My sweet husband

This is my gift that my sweet husband gave me back in Aug. for our 21 anniversary 21 note cards one for each year with a nickel for that year and a reflection for that year, I think Valentines day is the perfect time to share it with others. Ok really I am looking for a paper that I need and I just found this again in a "safe" place, but still no paper that I need to find.

1993- Active Duty in Saudi Arabia
           Married Margery
           Sarah was born
           Pat became mine to help raise
           Our lives together was just beginning
1994- Bought our first home together
          Started back to College
          The adventure continues
1995- Finish associates Degree
           I could have never done it without you
1996- Conner is born
           Our lives were changed forever
1997- Started working for the Federal Government as a Civilian with the DOD
          You helped me to achieve this goal through perseverance ... and a call to Congress
1998- Nolan was born
           Our lives were again changed forever and you became a stay at home mom
1999- Called to active Duty in Kosovo and served in Germany
           You held the family together
2000- Kathryn was born
           Served on active duty in Columbia ( my add the boys had the chicken pox while he was gone )
           Worked with the Thunder Birds
           You worked for the census Bureau and continued to raise our children
2001- Started working for the FAA in Binghamton
           Moved to Castle Creek
           9/11 Happened
           The world was changed forever
2002- Moved our family into a new home in Afton
           We were happy to live in the country and have lots of room for the kids to grow
           ( Two cross country trips to OK City with the family )
2003-Called to Active Duty for Operation Iraqi Freedom, spent the entire time in Niagara Falls,NY
          Took the family on vacation to Disney World
2004-Received promotion to Master Sergeant in USAFR
          You were an Angel, a saint, and a rock
2005-  Served on Active Duty for Operation Enduring Freedom Spent the rest of 2005 in Niagara Falls
            You proved to be amazingly Strong
            I lost a Bet ..."AHEM"
2006- Aidan ( the Bet) was born
           Served on Active Duty in Qatar
           You kept your sanity and the family together
2007- Became Chief Quality Assurance Inspector for the 914th
          First full year in Five Year without deployment
          Things started to get quiet ( for having 6 kids)
2008- A full year of mostly uneventful stuff
2009- Started acting in theater in the production of " Oklahoma!" wife and kids convinced me to audition.
          you created a monster and almost everyone of the kids performed on stage afterwards.
          Aidan kept on singing " poor Jude is Dead"
2010- Retired from the military with 22 years of service
          New changes and challenges ahead
         Pat graduated from high school and headed to college
         We went on our first family cruise
         You worked for the census again
          Sarah went to Switzerland
2011- Went on Sarah's Senior Cruise
           ( Took the younger 4 kids to OK City for a month and a half)
           ( I started a regular part- time job )
2012- Had a Barbershop Quartet sing to you for Valentine's Day
           Sarah graduated and went to college
2013-Took you to England and on a transatlantic Cruise for an early 20th Anniversary gift
2014- Received a promotion at work
           ( the one week, 3,000 plus miles road trip )
         Don  Moving to Olathe, Kansas
          Started working on BS in Business Management
          Kathryn to England and Nolan to Duke
          More to come....


My addition for  what is planned to happen in 2015 -
 Nolan and Conner senior cruise
Nolan and Conner graduate high school and start college
Sarah gets Married
Move the family to Kansas
New schools for Kat and Aidan 
Live in the same state as my husband again 
and so much more,

Happy Father's Day

Dad's like to color and play games

Dad's do the weird things that mom's would never do.

They make you do chores

They take you many many places

They watch you play game after game, sport season after season and they are the one that makes the noise cheering you on.

They are fun to hang out with

And yes they do make more then chicken nuggets and picking up pizza and Mcdonald's

 


Grandpa's go on trips with you and tell you yes when mom and dad say no. But then they just keep going on vacation when you have to go back to school and snow.



They love to sit next to you and just watch the fire, and relaxing after a long day of work.



They come and help you built a safe home for your chickens and ducks and even let you help.

And most of all grandpa's are still very big kids.

