Too Busy 2 Clean

Why I love the GroceryGame!

2009-11-04T13:00:00.003-05:00

A few months back, in effort to take control of my food budget again, I signed up for a trial membership with www.grocerygame.com . I had made a new friend in our new town and she had been 'playing the game' for quite a while, offering me some 'proof' that it worked. It's been just over two months, my freezers are full, my cabinets are bursting, and I've already saved enough money to pay for my membership AND my newspapers (for the coupons) for the next YEAR!

I ran out yesterday to Food Lion to grab a few 'stockpile' items and I thought I'd share my receipt with you! Almost felt like I was stealing groceries!

Paper Towels 2 packs... reg. 3.49, on sale BOGO, used coupon, got them for .74 cents a pack!!

Laundry Detergent (32 loads) reg. 4.99, on sale BOGO, used coupon, $2.00 each

Campbell's Chicken Noodle and Tomato soups, reg. .89, on sale for .59, w/ coupon only .49 cents

Non Freezer Lunches... hubby loves these... reg. 2.50, on sale 2/4.00, w/ coupon... $1.00 each!

My favorite deal was an unexpected one though. I really wanted to have some lil smokies in crescents rolls this weekend when my company comes but alas, I had no coupon and didn't see any on sale. HOWEVER, when I arrived at Food Lion they were BOGO!!! I obviously purchased some and am currently planning to use my "$4 off entire order" coupon for Kroger along with some Pillsbury coupons to score me some FREE crescent rolls! (Oh, I got the $4 coupon by buying Pillsbury products at Kroger... might come out with another coupon too!)

Grand total was $112.00 in groceries for $51.00! Last Friday I did another 'better than half price' deal at Kroger when I walked out with $450.00 in groceries for $221.00! I cannot describe how awesome it is to get FREE groceries!

Please leave a comment here or friend me on Facebook if you want to know more about how to save with the GroceryGame! And if you decide to try it out, and since every penny counts, please please use my email as a referrer.... I only get paid in 'free weeks' of the list.

The grocery game is not just for Food Lion and Kroger. Just enter your zipcode and pick your grocery store.

Happy Saving!

**I didn't list the brand specifics for items I purchased with the help of "The List" per the TOS with my membership... PLEASE take time to try the FREE trial out and see for yourself how great this is!**

TEN!

2009-11-04T08:23:00.002-05:00

I know that's not the most creative name for a game but I'm working on limited brain power these days.

This past week my dear hubster and I have started playing canasta again. Actually I played, he just handed me cards until I won! HA HA (sorry baby, couldn't resist, I'm sure you'll get me next time!) Doodlebug, our eight year old, desperately wanted to play with us. I remember playing when I was eight, but I really don't. think Doodle's is ready. Her math skills aren't where they need to be to play effectively. So, today I'm going to try to help her with her math by using cards in an effort to hone her card playing skills.

I call the game TEN!

I'm sure if you google 'card games to teach kids math' there will be some mom who already has this idea, it's not that amazing or unique :)

Think OLD MAID crossed with GO FISH with addition.

We'll deal out 5 cards.
Leave the rest in a pile in the middle.
I'll pick a card from her hand, and see if I can add it to one in my hand to equal 10. If I can't, then I'll draw one card. First one to empty their hand wins.

If she does well, then we can play again but add to 11 or 12 and so on. Maybe at some point letting her use up to three cards to total the correct amount.

I'm considering taking out some of the K,Q, and J's to keep the deck small.

Wish me luck! We'll be playing after breakfast!

A little announcement....

2009-10-23T15:13:00.001-04:00

For all my lovely readers who haven't friended me on Facebook or followed me on twitter.

I am once again short on brain power, weak with nausea, and so tired I could fall asleep while typing this post.

We are once again being blessed with a little bundle (sometime next June) and well... momma is a bit out of it these days!

Have a blessed weekend ya'll! I'm taking the bigger girls to grandpa's house so momma can take a nap, or two or three!

Doing what you know...

