yummy!

homemade ice cream sandwiches were a much bigger hit with my girls than this yummy quiche...

oh well, i loved it.

aunt beth's gift

my sister gave the girls a big bag of old ponytail holders. we're talking the old school kind. well, abby took one look at the bag and then ran to grab the picture of wendjina, our compassion child from haiti. "i want hair like hers!" and so, i began to braid, and braid and braid some more. for three days in a row, my abby wanted to be like wendjina. seeing as she felt rotten, i thought it was the least i could do.

what a man!

two weeks ago (yes, i'm that behind on blogging my thoughts!), i came home from taking abby to and from ballet to find that my dear dear jon had swept and mopped my more than repulsive floors. he also documented julia's participation. that one act of kindness meant more than a dozen roses!!

goggles

my girls have decided that goggles in the bathtub are great fun. cracks me up.

we makin' helpers!

while julia and i were mixing something up the other day, she looked at me and said, "we makin' helpers!" i think she combined her thoughts. "i'm mommy's helper" and "we makin' pizza," but it hit me smack in the gut. all my frustrations at that moment of trying to get it done quickly was erased. this job of mine isn't to get the food in the oven. it's about makin' helpers.

out of the mouths of babes, yet again.

cooking marathon!! day two.

well, day two didn't go as well as i hoped as i was knocked out by a migraine. however, i did get a good bit done. what never ceases to amaze me is how much i can cook in so little time with about the same amount of effort as making dinner! so per becky's request, here is a breakdown of what i did with details added. :)

1. Cooked my chicken. I took four packages of chicken breasts and put them in a big pot of boiling water with some celery and onions for about 25 minutes.

2. While the chicken was cooking, I put my cooked beans in the crockpot with all the other ingredients to make refried beans.

3. Then, I assembled my big bowl of veggies (one bag frozen peas, two cans of corn, one bag of frozen green beans and some chopped carrots) and got out four gallon sized bags which I labeled (8x8 chicken pot pie 10/2009).

4. By this time, the chicken was done. I pulled out my food processor and chopped up the chicken the same way that you would slice a cucumber with the food processor. I LOVE this method of "shredding/chopping" chicken as it is fast!

5. Assembly of the pot pie filling was next. I mixed the broth, cream of chicken and chicken. Then I used my measuring 2 cup and put in the veggies and chicken into each bag. I actually mixed them together in the bag with it sealed. I let all the air out and stack them flat. When they sit in my freezer, I will actually store them upright like files (once they are frozen) so that I can easily flip through and see what I have.

6. I assembled the poppyseed chicken casseroles next in pretty much the same manor as the pot pies.

So at this point, I had 8 square casseroles made and frozen and two bags of 2 cups shredded chicken plus a bag of celery that I had flash frozen and bagged for later. Not to shabby for a little less than two hours of work.

Insert nap.

My beans were done cooking, out came the food processor from the dishwasher (man, got to love that invention!) and within minutes, I had 16 cups of refried beans (see earlier post about my underestimation of how much beans you can make with six lbs of beans!)

Last but not least, I assembled the super delicious brown bag burritos. The only thing I change in this recipe is that I use about 1/3 cup of the mixture per burrito instead of her recommended 1/4 cup. We love these burritos!

Thus ended the second day of cooking. I just found out that my Bible Study for tomorrow morning has been canceled. So, I just might get the rest of my list finished tomorrow! I'll let you know if I do. Plus, major thanks to my Jon who helped occupy the girls for the second half of my cooking day and who washed more than one pot for me in the last few days. Thanks babe!

cooking marathon!! day one. beans.

okay, i'm in the midst of a cooking marathon! with our schedule getting fuller, i need some food that i can pull out of the freezer and just pop in the oven. last friday night, i made 3 meatloafs and 2 lbs of meatballs in just a little over an hour which inspired me to take on a bigger chunk of time to make more.

