If You See Me in The News...

So if you see this picture of me on the news... And the caption reads "Woman hit her head into computer so many times her head became a web address..."



For those of you who know me, you know that I run a pretty tight ship. My house is seldom cluttered much less MESSY. I do go through phases though where I am more organized than others but I think we all do. So as shamefully embarrassed I am of showing you these pictures- here they are... Keep in mind I have been really sick and I have been cleaning out my grandmother's house.



But even with having a totally unsuccessful day of cleaning, my husband and I made 6 dozen muffins (much by accident- that is a funny story for another day.. ). They were delicious. Now we have so many we can eat them this week, stock our friends and family, AND freeze some.


I also got some incredible coupon deals today. I am so impressed with myself. So please everyone relax and put up your feet and prepare for you morning date tomorrow with your Lord Jesus. If you are anything like me, you hold onto those feelings of being unaccomplished because your "to-do" list is all checked off. Sometimes God makes special interruptions.

If I Knew How to Start a Carnival...

If I knew how to start a carnival I would start one today called Saturday Smiles. I know for us it is hard to stop the hurried days of the week and slow down to savor the weekend with your family. Therefore, I would start a carnival where we could share something that makes us smile about our family either in a picture or thought. I think that would do me a lot of good as we begin into a weekend of rest, relaxation, and mediation with our family and our Heavenly Father.

I think I am going to start one. I will look into figuring out how to begin it but for now here is something that makes me smile when I think of it.


It was a really hot July and Dylan was going through the hat box. He found this hat and refused to take it off. It was so hot but he was just so cute. I smile when I think of all the crazy, fun times we have ahead with our two great little boys. Now I am off to begin making new memories with my family.

Have a Saturday full of Smiles with your family and don't forget the Lord has blessed you with those sweet little times full of happiness!

Sickness Has Invaded/ What I've Been Doing/Frugal Friday

I have been trying to keep up with my blogging this week but it has just been too hard. I have watched my friends kids a few days this week. I know that I want a big family but I am just not used to having five kids- aging 7 yo, 3 yo, 2 yo, 10 mo, and 7 mo. It is one crazy jungle here!

My great-grandmother I have been writing about- who is 97 yo!- is going to be coming home today. I didn't believe it was possible but with God ALL things are possible. So I was given the task of cleaning her -huge- home that hasn't been cleaned in 13 years. That was a job. I can honestly say that I think I only got the top layer of dust off. That took me hours upon hours. So to say my house has been neglected is a horrible understatement.

Now to top it off!! I have been sick with the horrible- Ohio changes it's weather every five minutes- head/chest cold. I have severe asthma so it is horribly hard to deal with. My kids now have it too. I am sure that I have the most clingy children when they are sick. It drives me crazy! But we are perservering!

Now I have been couponing this week. I haven't felt well enough to actually go out and shop BUT I have been clipping and I have been organizing. I am excited for what next weeks sales ads bring. So that is my little life in a quick nutshell right now. I promise that I will be more diligent on posting next week when things will hopefully die down.

Now for a quick frugal friday tip....
Cloth diapers! I love them they are the best thing since microwave popcorn. (I don't really know what that means but I am drugged on cold medicine!) They are so neat to use now. We use prefolds with just plain old diaper covers. It works... It's cheap... It's just what I need... We started making our own all in ones with spare strips of fabric and fleece. They work great too!

I am learning to use diaper pins instead of snappis and boy do my fingers show the abuse but I am perservering! So... u.s.e c.l.o.t.h. d.i.a.p.e.r.s. It's good for the environment and great for your pockets! If you need more info on cloth diapers contact me. I would love to help and guide you in the right direction.

For more frugal Friday tips go to Biblical Womanhood.

Sincerely 'Fro Me to You- My Grandma and Grandpa

This is my Grandma and Grandpa. We just recently went on a cruise to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. We had a blast. I choose this picture because I simply love it. The love they share after 50 years, four kids, grandbabies, great-grandbabies, death, life, hard times and so much more shines so bright.

