Life with Littles

Obviously it has been a while since I have taken the time to blog. What can I say? Life has been a little busy. I have decided that life with 4 littles, a full-time job, and going to college full-time is for the birds! We have managed to work it out, but it has been a little difficult. There are so many things that I have learned in the process. It has become even more essential than ever to prioritize to ensure the important things come first! Daddy Little has been a huge help! Since I work 12 hour shifts in a town that is 1 1/2 hours away I stay at a hotel for 2 days a week. Since my employer reimburses my hotel expense this is the most economical option for us. I have had to learn to make things more accessible and easy for him since I am not home every day of the week. I still have a long way to go!

I have set up a few goals that I would love to work toward this year. I won't call them resolutions, goals sounds better to me!

One of those goals is to get rid of some of the junk in the house. I have taken a week off work (since I also have break from school) so I can work toward that goal. My mother-in-law is planning to have a yard sale sometime in May so I have been gathering things up to send to her since she has graciously offered to price everything for me. It feels so great to get rid of some of the stuff that just seems to sit around and take up space. I have a few more days left of my "vacation" and I still have so much to do.

I hope to be more consistent with my blogging, but no promises here! I still have 12 hours this semester but then I have the summer off of school. I can't wait!

Happy Birthday Dad!

Today is my wonderful dad's birthday.  I won't mention how old he is, but I will say he has a wonderfully long life ahead of him.  In honor of his birthday I thought I would make a top 10 list of the things I love most about my dad.

10.  How he always let me ride on his back as a kid.  I enjoy seeing him to the same thing with my own children today.

9.  How he always tells me that he loves me....and I know he really does!

8.  How much patience he has.  I wish I had as much as he has been blessed to have.

7.  How he loves my mom unconditionally. 

6.  How he is always willing to do whatever he can to help someone out.

5.  How he loves to talk....to anyone....at anytime.  I am pretty sure I got that from him!

4.  How I always knew that he would forgive me.  No matter what I had done.  That truly means a lot!

3.  How he worked so hard to provide for his family.  Even if that meant going out in a blizzard to try to get power restored.

2.  I love how he enjoys spending time with his family.

1.  I love how he showed me what being a Christian is all about.  He is without a doubt a true blessing from God, and I am so very lucky to have him as my dad.

Seriously....

After a long....very, very, long break from blogging.  I have decided to get back to it.  Life continues to fly by at the speed of light.....well, almost.  I finally finished nursing school, sort of.  I graduated, and I am working as an RN, but I am going to continue in school to get my bachelors degree and possibly my masters.  I guess we will see if I can go to school for that long. 

God continues to bless me and my family.  He has been so good to us.  All through nursing school he blessed me in ways that I could never imagine.  Today I had the opportunity to pass that blessing on to a dear friend who will be starting the nursing program in the fall. 

For the next couple of weeks I am going to be working on getting some things in order around here.  DaddyLittle has 3 days off every week and he no longer has any cattle to take care of (YEAH!) so we are working on getting some projects done around the house.  Projects that should have been done a long time ago....but you know how things just get put off until "the right time" comes along. 

This week I start working the night shift.  Not sure how my body is going to respond to that.  I am a total morning person and I think that I want to stay that way.  I am up for trying anything though.  The extra money that I get for shift is always nice too!

Hopefully tomorrow's post will be a little more interesting, but I just wanted to let you all know what has been going on here.

The Best Baked Potato

I just got the new issue of Taste of Home magazine the other day.  I just happened to catch in it what they say is the best way to bake a potato.  After washing the potato you rub it with oil, poke holes in it and put it right on the rack at 350 for about an hour.  I have to say, they were really good!  I have always wrapped them in foil to bake.  Even DaddyLittle noticed the difference.  We had baked potatoes yesterday for the Super Bowl (Go Steelers!)  He took a left over potato to work for lunch and some Rotel Dip to put on it.  I had hoped to have a leftover potato for lunch tomorrow, but they are all gone.  I think I may just have to get up and put one in the oven first thing so I can take it with me!

Menu Plan Monday

In an attempt to be better stewards of our funds I am trying to cut our grocery bill.  There are 6 members of our family, there are basically 4 that eat as adults and then 2 younger littles that eat about as much as one adult together.  One of the areas that we seem to spend the most money on is snacks.  The littles will go through a bag a chips in one sitting.  I try not to buy too many of them, or shop at Aldi's if I do, but DaddyLittle thinks we need to have them in the house.  Another area that has caused our meal planning to become more of a challenge has been DaddyLittle's schedule change.  It has been really hard on me to try to work around the time that he is at home.  With all that in mind here are my plans for the week.  I plan on getting the snacks made up the weekend before so they are ready to go for the week.  Some of the cookies will go into the freezer so they won't all end up in the tummies of the Littles at once.  I am going to try a couple of new recipes this week from a Gooseberry Patch cookbook called "5 Ingredients or Less"

Snacks made this weekend: 6 dozen chocolate chip cookies, 2 dozen white chocolate macadamia nut cookies, 2 batches caramel chex mix, 2 batches Puppy chow or Muddy Buddies Mix

