33 things I am Thankful for

Loving Husband
Forgiving God
Healthy Children
Place to Live
Food to Eat
Fun Friends
Blessed Job
Older Son who enjoys our company
A Husband with Vision and Dreams
Awesome Grandparents who are good examples to me
Funny Children
Freedom
Peace
Pumpkins (love having this in my freezer for last minute pumpkin bread)
Meat (we eat meatless meals often per hub's request so this is a blessing)
Dessert (Love me some chocolate)
Facebook (love that I can catch up with old friends)
Family
Good Chocolate
Abi's Smile
Zeke's Thoughtfulness
God's Provision
God's Direction
Learning
Denton Public Library
Denton's Community Activities
Coupons
Coffee & Dr. Pepper
Parents Night Out
Sleeping Children
Transportation
Faith
Contentment

New way of Meal Planning & Grocery Shopping!

Lately I have been meal planning and grocery shopping little different.  I used to be a super serious coupon shopper and while I still think coupons are great and I still clip those that I plan to use, I am not the serious coupon shopper I once was.  At one time, I went to 2 different stores 4 times to get cearl for 50cents each.  I ended up purchasing close to 30 boxes of cearl.  I shared some with friends and family and of course had lots of cearl for some time.  Then Abi came along and I just have not gotten back into it like I did.  I still have my price points that I stick to, meaning I do not like to pay more the $1 per lb for fruits and veggies.  I try to get pasta and rice for $1 or less per bag.  I rarelly pay full price for much of anyting. 

Lately I have done things a little different.  I have tried to only purchase for one week at a time.  I plan our meals, breakfast, lunch and dinner based upon what we have and also based on a few simple meals.  We usually have pasta, rice and veggies, beans and rice and potatoes, green beas and sausage once per week.  (more often if we want).  Lunch is simple leftovers, sandwiches, pasta or another simple meal that we have around.  Breakfast is pancakes, toast, eggs and occaisonally French toast when my hubby wants to treat us.  (He did cook French toast several times in the past few weeks!)  We have smoothies, yogurt, dry cearl, popcorn, chips and fresh fruit for snacks.  My husband has a sweet tooth, so we try to have dessert often.  I would like to make up some cinnomon rolls and freeze them so that he will have a quick dessert ready in minutes.  (we do eat little meat, I will usually buy ground turkey, chicken or steak when it is on sale, but we do eat many meatless meals)

Eating from our cupboards and only buying what we need has really saved us in the grocery budget department.  I also do not  necesarilly stick to the menu.  For instance if we planned to have rice and veggies tonight but I would rather have pasta I switch it up, it is that simple.  I do plan it out so that I can remember to defrost things but I am very flexible!  Also for lunch Zeke has had PB&J for the past two days so lunch has been pretty simple!  (he recently learned how to make PB&J all by himself!)

Here is a sample menu plan:

Sunday 
Breakfast - eggs & toast
Lunch - leftovers/sandwich
Dinner - Pizza (we get day old french bread from Jimmy Johns for 50cents each and add shredded chicken and spinach and a little mozzarella to make yummy pizza)

Monday
Breakfast - toast
Lunch - School
Dinner - Red Beans & Rice, fried potatos and green beans

Tuesday
Breakfast - Pancakes
Lunch - Pasta/Sandwich
Dinner - Rice with Veggies, Cornbread

Wednesday
Breakfast - eggs/toast
Lunch - Pasta/sandwich,
Dinner - Potatos, sausage, green beans

Thursday
Breakfast - toast/banana
Lunch - Hot dogs, chips, fruit and carrots
Dinner - Chilli, with chips

Friday
Breakfast - toast/banana
Lunch - school
Dinner - Eggs & Pancakes ( sometimes I add spinach to our eggs if we have them for dinner)

Saturday
Breakfast - Pancakes
Lunch - Leftovers/Sandwich
Dinner - Pizza, veggie or salad

Snacks - Smoothies, fruit, dried fruit and nuts, dried cearl, popcorn, chips

I am enjoying this simple way right now.  Having about 10 meals to choose from makes shopping and cooking so much simpler!  When I do purchase ground turkey or chicken I will cook lots up at once and freeze in small portions.  I will use to make pizzas, tacos, chilli, enchiladas, etc.  I also use my crock pot at least twice per week.  It is so nice to put stuff in crock pot and be able to come home and just eat! 

