Last night after leaving work I went by Winco to pick up some honey buns for Logan since he asked really nicely and he has had to go without a bunch of stuff in the name of the budget this month.
Winco Trip:
1 box honey buns
~2 lbs bananas
1 jar pasta sauce
1 gallon milk
1 loaf bread
Total: $5.35
Grand Total for July: $139.28 cash $89.00SNAP
Rebates received $26.95
Adjusted Total: $112.33 Cash $89.00SNAP
I almost made it this month on budget! Going to work harder in August.
After I made it home and greeted the kids as well as tried to sit down but gave that up when I was turned into a jungle gym. Evidently the sink backed up into the dishwasher while I was at work and Phillip had to fix that and then run the dishes again. That news was given to me as I tried to figure out what we were having for dinner and keep the tiny one from screaming because he wanted to clean out the shelves on the fridge door and I would not let him. Dinner ended up being some flanken style ribs that I grilled with rice and corn for sides. Clark decided last night that he does not want to eat baby food anymore. He kept his mouth shut until I put some of my food on his tray and then he was perfectly happy eating with his hands. Guess I will be finding a new home for all the jars of baby food I have in the cabinet. Following dinner were baths and play time. I gave up on really trying to get anything done and just went with the flow of the evening. After Clark went to bed I had to make Logan's bed and then snuggled with him for a little while. It was still a little early so I read until I finished the book I was currently reading.
This morning I hit the snooze on my phone and then heard Turbo starting to throw up. I was out of the bed and to the back door in a flash hoping he could get outside before he started throwing up. Once I got him out and thought I was successful I noticed a spot in the hall. Upon cleaning it up I found out it was dried so sometime over night he threw up and then had to go out again this morning. I am a bit concerned about him and what he may have got ahold of. Of course this has happened in the past when he had too much people food which could be the case with both kids now "secretly" feeding him.
Both kids were still asleep when I left for work which rarely happens. I debated kissing Logan goodbye while he was asleep but did not want to wake him up. Phillip sent me a message that said he woke up 30 minutes after I left and cried for 30 minutes because he did not get to tell me goodbye. I had to call him at lunch and tell him I was sorry and that I love him.
The weekend's to do list will be completed soon but I know it includes a birthday party, a hair cut for Phillip and Logan as well as getting some more stuff listed on the trade site for me. I was going to grocery shop but think I will put it off until next weekend since SNAP does not hit the card until Monday. I will instead try to go by the farmer's market in the morning and just get some veggies to pair with stuff already in the freezer and make it through the week.
Friday, July 31, 2015
Thursday, July 30, 2015
Wanting to Practice Scream Therapy and Unfinished Lists
When I was a kid my mom used to go outside occasionally and scream. I did not understand why, she always just said it made her feel better. I now understand how being a stay at home mom in a really small military town with 4 kids could make you want to go outside and scream. I wanted to try scream therapy last night and I only have two kids!
I got home last night to both kids running up to hug me which is always sweet. That is where the sweet ended. I put my stuff down and after chatting with Logan for a few minutes headed into our closet to take off my shoes and put up my hair. I was in for a shock.....Clark had pulled over my jewelry container again and NO ONE had picked it up. Earrings, necklaces and pins were all over the floor still. I instantly turned to Clark in my arms and said Clark, no and pointed and of course he instantly burst into tears. So I set him on the floor in the closet while Logan kept talking to me and I picked all of the stuff up and put it back in it's correct spot. While in the closet though I went ahead and picked up the floor which was scattered with purses and shoes. After that was all taken care of I went to try to decide on dinner and was told by Logan that he let Turbo out earlier because he was going to throw up. It was then I discovered that he was to late and there was a towel on the floor covering the dog vomit because again NO ONE cleaned it up. I decided to deal with that after dinner and so got started on my own creation which again I should have taken a picture of . I baked 4 chicken tenders on 450 for 7 minutes on each side after dredging them in an egg wash and then "breading" them in a mixture of Parmesan cheese, ranch dip mix and a smidge of Bisquick. I served this with a side salad and garlic bread which I had in the freezer. Despite everything else going on this was a good dinner especially since it is so close to the end of the month. As I said to my FaceBook leftover group necessity is the mother of all invention. After dinner I got Clark in the bath and then let him run wild for a bit while Logan got his bath. I was trying to sort through more of the pictures but it is slow going with Clark hanging on my pant legs. Anyway once I got Clark to sleep I went to snuggle with Logan before he went to bed only to discover that there are no sheets on his bed. They had to be washed and NO ONE put them back on.
I am trying to breathe deep because I realize that Phillip is home with the kids full time and nothing goes according to plan with that but I really did not want to deal with all of the other issues once I got home.
