Black Friday Find

Bill had to work at the store that night of Black Friday. I had given him my list of things to get the kids for Christmas. I have to say in the way of toys there wans't much of a selection this year.


To my surprise Bill came home with something that was not on the list. Surprise surprise there!
He is always adding to my list.

It was a nice thought but I think someone else in the house will have more fun of using it than me. She has already declared it hers.

I do love the gift. It is light, easy to move from place to place, and who doesn't like the color pink.

Can you guess what it is?
I think he thought the color would make me want to use it more. LOL

I hope everyone had a chance to get out there and get their deals.
Ta-ta for now,

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving from one Pilgrim's home to another.

Winter Already

It has become winter here in Northwest Pennsylvania. I think we have about A foot of snow on the ground with more accumulation this week. My kids just love the snow. When Mike woke up the next morning after the snow fell he was begging me to let him go outside. Here he is trying to tempt to build a snowman. The snow really would not pack so he ended up with a small yet cute one. Plus it was very cold outside. I have not yet had the chance to get them the snow gear that he should have. So he wasn't out there very long. Of course Mom had to let him have something warm to drink along with every kids favorite. COOKIES!

Free Calendars

If you are looking to get a free calendar for the new year. Here are a couple that I have found that I thought were cool. Enjoy!

You can get a FREE Calendar from Pillsbury Here

If you don't like that one there is one from Betty Crocker Here

I got it done (almost)

Yesterday I had tons of things on my to-do list.

Let's just say that as soon as I was done typing my message there was a knock on the door. I was like who could that be. It was the repair man here to start my ceiling. Apparently they finished early with the job next door. The good news is that the ceiling wasn't as bad as they thought. The bad news is my house was a wreck. The main part of the mess was the kitchen. I bake a lot and don't always have enough energy to clean it up right afterward. They were here for a total of 10 min then they were out the door. They will be here today to sand and re-mud. Then they will do it again on Monday. On Tuesday they will repaint the whole ceiling.

After that Mike came home from school . They had a half day cause of teacher conferences and no school today. Bill thought it would be great to leave and go get lunch at the pizza place. So we went there. Then it was time for the conference.

I was told exactly what I told you I would be told. Mike is a very bright child he lacks effort and focus. Hopefully we will be working on that. I have a plan in place. Wish me luck.

None of the house got cleaned. Until this morning. Bill got home from work and I put him to work helping me get things done. We had it all done before the repair men got here. Whew.

The things on my to do list today is laundry and doing a little baking. I have a new Amish white bread recipe that I have been itchin to try. The kids are watching movies and playing with Play-Doh. Oh what a great day!

Ta-ta for now,
Mandy

The Plans for the day

Today seems like it is going to be a busy day.

1. I really need to be cleaning my house today and not be on the computer so much. There are people coming to fix my ceiling in the morning. There was a leak in the bathroom and made a huge ceiling bubble.

2. I bought some totes to store some of Andrea's clothes. She has gone through a huge growth spurt and now I need to go through everything and see what she can actually wear. It seems that I have tons of 12- 24 months things. She spent forever in this size. From the time she was 2-3 1/2. Now we have made it to 3T bottoms and 4-5 tops. I think it took forever for us to get to this point. Yeah go us!

3. I have parent teacher conference with Mike's teacher at 2:30. You can just wish me luck there. Who knows what I will be told. Well I have some speculation of what I will be told. My child is smart but lacks effort. LOL He is like almost every boy I know.

4. Then it is home and to make supper.Getting everyone settled. Bill has to work tonight so I try to have dinner done early so he can go to bed. He works midnights.

I think that is all I have to do. Hopefully I can accomplish some or most of it.
Ta-ta for now,

Just a reminder that today is Veteran's day. Make sure you thank a service man or woman for the great job he did while serving our country. I know I thanked mine.


Thank you Big Daddy for all that you do for us. We love you so much!!!

Today is the day. Please don't forget to vote. I don't care who you vote for just vote. ( Well maybe I care a little) It is your right as an American. There are people in other parts of the world don't get that right. So go out and VOTE!!!

