Beansntatersmama

This blog will be written by a stay at home mom/student. I am trying to enjoy every minute of life I get and raise my children to be happy with what we have been given. Anything written here will be by me, for my well being and piece of mind. I want to open other peoples eyes, and let them see that we can make it on less.

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Happy Halloween.


My husband was looking through the pictures stored on our digital camera a couple of months ago and found this one. He said "I didn't know the boys had a hulk costume?" I replied that they don't. He showed me the picture which kinda freaked me out. We later found out that our five year old had taken a picture of a commercial. Anyway I hope everyone gets lots of goodies and remember to share.

Do you have faith?

I am not an overly devout christian. As a matter of fact I am not overly anything, but I have been trying to be a very good person. I never really thought about God before I had children. I was almost an atheist. I have however changed my mind. When my first child was born I had a sense of being totally grounded. The first time in my life there was more than just my whims or ideas of a good time. I had this most precious thing that had ever been given to me and he was a gift from God. I knew that I wasn't a truly good person but I tried to be a good mother. We wanted more kids so my second came 14 months later and I worried while pregnant with him that I could never love another as much as number one. How would I ever pull it off. I mean can you really love two children equally? Bologna! I thought this is insane. You can. I have even found that you will love your third just as much. I can look at any one of my children and see the wonder of the world. They absorb information like a homemade cookie absorbs milk. I see trust in their smiles and hear love in their laughter. I know that God is looking down on me and urging me not to miss a minute. We recently started attending church and reading the bible. I just want to understand the scriptures. I want to be able to make sense of what's in there. I want to be able to answer my children's questions and feel correct when I tell them what the bible says. I want to have more faith in the people all around me and I want them to have faith in me. I want to do the right thing even when it's hard. I want my kid's to see what really matters. Not cars and clothes and bling but God, family,and friends. It's hard to be a good person. I know. I cuss and to be honest some people really irritate me. I try to watch my tongue but I seem to have moments when my foot doesn't quite make it to my mouth in time and I blurt things out instead of chilling and not worrying what others are doing, saying, or thinking. So I really want you all to stop and say if that Angie girl (yes I know I'm 30) has faith how can I not.

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

The most wonderful lasagna.

Well as you can tell by the title it is the best. At least in my book. It is really my mamma's recipe and boy did we ever and still do ask for this on our birthdays. We don't go crazy on our birthdays but we usually always get together for a meal and cake. There is nothing like celebrating turning another year older than with your true homies. So let's see if I can get all this straight so hopefully you can bake some good stuff with cheese.
  1. You will need 1 pound of burger take your pick I've used chicken, beef, and venison.
  2. 1 jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce. I just used some frozen homemade sauce about 3-4 cups eyeball it.
  3. 16 ounces if cottage cheese
  4. 1 egg
  5. 12 lasagna noodles
  6. 3 cups mozzarella cheese

The first thing to do is brown and drain your burger. You can add any spices you want or garlic and onion to your burger when you are browning it. Boil your noodles for around 8-9 minutes. Get out a 9X13 baking pan and spray with pam or grease. Add you sauce to your browned meat and mix well. Add the egg to the cottage cheese and mix well. Spread a little sauce on the bottom of your pan than add noodles. Then add more sauce/meat followed by half of the cottage cheese mixture spread all around. Top with a layer of cheese and then repeat for the next layer. Then lay the last of the noodles on top and cover with remaining sauce and cover with cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour. It will be all bubbly and the cheese may be turning a nice golden brown. I don't really think this is that cheap of a meal but it will feed us twice and still have enough to share. Or you could uses 8X8 pans and make two lasagnas and freeze one or share. I sometimes add veggies to this like spinach or zucchini. So for dinner tonight we will be having lasagna, green beans, and french bread. My sister is coming to carve punkits as my son calls them so looks like she will get fish food ice cream for dessert.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

I've been tagged..

