Savory Sunday 2

I am personally excited about this weeks menu! Maybe just because food excites me lately! I can't stop eating!!! I have become a glutton but I will enjoy it while I can.

Sunday- tacos, Randy's choice but I am totally happy he chose it. Yup, I made a pig of myself!

Monday- red beans and rice, not my favorite but I know it will still be great!

Tuesday- matzo ball soup, a huge family favorite!

Wednesday- chicken pot pie, Gracie is going to get our neighbors recipe since mine is timely, difficult, and more expensive.

Thursday- nachos, with the leftover taco stuff

Friday- Pizza night!!

Saturday- leftovers

Savory Sunday

My goal is to have my menu planned about a month in advance. I get so tired of some nights hearing what are we having for dinner. I usually have no clue and just have to think quick or run to the store and grab a frozen lasagna or something. I am just sick of not knowing sometimes.
I am going to put our menu for the week on my blog each Sunday. One it keeps me in check and two maybe it can give others ideas!!

Sunday-Grandma's green bean, mashed potato casserole
Monday-Crockpot chicken and dumplings
Tuesday-Spaghetti (hopefully Grandma's!)
Wednesday-Fish of some sort. We have some in the freezer that needs to be eaten.
Thursday-Leftover spaghetti
Friday-Pizza night
Saturday-Hamburger Helper

I try to make some nights really easy so the big kiddos can make dinner. I also didn't include sides due to the fact that we have stuff in the freezer that needs to be eaten. Also it will depend on the meal and what sides are on sale that week! I am also hoping having a menu will keep me out of the grocery store so much and therefore save money!!!

Slumber party!!!!

Friday night was a fun night for the kiddos. Hanni and Maryjo spent the night at the neighbor's house and had a blast. Gracie and Eli did their own slumber party here at home. They stayed up late and watched movies and ate popcorn. Their type of night. But, the girls were up to so much more! They did hair, makeup, dress up, games, and just all around had a great time. I kinda started to get worried when I hadn't heard from them the next morning until almost noon! Our neighbor's kiddo often shows up early in the morning on the weekends so not hearing from any of them was a big shock to me. When I did hear from them they were still in fun mode. This was Hanni's first sleepover so Maryjo went with her, just in case she needed one of us. Of course my worry was over nothing and she did great! Maryjo had just as much fun as the little ones though. I find it absolutely amazing that such a different age range gets along so well. Gracie and Eli are even great friends with the neighbor. The ages are 7-16 between these 5 kids and they are all interested in similar things and get along great! We are so blessed to have that in our neighborhood, especially, just two doors down! I think it helps that my kids all have a great relationship to begin with so adding someone so great to them is a piece of cake!

By noon, the girls headed home and brought our neighbor with them so the man of their house could get some sleep. lol But, the fun didn't end there. They all had a trip to the mall planned! Eli went with them and was so excited about going with the girls. Gracie couldn't go because, unfortunately, she woke up early in the morning with a tummy illness. I feel bad that her's and Eli's sleepover got ruined but fortunately they live in the same house so they can do a sleepover anytime. After the mall we all had exhausted kiddos and it was time to come home and stay home for the night! They all had a blast though and I have to thank my neighbor for letting the kids invade your weekend!! So much fun though!!!

>

18 weeks

How far along?
18 weeks

Weight gain?
Not as bad as I had thought.

Maternity clothes?
I usually wear them out since that is the only decent thing that fits me but around the house it is pj's and sweats.

Stretch marks?
Still only the ones from the other kiddos!

Sleep?
Most days still take a nap but I fall asleep hard at night and get up at a ridiculous hour in the morning! I still can't sleep in the mornings but thankful for nap time!!!

Best moment this week?
Taking Gracie and Eli with me to my doctors appts. They got to see the baby and hear it's heartbeat!

Food cravings?
I can say I can't handle most ground meat and chicken is a big turn off. Other than that I'll eat it if it doesn't eat me first!

Gender?
BOY!!!

Belly button?
In

Movement?
Feeling more and more but some days nothing still. Just waiting on the consistency! Much stronger movement and feel it for longer periods of time. Usually only when I am still though!

What I miss?
Not too much. Still miss the energy but it has picked up this week.

What I'm looking forward to?
Next weeks ultrasound. It is the big 2nd trimester one!!! I am taking Hanni to this one!!!

It is time to settle in and refresh.