My Grandma was one of the best woman I had ever known. She is struggling with mid- late alzheimers now. It is so hard to watch her slip away. I am so glad that I can remember her just how she was- but I am sad that my kids won't. Her love for the Lord is so evident. She might not be able to remember where she is but turn on an old church hymn or any Gaither music and she will start singing and humming right along. It's truly beautiful.

My Grandpa is one of the most amazing men I have every met. His love, loyalty, and dedication to his family is seen everyday. He is right now exhausting himself by watching over his 97 yo mother and his wife. He seldom asks for help and he NEVER complains. With all of this going on- he always finds time to lend an ear or hand to anyone else he knows.

These two people are servants for the Lord and I am so blessed to know them and learn from them. They are both definently angels in disguise.

For more fun in pictures go to We Are That Family.

WFMW- For the Love of Binders

I love binders! I love to be organized. I would not be able to operate in my daily life if I don't have my binders. So today I am going to share my 3 main binders.


This is my coupon binder. All of my coupons are in this binder. When I go through the ads on Sunday and when I grocery shop- I take this binder. It is really a valuable resource in saving money for my family.




This is what you see when you open my Financial Folder. This helps me keep accurate records of my financial needs. I always know where to find my budgets, billing statements, etc.




Those were just a few of the categories I have in my Financial Binder.

Now this is my F.A.V.R.I.T.E binder. My life is at the mercy of this binder. It has everything I could possibly need to make it through a day. Below are the categories of my Brain Binder. For more help on making a brain binder click here.






To find more things that work for others go to We Are That Family.

Gratituesday: Staying At Home

Today I am thanking God that I am still able to stay at home and raise my children. With the state of the economy and just how cultures views it- it truly is a rare novelty.

I am reminded of this as I am trying to learn how to coupon and be as frugal as possible so that I can continue to be at home. I want to be the best helpmate possible for my husband. So today I am grateful to be a stay at home mom and I thank Jesus every moment of every day (even the rough ones! :)) that I can watch my children grow and learn.

Menu Plan Monday

I really haven't had time to sit and think about what this week is going to bring so I am throwing together a menu, knowing it could change. One thing that is certain, every day when Andy get home I have to go over to my great-grandmother's for a couple hours and clean her place up. So here it goes!

Monday-- going to the in-laws for leftovers from the church birthday party (Hey- I am not above leftovers when I don't have to cook!)

Tuesday-- Bourbon Chicken with Rice and fruit

Wednesday-- Sirloin and gravy over potatoes with carrots

Thursday-- Lemonade chicken with sweet potatoes and green beans.

Friday-- Pasta with sauce with a salad

Saturday-- Homemade Pizza

Sunday-- Pork chops with rice, carrots, and green beans.

Happy Menu Planning! For more menus go here.

It's Just About That Time...

I am getting excited because it is about time to start gardening and canning and freezing- Just Preserving. I love growing, taking care, and preserving food for my family. It saves us a ton of money and I love knowing what my family is putting into their precious mouths. It is a lot of work but there is no better feeling than when you are sitting in your house, looking out windows at the snow, and eating corn that you worked so hard for in the summer. It is the most rewarding feeling. So my frugal tip for this week is start a garden, it doesn't matter how big or small, and preserve some food to keep your family healthy and your grocery bill down. For more frugal tips go to Biblical Womanhood.

Sincerely 'Fro Me to You- The Baby

When our baby was born he was jaundice and had some other health problems. Up until three months ago, he was only 10 lbs. We went through so many tests. Everyone was praying for our little baby and a praise will be shouted! because he is now 23 lbs. The doctors are baffled at how he has gained so much weight but I don't need answers- I believe in miracles and My Lord.

For more great photos go to We Are THAT Family.

