Meal Plan for 3-22 thru 3-28

Monday: Minute Steak, mashed potatoes and corn
Tuesday: Dinner with the in-laws for Apple's first birthday
Wednesday: Pork loin slices on the grill and pasta salad
Thursday: Spaghetti and veggies
Friday: Something with chicken
Saturday: Bacon Burgers (new recipe)
Sunday: Hamballs or meatballs

I have no imagination this week! I'll take any recipe suggestions...I'm in a major rut! Check out what everyone else is having over at I'm an Organized Junkie!

Welcome to the world!!

I am pleased to introduce you to Damon and Lynden....my adorable nephews! They were born March 16 at 8:39am and 8:41am, 8 weeks early. Damon weighed in at a hefty 4 pounds 1 ounce and Lynden weighed 3 pounds 9 ounces. Both of them are doing wonderful and so is momma!

Damon had to be intubated Tuesday evening for a short time but was off the vent by Wednesday morning and nursing from Gab by Thursday! Lynden has only had to have nasal oxygen since birth...and we were all worried about our little fighter! He has proven that he will not let big brother pass him by. Lynden has tried nursing but hasn't figured it out quite yet. They are both under the billi lights right now for jaundice but for 32 weekers they are shocking us all! At this rate they will be home before their early May due date!

Damon...Chubbs
Lynden....Little Fighter

How do I love thee....

This is for my husband Kevin. I think I sometimes take advantage of the relationship I have with him and just need to remind myself why I love him and why I married him. I can't wait to celebrate our 50th anniversary and look around at the family we have created. You are my everything Kevin. Thank you for loving me!

Things I love about you:

• You support my crazy dreams
• How you always say good supper sweetheart
• the way you always slap my butt. I know I tell you to stop but please don't!
• The way I can tell you find me sexy even though my body has changed
• The way you work hard to support our family
• How you are always there to listen to me when I have had a bad day
• The way you are so involved with how we raise Jaelynn. i am so lucky to have you support me.
• How you want to get healthy so you will be around for a long time.
• The way you support me in losing weight but don't say bad things when I eat sweets
• The songs you make up and sing
• Even when we argue and fight I know you aren't going to walk away for good
• How handy you are with things around the house and our vehicles
• Your body. I think you are the sexiest man alive!
• The way you make me laugh when I need it most
• You aren't afraid to help with the house work
• How you will get up with Jaelynn in the middle of the night if you know I'm really tired.
• You put up with my family because you know how much they mean to me. (For the record...he really likes them..)
• how you are always so strong and constant. I know that Jaelynn and I can ALWAYS count on you!
• The way you refer to Jaelynn and I as your girls
• That you put up with my crazy hormonal mood swings
• How you want to beat up my boss (not really...but I know he would if I asked him too)
• How I know that you will never lie to me or do anything to hurt me
• The way you can melt me with a kiss
• That you know me well enough to know that kitchen gadgets and cookbooks are perfect gifts for me
• The way you give 150% to everything you do. Whether that be sports, xbox, parenting or our marriage
• That you are sharing your passion of bow hunting with me
• How you stick your tongue out when you are concentrating
• That you don't mind if the house isn't perfect all the time
• That you always put our family first!

(Thank-you to my good friend who told me to do this!)

Menu for 3-8 thru 3-14

It's that time of week again! Last week went really well. We stuck to the menu for the most part. Jaelynn came down with the stomach flu on Friday so we did throw a pizza in there for Kevin and I to eat. The good news is that the little one feels better and she is a hungry monkey!! Another wonderful thing....the snow is MELTING!!! I may actually be able to get to my grill this weekend!

Monday- Frozen cheese filled ravioli with meat sauce
Tuesday- Volleyball Night! Subway
Wednesday- Chicken Enchiladas
Thursday- Pork loin slices and veggies
Friday- Hot dogs and mac and cheese or Stromboli. If I find a yummy Stromboli recipe I'll switch.
Saturday- Checking to see what my mom wants
Sunday- Sunday roast with all the fixings

I also wanted to post about my quick shopping trip last Friday. This is why I love coupons and am trying to get better about matching sales and coupons.

Fareway
baby carrots: .88
red grapes (2.03 pounds): 1.99
5 Gold Medal AP Flour: 12.45
4 Old Orchard Juice 64 ounce: 3.96

Total: 19.56
OOP: 8.06
Saved: 11.50 41%!!

This post is linked to I'm an Organized Junkie, where everyone shares their meal plans every Monday.

Menu Planning Monday

I'm not really sure how many people follow this blog that don't know me in person. But in case you don't know who I am let me tell you a little known secret...I love to cook! I started cooking when I was very young and as I've grown older it has become a way for me to unwind at the end of the day. I love knowing that I'm putting a hot (or sometimes cold) meal on the table for my family. I love making people happy through my food. I like structure and organization in my life (umm...control issues) and cooking is a great outlet for me! I'm going to start posting what we are eating through the week and probably share recipes with you. I have been in a bit of a cooking rut the last few weeks. Hopefully this will help me be a little more creative. It would also help if we could find our grill through the remaining 30 inches of snow.

