Beef, It' What's For Dinner...

Last week, I went to Sam's for my usual grocery trip. The difference was this time I bought a case of ground beef. A case contains 80lbs! There are 8 rolls weighing 10lbs each. I think my extended family thought I was a little crazy. The thing is that Tim and I bought a freezer for this house. Our intention was to stock our freezer with great deals. I had been watching the case price per lb on my last few shopping trips. This particular week it was down to a $1.52 a lb. That was a pretty decent savings. When we first moved here, my mom and I also got hams for about half price. We got 5 of them. After thinking about it, we both wished we had gotten 10. We are still a little new to having a deep freezer. My hope is that when we buy things at lower prices we not only save now because of the lower price, but possibly will save more later. With the cost of things increasing each day, this potentially could be even more savings. I could be wrong, but for now at least I know my freezer is packed with ground beef and a couple hams. We have talked about buying a half or quarter cow next year too! Next up - a case of chicken!

This is what it looks like in the rolls. There are 6 of the 8 there.

This is 60lbs rebagged in smaller portions.

This is 13lbs of meatballs cooked and ready to pop in sauce for subs!

Did somebody say naptime?

This is how I found Sebastian when I went in his room to wake him up from his nap. I don't know if he was fighting sleeping or what. I coaxed him into waking up, but the best I got was him turning his head over only to fall back to sleep. Silly boy!

American Idol - Jason Castro er... ummm... John Travolta look alike?

I will admit that one of my favorite things to do is watch American Idol. Especially since the "writer's strike". There isn't a whole lot else to watch. I have been watching AI since the second season. I think this is the best talent season. There are a few that I really enjoy, but for some reason Jason Castro is the one I like the best. He actually wasn't the best performance this past week, but I loved the week before - the video below. I also like Brooke and David Cook. So, a few weeks back I was commenting on Jason Castro's blue eyes. I kept thinking he looked like somebody. My mom comes up with that he looks like John Travolta. YES! That was it! Since then, others have written the same thing. Somebody compared these to videos. Jason definitely has the same quirky face that John Travolta. Maybe I love his performance because I literally watched Grease a hundred time when I was a kid. I memorized every word to every song. I have to say Jason Castro sings WAY BETTER than John Travolta!

Can we fix it? Yes, we can!

This past weekend, Tim was working on the baseboards in the kitchen. Before I knew it, I looked down at my kitchen floor and found a certain little helper. He was just working so hard. When his daddy gave him some scraps of trim and wood, he just beamed with excitement. He took great strides to measure and mark his pieces just so. I love watching him try to be like his daddy. It just gives my heart such joy!

He was concentrating so hard on this piece.

He is using his saw to "cut" the hole for the vent that is there.

What a handsome smile!

Tim II, Grandma's, and Derek's birthday...

Last week we had 3 birthdays! Yes, I said 3 birthdays! This week we have two more! Then we have one more at the end of March. It is a busy month for birthdays. No lack of birthday treats. On Wednesday night, we celebrated Timmy's and my mom's birthday. They actually share the same birthday. I made pizza bread for everyone. Karen made cheese cake for Timmy and I made a German Chocolate cake for my mom. I think it went pretty well considering it was my first attempt at a family birthday party for about 20 people. I guess it was a dry run for cooking this weekend for Tim and Karen's birthdays. It was really nice to have a houseful to celebrate. Derek and Savannah went all out with decorating too. I don't think anyone will ever feel lonely on their birthday in South Carolina. Not a chance!

This is Kameron. They are friends that live around the corner that are really more family! Laurie and I have decided that Kameron and Sebastian will be best friends even if they don't want to!

Timmy, Karen, Jennifer and Derek

Happy Birthday Timmy and Grandma!

My sweetie!

Our surprise gift for Timmy. He has some wierd obsession with The Nightmare Before Christmas!

My mom opening her gifts.

Vilma being silly with her dad.

Me and my firstborn... where did all the time go?

Haley and Jay

Derek's 11th birthday.

A funny post from another blog...

Caution - there are a couple "bad" words in this blog post. Proceed with my warning. If you are woman, you will probably find the humor in this - click here -Wendi Aarons .

