Bursting at the Seams!!

I feel a little like the farmer's wife after the harvest is in and the food is stored away. I was at 4 different grocery stores today and I think it all went extremely well. I started at Walgreens--I am not counting that as a grocery store since I didn't buy any food(candy but no food!).

Then on to Schnuck's! I was working on my list last night & thanks to my good friend Lisa I found I had some clipped coupons & was able to get a few more printed--then this morning the coupons.com site reset & I printed again!



Yeah! All total I spent 21.25 for these items--not pictured 4 tortillas & all the vegies--whoops they were still in the cooler!





Best deals were the free Green Giant Vegies(4 boxes, 4 bags), & Chex mix(5). Then I got chocolate chips for .50 a bag(6) -- time to bake! I was really excited about their $1 sale--got wheat tortillas, bagged spinach, Dawn soap, & Puffs tissues. All things we will be needing!



After picking up my girls, we went to Kroger & there it got fun! After she totaled my order it was $65 then after the store & manufacture coupons the order was $30.01!!!




Best deals here were the Organic Annie's Mac & Cheese(2) for free & the eggs were B1G1. I had received some coupons from Kroger in the mail that were only good at their store so I used a couple of those but I also had received a "Spend $50 & get $10 off." I combined that with a $3 off frozen items and a free pizza coupon and it turned out to be less than half of the original price. YIPEE! The check out girl was asking me where did you get those coupons? I love it!

I like to really make sure I am not buying things just because I have the coupon. That to me is the system changing the way I buy groceries. I don't want that to happen. I want to buy what we need & use coupons to make it cost less. I think I can say everything I bought today was a "normal" item we would buy--I wasn't conned in to trying something for the coupon. :)

The last part of our day was spent at Aldi's. In my last post I was talking about how I used to do a big monthly purchase & not run to the store as much. I had gotten away from than and I can honestly say why now. There isn't much that I am not able to get with a coupon. So my purchasing at Aldi's has gone down. Now I did go & get some staples that we have been consistently out of and I feel really good about having those on hand now. Spent $80 there but now we have our oats, cheese, juice, applesauce, salsa, dry milk & sugars on hand. I also got quite a few regular priced produce items. Didn't get a picture because it was too much & I had lots of little hands helping put away--which was wonderful.

This girl was really confused about me taking pictures of the groceries. Forgive the funny picture--she was saying "What are you doing?" Tickled me so I snapped her picture.

So I am done shopping and stocking up . . . well until tomorrow when the ads come out.

Menu Plan

Well this month I am trying something different that I read on a Flylady post. November's new habit is to get your menu's planning going. I used to do a plan once a month and that worked pretty well. I would make this HUGE list and go to Aldi's & Walmart to stock up. That cut our grocery bill by a lot in avoiding the little trips to the store.

Then I started to use coupons more & that means I am at the store multiple times a week sometimes--but only for coupon stuff. So I back slid in to not planning and shopping ahead as much. So I am trying to find a balance.

I do have a lot on hand but find that I am often missing one ingredient for something and that is SO frustrating to me. So having the plan and getting the staples in one big trip sounds good & then I can zip in quick and get the great deals when I am in town on errands on Tues/Thurs.

So here is my plan for suppers for this month & the next two weeks. The plan for lunches is different.

Mondays - Chicken
Tuesdays - Beef
Wednesdays - Fish or Pork
Thursdays - Meatless
Fridays - Big crowd or easy
Saturdays -Chicken
Sundays - leftovers or easy

Monday - Garlic Lime chicken Mexi-Chicken
Tuesday - Crockpot Pirates Stew Crockpot Swiss Steak
Wednesday - BLT's and Potato Salad Tropical Fish
Thursday - Crockpot Stuffed Peppers 3 Bean Soup
Friday - Pizza Pizza
Saturday - Crockpot Brown Jug Soup Creamy Chicken, Vegies & Noodles
Sunday - Cheese & crackers Sloppy Joes

I am going to work on the last two weeks tomorrow so that I can plan my "big" shopping trip for Tuesday. I think that will take a lot of stress off me in the next 4 weeks as the holidays draw near. More time for baking & making gifts instead of stressing about what to feed everyone! I am also going to do a chicken freezer day since we are running low on frozen meals in that meat if I can catch frozen chicken breasts on sale! Or maybe I will just go buy another frozen turkey! Gotta do the math first!

A home or a library?

