voss voyage

We had some great meals last month with our first attempt at cooking for a month. But I have to admit that I think this month is going to be even better. From the research we've done, the prepping should only take us one day....but with several small children underfoot (including TWO sets of twins) it took us two full days this month. We don't mind, though. We love to cook and we get to spend lots of time chatting and solving the world's problems :-) Things we learned.... *shop the sales. We did that this time and saved a boat load on meat *have the butcher prep the meat for us. GENIUS! This saved us so much time. We had him cut the sirloin "fajita style" for the stroganoff and it was perfect. We also had him run some of the chicken through the meat tenderizer to flatten it (no pounding)! *prep meat first *freeze flat so the meals are not in the shape of balls *freeze with cardboard between so there is no sticking Here is what we prepared this month with ...

I've attempted this a few times in the past without much success. THIS time, I'm committed to making it work. Two other friends also have this same commitment (I hope)! We planned twelve meals-- 3 per week. Some will yield leftovers and the other days we can fill in with the usual stuff. After prepping/cooking these meals we've decided that some just aren't worth it. We also want to get as healthy as possible and will try to work on that.  Trying to please the picky eaters in all three families was also a challenge, but we are hoping that the meals will be tolerable for most people.  I'm already excited to start planning next month. Step #1 Plan Meals This was harder than I thought because of food allergies and pickiness. You kinda get used to your own family and then adding the other families issues means a lot of stuff that gets cut out. Step #2 Shop With three large families and lots of babies, this kept getting put off. Plus, trying to shop cheap & hea...

Allison is not much of a breakfast eater, so when she asked if she could have a "special breakfast" on the first day of school, I was surprised. She requested pink pancakes. I happily obliged, reminding her that this wouldn't happen too often. Usually Patrick is the one to get up with the kids and I stagger out of bed an hour later. Yeah, that won't be happening anymore. Allison is the first stop on her bus route. She is also the first stop on the way home, so it works out good. But she gets on the bus at 6:45am. AH!!! I used to think the 9am preschool drop-off was early. I never knew how good I had it. When my alarm went off at 6am, my first thought was "omg, this is my new reality." But the twins are sleeping through the night (mostly) so I should be  able to adjust fine :-) Time will tell. My oldest child was beyond excited to go to school. We put her on the bus and then Patrick drove to Florence to meet her there and help her get to her classroom....

If I'm being completely honest, this has been a really long summer. I see facebook posts & pics of other moms livin' it  up with their toddlers....jaunting off to amusement parks or the lake; making sand castles at the beach; or simply sitting in the backyard while their kids splash around in the baby pool and lick popsicles. The smiles abound & you can almost hear the giggles through the computer screen. Yeah, not so much for this mama. I've tried the baby pool, but the mosquito's at our house are no match to even the highest percent of deet.  There are never enough red popsicles so someone usually ends up crying or in time out if we attempt them. We joined a pool and have gone more than I thought we would, but truthfully its more stress than fun when I have all 4 kids alone. Maggie, our neighbor, has been a lifesaver and kept the twins A LOT so I could take the "older" kids. My mom friends are awesome in helping out, and I'm super grateful fo...

I'm posting this picture for my friend, Rachel. See, you are not the only one who struggles with plants. I tried REALLY hard to love & nuture this little tomato plant. I'm hopeless....

Natalie 22lbs 8oz (24%) 30 1/2 in (19%) *Babbles up a storm, and can have 2-3 minute monologues; but no real words in all that babbling except "here ya go." Super cute as my other kids didn't do this. *Real Words: mama, dada, bye, uh-oh, up ,here-ya-go, go ( should have 8+words and putting 2 words together). We have chosen not to pursue speech therapy at this time. *Signs: more, up, all done, eat, please, milk *"Reads" books to Jenna. I'm trying to get this on video but have been unsuccessful so far *Started real walking at end of 16 months after walking on knees for months *Sleeps through the night mostly and takes 1 nap (90min-2 1/2hrs). We are not on any kind of schedule. I don't mind, they sleep when they need to, and are super flexible *Sleeps in crib 50% of time, PnP in closet other 50% (depends on how Jenna is doing). Light sleeper. *Likes to eat, but much pickier than Jenna. Favorite foods are banana, cheese, yogurt, crackers, peanut bu...

Being the oldest, Allison is getting to try stuff first. And she is the perfect one to do it as she likes just about everything. Since about 2 years old, Allison loves to dress up and dance around the living room. So she was in heaven when she got to dress up and dance with other little girls her age at "real" dance. We had heard about "In His Steps" from some friends of ours. And since one of those friends offered to pick her up and take her to dance, how could I say no? In His Steps is actually a ministry of Tricia and Angie. They use their God-given talents and schooling in professional dance to help budding dancers praise God. They ask for a minimal donation for each class and use the money to help the poor in Nicaragua. The girls (of all ages) perform for nursing homes during the year and then have a "Night of Worship" with other churches at the end of the year. Allison has really enjoyed dancing this year. It's also neat to watch her break into...