Princess takes her first steps

Princess took her first steps last night to her Daddy.

She fell down and kept smiling and kept trying. Her first steps were wonderful. She was so proud of herself and we were so delighted with her.

The full Thompson Trio all on my lap. Cutie Pies!

Freezer Meals

This is a project I have been really excited to get under way. I have been thinking and thinking about how to do this and I finally just set my mind to just getting it done today.

My husband recently looked at his finances and he decided he is wasting the most money on eating out. He works full time and goes to school full time. Not only that, he gets off work at 5:30 and has to be at school at 6:00. Needlessly to say he doesn't have any time to sit down and eat a good meal. If he wants a decent meal he has to bring it from home or he'll be having another burger on the road.

Meatloaf, instant potatoes, and freezer peas

I've been trying to send him with leftovers but sometimes we eat out. Sometimes he doesn't like what I cook (he is really, really picky! and I'm not a very talented cook). Sometimes he really likes what I cook and consequently there are no leftovers left.

Chicken enchiladas, refried beans (I'm not sure how well they'll freeze), corn and butter

I tried to solve this problem by buying him some meals he could make at work but to fill him up is pretty darn expensive. So we are trying some home made tv dinners. I bought the tupperware at walmart, three for $2.25 Rubbermade brand. Then I cooked some tried and true foods he loves. I made beef enchiladas, bbq chicken breasts, chicken enchiladas, lasagna, meatloaf, mmmm mmmm cheesy chicken and rice casserole. I bought some tamales from the man in the wal mart parking lot who was selling them. I hope they withstand the freezer. I buy these tamales whenever I can. I LOVE the fact that this man and his family are willing to go out and talk to strangers and ask them to buy from them even more so because of the language barrier. I LOVE that they are doing whatever it takes to support their family. I LOVE that they are out there every single time I am there, they are always working. Always trying. Always taking the crap and rudeness people give them. Bravo to the tamale man!

Tamales, frozen corn and butter

Okay so on to the home made tv dinners idea. I cooked all these up. Which really didn't take that long. I browned a lot of hamburger and used it for both the beef enchiladas and for the lasagna. I doubled the enchilada sauce and used that for both the chicken and the beef. I cooked both the bbq chicken and the chicken for the enchiladas at the same time on the George Foreman Lean Mean Fat Reducing Grilling Machine. I used the same giant package of shredded cheese for the enchiladas, cheesy chicken and rice, and the lasagna. Then I made two big batches of instant potatoes. I read they freeze better than the real mashed like I normally make for dinner. If you don't have an evening or a Saturday to dedicate to this project you could spread out the process by doubling what you make for dinner for a week or two. Our family will only eat half of a lasagna for one dinner so I gave him half and saved half for us to eat tomorrow.

Cheesy yummy lasagna

Then I sectioned everything all out. I matched meals to sides as much as much as I could. My picky husband will only eat a handful of veggies so I was seriously limited on choice. He is allergic to all fruit but I thought it would be nice to add some frozen blueberries in yogurt for a different side. I labeled our new tupperware with our last name on the lid and side with sharpie marker. I used dry erase to label the side with it's contents. I think next time I might either write on a piece of tape and tape it to the container or do a color dot system since the dry erase was erasing (imagine that!). A tip on the dry erase markers-- they won't write where you have put something cold inside. I filled my little sides up with freezer corn and the condensation wasn't doing me any favors.

Then I stacked the meals in the ol' freezer. I'm going to rotate the meals from the bottom up. So he can just grab and go. Hoorah! P.S. Don't they look cute in my freezer?

It's true. He did sit on the couch and play plants vs. zombies on his phone almost the whole time I was doing this. I know. But I love him anyways.

I hope this can inspire you to solve something an issue in your life that is bugging the living crud out of you. Cause let me just tell ya-- him eating out five meals a week, sometimes two meals was bugging the crud out of me.

The people who matter in a life time

I have been thinking for awhile about the people who matter in my life. I have been thinking about all the people who are worth their salt and the people who I just can't keep around. There are some people I wish I could have in my life more, for instance--my dad.
I cut my dad out of my life seven moths ago and it has been great for me. I am happier, healthier and definitely less stressed. I am enjoying the drama-free zone and I feel comfortable because for once in my life I am calling the shots in our relationship. And right now, it's game is over. I do know that I am enjoying the break. He had been rough on me my entire life. He doesn't treat me well or come to see me when he says he will. He was repeating the same behavior with my kids. I can't have him treat them the way he treated me. They are too important to be treated like garbage. He treats me like garbage and I SO deserve better.
So... as I have found happy results with the lack o'dad in my life I am looking for other people who bring me down. I am looking for others who even though I love them or are friends with them or whatever with them, are just not deserving to be in my life. I want to surround myself with the best, drama free, nicest, fun, kind people. I am sick of "friends" who put me down. I am sick of people who just need and need and never reciprocate.
It's so refreshing to delete that person from my phone, unfriend them on facebook or just ignore the call. I deserve the best. I am an awesome person and if they can't see that then it's their loss! I challenge you to evaluate your relationships in life and try to fix, med, refashion or terminate them. Let's all be happy. Let's help each other out and spread the love.

