7 Quick Takes! A Recap of Life in the Tiny House This Week! Praises, Grilled Apple Pie and Real Life Large Family Mess!

 Happy Friday! How was your week? 

Ours was stressful, but it ended GREAT!  God is good all the time, and all the time God it good!

 

1. Praise 

 Addison's stitches came out this week. Test results came back too. It's not cancer! Praise the Lord!
Her lymph node did come back positive for infection and irregular inflammation. Apparently when she caught epstein barr virus back in May (Which we didn't find out until September. A level of 22 is considered high. Hers was 400, in September!) her immune system had trouble fighting it off and it decided to set up camp in her lymph nodes. Particularly in one certain one. That's the one they took out. It had started to change in it's feel, and they wanted it out for testing ASAP. The infection also showed up a couple of other ways on her body. We will still be working to resolve those as well. She will recover and be normal. That is all that matters.

 Parents, when you know something isn't right with you kids...ADVOCATE FOR THEM!!!!

That mother's intuition... is Jesus...listen to HIM. 

 We went to the Dr off and on all Summer for this and it took me finally putting my foot down and demanding they do something before they sent us forward to a specialist. By the time we got into the right specialist, they wanted it out on the very next surgery day.
Apparently there is a big link between epstein barr and childhood lymphoma.



2. Haircuts and cuteness

  While I usually cut the majority of the hair in the house..life has been crazy, and Anna's hair was starting to intimidate me.It was a seriously messy mop of half mullet and half curls. I just couldn't do it. Plus she is very anti sit still for Mommy, right now. Addison's hair was needing a stylist touch up also.
So I called up Shelli and she managed to fit them in this week. This is Anna's first time sitting in the big girl chair without Mommy.
Addison didn't hold still long enough after she finished for me to take a picture. That is typical health Addison, so I'll take it!



3. Appointments...

 I went back and looked. We have had no less than 15 appointments in the last 3.5 weeks.  I wasn't joking last week when I said there had been a lot of them. That is just doctor appointments. Not including co-op, cross country and other obligations.

 So. If you know us in real life and I was supposed to call you for a play date or a get together or to contact you for anything...that is why. I'm sorry. We are slowly getting back to normal around here. 

 I noticed this week that over 75% of our photos recently have been taken in a waiting room.

 

However, on a positive and slightly fun note. All of the kids (Anna not included, obviously) had eye Dr appointments this week. Which means, they all got to pick out new glasses!

She slept through the ENTIRE thing!

 I did too. Mine wasn't quite as fun though, The Dr walked in and say "So you're 32 now." A statement, not a question. I say yes, and then he does my exam.

He says "Looks good. All of your changes are typical for getting older." 

OUCH! Thanks a lot Doc!


In conclusion...I'm getting older and my four-eyed family will be styling some new frames in a couple of weeks.!




4. The pinning addiction has begun!
The is a copy of the post I made this week. 

 Emma just got Pinterest. It is too funny listening to her go "Oh man! That's a good idea!" Every five seconds.
The birth of the pinning addiction has begun! Starting her young.


5. A real life look at monthly shopping.

I have mentioned before that we do real life here. Messes, imperfections, they are a part of life. What help would I be giving to other moms if I hide it?  
Monthly shopping is definitely a new thing for me. I'm loving it though! It is really crazy, stressful and hectic for 1-2 days and then I don't have to deal with it again for a month.
While unloading this week, Emma suggested we take a picture to share. I should point out that some freezer stuff is already put away, and we had already went on a non food run the day before for household stuff. When we do it all in one big trip, you can barely walk through the house. But it all fits comfortably in our very small kitchen, and small deep freeze. Creativity is key. ;)

So here you go. Our real life mess, large family, monthly shopping style...









6. Things we ate this week.

 For some reason, the monthly meal planning has helped me to add in more new recipes. We have had a handful in the last couple months. Most of them were approved and asked to be made again. I only share and recommend things that work for us. So if I ever post something on here, then rest assured it is good stuff! ;)

Slow Cooker Sweet and Spicy Brown Sugar Pork

I really thought I had made a flop with this one. All through the meal people kept commenting on it being spicy. They kept going back for extra coleslaw and more water. At the end of the meal I apologized and told them I wouldn't make it again. To which everyone asked why and said how good it as?? I am not a fan of eating spicy food, but apparently they are. I already knew this about Dustin. Looks like the spicy gene got passed down. If you like something with a little heat, this is the recipe for you!

