Frugal Find for our OCC Shoeboxes!

When you step out in faith God always provides!

We have started getting things ready for our Christmas Shoeboxes early this year, these were our first find! We snagged these adorable Beanie Babies at our local thrift store for .25 a piece. Just imagine what a blessing these will be to some little boy or girl!

Weekly Menu for the week of August 19.

 

Our 5 yr. old's beautiful cupcakes!

Monday
Breakfast: Oatmeal topped with butter, stevia and milk, Tea
Lunch: Veggie Noodle Soup, PB&J Sandwich, Water
Dinner: Hamburgers & Fries, Sweet Tea

Tuesday
Breakfast: Cinnamon Toast, Orange Slices Milk or Tea
Lunch: Ham & Cheese Sandwiches, Cucumber Slices, Juice
Dinner: Pork Chops, Steamed Broccoli, Baked Sweet Potatoes

Wednesday
Breakfast: Grits and Eggs, Milk
Lunch: PB&J Sandwiches, Carrot Sticks, Fun Size Butterfinger, Sweet Tea
Dinner: Homemade Pizza Pasta, Green Beans and Garlic Bread, Green Peach Tea

Thursday
Breakfast: Cheese Toast, Sweet Tea
Lunch: Bologna Sandwiches, Chips, Apple Slices, Milk
Dinner: Chicken, Rice, Steamed Cabbage, Sweet Tea


Friday
Breakfast: Oatmeal, Hot Tea
Lunch: Noodle Soup, Orange Slices, 1/2 PB&J Sandwich, Water
Dinner: Country Style Ribs, Cauliflower, Hot Buttered Noodles, Sweet Tea

Faux Dessert, handmade birthday surprises.

Petit Fours for 18" Dolls

I made these petit fours using small wood blocks from Michael's, white flower buttons hot glued on top then I filled in the recess with hot glue and painted the centers with light green gloss paint to look like candy. The little plate came with a food set from the Dollar Tree.

 

Petit Fours and a glass of milk.


The faux milk was made using a small disposable shot glass. I found a large pack at the Dollar Tree. You fill to desired level with Tacky Glue and let it sit and dry for 3-4 days. Mine of course are still drying but I couldn't resist sharing.

My wonderful birthday find!

Our 2 little princesses will be turning 6 and 7 here in a few weeks. It is a tall order to get everyone ready for school and celebrate 2 birthdays in the same month. So I was scrambling looking for a frugal idea. Then I found these adorable dolls online at the Target website. They were a little out of our budget at $22.99 a piece. I didn't have enough time to build up my swagbucks to help so what was I to do? I looked at other gifts but they just weren't doing it for me or for the girls. So last night while the teens and hubby were at an activity we loaded up and took off to K-Mart who also has a version of these dolls. I wanted to see if they were less expensive or possibly on sale. We get to K-Mart and they have 0 dolls in stock. So we got the wild notion to drive to Target and just look. I am so glad we did. This week Target has these beautiful dolls on sale for $18.99 putting them under my $20.00 budget. So I bought them. They also have the outfits and small playsets on sale. And I love that they are made so much like the American Girl dolls but at a much more affordable price. In fact when the girls saw them they didn't know that they weren't the AG dolls. In fact they call Kendra (the redhead) Saige. So I am one happy Mama! They are going to love their birthday gifts, not to mention all the fun we will have collecting their accessories each holiday and birthday! Remember it pays to window shop!

Weekly Menu for Week of August 19

Our Oldest Sharing Dessert with her Cousin.

 

Since I am a Weight Loss Surgery (WLS) patient I am including what I eat daily color coded in purple. I hope this helps those of you on a journey to a healthier you!


Monday
Breakfast: Cereal and Toast (my breakfast Protein Shake w/ unsweetened Almond Milk)
Lunch: Peasant Soup and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches (just eat the peasant soup)
which is 1 can of veggie beef soup, 1 can Bean and Bacon Soup with 2 Cans Beef Broth or water.
Dinner: Sloppy Joes, Pan Fried Potatoes (sloppy joe filling and bake a sweet potato)

Tuesday
Breakfast: Buttered Grits and Juice ( Breakfast Protein Oatmeal)
Lunch: Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches, Chips and Apple Slices (Apple Slices w/ Light and Fit Greek Yogurt)
Dinner: BBQ Chicken Leg Quarters, Mac n Cheese, Steamed Broccoli  (Chicken Leg, Steamed Broccoli w/cheese)

 Wednesday
Breakfast: Cinnamon Sugar Oatmeal and Sausage (Old Fashioned Oats, Pecans cooked in unsweetened almond milk*)
Lunch: Ramen Noodles and Orange Slices (2 slices Deli Meat, One slice cheese and 3 cucumber slices with seasoning)
Dinner: Beanie Weenies and Corn Muffins (just the beans topped with a little sauteed onion)

*A neat recipe I got from my doc is to blend 1 part old fashioned oats to 1 part unsweetened almond milk. Cook in the Microwave then add sweetner of choice and a few nuts, yummy.

