The Old Homeplace

Taking a Short Break

Well, I'm just too busy for blogging these days.  Not sure why, but I just can't think of anything to write and there is just way too much going on with the kids being out of school and caring for the feathered flock and the house and gardens.

I'm sure I won't be gone too long, but will resume posting here when I feel more "into it".

Blessings all! 

~ Audrey ~

July Monthly Menu

Hey all!!!  I decided to post my menu for the month of July here to remind myself, and maybe it will give others some ideas as well.

1.  corndogs and french fries (we were supposed to have something else, but changed it last minute)

2. beef  fajitas

3. chicken enchiladas

4. hamburgers and hotdogs, potato salad, bakes beans, red, white, and blue cupcakes

5. stuffed pasta shells, green beans

6. south of the border chicken soup

7. porcupine meatballs, mashed potatoes, buttered peas

8. ham, broccoli cheese and rice casserole, glazed carrots

9.  bbq chicken, baked potatoes

10.  leftovers

11. pizza

12. pork loin, vegetables, noodles, hot rolls

13. crockpot lasagna and green beans

14.  chilli and cornbread

15.  orange chicken, garlic mashed potates, buttered peas

16.  cheeseburger macaroni

17.  leftovers

18.  chilli dogs

19.  pizza

20.  fried chicken,mashed potatoes and green beans

21spaghetti

22.  sweet and sour meatballs, mashed potatoes and buttered corn

23.  crockpot chicken and ricce, steamed brocoli

24.  leftovers

25.  biscuits and gravy (daddy cooks)

26.  lemon chicken, roasted veggies, steamed broccoli

27.  bbq beef sandwiches, french fries

28.  tasty pork dish, ginger chicken, fried rice

29. pizza

30. chicken enchiladsa

31 leftovers

What are YOUR plans for the Fourth????

We had a great cookout last year for lunch, thinking everyone we invited (family friends) would want to go their separate ways in the evening to be with family and shoot off fire works.  Well, we had so much fun, and lots of hamburger and hot dogs, buns and the fixin's left over and after everyone hung out most of the day, talked, laughed, and played games, we decided to do it all over again for dinner! LOL  It was alot of fun, and just upon finishing up dinner and cleaning up afterwards, we heard some fireworks outside.  So we all ran outside and neighbors a few blocks over were shooting off some wonderful fireworks.  We stood outside watching neighbors from all around shooting off fireworks as well as hubby and Kara's hubby shooting off fireworks in our back yard.  It was so much fun.

But it is a different year, and it seems our list of friends from last year all have family get togethers to attend this year.  Some have said they might be able to make it, but in reality, we won't know until the last minute.  So, I am pretty confident it is just going to be hubby, son, and I this year.  We are planning on cooking out most of the day (I will make baked beans and potato salad as well), and enjoying the fireworks in our neighborhood again. 

We are really looking forward to hamburgers and hotdogs on the grill, since this will be the 2nd time we have used the grill this summer.  We are also hoping for some good weather, so we can set up Noah'd little pool and he can have some fun in it!!!  He is so adorable slidding down the mini slide in it and plopping into the pool!!

Anyway, I was just wondering what everyone else's plans were for this July 4th holiday.  Whatever you have planned, I hope you have fun, and are safe!

Double Frosted Brownies

This recipe makes 3 dozen brownies.  YUMMY!

1 pkg (9x13 pan size) fudge brownie mix

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar

2 T instant vanilla pudding mix

2-3 T milk

1 can (16 oz) chocolate fudge frosting

Prepare brownie mix according to the package directions.  Spread the batter into a greased 9x13 baking pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick insertedd 2 inches from side of pan comes out clean.  Cool completely on a wire rack.

In a mixing bowl, beat butter, sugar, and pudding mix until blended.  Add enough milk to achieve spreading consistency. Frost brownies.  Cover and refrigerate 30 minutes.  Spread with fudge frosting.  Cut into bars. Store in the refrigerator.

Old Glory Dessert

I found this recipe a few weeks ago in a magazine.