Monday- Easy Sloppy Joes (I make my own sauce), beans and cottage cheese
Tuesday- Volleyball Night! Brats and leftover beans or Subway
Wednesday- Hamburger Stroganoff over egg noodles and veggie
Thursday- Pork roast, potatoes and veggie
Friday- Iowa Deer Classic with hubs! I'll probably grab a pizza for the girls.
Saturday- Hamburgers
Sunday- Fried Chicken and fixins'

Now that I've posted it lets see how well we stick to it! Have a great week everyone!

The Mistress and Early Labor

I finally gave in.* Kevin has a new girlfriend and her name is XBox 360. While I wasn't initially thrilled about the purchase, I understand that Kevin is a gamer. He was so excited when I finally said yes you can upgrade your dinosaur PS2. Then I got the privilege of listening to the pros and cons list for the PS3 and XBox 360. After much debate**, and playing a friends XBox, the purchase was made. With only a small tear in my eye, I watched my husband fall into the arms of a toy. He bought it Monday and hasn't been to bed before midnight since.

All of that changed yesterday though. A wonderful women, we will call her PR, gifted me with Guitar Hero and now I have a new girlfriend too! After a small panic attack last night when we couldn't get the guitar to work we were on our way. For a good 20 minutes I was a rock star. Not a very good one but that is besides the point! We now have a family game! That is right...Jaelynn played too! This softens the blow a little of losing my husband. Kevin told me last night that this really wasn't a game I would catch him playing on his own but he will play with me...and Jaelynn of course.

Daddy and Jaelynn

Check out the rock star tongue!
How am I doing daddy?

*****************************************************
I have mentioned on here before that my younger sister is pregnant with twins. I'm so excited to meet my nephews! I just designed and sent out her baby shower invites on Monday and have been looking through different websites for instructions on how to make a diaper cake. I think the cake should be very easy and I'll post pictures and instructions when I'm done.

Gab is right around 30 weeks pregnant and doing much better. A few weeks ago during an ultrasound they discovered that the blood flow to Baby B was starting to decrease. So they have been keeping an eye on this (so far things look good) and just to be on the safe side, Gabrielle received two shots last week to help develop the babies lungs. The doctors are aiming for 35 to 36 weeks gestation. That will give the boys hopefully minimal time in the NICU.

Yesterday Gab's pregnancy took a turn in another direction. She started having contractions and thankfully they were able to stop them with meds. Unfortunately, Gab is now on bed rest! I haven't talked to her yet to get the specifics but it looks like we may be postponing her shower until after the babies are born. I'm going to check with her though to see what the doctor said exactly. If she is on modified bed rest we may still be able to have the shower, just at a different location. Please keep Gabrielle and the boys in your prayers! We really want another 5 weeks of pregnancy just to ensure that the boys are healthy!

*He talked about this almost every waking moment for 3 days...I had no choice...he wore me down.
**MUCH debate!! 3 days worth!

Love is....

I really don't strive to be a crappy blog owner. I write post all the time in my head while I'm in the shower. Then I get out of the shower and have zero time to myself and before you know it I have forgotten what I'm going to write about! What I really need is a waterproof laptop....or more time to myself. Anyway, I wanted to write about my awesome hubby! I love him so very much and he made this Valentine's Day very special.

First off I should tell you that Kevin is an avid deer hunter. He hunts with a compound bow and a shotgun but his passion is the bow. A couple of years ago we were messing around one night with some friends and they talked me into trying out Chey's bow. Well...I fell in love and ever since Kevin and I have been looking for the right bow and the right time. That time came about a week and a half ago when Kevin found my bow online. I got it on Wednesday and Thursday Kevin had it set for my draw length and we had a friend cut my arrows down.

Isn't she pretty??!!

Friday we decided to let Jaelynn stay the night with Grandma and Papa so that we could go out on our Valentine's date. Kevin was taking me shooting! I was soooo excited. I even brought my camera but he told me it really would be kind of embarrassing to take pictures of me. We were just about to Happy.Apple when Kevin says, "Man...I really hope it isn't packed tonight." And I totally freaked out! In my mind it was going to be just Kevin and I and the person running the shop. It never occurred to me that there would actually be other people there. When I was younger something like that wouldn't bother me but the older I get the more I dislike being around a lot of people...especially in a situation like this one. Needless to say by the time we actually got there I was so wound up I was shaking.

I finally started to calm down a little once I started shooting. Kevin reassured me that I didn't suck and we were able to get my 10 yard pin and my 20 yard pin dialed in. Then my arm felt like it was going to fall off so we stopped. I had so much fun but did learn a couple of things from my very sexy instructor.

1. Wear warmer clothes! I was dressed up a little because we were on a date. But the place where we shoot is a lot like a Mor.ton building and was not warm!
   
2. BREATHE!! Kevin told me over and over to not hold my breath and to relax. So I'm going to work on that.
3. Wear a sports bra. If you know me then you know that God really poured out His blessings on my chest. In archery you have to have a certain posture to help you shoot. I found this difficult because every time I got into the correct position my boobs were in the way. Kevin told me I need to flatten them out a little...not something he usually recommends!

I don't know if I will ever actually shoot a deer but I might. Right now I'm just going to enjoy target practice and spending time with my husband. Oh!! Here is a picture of what Kevin got me for Valentine's Day:

IMG_1519.JPG">