Neighbors

I don't know about you but I think neighbors can either make or break a homeowner and thankfully, ours are good! 

We have Glenn and Cindy who are fabulous neighbors.  The week they moved in they repaired a fence the previous owners had neglected for years.  Cindy just went through major surgery and is dealing with unexpected set backs like infection and kidney problems.  She is really just so a sweet person - I plan on putting together a little gift bag for her next week :-)

Then we have Louie.  Louie has lived in his house for 80+ years.  Louie is . .well 80+ years old HA!  Yes, he has lived in the same house his whole life.  He is the best neighbor.  Nice, quiet, kind and always has a smile.

Finally, our third neighbor is Eric.  Eric moved in about 6 years ago and is really a great neighbor.  Yes, he has a foul mouth at times and plays his truck stereo way too loud but anytime he sees us needing help with something, he steps in.  Just yesterday, he saw my husband getting attacked my bees and quickly came over with spray to start going after the next.  Or one time he saw us working to secure our new willow tree - he walked over with long pieces of metal rod, beat them into the ground and then helped Darryl tie the tree up.  He's just a good guy.  We never thought we had any impact on him until recently when he was going through a super difficult time after witnessing a co-worker get crushed in a machine.  He came to us and just cried and asked us to pray for him.  Which we did. 

So, where is this post going?  Simply this, we have now run into something we've never had to deal with and I know many of you had!  Eric's girlfriend just moved in with him this past week and she has two girls.  The youngest is somewhere around the age of my boys.  Yesterday, she came over and literally spent the entire day in our yard with the boys.  We have never had neighbor kids to be concerned about since, well, there aren't any HA!  So, how do I graciously limit the time this new neighbor is over?  The little girl is slightly bossy and is frequently knocking on the door asking for things.  Darryl and I are uncomfortable having a child whose parent we don't know in our house so the rule is they kids play outside, in our yard . .. yet several times she managed to wonder inside uninvited.  She asked for drinks and to come to lunch (I did give her a bottle of water but sent her home for lunch) and to use the bathroom (I sent her home for that too) Any suggestions on how to be gracious yet firm?  If I'm going to babysit her, well, her mom needs to compensate me :-)  (And I don't want to babysit her!)  We also have to deal with the fact that she uses not always language we would approve of and have already (after one day) had to talk to the boys about being examples of Jesus in the words we use. 

I know this is an odd post but I figured I would ask to see if I get any comments!

What We are Eating - Crock Pot Lasagna

So, I have no photo because, well, taking a photo of Lasagna in the crockpot isn't pretty HA!  But it IS tasty! 

I've been wanting to try this for awhile for multiple reasons such as I'm always looking for something to take to a potluck and I'm also looking for Sunday After Church Meals that are ready when we get home and I love my crock pot in the summer!  I did some reading on some different sights and decided to try it out and this is what I learned.

1) It works.  The lasagna was done in about 4 1/2 hours cooked on high. 
2) I followed a recipe I found on a recipe blog but as I was making it I thought, why didn't I use my tried and true Lasagna recipe and just follow the concept. 
3) Spray your crock pot with Pam Spray well to ensure easy cleanup (or use crockpot bags but I tend to only use those when camping)
4) The recipe I used said there was no need to cook the noodles before hand and yes, that is true because the noodles were soft but, next time, I would precook them.  I've found that putting the noodles in uncooked makes them slightly gummy. 

So the concept - Place a layer of your sauce/meat mixture on the bottom of the crockpot, followed by noodles, a layer of whatever cheese mixture you use (ricotta, cottage cheese, etc), and I put on a layer of Mozzarella cheese (I use cheese slices, not shredded cheese) and repeat the layers (meat, noodles, cheese mixture, Mozzarella, noodles and then one last layer of Meat Sauce).  Just before serving add one last Layer of Mozzarella cheese and let it melt. 

The Lasagna is a little "loser" when cooked in the crock put but the leftovers the following day were just like oven baked lasagna.

Teaching Tuesdays - The Countdown

Three Weeks.  That's right.  Three weeks until School Starts. This is different than past years because I've always been able to set our own schedule and normally, we would have started school by now.  Connections Academy, though, has their own schedule so our first day is September 8th.  The boys have been assigned teachers and I've heard fabulous things about Josh's teacher. 

I still have the same few things to finish up as I did last week :-)  Setting up the computer and watching a video session that teaches me what I have to do.  My goal is to get that stuff done this coming week. 

The boys have completely organized their desks, their way (and I about plucked out my eyebrows watching them mess up what I had done HA!) 

On Sunday, the boys and I each had a gift.  Someone, so thoughtfully, gave us all gifts - the boys got $1.00 each plus markers, crayons and more markers.  I got a travel mug and some truffles.  It was so thoughtful and I have no idea who did it!

