Dad's menu

First of all... I haven't really blogged anything except for trips with pictures for who knows how long. It might be the other blogs I'm doing (The Little Man's and Baby II), but really, this seems to be turning into just a journal of our family, and is probably of very little interest to anyone but family. Sorry.

We've been using our pantry/freezer/food storage a lot this month. Our reasoning is two-fold. I try to get rid of my freezer meals at least once a year, and it saves money, which has been a major goal this month.

This week? I came up with a menu that I needed one item from the grocery store (at least Monday - Friday). That item? Hot Dogs. I know.

3 days of the week I'm pulling from my dad's menu from when we were kids. My dad actually had quite a few meals that were really good, but they were 'weekend meals'. He had a few stand-by's if he had to cook during the week.

Yesterday was Tuna fish and noodles. Tonight? Beanies and Weinies. And later this week we'll have meat rolls.

I can almost hear your jealousy. You might not want to come over this week during dinner time, you might have to share.

The weekend that wasn't

A month or so the Hardcastle's decided we wanted to go camping. We had good intentions, but started planning too late, and the first (and only) free weekend for everyone was last weekend. Not a whole lot of camping goes on around here after Labor Day (if you're not in a camper). My dad checked the weather and the low was going to be in the 20's. I can handle mid-30's, but no one was up to freezing all night, so we cancelled it. I think we'll try again next year, but we'll plan it a little earlier.

We did, however, enjoy the best part of camping -the food. Most of us went over to my parents for a dutch oven dinner (ribs, potatoes, and dessert). Our little family decided to stay overnight and we all went to the Ogden Dinosaur Park. The Little Man LOVED the dinosaur park. I'm pretty sure he thought the mechanical dinosaurs were real, and more entertaining than most of the animals at the zoo.

We also went up to our cabin for Grandma Hardcastle's birthday. We only get up there about once a year now, so the Little Man doesn't remember ever being there. He LOVED being outside and I love that I have cousins and siblings that wanted to chase him around all night.

Annual Trip

This will probably be a quick post since I can barely keep my eyes open. I went on our annual girls trip to Swiss Days and Park City this weekend, and I am simply worn out.

I actually did much better this year than I did the last time we went and I was pregnant. My feet were so swollen and sore I had to ice them all night and could barely walk on them the next day. I'm only 2 weeks less pregnant this time around than I was then, but I actually haven't been swollen at all, which has been nice.

We rented a condo this time, and it was nice to have a bit more room and a full kitchen. We did a lot of shopping and came home with a lot of bags. This year my aunt and mom put us all to shame with their shopping skills (maybe it was that they have deeper wallets than the rest of us). In fact, I managed to spend all (and then some) of the money I decided I could, and didn't buy a single thing for myself. I guess it's official, I'm a mom. A mom who has a kid that has outgrown all his shoes and needs cheap summer clothes for next year. Oh, and a mom who is expecting at the end of the year, and wanted to make a blanket for the little kid.

Jessica, LeeAnn, Jenny, Karen, Jodi and Me.

Good reminder

This is the week that most of the kids nearby started school. This week has meant very little to me for the last couple of years, and probably won't for at least another year, or until the Little Man starts preschool.

I've thought a lot about what this week USED to mean to me. Not as far back as my own school years, but for the four and a half years I spent working with kids for the state. This was a hectic time of year (although, it was ALL pretty hectic to be honest). As caseworkers, we had an entire caseload of kids to get registered and signed up for school. The younger ones were usually easy, especially if they were returning to the same schools and classrooms, and the older ones always required a bit more effort.

I had quite a few kids that I carried on my caseload almost the entire time I worked there. I think about them, and a few others, quite a bit. There was a small group that I worked with that all turned 18 this year, which was a pretty big deal when you were in foster care. All of these kids had special needs, and will have services for the rest of their lives. Most of them are probably living with the same wonderful, caring, and devoted families that made them apart of their family years ago.

Today I saw a post on a blog that I recently added to my ever increasing list of blogs I read. I won't put the picture and the sentiment here, because I didn't ask permission, but please take 60 seconds and click on the link for yourself. It will be well worth one minute of your time.

I love where I am right now. Even though I've been a 'single mom' for the 2nd week this month, I've had more than my fair share of moments lately where I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. I love being at home with the Little Man. He is so fun and full of life right now that I feel like I could do this forever. Before I quit working I wasn't sure if I'd like being a stay at home mom. I know that I won't do this forever, I'll go back to work at some point after the kids are in school, but for now, I wouldn't want to be doing anything else.

Rough month

The Little Man has had a rough month. 24 hours at Primary Children's (just got the bill on that one -thank goodness for insurance), followed by a slow recovery from a stomach bug, and now a little fall while at Girls camp with mom and he ended up with 4 staples in the back of his head.

I swear I watch my kid... he must just be having a bit of bad luck.

Proof that we've had a few fun days this month.

Unique

I really just wanted to post (or even think) about something that is not related to the Little Man's health (or lack there-of).

I was reading a friend's blog and she mentioned that she found a website that was a name generator according to sibling names. Click here for the site. So... you put in your child's name, and it generates boy and girl names that match, or go with, or something like that.

The Little Man's name is a family name, and not very common. In fact, outside of Utah or 'mormon culture' the kid will have to spell out his name to people he talks to. Sorry, but we loved the name and the man he's named after. I guess this site expects us to be as unique or creative with baby number two. (Funny thing is, the names we've discussed couldn't be more traditional).

Here are a few of the suggested sibling names:

Girls:

Zillah
Mattye
Joella
Byrd
Vinna
Chanie
Maie
Caro
Ziplah
Merta
Levina

Boys:

Addie
Orrin
Soloman
Josephus
Atticus
Jhon
Lem
Ebbie
Lott

Wow... what a list to choose from. Any favorites?

An air mattress, spare bed and a hospital couch.

Here's how our weekend went...

2 days camping. One night with one other family, the second night with our ward. We had a fun time, it wasn't too cold, and the Little Man loved running around, playing with kids and getting dirty.

Rush home Saturday morning, get cleaned up, and attend my brother Matt and Jenny's wedding.

It was a lovely afternoon, despite the sprinkling rain showers, and melting heat (yay for outdoor canyon weddings). The bride and groom looked great and happy, and once again the Little Man ran around non-stop for hours. Lucky for me I have great cousins that chased him around so I could get a small break.

(Family shots are stolen from my cousin's camera. I really need to work on taking pictures of anything or anyone other than the Little Man).

The Little Man and I spent the night at my parents and went to (part of) church with them. He started acting really tired and felt a little warm, so I took him home early. He took an almost 4 hour nap (unheard of) and woke up with a fever. After some Motrin it looked like he was feeling much better... until about 5 minutes before we almost put him in the car.

The poor little man started throwing up and didn't stop. (I'm leaving out some of the gory details). We called the on call doctor about 2 hours later, and before I knew it we were heading to Primary Children's Medical Center. We got there around 10:30 pm, and released around 5:00 pm today after some IV fluids (4 attempts to get the IV in), some anti-nausea medicine some coaxing to actually eat some yogurt.

My house is still a mess, my laundry is still unfinished, but I can't tell you how excited I am to finally sleep in my own bed tonight!