I admit it. I love books. In fact I have been accused of being a book worm, of having a book up my nose & I am guilty of not hearing people talk to me because I was so in to the story.

I am also guilty of passing this disease on to my children. It all started when they were little. I remember reading the same books over and over again. In fact that is one of my hidden talents, I can still recite many of those books. "Do you like my hat? No I don't like your hat" "Swishy Swashy" "Plink Plank Plunk" Can you name those books? We have read so many out loud since then. I still read to the kids even though they can all read independently. It is bittersweet. The little ones are enjoying books I read several years ago to their older siblings. Now the older ones drift in and listen and say "I loved this book".

When I taught the little monsters how to read--little did I know that I would loose all control over them after that. Now all their spare time is spent in a book! I require them to read things for school and the funny thing is that they LIKE it! We use literature based history for that very reason! Love Beautiful Feet & Biblioplan!


Anyway, the reason for that introduction was that we worked on organizing things on Friday instead of going shopping with all the other crazy people! E & I worked on shelves & books. We don't have enough room on the upstairs and downstairs shelves to hold all our books. So we were sorting the ones that were not being read(ie ones they've outgrown) and putting them in to boxes. The picture is one set of shelves that we have--there are at least 3 or 4 others! After the shelves were straightened, they were so BEAUTIFUL! However it did strike me that we have a library of books in our house!!!! Oh and some beautiful memories that are stored in scrapbooks on the other shelves but that would be a topic for another post!

New Places for Memories

For as long as I remember, Thanksgiving has happened at my grandparents. My grandma Norma has been gone for several years but we have still gone to their house & gathered together with my grandpa Willard. This year was different.

We went to my uncles. His house was great for our group & we all had a lot of fun. But it was different. I am the oldest of my cousins & my kids are the oldest great grandkids. They did a great job of helping out and entertaining all the younger kids.

One of the discussions we have(as we drive the hour to get there) is about how they are related to these people. We don't see my cousins & aunts & uncles very often so for my younger two it can be a bit confusing. It is a big family. They are familiar with that as my kids are 4 of 30ish cousins on Steve's side, but we see them all the time and it is familiar. I am the oldest of 20ish cousins and now they are all having kids too!

I had the treat to see my dad playing ping pong with my uncle. It was downright shocking! My dad--the couch potato, the one who has a hard time with his balance & sleep depravation? Wow it was amazing to see him moving around like that. Maybe a ping pong table for Christmas? Sounds like fun to me!

Well next week things will be back to normal but this years change was a good one.

What do we spend?

I have been doing coupons & rebates for about 11 months now. I laughed at my friends(shame faced honesty here) as they were doing coupons because I truly didn't think it made a difference($ saved/time invested). Well I am still seeing how it all comes together but I do know that we are able to purchase things for free & VERY discounted prices at times. I also have a much bigger stock pile of food & necessities now than I did a year ago. Also as for the time investment--I have recruited my daughters as my helpers and that has helped save me time in getting coupons clipped & such.

After reading multiple blogs about how much people were spending per week/month on groceries & household items, I began to get curious about how 2009 has gone for our family. I am a big believer that month to month things will fluctuate but over a longer period of time you can get a good picture of your average spending. I know that we have stayed for the most part under our budget each month on groceries & household. So here is how we've made out so far. Remember we have a family of 6 & 2 teens. :)

Grocery average is $557 our budget is $588
Household average is $362 our budget is $555(we save up for some bigger items this way)

At the beginning of the year my $ spent was MUCH higher than say last months spending--$50 more. So I think that using coupons & rebates are definitely paying off! AWESOME!

I want to start to shave those numbers even more--maybe just 10% to start. We will see how Nov & December affect things as we do more cooking & such during those months. However we will be able to use some of the stockpiled items and perhaps off set the additional purchases for the holidays!

Getting organized

I am tired of the whole putting food on the table process. It just seems to be one more chore right now. Normally I like cooking and all that is involved in that. I am not sure why my attitude has changed. That said I also know if I have a plan then I won't be panicking when suppertime rolls around. This week here is the plan

B'fasts

Oatmeal, Yogurt & granola, waffles w/ applesauce, & cereal

Lunches

Fast Frittata & biscuits, Broccoli & Rice soup, Mac & Cheese, Chili

Suppers

Teriyaki Chicken
Tilapia Vera Cruz
Crockpot Swiss Steak
Italian Hotdish
Meatloaf

So I have a plan now just have to find some excitement. Maybe I will just go make cookies!

