All posts by Becky

Weekly Update and Saving Money–December 17, 2017

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This week has been a week of blessings.

I’ve been pretty busy getting ready for Christmas, finishing up the last week of school before the holiday, and my regular chores.  To top it off, Lovana’s work asked Ja’Ana to wash dishes over the holiday break for a few hours on a few days this week and next.  So, there’s been an interview, and training so far, and she starts tomorrow at 9.  Thankfully, this place isn’t far from our home, as I am driving both of them now most of the time.  I had them walk home today, as it was mid-afternoon and not rainy or dark.  I’m happy for her–a little money will be welcome, and it won’t interfere with school.  So, that was an unexpected blessing for her.

I cooked a bunch of food during week.  I made a couple of lasagnas, and froze some pieces for later.  I cooked a roast beef with horseradish. I also did a pork roast with salsa verde. What’s left will be used for taco filling, or pulled pork sandwiches.  When we went to my oldest daughter’s house to celebrate Christmas on Saturday, she sent us home with a bunch of baked potatoes.  So, today, I made hash with roast and potatoes in a frying pan for dinner.  BECAUSE….my microwave broke!  It’s been over a week.  I keep forgetting it is gone, and turn to pop something in there, but….it’s still gone every. single. time.  I will be replacing it, but I have been too busy to shop properly and feel I will just grab the first one I see if I go to the store, so I’m waiting until I have time.

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I made a couple of Christmas stockings from some fabric I had on hand.  I wrapped a lot of presents with gift bags recycled from other years and wrapping paper bought on clearance 3 years ago after Christmas.  I’ve been so happy with the poinsettia Rob bought for me, sitting on the piano with the nativity scene next to it.  My tree is giving me so much enjoyment.  It was very nice of Harnet to give it to me, and God knew it would fit in the small space I had and make things so much more cheerful then they were last year with the tree in the garage.

I was sitting with Harnet on Friday, drinking coffee, and it was such a blessing to visit with her about how God has met my needs over the past couple of years, and hear how God has been meeting hers, too.  It was good to take the time to just rest and encourage each other after the hustle and bustle of the errands we ran.  Last week, I was able to spend some time visiting with another friend I’ve not seen for a while.  I was also very uplifted and encouraged during the time I spent with her.  Sometimes, a girl just needs some visiting time, and I feel very blessed to have gotten some 2 weeks in a row.

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While we were doing one errand, we dropped Ja’Ana off at the library with Danait.  They went to story time, and soon after we returned, it was craft time.  They had stories about snow, and made snowflakes.

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Of course, she wanted her Mommy to see what they were doing.  It is such a nice service of the library to provide all the stories and supplies for such fun crafts.  It was SO nice to be able to know she was happy and entertained in Ja’Ana’s capable hands while we did what needed doing.

After that, we took her to McDonald’s to play on the toys.  I planned to buy her a Happy Meal.  So, I asked her what she wanted to eat…a hamburger, a hamburger with cheese, or chicken nuggets.  She replied in a sweet, cheerful voice, “I like ice cream.”  So, I tried several other ways to have her choose, and each time, she stated politely and sweetly that she wanted ice cream, she liked ice cream, she wanted me to get ice cream.  Finally we negotiated that she would have a sandwich with cheese on it (cheeseburger) and ice cream.  As she was eating the ice cream, she explained to me that she really likes ice cream in a voice that was very grown-up, and polite, but firm, like she was explaining to a toddler…wonder where she got that:)

During the course of the day,  after much discussion and looking at Amazon, we found a new injera cooker to order for Harnet.  Hers is broken and doesn’t work well at all, and discussion about this purchase has been in progress for a while now.   She eats this injera bread daily, so it’s something she needs.   She’s been saving for the purchase, and so on Friday, she made her final decision about which one she liked.  All she really cared about was that it would cook the injera properly.  All you can do is read the reviews, and hope for the best, but we found one that was the same brand and style as the one she has.   I took the info home to Rob since he orders from Amazon more than I do,  and I couldn’t remember our password at the moment.  After several phone calls, and discussion, Rob and Harnet were both delighted when he not only ordered it, he found it on sale for a significant amount off, with free shipping!  So, it turned out to be another blessing that I couldn’t remember that password at the time!  It also was terrific that we didn’t have to drive around the streets of downtown Portland, searching for the (different than last time) store that supposedly had one, for full price….IF they even did have one, which was our other option.