Cheesy Chicken Quesadilla's 

 My friend Angela  mentioned utilizing rotisserie chickens in her meal plan to save time . She also homeschools and does co-op and other similar things as our family. She also has 6 kids. When Angela talks, Lyndsay listens. ;)


 We typically grab a chicken while in Sam's club to have for dinner on the night we grocery shop for the month. Toss it with a salad and everyone is happy. But buying them specifically to cook/freezer cook with was a new idea that I hadn't exactly tried. There are tons of recipe ideas online. This one is the one we tried this week. It came together super quick and made a good bit more than the recipe implied. Which is always a bonus.
Dustin even asked for it to show up again in the meal plan sometime soon.  That my friends, is saying a lot!


Apple Butter and Apple Pie Filling!

  We canned apple butter and apple pie filling this week. It was our first attempt with the  pie filling. It didn't exactly specify how tightly to pack the apples in the jar. So we just kind of guessed. Next time we will pack more in there. The recipes turned out tasty though.  I'll be making more later this fall when the granny smith's come on. Also, Andy told me yesterday that he has another bushel of Fuji's for me. I'm picking those up today.
 Dustin if you are reading this..I have absolutely no idea where all these apples keep coming from, that keep showing up at the house. **Shrugs and winks over shoulder at readers.*

 

7. Apparently you CAN bake an apple pie on the grill.

  Shortly before we moved in here we went to Lowe's and bought  a set of kitchen appliances on sale. They are not all the same brand. They were on sale and fit our needs and budget, at that point in time. The fridge has been descent. The dishwasher is temper-mental  but gets the job done. The oven. Oh dear, the oven. This thing has given us issues the first three months of owning it. It is safe to say it is a lemon. The extra warranty wasn't much help either.
Well, it finally gave up the ghost this week. It just so happened to happen while Emma was prepping her first ever homemade pie crust. She was making an apple pie.
We did what any resourceful family did. We panicked for a few minutes. Then, we cooked it on the grill.

Turns out you can bake an apple pie on the grill! It was delicious!

 


I personally can not make a pie crust to save my life. Emma? She has the gift...it was amazing!


Dustin is still buying me a stove in the very immediate future though. Because the lack of stove thing is going to majorly eat into our monthly meal plan and budget.

Blessings!

~Lyndsay

7 Quick Takes, A Recap of Life in The Tiny House This Week! Picking My Least Favorite Kid, Kitchen Update and How Weird It Was Having Only Two Kids!

 Hello and happy September! September is one of my favorite months. Two of our kiddos have birthdays this month and fall is my favorite season. As well as September first kicks off the season of all things pumpkin!(and apples, but nobody really cares about the apples.) Eek!

 It's seven quick takes Friday! The day every week that I share our week with you. This one is going up a bit late. Better late than never, right? I wanted to get up and get an early start with our adventure for the day. (See #7 ;) ) We have had a good, full, crazy and fun week. We saw friends, learned new things and even went to the park. 

  We also remembered to stop what we were doing and take a moment to be thankful for our health, family, food and shelter. We took some extra time to pray for those suffering in Texas. 

Many prayers are being sent to those who have been effected by hurricane Harvey. 

Now for this weeks Seven Quick Takes...



1.What does Daddy make?

 Dustin has taken great joy and pride is asking Anna 'What did Daddy make?' He worked with her for weeks and she will now get all excited and walk around the house pointing at all the stuff he has made, installed or assembled. It is a lengthy list by the way. 
Now she will proudly march through the house and point at basically everything announcing 'Daddy!' and nodding her head.
Recently during one of their 'What did Daddy make?' sessions, we asked her 'What did Mommy make?' She thought very hard for a moment and announced, 'Babies!'
We all agreed that she was right, and entirely too smart for her own good!

