March Menu

I just finished my dinner menu for March. I wasn't feeling too adventurous, so it's pretty boring. I just list the main dishes; for side dishes we always have a veggie, sometimes an additional side, and usually a salad. I just recently started getting some (free!) recipe magazines so maybe I'll find a few new recipes to try and mix it up a bit. If you want to take a peek... I moved the link to the monthly menu up to the tab section.

Disgusting

Beware! Read at your own risk! If you have a weak stomach or are eating while you read, please skip this post. And I apologize in advance but this was just too much fun not to share!

See that thing below the penny? I put the penny there so you can get an idea of the size.

Guess what it is and where I found it? Go ahead. Guess.

Are you getting queasy? Squirming in your seat? This kind of stuff doesn't bother me at all!

Alright here's a hint for you...it stinks. Need another one...these are the tools I used to remove it from where it was stuck:

Don't try this at home.
I'm a trained professional!

I have no idea how long it was there. At least a month because I thought I saw something and tried to get it out once before but it got away.

Give up...

*It's a partially calcified piece of macaroni that I pulled out of Hayden's nose this morning.*
The answer is above...between the two asterisks. Drag and highlight with your mouse like you are going to copy and paste and the answer should appear. I'll be right here waiting for your EEWWWWW!

A Little Bit of Everything

Is it Friday yet? I don't know about you but I'm ready for this week to be over! I feel like I'm living in a petri dish there are so many different germs at our house! I'm so looking forward to spring, if for no other reason than I can open the windows and let these germs out!

Last weekend the twins started with a fever that turned into chicken pox a couple days later. They got the varicella vaccine the end of January and we became part of the 3% that actually get the pox from the shot. Justus, aside from the fever and being a bit tired Saturday, took it pretty well. He only got about 5 spots and has been his normal self. Eli, on the other hand, got a few more spots (including a couple on his tongue) and was knocked flat with a one-two punch of a bad cold on top of the pox. He spent most of Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday sleeping on the couch. Thankfully, neither one was really itchy and both cases were relatively mild. No one else has been affected with the chicken pox. Yet.

But I don't want to give you the impression that the rest of us are a picture of health! Everyone has a cold, even Jerry this time. If you're looking for a stock recommendation, may I suggest Kleenex? Or Tylenol? I'm not exaggerating when I say we have gone through almost two whole bottles of children's Tylenol and Advil. Thank goodness I get the stuff for free!

And just in case we didn't have enough medical drama, last night when washing Hayden's hands after dinner I noticed a weird bump on his wrist. I took him in to the doctor today and he has a ganglion cyst. They're harmless and can increase/decrease in size or even disappear over time, but the only way to guarantee removal is surgery. Since it is painless and not causing any problems for him we'll just leave it alone. BUT as long as we were there, just to make sure we got our moneys worth, I had the doc peek in his ears and sure enough he has an ear infecton!

While at the doctors office the nurse mentioned that she heard it was going to start snowing at 3pm. I should have asked which channel she watches for the weather because at 2:58pm, while we were driving home, the first flakes started. By 4pm the streets that had been clear were covered and I could barely see across the street! While eating dinner we saw a big flash! A few seconds later when the thunder rumbled we realized it was lightening. We turned on the local news to see what they had to say about the crazy weather. It was thundersnow!

Well, my little weather kiddos LOVED that! Once it was over and we turned the computer back on (we always turn off the computer when it's lightning!) we had to look up thundersnow (and call Uncle Johnny on the video camera to share the exciting weather news!). Did you know that thundersnow "while rare anywhere, is more common with lake effect snow in the Great Lakes area of the United States"? Me neither. How about this:

It is fairly rare to have convection within a temperature sounding that can support snow. The reason for this is because the lower troposphere tends to have low dewpoints and temperatures. This dry (low moisture content) and cold lower troposphere creates stability with respect to parcels of air rising from the surface.

Alrighty. Future meteorologist/storm chaser Eli loved that tidbit. After dinner, Roz had to venture out to get some extra credit for her English class by attending the school play. We got over 4+ inches of snow in about two hours so she got stuck in a friend's driveway and then ours coming home. After a little digging by her friend at one house and Jerry here, we are all now home and accounted for! Stuffy nose snores can be heard throughout the house and it's off to bed for me...

