The countdown has begun

Yesterday, I did some retail therapy that lifted my mood, a little. We went to Babies R Us, which is my least favorite store, but I needed to get a couple of things there so I sucked it up and went. I got some nursing pjs to wear at the hospital and some other nursing apparel. In the midst of getting ready for Pink3 I realized I couldn't find any baby washclothes, so I got a pack of those, too. For some reason, those pajamas and buying something new made me feel better, don't judge...

Today, we're wrapping up some loose ends. Doing laundry, finishing up some school lessons, last minute cleaning. Kevin defends his proposal tonight. My C-section is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon at 5pm. And, I can't eat or drink anything after 6am tomorrow morning. I'm not getting up early just to eat, so I plan on having an excellent meal tonight, somewhere. And, Money Saving Mom informed her readers that Cold Stone is giving away free ice cream tonight. I may have to add that to our list of things to do.

Don't know if I'll post again for awhile, check Kevin's blog for name, stats, pix and updates.

Today's Thoughts

Today we found out that I'll have a c-section this Friday. Pink3's head is still up and the Dr. didn't think she would move any time soon. I was so looking forward to having a Jacuzzi tub in the labor room, having a queen size bed in the recovery room, and having the chance to have a "normal" delivery. I felt like, after going through the first 2 births, I knew what to expect and do this time around. To say I'm disappointed would be a severe understatement. I don't want to have a c-section, I don't want to pay for a c-section, I don't want to recover from a c-section. But I do want what's best for this precious baby inside me, no matter what. I'm just so sad, though. I can't get over this feeling of disappointment. I feel like I'm having the baby blues before I even get to meet her.

On the bright side, I'm grateful that we're in Wichita, that we're close to family, and that I know God is going to take care of us.

"The Lord is righteous in all his ways and loving toward all he has made. The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. " Psalm 145:17,18

And, as if we didn't have enough going on, Kevin is incredibly busy at work right now. We didn't realize this would be such a busy season for him when we "planned" all of this. He is also defending his dissertation at KU on Thursday. Please pray that will be a great and rewarding experience for him. Or that he'll just get through it.

I'm headed to the park with the girls this afternoon. It's beautiful outside today. Hopefully the great outdoors will help lift my spirits, and give me an idea as to what to do for supper! Not doing MPM this week is already taking it's toll...

Babies, babies, everywhere!

Grandpa O. made this cradle for Avery. Grandma O. washed all of the bedding and brought it to our house last night. I just walked in our bedroom and saw this-I think we can fit one more in, don't you?

How do you coupon?

Since I've just recently gotten into the coupon scene, I've been wondering how to best organize my coupons. I've been using an accordian coupon holder that my mom bought me for $1 like 5 years ago. I like it b/c it fits into my purse, but it's a little hard to use. It's not very big and it's difficult to find certain coupons at times. I ran across this giveaway and thought it was worth a shot.
How do you organize your coupons? Do you cut them every Sunday? Print them off the web? keep them in your purse? Do you know what a coupon is? Leave a comment and let me know-

Dinners in the Freezer!

It's been a busy weekend. My poor family had to smell great food being cooked, yet I didn't fix much of anything for them to eat this weekend. I cooked 8 meals for the freezer- The 1st 3 recipes I found online, the others (except for the last one) are linked to a cookbook I got from the library.

• Cream Cheese Chicken
• Cheesy ham and potatoes
• Honey Lime Chicken
• Beef enchiladas
• Red beans/rice
• Beef/zucchini casserole
• Chicken w/ red potatoes
• Cider Braised Pork Chops
• Chicken enchiladas-I haven't made these yet, I didn't buy enough chicken and ran out. But I plan to make these sometime this week.

There isn't a Menu for this week. If you can find it, you can eat it. I bought a boatload of groceries this weekend. More snacks and convenience foods than usual. It seems, no matter how much I try to plan (make a list) I almost always get home, get everything put away, THEN remember something I should have gotten. Yesterday it was coffee. Ugh... Kevin assured me we had enough to get through the week, though.

