Monthly Menu

I work from home and have a very busy day chasing kids around. I have tried planning menus weekly, bi-weekly and monthly and shopping that way as well and what works for us is monthly and I save money shopping that way as well. Now I still go for weekly milk,bread,bananas etc.... But those things I just dont have room to buy for the whole month. So we always have fresh fruit and veggies. But we have a budget and I cook, Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner and snacks. I have a In Home Daycare so I feed kids many things and I dont just heat something in microwave, I try to have a cooked meal for them at each meal and a nutritious snack. I have my menu planned for February and I have found some cute printable menus from a website I love the website it is www.anythingbutperfect.com I love checking it daily to see what is new. I first found the website on Pinterest (that sight is addicting) I try to be creative to keep a "chore" Fun. I try to make a few things and freeze ahead or have muffin mix made up in fridge I just scoop and bake. I have a 3 ring binder of my recipes and all our favorite meals we like to eat and then I look at it and make the menu.
Now for my menu, I am mixing it up a bit this month I hope this helps us that get stuck in a rut. I have Something New or Crockpot Monday (Pinterest recipes, crockpot favorites etc), Taco Tuesday (Tacos,Taco Bread,Enchiladas,Mexican Pile On), Wacky Wednesday (Breakfast for dinner, Chick Fil A, Leftovers) Thursday Matthew chooses his favorites ( Tortelinni, Creamy Chicken with Bowtie Pasta, Fish and Mac n cheese, Cereal, Beef Tips and Rice) Friday Brandon chooses (Beef Stroganoff, Ribs) Saturday and Sunday Simple fun family friendly meals easy cook and cleanup. Frito Pie, Hot Sandwiches,Chili Dogs, Corn Dogs, Chicken Fried Rice and Egg Rolls, Grilled Chicken Salad, Sandwiches,Hamburgers, Leftovers.
Well this kind of gives you an idea of what we have on the menu for February. If you would like recipes for anything or questions let me know. Now stay tuned for February Giveaway it will be coming soon.

Meals in the Terry House

Crockpot-
Fajitas, Creamy Chicken, Pork Chops, BBQ Chicken, Coke BBQ Sandwiches, Roast, Chicken with rotel for tacos, Chicken and Dumplins, Beef Tips and Gravy, Soups

Mexican (well not really,lol...)
Taco Bread, Tacos (crunchy and or soft), Mexican Pile On, Beef Enchiladas, Rice and Lentil Green Chili Enchiladas

Italian
Spaghetti, Chicken Spaghetti, Tortellini and Alfredo sauce, Lasagna, Pizza, Pizza Bread, Pullapart pizza bites
Other
Meatloaf, Ham and stuffing, Baked Fish, Rice Crispy Chicken, Hamburgers, Salmon Patties, Hot Sandwiches, Frito Pie, Chili Dogs, Cream Tuna and Rice, Pasta Salad, Breakfast for dinner, BLT Sandwiches and variety sandwiches, Cutlets and Gravy

Sides
Mashed Potatoes, Rice, Mac n cheese, Lots of Veggies, Rolls, Tx Toast, Stuffing, Noodles, Salad

Matthew and Ashlynn

Wow it is crazy how 2011 just seemed to fly by and now January is doing the same thing. My kids are growing up way to fast and it is hard to believe.
Matthew is 6 and is halfway through Kindergarten and is doing great, he will be tested for GT this week and I am hoping this will help some he is getting bored in class and getting in trouble and so I am hoping some change will help. After school he goes to Powersports and loves it he has Gymnastics twice a week and is on Boys team and is doing fantastic. He is reading on level C and is very curious of words anywhere and always trying to sound them out. Matty is also fixing to start Upward Soccor and so our already crazy schedule is going to get a little busier it seems. But it is lots of fun. Matty loves Beyblades, Pokemon cards, Legos and his DS in his free time. My little guy is so much fun and so creative. He loves his Little Sister Ashlynn, now Ash is my very stubborn child but very smart. She is going to be 2 in less then 2 months and she is really 2 going on 21. She thinks she knows it all. She loves to copy her brother in everything he does, she will sit and color for hours, she thinks her brothers room is hers. She gets so excited when Mattty comes home from school. And weekends she is beside him non stop. She loves her bitty baby and "Baby" goes everywhere and sleeps with Ash. She loves to feed her baby and change her baby clothes all the time (with help of course) Ash loves to wear dresses and bows in her hair, first thing in the morning she will pick out a bow for her hair. She is full of attitude and thinks she can do everything. We got Wii Dance 2 for Christmas and she can do it as well and is really good.

I am so thankful for the 2 blessings God has blessed us with. They are incredible kids and we enjoy every moment with them. Both kids are miracle babies love them both so much.

