what I have been up to...

love these guys...

I haven't blogged in a while and won't be, but to tide you over here are some great pictures of the boys! Have a good week.

photo book motivation

due to our computer on the fritz and many many pictures not off of here has given me great motivation to start at Jan 2008 and finish photo books for the boys by the end of the week. Do you think it can happen? I hope so...that is why I have my blog in the first place:) They might not be the cutest things on the block, but the boys will have something in hard cover that has their picture in it:)

Time clock starts...now!

Meal Planning Monday

so Casey is gone again this week and he maybe isn't the biggest fan of freezer cooking, because he likes my cooking better. I can't complain, but boy it is fun when he is gone. EASY cooking for me:)

Monday:
L: Lean Cuisine - yes this the last of it...
D: Mom's Style Burger Helper - Freezer cooking with home grown corn (last year's supply)

Tuesday:
L: Lunch with friends
D: Honey Lemon Chicken on the grill with Cheesy Zucchini Casserole I am attempting to use my zucchini in ways that my boys don't know what it is. We will see if this works?

Wednesday:
L: Tony's Pizza and salad
D: Popcorn chicken and Mozzerella Sticks and salad (so not good for you, but really good to eat:))

Thursday:
L: Crafting day and Dr's Appt = eating out
D: Pool Party in Omaha - Hamburgers and Hot Dogs

Friday:
L: Green Bean Casserole
D: Leftovers

Saturday:
L: Neighbor's bday party
D: Leftovers or popcorn chicken again:)

Sunday:
Casey comes home some time...so we will let him decide.

Have a great week!

Thank you God!

As I am cleaning out our big desk...hoping to downsize this week, I found this frame with a great saying in it. It got wet so it is no longer useful to put up, but I kept it because of the saying.

Thank you, God, for Little Things

Thank you, God, for little things that often come our way -
The things we take for granted when we pray -
The unexpected courtesy, the thoughtful kindly deed, a hand reached out to help us in the time of sudden need.

Oh, make us more aware, dear God, of little daily graces
that come to use with sweet surprise from never-dreamed of places.

Helen Steiner Rice

Freezer Cooking Sign up Sheet

Lincoln Freezer Cooking Group Sign up

Please fill out the information below and email it back to me. I will compile the answers and respond with results. It is essential that your voice be heard as we are developing the times, places and preferences of this group. I will be working hand in hand with Carla (Beatrice Freezer Cooking Group) in order to continue the great success she has every month for the past 5 years.

Please respond by Friday, July 16th. Please note: Responding to this email does not sign you up for anything. It is just merely giving me information about serious interest, so that I may have several opinions on how to develop this group further. Thank you for your time! Please pass on to others and have them email it to me – Rhiannon at crsvitak@windstream.net Questions – email me or call me 402-416-8345

Name: ________________________________________________________

Address: ________________________________________________________

Email: ___________________________

Phone: ___________________________

What size of meal do you need? (depending on the size of your family)
- 2 - 8 x 8 portions
- 1- 9 x 13

Where would you prefer to have our exchange?
- Zion’s Coffee House (*will have to check for availability)
- Sprague Community Center
- Other: _______________________

When would you prefer to have our exchange? (note these would occur on the 1st chosen day of the month
- Monday night 7:00 pm
- Tuesday night 7:00 pm
- Wednesday night 7:00 pm
- Thursday night 7:00 pm
- Saturday morning 10:00 am
- Other: ___________________

Any other thoughts or suggestions?
________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

Freezer Cooking 101

Freezer Cooking Tips and Information
- The benefits of freezer cooking are very significant in the areas of lowering stress, finances and healthy eating.
o However, don’t underestimate the work! Cooking one recipe multiple times is no minor chore. But compared to cooking supper every night for a month, there is no comparison!

- As many meals as possible should be frozen in freezer bags as opposed to foil pans to save money and space.

- Please use Zip-loc brand freezer bags.
o We have found them to be noticeably better. You can buy these by the case at Sam's for significant savings. I figure out how much the unit price is for one bag, write it on the case, and then charge the group for each bag I use. This gives me the freedom to use them for personal use throughout the month. The last time I bought a case, it came to seven cents a bag.
o Include the price of your bags or pans in your final costs.

- It is absolutely essential that certain information is included with each meal:
o the name of the meal
o the name of the recipient
o your name
o cooking instructions that are found on your recipe sheet
o what the cook should have on hand in order to serve the meal

- Do not bring any meals to the exchange that are not properly labeled. If you are bringing separate cans of beef broth, pizza sauce, etc. for the recipients to have on hand for your meal, please have each item labeled with the recipient's name and what meal it goes with. This brings lots of clarity to what the cook is receiving from you.