What have we been up to??

Well, the kids and I have been doing some homeschooling on the days we are not at Mother's Day Out!  Zeke is doing really well with his letters, numbers and sounds.  He is working on writing his letters and loves to draw/color pictures.  He is really quite good at making people!  I have been working with Abi on her colors, shapes, letters and numbers.  She is getting pretty good at her shapes.  She also loves to color/draw.  She has such a different learning personality than Zeke.  She is a little stubborn, so mommy is learning how to teach her in her style!  What a job this is.  This month we have been talking about the Days of the Week, Months of the Year and the Seasons.  We talk about this each morning and also watch a great video about the Seasons that we have had since Zeke was a baby.  He knows all the seasons and can quickly tell you what season we are in.  It will be interesting next week when we talk about it changing to Fall!  He knows Fall comes next!  We have also been talking about the weather so these rain storms and weather changes have been great for our learning.  For Bible we have been focusing on Zeke's Cubbies scripture memorization as well as reading random bible stories in their bible.  One that we have talked a little more about is Cain & Abel.  I have been reading the kids books about getting along and being kind to your brother/sister, sharing, etc.  At our library you can check out Reading Totes that include about 5 books and a video for different topics.  We checked one out on Sibling Rivalry.  It has been good.  We will get one on Weather next.  This week we did some painting and Zeke has learned to make his own PB&J!  He does really good!  He uses less peanut butter than I would so that's a plus.  He also eats it much better than if I had made it!  Not to mention the fact that my sweet boy who is growing up way faster than I would like is very proud of this new skill!  I can tell that it makes him feel very good about himself when he makes his own sandwich.  Abi is teasing me with her potty training.  One week, she will do very good and the next she will get lazy on me and peepee in her pants.  So for now, we are just waiting on her.  I have full confidence that she is capable and will fully train soon!  Below are a few pictures of our projects this week!

Zeke and Abi painted these and I wrote their names on them.  We have them hung by their beds!  Very simple.  (We used a paper bag to paint on and a pipe cleaner to hang them)  I may turn the sides under to make them look a little neater!

This is tye dyed with Koolaid.  It was messy.  You mix one koolaid pkg with 1oz white vinegar.  If we were to do this again, I would have doubled or trippled the recipe.  We quickly ran out of dye!  The website I saw  said to iron the shirt with a iron cover, to set the dye.  So we will do this later when the shirts dry. 

Here are two great books we have been reading relating to Seasons!  They are both wonderful.  "Pie in the Sky" has the recipe for Cherry Pie in it and "Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf" has directions for making a bird treat!  Lots of Fun!

We are having lots of fun learning! 

Birthday Present from my Sister!

For my birthday this year my sister gave me a night away in Sundance Square in Fort Worth!  We had so much fun!  We stayed in a hotel. 

Had dinner downtown in Sundance Square.  After dinner we walked around, then got back to the hotel so we could swim and watch some TV!

On Sunday morning we woke up, had yummy breakfast at the hotel and then went to the Omni hotel for our Spa day!  Here we are in our robes!

We both got massages and facials!  It was so much fun.  There was even Cucumber Water in the lounge!  After the Spa we had lunch at the Corner Bakery and visited a few shops. 

In one shop there was a display of all things Dr. Pepper.  Dr Pepper Jelly beans, Dr Pepper Cake and Icing, even Dr. Pepper Beef Jerky.  It was just so neat!