I got the bed made, Logan in it, my lunch packed up for today and then tried to read a little. I got very few pages read before I just turned out the light so we could go to sleep.
We shall see what tonight brings.
I got home last night to both kids running up to hug me which is always sweet. That is where the sweet ended. I put my stuff down and after chatting with Logan for a few minutes headed into our closet to take off my shoes and put up my hair. I was in for a shock.....Clark had pulled over my jewelry container again and NO ONE had picked it up. Earrings, necklaces and pins were all over the floor still. I instantly turned to Clark in my arms and said Clark, no and pointed and of course he instantly burst into tears. So I set him on the floor in the closet while Logan kept talking to me and I picked all of the stuff up and put it back in it's correct spot. While in the closet though I went ahead and picked up the floor which was scattered with purses and shoes. After that was all taken care of I went to try to decide on dinner and was told by Logan that he let Turbo out earlier because he was going to throw up. It was then I discovered that he was to late and there was a towel on the floor covering the dog vomit because again NO ONE cleaned it up. I decided to deal with that after dinner and so got started on my own creation which again I should have taken a picture of . I baked 4 chicken tenders on 450 for 7 minutes on each side after dredging them in an egg wash and then "breading" them in a mixture of Parmesan cheese, ranch dip mix and a smidge of Bisquick. I served this with a side salad and garlic bread which I had in the freezer. Despite everything else going on this was a good dinner especially since it is so close to the end of the month. As I said to my FaceBook leftover group necessity is the mother of all invention. After dinner I got Clark in the bath and then let him run wild for a bit while Logan got his bath. I was trying to sort through more of the pictures but it is slow going with Clark hanging on my pant legs. Anyway once I got Clark to sleep I went to snuggle with Logan before he went to bed only to discover that there are no sheets on his bed. They had to be washed and NO ONE put them back on.
I am trying to breathe deep because I realize that Phillip is home with the kids full time and nothing goes according to plan with that but I really did not want to deal with all of the other issues once I got home.
I got the bed made, Logan in it, my lunch packed up for today and then tried to read a little. I got very few pages read before I just turned out the light so we could go to sleep.
We shall see what tonight brings.
Wednesday, July 29, 2015
Books July 24th through July 29th
I finished The September Society and found it was not as good as the first book in the series. I may put this series on hold until I have read other things on my list and then come back for one more. If the third one is mediocre also then I will dump the series completely.
I decided to not split my attention and just focus on getting through The Murder Room which is coming to a close finally.
As far as book I am listening to I managed to finish Pieces of My Mother this morning. I hate to give heartbreaking books about someone's life a bad review but while I am sad for the experiences the author went through the book was disappointing. The book is billed as her making closer and understanding her mom through letters she wrote but the book actually has very few of the letters in it. The timeline is also sketchy and she repeats herself a lot. I think this one could have used some editing although it really did renew my desire to write letters to people so they have something tangible to look back on. Since I finished this one on the way here this morning I pulled Factory Man back up so I can finish listening to it and get it off my list.
Right before bed last night I thought I would go through Fix-It and Forget-It to see if it may be worth getting. Nope.....sooo many repeats of the same recipe by different readers. I think I found one recipe I wanted to even attempt and that is just not enough to even keep this from the library any longer.
First Successful Quiche
I totally regret not taking a picture of my first ever successful quiche.
I left work last night and headed home where I decided to give this quiche recipe a try since I wanted to use up some leftover ham and I have 3 dozen eggs on hand. I have never had a quiche come out correctly. They are always soupy with water pooling in the bottom and bland. Following this recipe finally led me to success. I think it was the fact I blanched the asparagus and allowed them to drain over the sink while I fixed the other stuff that helped. Logan again helped me with the stirring and we popped in into the oven. 45 minutes later we had an awesome dinner and this comes from someone who does not like eggs!
After dinner it was bath time and then kitchen clean up. I started working on a project from my long term list by sorting pictures also. This is going to go over a couple of weeks at least but I am hoping to get them sorted and into albums at least. Those that are really good I am going to keep out and scrapbook as well as frame a few.
Logan and I read a couple of his books before bed last night and I flipped through a cookbook which I was not crazy about.
I had also not posted these on the day that happened but here are some bedtime conversations I have had with Logan recently:
L: "Mama, I want the green blanket"
Me: "Which green blanket?"
L: " The one with the rhombuses on it"
Me: " which blanket had rhombuses?"
L: " You Know, the one with dark green rhombuses and then light green rhombuses."
Me: " oh the one granny crocheted for you?"
L: "yes!"
" Mama, I am going to be a scientist and a fire fighter." then asked " what does a scientist do all day?"