Old Glory Dessert

(serves 10-12)

1 tube (18 oz) refrigerated sugar cookie dough

2 pkgs (one 8 oz, and one 3 oz) cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup confectioner's sugar

4 1/2 tsps lemon juice

1/2 cup fresh blueberries

2 cups quartered fresh strawberries

Press cookie dough into a greased 15x10 inch baking pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until slightly golden brown.  Cool; on a wire rack.  In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar and lemon juice until smooth.  Set aside 1/4 cup.  Spread remanining cream cheese mixture over completely cooled crust.  Decorate with berries to resemble a flag.  Cut a small hole in a corner of a pastry or plastic bag.  Insert star tip #16.  Beginning in one corner, pipe stars in the spaces between the blueberries.

A friend in need, is a friend indeed. WHAT??? LOL

So, I have a friend who I talk to almost every single day (unless it is a family weekend type thing), and she didn't work today, so she asked if she could "make an appointment with my washer and dryer".  LOL  I am thinking, well what am I getting out of this, but didn't dare ask, because she would have come up with something smart like, "You get the blessed gift of having my presence in your home while the laundry is washing and drying." LOL  Yeah, she is funny like that. 

So, I thought she was on her way over, when her daughter calls and says, mommy wanted me to call you and tell you we are still coming over there, but she has to deal with something first.  GEESH!  She had already drug her feet all day long (it was 2 oclock by now. LOL).  I said put her on the phone and she continued to tell me DFS (Division of Family Services), and the cops were there.  WHOA! ( Back sotry here.......to fill you all in:   It seems that her ex's new wife is NOT happy that she has to deal with the ex wife (my girlfriend), or the 5 children that CAME WITH THE PACKAGE when you married their father!!!  She has been the evil stepmother in all senses of the name.  She has no children of her own and is pushing the children farther away from their father, because of her actions.  The children were supposed to have this whole week with their father (from last Friday till Sunday I believe), and yet, they were home last night.  My GF had to drive 45 minutes to pick them up at the polive station because the step mom was being mean to them and they were begging to come home.)

Evidentially the new wife, or one of her stooges, called DFS making a report saying the children were not under supervision.  One thing that was said was the youngest boy (1st grader) ran out in front of a car.  But when they asked his brother about it, he said yeah, but that happened at grandma's when we were in dad's care and he wasn't there.  (They weren't even with their mother that weekend!!!LOL)  Anyway.....the cop was real nice because he is a friend of hers.  And I am sure the whole report will come out fine, because it is a lie (she has her kids with her all the time, unless they are with grandparents or staying all night with a friend.  She is definately not the kind who "farms" her kids out to everyone!).  It just makes me so mad that people would make up stories like this to hurt someone, waste the county money on the investigation, etc.

She was upset about it today, and told the ex about it and even he thinks it is rediculous.  But he said he asked his current wife and she swears she didn't do it.  But no one else had the information that she did.  I talked to one of the daughter's today, and she said I heard her say to me and my sister she was going to call DFS and turn my mom in because she is never at home taking care of us!  Evidentially she speaks badly about their mother all the time in their presence and their father doesn't have enough back bone to say anything about it and make her stop.

I feel so sorry for the children involved in this.  They love their dad and want to spend time with him, but they aren't able to spend the rest of this week with him because of his new wife.  And the kids love their mom and hearing their stepmom say such lies about their mother isn't exactly creating a bond between the kids and her.

Please keep this family in your prayers.  It just breaks my heart that the kids are stuck in the middle like this and that the kids and their mother would be hurt and embarassed about someone making a false report like this.  I personally think if someone makes a report, and it comes out to be false, they should be prosecuted!  It is getting rediculous what people will do for revenge now a days. 

Thanks for listening to my rant, and if you find the time and the urge in your heart, please pray for this family and the 5 children involved.

My Weekly Routine (AKA the Road to Sanity in My Home)

I don't know about the rest of you, but if I don't have a daily, or weekly routine, nothing gets done around here, and hubby gets cranky, and I get stressed, and well.......if I don't want all members to go insane, this is what I do!! LOL  I started off my taking some paper, and writing at the top of each one the name of that room (living room, dining room, etc. etc.), and then on each paper writing a detailed list of what needs to be done in each room. (dusting, windexing, vacuuming, shaking the rugs, mopping, etc.)  Then I divided those rooms into 5 days (I still cook on weekends, but I don't do laundry, or cleaning).  So, this is my mini list of what rooms to do on which days of the week.