Creepy nice...

Yes, that is what people are here - CREEPY NICE! We have noticed something since we have been here. People are nicer. They help you out and they really seem to want to do it. I know it sounds corny that there is some kind of Southern hospitality or something like that. Believe me... I kept thinking it was just a fluke. In the first week or so, a few people were really helpful. They had smiles on their face and seemed to really care about being kind. I shrugged it off. Figured it was just because I was in a new place and noticing things more. Then Savannah broker her ankle. The people were amazing at the hospital. Not ONE of these people from the Urgent Care to the Hospital were the least bit crabby or unkind. When Savannah was going into shock in the waiting room, she began to vomit. I was in the back filling out paperwork. Timmy was with her and taking care of her like a great big brother. Still, there was a mom in there waiting and she quickly came to help him out till I got there. Just so nice. One night, Tim and I were at Lowe's trying to load this incredibly heavy storage cabinet in the trunk of our car. It was just so heavy that I could seem to hold the cart still while Tim pulled it off the cart. The next thing we knew, a man drove up beside us. He jumps out of his car and in his best Southern drawl he says, "Let me help you with that, sir!" Tim was just taken back. He helped him get it in the trunk and then Tim said he could take it from there. It was being a pain and not sliding all the to where it needed to be. The man was like, "No, sir, let me help you get it done." Wow! Creepy nice! Later on that week, I was taking Savannah to the doctor. I had a different somebody hold doors, elevators and one even came running over to open my car door and offered to help me get her in the car. I was in Walmart, trying to reach Sierra Mist on the very top shelf in the way back. A man came over and offered to get it for me. Just like that. I was at 5 Guys and a Burger last week. I walked over to the soda fountain. There were two men filling their drinks. They saw me and they both stepped aside and told me to, "go ahead". I told them I was actually just looking for napkins. The one man told me they had them behind the counter. The next thing I knew they were both going over and asking for napkins for "the lady". Wow! Tim's boss has been just so kind to him. We keep wondering what the deal is with that. I am sorry, but nobody cared if I needed to refill my drink or get napkins in Florida. Nobody cared if my daughter had a cast up to her bottom and I was trying to get her into a car. Nobody cared if we were getting something really heavy from Lowes and needed help loading it. People were busy and in a hurry there. My friends cared. They are wonderful, helpful people. The vast majority of people in Pinellas County were not all that concerned if you needed any help. There are other things that have happened since we have been here. These are really just a few. It seriously happens every time we leave the house and actually, I had a phone call for my sister yesterday. The lady was very nice and chatted with me for quite awhile. I am guessing at some point, I won't be walking away from these small (but big impact) kind acts saying, "Wow, creepy nice!" At some point, it will just feel like home.

The view...

I am sure that South Carolina isn't the most beautiful place on Earth, but there are times when I think it is just so pretty. Yes, I realize, that I lived in the Sunshine State for over 17 years. And many, many parts of Florida were pretty. I do, somewhat, miss everyday having total sunshine. I keep reminding myself that I don't miss it being 90 in March. South Carolina has more cloudy days than Florida. It is cooler than Florida, but really not all that cold. We have only had a handful of days where I was really not liking the cold. I don't even know if it is a handful, maybe 2 or 3 days since we have been here. It does get colder at night. The sun goes down and the temps drop. The good part of that is when it is a little warmer during the day, the evenings and mornings will be great. I have been able to go out walking in the middle of the afternoon. In Florida, I was limited to evenings because it was just too hot in the middle of the day. I do know that the summers in South Carolina are hot. The thing is that we were here in July and it wasn't too bad. Like I said, the mornings and evenings were great. It was just the middle of the afternoon that was bad. I love looking at amazing blue water of the ocean. Florida doesn't really have the pristine look of the islands. Once I saw that kind of water, Florida's water just didn't have that awe inspiring look. I have always loved trees and mountains. We don't really have mountains here in South Carolina, but we have lots of trees and hills. And horses. Really pretty horses! I snapped a few of these pictures so you can see what I see.

These are from my dining room window. It's looking sort kitty corner over my backyard towards the lake. Once the trees go into bloom, we won't have much of a view of the lake. It is really pretty in the winter though. I love coming out in the morning and looking over the lake.