I think Pink3's head is still up. We'll know more about her arrival on Tuesday. That's when I see the dr. again. Until then, we're cleaning, schooling, and enjoying the fall weather.

This room is reserved for...

Well, here it it. Our 3rd nursery, 3rd shade of yellow, 3rd baby blanket (thanks to Grandma O.), 3rd miracle waiting to arrive. Pink3 has a new crib and wall decor. Otherwise, things are the same as Avery and McKenna's nursery. I think we're ready now...

I told the Avery and McKenna that I would post pix of their room if they cleaned it. This is what I got. I'll spare you the image of the inside of their closet-

This is a weekend of de-cluttering, organizing, cleaning and cooking. Tonight, we're going to the Friends U. football game. Should be fun. I hope you all have a great weekend!

Take that, Bon Jovi!

I went to the Grow Up conference 3 years ago, and my thoughts toward kids, families, and ministry changed completely. Now the conference is Orange. It's about the only thing I miss about being in full time ministry, getting to be creative and witness creativity in the church. My "old" church started doing kidstuf 3 months after we moved away. They just kicked off their 2nd season. I'm so happy for them, that their doing this, yet I'm a little sad that I'm not a part of it.

I saw this today and got so excited. You have to watch the whole video, especially if you attend GP and saw the 80's series. It rocks!

Time to cook! And turn...

We found out Tuesday that pink3 is in a breech position. If she doesn't turn in the next 5 days, I'll have a c-section one week from today. I have a huge mix of emotions related to this, and can't seem to put them in writing, intelligently, anyway. My mind is full of things that need to be done. Cleaning, mainly, and cooking. I searched online and found some freezer meal recipes that I plan on making this weekend. I also have a couple of cookbooks on hold at the library. And my mom offered to make a few meals. Yeah for Moms, and Grandmas!!!!!

Here is the recipe for green chili chicken enchiladas. I plan to make these and freeze, as well. A friend of mine made this for a small group pot luck last spring. I've made it several times since. We love it.



1 lb. chicken breast, cooked and diced

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 can (small) green chilis, chopped

tortillas

2 cans green chili enchilada sauce

cheddar cheese, grated



Mix first 3 ingredients. roll into tortillas and place in 9x13 pan. Pour enchilada sauce over all and top with grated cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes. We serve this with spanish rice and black beans, chips and salsa. Enjoy!

She'll visit tonight!

The tooth fairy is coming to our house tonight! Kevin pulled Avery's tooth when he was home for lunch today. She is so excited! I wanted to celebrate, so I thought we'd make homemade cookies this afternoon. I also planned her science lesson on teeth. However, in her science lesson she learned that sugary foods are not good for teeth, so we skipped the cookie project, for today. Actually, I'll probably wait until she goes to bed tonight and make some, b/c they sound so good! Does anyone know the going rate for a 1st tooth?

One of those days...

I feel like it should still be raining outside. Today has been a weird day. I anticipated it to be crazy busy. But I didn't expect all of the bumps in the road...

• we had homeschool co-op. It's not really working for us. We still haven't met anyone and it's on the other side of town. Avery and I were both miserable this morning.
• Kevin and I are trying to squeeze a date night in tonight. He should be working on his dissertation, I should be working on the house. The girls are spending the night at Grandma's. I hope we can enjoy tonight without thinking of what we "should" be doing
• Avery's 1st tooth is sooooo loose, I'm afraid she'll lose it while she's at Grandma's house. As a type A mom, this is really bothering me...
• McKenna has gymnastics and can't find her leotard. We've looked everywhere
• Today is an audit day at LVS, which means Avery needs to register her attendance online, do 1 assignment in each subject she's taking and I have to fill out paper work. Something is wrong with the K12 site and I can't get online to do much of anything. Kevin mentioned they were having problems at work b/c of servers going through Texas and getting messed up in the Ike situation, so I'm wondering if that's it or not. So, we haven't done much school today.
• Abby, the dog, is really limping. We took her for a walk last night and she can barely move today.

