Hurricane Shoals & a trip to the ER!

We had a great time at Hurricane Shoals yesterday celebrating a wonderful young ladies high school graduation.  It was our first trip to the park for 2014.  We usually celebrate the first day the park opens on April 1st, with all things picnicy and parkish!  The water is still way to cold for swimming, yet my children still...well...swim, tube, slide on rocks, all things having to do with watery fun.

Jensen, Davidson, Holland & Jameson enjoying the chilly water!

Holland was the first under the water!  I usually call her my little fish, but she recently corrected me and said she is a beautiful mermaid.  LOL!

All the kids except Jameson wore shirts due to forgetting sunscreen at the pool this week.  They were lobsters!  Poor things!  It's amazing how a sunburn can assure you don't forget sunscreen or a swim shirt again...all summer.  

Holland and Jubilee had a blast together.  Both of these cuties are the babies of large families!  Holland is the youngest of 12 and Jubilee is the youngest of 10.

Being the youngest of a large crew means your possibly a tiny bit spoiled!  Yes, I was a youngest for 12 years and I can say that I was...just a tiny bit spoiled.  Only a little bit!

The kids had so much fun crawling all over the shoals together.  This was our first time actually playing on this side of the park.  We usually park and play on the other side.  There were a lot of new things to explore.

The little guys stayed near the shore, but found a nice little place that was perfect for them to slide down.

Max, Johnston and the rest of the older kids did not stay close to shore.  They were all over the place.  They thoroughly enjoyed the extreme parts of the shoals.

The kids with a few of their friends were kind enough to stop their fun and pose for Tim.  When I was playing around with the pictures I had to laugh when I zoomed in on the kids faces.

Their friend PJ was making these faces behind them all....in every single picture Tim took of this group.  LOL!  He's such a goof!  Love that kid!

PJ and Becca looking for their next adventure down the shoals.  Soon after this picture was taken PJ slipped and cut his chin.  No stitched were needed, but it was painful.  Becca, however, fell a while later and landed on her face/shoulder.  Tooth went right through her lip and her shoulder/arm went numb and started swelling right away.  She did it good!  She was thankful that it happened close to the end so she had many hours of play before she was done.

We got the kids home and left everything in the capable hands of my two amazing teen boys, Max & Johnston.  Ended up at the ER with Becca around 10 and after 2 hours we found out she had a serious sprain, but thankfully nothing broken.  Thankful, very thankful for no broken bones or anything more serious.  A sling and she was sent on her way home.  

I don't think we will be returning to Hurricane Shoals in the next couple weeks, but Becca said she is not going to let a "little" fall keep her from having fun this summer.  She inspires me with her attitude.  She has not let her past, her bumps and bruises of life, keep her from living life to the fullest she can.  She is simply amazing!!!

Eating ~ Large Family Style!

A friend of mine asked recently what a week of cooking or meal planning looked like at our house.  I thought I would take a minute to jot down our weekly meal plan for this current week.

Monday (today)

Breakfast: Eggs and potatoes with sauteed onions

Lunch: Cheese Quesadillas with homemade salsa, homemade peach yogurt

Dinner: Grilled chicken, mashed garlic potatoes, southwestern corn

Tuesday

Breakfast: Egg McMuffins, green smoothies

Lunch: Grilled cheese sandwiches, tomato soup, applesauce

Dinner: Oriental veggies and rice, grapes

Wednesday

Breakfast: Homemade applesauce muffins, green smoothies

Lunch: Homemade mac-n-cheese, homemade mandarin orange yogurt

Dinner: Taco Salad, fruit salad

Thursday

Breakfast: Eggs over rice, green smoothies

Lunch: Peanut Butter and banana sandwiches, applesauce

Dinner: Black beans, rice and fresh chimole, pineapple salad

Friday

Breakfast: Homemade applesauce muffins, green smoothies

Lunch: Egg Sandwiches, apples

Dinner: Homemade pizza, salad

Saturday

Breakfast: Waffles with strawberries and fresh whip cream

Lunch: Leftovers if there are any

Dinner: Homemade calzones, salad, applesauce

Sunday

Breakfast:  Cold cereal, bananas

Lunch: Leftovers if there are any

Dinner: Lasagna (store bought), salad (made the day before), applesauce

Snacks for the week

homemade banana or applesauce muffins, popcorn, trail mix, smoothies, yogurt, homemade granola bars

I spent $210 on our groceries this week for our family of 11.  This included a few items that will be used for the next couple of weeks.  Some weeks our food bill might hit $300 and there have been some weeks we've actually kept it down to $100.