Today, Rob has a cold.  He has 2 weeks off of school, so the first thing he did was get sick.   I took the girls to church this morning, then came home to be with Rob.  I felt very blessed to have a few hours with just him, as my sister took Patsy with her for the afternoon, and the older girls were at work.  He’s already feeling a bit better, and we both got a lot of rest today.  It’s a good thing–my week is busy as usual.  I wouldn’t want it any other way!

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Holiday Fun

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Alissa had a contest at one of her holiday parties on Wednesday.  She was supposed to look the most “Christmasy.”  She spent quite a bit of time sewing the fake tree on her Goodwill sweater, and then hung it with candy ornaments right before the party!  Silly, and fun.  She won 2nd place:)

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Ja’Ana had a little tap dance show for the parents tonight after her class.  It lasted about 5 minutes, but it was cute!

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Today was our last day of homeschool and tomorrow the public schoolers will finish up until January 2nd.  We just finished studying Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” and so we watched the movie today.  They ate chips, cookies and popcorn and colored in a big coloring book Alissa got for her white elephant gift exchange.  We only had 2 assignments, plus a long math session,  beyond that to finish up, and I’m assigning no homework for the 2 weeks we have off.  While they watched it, I wrapped a bunch of presents.  I feel like I’m gaining on that project of Christmas presents.  I plan to wrap again this weekend, and then I’ll know what I still need to get.

Although it is crazy-busy, I do feel that we are getting time for some enjoyment this holiday season.  We have been lighting the advent candles several times a week and reading some scriptures and doing a few advent activities.  Instead of trying to get to that with every person, every day, I just go with whoever I’ve got at the moment.  So, I may read/do activities with J and Alissa some days, Patsy others, and on Sunday afternoons, Jake now wants to light the candles and he made a little “ornament” for our paper advent tree stating the Jesus was bron. So cute! He asked me today if we could light them again next Sunday afternoon.  Of course we can!

Saving Money and Weekly Update–December 11, 2017

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This week was a whirl, filled with holiday gatherings, a play at the Children’s Theatre in Portland, and lots and lots of driving children to various appointments and events.  When I came up for air, I made a batch of butterscotch chip cookies, and used up some cornflakes I’d had for a while.  They were the natural ones, and soaked up all the liquid in the batter, so the results were less than stellar.  They were dry.  I got another bag of the butterscotch chips, as they are on sale this week, and will try again. It is difficult to find gluten-free corn flakes, but I do have some that are thinner and crispier, I hope.  I will also add more liquid and another egg.  Sometimes the gluten-free flour is a little different.

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We had breakfast at Bob’s Red Mill.  We had a lot of fun visiting with our son, and one of his friends who works there.  We also took a lot of pictures with “Little Bob” and are planning to enter the contest they are having, just for fun.  We put ‘Bob” in a bottle, Bob in a tree, etc.

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Bob even played Yahtzee with Michaela on Sunday, but she sure thought I was strange when I took that picture!

Anyway, they gave us a free bag of Scottish oats.  I guess we seemed like we were enjoying ourselves, or maybe it was because we were friends with Adam, but we were thankful!

The play we went to was Cinderella.  It was well done, as always, and took the twist that Cinderella only wanted to tap dance, and that’s what she and the prince did. She lost her shiny tap shoe at the ball… Very cute!  One of my friends and her children went with us, and we had a great time visiting.  We went to the school matinee performance, so it was very reasonable.

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I did get some cornbread and soup made.  We also had salad and lots of potatoes.

I was able to find a lot of very inexpensive grocery items that I bought to donate to various places.  They are collecting at Rob’s work.  They need donations at church.  Patsy’s school is collecting.  I don’t feel like I single-handedly need to fill all the barrels, but love to be able to help with 50c/box macaroni, 33c/can veggies, and other items that are really on sale right now and can make the donation $ stretch so much farther.  I set aside some items for later when they ask for donations, as the prices are really low right now.  We are also giving food gifts to some people and got some of what I needed for that.  And, of course, I filled up my supply of 99c sugar, 99c for 18 eggs, and a bunch of other items.  So, I put quite a bit of energy into shopping this week.

