Dollar Tree Deals

Warning: the following products are shipped in from China and China's practices and regulations are different than USA standards.
I wanted to share a few of the really great Dollar tree deals that our family has discovered in the frozen food section. The only ingredients listed are the fruits and veggies. We've been stocking the freezer, I love it when I can find food even cheaper than Aldi prices! I found these at 3 different Dollar tree stores in Wichita.

We have tried both and they make wonderful fajitas and stir fry. Yum!!

We love smoothies and I actually like the taste of this fruit better than Aldi's frozen fruit.

Journal: May-June

Out My Window: Pleasant and sunny today, we have had a few hot days(over 100) but with enough mild summer temps sprinkled to make it all manageable. This has been our most successful flower year(see pics)....I know it's not that impressive, but I have a brown thumb, most everything I have planted has withered. I am especially grateful for my healthy rosebush.

Crafting: Benny and Charlie found some pine cones on a walk and we slathered them with peanut butter and seeds and hung them on the tree....it was fun to make, but we are not sure the birds have actually eaten any, I think a renegade squirrel took one down and disappeared with it.

Quick Quip: A new segment...Charlie: "I love you more than I love you forever." This has been his motto for the last few weeks.

In the Kitchen: I have been baking when it's not triple digits, burrito bake and cherry crumble. Gregory tried his first taste of avocado(thanks for the tip, Monica!), he was a little freaked out....doesn't quite know what to do with food in his mouth....I don't get real serious about food until @12 months+.

Avo...what??

The Kids: Noah has been riding around on his bike garage saling. He and Don have done a little volunteer work up at church sanding down some windows.

Jonah: Graduated from 8th grade and we had a Mass and ceremony with our homeschool group. His aunt, Flora, bought him a coding book about creating your own video games and he has been working on that everyday since.

Jonah with his godparents.

Hannah: has been enjoying a pottery class at City Arts(THANK YOU AUNT JANET!!!) with her cousin. She also has been reading a few of Betsy Byar's books, Summer of the Swans and Brady.

Eli: has been building card houses, he's up to 2 stories at present and huge 1 story complexes and he has been teaching Benny and Charlie how to build them.

Benny: Can't get enough of the new swing set Don and the big boys built in the backyard.

Charlie: is a funny little...well big... , guy. We went to a Ride-a-Thon fundraiser for his cousin who receives horse therapy to help with her autism. We got to watch her ride her horse, which was a delight! Charlie whispered in my ear, "When do I get to ride a horse, Mom?" I explained that this was only for the kids in the program and we were just there to watch. Later, Charlie discovered a tire horse swing that he really enjoyed riding and said, "See Mom, I did get to ride on a horse!"

Charlie's horse

Watching: We had a free redbox code so we rented, "The Impossible" a true story about a family that survived the 2004 tsunami in Thailand. It's a great story but a little too graphic in my opinion...and definitely not for kids! This spun-off a series of watching video footage of the tsunami on youtube. I truly don't understand human suffering....especially where children are involved.

Praying/Thinking: about friends who are suffering, how important communication is and how sharp and easily I am to snap at the kids and say hateful things I don't mean, but at the moment I feel it's justified and then later I can't believe what I said! We had a really BAD day and I felt like a complete failure and I wanted to quit.....but for real this time! Reflecting on it the next day, though....we learned so much from that day and how I need to deal with a situation before it gets out of hand...instead of ignoring things until I explode...and then everyone else does. Fr. Jerome gave a homily on the importance of mercy in our day to day lives....aaaah mercy....I need it so much from God....so why is it so hard for me to be merciful with my kids?

 Pic to share:


More flowers



Journal : Confirmation

Recovery Update: I had to briefly mention my little pain in the neck...that hasn't been so little. I ended up in the ER after my last post because I thought I was dying...nope...it was muscle spasms. The doc prescribed cortisone pills, they usually prescribe muscle relaxers, but those are no-no for breastfeeding. After over a month, my pain has lessened and the stiffness has almost completely been reduced....but I am trying to wean myself off of pain med(tylenol & ibuprofin)....I can't believe what a baby I have been about it...I have taken less meds with all 7 of my natural childbirths combined....sheesh...silly sprain!!

