Wouldn't ya know it...

The one day when I have to decide of the fate of my frozen food and determine the popsiscles where not critical... is the day that AJ falls and cuts open his mouth. (He's fine.. but a frozen popsiscle would have sure helped.)

Our Beloved Freezer: 2004-2008

Well, actually it is much older than that since we bought it used and previously loved. But today, it up and kicked the bucket. Now, we only paid $50 for it four years ago and well, it has earned its keep, saving its cost over and again. But today, it gasped its last freon - despite my praying over it several times today. However, a miracle is not out of the question... if Joshua can pray that the sun stop for 24 hours, I feel I can pray for a little freezer CPR.

The good news is that the freezer is currently packed full. This means, that the items will keep each other nice a cold for a while.

The bad news is that the freezer is currently packed full. So we will soon need to eat or save a lot of items. (I know your saw my recent shopping trip - I shop with my freezer in mind) and I recently made several meals for the freezer as well. A few pregnant friends just might be getting blessed here real soon.

More good news is that it is really cold out still (although warmer today than it has been for a while), so our garage should buy us some time until we figure out a game plan.

More bad news is new freezers are not cheap and I just looked in our budget envelope labeled, "money for when our freezer breaks" and well, it's empty.

So, I have been babysitting the freezer today... try to balance how long to keep things in vs. moving them, not only to save the most food, but to avoid a mess as the freezer inevitably defrosts. Tonight we have Bible Study, but it looks like we just might be spending our Valentine's Day at Cupid's Appliance and Repair.

Bloggy Award

My friend Shannon gave me this award. Thanks, Shannon! Back atcha.

Flyers and Coupons and Rebates... Oh My!!

After posting my grocery post a few days ago... I think I start regretting it and almost removed it altogether. This is my blog and my space to write what I want... but I kept thinking, "Is everyone going to know how lame I am? I am neurotic about my grocery shopping and do I really want to share that with the whole world?" (Yes, I had no problem sharing my birth story, but my grocery tab, c'mon).

Anyway, my friends came through for me and not only encouraged my efforts, but shared in my zealousness. So, check out Rebecca's and Andrea's posts and if you feel like jumping on the $200 grocery wagon... let me know!

Nice Try... really.

In an effort to get out of napping today, Andrew made me an offer that I almost couldn't refuse. He asked me if I was going to nap, too and I told him that I had work to do while he naps.

He then said, "Why don't you take a nap and I'll wash the dishes."

Oh, honey.... if I thought that we would still have dishes in tact that we could eat off without catching salmonella and that you would survive the sharp blades, I would jump all over that offer! I love you, too!

$200.47

What can two Franklin's get you on grocery day?

I hate spending that much in one day morning, but I usually only go major grocery shopping every two to three weeks, unless there is a great sale. So this will last us a while. Now, I just need to get busy 'processing' it. (Dividing up meat into freezable portions, pouring a little off the top of the milk before freezing it, determining what we will eat in the next few days that stays in the fridge vs. freezer, etc...) The good thing is with the weather being so cold, I can keep things in the garage until I am ready to take care of it. Alright, now you know more about my grocery habits than you ever wanted to know. (Oh... and I will be getting $13.72 back in rebates, so my total is actually under two Benjamins. Woo Hoo).

Oh, I totally know someone will (or should) comment about how I have too much time on my hands... and I wouldn't blame them.

Snowbound.

We are getting dumped on! D.U.M.P.E.D O.N. Seriously, I snow plowed our sidewalks and drive three times between 3pm and 5pm and Marc had to again about 15 minutes ago. It's crazy. Everything is canceled tonight including our Bible Study. Poor Marc was on the road all day today and didn't get home until 7pm due to the roads. I am hoping to get out a little tomorrow... we desperately need some groceries and to return items to the library. Heaven forbid we pay the nickel overdue charge.

Even though we were stuck inside today, we still had some fun. One of my friends had an OB appt, so she dropped off her little guy to play with my boys this morning. Then another friend stopped in with her two kiddos after her OB appt. (I have another pregnant friend due the same time as these two - something was going on last June.) So the boys got some fun play time and I got some grown-up talk. Makes being couped up much better.

