Feed Your Family for Less!

Come Learn How To Feed
a Family of 4 for $180 a month!

When: Saturday March 14 at 10 am
Where: My house (call if you need the address)
RSVP: Jennifer Nugent (leave a comment if you need my number & I will call you)

Shop at only 1 store – no running around town!

Buy all of your family’s groceries, household, and personal care items (including diapers) all for about $180 a month for a family of four – while building a massive food storage at the same time!

NO clipping and filing individual coupons! Very quick and easy! A HUGE way to save money!

Eat a healthy, well-balanced diet and have ease in meal planning!

FREE WEBSITE and FREE CLASS – there is no cost to attend and no cost to use the website!

What could your family do with hundreds extra every month? Bring friends! For more information please call Stacey Gill at Grocery Smarts at 801-840-0660.. Thanks!

Comment if you would like to attend
Click this blog link for more info! I was amazed!
http://www.weeklyshoppingguide.blogspot.com/

Limo Lunch/Blue & Gold Banquet/Dad retiring

Montana earned one of the three spots for the Third Grade Limo Lunch at school today. She is so excited! She earned this (in the words of her teacher) "for being an excellent student"! This could not have come at a better time for her. She has been so sad and really needed this boost. Plus one of the other kids going is her "crush" Makor! So she is double excited! How fun for them. I think they are going to McDonald's. I told her I would come and take some pictures but she told me to NOT come or she would die of embarrassment. Can you feel the love? I will try to be inconspicuous!!

Justice went to his first Cub Scout event- The Blue and Gold Banquet. He doesn't turn 8 until November so he still has a while. They did a cowboy theme potluck dinner. Justice wore Eric's black stetson hat and his Texas Rangers badge. He looked adorable. They had the Pony Express folks come and show an original letter carrying saddle that they use to use. He was very interested. So we learned a little about Scouts but not enough to know what to expect. I guess we will learn by doing.

My dad is retiring tomorrow. They are throwing him a luncheon at the jail today. I have never been there so I am hoping there is a special room or something. I'm sure it will be real nice. He has been a police officer for 29 years. Wow. It really doesn't seem like that long. They made him a special plaque with all of his pins, badges, business cards, id cards, handcuffs, and pictures. It is huge! Seriously about 5 feet by 5 feet. I will take a pic of it because it is seriously amazing. I am so proud of him. He really deserves to relax and take it easy for a while. However- he has already been offered a part time Private Investigator job that he is thinking about. I think that sounds exciting. Congrats dad!

Biggest Loser

My friends and I are starting a Biggest Loser contest. It starts March 1st and ends May 31. It's $20 to enter and all the money goes to the winner! Lost weight will be calculated by % lost just like on the show. If you want to join you need to be a facebook friend of mine. Other than that- rules will be sent out to all who want to participate. But know- that I plan on winning!!! Good Luck everyone! (Especially me!)

The Wallpaper comes down

After dad helped me install the microwave- the kids and I started pulling down the rest of the wallpaper in the kitchen. It was so cute when we put it up 10 years ago and now it just looks- well- ugly! We had planned on painting also- but it took most of the day to finish the removal. Isn't wallpaper the best invention ever??? NOT!! I hate it!!! Although it did come off a lot easier than some I have tried to remove. So the kitchen is coming along. I will post pics when we finally get the painting done. Hopefully next weekend!!

I have also become a labeling geek. I bought a label machine and I am labeling everything in site. My cupboards and drawers have never been so organized. It's keeping me and my mind busy anyway! Once I went through two rolls of label (which are kind of pricey) I knew it was time to reel it in and call it a day!

Microwave Blues

Our microwave broke about two weeks ago. I'm telling you- it's been living in the dark ages for us. We have had to use pans, the oven, the toaster, and actually COOK! For those of you who know me- I HATE TO COOK! Actually I like it- it just takes so long, and then you have to clean up. It feels like an all day process.

Anyhoo- we have discovered that it takes 25 minutes to cook a frozen burrito. It use to take 1. Dinner dishes are not great for warming things up in the oven- the paint on them melts. Fruit is a fun snack because you don't have to cook it!! Hamburger takes about 30-45 minutes to thaw in a sink of HOT water. Bread takes at least two hours to thaw at room temperature. Broiling in the oven heats things up quickly on the outside- but they are still frozen in the middle! And the best tip of all- Microwave popcorn only works in the microwave!!

We just couldn't take it one more day, and so we broke down and bought a new OTR(Over the Range- I didn't know what that meant either) microwave and we will be putting it in today with the help of my rugged and oh so helpful dad. How did we ever survive before microwaves??? We are so spoiled!

Candlelight Dinner

Last night I made my cousin Holly's recipe for Shephards Pie. It was sooooo good. We will definately do that one again- easy & yummy. The kids set the table and thought it would be fun if we ate by candlelight. So we turned off all the lights and had three candles lit to eat our dinner by. I love my kids! Always something fun is on there minds!



Holly's Shephards Pie

1 lb. ground beef
1 small onion chopped
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 pepper
1/8 tsp oregano
1 can french cut green beans
1 can tomato soup
1/2 c. water
3 cups prepared mashed potatoes (leftovers or prepared instant)
Paprika
Shredded Cheese

Brown ground beef and onion, drain, stir in seasonings, green beans, soup and water. Heat through, pour into baking dish, spread mashed potatoes on top, top with cheese and sprinkle with paprika. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 25 min or until hot and bubbly.

