Still Picking up the Pennies

This is the first time to join in the fun for Full Plate Thursdays at Miz Helen's Country Cottage. It looked like so much fun and since she personally invited me, here I am :) Our dinner plates looked like this tonight. Pork sirloin, noodles with a bit of gravy and roasted veggie blend. My low-carb version did not have the noodles, but with such a nice blend of vegetables, I did not even miss them. Our lunch looked like this which is homemade egg drop soup, with our yard-fresh eggs and homemade rolls. I did not have the rolls. That is was on our plates today. To see more Full Plates .

I have signed up for about 100 different weight losing challenges before, but I really, really think I am ready to do this one. Michelle at Fun on a dime is hosting it, to see all the details and to sign up go here . I am so ready to not be out of breathe after a tiny little family hike, and have a fun, active summer with my boys. I don't want to be the fat mom sitting on the side lines of life anymore. So this is it. I am going to try to post my updates here daily. I will take a picture of my current weight on the beginning date April 4th and on the end date. But like Michelle says it is not about the number on the scale, but I am hoping to see some lose.

Life Without Limits by Nick Vujicic is a very inspirational and enthusiastic book. It has helped me see that no mater what life brings me today, God has a plan for my life. I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

Wednesdays always seem to be our crazy busy days. So another easy night at our house, we are having make your own sub sandwiches and a veggie plate with dip. I did have time to put dough in the bread machine yesterday in the dough cycle, I took it out to shape in to sub buns, let it raise and baked it in the oven. For more What's on the menu Wednesday visit Debbie. Also, don't forget to enter my give-a-way that closes tomorrow night.

Hi all, we are enjoying our spring break We have a 4H meeting in a little bit, we are eating pizza and making mosaic tiles. Not sure how many will be there, I could only get a hold of one other parent. So maybe it will be a low-key meeting, but also hard to plan for. Tomorrow is a 4H workshop day ALL day. Joel is going to make a book:write, illustrate it, type it up and learn how to bind it. Then digital photography. Noah and I are sticking together: Wooden toys, fondue cooking, Easter Crafts, cool candles. then we will all be together for cooper tooling. It will be a fun, fun day. And I am not in charge so I can have fun too No evening plans, but we have been having lots of outside time. It is starting to feel like spring, finally.

My Frugal adventures this week include the first letterboxing adventure of the season. The boys and I had a trip to town planned and about 45 minutes in between scheduled events so I was looking for something frugal to do with our time. I found a new letterbox was planted in November 2010 that we had not found. So I printed the clues out and we hunted for it, but never did find it. But being as it was only 27 degrees, I do not feel to badly about it. We will return with a compass in the warmer weather. Also, I needed a babysitter last night for only about an hour. I called my sister-in-law that just loves our fresh eggs. I asked if she would watch the boys for an hour in exchange for the eggs and new playmates for her girls for the hour. She said yes, her girls were getting a bit restless so it was a win-win situation.

50 snapfish photos for 6 coke reward points. Today only!

On my menu for today was Chinese food, but it is a chilly, gloomy day here in Northern Michigan. I want sole warming food, so we are going to mix it up a bit and have Chicken noodle Soup and Grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner. My heart is still grieving, but I have been doing things that mean a lot to me, staying home and cuddling with my kids and DH. Tonight the boys and I are going to attend the Lenten Worship Service at church.

Gratituesday: I am so blessed to have the friends I have, some are life long friends, some are friends from old military days, and some are new internet friends. Even while my heart aches with grief, I know I am truly blessed with some many friendships that I hold close to my heart. To read about others' blessings visit Laura at Heavenly Homemakers .

Sorry I kind of dropped off the face of the Earth last week. I went out of town very suddenly, my Uncle pasted away. Being out of town my menu flew completely out the window, so I am here with a new week and a new plan. Monday - Fish, noodles Tuesday - Taco Pie Wednesday - Egg drop soup, Almond chicken, egg rolls and fortune cookies. Thursday - Grilled cheese and tomato soup Friday we are going out of town so probably sandwiched in a hotel room Saturday see Friday Sunday frozen pizzas after we get home. For more yummy meal plan ideas pop over to orgjunkie.com Don't forget to sign up for my Purex with Zout coupon giveaway that ends next week.