2009-09-29T12:42:00.001-04:00

I love being a mom. I love being a wife. I absolutely love that God has provided a way for me to stay home and focus on those jobs. What makes it even better? He gave me what I needed to be able to educate my children at home. This means I am free to spend every waking moment, every ounce of my energy with them, my three girls.....

ummm... let's be real. I'm good but I'm not that good. And while I LOVE my position, I too need a time out. Something that keeps me feeling human, adult, and independent. This means momma needs a hobby, or a job, or something to call her own. I have my blog (where I talk about my kids), and my facebook page (where I yap on about my kids), and I am trying to rekindle my Mary Kay business (which I thoroughly enjoy but rarely focus my attention). I have dabbled in eBay, and other auctions. Tried crocheting, knitting, sewing, scrapbooking, digital graphics, blog design, web design, and much more... (phew! I'm tired just thinking of them all!)

The problem is that I really wanted to turn my hobby into something profitable, even if it's just a tiny profit. In order to do any of those things well I needed to practice, or take a class, or **dum dum dum dum** return to school! Those are things I do not have the time, the money, or the babysitters to do!

What I DO have is a degree is something else, something that could be helpful, if I would stop acting like I don't have the skills. I have a BSBA in Business Admin with a concentration in Accounting. I only missed passing the CPA exam by a few points (in my defense, I was really really ill on one of the test days!) I have worked in Collections, Accounts Payable, and as Staff and Plant accountants! There is no reason why I can't build around THOSE skills!

I think my confidence was shot down back when we lived in our old town. It was a small town, and yes I am implying everything stereotypical about that term! It was a lock down on who was hired and trusted etc. If you were not from there then you might as well just leave. When an entire town won't give you a chance to show them that you are remotely intellegent it's hard to muster up the courage to try again.

Our new town has been so kind to us. It took over a month for me to accept that people here were different. I think now is the time I stop looking for "what I can learn to do" and I start saying "hey check out what I CAN do to help you!"

Sooo, here are some ideas for services I am considering offering (please comment and suggest!):

Personal Services:
- Bank Reconciliation
- Budget Planning
- Monthly Budget Reviews
- Check Writing Services (not check signing, but check writing, aimed at seniors or others that have difficulty writing)
- Advise and Consultation on negotiating with creditors YOURSELF to lower interest rates
- Snowball Debt Reduction Planning

Business Services:
- Account Reconciliation
- Collections
- Accounts Payable
- Small Business Payroll
- General Ledger
- Monthly Financial Statement Preparations
  - Balance Sheet
  - Income Statement
- Complimentary Pick up and Delivery of Paperwork and Reports

Any thoughts or suggestions (or even encouragement!) would be appreciated while I'm trying to think through and put my game plan onto paper!

Technorati Tags: accounting, starting a business at home, bookkeeping, family

Finishing up Australia!!

2009-09-28T16:39:00.001-04:00

Last week I let my DoodleBug decide which country she wanted to read up on. I only meant to help her pass some time, so I could help TaderBug with her alphabet. Little did I know it would turn into an all out family learning adventure!

We checked out books on Australia from the library and looked up information and animal images online.

We even practiced how to speak in Australia (Australian Strine) with the help of these sites:

http://www.aussieslang.com/
http://www.howtospeakaustralian.com/as.htm
http://www.upfromaustralia.com/aussieslang.html

and for mom's humor:
http://pcmaurya.blogspot.com/2007/12/how-to-speak-australian-i-am-just.html

We had tapped out my Australian resources on EnchantedLearning.com , which for those who don't already know the site it was FULL of stuff and facts and kept us busy until....

I decided we should do crafts and lapbooks...

my brain is a little wooobly lately so I knew I needed guidance. After posting a request on my facebook wall I had a friend lead me to Teachers Book Bag! I hopped over and spent $3 on thier Continental Little Hopper's Unit on Australia!

We have had sooo much fun! It went from K all the way to 3rd grade so both my big girls had things to do!

I had most of Tader's stuff precut, Doodlebug would have to work them scissors! LOL

Then it was time to take some passport pictures:

(I had also purchased the first Continental Hoppers Unit on Africa so I could have the 'tools' mentioned in the lesson)

We made our Jumbucks (aka... sheep)

not sure what Tader is doing with her leftover 'Jumbuck wool' but she was temporarily quiet... and that's all that mattered!

this is Doodlebug's suitcase, it holds her passport and her photo envelope!

She'll have to finish the inside tomorrow, it's late and my head hurts! That was a LOT of information!