Hungry?

I made one of our favorite dinners tonight. We call it ham and cheese braid...which is a made up recipe that is basically bread dough with ham and cheese braided into it. But, as long as I had out my mixer I thought I would double the dough portion of the recipe. I used the extra dough to make this:

Cinnamon Swirl Bread

We divided up and ate the first piece while it was still warm but will save the rest for breakfast tomorrow. There really isn't a recipe...it's just a standard bread dough sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar before you roll it up! This time I used white flour but it would also be good using whole wheat. If you don't have a mixer you can just knead the dough by hand. It only took a couple minutes start to finish in my Bosch though...if you don't have a mixer and are considering one, I highly recommend the Bosch!

Crockpot Lasagna

I threw this together yesterday for dinner and it turned out great! This recipe is super fast to assemble if you have frozen browned ground beef on hand. I have been buying ground beef in 3 to 5 pound packages. I brown all the meat at once in a large skillet with a chopped onion. Once cooked, I package each "pound" in a ziploc bag, make sure it's nice and flat, and toss it in the freezer.

This is a HUGE time saver. There are so many recipes that call for browned ground beef and the hardest part for me was always the thawing and browning. Now it's all done ahead of time. I just pop the frozen meat in the microwave for a couple minutes and I'm good to go for anyone of a billion ground beef recipes. Plus, as an added bonus, it saves space in the freezer...we really need a bigger freezer!

*********

Crockpot Lasagna
8 uncooked(!) lasagna noodles
1 lb. ground beef or Italian sausage
1 tsp. Italian Seasoning
28 oz. jar spaghetti sauce
1/3 cup water
15 oz. ricotta or 24 oz. cottage cheese
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Break noodles to fit and place half in bottom of greased slow cooker. Brown and drain ground beef. Stir in Italian seasoning. Spread half of meat over noodles in slow cooker. Layer half of sauce and water, half of ricotta and half of mozzarella cheese over beef. Repeat layer. Cover. Cook on low for 5 hours.

*********

I was a little worried about the whole not cooking the noodles thing but they were perfect! I actually forgot to grease the crockpot too but lucky for me it didn't stick at all. I hate cleaning out a messy crockpot! I used ground beef but I think it would be really good with Italian sausage and I used cottage cheese because that's what I had. I am really fond of ricotta but I couldn't even taste the difference using the cottage cheese. This was just enough to feed our family with a leftover portion for Jerry's lunch. Serve this with my famous bread and a salad...YUM!

Stuff Management Part 3: Kid Bedrooms

We have a lot of kids. Kids have a lot of stuff. Stuff can get out of hand. However, the kids rooms at our house are clutter free. Why? Bedrooms are for sleeping. We don't store toys or books in their rooms. Each child gets a stuffed animal (except Hayden who usually has three) and a book to keep on their bed. More than that and they would just make a mess. Plus toys and books are a distraction at naps and bedtime. And we are really strict about naps and bedtime here at Casa de Shown. Dirty clothes go right to the laundry room. No piles. No exceptions.

The boy's room

(Please ignore the hideous blue paint...
that was a previous owners choice...
if you're not busy come help us paint sometime!)

It is my goal to train myself out of a job and since there is so little in their room the boys can clean it themselves. Wesley can already dust and vacuum the room fairly easily and quickly, even at age 6, with very minimal assistance.

This next tip was a hard one for me but it really did make a BIG difference. My CDO* really flares up when it comes to beds. I am a "make the bed EVERY DAY" person. When I say "make" I mean tuck in the sheets, fluff the pillows, and bounce a quarter on the spread. I hate messed up beds AND once made I like them to stay that way! I'm a joy to live with I tell you!

This bed obsession was easy to deal with when there were fewer children, but as the boys grew out of the crib I was starting to have trouble keeping my own standards. Beds were made but (Gasp!) jumped on or then napped on and not remade. Aggghhh! Nooooo!

Then I noticed something. The baby's room always looked kept up. The crib was never a mess of sheets, covers, & stuffed animals and I never once "made the crib". Hmmm...why was that? The crib mattress only had a sheet, that's why!

