ferrell people fun

Winco wheat thins steal!

2011-06-21T17:23:00.003-05:00

Right now @ winco Nabisco has a coupon on select wheat thins( stuck to the package), there are all different flavors now too, we are trying the ranch, Vermont cheddar, and Wisconsin Colby. . Their price is $1.98 then with coupon you get the cracker-fulls free. Cracker-fulls are a snack cracker sandwich, they look pretty good bet the kids are going to love them.

If you can't be nice

2011-06-20T15:32:00.003-05:00

After being off my blog for almost 2 years, I came back to a comment needing mediation. If was from march of this last year. It wasn't very nice and they posted anonymously. If you have a problem with me talk to me, posting randomly on my blog is immature and does nothing for anyone. If your worried about how I handle my children A: it's none of your business B: if your worried about their safety or well being then talk to me.

'Nuff said

favorite coupon facebook pages

2011-06-20T15:02:00.003-05:00

I've had several people want to know how I find all my deals. While I do look through all the local ads with my coupons and match up, all these ladies work really hard finding deals for their readers. Just remember that some deals are not nation wide so they don't all work. But most do. If your interested like them on face book and they all have links to either their blog or website. Lots of info....
good luck and get ready to change your thinking !!!

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/Freebies4Mom

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/ThriftyNWMom

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/ThriftyandThriving

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/housepartyfun

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/thecouponcentsation

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/DealWiseMommy

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/ChaChingonaShoestring

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/thebudgetsavvydiva

yesterday and today

2009-10-09T14:49:00.002-05:00

Actually it's been an ongoing project for the last few weeks. We are trying to put up fresh produce for the winter. We've done a little canning, freezing and a little drying. I feel like it's preparation for next year because I'm not organized at all. Having fun with my fil dehydrator and my new vacuum sealer. Caution, anything that is sharp ( dried green beans for example) will puncture through. UGH

I am also trying to plan for christmas, my goal is to make homemade gifts for my love ones, inexpensively but with the individual touches that you cannot put a price tag on. We will see lol...

Naomi and Phoebe have finally decided what they want to be for halloween : Naomi is going to be Piglet and Phoebe wants to be lumpy ( from winnie the pooh) I should be able to make both costumes for under $5 total because I will be using clothing from their closet. ( pink leggings, purple snowsuit etc) I will try to post pics of the final product.

The girls have started taking dance class and are really enjoying themselves. If I can get Phoebe to participate it will be even better.

more later

Dianna

wow it's been forever

2009-10-09T14:46:00.002-05:00

So I've been putting off writing because all broke loose shortly after my last post and I had a lot to catch up on. To sum it up our 4th interstate move in 5 years and 10th actual move in 8 years! I might give details of the last few months some day but I figured If I tried right now I'd never get current 'history' in print.

more to come I hope !

the crockpot experiment continues

2009-07-17T20:18:00.003-05:00

So I have been faithfully cooking away in the crock pot. The beef was tasty but I think the ribs would have been better. Nothing special,shredded bbq beef .. The next day I put these turkey, basil sausages I got bogo on for lunch because Nathan was going to have lunch at home. He wasn't able to which was fine because I wasn't confident that they where done all the way through and didn't want to microwave them. So I turned them on low instead and around 3 topped them with a sliced red pepper and 1/2 onion. They were really yummy, I served them on bread with cheese,( for me and Nate). I really enjoyed them, the girls wouldn't touch them, they are so fickle. I even had one for lunch the next day, I was thrilled.

Next came fajitas, the beef was froze in a mixture of tomato's and taco seasoning. I had thawed it in the fridge over night. Cooked it for about 4 hr on high stirring twice. Then I added my garden fresh mild peppers with a store orange pepper and the other half of the onion from the night before. The meat was really tender and very flavorful.

Tonight we did the sweet and sour chicken breast. The sauce was good, the chicken moist and not dry but I wouldn't call it a home run. More of a pineapple teriyaki but not sweet and sour. Maybe I will try another recipie some time. Tomorrow will probably be simple chicken. Chicken thighs, over russet and sweet potatoes seasoned with Italian dressing.

The culinary highlight of the week was my ice cream. Chocolate soy ice cream, the girls even got a bit of vegetables in it ;) I added a jar of squash for texture. Nathan said it had a fudgesicle flavor ..

If I'm up to it we might take a field trip to the asian market to pick up coconut milk. Coconut ice cream anyone?

The crockpot experiment day 2

2009-07-14T11:42:00.003-05:00

So I ended up having to go to the pharmacy and then the store after the dr. Thinking that noodles would take to much time I picked up a package of Gnocchi . Yum!
I pulled the chicken out of the pot and turned it up to high. added the Gnocchi and stirred . They were ready in 20 min. In the mean time I boned the chicken trying not to shred it to much and then added it back to the soup.