We also got most of our Christmas shopping done.  We went pretty simple this year, and now need to wrap it and sort it into piles for the various places we are going to celebrate.  When you have many children, and some of them have children, and you have a large, extended family on both sides, it can sometimes be a bit overwhelming.

This week is quieter.  It is the last week of school before the break for everyone, and so we will put our usual amount of time into that.  I hope to do some cooking and baking and cleaning, in preparation for Christmas.  We will be having guests, and I need to go out and fix the camper up in preparation–we use it for a guest house.  I’m looking forward to it very much!

 

Easy Gluten-Free Breakfast Pie

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This egg pie has been a favorite of our family for years.  I thought I’d make one this morning and share the recipe.  It is a perfect recipe to make for either breakfast or dinner and can be made ahead during the busy holiday season.

The first thing I did was make the crust.  I grated 4 medium, peeled potatoes into a pie pan that had been sprayed with non-stick spray.  Then I sprinkled it with oil and salt and pepper and cooked it in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes.  (20 would have worked, too, and it would have been a bit crispier on the bottom)

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While that was baking, I mixed 3 eggs, 1 teaspoon dried, minced onion, 1/4 cup 1/2 and 1/2 (milk works) and a little bit more salt and pepper (probably 1/4 teaspoon each).  This is the filling.  If you want more eggs, you can add in 2-3 more eggs without changing the basic recipe much, and there is room in the pie dish for them.  I also got my toppings ready.

Toppings:  Today, I used turkey ham bits (about 3 Tablespoons) and cheese(1/4-1/2 cup).  In the past, I’ve used so many different things.  Here is a list of things I’ve used at times:  cooked spinach, cooked Swiss chard, cooked broccoli bits, ham pieces, bacon bits, leftover taco meat, parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese, any other cheese I had laying around—basically any leftover that I thought would taste good on there.  The key is to not put much of anything odd or strong-flavored on it, or the kids won’t eat it:). Small bits–no problem!

When I removed the crust from the oven, I poured the filling into the crust, and than added the toppings and popped it right back into the oven.

I baked that for 15 additional minutes in the 400 degree oven.  Then, we were ready for breakfast.  If you have added more filling, or lots of cold leftovers, you may need to cook a bit longer, say 20 minutes.  You want the filling to set.  This pie serves around 6 and can be made ahead and reheated one slice at a time, as needed.

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We enjoyed it with home-canned pears.  It is tasty and economical, especially with egg prices as low as they are right now!

Saving Money and Weekly Update–December 2, 2017

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This has been quite a week.  I’ve had many, many appointments for the kids, Christmas decorations to put up, school, work and more!  We finally gave in and got pizza Saturday night, but otherwise, we’ve done pretty well at keeping it frugal during such a busy week.

I was delighted to accept this little artificial Christmas tree from my friend, Harnet. A friend who was moving gave it to her, but she already had one, and offered it to me.  I was especially glad to try it out, because last year I had to put a tree up in the garage, since the living room is so small.  I was not happy with that arrangement, and wanted something better this year.  I’ve never used an artificial one before, since I live in Oregon and am surrounded by inexpensive green, live trees, but thought I’d try it out.  It works great in the small space I have.  We are thinking about getting a fresh one and putting it outside on the deck, with only lights.  We will see how far we get on that idea.

Patsy and I went upstairs in the shop and only brought down the lights, ornaments and nativity we wanted to use.  Of course, I don’t need as many ornaments as usual, with a small tree and this will make clean-up easier. The only thing we bought so far was a poinsettia for the piano.  I even found some extra candles up there that I can use.  I put up a nativity scene, and found the advent wreath.  There are some stockings, but I may need to sew up a few more.  I did find some Christmas fabric in my stash the other day, so now I’m set, since I found the existing ones to use for a pattern.  Or….there’s always the dollar store if I run out of time:)

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My sister, Rosalie, Ja’Ana and I had a day with Danait and Harnet.  One of the fun, free activities we did was take Danait to the library for a reading program/story time.  After story time, they did a craft where they rolled pine cones in suet and bird seed.  Rosalie helped her put it outside on her deck when we went back home.  I hope some birds come.  She was really excited and hoping they would.  Harnet wanted to study, so that’s what we did while they did story time.  She has tests coming up for school next week, and is a very diligent student.  We did over 2 hours of homework that day.