This is at the top of our street coming down to our house. The picture really doesn't give you the feel of it. Not sure why. It is a pretty big hill and the view over the trees is amazing! Maybe I need to zoom more. I will try that sometime this week.

Friday Feast

Feast One Hundred & Eighty One
By fridaysfeast on Uncategorized

Appetizer

Who was the last person you hugged?

Karis, my niece... she hugged me before she went home tonight.

Soup

Share a beauty or grooming trick or tip with us.

If by chance you dye your hair much too dark... you can lift some of the color out by washing your hair with Dawn Dishwashing Soap. It doesn't take it all the way out, but after several to many washings - it will lighten. Head and Shoulders also strips some of the color. Ask me how I know this??? Yes, I dyed my hair too dark. I googled for help and came up with this solution. I washed my hair 3 or 4 times the first day with Dawn and Head and Shoulders. I repeated the process over the next few days. I went from gothic to dark brown by doing this.

Salad

What does the color yellow make you think of?

Sunshine. I also think that the basement of the house I grew up in was yellow - a very happy shade of yellow.

Main Course

If you were to make your living as a photographer, what subject would your pictures revolve around?

Probably kids. Although, they don't sit still like a beautiful landscape, mountain or beach do.

Dessert

What was the longest book you ever read?

The last Harry Potter book - 784 pages. I read it in a weekend. I couldn't wait.

3 year olds...

I sat down in the rocking chair hoping to come up with something to write. Last week, I had many ideas for writing. The ideas were flowing. I just couldn't find the time to write them. This week - the ideas aren't so much there. I attribute this to my 3 year old. I love my smallest son, God I really do. He is my "bonus child". I never ever expected to have him. Tim and I had our 2 children - a boy and a girl. Tim was "done". I kinda thought I was "done", but never really for sure. From time to time, Savannah and I would gang up on Tim and try to convince him why we needed to have another baby in the house. He wasn't buying it. He even told me that if we just stuck with the two kids, I could tour Europe with Savannah when she was in high school. How is that for bargaining? Still, we would try to convince him every so often. More and more time went by and Savannah was now 5 years old. At this point, I wasn't so keen on starting over again. It wasn't completely out of my mind, but not nearly so close either. Then Debi died. Like all of our family, I was just so completely lost. I didn't know what to do most days. I felt like I was in a fog and I just couldn't get out. One short month after losing her, Tim woke me up on a Sunday morning. While we were laying there, he told me he thought we should have another baby. I really didn't believe what I was hearing. I didn't know what to think. So, I didn't think... I just agreed. By January, we were expecting Sebastian. Tim says he changed his mind because he was so worried about me and wanted to give me some hope. He wanted to help keep my mind busy and have something to hold onto. Well... my mind has been busy. So extremely busy since the day my beloved last child was conceived! There is absolutely no doubt about that. Nope - he keeps everyone one busy. He has my mind so occupied, that most days, I can not even add 2+2. In the past week or two, he has lit a match and blown it out, painted himself with the little paints that come in a paint by number thing, tried to test his blood with my sister's diabetic supplies (yes, he punctured his finger at least once with the lancet thingy), and the list goes on. Those were the most interesting things he has done, but he is always busy. The only time he isn't walking around trying to figure out something to do is when he is mastering a preschool game on the computer. Thank GOD for games on the computer or I may have to run away screaming for a moment of peace. This is one of the BIGGER reasons, my blog posts have been a bit sporadic this past week, month, etc. This was not what I came on to write about, but then I read Jen's blog at Amazing Trips. She is living what I live times three - 3 year olds. Her post so genuinely sums up a day in my life. I couldn't have written it better. So, go visit her blog. I promise you will love her writing.

"My milky ba is cussing!"

