Saturday Snow Day

Well, the predicted snow fall came. Not the 8-10" some had hoped for, but significant snow fall all the same. . .view from my front porch this morning:The kids were overjoyed to see the snow! They didn't race outside like they have in the past when we have a dusting but were anxious to go after breakfast.

I treated the family to thick-sliced bacon. . .eggs. . .and pancakes. . .but not just any pancakes. . .This is a real treat in our house!! The kiddies were happy to see these :) I love sitting down to breakfast as a family in the mornings. . .Especially when we don't have to rush to get anywhere :)

Frederick even called Grandpa Fred this morning to let him know we were making a "homemade" breakfast -- ha! Grandpa Fred LOVES our sit-down breakfasts and so I asked Frederick if he wanted to call and see if he'd like to come over this morning. Frederick (6) very seriously answered me "Mom, he couldn't get here that fast." True. . .300 miles is too far for fun things like that. He brought the phone over to the griddle and asked if he could "smell" the bacon cooking :)Look at the look of delight on his face as he's talking to his grandparents. I love it!!!
Then outside they headed.They lasted maybe 15 minutes. . .And while they were out there and I was running from door-to-door to get a few shots this was happening inside. . .
He's a keeper, huh?And now one hour after sitting down to breakfast, it is eaten, the dishwasher is running, the stairs are vacuumed, the kids have been out, are now in (with piles of snowy clothes and shoes at the doors) and they are sitting at the kitchen table drinking hot chocolate. . .the only real reason to go outside :)

Now only another 10 hours to fill in this bright snowed-in day!

Weather

I hate to be cold. HATE IT. Yes, I can get hot, but try *never* to complain about that! My husband moved us 300 miles south to make me happy. Wasn't far enough, but about all he can take so it's good. But here's the problem. . .we still get snow and ice. And I don't mind it but school closes for EVERYTHING. The wind blowing too hard? School's out. Does the forecast say we are getting snow in two days? Better let school out a day early. I'm not kidding. Here is this week so far (and no, we haven't had anything but a few flurries in the air. . .I don't even know if it's gotten below freezing???) And keep in mind that we have not had a full week of school since before Christmas. . .with no delays, early dismissals, etc. . .

Monday: I got a sub job in another county for the second half of the day. The kids were in shorts on Saturday running around outside (it wasn't hot, they just play hard). I have to report to the school at 11:30. I check my phone for the time after I get into the classroom -- there's a text from my husband saying school is letting out at noon. What to do??? I am working!!! He was able to leave his job and go home to be with the kids. Absolutely no snow or ice on the ground. . .there were flurries in the air for 1/2 hour or so.

Tuesday: Check to make sure they're going to school -- yep, all set. Send them off. We have significant flurries (for our area) for most of the afternoon, with snow sticking to the ground. Kids stay in school, no problems at all.

Wednesday: Wake up to a 2-hr delay. What?!? No sign of anything anywhere (all snow on the ground has blown away). The roofs of the houses have some frost on them. . .one of my friends called me at 7:40 and asked why the school wasn't open. . .been there, done that. Many times. Head to school with a full car load only to find out that they are out/on a delay. Ugh. I was two hours later getting into work than I had hoped yesterday.

Today: I think (???) we're all set. It's 4 a.m. and 41 degrees. Big ice storm predicted for tomorrow so I will stay close to my phone in case "they" decide that it's too risky to go to school 12 hours before the forecasters say something might hit. I *have* to finish up some work at the Y so will make sure to get there early today.

Tomorrow: No doubt that there won't be school. Because forecasters are always right (ha!) we'll take another day off.

I just don't get it -- I really do understand the safety of the children is of prime importance. To me too. And there are mountain and lake areas around where it makes it difficult for the buses to reach everyone. . .however, how is ANYTHING getting done at school? How can there be any routine at all? And what about working parents?? What do they do?? I had my first taste of that on Monday. . .so I'm just sayin'. . .I HATE THE COLD!!!!