We got her Christmas tree up with lots of help from a very excited 3 year old.

Harnet wanted to learn how to make tacos, so, while we did more homework, Rosalie ran down and got some tortillas and things to add to what she already had, and I showed her how. We also showed her how easy it was to make quesadillas for Danait from just cheese and tortillas. She loves Mexican food, so was very excited to learn, and sent pictures of Danait happily munching soft tacos today!  Now, she has a couple more super easy meals, that they like, to make on busy days, and she knows just what to buy to make it taste the way she wants it.   I think we will have to show her about the bulk spice bins at Fred Meyers, since that is the spice Rosalie got.  It is clearly the most economical way to get spices, but a little daunting unless we show her exactly which one to get, since all she ever saw was a bulk plastic bag with a little tag–no label, of course.

As usual, she fed us another wonderful meal.  This time, it was  brown lentils made with beri- beri spice, and a stew of beef, potatoes, and a spicy sauce.  She had injera bread, and I took some brown rice to share, as I can’t eat the injera since it contains barley flour with the teff flour.  We always enjoy the sour cream she offers to us to cool it all down a bit and then we had coffee:)

 

It took me many, many hours (I’m slow when it comes to computers) but I finally figured out how to load the pictures and am now back to being able to take more, and post like I used to.  Because the hard drive was gone, there were a lot of programs to get up and running, and a lot of pictures to transfer from my phone, as they were all gone.  It’s even better, because now my phone transfers the photos automatically to the computer when I take them.  I just kept at it and did not have to beg or pay anyone else to fix it.  I’m saving those options for the next big problem:). Hopefully, my blogging will get back to normal this week!

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I put together these taco rice bowls from leftovers left through out the week.  It felt good to take the odds and ends and make something new.

I got some groceries at Grocery Outlet, as it had been about 10 days, and before Thanksgiving before I bought a bunch.  The tomatoes and avacados came from that trip, and were very reasonable.  They really made the leftovers tasty!  I just stocked up on basics–things like carrots and milk, yogurt, and whatever else I needed that was a good deal.  I got the shrimp I wanted for Christmas Eve fondue. At that store, things are usually quite reasonable, but you have to grab them when you see them, as you might never see them again!  The rest of my needed items came from Fred Meyers, as Grocery Outlet also may not even have some of the things on my list on any given day.   The best bargain we got was Rice Krispie treats for 50c/box of 8.  Rob got a case and took them to school.  We like to get things like that for the classroom where he works, as they use them constantly to reinforce good behavior.  We prefer home-made ones, but they are not allowed at school–store bought is what they want, so when we see a good deal, we grab it!

The week’s offerings included barbecued chicken a few times, tacos several times, salads, African food (Harnet always sends leftovers as well as feeds us), and crispy chicken strips.  We had rice and potatoes, along with frozen veggies as well.  And pizza.  Yum!

This next week is pretty busy, too.  It’s just that time of year.  But, I have a plan.  I want to make some chili and refried beans, for starters, and those favorites will help the week go easier.  I’ve got some beans soaking right now, and will put them in crock pots tonight, and deal with them in the morning.

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Of course, baked potato bar is always welcome around here!

 

 

Weekly Update and Saving Money for the Week of Thanksgiving, 2017

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Last week was a holiday week.  None of the kids went to school, and Rob only worked Monday morning.  So, we spent the first part of the week spending time with Jake and Patsy, cleaning like crazy, setting up tables for the dinner on Thursday, and pre-cooking food.  We had plans Wednesday, so that day was not available.