"My milky ba is cussing." Yes, that is what my 3 year old told me the other night. It all started with milk or more precisely Sebastian's problem with milk. He loves it. He really thinks he cannot live with out it. The thing is that milk and him just don't mix well. I wish they did. I have procrastinated on this milk thing for long enough. For those that don't like gross mommy talk - you may want to skip the next few sentences - Sebastian appears to be lactose intolerant. At least I am hoping that is the problem and not gluten intolerance. I took him off complete milk (well skim milk) cups before Christmas. That seemed to help with some of the huge quantity of poopy diapers. We basically give him a bottle of water with a few splashes of milk for color. It worked. He would drink it and it seemed to help with digestion. It still didn't fix his problems and unless we can get his poopy diapers under control, I don't think we will ever accomplish potty training. So... I decided to try splashing a bit of Silk Vanilla Soy Milk in his bottle of water. I put him to bed like I always do. Very soon he came out of his room and told me, "My milky ba is cussing!" over and over. I asked him to repeat himself slowly. Sure enough - he was saying "cussing". He was making all sorts of faces of digust too. The best I can figure is that we keep telling him "cussing" is "bad", so he somehow figured that word worked to describe how BAD is milky ba tasted. I guess! So, now we are going to try lactaid or some other kind of lactose free organic milk that my sister-in-law told me about. Pray he likes it and it works so we can get this potty training thing over with.

A new cast...

This past Friday, Savannah went to the doctor to get her stitches out and get a new cast. She was not really sure about the saw and cutting the cast. Then when the nurse started to take the stitches out, she really started to lose it. The doctor came in and suggested another way to take the stitches out. I don't know what the difference was, but it was better for her. I glanced over at her ankle and quickly looked away. I am NOT good with any medical stuff. When I say NOT GOOD - I should be saying AWFUL or whatever is worse than AWFUL - ummm... TERRIBLE - MOST AWFUL AND TERRIBLE. Well, you get the idea. I can't handle it. I literally started hyperventilating once when I saw a spot of blood on Tim's hospital gown from a surgery he had. I am a wimp. Anyway, back to my daughter. The doctor says she is doing good and her ankle looks good. I am glad he could tell me that because I didn't think it looked good at all. If he hadn't told me that, I would be hysterical right now thinking she would never walk again. We have to go back at the end of the month. He will do an xray without the cast on and decide if we can go with a shorter cast at that point. I sure hope that is how it works out.

The SAW! I had another picture of her using the saw, but Savannah looks scared to death in it. I don't think she would like that on my blog.

With the bandage it doesn't look nearly as frightening. It is what is UNDERNEATH the bandage that freaked me out quite a bit. I asked her if I could snap a picture for her dad, but she said no. I don't know if I could get a picture without actually looking anyway and I was NOT going to be looking.

This side shows how it is still swollen.

This is the very nice Dr. McCain. Savannah made him a very large painted THANK YOU picture. He told her he put it in his locker outside of surgery. He said when he has a bad day, he looks at it and remembers why he does what he does.

Valentine's Day

I have at least 3 blog topics floating around in my head and I just haven't made myself sit down to write them out. So, this morning, I am writing one of them. There is a homeschool group here that does a Valentine's party. I wasn't sure Savannah would want to go especially since they would be doing relay race type games. Still, I was thinking about it about how I used to take Savannah to the homeschool parties when she was just 3 years old. Timmy was 13 and really had no interest in the little homeschool parties that were going on. I just went so Savannah could play and have fun. All of a suddent it occurred to me that even if she didn't want to go, I should take Sebastian. Afterall, he would love to hand out Valentines and play games. As it turned out, Savannah was feeling much better and decided she would like to go. I was soon informed that all children from our family bring paint cans as their decorated containers. My brother-in-law owns a painting company. Years and years ago, Debi started this tradition with her kids. I got the kids two clean paint cans to decorate and they went to it. Sebastian had a lot of fun with this. I am glad I had unpacked all of our foam sticky things. The next day we went to the party. There were quite a few kids there. Oddly enough, there were an unusual amount of little boys from about ages 2 to 4. I am guessing about 8 or so! Sebastian was just amazed. He ran around with them like a crazy man. When we got home he told me he "had so much fun!" It was so cute to hear him say that. Savannah met up with a couple girls from scouts. They were so kind to her. They sat down and shared snacks together. When the games began, they included her by playing Red Light Green Light with her. She got to call out the Red and Green. She had a really great time considering she was new AND had a cast up to her bottom! I enjoyed talking with the other moms. The only thing I miss about Florida is talking to my other mom friends. (And Patrick - Timmy's best friend - he is my other kid.) It was nice to chat a bit with them. I did feel slightly strange in a twilight zone way. These moms are the same moms that Debi had this group with for the last 10 years before she died. So many times, I would here her say I was talking with so and so and she said this and that. Or so and so had a baby, etc. It was very surreal being with all these people that I knew in name, but not by their face. Then I just missed Debi. I know I write about that a lot, probably too much. It is just something I need to work through. Then there was comfort in knowing that this was the group she was involved with and I felt like there was a reason that my life had changed and put me in this place. It was a very DEEP Valentine's party! Oh... just kidding. These were all just fleeting thoughts. Anyway, they had a great time. I am hoping to see more of the group and get the kids out playing with more of the kids.