I left work last night and headed home where I decided to give this quiche recipe a try since I wanted to use up some leftover ham and I have 3 dozen eggs on hand. I have never had a quiche come out correctly. They are always soupy with water pooling in the bottom and bland. Following this recipe finally led me to success. I think it was the fact I blanched the asparagus and allowed them to drain over the sink while I fixed the other stuff that helped. Logan again helped me with the stirring and we popped in into the oven. 45 minutes later we had an awesome dinner and this comes from someone who does not like eggs!
After dinner it was bath time and then kitchen clean up. I started working on a project from my long term list by sorting pictures also. This is going to go over a couple of weeks at least but I am hoping to get them sorted and into albums at least. Those that are really good I am going to keep out and scrapbook as well as frame a few.
Logan and I read a couple of his books before bed last night and I flipped through a cookbook which I was not crazy about.
I had also not posted these on the day that happened but here are some bedtime conversations I have had with Logan recently:
L: "Mama, I want the green blanket"
Me: "Which green blanket?"
L: " The one with the rhombuses on it"
Me: " which blanket had rhombuses?"
L: " You Know, the one with dark green rhombuses and then light green rhombuses."
Me: " oh the one granny crocheted for you?"
L: "yes!"
" Mama, I am going to be a scientist and a fire fighter." then asked " what does a scientist do all day?"
Tuesday, July 28, 2015
Day Off the Rails and Swerving to Get Back on
Last night I picked up one of my last free drinks in my sodapalooza cup on the way home from work. I then ran by Winco to take advantage of a couple of rebate offers. I have $.75 off seasoning and $1.00 off gold peak tea. The seasonings were $1.00 and the tea $1.18 so I was able to purchase both for under $.50. After running by and picking these up I went into the Racetrac next door and got another free drink.
Once home dinner was a frozen pizza that I had on hand which of course meant we ate early. After dinner Clark got his bath and then played for a little bit. While he played I started working on my list for the evening. First thing was to clean up from dinner and then steam mop the kitchen again. Once we accomplished that and Logan was out of the bath we worked on cleaning the floor in their bathroom. I pulled everything out and vacuumed it again. Logan wanted to mop it so I let him and while it dried we went to work on other things. Clark's high chair sits right next to the bookshelf cabinet we have on the island with my cookbooks on it. They tend to get bits of stuff dropped on them from his dinner. So last night we cleaned all the books off the shelf. Wiped the shelves and the cabinet down, oil soaped them, and then wiped the cookbooks down. I also used this chance to go through the cookbooks and purge a couple that I do not plan on using. I pulled my binders out to go through and put more printed recipes in. That is a project and I meant to bring them to work with me today and work on it at lunch, that is part of the day that went off the rails this morning. After getting all of this taken care of Clark was ready to go to sleep so I snuggled with him a little while and then went back to the boys bathroom and cleaned the bottom of their toilet. I know it is very OCD but I hate how grungy the toilet gets in that strange crevice around the bolts. I also put the dogs dishes through the dishwasher and his toys in the washing machine. By this time I was ready to rest myself and had to let the last item on my list go.
This morning the plan was to get up, have breakfast, print out a pay stub, was the yoga mat which was the last item on yesterday's list, put dinner on in the crockpot and then go to our WIC appointment. I had put the appointment on the calendar as 10:00 and so I thought we had some time this morning. Plan was on track starting out. We slept in since I was not going into work and then had breakfast. I got a shower and Phillip headed out to get his truck inspected, an oil change, and go by the gym while I kept up with the kids and went to the WIC appointment. The plan was I should be done about the same time as him so he would swing by the WIC office and pick up the kids and then I would head to work. After getting a shower and breakfast the kids played some while I started a load of laundry and ran the dishes in the dishwasher. Logan helped me measure a baby gate I have up for trade so I posted the measurements and printed out my pay stub. We then all got dressed and as I was getting stuff together I put the paystub in the folder I keep all my WIC paperwork and noticed my appointment was actually at 9:10am this morning....it was 9:17 when I noticed this! I grabbed all the stuff and the kids and jumped in the car. We got to the office and because I was more than 10 minutes late I had to wait for someone else to miss their appointment so I could be squeezed into their spot. The 9:40 person showed up but the 9:50 did not so at 10:00 they put me in. This started the process which ended up with us being seen at 11:30. Phillip had arrived well before this so allowed him to take the kids home while I waited for the second half of the appointment. I got out of there at a little after 12:00pm and then realized I had not grabbed the other half of my lunch before I ran out of the house. I had a leftover hotdog and bun sitting at work but nothing to go with it so I went to the grocery store on the way and picked up a single peach, 2 bananas, a container of strawberries because they were on sale and a bag of chips. This all still worked out to be cheaper than going through the fast food drive through and I have chips, 1 banana and strawberries left to take home. The other thing that I did not do though was put dinner on in the crock pot so I will have to come up with something when I get home. I have some more ham in the fridge so I will probably fix it and come up with a couple of sides. My error this morning cost me time, money and vacation time from work that I did not want to spend. Here is to hoping things are on track now!