And while I don't have a picture of my Grandpa on this computer, I just wanted to say that I miss you grandpa, you were to me all the things my dad is to my kids. 

My Grandpa

It was just last year when I wrote about my Grandma Fees, today I write about her husband Gordon Chester Fees my grandpa. A man of not only great faith, but wonderful if sometimes taxing humor.

Since my children had been blessed with both having a Grandpa Fees and a Great Grandpa Fees there needed to be a way to tell the difference in conversations with them. Otherwise they never knew for sure if we were going my dad’s or my Grandpa’s. So my grandpa became know as the fix it grandpa, if my older children broke their toys, bikes, or needed to build something it wasn’t to my dad they went but to Grandpa. He took up wood working after he retired, since he needed to keep busy and out of Grandma’s way. First he was set up in the garage, and then he was somehow able to get grandma to let him move his stuff into the basement. But only if he stayed in the one part and kept that sawdust out of her house.

Grandpa was never one to stay still, he always was puttering, even when he got to the point that he had to have someone else mow the lawn or shovel he was always right there to tell you how it should be done, and if you didn’t show up to do it he would threaten to do it himself. I remember that one day he came home with a new saw and that didn’t make grandma very happy, so she looked over at my dad said look at what your dad got you. Or the ladders how many times did we take a ladder to keep him off the roof and he would just head to Sears to buy another one.

Grandma might have broken her ribs by coughing, but grandpa did his falling of the roof of the trailer.

Grandpa was a favorite of us kids and then our children as who else is going to let you climb up on the garage roof, or use the power saw, who always had time to get the bikes out of the garage. I think he loved to shop at garage sales just to make sure he had a supply of toys on hand to send home with the kids when they came over to play.

 When a lot of adults might not have had time for us kids’ grandpa always did, but even then there were some toys that were his and not for sharing. Even when grandpa was sitting he was busy painting, coming up with new jokes, and in his later years baking. Who here has enjoyed banana bread, fruit cake, or even cucumber bread baked by Grandpa?

There were many nights of sleepovers, with grandpa peeling apples and cutting them up and passing them out to eat, and candy’s passed to you out of his pockets while in church.

 Grandpa was rarely serious, you never knew what he was going to say when you called the house sometimes it went like this “Hello is Grandma there, Well of course she is, Grandpa can I please speak to her, well of course you can, Grandpa please give the phone to Grandma, Well ok why didn't you say that in the beginning.”  

The movies he made of all of us, and how we had to learn to talk in them once there was sound recording video. Him renting Dumbo on film from the library to play for my birthday. There is so much to remember.

I remember this summer going to visit and we headed out to check out the garden, I also like to garden and enjoy weeding somewhat. So I started to weed, a little to fast for Grandpa as he told me I had better leave him some of those weeds or he wouldn't have anything to do. He was always planning what his next project was going to be, and you better not tell him he was too old to do it.

He loved to sing and to square dance, he loved to be around people, he loved to tell stories to us about growing up, all the chicken they used to eat, the orphanage, the CCC, World War II, years spent working. And he did a wonderful thing he wrote down those stories so that even those great- grandchildren to young to remember him in person will read about him and know him.

He showed in his life what it was to be faithful; he cared for grandma and still loved her even when things were rough. He knew that the women he married was still in there somewhere and she would come out every once in a while. I look at how grandpa cared for her so tenderly and I tell my husband that there is nothing more in life I want then for you to care for me like that when we are old and I goof up more than people’s names.

Last year around this time he was worried that people would think it was wrong if he went to the Valentine lunch at the Senior Center with a woman. He asked me what did I think, I reassured him that no one would look down at him and that he should go and have fun. From what I heard from later he did.

He used to tell me in that non serious way of his that my dad was no fun, and each year he couldn’t wait until my dad went on a trip and then he could do whatever he wanted and my dad wouldn't know.  A lot of those plans involved him getting a flight to my house to come for a visit; he just couldn't find a pilot. He looked forward to lunch out on Tuesday’s, and the senior center in the Falls was never as good as the one on Grand Island.

