Planning For Vacation

Sometimes I plan too much. I can admit that. But the planning keeps me sane.  

We are planning on taking a  vacation in August which will include a  nine hour road trip-and that's just one way, straight driving. 

A few months ago, hubby and I went through Google maps and found points of interest along the way,  put towns into a trip planner.  Depending on kids, how we're feeling and what not, we might stop and eat lunch.. Well, we'll eat lunch, the kids can play at a park or rest stop, or we'll eat in the car.  While we have a rough itinerary written down, we're not sticking to too much of it.  

I'm keeping track of everything in a notebook.  It's all in one place and if I find something else we might want to explore, it goes in the notebook.  Honestly, it really does a hinge on how high gas gets and the hotel price as to what else we can do.  But we do have quite a list of free things to do to make it fun for everybody.  

This morning, I sat down with my notebook and wrote down how I want to pack the van.  

In the back seat with Andrew and Eva, they'll have their toys, notebooks with school worksheets (my kids are geeks, what can I say?), coloring pages and crayong and pencils.  Blankets to cover with (they are weird), extra blankets for sunshades if the need arises. And under the seat will be towels for spills or accidents, simply because we will have a van of littles and you never know.  

In the middle seats will be Grace, snacks and drinks in a small cooler for easy access, the atlas, toys blankets, snack cups, drink cups, and the diaper bag with a change of clothes for the kids so I don't have to dig through the suitcase if the need arises.  

The front seat will get what hubby and I will need, MP3 player and charger, phone charger, Tom Tom and charger, camera.  

The back is going to be challenging. Suitcases-one for me and Dennis, one for the kids.  Big cooler, extra snacks that don't need the cooler, stroller, play pen. I know that doesn't sound like a lot, but it's all big stuff.  

I'm still working on the meal plan, but we are planning on taking most of our food to help with costs.  


-Tabitha

Winter Has Returned

Well friends, with as busy as it looks my summer will get I can't promise I'll make it on here all the time.. Case in point-look at the last month.  

Unfortunately for my garden, it seems that winter has decided to return.. Snow just 50 miles north of us, while a tornado has destroyed a small town about 50 miles south of us. 

My garden was planted beginning of last month, so things should start sprouting soon.  I haven't been brave enough to take my sprouts out. Broccoli and Tomato are sitting next to my sewing machine waiting to make sure the weather will stay warm.  

Next week I hope to get all the saplings cut down or dug up for somebody to plant in their yard with help from my dad and mom.  Lots of those to get cleared. 

We bought a new lawn mower as ours bit the dust... Now we just have to figure out how to work the bagger.   


On the inside of the house, I have many sewing projects.  I'm also finding new recipes and working on getting the diet more rounded.  Or at least the suppers.  The hardest part of that is finding money for more fruit and veggies, so we've been looking into Bountiful Baskets and Fruit of The Month Club.    At least with the cold weather I'm getting caught back up on inside chores.  

Busy Busy Busy

Whew it's been hectic around here! 

Had a Jamberry party (love those now!).  

My oldest came up for Easter and we had her birthday party. She turned 10 this year. 

This weekend we'll do my son's birthday party. He's turning five, where did the time go?!?!

The biggest is we are making some health changes around here.  Hubby is going on a diet, which in our house, that means everybody is going on a diet.  It certainly can't hurt any of us to eat healthier.  

We started off by looking in Atkins, but now are wondering if we should combine Atkins with Paleo.  We're still looking into possibilities and recipes, trying to find a happy medium with all the allergies in the house-and enjoying our last month of junk food.  I went shopping right before we decided to do this, but I think I'll end up making a mini trip to get some more veggies and fruit. I was really surprised, and disappointed, to find the Atkins didn't allow for much fruit at all.  I know that fruit as a lot of sugar, but it's not processed and easier absorbed by your body than eating junk food. Fruit is not something we are willing to give up, limited as it may be with what Eva can be-it's just not going to happen. Which is why we are thinking to incorporate the paleo approach into this-that and it had better looking recipes. 