Once home dinner was a frozen pizza that I had on hand which of course meant we ate early. After dinner Clark got his bath and then played for a little bit. While he played I started working on my list for the evening. First thing was to clean up from dinner and then steam mop the kitchen again. Once we accomplished that and Logan was out of the bath we worked on cleaning the floor in their bathroom. I pulled everything out and vacuumed it again. Logan wanted to mop it so I let him and while it dried we went to work on other things. Clark's high chair sits right next to the bookshelf cabinet we have on the island with my cookbooks on it. They tend to get bits of stuff dropped on them from his dinner. So last night we cleaned all the books off the shelf. Wiped the shelves and the cabinet down, oil soaped them, and then wiped the cookbooks down. I also used this chance to go through the cookbooks and purge a couple that I do not plan on using. I pulled my binders out to go through and put more printed recipes in. That is a project and I meant to bring them to work with me today and work on it at lunch, that is part of the day that went off the rails this morning. After getting all of this taken care of Clark was ready to go to sleep so I snuggled with him a little while and then went back to the boys bathroom and cleaned the bottom of their toilet. I know it is very OCD but I hate how grungy the toilet gets in that strange crevice around the bolts. I also put the dogs dishes through the dishwasher and his toys in the washing machine. By this time I was ready to rest myself and had to let the last item on my list go.
This morning the plan was to get up, have breakfast, print out a pay stub, was the yoga mat which was the last item on yesterday's list, put dinner on in the crockpot and then go to our WIC appointment. I had put the appointment on the calendar as 10:00 and so I thought we had some time this morning. Plan was on track starting out. We slept in since I was not going into work and then had breakfast. I got a shower and Phillip headed out to get his truck inspected, an oil change, and go by the gym while I kept up with the kids and went to the WIC appointment. The plan was I should be done about the same time as him so he would swing by the WIC office and pick up the kids and then I would head to work. After getting a shower and breakfast the kids played some while I started a load of laundry and ran the dishes in the dishwasher. Logan helped me measure a baby gate I have up for trade so I posted the measurements and printed out my pay stub. We then all got dressed and as I was getting stuff together I put the paystub in the folder I keep all my WIC paperwork and noticed my appointment was actually at 9:10am this morning....it was 9:17 when I noticed this! I grabbed all the stuff and the kids and jumped in the car. We got to the office and because I was more than 10 minutes late I had to wait for someone else to miss their appointment so I could be squeezed into their spot. The 9:40 person showed up but the 9:50 did not so at 10:00 they put me in. This started the process which ended up with us being seen at 11:30. Phillip had arrived well before this so allowed him to take the kids home while I waited for the second half of the appointment. I got out of there at a little after 12:00pm and then realized I had not grabbed the other half of my lunch before I ran out of the house. I had a leftover hotdog and bun sitting at work but nothing to go with it so I went to the grocery store on the way and picked up a single peach, 2 bananas, a container of strawberries because they were on sale and a bag of chips. This all still worked out to be cheaper than going through the fast food drive through and I have chips, 1 banana and strawberries left to take home. The other thing that I did not do though was put dinner on in the crock pot so I will have to come up with something when I get home. I have some more ham in the fridge so I will probably fix it and come up with a couple of sides. My error this morning cost me time, money and vacation time from work that I did not want to spend. Here is to hoping things are on track now!
Monday, July 27, 2015
Busy Weekend with a Lackluster Menu
Friday night when I got home I peered in the cabinets and fridge for a while and then decided to fix diced ham and carrots in a garlic parmesan sauce over spaghetti noodles. I served with some of the leftover garlic bread.
