Living on 1 Income

Happy Update

2011-11-27T15:34:00.003-05:00

In my last post I was devastated. I was waiting for confirmation on what I believed to be was a miscarriage.
Then this past Monday I got amazing news. Based on my blood work I am in fact pregnant.
This was confirmed by an ultrasound on Tuesday where we saw the heartbeat and the little bean!
I am still in shock at this new development. Jon and I are thrilled and are now looking at minivans to purchase for our soon to be larger family.

Thank you for your kind words and thoughts. They were appreciated.

At a loss

2011-11-17T12:55:00.003-05:00

Monday I was startled to find out I was pregnant. I took a test at the end of October and got a negative. I was dissapointed, but not sad.
Two weeks later I was feeling pretty cruddy for several days. And not the I-have-the-flu type cruddy, but the I-remember-this-from-when-I-was-pregnant-with-Ben type cruddy. So I retested and got my positive test! Jon and I were thrilled.
I admit, although we were trying for this pregnancy, I was scared as well. I had a few moments where I questioned if we had done the right thing. In the bottom of my heart I know we are, but I always have a moment of panic when I get that positive test. I don't know why, but I do.
Then Wednesday came. And things just felt off. Aside from the all day queasiness I have been dealing with I didn't feel right. Around noon I started cramping pretty bad. And then I started bleeding.
I was scared. I called Jon home from work. I called the doctor who sent me in for blood work (which will be repeated Friday and Monday). But now 24 hours later, the bleeding continues and it is clear. I miscarried this baby.
I don't know how to deal with my feelings. I am unbearably sad for this baby that I knew about for 2 days. Even with my moment of panic (which I feel so guilty for now) I WANTED this baby. And now, just like that, it is gone. I don't know how to move forward from this. How do I grieve for something so small?
I am so incredibly lucky for the three healthy children I have, which is more than many. But they don't understand why mommy and daddy are quiet and sad. They worry, especially Madeline who picks up on these things. How do I grieve without scaring or worrying her?
We didn't tell anyone about this baby. We only learned Monday and were planning on waiting until Christmas. How do I tell those who matter most that I was pregnant and no longer am? Do I tell them? But at the same time how do I not tell those who I depend on most? As of now I have told only one person who is being amazingly supportive. (And those I am close to in real life don't read this blog so I can pour my heart out here somewhat anonymously.) Jon and I are suporting each other through this, but I question if we should reach out to others or simply help each other. No one else can feel the pain we feel for this baby, but they will offer support and a shoulder to cry on.
How do I take the chance on another pregnancy? How can I even think about that now?
I am struggling with my feelings. I want to grieve in the right way and be able to move on with life, not forgetting, just moving past. But how long do I allow myself? Do I give myself a time limit on this?
And how do I deal with the holidays next week? I have days and days of planned activities. I don't want to skip them but at the same time right now the last thing I want to do is put on a happy face for others. I simply want to curl up in bed and close my eyes.
If only I hadn't taken that test. I wouldn't have known. I don't know if that would be better to never know that this life was there. In some ways it would have, the pain would not be there. I would be enjoying the holidays. But at the same time I wouldn't have known about this life. And the idea of that makes me sad as well.
I guess for right now all I can do is take it one day at a time. I just don't know how to do that exactly....

Menu Plan Monday

2011-11-13T15:29:00.002-05:00

After one week of getting things back to normal, I think we are there. The house is clean. The clothes are clean. Madeline is back to school. Jon had a full week of work. We have caught up with everything that could not get done in the week that we were without power. We even had a showing on our house and went to look at two possible houses for us to purchase. Life is back to normal.

I know I use my stove and oven a lot, but not having them for a week was a HUGE wake up call on how much I depend on them. This week I enjoyed every minute I was able to cook and bake (for once!)

This week's menu:

Monday- kielbasa for Jon and the kids with vegetables, leftover soup for me at work.

Tuesday- Chicken nuggets for the kids, leftovers for Jon and I (we have quite a few in the fridge right now)

Wednesday- Pasta and meatballs with green beans. I am making 3 pounds of meatballs since it is easier to make a bunch at one time and then freeze them for dinners on other nights.

Thursday- Buffalo chicken tenders, apple sauce and baby carrots

Friday- Nachos- loaded with chicken, cheese and veggies (beans too if I can sneak them past Jon)

Saturday- Homemade pizza

Sunday- dinner at my mom and dad's. We are celebrating an early Thanksgiving (Jon and I are taking the kids to visit his family for Thanksgiving this year) as well as my niece's first birthday. I am making something, not sure what until my mom lets me know!

For more menu ideas visit I'm An Organizing Junkie

Wordless Wednesday

2011-11-09T07:00:00.000-05:00

These were taken on October 30 and 31.

7 days without power

2011-11-08T07:00:00.001-05:00

I have experienced many power outages over the years. I live in Massachusetts and we get snowstorms every winter, and at least one of them knock out the power for a few hours to a day. On average we probably lost power for 1-2 days at most a winter, and that wasn't consecutive days either.
Then this year happened.
Last winter we had many, many snowstorms. We lost power only once for a few hours, completely normal and expected.
Then June came and brought along my first ever (and hopefully last ever) tornado. We were lucky and the damage was about a mile from our house. Madeline's preschool was ruined, as well as my mom's high school, among the many other neighborhoods that were damaged or demolished. From that we lost power for about 2 days. That felt like a long time. And I was grateful for our generator (that Jon insisted we buy 6 years ago.)
Then we had what my friend has nicknamed "Snotober." On October 29 we got over a foot of snow. The amount of snow wasn't the problem, the timing if it was. The leaves were still on the trees. And when you add heavy snow on top of trees that still have their leaves you have disaster. We lost power, most of our city was out. My parents town was 100% out. My grandparent's town was 100% out. The town Jon teaches in was over 75% out.
7 days later we got our power back. 7 LONG days.
7 days where our generator saved us. We had heat, hot water and our fridge and freezer worked. Heck, we even had television and a dvd player that worked.
For the most part our week continued as normal. We were able to stay warm. We kept the kids busy as I normally do. There were two extra people around during the weekday (Jon and Madeline had no school) but otherwise things were normal. We got creative with cooking- the crockpot was very useful, as well as the grill. We even were able to use our microwave a few times. Our generator won't power our stove and oven so we were not able to use them. but with the other appliances we ate more than just cereal and sandwiches.
What we almost ran out of was the gas to run the generator. Jon and I drove around for an hour on Sunday looking for gas. We didn't find any. On Monday Jon went out and found gas an hour later. After that, anytime we left the house we brought an empty gas can and filled it up if we could. As the week went on gas was easier to find as more people got their power back and more gas stations were able to open. But it was scary that day where we wondered if we could power our generator.
And I learned that I need to be more prepared for things like this.
I am working on what I need to keep in the house for times of no power again. Space is an issue so I am trying to think of ways to creatively keep emergency items on hand without losing valuable storage space. I am also trying to decide what things I need that we don't already have. But that is my project between now and the official start of winter.
And the next time the weatherman says that their is a large storm coming, you can bet I will be in line at the gas station filling up every gas can we have in the house. I won't be making fun of people who over-react to these things anymore. I learned my lesson!

Menu Plan Monday

2011-11-07T07:00:00.001-05:00

To say that last week did not go as planned is putting it mildly. We lost power on October 29th and it is still out as I am writing this on November 4. We had a snowstorm that in the middle of winter would have been normal and expected. But when you put a foot of snow on top of trees that still have most of their leaves, the results are less than pleasant.

We have a generator (love my husband for that purchase!) but it won't power our stove. My fridge stayed cold and my house and water stayed warm so we dealt with the lack of stove issue. We got creative (crockpot, grill and toaster meals) and we only ate out one time. I will post more about that later this week. But suffice it to say my menu plan was not followed. At all.

I am hopeful that our power will be restored by the time this posts but I am not sure. We were supposed to have power back by Friday at noon. On Friday at 10 am they changed that prediction to Sunday at noon. I am hopeful but I am being realistic, it may be several more days without power. My menu is planned as if we have power, but I have backup meals in mind if we continue to cook on the grill, crockpot and George Foreman grill.

This week's planned menu:

Monday- chicken nuggets and baby carrots

Tuesday- kielbasa and vegetables for Jon and the kids. Soup for me.

Wednesday- spaghetti and meatballs, homemade bread.

Thursday- cheeseburger soup (from last week's plan)

Friday- quesadillas

Saturday- chicken, broccoli and rice

Sunday- homemade pizza

For more menu ideas visit I'm An Organizing Junkie

Letters of Intent

2011-11-04T20:28:00.004-04:00

Dear WMECO,

We are on day 6 of no power. I understand you are working hard to get us back up. And I understand that an October snowstorm is not normal in our part of the US. But day 6? And it looks like I have another two days to go without power.

Thank you for working around the clock, but could you please come to my street now?

-no power in Western MA

* * * * * *

Dear Jon,

Thank you for randomly insisting that we buy a generator six years ago. I thought you were a little weird for the request, but we did it. That generator has come in handy over the years. And this week it was a godsend. Thank you for that odd purchase. And I won't question it next time.

-your warm wife

* * * * *

Mother Nature,

WTF?!?!?!

Honestly, I don't get it. A snowstorm BEFORE Halloween that has left us powerless for 6 days now.

I am worried about winter.

-supremely confused in Western MA

linking up with Foursons

Wordless Wednesday

2011-11-02T08:00:00.000-04:00

Pumpkin cupcakes for pumpkin carving night.

Menu Plan Monday- Halloween Edition

2011-10-31T07:00:00.000-04:00

Happy Halloween everyone! We are going trick or treating tonight and my older two are beyond excited. I have a Tinkerbell, a Buzz Lightyear and a monkey. I am excited to sneak bites of their candy. Shhh, don't tell them!

Here is this week's menu plan:

Monday- Dinner at a friends. We are heading over to a friend's house for trick or treating in her neighborhood and doing a potluck dinner. She is keeping it WAY simple and I was assigned chips and soda. Easy for me and I am not complaining!

Tuesday- hot dogs for the kids, soup for Jon and I.

Wednesday- Spaghetti and meatballs with baby carrots

Thursday- Crockpot cheesburger soup. This is a winter staple in my house. I am trying a different version this year (no Velveeta) and I am going to modify the new recipe to be used in my crockpot for my crockpot Thursdays.

Friday- Nachos. Jon has been asking for them lately, a lot.

Saturday- Breakfast for dinner- waffles, sausage, canned peaches and scrambled eggs with cheese

Sunday- Sausage and peppers with Rotini

For more menu ideas visit I'm An Organizing Junkie

Letters of Intent

2011-10-28T07:00:00.001-04:00

Dear Mother Nature,
Just a reminder that it is technically call right now. I know in the beginning of the month I was complaining about the hot weather. But snow is not called for either right now. The weather we had earlier this week was great, could we see some more of the fall weather?
-a fall lover

* * * * * *

To the parent at my daughter's school,

You know who you are. You were in front of me at drop off earlier this week. I am no expert on trucks, especially pick-up trucks. But I am pretty sure (and by this I mean almost positive) that there are not enough seatbelts for the 6 children that piled out of your car. I was amazed, it was like some kind of clown car. I have three carseats in my car and the kids just barely fit. So I imagine you have no booster seats or carseats in your truck. You do know there are seatbelt laws in our grand state right?

I guess I should be relieved they weren't sitting in the bed of the truck huh? Sorry to judge but I don't get parents who don't think of their child's safety.

-an amazed mom

* * * * * *

Linking up with Foursons

Green Eyed Monster

2011-10-27T13:23:00.003-04:00

Let me start out by stating that I love my life. It isn't perfect and that is okay. Perfect is kind of boring. Jon and I work hard to make our life the way we want it to be. We choose for me to be a stay at home mom. And that choice involves making choices about where and how we spend our money a little more carefully. And I am okay with that.

Most of the time.

Now and again I get bit by that green eyed monster. I get the "gimmees" as I call them when my kids ask for things. I want more than I have. I don't like that part of myself, but it is there.

I have been hearing about the upcoming vacations of friends. This past summer I was emailed about going on a Disney Cruise with some friends next September,a family trip. We had to say no. Last week when I was reading Facebook an acquaintance posted about planning her upcoming trip to Disney. Than this week a good friend wrote about planning her spring trip to Disney World.

I started to get jealous. I want to go to Disney World. I want my kids to have fun there and meet Mickey Mouse and the other characters. I want Jon and I to have a fun vacation with the kids. But we can't afford it. And right now that is bothering me.

But at the same time how can I complain? We CHOOSE for me to stay at home. We CHOOSE to live on one income. We CHOOSE to save rather than spend so we can stay out of debt. And we CHOOSE not to go on vacations so we can save money.

Jon and I could make different choices. I could go back to work full time. We could spend money and use credit cards and go into debt. We could decide not to move or buy a minivan and use that money to go on a vacation with the kids.

I don't like those choices. We want to move to a bigger house in a nicer town. We want to continue to manage our money well and stay out of debt. We want me to be at home with our kids. If forgoing a Disney (or other large) vacation is the choice we need to make for that to happen, then that is the way it will be. Yes I wish I could have both. But I also want a happy husband, and he is happy teaching his eighth graders about science. And we are both happy with me being at home with the kids. So we live on a teacher's salary. And we make choices that allow us to continue to do that.

I just remember that saying, you can't have your cake and eat it too.

Menu Plan Monday

2011-10-24T07:00:00.001-04:00

Last week I learned a lesson: always double check to make sure your crockpot is turned on when you want to cook with it. A chicken doesn't cook well without heat! I was doing really well, dinner was ready in the crockpot on time and I was eating my lunch while the boys napped. I caught on to the fact that the crockpot was cool about an hour after I put dinner in it. Luckily I was home or I would have had a nasty surprise at dinner time! I turned the crockpot on and cooked the chicken in there until 4:30 (about 2 hours) and had to finish cooking the chicken in the oven. Sometimes you need to be flexible! The crisis was averted but dinner time was a little more hectic than I wanted it to be.

This is a(nother) busy week. On top of the usual daily rush I am hosting a small kids Halloween party here on Friday morning, we are going to a Halloween pumpkin carving and painting party on Saturday and we are celebrating my niece's first birthday on Sunday. I took all of that into consideration when planning dinners for the week.

I want to try making my own donuts this week. Does anyone have a good and easy recipe that I could try?

This week's menu:

Monday- leftovers for all

Tuesday- chicken nuggets for the kids, homemade Olive Garden Tuscana Soup for Jon and I

Wednesday- chicken, cheese and vegetable quesadillas

Thursday- Slow cooker enchiladas and corn

Friday- Baked ziti, squash and green beans. I am also making apple muffins (possibly donuts too!) to have at the party in the morning.

Saturday- Halloween party, I am bringing cupcakes.

Sunday- Homemade calzone

For more menu ideas visit I'm An Organizing Junkie

I am not perfect

2011-10-19T14:51:00.003-04:00

Anyone surprised? I didn't think so.
The nice thing about this blog is that I can control what you know about me. And that is nice, because I have many many less than perfect moments. More than I would like to admit. But after reading Colleen's and Aimee's confessions about some of their real mom moments I decided to admit my less than stellar moments.

1. When Ben is fussy and I can't figure out what he wants I am frustrated with him. I can often be heard at these times telling him to just learn to speak already. Yup, that is me getting mad at a 16 month old for not being able to clearly tell me his wants and needs.

2. I don't cook breakfast. Ever. My kids eat cereal, yogurt, or toast every day. I am okay with that.

3. You know those vitamins they doctor says you kids need to take each day? A 3 month supply usually lasts us closer to 8 or 9 months. But my kids are fairly healthy so I guess I am doing okay?

4. Madeline has told me several times that her stomach hurts in the morning. My response?"Eat breakfast and you will be fine. You are going to school." How is that for a sympathetic mom?

5. Poor Ben is getting the most relaxed mom of my three kids. This can be a good thing but isn't always. Like yesterday when the boys were in the playroom and I was in the kitchen. Ben started crying. I simply yelled "Owen stop making Ben cry or you are out of the playroom." But did I stop to see what the actual problem was? Nope. In my defense Ben did stop crying as soon as I yelled at Owen.

6. At dinner time one of my standby lines is "Mommy is not a short order cook. You get what you get and you either eat it or you don't." There have been occasions where my kids went to bed without eating. I promise it doesn't happen often.

7. When my kids won't help me clean up after a meal and they ask to play my response usually is, "Mommy has to clean. Since no one wants to help me it will take me longer to do and I can't play with you until it is done. " Yup, mom of the year moment right there- telling my kid that cleaning is more important than playing with them.

8. My kids eat chicken nuggets or macaroni and cheese at least one night a week for dinner, sometimes twice.

9. Ben was playing around today, swatting at the book I was holding. He hit it hard and it hit my nose. Somehow they always manage to hit my nose and it hurts! I got mad and yelled "No!" at him. He started crying. I am supposed to be the adult and I yelled at my 16 month old for accidentally hitting me.

Anyone else want to confess?

Menu Plan Monday

2011-10-17T07:00:00.000-04:00

This weekend was over very quickly. We traveled to see Jon's family and we all had a great time. But the 2 hour car ride never fails to throw my day off and I am left scrambling when we return on Sunday night to get ready for the week. It is a hectic way to end the weekend!
My cake pops were a hit at the picnic and we did well with sticking to our meal plan last week. Hopefully this will be another successful planning week!

Here is this week's menu plan:

Monday- chicken nuggets and french fries for the kids, leftovers for Jon and I.

Tuesday- Noodles with butter and cheese for the kids, sandwiches for Jon and I.

Wednesday- Brinner

Thursday- Crockpot whole chicken. Madeline now has dance class on Thursday night, and I have a sneaking suspicion that this will be a regular crockpot night.

Friday- homemade chicken pot pie using leftover chicken from Thursday.

Saturday- dinner at my aunts to celebrate my grandparent's anniversary

Sunday- Polynesian shrimp tacos

For more meal ideas visit I'm An Organizing Junkie and have a great week!

