Remembering.

I've spent the majority of today in the woods near our house. On my knees. Breathing in the scent of pine and fallen leaves.

Last night, there was a storm which blew down a large limb in the woods. While I worked on my remembrance project, I watched Ella play near the limb with our kittens. It was therapeutic.

A few years ago, a friend of mine printed Riley's name on a leaf. I've wanted to do something like that since then, but never had the opportunity. I took the opportunity today, and will be continuing this project as long as the weather allows.

It's just one name, one leaf...right?

Not when you look at the big picture.

There are so many of us. Missing our children.

So much of the year is spent grieving in silence...
Please, break that silence. If you are an angel mom, please speak your angel's name. Write your child's name. Anything to make them known.

Meal Plan Monday and An Explanation

**Tidbits From This Week and Fridays with Ella will return this week

I was not at all well this week. It started off as something like a sinus infection on Friday morning and very quickly went downhill. By Saturday morning I could barely open my left eye.  Antibiotics and lots of rest and I'm finally well enough to venture outside of my bed. I think I gave poor Gabe quite the scare, but I'm ready to face this week now!

Neither Ella or I blogged this weekend. I was sick and she insisted on taking care of me. I spent most of Saturday in bed, only emerging long enough to make dinner. Gabe actually did most of the laundry and housework, despite the fact that he had to work all weekend and for that I am most grateful.

Yesterday, I felt well enough to be up and about during the late afternoon, so Ella and I kicked back and watched movies and had quality mother-daughter time.

Since I'm very close to 100%, I expect to be back to doing everything I normally do.

Here's the Meal Plan for this week:

Monday: Taco Soup
Tuesday: Asian Pork and Broccoli
Wednesday: Breakfast for Dinner
Thursday: Ham, Potatoes, and Green Beans Dinner
Friday: Chicken and Rice
Saturday: Pizza Soup
Sunday: Chicken Spaghetti

41/52

41/52: Waiting for the Homecoming Parade to start. We've gone every year!

41/52, Sunday. Due to me being unwell (more on that later) we stayed home. Ella is trying on part of her Halloween costume and Socks (aka the Seal Cat) is just being Socks. :)

..and now, for something completely different

In seven days, Ella will donate 12 inches of hair to Wigs for Kids. I will donate 7 to Beautiful Lengths.

It has been a very long two years.

On October 16, 2012 a beautiful lady departed from this world, and we are better for having known her. Ms. Lora, who was my "fake Momma" and shoulder to cry on breathed her last breath and went to heaven where there is no more pain, breast cancer, or grief.

On October 16, 2014, Ella and I will donate hair in Ms. Lora's memory.

In the last two years, my daughter's hair has gone from this...

...to this

And my daughter has gone from a little six year old to a young lady determined to make this world a better place. And Ms. Lora, whether she knew it or not, has so much to do with it.

Pantry Purge: This is the post where apparently I hoard rice

 

 

I told somebody that I had found a lot of rice in my pantry. My guess was somewhere around 8 pounds.

It's actually closer to 10. Whoops.

If you have ever wondered "Who in the heck has TEN POUNDS OF RICE in their house?"
Me.
The answer is "me." Jo.

I consolidated several bags of rice into my "rice jar."

I think I fit three bags in there. Yay! Now, what to do with the rest of that rice?

I made Ella a bed-warmer sock. (Because, apparently we also have a surplus of mismatched socks in my house). Here's what you do.

You take a sock...make sure it is either all cotton or mostly cotton.

Fill it with rice, and knot or sew off the top. I knotted. I usually sew. It was late.

The first time you heat, do it in 20 second increments in the microwave.

 

After it's heated you can slip on another mismatched sock (not hard to find around here, I found a pretty fuzzy one) for a cover. Put the sock-warmer in your bed to warm it up, or on your neck/knee/back if it's sore. Voila!

 

Oh...and here's what my shelf looks like post rice clean-up!

 

 

Yay! There's ROOM in there now!

 

Pantry Purge: This is the post that will show ya'll exactly how cheap I am

I am cheap. Extremely so.
If I can make something instead of buying it, so much the better.

Like, taking pictures. I think I paid for professional pictures ONE time and I didn't like the way they turned out. So, I take my own.

And then there's food. I like for my family to eat healthy, and we are on a budget so tight it screams when stretched. However, I don't think we are "too poor to eat healthy" like this lady . For the record, I know people receiving food stamps who eat very well.

Enough of that, though.

I discovered, through trying to organize the bottom shelf in my pantry that I have all of these cans of an off-brand of spaghetti sauce called Vine-Ripe. How did they get there? It's a mystery. But they expire in 2016 and are clearly still good...

I threw in a bunch of spices (salt, sugar, garlic powder, oregano) and mixed it around until Gabe and Ella blind-taste-tested the sauce and thought it was store bought pizza sauce in a jar. Awesome.

and GUESS WHAT? Two cans of that Vine-Ripe sauce (after it's been doctored up according to my family's likes) fit perfectly in a rinsed-out jar from some marinara sauce I had used on Sunday. (yes, I re-use my glass jars. Told you....cheeeeeeap)

Oh! And...as promised. Updated shelf pic is coming. But first, let me show you how far it's come!

This was August...when I first realized I needed a major pantry overhaul. Yikes.

This is today. The pieces of paper in my cookbook rack are: an antique postcard hubby bought me, a picture of Snoopy and one of Ella's "architectural" drawings. They're going to stay, as well as the pyramid Ella made in church (it's sitting on my radio). It's come a long way, yay!

Pantry Purge AND Meal Plan Monday: This is the post where I (don't) bake cookies

This has been quite the weekend. For one, my husband was actually OFF so that's where most of my time was spent. That and church. And dealing with other people's phone issues, because apparently I am a techie (who knew?)

Meal Plan for this week is:

Monday: Porcupine Meatballs over Egg Noodles
Tuesday: Baked Potato Bar
Wednesday: Ramen Stir Fry
Thursday: Pork Tacos
Friday: Chicken fettucine
Saturday: Beef vegetable soup
Sunday: Spaghetti


Update from the battlefront: Remember all of that applesauce I had? Due to the popularity of my applesauce puffs, I believe I am down to two cans! I didn't dip them in melted butter or sugar and cinnamon this weekend, so they were "naked applesauce puffs". They got eaten anyway.

I added a ton of extra cinnamon to the naked applesauce puff batter, because why not?

I also managed to use up a box of shell pasta that had been sitting in my pantry for way too long.

I also no-baked cookies because I have all.that.peanut.butter and all.those.quickoats. The only thing I can think of to make using both of those things that actually appeals to my appetite is no-bake cookies.

My recipe for no-bakes comes from this awesome site .
Again, I don't have a shelf picture to show ya'll. Tomorrow, I promise.