Its Friday! YEAH!
I love Fridays! Its the end of the week and its usually our family night. We all stay up late and spend time together but best thing is....we know we can sleep in the next day! Woo hoo I love Fridays!
After the kids were home from school and basketball practice I decided that today we would go through all our clothes once again. I swear the kids don't ever stop growing. How did this happen again? How did we end up with so many clothes and they aren't fitting? Our youngest two ..Josh and Jason (both 14) have been growing leaps and bounds this year. Shoes and pants are constantly going to the thrift store or friends. Joshua is 6'1'' and Jason is 5'6'' but it took him forever to grow. Both of their legs are super long so Jeans become close to high waters a lot. Always shopping for new pants.
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| Josh and Jason my 14 year olds |
Thankfully Jasons mom also does some shopping for him too which is nice when he goes to visit. Its helpful. As I had said before Jackson and Jason are biological brothers. Cassie and Josh are biological siblings. The kids don't know the difference though. They are all ours to us and the kids don't view each other as step siblings at all. You can tell because laughing or fighting is all the same between them all lol.
Whelp with some moaning and groaning mainly from the boys we went through all their clothes. It all started with Ryan going through all his pants to give to the thrift shop. I guess I should add we love our little thrift shop for the simple fact that you can donate there and all the proceeds go to our small community pool. We ended up between us all with 6 garbage bags of good clothes for others, one bag that can be turned into rags, and a couple of new things that can be given to our family members. It was nice to do this.....even though we have to do it often. It was pretty funny when I was in the laundry room and Jackson told me to come find Cassie. She was hidden under the pile of clothes. Kind of easy to find someone who is squirming and laughing:)
Growing up we always gave our clothes to others. I am of sound mind that after you wash something its not new anyways. If we get hand me downs that we like I am all for it! Kids grow fast. Why buy 40 dollar T-shirts or 150 dollar pants. Don't get me wrong we do have some of those things but that's only if the kids work and save their own money for certain items. I want them to like their clothes otherwise to me its a waste of money because they will not wear them. At this age its hard for others to buy them clothes too. I remember being picky as a teen but our kids have to learn to not be that picky. Its about function over fashion. Does it fit? It is going to keep you warm? Is it comfortable? Ryan's favorite T shirts are the super hero ones that are like 5 dollars. I have shopped many times from Goodwill or thrift stores to find awesome things. The shirt I get the most complements on was actually a 2.00 find at Goodwill. We do love others stores like Zumiez, Lane Bryant, Torrid, Hot Topic, Etc....
So YEAH!!! We are cleaned out again and can figure out how many shirts and pants everyone has to get whoever has grown out of things caught up to the others. Somehow Josh always ends up with less clothes than anyone else because he is growing leaps and bounds. So today will be spent ordering him some new clothes online. That is one hard thing about living on a ranch and hour or more away from stores. So Amazon is my best friend. Having Prime Shipping is my second best friend. Whatever you need to your door in just two days. Wow! Saves a lot of time, gas and money.
After doing all this the kids were hungry. Because Jason's teeth were still sore from getting braces yesterday we decided on homemade spaghetti and meatballs. Its a super yummy good recipe so I thought I would share my meatball recipe. The sauce you can use homemade (mine is canned from this summer still) or you can just use Ragu or Presto Sauce. I decided to take pictures too so you can see how yummy. We had dinner which is always our family time. Then we watched a movie together. By the time all that was done it was 1230 and everyone was very ready for bed. I love spending time with my family. Its something I hope they always remember and also something I know I will never forget. Its fun to hear about their days. To have them ask for our advice on things. Its not always easy things to answer either. Just the fact they ask though really makes my heart swell from joy though.
Here is some Pics and then the Meatball Recipe so you can enjoy it in your own home...
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| Finished Rae's Meatballs |
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| before all stirred together |
Rae's Meatballs
3 pounds ground beef (remember we have a large family and I want some for next day)
3 large eggs
1.5 cups chopped onion (we like purple)
1 tablespoon of oregano dried
3 tablespoon basil fresh
1 tablespoon parsley fresh or dried
3 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground pepper
1.5 cup of parmigiano- reggiano grated
1-2 tablespoons of diced garlic
Take all these ingredients and mix together. I just use my hands or a wooden spoon. After fully mixed take two Tablespoons of mixture at a time and roll into balls. Set on plate. After all the mixture is in balls take over to your sauce. Sauce should be on medium heat in pan. Put one by one meatballs into the sauce. Do not stir. Keep on medium heat for 20 minutes covered. After 20 minutes gently stir the meatballs. They should be rising to the top of the sauce. Cover 15 more minutes and Voila its done. Scoop sauce with meatballs over cooked Spaghetti. Add little basil and shredded parmigiano on the top. Serve:)
Hope you like the recipe and try it.
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| Sauce before I put meatballs in |
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| Finished Product...YUM! |
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Question: When you outgrow clothes or decide you do not like them anymore.....what do you do with them?