What a special birthday this was!  We have decided to make this an annual trip!  Thanks Tosh for such a special time!!  I love you!

Free Aveda Products for your Birthday

Do you like FREE stuff?  I do.  Last year I signed up to receive a few freebies from Aveda.  Aveda is a line of hair and skin products.  I was introduced to Aveda several years ago and have loved the products ever since.  Although they are way expensive so I never buy them.  Since signing up for freebies I get postcards in the mail for free samples of products (about 3-5 per year).  Also on my birthday I get a postcard for a Free full size Personal Blends purfume or body care product.  You choose the scent essential oil.  This is a $25 product.  For FREE!!!  Happy Birthday to me!  Last year i got massage oil, which I use in my baths to make them oh so spa like!  Not sure what I will get this year, maybe a perfume!  

If you want to sign up, go to http://www.avedabday.com/!

Enjoy!

LOVE YOUR MAN!!

There is a song on Country radio that has really got me thinking!  I love my husband dearly but there are too many times throughout our everyday lives that I am sure I have given him the impression that I would rather he just leave me alone. Of course I feel more than justified.  I am so busy with the kids, cooking, cleaning and just plain ol every day life.  He has become my "seconds".  This song has so encouraged me to do everything in my power to keep my sweet husband from feeling this way.  I love him and I need to make sure he knows it!  He is my first priority (after Jesus of course)!   Read these lyrics and tell me you do not want to just go hug your MAN!!!  I sure did!  ( I include a link to the video)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5GVa1yWYZM
DO I  by Luke Bryan


Baby, what are we becoming


It feels just like we’re always running

Rolling through the motions everyday

I can lean in to hold you, or act like I don’t even know you

Seems like you could care less either way

What happened to that girl I used to know

I just want us back to the way we were before


Do I turn you on at all when I kiss you baby

Does the sight of me wanting you drive you crazy

Do I have your love, am I still enough

Tell me don’t I, or tell me do I baby

Give you everything that you ever wanted

Would you rather just turn away and leave me lonely

Do I just need to give up and get on with my life

Baby, do I


Remember when we didn’t have nothing

But a perfect simple kind of loving

Baby those sure were the days

There was a time our love ran wild and free

But now I’m second guessing everything thing I see


Do I turn you on at all when I kiss you baby

Does the sight of me wanting you drive you crazy

Do I have your love, am I still enough

Tell me don’t I, or tell me do I baby

Give you everything that you ever wanted

Would you rather just turn away and leave me lonely

Do I just need to give up and get on with my life

Baby, do I


Still give you what you need

Still take your breath away

Or light up the spark way down deep, baby do I


Do I turn you on at all when I kiss you baby

Does the sight of me wanting you drive you crazy

Do I have your love, am I still enough

Tell me don’t I, or tell me do I baby

Give you everything that you ever wanted

Would you rather just turn away and leave me lonely

Do I just need to give up and get on with my life


Tell me baby do I get one more try

Do I, baby do I

The Yellow Cup

God really does know best!  If we could only keep this at the forefront of our hearts and minds we would save so much time searching in this life and more importantly save some heartche!  I was reminded of this today when Abi was so determined to get a certain cup at bedtime.  She had a yellow cup earlier in the evening and by golly, she was determined to get that cup.  I was offering her a nice, full cup of juice (pink) but she wanted her yellow cup so bad, she was whining and crying and running all over the house franticlly searching for this cup.  I continued to offer her the "pink cup" much to her disappointment and continued crying.  I did not understand why she would not take the "pink" cup until she went in the bathroom, then I remembered that she had left her "yellow" cup in there.  The "yellow" cup had fallen in the bathtub.  I watched as she leaned over trying to reach the "yellow"  cup.  I cringed as I wondered if she would fall in.  I was on my toes prepared to grab her if she started to fall in.  She didn't fall.  After a few tries she turned around and came to me and took the "pink" cup.  Never to look back at her "yellow" cup.  For someone so determined to get that "yellow" cup I was amazed at how quickly she was content with her "pink" cup. 

