Quick meal Idea

So, as a busy mom I am always on the look out for ways to make meal preparation easier because school nights are busy and I know they will only get busier as the kids get older and when the kids are hungry it isn't time to figure out what we will eat. When I am on my "A" game my meals are planned at least 2 weeks in advance and there are "back up" options pre-made in the freezer. But, as life goes along this seems to get lost in the hustle and bustle. I have also tried making the majority of our meals and freezing them ahead of time. Again, works very well until we run out and I don't have a whole 2 days for preparing, shopping, and cooking many meals at once.  These things work for a lot of women but not me.  So, in my quest of finding something that works I stumbled across "Dump Chicken Recipes". Which doesn't sound very appealing but that is what they are called - google it. Basically, it can be any recipe (that has ingredients that freeze well) dumped in a ziploc freezer bag and frozen until you can dump it in your crock pot some morning and have dinner ready when you get home. I have always been a crock pot lover but some mornings we don't have time for me to chop an onion (while crying my mascara all over my face), measure a bunch of stuff, or mix up whatever to get to the point of getting everything in the crock pot AND I never thought about doing all that in advance and freezing it. Why didn't I think to do this? Did everyone else know to do this? Anyway, it works with a ton of recipes and is so easy! Now, of course, I still have to think about dinner every morning but that doesn't seem to be a problem for me and actually makes me more relaxed as the day goes on knowing at 6:00 when I have 8 eyes staring at me that dinner will be ready. 

It also doesn't take much time to throw the bags together. I  am a doubler so I almost always make two of everything. I usually do this with casseroles, meatballs, and lasagna also.  It is just as easy to make 2 of something and makes another night super easy! So I hope this helps my 1 or 2 readers as well.

I am linking up with Women Living Well today. I highly recommend her post about walking the red carpet!

Fresh Air & Worn out Kids

I needed this nice weather but not as much as my boys needed it. Boys just need to be able to run, be loud, climb, and jump. They need to be barefoot and covered in dirt from head to toe while they explore the great outdoors. Thank you Lord for this nice warm weather.

Jack got to wear his tank top

A dirty boy is a happy boy

And the best part is a day outside actually wears them out!

Jack-isms

Oh my word...we never know what Jack is going to say!

J: Dad, did they have spoons in the olden times?

Tim: It depends what you are calling the olden times.

J: Like the olden times, back when you where born. You didn't have spoons so you used sticks to stir stuff. Is that right, dad? 

On the last snow day:

I was complimenting Kaden on choosing not only a well put together outfit but one that was weather appropriate as well. And then I hear this from J: Hey mom, is a tank top good for today?  Which he then paired with too-little-pants.

J: Mom, I think our baby speaks Spanish.

Me: What? Why do you think that?

J: Because, I can't understand him. It must be because he is using spanish words.

K: Jack, that is just baby talk.

Jack just wakes up in a really happy mood - always earlier then we would like and TALKING usually about something random. This morning it was something about chocolate frogs.  One morning it was a never ending story about dragon rabbits. Most mornings I have to remind myself how thankful I am that he wants to get in bed with us and tell us EVERYTHING on his mind. It won't last forever.

The other day KU played a "red team". Everyone was happy they  won in our house, except Jack.  "I wanted the Red Team to win. NOT the Jayhawks."  What on earth are we going to do with this kid!

Valentine's Day 2011

My little Valentine's started their day with a special breakfast.

I was greeted with each boy bringing me a rose. Oh So Sweet! 

Who says Boys can't look absolutely adorable in Valentine t-shirts. My sewing machine caught the back of Jack's and tore a hole so I covered it with a heart. BEST mistake ever! It made me smile all day long to see that cute heart on his back. Made me wish I put a heart on the other boys! Well, Kaden would probably have been too old for that. 

For months I have seen these cupcakes in a jar on blogs and wanted to make them. I thought the perfect opportunity would be for the Boy's teachers on Valentine's Day!

The little boys and I went to Mom's group where we are discussing the book "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan - probably the perfect book to talk about in this season of love. Great discussion with a group of wonderful ladies.  

We ended the day with dinner of Spaghetti and then passed around a box of chocolates and each guessed what we thought was inside before we ate it. Which, turned out to be quite entertaining!

Kyler with spaghetti all over his face and chocolate running out of his mouth. Pure Happiness!

Jack with one of his chocolates.

It was almost a perfect day except Kaden was sick. So, he missed his party at school and we pretty much stayed home. 