We save a lot of money during the week by making our own yogurt by the gallon.  It's so super easy that our 9 year old asked to take over that job.  We make three gallons of yogurt a week to use in smoothies, muffins, and fruit yogurt. The cost for a gallon of yogurt is roughly $4 homemade and to get yogurt from the store can cost us around $12 or more for a gallon. Cha-ching!

We also save money buying in bulk.  This week I spent $25 on 15-20lbs of hamburger on sale for a great price.  I then took the portion we are going to use....for this week it would be the taco salad...and put the remainder in the freezer for another week. Next week I will plan a meal with hamburger and I won't have to purchase anymore which might help my food budget be lower next week. Buying flour, rice, sugar and other items we use a lot during our week in bulk saves us money as well and I usually only have to purchase them once a month.  I also have started making our own salad dressing and spice mixes which can add up when we use them so much. 

Lastly, we have been trying to keep our Sundays as relaxing and free from work as we can.  One thing we have cut is a major cooking and dish washing.  Sometimes I will make a freezer meal early in the week that we can just pop in the oven for dinner. Other things we have done is make extra pizzas, chicken or double a meal the night before that we simply reheat for dinner. We tend to just have cold cereal and leftovers that take seconds to make for breakfast and lunch.  Throwaway plates, bowls and silverware keep our dishes to a minimum as well. It has been a great change for our family!

Davidson turns 12!

Tim had the day off a few weeks ago and decided it would be a great time to whisk Davidson out on a date for his birthday.  First stop was lunch at Golden Corral which was Davidson's top choice.  After a wonderful time at lunch with my two guys we headed to our next surprise.  

We had a great time watching Walking with Dinosaurs.  At first Tim and I thought we might parish from boredom, but the movie did pick up and turned out pretty cute.  Davidson however announced we MUST purchase this movie as soon as it comes out.  Ha!  Maybe rent it for a $1...but not sure this movie will be a making it to our MUST have list.  It was fun enjoying the movie with him even if the overpriced Twizzlers were like ancient jerky!  :)  

We had one final surprise for the day.

Davidson's first trip to BuildABear!  He was so excited he was practically wiggling.

He chose the perfect bear and loaded him with lots of love!

Giving Apache a scrub before moving on to pick out the perfect outfit for the little guy.

The second outfit he found was a cut shorts outfit with a dinosaur t shirt.  He was thrilled!

Davidson's actual birthday dawned sunny and full of smiles!

He was very excited to start his special day.

We woke up to find the "birthday fairies" (Jeffries teens) had visited in the middle of the night and decorated the living room.  The kids were all excited to see the hanging balloons and streamers flying and fluttering around in the living room.

My baby girl, Aurora, whose getting so big!  She has turned into such a great addition to our family.  She is one spoiled Great Pyrenees.  

What's a birthday without a twirling princess!

Even Princess' get dizzy when they twirl, twirl, twirl!

This little Princess' dressed  up just for Davidson's birthday!  She came out so proudly from her room with this jumper on WITHOUT a shirt.  Sorry my little princess, but it's freezing outside and pretty cold inside while we wait for the fire to take the early morning chill off.  Shirts are a must for a few more months.  :)

 

Davidson chose to watch a movie with his dog Lily and Apache!

Look at these two cuties!  Jensen and Tinkerbell seemed to be enjoying the movie as well.

 

Daddy came home at lunch time so Davidson could open his presents early.  He was pretty excited about not having to wait until after dinner to get his loot.  :)

 

Each of the kids saved their money and purchased things with such care for him.  It was so much fun to watch him open his gifts.  Dinosaur wall stickers from Holly were a BIG hit!  Dino stickers + putting them on the wall beside his bed = pure awesomeness!