Two things that I have that my grandpa made for me way back in 1983 when he first retired are my cradle and chair, things that he made for each of his granddaughters. I enjoyed playing with them, and then my daughters and I look forward to the day my grandkids get to play with them. And of course they went back to grandpa for repairs over time.

This year as I plant my garden I will think of grandpa in his, when the dandelions bloom I will think of his recipe for cough syrup, when I see square dancing I will think of all those nights spent dancing with him, when grandma couldn’t. I will never look at a napkin without picturing grandpa.

 I will always remember my last conversation with my Grandpa; he wanted me to mail him a glass of water since the nurses were only letting him have ice chips.

Tonight I go to sleep knowing that he is home, and that grandma and he are talking about all the wonderful things that did together.

And I ask that we all do something that Grandpa worked hard to do write down, record, remember your stories that others will remember and learn from them. Grandma left behind many homemade items, Grandpa has left behind the stories.

*Pictures to be added later, on a different computer*

Master Chef Cook Off

We are fan's of the show Master Chef around here and enjoy watching it, but of course being the family that we are that's not enough.

                     So we had our own cook off this summer :  

                                         Mom vs Dad

An item that neither of us had ever eaten or made before.

Since we do not have a Master Chef Pantry we were allowed to look up our recipes and make a shopping list.

Since we also don't have a Master Chef Kitchen we were allowed to set up workstations before hand.

Dad's Workstation

Mom's Workstation

The Tasting Area

But all the rules apply:

We only had 1 hour and once we started we were not allowed to go into the cupboards or fridge for more items.

One Stove made things interesting

I am in it to win, mine was going to be better then his, and since the kids were judges I had high hopes of winning.

The kids took their job as judges seriously asking questions while we cooked just like on the show. And that is very distracting when you are on a time limit, trying to make something you have never made and being asked questions all about it.

The dad thinks his potato based one is going to win, I don't think so.

What a messy workstation

Look at mine all nice and clean

This was mine based on ricotta cheese, served with a light tomato cheese sauce

The judges taking the tasting very seriously, looking at taste, texture, seasoning and more.

The Dad's potoae based, with a alfredo sauce

Who was the winner, well the kids were smart they called it a tie, after offering a lot of feed back on what was good and was bad.

Looking forward to the next challenge.

Chores

One of this weeks goals has been to get the kids back into the routine of doing chores, we have had many different systems over the years and all have worked for different times. But something new was needed for this period of our lives, where we have only four children at home, and all are active in many different things.

So after much thought I went for 2 teams, team one is Conner (17) and Aidan (7), team two is Nolan(15) and Kat (13). The idea is usually if one team member is busy the other should still be home. For right now we are only doing dinner time chores like this, but I find if dinner time goes well the rest isn't too hard to keep up with.

After making the teams, I made two dinner time chore lists

List one:
Set Table for dinner
Clear Table after dinner
Wipe Table
Sweep floor in Living room and Dining room
Pick up living room
Take out trash

List Two:
Unload dishwasher if needed
Put away pots and pans if needed
Load dishwasher
Hand Wash pots and pans
Wipe counters
Sweep Kitchen floor

It is up to them to work together to divide the jobs. This week Nolan and Kat were assigned list two, Nolan loaded the dishwasher, did the counters, and swept the floor. Kat unloaded and put away pots and pans and washed the pots and pans. All picking jobs that they are good at, with mom helping out as needed. 

The next decision to make is whether they should switch lists every week, or every month. Right now I am leaning toward the month, so the list won't switch until March. After talking with the kids they would like to keep the same jobs for a much longer period of time.

The other thing I have done is serve dinner early and have the kids do their chores if Aidan has basketball which is from 6-7 or Nolan has play practice, since we normally eat at 6:30 when the dad gets home. We have been eating at 4:30-5pm on the nights I won't be home, saving a plate in the fridge for the dad, and I try to have a dessert for those nights as well since we are eating so early.

