"A week in the life of..."

MONDAY/Cleaning Day:

• Picked up the house from the weekend.
• Husband went to WinCo. to get some basic groceries.
• Made Chicken & Rice, with corn.

TUESDAY:

• Cold & drizzling rain.
• Went to the Library. The kids did a Toddler Story Time, played the computer games, and then went to the Music & Movement Toddler Session. Emily had a great time dancing. Jadon had fun crawling faster than everyone else in the circle (no competitive streaks here).
• Checked out "Ask Mr. Bear" by Marjorie Flack (a story about a special gift for mom), The "Little Rabbit" by Judy Dunn (a story about rabbits and how to care for them), a video of "The Seashore" by Reading Rainbow (Jadon loves the beach - though he has never been. Also, likes crabs and fish).
• We went to $1.00 night at the Theatre to see "Charlotte's Webb". The kids liked the movie and did very well sitting through it for an hour and a half. Although, they couldn't quite understand why a spider could be your friend. I completely relate to this! (Best at the bottom of my shoe.) Emily loved the popcorn.
• I personally enjoyed going to the movies. Since, the last time I even entered a theatre was when Emily was a baby. We sat down for 5 minutes to watch the "Phantom of the Opera", but it was too loud and she couldn't settle down. We were so thankful that the manager had returned our money. So it had been at least 2 years, maybe more than that because I don't even remember when I had seen one before that. When we lived in Montana we rented a lot of movies. Our favorite thing though, was to go to the drive-in. We could make as much noise as we wanted and the kids could climb all over us. Good times. :)
• Made "Sloppy Joes" from scratch and homemade french fries with carrots and apples.

WEDNESDAY:

• Kids got their haircuts at the neighbors.
• Prepared grocery list and matched sales with coupons for shopping on Thursday night.
• Fridge door completely broke, again. Husband glued it for now and ordered part.
• Living Room & Bedroom electrical outlets went dead. Used extension cords to connect to other outlets. Called electrician.
• Watched "Survivors" special show.
• Jadon had a slight fever with a cough. Will have to wait and see how he feels on Friday- to go to MOPS or not.
• Made Turkey Chili Dogs on whole wheat buns, w/corn and cantaloupe

THURSDAY/Baking Day:

• The weather is still cold enough to need jackets outside.
• Found a recipe for Great Pumpkin Dessert in my 1999 Quick Cooking magazine. I know that's a long time to hold onto a magazine. But in my defense, (ha ha) it has been in filed in a binder with other favorite recipes, all of the other magazines from that year have been purged, and this particular copy had at least a dozen "keeper" recipes that we have been using for years now. And then again the other day, I revisited this magazine and found this new recipe. Although pumpkin isn't quite the seasonal thing to make right now, it was perfect in so many ways. It being so fast to make and used mixes and ingredients that were already in the pantry. Since Christmas time, I had an extra can of pumpkin, can of evaporated milk, and some chopped walnuts in the fridge that needed to be used. Also had an extra box of yellow cake mix that I had stocked up on from a sale.
  
  As I was making my way through the instructions, I realized that I didn't have any pumpkin pie spice. Instead of making a special trip to the store with two toddlers, I then did a quick Internet search and found a recipe how to make it.
  
  What should have taken 5 minutes to prepare, took 10 minutes. This was due to the fact that the cloves had to be ground down. A pistil and mortar would have been very handy (I bet my friend Leah in India has one). Instead, I used a rolling pin and worked the cloves down to a nice powdery consistency. Making the spice from scratch really added some great, noticeable flavor.
  
  Now, just need some vanilla ice cream and it's ready to eat!
  
  The techniques used to make this recipe, reminded me so much of my Grandma Wallace's Special Cherry Dessert. Every time this has been made for company or a church gathering there have been rave reviews. I may also post this recipe in honor of her.

• Later, I brought over a handful of Daffodils and the extra dessert to our 96 year old neighbor's home. Then her son-in-law pruned all 5 of my rose bushes back for me. Woohoo, that was a huge blessing!
• Made Salmon patties, with rice and veggies.
• Went Grocery shopping.

FRIDAY:

• Yeah! Jadon is doing well. So now we get to go to MOPS. It is my turn to help with childcare. Also, our group is doing a Baby Shower for the "City of Light" which is the women's shelter for homeless women and children. It was fun to donate an entire bag of hygiene items with the tips I received from the "Grocery Game".
• Made Spaghetti & Meatballs, Salad, & Rolls.
• Maybe a run to Costco for milk with Jadon, and Emily can go with her daddy to pick up Jadon's Birthday present.

Hope you all had a great week!

Thanks for stopping by and reading the blog!