In the meanwhile, the computer crashed.  Completely.  We had to use 1/2 of Tuesday, which was the day I had saved to completely finish cleaning, to take it in to the only Apple store around–over an hour from our house.  After waiting to see what the problem was, we left it there with 2 choices of issues it might have, and told them to call us when they figured it out.  In the end, the hard drive was unfixable, and we had to have it replaced, which meant it was blank when we got it back.  So, we’ve spent hours trying to put things back on it where they belong.  We are not computer geniuses, so it’s taking us a while.  A long while!!!  After several hours of work, I finally got some pictures to load, although I’ve tried many, many things to get them all to load from my phone, and they are not all there yet.  I just need to spend more time at it, and I’m about out of that this week:)

On Wednesday, we went out all day.  We visited my oldest daughter, who was not going to be able to make it Thursday due to a badly sprained ankle.  Then, we did a few errands in her area, and headed up to see Harnet.  After spending some more time on errands,  Rob graciously agreed to drive myself and Harnet, plus Jake, Ja’Ana, Patsy and Danait up to an Ethiopian grocery store up in Portland. On MLK Blvd.  During rush hour.  In our 15 passenger van.  In the pouring rain.  To buy special green Ethiopean coffee that Harnet needed. What a man!  Have I mentioned I’m married to a saint?  (At least that day he acted like one!!).   We hit bad traffic going up, but found a really great parking spot right away, got what was needed, and sailed on to drop her off, then home.  So, it all worked out!

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I met Harnet through my oldest sister. They have been friends for a couple of years.  Now that we are friends, too, and my niece Alissa has become part of that loop as well, we all really wanted her and Danait to come to Thanksgiving.  And, we wanted her to make coffee for all of us.  So, it was really our fault she needed special coffee.  We were happy to help her get some.  Now that I know what she needs, exactly, I may just order a small bag from Amazon, just in case this coffee crisis comes up again:). Everyone enjoyed the coffee tremendously, but little Danait really kept everyone entertained.  We all enjoyed the day so much.  A little person really adds to the fun in our family, and she went from person to person, happily and cheerfully.  Such a charmer!

The day after Thanksgiving, we took off for a couple of days camping.  Jake went, of course, as he has been asking frequently when “we” were going to take “our” camper out and go camping.  It was rainy and cold, and we had a ball.

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He built Legos for hours.  We all ate junk food for hours.  He played with his junk food for hours.  We visited the Dollar Store and let them spend their chore money.  He bought a gumball machine and some beads to put through it.  That way he can get “gum” over and over and put it back. He doesn’t want to chew gum.  At least not bubble gum, he says.

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We had glow sticks each evening.  They were dollar store and clearance finds.  Patsy waved them.  Jake turned them into light sabers, and he and I had a war.  Darth Vader (Jake) won that one for sure!

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He built a camper in the camper:). He liked that little nook so well that he slept in there the 2nd night, instead of on the couch as he usually does.  The first night, the jacks shifted a bit, as they often do, and the camper had a slight downhill slant.  He loved it so much because his toy would roll better.  When Rob tightened them the next morning, he was really quite put out at him for a little bit.

It was very economical to camp.  We used our park pass that we get for adopting children out of the state system.  We have to pay the registration fee. $8, I think.  We ate all meals in the camper, except one.  Rob keeps change as he gets it, then cashes it in before trips so we can eat out at least one time, if possible.  We grabbed Thanksgiving leftovers and things from our fridge at home and used the pantry in the camper for the rest.  I keep it stocked and it is good to use those items up sometimes.

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It was very windy, but we fed the seagulls some old bread.  They were quite entertaining, and even caught some of the pieces mid-air.   Other entertainment included looking at the beach from the warm van, looking at the outlet mall from the warm van, and getting out of the warm van to go back into the warm camper to build more Legos, read more books, and watch endless movies.  We watched Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Paw Patrol (thank you so much, Abbie!), and part of a couple of others.  I finished the chapter book we were reading aloud–“Snowbound With Betsy” by Carolyn Haywood.  It is very good for young readers.  It kept his interest, and it’s cute.  Even Rob liked the part he heard.  In fact, when I finished, Jake wanted me to start over, but I didn’t.  Instead, I got another book about Betsy from the same author from the library today, and will start it with him tomorrow.  I read “The Girl of the Limberlost” by Gene Stratton Porter.  I’ve read it many times, but it was in the camper, and I enjoyed reading it again.  Ja’Ana basically read and slept all weekend, and made Rob watch “Soul Surfer” with her.  She knew he would cry all the way through, and he did not disappoint:).

