Policy on Price Matching here. Some things to keep in mind:

You have to have a copy of the competitors ad with you.
A competitor you are matching must be in a 50 mile radius.
They will not honor internet pricing, BOGO, or percentages off.
They will not honor gift card deals (ex. Target is offering a $10 gift card BF for every $100 you spend. You can't "price match" that deal.)
Whenever the sale prices are good on the ad is when you can price match. (If Toys R Us has X on sale from 10 pm to 5 am those are the only times those prices will be good at Walmart too.)

Happy Shopping!

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Menu Plan Monday

It's a short week this week because of Thanksgiving and I don't have to cook! Here's what's cooking up at my house this week.

Friday 11/19- pizza
Sat 11/20- chicken enchilada casserole
Sun 11/21- spaghetti
Mon 11/22- steak, baked potatoes, carrots
Tues 11/23 chunky chicken chilli (I never made this last week because my menu changed due to company)
Wed 11/24- on the road (dr. appt) sandwiches and chips
Thurs 11/25- Thanksgiving Dad's cooking!!

To see some other great menus go to http://www.orgjunkie.com/

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