Regrouping!

It has been a really long time since I felt inspired to post. A lot happens in September and October for our family! Soccer gets in to full swing--Steve & Michael coach 2 teams so it can be crazy. Every Saturday from the end of August to the end of October is spent at the soccer fields. So after a couple of weeks I am finally surfacing from recovering!


We also took a break from school in the middle of October for a couple of weeks. Steve & I traveled to Hilton Head, SC for his continuing ed conference. I am so blessed to get to go along & take my scrapbook stuff so I can work happily while he's in class. We've done this for 7 years & my fabulous mother & father-in-law keep the kids so we can do this!


This year, however, we didn't really count on the swine flu! We never got the kids tested but they came down with something that was pretty ugly(grandma was calling her house the infirmary!). Everyone survived & we made it back home safely(and I got 40 pages done!).

Then a mere 4 days after we returned I left for a Getaway Scrapbook Weekend. Unfortunately, 3 days after we returned I caught a cold and wasn't feeling 100%. Still got some pages done & had a blast with my new & old girl friends. They are crazy & fun!


Once home it seemed to take another couple of weeks to settle in. We are back to school full time & liking the routine. Here is what our week--normally--looks like.

Monday--HOME--this is the only day we have guaranteed at home(unless something comes up) so it a laundry, clean house, school, catch up day!

Tuesday--School in the morning, girls & I in town for their Bible study & my errand running.

Wednesday--Steve's day off--ANYthing goes!

Thursday--School in the morning & piano lessons in the afternoon-every other week we have Bible Quizzing in the evening.

Friday--School & guitar lessons before noon. Then the girls have a science club that they are in from 1 -3 so J & I run more errands.

Michael is on his own schedule for his ASL class & English class. It all flows pretty well & we are getting things DONE! That is such a great feeling.

More remodeling . . .

The reason we HAD to finish the bathroom & downstairs is because the upstairs bath was going to need some fixing. A small drip from the tub means plumbing & probably new tile(yea!). There also was a funny bump next to the tub that probably meant new sub floor.

That seems minor but once you get in there it quickly escalates. Here is what it looks like now!


There wasn't a simple solution--it all had to come out & be replaced. It all started with that 70s pink tile that was connected to the off white tile in the shower. One piece fell out & then when we started pulling that off it was connected. All the tile had to go & that meant new dry wall. So if you start replacing all that well that vanity is in BAD shape. And so on and so forth.

Needless to say it was a day of destruction. I really think that Steve likes the destruction.
At least more than he likes putting it all back. He was really tired and is now downstairs in our really nice basement playing Call of Duty with M. Blowing up things is always therapy for guys.
Maybe it will be enough therapy to help him deal with this pile on Saturday.


I just hope that we can break our record from the last project--2 years. Oh and it is still not totally done. So while I traipse downstairs to shower each morning, I will dream of the party I will throw when it is all done.

Tomatoes & Memories?

It is funny what things reminds you of the past. I have been canning tomatoes for the last week or so--just a little at a time. Every time as I start to boil the water & pop these awesome plum red tomatoes from my little garden in to the hot water, I am reminded of the times I have helped my mom & grandma with this task. I hated doing it then. Too much work & what was the point anyway?

Funny these days I see the point. We love chili, vegie soup and other things made with our homemade diced tomatoes. It is so satisfying to spend less than $5 on plants and have quarts & quarts hidden in jars under my sink & in the garage ready to use. It saves us money, it gets me and the kids outside in spring & summer. I am sure that these tomatoes are healthier than any I could buy outside of going organic.

Also, now that my grandma is gone, I understand that it wasn't totally about having the vegies for the winter although that is important. I wish I could spend another afternoon with grandma & my mom. Laughing, sharing and working on something all together.

I know the day is coming where my mom won't be around and that saddens me even more. Two things I need to do tomorrow. Spend time with my daughters--maybe canning tomatoes maybe doing something else. And I need to call my mom.

Labor? Maybe or maybe not

Well it is Labor Day weekend. The decision that we need to make is will we labor or not? It is a holiday weekend, so that means we need to rest from labor right? Such a conflict. There are so many things to do around this house. We started remodeling the basement years ago(two, three, I don't really remember) and it would be nice to finish things up. We had a tiny bathroom with 2 closets in the hallway. We decided to get rid of the closets and expand the space in the bathroom.Here is what it looked like after we did the demolition. That is the fun part. Rip, tear, and take it all out the door. The next part is harder. Get started, make decisions, and use those muscles to labor and create a new space. We had done everything except laying tile before. I am so blessed to have a husband(and now a son) who knows how to put in wire, pipes, drains & toilets. One thing we did that was new was bust up the concrete floor to change where the drain was and to add a drain under the water heater. Talk about messy & loud. But the guys did it.