Nathan said it was really good, Naomi and Phoebe both ate a good amount of chicken . That is a home run for us!

Tonight I wanted to make BBQ short ribs, but at 4.00 lb and to get enough meat for all that would be at least 4 lbs. (they are mostly bone) , YIKES! I am not willing to pay that price for something that has to cook in a crock pot to be eatable, then there is only a bite or 2 on each piece.

So this is what I did to get the same flavor

1/2 lb of Beef back ribs at 1.29 lb
2 lb beef bottom round at $2.29 lb
1 onion chopped
1/2 c wondra flour
2 c BBQ sauce
1/2 c honey
2 T mustard
1/2 c water

dust meat side of ribs with some of the flour place meat side down in crock pot
dust top, dust the roast with flour and place in the curve of ribs.
add onions,

mix rest of ingredients and pour over top.

cook on high 1 hr. turn to low for 6 or so hrs.

Serve over rice.

I'll let you know how it turns out tomorrow.

Future prep:

I bought a 3 lb roast (cheep) yesterday and needed to get it in the freezer so I sliced the whole thing like fajitas strips.

1 bag meat for saucy pepper steak later

other bag I added first 3T taco seasoning, ( like packet I just made it my self)
1 can petite tomatoes and mixed, then added meat and mixed. That is going in the freezer for crock pot fajitas later this week.

Now to find a Gnocchi recipie :)

the great crockpot experiment

2009-07-13T11:15:00.002-05:00

I have noticed that my last few posts are kinda' like notes. No beginning no end just a little bit in the middle. It seems like when I sit to write I always get interrupted. So Instead of never posting I just hit publish. Please forgive me, I do have a better understand of our written language, but it seems when I blog I write more like I would speak vs an actual letter or paper.

So here goes...

Today starts the great crock pot experiment. Last week I had trouble cooking because of the heat ( plus the who root canel thing) . The previous week I used either the stove or oven every night and it is really hard to cool the apartment down afterwards.

It doesn't cool down enough at night to actually open everything up for a cool brese so we are relighing strickly AC. Something has to be done. No way to BBQ everynight so the alternative is the crockpot and microwave.

One of my recipies for later this week calls for tabasco, which we don't have so I took all my peppers that are drying ( from my garden) chopped them up and added tequila and vinigar, alittle garlic, onion and a dash of red pepper to help because I only had 9 little peppers. Plenty of heat though. Through it all in a jar and microwaved it for 3 min and it is cooling, I hope it will sub fine.

Today is crockpot chicken noodle soup.
6 chicken thighs
onion
celery
zuccini
(forgot to buy carrots)
water and seasoning

when I get home I will throw some noodles in and hopefully they will cook.

It's been 4 hours and it smells delish, I turned it down to warm until dinner.

tomorrow night will either be pinapple meatballs or BBQ shortribs...

I'll keep ya'll posted.

life

2009-07-13T08:06:00.003-05:00

Well we are settling back in for the time being no huge changes in our future. Disappointed but a little releaved too I am soo tired of being unsettled. For now we are settled.

Well we went to the zoo the Thursday before the 4th. What a cute zoo. I will post pics later from my other computer. It's not like other zoos in main cities. This is 10 min out of town in the middle of what feels like desert. Then you go through the main building to picnic tables. All the paths are dirt, or tiny rocks. Most of there animals are rescues or over flow from other zoos. I noticed that there are not any animals that require major habitat maintenance. No penguins, etc. The had lions, and tigers, and bears. Also we saw a lemur, panther, several different parrots, goats, and two different types of exotic deer ( Nates fav). The tiny dear was Phoebes favorite. They allow you to feed the deer, goats, sheep, big pop belly pigs and llamas . They have a cute little petting zoo but we just fed those guys from the outside. After a little less than 2 hours we where ready to go, we didn't see everything but it was getting really hot. Good thing I brought the umbrella so that Naomi could duck under it. Saying good by to the half doz peacocks that where actually reproducing ( we got to see little pea chicks following there mom around the grounds) and the huge rooster the size of a small turkey. We headed home, stopping by a little trailer that sold amazing shaved ice. It reminded me of the coffee cart I worked in during high school.

Just asked Naomi what her favorite animal was when went to the zoo, she said pig. lol
I don't know if that was truly her favorite or she just wanted to give me a quick answer...

mold and more

2009-07-03T20:57:00.004-05:00

It's been over a week since an update I believe. Our lives still feel in turmoil. The direction we feel God leading us has run into construction. Not that His plan has changed nor was inaccurate merely He is not ready for us to see the final road. I cannot wait to drive on it. Like when Lightning McQueen finally finished the road through radiator springs. That kinda low riding smoothness to stability.