Good thing I had put the spaghetti sauce on early this morning!

and what was Bubbagirl doing? Taking baby wipes out of the tub one at a time and piling them under the high chair... when she wasn't trying to eat glue sticks of course.

And because YouTube is great for homeschool.... we learned a folk song... enjoy folks!

Waltzing Matilda

Technorati Tags: homeschool, Australia, lapbooks, Waltzing Matilda, spaghetti, lessons,

Menu Plan Monday September 28th!

2009-09-28T12:01:00.001-04:00

I took time this weekend to visit my favorite recipe site All Recipes! I hadn't been in a while and was surprised to see a new option to alter a recipe and SAVE it that way in my online recipe box! I have a new friend (we moved back in May) who LOVES to use her crock pot, which means I, of course, must break mine out again and give it a whirl!

Saturday morning I set out to make a Slow Cooker Chicken Pot Pie Stew
and it was delicious!! We had it again last night as leftovers, with some fresh croissants (thanks to a little sale at Kroger coupled with some coupons, they were el cheapo!!)

Here's what's on the menu this week!

Monday: Spaghetti... old standby b/c the kids will eat it! But I'm going to try cooking it in my slow cooker for the first time!

Tuesday: Leftovers, yeah, it's the slacker way out, but I make a ton of sketti and the girls LOVE it! We might try a different noodle with it, or make breadsticks instead of garlic bread, but the sauce is leftover from the night before.

Wednesday: Slow Cooker Adobo Chicken... with baked potato and something green ( I pick veggies last minute..)

Thursday: Southwestern Chicken and White Rice I love a one dish wonder! I have chicken precooked in the freezer, from two weeks ago when I found a great sale at Food Lion! Makes dinner easy! I'll leave some of the chicken to the side, and some rice to the side and make my girls some green beans.

Friday: Normally a take out night but we're going to have either Pot Roast or London Broil in the slow cooker. I have a rain check from Food Lion to get the London Broil for 1.99/lb. I just need to make it back out to the store.

Saturday will be leftovers.

and Sunday... we'll, my hubby is going fishing that day, so we're going to be very laid back and eat fast food at home (i.e. probably hot dogs and tater tots just because I can )

Check out other great menu ideas here!

Art class

2009-08-26T14:34:00.000-04:00

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WFMW "Worksheet Wednesdays"

2009-08-26T10:17:00.001-04:00

This year we are trying out a modified workbox setup for school. I say modified because I have not yet purchased the wonderful ebook that actually explains how to do this properly (something I will be doing soon because while I love this idea I am working myself to death at the moment... not entirely the workboxes fault).

Today, day three of school, my girls came downstairs to find their workboxes still stacked up from yesterday. The littlest one almost cried at the thought of NO KINDERGARTEN today. Good thing for her I had decided to make today "Worksheet Wednesday". We have some cutting practice, some writing, some math, and of course reading (with a mini book report worksheet).

Here's one of the worksheets I created for DoodleBug, my second grader, as a fractions refresher:

Fractions 1/2 -

To help motivate her with her math drills I made her some skip counting drill sheets and SCORE CARDS!

Skip Counting 3's Drill Sheet -

Score Cards for Math Drills -

I have some great freebies I have collected from The Simple Homeschool... LOVE HER STUFF!

Then I might have our Principal Daddy help research Prince Henry the Navigator. He's much better at that sort of thing than I am. My job was to find really cool pages to use to make our Explorer's Notebook with!

Worksheet Wednesdays are what Works For Me!

Don't open the windows....

2009-08-25T14:20:00.001-04:00

Even though the weather is getting milder. Even though some fresh air would probably help my tension level a bit. Even though. . . I will NOT open the windows.

I just cannot bring myself to let the neighbors hear this mess! The baby is teething, my new Kindergartner can't decide if she does or does not want to do school, and my 'teenage' second grader keeps screaming "THEY ARE DISTRACTING ME MOM!!"

I know the teething will pass, and things will settle down, but in the meantime... these windows are staying shut and the voices will stay inside.