Letters of Intent

2011-10-14T07:00:00.000-04:00

Dear Mother Nature,
Could you make up your mind on what season we are in? I thought it was fall, and the weather seemed to be cooler so I put away the summer clothes. Then last week we got a hot spell and I was putting together some interesting outfits for the kids to keep them cool enough. I almost dragged out the summer things again. And now it is cool again. Is it going to stay this way? Please let me know.
- a confused girl

* * * * *

Dear Ben,

I am not trying to wean you from breastfeeding I promise. But I would also prefer not to increase the number of times you nurse a day. Could we possibly find a happy medium of no change for the moment? 3 times a day works for me, 6 times a day does not work for me.

love,

Mommy

* * * * * *

Linking up with Foursons Letters of Intent

Christmas Shopping

2011-10-13T20:03:00.003-04:00

I admit it, I make great plans for my Christmas shopping every year. But every year I find myself buying at least one gift (more often I am looking for 5 or 6) about three days before Christmas. And every year it is stressful finding that last gift or gifts.
I want this year to be different. And after reading Amy's Finer Things this week I am ready to get started. I don't shop all year round for Christmas. I see the value in it, and I wish I could. But we simply don't have the storage space for it. But I can still shop smarter than I have in the past and that is my goal this year.
Already I have one large gift done, it was started in January at the Christmas sales and finished this summer. Since I don't shop year round that was very unusual but it is an special gift for Jon's parents. After we give it to them I will post pictures of it.
After reading Amy's post I found 101 Deals of Christmas. I have never seen this before and I am hooked. I found it yesterday and already bought my youngest niece her Christmas gift, the Lillian Vernon foam blocks were $4.99 with shipping. My niece will love these blocks and I can check one person off my list. I will be checking with 101 Days of Christmas as I do my shopping.
One of my other favorite places for Christmas gifts is Snapfish. They have great deals around the holidays and my parents love their yearly calendars. I always wait for their sale, but this year I am going to be a little smarter. I am starting my calendars now and saving them. Then when the sales start I will order the saved project instead of rushing around and staying up late the night the sale ends in order to get the project done.
I have emailed my sisters in law to find out what my nephews and niece want. Once I have a list I will start watching the sales and storing things away. I have also started asking my kids what they want Santa to bring them. As I find their wanted items on sale I will buy them and store them away.
One area that I do well with is sticking to a budget. Jon and I choose an amount to spend on different family members and we stick to it. It works well, and we work hard not to go over the set amount. 1 or 2 dollars over budget may not seem like much for one gift, but if we do that for every person it adds up quickly. So I work hard to find good deals in order to get the gifts we want to get and stay on budget.
The other great thing about starting my shopping early this year is that I will not have all the bills coming in after Christmas. I am excited to be more organized this year. I know I said at the beginning I make great plans every year and fail to stick to them. But that is why I am writing about them. This makes me accountable to what I say I am going to do. Hopefully I will be able to stick to my plans!

Wordful Wednesday

2011-10-12T07:00:00.000-04:00

Aren't those jars of applesauce pretty?

I have a new addiction. It is canning. This is the first year Jon and I have tried it. It was actually his idea as well. And now we love it. We have a cupboard full of canned products from this summer. The ones we have tried are pickles, strawberry jam, blueberry jam, tomatoes, peaches, andapplesauce

I want to try canning pumpkin this fall but I am waiting for pumpkins to go on sale. They are not at their lowest price yet, but with both Halloween and Thanksgiving coming up I expect the prices to fall soon.

I always freeze produce but I have found canning, while more time consuming, to be preferable to freezing. The main reason is space. I can always find shelf (or floor) space for the jars. Freezer space is a limited commodity. I do still freeze many things, but I think next year I will try canning more of my vegetables like beans and corn if I can.

I had a lot of fun canning this summer and I plan to do it again next year. We bought our canning set from Target and we chose a very inexpensive model. It works great and I have no regrets. I will admit it cost more to can than I thought originally, but part of that is because we had no jars. Now we have jars (most were bought but Jon's mom also brought us a box once she learned we were canning) and in future years will only need rings and seals, which are inexpensive. Now I have fruits and veggies that were picked fresh and canned without all the extra preservatives that many of store items come with.

What are your favorite recipes to can? What is the one thing I really have to try for next year?

Another reason I love meal planning

2011-10-11T07:00:00.002-04:00

I love meal planning.

It helps me with my grocery shopping and it is easier for me to keep my grocery bill down. I am able to keep my shopping down to once a week and this prevents me from making as many last minute or spur of the moment purchases. I can also use the sales for the week to plan my meals.

But there is another reason I like meal planning. On Monday I was going to make a simple chicken and rice dinner. It would not have taken long and everyone would have enjoyed it. But I forgot to defrost the chicken. Without meal planning I might have been tempted to either go to the store for something quick and easy or I might have gone the quick and easy route of take out dinners. Both are hurtful to my budget. Because I meal plan I was able to look at my menu for the week. I looked for another easy dinner that did not need any of the ingredients defrosted. It was an easy swap. We stayed on budget. I didn't need to make any last minute trips to the grocery store. And everyone was happy.

Menu Plan Monday

2011-10-10T07:00:00.000-04:00

I love three day weekends. And I actually get to enjoy a day off of work because one of the nights I work is Monday and the college is closed on Monday holidays. Jon is also home since schools are closed. We are going pumpkin picking and out to lunch with some friends to enjoy the day off and the beautiful weather.

On the menu for the rest of the week:

Monday- chicken and rice with roasted kohlrabi

Tuesday- macaroni and cheese

Wednesday- fish sticks and french fries with carrots (from the garden)

Thursday- pasta and shrimp with green beans (I use chicken broth instead of white wine). I don't know if the kids will eat the shrimp but I know they will eat the pasta.

Friday- tacos or nachos (not sure yet)

Saturday- We are visiting Jon's family for (more) pumpkin picking and a picnic. I am making Halloween themed cake pops to share with everyone.

Sunday-Breakfast for dinner

Shrimp isn't something we eat very often due to the cost. It is expensive! But our grocery store is having a buy 1 bag, get 2 bags free sale this week. I am making room in our weekly budget to buy the shrimp and save it in the freezer for the occasional treat.

For more menu ideas visit I'm An Organizing Junkie

When things break...

2011-10-07T14:54:00.002-04:00

Jon's truck is from the 90's. It is not in superb condition. But it runs. He likes it. And if we want to replace my Jeep for something larger(soon) we need to keep his truck. But today I hate the thing.
Jon is great at fixing vehicles most of the time. He fixes my Jeep as well as his truck 95% of the time. There are some things he can't do and those we turn over the a mechanic. Like today, the truck needs some front end work. Jon isn't able to fix things involving steering so we dropped the truck off last night. Jon took my jeep to work and I am home with the boys. Being the one at home means I get the phone call about the truck. And the moment the mechanic started off by telling that the good news is the front end parts will cost a little over $300, I started to hate the truck.
After talking to the mechanic I called Jon at work pulling him away from teaching. But when the parts of the truck add up to more than the value of the truck I pull Jon out of class to deal with it. It turns out he knew about the more extensive (and expensive) pieces but plans to fix them himself. How I wish he would have told me before I heard from the mechanic. It will still be expensive to fix, but not nearly as expensive as if the mechanic fixes it!
Our mechanic is great and knows that Jon fixes many of the issues our vehicles encounter. He was very understanding when I called and said to just do the front end and Jon would fix the rest. He even agreed to write down everything he had found wrong with the exhaust. The downside, is that even though Jon can fix the truck it is still going to cost money.
We plan for things like this to happen, although we always hope they will not. We don't spend every penny we earn every month. We save and live under what we can afford. And on days like these I am glad for that. Because we are able to save, we will not be maxing out a credit card. And we don't have to borrow money from others for things like this. We are able to plan for things to break and need repair. Because of that, while paying for the repairs isn't fun, it isn't as stressful as it could be.

Wordless Wednesday-feeding the ducks

2011-10-05T07:00:00.000-04:00

As you can see these are not shy ducks or geese. I backed away from a few of them and Owen got nipped by one when he was feeding them.

Menu Plan Monday

2011-10-03T07:00:00.001-04:00

How is it already October? September was an extremely busy month that seemed to fly by and October is already looking to be a busy month as well.

This week is busy as usual. We have an open house, a PTO meeting, I work two nights, Jon has class one night and then Jon is helping his dad out this coming weekend. I took this all into consideration when making my meal plan. Hopefully we will be able to stay with it!

Monday-Chicken tortilla soup
Tuesday- leftovers for all
Wednesday- make you own homemade pizza (I can make the dough and bake it in the afternoon which makes dinner time much easier)
Thursday- tacos
Friday- breakfast for dinner
Saturday- grilled cheese and tomato soup
Sunday- pasta and meat sauce and vegetables

For more menu ideas visit I’m an Organizing Junkie

Easy paper bag pumpkins

2011-10-02T07:00:00.000-04:00

I wanted to do an art activity for fall with my kids. I love to have fall decorations and I love it even more then it is their artwork that is decorating my house.

I had no desire to go to the store so I looked around and found some brown paper bags. Add some orange paint and you have paper bag pumpkins. They are really easy to make and there are directions on various websites but here is my personal favorite:

You will need:

brown paper bags, lunch bag size

orange paint

green paint

green construction paper

green pipe cleaner

black construction paper

old newspaper

1. Cut out leaf shape from the green construction paper. Cut out face shapes from the black construction paper. If your child is older they could do this themselves. I was trying to make things easy for my kids so I did the cutting beforehand.

2. Crumble up the newspaper and stuff the brown bag. You want a slightly round shape, so a few pages will be needed.

3. Close the bag and twist the top to make a stem.

4. Paint the bottom of the bag orange.

5. Paint the twisted portion of the bag green.

6. Let dry.

7. When dry wrap a green pipe cleaner just below the twist (where the orange and green paint meet up). Thread the leaf through the pipe cleaner. Then make a curly end on the pipe cleaner (like the vines) by wrapping the end of the pipe cleaner around a pen a few times in a spiral and then slipping the pen out.

8. Have your child glue the face pieces on if you want a jack o lantern. Leave it blank if you simply want a pumpkin.

Have fun!

Letters of Intent Friday

2011-09-30T14:37:00.002-04:00

Dear self,
It is time to stop whining about your job and do something about it. You don't like your job. The commute stinks and your job descricption has changed a lot over the past three years. That is part of life sometimes. Remember that you HAVE a job so it could be much worse!

Okay, now to deal with the job itself. You have three choices.:

1- quit the job with nothing else lined up (not the best option for MANY reasons obviously, but still an option).

2. keep the job, stop whining and be glad that you only need to work 10 hours a week for 8 months of the year. Try to find something you like about the job each week, just 1 (besides the 8 month aspect).

3. Find a new job, and stop finding fault with every job you do find to apply to.

Okay, now do something!
-needs to stop whining Melinda

* * * * *

Dear Jon,

I love you. but why on earth did you wait until the school year was underway to try and get your truck fixed? You had 2 1/2 months off this summer. as did I. Madeline wasn't in school and functioning with 1 car would have been VERY easy. Instead you procrastinated (as usual) and waited until the worst time to need my Jeep for a day (leaving me carless and with no way to get our daughter to school). Or for me to get up and drive you to work and then drive to pick you up (45 minute round trip twice a day). I love you, and I know you procrastinate. I have known this for going on 13 years now. I am trying REALLY hard not to get as irritated by it lately. And unless is directly effects me (like this time) I think I am doing a good job, don't you agree?

-your slightly irritated wife

* * * * *

Linking up with Foursons Letters of Intent Friday

Wordless Wednesday- Apple Picking Season

2011-09-28T07:00:00.000-04:00

Menu Plan Monday

2011-09-25T20:57:00.003-04:00

I am getting the menu plan done on time this week! I actually plan my menu on Thursdays when we get our newspaper with the weekly grocery sales in it. I should just write this post then but I never think of it at that time.

This week's plan:

Monday- macaroni and cheese for the kids, steak for Jon (his mom left some steaks for him when they were visiting on Friday) and leftovers for me

Tuesday- fish sticks and french fries for the kids, leftovers for Jon and I

Wednesday- Grilled cheese and soup. We have a girl scout information meeting at 6 so dinner will be early.

Thursday- Quesadillas with chicken, veggies and cheese

Friday- Breakfast for dinner for the kids, date night at the Big E for Jon and I

Saturday- Mini meatloaves and veggies

Sunday- hot dogs, hamburgers and salad.

For more ideas visit I'm An Organizing Junkie

Letters of Intent

2011-09-23T07:00:00.001-04:00

Dear Owen,
I understand you miss Madeline while she is at school. And I know Benzilla likes to knock down pretty much every tower you build and isn't the greatest playmate yet. But I really need you to learn to play by yourself. I am not asking for much, just 15 minutes a day. You already get up with the sun, by 10 am Mommy just needs a break. Can we work on this? Thanks sweetie!
love,
Mommy

** * * * **

Dear genetics,

Why am I starting to experience things only old people experience. Like my hair, what is going on with it? I am not that old, 31 is not old! I had 5 grays last summer. This summer I can't count them anymore. I wasn't looking to dye my hair, but that is what I will be doing this weekend. I do not accept the gray, prepare for the red! What is next, wrinkles? I am sorry I ever complained about looking too young. I will take that any day over the gray!

-not ready to get old yet

linking up with Foursons

(almost) Wordless Wednesday

2011-09-21T08:00:00.000-04:00

Seeing them "read" makes me feel like I am doing something right and instilling a love for books.
I also love the quiet time!

Menu Plan Tuesday

2011-09-20T13:36:00.003-04:00

I am a day late but I still have my menu plan for the week! We had a busy weekend (which included an apple picking trip) that left very little time for the computer and no time for blogging. On top of that this is my second week back and work and I am still adapting to the new schedule.
Here is the plan for this week:

Monday (yesterday)- chicken nuggets for the kids, leftovers for Jon and I (I ate mine at work)

Tuesday- pasta for Jon and the kids, tortellini soup (the frozen kind) for me at work

Wednesday- make your own pizza night with apple crisp for dessert.

Thursday- Loaded nachos with vegetables and ground turkey at Jon's request. I use this recipe when I cook the ground turkey.

Friday- crockpot rotisserie chicken. I LOVE this recipe and it is very easy. We will be having veggies from our CSA share to go along with it.

Saturday- Big E. Did you say you don't know what the Big E is? You must not be from New England! Go here for more information. We go every year and we eat dinner while we are there. Jon and I have gone every year since we started dating so it is a tradition for us. The kids love it as well.

Sunday- Leftovers. My niece is being Baptized and we are going to my parents afterwards for cake. That will be around 3:30. So I don't think we will eat much for dinner and we need at least one leftover night per week.

Have a great week!

Why I don't Extreme Coupon

2011-09-16T07:00:00.000-04:00

Have you watched the show Extreme Couponing on TLC? I have, several times. Jon and I watched it and we were both amazed at the amount of money someone could save on groceries. But I still won't extreme coupon.

The first reason is the space issue- we don't have the room for the type of stockpiles some of theses families have. Seriously, their stockpiles take up space equal to half (or more) of the square footage of my house (I have no basement, a crawl space attic and my garage is now our playroom/office). So if I got rid of my furniture and confined us all to two bedrooms and the bathroom, maybe I could stockpile...not worth it.

Another reason I don't extreme coupon is because of overages. Have you noticed that on this show often the coupons' worth will total more than the actual cost of the item? And that extra money is then applied to the other groceries in the cart. Well, not all grocery stores offer that bonus. The two I use won't give overages. If your coupon's value is more than the cost of the item then the item is free, nothing more. I am not complaining about free, I love free. But the idea of buying things I may not need (or have space for) simply to have extra money towards other groceries isn't realistic for me.

A third reason is time. Yup, time. I don't have a lot of it. What little extra I have I try to put into this blog (and you can see how well that is going lately.) So if I were to put 30+ hours a week into couponing I would need to give up sleep. It doesn't make sense for me. The only way it would make sense for me to put 30+ hours a week into couponing is if I could quit my job. But I can't, plus my current job requires 10 hours a week of my time.

For some extreme couponing works. I use a simpler approach. I buy the weekly Sunday paper and clip my coupons. I use couponbug.com and swagbucks to print off other coupons. I stack my coupons against sale items. Doing just that I am able to save at least 30% off of my bill each week, often I save more. If I go to a store that offers their own coupons (like Target and BJ's) I am able to stack the manufacturers coupon with theirs and save even more.

Yes I could possibly save more if I put more time into the process. But for now this works for me.

WFMW

2011-09-14T12:59:00.005-04:00

This week is my first official week of doing preK3 at home with Owen. When I did preK3 with Madeline we often ran into the problem of Owen (who was 1 at the time) making a mess of whatever activity Madeline was doing at the time. Sometimes it was fine and she didn't mind. Other times we could quickly distract him with another activity she had already completed that he could pretend to do. But many times it frustrated Madeline and make things a little harder than I wanted them to be. We worked around it, but some days were more difficult. Planning for this year I had a feeling I was in for the same battle this year with Ben being 1. I wanted to learn from the past and try to find a new solution. So I thought and thought and thought. In the past often a solution was to do the work at the kitchen table, but that gets tedious. And boring. Working in the morning while Ben naps works, but only if Ben actually takes a morning nap.

Then I remembered pocket charts. And I found my solution. I purchased a relatively inexpensive pocket chart off of Amazon. Jon brought home some great heavy-duty magnets to hang it with. And since the door to our playroom is metal it works well. I can work with Owen while Ben plays in the playroom and everyone is happy.

Owen loves the pocket chart. We can move it high enough so Ben can't reach the materials in the pockets. I can take it down each day if I want, or we can leave Owen's completed work for Jon to see when he gets home. Since the chart is hung by magnets I can raise and lower it to allow Owen access to the higher pockets and he can keep completed activities up if he wants to. As you can see our letter this week is A.

The best part is that since it hangs from a door it doesn't take up anymore room. And when you live in a small(er) house space is at a premium.

I am linking up with Works For Me Wednesday. I have seen posts about it around the blogs I read but I never feel like I have something to share, but this week is different! If you are stopping by from there please leave a comment. I love to visit new blogs!