I hate being a Debbie downer. Isn't it just like us humans to blow up over a loose tooth or lost leotard? On any other day I would have totally brushed these things off. These issues are temporary and not even important, really. But I'm ready for today to be over. Or at least for tonight to start...

Menu Plan Monday

Breakfasts

• cereal


• yogurt/granola


• raisen toast/fruit


• oatmeal


• toaster strudel

Lunch

• turkey/spinach/provolone sandwich-I'll post the recipe later this week. It's Kevin's favorite sandwich


• soup


• leftovers


• taco salad


• pb and j

Supper

• Green chili chicken enchiladas-recipe coming soon!


• hamburgers/salad/fries


• Stuffed sole, green beans, rolls


• breakfast casserole/fruit salad


• chicken marsala/salad


• frito chili pie


• date night out!

My friend, Kim, told me today that McDonalds happy meals have the Wizard of Oz characters starting this week. Dorothy is the 1st one, so I'm sure we'll have one meal at that fine eating establishment this week (this is your official warning, honey). If you read last week's menu, you'll notice I've carried a couple of meals over to this week. Some plans changed and I didn't get a few meals made last week. We'll try it again this week.

Save more, spend less

The phrase I keep reading on the frugal blogs I try to follow talk about making sure you save more than you spend. I honestly don't know how they do it for every shopping trip, but today I scored my 1st Walgreens deal. Here's the breakdown-

2 packages of Pampers-9.49 each (I actually had a coupon for this and forgot to use it, ugh....)

2 packages of Always-postpardom essential -B1G1 1/2 (had .50 coupon)

Sunsilk shampoo and Sunsilk anti frizz creme-B1G1 free (had 2 1.50 coupons)

2 Colgate toothepaste -sale was 2 for 2.99(had .75 coupon)

2 packs of trident gum-B1G1 free

Shout-on sale for 2.49

Nature Made Calcium supplements-B1G1 free

12 votive candles (coupon for 6/$1)

2 bags of candy corn-b/c I didn't know if I had spent the minimun required for the other coupon I had ($10 off of $40 purchase before coupons)

Total came to $79.16

had $4.79 in regular coupons

had $23.98 in Walgreens coupons

and $15.74 in Nature Made coupon

after coupons, my total was $34.63. I saved $44.51! I figured out that the diapers and 1 bottle of vitamins alone cost $33.97, so I basically got the rest of the stuff in the picture for less than a dollar. After the Walgreens trip, I headed to Dillons. I spent way more than I saved, so I'll spare you a picture and breakdown. I'm still learning...

Only Child

Tuesday night, my sister and I took McKenna and Reese to Abilene to spend some time with Grandma and Grandpa Keating. Avery didn't get to go this time, b/c she's in school. I assured her that after the baby comes, she'll get to go to Grandma's for a few days.
So, Avery's been an only child for the last 2 days...
Avery slept till 9:15 on Wednesday

• Did Math, Language Arts, Phonics, and History


• Kevin had a lunch meeting so Avery and I went to lunch-her choice-McDonalds


• got a dvd from Redbox-Ariel's Beginning


• Grandma Keating gave Avery some $ to buy some fall clothes, so after lunch we went to Kohl's and Target. We shopped for almost 3 hours! Found LOTS of clothes. Narrowed it down to a few items and headed to Grandma Osborn's for alterations.


• Ate supper on our china and drank milk from our wine glasses. We read Sleeping Beauty earlier in the day and wanted to eat on gold plates like the fairies did. I'm counting the days until I can use those wine glasses for their original purpose!


• Watched the redbox dvd and went to bed-well, I did anyway. Kevin and Avery stayed up later...
  

