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Sunday, October 21, 2007

Menu Plan Monday - October 22



What a week. I followed the menu plan for the most part. I ended up subbing at my daughters pre-school two days, and was really tired when I got home. So I changed things up a bit. But, thankfully, I didn't run out and get fast food like I normally would have. We've been working on our budget, so I'm trying to stick to it. We'll have to see how it goes grocery wise. It's a bit harder to use coupons since I need to buy Gluten Free, but I try.


Monday - Lemon Garlic Pork Chop, veggies, corn bread
Tuesday - Pepper Steak, rice, salad
Wednesday - Ham, fried potatoes, broccoli
Thursday - Greek Chicken With Oregano & Spinach, rice, corn, carrots
Friday - Family movie and pizza night
Saturday - Going over to in-laws for a Halloween party
Sunday - Spaghetti

Sunday, October 14, 2007

Menu Plan Monday - October 15



Last week's menu plan went pretty well. As it seems to be the case every week, I ended up not making one meal. Made the kids something quick & easy instead. This week, the budget is really tight, so we will see what happens.

Monday - Country fair Chicken, mashed potatoes (I add cauliflower to mine, the kids never know), carrots & corn
Tuesday - tacos, army man rice, refried beans, salad
Wednesday -Honey Pineapple chicken, rice, broccoli, corn
Thursday - I'll make something like hot dogs w/ mac & Cheese for the kids. I want to make something a little nicer for me & my husband since it's our anniversary. Not sure what yet. Any ideas? It's needs to be fairly quick, GF (since I'm eating it), no fish (my husband won't eat it). He's a Texas boy..so meat & potatoes is his thing.
Friday - Family Pizza and movie night
Saturday - My husband will take Lego Boy and Little Princess to his parents and have dinner over there. Science Boy has a b-day party that I will take him to.

What a Week - Part 2

On Thursday we had little princess' friend over. His mom had a bunch of stuff going on, and little princess and he hadn't gotten together in a while. I had him all day, and it was great. I got a lot cleaned and straighten up, a pile (and I do mean mountain) of clothes folded. They had such a great time playing.

Then as soon as he went home, we raced to pick the boys up a little early from school. They both had dentist appointments. Little Princess had hers last week, and my plan was to drop her off at my in-laws. But they had the audacity to go out of town :) So I had to take all 3. Not fun at the end of the day. I'm no longer giving her a nap because then she's up till 9 or 10 at night.

But the boys did great at the dentist. Especially Lego Boy. The last time we went to the dentist (and I'm ashamed to say it's been 2 or 3 years) it was the worst experience EVER! The dentist would not let us leave until Lego Boy had ALL his x-rays. So he was screaming. It was horrible. I was arguing with her and her staff. Finally I picked him up and told them that we would no longer be her patients. Ugh! It took me a while to find someone else. This new dentist EXCELLENT. Before Lego Boy even went back, she and her staff would ask me questions about the best way to work with him. He went back by himself and took all the x-rays with no problem! Part of the trick - it was "digital" so it showed up on the computer screen right after they took the x-ray. So after every time he would jump down from him seat, run to the computer to see the new image, then get back in the seat for more! And they had no problem with this, even though it took twice the amount of time. They had scheduled us for the last appointment of the day so it would be quite for him, but I'm sure they all wanted to go home. Another blessing!

Science boy also did really good. Although he needs to brush better :) But he was hesitant about going to the dentist again, after our past experience. So this really was a great experience.

Ride home was horrible. The one bad thing about this dentist, she's 35-40 minutes away. So coming home in rush hour traffic...again..not fun. But Little Princess fell asleep, so it did get quite.

Friday was a quite day. Boys had school. My husband took the day off, so we got a few things done around the house.

Saturday..busy day. I took Science boy to his "girlfriends" b-day party. What fun. They are so cute together, it's too funny. I'll post pictures when I get them. She is the cutest thing, plus she has Celiac Disease. So she loves coming over to our house, because I usually will make cookies or something. I love it too, because I usually won't make cookies, etc for just me.

My husband took Lego boy and Little Princess to a cub scout event that Lego Boy had.