O.K. so I am new to all this blogging and tagging stuff. I believe I am to mention the tagger who I love to read http://enchanteddandelions.etsy.com Her name is April and she stays at home and sews the most wonderful things so please check her out. I believe I am suppose to tag someone so I guess that will be http://asmalltowncitygirl.blogspot.com So now to the seven dark secrets(just kidding).
  1. I am a caffeine addict. Going on ten years now. I know it's bad and I know I have children watching me guzzle my morning cup of Joe but if it can get me motivated to crawl out of bed with as little as 2 hours of sleep who should judge me? Who do you know that's been talking? Just a little strung out humor.
  2. In stressful situations I laugh. Sometimes uncontrollable laughter will escape along with tears. (at funerals or when someone is in the hospital. creepy right. well my siblings are the same)
  3. My children crack me up. My oldest took a can of Campbell's soup to school for a food drive and it had the Disney princess on the label, another child told my son "princess' in a can? YUCK" I laughed until tears rolled down my cheeks.
  4. I don't like fluff. I things to be functional and useful but not necessarily pretty.
  5. I worked with my dad at his garage for 8 years and loved it.
  6. I keep a journal and fill it with good things and little tidbits (nothing to bad) which I will give t my children when they are grown. I think I have 3-4 full already and the boys love for me to read out of them.
  7. I am scared of dying. When I lose someone close to me it scares the cramming out of me. It reminds me how little time I have left on this world and I'm planning on making it to be 100.

Well I guess that's enough for now. I'll try to put a new recipe on here tomorrow. I think I can smell my coffee too bad my little boy has lost out candy bars cause a snickers would rock right now.

Friday, October 24, 2008

My baby is walking.

My little tater bug is walking. She wobbles between her brother and the couch and gets so excited she usually falls down laughing. I want to feel the same excitement. The feeling of "look at what I can do". I want her to always be proud of herself and happy. This has been the fastest year of my life. I feel tired. I feel that I've blinked and my baby is now a toddler. Soon she will be to busy to nurse and we will move on to more interesting things to do. I can't believe how fast kids grow up. I'm thankful to be home with my kids and be here when my oldest gets off the bus. I know that he looks forward to me being home because just about every morning while we are at the end of the driveway waiting on the big yellow cheese he says I'll see you this afternoon. It kind of breaks my heart because there is question in it more than certainty. I just pray that I am everything my kids need to grow up and be good, honest, giving, people. Hope everyone has a great Friday. Oh yeah I almost forgot since I'm having a mommy moment don't forget that Kroger's is having a great 10 for $10 sale. Good luck!!!

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Happy anniversary

Well today is my eighth anniversary. I love my husband and I know that he loves me. We have three kids five, four, and one. I am about to tell you how to have a cheap anniversary. He dug taters and I picked them up and placed them in the wagon. We listened as our boys and the boy next door had a whole pretend monster chasing good time in the high grass, and watched as our baby girl (aka the tank) climbed over tater rows and tried to eat taters dirt and all. I've heard that soil encrusted potatoes are a delicacy for toddlers, high in minerals. (not really so don't try this at home) We are having leftover ham, green beans and taters, and wonderful yeast rolls from the neighbor on the hill. The kids are now clean and in jammies and I'm waiting my turn for the shower and I believe we will call it a night. You may think me simple and I guess I am, I don't need a lot of fluff to be happy. I just want to tuck everyone in at night and know that we are safe, healthy, and pray that the good lord will keep us that way.

Monday, October 20, 2008

A year of crockpotting.

I don't really know how to do this yet but i want everyone to try and find this awesome blog. It's a year of crockpotting. I hope you all can find it. She has a recipe on there for pumpkin lattes. Good luck.

Sunday, October 19, 2008

LIFE AND DEATH

We just buried my husbands grandfather yesterday. It was a very sad day. I can't ever remember seeing my husband shed a tear before yesterday. Gone is a good man. He was old school as I like to say. He worked hard his whole life. He helped people when he could. He adored his wife and spoiled his children. He always joked and had funny things to say. He baked the best pound cake I've ever laid my lips on. He never spoke ill of anyone. I never once in all the years I've known him heard him raise his voice to yell or speak unkindly. He never complained about anything. I mean never. I don't know many people like that. I want to strive to be more like that. I know he will be missed and mourned terribly. I guess that's all I have to say. I can't think of anything to say or do to make it easier on his family. I just want you to grab your family and enjoy them. Listen to your children and elderly. Have a conversation with them, hug them, love them. It's all we got.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Double the use.