Thursday

• Avery slept in again-


• Did Math, Language Arts, Phonics


• Went to Friends U. and had lunch with Kevin


• on Tuesday in science, Avery learned about bones, joints, her skeleton, and skull. Kevin arranged for us to go into one of the labs on campus and look at a real skeleton. It was pretty cool. Avery was so excited!


• came home in the afternoon, rested, did science (muscles, heart, brain), took a phonics assessment


• It's raining here, no plans for tonight-I need to go work out.

When asked what her favorite part of the last 2 days were, Avery said, "going shopping!" Yes, she is my daughter!

It's beginning to look a lot like ....

Not really, but Kevin mentioned that we needed to start thinking, and purchasing Christmas gifts so we don't end up doing it all the week before Christmas, like usual. We have 21 people in both of our families. For the 11 years that we've been married, we always buy gifts for everyone for b-days and Christmas. Last year, I suggested something different for Christmas and it backfired, bad.

So, I'm curious...How do you do Christmas and the holidays with your families? Do you choose names? Only buy for kids? Buy for everyone? Buy for no one?

Leave a comment and let me know-

1. What do you do for Christmas? With your immediate family, then with the family at large


2. What do you wish you did?

Countries and continents

In History, Avery is learning about continents and countries. Today, the focus was on England-continent-Europe. She loved looking at pix of all of the castles and statues. Once she realized that's where Peter Pan was from, she wanted to visit. Someday, I told her...in my head I was thinking Europe at Epcot center at Disneyworld. But, I'm sure the real thing would be just as fun! Coloring the British flag-she also had to color a double decker bus and draw herself in one of the windows.

The finished project, along w/ her Dorothy shoes that I bought yesterday for Halloween. They haven't left her feet since.

TV update-Avery has done remarkable well with the new TV rules and schedule. I keep wanting to tell her how proud I am of her for handling this so well, but I'm afraid to remind her of what she's not watching. I never thought I'd say this, but I'm really liking not having the tv on.

One wants in...

The other wants out!

!st Day

McKenna has been waiting for today since last spring. It's her 1st day of gymnastics! This is what she looked like at 8 this morning. Her class is at 4:30 this afternoon...

Menu Plan Monday

Breakfast Choices

• cereal




• coffecake




• yogurt/granola




• fruit/oatmeal




• cinnamon toast

Lunch

• sandwiches




• soup/grilled cheese




• leftovers




• taco salad




• cheese/crackers/summer sausage/veggies

Dinner

• spaghetti/bread/salad (I've had this on the menu 3 weeks now. Maybe this week will be the week I actually fix it!)




• breakfast casserole (I use croutons instead of bread)/fruit salad




• Turkey breast/stuffing/sweet potatoes/crescent rolls




• Stuffed Sole/peachy rice/salad




• homemade pizza




• leftover buffet

I still have high hopes of making extra meals to freeze for when pink 3 comes. I'm less than 3 weeks away. More like hoping for a miracle at this point. I'm tired. I LOVE planning. I'm just not as good as carrying the plan out.

Quote of the week

Sally posted a local article about Palin this morning. I thought the last sentence was profound.

The greatest achievement of feminism won't be that a woman reached the vice presidency, but that a woman no longer needed feminists to get there.

By Kathleen Parker

I must say, I was very impressed by Sarah's poise, speech and presence Wednesday night. I would by no means consider myself a feminist. I LOVE being a SAHM. I know God called me to be in the home, taking care of my husband and children. Given the choice, I would probably never work outside the home again. But, isn't that true feminism, being able to choose? That's another post for another time...

At first, I questioned Palin's choice to do all she does, with 5 kids, a husband, etc...Over the course of this week, I've felt convicted by my initial thoughts on her. She can, and should do, whatever God has called and equiped her to do. And it looks like she's listening to Him and not me (which is a good thing!)

Go Sarah Palin!