Gratituesday- My Rest Haven

Today I am gratiful for my Haven. Things have been crazy in my life right now, I feel really discouraged and tired- but God has blessed me with a great haven.

We have been diligent in making our home a haven and it has really paid off- attitudes are better, it is re-energizing and a great place to come to when the world has you down.

In this economic times, I know we might not be the most wealthy people but God has been faithful and we have a beautiful home.

Today I am praising God for blessings in my home such as my husband and children. Without them, my home wouldn't be a haven.

Hope your day is full of sweet blessings! For more gratituesday go to Heavenly Homakers.

How Good it Feels...

to be tired at the end of a crazy, hectic day but have this to look at.



Following with what I said in this post- I am cooking everything I can from scratch. So today I stocked us up for a few days. I made muffins, 2 loaves of bread, and 3 dozen whole wheat tortillas. I am exhausted but it has been an extremely productive and fulfilling day!

Things are NUTS!

Friends- I need prayer.

I am going through a time lately that is not very fun.

I have been having a really hard time with the death of a good friend, who helped raise me. Her name was Colleen. She died in August of cancer.

I was having a bad week and Friday- I actually picked up the phone and called her. That was one heart-breaking moment.

Another fellow sister-in-christ, Sylvia, got diagnosed with stage 2-3 Ovarian cancer. When I went to see her in the hospital on Friday it was hard. She wanted to talk about Colleen a lot and she just kept saying, "Jodi- other people get cancer not me." My heart broke for her, her husband, and her two teenagers.

My great-grandmother is not doing too well- time with her is limited. That is hard- especially when I don't feel she is getting the proper medical care.

To add to everything- there are problems are on the home front.

So dear friends please take a minute to pray for our family. If you have facebook please go here to join our prayer group.

Mystery Spice Monday

Okay now you all figured out in this post that I am not at all a "spicey" :) type person. BUT I decided to give it a go.. LOL.. It's not very adventurous. Ready for some crazy spice?! :)

So here we go!

Drum Roll Please?!?!

I used SEASONED SALT from Tastefully Simple.

Here is what I did...

I took 2 lb. of chicken breast. I buy chicken in huge family bulk packs to save money so the are divided up.

I took chicken gravy, chicken boullion, and Tastefully Simple Seasoning Salt.

I put the chicken in the crockpot, sprinkled seasoning salt on the chicken, 2 boullion cubes, 1 cup of water, and the chicken gravy.

I then put the crockpot on high for 4-6 hours.

After that I added to tbsp. of flour.

So here is my question... Is seasoned salt really a spice? :)

This was a really good recipe. All the boys-including the baby- LOVED this and guess what. I made it up! So give it a try. For more spice ideas go here.

Going from Scratch and Baking... Menu Plan

For lent and for money reasons the Davis' house is going to be eating at home every meal of every day for a very long time. Part of the reason is we have two boys that eat a TON and I know will begin eating even more as they will be doing a great amount of growing in the next few years.

So I am taking the plunge into from scratch foods. I am not to the point were I am going to start making my own pastas and such but I hope to soon be there.

I am also going to start baking a lot more and start freezing some baked goods. Last night I used up a bag of sweet potatoes by baking them into these sweet potato muffins. It felt really good to use something up as it was about to go bad, have a good breakfast for my family- the boys LOVED them and they were healthy, AND we had some left over to get us through the week and freeze.

So here is my menu for the week and a quick little run down and way it is set up that way.

Monday
Crockpot Oatmeal (There will be a crowd of kids here eating breakfast and I needed something quick because we will taking a trip to the Booneshoft Museum.)

PB&J Sandwiches and fruit (Quick lunch to have before I put all those beautiful children down for a glorious afternoon of rest time after a fun day.)

Crockpot Chicken Nuggets, Crockpot Macaroni and Cheese, Peas and Apple slices (Once again I will have a huge herd to feed so we are having a kid friendly, from scratch, easy to put in crockpot meal with some healthy fruits and veggies!)

