Tuesday 2/23

Happy Tuesday! Well the rain has returned to Western Washington. **sigh** the sun was nice while it lasted so I will not complain!

I thought I would share a cute pictures with you. Our kitten Fluffy discovered balloons last night for the first time.



I tried a new to us recipe last night that I also wanted to share.

CHILI MAC
1 c uncooked elbow macaroni
1 lb ground beef
1 small green pepper chopped
1 small onion chopped
2 cans chili with beans
1 can whole kernel corn drained
1 c shredded cheddar cheese

Cook macaroni according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook the beef, green pepper and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in chili and corn. Drain macaroni, add to skillet and heat thru. Sprinkle with cheese.

ORGANIZATION TIP OF THE DAY
I have people ask me all of the time how I remember everything with 4 kids. I struggled for a long time with keep up with all of the appointments, games, practices, forms etc. I have a good system down that works very well for our family.

Each day when the kids get home from school they give me any forms, permission slips, activity calendars etc. I sit down later that evening when they are in bed and add those events to my Google calendar online. My Google calendar is Synched with my Blackberry so I have access to my calendar wherever I am. I also have a large calendar on the kitchen wall that I hand write activities so that they are always visual for the kids and myself.

I know not everyone has a Blackberry but most phones have a calendar feature. This is so helpful for me when at a medical appointment and they need to schedule another in the future, I can look to see when we are available. Also, I often find myself out and about when the kids say can I go do "insert whatever activity here" next Saturday? I am able to look at the calendar and fit that in without having to be physically at home. Saves alot of time, headache, double booking and forgotten appointments!

January 25, 2010

Monday. Ah joyous Monday. I find myself each week stressed and in a bad mood suffering from "the Monday's". I decided to approach today with a different attitude. I started off the day telling myself, its going to be a good day. I will not fret over the kids getting out the door on time, they always do but I still worry about it. I will not let the mountain of work from my paying job to should be. The work will wait for me its certainly not going anywhere.

As I do each morning, I wrote out my daily to do list. I work from 3 lists. Yes I am a list addict. I probably need a 12 step program for it but hey it works for me. I have a master to do list, things I slowly chip away at over time. Each morning I write out a to do list for that day for home and one for work. The one from home will contain one or two items from that master list.

Today's list looked like this:
run damp jeans/towels from rack thru drier for 20 min.
put today's load thru the washing machine
kids up and off to school
feed cats
cleaned out personal email
work 8 hours
hang laundry to dry
empty dw
bake french bread rolls for dinner
bake banana bread for after school snack
water plants
vacuum
clean bathroom
sweep/mop
clean out microwave
baskets under bathroom sink
go thru pantry downstairs take mental note of what we have
garbage out to can
general tidy
iron clothes for working in the office tomorrow

Now, did I complete that entire list? NO. Am I worried about it NO. Some days I get thru my list and other days I do not.

One of the BEST parts about Mondays however, are my small group! I joined a small group thru church last January and it is a wonderful group of ladies! We have recently had a couple more join us and it is just an awesome group.

My goal for this week is to approach each day with that positive attitude and see how much it helps! Another thing I am trying to make sure we do is sit down and eat at the table TOGETHER. I know its a "duh" thing but we find ourselves busy and off in different directions so much. Just sit together at the table, pray, talk and eat it is amazing what a difference that makes!

And to end this rambling of madness, an ooooooh so good recipe we tried tonight that everyone loved! I served this with homemade french rolls and green salad. Enjoy!!

Tortellini Carbonara
8 bacon strips diced
1 c heavy cream (I used half and half)
1/2 c minced fresh parsley
1/2 c grated Parmesan cheese
1 pkg (9oz) refrigerated cheese tortellini

Cook bacon over medium heat until crisp. While that is cooking bring water to boil for pasta. Remove bacon from pan with slotted spoon, drain grease from pan and return bacon to pan. Add cream, parsley and cheese. Cook uncovered on medium heat until heated thru. meanwhile prepare pasta according to package directions. Transfer to a serving dish and drizzle cheese sauce over pasta. Stir to coat and serve immediately.

One last side note and excitement, we live on a farm. While we do not run the farm we get to enjoy all of the excitement that goes along with it including new babys on the farm! So far this week 9 calves with 20 more to come in the next week or so. They are so cute, yes cows are cute.