But I love living here. . .as long as there is no threat of S.N.O.W. than everything is dandy. It's a beautiful area, we are on the lake every chance we get, and the sun shines more than it ever did in my hometown. I wish weather wasn't such a big deal to me, but it is. . .I'm taking an online class right now and one of our classmates is checking in from upstate NY and wants to move up into Canada. Someone else in the class sincerely posted "why would anyone want to live in the North?" I really do think he was speaking from a weather standpoint. . .and I was anxious to hear her answer. It was something about how spread-out the south is and how she was so close to so many cultural activities up there. . .and the clean, cold, crisp air, with snow crunching beneath her feet. I hadn't realized how rural the south is until we moved here, but I'll take it over "snow crunching under my feet" -- ha! Isn't it great that God gave us all such different tolerances and than that He created so many different living environments for us???

Some color choices

Here are Tom and Bonnie's choices.
Thank you for the sweet comments from my previous post about my living room. I hope it didn't sound like I don't like it or don't appreciate it. . .I do love the space, I just don't know what to do with it!!

Anyway, they decided that we can change colors in the corner by the door leading up the stairs so we can have another (lighter/more neutral) color up there. There is not much natural light upstairs so even our soft yellow now looks really dark, and it's even the lighter sample on the card!!! So. . .the living room is going to be LaFonda Wild West Green (Lowe's) and Cliveden Sandstone on the stairs & in the common room (Lowe's also). More to come. . .I hope. . .:)

P.S. The other two colors are what are currently in the kitchen and dining room. . .at one point Tom was even willing to re-paint the kitchen -- what a good guy!!! But glad we're not going THAT far. . .it's a job, as anyone who has ever painted a kitchen knows. . .
And that bit of Benjamin Moore sticking in there. . .well, Tom and Bonnie even planned out Master Bedroom and Bathroom colors (never been painted) but we'll save that for another day. One project at a time. . .or so I keep telling myself. . .

Design-and-Color Challenged

I love to decorate. Love it. Just take a look at my sidebar and see how many decorating blogs I regularly (daily) check out. But I'm not good at it. Really. It's one of those things that I keep hoping "practice will make perfect" but I know, in all honesty, that although I might get a little better with lots and lots of practice, it's not something I'm a natural at and therefore it will always be difficult for me. I don't "see" things like Layla does. I envy Kim's artistic talent. And where would I be without Kimba's blog for inspiration? And I love Rhoda's style. The person that I wish I knew in person, hands down, is Sarah at Thrifty Decor Chick. Well, I do hope that I get to know her a little bit next month as I have asked for a design consultation with her. But for now, I have these two:Tom and my stepmom Bonnie spent a couple of hours today talking about what it's like to live with someone who loves beautiful things but doesn't know how to put it together (that would be me) and some big-picture design/color ideas from Bonnie.