I spent yesterday looking around Facebook trying to figure out how to put homemade foods into the Atkins daily diet plan. Man was that a pain, we spent 2 hours last night doing that! We also cut a bunch of foods just from looking at that first day.  

This morning I'm looking into paleo and downloaded some free ebooks I'll print off to read as I'm able. Lots of information out there, but it seems to be easier than anything else we've looked at and a lot easier to fit into a tight budget-which is important. 

Unfortunately, school has been put on hold for a few weeks until we wind down again.  I am making notes on my calendar, so I know when to plan vacation days. (Speaking of school, Eva is sitting beside me with the Google TV keyboard copying my finger strokes as I type.) The kids love the Heart of Dakota preschool curricula, but I'm going to try putting together my own curricula for when this book is out and see if I can do it. I know I have plenty of worksheets I found for free, it's just a matter of planning.  

I have found, despite following the instructions on the seed packets, I planted way too early, so I'm hoping I can keep the plants alive until time to plant-come on spring! My broccoli seems to be faring is it came up great. My poor tomatoes have been cut in half because they molded. (who knew?) My green peppers did not take when they were transplanted to a pot and my garlic molded too. Seriously, what is it with my poor plants and mold? I'll put garlic straight in the garden soon when I plant the rest. I also bought marigolds on the advice of a friend to plant amongst my vegetable plants.  It's supposed to help with pests.  

Well I think that's all that's going on around here. Not much at all! lol. 

Tabitha

Getaway Weekend

This weekend we are attending the Red River Bible and Prophecy Conference in Moorhead, Minnesota.  Surprise! Honey, we are getting away next weekend. 

Right now, I'm just praying I will be able to hear most of the preaching. Although we will be missing one day, since it was a last minute decision, we will be there for one full day and Sunday services.  Have you ever attended a conference with three toddlers? 

Yeah. Didn't think so. I'm crazy, right? 

So. I'm planning. Today we're making cookies, then freezing them so we have them for this weekend, otherwise we'll eat them all.  Other than that, I have no idea what we're doing for meals other than continental breakfast provided by the hotel.  I think the plan is to hit up the dollar menu at nearby restaurants.   Also today, I'm putting together fun notebooks for Andrew and Eva.. Color pages, letter practicing, just some blank pages. I'll find some cool stuff for them.. That way they can't make a mess with the papers.  They'll have little backpacks full of toys, as will Grace. We'll have a backpack full of books, because my kids love to look at books.  Hopefully all this will ensure I'll be able to hear some.  

I do plan on going to the store before we leave Friday, getting diapers (I usually don't keep disposables diapers in the house) and wipes, soda, juice boxes and maybe some crackers-not positive. And water-a case of water bottles.  

For Dennis and I, I'll be taking along sugar, creamer and coffee flavoring. That way we can just get black coffee and put in the extras ourselves, that will save money-especially if the hotel has coffee makers.  I can't stand the hotel coffee black and hubby doesn't like any coffee black-thus the need for flavoring. 

To say I'm nervous about my children's behavior is an understatement.  But I'm trying not to be, because the more nervous I am, the more they feed off that energy. 

Any suggestions for keeping my babes entertained? I'd gladly take them! 

Tabitha

Gardening!

I'm still a little skeptical that spring has actually sprung for us. Regardless, I am taking advantage of the warm weather by walking with the kids and starting work on the gardens. I enlisted the help of a friend in town considering our proximity to the highway and no fences in the front yard, it's nice to have a female to talk to and having an extra set of eyes for the kids.  

I have major garden projects going on this year. I plan on clearing out the front yard gardens so we can get the saplings out of there and the dead mini trees (not sure what they are, some sort of evergreen).  I will have to have help with those-somebody with a chain saw. :)  I have on spot almost completely done and found some flowers starting to poke through.. I have to be patient to see what those are.  