Halloween

I know that these are a few days late. But my battery died in my camera and I had to let it charge quite a while before I could get these on my computer. We had a great time trick-or-treating. Andrea was really into it this year and Mike was old enough to go with his friends on his own.
I had bought the kids cute felt bags from Big Lots to collect their candy. They were a little to big for Andrea. But of course Miss Independent didn't want any help carry it. She was tripping all night. But she had a great time and it didn't even phase her. I hope that you enjoy the pictures of the kids.
Ta-ta for now,


Mike as a 1930's mafia gangster




My handsome man





Our Beautiful Princess





And no Halloween is complete without the loot

Look what I woke up to

Look what I woke up to this morning. The good news is that it is very pretty. The bad new is we are in for more today. Another 4-6 inches worth. Of course the kids just want to play in it before school and I just want them to stay dry. I did promise Andrea that she could play in it when she got home from school. Last year she didn't want to come in from playing in the snow. She loves it so much. Mike had a hard time bringing her inside the house. He likes it but can only take so much before he is freezing. Not to mention he has no meat on his skinny body.
I finally had to bribe her with some hot chocolate and cookies. What kid doesn't want that?

It is very scary outside right now. The leaves haven't fallen completely off of the trees and the snow is the very heavy wet kind. The trees are getting weighed down and they are just snapping. As you can see in the pictures we have woods behind us. So imagine everything I am hearing at this moment. Lots of cracking and popping. Every once in awhile it is followed by a crash. Oh what a joyful day. I think I will stay inside and bake all day.

Let it Snow

I know what you are thinking. Oh no not SNOW! Well everyone here is getting ready for the first snow fall. Yesterday we had just a few flurries but nothing to serious. As a matter of fact I never knew that we had flurries someone had to tell me.
But tonight we are suppose to get 4 inches by morning. At least that is what the weatherman says. I can't wait to take tons of pictures of the kids in in the snow playing. Andrea just loves the snow.

Do you think that we can trust him? Will his prediction come true? If it does I am not sure how Trick or Treat will go. I haven't even bought Andrea a costume yet. I have been waiting because I was not sure what the weather would be. Mike got his last week and he will be a mobster from the 30's. With his black pinstriped suit , black shirt, and white tie. Complete with a hat and of course the gun. What mobster outfit isn't complete without a gun?
Andrea keeps changing her mind from a princess to a cat. I am not sure what it will be. I am leaning towards princess but with the weather who knows. Can you still make a princess costume look good over top of a snow suit? I dunno we will see.
Ta-ta for now,

I have been tagged.

I was reading several of your posts and quite a few of you have tagged me. So here it goes.

10 years ago:

1. I was newly married
2. I had a new baby
3. I still didn't have a driver's license.
4. Just moved into a new apartment
5. My step- son came to live with his dad.

5 things on my To- do list today:

1. Carve the kids pumpkins
2. laundry ( I am so behind)
3. Clean, Clean, Clean
4. Take something out for dinner
5. Make that something. ( Can you tell I don't know what we are having yet)

5 things I would do if I was a million-air:

1. I would buy a new mini van
2. Own my own home
3. Save for my kids college
4. Save for my retirement
5. Move my step kids to PA

5 places that I have lives:

1. Emporium, Pa
2. Ridgway, PA
3. Tampa, Florida
4. Monroe, MI
5. Titusville, PA

5 Jobs that I have had:

1. McDonalds ( as a Teen)
2. Corry Country Club cook
3. Corry Manor (CNA)
4.EHCA ( Group Home)
5. Being a mom

I think everyone has been tagged and there is no one left for me to tag. So If you haven't been tagged then TAG YOUR IT!!!!

Can you guess what today is. Yes today I turn the BIG 3 0.... When looking back to when I was younger I thought that this day was such a big deal. Now when I am thinking about it. I think what was the big deal? I thought that I would have this huge party and have all my friends over. They would shower with me funny stories of things that have happened to us through out the years. We would have food and wine. Man I must of been one delusional person.
I have realized there really isn't anything special about it. Just another day. I have to work. Bill has to work. So we will not be doing anything. No party, friends, or wine.
Quite a bummer but oh well that is how it goes.
I hope that you all have a great day.

New Fall Picttures

This past week I took some fall pictures of the kids. As you can tell I didn't get to many with Andrea. She just didn't want anything to do with the woman behind the camera. A.K.A. Me.
Hope you enjoy them. One of the ones with the two of them together I want to use in the header. So leave me a comment and let me know which one you think I should use.

Andrea Dancing

Here is Andrea dancing in the living room. It is my first one and I didn't realize that if you turn the camera it would make the image turn. So most of it you have to turn your head sideways to watch. Also please ignore hubby's singing in the background. Can you tell he likes the Eagles?

Look whats for dinner tonight.

So I get this free magazine in the mail from Kraft and it has tons of great recipes in it. This is one that I thought it looks so Yummy. Tonight I thought I would give it a try. But I had to run to the store to grab a few things.
But wait! Have you ever had a friend that calls you right when you are getting ready to leave and says, " Hey can you do something for me?" Of course I am someone that can't say no. I say sure. The friend's husband and son need haircuts. So I say sure come on over. But I have to go to the store when I am done. Of course when we are done they don't leave right away. They leave about 30 minutes later.