In my past 14 years as a homeowner I have grown a lot. I know a lot more now about what I like. I'm better at saying "no" when someone wants to give me something they think I need but I don't like/don't think it will fit in with my "look". And I'm starting to understand scale. I understand quality and demand it more often. But really, my husband is and always will be 100% better at color and style than me. I am impatient and after going to the paint store with Bonnie on Saturday and not being able to find the perfect-green-that-I'm-looking-for-in-my-living-room in under 5 minutes I was done. I know design takes time, but no matter how long I think about it, it's just not really ever going to "come" to me, KWIM? So here we are. . .
Our living room is a funny thing. It is HUGE. We really have never been able to figure out what to do with it. We have lived here 3.5 years now and still don't know what to do with it. We didn't even have furniture for the first 2 years!!! Really. I figured out my paint colors pretty quickly -- they weren't what I had in mind in my "dream" home, but we had to make them work with what we already had -- finances and a 300 mile move demanded it. So I picked a greyish-green for the kitchen, a deeper-end red for the dining room, and a soft yellow for the livingroom and up the stairs. Well, we are now tired of the yellow. And tired of an incomplete room. And my stepmother is a decorator. And she was here this weekend. Here is a tour. . .The first picture was taken from the front door, turning to your left, and the above image is (obviously) looking at the front door, standing in the doorway leading to the kitchen. To the left in the picture is the stairway leading up.
The kitchen, as you can see, no longer green. (The stairway is now on the right of the picture.) Tom painted it this gold-ish color in October when I was away on Fall Break with the kids. I *love* the color (he was "tired" of the green) but it just doesn't go with the yellow any longer so it's time to change it. Green is what I have in mind, but not the grey-green we had in there. An olive-y green. There is some of that color in the rug under the unbelievably messy coffee table (which always looks like this)and look. . .I see a box from CHRISTMAS still there. The things you "see" in pictures. Nevertheless, I digress. There is this specific green color in that area rug and in the picture above the buffetwhich is my absolute favorite piece of furniture in my house (it sits between the two front windows). It's really my father's buffet, from his mother, but it didn't "fit" into the condo that he and Bonnie moved to several years ago so I was allowed to keep it for now. . .and still thankfully have it. . .I love the storage but mostly I love the piece. I've done pretty well with accessorizing the top, thanks to Sarah's blog inspiration. The angel was on top of the Christmas tree and never quite made it back into storage. . .Marie loves it sitting out so we'll keep it for awhile longer. With the snowmen.Yea, the sofa table. I don't much like this piece of furniture either (with my Bible still sitting there from church) but for now it's what we have. We bought all of this really great quality oak furniture -- coffee table, end tables, sofa table -- piece-by-piece when we were first married and it was great with what we had at the time. But now I'm looking for something more traditional. With more storage. Someday. . .
Anyway, storage IS a problem for us. . .the stuff stacked to the left of the table? All of our schoolbooks and such that we use to "homeschool" and play school. The bottom shelf contains table clothes, a basket I adore but have no where to display, and it looks like a box of Kleenex. If you pivot you see this:I really can't believe I am posting my messes for all the world to see but I'm keepin' it real today. This is our family desk (my dad was checking out everything he was missing by not having a television here). I do clean it off and 2 hours later it is usually back to this. Again, lack of storage. There aren't any closets or cupboards or anything around to keep this stuff in so here it all is. Bonnie suggested putting all of this behind closed doors and I agree. . .but don't have a few thousand (or even hundred!) to spend right now to do that. So it's just a matter of not letting it get this bad. Moving on. . .Here is a shot looking into the dining room. We are now on the left side of the room with the kitchen entrance on the other side of this long wall between the doorways:
Tom's cousin Debbie is also a talented decorator (she suggested the kitchen paint color) and accessorizer (is that a word?). She thought I needed a "collection" so for my birthday a few years ago she purchased a couple of crosses for me. It caught on and now I have several and quite enjoy growing this collection -- which I have since learned, from blogland, is called an array.
Here is a shot from the other end of the room:
What, you ask, is that green stuff peeking out at the bottom of the photograph?? Why, it's this:
My husband can't resist plants. This one started off small enough but it morphed into this in less than a year! He has the green thumb, I don't. And the stuff stacked behind it? More games and puzzles. . .remember, no storage. (BOTH buffets are full of games and puzzles too -- which were purged right before Christmas.)
This is a BIG, HUGE empty corner. I tried making it a craft area and had it all down here for 6-8 months but I couldn't stand having all that JUNK in my living room. So back upstairs it went (where I don't use it nearly as much) and I'm back to this empty corner. Bonnie suggested making it a reading nook. I like that idea :)

Speaking of Tom's green thumb:Plants are everywhere. And I wouldn't mind so much if we had flat surfaces for them. But for now, here they are. . .the scraggly tree-looking thing in the middle of this buffet was about 6 feet high and we put it on our front porch this summer. . .it about died off so I guess we'll leave it indoors now. I'm happy with this piece of furniture too and it's placement in the room. I also like this arrangement at the bottom of the stairs:It's simple enough and doesn't get in the way. In the fall and at Christmas I had hung wreaths on the mirror and am missing that decorative touch. . .I've seen some pretty cute V-day ones floating around. . .not a priority right now though.

I wanted to show you one more consideration. . .Whatever color we paint the living room, we have to take it all the way up the stairs and to this common area:(That is the door to the girls' bedroom, the boys' bedroom is behind the camera, the bonus room to the right and the bathroom door between the sofa Thomas is sitting on and the television.)

So. . .picking out a color in the living room effects a large section of the house. It's a lot of paint and time so we need to be careful about our choices.

What did the design team decide?
I'll get back to you on that.

Feel free to give me your opinions too! No one can be more critical than I am, I'm sure. I'm thinking this will be fun to transform. . .

Company Girl 1.22

Good morning Ladies! I don't have any homemade refreshments for you today because I'm in school :) I love teaching and when I get the chance to sub -- and not just any class but in my son's middle school -- the day is bright! So hopefully you have a cuppa-something with you while we catch up. . .This is a picture of us on the first day of school this year. . .I had a fantastic long-term sub job in the middle school at the beginning of the year and I think every one of us was eager to get there that day. But in all truthfulness, I think we are all fairly happy to go to school any day -- especially the days that we get to go together. I am so incredibly blessed to get to spend these days with my children. . .taking them to school and getting to see their teachers more often, even if it's just a quick "hello" in the hallway. Don't get me wrong. . .I also LOVE the days that I can drop them off and do my own thing too. . .I'm in that season of my life where I really am getting my cake and eating it too.