Thursday
Breakfast: Cereal and Toast (Protein Shake & Unsweetened Almond Milk)
Lunch: Ham and Cheese Rollups, Cucumber Slices with Hummus
Dinner: Tangy Meatballs, Buttered Rice and Peas

Friday
Breakfast: Cheese Toast and Juice (Cottage Cheese)
Lunch: Peanut Butter Sandwiches, Chips and 1/2 Banana (Leftover Meatballs)
Dinner: Stuffed Pork Roast, Sauteed Green Beans and Onions

Saturday
Breakfast: Bacon, Eggs and Drop Biscuits
Dinner: Green Beans with Ham and Onions and Fruit for dessert
Snack: Glazed Yellow Cake

Sunday
Breakfast: Cinnamon Toast and Milk (Scrambled Eggs with Sauteed Onions)
Dinner: Pot Roast, Mashed Potatoes and Green Beans
Snack: Stuffed Celery Sticks

With school starting back we are trying to reign in our grocery budget so some of these meals are super simple. On the weekends we make a large breakfast so we don't do lunch but serve a snack that evening before bedtime, we do the same on Sundays. This helps the budget and gives our bodies a break from heavy eating.

Honoring my first love, My Daddy!

My Dad, Mom, little sister, little brother and me.

I haven't posted in a very long time. My mind has been a big huge blank since my dad went home to be with the Lord in January, so I have not really attempted to write anything. Tonight I am ready to share what my dad meant to me. I think it would be a great way to honor him and to get me back on track.

They say that most of the time children view God in light of their earthly Father. I have to say that in my experience that is quite true. My dad was the most fun loving, kind, caring generous man I know. There were three of us kids and he loved us in our love language before the Christian world had "The 5 Love Languages". For me that meant small gifts and notes left spontaneously. My dad worked shift work and it was nothing for me to either wake up or go to bed with a little note from him or a picture or story, he was never too busy for us. We were never shooed away, he always made time for us. I remember when I was trying to decide on whether or not I should go to Bible College, my dad was working on our car and he worked silently and let me pour out my heart. When I was through he gave me his advice, but he had listened to every bit of reasoning I had, because he knew it was important to me. When I was in elementary school I was going through a rough time and felt like I had no friends and this was so painful to me. One day after school I came home and while I was doing my homework my dad brought me a present. It was a story he had written and illustrated just for me, to show me how special and important I was to God. I will never forget that.

I was not the easiest child to raise. I was born with a strong sense of the way I thought the world should run and I vehemently pitched fits to make it so, from a very small age. My poor parents....Mama did all she could to reign in my strong willed temper and still love me but I of course fought her tooth and nail. Daddy allowed me a little more freedom, later when I was grown and we were adopting and struggling to keep our sanity Daddy stopped by for lunch and told me that he always knew my strong willed nature would come in handy, God had prepared me for this. He understood me as no one else could.

Now that my daddy is at home in heaven I don't know how to really feel. He was the person I would go to (before Donald) when the world was turned upside down and didn't make sense and at the time I need His strength the most he is not here. Then God reminds me that He is my Father and He is always with me and I lean on Him.  Some days there is a gaping whole in my heart when I think of the lifetime stretching before me without my daddy and thankfully there are other days that make it seem possible that he could just pop over for lunch as he so often did, these days are strangely comforting because it brings to mind all the visits we shared through the years. I also remind myself when there is pain this isn't a bad thing it just means he was a part of my life, that he meant some thing to us and that he had a very big place in our lives. I rejoice because I know that we will see each other again and I have wonderful memories of our days together.

Why I love our PCP...

My sweetheart and I on Mother's Day 2013

I just went to see my PCP for my first appointment since my gastric bypass a year ago. I was down 200lbs and he was thrilled. He then requested that I stop telling people that I have had GB. The reason he said was others assume that having weight loss surgery is taking the easy road and the work isn't as hard. I have heard this several times. He asked me "Do you eat right?", "Exercise regularly?" then you are doing the work. You could easily choose the wrong foods and decide to be lazy. So with his advice I am no longer sharing my history unless I feel led. He is right, I am constantly aware of what I am eating, drinking and supplementing with because I care about my health and I want to be the best me. I just wish I had received his advice pre-bypass.