A foggy headed momma

2009-08-10T12:43:00.001-04:00

As you enter the main road over the mountain there is a sign, complete with flashing lights, to warn you of fog on the mountain. Slow down, pay attention, turn on your lights. Today I need a sign, maybe on my shirt, with flashing lights:

"Foggy Headed Momma: slow down, be quiet, give her hot tea and the tv remote and you might get out alive"

You see, for five days I've had my little cousin here with us. She's six, I think. Which meant I had four girls, age 7 and under, in my house for almost a week. (Those of you with LOTS of kids are laughing at me, and those of you with only 1 or 2 are shuddering) Honestly, it was loads of fun . . . until, momma got sick. I played tough, chin up, vapo rub on my chest. We still went to the library and to the lake. We still sang songs on the four hour car ride to take her home yesterday. Now, I pay the price for playing.

I want so badly to sew, or fold laundry, or vacuum, or doodle, or do dishes, or ANYTHING but everytime I get started I get whoooozy. Right now as I type this I'm thinking how it would be easy to go downstairs to the garage and fold the load of towels and move the stuff in the washer over. Realistically that walk down the stairs will wear me OUT!

To make matters worse, I'm sitting here staring at a to do list a mile long: pack for the girls trip to moms, get invites out for Bubbagirls bday party, find K's dress and mail it to her, etc. etc. UGH.... frustration does not help a stuffy head and yelling at everyone to be quiet does not help a sore throat.

Soooo, I will narrow down my list a bit. Anything involving the telephone (talking) is off. Working out- out of the question. Cleaning, well it can wait another day. The pot roast is in the pot, and everyone has clean clothes for at least another day. Maybe it would be okay if I napped with Bubbagirl. Maybe the world won't fall apart if take it easy for a moment. Maybe tomorrow the fog will clear . . .

I'll help you mama!

2009-07-30T06:46:00.000-04:00

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Maybe I'm just slow

2009-07-28T16:55:00.001-04:00

It's been a rough day, not terrible..there are people way worse off than me right now. My aunt is one, bad bad day there. My hubby has to work late (real late), bad bad day there. And my friends, online and off, in the hospitals with sick kids... really really bad day. I can't even imagine, nor dare compare myself too... but I'm human and I did take a moment at my keyboard to put my head down and have a mini pity party. Call it a time out before I hit someone party. When I saw this for the first time:

not the sharpie marker... i knew about that already...

When did they start putting cheats on the keys? and are they on all keys or does my hubby just have some fancy *bleeping* keyboard that he's been hiding from me for all these years?

Yes, it's been THAT kind of day where I find this worthy of posting to my blog...

Thank you for listening.

I guess that's what it was supposed to taste like.

2009-07-28T05:56:00.003-04:00

Good morning friends!

I'm hoping we all survived yesterday. If you live in my house then survival was by the skin of your teeth. Hormones: nature's hit man. The fabulous Mr. B came home in the final inning last night and entertained the little ~~rug rats~~ sweethearts so I could take a refreshing, energizing bath. Unfortunately this county water couldn't energize me if it was struck by lightening; sometimes being clean has to be the silver lining. He held the babes at bay long enough for Pandora on my Blackberry to lock up but not long enough for my water to get cold...good enough for me.

While I was hiding, there were pork chops in some 'stuff' in a dish in the oven. I'd like to thank my friends from Twitter and Facebook who gave me some recipes and ideas (Beth, Steph, and Melanie). I didn't follow any of them (just missing ingredients that's all) but it did give me some direction to try a few things on the chops for flavor. Smelled scary and burned my nostrils a little while it cooked but in the end it tasted.... well, like pork. I guess that's the important part.

I managed, while the noodles boiled, to get my first product listed in my new Zazzle store! Turtle Doodling is now proudly displaying the flamingo card from my previous post! I am hoping to get more listed today; however, my Doodle Bug has her first visit with the ENT for her tonsils. I'm fully expecting (and almost looking forward to hearing) a recommendation to remove the oversized marbles but I fear Doodle's may have a small panicky moment either in the office or just outside the front door.

So here are a few fun links to play with while we're gone today, and hopefully by tomorrow I'll have something even more crazy to share!