This season is also an incredibly busy one and I haven't had time for my friendships like I like. God blessed us with a severe thunderstorm yesterday and that is the only reason I was home for 1.5 hours, and I was happy to be. If it hadn't rained the kids and I would have gone directly from school to the Y for the boys' swim practice then my husband would have met us there to trade cars so I could go to school and he could bring the kids home and feed them. But because of the thunder and lightening (in January?!?), the pool had to close and so we came home. The kids and I set the timer and did a quick clean-up, then a little more. . .vacuuming and such too. My dad and stepmom are visiting this weekend so we won't do our "normal" Saturday chores and plus I like to pick up for company. . .anyway, we don't allow video games during the week but because they were so helpful I let them turn on the Wii for a little bit and I actually laid down for 15 minutes!!! But, you see, I laid down instead of checking in with others or making a quick phone call. I hate that friendships (and checking Company Girls' blogs) go on the back-burner but it's a SEASON and I know that. Every hour (o.k., MOST hours) are a choice and how we choose to spend them. I don't think anyone wanted a phone call at 5:30 a.m. so this is my "catch-up" time with all of you. Sorry it isn't more personal. . .

Last night was my first night on campus for a class. It was o.k. It's going to be an incredibly difficult (so everyone says -- and I believe them!) statistics class. Whew! I mostly take my classes online so this is a different experience for me. I love meeting new people though so that part is good. I hadn't gotten my books yet so after class I went and picked them (2) up. . .$173. . .NO KIDDING. I know last week I crabbed about the cost of school but c'mon. . .this is INSANE. If you could see the condition of the one that they charged me $90 bucks for. . .needless to say I came home in a very bad mood (not so much the cost but the condition and price) and immediately jumped online. . .I found I can rent the one book for $50 which I'm planning to do. Today is the last day that store will take books back so I have to book it over there after school today and return it. Ugh! I don't mind buying books but some of it just seems a tad unfair. . .last quarter I bought a book ($80-$90) and the professor hardly used it. I could have completely gotten away without it. If the teachers are going to USE the books, that's one thing but. . .and I definitely wouldn't be hopping mad about this other one if I would have been charged fairly for it. . .it's been used at least three times. . .I was looking online and can buy it new for just over $100. Sigh.

Well, let's not end negatively :) Tell me how your week was -- what was the highlight? For me. . .I don't know. I kind of hope I haven't hit my highlight and that will happen this weekend when my kids' grandparents are here! We don't really have any plans. . .they are on their way to Florida for a month and thought they'd go 100 miles out of their way to come over and see us. It's great having family around! So here's to you and a blessed weekend, spending it (or at least a few hours) the way YOU want to!

WFMW -- Kid of the Day

I am participating in We are THAT Family's Works for Me Wednesday today!

Around here we have Kid of the Day. With four kids sometimes decisions are hard to make -- McDonald's or Wendy's? Which bag of chips do you want to open? Whose turn is it to sit in the front seat? You know, the list goes on and on so we have developed "Kid of the Day". We've used it for years. On a markerboard in the kitchen we have all the kids' names listed. (Next to their names are their bedtimes. . .that can periodically change and we also use these these names for our disciplinary system in the house too as well as important phone numbers.) The kids whose name is circled at the bottom is kid of the day.

Here are some tricks to the game: Kid of the Day does get to make all tie-breaking decisions (which movie to watch -- T&M want this one, M&F want this one), they get to bring the mail in, they get first seating choice at the dinner table, etc. But also, they "get" to be the one to run upstairs to make sure all the lights are off in the morning. They have to set the table. We only have three bar stools. . .so if you're kid of the day you have to sit at the table. When we got a new chair in the living room last year that was up for debate. . .so only kid of the day could sit it in. Hey! You do what you have to do to keep the peace! The grandparents are all "on" to this game and they employ it when the kids are at their houses too. . .who is kid of the day today, tomorrow, etc.

