An Early Christmas Present

I have been wanting a breadmaker for a long time. Thanks to my sister, Joy, I now have one! I'm so happy and grateful. I couldn't get a picture of the one that she brought me to post at the top of the page, but here it is. This morning I made my 1st loaf of bread. It was ok...but I'm not giving up. I found another recipe thanks to SnoWhite. This is the one that I'm going to try next. My plan is to start making pizza dough for Family Pizza Night on Saturdays and to make bread for us to eat throughout the week!

Thanks Baby Girl...you've made me a happy woman!

Menu Plan Monday...or Tuesday!

Well, I've had our menu done for quite some time...I'm just a little late posting it. I tried something new this month and made out our menu for the entire month, instead of just for one week. It's so hard to get to the grocery store, so while my Mom was in town I stocked up for the entire month.

As I'm writing, I have a 10 lb. turkey in the oven! I'm going to use the meat throughout the month for a few meals. I brined it...you can read more about that here. From what I hear, once you brine a turkey, you will never want it any other way. It should be very juicy and flavorful. I'll be sure to let you know!

Here's our meal plan for the week.

Monday- Shepherd's Pie remix (I changed it up a bit)
Tuesday- Turkey, Collard Greens, Mac and Cheese, Homemade Bread (more to come on that!)
Wednesday- Turkey Pockets (kinda like this, but a little different)
Thursday- Turkey Divan (substituting turkey for chicken), Rolls
Friday- Fried Fish, Fries (we've been having fried fish on Fridays for several months. I love family traditions!)
Saturday- Homemade Pizza (trying to start a new tradition of Homemade Pizza with my own dough on Saturdays)

Check out orgjunkie.com for more menu plans!

My Helper

Halley continues to be a great helper. She loves all things domestic and is really good at it, as you can see. I just hope she keeps this enthusiasm for cleaning forever!

Macky's Marine Crawl

My Macky Boy has been doing the marine crawl for several months now. Isn't it cute? When I lay him down at night, there is a huge streak of gray down the front of his onesie! I've been wanting to get it on video for awhile, so I'm so glad I did. As you can see, he's starting to crawl on his hands and knees now. Before I know it, he'll be walking.

Bath Time

The twins have graduated from the infant tub and now take baths with their big sister. It's quite a feat to keep them from slipping and sliding all over the place, but is such a joy to watch. They enjoy "swimming" in the tub and splashing around. I have to keep my eyes peeled when I bathe them, but the joy that fills my heart as I hear them squeal is more than worth it!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com