Menu Planning

One of the most difficult things for me has always been menu planning. I always have good intentions, but I don't always follow through. I have done better in the past 2 years than I ever have, but it is still a struggle for me. I just hate the whole process...picking out recipes, writing down your grocery list, going to the grocery store and buying everything, bringing it home and unpacking it and putting it away, then later getting it out and making a meal. This is just way too much for me.

I have been putting my menu into place though. I hope to really make it more of a success this year. The boys are eating me out of "house and home" as they say. They are constantly hungry, and I want to have healthy meals ready for them.

One thing that has really helped is getting my crockpot out and using it again. It is so easy to just throw stuff in there and let it cook all day into something fabulous...we hope is fabulous anyway.

What I love about recipe searching are the beautiful cookbooks that I come across. There are some wonderful ones out there. I don't always use recipes from them, because sometimes they have really complicated recipes. I am more of a simple kind of cook. If it takes too many ingredients, I will not make it.

Camping Trips

We always have to plan our camping trips 9 months in advance. If we don't, we are not able to get a site at a campground. They fill up very fast. So, every year we get out our maps of the campgrounds and make our reservations. We always look forward to planning our summers.

Nissan

I thought that I would do a memory post. My first car was a manual 1985 Nissan Stanza. I loved that car. It gave me some problems, but it was also a really great car. That car could go anywhere...and did go everywhere. It was like a truck...and we treated it like a truck. That car had been all over the east coast by the time I was ready to sell it. We drove that car on really long trips many times. We dated in that car. We went on our honeymoon in that car. We began our life in that car. We brought both of the boys home from the hospital in that car. We sold it with 188,000 miles on it. We had fixed everything imaginable on that car--the transmission, the flywheel, the alternator, the timing belt, the water pump, the starter (many times), brakes, ball joints (many times), radiator, muffler, exhaust, new door, hubcaps (many times), new engine, and much much more. Michael was so glad to get rid of that car because of all of the work that he did on it. But...that Nissan Stanza will always be a great memory.

Funny!

I found this today online. I love it.

source

This is so true, isn't it. We play UNO all of the time when we go camping. We love that game.

What would you choose?

What would you choose? (even though most of them I don't eat)

• coke or pepsi? none, because I don't like soda
• lemonade or fruit punch? lemonade
• caramel apple or cotton candy? caramel apple
• butterfinger or snickers? snickers
• pudding or jello? pudding
• chinese or italian food? italian
• pasta or pizza? pizza
• chocolate bars or truffles? chocolate bars
• salad or soup? salad
• french fries or onion rings? french fries
• fried or poached eggs? fried in coconut oil
• hash browns or roasted potatoes? roasted potatoes
• turkey or chicken? turkey
• american or provolone cheese? american
• crackers or cookies? cookies
• pretzels or chips? chips
• mexican or japanese food? mexican
• ice cream or cake? ice cream
• soda or juice? juice
• apples or bananas? apples
• cauliflower or broccoli? broccoli
• blizzard or mcflurry? blizzard
• crepes or pancakes? crepes
• oatmeal or cereal? oatmeal
• veggie tray or meat/cheese tray? veggie tray
• strawberries or raspberries? strawberries
• bacon or sausage? bacon, but only if it is thick bacon

Lily

I guess today will be Lily day. Cam and I recently took some photos of Lily. Taking photos of dogs is just as hard as taking photos of babies. WOW! Here are a few of them.

Haircut for Lily

Lily has such beautiful hair...she has real hair, not fur. But, with that beautiful hair comes knotting. Because it is cold outside, she has been wearing sweaters. When she wears clothing, her hair knots up really easy. Today I gave her a haircut. It took me three hours. I hate doing it, but it really saves us a lot of money. I just cannot justify spending the money on something I can do myself. I cut all of our hair as well. These are some photos when I was in the process of cutting it.

This is only half of the hair that I ended up with

Piano Lessons

Every week we have piano lessons. Cam is so talented musically. I love to hear him play the piano...although sometimes it gets loud in the livingroom. God has really given him a gift. This is what the floor near the piano always looks like.