- Do not use staples to attach these instructions. Tape them onto your bag before you freeze the bag, using hot/cold duck tape or just slip the instructions in between your two bags when you double bag.

- Bargain hunt by way of Sam’s Club and Grocery Store sale papers! Buying bulk sauces, meats, etc. from Sam’s is a huge savings. If you don’t not have a membership, contact Rhiannon as she shops there each month and will gladly shop for you. (update: please price check between Sam's and Supermarket)


- Write out a shopping list! Do not try to do the math in the store. Double check your list, making sure you have multiplied everything by the number of people we have participating. It is very frustrating to be short of something on cooking day.

- Have personal groceries rung up separately.

- Double bag everything in Ziploc brand bags only.

- We always have room for more cooks. The more cooks, the more meals! This is never a closed group.

- Exchange day is TBA. Kids are always welcome.

- Bring coolers to haul your food home.

- Each person will receive each meal in 2 8x8’s/2 Ziploc bags or 1 9x13/1 Ziploc bag depending on personal family preference. The quantity of the food received is the same, it is just divided into two bags (2-8x8) or all in one (1-9x13).

- When making a meal with chicken breasts, please use Tyson boneless skinless chicken breasts, Member's Mark Chicken breasts or IGA chicken breasts. The group prefers the quality. Replace “fryer parts” with six breasts per meal. Sam’s breasts are on average 85 cents while Wal-Mart is $1.50/breast! NEVER buy Wal-Mart brand chicken breasts. The average Sam’s Member's Mark bag contains 16 breasts- helpful information!

- Ground beef at Sam’s is also considerably cheaper in a 10 lb. tube compared to Wal-mart. Unless otherwise specified, please use 90% lean ground beef only. Also, watch the local grocery store for slashed prices for meat.

- Please email me your totals TBA so I can email back to everyone the amounts that they need to pay in or take out. At the end, everyone spends the exact same amount. I figure the average spent by all the cooks. If you were above the average, you will get money back at the exchange. If you spent less, you will pay in.

- Please be on time to the exchange. The exchange process takes about 20 minutes, therefore being on time gives us even more time with our families.


- Once you have committed to a month's exchange you MUST carry through and bring your assigned meals to the exchange. You cannot back out during the month. Others might have already prepared meals for you. PLAN AHEAD!!! Leaving it for the last week can be very stressful and dangerous!

- One freezer cooking manual pointed out that starting your freezer cooking at 8:00 in the morning looks and feels a lot different than starting at 8:00 p.m. Look at your month and schedule this day of cooking in ahead of time.

- Hunt for great deals, give yourself plenty of time to get your cooking done and look forward to a freezer full of prepared meals!

- Email me any time with any questions you may have.

Meal Planning Monday

Monday
L: Chimichangas (freezer meal) revised...I am putting 6 in a pan and transforming them into enchiladas.
D: Honey Lemon Chicken (freezer meal) and a vegetable that is on sale when I go shopping today

Tuesday
L: Frozen pizza (we are going to story time at the Walt Library then I am going to work out...so I need a quick lunch for the boys to take a nap shortly after we get back home)
D: Creamy Swiss Steak and Mashed Potatoes (From Busy Mom's Crock Pot Recipe book)

Wednesday
L: Left overs
D: Hamburgers and French fries

Thursday
L: Sandwiches and chips
D: Music and Mozzerella at the Lincoln Children's Museum...anyone is welcome to join us!

Friday
L: Hot dogs and homemade mac and cheese (Patton will be in HEAVEN)
D: America's Pot Roast (from same Busy Mom's Crock pot cookbook)

Saturday
L: Leftovers
D: Taking boys to Aurora...Momma is headed to CHICAGO for a week with the Pampered Chef Convention!!! Thanks to all my boys' grandparents:) They love their grandparents!

Sunday - Next week
Any ideas for things I can leave for Casey to eat? They have to be ready to eat in a matter of minutes or he will go out to eat:)

Have a great week!

7 years

Since I don't have a scanner...a picture of a picture will have to do.

Happy 7th Anniversary to my husband, Casey! 7 years, 2.5 kids, 3.5 houses (.5 was the one we remodeled in Hebron), and many other memories to add up to a great marriage. Love you Babe!

Penny stove...