Justus' "made" bed

So in a complete departure from all things normal, I decided to get rid of all bedding but the fitted sheets on the big boy beds. Each boy has a blanket that he uses as a cover. In the morning that blanket gets folded and set at the foot of the bed. Little boys can fold a blanket a lot easier than they can make a bed. Voila! Neat looking beds without the need to "make" them! As they get older and can make a bed without trouble I'll let them decide if they want the whole bed set up. If they don't...that's fine with me!


*CDO--It's like OCD but with the letters in alphabetical order, the way they should be! :)

My other organizing posts:
Household Notebook
Websites & Internet Passwords
Laundry & Kids Clothes
Menu Planning
Calendar
Budgeting
Stuff Management Part 1

The Race

We're heading to the big AWANA Grand Prix race in a little bit. First, we'll feast on hot dogs and nachos with the rest of the AWANA crew at the Pit Stop supper, then it's on to the big race. Wesley is hopeful to win a trophy for the second year in a row. I asked him if he knew what a fluke was?! I'll post later tonight with the results!

* * * * * * * * * UPDATE* * * * * * * * * * *

Well, the big race is over and there was no trophy for Wesley this year. He was a bit disappointed, but except for a sad face for a few minutes after the trophies were handed out, he took it quite well.

The race track

They set up the race a little bit different this year. Last year, two cars would race and if you lost twice you were out. This year it was all computerized. Four cars raced each time and each car went down each of the four "lanes" once. The winner was the car that had the shortest total time added from all four runs. So Wesley was hopeful because his car came in first three out of the four runs, but unfortunately his overall time put him in 7th place.

The Final Scoreboard

Wesley's car had an average time of 10.55 seconds (the winner was 10.30) per race and an average speed of 197.1 mph (the winner was 201.8 mph). So it was close! Everyone gets a certificate of some kind though so this year he got "Most Realistic Looking Car" and a participation ribbon.

Wesley with his ribbon and car

Roz missed the fun since she had to work, but the rest of us had a good time. The boys always enjoy eating at church. Justus ate so much he said "no thank you" to a cookie for dessert! The new race set up did speed things up this year so we were home just in time for bed.

Next year we will have three cars in the race! Brother vs. brother! That should be a lot of fun! It will increase our chances of bringing home a trophy when the Shown family makes up a larger percentage of the total racing population!

If Walls Could Talk

Or in this case...if ceilings could talk! Friday afternoon I was checking my email when Wesley came running up from the basement. He was all excited and was talking fast...something about Justus... bumping...an accident...the ceiling...and now there are Bud Light cans falling. What?

So obviously a trip down to the basement was in order. And sure enough there were Bud Light cans falling out of the ceiling. We have a drop down ceiling in the basement with ceiling "tiles" that can be moved just in case you need to get to the pipes or ducts. Apparently, Justus took our little horse (you know those horse heads on a stick) and somehow bumped a ceiling tile. I think he stood up on the chair or maybe he threw it...I'm not really sure. But behind the displaced ceiling tile were several empty Bud Light cans.

Six had fallen to the floor and I could see more up there. When Jerry got home he checked and found three additional cans for a total of nine just three short of a case! We told Roz we found her beer cans! Just kidding! We are the third family to own this house. We'll never know how they got there, but they had to have been placed there by one of the previous two owners or some workers during construction. The whole thing leaves me wondering...what else is up there?!?

Only in Wisconsin

What happens when we get a little February warm up into the high 40's in Wisconsin?

Let's just say shorts and even swim suits are involved! Click here to see my friend Vivian's family! Too funny!

I didn't get as far as wearing shorts, but I did skip the jacket that day. I heard a guy on the radio say that it felt like 70 degrees...and it kinda did! When one has been in the teens and negatives for months, 49 degrees does feel pretty darn WARM! Spring isn't here yet but we're on the down hill slide now!

Field Trip!

