Update!

It's been a nice low-key month around our home! Cole's schedule has settled down a bit the last week or so. The kids have enjoyed seeing him in the evenings for a few minutes before bed.

Joshua has been cutting teeth like a mad man! Since Christmas he has cut 4-5 teeth! He's been one crabby dude. Other than that he's really started talking. His words are still pretty limited but he is starting to put the words he know into 2-3 word sentences. Last night he said "I want Dada"....he also says "I want that", "Yessss" "Uh-oh" "I want This". He's started waking up really early in the morning....I refuse to get up before 7am so on those mornings he gets to lay in his bed and talk. We hear him singing every morning....it's pretty cute!

Cameron has settled back into school! I am so grateful that he loves school again! He's starting to recognize words when he looks at books and papers. I wouldn't be surprised if he was reading by the end of summer! Right now we are working on recognized numbers....he's very good with number 1-10. Once you get past 10 he has trouble recognizing numbers 11-20. He knows them but gets confused when looking at them! His teacher suggested using BINGO cards and having him yell out the numbers. It's so fun and he has really gotten the hang of these numbers he's been having trouble with.

Cole is doing great. Winters are or have always been very hard for him. I can honestly say that in all of the years I have known him...this has been his best winter to date! I believe that because we are following our hearts and doing exactly as we have been instructed by our Father in Heaven we are being blessed immensely....and I believe that is exactly why Cole is thriving this winter! He still loves his job. Now that his job has slowed down a bit we are enjoying having him home in the evenings!

I am hanging in there....the holidays were really tough! I am still trying to get settled back in since our trip to Oregon! I was finally able to go to Cameron's school this last week to help in the class room....Joshua and I even made it to playgroup this week! I've spent some time reading. I love my primary class! I've enjoyed baking the last couple of months! I am trying very hard to enjoy the days home with my kiddos and then enjoy the evenings with my husband!

We are all looking forward to spring and summer!

My Menu---Jan 22-28, 2012

Sun Jan 22- Cole's Birthday Dinner...His choice!  Shepards Pie (trying it in the crock pot for the very first time as time is limited after church to get dinner ready) AND Apple Crisp for desert.

Mon Jan 23- Soup and grilled cheese sandwiches

Tues Jan 24- Baked Chicken Fajitas

Wed Jan 25- Baked Potatoes

Thurs Jan 26- Homemade baked Chicken Nuggets

Fri Jan 27- Pizza night!

Sat Jan 28- BBQ Pork Chops

My Menu---Jan 15-21, 2012

When planning my menus stand in front of my calendar in my kitchen and think about the food I have on hand. I always try to use what I have first...if I need an ingredient for something I note it on my calendar several days before I need it. I also try to find something that I can use as a substitute for that ingredient! We have some favorite meals that I rotate through often. My family doesn't care if we have spaghetti once a week. You'll probably see several things on my menu a couple of times a month. I like to try new recipes but my husband and oldest child aren't always supportive! Sundays are hard days for us. We have church in the afternoon from 1pm-4pm...we don't get home till 4:30....we leave our house at 12:30pm. It take our family 2 1/2 hrs to be "church ready"...so our mornings on Sundays consist of breakfast and getting ready. I try really hard to have dinner in the crockpot so that when we get home it is ready! For Christmas, my husband bought me a rice cooker with a delay start timer on it....I LOVE IT!!! for Sundays!


Sun Jan 15- Smothered Pork Chops in the crockpot with Rice : Cream of mushroom soup over pork chops.

Mon Jan 16- French Dip Sandwiches

Tues Jan 17- Spaghetti

Wed Jan 18- Breakfast for dinner: Scrambled eggs, bacon, pancakes and hashbrowns for daddy (because of his egg allergy he gets hashbrowns instead!)

Thurs Jan 19- Terriyaki Chicken and Rice

Fri Jan 20- Pizza night!

Sat Jan 21- Free night....once a month we eat out...the boys normally pick McDonalds and Cole I will either have Taco del Mar or Subway


Breakfast-for-dinner is something my mom used to do for us! It was our favorite meal! My kids love it too!!!

Weekly Menu---Jan 8-14, 2012

I was on the phone with my sister this afternoon and she asked what I was making for dinner. We talked about some of the things she could do on Thursdays when he life is more than she can handle...:) She mentioned how planning would help her...here's my menu, hopefully it inspires somebody!

Sun Jan 8- Crock-pot Chicken and Rice : two chicken breast, two handfuls of baby carrots, half an onion, one packet chicken gravy mix and two cups water. Cook on low for four hours. Serve over white or brown rice. Served 4.

Mon Jan 9- BBQ Pork Chops and Mashed Potatoes : Three bone in pork chops seared in hot pan. Place in baking dish and cover with bbq sauce. Cover pan with foil. Bake at 375 for about an hour. Serve with mashed potatoes and a green salad

Tues Jan 10- Chicken tacos

Wed Jan 11- Lentil Sloppy Joes (we'll see how this goes over with the Husband ;)) with homemade buns!

Thurs Jan 12- Kielbasa and roasted veggies

Fri Jan 13- homemade Pizza night!