Laundry Tips

I have always thought I had laundry figured out well I never had, growing up we sorted everything, whites, mediums, darks, delicates, jeans, towels, sheets,etc... Well I have done that as well and have about 12 loads a week and it is just to overwhelming for sure well I have tried the last 2 weeks 2 methods and I bought these awesome Shout Color Catcher sheets and what a difference laundry day has been and also re-doing the laundry room to make it a happy place has made a difference as well. I added color, a lamp (inspired by cousin Lori) plug in glade air freshner (apple cinnamon) organized added a rug and color cordinating coat hangers and covered my shelves. Its amazing what a little bit can do and I spent about $60 for this makeover and used Christmas money.
Well my 2 weeks of Laundry re-do and help from others and I will share one of my personal favorites in a moment from www.allabouthim.cc/blog
Week 1: I would wash and dry a load every night before bed and fold next morning and put away and I would start another load if I thought I was going to have time to fold it and put away when done.I started this on Sunday night and I was done with all our Laundry by Thursday and it was all washed, dried, folded and put away. It felt awesome to have 3 days NO LAUNDRY.
Well week 2...
I had time on Monday to wash EVERYTHING (maybe because I did not have much since it was caught up from last week) Then on Tuesday I folded it all and put away and now guess what I am done for the week how AWESOME is that and it feels good, and yes if something needs to be washed over the next few days I can do it and not feel like it is this horrible monster trying to attack me and I get to go into my new redecorated Laundry room that I love!!!!!!!
Now I have attached some pictures and also a blog that I would love for you to follow and to make this even more fun I am doing another giveaway for a goody for your Laundry room. How fun is that so comment below and let me know you are following my friends blog and if you use any of her tips or how you do your laundry.

From: www.allabouthim.cc.blog
An Efficient Laundry System
January 13th, 2012



If you struggle to keep up with your laundry ask yourself these 2 questions…

1. How easy it is for me to get the laundry into the washer?
Do you have to go to multiple rooms and multiple hampers to gather the dirty laundry and towels? How about sorting? Do you have an easy way to sort the whites from the darks…? Do you have to struggle to pull a loaded hamper or basket down the stairs and into the laundry room? If so, this could be one of the major reasons your laundry system isn’t working. Consider some ways to make this process easier…

Could you put one hamper in a spot that everyone can use rather than having a hamper in multiple rooms?
How about using a divided hamper so everyone can sort the laundry as it is tossed in?
A smaller collapsible hamper can be stored by or near the large hamper and used to easily take one already sorted load to the washer.
There are lots of ways to make the laundry gathering process easier.

2. Do I have too many clothes, sheets and/or towels?
Our immediate response is to answer “No way!”, but if you are struggling to stay on top of your laundry this really could be the problem. We have to admit that sometimes the thing motivating a load of laundry being washed is the fact that there are no more clean (fill in the blank). I learned to use this to my advantage. The key is – don’t let yourself have so many towels, clothes and sheets that you can ALLOW big stacks of laundry to pile up. For example, I decided that if I could go an entire week without washing towels – we had too many towels. Paring them down has really helped cut back on the stack of towels waiting to be washed. *I do have a stash of extra towels in case of an emergency or overnight guests.
Paring down my t-shirts means I always have a fresh and clean favorite to wear – no more wearing the ones at the bottom of the stack that I really didn’t like anyway. I also just have one extra set of sheets for each bed. If I want clean sheets in a week I have to wash the ones I just took off the bed (within that week). It really has worked to keep me motivated and moving and I love that there is less to wash.
Now, I know you are thinking “But you are washing more often and I don’t want to wash more often!” I wondered the same thing as I was working to pare down. The truth I found is that I am still washing the same number of loads each week. I washed a load of towels every couple of days before, I ran a load of clothes every day before – the difference? No more stacks of stuff I didn’t get to! LOVE that.
I hope these tips help you if you find laundry is not fun in your home. We can make it fun together.
I hope I have not overwhelmed you please dont forget to comment I will do the drawing for the giveaway on Sunday, January 22

New Year and New Goals

I have a HUGE goal list and it all seems to be thanks to Pinterest. We have lived in our home since 2002 and it was brand new, they had just finished the last things the day we moved in and well we had not even been married a year yet and so we have not done a whole lot but over the years and this house has seen our kids and many others that have been in my home daycare so this house gets used and I love to paint (not my hubby favorite thing to do) but being in my house 24/7 I get tired if things real quick and need change. I am finally after 10 years starting to feel like I "Live" in my house and it feels like a house with the things I have done.
For my goals of 2012 and it will probably seem like 2012 goals I have to do I hope it really is not that much but as long as I keep looking at Pinterest I am sure my list will get longer.
Goals of 2012 (And lots of Pictures and Blogging to come)
1) Put Craft table together and finish organizing garage
2) Begin a FB page for selling Crafts "Sweet & Sassy Crafts"
3) Blog about my kids
4) Better at taking pictures
5) Redo Laundry room paint, organize etc....
6) Redo Master bath floor, cabinets, paint etc...
7) Pull up carpet in living room
8) Sewing cute dresses for Ash
9) Potty Train Ash & Cooper (daycare kiddo)
10)Garden
11)Complete and catch up on Scrap-booking
12)Add giveaways to my blog
These are in no particular order and I know I have lots more to add to my list but for now if I get a goal a month done then I am doing great.
Happy New Year
What are some of your "Goals" for 2012

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