Make It Monday - Clean Towels

No, I did not make towels BUT I did make my towels fluffier and smell better! I found this tip over at Passion for Savings quite awhile ago and tucked it away for one simple reason.  We have never had hot water to our washer.  A leaky pipe kept us for using the hot water and it wasn't on our priority list since I've always washed with cold water anyway.  Recently, though, we had to have some plumbing done so in the process we had the pipes to the washer replaced.  I pulled out this idea and washed all of my old and slightly stinky towels.  And . . .it worked!  My towels are softer and they don't stink anymore! 

Quite simply:  Wash your towels on the hottest setting on your washer.  The first time, add one cup of white vinegar to the load.  Once done, leave the towels in the washer and wash them with one cup of baking soda, again on hot.  Once done, dry them like normal. 

It's really important to make sure your towels are always very dry after you wash/dry them or they will start to stink.  For us, we had a dryer that didn't not work well for several years so I know the towels didn't dry well and then we didn't have a dryer for a few months so they hung in the basement.  Not to mention years of "summer drying" in the bathroom - they never really dried and always smelled.  Now, I plan to do this with my towels every couple of months just to keep them fresh!

Things My Kids Say

My boys love to talk about their future.  They talk about where they will live, what they will do, and who they will marry.  Recently this discussion happened:

Nate:  When I grow up, I'm going to marry Kate.  I'm going to have 10 kids. I don't want babies all crawling around at the same time though so I'll have one, wait three years and then ask for another one; wait three years and ask for another until I have ten. 

Nate also told me that all of his kids will have long hair except the oldest because, well, he is the oldest.  Once he leaves the next one will get a haircut. 

Josh asked his little friend that comes over to Marry Him on Friday.  She said yes.  He then said that they will change their names.  He has decided that when he gets married his name will be "Jack McMaster".  That's kinda crazy.

Family Fun - The Park and "Sleep Over"

The boys recently asked to go visit a park near our church at the local elementary school.  So, a couple of weeks ago, while Darryl had to work on a Saturday, the boys and I headed out to the parks.  The weather was great - not humid and super breezy so it didn't seem quite so hot. The school has three separate play grounds and the boys tried them all!

 Lots and Lots and Lots of climbing walls! 

 "Look mom, I made it to the top - take my picture!"

 Followed by, "Mom, Help . .. I can't get down!"

After we left the park we got ice cream . . .and Chicken Nuggets.  Nate is not an ice cream eater HA!  Give him McDonald's Nuggets anytime!

The boys also put together a plan of sleeping in the basement.  They, with Darryl's help, made up beds using a toddler mattress and couch cushions and added night lights all in anticipation of sleeping in the "bedroom" they had made.

 All snuggled in, listening to Darryl read stories.

 Nate loves to stand by his dad while he reads and watch all of the photos.

 Getting ready to say good night . . .notice the faces of fear HA!

We said good night and turned out the light.  Nate was back upstairs in 2.5 minutes saying that he would sleep down there a different night before crawling into his bed in his room.  Josh tried to stay down there by himself but was up 5 minutes later saying, "It is too scary to sleep down there"  I'm sure they will try again and some day, I'm sure they will actually make it all night but - sometimes half the fun is just preparing for the sleep over :-)

Weekly Menu

We've had a few simple weeks without too much going and this week continues that pattern for the most part.  I'm looking forward to fall, as I do this time of year every year, not just because I enjoy fall very much but because we get to return to some of our favorite meals like Lasagna, meatloaf, and lots of soups!  For now, we need to make better use of the grill and all of the fresh veggies that are starting to show up in the farmer markets. 

Saturday - Despite our spending freeze, I'm planning for dinner to be brought home by the big D.  Pizza, Tacos, or Chinese, it doesn't matter - I just don't want to cook!

Sunday - Spaghetti and Meatballs.  This is such a simple but good Sunday after church meal.  Salad and Garlic bread will round it out. 

Monday - Darryl has PT and doesn't get home until about 7:00.  I have a meeting at 5:30 that will go to about 7:00.  So I think I will pick up McDonald's for the boys to eat at my meeting (it will take up some time for them to eat) and Darryl and I will be on our own. 

Tuesday - Time for the Grill.  I've been wanting to grill pork chops - we love them so that's what we will do!  Mac and Cheese always goes with Pork chops along with green beans and applesauce.  I might even make my own in the crock pot!

Wednesday - Shall we grill again?  Why, yes!  Steaks!  Yum!  Baked potatoes in the crock pot, corn, and Garlic Bread

Thursday - Darryl has PT again so breakfast sounds good.  I love Amish Breakfast casserole and some muffins.  I'll make frozen waffles and sausage links for the boys since neither really gets into the casserole concept yet (Everything touches and that just isn't right HA!)

Friday - Well, tacos of course!  Yum!