Vacation photos.

I thought it was finally time to update you on our trip to Florida to visit my family, since we've been home for nearly a week already...

We stayed at my grandparents' home and the boys shared a queen bed. It was their first time sleeping together and in the whole 2 weeks we were there, I had trouble only 1 time getting them to sleept!!!

Cousins enjoying dinner at my parents'. Skyler and Eli at the coffee table and Jamie in the Bumbo. Rachael was napping and Jacob was sitting with my youngest brother in the kitchen.

Aaahhhh, I miss this.

My dad with four of the grandkids, Jamie was sleeping.

A night out with my besties (aka the 3 Amigas). I didn't ask permission to post their names so it's W (with N), C (with H) and me with my three. I've been friends with W since kindergarten (22 years) and friends with C since 6th grade (16 years).

Jacob, Eli and Rachael with my grandparents (mom's parents)

Our seating arrangements on the way home. Eli is by the window and is sleeping on my hoodie and his blanket (for cushion) and he's propped on my leg with his feet against the wall. Rachael was in the sling, but wanted to get out.

Across the aisle, Jacob is on the aisle seat and somehow he's sleeping propped on his hand and remained that way for at least 45 minutes. I'm not sure how his arm didn't shoot out from under his head....

It was a great trip and flying with all 3 kids wasn't nearly as difficult as I thought. I was very busy keeping them all quiet or keeping Jacob from bothering the person he was sitting next to, but they were wonderful!

I've posted more pictures on my flickr site. Feel free to go check them out.

4 months already

Oh my, where has the time gone? Rachael cannot possibly be 4 months already (actually 4.5, but she just had her checkup today because we were out of town)...

Isn't she just the most darling thing you've ever seen? I'm so smitten with her! She is truly a blessing and the most calm and easygoing baby, EVER! She is the giggliest baby I've ever met. She also figured out this week that she can squeal really loudly and she does it all the time. She's so happy, it's amazing!

Here are the stats:
* Age: 4 mo., 2 weeks
* Weight: 13lb 15oz.
* Length: 26"

I'm going to get the baby books out tomorrow to record her info. I also love looking back at the boys' stats while I'm doing hers, just to see how different they all are.

Menu Plan Monday - 1/26

Wow! I've been away from the blogosphere too long. The kids and I enjoyed our time visiting my family in FL, but it's always good to be back home in familiar surroundings and your own bed!

I'll have some posts up in the next couple of weeks of some things we did on our trip with some photos, but today it's back to the grind.

I'm not quite sure what Michael ate while I was away. I really didn't leave him much to choose from and there is absolutely NO food in this house today (he assures me he did go to the store a couple times...). This morning I took some time to write out my menu plan and hefty grocery list for the next 2 weeks.

Week of 1/26.

Monday - no clue. We'll scrape together whatever bits and pieces are in the freezer and pantry and just nibble on those things. MUST go grocery shopping.
Tuesday - Tacos with homemade salsa
Wednesday - Crockpot chicken, steamed broccoli, yeast rolls
* Make yeast rolls
* Soak beans
Thursday - Crockpot navy bean soup with homemade bread
* Make bread
Friday - Grilled cheese, tomato soup
Saturday - Salad (with whatever fresh veggies I can find in the grocery store) with baked chicken nuggets
Sunday - I'm going to a Pampered Chef party at a friend's in the morning and Michael is going back to the same place in the afternoon for the Super Bowl (kind of a girls morning out and a guys afternoon out - sans kids)

Week of 2/2

Monday- Chicken nachos (leftover chicken from the crockpot chicken), steamed corn
* Thaw elk steaks
* Soak brown rice
Tuesday - Elk steaks with gravy, brown rice, yeast rolls
* Make yeast rolls
* Thaw ground beef
Wednesday - Spaghetti, steamed veggies
* Make pigs-in-blankets for freezer
Thursday - Veggie soup with homemade bread
* Make bread
Friday thru Monday we may be out of town in Oklahoma for Rachael's dedication - if it doesn't work out I'll figure out a menu for those days also.

Be sure to check out Laura's site for all the other wonderful menu plans for this week.

My dearest Jacob!

Happy 5th birthday!

Oh how I love you! You are a wonderful boy and challenge me every day to teach you new things. You are very analytical (just like your daddy) and love to know how things work and all the "why's" of life. You soak up knowledge like a sponge and it's so wonderful to see the look on your face when you understand something.

You are a true blessing in my life. I love to be your mom! You are such a pleasure to have in my life and I look forward to many more years of fun, learning from and teaching you.

(There would have been photos with this, but we are on vacation and I don't have access to my photos back in Colorado)

What to do with all my freebies/samples

I am an avid sample-requester and also play the drugstore game to "buy" things for free (though not wholeheartedly). So, I have tons of free sample packs and travel size toiletry items hanging around.

Every couple of months I usually bag up all the extras and drop them in the food pantry cart at church, but I've known for a couple of months that we were probably going to be taking a vacation to Florida to visit my family early in the year. Then, we decided to hold off on the trip until summer because of some TDY's Michael has coming up. THEN Michael found an insanely cheap round-trip fare from Denver to Pensacola (about 2.5 hrs. from my hometown), so I am leaving on Saturday night and taking ALL THREE KIDS with me (I am officially crazy!!). We will be gone for 2 weeks.

I went thru my bathroom drawer and rounded up all the free shampoos and conditioners I have and came up with enough for the whole trip!! I also have deoderant and pre-moistened face cloths. It's nice to be able to take those and not have to worry about packing my large bottles and then having to bring them back home.

What do you do with your samples and freebies?

I'm a clumsy mama!

It's no secret that I'm clumsy. Ask anyone who really knows me and they'll tell you they've seen it, especially Michael. He's always telling me to "think ahead" and plan for the worst scenario. So, it wasn't a huge surprise to him when I did this last night:




I was putting away the leftover spaghetti and just knocked it right off the counter...

Being the wonderful husband he is, he offered to clean it up for me! He did a wonderful job and I threw the rug in the wash and you can't even tell it ever had spaghetti sauce on it.

Sam's Club vs. Costco

I currently have a Sam's Club membership and I use it quite a bit and do save a good amount of $$ during the year. My membership is expiring mid-March and I've been thinking about switching to Costco. I've never lived near a Costco until the one here opened this year, but I've heard that Costco is better than Sam's Club.

My Sam's Club membership currently costs $40 per year and a Costco membership is $50 per year. I am willing to pay the extra $10 if it's actually worth it.

I would love your input, especially if you have experience with shopping at both stores and can offer some insight into which you think has a better selection.

I know that Sam's Club offers a one day trial so you can go in and shop around to see if it would work for you. Does anyone know if Costco does something like that, also?

Milk a-plenty

I realized the other day as I was placing a bag of breastmilk in the freezer in the garage that the sight might be comical to others! Since I'm pumping exclusively for Rachael (because she won't nurse), I actually end up with quite a bit more milk than she actually drinks. So, here's what I see each time I open the freezer:

Including a few more bags in the door, that's a total of 65 bags of appx. 8 oz. each. I figured it up and it's enough to feed her for 2.5 weeks!! I love knowing that even if I were to be ill and need to take a medication that isn't safe for Rachael, she will still have the best source of nutrition!!!