Sat Jan 14- Spaghetti


My menu nothing special. I try to cook things my family likes and eats well. Sometimes I throw some odd things in just to see how it goes over. Mr. J will eat anything...but Cameron and Cole are very picky! I normally open a can of corn or green beans to serve with meals. I always have apple sauce on hand as well. The boys have been spoiled with canned peaches lately (thanks to the truck driver and my mom-in-law in Oregon!).

Goals for the year

Here's my list of goals for 2012: (in no particular order)

Make a 72-Hour kit for each member of our family:

I've always had a good intentions. I have no excuses. I have been told that I need to do this so I am going to assemble 72-hour kits for the four of us. I've started my list and have started collecting the items I need. I plan to have them completed by the 1st of April.

Make a 72-hour car kit

Again, no excuses! With Cole driving so much we need one now. I have gathered most of what I need and I will get it put into the car this weekend. Once Cole's company car arrives I will make a second for that car. Those of you in AK, how do you store your drinking water in the car during the winter? I assume you don't because I will freeze?

Compile a 3-6 month supply of food storage

When we left Oregon, we left our food storage. I had a pretty nice supply built up. I remember the first time I talked to Cole's grandmother after arriving her in AK...she said "how that Mormon Mommy doing with out her food storage". I was petrified! We've had to use our food storage before. When Cole lost his job a couple years ago our food storage fed us! Seriously. Because we live in a smaller apartment now and I can't store outside like I could in Oregon, My hope is to store a 3-6 month supply. 

Organize our household information into a binder instead of piles

Ugh! I have piles and piles of household papers...from birth certificates to bills. Yes, they are place out of the way but if something is needed I am the only one that can find it. I would like for Cole to be able to gather his own documents when headed to the DMV, or to be able to find the last power bill with out having to go through 3 different stacks of paper. I know that it's my fault for not being more organized so I am taking it into my own hands. I am going to take all of our important documents and household information and place it into a binder. I will then take what is left over and file it in an accordion file. Hopefully this will help cut back on some of the clutter while allowing for things to be found quickly.

Cook meals from scratch 

This last year I started trying to be better about this. I grew up with a working mom. She would through dinner together as fast as she could and most of the time it ended up being something along the lines of rice-a-roni and seasoned chicken breast. Don't get me wrong I love rice-a-roni but as a mom having to worry about her weight as well as feeding my children something nutritious I would prefer to make brown rice. So this is already in the works. I also plan to use a meal plan! I hate meal plans but since having implemented one a couple months ago I have found that I really do save money and that it is easier to cook/bake from scratch when you know what you need ahead of time.

Travel

Nothing big here! We would like to take a couple of small trips this summer to explore our "backyard"! We have talked about taking an over night trip to Denali National Park. We'd also like to head on over to Valdez. We will make a trip or two to Homer and we'd like to make it up to Fairbanks!

Exercise/Run

Yes, the ultimate goal would be to lose some weight. I hope that by excercising regularly whether it's by running, video, or machine that I would lose some weight. Regularly is the key word here!

Family Home Evening/Scripture study/prayer!

I would like to implement Family Home Evening into our weekly plan. Our family scripture study fell to the wayside when the boys and I went to Oregon, so i plan to start that again too! I would just like to be better about these things in general!

There you have it. These are the main things I hope to accomplish this year. Every so often I will give you an update, especially if I'm working on a project!

Normalcy

I've started a couple of post that I haven't finished yet so I kinda feel guilty about starting another one..

Anyhow, We've had a good few days. Cameron started school today and did NOT say anything this morning about not wanting to go to school!!! Yay!!! In fact he was in a super mood. We've set some goals for each other so hopefully that is helping...I hate getting up early and I have two kids that sleep in most mornings. When the alarm goes off at 7am I hit the snooze a couple of times. Well not anymore...I have promised Cameron that I will get up before 7 am so that he doesn't feel rushed getting ready for the bus. We've also decided that he needs to eat before he goes to school...his school serves breakfast at 9 am. The first week or two of school I was having Cameron eat a bowl of cereal or a piece of toast before getting on the bus but he was complaining about not being hungry for breakfast at school. Here at home, on our days off we don't eat breakfast right away....most mornings we wait a good hour before I rush into the kitchen to make breakfast. He told me last week though that it would be easier to ride the bus if he ate a little bit of breakfast before going to school...that way the bus ride wouldn't feel so long because he's not hungry! Sometimes as a Mom I pick my battles and this was one I wasn't willing to push back in September because I doesn't do me any good to force him to eat! Any how, it seemed to make a difference today.

It's funny to think that over the Christmas break I was counting down the days till he went back to school and now after just one day back I'm looking forward to spring break. I miss him when he's gone...he is so funny! J is hysterical when Cameron is gone. He runs around like a crazy child and seems to really enjoy the attention he gets when it's just him. I remember why we waited so long to have a second child :)

Today I'm dreaming of spring and the warmth and sunshine that will come with it!

Going Private

Hey All! Happy New Year!

We have decided to go private :(

I've had a couple of weird comments from people I don't know and a new follower that I don't know as well. I hate to have to do this but the safety of my family is my priority!

If you want to be able to view my blog after this Friday....send me a message on facebook with your email address. Thanks for your understanding and I hope that those that are our friends and family that follow us to stay up to date with us this way will still stop by and say Hi!

Amber :)