 His very last gift to open was a new K'nex theme park set.  It is so cool!  He LOVES K'nex so very much.

  He was really excited to get his first hook rug from Morgan.  He has been asking for a new "hands on" craft project for when we are listening to our audiobooks.  This hit the mark for him.

He was so blessed by everything.  Dog toys for Lilly from different siblings, new shoes, $20 towards his Lego Castle savings, new dino cups, new dental care stuff, new containers for his Lego organization, and Becca/Johnston gave him a new to him mp4 player/new headphones/charger and box.  Now to find new places for all his new stuff!

We enjoyed a day celebrating Davidson with some of his favorite foods.  Lucky charms for breakfast, mac-n-cheese for lunch, smoothies and popcorn, and for dinner corndogs, homemade orange jello with mandarin oranges and whip cream, baby carrots and for dessert a strawberry poke cake.  We played outside, played a racing game on the Xbox, and tons of other things Davidson wanted to do.  

We are so very blessed with this boy so full of love and kindness.  I couldn't imagine our life without Davidson's mega watt smile in it.  Happy 12th Birthday to an amazing young man!

TRU Magazine

Morgan has had the privilege of writing for TRU magazine since the very beginning.  She has had such an amazing experience through it all.  It's so exciting to have seen the magazine coming from a start up magazine to now being sold in stores.  How exciting!!!!

Tomorrow Morgan is turning in an article on best friends for an upcoming issue.  She asked Becca and her BFF Katie to be a part of her article which they were more then excited about.  Today we spent a little time getting a current picture of them for the magazine. Here are a few that they liked:

 Katie (12) and Becca (14)

 

If you are looking for something positive for your teen daughter to read....check out TRU magazine.  Written to encourage our girls in every way to be the best they can be and to be their TRUe selves and not what others want them to be.  Written by mostly teens for teens.  Check it out!

2014!

2014!  2013 is gone...loaded into our memory banks! We have entered 2014 with an eagerness that is contagious.  New adventures to be had by us all.  New lessons to learn.  New family dynamics. This might be the year more adult children venture off into their current destiny.  The year my teens step out more independently.  The year my youngest four advance in many new areas.  Just so much to accomplish and look forward to in this fresh new year. 

To me a new year is like a new journal.  Fresh pages awaiting your thoughts, emotions, prayers, desires, adventures, etc.  We wasted no time in putting 2014 memory making to good use.  Lots of special things have happened and I've just not taken the time to journal as I wish.  Pictures are stored in my camera and computer waiting to be written about, but I just don't know if I will ever get to them all.  So for now...I just write what I can and what doesn't get written will have to remain unwritten.

 

2014: 

~ So far we have had two...yes...two car accidents.  One major one that was not our fault and one extremely minor fender bump that was our fault.  

~ Tim has gotten a major promotion and is looking forward to actually working as a civil engineer from here on out.  

~ We have been growing so much as we hit the half way mark on an annual fast as a family.  

~ Davidson turned 12 and we had an absolute blast making it his best birthday EVER!  (He says his 10th was 2nd best) 

~ Morgan purchased took the final step and purchased her ticket for Uganda today.  

~ An all day hiking expedition to the gorge in North Georgia.  

~We cleaned out the ENTIRE attic and donated 50% of what was up their.  Tim put more shelves and organizing things up there and everything is tucked away until our annual Summer clothing change out.

~We have been going through many boxes/closets/bags in our house and downsizing by 50%.  It has felt wonderful getting rid of so much stuff that we just do not need or use.  There is much to do still...but it has been a steady progression. I'm so happy the kids have been as aggressive in this change as I have been.  

~ Lots of outdoor adventuring has happened.  Muddy kids here and there and EVERYWHERE!  They have enjoyed the creek in the back yard and more often then not come inside cold and wet!

I could go on, but all in all it's been a great start to a new year.  

Lots of changes in the Jeffries house.  Taking our lives to a new level.  God has some pretty amazing things in store for each person in our home and I look forward to seeing what they are!