What one does on a snowy winter day

Bet you were expecting snow angels and sleds!

HGTV, pizza, and pjs are more the theme for the day!

Where oh where is my summer sun? *sigh*

Poop does not make a good hand lotion and other life changing things you didn't know!

I bet you are wondering what this girl is writing about now! Poop hand lotion? Never heard of it? Well it is all the rage in Paris. Anyone that is anyone knows it! Slap some of that on your hands and you are sure to be the talk of the town!

Ok. Seriously. This is about how my day has been. One lives a boring life till they have stuck their fingers into the poo going up a child's backside! This action lead to me yelling "Ewwwwwwwwww!" which brought the older kids over to see what I had stuck my hand in. Which in turn made them proclaim "EEEEWWWWWWWWW!!!! even louder. Nothing like trying to change a wiggly poo crusted baby while kids are running around you screaming "Ewww" and informing you how gross it is to do that. Yeah. Like I did it on purpose!

After scalding my hands in hot water and soap and doing it again like 5 times more I am still hesitant to even think about using my hand to touch food for a good 30 days more!

BUT I have to admit it started out good. Why you might ask? Cause I got my restaurant fix last night. Yes that is right. I caved in like a converted junk food junkie sitting in a bakery.

I have a calendar on my fridge that lists the weeks menu and Ryan came home and looked at it and said in the best whine a 16 year old boy can muster , "Do we HAVE to eat tuna casserole tonight???!??" I jumped on it like a mad man. I am not stupid. I told him we could go out. Ryan, who hates going out, asked if we could order cheese steaks in. Well if I am going to get a fix it isn't going to be on cheesesteaks delivered by some highschool kid. I am going to make it count. I told him what any good mother would do.... "You either go to Applebees or eat tuna casserole". Applebees won out. *sigh* I am so proud of my son! I have taught him to make good life choices. And not only did I get to go out but I got to blame it on him in the process!

That margarita chicken with garlic potatoes was soooooooooooooo good I shall never forget it. AND I got to go out too. As in outside!! That killed two birds with one stone!! It was awesome. The days are getting lighter longer. So there I was with happy kids in the van cause they didn't have to eat tuna casserole while I drove down the road in the still light of day watching the sun set. Only to top is off with dinner out. What more can a deprived mom ask for!?

Oh and an update on Ryan's family tree report.....
He got a 100 and a 95. I am not sure why the 95 and Todd is obsessed in trying to figure out why. I am sure he thinks it had something to do with me deleting family names to fit his side on the tree. Or because I made pierogies and kielbasa instead of baking Babka bread on a Sunday night at 9pm!

Or I blame Mimi! She left out that I am related to Captain John Paul Jones and tells me this 4 days too late. Cause everyone knowing I am related to Capt Jones would so have given us an upper hand!

Or maybe it was Todd's $1.00 words while typing his family history up. I rather think that a teacher can detect when college level words are used in a 10th grade report and that they are not due to the child putting them there.

All I know is it wasn't my fault! I did my homework well like the good student I am!
Makes me wanna go back to school............

Not!

Can it really be so easy?

I made another dish last night and was thinking that it was too simple. Now I am not sure how to explain what too simple really means.Doesn't have enough "umpf"? Not enough seasonings? Mainly there is only three ingredients. It just could not be that simple! But it was. And it was good. And even though my kids turned their noses up at something new at 1st, they liked it! Next time we are going to add more to it though. Green peppers, onions, tomatoes, broccoli, whatever. This could be a pot luck, whatever is in the fridge kinda meal! And according to Ryan, cheese would be a good thing too! I personally do not know about the cheese but then I am not a big fan of melting cheese all over my food! This time around I added greenbeans on the side but you could throw those in the pot too! This will most certainly go on the menu for February.

Beef and Rice Casserole

1 lb ground beef (browned and drained)
2 envelopes brown gravy mix
Water (as needed on the gravy mix)
1 cup cooked rice
Seasonings to taste

Put browned ground beef, gravy mix and water into a pot. Stir over medium heat till thickened. Remove from heat. Add cooked rice to beef and gravy mixture. Stir together and add seasonings.