Saturday morning is when we were off and running. The tiny one slept in till 8:00ish and I could also have slept in but Logan decided not to. Soo we were up and having a breakfast of biscuits pretty early. Once they had breakfast and were playing I went ahead and got a quick shower. Once out of the shower I started to dress the tiny one and managed to miss the pee he immediately streamed out. He usually does not pee with the diaper off so I was in shock for a moment. This meant as soon as he got dressed I had to start a load of laundry with the couch cushion covers in it. So before we left the house we unloaded and loaded the dishwasher and ran a load of clothes through the washer. Once everyone was together we headed out. The first stop was the build at Lowe's in which Logan built a wood plane. After there we headed by the library to drop some books in the drop slot. Logan is unable to check out any books until he finds the overdue movie he has out. I am going to make a library bucket that we sit near the door and throw items in that need to go back to stop this missing item business. Anyway after this we headed home to get stuff together for the water park and to have a bite to eat. I had some lunch since I knew I would be wrangling children and not snacking at the water park. Once the kids were ready and I had a bag packed we headed out for the water park. The kids had fun and I generally like this water park because it is small and usually not packed. Saturday though I developed a new pet peeve. Why bring your kids to the water park to play and then bring water balloons? Maybe it is me but water balloons are something you do in the absence of water to play in. Some kids do not want to be pelted with water balloons and then there were the moms in the same boat as me with crawlers who kept trying to pick up the colored bits and put them in their mouths. I spent the whole time making sure Clark was not picking up stuff and listening to kids crying because they fell while trying to get away from the water balloons or mad because they did not want to be hit. Still debating if I should send a letter to the city or not...in addition to my issues it also creates litter that someone has to clean up.
After leaving the water park we went home where Clark took a nap and I was really hoping that I could also but Logan was having none of that sleep stuff. We were only home for a few minutes, which was enough to start another load of laundry with the water park items before Phillip got home from weed eating the church's lawn. Since he was home and Clark was asleep I messaged the group and went to set up for my group's monthly food donation drop off. This month we were helping a single mom with 2 toddlers who was not eating so that her kids could eat. I set up there for an hour and read in between drop offs. It was quite and I made a dent in the book I was trying to finish up. Once I got home I unloaded the trunk and talked some more to Phillip. I needed to get some work done on the house so I started picking up while waiting on another person who was dropping off their donation at the house. Once she came by and dropped off we finished vacuuming the house and then started on dinner. Logan got his wish and we made bacon and pancakes. I wish I had taken a picture of Logan when he was helping me cook. He always wears an apron and this time he said " Mama, we are bakers, we need hats like bakers, why do bakers wear hats?" He is always chatting and his conversations make me laugh. After dinner was baths and then bedtime which was not hard since they had played so hard all day.
Clark again slept all night and Logan did not. This meant that we were up and ready in plenty of time to get to church on time. Clark was extremely fussy and so I ducked out of service and took him up to the nursery. He played for a little bit and then let me rock him to sleep. Logan was disappointed that his friend could not have lunch after church. We went and had a really quick lunch and then started home. I was supposed to have a trade and pick up a donation on the way home but neither worked out so I just headed home. Both kids were asleep by the time we got home so I left them with Phillip and then headed to the store to pick up some additional items with money donated for this month's family. Once I had spent all but a dime of the money I headed over and dropped the stuff off.
Here is what the donation looked like minus the fresh produce and chicken breasts I picked up with the donated money.
I am proud of the group and how much we have managed to help people.
After dropping off the donation I headed home and the boys were awake. I started working on getting the house cleaned again. I had a list and went off task slightly with cleaning out the bottom of the pantry and vacuuming that out. Phillip then decided that while he had the chance he would go to the gym and then pick up some milk for the tiny one. Once Phillip left Logan and Clark played for a little bit while I got pictures of the donations up and then Logan wanted to play on the computer. I set him up with the Lego game and then Clark and I steam mopped the house while listening to his labor and delivery playlist on youtube. Once we finished steam mopping we had dinner. Clark enjoyed some cereal, green beans and strawberries while I had queso and chips. Logan decided to eat his leftover lunch and then later had some pepperoni and cheese. Baths were up next and I worked on cleaning their bathroom some while Clark was in the tub. I had to finish most of it after his bath. There was more playing after bath time and then he went to sleep pretty easy. Logan snuggled with me for a little while but as soon as he was still for a little while he fell asleep and I moved him to his bed.
This morning both kids were up way before they had to be so I had some time with them before I headed in to work.
Saturday morning is when we were off and running. The tiny one slept in till 8:00ish and I could also have slept in but Logan decided not to. Soo we were up and having a breakfast of biscuits pretty early. Once they had breakfast and were playing I went ahead and got a quick shower. Once out of the shower I started to dress the tiny one and managed to miss the pee he immediately streamed out. He usually does not pee with the diaper off so I was in shock for a moment. This meant as soon as he got dressed I had to start a load of laundry with the couch cushion covers in it. So before we left the house we unloaded and loaded the dishwasher and ran a load of clothes through the washer. Once everyone was together we headed out. The first stop was the build at Lowe's in which Logan built a wood plane. After there we headed by the library to drop some books in the drop slot. Logan is unable to check out any books until he finds the overdue movie he has out. I am going to make a library bucket that we sit near the door and throw items in that need to go back to stop this missing item business. Anyway after this we headed home to get stuff together for the water park and to have a bite to eat. I had some lunch since I knew I would be wrangling children and not snacking at the water park. Once the kids were ready and I had a bag packed we headed out for the water park. The kids had fun and I generally like this water park because it is small and usually not packed. Saturday though I developed a new pet peeve. Why bring your kids to the water park to play and then bring water balloons? Maybe it is me but water balloons are something you do in the absence of water to play in. Some kids do not want to be pelted with water balloons and then there were the moms in the same boat as me with crawlers who kept trying to pick up the colored bits and put them in their mouths. I spent the whole time making sure Clark was not picking up stuff and listening to kids crying because they fell while trying to get away from the water balloons or mad because they did not want to be hit. Still debating if I should send a letter to the city or not...in addition to my issues it also creates litter that someone has to clean up.