This is so much like us in life.  We are so determined to do things our way.  When our way doesn't work or turns out to not be what we would want it to be, then we decide to look God's way.  I wish I could say that I listen to God and obey every time.  I pray that my heart and mind be so consumed with God, His ways and His thoughts that I will go for the "pink" cup next time instead of following the "yellow" cup!  How much more content and happy could we be if we followed His way! 

God Bless!

Pizza Inn Fundraiser

Eat Pizza - Support the Brisman Family

Thursday June 3rd  5-9pm

Pizza Inn Denton

501 W. University

940-320-5656

Pizza Inn Denton will donate 15% of net sales to Rob & Heather Brisman on all Dine In, Carryout & Delivery purchases on Thursday June 3rd from 5-9pm.  Please tell the cashier you are supporting the Brisman family.  Rob has cancer and is currently undergoing radiation treatment.  We will also be hosting a raffle and giving away door prizes. 

Come on out, enjoy some pizza and support a great family!!

Late Afternoon Writings

For the past several weeks, I have sat down to write out one of the several blog ideas I have had in my head and each time I was unable to get my thoughts out into words.  So here it goes! 

My children's routines and attitudes have changed lately and have been very challenging  Abi is teething so that has always been a challenge.  She has also become much more independent.  She now, sleeps in her big girl bed and is really wanting to go potty in the potty!  All this is good, but I was not ready for this. 

It is just another example of the huge sacrifice we, mommies, have to make for our children and our husbands.  It does not matter that I want to sleep til 8am on my days off.  Abi is an early riser and gets up around 7am so up I go to!  My kids bedtime has been 7pm for while now.  While, that is great for Abi it is becoming aparent that I will have to make Zeke's bedtime a little bit later.  When he takes a nap, he is not so eager to go to bed at 7pm.  And it is becoming much more obvious that he needs daily naps!  SO, changes will be made in the Adams routine!  Mommy has been attempting to workout 3 mornings each week (at 5:15am).  This is a new routine.  And since we started going to Mothers Day Out twice per week the other days we are home have been very laxed and might I say, lazy!  I know I have to jump back on the routine/structure wagon!  It is just so hard!  Don't get me wrong, I still have routines at naptime and bedtime but all the other times have become so relaxed we just play!  I haven't made a real dinner in several days.  If that tells you anything! 

So all this to say, I gotta get back into my routine!  I think I will start with writing out an outine.  Add in a menu plan and go for it!!!  Routine is great I just have to get myself excited about it!  I know it will make our lives so much easier.  And then somewhere down the line it will change again!  The joys of being a mommy!

I am not so sure that is what I wanted to write about. 
Some of the post ideas I hope to write about soon!

Living Simply - story about living well below your means
A couple of delicious meals we had about 2-3 weeks ago
Bragging/Updates on my great kids
Great Homeschool websites that I frequent
Other wonderful Blogs that I frequent

Until then, Enjoy!!

Tasty Treat - Strawberries with Hershey's Kisses

Zeke had his Valentine's Party at Mother's Day Out on Monday.  He came home so much candy.  Yesterday for snack I wanted to let them eat candy but wanted to make it somewhat healthier so this is what they had. 

4 Strawberries cut up into little slivers
3 Hershey's Kisses

All placed in a little bowl for them to enjoy. 

They loved it.  Of course they both at the Chocolate first!!! 

Adult Children

Well, I definately didn't think I would be sharing about my adult children at this age but I was blessed with a wonderful son when I married my husband.  Brandon was 13 when Mike and I got married.  He moved into our home 8 months later and lived there until he moved out on his own at 18.  We had our many glorious experiences with his teenage years!  He went to public High school for 2 years and then was homeschooled during his last 2 years of school.  We had a house fire, he hugged his teacher tooo hard and got suspended, he played football, he talked back too many times, he played with his younger brother and sister, he kept his room clean (most of the time), he got staph infection in his knee, he had a big birthday party where they played Xbox in every room of our house (even the bathroom), he got twisted up like a pretzel when he was doing some kind of stretch, he became a special person in my life!  I genuinely love Brandon as my own son and I did not even realize this until the last year that he has not lived with us. 