We have made great strides. There used to be yucky carpet & concrete floor and now there is lovely tile. We also have more light in the hallway(no more dungeon). And that bathroom that was smelly, dark & unused? Well now it is bright & clean and IN USE! Also while we were gone on vacation we had our neighbor install the new carpet. It created some fun as we were trying to leave and pack, but we got it all moved around and ready for installation. It is amazing what new carpet will do for a room. Oh and getting the tools out of the living room helps. The room seemed so BIG!

With a family of 6, it is useful to have two functioning bathrooms. Especially as the girls get closer to teenagehood. Oh that is right, one of them is already there--don't tell her. It took us a few weeks after the bathroom was functional to actually use it. We just kept forgetting. "Oh yeah--we have two bathrooms!" Now everyone remembers & now we just need to finish the hall & stairwell. Unfortunately that means more drywall dust--Yuck my least favorite part!

P.S. Next post will have a picture of the new bathroom. I must have deleted the one I took.

My buggy active boy!

J is our youngest. He is the busiest child in our house. He is always running, leaping, climbing, into everything child. We love it but some days it is tiring!

This week had been a good one. We started out with some sniffles and coughs--why this happens the second week of school I don't know. All the kids have learned that even when you don't feel 100% you can do some work. We use Saxon math & in the 2nd grade you make some fun graphs. J needed to ask people what kind of apples they liked best. Those in our house got to try them out for a snack. We used Gala, Granny Smith, & Yellow Delicious. Since there were only 5 of us at home that didn't make a very big graph. In past years, we would call other friends and relative to do our polls but this year we used Facebook to do our poll. My friends came through and voted. It was a ton of fun to see him have to make tally marks to count the ones that were "off the chart."

Another exciting even that occurred early in the week, J found a toad and brought him in to show me. I, of course, wasn't as impressed as he was. J was able to find a temporary home for Mr. Toad. He lived in a box out in the back yard for a day. That evening we released him to hop off in to the sunset. I think J has a real affinity for animals. He is the one who is always toting around a cat or brushing their fur. Early in the spring, there were some baby snakes that were living under a piece of tin that was in our backyard. J(& the other kids) always wanted to check on the snakes. Then with their dad they were allowed to pick up the snakes. J wanted to do this each day until the snakes moved off into the field to hunt bigger prey than crickets. Right now he is just the one who is ready to pick up any bug or animal.

Summer is Slipping Away

It has happened. The last precious days of summer are here. This week we get to have a few more afternoons of hanging out at the pool. If it doesn't rain--like it is supposed to do.

We can watch movies after breakfast if we want. I can clean out declutter or take a nap. I love summer. This one has been one of the best. I just wish it could go on for a couple more weeks.

I have a feeling we will have a few more of these days because my tomatoes haven't even started to turn red so one of these days we are going to HAVE to can some tomatoes. That isn't going to feel quite the same as being lazy by the pool. Well there are still the weekends. Whoops when does soccer start--oh September 12th. ;)

Pea Green Soup. . . .I think

Do you have a list of thing in your head that you just know need to be done but it seems like you NEVER have time to work on it? Well painting J's room has been on my list all summer. We probably longer than that but I definitely wanted to do it this summer.

Well it looks like this is our last sort of free week before school is in full session. We started doing some things this week to get ready and ease in to a schedule before it was necessary. Steve had this weekend off and he was taking the girls on a father/daughter canoe trip, so it was just me and the boys.

So we planned to use today to paint J's room. It was amazing. I ran to Lowe's early & got the paint. No one was out--quick trip. While I was gone the boys emptied the room & took down all the posters, papers, stickers & such that were on the walls. So we started around 10 and at 10:02 I thought "Oh my this is gross."

J has a camo comforter and wanted to have green walls. Not Christmas green, not bright green, not even forest green(to dark), but muddy yucky green. Well it did match the comforter but when we put it on top of the yellowy faded off white that was there already--things weren't looking too good.