yesterday and today i have a long list of what i want to accomplish:

cut and freeze celery (from the produce co-op)

broccoli-some for now and some to freeze

cook beans-some to freeze for winter soups, some for refried beans

chicken pot pie

poppyseed chicken

brown-bag burritoes

chopped chicken

blueberry muffins (?)

lettuce prepped for week ahead

well, yesterday, i started on the beans. i have never made dry beans before. i was inspired by moneysavingmom who bought 6lbs of dried beans for a mere $6 at sam's. she showed that she had 5, 2 cup containers of beans. i was thinking that for all those beans, she sure didn't have alot. but i started working.

first, i soaked my beans. they kept expanding. i kept having to add more water and pull out more pots to put the beans in that were overflowing. by the time they were done soaking, i had 2 crockpots, 1 stock pot and my two largest cooking pots FULL of beans. i have not 10 cups of beans...oh no. i have 60 cups of beans. yes, 6. 0. sixty. good grief!! pretty hilarious. so, now i know about how to make beans. :) and now, i'm going to learn how to make refried beans. anybody need some beans??

(this is less than half of the beans that are cooked!)

today has already gotten off to a better start. i'll let you know how it all winds up.

thrifty thursday is BACK!

okay, i've got a great one for you!!! ted's montana grill is giving away certificates for free lunches. really, it's super easy. and you can get EIGHT! you take their little quiz (there is a new clue each tuesday and friday-and remember google is your friend!) and then they will e-mail you a certificate for a free $8 lunch off of their new lunch menu. i got my first certificate this week and it doesn't expire until 11/29. not too shabby. just look for the link to discover ted's 8 wonders and win.

anyone want to go to lunch?

for my aunt gene

when we went to prattville this summer, my aunt gene taught my girls this song...

julia first.

notice the intensity of concentration as abby sings and wants to get the motions just right.

and our MANY attempts of both of them together always resulted in madness. like this.

flooding in lilburn

it's been a very surreal day. if you aren't in atlanta, i'm sure you're hearing about all the flooding. and wow. it's flooding. like real genuine flooding....in my sweet little lilburn. surreal.

after being awake from 2:30-4am because of very intense thunder which of course woke up the girls, i finally caught a few hours of sleep only to wake up to jon telling me that my parents had an oak tree fall on their garage.

their cars were completely trapped under the tree and their was another tree blocking the end of their driveway. so off we went to help out where we could. we had to take the circuitous route to avoid flooded rivers (when do you get to every use "circuitous" in a sentence??). on the way home, more flooding. houses with three feet of standing water outside of them. longer route. and we arrived home to find out that our dear next door neighbors basement office flooded and they lost everything. heart breaking.

but i've just been reminded today that it is stuff. it is hassle. it is heart wrenching. and yet there are glimpses of glory. my sweet abby wanted to give her money to her nonnie and papa to help pay for their repairs. it was the first thing out of her mouth. amazing. i see people serving each other selflessly. my husband laboring in the pouring rain to put a tarp on his in-laws roof because he loves them. kindness.

makes me thankful for the things i so often take for granted. things that so many in this world don't have. a warm bed. a dry house. a house stocked full of food. and sweet friends and family to help in the hard seasons.

don't know where to start...

so, i've decided that i want to start blogging again, but it is hard to know where to start. facebook has become such an easy way for me to share my random thoughts lately that i had abandoned this old blog. but some things take more than a status update. like this--we've decided to move forward with adopting a child.

most of you already know this, but in case you don't, let me fill you in. jon and i have always had a heart for adoption. always knew it would be in our future, but assumed that it would just be somewhere out there--in the future. well, on the 4th of july, in the midst of some prayer time, i really sensed the Lord leading me that the time was now. i was rather blown away...i wasn't even talking or thinking about adoption. but there it was, and it was unavoidable. well, after praying and pondering, i went to jon. i fully expected him to say, NOT NOW!! instead, his response stunned me. he said, "that's interesting because the last few days, i feel like the Lord has been leading me in the exact same direction." now those kind of conversations might be the norm in your household, but they are not the norm in mine. when we talked, it became apparent that our hearts were both set on adopting from asia. and so we began to investigate agencies.