It was fun to get away.  Winter camping is much different from Summer camping, but we still like to do it.  We needed to get some rest, and did rest, but were a bit tired anyway when we got home.  That is because on the last night, the wind kicked up so much, that Rob woke up around midnight and put the awning in.  You don’t want it to get twisted in the wind.  I woke up, too.  Then, around 2, the power went out in the campground, so he got up again to turn things to propane so I could still shower in the morning.  I woke up, too.  Then, just as we were drifting off, the power came back on, and that woke us up again around 4.   He fell back to sleep, and they all slept until after 9.  I didn’t.  After we came home, I took about an hour nap.  Ahhh…..It was a new week before I knew it!!

IMG_6043 3We’ve been cooking.  Baked potatoes with cottage cheese and cheddar cheese were one night’s dinner.  Rob BBQ’d chicken for Monday and made shrimp fettuccine for Tuesday.  Tonight, I made homemade chicken strips.   I’m sure I’ll cook some more, as there are several days left in the week!  LOL!  But, this is it for now.  I hope your week went well, too.

 

 

 

Happy Thanksgiving Weekend

FC514CB2-830E-4A36-BA2F-6CD18AFC1649We had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day with 20 people sharing the day at our house.  I had a few anxious thoughts about where they were all going to sit, but it all worked out beautifully once I figured things out.

We set up a table in front of our fireplace.  Luckily the day was so warm that I did not have to build a fire, so those guests did not get roasted:)  In the garage, I put an extra leaf in the table that stays out there and put some tv trays by the chairs.  I also put extra chairs and tv trays where ever there was a corner.  Lastly, I broke my “don’t eat on the couch” rule, and no one spilled.  Patsy’s room became the play room, and the kids played games in there.

We had SO much food!  We had all the traditional foods, with a few twists.  I cooked the turkey on Tuesday, and just warmed it up.  The potatoes, though, I mashed that morning, and made gravy.  Our family loves potatoes, and we ate the entire 10 lbs!

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Then we took off for a couple of days of camping at the beach.  No matter how rainy and wet, we still love it!  And, boy did it turn out to be rainy and wet!!  Last night, Rob had to get up around midnight and put the awning in, it was so windy.  Then, a little later in the night, the power went out.  He got up again to change the water heater to propane, the the fridge does it by itself. Then it came back on, and woke us up again.  We drove home today, very slowly and safely, wishing we had a couple more days because we needed a nap!!!

We took Jake with us, as he has been longing to go camping for months.  This morning, he was already asking when the next camping trip would be.  We stayed inside for the most part, watching movies, reading books.  The kids did lots of craft kits and  Legos.

The sad news is that my main computer crashed   It’s in the shop.  So, my phone will have to do for now, and I find blogging much harder.  (Note:  The phone did not work at all, nothing posted, there just was not any reception there in most places, so I’m now switched out to an old computer that we had at home and am making a better post.  Sadly, this computer will not do pictures, so I have to use the one poor one I was able to load on my phone, plus there are old pictures I can use.  But, no new ones from this trip until the good computer comes home.)  Hopefully, it will be fixed soon.  (Note:  It’s fixed.  We lost the entire hard drive and everything on it.  I’m bummed.  We can pick it up whenever we can drive up there–a day or two)

 

 

 

Saving Money and Weekly Update–November 19, 2017

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Ja’Ana, Alissa and I went to see Danait’s school program.  After singing a few songs, including one about a tree, and one about ABC’s, she “read” a book she had colored for the girls.  This was a very quick visit, much shorter than usual, because both Alissa and I had to go to work.  We loved the program–the kids were so cute, and we had snacks the kids had worked on preparing.  When we were preparing to leave, after dropping them off at their home, our last glance at Danait showed her pouting big-time, yelling to the girls, “YOU STAY!!!  YOU STAY!!!”  How gratifying for the girls to know they are loved so much by one certain little 3-year-old girl:)