Monday:  Clean living room and dining room (these rooms adjoin in my house and get cluttered up over the weekend) and one load of laundry (weekend clothing)

Tuesday: Master bedroom and mini bath, laundry (sheets and towels)

Wednesday: Kitchen, Laundry room/pantry

Thursday: Large downstairs bathroom, office/Noah's bedroom

Friday: Upstairs bathroom, upstairs bedrooms (2)

Saturday:  Review menu planner, review calendar of upcoming events

Sunday: grocery shopping (because we go to church 25 miles away, and there is also a Super Walmart in that town, we do grocery shopping after church), clean out the refrigerator and empty all trash cans (this is because trash can is early  Monday mornings), and collect all dirty clothes (to wash tomorrow)

This is how I keep our house running like a well oiled machine.  LOL  Yeah right.  Some days are better than others, and some weeks are better than others.  But since I have this schedule, if something comes up and I have to skip that day, then I do the bare minimum to get by on that room, knowing that every week I deep clean the room.  If I miss it one week, I make sure I get it the next week.  Things are going to happen......the child is going to have a whiney, clingy day where you need to hold him all day long or else he will scream like a banchee  (yeah, this has happened before), or you have many errands to run that day that take longer than expected, especially if it is a doctor's office and you have to sit there for 2 hours waiting for your doctor, or I have a friend come by (and I put cleaning aside to visit), etc.  So this is a schedule that for me, is a little flexible.

Hope this helps someone out there.  If not, oh well.  I wanted my routine in my files anyway. LOL

Menu Planner Monday

Hey all.  I have been lazy about posting my weekly menus lately.  Life has been so busy, but it is starting to calm down now a bit, so I am back at posting every Monday (hopefully).  If anyone is interested in any of these recipes, please PM me, because I haven't yet figured out how to link the recipe here.

Monday:  Sausage Pizza (we didn't end up having pizza on Friday, and since there is leftover cooked sausage from breakfast yesterday, this should be an easy meal tonight.  Plus there will be leftovers for lunches for me and for hubby at work for a day ro two.)

Tuesday:  Lemon Chicken, Roasted vegetables, Steamed Broccoli

Wednesday: Beef Fajitas (might even try this in the crockpot this time)

Thursday: Chicken Enchiladas

Friday: We are cooking out on the grill!!!!  Hot dogs, Hamburgers, Baked beans, Potato Salad, and Red, White and Blue cake

Saturday: Pork Loin, and Vegetables (crockpot meal), Hot Rolls (maybe some noodles too)

Sunday:  South of the Border Chicken Soup ( crockpot meal)

I don't normally post lunches and breakfasts because we just grab whats around.  LOL  I always make sure there is oatmeal and cereal and I bake muffins and such for breakfasts.  For lunches during the week, we often just grab a sandwich, or a salad, or eat leftovers.

Just when I thought we were almost debt free.........UGH!!!!!

As with most people I have read from here at HSB, we are striving to be debt free.  First was to pay any outstanding debts (we have no credit cards, but we had a few small bills with the hospital and doctor's office from when Matthew was hospitalized with the flu last fall), and paid them off in one quick swoop!  Yipee!!!  We have no car payments (last car was paid off 2 falls ago), no credit cards, no school loans, etc.  So we are pretty lucky about that.

All we had left in debt was our house mortgage, and since we have only lived here 3 years, that isn't going anywhere soon!  We recently got a letter saying our house payment was going down a bit because of interest rates though!  YIPEEE!  So our house payment is now under $350.00.  We continue to pay extra on our household mortgage by rounding it up to $400.00 and putting the extra towards the principal.  So far, so good.

But, about a week or so ago, my two brothers and I received a letter from Medicaid saying they were suing the estate of my parents (who died in 2006 and 2007) for the amount of $45,000!!!  When mom died (she was the last one to die), the house and vehicle was still in her name.  We all encouraged mom and dad to sign them over to my oldest brother while dad was still alive, but his pride got to him, and he refused.  So....mom and dad were on Medicare but Medicare found out about the house and the vehicle and have been fighting with us for some time to come after both.  We sold the house and the vehicle though, and the money has mostly been dispersed!!!  So now, each child has to come up with the money, or they can take my oldest brother David, (whose daughter just got married, as you can see in previous posts) to court since he is the executor of the estate. 

