Keeping my pantry well-stocked is important to me, even on a month where I’m not planning to spend a great deal of money.  So, believe it or not, I was almost out of olives!  Now, to some, like my mom and aunt, that would be good news!  To me and my sisters, a tragedy:). Rob spotted these medium-sized olives at Grocery Outlet for 79c/can and so he snagged me a case. We’ve used 2 cans already.

I grabbed the 5 packages allowed of grated cheese from Fred Meyers on Saturday.  I got Rob a birthday present from the clearance rack while I was there.  His birthday is at the end of the month, and I struggle with what to give him every year, coming so close to Christmas.  But, this is a small thing that I know he will enjoy.  Better yet, I thought of another idea I will work on this week.  We will be watching both our niece and nephew that weekend, so any celebrations will be group efforts.  I think another chocolate cake is in order, for sure.

Our 1/4 beef arrived.  It was taken to the butcher shop in December, but Rob went and picked it up yesterday.  I had to do some major freezer arranging to fit it in, so now I’m even more committed to emptying out a few more items.  I like the freezers full, but not crammed to the point where I worry they will pop open.  I had been emptying them and they were in great condition, but now they are really full!  Buying the beef in bulk saves a lot, compared to purchasing little by little. We have done it for many years this way, but have cut our order down from 1/2 to 1/4 as our family is smaller.

One of my goals in January is to use things that have been around for too long.  This soup is some I canned in 2011.  I ate it for lunch, and it was still delicious.  I felt so virtuous when I ate it:). I also used some peppers I pickled a few years ago.  I put some in refried beans and some in chili.  They worked fine.  When a friend made them, they were crisp.  Mine turned out mushy, and so people didn’t want them that way, so they just sat there.  Now, I’m using them up in creative ways.  I’ve also used several frozen bread items.  I buy it when it is on the day-old rack at Fred Meyers and freeze it.  But, I needed space more than extra bread this week, so I targeted it.   I will try to post later in the week about the other goodies I cooked.

One day, Alissa came to my house for school, as usual.  She had her hair in curlers.  After she took them out, some hair was curled and some was not.  So, we curled the rest with a curling iron, and it turned out great!  (We also did school, if you were wondering). Ja’Ana had taken a job for the holidays where Lovana (older sis) works.  They just needed a dish washer for the break, and Lovana said, “My sister will do it.” And, so she did.  But, there was a mix-up, and they thought the break continued one more week than it did.  So, they scheduled J for a few days last week.  Therefore, Alissa and I had a fun week of school, and we made J a list of work she had to do in the evenings!  I tried not to make it too hard, and it worked out.  This week, we will hit it harder, as both girls will be here, as usual.  So, it was win-win for everyone, and J ended up getting a few hundred dollars out of the deal.  Alissa still has her after-school job, so she enjoyed buying Christmas gifts for everyone this year, even more than she usually does.

We got a microwave!  Rob went to a hardware store out in Mt. Angel, Oregon, where we have bought appliances for years.  It’s just a little store in a little town that has excellent customer service and good prices.  They showed him the choices. He did not pick the most expensive or the cheapest, not the simplest or the fanciest, the largest or the smallest, but one that met our needs for a good price, and within an hour, he had it home.  I’m sure glad to have one again.  I use it a lot.  With my work schedule, I cook a lot on the weekends and warm it up during the week.  We’ve managed, but…..this will be better.

We went swimming as a family at the YMCA and I took 2 exercise classes this week.  We’ve been enjoying watching Netflix, Rob’s Christmas gift from Lovana.  When we moved in here, the price of cable, plus internet, was less than our bill at our other place for phones plus internet, because we dropped our phone land line.  So, we got cable.  I’ve especially enjoyed the ice skating that was on this week, as I have not gotten to watch it for years and years.

Jake spent the weekend.  He wanted popcorn, so we enjoyed the frugal, tasty snack.  We had him help Rob run errands.  He went swimming with us, and decided to run around the track 2 times as well, while we were at the Y.  We read out loud several times.  Right now, we have moved on to “Little House on the Prairie” and he is loving it!  We just finished “Little House in the Big Woods.”  It’s been so rewarding to see him making this transition to enjoying it when I read chapter books.  This is our 4th, and I’m such a proud auntie!  It’s so fun to see how indignant he got when the Ingalls’ dog, Jack, got swept away when they were crossing the creek because they forgot to put him up in the wagon, and how happy he was when Jack showed up, all right, by the campfire that night.  (I know I have a few new readers–for you, Jake is my special-needs nephew, who is going to turn 10 this coming week, whom I work with as both an auntie, and as his personal support worker for DD services, so spending time with Jake is both rewarding for me as a person, and generates some funds for the family.  When I work with him, I try to help him go forward in his development, in some way.  You can read about some things we have done here and here.)

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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!