So I go to the Wal-mart.I grabbed everything I needed to last me till payday. Then I get to the check out and get that cashier that really doesn't want to be there. I get like Sunday papers every week. So I staple all of the like coupons together. Apparently that was a big issue with her. Every time she got to a set that was stapled. She let out a big sigh and rolled her eyes. Then after she got all of the coupons apart she then proceeded to stand there and take the staple out of every one. Come one now just scan the stuff so I can get home.

Did I mention that we were all standing in line. 2 kids and hubby. Then along comes the person behind me who develops an attitude because I had a lot of coupons and the cashier was taking her time and throwing a hissy fit.

Further more our store is a dollar more expensive on just about every product than other stores. Because we live in a small town where there are only 3 stores to choose from.So they raise the price on everything. She should be cutting out coupons too.

Ok so I get home get everything away and this dinner recipe sounds like it is going to take a long time. Because I don't buy boneless chicken. It takes a little longer to cook. So I decide to make this recipe but combine all of the ingrediants in a skillet add the cheese and put tinfoil over it. So the cheese would melt.Here is what mine looked like.


It was so Yummy. It is called foil packet chicken fajitas. But tonight we are calling it Skillet chicken fajita. Here is the recipe Enjoy!

BTW I should mention that before I used my coupons and hubbies 10% discout my bill was $88.69 and after the everthing it was $66.45.. .. So go you know where you mean cashier lady!

1-1/2 cups instant white rice, uncooked

1-1/2 cups hot water

1 Tbsp. TACO BELL® HOME ORIGINALS® Taco Seasoning Mix

4 small boneless skinless chicken breast halves (1 lb.)

1 each: green and red pepper, cut into strips

1/2 cup TACO BELL® HOME ORIGINALS® Thick 'N Chunky Salsa

1/2 cup KRAFT Mexican Style Shredded Taco Cheese

Make It

HEAT oven to 400ºF. Fold up all sides of each of four 18x12-inch sheets of heavy-duty foil to form 1-inch rim; spray foil with cooking spray. Combine rice, water and taco seasoning; spoon evenly onto centers of foil. Top evenly with remaining ingredients.

BRING up foil sides. Double fold top and ends to seal each packet, leaving room for heat circulation inside. Place in 15x10x1-inch baking pan.

BAKE 30 to 35 min. or until chicken is cooked through (165ºF). Let stand 5 min. Cut slits in foil to release steam before opening packets.

Mike Wins!

Tonight was Mike's Cub Scout Packs Rain gutter Geratta. This is the last one for him. As this is the last year that he will be in cub scouts. He is a Weblow 2. Working on his Arrow of Light award. ( The highest award in cub scouts)

There are about 50 boys in his whole pack. There are about 6 in his Den. We raced against all of the boys in his den. Whoever won out of the group would go to the final group and race against all of the other boys that won in their den. I know it sounds confusing.

Let me just say that the race is held outside. It is freezing here in the north . I think it was in the 40's and dropping tonight. I hate to say this but I was really praying that Mike would loose so we could go home to where it is nice and warm.


No such luck here. Mike won his first race. Then he won the next and then the next. He beat all of the boys in his den. Great, now we get to stick around to the finals. As my teeth are chatting away in the process of yelling GOoooooo Miiikkkeee! He won every single race. He went undefeated. He is the PACK CHAMPION!!!
Even though I froze my rear end off. I am so proud of you little man!

We are home

We have made it home from our trip in Buffalo. So I thought I would catch you all up with some pictures.



My new Niece baby Carla

We are in Buffalo

We are in Buffalo. My sister is having her baby today and has asked me to come help her with her other children. I love that I can be here to help her. She has 2 children and is expecting her 3rd anytime now. As I am typing this she is having her epidural. Praise God for good drugs.

Just a quick update on Andrea.She is feeling better. She has a fever blister on the tip of her tounge whick is making hard for her to eat a few of her favorite things. Pizza, chicken nuggets, and french fries.

We will be back home on Saturday in the evening. I will let you know the news of the baby.
Lastly, I added the follow this blog feature and so far I only have 1 follower. (thanks Jamie)
Wish I had some more! Come on people are you out there?
Ta -ta for now,

Andrea not feeling well

I was going to post some pictures of Mike's great party last night, but I have been busy cuddling with Andrea. She has had a fever the last 2 days and complaining of her ear and knee hurting. You know how little ones are. Not wanting to be left alone and held all of the time.
If she is not better in the morning I will be making a doctors appointment for her. When I get some free time I will post the pictures of the party.
Ta- ta for now,