After leaving the water park we went home where Clark took a nap and I was really hoping that I could also but Logan was having none of that sleep stuff. We were only home for a few minutes, which was enough to start another load of laundry with the water park items before Phillip got home from weed eating the church's lawn. Since he was home and Clark was asleep I messaged the group and went to set up for my group's monthly food donation drop off. This month we were helping a single mom with 2 toddlers who was not eating so that her kids could eat. I set up there for an hour and read in between drop offs. It was quite and I made a dent in the book I was trying to finish up. Once I got home I unloaded the trunk and talked some more to Phillip. I needed to get some work done on the house so I started picking up while waiting on another person who was dropping off their donation at the house. Once she came by and dropped off we finished vacuuming the house and then started on dinner. Logan got his wish and we made bacon and pancakes. I wish I had taken a picture of Logan when he was helping me cook. He always wears an apron and this time he said " Mama, we are bakers, we need hats like bakers, why do bakers wear hats?" He is always chatting and his conversations make me laugh. After dinner was baths and then bedtime which was not hard since they had played so hard all day.
Clark again slept all night and Logan did not. This meant that we were up and ready in plenty of time to get to church on time. Clark was extremely fussy and so I ducked out of service and took him up to the nursery. He played for a little bit and then let me rock him to sleep. Logan was disappointed that his friend could not have lunch after church. We went and had a really quick lunch and then started home. I was supposed to have a trade and pick up a donation on the way home but neither worked out so I just headed home. Both kids were asleep by the time we got home so I left them with Phillip and then headed to the store to pick up some additional items with money donated for this month's family. Once I had spent all but a dime of the money I headed over and dropped the stuff off.
Here is what the donation looked like minus the fresh produce and chicken breasts I picked up with the donated money.
I am proud of the group and how much we have managed to help people.
After dropping off the donation I headed home and the boys were awake. I started working on getting the house cleaned again. I had a list and went off task slightly with cleaning out the bottom of the pantry and vacuuming that out. Phillip then decided that while he had the chance he would go to the gym and then pick up some milk for the tiny one. Once Phillip left Logan and Clark played for a little bit while I got pictures of the donations up and then Logan wanted to play on the computer. I set him up with the Lego game and then Clark and I steam mopped the house while listening to his labor and delivery playlist on youtube. Once we finished steam mopping we had dinner. Clark enjoyed some cereal, green beans and strawberries while I had queso and chips. Logan decided to eat his leftover lunch and then later had some pepperoni and cheese. Baths were up next and I worked on cleaning their bathroom some while Clark was in the tub. I had to finish most of it after his bath. There was more playing after bath time and then he went to sleep pretty easy. Logan snuggled with me for a little while but as soon as he was still for a little while he fell asleep and I moved him to his bed.
This morning both kids were up way before they had to be so I had some time with them before I headed in to work.
Friday, July 24, 2015
Lazy Evening and More Sick Kids
Yesterday I had plans to do some work on the house when I got home. Really Logan wants pen pals so we were going to work on letters while I sorted through pictures. My next long term project is to sort the pictures and scraps of paper putting some in albums and others in scrapbooks. I have made some scrapbook pages but have not organized those into albums yet. I am really hoping to make a dent in this soon so I can claim some more floor space and empty a bunch of boxes.
As I started this post with this was the plan last night but what really happened was dinner of hot dogs to celebrate National Hot Dog Day and then Phillip and I sitting on the couch or dancing with the kids while watching music videos. It is something we have not done in forever and it was a nice change. It would also be a good idea for a work out for me! Anyway, we were able to get dinner, baths and the kitchen cleaned up early last night. I thought we were on the right track but then at bedtime while I was laying with Clark on my lap he started throwing up all over me. He coated himself, me, the floor and the coffee table. Soo after much clean up, wash up and calming down he managed to go back to sleep. He seemed fine but vocal this morning which is really confusing me. I am not sure why we keep going back to the vomiting.