Done. Wa-la. HOW simple can that be? It took us only about 20min to do! Now we doubled this recipe because we feed 5 and only came out with a little left over for lunch today. And I did add another cup of rice because I just did not think there was enough in the pot. It was very good. Throw in the veggies and this would be one simple, inexpensive,fast and yummy meal!

Belt it out girl!

Did you ever just want to stand up and scream? Screaming is good. It lets out pent up energy and stress. It also can get you locked up in a big grey building with bars on the windows.

It kinda reminds me of the Friends episode where Feebie tells Rachel to just run like a kid with her arms all over the place and let it all out. We laughed at the epi but inside I know how Rachel felt and probably secretly wanted to do that to! One of the nice things about being a preschool teacher. NO I do not scream at the kids but I can turn on silly music really loud, dance around like a nut and yell and no one would think me nuts cause the kids are doing it too! There are some perks to this job after all!

Sometimes I just want to be a Feebie.

For me, one to the things is winter. Tis the season. The excitement of the fall and all it brings is past. The 1st day of school, the fall of the leaves, going and picking pumpkins. Along comes the holidays and the bustle and excitement of that. We go from turkey to the mall to the wrapping to the tree farm. It goes in a blur. Then what is next? Nothing. Zippo. Just winter. Short, cold days and long, freezing nights. I HATE winter. With a passion I hate winter. My goal in life is to retire to some warm place where I can pass my days in warmth and sunshine. I would not be upset not to see snow again. I have no desire to put on warm clothes and spend my day throwing myself down some mountain side on skies or round tubes. And with winter comes my stir crazy months. I need to get out. I need to be in light and warmth. And at some point when I become claustrophobic and depressed, I want to just scream. I can feel it bubbling up inside of me right now. That urge to belt it out. I am getting there....

Add in that I have not eaten out all month. Ok that is a lie. We picked up McDonalds when Todd got a tooth pulled a week ago. But in general, we have not eaten out. It has been 26 days. 26 days and 14 and 1/2 hours. That was my New Years goal remember? Yeah well it is driving me nuts. I want out. I want food. I want someone else to cook it. I want to sit at a table and have someone bring me things at my beck and call. And the commercials on tv are not helping. They dare to show me juicy shrimp over pasta at the Red Lobster. Or steak surrounded by buttery vegetables at Applebees. Or a spoon dipping into a huge icecream sundae at Friendly's. Those commercials are calling to me. Teasing me. Oh I soooooooooooooo want to go out. To where it is warm and there is light ........and food. I am getting there...........

I am so getting there!

Perhaps not eating out in the winter wasn't such a good idea to do.....

Speaking of homework...

Delaney doesn't have actual homework yet but she greatly enjoys her learning books that she calls her homework. Today Delaney asked her sissy to help. I took this picture this morning. It is times like these that are precious......

WHO'S homework is this?

Ryan came home this weekend and mentioned that he had homework to do. A report on his family. Sunday morning arrived to him coming to Todd and I and saying he needed help with said homework and then handed us a paper from his International Cooking class. Ok, the word 'cooking' is setting off red lights isn't it? Cause you all know where this is heading! And it did.........

After looking over the paper I know that this was something he was handed a while ago. Months ago. Ok, more likely in September on the 1st day of class. This was no simple homework. This was a report. And that takes you down roads you haven't been on since highschool! It is about family history. Going back as far as you can. Now what 16 year old knows the history of his great, great, great Grandmother and when our family settled in this area? I don't even know all that!! This was NOT homework for a kid. This was parent homework. You know, that majorly impossible assignment that is handed to your child, that NO normal child would be able to do alone and so you end up staying up till 2am trying to complete it! If you have a child in school you know exactly what I mean by 'parents homework'. And if you don't, you will. You soon will!