Fun Times

I had planned to take the kids to the aquarium today. But then Sierra called and was flying in about 11:00am. I thought she would be in later in the day. Anyhoo- she had gone to spend the weekend with her dad in Houston. She flew back unaccompanied minor and so we were able to pick her up at the gate. We all went to lunch at the mall- we all got our favorites. It was nice for the kids to all be together for a minute. I thought we would go to the aquarium after that, but then Eric asked to take the little ones to see Coraline. It's a new 3D movie. So that left me and Sierra home. Then Grama Judy called and wanted to take Sierra and Molly to Classic Skating/Laser Tag. So I was home alone for a while and broke down and decided I should do my math homework. Blah. So much for a fun day.

Eric brought the kids back and they said they enjoyed the movie. I asked if he wanted to talk about things- but he said nothing had really changed- so we should talk later in the week. I really miss him. Sierra came home later and said she had a good time too.

This split time with dads and me is not going to be easy. I think I am getting the short end of the deal. I do all the hard day to day work and they get to go and have fun when they are around. I think it stinks. But I know it will get easier as time goes on. Hopefully it won't last long. I promise a happier post next time.

Inspiration

I absolutely love these videos. They really helped me today. Hope you enjoy them too. Just click on the links below to view them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snAjZ8mfoYw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkCFeNeqyHk

Valentines Day

Yesterday I got to go sing all over town with my singing group for our Singing Valentines. It was a lot of fun.
We sang to my dad. That was mom's gift to him. We sang "My guy". I think we really surprised him. They videoed it so I will see if we can post it on here soon.
We also sang to Grama Dodie. I told her the kids and I were bringing her a Valentine. So she was very surprised when she opened the door and there were 12 women all dressed alike barging into her house. It was very cute. We sang Apple Tree to her. She had a couple tears which was very sweet. All the girls fell in love with Grama. How could they not she is the sweetest woman around!!
We went to elementary schools, offices, shops, high schools,and homes. I wish we could have sang to Eric but his office was too far away. It would have been fun to embarrass him and show him what we do! All in all- I would definately do it again next year. Too fun! We decided we need a Voices Tour Bus!! That would be fun!
We also went to dinner last night as a family to celebrate Valentines Day. That was nice. We broke all the sad news to the kids about Eric and I separating. It was very tough. We spent the first night apart last night. I've decided that Friday the 13th really isn't my best day. Sigh...So the kids and I watched funny movies to try to cheer up. We watched "The Rocker" and "Open Season 2". If you haven't seen The Rocker- you should. It is absolutely hilarious.
Thanks for all the calls, emails, and well wishes. It really helps.

Proud of my kiddos!

Justice was advanced to Blue belt for his TaeKwonDo class. He is so very proud of himself. I love to see that smile and determined look in his eyes when he knows he has really accomplished something.
Justice has also decorated the house with his artwork from school. He has been making rather large paper dinosaurs. All are displayed in the family room. As well as his Chinese New Years artwork. As lovely as it is- we are having a hard time convincing him that it is time for them to come down. He is a hoot sometimes.

Montana has been working very diligently on her dance for solo competition this year. She is fast approaching performance time. Her first competition will be in mid-April. We have ordered her costume and are putting the final touches on her routine. We are so excited for her. I am entering her in several competitions because I know the first few will be for getting the kinks out and getting her out of her shell and into performance mode.
Montana has also been impressing us with her amazing penmanship. We love to look at her homework and see how neat and lovely her work is.

Sierra performed at Bennion on Parade tonight with her Cheer team. I was unable to attend due to running kids from one end of town to the other. She said all of their stunts hit and they did a really good job. She sounded pretty excited about the performance. She is always so busy and we can never get to ALL her activities. Lucky for her, she has three parents to shuttle her around. Her dance competition season, as well as dance concert for school, are all around the corner. This is her time to shine and she can't wait. We will keep you updated with pics and whatnot.

Laters.

Goofy Tana

This story is "TOP SECRET"- do not mention it to Tana. I am just saving this for posterity because it is hilarious.

Tana was in the bathroom and called for me to come in. She sounded very very upset. I get there and she is bawling her eyes out. I asked her what was wrong. She mentioned that a certain upper part of her body was hurting. She pulled her shirt up to show me exactly what she was talking about. I was trying to comfort her and not laugh at the same time. I told her this was very normal and that this is part of life. She kept crying for about 30 minutes. Shaking her head and burying her face in my hug. She kept saying "I don't want to grow up!" - "I don't want to be a teenager!" Poor thing! How could I tell her that this is just the beginning!! :-)

Justice TaeKwonDo Test

Justice was testing for his blue stripe. He was very nervous. He absolutely loves sparring. Usually he is kicking and screaming like a banshee! He did such a great job. We will find out Monday what rank he achieved! We are so proud of you bud!

As a side note- I am having trouble uploading video that is longer that 1 minute. Anybody out there that knows what I am doing wrong. I videoed his whole test and would like to post it but every time I try Blogger keeps giving me an error???

Sierra's Game Photos

Here are some pix/video of Sierra's last bball game. Love the light shining from her eyes- weird- but cool!