I did some grocery shopping.  When Rob and I picked up some Christmas gifts at Fred Meyers, the total came above the $50 mark, so we grabbed a 49c/lb turkey for later in the year.  Then, when I did my shopping at Safeway (including my 2-$1.99 butters), I got a 39c/lb turkey.  I chose a small one, since they are easy to handle in the summer.  I had loaded a $2/off a turkey coupon on my Safeway card, but figured they wouldn’t use it for such an inexpensive turkey, but they did, and I ended up paying under $3 for that turkey.  Good grief.  I couldn’t turn that one down.  While Rob and I were out and about the night before, I had also ran into Safeway and picked up my 2–4 lb sacks of sugar for 99c each.  Today, the deal is frozen pie, and I will skip that one, as I don’t need any of those.  I also got a free 2-litre bottle of Dr. Pepper when I bought the turkey.

Patsy made some sugar cookies with a new recipe.  They turned out very tasty, using gluten-free Bob’s Red Mill 1-1 flour.

I cleaned for several hours.  I did some organizing, and found all the tablecloths I need for Thursday.  In fact, the table in the garage is all ready for the big day, except decorations, and they are in a pile on top of it.  We will serve buffet-style, so I will set that up the night before or the morning of Thanksgiving.   I feel very prepared for Thanksgiving, and plan to do a little towards it each day, but mostly play with the kids and have a couple of conferences, etc. this coming week.

So, another week of normal has passed in my life.  Sometimes those are the best weeks to me.

What Did We Eat? November 17, 2017

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This was a week where I tried to encourage everyone to eat up things in the fridge so I can have more room for Thanksgiving food.

Patsy is holding an African taco–she put some of Harnet’s special lentils into a taco shell and ate it for dinner 2 nights in a row.  The second night, she put it into a flour tortilla instead:)  Almost  every time I see Harnet, she generously gives me some of these beri-beri flavored lentils.  They are spicy, but with a little different flavor than Mexican seasoning.  Patsy put a little grated cheese on there, and sour cream, and ……she loved it!!

We ate turkey-vegetable soup again this week.  The entire pot was consumed over a few days.  One day I ate it for both breakfast and lunch.  Rob opened a carton of tomato soup as well, and ate that a couple of times.  Lovana made a batch of muffins, which are all gone now.  She also made apple crisp.  Yum!

I thawed meatballs, spaghetti sauce and several other things from the freezers. I cooked a lot of noodles for Rob to eat for dinner and left for work.  When he got home, he didn’t see them, so cooked another huge batch.  We’ve eaten noodles, sauce and meatballs multiple times since then:)  The kids love noodles and eat them with Parmesan cheese.  Green beans were cooked.

One day, we ate cheese and crackers in the car when we were out and about.

Another thing I thawed was ground roast beef.  I mixed it with Miracle Whip and made sandwich spread.  I also ate it plain, with a spoon.  One night, after work, I put pickles and this spread on gf bread, and had it for my supper.

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I followed a recipe from the internet to hard-boil eggs in my Instant Pot.  Easy!  1) Put eggs in a steamer and put in pot.  Put in 1 cup water.  Turn pot on “Manual” and set for 3 minutes.  After it is done, I waited 7 minutes and then released the pressure.  They were done perfectly.  They pointed out that you could be very flexible with when you released the pressure–they sometimes left it for 15 minutes.

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So, the truth is…our meals were pretty repetitive.  Besides these main dishes, we did have odds and ends from the cupboards or fridge, plus scrambled eggs.    When I apologized to Rob for the monotony, he had some good thoughts about it.  His thought is that we are one of the few nations that feel like we need 3 different meals per day, and many, many different ones each week.  He pointed out that when we have visited Mexico, the people we were with mostly ate beans and tortillas every day, with a few differences now and then.  (On this last mission trip, we all paid a fee and the church women cooked food for us with that money, and there was plenty left over for them to have, too.)  When he went to Africa a few years ago, the choice for many was rice.  And they were fortunate to get it more than one time a day in the part of Uganda where he was.  Sometimes there was an egg or other things, but mostly there was rice, if they had any.