Marc and I are also in our annual '24'-athon. Every year about this time when the weather is crummy, we rent and watch a new season. However, because the shows are so intense and full of cliff hangers, we are exhausted by the time we are done. We end up staying up way past our bedtimes watching just one more episode and then we are dragging the next day. And because it's literally almost 24 hours of TV... we only do it once a year. (It just dawned on me that I've written about this in the past.) We are only on season four.

We are expecting another 6 inches tonight. Yikes.

Can We Fix It?

Yesterday was MOPS Monday at the Children's Museum again.... but it wasn't a normal visit because !BOB THE BUILDER! was there and that demands that I write his name in all caps with exclaimation points because that is how exciting !BOB! is. Scoop, Muck, Dizzy, Lofty, Roley, Wendy, !BOB!, and more were there along with all kinds of !BOB! related activities.

I really didn't get any decent pictures of the boys... especially since Andrew is going through a phase where he intentionally makes a silly face for the camera. Andrew even took a picture of AJ and me. And of course, both boys got caught up in their train set... y'know, the one like the exact one we have at home that we can play with for free when we don't have !BOB! everywhere.

Pizza McDonald's & and movie

If you know us at all, you know that we eat a lot of homemade pizza. I make the dough in the breadmaker and could probably do it in my sleep... most days.

However, I've been in a slump. Yesterday's dinner was supposed to be pizza. I had made a packet of dry dough ingredients a while ago for the freezer, so that all I had to do was dump in the breadmaker, add water and a little oil and I was good to go. And hour and a half later, about dinnertime, I realize that apparently I missed a cup or two of flour whenever I made that packet. The dough was runny and sticky and wasn't edible. It was dinnertime and we ended up scounging for food since it was too late to thaw or really cook much of anything.

Today, since I had already thawed the pizza toppings last night, our plan was to have pizza and movie night. We currently have our friend's projector, so were going to have pizza while watching CARS on the big screen. However, this afternoon, I apparently forgot to put yeast in the dough this time. And again, didn't realize it until it was time to make the pizza... too late to start over, to late to thaw something else. The pizza was going to be a late dinner as it was, let alone make something else. How in the world did I do this twice in row?

Off to McDonald's goes Marc. Not exactly a first (or second or fifth) choice for my dinner, but hey, dinner was already way late. And kids didn't seem to mind one bit. McDonald's and CARS... perfect!

Now, since the dough wasn't cooked, I did go ahead and added the yeast and turned the breadmaker back on. I think it turned out ok (I think, going on looks) - granted it's too late to eat pizza tonight, but tomorrow after church, all we will have to do is top, bake and enjoy (hopefully).

English to Spanish to English again?

When I work on 'school' with Andrew... often I look up the Spanish word for something using Babel Fish. It has an option of translating a whole website for you. So for kicks and giggles, tonight, I translated my blog. Of course, not being the Spanish speaking person I am, I had no idea if the translation was correct at all. So, I took the Spanish translation and translated it back to English. I am sure this is NOT the proper way to translate, but it made for some funny reading. Below is the first two paragraphs of my previous post translated in English, after being translated to Spanish.

AJ and I had I fix tonight of accounts in the supper. Orujo had a meeting
of the work through the state, so it against me was right tonight. It rejected
to eat his tallarines (it loves tallarines normally)... I hope, no, take that,
he even rejected to try them. It seated so, and he seated, and shouted and
seated and shouted, and seated. And you cannot really reason with 21 months old,
although I tried. "you cannot obtain down until taking a mordedura", "you you
can have special ours convite when you take a mordedura", etc... In the end, he
was bedtime and it had still not eaten any thing with exception of a small
mouthful after the siesta. I did not wish to send it to the bed without the
supper (I do not think that it is quite old to take hold that when he at night
wakes up hungry hours more ahead in the center that, yes, in fact he MUST have
eaten his tallarines. No, it finishes being hungry, and angered, he would hear
speak he).

Therefore, he obtained emparedado of mantequilla of peanut before bed. And,
if AJ is obtaining emparedado, then Andrew wishes emparedado well (even if great
Andrew a great supper). I removed so to our new new cutter special from the
bread - thanks to grandma. The boys do not eat the crust anyway, so this small
tool is fresh. Although, I said to Andrew that when it gives return to four he
must begin to eat the crust, because four olds of the year eat the crusts. And
yes, I know - not exactly punishiment for AJ. Way to do the payment to him for
its rebellion.