We moved into my parents house about 3 years ago. It was mainly for financial reasons but also because my dad has Alzheimer's. We figured we would be here for about 6 months and then find a place closer to my parents than what we were. Well, 6 months went into a year and so on. We all decided about a year and a half of us being here we aren't going anywhere. This is where we all belong. My daddy has gone downhill and my mom can't do it herself anymore.
This house was built for either a couple or a couple with maybe 2 kids, not 8 people (soon to be 9). Until Thanksgiving of last year it was just 7 people (4 adults and 3 kids). Now it is still 4 adults but 2 kids and 2 teenagers and a baby on the way. Wow, it is a tight fit sometimes!
I got to thinking that we aren't going to be moving from this house or expanding it anytime soon. Another thing we would love to do is tear down this house and build something else in it's place but that isn't happening anytime soon either! I have thought about it for a couple weeks and decided to make this house all of ours.
My parents furniture is bigger and they have alot, plus what we brought over. Most of our stuff is in storage but we still have some here and are using it. There are some pieces we aren't using but just decorate the home. We are replacing things with things that take less space (which we already have most of it). We are also going to actually start using pieces that we don't but don't want to part with. Also, we are getting rid of clutter and putting in a few pieces that we don't already have but need. We are making this place more a home than just a place to sleep. We are here all the time, why not love it! And we can love it! It just needs some work and TLC. We can easily make it a home for 9 if we just make some changes and that is what it is all about right now!!

Christmas 2011

We had a great Christmas!! There is nothing like family time to me. Christmas is a great day to just curl up in our pj's and do nothing. Well, nothing except play! We always get up around 7 to open presents. This year my mom and I were up at 4 waiting to be able to wake kids up! Too funny, I think we were more excited than the kiddos!! None of the kids are allowed in the living area until we call them to come down the hall together.

This was my parents rule for me when I was growing up and I loved it! Even as a teen I would wait patiently for my parents to be ready for me and then go out.
I already had coffee made and breakfast laid out so it wasn't a long wait.
We just did danishes and cinnamon rolls this year instead of a casserole and it was so much easier. We all sat around and ate and then it was stocking time! When we do stockings we just do some candy and fun little toys for the kids. Nothing really big just fun junk. Then we got to the presents!! Some of the big ones were unwrapped and they had already seen them. The family got a computer and printer. Eli got a bike and Hanni got an electric bike that hooks up the the tv. Also Hanni got a doll house which was already put together. She tried to play with it while waiting for stocking clean up. Hanni loved it!!
There was a ton of cool stuff this year! My favorite presents were the games. We got so many new games between all of us! I'd like to start playing more board games as a family so talk about perfect!

We always play games around Christmas but then the rest of the year we never do. I think I am going to make a family game night!
All in all it was a great Christmas!! We had so much fun and celebrated for several days after by not getting out of our pj's! Perfect family time!!! I am not ready for it to end but today is New Years Eve and another adventure is around the corner!!

Oh, I am behind! Gracie's bday!

Ok, so I am pretty behind on my blog, but before I do our Christmas post I'd like to talk about Gracie turning the BIG 13! Gracie turned 13 on Dec. 22! I truly can't believe it has been thirteen years! I look back and can't believe she was so little at one time but I will always think of her as my little baby!


Gracie with Grandma!

This is Gracie with my grandma who came to town to meet her great granddaughter soon after she was born. Gracie is name Grace Elizabeth. Grace is after my mother's mom and Elizabeth is after this lady. Unfortunately neither Gracie or I have met my Grandma Grace but I was so blessed to have my nana in my life who is my mom's stepmother! I look up to both these ladies so much as they were both wonderful women!! I am proud to have my daughter named after these two ladies!!!

She always loved going out visiting friends. Now she is more of a homebody like me but she still loves to visit with her friends!

Gracie loves animals and wouldn't surprise me if she ended up working with them when she gets older!

Definitely a daddy's girl!

Most definitely the house diva, although I think Hanni has become even more of a diva now than Gracie ever was! Great training Gracie! lol

Gracie loves her little brother and sister more than anything in the world. She has always been a great big sister and I am blessed to have kiddos as close as these guys are!

Poor Gracie's birthday falls extremely close to Christmas. That mean no big parties or anything. This year we found out the gender of the new baby on her birthday. She was really excited about that but still her poor birthday got a little overshadowed. We did have cake as a family and opened presents though!!

Gracie loves to do nails and asked for nail stuff for Christmas so I got her a how to paint fancy things on your nails book. We had this book years ago but Gracie was a little young for it then! She loved it!! She also got some art stuff and room decorations!! All in all it was a good evening and we had so much fun. I am thinking about half birthdays for her since she kinda gets the short end of the stick each year. Just a thought though!