Today Wesley and I joined the homeschool group for a field trip to a local television station. Wesley was very excited to go (the twins were quite disappointed they couldn't). I had Wesley narrate a little bit about the trip. Here is what he had to say:

Today I went to the TV station (Channel 5). I saw the weather room. I saw a big, giant camera. I saw a special colored keyboard that they use for playing videos, rewinding videos, fast forwarding videos, and pausing. They also use it to make commercials. I met Justin the weatherman and saw Tom the anchorman. We went in the control room. There were lots of buttons and levers. We saw the blue screen where the weatherman shows us the weather. We saw how they control it with their hand and a remote. I liked the TV station. At the end I got a free ruler with all the presidents on the back.

Here are a few pictures:

Checking out the weather "blue screen"

In the studio
One news desk to the left, one behind

In the studio with meteorologist Rebecca Schuld (on the far right).
Justin (not pictured) and Rebecca went above and beyond letting the kids
check out their area and answering questions.

National Bankruptcy Day is Here

Today is the day the CPSIA goes into effect. While the CPSC delayed the enforcement of the rules for one year, the new guidelines* and testing aspects of the law still go into effect today.

There is one voice* of reason calling in the desert that is our government... Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina. Senator DeMint explains, plain and simple, the side effects of the CPSIA in an article here. Last week he introduced an amendment to the act that would:

"...exempt thrift stores, yard sales, consignment shops and other re-sellers from being forced to meet unwarranted requirements and remove the threat of retroactive repercussions for selling items already produced under previous rules. That way makers of homemade goods and local manufacturers can stay in business and aren't stuck with un-sellable items already in stock."

I put a little watch box in my side bar courtesy of OpenCongress.org to keep an eye on this bill as it makes it's way through Congress. If you have a minute read the article and send off a couple emails to let your senators and reps know that you would appreciate their support for S.374 (the amendment).

And when I disappear for a few weeks next November...look for me in South Carolina holding a "VOTE FOR JIM DEMINT" sign!


*FYI: You guys in AZ should know that only four senators voted against the CPSIA and Jon Kyl was one of them.

*If you are interested in the actual guidelines for small businesses and resellers they can be found here. Just scroll down and click on "Guidance on the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) for Small Businesses, Resellers, Crafters, and Charities".

Jeremy Evans says hi

That was the subject line of an email I got from my sister last week. I'm sure you are thinking the same thing I was...who the heck is Jeremy Evans?

My sister joined Facebook recently and has been having a good time reconnecting with old classmates. Apparently, one of these classmates remembered me. In fact, he still checks to see if my name is on the list of astronauts when the Space Shuttle takes off. I, sadly, couldn't even remember who he was! That made me feel...well... OLD. My sister sent me an old picture and at least I recognized his face. Although if you would have shown me the same picture the day before I wouldn't have known his name for a million dollars.

Aside from making me fear a future Alzheimer's diagnosis, this little incident made me think of the impression you leave with someone as you go in and then out of their lives. Jeremy Evans knew me when I was in eighth grade. In eighth grade, I wanted to be an astronaut. Stop laughing...I'm serious. I had it all planned out. I was going to attend the Air Force Academy and become a pilot. After I had a put in my years as a pilot I was going to go through extra training and become an astronaut. Don't believe me? Here's a picture of me (minus the hat!) from when I joined the Air Force JROTC to get my foot in the door. (Yes, I was thinner. Yes, my hair was blonder. Yes, big bangs were in. And yes, that really is me!)

In case you hadn't noticed I'm not an astronaut. Or a even pilot. But to Jeremy Evans I could be. He still checks the shuttle crew list looking for my name for crying out loud! Think about that for a second. Think of all the things you could be in people's minds...who is your Jeremy Evans? Just for fun, here's a little Shelly history lesson for you. People could think of me as:

• A school teacher. I started going to ASU in the fall of 1992 to get a degree in elementary education, but after a semester and a half I decided that I really don't like other people's kids all that much. :)
• A nurse. Well, I am a nurse (minus the hat! Hmmm...I'm sensing a pattern here), but I haven't worked in almost 10 years. I'm sure many people still think of me as a nurse. And yet there are many people who know me today that don't even know I ever worked as an RN at all!
  

This isn't just vocational...depending on when they knew me people may think of me as:

• A single mom. Even I have trouble with this one but Roz was almost 5 years old when Jerry and I got married.
  