Casey finds all kinds of crazy things all over the internet. He made this "stove" out of two pop cans, copper wire, rubbing alcohol, and a penny. CRAZY! The heat was very HOT coming out of this. As you can tell we took every safety precaution...and threw it out the window. Note: stove was on a towel on our wood table. NICE

The boys did a little cooking of their own. I finally put batteries in the BBQ Bubble Grill. The only problem was that we didn't have any bubbles...so I googled recipes and made them:) I don't think I will buy any any more:)

4th of July Parade in Hebron

Can we HIT the kids mom? (see previous post for story) Off we go!

Waiting for the parade to start...Can we go yet Grandpa?

Our Awesome Grandpa that let us ride in the parade and THROW candy! Fun times while we waiting for the parade to start...too bad it took so long. We probably would have had enough candy for the entire route had we not waited for an 1 hour for it to start.

Kenner answering a question, "What did you like best?" (About last year's pagent). He said, "Talking." Crowning the new Mr. Firecracker

Having a picnic with the new girls in town. They were adorable and nice to be around girls. Wow there is a HUGE difference!

Fourth Fun Quotes

The boys were playing outside and our neighbors were having a BIG party (Which they have every year…clean fun). Kenner said, “Look mom he is having a great Birthday party.”

Then we found a baby cat outside that was very scared and was under a car. I told Kenner that the cat was scared of the fire works and Kenner said very kindly, “Well let’s go tell our neighbors to turn off their fireworks.”

While coaching the boys in the 4th of July Parade, I said, "You need to throw the candy really hard so that all the kids get the candy." Kenner inquired, "Can we just hit the kids?" Ummm well that is one way to think of it!

Happy Fourth of July!

Homemade Bubbles

Bubble Emergency on a rainy 4th of July calls for a google of homemade Bubble recipes. This is one that I used and it was successful! Phew!

Ann Hallock's Recipefrom the Family.com web site Ann says: "This recipe is a winner. It's easy to mix up--and inexpensive to boot. Stir together 6 parts water, 2 parts Joy dishwashing liquid (this brand works the best), and 3/4 part corn syrup. Store in a covered container. Have your kids try experimenting with a variety of homemade bubble wands: pipe cleaners bent into interesting shapes, cookie cutters, yogurt lids with the centers cut out, and so on. For a giant bubblemaker, cut off the top and bottom of a large metal can with a can opener and hammer the inside edges until they are smooth (a parent's job). Dip either end in the solution and wave through the air."

Swimming at the Y!

It is nice to go to the closest pool to our house anytime from 1:00 to 8:00 at night! They are getting braver and braver!

Happy 5th Birthday Kenner!

Happy Birthday to my first baby, Kenner MacArthur Svitak aka General #1. Here is Kenner as he grew (another reason why I am so thankful to have this blog...all my pictures are in one place.) Unfortunately, I didn't start this until after he was a year old...so no baby pictures. Love you Kenner!
1st year - He LOVED ice cream!

2nd Birthday - This is what he did when he got excited. 3 years old - Loves America like his Daddy and Mommy 4 year old - Mr. Cool and poses like his dad!Happy Happy Birthday not so little boy any more. You are becoming to be such a responsible and dependable little guy. I am excited to see how much of a helper you will be when your new brother and/or sister arrives. You wow me everyday with your creativity, love, and energy.

Love you very much Kenner! Love Mom

Meal plan for this week

Meal plan for this week

Monday:
L: Leftover Subway Sandwiches
D: Pepper Steak Crock Pot (Betty Crocker Crockery Cooking)

Tuesday:
L: Mom's Style Hamburger Helper (freezer cooking recipe)
D: Lasagna (Grandma Georgene's Church Cookbook recipe)

Wednesday:
L: Chimichangas (freezer cooking recipe)
D: Going to Omaha to see our AZ cousins

Thursday:
L: Healthy Choice Meals (we didn't end of up eating these last week)
D: BBQ Meatballs and Peas (freezer cooking meal

Friday:
L: Leftovers
D: Hamburger and french fries

Saturday:
L: General Chows (not how you spell it...but loss for spelling at the moment) Chicken and Rice
*Got suckered in at the Sam's sampling place...this is Daddy's favorite!
D: 4th of July party at Casey's friend. I have to make a side dish...any suggestions?

Sunday:
L: Out to eat after church and/or create something at home
D: Steaks and/or Kabobs

Freezer Cooking?

I have a friend in Beatrice that organizes a freezer cooking group.