On that trip, he was fed well by the people, and his group quickly found out that the food wasn’t just for them…the servers would be eating after them from what was left.  After the first meal, where they weren’t understanding how it worked and ate a lot, they ate sparingly so the cooks/servers could eat.

So, he doesn’t mind the same meal several times in the week.  He feels it is actually more globally realistic, and he doesn’t think it hurts anyone at all.  Good thing:)

I made it up to him on Friday night.  We went out for Mexican food, and did a little Christmas shopping, and got these……..

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Yum!

While we were out and about, I grabbed the 2-4 lb bags of sugar I was allowed for 99c each at Safeway.  They were out of Safeway sugar, so gave me C and H, instead.  I got some lemon-lime soda for Ja’Ana, as she has caught the same crud every family member has been passing around.

At Fred Meyers, we got a few Christmas gifts, which brought me easily up to the $50 required to get a 49c/lb turkey.  I already have one that I will cook…this one will be for later in the year.  I just can’t pass up that price!!!  All that turkey for just under $10!!!

Better yet, I have Michaela’s Christmas gift.  Who knew that they would make a ladies-sized Lion King sleeper with Hakuna Matata on the front, a hood like Simba and even a tail!  That movie is one of her all-time favorites–she can quote long passages of it!  Ja’Ana spotted it the other day, and I was so glad it was still there tonight when we went back.  Maybe the other ladies of Salem are not quite as obsessed with Lion King as Michaela is????

I’m not telling what else I got, and I have lots left to get, but at least we got started.

I’d better end this and go to bed–I’m tired after all the cleaning I did today, but feel very satisfied with what I got done.  I’ll leave you with a cute picture….

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A few of us went and enjoyed her Thanksgiving program at her preschool.  They sang about trees and leaves, and quiet voices and loud voices, and their ABC’s.  They fed us refreshments of apple pastries and M & M’s.  So cute….

 

Homeschool Field Trip–State Capitol

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This year, the girls are studying government.  Yesterday, we took a trip to the Oregon State Capitol.  My husband got involved, talked to Rep. Bill Post, followed his instructions,  and contacted his office and made an appointment.  So, at 11 o’clock, the girls and I met with him! This was the best time for him, as he had a little time to spare.  He explained that there is a law requiring them all to be there for 3 days in November, but much official business is not actually being done during these 3 days, so he could carve out the time.  It sure seemed busy around there, to me!  I can only imagine the hubbub during a busy time!  He did tell the girls he had just been in a 3-hour meeting listening to a report on how some group spent their money—very long, he explained, and somewhat tedious, but a regular part of his job.

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He give the girls a tour of his office, and then showed them the House of Representatives chamber.  We were on a balcony looking down, and he had a friend down below point out his desk.  He explained how he votes for things, and some of the process involved with making a bill a law.  We had been studying this, so it was perfect timing.  He also showed the girls historic pictures of major towns in his district, and a list of all the bills he had introduced, and which ones had passed and failed.  He also told them a little about campaigning, his term of office, and so on.

The girls had prepared a few questions, and they asked them, along with any others that came up.  We found out something very interesting I did not know before!  My niece lives in his district–he is her representative.  BUT, we don’t.  We are on the other side of a line, and we have another representative.  We’ve only lived here a year, and had figured that both of us had the same representative!   You learn something new every day!

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He was very kind and patient with the girls.  We really appreciated that he would spend the time with us, and I know the girls now have a firm, positive memory associated with the state capitol.  At the end of the time he had available, he left us at the governor’s ceremonial office and went on about his business.  We continued to look around.

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The secretary was very nice to the girls.  She let them in behind the rope to the governor’s office.  They took turns sitting behind the desk.

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They had a good time!  It was very nice of her, and we felt very special.

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We peeked into the Senate chamber.  We went up stairs and down, looked in the gift shop, admired the old fashioned phone booths, and all the marble and wood fixtures that abounded in the building.

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Of course, we viewed the Great Seal of Oregon, imbedded in the floor, and admired the murals painted on the walls.  All in all, it was a perfect field trip!  We have more planned in the future, but I’m sure this one will stick out in their minds for quite a while.