Menu Plan Monday

2011-09-12T07:00:00.000-04:00

These past few weeks I have not done a good job following my menu plan. We deviate from it quite a bit. The good news is that I have not added any additional trips to the grocery store, but the bad news is that I have not used the vegetables from our share as much as I should have and we have thrown out a few items when they went bad. I am trying again this week to make a meal plan and stick with it. This is my first week back at work since July so we will only have family dinners four of the seven nights. Jon doesn't like to cook much when it is just him and the kids so I scheduled a leftover night and a pasta night for them while I am at work. Jon has class on Wednesday so I am making a light dinner that he can heat up when he gets home. Hopefully I will be able to stick to the plan this time!

Breakfasts:
waffles (the frozen kind)
bagels and cream cheese
cereal
scrambled eggs
fruit

Lunches:
peanut butter and jelly
lunchables
ham and cheese
bologna and cheese
macaroni and cheese
bagel pizzas

Dinners:
Monday- leftovers for Jon and the kids, a sandwich for me at work

Tuesday- pasta

Wednesday- grilled cheese for the kids, Olive Garden Tuscana Soup for Jon and I with homemade French Bread

Thursday- tacos with homemade salsa (I need to use up those CSA and garden tomatoes!)

Friday- grilled honey lime chicken thighs and grilled vegetables

Saturday- brinner- french toast, scrambled eggs, canned peaches and sausage

Sunday- meatball grinders and garden vegetables

For more menu ideas visit I'm An Organizing Junkie

Life is a roller coaster ride

2011-09-04T20:00:00.000-04:00

Right now life is not going exactly the way I had hoped. Remember my last post about how things were looking so good? Things changed.

Madeline is going to public kindergarten this week. After long talks it was decided that she should go. I don't want to get into details about how the conversation went, but let's just leave it as this is not the way I wanted things to go and I am taking a wait and see attitude for the moment.

We did not get the house we want. Someone else bid the day before we did and the bid was accepted. Currently we have a backup bid in place in case things fall apart, but it looks like this is not our house.

Our current house is not selling. Our city made some changes in their foreclosure rules which make it harder for banks to foreclose on houses. I do not agree with these rules, but it was not put to a vote so I get no say (until it comes time to elect city council again). Because of these rules it is now even harder to get a mortgage to buy in this city. As a result selling our house became that much more difficult.

Life is a roller coaster ride, I know it. Currently we are in a slight down slope looking for the incline again. And I am hoping desperately that the ride stays quieter for the time being.

Having it all

2011-09-03T21:00:00.000-04:00

I see the phrase "having it all" everywhere these days. Sometimes it is "how does she do it all?" "I want it all." "You can have it all." or "How do we have it all?" Time and time again I read that the modern women can have it all. What does it all mean?

It seems like everyone is obsessed with having it all these days, and how hard it is to have it all. Most days I feel like I have it all, and it isn't all that hard. But maybe I define it differently than everyone else?

For me having it all is being at home with my kids and not having to work or put them in daycare. Having it all is living on a teacher's salary without going into debt. Having it all is having happy, healthy kids.

Having it all means a house that we can afford the mortgage on, healthy food on our plates, warm clothes on our backs and fuel for our house. And after all the necessities are paid for having it all means we can do some extras well.

Many would point out all the things I don't have and say I do not have "it all." But I disagree, having it all means having the ability to make the choices on how to live your life. We made the choice to live on one income and for me to stay at home. We made the choice to live in a smaller house and not take vacations. We made the choice to cut back even more this summer so that Jon could stay home and not teach summer school for one year. And in that case Jon and I do have it all.

Hand me downs

2011-08-27T21:05:00.007-04:00

Today I was playing with Ben in our playroom (our converted garage) and he was sitting on an Elmo car. This Elmo car was purchased by Jon and I for Madeline for her first birthday. She is now five, so this car has seen a lot of love. It is a little dirty and doesn't work as well as it did when it was first purchased. But does Ben care? Not a bit.
In our house we love our hand me downs. I learned the value of these was Madeline was born and the girl clothes that my older niece had outgrown came flooding in, along with the outgrown clothes of the little girl I babysat for a time. We were new to one income and adjusting to my new part time income, as well as the cost associated with a new baby. The clothes were amazing. I did purchase clothes for Madeline, some I wanted for her and others I needed for her, but even then many of those clothes were second hand.
My kids don't care if they have hand me downs. They don't notice that a toy has been loved before. In fact some of Madeline's favorite dolls are the ones I played with as a child. Ben loves playing with Owen's toys. And Owen doesn't care that his last two winter coats have come from tag sales and second hand stores.
We know the difference between wants and needs in this house, to live on one income we have to. A need is winter coats and boots, in Massachusetts you can't make it through winter without these supplies. However, brand new coats and boots are a want. The coats we bought last year at our favorite second hand store looked brand new. And if we are find enough of our needed clothes at tag sales, and utilize hand me downs, there is more room in the budget for the wanted items (a second pair of boots for when the first is wet).
No one looks at my kids and knows off hand what is new and what is second hand. And even if they did, I honestly don't care. I brag about my tag sale finds. When I got Owen's fall coat for $2 at a tag sale, it was Gap corduroy and in almost new condition, I told everyone about it! I was excited and proud. New that coat would have cost...well I don't know what it would have cost because I don't buy Gap clothes new, they are not in our budget. Kids outgrow things very quickly. And I won't even mention how quickly my kids can ruin perfectly good clothes without meaning to. There is not a need to pay exorbitant prices for clothes simply for the name brand.
Living on one income means budgeting. My kids need clothes and they get them. Then there are clothes that they want and we try to find things they will like. But this can still be done without buying everything new. Owen loves toy story and I found a buzz lightyear shirt for $1, he was thrilled! Madeline's new obsession is Hello Kitty. Every time we head into Target she asks to look at the Hello Kitty clothes. Each time I check the prices, but $10 for a shirt is way too much. I found one for $3 second hand. Madeline told me I was the best mom ever. Ben can't talk, but he kept stealing his brother's and sister's Nalgene bottles so we bought him one using reward points that Jon earned through REI (this was not a second hand product, don't worry!).
All three kids have used the same stroller and the same car seat. (Ben will be the last to use the car seat as it will be too old if we have a fourth baby.) All three kids used the same baby saucer and baby swing. Our double jogger stroller, purchased when Owen was 1 for $25, is more popular with both Jon and I as well as with the kids than our sit and stand purchased brand new when Owen was a baby. There is nothing wrong with these items. There isn't a need for new items for each child. We chose gender neutral things because we knew we would use them for more than one child. And we planned ahead and saved the items we would need for other children.
Living on one income with three kids is not impossible. You don't need to go into debt to do it. It just takes creativity and planning. And storage space in your house (or the basement of a friendly relative) is helpful as well.

Menu Plan Monday

2011-08-22T07:00:00.000-04:00

This is an easy week, at least when it comes to planning our meals. The rest of our life is a whirlwind right now (see this post for the background) as we work towards making an offer on the house went want and finding renters (possibly my brother) for the house we currently own.

On the menu for this week:

Breakfasts:
waffles and fruit
cereal and fruit
English muffins and yogurt

Lunches:
peanut butter and jelly (almost every day for Owen if he gets his choice!)
macaroni and cheese
grilled cheese
ham and cheese sandwiches
English muffin pizzas

Dinners:
Monday- dinner at our neighbors. We are bringing a side dish. I am planning on bringing a salad from my garden and some baby carrots for the kids

Tuesday- dinner out. A fundraiser for our local children's museum

Wednesday- chicken and summer veggies on the grill

Thursday- meatball grinders

Friday- frozen pizza and summer pasta salad (from $5 Mom)

Saturday- BBQ at Jon's sisters house. I am planning to bring some veggies to grill up

Sunday- pasta or leftovers, we are coming home from visiting Jon's family and I don't know what time we will get in.

For more meal ideas visit I'm An Organizing Junkie

Changes and more changes

2011-08-20T07:00:00.001-04:00

There have been a lot of changes around here in just the past 7 days.

Last week at this time I was working on accepting that Madeline will be in school in less than a month. I was working to keep the house clean and hoping and working towards finding a buyer so that we could purchase a bigger house in a nicer town for our family. I was working on letting go of things I can't control.

And then this past week happened.

In the past seven days homeschooling is once again on the table. We are now looking into becoming landlords and renting out our house. And the price of the house went want dropped another $12,000.

I'll start with the biggest change- becoming a landlord. This is nothing I ever planned to do, but our house is not selling. And getting mortgages is becoming more difficult. Our realtor feels that, based on these facts, if we want this particular house (and we REALLY do) we should consider renting out our house. He tells us that there is a need for rental properties, especially houses, right now. We have enough for a down payment without selling (with the new house price) so we are looking into the ins and outs of being landlords and getting qualified for a mortgage while still owning our current house. It is a scary prospect, but also exciting.

Jon and our realtor went and looked at the house we really want. After the extreme price decrease we were becoming concerned that there were more problems than we had originally seen or that the mold had taken over more of the house. The mold is still there but has not progressed much. It still looks contained to the basement which means we can demolish the finished walls, clean it and be done. Obviously inspections need to be done to ensure that there is nothing else wrong, but we are cautiously optimistic.

As for the homeschooling, that change a large shock to me as Jon was the one who suggested it. There is a reason for this. In our current city if we were to hold Madeline out this year (for homeschool or preschool) she would be required to enter first grade based solely on her age. Because of this fact Jon was pushing for kindergarten this year even though we are not convinced she is ready. He didn't want to keep her home and then be required to send her to first grade, whether she was ready or not. The other option, of keeping her out for two years, is not something he sees as ideal. In discussing our possible move the idea of holding Madeline out a year came up again (I was talking about a mom I know who held her son out for an extra year in the new town). Jon didn't realize that if we move to the new town and we choose to keep Madeline home another year we can still enroll her in kindergarten next school year if we choose, regardless of the fact that she will be 6 at the time. Because of this he would prefer to keep her home this coming year and homeschool her with the kindergarten curriculum. This way the following year we can decide, based on Madeline herself and not her age, whether she is ready for first grade or needs another year of kindergarten. Needless to say, I am ecstatic at the prospect.

I never expected so many changes in 1 week. At this time last week I was struggling so much. But now everything is falling into place. I know nothing is definite, there are still so many things to figure out, but I am so much more optimistic. I am very scared at the prospect of becoming a landlord, but all of the positive things that can come because of it are slowly helping me to realize that this is a risk that will help my family. I am a believer that we control much of what happens to us through our choices. This past week has shown me that although I can control many things I still need to open my eyes and look at options that are not familiar to me and be open to these changes.

Letters of Intent

2011-08-19T15:09:00.003-04:00

Dear Time,

Could you slow down? I mean, really, time is going by way to fast for my comfort. My youngest baby is almost 15 months and my oldest is almost ready for kindergarten. I try to whole "stop and smell the roses" but still time goes by too fast.

-a mama who just wants to slow down!

* * * * * *

Dear Jon,

When we got married I never imagined the journey we would be taking together would be like this. I don't know exactly what I imagined, but if i had written it down it would not have included the twists and turns life has taken. but there is no one I would rather take this journey with than you! Thank you for being patient with me.

love,

a grateful wife

* * * *

Dear Doctor,

I love to say this: I told you so. There is nothing wrong with my baby. His weight gain slowed down but he is fine. And now, after a $20 copay and a weight check you agree with me. I just wish we could have done this without the cost of $20. There is no money tree in my backyard.

-an impatient patient

* * * * * *

linking up with Foursons Letters of Intent Friday

Trying to move on 1 income...

2011-08-17T07:00:00.000-04:00

I like my house. I like my neighborhood. I love many things my city has to offer.
I don't love the school system in this city.

Because of that factor, the school system, we are looking to move. Madeline is starting kindergarten in a month. We listed our house back in the beginning of June and we optimistic that we could be in a new house before school started, or soon after. It seemed perfect, Jon had the summer off and could help with cleaning and packing. We were too optimistic.

If you have watched the news lately you know the economy is not great. You also know that banks are not giving mortgages out very easily. I am reminded of this both by the news and my realtor. And the for sale sign that won't budge from my front yard is a daily reminder as well. Now is not a good time to move if you have a house to sell, or not great credit. Because we have worked hard over the years to live within our means we have excellent credit. But we also have a house to sell.

Keeping our credit score also means knowing what we are comfortable affording for a mortgage. We went to get pre-approved yesterday. I was amazed at how much they would give us. It is almost double what we want and feel comfortable paying. If we took the amount they are willing to give us, the options of where to buy a house would grow hugely. But we won't. Because we know what our other bills are. And we know what we spend and how much we feel comfortable spending on our house. And the bank doesn't know that, all they know is how much we can afford based on our income. They don't know that we choose to have money to put into savings for the just in case. They don't know that we may need to buy another vehicle in a few months. we know this and we choose to buy a house based on all of those factors, not simply what the bank says we can afford.

Living comfortable within our income means that if we want a nicer town, and a slightly bigger house, then we buy a fixer upper. That is okay, it is part of the choice that we made. Even with our price requirements we found a house we want. We love this house. It needs help, quite a bit of it actually. But the help it needs is cosmetic which means that we can move in and work while living their. It has three bedrooms, one and a half baths, a living room, kitchen, dining room, bonus room and finished basement. It has a two car garage and 7/10 of an acre. It is in a great town. It is perfect for our family.

So now I continue to keep my house extra clean and hope the phone rings and a realtor wants to show our house. Or even better, that someone has made an offer on our house. It will happen, eventually. I just need a reminder lesson in patience.

Menu Plan Monday

2011-08-14T07:00:00.001-04:00

The menu didn't go as planned last week. We didn't have enough food for leftovers any night because Jon has been eating them for lunch. I changed a few meals based on forgetting items at the grocery store (I promise I made a list!). Hopefully this week will go much more smoothly.

For dinners I plan to make:

Monday-mini meatloaves with corn

Tuesday- homemade pizza

Wednesday- grilled chicken with a summer salad (all from our garden)

Thursday- chicken and vegetable nachos

Friday- leftovers (if Jon doesn't eat them all again!)

Saturday- pasta and salad

Sunday- homemade macaroni and cheese with broccoli

For more menu ideas visit I'm an Organizing Junkie

Letters of Intent

2011-08-12T14:03:00.003-04:00

It's been awhile since I have written one of these letters. They are pretty cathartic and I am in need of it this week.

Dear My City,

Why must you insist on full day kindergarten? I would be plenty happy with a simple morning of school for Madeline. However you give me no option in that. Everyone blames the fact that I am not ready to let her go. But I know better, I know that half day kindergarten is much more appropriate for five year old children. If I am so wrong why did I just read an article about the increased number of parents holding their kids out of school until they are 6 and starting kindergarten then? Don't think it didn't cross my mind to do the same!

-a sad mother

* * * * *

Dear Ben-

I am SO happy you are walking! Now, if you could learn a few words it would make communication much easier. I know you are only 14 months, but a few words is all I am asking.

love,

Momma

* * * * * *

Dear buyers of houses,

Please buy my house. Please? It has been on the market for almost 60 days. It is a really good house, it is just the fact that the school system stinks. I REALLY want to buy the new house we fell in love with. So buy my house. Pretty please?

-an impatient seller

* * * * * *

For more letters visit Foursons

Getting ready

2011-08-08T07:00:00.000-04:00

Madeline will be starting school in a month. I am truly struggling with this in many ways. For one I still would love to homeschool her for at least her kindergarten year. But after many discussions with Jon he still does not feel it is right for our family. I understand his hesitations but disagree with his views. However this is not a decision I can make alone, this is something we must decide together.

As I am realizing I will not be teaching Madeline at home I became hopeful that our house would sell this summer and we would be in a better town before she started school. After 45 days on the market we have not had an offer. While I know this is not a long time to be on the market I was still hopeful that we would be in a new house before school starts, or at least soon after.

The third reason I am struggling with school this year is that kindergarten is full day in my city. I do not agree with full day kindergarten for many important reasons. However I do not have the option of half day unless Jon and I find tuition money for private school (where is that money tree in the backyard when you need it?) or we decide to go the homeschool route. Madeline enjoyed school last year but a few things happened that concern me about her in kindergarten this year. I am hopeful that the 6 months that have passed since our last conference with her teacher will have helped Madeline grow, but I still hold concerns that she did not grow as much as we had hoped.

I am amazed at how much I am struggling with the idea of Madeline going to school in one month. It has worsened my overall anxiety (and Jon has noted the increase on several occasions). It is also effecting my sleep at night. And it overall just plain makes me sad. And this concerns me. Is it normal to feel this way? To talk to several of the moms I know it is not. To feel sad about your child going to kindergarten is normal, but to the extreme that I am seems not to be. Several moms I know are actually excited to have their kids go, and mention to me how much easier things will be with only two kids at home instead of all three. However, I do not know anyone else who feels as strongly about half day kindergarten, or homeschooling, as I do which may be one reason I feel so abnormal. But I worry. I start to think I will be one of those mothers who never lets her kid grow up. The ones they like to feature on "Mom Swap." The ones who appear crazy. I don't want to be that way. But I can't let go of the anxiety I am feeling, and the overall sadness. I will miss her terribly. If I am abnormal I hope that it passes as she learns to love school, but I also worry that if she is struggling with school that my issues will come through. How can I encourage something I truly do not agree with? How do I put those feelings aside? I know I will, I have before. But right now I am struggling to find the strength to do this.

In case you haven't noticed before I tend to extremes. I worry that everything will be all horrible or am convinced that everything will be perfectly okay. In reality things tend to settle somewhere in the middle. And I need to keep reminding myself of that, and this will be one of those times hopefully. But any advice on how to handle my anxiety and sadness would be greatly appreciated.

Menu Plan Monday

2011-08-07T20:00:00.000-04:00

It has been awhile since I have shared my weekly menu. We were away for ten days and then this past week has been one where I just pull something out of the freezer each morning and go with it. It is times like these where I am very grateful that I have a stockpile in my pantry and in my freezer!
This week we are settling back into a routine. I am planning to start working with Owen on preschool and review things with Madeline to get her ready for school in the fall during the day. Next on my list of things to do is actually to plan out the activities for this week (about 45 minutes of mom-directed activities each day).
This week's meal plan is:

Breakfasts
cereal
toast
waffles
hard boiled eggs
yogurt
mini bagels
fruit

Lunches
peanut butter and jelly
chicken nuggets
grilled cheese
macaroni and cheese
ham and cheese

Dinners
pasta and meatballs
hamburgers and hot dogs
chicken and vegetable stir fry
nachos
leftovers
breakfast for dinner
grilled cheese (not on a day where we have grilled cheese for lunch!)