Because we have used this system for so long, my kids 100% accept it. They have been known to race to the board to see who is kid of the day if a question/debate/job comes up. My youngest is the "police officer" of the board. . .if I forget to change it in the morning, watch out!!! He's ON it :)

Seating in the van became an issue last year. Who sits where??? As it turns out, every kid is kid of the day one Monday a month so on Mondays kid of the day chooses all the assigned seating for the week. Everyone knows they will be kid of the day one week out of the month so again, it teaches them patience and (for my logic-minded ones) strategy. So. . .give it a try if you're so inclined. . .it works for us! For more great ideas this week, hop on over here.

A busy day off

Wow! Today was one long day!!! I really want to post pictures too but it's late and tomorrow will come quickly. . .so. . .better just record these silly things before they get away from me :)

Of course we were out of school for Martin Luther King Day today. . .we have had ONE FULL day of school since Christmas break. Crazy, huh? Well, after a rainy weekend we really made up for it today. The five of us left the house at 7:30 this morning and did not return until 5:30 this evening! Can you believe it?!? This no longer surprises Tom. . .he's used to me go, go, going. I played tennis (indoors) at 8 a.m. for 1.5 hours. The kids were questionably good. . .in the end good enough for donuts. That is usually my "bribe" when they have to come and sit during that time with me on Mondays. . .I am really proud of them that they respect me and my desire to play enough that they quietly (well, as quiet as an 11, 9, 7, & 6-yr-old can be) play games or watch their portable DVD player or whatever. Today they forgot the DVD player so that is where the "questionably" part comes in :) We were looking for a particular donut place that someone had told us about but couldn't find it so we had to skip that so I could make it to the YMCA for a meeting I had with my sports' supervisor. I had a little work to do too so we didn't get out of there until 11:30. A friend had invited us over to her house -- she has 4 boys -- so we picked up some donuts at Wal-Mart and went over there. By then it was 54 degrees outside (in January!!!) and all the kids skipped this terrific lunch she had prepared to play outside. What was nice was the uninterrupted lunch we then got to enjoy :)

Another friend texted me and asked if I'd like to play tennis at 3:30. . .I never say "no" to that so I took 3 of the older kids with me and headed to the outdoor courts to play again!!! She did beat me 7-6. . .I think we both fought hard for our games! Her littlest one had a meltdown 1+ hours into our playtime so we left the score there and I went back to my friend's house to trade kids around. We came home to dinner!!! That was fantastic. . .almost already done! Tom made us ham & eggs, broccoli, and french fries. It was really good -- doubly so because I didn't make it! After dinner we gave the kids ONE LAST Christmas gift. . .my aunt had bought them two more Wii controls and a new Wii game.. .Mario Galaxy I think. We don't allow television or video games on school nights but made a 1-hr exception so they could try everything out. It will be a long stretch until Friday when they're allowed to get it all out again. . .

I finished my first paper of the semester and turned it in tonight. . .it was an autobiography. The only "hard" thing was it had to be 4 pages long!!! When I first got the assignment I really didn't think I could write that much but. . .well. . .I did. I also posted in the two discussion groups that I was required to post in and am still working on making sure that my one class is indeed a graduate (vs. undergraduate) class. HOPEFULLY that will be straightened out tomorrow because I need to order the book and get started there.

I'm beat. . .can't figure out why?!? It's been a long and productive day. I didn't even check in with any of my "usual" blogs but know they'll all be there tomorrow. The kids go back to school, someone at the Y called me tonight to see if I could work in the morning so I'm going to fill in there, then we have the usual swimming-ballet scramble of Tuesday night. It isn't too bad b/c the centers are about 2 miles apart and their start/end times are staggered. I already have dinner planned and bought -- yea! So. . .I'm thinking my picture posting won't be as frequent with this schedule -- I'm DYING to show you what I did with my bonus room yesterday! It's not cute by any means. . .but all sorted and ORGANIZED! Yea! It will be a peaceful place to sleep when my husband and I give up our bedroom this weekend when my dad and stepmom come :)

For anyone reading, I hope that you can list 3 things you are thankful for today. Somedays I can list 30, some days only 3. Remember, God wins!!!!! (That's one. . .)

Company Girl 1.15

Good Afternoon Company Girls! Today I have a diet Coke next to me and am only going to give myself 15 minutes to sit down and "talk". . .hopefully later this weekend I'll be around to catch up with all of you too :) Thank you, Anna, for helping me get the Company Girl Coffee button up on my post! Now I feel a little better. . .I like to learn something new every day if I can.