So here is it, mid day on a Sunday and Todd and I are in a panic. Ryan's end of this report consisted of him writing a little about himself. He did that. Handwritten in pencil in about 2 minutes between calls from his girlfriend and the next xbox live game! OUR end? It consisted of Todd and I each writing about our family history. Mother and father's side. When did we move to this area? What is our heritage? Who is our family......as far back as you can go. (WHO thinks of these things? One very cruel teacher, that is who! ) Now throw in a family tree with names and dates. How Todd and I met and started our family. Oh, yes, and to cover the cooking aspect of it, you had to write about traditional family recipes, include recipes AND make a dish to bring in. Did I mention it was a Sunday afternoon? Now you fully understand our panic!

Now one would think it might be a simple task. The teacher obviously did! It really is not. Not in this day and age. I come from a small family compared to Todd's. But there are remarriages. And I didn't know the names of the 'original' grandfather or the maiden name of some long lost Great, great Grandmother! I called them things like Grandma Great or Grandpop or "You know that old person over there in the 70's print dress that I have never met?" ! So I called my father in hopes he might be able to shed some light. If truth be told, I am thinking he was about as confused as I was too! It was NO easy task!

Now throw in Todd's family. He is one of 4 children. All but one have children. And his mother is one of 10 children and 4 1/2 siblings from a remarriage. All but one had children. And her parents were from a large family and so on and so on and so on. I know the magnitude of this task and my poster board is NOT that large! I am trying to tone down Todd by cutting names. Todd is making it bigger and bigger and BIGGER by calling this relative and that relative. My little dogwood was turning into a mighty oak with links to Johnny Appleseed and war hero's!! Lets just say that some fighting happened over this homework assignment and leave it at that!

After I got through family history and backgrounds, I typed up family dishes which was rather easy. Even though, technically, I was not Polish, my Grandfather ( a product of a remarriage) was, as is Todd's family. So he and I grew up on Polish foods and kicked that out in no time. And God was on my side cause I just happened to have gone shopping the day before and had Kielbasa and Pierogies which I quickly threw together! Of course I have no dinner for tomorrow night now! But I got my homework done!

After we finished I put it together with a tired, satisfied sigh of relief and told him that now all he had to do was read it. His response was that he was not going to talk in front of the class because it makes him nervous. That was 25 points of his grade!!! I looked at him with an empty look in my tired eyes and said with about as much conviction as I could muster at 9pm, that I would kill him if he dared to not read that report and came home with a 75!!!!!!!!!! String him up by his Irish, Polish toes to the nearest family tree and leave him there to die!!!!!!!!!! Then I went to find my jammies.

Guess what? Ryan read that report!
Grade? TBA

So when the time comes that your child hands you a paper and says he needs help with his homework assignment or AKA report.........run. Run really, really, really fast! It's not really HIS. It's YOURS!

Rain, rain, go away....

I would finish it but I would be lying. I hate rain. I hate rain even more in the winter. And I seriously do NOT want it to come another day. Actually, it can just move off the coast right now and I would not be unhappy. But I guess I have little say in the matter. And not only is it raining, it is a downpour. As in don't bother to even attempt to do your hair cause it will be a waste of time kinda downpour. I am sitting here in the dark gloom and listening to the wind howling and the rain splat on the window like it is trying to tell me to let it in and I am truly glad that, in times like these, that I work at home! In fact I am sitting here in my jammies. Not something I normally do but it is PJ day at my in home daycare and I am so happy that I happened to pick today of all days to do it. I am in jammies, warm fuzzy socks and pig tails, listening to the wind and rain. Ahhh what a life! Just need some hot chocolate to make the day complete.

Listening to the rain on a winter day reminds me of the day we moved into this house. Memories full of excitement and happiness. I had waited 13 long years to move back to my hometown. And another 5 long months living with family while this house was being built. It was not an easy journey at times! I said that when we signed the closing papers I would roll on the living room floor and yell "It's mine, it's all mine". And I did!

We had family show up after closing for the unloading of a huge trailer. We started around 6pm and finished around 10pm. And that included dinner too! We not only had it all moved in but a majority unpacked enough to live and the kids rooms set up with beds and such so they could sleep there that night. We even had the Christmas tree waiting for us when we arrived since this was only days before Christmas and we hauled that in too!! We had that many people here!! It was like ants moving from the trailer to the house in busy rows and caring their precious cargo to and from. It was exciting. It was exhausting. I would never want to do it again. But it was worth it.