I did not plan which day's we will eat the dinners. I am not back to being that organized yet! By next week I should be able to plan out the meals by the day, or maybe this new method will work better. I will let you know!

For more meal ideas visit I'm An Organizing Junkie and have a great Monday!

Some things don't change

2011-08-07T14:27:00.002-04:00

We were away in Maine last week for our vacation. While up there I ran out of books to read (with no Internet I did a TON of reading). Jon, trying to be helpful, rummaged around the camp his parents are fixing up and found some old magazines. It actually hurts to call them old because they are from 1996 and 1997. And to call these magazines old means that I am getting old. But never mind that...

One was a Good Housekeeping and one was Parents magazine. These are magazines I read now so it was interesting to see what they wrote about 15 years ago. And it surprised me to see so many of the same issues. The article that interested me the most was the article about cutting back and being more frugal during that time. The ideas were the same and one of the women they featured is someone I read even today, Jonni McCoy of Miserly Moms. When I was first staying at home and looking for ways to cut back I ran many Internet searches on Google. Jonni's site was one of the first I found and one I read countless times. To read about her from 15 years ago was fun, especially since it talked about her newsletter. Remember those? I had to keep reminding myself this article was 15 years old, blogs were not a way of life then.

The article featured four moms, including Jonni, who were cutting back. They had many suggestions that still ring true. Use coupons (or don't, the women had different views on this), use tag sales to find clothes and other needed items, splurge on things that you will use for a long time as they hold their value, learn how to grocery shop using sales and many other ideas you see written about in today's magazines.

I was interesting, and it made me happy to read this article. When you listen to the news today they talk about cutting back as if it is this brand new phenomenon. But this 15 year old article shows that no, this is not a brand new idea. Many people have been doing this for years. And the ideas are still the same. Technology may have changed, items we want have changed, our ways of accessing information have changed, but in the end the idea of wanting to live within our means is not a new idea. And it is one that will, hopefully, continue to stick around.

Now, I am going back to feeling old...

Garden Update

2011-07-13T13:43:00.004-04:00

If you are visiting from Feeding Four's Friendly Wednesday welcome! Please leave a comment and so I can visit your blog as well!

Jon and I have started a garden every year since we got married. Some years starting it was as far as we got and nothing came of the plants we used. Some years we were able to get a ton of tomatoes and nothing else. One year we only got green tomatoes because it was a cooler summer, unlike this year. But last year was a good year. We had our first really successful year. We harvested tons of zucchinis, cucumbers, carrots, peppers, beans and tomatoes. We gave some to friends and family because we had so much. The idea of canning and freezing didn't really occur to me until I started reading how other bloggers were doing that. So this year we doubled the size of the garden. We planted seeds and started our tomatoes and peppers indoors. The rest of the seeds we planted outside. Everything we planted outside did really well. My tomatoes and peppers failed miserably. So we bought tomato and pepper plants and they are now thriving. Our corn is as tall as me currently. We have lots of lettuces (Jon made a salad from it the other night), the zucchinis and cucumbers are flowering. I have several green tomatoes growing and even a few peppers. Our beans are doing great as well and I hope I can pull some for our dinner tomorrow night.

It took several years to learn from my mistakes in gardening. We made some important changes to our approach to gardening and things have improved. The real reason our garden is doing better is that we moved the location from the side of our house, where we never go, to the back of our house, where we spend most of our time. Because the garden is in a place where we spend time it helps me to remember to water and weed it. It is amazing what 30 minutes a week of time spent in the garden can do.

I am planning on canning my tomatoes this year, something I have never tried before. Jon hates when I buy diced tomatoes, he says he can taste the can they came in. We rarely buy canned vegetables for that reason. But I have never found frozen diced tomatoes, so when a recipe calls for diced tomatoes I often buy a can. I want to can my own this year to avoid the taste issue. And by the way, why is it called canning when they are in jars?

Our garden cost very little to start, less than $20. This is a great way to help your vegetable budget. My garden is not large, and I will still be able to reduce my grocery budget because of it. And this year I am getting smarter about canning and freezing so that my garden will be helpful not only in the summer, but in the fall, winter and spring as well.

If you have any advice about canning or freezing my vegetables please tell me! This is our first year canning and we will take all the help and advice we can get!

Menu Plan Monday

2011-07-10T14:46:00.003-04:00

There is nothing exciting going on here this week which made it easy to plan the meals. I have jury duty on Wednesday which makes Jon in charge of cooking. It is going to be a slightly painful day since Ben is still nursing twice a day and I highly doubt they will let me pump, but I may bring it and see what happens. I really think there should be a clause for breast feeding moms, or at least a rule that states they must provide adequate breaks for pumping, the same that most employers are required to do I believe (correct me if I am wrong, I haven't worked full time since Madeline was born). Anyway, they also don't seem to care that as a stay at home mom I need to find childcare and pay for it. There is no way out, I must go. The only blessing was that I could postpone for when Jon was home during the summer to ease the burden of finding someone to watch all three kids all day.

Wow, talk about getting off topic. Okay, back to the real reason I am writing- this week's menu. It is simple but we are trying a new meal from my $5 Mom cookbook. So far we have liked everything I have made from her cookbook and I expect this to be another success. I haven't planned the vegetables out past Monday as I don't know what we will get from our CSA share until Monday evening.

On this week's menu:

Monday- pasta and meatsauce with broccoli

Tuesday-Mexican chicken skillet (from $5 Mom)

Wednesday- hot dogs and hamburgers (weekly staple during the summer)

Thursday- meatball grinders (using hot dog rolls!)

Friday- leftovers

Saturday- homemade calzones

Sunday- grilled chicken thighs

For more menu ideas visit I'm An Organizing Junkie

Another Freebie

2011-07-10T14:35:00.005-04:00

Going to the movies is becoming more and more expensive. In order to take my kids to the movies it would entail buying three tickets, four if Jon comes with us. I don't even want to calculate how much it would cost. And I won't buy snacks at the theater, we would bring in our own (shh!) but even without that extra cost it is expensive. So we don't go to the movies very often. In fact the last movie I saw was with Madeline when she was 3 (she is 5 now) and we went to see the Princess and the Frog for her first movie experience. It was a lot of fun and thankfully we had gift cards so it was also free!
But since then we haven't gone. Even Jon and I don't go alone, I figure we get so little time together the last thing I want to do is sit in a dark room where we cannot talk. So we wait for things to come to DVD and rent them from Redbox for $1. It is great!
But sometimes going to the movies is fun. And this summer we can go for free! And you can too if you live near a participating Rave theater. Rave theaters is back with their free summer movies. You can find more information at Rave Motion Pictures.
The movies are not new and they are shown early in the morning. But if you are simply looking for a cool place to sit with your kids and get that movie theater experience this is for you! the movies range between G and PG so make sure you look at it before taking your little ones. I am planning to take Madeline to see Beezus and Ramona if we are not in Maine that week (of course there may be a movie theater up there, who knows!). I figure if she doesn't like it (and she might not since it isn't a cartoon) we can leave and nothing is lost but the drive out there.
If you go which movie will you see?

Fun Free Fridays

2011-07-06T21:24:00.002-04:00

I love to expose my kids to new places and new activities. But when we are working with a one income budget we can't visit as many places as I would like to. That is a choice we make (not a sacrifice, a choice) which means I try harder to find deals and coupons when I can. And I love anything that is free and fun. Today I learned about Fun Free Fridays this summer in Massachusetts. Apparently this is a normal thing and I do NOT know how I missed it for the past five years, but I found it this year!

I was at the library today (I have mentioned how much I LOVE libraries) and I saw a flyer that was titled Admission is Free. Of course I had to pick it up. At first I figured it was for smaller attractions in the area, but when it says free it is worth at least a few seconds glance. I am glad I picked up the flyer because I was wrong about it. On this paper there is a list of many, many attractions in Massachussets that are free on Fridays during the summer. There are three or four places listed for each Friday and everyone gets in free. If you live near Massachusetts, or will be visiting here at some point this summer, check out the website. There may be something fun to do when you are here.

My favorites (that we hope to try) are the Boston Children's Museum(tons of fun but not cheap), the Basketball Hall of Fame (I live about five miles from it but haven't been since they opened the new one) and Old Sturbridge Village (I love this place but it isn't wallet friendly). These are jsut a few of the places that are on the list, there are many more to choose from. And there are links so you can learn about the different places. While I expect them to be a tad more crowded that normal on these free days, I think it will be worth it.

Go visit Highland Street Foundation's website to learn more about this.

Meal Plan Monday

2011-07-04T07:00:00.000-04:00

Happy 4th of July!

I am planning easy meals this week. It is HOT around here in July and I don't like cooking in my non-air conditioned house in the heat. I tried to plan some cooler meals, or things that can be cooked on the grill at least 5 of the 7 nights and this week I was successful. My freezer is almost empty of chicken and ground turkey (two of our dinner staples) so a run to the meat store is in order for next week. I will spend at least half of my weekly budget there, but I will also be stocked up for at least 2 months.

On the meal for this week:

Monday- grilled chicken thighs and kohlrabi (from the farmer's market)

Tuesday- hot dogs and hamburgers (we are having our new neighbors over for dinner to get to know them) with salad

Wednesday- pasta with sausage and fresh veggies

Thursday- breakfast for dinner- homemade waffles (if it isn't super hot), scrambled eggs,
sausage and peaches

Friday- homemade pepperoni pizza

Saturday- leftovers

Sunday- salmon burgers and fresh veggies (not sure what we will get at the farmer's market this week)

For more menu ideas visit I'm An Organizing Junkie

A little quiet around here...

2011-07-03T07:00:00.000-04:00

Okay, saying it has been a little quiet is an understatement. I think I can hear the crickets chirping on my blog! I have not had the desire to write on here lately and I am not sure what that means for the future of this blog.

It has been very busy around here and that is part of the reason I haven't had time to write or read blogs lately. Our house in back on the market and we are working very hard to get things done so hopefully someone will buy it. There have been several house projects that Jon has completed in the last week, and when he is doing that it is my job to keep the kids out from underfoot. I have been doing a lot of cleaning for showings. My house isn't normally dirty, but it isn't always company clean, so keeping it clean has become a priority. We found a house that we would love, in a town we would love, but in order to make an offer we must sell our house. Keep your fingers crossed for me please!

In addition both Jon and Madeline are done with school for the summer. For Jon this is the first summer since before we were married that he has not worked. It means some changes for our budget, but not too many as we have been planning for this since he got the new teaching job back in September. It means that we are also adjusting to both being home all day, something that is usually only a week long occurrence a few times a year. I am happy to have him home during the day, and the kids are thrilled. It has meant a change to our schedule but we are finding our new rhythm.

I have been spending time in the garden and it is doing really well. The beans are flowering, my tomatoes are budding and I even have a few peppers growing. The zucchini plants are huge, but no flowers yet. My corn stalks (all 20 of them) are almost to my waist, which hopefully means we will get more than 1 teeny tiny ear of corn this year.

We have also been canning for the first time! Jon and I spent three evenings making strawberry jam and it came out great. We are looking forward to trying our hand at other vegetables and fruit as the summer progresses. I have also been freezing vegetables. Our beans are not in yet, but the pick your own beans at our csa farm are and I have frozen four pints in the past week for use in the winter.

That is my update. Life is very busy this blog is low on my priority list for the next few months. I will try to get on here and post my weekly menu and grocery budget, but I don't know how much more I will get to. I am going to take time to think about what I want to do with this blog and hopefully by the end of summer, if not sooner, I will know what I want to do. Please be patient with me!

Grocery Bill Week #8

2011-07-02T13:45:00.003-04:00

This week I came in under budget! I shopped the sales again. This week was a good chip sale week (because of the holiday) so I stocked up. We don't normally buy 5 bags of chips in one week! But these will last us a month, or more. I was also able to feed my addiction to Pepsi and grabbed 2 20 packs that were on sale. In addition I did buy a lot of healthy food, so don't worry my shelves are stocked to keep my family growing and healthy!

Store #1:
3 pints of blueberries (I cannot wait to go blueberry picking in a few weeks)
1.5 lbs of nectarines
2.2 lbs of bananas
1 lb of baby carrots
1/3 lb pastrami
1/3 lb Lorraine cheese
1/2 lb American cheese
1/2 lb honey ham
3 packages of cheddar cheese
potato rolls
2 bags of bagels
2 20 packs of Pepsi
2 bags of utz cheese curls
3 cans of fruit
1 box of cake mix
1 package of muffin paper liners
1/2 gallon of organic milk
cream cheese

total before savings: $91.36
total after savings: $57.32
I saved 37% today

Store #2
3 bags of tostito chips
1 24 ounce jar of salsa
3 avocados
1 bag of bear naked granola (free with coupon from stonyfield rewards)
2 1/2 gallons of organic milk

Total before savings:$35.53
total after savings: $17.53

My total between both stores was: $74.85
Under budget by $10.15

How was your grocery shopping week?

Grocery bill- week #6

2011-06-22T15:57:00.002-04:00

This week was way over budget. I spent about $12 more than I wanted to. I was under budget last week and hopefully will be under budget next week as well to make up for the over spending this week.
For my money this week I got:

Store #1:
4 12 packs of pepsi (on sale 4 for $10)
organic bananas
grapes
3 1/2 gallon containers of organic milk
apple juice
organic baby carrots
dish soap
dishwasher detergent
borax (for our ant issue)

Total before savings: $63.06
Total after savings: $45.12

Store $2:
5 lbs of hamburgers
1/2 lb deli sliced turkey
3/4 lb of american cheese
2 32 ounce containers of stonyfield yogurt
1 gallon of 1% milk
3 1/2 gallon containers of newman's own lemonade
2 jars of spaghetti sauce
pectin (for jam making)
1 box of 1/2 pint jars (for making jam)
4 cans of tuna
2 boxes of salmon burgers (buy 1 get 1 free)

Total before savings: $71.89
Total after savings: $51.93

My total spent was: $97.05

I know that the jars, pectin and soaps were what put me over. I needed them and I should have cut other things to make up the difference but I didn't. It helps to write it here though, it makes me more accountable. Next week I will work harder to stay on, or under, budget.

Menu Plan Monday

2011-06-20T07:00:00.000-04:00

To say last week's menu didn't go as planned would be putting it mildly. When I planned the dinners I forgot about different things going on during the beginning of the week. Then Ben got sick at the end of the week and he was up a TON at night Thursday, Friday and Saturday which meant I was exhausted during the day. This is part of being mom and I know that, but on top of it we had several busy days including a house showing, Madeline's recital and Jon forgot to remind me he would be home late on Friday from work. By the time dinner rolled around on Friday and Saturday I was spent and not up to making the dinners I had planned. Jon took over and made different meals based on what we had around the house. I always feel bad when I don't do the things I feel are my responsibility, but I figure everyone gets help at their job once in awhile right?

Jon and Ben's birthday was Thursday. Yes, they share a birthday- Ben was born last year on Jon's 31st birthday! Poor Jon did not get much of a birthday celebration because June is a very busy month for teachers. I made his favorite dinner tonight as a combination birthday/father's day celebration and we had ice cream cake on Friday for him. For his present from me he asked that we go away at some point together without the kids for a night or two. I am hoping to get this planned for early fall. Ben's birthday part is this coming Sunday.

Hopefully we will be able to stick to our menu plan this week!

Breakfasts:
cereal
English muffins
blueberry muffins (very popular last week so we are going to make them again)
pancakes

Lunches:
peanut butter and jelly
chicken nuggets
macaroni and cheese
hot dogs
turkey and cheese sandwiches

Dinners:
Monday- pasta and sausage with beets (never had them but they came with our share last week so we are going to try them)

Tuesday-breakfast for dinner: pancakes (making a double batch to freeze half) with blueberry sauce topping, scrambled eggs and sausages

Wednesday- grilled cheese and baby carrots

Thursday- macaroni and cheese with hot dogs and mixed vegetables

Friday- pasta with broccoli and chicken from my $5 Mom Cookbook

Saturday- my cousin's graduation party

Sunday- Ben's first birthday party is a cookout in the afternoon so dinner will be leftovers from it!

For more menu ideas visit I'm and Organizing Junkie and Ask Ms Recipe

A simple father's day gift

2011-06-17T14:16:00.003-04:00

Today the kids and I made a simple father's day gift. I modeled it after the gift Madeline made for me at school last month.

This morning I did an interview with Madeline and with Owen about there dad, asking them questions and writing down their answers just as they said them, without correcting grammar.

Here are the interviews:

Interview with Madeline, age 5
June 17, 2011

My dad’s eyes are green.

His hair is black.

His age is 10.

His favorite food is chicken parm.

He really loves me.

My dad’s favorite tv show or movie is Martha.

My dad’s favorite clothes to wear are red, white and black.

He cooks the best chicken parm.

I love my dad because he is nice!

Interview with Owen, age 3
June 17, 2011

My dad’s eyes are blue.

His hair is blue.

His age is 3.

His favorite food is chicken.

My dad really loves Madeline and me.

His favorite tv show or movie is Toy Story 3.

My dad’s favorite clothes to wear are Toy Story 3 clothes.

He cooks the best chicken parm.

I love my dad because me love him!

Afterwards I had them each draw a picture of Jon. When they wake up from nap we are going to glue the interview and their pictures each onto a sheet of construction paper and then staple the construction papers together to make a small book. I would prefer to put both papers onto one sheet of construction paper, but I don't have paper that large and I didn't preplan enough to go out and buy paper in advance.

I hope Jon enjoys these gifts as much I I enjoyed mine last month. I plan to do this same interview each year, that way we can see the changes as the kids grow.

This is the Year for Canning and Freezing?

2011-06-16T13:45:00.004-04:00

I have been a stay at home mom for over five years now. In those five years I have learned a lot about ways to save money while still eating healthy, and without feeling like a penny pincher. I like to be called frugal, I don't want to be a tight wad! But even after five years I am still finding new ways to save money.