How it works:
At the end of each month she sends out an email to get people to sign up (see email below).
Then, by the first Friday of the month, she gives your recipe, the amount of servings needed, and a list of everyone who is participating (so that you can label each meal with each person's name on it).
- She works very hard each month to make sure there is an even amount of beef, chicken, or just a variety of different casseroles, grillables, etc.
You make the recipe she gives you and make it the number of times you need.
Another great aspect is she tells you if you need to make 2 8x8 portions or
1 9 x 13 for the various family sizes in the group.
Each month I have done this the number varies from 7 to 13. This means that each month I have done it, I have 14 to 26 meals for my family to each, because each person usually makes each recipe into two portions. These also double as great mercy meals for others without taking a lot of extra time.
You have to keep your receipts, as you send her the totals before the "exchange" she puts them in to her handy dandy excel program. Then she tells you if you have to "pay in" or "take out" of the pot. You bring the amount in change to the exchange. This allows everyone to spend the exact same each month. The meals also average $4.00 - $6.00 a meal...beat that
McDonald's:)
The only kicker to this exchange is that it happens on the first Friday of the month at 10:00 am in Beatrice. It is a very slick and quick process.
But for me and my work schedule, it is sometimes hard to get down there.
She is flexible if you aren't able to make it every month, but it is best to bring your food and take your food.

I was thinking that if there was a group of people that wanted to do this we could either:

A) take turns going down on the First Friday of the month(as she does a lot of work putting the correct meals together and she has a plethora of freezer recipes to choose from as she has done this for more than 5 years now)

B) If enough interest, I could look into taking Freezer Cooking Organization
101 from Carla and organize one in Lincoln.
I will be signing up this month. If you have any questions or interest in this, please let me know.

EMAIL FROM CARLA (GREAT GREAT GREAT LADY!)

Here is a great way to start the school year sanely! A freezer full of meals waiting to be served to bless your family.
This will be our last month where the schedule is "half grillable"
meals. If you are not a griller, fear not. Throw it on your broiler pan or into the crockpot for the same quick and easy convenience. I love using the kabob meat in stir-fry. I just cut it up smaller and it is so yummo!
I predict this to be a big month as I have already had ladies sign up, not wanting to miss out. So if you really one to get stocked up for a busy fall, this may be your month to jump in on the fun.
The exchange will be on Friday morning, August 6 at 10:00 a.m. at 606 Clearwater Circle in Beatrice. This is never ever a "closed" group.
Invite anyone to join.
If you are part of the exchange that will take place THIS Friday morning, July 2, would you please send me your totals spent so that I can email you the exact amount of money you need to bring or take from the pot? Thank you.
Have a great week and will see 8 of you this Friday morning!
car

Kenner's 5th ART themed Birthday Party

We all had a lot of fun at Kenner's 5th Birthday party. It is unbelievable that he is 5 already (or tomorrow). He had an ART themed birthday party. It is my goal to go "all out" for every 5th birthday. Aunt Annie helped me make jello jigglers as another snack. It was fun to put them in the trifle bowl and they were yummy!

*Did you know that you need 4 boxes of Jello with 2 1/2 cups of boiling water and 3 hours to make the jigglers. I was suprised at 4 boxes...but they were good:) The birthday cake - thanks to Family fun for the idea. I did forget the twizzler and fruit leather paint brush...oh well.

I had 8 different art stations:

Color your own paper bag with markers and misc stickers to decorate with- so they had something to take their projects home in.

Color a Toy Story 3 picture with crayons

Stamping with our ONE stamp (that caused great chaos in our house...keep reading the blog for story)

Scratch and color - use a wooden stick to scrap the black off for a color below

Foam name plate - used a variety of foam letters and shapes

Finger paint (which quickly became closed...because it was TOO messy)

Shaving cream fun - just wrote in the shaving cream with their fingers

Play Dough - I made it with a recipe from googling Playdough made out of koolaid. EASY!

Self Portrait/Bracelet making- I had paper plates with pipe cleaners, beads, glue, and many things to make a self portrait. Many kids turned it into a bracelet making station...so that was fun to see them make their own station!

From the foam name plate section:

Bracelet making

Scratch and color with uncle KK

Instead of serving this cake, I made cupcakes and had different colors of frosting as well as all the sprinkles in my house for the guests to make their own cupcake. We served ice cream and jigglers along with the cupcakes. Everyone was suppose to stay for Subway (sandwich artists...), but many left. So we were left with many sandwiches to eat this week.

The kids enjoying their decorating and cupcakes.

Kenner and his cake

Kenner's favorite part. His face when he opened each one was priceless...again a need for a flip camera.

Last but not least was the pinata. Kenner picked out his own Transformer, which was about as big as Patton. Daddy and mommy had fun putting the candy in it.

CANDY!