It rained that night on us. But it poured the next day. A day similar to a day like today. The winds howled. The rain beat on the house reminding us to be grateful for the shelter. And my new construction yard was a mud and lake filled property! I remember kneeling in Megan's room and stenciling a picket fence on her wall and listening to the rain hit the roof. It was a glorious time. A time of new beginnings and new adventures. A promise of the future. We were finally home!

Listening to the rain today doesn't have quiet the same excitement as that day 7 years ago. I am still happy for the shelter. I still would wish the rain away though. And am ecstatic that I do not have boxes to move and unpack! Although, I suspect that at some point today I might be chasing trash cans down the road, the rain brings fond memories.

I am completely blessed! In my jammies and fuzzy socks blessed!

Oh nuts!

If I have not mentioned in the past, let me begin by saying that my household dabbles in the world of allergies. We tend to leave nothing out. Environmental. Seasonal. Animals. Food. We pretty much cover all four corners of the allergy world. We should take stock in allergy meds and tissues. And it is a year round activity. No breaks for the Chapman family. In general we are lucky. We do not normally deal with severe reactions like closed throats and such. But it is still a challenge all the same.

Megan tends to be the worse of all the kids......right now. Of course, they all have their own issues and at that second you are dealing with it, that child becomes top of the line. But Megan's allergies tends to attack her eyes along with the typical sniffies and sneezes. She would get allergic pink eye. Swollen eyes and hives on her face which resulted in missed school time. Spring is her enemy. Although fall tends to give her a run for her money too. Actually she is allergic all year. But spring is her worse. When we got to the point of nothing else working, we began allergy shots. At that same time, Megan began food allergies. Oral Allergy Syndrome (OAS) to be precise. All caused by her seasonal allergies being on overload.

OAS is an allergy all in it's own world. To use basic terms.....it is her bodies overload to pollen and it confuses other things in the same 'category'. Like birch results in allergies to apples. Rag weed results in allergies to carrots. Etc etc. Her body is confusing a fruit or veggie with pollen. BUT it is only raw veggies and fruit. She can eat processed foods. Megan is OAS allergic to carrots, apples and tree nuts. She cannot eat or touch an raw apple but she can eat an apple pie. She cannot touch or eat a carrot but she can eat carrot cake. The cooking breaks down the foods. Sounds simple but try explaining to school officials she can't eat a apple but she can eat apple pie. They think I am nuts. I laugh it off. I tell them that, in a time when fruit trays are popular at school parties, my child can't eat that. But she can have all the processed foods she wants!

Megan has been doing so well on her allergy shots. She isn't 100% allergy free but she is doing so much better and only requiring allergy meds in the spring. And NO swollen eyes anymore! We have been on the track of testing Megan. Allergy testing. Food challenges. Trying no medications. In general she has been doing so well. And so we decided to try her allergy foods.

The dr really believed she would be able to get her foods back. So I packed Megan up on Tuesday with apples and carrots and nuts....oh my. Gave her a hug and sent her off with her cooler full of goodies with her father to have a food challenge.

It was with great disappointment that the dr refused to even do the challenge. They gave her a skin prick test and she failed. Terribly!

An hour later she came home with a cooler full of apples and carrots and nuts....oh my. And an Epi pen in the other hand.

Megan handles it well. She just shrugged it off and went to listen to her IPOD. Allergies are just a part of her and she doesn't let it bother her. But I was very disappointed, however. I know that if her body continues on overload, Megan could possibly be adding another fruit or veggie on her list. I know this. Megan might know this. But she will just push up her sleeves and handle it like the trooper she is.

So my daughter gets to continue to eat her processed foods.......till we test again.

Mazel tov Joshua!

Today I went to see my girlfriends oldest son do his Bar Mitzvah. It was a looooooooooooooong service. 4 hours to be exact. 4 hours in Hebrew to be even more exact. They can never complain on my do-not-blink-or-you-will-miss-it Methodist baptisms or confirmations. We figured we had to have about two more kids to get one up on them in hours. And they still have two more children coming up soon! But it was still worth it.