This year we bought a CSA share as a way to eat more organic products as well as support a local farm. It was more expensive that if we were to buy our vegetables in the store, but that is because we are getting more vegetables then if we were to buy them in a store and all of them are organic. But I need to constantly remind myself that I don't NEED to eat all of these vegetables fresh. Instead I need to learn how to can and freeze them for the winter. If I manage to freeze some of the food we get then I will also pay less on my grocery store bill in the winter. In addition to buying less fresh produce, I will also buy less frozen produce.

This year we are trying our hands at gardening again. Last year was my most successful year, but it can still be much improved. We doubled the size of our garden this year and it still only cost about $20 to start up. It should have cost less but I cannot manage to grow tomato or pepper plants from seed. At the farmers market this week we bought 4 tomato plants and 6 pepper plants for $12.50. The other $7.50 was spent on seeds. In my garden we are growing lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, corn, carrots, watermelons, zucchini, cucumbers, beans and peas. If I am lucky I will get a good harvest from it.

While our garden and CSA share will cut the weekly budget at the store down during the summer, this year my goal is to use it to cut down my winter budget as well. To do this I need to learn to can and freeze. In the past I have not taken advantage of canning or freezing vegetables like I should. Last year was my first real attempt. I made several containers of (not so great) spaghetti sauce and I froze several bags of peppers. That was it. Clearly I can do much better! To do this right Jon and I decided we should looking into canning kits and see how much they cost. We know we will be buying many jars this year, but we also know that everything we buy this year we will be able to use again and again. So last night I spent time looking online at canning sets and we found one that we like. It has good ratings and several people say it is perfect for beginners (which is what we are!). The price is right as well at $30. This is an amount we are willing to risk in case we are abysmal failures at this canning process. But before I buy it, does anyone have any recommendations for a good, inexpensive canning kit?

I am interested to see if I am able to can and freeze vegetables and fruit (something I never thought I would be doing) and how it effects both my summer and my winter grocery bill. If you have an helpful hints, links, or great spaghetti recipes, PLEASE share them with me!

Groceries Week #5

2011-06-14T07:00:00.001-04:00

My goal was to stay under budget this week and I accomplished that goal. I was under budget by more than $30 this week. It helps that we have the weekly produce share for the summer. included in that share are strawberries which we will be picking this week.
Here is what I bought this week:

Store #1:
1/2 pound of land o lakes American cheese
1/2 pound of stop and shop provolone cheese
1 bag of croutons
2 cans of tuna
2 organic apples
super glue
4 loaves of bread (on managers special for 67 cents each!)
stonyfield yo baby yogurt 4 pack
stonyfield yo baby meals 4 pack
1 bottle of relish

Total before savings: $24.47
Total after savings: $20.03

Store #2:
4 1/2 pounds of bananas (on sale for 38 cents a pound)
1 gallon of milk
1 pound of organic baby carrots
4 boxes of frozen sausages
2 loaves of raisin bread
2 jars of Newman's own salad dressing
1 tomato
32 ounce container of stonyfield yogurt
2 containers of ice cream
baby wipes

Total before savings: $55.13
Total after savings: $31.56

Total spent: $51.59
Under budget by: $33.41

This was a good grocery week!

Weekly Meal Plan

2011-06-13T07:00:00.001-04:00

On Friday I sat down to pay the bills, something I do each payday. I both love and hate payday. I love seeing that we have earned paychecks. I HATE paying out the money and watching the number slowly decrease in the checking account. And this week I hated it more because I had to borrow from savings and I hate taking money from savings.

After paying our bills I resolved again to cut down our spending. We do not live above our means but at the same time we are not saving nearly as much as we can. In an effort to cut down on our bills I am going to try and make as many of my meals as possible this week from our pantry.

I have tried to do this before, and I failed miserably. But this time I have an added incentive to stick with the plan- my paychecks from my winter tutoring job have ended. I am tutoring a few hours a week for the next month but the paychecks are much smaller. Because I plan our yearly budget around my total income I make sure to put money into savings in the winter to cover the summer months, but I still HATE to take money from savings. In addition, Jon is not working summer school this year. So again, while we planned for it and put more into savings, my mission is to take as little from savings as possible. This means spending less.

A simple way to do that is to cut down on our groceries. Our csa started last week which means fresh veggies, and since they are already payed for I don't need to take the money from my grocery budget. That means less spent at the grocery store. I have a very stocked freezer and pantry, and there is no reason not to use the items I have. Lastly, there are no great sales this week and so another reason not to spend a lot of money at the store.

After looking through my freezer and cabinets I came up with the following meals:

Monday- grilled honey lime chicken thighs, salad

Tuesday- pasta and meat sauce, homemade french bread (only if it isn't super hot outside) and mixed vegetables

Wednesday- hot dogs and hamburgers, salad

Thursday- leftovers. Madeline has her dance dress rehearsal so dinner will be short and early

Friday- chicken Parmesan (Jon's birthday dinner a day late), cheese-stuffed garlic bread sticks and corn

Saturday- chicken and vegetable quesadillas on homemade tortillas

Sunday- breakfast for dinner- scrambled eggs, sausage, strawberries (part of our csa includes pick your own strawberries) and pancakes

Lunches:
chicken nuggets
peanut butter and jelly
grilled cheese
ham and cheese
macaroni and cheese
*all served with fruit and vegetables

Breakfasts:
cereal
toast
English muffins
blueberry muffins

For more menu ideas visit Ask Ms Recipe and I'm An Organizing Junkie

Letter to a teacher

2011-06-10T14:21:00.003-04:00

To all the teachers at Madeline's preschool,

Thank you so much for everything you have done for Madeline this year. I know it is your job, but you did make a difference to her. You all clearly enjoy what you do and you are very good at it!
You were Madeline's first school teachers and the first people she spent an extended period of time with outside of family. Thanks to you, she enjoyed school. It was a bit bumpy the first month of school but we got through the tears. And it helped that you took the time to tell me each day that she stopped crying soon after I left. Leaving her in tears was the hardest thing I have had to do in a long time. You realized that and were very wonderful at calming her (and myself as well) through those weeks.
Thank you for guiding Jon and I through our first time as parents of a student. We have both been on the teaching end of the system, and while I knew it would be different going in as the parent I didn't realize how different. Very silly of me, I know. But thank you for being patient with us and answering all of our questions.
Even with the tornado at the end of the year, you were able to keep a semblance of normalcy for these children. You were forced to switch buildings with only 8 days of school left, yet you kept the routine for the kids. I was worried that school would be over with the destruction of the school, but thankfully with the effort of all of you, that was not the case. And it was so much better for the kids to end this way, spending time with their teachers and their friends, winding down as they should rather than with a sudden and forceful end.
You all were very warm and welcoming to our family. You took the time to get to know us, you even remembered the names of Ben and Owen whom you saw for only a few minutes each day. I felt very safe leaving my daughter with you and I am happy with all that she has learned this year.
We will always remember all of you fondly.
Sincerely,
A very happy mommy

Summer Fun on 1 Income

2011-06-10T08:00:00.001-04:00

It is summer.

Okay, technically it isn't summer yet. Jon is constantly reminding me of this when I say it is summer. That is what happens when you marry a science teacher! Summer begins on June 20 or 21, I can never remember which.

But it feels like summer. Today it hit 90 degrees. yesterday was 93 according to my thermometer. And last week we had a heat wave as well, which ended with a tornado (more on that when I can write about it without shaking). And this weather makes me start to think- what are we going to do all summer? It will be hot, we don't have air conditioning, and my kids LOVE to be outside. Jon will be home which means if I make plans to take the kids somewhere it will be a two to three ratio, instead of the normal one to three ratio. Even with his help our list must include things that are affordable, or even better are free, and be kid friendly.

I was reading The Finer Things in Life the other day and she wrote a post about how she and her kids make a summer bucket list each year. In the past I have made a bucket list, but having my kids help out made a lot of sense, especially now that the two older ones are 5 and 3. So we sat down last weekend and wrote what we want to do.

We will add to it as we think of more things, but so far our list includes:
visit the zoo
have a picnic
get ice cream from the ice cream truck (a summer favorite and we promised that we will at least one time)
make homemade ice cream
swim at the paddle club (we have a membership, our yearly splurge and SO worth it)
visit the spray parks in the area
Look Park (another favorite)
play outside (remember a 3 and 5 year old helped here!)
go strawberry picking (already done!)
go blueberry picking
walk to Sammy's for ice cream (notice a pattern yet?)
go to Maine (I added this, and we will visit Jon's family place there for at least a week)
visit the beach
go to the park

I love our list, but if you notice it is all outside. Which is great, but what about the rainy days? We have a membership to our local children's museum and will use that and we also can visit our city museum for free since we are residents. But what else can we do? Remember, I have three kids and a small budget.

I was playing around online and found Kaboose which has TONS of great ideas, many for indoors. I marked it on my favorites list and am going to plan at least one craft for each week, possibly more, to do with the kids. In addition to crafts they also have game and activities to do with kids as well.

We will be signing up for the library summer reading program and will visit the library weekly. My kids LOVE the library and I love all the free stuff there, not to mention the air conditioning! They also have programs that are kid friendly and free during the summer months.

What are your plans this summer?

Groceries Week #4

2011-06-07T07:00:00.000-04:00

I came in under budget again this week. This is a good thing because BJ's is on my list of stores to go to and I will need the money I did not use in groceries for this week and last week to pay for what I need at BJ's.

Many people I know are restocking their fridges and freezers this week due to the power outage which was a result of the tornado. I am lucky that none of my friends and family were touched by the tornado aside from the power outage. I am also lucky that I have a husband who insisted on purchasing a generator 6 years ago. We have used it a handful of times in the past 6 years but it payed for itself this past week. I was able to see at night, save the food in my freezer and fridge and also listen to the radio occasionally to hear how the cleanup was going. I am very thankful for my generator!

This week I bought some sale items (I love buy 1 get 2 free sales!) and a few things for Ben's birthday party at the end of the month.

Store #1:
marshmallows (for potty training)
4 loaves of wheat bread
1 bag of dum dum pops
a bag of black beans
3 nestle crunch bars
3 packages of English muffins
twizzlers
3 bags of Lay's potato chips
2 packages of pepperoni
3 packages of kielbasa
3 packages of chicken thighs
organic bananas
2 lbs of strawberries
organic apples

total before savings:$106.92
total after savings: $55.43

store #2:
1/2 pound of sliced cheese
1/2 pound of sliced honey ham
1/4 pound of sliced buffalo chicken
1 box of cake mix
1 container of chocolate frosting

Total before savings: $13.77
total after savings: $11.02

total between 2 stores:$66.45
Total under budget: $18.55

My csa share starts this week and I am interested to see what vegetables I get. I am also interested to see how this affects my weekly grocery budget. The csa share is all paid and there will be no money spent from my weekly budget.

How was your grocery trip this week?

Menu Plan Monday

2011-06-06T07:00:00.000-04:00

My menu last week did not go as planned. Monday and Tuesday we ate what was planned. Wednesday our area was struck by a tornado. Thankfully we are all okay and the house was undamaged, but we lost power for two days. We are about a mile away from some of the destruction.

Wednesday night we ate kielbasa from the grill and Thursday night we went out for dinner. By Friday we had our power back but after the crazy week following my meal plan was the last thing on my mind so I made a quick macaroni and cheese dinner with hot dogs and brocolli. Saturday night Jon was away and my parents decided to bring pizza to my house for us to eat. And Sunday we ate what was planned for Saturday night.

We have our power back and we have very little clean up to do so this week we are trying again to follow our meal plan.

Monday- ziti with meatballs and green beans

Tuesday- chicken, cheese and vegetable quesadillas

Wednesday- hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill and corn on the cob

Thursday- salsa chicken and black bean soup

Friday- brinner (scrambled eggs, pancakes, peach slices and sausages)

Saturday- pizza or calzones

Sunday- leftovers

For more menu ideas visit Ask Ms Recipe and I'm An Organzing Junkie

Letters of Intent

2011-06-03T15:04:00.002-04:00

We survived a tornado this week. It passed about a mile from my house. I live in Massachusetts and we don't have tornadoes. The damage is awful. So my letters of intent are a little different than usual this week.

* * * * * *

Dear WMECO,
Thank you for bringing in trucks and workers from out of state. Thank you for working around the clock to restore power. Because of your hard work I had power back less than 48 hours after the storm.
- a grateful customer

* * * * *

Thank you to everyone who has been working in this city to repair the damage done. Thank you for cutting apart trees and dragging them out of the road. Thank you for being on the radio and letting us know what is happening. Thank you for coming in to aide those who have lost their homes.

* * * * * *

Dear Jon,

Thank you for insisting we buy that generator 7 years ago. I figured you were being a little overcautious at the time. And although it has come in handy over the years for short power outages, it was a godsend this past week. It kept me sane, since I could listen to the radio, and it kept our food cold so we didn't lose our groceries.

I will try not to roll my eyes at your "random" purchases again.

-Melinda

* * * * *

linking up with Foursons

This week's groceries

2011-06-01T07:00:00.000-04:00

I came in under budget again! I will be going to BJ's later this week which will eat up the extra money from last week and this week though. So technically I did not come in under budget, but I will not be going OVER budget either.

Store 1:
1 gallon of 1% milk
3 bags of frozen vegetables, 32 ounces each
2 half gallons of ice cream
2 boxes of ice cream treats
cheez its
2 boxes of pasta
3 jars of ragu pasta sauce (on sale for 88 cents each combined with a coupon for $1.25 off of three)
3 cans of fruit
1 watermelon
1 beefsteak tomato
1 lb of strawberries

Total before savings:$58.57
Total after store savings and coupons: $32.76

Store 2:
4 bags of tostitos (big sale!)
organic bananas
1 organic apple
cherries
lime
3 boxes of store brand fruit and grain bars
3 cans of diced tomatoes
3 loaves of bread
1 graham cracker pie crust
1 package of cream cheese
napkins
heinz ketchup

Total before savings: $54.67
Total after savings: $36.16

Total between 2 stores: $68.92
Under budget by: $16.08

Affordable Organic

2011-05-31T07:00:00.000-04:00

I try to buy organic food and cleaners when I can. I have switched to organic apples, pears, bananas, baby carrots, grape tomoatos, milk, macaroni and cheese, animal crackers and yogurt 97% of the time. When I can I buy other organic products as well, but they are more expensive than non-organic products. To help with the higher cost of organic products there are a few things I do.

I mostly buy store brand organics because they often cost less, no other reason. One brand I do buy that is not store brand is Stonyfield. To offset the cost, which is usually higher than store brands, I print of the coupons from their website. You can only print each coupon one time but they refresh each month.

Another way I try to offset the higher cost is to shop in bulk. Stonyfield sells their yobaby yogurts at BJ's and are cheaper than at the store, plus I can combine with coupons. My older kids love yobaby yogurt so we make sure to buy some each month when we do our BJ's run.

I also utilize the Stonyfield rewards program. Each product has a rewards code on it and earn you points. The amount of points earned depends on the product- a 32 ouce countainer of yogurt earns more points than a 6 ouce yogurt. You can then trade in points for different rewards. My favorite is to trade in points for free yo baby yogurts. They also offer coupons for other organic products. If you are interested in trying just go to the Stonyfield website and sign up. Print off coupons and earn rewards points.

I also watch OrganicDeals. This is an awesome website which lists many ways to buy organic for less. She talks about amazon.com deals, target deals, different grocery stores, coupons, and other ways to save buy buying organic. And she doesn't stay simply with food, she takls about organic toys, cleaners, and clothes as well. Check out her website if you are trying to find ways to fit more organic products into your lifestyle!

I was not compensated at all for this post. I am simply sharing a program that I find VERY helpful.

Meun Plan Monday

2011-05-30T09:35:00.004-04:00

It is a shortened work week! Jon and I both have today off. We were planning on having a picnic lunch with the kids but the weather has other plans. Ah well, if you have three kids flexibility is a must! I'm not sure what plan B is, but we will thing of something.

I love my meal plan. It makes life so much easier. I don't sit and wonder each day what to make for dinner or hope I have the ingredients I need for dinner that night. we do drift from the plan sometimes (like last night) but that is where my stockpile comes in. However, I do know that my meal plan helps to keep me on a budget for the groceries and it keeps me from going back to the store several times a week!

We did a good job with sticking to our meal plans up until last night. It was too hot for me to deal with cooking so we had an extra night of hot dogs and hamburgers. We ate outside on the deck, enjoyed the beautiful weather and no one complained!

Here is this week's plan:

Monday- chicken and vegetable nachos

Tuesday- Pizza dinner at my parents. We are celebrating my grandmother's 81st birthday. I am in charge of dessert and I am making a cheesecake with a graham cracker crust.

Wednesday- leftovers. I work until 5 and we have Madeline's kindergarten open house (my baby girl is going to kindergarten in the fall!) so it needs to be quick and easy!

Thursday- honey lime chicken and green beans

Friday- hot dogs and hamburgers with corn on the cob

Saturday- breakfast for dinner with fruit cocktail

Sunday- pasta and meatballs with mixed vegetables

For more meal ideas visit I'm An Organizing Junkie and Marvelous Menu Meme Linky

Making Choices

2011-05-29T07:00:00.000-04:00

I was having a not so great day this week. I was tired. I wanted some time just to myself but could not find a spare minute. I was grumpy.
Owen came up, gave me a hug and said "I wuff you mommy!" And my day got better.
I was reminded how lucky I am to be at home with my children all day. A choice that Jon and I made was for me to stop working full time in order to be at home with our children. We made the choice that we would build our life on 1 income and that Jon would hold down the full time job. We made a choice that we would make our life with less in general.
We made the choice that we would not have large vacations, that we would not buy new vehicles.
Madeline will be leaving the catholic school where she attended preschool and will be going to public school in the fall. I love the idea of a Catholic education, but the tuition is not in our budget.
We made a choice that we would live in a smaller house (which has it's benefits!). Some see these things as sacrifices. And they are. But they are also choices. And when you view them as choices they seem much more positive.
Sometimes it is hard. When friends are planning vacations, or buying pools, or moving into larger houses. When family wants us to move to a nicer town. When friends invite us out for dinner. The green-eyed monster can rear his ugly head at times like these.
But when I think about the choices that Jon and I have made, the choices we have been able to make (because not everyone can have one parent stay at home) I remember how lucky I am. When I am able to drop my daughter off at school and then go home and spend the day with the boys I am reminded how lucky that I am not to be running to drop the other two kids at daycare. When I work less than 10 hours a week, and don't leave until Jon gets home, I am reminded how lucky I am.
We all make choices. If I am not happy I need to look around and see what choices I need to change. It sounds simple, and often it can be.