fast forward to now. after a few months of gathering info, we have moved forward with one agency only to realize they weren't the one for us (it would take them on average 2 weeks to respond to our basic questions!) so, now we are moving forward with a new agency out of matthews, north carolina. interesting that the agency we found just happens to be where 4 of my dear friends live. hmmm. coincidence, i think not. we should get the paperwork this week and begin the application process.

now let me just tell you, this is a HUGE faith journey for us. in so many ways. one of the biggest is the financial realm. so, i want to just share this journey with you--so that when we get to the end of it, we can all stand in absolute awe of the God who is able to do immeasurably more than we can ever think or imagine. i continually, daily remind myself that if he has called me to it, he will provide for it.

so there ya have it. how's that for diving back into blogging!?!

to blog or not to blog

so, is there anyone still out there that wants to know what's going on in our lives? i keep debating whether or not to start blogging again. it takes time (which is a precious commodity these days), but i like the scrapbook essence of it all. so, who is still out there?

one more bite

my girls are VERY motivated by music.  every night after baths, they dance to "baby, baby" by amy grant.  we are singing constantly.

well, we have found an interesting way to get them to eat foods they aren't thrilled about.  if i start making up some silly song, their interest grows.  they want to hear the rest of the song.  but i won't sing any more of it until someone eats a bite.  tonight, they both ate a ton.  and i got to create a very silly song about princess julia and princess abby.  ridiculous, i know.  but every once in awhile, it works!

thrifty thursday--too good to wait!

in honor of my sister's birthday, ihop has decided to give away FREE pancakes on tuesday, february 24th from 7AM to 10PM.  a short stack per person.  so happy birthday laura!  more details here.

and i MUST tell you about this new blog that i am currently amazed by... southernsavers.com.  i have been checking out the deals she posts, and tonight, i made a purchase that would even make becky k. proud.  all the groceries below for FREE.  that's right, folks.  i paid 44 cents in tax.  that's all.  and i got:

8 boxes of green giant frozen veggies

6 cans of organic tomato sauce

6 cans of progesso soup

1 bottle of motts for tots juice (it was the penny mystery coupon at publix)

yes, this took some work.  i had to go to my parents to use their computers to print out more coupons.  but an hour of work for over $40 of groceries isn't too shabby, if i do say so myself.  :)

so check it out, southernsavers.com.

no more campesinos...

i have a confession.  i am addicted to bean dip.  it is my comfort food of choice, and i know that it will be healthier and more abundant in heaven than it is here.  i mean, i really love this stuff.  my favorite version of it is from a mexican restaurant five minutes away called campesinos.  so good.  the last time i went in, they brought me my bean dip with jalapenos before i ordered.  yep, i'm addicted.  here is the sad news (but good news for our hurting budget!), campesinos is MOVING!  much cause for alarm when the news was first received.  after careful research, we have learned that they are moving across the street but would be closed for 2 whole months.  can you believe it?  devasting.  so what's your addiction?

oh, and this clip shows how like all good mothers, i am passing on my addiction to my children.  :)

from the GRE to frozen foods...

no posts lately because i have been B. U. S. Y.  jon is in the home stretch of preparing for the GRE (test date-this wednesday) and getting his portfolio ready to submit by march 2nd.  so, i have been pretty much doing it all while he studies, paints, studies, takes pictures, studies, goes to prep classes and studies some more.  

i would appreciate your prayers for my jon this wednesday.  we would love for him to score a 1030 on the GRE so that we could be done with this chapter of the journey--cue background music, whitney singing, "there can be miracles, if you believe...though hope is frail, it's hard to kill..."

in the meantime, we're still here.  i had a baking day yesterday at my parents house (they have a bigger kitchen and were willing to help with the girls!  thanks, mom and dad!!) and made oodles of breakfast hot pockets for jon to have a quick, high protein breakfast.  it was a new recipe for me, but i think they turned out fairly well.  i am trying to pack out my freezer with yummy things for days when i don't want to cook.  any suggestions??  what have you made that freezes well??

