About Me
My name is Tami and I live in central Illinois with my husband, Larry and three children, Caleb (6), Camden (4) and Emma Grace (2). I hope you'll enjoy reading about my life as a wife/mother and about our family's adventures.
Menu Plan Monday – April 28
Monday – Chicken and Noodles, salad, strawberries
Tuesday – BBQ Ribs in the Crockpot, potato salad, baked beans, corn on the cob
Wednesday – Spaghetti, caesar salad, garlic bread
Thursday – Chicken Supreme, vegetable, honey cornbread
Friday – Deep Dish Pizza Casserole, salad
Saturday – Breakfast - Snickerdoodle French Toast, fruit - Dinner – Out to eat
Head on over to I’m an Organizing Junkie for more meal plans.
Tags: 
recipes, 
Menu Plan Monday
Bloggy Giveaway Winner (Spring 2008)
And the winner of the great Lush bath products is Playful Professional. Thanks to everyone that entered my giveaway.
Tags: 
Bloggy Giveaway, 
Lush, 
bath products
Bloggy Giveaway (Spring 2008)
For my first giveaway last year, I gave away some Lush bath products. They were a huge hit. They are my favorites for a great bath. I like Lush so much that I give it for teacher gifts and birthday gifts.
For this giveaway I will be giving a Happy Pill bath bomb
a Honey Bee bath bomb
and a Sexy Peel soap.
Head on over to Bloggy Giveaways to enter some more great giveaways.
Tags: Bloggy Giveaway, Lush, bath products
Menu Plan Monday – April 21
Monday – Chicken and Noodles, rolls
Tuesday – Grilled Hot Dogs, corn on the cob, baked beans, watermelon
Wednesday – Grilled Ham and Cheese, chips, strawberries
Thursday – Crockpot Chicken Licken Good Pork Chops, cheesy potatoes, vegetable
Friday – Date night with hubby to Destihl (maybe) and to see Casting Crowns in concert
Saturday – Breakfast – Oatmeal, toast, fruit – Dinner – Filet Mignon, twice baked potatoes, roasted vegetables
Head on over to I’m an Organizing Junkie for more meal plans.
Tags: recipes, Menu Plan Monday
Feeding the Horses
Our family went to my parent’s on Saturday afternoon for the first family cookout of the year. We had a great time with the whole family and the boys enjoyed playing with their cousins. One of the favorite activities when we head to my parent’s house is feeding the horses. There is a stable and a huge pasture behind the house. My niece coaxed the horses to the fence with carrots and the kids enjoyed feeding them.
Camden calling the horses
Caleb feeding the horses
Tags: 
family cookout, 
family time
Happy 3rd Birthday Camden!
It just seems like yesterday that you were born. And, now you are my big 3 year old who can hardly wait to start preschool like his big brother.
Some of your favorite things are trains (especially Thomas and Percy), coloring, drawing, puzzles, peanut butter and jelly, reading books, your big brother Caleb and your baby sister Emma, being mommy’s big helper and McDonald’s.
You are such a happy child, always with a huge smile on your face. You are also very free with your affection, never letting anyone leave the house without a kiss AND a hug.
Today on your birthday, we are having pancakes (at your request), opening your birthday gifts and then we will surprise you with a visit to Coldstone Creamery for ice cream after.
Happy 3rd Birthday, my Camden!
Camden as a newborn
Camden, daddy and Caleb
Tags: 
Happy 3rd Birthday
Menu Plan Monday – April 14
Monday – Chili, honey cornbread
Tuesday – Chocolate Chip Pancakes, bacon, Coldstone Creamery for birthday ice ceam
Wednesday – Southwestern Chicken and Pasta, vegetable
Thursday – Crockpot Chicken Licken Good Pork Chops, twice baked potatoes, vegetable
Friday – Homemade Pizza, caesar salad
Saturday – Breakfast – Mini-Cherry Pecan Streusel Bread, scrambled eggs - Dinner – Out for dinner
Head on over to I’m an Organizing Junkie for more meal plans.
Tags: recipes, Menu Plan Monday
Menu Plan Monday – April 7
Monday – Sweet and Tangy Chicken Kabobs, brown rice, salad
Tuesday – Grilled Hamburgers, potato salad, baked beans, double decker banana cups
Wednesday – Grilled Ham and Cheese, cottage cheese, chips, pickles
Thursday – Spaghetti and Meatballs, caesar salad, garlic bread
Friday – Chili, honey cornbread
Saturday – Breakfast – Waffles with Fresh Strawberries, sausage – Dinner – Out to dinner
Head on over to I’m an Organizing Junkie for more meal plans.
Tags: recipes, Menu Plan Monday
Works For Me Wednesday – Savings Spreadsheet
It has been a long time since I participated in a Works for Me Wednesday, but today is a theme day, a “Greatest Hits Edition”. And, this was my most popular Works for Me Wednesday post. It seemed to strike a chord with a lot of people.
My husband and I took a Financial Peace University class this spring at our church. We do fairly well with managing our money, but were hoping to get some additional tips to improve even more. After hearing all of Dave Ramsey’s tips for money management, we modified some of his principles to work for our family. One thing we have started is to set up a savings spreadsheet. Here is an example of ours, with modified numbers.
- emergency fund ($1000)
- 3-6 months of living expenses (not there yet)
We also put money in our savings every month for infrequent expenses:
- insurance
- car tags
- homeowners dues
- auto repair/maintenance
- clothing
- gifts
- home improvements
- school tuition/expenses
- vacation
Additional funds are added as we feel they are needed. We put money into our savings every paycheck for the second emergency fund (3-6 months) and our infrequent expenses and specific items we are saving for (a new computer or a vacation). When a bill is due or we have made a purchase from one of the infrequent purchase categories, we know the money is there. The money is then deducted from whatever the specific category is. For instance, we recently had an unexpected car repair and we were able to use the money in our emergency fund to pay for it.
This is still a work in progress for our family and we hope for it to improve over time. We have only been using this for about 6 months, but have already seen an improvement in how our money is managed.
Update: We have been using a savings spreadsheet for our family for about 2 years. It has really been working great and helpted to reduce our stress when purchasing an item when we know the money is available.
Go read more Works For Me Wednesday tips at Rocks in My Dryer.
Tags: 
Dave Ramsey, 
Financial Peace University, 
savings spreadsheet
Miscellaneous
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