Letters of Intent

2011-05-27T14:13:00.003-04:00

Dear drivers,
Turn signals were invented for a reason. Please use them. I am not a mind reader and brake lights do not equal turning.
-an aggravated driver

* * * * * *

Dear mother nature,

Thank you for the beautiful weather. Last week there was tons of rain but you came through with the beautiful sun this week. Thank you!

* * * * * *

Dear Owen and Madeline,

I am glad that you like to play in the backyard. And I am sorry that you do not like bugs. You will soon realize that playing outside= dealing with bugs. And if you don't like them in the house I suggest you work on closing the backdoor more often. I am not a fan of bugs in the house either!

love,

mama

* * * * * *

linking up with Foursons

Grocery Shopping

2011-05-24T07:00:00.001-04:00

I did well with my budget this week. I actually came in under my $85 limit! It was a really good coupon week. One of the stores I shop at was doubling $1 off coupons. They did this for 3 coupons. I love when my grocery stores do this and I am able to combine coupons with store sales and get some great deals.
In this week's carts:

Store 1:
1/2 gallon of OJ
1% milk
yobaby yogurt
10 stonyfield yogurts
2 helluva good cheese blocks
2 packages of klondikes (on sale for $1.68 each!)
1 box of pasta
1 jar of pasta sauce
olive oil
2 packs of jr dippers snacks
goldfish graham crackers
1 packages of oscar mayer hot dogs (on sale buy 1 get 1, combined with a $1 coupon which was doubled)
5 ears of corn on the cob

Total before savings and coupons: $63.90
Total after savings and coupons: $33.85

Store 2:
organic pears
organic apples
organic bananas
1 tomato
1 pepper
4-12 packs of pepsi
hamburger rolls
3 half gallons of stonyfield organic milk (I had $1 off coupons from the store for each one)
edy's strawberry fruit bars (on sale for $3 combined with a $1.50 off coupon)
1/2 lb sliced turkey from the deli
1/4 beef bologna from the deli

Total before savings: $56.12
Total after coupons and savings: $35.86

Total spent between the two stores:$69.71
Under budget by $15.29!!!

This week was a great success at the store!

Menu Plan Monday

2011-05-22T20:15:00.003-04:00

Life is busy! I ended my college tutoring job for the summer, thinking everything would slow down. However late last week my other boss contacted me and offered me another student to tutor for the next month. They offered me two afternoons a week. Jon and I discussed it and decided that, even though we like the extra time together, the extra money will be helpful. The upside, besides the fact that I like working with the younger kids, is that I am only working 90 minutes each afternoon, instead of the 5 hour nights I work at the college. This means I am home for dinner every night! The commute is much shorter as well.

I had my week's menu all planned out before I got the call from work, so I had to tweak my meal plan. Here is what I ended up with:

Monday- hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill (this is a weekly staple over the summer) with corn on the cob

Tuesday- Slow cooker chicken fajitas from my $5 Mom cookbook

Wednesday- pasta with broccoli and chicken (another $5 mom recipe)

Thursday- leftovers (this worked out REALLY well last week!)

Friday- breakfast for dinner

Saturday- cookout at a friend's house. I am making cupcakes

Sunday- homemade calzones

For more menu ideas visit I'm An Organizing Junkie

Grocery shopping

2011-05-17T07:00:00.000-04:00

I did much better this week with stayin on budget! I shopped at two stores and only took one child this time. Shopping took a lot less time this week! The downfall was that my Sunday paper never came today, so I may have missed out on a few coupons. I still managed to save a lot and I am happy with the total for the week.

Store 1:
organic bananas
organic pears
organic apples
dried pianeapple snack bag
two packs of oscar mayer hot dogs (buy one get one free)
1 lb of sliced american cheese
creamy peanut butter
4 twelve packs of pepsi (on sale 4 for $11)
2 dozen eggs
three celeste frozen pizzas
4 Lean cuisine frozen meals
Total before coupons and savings:$77.65
Total after store sales and coupons: $50.97

Store 2:
32 ounces shredded chedder cheese
organic grape tomatoes
organic baby carrots
1/2 gallon of orange juice
1 gallon of 1% milk
mayonnaise
4 boxes of cereal (on sale 4 for $6)
bodywash
sour cream
Total before savings:$47.31
Total after coupons and store savings: $25.73

Total for the week: $76.70
Under budget by $8.30

The difference makes up for going over budget last week. I may be on track to stay within my grocery budget this month.

Menu Plan Monday

2011-05-15T20:35:00.002-04:00

This is my first week of vacation. And my vacation will last until September! Okay, it won't really last that long. I am applying for summer jobs, and hopefully I will get some tutoring jobs that are part time or a job that is full time for one or two weeks. I am still tutoring one afternoon a week until the end of June. But I don't have to drive 40 minutes to work twice a week and that is vacation for me!

Planning the menu has changed a little. Now that I am home, and Jon's class is over, I am back to cooking family meals every night. For the past several months I have been cooking 4 nights a week, and I got accustomed to that. This weekend I had to take out my cookbook to think of some different meal ideas to fill the extra three nights!

Here is the plan for this week:

Monday- baked ziti served with broccoli

Tuesday- chicken thighs on the grill served with steamed carrots

Wednesday- hot dogs and hamburgers for Jon and the kids. Moms night out for me!

Thursday- leftover night

Friday- Breakfast for dinner- pancakes, scrambled eggs, sausage and fruit cocktail

Saturday- Sloppy joes

Sunday- homemade pizza

For more meal ideas visit I'm an Organizing Junkie

Saving Money

2011-05-11T14:39:00.000-04:00

I am always looking for EASY ways to save money. I love to get a deal that is useful. And I love when I can cut bills down in easy ways. I don't want to spend hours just to save a few dollars, but I will spend some time on the phone talking to companies to save money.

Last week I had the option to earn money easily and I also had the chance to save money on a bill. We have been chosen to be a Nielsen family. This means I need to write down everything we watch on television for the next week, which is tedious. But as a thank you they sent me $30. Not a gift card or a coupon but $30 in cash. I am willing to spend a few minutes each day writing down what we watch for $30.

Then last week I looked at my electric bill. I hate my electric bill and I am always fighting with it. I want the bill to be as low as possible and I struggle with it. I turn lights off all of the time. I wait until I am wearing two sweaters, fleece socks and slippers before I turn on the heat. I line dry my diapers and towels when I can. I wash clothes in cold water. I don't use the a/c unless I can't sit still without sweating in the summer. I try hard to do what I can, but the bill doesn't go as low as I would like. Then last week I noticed the rates my local electric company was offering are lower than what I am paying. I switched companies a couple of years ago to get a lower rate (in my area I can choose who provides the electricity, I just pay the local company to transfer it to me). It cut my bill at the time. But I looked and the rates have lowered with the local company. I called my local company and was told I could switch to them at any time, but they don't know what the rates will be after June 30. They also pointed out I may pay a fee for leaving the other company.

I ahte paying fees so I called my company and asked. They said I was not under contract and could leave at any time. I said I was considering switching to get a lower rate. Turns out I can get the lower rate with the company I am currently paying PLUS they will keep that rate until December. I asked why I hadn't heard about the lower rate and was told they don't notify their customers when rates drop but I can call every few months and ask. A few minutes on the phone is going to save me about $15 a month on average. I am VERY happy! I learned it is worth calling companies to see if there is a lower rate to pay. I will keep this in mind in the future.

I am looking into swagbucks as another way to save money and earn free things. I have read about it a few places but I have not jumped in yet. Do any of you use swagbucks? Is it worth my time? I have also thought about surveys, but them often ask for more information that I am comfortable providing. I don't think swagbucks does this, but I am not sure.

This week's shopping trip

2011-05-09T14:22:00.004-04:00

I went to two grocery stores today with all three kids. Not the ideal way to go shopping, but it happens. One of the stores I go to has free in-store daycare, and they are awesome. My two older kids are old enough to go and this helped a lot. It still took me about an hour and a half to do all of my shopping and while alone it would have taken me 45 minutes, maybe less. But that is life with three kids sometimes!

At store 1 (the one with free daycare) I got:

6 packages of chicken thighs (they were buy 1 get 2 free)

6 packages of hot dogs (buy 1 get 2 free)

2 lbs of oranges

2 packages of English muffins (12 muffins in each)

6 loaves of bread (buy 1 get 2 free) for my freezer stash

2 bags of tortilla chips (buy 1 get 1 free)

2 packs of Hi C juice boxes (for Owen's birthday party)

2 packages of pepperoni (buy 1 get 1 free)

3 boxes of fish sticks (buy 1, get 2 free)

yo baby yogurt (free with coupon)

1/2 pound of turkey deli meat

1 gallon of milk

6 pack of Hershey bars (for s'mores)

marshmallows

twizzlers (my weak moment)

2 boxes of cake mix and 2 cans of frosting(again for Owen's party)

Before savings: 147.26

After savings the total cost was $67.20

The second store was a much smaller trip

2 pounds of grapes

2 half gallons of ice cream (Owen's birthday party)

1 package of balloons (birthday party again)

bananas

2- 24 packs of water

Before savings: $28.75

After savings: $19.72

My total for the week is: $86.92

I was $6.75 over budget. Considering that it includes the half of the food I need for Owen's birthday party (the rest is fruit that will come out of next week's budget) I am happy with it. Next week I will try harder to stay with my $80 a week budget.

Menu Plan Monday

2011-05-08T20:52:00.004-04:00

I have been neglecting my poor blog. I got very used to not writing during Lent while I tried to limit my computer time and now I just keep forgetting. There are lots of things I want to say and I need to make time for it and soon. So please stay with me, I am coming back to write!

This is my last week working at the college until the end of summer. This is good because now I will have more free time. This is not so good because I don't get paid during the summer. I am tutoring one night a week and I am looking to pick up one more evening of tutoring to make a little extra money, but it will not be as much as I make at the college since I will be working less hours. Jon and I are planning to sit down and talk about our budget very soon. We are okay, but we are not exactly on the same page and I want to change that now.

Since we will not have my salary from the college we really need to watch the budget for the summer. Recently I was able to cut my electric bill. I learned that my local company had electricity for a lower price per kilowatt hour than I was paying. I found by calling the company that I use that they also have the lower rate and were more than happy to switch me to this rate. 5 minutes of my time will be saving me between $15 and $20 a month! However I still really need to watch our budget and groceries are one place where I have been going a little high lately. I don't know why we have been spending more but we have. And I am on a mission to get my weekly budget to $80. I will be reporting my weekly list for the next month to keep myself on tract. I go shopping tomorrow so watch for my grocery post!

Here is this week's plan:

Monday- (my last day of my college job) hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill if it is nice. This is Jon's favorite meal and he wants to make it several times a week during the spring and summer. If it rains he will make the kids pasta.

Tuesday- It is Owen's third birthday so I am letting him pick. Since his favorite meal is peanut butter and jelly I have a suspicion that is what we will be eating. It is Jon's last night of class for the semester so we will celebrate Owen's birthday on Wednesday.

Wednesday- out to dinner, Owen's pick

Thursday- loaded nachos with chicken and veggies

Friday- meatball grinders

Saturday- grilled food- hot dogs, hamburgers and chicken thighs. We are having Owen's birthday party in the afternoon and Jon's family is staying for dinner due to the 2 hour drive to visit us.

Sunday- chicken quesadillas with homemade tortillas

For more menu ideas visit I'm an Organizing Junkie

Extreme Couponing

2011-04-26T20:09:00.003-04:00

Have you watched this show on TLC? At first I was very skeptical about people who could get their groceries for 10% of the original cost. But I decided before judging I needed to watch the show.

So I did. Well I dvr'd it since I was at work that night. But I watched it several days later.

And I was intrigued. So I watched it another week.

And that is when I noticed something. A few somethings.

First I will say that what these people are doing is amazing. The amount of food and other products they get for free just astounds me. The organization that they have with their coupons amazes me. I only wish I could be half as organized as they are.

But their stockpiles actually scare me a little. Don't get me wrong, I am all for a stockpile. I have one. It is NOTHING compared to what I saw on this show. But I am happy with that. I honestly don't want my grocery shopping to take over my house, and that is what is happening to some of these people. Some of their purchases make sense. But the woman who bought 63 bottles of mustard because it was 30 cents? That was beyond extreme. Or the wall of toothpaste? Can you even use that much toothpaste in one lifetime?

One comment that stuck with me was a woman commenting that she had 37 packages of a product at home (I think it was something like 1000 flushes) and wondering whether she should get more. I think she is safe not buying more packages at the moment. Unless of course she is making money on it.

Yes I said making money on coupons. I only wish my grocery stores did that. My stores have a policy that they will double coupons but only to the value of the product. If I could make money by using coupons I might buy more of certain products. But I don't believe I would buy quite as many as the people on this show do.

I also wonder where many of thes people get their coupons. They spend more time than I do at my job on their coupons. In some ways it pays off. But if they are buying their coupons, and some people do, shouldn't that factor into the grocery bill? The show doesn't say if anyone buys their coupons but I wonder if they do. I also cannot imagine spending the equivalant of a full work week on coupons. I know the title of the show is extreme couponing, but this seems beyond extreme.

The last thing I noticed is that the shoppers ring up their store's shopper card at the END of the order. This makes the savings seems like more than they are. By that I mean these shoppers are saving a great amount with coupons, but a lot of the savings is coming from their stores sales as well. This is not wrong, but I think it is a little misleading of the show. Others may disagree, but that is my opinion.

I will continue to watch the show, I think I can learn from it. And I will continue to coupon. However I will NEVER be like the people on the show. And I don't think I actually want to be!

What do you think of the show? Am I missing some great learning opportunity?

Menu Plan Monday

2011-04-24T21:15:00.004-04:00

Vacation week is over already! Jon is back to work tomorrow and Madeline has a normal school week. I am back to my regular work schedule as well. In addition to work and school we have plans with friends, plans to do our learning "jobs" at home and a special trip to romp, stomp and roll for the kids on Friday. It is going to be a busy week as usual!

Our dinners for the week:

Monday- nachos for Jon and the kids (his request) and leftovers for me at work. Hopefully someone will save me some nachos!

Tuesday- homemade pizzas for the kids and I. Jon has his late day afterschool and then class at night.

Wednesday- chicken nuggets for the kids, leftovers for Jon and leftovers for me at work.

Thursday- bakzed ziti. This is great because I can premake most of it in the afternoon (while Ben and Owen nap) and all Jon needs to do is put it in the oven 30 minutes before dinner. it is ready when I get home from tutoring and Jon doesn't need to do to much.

Friday- Brinner including ham and cheese egg scrambles, monkey bread and sausage with fruit cocktail

Saturday- empenadas (a family favorite)

Sunday- hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill (spring is officially here!)

For more meal ideas visit I'm An Organizing Junkie

Menu Plan Monday

2011-04-18T07:00:00.000-04:00

We are heading into the last week of Lent. It is also Jon's vacation week, and we are busy! We have some fun plans: to spend a day at the zoo, Jon's mom is coming to visit for a few days, a morning at an Easter Egg hunt, egg dying on Saturday night and Easter dinner at my mom's. Mixed in we also have a vet appointment for Izzy, dentist appointments for Jon and Madeline and doctors appointments for Madeline and Ben. In between (if I can) I would love to sleep in a few days and let Jon sleep in a few days, and maybe do nothing for a day (or at least a morning)

Here is the menu plan for the week:

Monday: baked ziti. I am making four- one for a friend who lost her mom, one for a women in my mom's club who is battling breast cancer and is currently going through chemo, one for our dinner and one to freeze.

Tuesday:grilled chicken thighs and mixed veggies

Wednesday:pasta for Jon and the kids. Leftovers for me at work (I don't get vacation this week)

Thursday:Brinner (a must at least one night a week!

Friday: salmon burgers. This is something new, I plan to have Jon grill them. Hopefully the kids like them!

Saturday:taco night at a friends. I am bringing sugar cookies for the kids to frost and decorate after we dye eggs

Sunday:Easter dinner at my mom's. I am bringing double chocolate cookies to have with dessert

For more menu ideas visit I'm an Organizing Junkie

Letters of Intent

2011-04-15T15:06:00.003-04:00

Dear Chicago,

Did you serioulsy make a rule in one of your schools that parents are NOT allowed to send lunches in with their kids? They can only bring lunches if they have allergies? That is the STUPIDEST thing I have ever heard. I am very glad that I live nowhere near your city.

-An irritated parent

* * * * * *

Dear Springfield,

Do not get ANY ideas from Chicago. I will not pay for my child to eat your food everyday because you think it is healthier than what I send. I send healthy, balanced meals and will continue to do so. Plus I cannot afford the $30 a week it will cost to feed all three kids when they are in school. That is 1/3 of my weekly grocery budget for three meals a day for five people.

-a worried parent

* * * * * * * *

linking up with Foursons

If I could see myself...

2011-04-13T07:00:00.002-04:00

When I was fifteen I never thought about life after high school. I mean, I knew I wanted to go to college and I knew I wanted a degree in education. But I never really thought about it. And I certainly never thought about kids and being married.

Even when I was in college, after I met Jon, I never really thought about being married and having kids. I knew from very early on that Jon was it. He was the guy I was going to spend the rest of my life with. I was right (I am a lot of the time) and five years after we started dating (almost to the day) we were married. But even then I didn't really think about having kids.

After we had been married a few months the baby bug bit. It bit me, but it didn't quite get Jon. I think he swatted it away. After we had been married a year the bug bit him and we started trying to get pregnant. but even then I didn't really think about what having a baby would be like. I knew I wanted it but it didn't truly click how much I would change when that child was born.

I have changed to much in the past few years. That is normal I think. But I think about myself at 15 and wonder if I would recognize me if my 15 year old self met my 31 year old self. Yes that was half a lifetime ago. And I wouldn't want to be like a teenager now. But there are some things I never expected to want.