a new table

i have a camera with easily accessible pictures--which means greater ease in blogging and thus, more posts!

i thought i'd share this fun idea.  abby has room time every day where she plays quietly in her room.  she used to have a table in her room where she would sit and color, but alas, the table was needed in the playroom.  abby didn't have anywhere to put puzzles together or color.  jon has mentioned several times that he had a piece of plywood that went under his bed when he was little that had trains on it.  maybe it is because his bed is now abby's that this idea came to me.  a piece of plywood with wheels.  abby loves it.  julia loves it.  and i love that it keeps her occupied AND that it slides under her bed when not in use.  hip hip hooray for a husband who is able to build and scraps that made this project cost not a penny!

thrifty thursday-freezer edition

i am in the process of discovering a new way to be thrifty--utilizing my freezer to build in convenience without the price and preservatives of frozen foods.  let me explain.

one tip that i keep reading about on money saving blogs is to double or triple recipes and then freeze the extras.  i have seen this, but haven't quite figured out how to apply it.  so this month, i have been trying it out.  here's what i've done.

1.  i had a bag of potatoes on their way out.  i was trying a twice baked potato recipe and decided to make ALL of the potatoes.  we had some for dinner, and i froze the rest.  they were a fabulously easy addition to dinner later (and even my whole lunch one day) when i was tired and didn't feel like whipping up something amazing.

2.  i doubled a batch of homemade oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.  i made one tray full for immediate consumption-yum, and froze the rest.  we've been eating warm cookies fresh from the toaster oven for snacks.  not healthy, but oh so good.  :)

3.  i cut up some bananas that were going bad and froze them to use in smoothies later.

4.  my banana bread recipe makes two loaves.  i normally give one away and we eat the other, but this time i froze it.  it was just as good thawed as it is fresh baked.  

5.  this is a standard one for us, cook meat and chicken in bulk and freeze.  jon ever so graciously will brown 10+ lbs of ground beef at once and then we put it into freezer bags--dividing it into 1lb portions.  when i'm cooking anything with ground beef, i just pull out the bag the night before and it saves the hassle of browning.  i've started cooking several packages of chicken at the same time and chopping them up to use later in casseroles or chicken pot pies.  again, saves time and makes me more likely to cook.  it also saves money as i only buy meat and chicken when they are on sale.  

6. last night, i made a poppyseed chicken casserole.  normally, we would eat the leftovers, but our fridge is stocked full right now, so i only cooked half of the casserole and put the other half in the freezer to use later.

now, you might be wondering about HOW to do all of this.  if you have specific questions, let me know, and i'll detail the hows.  i have found that google is invaluable in figuring out how to reheat frozen foods--or if they will even freeze and reheat well.  so, use your freezer.  save money and time!

i love my abby

abby LOVES to celebrate.  anything, everything.  she is a true extrovert, and a lover of all things that relate to parties.  i saw this idea on my new favorite crafty website, little birdie secrets and thought abby would love it.  i was right. she loved it, so much so that we had to make one to share in addition to the one that we made for our house.  what i didn't realize was that this project was way beyond abby's skill level.  and that meant that i had to make two of these on my own.  i was done after spending 6 hours or so on the first, but pressed on to finish the second...because i love my abby.  and these things are important to her.

for becky

becky, i hope you like your monkey.  i love it.

while i was sleeping

jon very graciously allows me to sleep in on saturdays.  it is a gift that i am immensely thankful for.  so this morning, when i was taking some pictures with our new camera (thanks mom and dad!), i noticed this video clip from yesterday.  the girls are both in abby's pj pants, leotards and tutus.  hilarious!  jon said he didn't even notice julia crashing into the chair.

life changes

in other big news, jon went and observed an elementary school art class last week...and he absolutely loved it.  so after praying about this decision for months, we have decided to move forward with him going back to school to get his masters so that he can teach.