Oh, and yes the hubby came through but that should be a post all on it's own. 

The last snow day...I hope

I really do love the snow, I just don't like the cold that comes with it! Ha! It is Beautiful, though. The view out my living room window.

But, my favorite thing about the snow is it forces us to slow down. I like when school gets canceled mostly because that means everything else is canceled allowing us lots of time to just hang out together. 

So on what I am calling the last snow day of this school year (which may jinx things).  We started by building our own snow men out of pancakes and fruit. I LOVE surprising the kids with creative breakfasts.

Jack made a melted snowman - his words.

Wake up Dogs - seriously pathetic.

And then the rest of the pics are from this weekend. Really, playing in the snow when it is 55 degrees is the best!

Spoiled

Here is how our dogs suffer through these cold winter nights. 

Mostly, I just wanted to post something to move the vomit pictures down the page. 

The verdict is in

The next child to be sick... (Drumroll)

Kyler!  

And a first, Tim and I have now both been vomited on. Yes, we have been "spit up" on but this was a new level! 

It also led me to some profound thoughts...our kids are different even in the way they puke. HA! Kaden always does this little dry cough several times giving us warning.  Jack always makes it to the toliet (like since he could walk).  Kyler gave us no warning at all just came up to us and puked. I can't believe I just blogged that! Gross!

Moving on...

Yesterday, I made laundry detergent and dishwasher detergent (that's where the lemonade went)!  This is a first for me! I used the Duggar's recipe: 

Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap- Front or top load machine- best value

4  Cups - hot tap water
1  Fels-Naptha soap bar
1 Cup - Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda*
½ Cup Borax

- Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.

-Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.

-Stir and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then fill rest of way with water. Shake before each use. (will gel)

-Optional: You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons. Add once soap has cooled. Ideas: lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil.

-Yield: Liquid soap recipe makes 10 gallons.

-Top Load Machine- 5/8 Cup per load (Approx. 180 loads)

-Front Load Machines- ¼ Cup per load (Approx. 640 loads)

My thoughts so far:

It only took about 30 minutes to make. 

I have read the cost comes down to about 1 cent per load. I haven't done my own math yet. WOW!

I have used it on a few loads and it seems to work fine but I haven't fully tested it yet. 

Because we have hard water I am also using vinegar as a booster. 

I will post about my dishwasher detergent later as I haven't tried it yet. One of the boys (Jack) took one of the lemonade packets and ate it before I could make the detergent. Yes, I know he is weird. 

It finally hit our house

Just when I was beginning to think we might have escaped "it". Kaden threw up. So, he was home sick yesterday but luckily "it" was a quick stomach bug and he was back at school today. So which one will it strike next...

BTW: I didn't notice how much "stuff" was under the couches until I took this picture from this angle. Ha! I guess I should clean under them today. I would like to note though that in an attempt to be 'real' I didn't edit the picture to hide the mess. I have done that before...

AND in other exciting news I am going to make something today (2 things actually) with these ingredients

Do you know what it is?  I will let you know how it turns out!

Wordless Wednesday

An Inside Snow Day

Another week another SNOW DAY!!! 

So, we started the day with Snowman doughnuts. They were yummy but I'm not sure getting the boys sugared up to spend the day inside is a good idea.

 Today was actually more of an EXTREME cold day as we didn't get much snow. So, it really wasn't a day the boys could go out and play so after we exhausted all the typical activities I had to come up with a way for the boys to enjoy the snow inside.

How about a Snow Box. Like a sand box except snow in the bath tub. 

Several shovel fulls of snow in the bath tub plus spoons, scoops, measuring cups, markers, animals, and monster trucks equals 45 minutes of snow play...in their p.j.'s!  

I love that there was enough room for all 3 boys to play.  And I only had to stop one snowball that was headed into the living room in Mr. Jack's hands. I think the target was our dogs. 

Yes, it was a little work carrying in the snow but it was easier then getting all 3 boys bundled up to go outside (for 10 min.) and the clean-up was sooooo easy!

Everytime it snows Kaden asks for snow ice cream so we made some of that too. The recipe we usually use is :  1 gallon snow mixed with 1 cup sugar, 1 TBSP vanilla, & 2 cups milk.  

Kaden's Quote after going out to get the snow: " I got it where the dogs almost never go." 

Of course, I really tried not to think about how hard the wind is blowing from the north and our "neighbor cows" that live to the north. 

Maybe next time we will get to go outside to play in the snow.