The kids FINALLY went back to school today. . .one hour late. I think we were the only county in our state that was still off yesterday. . .it's frustrating for me but more from an educational standpoint. I am lucky enough to have a life right now that is flexible enough to roll with multiple early dismissals/delays and days off. . .I can't imagine being a working mom, trying to fill in all these details each time school is called off unexpectedly or when a child becomes ill. I am truly blessed.

I haven't been able to keep up with the daily challenges this week :( I have read them each day and printed out what I needed to to do them but "life" really got in the way. The kids and I really just ran, ran, ran and when we were home I was doing things with them mainly. So. . .I'm sad that I don't have a schedule to post and be proud of today but *hopefully* this weekend.

I started school again yesterday. I am working on a Master's Degree in Instructional Leadership. This could lead to an administrative position someday but my intent right now is just to get the degree because it's always been a dream of mine. I took three classes last semester and am registered for three this semester too. The start has been a bit rocky. . .I showed up for class last night on campus just to find out that it was a "Monday" night. . .who knew? Then I got home and signed into one of my online classes and I'm a little concerned that it's not graduate-level even though I went back and looked at my registration and I clearly signed up for a graduate-level (and paid for!) a graduate-level class. . .my adviser still hasn't gotten back to me so I'm kind of in limbo there too. And BOOKS! My. . .when I found my one class wasn't meeting last night I walked over to the bookstore to purchase a book I know I need for another class and it was $122!!!!! For ONE book. . .and it was the last one there. Sigh. And then I signed up for a state test yesterday that I need to take in March. . .$130. Man, this is EXPENSIVE. My husband is so good and so supportive of my efforts and I appreciate him beyond measure for allowing me to spend our family's money on this. It has opened our eyes for our children though. . .I know my parents weren't prepared for the expense of college and in the end my sister, brother, and I paid for much of it because they just couldn't afford it. I always thought that it wasn't "too bad" to help out so had fully intended just to "help" the kids. . .but the prices of an education now are out of control. I remember I commuted to school and paid $600+ for a full quarter and books, total, were probably $200 or so. It was difficult because I was probably only making $4-$5/hr but it was still affordable. I don't think you could pay for everything on minimum wage anymore.

Well, that's it for now. I'm sure my 15 minutes are up :) I have a date tonight with Tom. . .the YMCA has Parent's Night Out once a month from 5-9 p.m. so the deal is that I pay for that and he pays for the date. . .yea!!! (O.K., we have "shared" money -- don't start running for Dave Ramsey -- but we have our own "budgets" so-to-speak.) He has told me he's going to take me to Target -- that's a BIG deal around here. . .about an hour away -- yea! So. . .I need to get my minimum maintenance done before the kids get home and then cleaned up. . .I've had a busy morning of tennis, a few hours working at the Y, and my weekly Sam's Club shopping.

I have to add. . .it's 57 degrees here today!!!! As much as I complain about the cold. . .I *love* to brag when it's beautiful like this :)

Works for Me Wednesday

I am linking up with Kristen over at We are THAT Family to post a little something that works for us. . .our giant chalkboard!We have had this for ages. . .the kids' got it as a Christmas gift 5-6 years ago. My in-laws purchased it at one of those stores that sells overflow from offices, schools, etc. It was green but we have since painted it with black chalkboard paint to go more with the decor in our kitchen. It holds MANY purposes. As you can see right now, we have all the books of the Bible listed on it. . .the circled books are the ones that Frederick as committed to memory. He's SIX. I'm so proud of him. It's a Sunday School challenge and he hopes to have it all memorized by this Sunday. . .I think he can do it. When these aren't up we have Bible verses we are memorizing, daily schedules, weekly menus. . .it changes depending on the needs of our family. On the right side of the board are "specials". . .there are certain treats that the kids get during the week. . .as well as their school library schedule and after-school activities. One glance at the board in the morning can really help make sure every one has everything they need before walking out the door.

Hop over to We are THAT Family WFMW to see other great tips or link up your own!!!