Laundry troubles

No, not the detergent. The dog! Abby saw that I was taking the sheets off of our bed, she jumped up and wouldn't budge.

Happy Birthday!

To my father in law. Kevin has great pix and a wonderful post on his blog. We had big plans to get up early and take Grandpa donuts this morning for his b-day. Last night, found out he had a dr. appt at 8 am today that he needed to fast for. Man...I really wanted those donuts :) Looking forward to supper with him tonight, though-

I asked the girls what their favorite thing about Grandpa Osborn was-
McKenna-"getting to have his birthday cake"
Avery-"that we get to see him alot, and that he builds things for us, and fixes things"
Me-"that he loves his family, his kids, grandkids, and wife. And that he raised a wonderful man, my husband!"

Homeschool High/Low

I haven't posted this since week one. Mainly because we've had so many highs-

• Avery learning how phonics work, sounds work, and reading simple words
• McKenna learning about colors and shapes, practicing cutting-all with her left hand
• Avery learning about art, Australia, and her 5 senses
• going to the zoo to visit the Australian exhibit
• reading and acting out Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Tom Thumb, Thumbellina, and The Frog Prince. Making puppets and posters
• experiencing the joy of learning (and teaching)
• Having lessons together as a family

Yesterday was our first LOW day. Kevin and I have realized that we let the girls watch too much tv over the summer and we're trying to cut back. Avery is having a really hard time with this. She came unglued yesterday, when I told her we needed to start school. Then, she had another meltdown in the afternoon. So....

No Disney for a week. No Hannah Montana until further notice-hopefully never!

I know she needs downtime. We don't "do" school all day, every day. But I've noticed some patterns in her with regard to what she watches on tv that concern me. She loves to play dress up and doll house. She loves to color and make crafts. She'll be doing those things more often now...

The Downside...

The downside to online learning is the dependency you have on the computer, internet access, and server capabilities. We had school for a couple of hours this morning, then, all of a sudden, I couldn't get on to the site that had all of my lesson plans on it. Apparently, they are having some technical difficulty. So, Avery got a mid-morning break and I got to take a shower! We'll try it again this afternoon...

Tackle it Tuesday-

We had a wonderful 3 day weekend. Now, it's time to get back to a schedule and I'm trying to figure out how to start.

• I'm running low on my homemade laundry detergent, so I'm going to make some more today. Last time, I made liquid, using one of my husband's work buckets. He wants it back, and I don't have a substitute, so I'm going to try this recipe (#4) and make powder detergent this time.


• School kicks back up today-I would like to do 20 more days of school before Pink 3 comes at the end of the month, don't know if that will happen or not. Right now, I'm wondering how to cram 5 days of school into the 3 we have available this week! My type A personality doesn't know how to enjoy the benefits of homeschooling, yet.


• Avery is doing really well in school-her handwriting is very good and she's starting to read simple words. It's so exciting to experience learning to read with her.


• The girls are going to a friend's house this afternoon for a play date. I'm looking forward to a nap!


• 2 of the 3 vehicles we have currently aren't working. ugh...


• Didn't do MPM this week. Last week was crazy, I only made one meal on my list, so I'll just use last week's menu and start over next week.


• Dave Freeman said that Sept. 1 was the start of Fall. I got out our fall decor over the weekend. Everyone who's been over said I put it out too early...


• Did several loads of laundry for Pink 3. We picked out a crib. I'll post pix when the nursery is finished.


• I'd like to get 2 more date nights in before the baby comes. I miss being ALONE with my husband!


• Our friends, Troy and Lissa, had a son last Friday. Gabriel Luke was 8lbs. 6 oz and 21 inches long. We got to visit them at the hospital and he looked perfect!

Well, it's 8:30am-McKenna just got up, Avery is still sleeping. I'm enjoying my computer time before "life" begins. Now, McKenna wants to color on the computer, so I'm off. I hope you all have a great Tuesday!