We had such a wonderful weekend. We spent the night Saturday night at a hotel, we swam and lounged all weekend. My darling husband works from 2:30pm til 10:30pm Monday through Friday; which means our family time is really limited. I try to make sure we only have fun things to do on Saturday and Sunday, so we all can enjoy our time together. This weekend we had a wonderful time. But it is Monday and time to get back to the grind. So here is the food plan Monday - Burgers and fries Tuesday - is a Burger King night, it is book fair time at the school. Wednesday - Fish with noodles Thursday - meat loaf and ........ Friday - is always pizza night Saturday - Chinese food at home Sunday - tacos. For more yummy menu ideas go over to orgjunkie.com

Today I received a full size bottle of Purex Complete with Zout Triple Enzyme Stain Remover. The scent is Fresh Morning Burst. I am a scent orientated person, so the first thing I did was to open the bottle and smelled it. It smells so fresh and clean, I could not wait to give it a try. Four loads of laundry later, I can say that I truly love this product!! As a busy mother of two busy boys, I often miss stains on clothes before they are put into the drier and set for life. Then another piece of clothing heads for the rag bag. I love that the pretreatment is included in the product, no extra step. It works for HE and front loading machines. AND now for the giveaway, I will have two winners for coupons for a free product. Please leave me a comment about why you want to try the product. The giveaway will end on March 31 at 8:00PM EST and I will announce the winners.

I often fix my boys cold cereal for breakfast and while there is nothing wrong with cereal once in a while, it has become a norm the last few weeks. I do not have a morning type personality, and I have to face the fact that I am not perfect and am not going to fix a hot breakfast from scratch at 6:00am every morning. SOOOO what I have found that works for me and my hungry as soon as their feet hit the floor family of men is freezer cooking. Today I made up a big batch of french toast and froze them. I used home made bread and our home grown eggs. I know the exact ingredients that went it to them and they will be hot and yummy when the boys off all ages eat them. It is very easy to make the egg batter up. Use your regular ingredients and dip and cook method. Then I let them cool and freeze in a single layer on cookie sheets for about 2 hours then put them back into the bread wrappers to store in the freezer. To serve I pop them into the toaster, and serve with favorite toppings.

I like fancy post titles. So today is Monday which means I post my menu plans for the next week: Monday chicken Alfredo Tuesday chicken sandwiches on homemade rolls Wednesday Polish sausage and something Thursday roast beef with gravy over potoatoes Friday is home made pizza Saturday is out, we are staying in a hotel to celebrate my birthday. Sunday is TBA. We are still sick and have no taste buds that work but, this is the plan. For more yummy menus pop over to Orgjunkie.com

What are you waiting for by Author Dannah Gresh. I loved reading this book. I only wish I had read it when I was a young unmarried woman. I think I would have really done a lot of things differently. This book is a must for young Christian women. I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

I have always, from the time we decided to have children wanted to home school. DH mentioned it today and I was happy, so this may be a new situation that I need to prepare for. I have a 1st grader and a 5th grader, both of them struggle in school, they are both starting to get frustrated. They both love to learn and it just kills me that their spirits are getting smothered where they are right now. So I am asking for thoughts and prayers for my family while we ponder this ever important choice.

Today we had exciting plans to discover snow shoeing as a family. I was so excited, another frugal way to have fun with the entire family that includes a free work out at the same time. We joined a local place called Moosewood Nature Center . They are having a Candlelight Ski & Snowshoe Fund Raiser tonight. But we are all sick and miserable, so we are not going. But I am going to use the newly found free time to catch up on some things that have been slipped to the side. I will be doing all of my Mypoints click thur emails, my coke points and a couple of surveys that I have been invited to do. I also have a book to finish and write a review on. I could also be studying, I am not sure if I have mentioned lately that I am a part time college study, taking classes to become a medical transcriptionist. Today I also want to welcome my two followers :) Nice to see you, tell me about yourselves. I hope everyone has a great weekend.

I have a busy day but still want a yummy dinner for my family! This is where my crockpot comes to the rescue! We are having Crock pot Fajitas. I throw just about any cut steak I can get on sale in the crock-pot with a packet of fajitas mix with water, cook on high for about 4-5 hours or on low for 8-9 hours. Then I throw in onion and green peppers for about the last 45 minutes of cooking. Serve with cheese, sour cream, lettuce and tomatoes. I pair these up with a side of rice or re fried beans. And dinner is done and yummy. Join us for more yummy meal ideas at Dining with Debbie!

This was taken yesterday after our wood hauling was all done. For more Wordless Wednesday fun go to Frugality Is Free

I am very thankful for a lot of things today, one of them is having such a mild day to haul more wood into the house. DH is not feeling well and there is no school today, so that means it is the boys' and my job to haul some wood into the house. It is 37 degrees in the UP today on March 1st, very warm sunny day. We have about 4-6 more weeks at least of cold weather and our wood load was nearly depleted in the house, after spending the afternoon outside in the sunshine with my hard working sons, we will be staying warm for at least that long. I am also thankful that I got in a very tiring work out at the same time. God is good! Join us for Gratituesday at Heavenly Homemakers !