As I worry about that I am starting my list for the weekend since I need to do pick up for my group tomorrow and Logan has a build at Lowe's. The family we are helping this month is a single mom with 2 kids who is going hungry to make sure her kids have enough to eat. I need to coordinate getting the items donated picked up tomorrow and to the family on Sunday afternoon.
*sigh*, I am hoping to have time to work on the pictures this weekend so I can get that project under my belt and move on to the next one.....half finished sewing projects.
As I started this post with this was the plan last night but what really happened was dinner of hot dogs to celebrate National Hot Dog Day and then Phillip and I sitting on the couch or dancing with the kids while watching music videos. It is something we have not done in forever and it was a nice change. It would also be a good idea for a work out for me! Anyway, we were able to get dinner, baths and the kitchen cleaned up early last night. I thought we were on the right track but then at bedtime while I was laying with Clark on my lap he started throwing up all over me. He coated himself, me, the floor and the coffee table. Soo after much clean up, wash up and calming down he managed to go back to sleep. He seemed fine but vocal this morning which is really confusing me. I am not sure why we keep going back to the vomiting.
As I worry about that I am starting my list for the weekend since I need to do pick up for my group tomorrow and Logan has a build at Lowe's. The family we are helping this month is a single mom with 2 kids who is going hungry to make sure her kids have enough to eat. I need to coordinate getting the items donated picked up tomorrow and to the family on Sunday afternoon.
*sigh*, I am hoping to have time to work on the pictures this weekend so I can get that project under my belt and move on to the next one.....half finished sewing projects.
Thursday, July 23, 2015
Books July 10th Through July 23rd
Again it has been slow reading lately.
I am almost done with The September Society , hoping to finish by Saturday so I can turn it in when we go to the library.
I finished Bet the Farm. I still think it was information heavy and solution poor. The author did not seem to come to any real conclusions or offer any solutions to the problems.
After finishing Bet the Farm I started back on The Murder Room hoping to finish it before the weekend but with the kids being sick I think that is now a pipe dream. I will just start bringing it to work to read at lunch once I finish The September Society.
American Rose is still on hold while I waited for the digital copy to be available again. While I was waiting on this one I listened to NPR Roadside Trips: Roadside Attractions, NPR Roadside Attractions: Family Vacations and NPR Roadside Attractions: Postcards from Around the Globe. After this I still did not have American Rose back so I started The Quiet Man.
I got through 4 sections of The Quiet Man before it was due back at the library so then I started listening to Pieces of My Mother. The Quiet Man was informative but is of course very slanted toward H.W's presidency. Pieces of My Mother has been an interesting story thus far although I really do not like the narrator.
I am almost done with The September Society , hoping to finish by Saturday so I can turn it in when we go to the library.
I finished Bet the Farm. I still think it was information heavy and solution poor. The author did not seem to come to any real conclusions or offer any solutions to the problems.
After finishing Bet the Farm I started back on The Murder Room hoping to finish it before the weekend but with the kids being sick I think that is now a pipe dream. I will just start bringing it to work to read at lunch once I finish The September Society.
American Rose is still on hold while I waited for the digital copy to be available again. While I was waiting on this one I listened to NPR Roadside Trips: Roadside Attractions, NPR Roadside Attractions: Family Vacations and NPR Roadside Attractions: Postcards from Around the Globe. After this I still did not have American Rose back so I started The Quiet Man.
I got through 4 sections of The Quiet Man before it was due back at the library so then I started listening to Pieces of My Mother. The Quiet Man was informative but is of course very slanted toward H.W's presidency. Pieces of My Mother has been an interesting story thus far although I really do not like the narrator.
Eggplant Parmesan and Sick Kids
Before I digress into the evening I wanted to post a photo I took of the boys over the weekend when they were playing. Logan had made a box into a space ship and was sailing around, Clark on the other hand has made it his mission to interrupt whatever Logan is doing.
Wednesday started out oddly and the trend kept going all day and through the night. I work with 2 other people and both of them needed to be off yesterday morning for emergency issues so I took the morning also and stayed with the kids while Phillip ran a couple of errands. While he was gone I did a load of clothes and hung them out on the line, ran the dishwasher, paid a bill, started working on the kids closet and got Clark down for a nap. As soon as he came home I headed out. I went by to drop off some trade items, picked up my free drink at Racetrac and then headed to the library to see if I could locate a missing DVD. After this I headed into work for at least a partial day. I left work and made a swing by Sprouts to pick up some produce from their new sale ad.
Sprouts Trip:
4 lbs strawberries
1 lb pears
~4 lbs peaches
2 bags chips
1 bottle kids vitamins
1 muffin
1 loaf garlic bread
Total: $14.17 Cash
After leaving Sprouts I headed to Winco to pick up some breakfast stuff for the boys and check their sale items.