To make a long story short, my brother David bought me and Chris out on the house, giving us half our money last year, and half was to be dispursed this year.  He gave hubby and I our portions in full, so now we have to pay some of it back since Medicaid is coming after us.  He only gave my brother Chris half of his, but when it all boils down to it, Chris still owes David $2500.00 and we owe alot more.  Try $10,000!!!  Yeah!!! 

We have spent some of the money on fixing up the house a little, fixing my car (bent tire rod, new tires), new tools for Matthew at work, a new laptop computer (a luxury honestly), and well....a bunch of little stuff that adds up!  I wish we had put that in savings and NOT SPENT A DIME!!!  GEESH!!  A lesson learned on this one.

David is so sweet about it.  He is the best brother anyone could ever have, and he knows we are responsible and will pay him back, because he is going to end up covering our portion for us in full!!  YIKES!!!  We have $6000.00 in savings right now.  We will give David $5000.00 this weekend, keeping $1000 in saving for absolute emergencies.  So we will start making payments to him monthly for the rest.

My father was a Insurance Salesman (Medicare and Senior), and he owned his own business.  When he died he hadn't been able to work it for over 2 years, so there isn't alot of business still coming in.  However, the commissions on customers who renew their policies with dad still come in to the Estate (my oldest brother), so they are split 3 ways and dispursed almost every month.  Some months there isn't much, and other months several hundred.  It evens out to be about $500.00 a month.  So we are thinking about just giving those straight back to David and getting this debt paid off immediately.

It is nice that this debt is not from a company or collection agency, and of course David would never charge us interest, but I do so hate owing people money and especially family!!!  We are responsible for this debt and we will pay it, even if it means an extra job for me, cutting way back on expenses, etc.

So, today I am sitting down with a pad and pen, praying over the situation and asking God what we should do.  Matthew is working today, so I will fill him in on what is going on and we will both look over the finances and pary about the situation together.  I know God will guide us in this and will help us with the best path to take in getting this debt paid in full.

If you find it in your heart, please pray for us and for us to get a clear message from God on what we need to do next on this situation.

Thank you all!!!

Planning a Suprise Birthday Party

I love planning little get togethers, parties, BBQs, etc. for friends and family!!!!  My friend Jen (also know to Noah as Aunt Jen-Jen and our number one favorite  babysitter), turns 35 on July 5th of this year.  I was laying in bed the other night, unable to sleep, and thought of a brilliant idea!!!  Throw her a SUPRISE birthday party!!!

I spoke to my best friend the following day (Marcia, also known on HSB as momma25js) and told her about my idea and she loved it.  She told me she would love to help out, and I needed it.  So we quickly made up a list of friends (along with Jen's mom and aunt who live in town as well), and started calling people that day.  Since it is such short notice, we decided we needed to invite people personally instead of sending a card!!!  Most everyone (10 of us) are able to come!!!

We decided on a brown and pink colors.  Marcia will make strawberry cupcakes with chocolate icing and a sliced strawberry on each.  I will make a brownie pizza, topped with Jen's favorite white chocolate pudding, bananas, strawberries, and drizzled with semisweet chocolate.  YUMMY!!  I will also make some kind of strawberry punch!  I will be going to Wal-Mart this weekend and hope to find some party plates to match our theme, some pink baloons and streamers as well.

I live near 2 funeral homes (within 1 block of each), so I have asked all the guests to arrive a few minutes early, and park in the funeral home parking lot so Jen will not see the cars when she pulls up to our house.  I will have everyone hide, and then when she sees all the decorations I will open the french doors to the room where evevryone is hiding and then will pop out and say suprise.

I am excited about it.  Jen is such a sweet friend.  She would do anything, fo anyone.  She refuses to take money for babysitting Noah on occassion (and one time for a whole weekend while we went away for our anniversary), so I repay her by taking her out to dinner and a movie for a girly night every once in a while.

I hope to take some good pics and post them online afterwards.