Unexpected Blessing

We arrived in Muncie Monday evening and had planned to do our usual running around that do while up there yesterday, but when we went out to the car, it wouldn't start. The boys and I played in the hotel pool while Jim called his dad. Thanks to the fact we had a refrigerator and microwave in our room and we had picked up a couple of lunchables and microwaveable things at Wal-Mart the night before, I was able to give the boys lunch in our room. Jim and his dad got our car towed to a repair shop thinking that the fuel pump was out. So instead of running around like we usually do, we spent the day hanging out in our room and at Jim's dad's house, reading, watching tv, and playing games on our phones. The boys also had fun with the PaperJamz guitars that Jim's sister had left for them for Christmas. Late in the afternoon Jim and his dad dropped the boys and I off at the hotel so the boys could eat while they checked on the car. Just a little while later, they were back, letting me know that the fuel pump was fine. There had just been some water in the lines that had frozen. The car was going to stay at the shop overnight so they could finish thawing it out, but we were not going to be faced with a huge repair bill after all. Jim left with his dad to go pick up some supper for the two of us, and then was back. We spent the rest of the evening swimming and watching tv, ane just enjoying time together. In hindsight, being without the car was the best thing for us because we just rested and spent time together without the craziness of trying to run around and visit a lot of people and without the distractions of work that needs doing at home. We are now headed home, much more rested than we would have been, and with good memories of time spent together.

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Merry Christmas!

Our tree on Christmas Eve. ...just waiting for the stockings and presents from Santa to be set in front of it and for two little boys to discover the treasures that lie under that Snoopy wrapping paper. If you look really closely, you might see little packages wrapped in notebook paper or computer paper. Fron the time the tree went up nearly a month ago the boys have been disappearing into their rooms to make presents for people and emerging with white paper packages covered in drawings they did themselves. I look forward to seeing all their hard work in the morning. :)

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Early Christmas Present

Jim needed a new battery for his cell phone and so visited the Verizon store today. Since the contracts on both our phones were up and it has been a few years since we last got phones, Jim was told that it would actually be more expensive to get a new battery than to upgrade our phones. So, thanks to a sale and rebates, we now have Android phones. The monthly cost for unlimited internet is only $10 more per month than it would cost to get internet service at the house and since we are going to eliminate our landline, our monthly bills will not increase. Now we can do some of the internet related things that we used to have to leave the house and go to the library to do. I am hoping to be able to blog more regularly and profitably and hopefully I'll even figure out how to add pictures! Since we are using part of the Christmas money wew received from family, we both feel like we have already gotten new toys for Christmas. :)

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Things to Smile About (The Yay! We Have Snow Days Version)

Things to smile about since I've had some unexpected snow days this week. :)
- getting the Christmas letter finished
- wrapping presents and having them under the tree early
- watching The Sing-Off with my guys and laughing at Caleb getting so excited about Jerry Lawson and Talk of the Town (funny that my youngest likes the oldest acappella group on the show!)
- listening to Jim and Seth make up new rhymes for The Grinch Who Stole Christmas
- watching the boys play Clue using the set Jim has had since he was their age
- having most of the Christmas party type events we usually do cancelled due to scheduling conflicts and really enjoying the holes in the schedule
- baking with Seth
- sleeping in! (catching up on some desperately needed sleep)
- enjoying peppermint hot chocolate and gingerbread pancake puppies at Denny's with my 3 favorite guys :)
- Time - much needed, much missed, time with my family!

Homemade Shake and Bake

I adapted a recipe that I found in The Complete Tightwad Gazette to make this Shake and Bake style coating. I have used this to coat chicken tenders that I then baked at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes before sprinkling with mozzarella cheese and baking 5 more minutes. Yum! Next, I plan to try this on some boneless pork chops that I have in the freezer. The recipe makes a big batch, so I have a container of the mix in my refrigerator ready for future quick meals.

I'm thinking it would also be good mixed with leftover mashed potatoes and egg, shaped into balls or patties and fried as potato cakes.

4 cups flour
2 cups dry bread crumbs
2 cups Italian style dry bread crumbs
4 tablespoons salt
2 tablesspoons sugar
2 teaspoons garlic powder
3 tablespoons paprika
1/4 cup canola oil
Mix well and store in refrigerator in covered container.

110 Things November Progress

#90 Go visit great-aunt - done
#74 Clean out spice drawer - done
#44 Begin making my own seasoning mixes - taco seasoning made
#1 and #60 Journal through/ Read throught the Bible - Judges done
#42 Blog updates Homekeeping 54/284 entries done, Bookworm, 30 of 284 done
#47 One handmade object per week - one more done - new total 25/142
#69 Journal 74/500 entries done