Tuesday
Biscuits (from scratch!)

Cheese Sandwiches

Green Beans and Ham with Mashed Potatoes

Wednesday
Sweet Potato Muffins

Soup

Beefy Enchilada Bake with Papaya

Thursday
Applesauce Bread

Leftovers

Bourbon Chicken over White Rice

Friday
Pancakes

Hotdogs and Pretzels

Simply Oven Baked Pork Chops and Rice with Pineapple slices

Saturday
Gravy and Biscuits

Sandwiches and Soup

Beefy One Pot Dinner

Sunday
Applesauce Bread or Sweet Potato Muffins

Sirloin Roast with Gravy over Potatoes

Leftovers

Happy Menu Planning! For more menu plans you can go here.

Our Valentine's Day at the Davis House

This was the beautiful day that I woke up to. This is a picture looking out my front door. So-- Happy Valentine's Day!




These are the Valentines that I got up early to put up on the walls so that when everyone came down they would be able to read what I loved about them. I loved the looks on the boys faces- especially Andy's.







Andy's Special Valentine.

Dylan's Special Valentine.

Lincoln's Special Valentine.

Here I am making our Valentine's Day Breakfast.



The heart pancakes we had for breakfast.

Lincoln is enjoying his Heart pancakes for Valentine's breakfast.

Dylan is REALLY glad to be eating his Valentine's sucker for breakfast!

We went to take Valentine's Day pictures. The boys are getting so big so we take every chance possible to take pictures. My dad is a photographer so that is really nice.

Happy Valentine's Day from the Davis' family.

An honest picture of the family.

I love my boys. They were my Valentine's! :)

Some Random Thoughs...

I do not have a lot of exciting or insightful things to write about today so you're just going to get some random thoughts.

• I know it was going to happen yesterday with the kids acting like they were. We are living a booger nosed society today. Baby has a fever and 3yo has a BAD attitude.
• I am really trying to work hard on Weight Watchers.
• We are working on becoming DEBT FREE! It sometimes feels hopeless and sometimes I feel hopeful. We can conquer!
• I was beginning to get into good habits of exercising and reading my Bible everyday but over the past couple days I have not. MUST START tomorrow.
• I have a meeting at church tonight to help with something that I didn't even know happened at our church. Hmm...
• My sitemeter must be wrong because it says that a lot of people are reading my blog but that must be wrong for two reasons... 1) I am not that interesting that people that don't know me would want to read about my daily musings and 2) NO ONE IS LEAVING COMMENTS! People how do I know you're out there if there is only silence from your end? :)
• My house is a lot dirtier than I would like.
• There are a lot of people that disagree with my parenting style. Not that that is bad. There is NO such thing as perfect parenting. BUT I just so happen to think mine is right. :) I just believe that the model parent is God and God made it so we know there are consequences such as hell for not following is guidelines and asking Jesus to forgive us. So... shouldn't if I am following God as the model parent-let my children know there are consequences for their actions? (Not necessarily Hell, but you know.. Sitting in the bath tub with no toys and water? Wow that is a whole 'nother post for a whole 'nother day. :))
• My husband is going running tonight before he comes home.
• My goals was to be able to run a 5K in a friend's brother's memorial but it doesn't look like that is going to happen in May. I am still over weight and have NO idea how to get back into it since I have had two babies, asthma has returned, and I am a tad bit over weight (okay that is an understatement...). Any ideas? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
• I am a really boring person.
• The boys won't take naps.
• I need to get off of here and go get some house chores down.

Okay that is all for now from the Land of Green Boogers and Bad Attitudes!

No Sleep, Girl Talk, Pee, Poo-splosion, and Melt Downs

Last night I sat down and made a list of all the things I wanted to accomplish today.

That has not been how the day has turned out. I started out strong cleaning out the kitchen pantry (hmm.. I was supposed to do that Saturday.). I organized it and kept a record of everything in there because for some reason I have like um... 25 cream of chicken soups!