as a result of his wanting to go back to school and our desire not to take out loans if at all possible, we had come to the conclusion that now would be a good time for me to get a night job of some sort to help store up some income for the forthcoming season of need.  :)  we were praying, soliciting the prayers of others and beginning to do some research.  and in one of those super kind moments from the Lord, he dropped something into my lap that is better than i could have asked or imagined.

one of our neighbors that i like alot and really have wanted to get to know more just had a baby two months ago.  she is helping to put her hubby through seminary, and so she has to finish out teaching this year.  they have childcare for baby evan for every day except monday and some tuesdays, and so she called me on tuesday to find out if i would be willing to do it.  now, i definitely don't know how to wait tables or tutor kids in calculus, but i do know how to take care of a baby.  :)  so my new job will begin at the beginning of march.  isn't the Lord sweet to allow me to have a job i can do and still stay home with my kiddos (what i want to do)?  and not only that, but allow me to work for a family that i wanted to get to know more anyway??  so good.  He is so good.

we're on board at learning express!

big news around here, and lots of it!  last week, after some relatively painless negotiations, the learning express (an upscale toy store with super creative toys) in our area agreed to sell jon's paintings.  this is a huge answer to prayer as we have longed to find a place to display his art.  hip hip hooray!

and like any proud wife, i had to pop into the store after they got their display up and grab a photo.  his artwork is displayed right behind the check-out counter where it is pretty impossible to miss.  doesn't it just make you grin?

sweet sisters

this is how my girls watched sesame street this morning.

does it get any sweeter?

thrifty thursday on a friday night!

my dear friend zoe sent me an e-mail today with this deal, and i cannot wait to pass it on!  if you live anywhere around atlanta, this is a steal of a deal.

the georgia aquarium, which is amazing if you haven't been, is offering this great deal.  in their own words...

Me & Mommy $20 Ticket! For only $20, the Me & Mommy ticket includes Aquarium admission for one adult, free admission for children age 5 and under (maximum four children per paid adult) and free parking ($10 value). This offer is valid Monday-Friday, now through March 31, 2009, and can only be purchased online. Blackout dates are Dec. 26 and Dec. 29-31, 2008. You also have to bring the little ones along to take advantage of this great offer. So take a day and come see everything at the world's largest aquarium, big (beluga whales, whale sharks!) and small (clownfish!).

amazing as an adult ticket alone is $26.50, a child's ticket (ages 3-12) is $19.50 and parking is $10.  so this is a steal of a deal.  if you need to borrow a kid to make this deal work for you, let me know and come along with me and the girls!

friday night fun!

have you noticed the lack of family friendly primetime tv?  there is not ONE show that i would sit and watch with my girlies (and no, we don't have cable which does limit our options).  i have such fond memories of sitting around and watching the cosby show, family ties, growing pains and the likes with my fam.  so, this christmas we got season one and two of little house on the prairie dvds from our parents.  and now, on friday night, we load up on the couch and watch a new episode.  abby gets a little scared at the climatic moments (oh the dramatic music!!) and julia loves all the "horsies!"  i just love having all four of us crammed onto a love seat eating popcorn and enjoying something fun together.

what was your favorite show growing up?

clean up, clean up, everybody, everywhere...

there is something about this time of year that makes me want to clean, eliminate clutter and organize (which includes LOTS of rearranging).  apparently, i am not alone.  however, julia was not so excited about my putting away the christmas decorations...

and i am stuck.  my brain loves to figure out creative storage solutions that actually work for me and for my fam, but i have come across an organizing dilemma-that feels like way to strong of a word for something that is merely organizational in nature.  nevertheless, i can't figure out how to store the girls puzzles and games.  a bookshelf seems like the obvious answer, but julia is at that stage where everything in sight gets pulled out and taken apart.  nightmare.  we have this shelving system from ikea which i adore and highly recommend.  however, it doesn't hold the bigger, oddly shaped puzzles.  hmmmm....

any suggestions?