For example, even four years ago I never thought about the food I ate. I tried to by healthy but I didn't think past that. I didn't think about pesticides, or hormones, or preservatives. I bought prepackaged, frozen meals and used them often. But now I think about them a lot. Being a mom has really opened my eyes to what we eat.

Five years ago I never thought about my budget. Jon and I have always been savers. We never bought things we can't afford. But we also never thought about how much we wanted to spend at the grocery store, or ways to save there. Being a stay at home mom and wanting to remain that way (while staying out of debt!) has opened my eyes to coupons, budgets, cooking from scratch, meal planning (that was not even in my vocabulary a few years ago) and other money saving strategies. Having my own garden and actually working on it to make it successful is something new to me as well.

When Jon and I first got married none of those topics was in my radar. I know I didn't think about diapers before I was pregnant with Madeline. But if I had I am fairly certain the term "cloth diaper" would not have been one I would have used. And forget "cloth wipes." I don't even know what made me think about cloth diapers at all. But five years later I am very happy to use them.

And homeschooling? Nothing I ever thought I would consider! When I was teaching I thought homeschooling moms were a bit nuts (no offense to any homeschooling moms!). I didn't know anything about it other than their kids MUST be antisocial. I was very wrong. And I just spend a few months teaching myself about the topic. It isn't the avenue we will be pursuing but I see how it can work for many, many families.

Five years ago I didn't think about vaccines. If the doctor recommended it then my daughter got it. I don't know what opened my eyes to that topic, but since reading The Vaccine Book, Jon and I have had several discussions and approach vaccines in a much different way with our children.

Seven years ago I didn't think I would still be in this house. This was supposed to be our 3 to 5 year house. Seven years later, and three kids later, we are still here for the foreseeable future. I didn't think how living on one income would effect our plans to move. We are happy in our house, I love my little house and my yard and my neighborhood. But I would like to move to a town with better schools before Madeline gets to middle school.

I NEVER thought I would even consider having chickens. Now it is something I would really like. However with a border collie for a pet we would need a much bigger yard to have chickens. So that plan will hold off. Maybe in our next house (that we will buy before Madeline gets to middle school I hope).

In some circles I would be considered crunchy (baby wearing, cloth diapers, sometimes co-sleeping, breast feeding, delay vaxing, etc) but in others I would be considered completely mainstream. I don't know what to call myself. I just do what works for my family. One thing I do know, if I saw myself now when I was 15 I would not have believed who I would become.

Menu Plan Monday

2011-04-11T07:00:00.004-04:00

I have not posted my menu plan in a few weeks. Don't worry, I have been making and following one, I just haven't taken the time to write much on my blog.

I am trying very hard to keep my computer use to a minimum during Lent. I will let you all know how it went, and what I learned about myself (the good and the not so good) in a few weeks after Easter. I will say that this is the first year, in many years, that I have done as well with sticking to my sacrifice, and in a way it is the most meaningful one I have done.

But back to my reason for this post- my menu. I am still working three nights a week, and Jon is at class one night, so our menus are staying basic, easy and quick for most of the weeknights. I stop working one job (the two nights a week job) in one month and will have lots of time to cook again then!

The plan for this week:

Breakfasts:

bagels and cream cheese

yo baby and yo kid yogurts

fruit salad

cereal

pancakes

Lunches:

peanut butter and jelly (Owen would go through withdrawls if this was not on the menu several times a week)

grilled cheese

macaroni and cheese

homemade lunchables

salami and cheese sandwiches

*all are served with fruit, raisins, apple sauce or baby carrots

Dinners:

Monday- chicken nuggets and vegetables for the kids (leftovers for me at work and Jon at home)

Tuesday- make your own pizza. I will make mini pizzas for the kids and let them top them with whatever is in the fridge (a great way to get them to eat new veggies I have found!)

Wednesday- pasta with crockpot meatballs (I will take some to work with me) and baby carrots

Thursday- nachos (Jon has been requesting these lately) topped with chicken and lots of veggies

Friday- Fish fillets for Jon and I, fish sticks for the kids. Served with rice and green beans

Saturday- Brinner- homemade waffles topped with strawberries, sausages and scrambled eggs

Sunday- Breaded chicken topped with pasta sauce and mozzarella cheese with broccoli

Visit I'm an Organizing Junkie for more meal ideas!

My two cents

2011-04-10T07:00:00.002-04:00

I breastfeed. I do it because it is (the next thing to) free food for my child. It is healthy, natural and easy to get to. I like the bond that I have with my child because of it. I also feel it is easy- I never worry about running low or out and there is nothing to warm up and no bottles to mix. I can be lazy about it. I am not saying it is always easy, but for the most part it is easy for me.

I hate the slogan "breast is best." I know we are trying to teach moms that breast milk is best. However what we are doing is creating a line between breastfeeding moms and formula feeding moms and adding to the mommy wars.

I hate that even though I am told "breast is best," I am also told that I need to supplement with vitamin D because my breast milk actually does not provide ALL my baby needs to grow. The slogan states that "breast is best" but if you use formula you don't need to supplement at all. That does not make any sense.

I hate that I am told that "breast is best" but if I want to feed your child outside of my home please cover up or find a private place to do it. If breastfeeding is so wonderful why must I hide in a corner (or as one museum employee suggested, the bathroom) to feed my child?

It is natural and apparently something that most doctors want all moms to do, but we must hide while doing it lest we make others feel uncomfortable (and yes I used the word lest.) I don't eat under a blanket and my baby really prefers not to as well. I will be modest about the process but please don't glare at me for feeding my child. I would prefer not to become a recluse who cannot leave her house in order to do what "is best" for my child. A sane mommy is really the best thing for my child.

I hate that we as moms feel the need to compare each other. Yes there are bad moms out there. They hurt their children (and by this I do not mean feed them junk food or formula or let them watch tons of TV), or neglect their children. But most of us are just doing our best.

We try to learn from our mistakes. We try to raise our kids to be good people. Preferably healthy people. But since no people are identical it is unlikely that any two moms will parent identically.

Some would consider me to be a helicopter mom. I am trying VERY hard not to fit into that category but there are some who feel I fit well into that category. Either way, that does not make me a bad mom or a lesser mom.

I am an average, just good enough, trying her hardest mommy and I am proud of the job I am doing. I am also happy to learn from other mommies, whether they are average like me, or supermoms, or super crafty moms, or any kind of mom. We can all learn from each other, rather than warring against each other.

Letters of Intent

2011-04-08T07:00:00.001-04:00

Dear Middle School Parents,

Please use your blinker. I know many cars stop on the road to drop off their children. But not every car does. And it is very hard to tell from your bumper whether you have a middle school child in the car. I am trying to drive past you to get my daughter to preschool. If you use your blinker I know I can go around you and not sit here behind you while you drop your child off. And also, please pull ALL the way over to the side. That way those of us not stopping can go around you.

-another parent

* * * * * *

Dear Mother Nature,

Thank you for finally brining spring to us. That snow on April Fools day was not a very funny trick. But this 50 and 60 degree weather and sun shining is something I can get used to. My kids love to play outside (and leave mudpies for our neighboring groundhog). And my bank account also thanks you since my electric bill goes very low at this time of year.

-Me

* * * * *

linking up with Foursons

Letter of Intent

2011-03-18T14:26:00.002-04:00

Dear city where I dwell,

Are you really telling me that there is a law that says if my child is 5 she cannot attend preK, but must attend kindergarten, at least in the public schools? And that if I choose to go around you and use a private preK, when I try to enter her in your kindergarten you will enter her in 1st grade solely because she is 6? Does that really make sense? I am telling you, as her mom, that she is not ready for five day full day kindergarten. Her preK teacher agrees with me. Her father agrees with me. However you, who do not know my child at all, are saying based on a law she must start first grade at 6. Unless she has serious developmental delays (and even then it is difficult to get a waiver apparently) . My child does not have serious developmental delays, nor is her birthday near the cut-off. But as we all know, no two children are alike. She is young and we believe she will benefit from another year of preK, not two years of kindergarten as you suggested as a possibility. Your not very brilliant solution, to enter her in kindergarten and possibly have her repeat is not acceptable to me as her mom. I don't believe in setting my child up for failure and when three adults who know her well feel that she needs another year I will not let you tell me no solely based on same inane law

I have two options to go around you- private school until second grade or homeschool until second grade- if we decide to hold her out a year. But I will not send her to school next year just because the law says that at five she must start kindergarten, not attend another year of preK. I do not believe I am the only mother who has dealt with this.

-a VERY aggravated and irritated mother

* * * * *

linking up with Foursons letters of intent

Busy Week

2011-03-16T14:45:00.005-04:00

I haven't had time to write much in the past few days (due to my attempt to curb my computer time for Lent) but I wanted to share some photos.

This week my baby girl turned 5! The time just goes by so quickly. She doesn't like to have her photo taken (a lot like me!) and this was the best I could get. She requested purple flowers for her cupcakes. I always make the birthday cakes but this is my first time decorating a cake with a pastry bag and I think they came out okay.

And today my youngest turned 9 months. He is getting so big, just Monday he used the toy box to pull himself up and stand. I have a feeling I will he chasing him around the house before long.

And even though he didn't hit any milestones this week I can't leave out my little man. He just loves his playdough!

Menu Plan

2011-03-13T21:00:00.001-04:00

Life is so crazy these days I don't know how I would pull dinners together if I didn't plan ahead. Taking fifteen or twenty minutes to look through my stockpile and the sales to plan out a week or two worth of meals saves me so much time and stress in the long run. I didn't always do this but I am SO glad that I do it now. Thanfully this week I am on semester break which means Monday and Wednesday I am home for dinner! I need a quiet(er) week.

Dinners:
Monday- dinner out to celebrate Madeline's fifth birthday (her birthday is Tuesday but Jon has to work that evening due to teacher conferences)

Tuesday- macaroni and cheese with hot dogs and baby carrots

Wednesday- breakfast for dinner- french toast with strawberry topping, scrambled eggs with cheese and sausage

Thursday- chicken fajitas (I will cook the chicken in the crockpot while I am at work) using this seasoning mix (so much better than store bought packages!)

Friday- cheese ravioli with pasta sauce

Saturday- texas ranch chicken

Sunday- calzones

for more ideas visit I'm An Organizing Junkie

Letters of Intent

2011-03-11T14:37:00.004-05:00

Dear Jon,

Your mom is driving me nuts. If you would only return her calls then you could deal with all the schedule changes. But you won't and you don't so I am complaining to you. She is a very wonderful and loving woman but if she calls me and changes the plans for this weekend one more time I may scream.

love,

your wife

* * * * * *

Dear Springfield,

It is nice to know that you have so much surplus that you overpaid our teachers by $1.4 million in the last 6 months. And apparently it wasn't all that much since our payroll department didn't catch it, a teacher did when she noticed her check was a little more than she thougth it was. I don't blame the teachers for not catching it, they recieved a raise (and probably didn't know the exact amount), they often get paid for working extras (after and before school hours as well as subbing during their prep times) so their paychecks change from week to week.

But how did you not notice an extra $1.4 million was payed out? Seriously? And now the teachers need to pay it back, I cannot wait to see what genius plan you come up with. All I can say is I am glad that Jon is not working for you this year becuase I would cry if you started decreasing his paycheck!

- a disgruntled taxpayer

* * * * *

Dear lovely city-

Why do we have to have full day kindergarten? Why can't you offer half day for those of us who want it? I know there are lots of working parents who can use the full day (it lessens transitions) but I want my child home more. I have read some studies and honestly I don't see the benefits. And it doesn't help that I have had several parents tell me that my child will be exhausted for the first couple of months of school. Really? Is it necessary to exhaust a 5 year old for several months so she learns to read a few months earlier? Will it make that much of a difference in the long run? I don't think it will.

- a disgruntled parent

* * * * * *

linking up with foursons letters of intent

Amazon Deal

2011-03-10T14:48:00.003-05:00

I have written about how I am trying to incorporate more organic products into my household but budget constraints make it difficult at times. Today I found a deal that I needed to pass along. Amazon.com is having a sale on Seventh Generation products. They are 15% off for Amazon.com Mom subscribers and an additional 15% off if you sign up for subscribe and save. To give you an example a box of toilet bowl cleaners (you get eight 32 ounce bottles) costs $26.32 After you save 30% the cost is $18.42 which is just$2.30 a bottle. yes this is a ton of toilet cleaner (and even with five people in this house it will take me awhile to go through it) but the savings are great and I can either stockpile it or find someone who wants to split a case with me. They have several other of their Seventh Generation cleaning products on sale, this is just one example.

Also, thanks for the comments on my decision for Lent. The positive thoughts are very helpful! I am hopeful to keep it well under the 90 minutes, but with the online commitments I have made I think 90 minutes will be just enough time some days!

Ash Wednesday and Lent

2011-03-09T14:24:00.003-05:00

For Lent I am going to be cutting back on my computer time. I am a very devout person and I do not follow my religion as much as I should. However I really do want to be a better person. I am taking advantage of this time as a reminder that sacrifice is something that needs to be done and can remind us of all that we have. And this is a sacrifice that I am hoping will have positive ramifications in my life.
I would love to be able to say I can give up my computer for Lent but that isn't realistic for my lifestyle. I use the computer for work (which cannot be avoided) and to pay bills and to balance the checkbook and to find coupons as well as for recreational purposes. Instead I am limiting myself to 90 minutes on days when I don't work and 150 minutes on days when I do (giving myself one hour of time at work to write my reports for appointments). I think it is sad that I am allowing myself so much time, but yet I am cutting WAY back on the time I do spend on here.
In the 90 minutes a day I am allowed at home I need to balance the time to achieve the needed chores for the day (bill paying, coupon searching, recipe needs, shopping if needed) with my recreational use. I am very hopeful that this time will show me that I do not NEED my computer as much as I think I do. I am also hopeful that I will have time to work on the to do list I have. I will spend more time with my kids (not that I neglect them now!) doing projects with them and hopefully be outdoors as spring is just around the corner! I may even read a book or two with my extra time.
In addition I will be moving the computer from the kitchen counter back to the computer room. It is far to easy to open the laptop and log in when it is in the most frequently used room in my house. When it is out of sight it is also out of mind. Plus I can't hear the kids as well from the playroom/office unless they are in there. And this will also help me with my goal to declutter the kitchen counter!
I will continue to write my blogs but they may be more sporadic then they are now (if that is possible). Bear with me please.
I hope you will still be here at Easter!

How do you do it?

2011-03-08T07:00:00.002-05:00

I am often asked "How do you do it?" when I am out with the three kids by myself. And I never quite know what to say. I know it isn't the most common thing to have three kids under 5 (but it isn't really uncommon either), and I do look young for having three kids (I am often told I look to be in my early 20's) which I am sure catches people's attention. But I am caught off guard when people comment.
I mean how do I do it? I do it because I need to. Because things needs to be done (groceries, errands, playdates, occasional lunches out, etc). I go out with three kids because I don't want stay inside my house all the time. And it isn't really as hard as other people seem to think it is. There are days where things are much more difficult, but often those are the days we stay at home!
I could tell them it takes a little longer to get out of the house so I make sure to plan extra time. I could say I choose to go out when I am having a day with more patience because knowing my limits is part of being a mom. I know to make sure that I have plenty of diapers and wipes in my bag when I go out. I bring snacks with me because a hungry kid is definitely a cranky kid! I am careful about how long I am out because tired kids are also cranky kids. It is about trying very hard not to sweat the small stuff. For example sometimes my kids run down the aisle at the grocery store. With one kid I would have yelled automatically. With two (or more) kids I watch to make sure they don't get in the way of anyone and stay in the aisle, but other than that I let it go. Is it the choice all would make? Most likely not but my kids aren't hurting anyone and they are causing trouble, they are simply being kids.
I don't know exactly how to answer people when I am asked how I do it. Often it is followed by a comment about how they have a hard time with one (or two) out and about. Mostly it is a compliment and I try to take it that way. And I never turn down help when someone wants to hold a door or let me go first in line either!

Menu Plan

2011-03-06T19:21:00.004-05:00

Last week was busy. Adding on one tutoring job to an already bursting schedule wasn't bad. Hopefully this tutoring will lead to more hours and only one part time job again soon!
This is another busy week and Madeline's birthday party is next Saturday so I need to schedule some time for baking (I need the make 2 sets of cupcakes, on for the party and one for school, as well as a cake for when we celebrate with family) and other party prep during the week. Our menu will be simple as a result!

Dinners:

Monday-chicken nuggets and vegetables for Jon and the kids, something quick and easy for me at work

Tuesday- Breakfast for dinner with scrambled eggs, sausages, french toast and strawberries

Wednesday- macaroni and cheese for Jon and the kids, leftovers for me at work

Thursday- Pasta and meatballs (the meatballs will cook in the crockpot while I am at work)

Friday- veggie nachos ( I am making an effort to remember to have meatless Fridays for Lent)

Saturday- Madeline's birthday party!!! We will have pizza for dinner

Sunday- mini meatloaves. My kids call these meatballs and they love them so I keep making them. I just make my meatloaves in muffin tins instead of a loaf pan.

For more menus visit I'm An Organizing Junkie

Why we may homeschool

2011-03-02T13:47:00.004-05:00

There are many homeschooling blogs out in blog world. And I admire every mom (and dad) who has taken on their child's education for the long run. These blogs were very helpful to me last year when I kept Madeline home last year and taught her at home (as I will for Owen next year). Now we are considering homeschooling for next year and while I am excited at the prospect, I am also completely overwhelmed. The idea of being in charge of Madeline's education is a scary thought. Jon and I are already in charge of these tiny people, keeping them safe and loved and teaching them how to be good people. Now I want to take on the additional role of academic teacher as well?

But isn't it all the same? I mean I can teach my kids to be good, kind, loving, productive, moral and ethical people without teaching them academics. But at the same time I can teach them all of those things while teaching them academic skills as well. At least that is what I keep telling myself.

The first reason I considered homeschooling is full day kindergarten. I know the studies (I have read many of them) that children who go to full day kindergarten do well academically. But I haven't seen enough proof that these children would NOT have done well academically if they went to half day kindergarten. I also know that "at some point we need to let our children go." Well, yeah I need to let my kids be who they are and not tie them to my apron strings. But who decided 5 was the age where a child will spend the same number of waking hours at school with their teacher as they will at home with their parents? I read about homeschooling, and this is because it is a 1:1 ratio or something close to that, I learned children that are home schooled need between 30 and 90 minutes of academics a day to learn all they need to know in kindergarten. So why would I send my 5 year old to a school where she will be 1 of 25 (or more) for 6 plus hours a day?