While he lived with us, I felt o so responsible for his actions.  I felt that when he was disobedient and did not do as we thought he should it was solely a reflection upon me and Mike.  I was very emotional and angry when I disciplined him.  When he would do some crazy stunt I would get all bent out of shape and go off on him.  I yelled and was mean to him more times than I would like to admit.  Through this journey I have learned to ask for forgiveness from my children.  I am not perfect and I will make mistakes.  But the biggest mistake I could make would be to not admit my wrong and go on being mean to him. Sure he needed discipline but he needed consistant, unemotional discipline.  Now that he has moved out and is an "adult" things are definately different.  I heard a minister state a while back that there are levels in our relationships with our children and as they grow we advance to these different levels whether we want to or not.  I am going to try to recap what he said.  When they are in our home we are in charge.  They have to live by our rules whether they agree or not.  But once they have moved out, it is no longer appropriate for us to tell them what to do.  We are not to give advice unless they ask for it.  You would not go down the street and consistantly tell your sister what to do.  If you did, it would be wrong and the two of you probably wouldn't get along very well.  Same with your children who have moved out from under your care.  They will more than likely  make many mistakes and do many things that  you do not like.  Mine sure has but I have been blessed with this amazing peace of God since he has moved out.  I have had so much compassion for him.  God has allowed me to see Brandon through his eyes.  Sure he has been out there doing plenty of things I would rather not know about but he is still my son and I love him dearly.  It grieves my heart to think of the pain he is bringing on himself but I pray (prayer is all I have) that he will open  his eyes and remember what he knows!  Of course I would love to go and tell him how wrong he is and what he needs to be doing but it is not my place.  Until he asks for my advice I will continue to give him up to God.  I have faith that God has him in the palm of His hand.  God has always had a way of getting through to Brandon.  Remember I told you he was twisted up like a pretzel.  God had to slow Brandon down so he could speak to him.  I am confident that He will do that again if need be! 

I share this to encourage any of you with adult children.  They are still yours but in a different way.  God has blessed you with 18 years more or less to guide them, train them, put into them all that you have and all that God has given you for them.  It is now time to enjoy a blessed relationship with them.  Encourage them, love them, and offer your tips and advice on life when asked!  I have been blessed with such a peace regarding Brandon over this past year.  Sure there are plenty of times that I have wanted to go and shake some sense into him but mostly I have just loved him and found that it was usually better for me to keep my mouth shut!!  He has come to me more than once and asked for advice.  I am more than confident that Brandon knows the truth and the truth will set him free!!

FREE Books

Books, Books and more Books. We love them in my house. I am running a special on Usborne Books right now. For every purchase I am giving away a FREE book. All you have to do is go to mymommystayshome and check out the wonderful books of Usborne Books & More. They are educational and fun. They are made very well and are very cost effective. They have over 1300 titles and 80% are under $10. If you would like to order online, go to mymommystayshome then click on my name (Angela Adams) on the right hand side of the page. You can place your order there or you can contact me via email at mikeswife2004@hotmail.com to order directly.

* If you think you would like to host your own book party and earn lots of Free Books, let me know via email.

Thanks!!!

