All Caught Up & A Challenge

I cannot believe it's already Monday night. It doesn't feel like Anika has already been out of school for a whole week. Shew, I wish I could just always keep her home with me. I miss her when she's away.

I have a weekend post for you tonight but that is about it. I don't have ANY pictures for you. It's not because I didn't take any because I did. Husband decided today though that he was going to take my camera to work so he has all my weekend pictures with him. Oh well, maybe I'll post them sometime later.

Our weekend was a pretty laid back one. On Saturday the Hubby was off work so he took Axle with him Saturday morning and the hauled in a load of scrap. It was really just our old Washer & Dryer and a few odds and ends that he found laying around that were junk but it brought us $90.00. You will NEVER hear me complaining about an extra $90.00. Saturday day actually ended up being a pretty nice day. It was chilly but the sun was shining so it was a perfect day for Axle to get in some outside time. He rode his motorcycle & hung out with the Hubby in the garage. Hubby did LOTS of trading, so much that I can't even tell you what all he traded for. Anika was gone pretty much the entire day with her Nan. They went shopping & got their nails done. Actually, I lied to you, I do have a pic of Anika's nails saved to my computer so you can see them!

Annalee and I spent the majority of the day in the house just doing odds and ends. That afternoon, I ran to town to the grocery store & picked up Anika. She had asked her friend Torie to spend the night so we met her in town and she came home with us. I had grabbed stuff to grill out with but when I got home Hubby had a friend over looking at a dirt bike & he had his wife and kids with him so I ended up chatting with them while the kids played. The kids had a blast and they were muddy as hogs. I'm not kidding, they looked like they had wallowed in the mud for hours. Even Tessa who is only 3 was covered from head to toe. After they left I took Ax straight in and bathed him. Hubby cleaned up the garage and sprayed out all the mud. Since it was so late we just pulled the grill in the garage and he fixed the Steaks in there. I fixed some Scalloped Potatoes, Pinto Beans and Texas Toast in the house to go with it. It was a fantastic dinner. I ate until I thought I'd be sick. Hubby had some more tinkering he wanted to do so he headed back out to the garage. I cleaned up the kitchen, played on Ebay for awhile and then got my kiddos to sleep. I got tired of waiting on him so I finally went to bed and left him a bit after 1:00. I have no idea what time he actually came to bed.

I had planned on going to Church on Sunday but I overslept. Technically I could have made it but I would have been in a mad rush and I really wanted to take Axle so we ended up just staying home. I woke in one of them moods, so I took my medicine first thing. I knew if I didn't, my mood would only get worse. I spent all day Sunday in the house doing pretty much nothing. I did manage to work in a little cleaning and straightening but that was about it. I just didn't really feel like diving into much. Hubby spent his day outside in the garage. The man cannot bear not to be outside on a sunny and decently warm day. Ax of course spent his day out there with him & the girls did too. They rode the 4-wheeler, played on the cemetery and whatever else teenage girls do. I made a huge pot of Pinto Beans for dinner and fixed some Mexican Cornbread, Kraut & Mustard Greens to go with it. Before it got finished I ran the girls up town and got them some Breadsticks from the pizza place. They do not like Beans. Ax ended up eating with them. He loves breadsticks! After dinner Hubby finished up some things out in his garage while I cleaned the kitchen and then he and I sat down and watched a movie. We started out watching something called Swinger but it sucked so then we were going to watch Tombstone but a few minutes in realized we had already seen it so we settled on Wanderlust. It was a really cute comedy and I'm glad we finally chose it!

After the movie, we hit the hay. By this time it was going on 2:00 am. I swear we are such night owls around here. It isn't no wonder we sleep all day!

Today I have been way more productive. I attribute it to the Hubby going back to work. Yep, he worked today. His job does not observe MLK Day! We did sleep in this morning till around 11:00. When I woke I noticed Sis's friend Torie was gone. Apparently her mom texted this morning and picked her up early because she had an Orthodontist Appointment. We spent pretty much our day inside because it really had started turning colder out by early this morning. I fixed us some Steak Tips, Noodles and Mac n Cheese with Biscuits for lunch. They were so tasty. I marinate my Steak Tips in A1 Sauce and you wouldn't believe how good they are. Hubby played with the kids for awhile this morning before he had to leave for work. He has to leave around 2:00 on his 2nd shift weeks. After we got him all packed up and out the door, Anika and I did some major kitchen cleaning. We cleaned out all the cabinets, washed down all the counters, cabinets, walls, etc. and I threw away probably 5 garbage bags full of junk. It's amazing how cluttered the kitchen can get. It's all nice and neat now though and it makes me very happy.

My tooth was killing me so around 4:00 I took some medicine and laid down. Anika asked if Torie could come back and spend the night tonight and I told her yes. I had only planned on sleeping a few minutes but when Anika and Torie woke me, it was already 6:00. I'm so lucky that Anika will watch the kids while I rest. I don't know what I'd do without her. When I woke, we threw on some clothes and ran up town. I had to meet a lady that I bought some formula off of and run to the store. I picked up a Homemade Pizza to make the girls for dinner this evening and I also got some things for lunch tomorrow and the next day. I really need to menu plan instead of having to run to the store daily.

This evening I spent some time finishing up my housework. I cleaned everything down in the bathroom, swept and mopped my floors and I even managed to move Annalee's bassinet out and replace it with her Pack and Play. She's just getting too big for the bassinet. I fixed the girls a Pizza and was told by Torie it was the best she ever ate. Apparently though she has only ate Anika's pizza's before and frankly, Anika is NOT a cook! I spent some time blogging tonight and really wish I could have made time to read a few more blogs but it was getting late on me. I decided to go ahead and type this post up in hopes that little man would fall asleep while I was typing but no such luck, he's still going strong. I'm going to try to get him in bed soon so I can do some reading of my Bible while I wait on the Hubby to get home from work.

It's bitter cold tonight and I've got the water running in hopes it doesn't freeze off. Our temps are supposed to plummet this week. I think the high tomorrow is supposed to be 15 degrees. That doesn't make me happy seeing as how I have to truck out in it early tomorrow morning to take Anika to the Orthodontist.

Before I go though I wanted to share a little Challenge I found online. I found it over at www.womenlivingwell.org. It's a Be My Valentine Marriage Challenge and each week she post a new task for you to do. I thought it would be fun so I'm going to give it a try. Just thought I'd share in case any of you were interested. You know me, I can't pass up a good challenge. This weeks challenge is to Take Initiative- Look for ways to Praise your Husband Verbally. I'm going to document my progress and on Monday, I'll share with you. If you decide to join in and do this Challenge yourself, keep me updated on how your doing.

Well friends, I'm off of here....Ax is finally sitting still so I'm going to attempt a little Bible Study now. Hope everyone is having a good week so far.

Until Tomorrow
Angie