Fun was had by all! Thank you to all that were able to come and for those of you that weren't able to...we missed you. Put November 2011 down on your calendar for Patton's #5 Bday!

Kreative Kenner

Both Kenner and Patton have been extremely creative this past week. Creative can be GREAT in their eyes and FRIGHTENING in mine. Casey was gone to St. Louis last week for the Guard, so it was VBS in the morning, then major need for a nap time (for mommy) in the afternoon. The boys did need naps, but that didn't mean they actually took them.

I had the entire dining room full of art gear for his party and for VBS. It was off limits, but some how the boys didn't think that it applied to them.

Here is Kenner being creative with the outer space foam shapes. This was considered funny in my eyes:) Just snap shot of a day in the life of scheming what the day would bring them. I really really wish for a flip camera, so that I can actually document their conversations on video...maybe for my birthday:)

I haven't gotten the guts to take a pictures of the negative creativity...as it brings great anger (seriously) out when I think about it...so I will just document the results. This is Kenner "getting a mark" for doing a chore. With his creative juices, he decided to slash (yes I said slash, like with a very sharp Pampered Chef knife) all three of my slip covers. It looks like Freddy Kruger made an appearance in my front room. So this resulted in Kenner having to do 300 chores before he gets to watch cartoons again. Was it coincidence that we read the book, Berstein Bears and Too Much TV the night before this happened? I think not. It has been fun without the TV on. I think it is too funny that we went to the movie Toy Story 3 which is about toys getting loved on again as this all happened. Our toys in our own Toy Story are having a blast getting loved on again.

Later last week, I took a nap alongside Kenner and Patton or so I thought. They got up from their nap and went down to the forbidden art supply. Kenner got the tempera paints and four bowls. Proceeded to pour each color into a different bowl (which I am not sure who he knew to do this), got the big paint brush and watched his brother do his art. Patton painted one of my paychecks, our wooden floor, my fridge and the wall. The wall has yet to be covered by 4 coats of paint. To make the story even better the first coat of paint I used wasn't the right color...so now we have a really creative kitchen wall. Then they got out the stamp pads and the one stamp. Patton must have walked in it, because his feet were black long with my carpet and everywhere he walked. Needless to say, I called my mom that day and said, "You are lucky to have two grandchildren who are still live." They were immediately sent to their room...and believe it or not they took a long nap...nice!

I got over it (or somewhat got over it) and had an all out water fight with the boys another day. I am thankful for glass doors...or I would have been drenched! It was fun!

Vacation Bible School - Puppet Parable Style

Last week was Vaction Bible School at Zion Church in Lincoln. It was Patton first time at VBS (and he was a BIG boy - wore underwear - all week!)!!!! I was able to organize and do the craft section all week. I only had 20 minutes with each group. It was a lot of fun!

Here are the puppets showing - The Pearl of Great Price. The boys loved going to the "puppet show" everyday. The first day was The Good Samaritan. The Good Samaritan craft varied for the big kids and the younger kids. Everyone except the oldest group colored a picture (of their choice) and then put bandaids on it. The oldest group painted ice cream buckets with tempera paint for our senior saints (or the older population) in our church. I will be putting tissue paper, a flower and some candy in and delivering them.

The Sower and the Seed (or soil, like I called it) craft was inspired by my Kindergarten friends from school. I used a "sight word" book idea for each day.

Title page:

Packed soil - I cut brown construction paper so all they had to do was glue it down and stamp an eagle and place a "seed" or bling found in the craft section at Walmart.

For the stony ground, each child colored over a door mat to make the stony ground, colored the sun and put on the seed. I choose the seed and other designs so that it too close to no time to dry.

For the thorny ground - I put a strip of tape on the table (sticky side up) and had them place the toothpicks on it. Then they stuck it to the paper and put the seed on.

For the good soil - I had them draw their own creation of good soil and a pretty plant. It was a fun activity for all the ages. The time FLEW this day!

For the Lost Sheep Parable, I found a printable sheep that folded and the younger two groups glued (with glue sticks) cotton balls down and colored the sheep's face and legs.

For the Lost Sheep Parable for the big kids, I found the yarn sheep pattern from Family Fun. They had a lot of fun making it.

We also did the parable of the Pearl of Great Worth, which was a paper plate folded in half with shredded paper glued down with a white pom pom for the pearl. The last parable was probably the most fun after it dried...House on a Rock. I used shaving cream, black tempera paint and glue to have the kids make the rock and they used foam sheets to create a foam house. The rocks dried in 3D

Here is Patton and the dreaded tag that flew up in his eye and scratched it. He did so well.