"Snow Day" #5

To be fair, this is what our driveway still looks like. It will melt today. . .between the sunshine and the predicted high of 41 degrees. Our county is rural and with the shaded mountain roads, this is still what many of the roads look like. And there isn't any equipment to clear them and for the most part they aren't treated in any way. But it's tough, all this unexpected time off. We are a go-go-go family and although the occasional "at home" day is terrific, we're all ready to get back to routine.

Monday I did get to play tennis with my group. There are a couple of indoor courts that 10 of us regularly play on (8 ladies each week) and the kids just come with me and hang out. They are really good about it. . .mainly because they're bribed with donuts or McDonald's. . .but I'd also like to hope that part of their behavior is out of respect for me and how much I enjoy this time each week. We play early (8 a.m.) so we had to push to get out on time. Then there were errands to run. . .I had to run by the Y to drop something off, go have my blood drawn, picked up one of Thomas's friends, did McDonald's (YUCK), ran by the university I'm attending for a parking pass that I will need when I start school on Thursday (!!!), and then home to let the kids run off some energy. In fact, they were outside playing and I thought maybe, just maybe, the good weather was here to stay :) I had to work for a couple of hours at the Y Monday night so we headed back for that, then home for dinner together around the table. . .love those nights!

The counties called school off Tuesday early Monday afternoon so I agreed to go in and work Tuesday morning. . .on snow days where the main roads aren't too bad the YMCA can see 100+ kids in their childcare area! That is a lot for us. . .we average more like 50 normally so it was a busy morning. I worked 9-12 then had invited some of the boys' friends to come swim with us. Another girlfriend showed up with her 3 boys and newborn (!!!) but our swimming party was cut off less than an hour in because the Y had a class in the pool at 1 p.m. Since my girlfriend and I are both employees of the YMCA they allowed us to take the 10 kids we had to the childcare area. They played Wii, did crafts, and played on the big playplace our Y is fortunate enough to have. I eventually went out for pizza for the kids too. . .it was a spur-of-the-minute party!!! Great fun, but since I hadn't expected to be gone ALL DAY I had to hurry to take kids home, get home myself (we live 17 minutes away) so Margaret could get ready for dance and back to town in time for her 4:15 class!! Although Frederick's swim practice had been canceled due to schools being out, Thomas still had his practice so he had more pool time. I took Marie and Frederick to the library and we refreshed our library book bag then off to do pick-ups. Tom met me at the Y to trade cars and bring the kids home and I got a girls' night out!!! We went and saw Blind Side. . .wow!!! I had heard how good it was (in fact one of the ladies that went had already seen it!) and it sure was. I was in love with Leigh Anne Tuohy three minutes into the movie. What an incredible story.

Today not much is on the books. I would like to work out, but I need some time at home too. I've read all of Rachel Anne's challenges for the week but have been unable to really work through the housekeeping schedule she is challenging us to do because I haven't had time. I need to make that time TODAY. This is important to me. I do need to get a few hours in at the Y (I am filling in for the sports coordinator while she is on maternity leave) and would love to work out too. . .I've got another two hours to get that in if I'm going to. I'd also like to do some school work with the kids since we haven't done anything this week since we've been out the door around 8 a.m. each day. This morning I am letting them lay around a bit. . .but they will help with the house clean-up too. I want to finish the art project I started last week and need to go pick up a canvas for that. . .and I have to work from 4:30-7 tonight. . .should probably put something in the crockpot for dinner too. . .I thank God for the ability to do all this and spend the time with my children and the opportunities that He gives us to be a family and live and love and enjoy His blessings.

Well, I guess this was mainly all for me anyway. . .a way to journal how I spent my days in mid-January 2010 with an 11, 9, 7, and 6-yr-old :) Tomorrow is a full-packed day so I hope they are in school!!! 9 a.m. dr.'s appt for me, 11:30 monthly tennis luncheon, 4 p.m. boy's swim practice, and I have my first class of the semester at 6 p.m. Whew! Yep, rest up today for sure. . .and maybe go out for another movie after work tonight. . .would that be too much??? I've heard there are so many good things out right now. . .and I've found a girlfriend who enjoys the movies as much as I do!!!

