Free Range on Fairview

Life the past few weeks has been like this picture, crazy. I promise I will be back soon.

I just could pick a favorite, or three, from the pictures I took this afternoon so here are five of the littlest Sadler. What a little cutie!

When time is of the essence, I try to get as much in from the van as possible each trip, I can definitely relate to this :) I would have to call myself the "official" grocery shopper of our family so I had to learn how to read sale flyers, navigate the isles of grocery stores and shop for an ever growing family. Along the way I have learned many things through trial and error, especially shopping with little ones in tow. I am going to do a multipart series on how I save a few dollars at the store starting off with the largest money saver of them all... Plan, Plan, Plan Before I ever leave for the grocery store I have a grand master plan and this is what works for me. Look at the sale flyers for the three major grocery stores in my tiny town  Compare prices on basics I know the price of from my store of choice to see if I can get a better deal from another place  Write down great sale items Check specific deal blogs that show deals matched with coupons to make it ...

Welcoming summer, can't wait for ice cream faces again! June is going to be a wacky and wild month for us. May was crazy busy but we got through it, so now it's June and I'm ready to settle down, or a least have a plan. May brought the birth of sweet baby Warner and made me realize how much I don't have under control. I've let the boys go wild, become sleep deprived and definitely unorganized. We had some meals delivered to us from friends and family, some out and some from the freezer. I made a couple from scratch but cooking with a new born and a whiney toddler under foot is definitely more challenging. My stir fry with noodles was a giant hit. (maybe it was the "fancy" ramen noodles I used, or the homemade teriyaki sauce, but everyone raved about it, yippee) Chicken piccata from the crock pot, not so much. So here are tips and things I am going to be doing this month: 1. Use up those freezer meals! I spent time and money making them so I might as...

I first saw this idea when my cousin pinned it on Pinterest. I haven't caved to the phenomenon yet because I am being stubborn about it but apparently it's a place where you can see other people's ideas and save them and share them with others. Anyhoo... I saw this picture of salad in a jar . Yes you can make them for the week ahead and as long as you keep the dressing away from the lettuce part (or other soft ingredients) they can last up to a week in the fridge. I haven't actually tried eating one yet, but I made one for my secret sister at MOPS. Since she knows who I am now, I can finally post on this awesome idea. In the bottom I put a layer of prepared raspberry vinaigrette, then a layer of chopped onion, sliced mushrooms, sliced strawberries, leftover quinoa, and baby spinach. My layers aren't as pretty but I think it still looks yummy, is healthy and is a fun, portable, cheap gift for a friend. Yummy Layers! Reusing a throughly washed spaghetti sauce ja...

I recently had a banana that was going beyond it's prime. Shane threatened to throw it away one morning if I didn't make the promised banana bread with it soon. Finally the baby stopped needing to be held for a few minutes so I ran into the kitchen and grabbed all the ingredients and set them up on the counter. I decided to let the boys help me even though it made me frustrated and took way longer. Baking soda ended up on the floor, some measurements had to be redone, but in the end the boys had so much fun. Dylan practiced some fractions with measuring spoons. Lincoln got to dump some things in. And I learned that some help is still help. The bread still turned out fine (although not as good as the loaf my friend Deanne brought over for us the other day!) and look at those happy little faces licking off beaters when everything was done. I will still probably wait a little longer before trying to bake again because Warner didn't stay asleep for long, but life is a learning...

 Who knew that when I was a kid, forced to share a room with my arch enemy, that one day I would grow up and have an automatic best friend? I finally realize how important siblings are in your life as I watch my boys play together. Yes I make them share and play together and take care of each other. They will always be around no matter how sad or angry you make them. Heck I sat on my sister when she was inside a sleeping bag and my friends and I used to tease her *Jackie, she is so tacky...* but I think she's forgiven me. She came for an overnight trip last week to meet Warner and to help me out around the house when Shane first went back to work and I couldn't be happier to have her in my life. I can text or call or facebook her any time to tell her a funny story or ask her for advice. We're even attempting to take all of our combine 5 kids (three under two!) on an 800+ miles on way road trip in a few weeks. I didn't appreciate all the family time when I was younger b...