As I sat there watching him read the Torah I think back to the day, like it was yesterday, when I held him just hours after his birth. When we sat with the new parents while they welcomed him home. Talked about 1st tooth, 1st time he walked, 1st day of school. So many firsts. And, like my own children, all done in the blink of an eye. Joshua is now a man. A young boy of body but starting out in the world as a man in spirit with new beginnings on the horizon. Strong in spirit, body, mind and faith.

I sat there listening, not having a clue what the child was saying but crying all the same. It was beautiful. It was another memory to tuck away. And I was as proud of him as anyone else sitting there in the synagogue. I just had to struggle more to read and keep up that is all!

My favorite part was the throwing of the candy during the Haftorah reading. Joshua obviously knew what was coming. The throwing of candy so 'symbolizing the hope that he may always be surrounded by the sweetness of the words and good deeds of the Torah'. Joshua read on while candy was being passed among his friends in the pews. You could hear the giggles. The crunch of the paper wrappers. The whispers. And as the moment came closer you could see the joyful panic in Joshua's eyes as he looked from his reading and up at his friends and back down again. And when the end came he spoke faster with a grin and ducked as fast as he could behind the podium. Not fast enough for he was pelted with candy over and over. And just in case someone thought they missed him, they came flooding up on the alter to pick up the strewn pieces and throw them again. It took the Rabi to chase the crew away among laughter and giggles. The fun and sometimes painful passing of a boy into manhood. Literally.

But Joshua obviously worked hard. And passed with flying colors. And, as far as my english speaking self felt, did a perfect reading!

His journey is just beginning. May the Lord be with him and guide him on his way. Never to be alone. Stand strong Joshua. Stand proud. And next time.........get gummy bears!

The Young And The.........

It is offical. I am old. Old and a vet in realionships. That translates to I am a mother and have been married for way too long!

Todd likes to say we have graduated from the honeymoon phase to hallway sex. We both walk by each other in the hall and say "F--k you!"

Ok not for real. Come on. It was a joke. Laugh!

The other day Ryan came upstairs with a doomed look on his face and proclaimed that he had really done it this time. He went on to tell me that his girlfriend told him that he was sometimes a pain. Ryan then retaliated and told HER she was a pain sometimes too. And as the conversation got heated she mentioned that she was only joking. Ryan took it serious. And they got off the phone with a 'whatever'. In teen language, 'whatever' means you are totally in poo! Now Ryan was upset that he made her mad. Ignoring the fact that he was upset because of her comment in the 1st place. She was just 'joking' after all.

And what did mom do in his hour of need? Laughed. Yes. Yes, I did. I admit it! Oh now, do not sit there in judgement over my actions! You thought it if you were honest. Come on! People are people. And people get on peoples nerves once in a while. Doesn't mean you don't love or like them. Just means they are being a pain in the ass at that moment! Life goes on. It isn't the end all! I couldn't help myself. It just burst forth!

I am thinking it is some aweful moment in a young relationship. Such seriousness. Such drama. And in the end she was only telling him and him, her that they are people. People who can be pain in the asses to eachother. IT WAS FUNNY!

And now I hang my head in shame. Cause I was an aweful and uncaring mother. Well in Ryans eyes anyway. Me? I still think it was funny!

Relationships are about working past annoyances. The other person is never perfect. She will PMS. Ryan will get mad over silly things. They will say the wrong thing. Think the wrong thing. It is life. It is a relationship. And it is about working through it. Talking about what was said. How you felt. And getting past it. And it is the 1st step for Ryan to learn about these things. It isn't the end of the world. It certainly isn't the end of a relationship. There will be much bigger things that Ryan will have to learn about and deal with than this! And being a pain once in a while, is expected. One would not be human if there was not something that got on someones nerves. Cause then they would be perfect. And there is no such thing.

So we chatted. He felt better. They called eachother and said sorry. And kissy, kissy, huggie, huggie, blah, blah, blah.