The second reason is my child herself. When she went to preschool this year her teacher thought she was one of the youngest in the class based on her behavior. As a former teacher I know what that means. I means she acts younger than everyone else. She doesn't hinder others' learning time according to her teacher, but she doesn't do what she needs to do. And she needs a lot of individual attention to help her stay on task. And I question is this who she is? Or is this a sign that she needs more time to mature before being in a structured environment all day five days a week? She is doing fine academically so holding her back does not seem to be a great option. We are setting up a conference with her teacher in the next few weeks to get a progress report, but from the quick notes I have been getting I believe she has not grown as much as we had hoped.

The third reason is the schools. Jon thinks public schools are okay. I am wavering. And it isn't just the school district we live in. I think about the large numbers of kids in the classrooms and the 1 teacher. The teachers get an aide, sometimes, but the aide is for the kids who need a LOT of help. And what about the kids who need a little help? Or the kids who need a challenge? They don't always get the attention that they need. I am not bashing teachers, I am one and I am married to one. But my views on the profession definitely have changed in the past few years, partly because I am now a parent and partly because of all of the laws and regulations that are going on. I am sure those teachers are working as hard as they can (as Jon does and I did) but you cannot reach every child all the time. I don't want my child to fall through the cracks. And while Jon and I plan to be involved parents, why do I need to spend a few hours every night reinforcing what was done at school if I can simply spend a little more time during the day teaching it? Of course since Jon and I are on different sides of this belief we have a lot of discussions before any decisions are made.

Right now we are taking it by kindergarten. Jon is in agreement about the maturity factor. He also feels, as do I, that if our children need to be retained at any point it needs to be before grade 3, preferably in kindergarten or 1st grade. But I am concerned about holding a child back due to maturity alone. What happens if Madeline (or Owen or Ben in the future) were held back for maturity but then were bored because they were not academically challenged? I see that Madeline is doing fine with her preK work, except for handwriting but that is an attention issue not an ability issue. I see no reason to have her do preK again, but as I told Jon, I don't want her to hate kindergarten because she is so structured. She already tells me that she doesn't get to play as much on the days she goes to school. If she is aware of that now, what will next year with 5 full days be like?

This was sort of a rambling post. And I am sorry for that. I am sorting out my feelings on the school issue right now. Of course if we do homeschool, even for just kindergarten, it means that we will live off of one income for a longer period of time than originally planned. And that needs to be taken into consideration along with everything else.

Homemade

2011-03-01T13:20:00.002-05:00

I love to cook and bake from scratch. Yesterday I made homemade french bread. I only made half a recipe and the loaf is almost gone. I should have made a full recipe! Last week I made my own tortillas and they were fantastic. I like them much better than the ones at the store. And we have baked goods that I make several times a month. It is fun for me and it helps to keep our grocery bill down.

The problem with baking from scratch is that it takes more time. Many would think that as a stay at home mom I have more time. In some ways that is true, I am not running in the door at 5 or later to make dinner and feed everyone before bedtime. I am not gone all day at work, I am at home (most days at least). However I have a husband, three kids, a part time job and a house to take care of. This makes finding time to make things, even with being home most of the day, is not always easy. This is why I batch cook when I can. This satisfies my want and need to make things from scratch and helps with the time issue. The tortillas will be perfect for this. I have many frozen dinners from my batch cooking. These are very helpful on the nights where Ben won't let me put him down or we have been out and about most of the day. They keep me from running up the bill on fast food (which isn't healthy either!)

The positive from baking from scratch is that it is healthier and less expensive. We use less processed foods this way and my grocery bill doesn't increase as much. And many of the things taste much, much better. My kids like to help out as well. Yesterday that helped me to knead the bread as well as measure out the ingredients. They had fun and were learning about how our food is made as well.

But again we come back to the time factor. With fresh bread in the house I am reminded on how much I love it. I want to make it more often but I just don't have the time. So I am looking into buying a bread machine. If you have any recommendations please tell me. I have never used one before, and never even heard of one until about 3 years ago! But I like the idea of having fresh bread for our sandwiches and I am looking for something inexpensive but that will last.

What is your favorite thing to make?

Menu Plan

2011-02-27T14:32:00.003-05:00

Last week we stayed with our menu plan. I did some re-arranging based on changes in our schedules, but it still was a success. Of course any week that does not entail an extra trip to the store is a success for me (I don't have very high standards!).
I did get some great news last week- I was offered a new job. I will still be tutoring but at the new job I will be working with younger kids. For the time being I will be working both my current and my new part time jobs. This means an extra evening of work which will take some adjustment. The positive side is that the new job could lead to enough hours to replace my current job (they actually offered me plenty of hours but needed me now which didn't allow for notice on my current job and that isn't right for me to do). While I do like my current job, the commute is 40 minutes each way and with gas prices increasing I am beginning to loathe the drive. This new job is located in my city which cuts my commute in half. It starts earlier in the evening and over time may involve more than the two evenings I am working currently. However, I would be home before dinner each night and would be able to help with bedtime routines which I miss. It will be busier than usual for the next couple of months while we all adjust to the extra night of work. To help with that I am declaring Thursday nights to be crock pot nights from now until June. That way I can make dinner before I leave for work and come home to it done. Jon won't have to worry about getting home and making dinner, all he will need to do is make a vegetable and set the table. Easy!

On this week's menu:
Monday- broccoli cheddar soup and french bread (I work but I will make this in the afternoon and take some with me) I am actually making the bread on Sunday, there is not enough time on Monday to get it all done!

Tuesday- Free Pancakes at Ihop. I am going to plan on taking all three kids by myself. This should be interesting!

Wednesday- english muffin pizzas and baby carrots (I work and will eat leftovers, most likely the soup from Monday)

Thursday- crock pot chicken and rice dish and green beans (make before I leave for work and we eat when I get home at 6)

Friday- fish tacos. We haven't tried these before and I am eager to see if the kids like them. They like fish sticks so I assume these will be accepted as well, but you never know!

Saturday- homemade calzones and baby carrots

Sunday- lemon oregano chicken and mixed beans

For more meal ideas visit I'm An Organizing Junkie

How to save money- homemade baby food

2011-02-22T08:00:00.000-05:00

Living on one income can sometimes be a challenge. We are lucky that we do not live paycheck to paycheck but part of that comes from being smart with our money. I am always looking for ways to stretch my dollar. We like to be able to go out to dinner once a month and we also like to try and set money aside for mini vacations (like Maine this summer) or family passes to local venues (the Paddle Club last summer and hopefully this summer again). In order to do that I need to make the most of each dollar we spend.

One way I do this is to make most of my own baby food. Babies don't eat that much in the beginning. I have breastfed all three of my children which keeps the cost for the first 4 to 6 months super low (just a few extra calories for me!) but eventually they need more than just breast milk.

When Madeline started eating baby food I decided I would make my own. I did go to the store and buy the baby cereal and while I was there I looked at the prices on the jars. I thought "Hmm, $1 for a pack of 2 containers of peaches. Not bad." Then I realized those two packages might be about 4 meals in the beginning but they would slowly become one meal each. And what happens when Madeline started eating more than 1 jar of food per meal? I started adding it up in my head and I realized that feeding her was going to add a lot more onto my grocery bill than I had originally thought if I chose to use the jars. This reinforced my decision to make most of my own baby food.

I do buy some jars, when it is on sale, to have for traveling or if I fall behind in my homemade stash. I pay at least $1 for what would amount to between 2- 4 meals. If I make it from home not only does my money go further but I know exactly what is in it. No extra preservatives when I cook!

With Madeline and Owen I kept it simple, I pureed vegetables and fruit that we had in the house and mixed them with store bought baby cereal or fed them plain. It worked and I never spent tons of money on the prepackaged stuff. I did buy the pureed meats because I just didn't think I could puree my own. Now I know better. But I still hate the smell of pureed meats so I simply waited until Ben had teeth before introducing meats to him.

With Ben I am getting a little more creative. I'm not sure why I am getting more creative as a I have less time but it is working! I found a great website called Wholesome Baby Food. This is the BEST baby food website ever. I even found a way to make my own baby cereal. I never knew how simple it was and I wish I had known about this for Owen and Madeline.

Today I was looking around the website and found a page that teaches how to make your own baby teething biscuits. This is something I am very excited to try. Both Madeline and Owen loved these and loved to make a mess with these. Ben is just starting to discover them and he also loves his crunchies and his puffs that are made by Gerber. We can get them for a decent price at BJ's. But when I found the recipe for Oats and "Naner Drops I knew I had to try them. I made a batch this afternoon and they were very very easy. Jon tried one and even he liked it. Jon liking a cookie made without sugar is not something that happens very often. I am hopeful that these cookies will be something that Madeline and Owen like as well.

This evening I set aside some time to make baby food for Ben. Jon was home and it was a good time for me to get this done. I set out to make two veggies and one fruit. All I needed was my steamer (which I love for all of my vegetables), my food processor (a blender works well also) and some ice cube trays. When I made Ben's food tonight I spent much less than I would have in the store. It took about an hour to make and clean up from everything. But in the end I have enough peas, carrots and peaches to last about a week for about $1.63. I used 1/2 a bag of frozen peas (50 cents), 1/3 bag of organic baby carrots (33 cents) and 1/3 a bag of frozen peaches (about 80 cents). If I had bought the prepackaged baby food it would have cost me about $7 and that is if I was able to buy it on sale. I put the pureed fruits and vegetables into ice cube trays to freeze over night. In the morning I will pop out the cubes and put them into freezer storage containers. At each meal I will take out one or two cubes and microwave them for about 25 seconds. And breakfast/lunch/dinner for Ben is done.

Ben is also starting to progress to finger foods. I have never bought a prepackaged meal of finger foods. That seems silly to me. I can very easily cut up whatever we are eating for dinner and feed it to Ben for much less than the cost of a prepackaged meal. The other night we had meatballs and pasta. Ben at some of the meatball cut up as well as some noodles. I don't know how much it cost but since most of my dinners cost less than $5 for four of us I know it was less than $1! For dinner tonight he ate some leftover chicken cut into bit sized pieces, small pieces of mozzarella cheese stick, pureed blueberries with yogurt, sweet potatoes, some Gerber crunchies and some crackers. He was a hungry boy at dinner.

It takes a few extra minutes to make my own baby food and with three kids extra time can be hard to find. One way I work around this is to cook the food in batches like I did today. For me the time is worth the money I save.

The Green Eyed Monster

2011-02-21T07:00:00.001-05:00

I am jealous. It is hard to explain of what but I will try.

I am jealous of anyone who is certain of their choices in the number of children they have, whether it is none, 1, 19 or anything in between.

I am jealous because it is a decision I am struggling with.

I say I because Jon has made his opinion clear- he would love to have a fourth but he is completely happy with our three if I am set with three.

And that is where the problem lies-I am in charge of the ultimate decision. And I don't know what to do. I know what I want but I don't know what I can handle.

It might seem like a funny time to be thinking about babies. My youngest is only 8 months old. But this is when the baby fever starts to bite. It then takes me about 6 to 8 months to work up the courage to jump in with both feet.

I have never felt this undecided before. After Madeline it was a case of when, not if. After Owen I paused a little more, was a little scared because things with two were going so well. But then I knew and along came Ben.

Jon has always been more certain before I am, but I think the fact that he works during the day might factor in a little. That and he doesn't need to be pregnant for nine months. And he is MUCH more laid back than I am. He is a wonderful father but he and I have different personalities.

This time I am scared. Downright scared of my ability to have four children. I love my three babies. And they make me so happy. I cannot imagine not having another baby. But I cannot imagine having enough patience to mother four kids. As I tell Jon, I don't know if there is enough Melinda to meet the needs of everyone in the house as it is, never mind adding another (very needy at first) human being to the mix.

Then of course we come to the financial aspect. For me having either Jon or I at home while the kids are young is important. If we have a fourth I don't know if this is something we can afford. And Jon and I don't want to have a fourth just to find out I now need to work full time. Add in the fact that I am thinking heavily about homeschooling and you take away my possible full time income. How does a fourth child factor in?

There is the health issue as well. I have dealt with gestational diabetes three times. All three babies were healthy and I was fine as well. But it is a factor in having a fourth. What effect will having gd four times have on my body? I lost an additional 15 pounds after Ben, will that help me NOT to develop it this time? And there is also the postpartum depression factor. I am doing okay, but I get overwhelmed very easily these days. How would a fourth baby effect that? How would I be as a mother?

Jon and I have discussed the possibilities. We have weighted the pros and the cons. And what it boils down to is wait and see. We have the age factor on our side. I just turned 31 and Jon will be 32 this summer. Yes our other children are spaced 2 years apart each time, but there is no reason we can't wait an extra 6 months or a year this time and have a larger space between Ben and the next child. It would make me 33 when the next child is born rather than 32, not a huge difference in the scheme of things.

It is a lot to think about. And I think a lot. Too much sometimes. I am trying to be more about the now and less about planning (not too much less mind you). But sometimes getting it out helps. And it did. I didn't resolve anything through this post. But I organized my thoughts a little. And I am giving myself permission to just take time. And enjoy my baby now and worry about possible future babies tomorrow, or the next day.

Anyone who has thoughts, advice or experience please share with me!

Menu Plan

2011-02-20T15:00:00.000-05:00

I didn't post our menu plan last week. It was that kind of weekend. We did make a menu plan but we didn't stick to it. My mother in law visited and filled our freezer as she likes to do. And she brought red meat which Jon loves. So he ate steak one night while we had leftovers and another night I made sausage and pasta instead of brinner. We didn't spend any extra and actually had a low budget week (even before I knew my mother in law was visiting) which is good since it makes up for my BJ's run two weeks ago!
This coming week Jon is on vacation from work, Madeline has no school and I only work one day. I filled the plan with easy meals that feed all of us, rather than a Jon and kids meal while I eat leftovers!

Breakfasts:
cereal
toast and fruit
english muffins

Lunches- alll served with fruit or vegetable (sometimes both)
english muffin pizzas
macaroni and cheese
peanut butter and jelly
grilled cheese
bologna and cheese sandwiches

Dinner:
Monday-Chicken quesadillas using leftover chicken from my crockpot chicken last week and corn

Tuesday- grilled cheese and chicken noodle soup and baby carrots with dip

Wednesday- brinner. I usually make scrambled eggs, breakfast sausages and either pancakes, french toast or waffles and serve it with fruit

Thursday- sloppy joes, corn

Friday- pasta and sausage, green beans

Saturday- homemade calzones. I make 5- 3 are pepperoni and cheese for Jon and the kids, and I fill 2 with veggies for me (1 for dinner and 1 for lunch later on)

Sunday- Oven fried chicken

For more menu ideas visit I'm An Organzing Junkie

Free Pancake Day

2011-02-19T21:15:00.002-05:00

Do you live near an IHOP? Do you like pancakes?
IHOP is having it's annual free pancake day on March 1. You get free pancakes and they ask for a donation to the March of Dimes in return. Last year I took Madeline and Owen there for lunch. This year we will go for dinner since Madeline is in school that day.

For more information visit IHOP Free Pancake Day

Dirty Dishes

2011-02-15T14:14:00.005-05:00

Dirty dishes made me feel better today.
Life has been more stressful than usual lately. And I still can't let myself cut back on my chores. I feel like I am failing if I do. No one makes me feel this way. No one except for me. (Why are we hardest on ourselves?)
Until today.
I left a sinkful of dirty dishes when I left the house this morning.
For me that is unusual. I am not a perfect housekeeper. My house is clean but not spotless. But above all other things I HATE leaving dishes in the sink.
But this morning I did. I had dishes from last night as well as breakfast this morning.
By doing that I made my life easier. I fed both MAdeline and Owen their breakfast, I got both kids dressed, did Madeline's hair and nursed Ben without feeling rushed. I packed the diaper bag and made my grocery list. I packed the snacks for the morning. And I got out of the house on time without extra stress.
Nothing bad happened. The dishes were there when I got home and had time to clean them. They are washed and put away now.

I think I will try this experiment again another day.

One of THOSE weeks

2011-02-11T14:15:00.002-05:00

We had one of those weeks. The kind that leaves me putting "is this week over yet?" as a post on my facebook on Tuesday. The ones that cost a lot of time and money.

While I want to vent about the things that went wrong I am not going to. Instead I am going to write a few things that went well. This is part of my personal goal to complain less and realize my blessings more!
1. Madeline did not cry when I dropped her off at school this week! She only had one day due to snow removal but I will take what I can get.
2. Several friends and family called on my birthday and sang to me!
3. Jon got me an ice cream sundae on my birthday. Chocolate ice cream, fudge and peanut butter topping. He put a candle on it and sang to me as well.
4. I did my yoga video 3 times this week
5. I took the three kids to the Holyoke Children's Museum yesterday morning and we had a great time.
6. The snow is pretty to look at.
7. I turned 31 on Monday and I am happy to admit my age
8. I have a lunch date with my grandma tomorrow
9. Owen and I had a hilarious conversation about his belly button not being a hole this morning
10. Jon invited my three best friends and their families over for dinner on Sunday to celebrate my birthday. It will be great!

How was your week?

Letters of Intent

2011-02-11T14:03:00.002-05:00

Dear Jon,
Thank you for trying so hard to make my birthday special. Having a leaking ceiling and a crashed up truck definitely put a damper on the day. But you did so much to try and make it better. Thank you for making dinner and then going out to get my favorite kind of ice cream sundae and even singing to me! It made my day much better.
love,
Melinda

* * * * *

Dear neighbor,
Have you noticed the snow? Have you noticed that our street is almost one way? Maybe this should help you to realize that parking in the street when you have an empty driveway is not your best idea. Just sayin'!
-annoyed neighbor

* * * * *

Dear Mother Nature,

Thank you for the reprieve. I love snow but it was nice to have one week where we did not add another 3 feet onto the snow we already have.

-Melinda

* * * * *

linking up with Foursons