I love to use things over and over again. I am a minimalist. I don't like having things sit around that don't get used. I feel better about myself and the mark I'm leaving on the planet is I can reuse things at least once before throwing it away. I am proud to say that I haven't bought paper towels in months. I try to use cloth diapers when home and am branching out recently and taking them with me instead of store bought. I never buy any new cloths unless needed. I have no fashion sense but when you spend most of your time at home with the kids you learn that they aren't worried about labels, and you realize that they love you no matter what your wearing or how bad your hair looks. I breastfeed, which saves cost on bottles, and formula, and the making and delivering process. I save cereal bags. I use them for wax paper, to put coatings in and shake my chicken in, to put chicken in and store in the fridge, to wrap meats in before freezing. I know it sounds crazy but it makes me feel better when I throw it away. My husband thinks I'm crazy because I will wash a Ziploc bag and let it dry and then reuse it. He said (if it bothers you that bad then quit using them) so I am on the look out for sandwich holders and other small things for lunches. I am not a bag lady, I just hate to think about all this plastic sitting in a landfill somewhere never breaking down. I reuse old cloths for cleaning and to take the place of paper towels. I save jars that pickles, tomato sauce, etc come in and have used them for canning, catching bugs, storing nuts and bolts. All I am asking is that you look at something and ask yourself if you can give it one more use before it hits the trashcan?

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

The top ten things I hate about the flu...

Well as you know we've had a bit of sickness going on two weeks. I am tired and cranky but on the plus side my joints aren't hurting today and so far no headache. So here is my list of the top ten that I hate about my kids being sick and of course whiny ol me being sick.
  1. The worst is my poor little babies running a fever. I hate not knowing if it's too high and should I give the Motrin or not?
  2. VOMIT! PUKE! UPCHUCK! What ever you want to call it, it's still an awful mess to clean up and makes kids feel horrible.
  3. Snot. I mean is there a grosser word? As soon as you hear it you think yuck, not to worry about having three sick kids with super snotty noses all clinging to you in their time of need. All you can do is forget about being clean don't bother changing shirts because here comes the baby and her nose is streaming.(sorry a flashback)
  4. O.K. here's another gross word PHLEGM. Like it's not bad enough coming from their poor red little noses they have to cough something up too.
  5. Which leads to coughing. Not so much during the waking hours only when the body needs rest. So don't worry about having that coffee in the late evening hours you'll be up anyway.
  6. Rashes, maybe all over the body or just on the face. You are already sleep deprived and now you can worry about whether or not they are getting the measles, or chicken pocks, or the splotches, or some other crazy thing that you don't know about yet.
  7. Sore throat. Which the kids never seem to get only the mother. Now how am I going to yell across the yard and tell the boys to get off that deer target before someone falls on their brother and breaks an arm.
  8. Achy joints, this just slows you down when you have a baby on your hip and your trying to catch a boy who is sick and running around the outside of the house in his underwear.
  9. Nasty medicine. It all has to taste yucky so you either have to bribe your child.(never hardly works because I don't usually do it so my kids aren't worried about getting something) Or you can wrestle them down, wrap your legs around their legs, one arm around their arms, and use the baby syringe to try and squirt it in their mouth.(usually backfires with yucky cough syrup dripping off of everything and a crying child) Lately I've just been reasoning with them and yes sometimes they have to sit in the time out chair until meds are taken. (really works when both boys are home or neighbor is here no one wants to miss playtime)
  10. A filthy dirty germ filled house. I am not a clean person by nature. It bothers me more when I've been sick and miss a day of the tiny bit of cleaning that I do. Talk about a mess, when the mommy is down and the kids run amuck and the daddy is at work all messiness breaks out. You wake up the next morning feeling tired and wore down and ready to snap because it looks like a dump truck has backed up and dumped a load of trash in the living room floor, and apparently the kitchen fairies are all passed out somewhere because there is double the amount of dishes. All you can do is snap a bit and if you're lucky your hubby will help clean.(mine actually cleaned while I went to the store)

I know you all want to hear all about sickness, so now you have. I pray that no one else has to put up with any virus, bug, flu, or cold at least until after Christmas. Have a great day.

Saturday, October 4, 2008

SICK AS A DAWG!!!!

Well as you can tell by the title we are all sick. My poor kids have had some kind of viral infection and my five year old missed 3 days of school. He went Thursday and got sick on his field trip on Friday. Thank the good Lord that our next door neighbor was also on the field trip with her son. She stayed with mine until his daddy got there to get him and lent him her booster seat. It was definitely a huge relief knowing that she was there with him. At the same time I noticed that my for year old had a rash on his face and my little tater bug had one all over her. I feel like I haven't slept in forever and am praying for everyone to get better soon. I have been running a fever and have a mean headache and achy joints. So far no horrible mucus or vomiting so that is a plus. If I get down then this ship will sink. My little tater bug turned one yesterday. No party but she did get cupcake which she loved. I would add a picture of her but I can't seem to get this thing to work so maybe later I'll be able to add some picts. I hope to have another post soon so please hang in there and feel free to send any helpful ideas on how to survive sick kids and cabin fever.