M's said well let's keep going. I said maybe it will dry and look different. So we kept on and finished around 1. Thank you God for my oldest son who can roll paint on faster than I can trim. He saved me so much energy and amazingly once the old color was covered it looked a world different. It matched the comforter and with the color of wood trip we have--it looked AWESOME. Not anything like pea green soup.

School daze

Well it has begun.

M is a senior, E is an 8th grader, M is in 6th grade & J is a big 2nd grader! Wow. I cannot believe that our kids are are this far along.

I love this time of the school year. We are making plans for how much we are going to get done. Making up a daily schedule--fitting in all those fun activities. The daily grind hasn't really started. I am planning & plotting. It all looks great on paper. Soon it will be time to try it out. That is when it gets real & difficult.

We have to balance hard work with sickness, disturbances, attitudes(mine included!), and just life getting in the way of school. We aren't starting really early this year because we won't have our vacation in the fall as we do sometimes. Yellowstone in June allowed us to use the fall a little more for school.

Last year we didn't really have a schedule and that drove me up the wall & made planning anything sort of not happen. This year we are going back to a schedule & I think it will go better. It did make the kids more responsible for planning out their day & I think that is good. In fact M and E will continue that as they are old enough to take that initiative. M and J however need more guidance & it allows me to have individual time with them.

So today we took some tests to see what they retained in Math. We use Saxon and often the first 20 or more lessons are review. This is good as it can remind the kids of things they have learned but it also is not always necessary. We hit the lessons that they need out of those review lessons & move on to new things. The kids like the idea of skipping some lessons at the beginning. Okay I admit it, I like the idea of skipping things too.

This summer has been great for PE. We have bowled, walked & swam. One of my goals is to keep PE in the schedule! We aren't as active in the winter--I need to get creative when it gets cold. Maybe I will put Megan in charge of that as she was creatively doing the Skip It & Bop It at the same time this morning.

Crazy week!

I realize that as I get older time gets shorter. But MAN it was in fast forward this week. Thank goodness for quiet Friday nights.

Monday was a good day--we were home and able to get a good chunk of work done. Steve laughed at me for setting up a table in our room so I could find a space to leave planning work out. It always amazes me how much I look forward to starting the school year. It is new it is exciting & usually by the end of August we are ready to get in to a routine after the summer of doing whatever! Thinking of fall keeps creeping in--Monday night the older kids & Daddy went to a upward soccer coach meeting while I took the littles to the pool. :)

Tuesday became a bit hectic. We stayed up late Monday night deciding what M truly wanted/needed to take at the college level as a dual enrolled senior. I am excited he is taking these courses. However I am a bit intimidated by the whole process. He is the grand experiment and I shudder at getting this part wrong. Finally on Tuesday got him enrolled and registered for the class--American Sign Language. It counts as a foreign language--yeah! Then I went back in to shop for our month coming up. We have tons of meals in the freezer & stuff stocked up so that should help with meals as we get school rolling. I did this because I had some good rebates on groceries!

Wednesday we decided it was time to trade in the old clunker of a truck that Steve was driving--got to take advantage of the govt $ too. That just took ALL day! So not much else was done and we were exhausted.

Thursday we again got to be home in the morning and I got all the previous year paperwork DONE so now I can move on to next year without any guilt! I like starting a year but I hate having to finish things up. Then I went back in to sign paperwork with Steve on the new Rav4. Didn't get home until after 7. Thank goodness for M and his willingness to run the house and fix supper for his sibs. He even grilled meat for them--awesome!

Friday I realized that J had shared his lovely cold with me. I have been dragging all day. I did get to go and get my bangs permed--missed my appt on Wed. So now I won't have all those bad hair days I have been enjoying! E & I just went shopping afterwards and I got worn out.

So I am taking the advice of hubby and resting so I don't make the cold worse. He is so wise. Maybe next week will SLOW down and I can be home more. I sure hope so . . . .

Mama is takin' us to the zoo tomorrow

I admit it I didn't want to go to the zoo.

There is the unfinished basement. School needs to be planned. My garden is going crazy with weeds & green beans. The house isn't organized at all. However, we had promised the kids to go there on Steve's next long weekend off. It was also E's 13th birthday. But when we got there I remembered why it is good to go on vacations. We had FUN! Every trip is an adventure. We opened gifts before we left & didn't get out of town until 5 and it is a 5 hour drive. Ick. However with a DVD player in the suburban anything is possible! We pulled in to the hotel at 1 1 p.m. and everyone went to sleep quick! At breakfast, we met another home school family & enjoyed talking to them. It is funny how you know who is a home schooler & who isn't. I think we must have a "look" or something.