Around the House: We have been going through storage tubland which now is in the sunroom, since Noah and Jonah have taken up residence in the storage room. We hope to get the garage organized enough to store all the tubs out there and regain our sunroom/laundry room.

Crafting: Don made "head guards" for Gregory's stroller out of a pool noodle. I thought it was brilliant and now we can walk more than a block without Gregory hitting his head.

The Kitchen: The kids have enjoyed "bird nests", a piece of toast with a hole cut out of the center filled with a fried egg. Don't hate me because I'm boring;)

The Kids:

Noah: Received his Confirmation and chose the name St. Francis of Assisi, he's always had a devotion to him and when he was little, he told me he felt that God wanted him to be a Franciscan priest....I pray he does God's will. He has also been doing a little grunt work for a family members' construction company.

Jonah: New GLASSES with transition lenses....Don and Hannah got them as well. He has been doing weird experiments with them....like covering half the lens and seeing if only the exposed half transitions....YES..it does....so we deduced that standing half in the shade would only turn the half of the lens exposed...so funny!!

Hannah: Has been really into hula hooping and jump roping. She is Gregory's second Mom and he really responds well to all the attention.

Elijah: Just finished Art class for the year and can't wait to go back. I posted a few pics below of both Hannah and Eli's art. Eli is my little prayer warrior...he missed out on family prayer time last night and couldn't go to sleep until Don prayed with him.

Benny: This kid can hula hoop!! See pics below. He has also been enjoying the slip n slide these last few warm/hot days.He is also become quite a big eater...the other night, he polished off 3 bowls of spaghetti....if only I could borrow some of his metabolism.

Charlie: Loves to go to 5 Guys Burgers with us and crack open the peanuts and dip them in ketchup....and completely drenching himself in it.....we do this occasionally after feeding the kids and have a "date night" and chat while Benny and Charlie go nuts. It's amazing how occupied it keeps them.

Gregory: Is almost CRAWLING!! I can't believe it....he has been getting all over the place and rocking back and forth on all fours. It's been baby proofing season here lately. My dear friend, Jan, made a cross-stitch wall hanging for Gregory....she has made one for each child...they are family heirlooms for sure!!!

Bringing Me Joy: Mother's Day....the kids spent their own money and bought me gifts...2 t-shirts, a pot of pink roses and french mints...Don gave me the sweetest card(and the sweetest kids) I was so choked up and tearful we were late to Mass and the boys were serving.....I begged Fr. for his forgiveness after Mass.
Spending time with both Grandmas (My Mom and Don's Mom) we found neat books to personalize and fill in from their memories of growing up...the kids enjoyed hearing about life a long time ago.

Pics to Share:

 

Jan's Beautiful gift to Gregory

Journal: Disappointed

Outside: FINALLY....Spring has arrived!!
Vacation: Didn't happen. The night before we were to leave, the van died on the way home from Mass....was that some kind of message?? Apparently so, our mechanic wasn't open for 2 days and then after it was fixed.... the next day, the price to replace the fuel pump was even more than we had saved up for the vacation.
We were planning on spending 3 nights in Colorado Springs, we hoped to go to Garden of the Gods, Focus on the Family bookstore, Poor Richard's and It'z Pizza and a few local parks. Oh well, as it turned out, the weather for our drive home would have been treacherous. The hardest thing about it was looking at the kids right after coasting to a side street to try and restart the van and telling them we probably won't be able to go to Colorado. Eli hung his head and I could see streams of tears sliding down his cheeks, he tried to wipe them away so I wouldn't see, but it about broke my heart. He's my fellow vacation adventurer, we both LOVE to travel...probably more than we should;)

The Kids: Noah is starting his own Nerf repair company....it won't be super profitable, but I hope he learns some accounting, budgeting, advertising, and entrepreneurial skills.

Jonah: will be graduating from 8th grade and starting high school next year....at home.

Hannah: has been raking in the money for doing online research studies...she's made over $200 in the last year.
 
Eli: We couldn't really afford to have too many fun splurges since the van repairs were so much, but we took the kids out to eat....which is rare. We went to Hometown Buffet on Thursday night which happens to be Kid's Night, they give out balloons and cotton candy. I told Eli to grab a plate and help himself, and he asked me what he could have and I told him anything he wanted, you should have seen his face....he was so happy he started hopping up and down and giggling. I whispered to Don that alone was worth the $57.