• A teenage mother. I was. No changing this one. But what if you only knew me as that. What would you expect my life to look like now? What do you think of when you think of teenage mothers?
  
• Mom to an only child. Hard to believe now but I was for over 10 years!
• Someone suffering from infertility. There's a shocker! Some might not believe that if they met me today!
  
• A democrat. I used to have more left wing type views including, I'm sad to say, a great indifference to abortion. I would have never chosen to have one myself but I had no problem with others getting one. (On the other hand, this does not necessarily make me a Republican either. Let's just say I'm a true conservative.)
• An Episcopalian. Growing up when asked what religion I was I used to answer Episcopalian...because as a kid when we went (occasionally) that is the church we attended.
• A Mormon. I seriously thought about joining the LDS church. Twice.
  
• A Nonbeliever. (I almost said agnostic but I'm not sure that is entirely accurate.) Let's just say I wasn't always a Christian.
• A fan of Star Trek (I miss you Jean-Luc!)
  
• Some people might think I still live in Arizona...or maybe even Idaho!
  

How about some more recent things? Things that are part of my identity right now but may not last forever:

• Coupon shopper...will I clip coupons forever? (Until you pry the scissors from my cold, dead hands!)
• Mom of many little children...kids grow up...or so I've heard. :)
• Blogger extraordinaire...Ha! Just kidding...I have that on my "to do" list.

If you ever meet him you can thank Jeremy Evans for this little jog down memory lane. And Jeremy, if you ever read this, I'm really sorry I didn't remember you. I can assure you I won't forget you again, that is unless I forget I made this promise. And you can stop checking the shuttle crew list for my name now.

Spring Cleaning Link

Crystal (aka MoneySavingMom) is running a series on her other blog (Biblical Womanhood) on Spring Cleaning for Normal People. She's working through an ebook and breaks down each room simply step by step. It's great stuff! Here are the links to week one, week two, and this week.

Potato Chowder and Cheesy Garlic Biscuits

I haven't posted a recipe in awhile...I put this one in the last mother's of twins newsletter. We try to have a soup dinner once a week in the winter and a salad dinner once a week in the summer. Roz likes creamy soups and this is one of her favorites. Everyone likes the biscuits! Served with a side salad this makes great weeknight meal.

Potato Chowder
2 T. oil
1/3 cup finely chopped onion
1 T. flour
1 t. salt
dash pepper
1 cup water
6 potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup cheese, grated

Boil potatoes until tender. Mash half and leave half as cubes. Saute onion in oil until yellow. Blend in flour, salt, and pepper. Add water. Boil 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add mashed potatoes (approx. 1 cup), milk, cheese, and cubed potatoes. Do NOT return to boiling after adding milk. Heat through. Garnish if desired.

Cheesy Garlic Bicuits
(just like Red Lobster's Cheddar Bay Biscuits!)
2 cups Baking Mix* (like Bisquick)
2/3 cup Milk
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup margarine or butter, melted
1/4 tsp. garlic powder

Mix baking mix, milk and cheese until soft dough forms. Drop dough by spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown. Mix margarine and garlic powder; drizzle over warm biscuits before removing from cookie sheet. Serve warm. Makes 10 to 12 biscuits.

[*To save money make your own baking mix. There are tons of recipes for homemade mixes online. Personally, I don't like Bisquick...I just use my regular biscuit recipe and add a bit more milk and then the cheese.]

Stuff Management Part 2: Household Notebook

If you decide to do only ONE thing to get organized this year...make a "Household Notebook" that ONE thing!

Two things get out of control fast at my house....laundry and paper. This really helps with the paper! My Household Notebook has been my most successful organizational tool ever! I honestly don't remember what I did before I had it. I've had it for several years now, since before Wesley was born I think...so that would be over 7 years.It is basically a binder that holds all the information you and your family want to keep handy. Address book, school notices, church directories, contact information, take-out menus...anything! It is completely customizable. You could actually file these items in folders in a filing cabinet but they change or are out of date often enough that it would be a pain to go through your files that often. Consider the household notebook a mini filing cabinet.