Then we rushed home to pack the kids up and took them to my sister-in-laws for the night. And Charles and I went out to a movie and a nice dinner to celebrate our 10 year anniversary. It was so nice. The restaurant was wonderful, and could accomodate my diet. Love that!

This afternoon Lego Boy has his riding lesson. And then tonight we have part 6 of the financial course we are taking.

Friday, October 12, 2007

What a Week - Part 1

I'm finally starting to realize that when you have kids (especially more than one) there is no such thing as a quiet week, and one where you can actually get a lot accomplished, especially cleaning the house.

Monday the kids didn't have school so we just hung out at the house, science boy had a friend come over. Wednesday Lego Boy had an ENT appt. It was scheduled for 10. By the time he had his hearing test, we saw the Dr. twice, had a demo on a hearing aide and eveything else, it was after 12. It was however a great appt. Lego Boy is going to get a hearing aide so that is the best news. Ever since we found out he had profound hearing loss in one ear I have wanted a hearing aide to help him. He has an FM System at school, but, of cource, that does not help him at home or when we are out an about. But something inside told me to wait, it wasn't the right time to fight for it. So I listened. Last year I felt it was getting closer, but still not yet. This year it's like my whole being was shouting "now". So we switched ENT's, found one that is wonderful. She referred us to this hearing aide ENT guy. He has done these surgery's for 5 years. He's the leading dr. on these hearing aides, and I feel so blessed that's he's so close. He's done almost 300 of these, on adults and children.

Having a child with special needs, you do have to be even more of an advocate that with a "normally devloping" child. But you also have to be still and listen. Sometimes I find that I'm fighting for something at the wrong time. God knows when the timing is, and I have learned that it's best to go in HIS time. I would love to have eveything Lego Boy needs NOW, but 1) he'd be overwhelmed 2) he would (and we would) never learn what he can do if we just wait and let him take his time. With his autisum he has OCD. Part of this is he won't show us what he can do until he can do it perfectly. I remember when he turned one I was worried that he was even attempting to try and stand up and walk yet. When he was 14 1/2 months my husband went to get him from his nap.....and caught him walking from one end of the crib to the other - and not holding on! His face..priceless. he was busted and knew yet. That is the way he is with everything.

For the hearing aide that they are going to give him, it a bone conducting one, not an air conducting one like traditional hearing aides. So it requires an implant. They do have one that they use as a demo in the office. They just place it on the bone behind the ear. When they did, and I asked it he could hear me...he got a big grin, giggled a little and said "Yes, I can". My heart jumped. I love this kid! He was so excited and can't wait. But now it's a waiting game. The insurance companies are running 30-60 days before they approve it. So we are praying that it will be more on the 30 day side :) But know that it will happen exactly when it is suppose to.

Sunday, October 7, 2007

Menu Plan Monday - October 8



Last week I followed the menu plan for everything except for two meals. The Baked Chicken was delicious, as was the pork loin and the creamy potatoes with kielbasa. Instead of the tarragon chicken I ended up coating it with corn tortilla crumbs and baking it. Tonight the kids and my hubby did McDonalds. We decided on Friday to take a finance class at church. I had a Stampin' Up party to go to, plus Lego boy had speech therapy...so fast food it was.


Monday - BBQ chicken (on grill), corn on the cob (if I can find some at the grocery store), baked beans, saute squash and zucchini

Tuesday - Beef Brisket, mashed potatoes, carrots, green beans

Wednesday - breakfast for dinner; ham steaks, hash browns, pancakes

Thursday - pork chops with green onion sauce, rice, broccoli

Friday - Family pizza & movie night (more Little Caesar Pizza Kits - the kids love to make their own), I'll have crab cakes

Saturday - kids to spend the night at in-laws - hubby and I are going out to celebrate our 10th anniversary (a bit early, it's on 10/18) - not sure what we are doing yet. I'm for going to the State Fair and spending the night at a hotel....but we'll see

Sunday - Spaghetti, cheese bread


Beef Brisket

1 large beef brisket
Spicy mustard
1-2 envolopes onhion soup mix (I have a GF version)

Place your beef in the crockpot (fat side down)- coat the beef with the mustard- sprinkle the onion soup over the mustard and put the lid on high for 6-8 hours! The soup and the mustard and the juices from the beef make a great gravy. Thicken with water & cornstartch.