The Girls have been full of cute quips like today Naomi said " my hands hungry" I asked, your hand is hungry? She replied " yes, this hand hungry too'.. I don't know where she gets it so funny, and the other day, she was saying "Thomas no swiping" ( any Diego fans?) because our cat Thomas was scratching the couch.

Naomi singing

2009-06-21T09:17:00.003-05:00

Naomi singing itsy bitsy spider.

God is in Control

2009-06-19T11:25:00.002-05:00

We really don't have a decision to make anymore. Our only options are stay here, or have no job. Other than Nathan has contacted Oregon and they don't have any openings. Unless God creates an opening there for Nathan before next friday He wants us to stay here for the next year and half at least. There is a peace knowing that it is out of our hands. Nathan has done all the foot work he can and all we can do is wait. Make a few phone calls , then next friday if nothing has changed then he happily signs the contract with the group. We just thank God that he has a job that he can provide for us. I know that there are families from the company we left last year that still are out of work. OUCH

decisions directions decisions

2009-06-18T20:54:00.002-05:00

Do we stay or do we go? Praying for some major insight tomorrow. Nathans job is changing and he has the option to leave but to what? Not like he could walk into his 'dream' job even if we knew what that was. We do know that his current job isn't one he can practically retire from, it probably won't be around in 20 years but is it time to move on or does he take the 5 quarter offer to stay? What exactly is option B? Could we live on less than half he makes now if we left? What would he take if he did go to school? When will the uncertainty end? So tired of moving, inter and intra state doesn't really matter, packing is packing. At least the last move was cheep because it was practically down the block.

Where to next God ? What do you want from us? Where do you want us to Go? Please give us direction. Heavenly father direct Nathans steps and illuminate his path. We can handle narrow and tiresome we just need you to light the path and carry us through.

Amen

My Garden

2009-06-17T12:30:00.003-05:00

My garden, most photos are through the misquito netting I made then the one photo is of my green beans that I am proud of. We will see if anything produces. I have gotten a few peppers so far ( from store bought plants) but everything is growing!

Yesterday and Today

2009-06-17T11:49:00.004-05:00

Phoebe woke up this morning Dry!!!!!! Yesterday morning she work up dry!!!!! I am so glad her bladder is getting big enough to hold it. She will soon be in Panties and pull ups will be a thing of the past. This morning she was dry all morning, and went pee pee and poo poo in the potty like a big girl. She has been using it but having a lot of accidents. 2 weeks ago she was using them like diapers so we are having a big movement improvement. lol

She also is talking a bit more I got her to repeat a few words today her favorite was purple ! pubule I think is how it would be spelled. She also likes poowoof, it's the sound a dog makes. and she pants and crawles around wanting to be pet ...really cute, I will try to get a pic next time. Also she is saying poo poo, help, more, mama, dada, pool, and a lot of mumbling. She is starting to correct me though, if I don't understand her she shakes her head no until I guess right. A lot of work but she is starting to get her own voice so it is worth it.

We implemented charts this week. I decided Naomi was ready for regular chores when I cleaned the living room floor and she dropped some crackers and said mommy the liding frooms dirty d'you need to kleen it. So now she gets stickers on a chart when she picks up her toys, brushes her teeth 2 times a day, picks up her dirty clothes etc. Stuff she already was doing plus a push to do what she was suppose to, it seems to be helping.. :)

I started lyrica yesterday again. Last time It made me really spacey, I don't remember the month I was on it. My Dr. said it would be worth another try and upping it allot slower than the last one did. We shall see. Not fond of the slight high feeling but it should go away . As long as it helps my pain I would be happy. We shall see.

hugs

Monday

2009-06-17T11:20:00.004-05:00

Well Monday wasn't fun I got lost on the way to the Dr. dreading my apt anyhow because I thought I would be seeing the same 90 sec Dr I saw last time. so I finally got there and went to check in, they couldn't find my chart the North location told me they transferred my records but alas they did not. At least they had a summery of my last visit some how. After waiting 20 min I was called up to the up stairs waiting room. ( 2pm apt, I arrive 2:10, called up 2:30 and after about 10 more min they call us into a room 2:40) well then it was 3:30 before I saw the Dr., but at least it was the good one. After the visit, I had to wait 10 min for my Rx at this time the girls were going nuts and I didn't blame them. So on the way home I had to deposit a check into the back and I remembered seeing a wells fargo but I can never find a wachovia but since they merged and are 1 bank now I have been told I can use either. We waited 20 min in the drive through and sent my stuff in they said that they are not 100% combined yet so they cannot pull up my account. I guess only the with drawls from the ATM work so far. Errrrr , At least the girls got a sucker out of the ordeal. Oh yeah to make matters worse she was really nice about it but she directed me to a wachovia in the SAME parking lot just not visible to me from where I came it! But we got to go home have dinner and read our new book we received in the mail. Don't let the pigeon stay up late. Naomi is already trying to memorize it. She knows certain words and where they go , their favorite part is the hot dog party! So at least the day ended well !