Journals

I just wanted to jot down a quick note about keeping a journal. I LOVE to re-read all my old journals. Especially the ones from when I was a kid. They are wonderful. The trials remind me of how far I have come, the joys lift me up when I am blue. My husband and I had a really rough patch in our marriage about two years ago and we almost got a divorce. Those journals are the only ones I haven't read over and over. But-- I'm glad I have them so that one day I'll be able to show my kids that marriage and love is about give and take and learning.
When I was a teenager I used to go and sit with my grandma once a week and we'd have lunch. At the time it was a cross between an obligation and wanting to be better than my sisters ;). I didn't see much value in her stories about the kids across the street or the same old story about how she would get an egg and walk it down to the store where she would trade it for an entire bag of candy. However, as times change and the world changes I value her stories more and more. I value an old woman watching kids across the street play, she could phone the police if they were kidnapped or see if they were run over in the wide, sometimes busy streets by her old home. I'm glad I wrote those memories down.
Hopefully a little known fact: I have a hard time with one of my sons. I try desperately not to write down negative thigs about him as I know one day he will read it. I try to be kind as I vent about my days frustrations. It is nice to reread the stories of when he was a baby and I would gush over the mere marvel of his existence. When every coo and every step was precious it is nice to read, 'oh yeah, I did and still do love this chattering hellion.'
All-- no, most of my journals are just spiral notebooks. I like to buy them at the beginning of the school year when they go on sale for 15 or 20 cents. I usually pick the notebooks with colors to reflect how my life is going. The ones from my husbands and my trying times are black. The ones from when I would go and see my grandma are yellow-- I was happier then. Mostly I write in red ones lately. I am not the the happiest I've ever been but I'm not sad.
I date each entry in the top left hand corner with the date, time and day of the week. It's easier to flip through them that way. After all-- they are meant to be read. The other thing I do is write the date n the back of the journal when it was started and finished. For instance the one I completed about 15 minutes ago says in bold purple sharpie "09-15-09 to 07-15-10" I didn't write very often. It took me almost a year to finish! I like to write every day but sometimes with three kids and chickens and ducks and a hubby who works full time and goes to school full time that just ain't happening.

Super Easy Shirt Refashion

I tried my first shirt re fahion yesterday. It's cute. I like it.
Here is my starting shirt. It is a yellow shirt form Old Navy. There wasn't any thing wrong with it except it is so plain, it always gets over looked. I prefer big, warm sweaters in winter time. I was about to drop it off at D.I. (a local thrift/donation store) when I decided to give a refashion a try. I've been seeing shirt refashions all over the blogisphere and I am always impressed. I want to try my own version!

I started by cutting off the sleeves. I left about 5 inches to make it short sleeved.

Next I cut down the seam on the cut off sleeves. I took a cup and lightly traced as many circles as I could using a cup as a guide.

I cut just inside of the circles since I didn't want any of the pen to show.

Then I used some diluted bleach water to spritz the circles. This step was unnecessary but I wanted to add a little something extra to this plain shirt. The bleach was diluted 10 parts water to one part bleach. I used this since just because this is the mixture I use to clean my counters and I had it upstairs all ready. Who's lazy? Not me ;)
I gave it about a minute or two and rinsed it out. The longer you leave it on the lighter the color will become (until it is white). Capishe?
Then I took all of my circles did this ^ to them starting at the top of the shirt. I drew a line down the center of the shirt and made sure my circles were centered on the line. I pinned them down. Then I pinned and ironed my sleeves. Ironing helps make a good crease in the fabric, which is so much easier to sew.
When you sew it make sure you start at the bottom so the needle can just fall onto the next circle and you aren't sewing against the circles. Then just sew long line from top to bottom (remembering to back stitch) . Then I did a quick line around my sleeves. Viola! It's done!

Princess was fussing and insisted on being in my professional fancy smanchy photo shoot. Don't judge the streaks on my mirror, m'kay?