Sunday Dinner

This is the easy crockpot pork tenderloin dinner that I mentioned the other day. Obviously I'm not making it again today, but it IS a great Sunday dinner -- definitely good enough for company too. Here is your cast of characters:
Pork tenderloin, 1 can of each: Cream of Mushroom, Golden Mushroom, and French Onion. I am not a fan of processed foods, but this is an exception. I also don't really like mushrooms but they are easy to pick out of this dish if you like (I give all of mine to Margaret). That's it, that's all you need! Oh, and a crockpot and 8-10 hours :)

Here is what a pork tenderloin looks like if you've never bought one.
When you open it up you get this:Lots of people will further trim that fat. . .I don't because it will cook off. I do rinse and pat it dry at this point. Also, when my mother makes this she salt and peppers the meat -- I do not. My kids HATE pepper and I generally don't add salt to my cooking.

Add all three soups to the crockpot (or double this step -- my kids like LOTS of "gravy"):
Stir it up.

Add the meat.
Cover the meat then cover the crockpot.
I kept it on low for 8 hours -- you can do high for 5-6 hours.
Voila!

Tender, flavorful. . .serve it with mashed potatoes or rice.
In the past I've substituted pork chops and boneless chicken breasts (frozen) for the tenderloin. You can diminish the cooking time for those. . .they are delicious too. Enjoy!

Company Girl Coffee 1.8

This is my first time joining in with Company Girl Coffee! I still do not know how to copy a button so if anyone can help me out on that, I'd appreciate it :)
I DO NOT like being home-bound and here I am, second day in. The above picture was taken from my front porch this morning, in my socks. It was FREEZING outside so I just held my arm out as far as it would go and snapped a picture :) I wouldn't say we were "hit" with anything but around here a dusting shuts EVERYTHING down. Last night the libraries, YMCA, etc. had all closed. Our local university isn't in session yet. . .wonder if they would have closed to? To be fair, when my husband got home he said the roads were very icy. Since we live in the middle of TN, and are in a rural area to boot, the roads are not treated so it is a little more difficult to get around. This morning I was supposed to get blood work done at 8:30 but after speaking with Tom decided not to go because the 2.5 mile road leading out to the main hwy was still covered in ice according to him. I'm usually not such a wimp but with a new-to-me vehicle and 4 kids I just didn't want to risk it. Marie has an orthodontist appt. later this afternoon. . .I'm hoping to get out by then!

I have gotten a few things accomplished while at home though! I made a new lanyard (is that what it's called?) for my YMCA badge. I'm pretty proud of myself on this one. . .it took all of about 5 minutes and cost about $6. Yea!

I also have been dying to try some wall art for above my bed forever. This is my inspiration. I made my squares 7x7 and used foam board and am pretty happy with the turnout!
I haven't hung it yet because I think now I'm going to layer it on some painted canvas. . .but that is back to "I haven't been out of the house in 2 days". I'll make a full post when it's completed.
(As a side note, this is my messy perfectionist challenge from Wednesday. . .notice how the paper bubbles up in this photo?It took almost everything in me not to re-do the entire tutorial so I wouldn't have a "bubbly" picture. I was known, in my earlier teaching days, to throw away complete classroom sets of tests b/c of 1-2 typos. For SIXTH GRADERS. Today the economics of it wouldn't allow me to do that. . .but. . .that's how bad I can be. . .)

Let's see. . .what else have we been up to? Dinner is going into the crockpot soon. This is a delicious, must-try recipe. . .if you have the ingredients and it's early enough try it for your family tonight!!!I'm using some pork tenderloin that I had in the freezer (you know the best way to thaw meat from the freezer is in a sink filled with room-temperature water?) but I have used chicken breasts and pork chops in the past and they all turn out brilliantly. Some people like to season (salt & pepper) their meat before putting it in the crockpot but I generally don't. I dump all the soups (cream of mushroom, golden mushroom, and French Onion) in the crockpot, stir them up, add the rinsed-and-patted-dry meat, cover it with the "sauce", put the cover on, and cook for 5-6 hours on high or 10-12 hours on low. I will serve this with rice (because I mistakenly forgot to buy potatoes) and broccoli tonight. And some Rhodes rolls I found in the freezer and that I have enough time to let thaw and rise today :) I also think I'm going to go for Crockpot peanut clusters for dessert. We'll see. . .I've been meaning to try this since I saw it posted last year.

Nice "chatting" with all of you today and doing the daily Small Things with Rachel Anne this week. I haven't done my minimum maintenance yet today except to plan my evening meal so need to get on that. I'm looking forward to visiting all the rest of you throughout this snowed-in weekend. Stay warm wherever you are!

~ Jenni