Lion's Tigers & Bears--Oh my!

At the zoo we first saw a polar bear being fed. He had carrots first & had two sticking out of his mouth at one time. I didn't get a shot of that. Bummer. But I did get one when he ate a WHOLE melon.





The monkey house was next where the gorilla's did a great job of turning their backs on us. No pictures for them. Then we found this really cool looking hippo statue that the kids climbed all over and Megan even sat in his mouth. I got a great group shot and then we realized "this is a trash can." Did I say that every trip is an adventure?


Then we had a blast feeding the budgies. We used to call them parakeets but for some reason they have this special name. Either way they are fun to chase, feed and sometimes put on your hat or shoulder. Last time we were here it was blistering hot so it was awesome to be there when it was only 80 degrees. On the second day we were there it was actually cold in the shade.

We also got to walk through the Dessert Dome & then the Aquarium. We love the aquarium because you can walk through a tunnel & see TONS of fish, sharks & turtles. Best of all we got to see the sharks being fed right before we left. It wasn't bloody or anything. Just a fish on a stick & CHOMP--it was gone. The penguins were a blast too. We saw them being fed too--they are wild. Jumping, diving, in and out of the water. All choreographed to be moving at the same time. We also saw some cool jelly fish. They were beautiful. Finally it was time to head home. It was very quiet on the way home but everyone was glad we went. Even me.

12 Hours of Time

Cell phones. Hard chairs. Laughter. Time warp. Beepers. Doctors. Lunch with sisters & mom. Worry. Waiting. Relief. Hugs. Home.

It isn't often you get to spend 12 hours in a hospital. I did today waiting with my Mom since Dad had surgery. She kept saying thank you for staying with her. It shocked her that I would do that. That makes me sad.

I hope that my family really knows that I love them and want to be there for them. In any situation any time for any reason. I can't always fix anything or even do anything, but I can be there. For support, to tell them it will be okay, for comic relief, to buy lunch or whatever. That is what families do. Ours feels like it is getting a second start after taking a couple of decades detour.

I am glad I know my mom, sister, dad, brother & sister-in-law better now than I did a year ago. I hope in another year I can say that things are even better.

Nationals Picnic

Well after a crazy 2 days of garage sale madness, our family drove 2 hours to a picnic with some great people.

In April we went to St. Louis to for the Bible Quizzing National tournament. Michael's team, Crunchies, was the surprize team on stage. They were not Lee's Summits top team but they were awesome! No pressure to win but oh they came really close. It was great to be back together for a few hours. And now to start studying next years material. Well maybe soon . . . .

Lemonade Stands & Bravery

Today we held a garage sale at Grandma Suzanne's. It was great--we sold a lot, made some cash and got rid of things we didn't need any more. It was rainy at first so everyone was needed to cover things with tarps. Then finally it cleared and the sun was out to stay.

Joshua and Megan had talked about selling cookies & lemonade at the sale earlier in the week. Cookies didn't happen because we were so busy cleaning out closets & boxes. But we did make lemonade to sell.

When I suggested this they were all for it; however, when it came to doing it their enthusiasm left. In fact at first, Joshua was the only one willing to sit behind the table and "pour." Cousin Emily "helped" him until Megan came out. After me doing some convincing, they moved to the end of the driveway and scraped together their courage to ask people if they wanted to buy a cup for 10 cents. After that Megan came over and said "That wasn't as scary as I thought." You must be brave to run a lemonade stand!

Family His & Mine

When you put two people together from different families, sometime you find that there are different ways of doing the same thing. Even spaghetti . . .

We have had the discussion about spaghetti before and I due to being out numbered(the children always do it HIS way) I keep the noodles separate from the sauce when I serve it. At my mom's we just mix it together. It was even said if there were leftovers the next day--it was better after being with the noodles for longer. Steve would just shakes his head. There are hardly ever leftovers of spaghetti here--too many hungry children I guess.

Tonight when we had my family over for dinner and a party I served, you guessed it, spaghetti--actually spaghetti casserole. Ironically, Steve's mother's recipe--sauce mixed with noodles! So maybe he just likes the sauce separate and has me conned about the whole family thing.

Then we had angel food cake, strawberries and cool whip. Another family "preference." Do you stir your cool whip before serving or just scoop it out? Does it really put more fluff in it if you stir it? Just something to think about. :)