Then my friend Sarah came over (her kids spent the night while she worked) and said that she was not very tired. So we decided to ditch all plans to be responsible and go have a girls day. Now let me tell you - we're on a tight budget in these time and in these parts -but we made the best of it. We went to her house and had a marvelous lunch. We then decided to make a big crock of bean soup, look through cookbooks, play on facebook, and just have some good ol' girl talk. It was a really great afternoon. All the kids actually fell asleep!!

I then loaded everyone back in the car and headed home determined that I was going to hit my t0-do list before Andy got home (and I get to leave in sweet bliss of quietness!) but as we pulled in I smelled too totally different smells. One being the horrible smell of pee that my 3 yo was wearing and two was the poo smell the baby was wearing (I would not recommend those perfumes to any young man who is trying to catch a woman!). I came in the house cleaned my 3 yo up and then headed out to clean the van (keep in mind Sarah lives TWO blocks away!!). I then decided to tackle the poo diaper and as soon as I tried to pull off the baby's pants and onesie discovered that the poo paste was holding them glued on. In the mean time I ask the 3 yo to go upstairs and get in bed. Mama needed a minute! I told him he could play or read. Here comes melt down number one. I then proceed with the poo-slosion. It is every where- all over the carpet, baby and at this point me- and the 3 yo is standing there screaming hysterically. Now before y'all start to judge, this is not normal at my house. My son is normally very well behaved.

So now as I sit here listening to melt down number 2 from the 3 yo and melt down number 3 from the baby (who drastically needs a nap), I just had to laugh when my husband called and asked how things were going and IF I was heading to workout. BET YOUR BOOTY I AM!

But as I write this I can't help but think about how blessed I am. I have sons who are healthy enough to pee and poop and also have voices and screams. There are so many people longing just for children that I can't help but stop and thank the Lord for even the rough afternoons!

ETA: I am forfeiting and not looking at my to-do list for the rest of the day. This is one of those days that I think God is using the interruptions.

Menu Plan Monday

I am going to have a crazy week with starting to organize my house and having five kids running around. I am hoping to eat in and not take the easy way out. So here it goes!

Monday

I will be headed to the gym right when Andy gets home so I am planning something that he can start without me. Therefore, we will be having Stir Fry with left-over chicken over white rice.

Tuesday

Out of my new cookbook Busy Woman's Quick & Easy Recipes- Make 'Em Happy Fix It Fast! we will be having Finger Lickin' BBQ Chicken with corn and peas

Wednesday

This is church night so we will be eating in a hurry and so I am having a simple recipe that my friend Sarah gave me called Dave Pott's Goulosh. It has green beans, ground beef, and tomato paste in the first layer, mashed potatoes on the next (from scratch y'all!), and then topped off with American cheese slices.

Thursday

Chicken Quesadillas (from the above new cookbook from Tuesday night) with tortilla chips and salsa

Friday

Creamy Potato Soup from a recipe in my other new cookbook called Busy Woman's Slow Cooker Recipes with sandwiches

Saturday- Valentine's Day!

See my earlier post about having a special day as a family. We are going to have a family day and do some fun things.

* Breakfast- we are going to have heart-shaped biscuits with strawberry jelly

* Lunch- boys are going to get to make their own heart shaped pizzas

* Dinner- We are not going to do something red because I want to make a special dinner for my husband so I think I am going to make the kids hot dogs with RED ketchup and then I am going to make a special dinner of Lemonade Chicken with Potato skins and steamed broccoli.

Sunday

We have our big meal at lunch (I will put it in the crockpot so it is ready when we get home and we aren't tempted to go out to eat.. win-win ;)) but here are a few other ideas.

* Breakfast- Crockpot Oatmeal

* Lunch- Chicken cooked in chicken gravy over dressing

* Dinner- Church Birthday Party/ Boys are going to be having leftovers at home.

For more menu planning head on over to http://orgjunkie.com/.