History of Pink Flamingos
Pork Recipes
A randomly chosen cool mom blog I follow: Mommy Confessions

Before I go!!! I have a few friends due to have beautiful babies soon and that means I will soon be participating in my first "meal train". I need ideas ladies... We're talking about feeding 4-7 people a full meal when I can't get the five in my house to eat the same thing for dinner. I need tips to make it yummy for mommy, daddy, kids and a nursing baby!

It's that time again.

2009-07-27T12:55:00.001-04:00

It's that time again. Time for me to post again, and apologize again for being gone way too long. I could blame Twitter. Since it lets me 'micro blog' in tiny fragments which is almost the extent of my brain function at this point. Tiny fragments of thoughts tossed around the chaos of three little girls and a move and upcoming school and finding a new church and making new friends and starting my business all over again and and and...

But, today is the first day I've tweeted in a while. So, I guess I could blame Facebook and that horribly addictive game FarmTown. I don't want to be a complete child though, so I will take responsibility for neglecting my own blog. I had a lot of posts running around in my head. Hubby even purchased me a new desk so I could comfortably sit and blog. I just didn't. I played, I sewed, I rode my bike, I helped Abby learn to walk, I prepared for the new school year, and I hung out with my honey. It seems getting him closer to work cost me a couple of hours of 'mom time' but that's okay. I like him.

Pretty soon we'll make that last summer trip to Nanny's house, the kids will get ready for me to teach school officially and my husband will start getting used to late dinners and a ~~cluttered~~ creative living space-again. That is when I hope to be able to blog more often. When I can take a moment while they do work to type a quick howdy and my crazy ideas for the day.

In case you're wondering if I've come up with anything lately.... yes... I'm designing note cards and I doodled out the plans for a fabric coupon holder that will also hold a note pad that's 8 1/2 by 11 and folds up like a padfolio. Well, what else am I supposed to do at 1 am? SLEEP? You're crazy.

This is what I sent my dear auntie this morning in her email. That's the other thing I was doing at midnight last night. I could have cleaned house but that might have disturbed the children and we NEVER want to disturb a sleeping child: EVER, EVER, EVER!

So I doodled, because that is relatively quiet and it makes my eyes warm after I stare at the screen for a long time and it helps me feel the urge to go to bed. It worked, until about 4 am, when AbbyDabby woke up and decided I did NOT need anymore sleep.

For all my loving, loyal readers I'm going to leave you with a question, an opportunity to leave some link love in the comments and a promise to post something good again soon!

I need ideas for our homeschool workboxes, craft ideas, favorite sites for printables, audio books, online play. I'm collecting bottle caps... got cute ideas for them? Anyone know of kid friendly ways to grow something hydroponically? (yeah, I probably spelled that incorrectly) Have any ideas for things to put in our sensory bucket? I look forward to hearing your ideas!

Remember: you can always find me sticking my foot in my mouth on twitter (TaderDoodles) and now you can find me on FaceBook.

Funny things my Tader says

2009-05-25T20:56:00.001-04:00

Tonight I heard:

"My traption lost it's powerings"

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Story of Stuff, The Critique Part 1 of 4

2009-05-19T15:24:00.001-04:00

Hmmmm Hubby is gonna love this..

A Crafty Schoolday

2009-05-18T11:25:00.001-04:00

We're making lapbooks today to help mom feel comfy that we learned what we were supposed to this year. TaderBug is doing shapes and colors, DoodleBug is showing off her skip counting abilities!
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Going IN the closet was their idea

2009-05-14T22:20:00.000-04:00

While I sat on the floor REfolding the clothes from FIVE people my kids entertained themselves beside me...
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Our first sunny day in the mountains

2009-05-07T17:30:00.000-04:00

Despite my nagging cough, I was NOT going to let our first sunny day pass by without a trip outside to soak up some vitamin D.
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What you mean SHARE?

2009-05-07T14:01:00.000-04:00

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Do NOT hire me to pack up your house to move..

2009-04-27T13:13:00.002-04:00

Apparently when I pack do something so absurd so unheard of that my husband is surprised that I make it through a day unassisted!

According to Mr TaderDoodles..... I ORGANIZE when I pack... I sort and filter through the ever growing piles of crapola and only box up stuff that's NOT broken, or MISSING a part, or from 1983! I see no need in packing 6 BOXES of shoes when 1 box is filthy and dry rotten, 1 box is full of single shoes, and 2 are too small for any of uw to wear....and even IF Tader Bug can wear all FOUR pairs of boots she doesn't NEED FOUR PAIRS of boots!