Ok...........I have to work on that caring side. I GET IT ALREADY!

The Cheeseburglar came to visit

Ok maybe not the actual Burglar. But it was close. If you like cheeseburger, you might like this. I even put the pickles in and my kids never even noticed! Amazing! They are totally pickle flickers! AND it was off the $1.50 recipe site. Even better. This will make a nice make and carry meal for church functions where, usually, pasta meals are part of the in crowd on the table.

Cheeseburger Pie

Serves:6
Cost: $1.10 per serving

1can crescent rolls
1lb ground beef
1/4c finely chopped onion or 1teaspoon onion powder
1/3c chopped dill pickle slices (I chopped mine completely or it would never have passed my kids lips!)
2tablespoons ketchup
1teaspoon mustard
2tablespoons flour
2tablespoons dill pickle juice
2tablespoons milk
2c shredded american cheese (I used cheddar), divided

*Preheat oven to 375
*Unroll crescent rolls and press in the bottom and up the sides of an 8in pie pan
*Brown ground beef in skillet and drain
*Stir in onion, chopped pickle, ketchup and mustard
*Sprinkle with flour and add pickle juice and milk. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly
*Remove from heat and add 1c shredded cheese
*Pour into the prepared crust and back for 15 min or until edges of crust are golden
*Remove from oven and top with remaining cheese and let stand until melted
*Garnish with extra ketchup, mustard and pickles.

Oh and we got the oven fixed. $260 later to find out it was my ignitor. BUT there is no more gas in my house and no worries of an explosion. Which I guess is worth the $260 (she says in a grumbly and pouty voice!) Bring on the roasted chicken............

Well I did my 1st recipe!

And.....are you ready?.......my kids ATE it!

Oh they complained. It was chicken. And not in nugget form, mind you. Anything beyond a burger or nugget shape gets a whine. But I made it. And they took a bite and FINISHED it! I am in shock!

And apparently so is my oven.

It is temp. out of commission. I turned it on and the house smelled like gas. But after about 20 min it went away. So tomorrow my job is to find out what the deal is with that! I personally think it is in shock. In heart attack failure that my kids actually ate something that did not look like it came from a fast food resturant!

But, sadly, my meals will be limited to stove up items until further notice..................

Below is my tried and tested recipe:
So simple and YUM!

BAKED SALSA CHICKEN
1 small chicken cut up, bone-in, skin removed

1-2 jars (any kind) salsa

Provolone cheese slices

Preheat oven to 350.

Arrange cut-up chicken in a baking dish. Pour salsa over the chicken to cover, as much as you want. Cover with foil.

Bake for about 1 hour, removing foil during the last 10 minutes. Cover with provolone cheese for the last 10 min to melt.


Cost for us?
Salsa (2) $3
Split chicken breast $8.70
Rice ? (already had it here)
Corn $ .84
Provolone Cheese $3

$$15. 54........$3.19 for 5 people.

AND we ended up with left overs that shall become my lunch!!!!!!!!

I forgot to take a pic so here is a similar one (minus the cheese)

My New Years Resolution

Ok I will admit it, I do not normally do a New Years resolution. Lets be honest, they are promises made to be broken.

If we are really truthful with ourselves, we are NOT going to wake at 5am to do those 100 sit ups. We are NOT going to pass on the chocolate birthday cake at your nieces 3 year old birthday party. And when we find an awesome sale, we are NOT going to walk pass the store with 50% off signs and not get something.

Oh it might sound good to begin with. We might actually try it out for a week or two. If we are strong, it might even last a month. But on day 35, when that alarm goes off for the 100th time we will quickly forget those 100 sit ups as we hit the snooze button again! In two months we will not only eat the chocolate birthday cake but lick up the icecream leftovers our kids left unattended on their plate! And stop on the way home from work three months later to grab a bagful of 50% off items at the local mall.

Be honest.......be honest!!!

BUT I have been trying my best to cut on expenses. There isn't much left in our house to cut. We are eating out less which is my flaw. And Todd is now making coffee at home and trying to quit smoking which is his flaws.