Aunt Karen's Amazing Oreo and Fudge Ice Cream Sandwich Cake...

Twice when we visited in the past year, we were lucky enough to get a slice of Aunt Karen's Oreo and Fudge Ice Cream Sandwich cake. The kids all call it something else that I can't seem to think of at the moment. This cake is SO GOOD! I mean like you will find yourself thinking you need a slice of it first thing in the morning, then again later and of course right before bedtime. It really is that good. I am sure it is really high in calories and fattening. I don't care. It is too good not to eat. Right after our move, the family had a game night. We decided to try to make this cake to share with everyone. Ours turned out pretty well. I think Aunt Karen's were better. One thing I think we didn't do quite right was allow enough time for it to freeze all together. It did seem to taste even better the next day. So, remember to leave enough time to freeze it all back together. This was the first "FUN" thing Savannah and I made on our brand new kitchen counter. And, yes, her feet are on the counter. I promise they didn't touch food and food didn't touch where her feet were. My niece, Karis, was just thrilled that I let Savannah sit on the counter like that!

Prep Time:
10 minTotal Time:
4 hr 10 minMakes:
12 servings
1/2 cup hot fudge ice cream topping, warmed
1 tub (8 oz.) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed,
1 pkg. (4-serving size) JELL-O Chocolate Flavor Instant Pudding & Pie Filling
8 OREO Chocolate Sandwich Cookies, chopped (about 1 cup)
12 vanilla ice cream sandwiches, unwrapped

1.POUR the fudge topping into a medium bowl. Stir in 1 cup of the whipped topping with a wire whisk until it's well blended. The consistency of fudge topping can vary depending on what brand you purchase. If your fudge topping mixture is too thick to spread easily, stir in 1/4 cup milk.

2. CHOP the OREO cookies roughly into chunks. They don't all have to be the same size. Stir into the pudding mixture.

3. ARRANGE 4 of the ice cream sandwiches, side by side, on a 24x12-inch piece of foil; top with half of the pudding mixture. Repeat the layers

4. TOP the pudding mixture with the remaining 4 ice cream sandwiches. The layers create a neat striped effect when sliced.

5. FROST the top and sides with the remaining whipped topping. It doesn't have to look perfect.

6. BRING up the foil sides. Double fold the top and ends to loosely seal the packet. Freeze at least 4 hours before serving. Let stand at room temperature to soften slightly before serving. Store leftover dessert in the freezer. Makes 12 servings.

My little pyros...

One of Tim's favorite things of moving here has been burning things. He has been burning boxes, garbage, pine needles, brush and logs. Now I don't want to make is sound as if TIM is the only one enjoying this. Uh uh - nope - no way! All three of my kids have the fire bug. They love that dad is burning things at least a couple nights a week and at least once every weekend. Savannah, sadly, can't make it down to the backyard right now. There is nothing keeping Sebastian inside though. He was out on Thursday night helping Tim clear the underbrush. I cannot tell you how nervous this child makes me! Tim really wanted me to hang out with him and talk, but my smallest pyro child was giving me fits! He would lay down on the ground and commando crawl to the fire with a stick. With all his might he would throw pine needles into the fire. He would catch the end of his stick on fire and then try to light another fire with it. I was screaming the whole time, but Tim just kept telling me he was watching him. I eventually calmed down and enjoyed the talking time with Tim. Saturday night, Tim sat outside burning more wood till the early morning hours. That was his 4th evening of fires in a week. You would have thought he had his fill. NOPE! He had Sebastian out there yesterday afternoon doing - you guessed it - burning more logs. It does give me a nice break except that I have to keep bathing the dirty, smoky smelling, happy boy each time he comes in. Oh well... I think his memories of fires with dad outweigh the work of lots of baths. Oh and remember this - "It's a pyro thing" ?