Hurt Hand

My sweet boy touched the iron last night! We weren't sure the extent of the damages until this morning when I was fianlly able to catch a glimpse of a blister. Not too big and not tooo red. So hopefully it will heal nicely. He is very protective of that hand. He cried everytime we talked about it last night. It wasn't a pain cry but one of those I know I did something I wasn't supossed to and got hurt cries. It was so sad. I really do not think he will be touching the iron again! I am amazed daily at the emotional, social and mental growth that I see in him. He now knows all his letters and numbers (0-9). Will voluntarilly say he's sorry to his sister when he is mean to her. Shows genuine concern for others. We were watching a commercial about the SPCA and they were asking people to adopt the puppies. While we were watching, Zeke said "yes, I will". I asked if he wanted to adopt a puppy. He said "yes, he's crying". It was so sweet! I love my sweet boy! I hope he always stays sweet, considerate and loving!!

Sorting Activity

I tried these great sorting activities I found on a wonderful Montessori blog called Chasing Cheerios. http://www.chasingcheerios.blogspot.com/ She always has wonderful activities for her children to do. Sorting with colors, letters, numbers, sizes, etc. I did this with numbers where I had cards with the numbers 0-5 written on them and Zeke had to put that number of cars there. He did really well with little help. Then I had foam numbers and he matched the foam numbers to the cards. He did that with no help at all. Last we sorted his toys with these letter cards. It was lots of fun and we sounded out different letters. This will be a regular part of our learning!

Happy Birthday Zeke!

Happy 3rd Birthday to my sweet Zeke!! Today is my little boy's 3rd birthday. 3 years ago today I was in labor for the first time. I had everything prepared and I anxiously awaited the arrival of our second (I didn't give birth to our first) son! He has filled our lives with joy ever since. He is so considerate, sweet, loving, active, happy, busy, creative, funny, cute, smart and a joy to be around. Right now he is playing happily with his new Thomas & Toby train. He has been playing with them since 8 this morning. Great gift! As I know he is still young I am realizing more and more every day that he grows up every day. He learns new things, good and bad. He has new feelings and emotions, good and bad. I pray that he always has an open mind and an open heart. That he is always loving and full of zeal for life. That he learns from his mistakes and is always comfortable confiding in and talking to Mike and I. He knows that God lives in his heart and we pray that God will keep folly far far away!! I love my little boy. He is the apple of my eye and I enjoy spending my days with him. Thank you God & Mike for allowing me to stay home with my 2 sweeties. No matter how hard it is the blessing is much greater! Happy Birthday Zeke! Mommy, Daddy, Brandon & Abi love you!

3rd Birthday Party for around $150 (20 kids)

I am very proud of my frugel self! I added up all the costs involved with Zeke's upcoming birthday party and realized that everything, including his gift from us, was around $150. This is great. Last year I relyed on Chuck E. Cheese and I bet we spent over $200 easy. And it was a stressful party. This year we are having his party at a church. They rent out their gym with a bounce house and an inflatable slide. Cake and drinks. The goody bags were only around $15 for 20 of them. I have to say that I am very proud of myself. It feels GOOD to spend LESS. I did our entire Christmas purchase for around $200. God Bless!!

More Funny things Zeke says

Last night Zeke and I had a conversation about pottying in the potty. Here is how it went.

Mom - Zeke do you need to go potty? (I know I should have just taken him to the potty and had him sit there)

Zeke - No

Mom - Are you going to wear diapers forever?

Zeke - Yes

Mom - Who is going to change them?

Zeke - Katie (katie is a sweet girl who has kept the kids for me)

I am so grateful that he is not planning on me changing his diapers. I am hoping to get him consistantly potty trained this week. We have been working on this for what seems like forever. He will do really good and then have several accidents in one day. I believe that he is capable and just needs the practice so my thought is if I am consistant and take him to potty several times per day he will "get it". Pray for us please!!

Craft Idea

I love to do crafts with my kids. They also like them. A while back, Zeke was wanting to do a "cwaft" every day and Abi jumps at the chance to maybe chew a few crayons. A week or so ago I saw a Martin Luther King, Jr Day craft online where you cut out different colored handprints and put them together like a wreath. So that is what we did. I added the song "Jesus loves the little Children to our wreaths. It was very easy and turned out very cute!!