Menu:     Monday:  Breakfast  Eggs, toast, milk and OJ

                            Lunch     Chicken Strips, Cottage Cheese, Peaches

                            Dinner    Maid Rites, Corn on the cob, Orange Fluff

                Tuesday:  Breakfast   Cereal, Bananas, Milk

                                Lunch        Hot dogs, macaroni and cheese, pineapple bits

                                Dinner        Baked Ziti, Green Salad, Garlic Bread

                 Wednesday:   Breakfast     Pancakes, Sausage, Milk

                                      Lunch      Frozen Pizza

                                      Dinner     Newlywed Beef and Noodles (5IOL)

                 Thursday:      Breakfast       Eggs, Toast, Milk and OJ

                                      Lunch            Sandwiches

                                      Dinner        Mary's Pork Chops ( 5IOL), Mahed potatoes, green beans

                   Friday        Breakfast  Funnel Cakes, strawberries

                                    Lunch        Chef Salad

                                    Dinner    Chili w/ cheese, cornbread

                Saturday    Breakfast    Cereal, Milk and Fruit

                                Lunch        Savory Sandwich Ring

                                Dinner       Meatloaf, Super Potato Casserole (5IOL), green beans

                Sunday      Breakfast    Pancakes, Bacon

                                Lunch     Baked potato and salad bar

                                Dinner    Chicken and Stuffing Bake (5IOL)

             For more great menus visit I'm an Organizing Junkie .

Family Fun Friday

This post is a little late, but we have been having so much fun in the slush outside that it was hard to find the time to post it.  This week for Family Fun Friday we watched the movie "The Ultimate Gift."  It was a great movie.  It is rated PG, so you might want to view it prior to letting your littles watch it.  There were a couple of scenes that I didn't really care for, but it had a wonderful message and was overall a fabulous movie. 

Another ice day.....

Here I am on my third day of being trapped at home thanks to about 6 inches (mostly sleet) of winter precipitation.  I can't say that I haven't enjoyed my time though.  I have actually got a lot done, and have a lot more to do.  I seems like every time I turn around I am going through clothes.  The littles are growing by leaps and bounds these days.  I can't believe that my "baby" is tall enough that he can wash his hands in the sink without a stepstool. My how time flies!

I am really enjoying this semester so far.  It is early in the semester though and I know that it will get busy before too long.  I am just really excited to get out there and start working.  I think that my kids are excited about it to.  The other day Miss Smarty asked me if I, "was a nurse yet."  I told her sure, I was a student nurse.  She informed me that didn't count.  LOL, she always tells it like it is.  I am sure that will benefit her in some way one day.

First Day

Here I sit at my computer after the first day of my final semester before I officially become an RN.   Well, if I pass boards.  I can hardly believe that it is so incredibly close.  It is one of those situations in which you feel as if it is taking forever when you are in the midst of it, then when the end is finally in sight it seems as if time has just flown by.  Even more amazing is the fact that I can't believe that I will actually be caring for patients in no time at all.  I feel so unprepared.  I hear that it is common for all graduates to feel this way.

Wow!

Okay, it is the beginning of a brand new year.  I guess technically we are 6 days in, but this is the first time I have had to really think about it. Last year just seemed like whirlwind.  I can't believe that in only 6 short months (if all goes according to plans) I will be an RN. 

Since it is the beginning of the year I feel like I have to at least review last year and determine what changes I need to make.  No resolutions for me, just changes.  I have to say that I have had to lower my standards of what a clean house is.  That has been quite an adjustment for me, but it has been necessary to try to maintain a little sanity.  I am sure that there are more adjustments that will have to be made this year as I switch from a full-time student to working full-time and still going to school part-time.  I just have to continue to pray that God continues to show me what is important and what I can let slide. 

I am also trying to make some adjustments to our budget.  The economy has taken its toll on us just as it has so many others.  God continues to bless us in many ways and I feel like I should make some changes to the budget in order to be a better steward of those blessings.  One of my favorite things about the internet is all the wonderful resources on ways to save money.  I have been lead to many wonderful blogs that have helped me make changes in our spending and saving.

Yes, it has been quite a year, and I am sure that 2009 will be even better!

One more semester down....

Only one more to go until I am an RN.  If I can pass the NCLEX that is.  I can't believe it will be here before I know it.  I will be so glad when the day arrives that I will have my life back again.  Until that day arrives I will savor the small moments of rest that come my way.

I am truly shocked that Christmas is only one week away.  That also means we are leaving for Disney World in only one week.  I am slowly checking things off my to-do-list.  I just wish I had another week.
I guess I will just make the most of the short amount of time that I have left.

I went to Miss Smarty's Christmas party at school today.  Let me tell you I was really glad that I switched my major from teaching to nursing.  Those kids were WILD!  I have to say, Miss Smarty was really quiet.  She just sat in her chair and behaved.  I couldn't believe that was my child, she is NEVER that way at home.  I guess I should be thankful that she is well-behaved out in public.