Cast pictures - FINALLY...

I finally got my usb picture thingy out. So, here are the pictures of Savannah's lovely cast. We went to the doctor on Friday. They took 3 xrays through her cast. So far, so good. Her cast is getting more loose each day. She will go back this Friday and get a whole new long cast. She says she still wants a white cast because it is better draw on. I *think* she will keep this next long cast for two weeks and then get a shorter cast for 2 more weeks. I think that is how it is, but I am not positive. Savannah is getting around a lot better on her crutches. She has girl scouts tomorrow afternoon. When she first got her cast she told me that there was no way that she could go to anything the whole time she had a cast. She was very afraid to walk with the crutches. Now she is doing a whole lot better. We went to the doctor on Friday morning, then we went to Walmart. She flew around in the wheelchair! She kept wheeling away from her Grandma. It was a much needed outing! Now she has decided that she can INDEED go to girl scouts tomorrow. I am glad. I really didn't want her to be a hermit for 6 weeks. I will take pictures of her getting her new cast next week.

So far...

We have been here for about 2.5 weeks. I went walking with Karen yesterday. Then I decided to walk around once more because it just felt like a good thing to do. As I walked around, I thought in my head SO FAR... So far, I am loving my house. It is a little cramped and cluttered, but I have in my head how it will look one day. So far, I love driving around this place that is new to me. I am just taken back when I see a place with lots of land and horses just grazing on it. They are just so pretty. So far, when I drive into the neighborhood, I love the part at the top of the hill where you look out over tons of trees. I remembered that I felt that way when I first drove here to visit Debi way back years ago. So far, I love the new Super Walmart. It is so quiet in there. Nothing like the one we had in Florida. So far, the Target is very nice here too. It is a little creepy quiet though. Tim and I wanted to start singing to add some noise while we were shopping. So far, I really like watching Tim "play" in his yard. It makes me happy to know he is enjoying that part of our house. So far, I love having my nieces and nephew come in and out. I love getting hug from one of them just out of the blue. So far, I love the friendship I have found in our family. It is nice to have people to sit and talk with or play a game of cards. It is nice to not have to go very far, just out your door and over a house or two to find a friendly face and a warm welcome. Oh, yes, there is one more so far that I can think of off the top of my head. I LOVE MY KITCHEN! I absolutely LOVE IT! I clean off my countertops and think I am so very glad Tim insisted we spend the money for the nicer ones. I just love them. I can't wait until the finishing touches are put on it. I am sure there are other things that I love so far. I just had these random ones rolling around in my head. The thing is that is has been stressful. With a surgery and a few whining kids (we aren't going to mention how my most whining one is my 18 year old), I am still feeling a lot of stress has gone away by just moving. So, I guess this is my rundown of how I feel SO FAR.

A little late at a Savannah update...

I am SO SORRY that I never came back to say her surgery went well. It took about an hour and a half. She has I think - 3 screws in her ankle. She will go back on Friday to have a look at her incisions and get a new cast. The cast is a long one - up to her bottom. I need to get some pictures of it. She is struggling a bit with pain and being afraid to get up on her crutches. I am hoping today will be a bit better. It is going to be a long 6 weeks! Well, maybe only 4. She will be in a full long cast for 4 weeks and then a shorter cast for 2 weeks. Keep her in your prayers.

Surgery update...

Savannah is set to go to surgery at 1pm today. They have to either put two pins or two screws into her ankle to attach the growth plate to the bones. I think. How is that for medical terms? The doctor is a very nice man. He says he has been here for 25 years and will take very good care of her. When he came in here yesterday, he explained what was going to happen and then he sat down with her and prayed for her. That gave me a lot of peace. Once again, please pray that the surgery goes well and that she heals quickly! Thanks!