2. Why I should never paint when he is home.

  I will never embrace the mess that progress makes. The kitchen is slowly moving forward. Dustin  worked all last weekend. I painted off and on as well. He did the grout on the back splash. My kitchen was such a mess, we ate out for two days. The grout looks great, but, oh the mess!




I also realized that I should not paint when Dustin is home. I randomly find him standing nearby watching, which makes me nervous and then I mess up. It is very unnerving.

 

He also saw a first hand look at how I edge the floor. He has never been home when I did it. So I never told him how I do it. Pretty sure he almost had a heart attack. He doesn't do well with coloring outside the lines.  
Honestly, though, it is the best way to get all of the wood covered and make an even coverage all the way to the floor. I scrub it all off after it is done and no one ever knows. ;)



3. Precious update

 Most of the parts came in for Precious this week. One of Alex's 'Handicrafts' for school is basic mechanics this year. Dustin and Alex spent a couple hours taking the engine apart. This thing is one of the dirtiest pieces of machinery I have ever seen. Alex was covered head to toe by the time they were done. Dustin said he is learning quickly. They both are looking forward to putting her back together.



4. Two kids

 The younger two kiddos stayed the night at a friends house this week so we could spend some time with the older two. We took them to see a historical dramatic play. We also told them they could 'Go wild!' at the snack shack. It was sort of cool hanging out with just two big kids. They had a lot of fun as well.

 

We went to the play, and then did a late night run to Steak and Shake for shakes on the way home. We even told them they could stay up as late as they wanted. They also got to meet some of the cast. They felt pretty special by the end of the night. Dustin and I both kept commenting how different it was having just two big kids. It was kind of weird and a little too calm and quiet.
This also happened to be Anna's first ever night away from Mom and Dad. She did great and so did Mommy.


5. Run the hills!

 

Emma's first cross country race was this week. She and her team mates all did a great job! This was the hardest race of the season. It is a mile long track with two big hills. One being at the very end, with the finish line at the top! Also, it poured the rain the entire time.
 Emma's time was 9:59, not bad considering the hills, rain and being a course she didn't even get a chance to walk before the race. She is very proud and loving being healthy enough for real sports.
This time two years ago she couldn't even go outside for more than five minutes without needing extra medicine and a nap. Now she runs/walks 5-10 miles a week. That's not including just being a kid and having fun, her strength training for CC and gym class at co-op.


6. Week four

This was our fourth week back to school for the year. The kids are all doing well and enjoying their work. A couple of them have really had to step up their game with school, but that is normal with getting older. You have to be pushed and try to grow and change. I'm so proud of them and their accomplishments.
I did not snap many pictures of them this week. Life has been down right crazy, in a good way! I did snap this one of them this week.



7.  Once a month shopping!

 I have wanted to attempt planning and shopping monthly for a long time. I have toyed around with the idea for a while. Dustin's pay schedule just never made it seem feasible. Plus there was the challenge of storing a months worth of food in a 'tiny house'.
With the new business being up and running. We have changed how often we get payed. I realized about a month or so into our new venture that I would be able to give 'Once a month shopping' a try. I started it a bit last month, wanting to ease myself in. I bought the months worth of meats and canned goods.
This month, I did the whole month (Minus some produce and milk) in one big haul! I menu planned, budgeted and prepared. My main worry was not forgetting anything and making sure it didn't go over budget on paper. (I always over estimate)
All of it went over so well today! The budget fell into place and the list went well. The only thing I didn't account for...the space in my van + the kids + a months worth of groceries! It was a super tight squeeze. Thankfully Alex was not with us, or I might have had to pick my least favorite child for the day and leave that one behind at Aldi.;)
All of the groceries are now safely tucked away in the cabinets, freezer and fridge. Every cabinet, the fridge and the deep freeze all look like a high stakes game of Jenga!
I will be updating the blog with how the monthly meal plan goes for us. I have a feeling it will change and grow over time. For today, day 1, it is going great!  



 I hope you all had a blessed mess of a week, like we did. The days may be long but the years are way too short! 

Blessings!

~Lyndsay 

 Now I am off to have a cup of decaf coffee with pumpkin spice creamer. It is September and that means everything is pumpkin flavored! From now until January! #Happy Dance
 I'm so excited!!