Party Time!

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Valentine's day was beautiful. Here are a few pictures of our sweetness celebrating her 1 year!

Birthday Girl! Already in a hand-me-down dress from cousin Anna and Aunt Meme. Too Cute!

It was Papa Bartlett's birthday too! You can always count on Nana and Papa to be color coordinated for the holiday!

CAKE!

Lovin' it

Her favorite present... the car seat

Jack had to take over caring for the baby. Abigail was just not giving it the attention it needed. He also asked me, "Mom can you tell Spencer to quit shooting me and my baby doll?". 

Cupcakes!

The three amigos. 

Oatmeal Bread

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I had a couple requests for the bread recipe from my starving the budget post. This is my mom's recipe and I don't know where she got it, but it is amazing, a no fail favorite, and the BEST BREAD EVER. We used to come home from school and eat 2 loaves between 4 or 5 of us girls. A grown man could polish of one loaf by himself, no problem. My boys are following in the tradition and can put down at least three pieces at a time. Best of all... it is CHEAP to make. So here it is:

1 C. of Oatmeal

2 C. Hot water

1/2 C. Brown sugar/honey

2 T.  Butter

1 T.  Salt (not heaping)

Put all these together in your mixture or a big bowl and let sit until the butter melts and the hot water cools. This gets the oatmeal all mushy.

Put in a separate dish

2 T. Yeast 

1/2 C. Warm water (not too warm)

Add the yeast mixture to the oatmeal mixture when it is cooled. Then mix in:

5-6 cups of flour

The bread should be a little sticky still. If you are making it in the mixer the bread should stick the the very bottom, not be completely attached the the hook.You don't want it hard as a brick but a little elastic-like and sticking to your fingers.

Let the dough rise until it doubles in size. Then take it out, punch it around (I have heard this is called kneading), and then pinch the middle until you get two loaves. Make sure there are no creases near the top of the loaf because they will split open while cooking. That is a pet peeve of mine because I want PRETTY loaves.

Let the newly formed loaves rise until they double and size. Stick em' in the oven at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Then take out a stick of butter and rub it all over the top.

The oatmeal makes these loaves so moist! This is sure to be a favorite.

Let it rise

The pans have shortening and then flour dusted in them so the loaves don't stick

 Ready to hit the oven

Out of the oven, hot and ready

Loaves ready to head to the neighbors

The best part... feeding my little man. The strawberry jam really throws this over the top. I think he approves!

A Bartlett Valentine's Day

Pin It Today we will try to squeeze two birthday parties (Papa Bartlett and Abigail), cousins over, a special project for the each Nana, and a quiet moment to enjoy and reflect on the marriage covenant we live out everyday. I love the chance to show an extra amount of love to someone. Showering blessings and encouragement is not my natural bent, but a day just for that allows me the freedom to go over the top. Abigail is going to get balloons and cake. Papa Bartlett will get steaks and baked potatoes. The Nanas will get valentines and heart necklaces made especially for them by two beautiful boys. 
BUT... my hubby. How do I show him exactly how special he is? How horrible life would be without him? How thankful I am for all his hard work? I am stewing up a few ideas as I write. My best thoughts include things I know he loves. Dates, movies, treats, a clean and warm house, and words of affirmation. However, this morning I was reading about my job as a wife and the need to pray against strongholds in his life and for the his spirit to be strengthen and fed by the word. This is the gift that I really want to give. To heap blessings on his life and I claim God's word in his life.
Here are a few key promises I want to remember to pray for him:
Protection from the enemy - "My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one." John 17:15
A wife with a merry/cheerful heart - "but the cheerful heart  has a continual feast."  Proverbs 15:15
That he would have the joy of the Lord - "The joy of the Lord is my strength." Neh. 8:10
That he would delight in the Lord and meditate on Him - "But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night." Psalms 1:2
Angelic protection - "For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will life you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone." Psalm 91:11-12
There are so many more. I can hardly contain myself from looking for everyone and memorizing each truth. I know this will be the best gift I can ever give.

A gift for Nana

The sweetest treat of all... two godly Nanas.

Menu for the week

Pin It I have another blog I love to read, Heavenly Homemakers. She posts a menu plan every week and it is so helpful for me for generating some new ideas. We have a few restrictions in our house (that means... if I make them my husband will not eat them) so I don't and we are both happy. No casseroles, no peas, and limited white sauce dishes. If I feed him cream of ANYTHING soup he might wake up with night terrors over his horrible dinner experience. I don't include too many of these in my menu plans or look at these on other websites, but that is the beauty of the internet, you can pick and choose for your family.
Here is our plan this week:
Monday: Chicken tortilla soup, tortilla chips
Tuesday: Steak, potatoes, salad (birthday party for Dad B)
Wednesday: Quiche, sausage links
Thursday: Chicken Lettuce Wraps, rice, veggies
Friday: Potato Pockets
Saturday: Dinner at neighbors (we have to go any chance we get before our family gets too big and no one invites us over anymore)
Sunday: Roast, carrots, potatoes
The boys and I have the same schedule for breakfast and lunch for each day of the week. It just keeps things simple and then I know what to have in the house and I only need to be creative about dinners.

Starving the Budget

Pin It I want to get our budget so it is like a anorexic form of it's previous self. However, my husband and I share different views of necessities and so I have to be creative in the things I scrimp on. For example, I would just never buy cereal (a splurge in my book), but he would look at me so sad on Saturdays mornings that it would never fly. Here are a few of my latest money savers:

• Taking the boys INSANE amount of clothes to the consignment store. Then I use the money on credit to get half price formula. The date is still good (don't worry babe) and Abigail is lovin' it way more then the full price stuff, I am sure.
• Making homemade bread. It is a great housewarming gift or bring to coffee-chat- time with friends and a jar of homemade jam, WHICH, I HAVE A TON OF. Anyone need some plum jam?
• Staying home more. I get more work done and I spend less money. I don't know why I didn't figure this out earlier, but I think I was scared of not having interaction with the outside world. We have a good amount of visitors and I have been disciplined in my crafts and projects for the boys so they don't get bored. Now going to a cousins to visit is an absolute treat or a reward for good behavior. 

I absolutely love saving money, but it is only rewarding if I get to see the fruits of that labor when we are allowed to give out of our excess.

Debt Snowball Update

Pin It My sister just recently commented that she was checking her bank account frantically to see if her tax return money was there. As if she was going to do something fun with it rather than pay down her rolling debt snowball. I am happy to say the debt snowball has already spoken for our tax return as well. We will be moving it out of our bank account an on to the student loan just as quickly as we can. After that payment we will have one more loan that is scheduled to be paid off in April/May. Then we will be DEBT FREE except for the house! We still feel like we have a long way to go, but at least we look a lot better then we did this time last year. Thank the Lord for giving us the passion to take charge of our finances.
Now If I could just squeeze in a trip to Arizona to see my parents and let my boys run around in their undies... doesn't hurt to hope!

A Few Pics

Pin It I am supposed to be balancing checkbooks right now, but I have not posted any precious pictures of my little dreams in so long that I just had to take a break to look all of them. Here are a few to remember this sweet season of life.

All three in Christmas PJ's


More jammies...hmmm I am beginging to see a theme


Bros! Slamming eachother with snowballs


The lovebirds!


Spencer on his trip with Dad. Please take notice of his mini-me Dutchman shirt.

I could just look at these all day long. Thank you Lord for a beautiful healthy family and so many good memories.