Oddly enough I have chosen NOT to take holey sheets or bath towels, nor am I taking ALL 5,000 naked Barbie Dolls and their UNMATCHED shoes. If this endeavor has proven anything to me it is that my children are perfect content playing with a margerine tub and a wooden spoon in the backyard or bath tub that they do NOT need the entire GIRL department of Toy's R Us to entertain themselves. Less is MORE.... Less stuff means less time spent cleaning which means MORE time spent together doing something good and wonderful- like playing Barbies with my girls.

You didn't think I was making them leave ALL of them behind did you? I'm not that mean, nor am I that tough.

I am, however, exhausted.... and while I am grateful that God saw fit to give me wonderfully sunny days to do my final packing (so the kids can play outside), I will admit the crazy high temperatures are slowing my pace a bit. Ah well, it's still better than rain!

I'll be back ya'll, once we're all settled!

*hugs*

What happened today...

2009-04-25T00:35:00.001-04:00

With three kids, school work, and trying to move my bloggy wonderfulness is at a low... forgive me but I can only seem to speak in short blurbs... Here's what we tweeted about today...

TaderBug says she has an earache this morning... tears and all #

however, she only cries when I'm not giving her my undivided attention #

and now that she's in the bathtub playing it doesn't seem to be hurting at all... makes a mom wonder.... #

A new one for the #recipe book--- awe.sm/5yw via @SimplyBox #

A new one for the #recipe book--- awe.sm/5zI via @SimplyBox #

amazed that my 4 year old can catch a butterfly.... mulitple times over #

A new one for the #recipe book--- awe.sm/60N via @SimplyBox #

A new one for the #recipe book--- awe.sm/60P via @SimplyBox #

A new one for the #recipe book--- awe.sm/61E via @SimplyBox #

A new one for the #recipe book--- awe.sm/61Q via @SimplyBox #

A new one for the #recipe book--- awe.sm/61T via @SimplyBox #

Just boxed something to videos: awe.sm/61V via @SimplyBox #

Just boxed something to videos: awe.sm/61i via @SimplyBox #

Just boxed something to videos: awe.sm/61k via @SimplyBox #

from 7yr old dughter "wel.funerals R kinda borng" #

dang wireless keyboard! from 7yr old daughter "well...funerals ARE kinda boring" #

just made our own version of Pasta Roni Parm noodles :) YUMMY! #

I finally figured out the trick to basic white sauce #

i'm starting to wish i could get a few new lounging outfits before i move... i didnt realize i looked like such a bum #

living in the sticks i guess i didnt care much for matching tops and bottoms LOL #

wow, seven people unfollowed me b/c i cracked a joke about hanging out in mix matched sweats? what did i do? #

RT @sharonhayes: What one word best describes YOU today? #oneword Responses bit.ly/PjcYG - RT pls :) #

in need of creative ways to cook already pattied hamburger patties #recipe other than hamburgers... #

A new one for the #recipe book--- awe.sm/63B via @SimplyBox #

What happened today...: With three kids, school work, and trying to move my bloggy wonderfulness is at a low... .. tinyurl.com/dn3ald #

still totally bummed that i lost followers today.... childish i know.. .but still... i just don't understand why they left #

oh well... now that the kids are getting ready to leave, it's time to fix something yummy and grown up for supper #

Fox on Demand has last nights BONES episode already on it! WHOO HOO #

I'm wondering why Bubbagirl can't find enough dirt ON top of the carpet to eat... does she HAVE to investigate what is under it #

Please follow me I'd love to get to know my readers better! Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter

What happened today...

2009-04-24T12:35:00.001-04:00

With three kids, school work, and trying to move my bloggy wonderfulness is at a low... forgive me but I can only seem to speak in short blurbs... Here's what we tweeted about today...

hello everyone! #

almost have my full voice back! whoo hoo #

getting ready to eat a peirogie (sp?) for the first time... should be yummy #

one week and one day till the big move... hubby promises that the new internet connection is faster there... #

What happened today...: With three kids, school work, and trying to move my bloggy wonderfulness is at a low... .. tinyurl.com/cembgo #