The backyard will be the big project. I have to till up some ground for my already flourishing garden.  The tilling in itself will be a feat as all I have is a hand tiller.  But we will get it figured out! There is also some sort of vine thing taking over the back yard that will meet it's demise this year. Eventually in the back yard we plan to build a patio, clothesline and maybe a swing set for the kids (have I mentioned we have a small back yard?).   

So far I have planted green peppers, garlic, tomatoes and broccoli. The green peppers and garlic came from what i had in my kitchen, I'm hoping the green peppers survived the transplant they endured.  The garlic is flourishing as is the broccoli. Still waiting for the tomato to sprout, but then it hasn't even been a week since those were planted.  So being patiently and keeping the cat away.  

Time to get your garden going so it's ready to transplant in May! 

Yummy Recipes!

Dennis has been wanting some new snacks, so I took to Pinterest and have been testing some out. 

The thought of Cinnamon Sugar Almonds really appealed to him. So I found a recipe for the crock pot. Yeah. That didn't work. I found another for the oven and oh my. They are good. It's going to take all I have to not eat them all. 

Here's the original recipe. 

Cinnamon Sugar Candied Nuts
1 large egg white
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
3 cups almonds

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside. 
In a small bowl, whisk together egg white an 1 tablespoon water until frothy (about 2 minutes). 
In a medium bowl, combine sugars and cinnamon, set aside. 
in a large bowl, combine almonds and egg miture until well combines. Stir in brown sugar mixture until evenly coated. 
Spread almond mixture onto prepared baking sheet in an even layer. Place into oven and bake for 25-30 minutes, stirring at halftime. 
I also stirred when they were taken out of the oven, then 5 minutes after sitting out. 


The kids (even Grace!) absolutely LOVE this one. 

You can find the original recipe here

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars

1 cup peanut butter
1 cup honey
3 cups old-fashioned oats

melt peanut butter and honey
stir in oats
press mixture in 9x9 pan 
cover and let harden overnight


Have fun making yummy snacks!

Naturally Cold Remedy and Road Trip

Many things going on this week, we'll see what gets done with the impending snow storms-those always throw a wrench into things. 

Grace had her birthday on the 17^th. How can my baby be 1 already?  The cake was just a regular box cake, I substituted the eggs (called for two) with two 4 oz jars of banana baby food, each jar was mixed with 1 teaspoon of baking powder.  Tasted pretty good. 

We went car shopping and got a new van. It was time, it's nice to have one reliable car in the house although the payments mean more penny pinching until we get it paid off.

(excuse the messy garage...)

 I love it, although I do feel very small (like I'm driving a truck) and have a feeling I'm going to making a pillow to sit on so I can see out the rear window properly.

Grace caught a bad cold. She's been raspy and lost her voice for three days now (writing on Monday). Nothing touches it. Nothing. I have tried everything I can think of, not even commercial cold medicine could help her sleep. It seems the only thing that does help is eucalyptus oil, even if it is briefly. Eucalyptus helps break down mucus so you can breath easier (along with many other things). I have some mixed in coconut oil with lavener and peppermint for a homemade vapo rub (2 drops of each per 1 tablespoon of coconut oil), which she gets lathered in every diaper change, much to her dismay. I hav also been dripping four or five drops on a towel and keeping it close while she nurses. She is still coughing some, but is able to sleep on her own with no medicine with an end of the crib mattress elevated (I put the boppy pillow under there). 

We are hopefully going to Nebraska again this weekend to see Adrianna and my parents. This will be the first of many road trips in the Sedona.

What I do to prepare for road trips with a 4 year old, 3 year old and 1 year old.

Prayer

Food

Kid Songs

Leave in the middle of the night

LOL That about sums it up. I have my MP3 player loaded with kid songs, but we also have a trial of Sirius XM in the van that I will be using. :D

I make cupcakes of some sort for breakfast, make sure the kids have a bottle of water (Grace still gets cheerios), I get coffee and also have extra snacks of whatever is around the house for later and extra water.

We leave early, then hope the kids go back to sleep.  Both us and Nebraska are set for winter storms this weekend, so the trip is up in the air.