Grocery shopping, however, has become my enemy. I cannot seem to come home without a huge, foot long receipt. And I cannot understand why. Prices are through the roof I know. And paying for a family of 5 ...two of which are teenagers.....one of which is a boy.......and I am just having problems cutting that receipt! I know I can. There must be a way!

I cut coupons.........then forget them at home! I tried a discount no name store but they don't carry everything I would need and so, if I shopped there, I would still have to make another trip to a grocery store to get the rest, thereby eating up my time and gas instead. I make a grocery list and shop only from that. I tried shopping at a local large grocery store instead of Walmart which likes to encourage impulse buying. I spent more!! So back to Walmart I went. But come on ladies....there is a reason they put all the clothes and jewelry in the middle of the store with pharmacy and beauty products on one end and the food no the other. They know they got ya! You got to pass all those things with throw back signs to get to the bananas! Evil, evil people!! But I have been good with that too!

So now I am focusing on meal prep. My kids are cut and dry meat and potato kids. Picky eaters. This one likes this and this one hates that. But I know I can do better. Casseroles. Pasta meals. They all use less meat. And meat is $$$. Less throw away spending on junk food. Bake more instead of packaged items. Etc etc etc

So my goal is to find impressive, simple, fast, tasty, low cost meals that my kids will actually pass by their lips and not whine about. I didn't think I could do it. But then I googled and found some sites with some interesting possibilities.

I thought I would share.............

This site had some really nice meals that I think my kids would actually try! And I could easily make on those on-the-run nights!

http://www.betterbudgeting.com/frugalrecipelist.htm

This one promises 15 meals at $1.50 per person. There were some possibilities here too.

http://family.go.com/food/pkg-budget-recipes/recipe-643786-cheap-dinner-recipes-t/

I am going to try them. And maybe post about them. Hopefully I might actually cut my bill in 1/2......AND last more than 30 days!

Now if only I can remember the coupons!

It has been a good Holiday Season and we are blessed with family and friends......

....3...2...1.. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!

We headed to Ocean City for some cold fun to bring in the New Year! It really is a fun, family experience. You walk from location to location on the island for shows, music, events, dancing, food, etc. It starts at 4pm and goes well into midnight. And it run snow, rain, cold, warm. This year we got cold and rain. BUT it was still better than last year when it was below 20 degrees! At least this year it was in the 30's! If nothing else, it helps you walk faster to the next location just to stay warm! But the shows are fun. The kids enjoy themselves. And so do the adults!

We headed down and saw the Japanese Drummers....

AWESOME show! Delaney sat the whole time with her hands over her ears. And the teens, who walked in scowling, left saying it was a really great show!

Then it was time for some rides. Delaney hit the kiddies rides at least a good 2-3 times. And the teens went with Todd for some mini golf.

And Aunt Michele and I stood and froze our noses off!

After, we headed to some warm place to watch a Christmas musical. Ok....I will admit it kids....this was a little lame. It was cheesy. It had poor sound so you couldn't hear them well, if at all. And I am guessing from what I did hear, that was probably a good thing. And the dancers/singers could not be any more bubble without making the audience sick. BUT we smiled through it. Tapped our toes. And warmed our butts on the nice soft seats!!

Next we headed back to the beach house for some late night snacking, which I am sure did wonders for my already blossoming hips! And we waited for the big 2010! There is fireworks but the kids were wet and cold and didn't want to head back to the boards. So we stayed in and made a little racket of our own! Who needs fireworks in the cold rain when you have poppers, sparkling cider and pots and pans!?? (Mimi THIS is what was going on when you called!)

The next day we all woke late and everyone headed back to the boards. Why you might ask? Oh to run into the 20 degree ocean of course! Doesn't everyone join the Polar Bear Club on New Years Day?

NOT ME!!!! We stood on the sideline in our gloves, hats and coats, shook our heads in amazement and watched a bunch of other nuts do it instead!

One cannot go to the boardwalk and not get salt water taffy!

Hope YOU and your family had a wonderful New Year too!