Gregory: Has been Mr. grumpy pants, I think he must be harvesting his upper chompers.

My Birthday: I must be some kind of super athlete or something, because, while nursing Gregory, I sprained my neck....my Physical Therapist, called it an "acute sprain", isn't that the sweetest?? I tell you what, it hurts. That is to date, the strangest birthday I have had.

Don's Sleep: Don has been kind of wandering around in a daze from lack of sleep, so the Dr. had him do a home sleep study and guess what??? He has sleep apnea, so he will be fitted for a c-pap machine next week, hopefully, we will ALL get a better night's sleep. It has been confirmed, we are o.l.d.

In the Kitchen: nothing exciting...Don and I have been enjoying Mocha Frappe's.

Praying: For Bishop Jackels and his new appointment and for our future Bishop, for the people of Boston and Texas, for my SIL, for Noah who will be confirmed in May. We received our annual traveling image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, if we would have been on vacation, we would have had to pass her to the next family on the list. I was able to take the blessed image to a friend's house to pray the rosary with her for her mother who was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer.

Finding Joy:  in God's providence...even though we didn't get to go on vacation, we were so thankful, the van died before we left...and now it's fixed, our blooming few flowers in the front yard, in my family...for better and worse;)

Photo Panel

Here is the photo panel I ordered online of Gregory's 6 month photos. I love that it's sturdy and unbreakable...which is a necessity in a house with 7 children!!

Gregory's 6 Month Picture

Gregory George Rohr 6 Months on April 10th

I don't have a scanner, so I had to take a picture of the picture. There were so many sweet pictures, but we opted for the promotional package only, from Portrait Innovations and later at home, I ordered a photo panel of a different pose online.

 I wish the background wasn't so pink, but I love the pose....especially the praying hands.

Journal: Shirley Temple

Outside my window: partly cloudy, it's been hard having any kind of clothing organization, with winter and summer-like springtime temps bouncing back and forth. Out the back window, we had our dead Birch tree cut down, such a relief!! Some of the large limbs were falling, so the kids were banned from using the backyard until it was safe again.

In the kitchen: Discovering salmon patties, the kids love them and I love they are getting some great Omega nutrients. Dying eggs and our egg shaped sugar cookies...YUM!!

Crafting: We paid Noah and Jonah to strip the wallpaper and paint the little boys room. It's now sporting a black and khaki neutral decor.

The kids: Noah: somehow strained his neck while doing math and can hardly turn his head! He must get his talents of self-injury from me!

Jonah: is loving the Bible mini epic series(History Channel) we purchased for them as an Easter gift. He has been comparing the episodes with the Bible.




Shirley then

 

Shirley more recently

Hannah: has been into Shirley Temple since reading, Heidi and Rebecca of Sunnybrook farm and then watching the movies on youtube. She found some paperdolls I had purchased years ago in storage and has been spending a great deal of time with them. I purchased a few books off of thriftbooks about Shirley Temple, she is(still alive at 85 years) an amazing person who served as US ambassador for 2 countries and was the Chief of Protocol. Wow!

Eli: along with the other kids, adores his baby brother and is convinced he can talk...Gregory babbles Mama, and Buh-buh(brother...of course!)

Benny: I downloaded a Looney Tunes phonics program that he absolutely loves and it's helping him with his reading. I highly recommend it!

Charlie: was eagerly anticipating Easter and asked me everyday, "How many more days till Easter?" He came up to me the other day and said, " Somebody better be a policeman when they grow up, because I'm going to be a robber when I grow up." I said, "Charlie, being a robber is a big sin." He said, "I know, Mom, I'm actually just going to wear the costume."

Photos to share:

Enjoying the nice weather.




Taking the high chair for test run.

 

Gregory: is growing and changing so much, he will have his first set of pics taken on Friday at Portrait Innovations.

Thinking/Praying about: balancing time for our immediate family and serving others/volunteering commitments. Continue to pray for family members who are suffering so much, Pope Francis, Bishop Jackels intentions...seems like the one for more moisture is being heard, Praise God!

Finding joy: in the Resurrection of our Lord...Alleluia!! In gathering together with family and friends, in anticipation of our impending family trip, savoring the french mints Don bought me for Easter, relishing the sweet comfort of holding a sleeping baby and bitter sweetly watching my older children grow up and up and up!