2 1/2 Hours & Sanity?

After a nice day at the farmer's market with my brother yesterday turned hectic as the kids tore through my mother's house. I had been experiencing severe pelvic pain (because of baby 3) and had a nasty head ache and back ache to boot! Ian drove us home and he was such a wonderful help. When we got home the pain was so severe I actually started throwing up (not pleasant) and it was painful to walk. I was able to lay down in bed while Ian played with the kids and kept them happy. I'm so thankful that he was able to see how much I was suffering and stepped in to help. I woke up to screaming about an hour later, got up and went to investigate. At this point it was about 7:30pm and I did discover 2 hungry babies. However, I also found something else which also surprised me. Ian already on the ball and making them dinner. He didn't even ask me what they needed to eat. On top of that he warmed up leftovers for him and I to eat as well. He was so on top of things and took such good care of me.

Despite planning to go to bed around 10pm since Ian had to be up at 4am, we ended up staying up until nearly 1am! Ian has been having trouble sleeping lately so he was up every hour until his alarm went off at 4. I tossed and turned as well and finally decided to stay up at 3:30am. I got up and started laundry. This spurred an entire laundry day! By noon I had washed, dried, and folded 4 loads of laundry, done 2 loads of dishes, cleaned out the truck, fed the dogs, vacuumed all of downstairs, got Aiden ready to go to his Grandma's house for the night, made the bed, etc.. etc... I am still amazed I got so much done! From noon to 7pm I have a rule about minimal electricity consumption since we get charged more during those peak hours, so I like to have laundry, dishes, and vacuuming done before noon or after 7. Ambria laid down for a nap at noon so I rested and snacked on beef jerky. Overall, I am super happy with my day. I will be taking Ambien tonight so I can guarantee myself some sleep but luckily ther is no housework that needs to be done tomorrow (though I'm sure I can find something if I get bored)

I hope you are all keeping happy, healthy, clean homes too!

Under-the-Weather and Over Budget

What a Thursday. Everyone in the house is feeling under par today. The kids are completely stuffed up and lethargic. Ian is dizzy, and stuffy, and achy. I am... well, it doesn't matter because I have to work anyway. Someone has to keep the house going. One bright side to our lazy sick day is the kids have both wanted more naps than usual. This gave me time to take a short 30 minute nap today which I treasured to the max! Ian brought Ambria into bed with us when she woke up and she was kind enough to wake Mommy with a barrage of wet, slimy kisses. But I loved every minute of it. Ian and I laid in bed playing with Ambria for a little over an hour while Aiden continued to sleep. I wish we could have family time like that every day. It was wonderful.

Sadly, Ian has had a week off of work due to a shortage of available hours at work so our finances will be taking a monumental hit. Today and tomorrow, though, he has a few side jobs to earn some extra income. He left at 5pm to help his sister move a roommate in to her house, then he'll be picking up a pay check and stopping by a customer's house to set up an amp and some speakers. Hopefully it will be easy work and won't take too long. Tomorrow he has 2 more customers to set up audio for. If his schedule allows it, he'll be going to my father's house this weekend to texture his ceiling and cut up some scrap metal. I just hope he is feeling better. I hope we all are.

On the menu for tonight is our bean casserole. I love this dish! It's a simple recipe that has very little prep time and is rather healthy too! You can find my recipe here. In my picture you'll notice bits of white mixed in with my bean casserole. I added barley to it. I love cooking with barley since it is so good for you. Other than that small addition, the recipe is virtually the same.

Master Re-mastering..

Today is going to be a very productive day (hopefully) in the master bedroom! I'm doing some deep cleaning and re-organizing to get the room set up for baby #3! This means the rocker and chase in the room need to be cleaned off and moved around so I have room for her cradle. All the laundry needs to be organized into their respective baskets, everything will be dusted, vacuumed and cleaned and in tip top shape. I'm excited to knock this project off my to-do list. Here goes nothing!

Meal Plan Monday!

Wow this week has gone by so fast! I guess that's a good thing since time flies when you are having fun, right? Though I did spend a lot of time and energy stocking up on 6 months worth of goods, I did not stock up on meat. Until we can save up for a deep freeze I am unable to buy large quantities (more than a month worth) of meat since it would ultimately end up with freezer burn before our family had the chance to cook and consume it all. This week, our meal plan is a little more limited with the options of things to cook since I will be using the last of our meat until I can make it to the store to restock. So here it is:

Grilled Sirloin, Peppers and Zesty Potatoes

Steak Chili and Grilled Cheese

Hawaiian Chicken & White Rice

Beefy Bean Casserole

Stuffed Chicken and Chutney

Mix & Match Hotdish

I will try my best to try and take pictures of our meals this week since I have been slacking in the picture taking department. Feel free to ask for any recipes!

Farmer's Market Trip

Yesterday was such a wonderful day. I had been feeling really down with no hope of lifting my spirits. My step mom, Angela, picked the kids and I up and drove us to Mesa where we went to the MVD with my dad and legally put the Hyundai in my name. It's all said and done and I am finally the proud owner of a fully paid off, good looking car that not only comfortably holds the car seats, but also sports an awesome A/C! Afterwards, we all went to the Mesa Farmer's Market. All I can say is, WOW! The prices there are so amazing! The kids enjoyed snacking on blueberries and dates while we shopped and I ended up getting a whole cart of fresh fruit and veggies for about $30. I was so surprised. Looks like I'll be going there once a month to get my produce. It's well worth the drive.

Last night for dinner, I decided to cook outside the box. I chopped up an onion, red and green bell pepper, squash, and zucchini and cooked them up in olive oil, garlic and curry. Then I cooked, peeled and diced up my eggplant and added it to a ricotta and sour cream curry sauce that I had made and mixed with a bit of pasta. I layered this over the bed of veggies and Ian LOVED it. The plus side? It was so healthy.

For breakfast today the kids dug into a ton of the fruit. They had blueberries, a banana, a few prunes, and grapes. They are such good eaters. Hoping to do grilled ham and cheese with a few dates on the side and cottage cheese for lunch. Then we'll be off to their cousin Connor's birthday party!