Two funny things that were said when I told the kids what we were going to be doing. Conner told me that the reason he doesn't do chores is he is trying to prepare me for when he is gone to college in just a year or two, my answer to him I guess I don't need to feed you for the next year or two as I get used to you not being here.

 Kathryn told me that she only washes dishes at Girl Scouts, that was answered with a quick then I guess I only want to use my money for me to travel, she did the dishes without another word.

Menu Plan Monday 2/3

This is more of a menu re-cap of the last week, as I have found lately that we eat off the menu list but never on the days I plan to. I also am trying to keep track of the cost per meal in order to help cut the food budget yet still serve favorites.

Sunday - Star pasta aka Pastina cooked with carrots, chicken, diced onion and chicken broth served with green salad

Price for dinner - 6.25 or 1.04 per serving ( 6 people)

Monday- 3- Cheese Lasagna made with homemade noodles ( way easier than I ever thought and so yummy)

Price for dinner - 30.25 to make 3 Lasagnas one to eat two to freeze. Each Lasagna was 10.08 to make or 1.26 per serving ( 8 people)

Tuesday- Hot turkey sandwich w/ rice and peas, fresh veggies

Price for Dinner- 8.50 or 1.41 per serving  ( 6 people)

Wednesday- Hot dogs, fresh veggies, mac and cheese

Price for Dinner- 8.00 or 1.33 per person ( 6 people)

Thursday - A little bit of this a little bit of that otherwise known as Leftover Day

Price for Dinner - zero as it was leftovers from other nights.

Friday- Pizza Night w/ fresh veggies, the one night I don't cook as my 17 year old son is the master pizza chef around here

Price for Dinner- 12.50 for 3 large pizza's or 1.38 per person ( 9 people)

Saturday- Sub sandwiches for lunch and since the older kids were gone for dinner, leftover pizza for the rest of us.

Price for Dinner- 15.00 or 2.14 per person

So the average cost of dinner for the week per person was 1.38 ( including milk)


Also to add per meal per person 16 cents for milk.



* The reason the number for meals flexes is sometimes adult children come home to eat and some things my pans serve 8 so we plan on having leftovers.*

This post is linked at Menu Plan Monday

Budget Update - Week 3

This week was going to be a great week as far as funds toward the trip, but once again the clothing budget took a bite out of it for some reason people needed sneakers and dress shoes . But there is always next week. We also went out to dinner, which doesn't happen often but we had a lot to celebrate here.

Food- 183.60
Non- Food- 10.69
Clothing Budget- 41.60
Kathryn's Trip- 40.00
Dinner out- 40.00

Total so far for the year:

Food - 511.31 ( average 170.44 per pay period or 85.22 per week)
Non-Food- 50.50
Animals- 15.00
Clothing- 125.19
Kathryn's Trip- 120.00
Dinner Out- 40.00



So what was bought with the food budget:

Dairy: 
12- yogurt                                            10- gallons milk
5# Ricotta Cheese                                1# provolone Cheese
5# Cottage Cheese                                1- fresh mozzarella
2# butter                                                5# Mozzarella cheese
Parmesan cheese

 Bread:
5- packages flour tortillas                      2- Baguette
2- loves sandwich bread                        2- bags sub rolls
Case Frozen Waffles

Fruits and Veggies:
1- Head of Cauliflower                          4#- onions
2- packs roma tomatoes                         mini cucumbers  
2 head broccoli                                       baby spinach
spring mix                                               5# Carrots 
3# bananas                                              Romaine Hearts
3# apples                                                 10# Potatoes
1 bunch celery                                         Garlic

Pantry:

salad dressing                                      2- cans tomato soup
1- box fruit snacks                               1 bbq Sauce
1- jar salsa                                            1 box granola bars
1- mustard                                            1- caramel coffee syrup
#10 can sauce

Meat :

2# Salami
1# Ham
3# Turkey



Next shopping week I hope to add pictures, finally found the camera the lovely daughter borrowed it.