The best how-to for making your own household notebook can be found here at Organized Home. They even offer printables to help you get started or just to give you ideas.

I used a 3 inch ring binder and added tabbed dividers. Here are my notebook categories:

First page is RED and has our address, phone number, and emergency contact info. This is followed by a few phone numbers you might need fast like: doctors, poison control, police, sheriff, and/or utility company emergency shut off numbers. (It's especially helpful to leave the notebook open on this page when you have a babysitter.)

Tabbed dividers include:

• Phone numbers/addresses: basically an address book...written out on a printable page from Organized Home or typed in a document to make yearly editing and printing easier (this is my method).
• "Yellow" pages: our most used business phone numbers...again typed in a document to make yearly editing easier. I've also added clear business card pages.
• Church: directory, teaching schedules, AWANA calendar, youth group calendar/forms
• Clubs: recent newsletters, directories, etc.
• Utilities: phone numbers, garbage regulations/schedules, compost hours, etc.
• ROZ: papers to save for her (work, ortho, church, school, etc.)
• WESLEY: papers for his stuff (church, soccer, etc) The rest of the children are too little to need a section but I'll add them as needed.
• Restaurants/Fast Food: menus (hole punched)
• Menus: I keep the monthly menus I have been making so I can reuse them
• Holidays: Thanksgiving menu, Christmas card list, holiday coloring pages we love
• Gift ideas: for our family and those we give gifts to
• Masters: of forms I use frequently (menus, prayer requests, etc)
• Misc: all sorts of odd stuff that I might need in the future (how do deal with an injured bird, Radio/TV station list, brochures from parks/trails we like to go to)

The tabs are followed by large envelopes (hold punched) with:

• Fast food coupons: only for places that we actually go to!
• Non-food coupons: hardware store, car washes, etc.
• Medical: Appointment reminder cards (I put them on the calendar and then save them here for future reference) and prescriptions (meds, glasses)
• Campbell's labels and Box Tops: to save for church/homeschool group
• Gift cards/certificates: that have yet to be spent
• And last....one pocket page for odd items that can't be hole punched.

I am planning on adding a few new categories. I think I'm going to add:

• Cleaning: I want to make a more formal cleaning schedule for monthly/seasonal chores
• Budget: we check it often and it's in a file cabinet right now...maybe a copy to reference
• Sizes: everyone's clothing and shoe sizes...I just can't remember them all anymore!

Once you have it all assembled keep it handy...so it's easy for all family members to find and use. Go through it every so often to remove items you no longer need and update the information. I edit and reprint my address book sections once a year. (Usually after Christmas when I get address changes from people who moved.) I go through the coupon sections more often.

The beauty of the Household Notebook is that it's different for each family. It can be whatever you want it to be. Pretty or plain. Simple or complex. If you have one already or put one together I'd love to see it!

My other organizing posts:
Websites & Internet Passwords
Laundry & Kids Clothes
Menu Planning
Calendar
Budgeting
Stuff Management Part 1

Disappointed

Hayden waiting for the 3D show

Well, my guys are in a bit of a funk this morning. The boys were disappointed in the highly anticipated, for them anyway, 3D show. They were so excited to put on their glasses and then when it was over there was a chorus of "That was it?". They are still playing with the glasses this morning hoping something will come across as 3D today.

Jerry was sad to see his team lose the BIG game last night. He said it would have been better if the Packers had gone to the Super Bowl and lost. WHAT!?! Because then everyone else around here would be grumpy today along with him. Guess misery does indeed love company. I asked him: Isn't it better to have your team play and lose than never to have played at all? "No," he said, "whoever said that was stupid." Sorry, Lord Tennyson!

So why don't you all go read Jerry's latest blog post and leave a thoughtful comment to help cheer him up today!!

Target Deals

UPDATE: This deal is no longer available. Target changed the online coupons available to print. But if you'd like to see more deals like this check my other blog Green Bay Savers.

I don't really post my coupon deals on this blog anymore but thought I would share this link today just in case you have a Target nearby. You can get almost $20 worth of food at Target for under $3 using internet printed coupons. (Deal lasts until mid-February.)