Birthday comedy

2009-06-13T10:56:00.003-05:00

We had a lot of fun last night. The comedy club wasn't as full as the last time we went, and the crowd wasn't as rowdy but it was a blast. We had we split off from the guys and had a girls table. It was like a girls night out with the joy of being able to hear Nathan laugh at the jokes and his company on the way home. If you ever go to capital city comedy fill out the card! We did last time and received the free 8 tickets for Nathans birthday. I'm looking forward to mine in July. I enjoyed a cheesy chicken quesadilla , I miss cheese. I think it could have been only cheese and I would have been happy. Most of the time I do fine with out cheese in the house but when I go out I realize how much I truly love cheese. Probably a good thing we don't keep it in the house. :)

The girls had a lot of fun with Kallie their sitter. This is the 3rd time she has watched them and they are really growing attached to her. Naomi always wakes up the next morning, and the first thing I hear is mommy! then she comes out to the living room and gets sad when she sees that miss kallie gone. :( So cute I will be sad when she goes off to college. We have one more year.

Well Nathan is working 6 hr of OT today. He will do 3 this morning then we are picking him up and going to the mall. I told him he is getting good work out shoes for his present. He's going with me so that I don't have to return them 3 times before we get the right fit. Then we will drop him back for 3 more hours and he should be home for dinner. The girls won't hardly know he's gone.

well more later I am sure.

My Precious Girls

2009-06-11T15:23:00.002-05:00

I Finally Got a picture of Phoebes face with her beautiful eyes in full view. May not be studio quality but I am thrilled. Of course Naomi is always willing to ham it up for the camera!

Nathans Birthday

2009-06-11T13:48:00.008-05:00

Well yesterday Nathan turned 32. The day it's self was pretty uneventful. Nate went to work really early and work the first hours of OT since moving to Austin, not that it's going to last he is just doing work for another group that needs to get done fast, but we will take it. The girls and I had a normal day, cleaning, cooking, potty training, etc. Randy called and I love it when he calls to talk. It's nice to have a connection to him and his family even though we are so far from them. I also called my mom and had the girls talk to grandma. Sounds like the recital will be great this year with all the last minute preparation. She is always stressed this time of year but it pays off with an outstanding show.
The highlight of the day was that the girls made 2 cards each for their daddy, they had a blast. Naomi is learning to draw dot to dots, she was able to outline 'daddy' and 'Naomi' that way. Not writing but it's a start. Phoebe is starting to scribble in shapes not just straight lines, it's amazing to see their fine motor skills improving. Still not sure if she is a lefty or not , we definitely have our suspicions.

Naomi waited anxiously till she heard daddy at the door and pounced. I love that the girls can't wait till daddy gets home everyday. Phoebe just cuddled with him forever. Then we had dinner. Well Nathan and I did, the girls never seem to eat much when I want expect them too. Other times they pig out. Like when I made beef ribs the other night. Naomi had one in each hand and finished them both, and Phoebe ate the meat off three !

Anyhoo we had a normal evening except the phone rang off the hook. It was great that so many people remembered Nathan on his special day. I think it meant a lot to him.

We received a postcard from the local comedy club for 8 free admissions for Nathans Birthday so we will be doing that Friday night. He invited a few couples from work and it should be fun. Oh I forgot about the fact that the girls and I surprised Nathan at work on Tuesday with a cake . I spent 2 days making a red velvet cake covered in marshmallow fondant and painted to look like a steak. It was embarrassing how many complements I received on it but it also feels really great to know that people think I'm good at something. Often it feels like I have no special talents outside of wiping butts 50 times a day. Maybe I will make money producing cakes some day who knows. More than 20 co workers sang happy birthday and shared cake and ice cream. Nathan is almost impossible to embarrass but I think I finally succeeded. Over all I think this birthday will be remembered but him ...

In the beginning

2009-06-11T13:46:00.002-05:00

This is my first official blog. I finally deside that this would be the best way to keep up with family and friends. Hopefully I will get better as the time goes on.