Winco Trip:
3 boxes breakfast cakes
1 jar seasoning
~3 lbs bananas
1 loaf bread
2 containers cinnamon rolls
Total: $11.45 Cash
After Winco I headed home where I unloaded the car and uploaded items to my rebate apps. While doing this Phillip gave me the update that Clark had started throwing up again and once I looked at him I could tell his eyes just did not look right. I went ahead and started dinner which was going to be eggplant parmesan for the first time ever while Phillip and I talked about the day. While waiting for the eggplant to "sweat" I was holding Clark and decided he might need some fever reducer. As soon as the medicine hit his lips he started vomiting. Sooo clean up began, I put him in the bathtub and while Phillip watched him I had to change clothes and clean up the couch and floors. He seemed to be feeling a ton better and was playing in the bathtub so I went ahead and got dinner in the oven. While that was cooking Clark was dried and dressed in his jammies. Phillip and I then had a discussion about taking him to the ER if he could not keep any fluids down. He was acting like he felt better so we decided to hold off for a little while. I served the Eggplant Parmesan with garlic bread.
The verdict on dinner was tasty but a bit firm. If I make it again I may follow another recipe I pinned which called for the eggplant to be baked before added to the dish.
Clark also made it through the night semi well. He kept his medicine and night time bottle down and then woke up a couple of more times and finished off 2 more bottles. When I left for work this morning he looked a lot better and wanted to play. We shall see how today plays out. Logan topped last night off by getting up twice and sleep walking. The second he was upset that I had not given him any chocolate milk. When the alarm went off this morning I was definitely not ready to get up and face today.
Wednesday started out oddly and the trend kept going all day and through the night. I work with 2 other people and both of them needed to be off yesterday morning for emergency issues so I took the morning also and stayed with the kids while Phillip ran a couple of errands. While he was gone I did a load of clothes and hung them out on the line, ran the dishwasher, paid a bill, started working on the kids closet and got Clark down for a nap. As soon as he came home I headed out. I went by to drop off some trade items, picked up my free drink at Racetrac and then headed to the library to see if I could locate a missing DVD. After this I headed into work for at least a partial day. I left work and made a swing by Sprouts to pick up some produce from their new sale ad.
Sprouts Trip:
4 lbs strawberries
1 lb pears
~4 lbs peaches
2 bags chips
1 bottle kids vitamins
1 muffin
1 loaf garlic bread
Total: $14.17 Cash
After leaving Sprouts I headed to Winco to pick up some breakfast stuff for the boys and check their sale items.
Winco Trip:
3 boxes breakfast cakes
1 jar seasoning
~3 lbs bananas
1 loaf bread
2 containers cinnamon rolls
Total: $11.45 Cash
After Winco I headed home where I unloaded the car and uploaded items to my rebate apps. While doing this Phillip gave me the update that Clark had started throwing up again and once I looked at him I could tell his eyes just did not look right. I went ahead and started dinner which was going to be eggplant parmesan for the first time ever while Phillip and I talked about the day. While waiting for the eggplant to "sweat" I was holding Clark and decided he might need some fever reducer. As soon as the medicine hit his lips he started vomiting. Sooo clean up began, I put him in the bathtub and while Phillip watched him I had to change clothes and clean up the couch and floors. He seemed to be feeling a ton better and was playing in the bathtub so I went ahead and got dinner in the oven. While that was cooking Clark was dried and dressed in his jammies. Phillip and I then had a discussion about taking him to the ER if he could not keep any fluids down. He was acting like he felt better so we decided to hold off for a little while. I served the Eggplant Parmesan with garlic bread.
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| Right before the chesse |
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| Finished product |
Clark also made it through the night semi well. He kept his medicine and night time bottle down and then woke up a couple of more times and finished off 2 more bottles. When I left for work this morning he looked a lot better and wanted to play. We shall see how today plays out. Logan topped last night off by getting up twice and sleep walking. The second he was upset that I had not given him any chocolate milk. When the alarm went off this morning I was definitely not ready to get up and face today.
Wednesday, July 22, 2015
This Week Thus Far and July Totals
Monday night was fairly routine. I did make a chicken broccoli rice casserole for dinner. This used up the rest of some grilled chicken in the freezer. There was some left over which I plan to bring for lunch the rest of the week now that I am finished with the tostado fixings.
The only strange thing was actually a person. I listed some free pick up items on Criagslist and there was a gentleman coming to pick some up and a lady picking up another set of items. I myself was trading some toilet paper for metal Tonka trucks so had to tell them a time to come by. I got home and put out all the ice packs in a smallish box for the gentleman to pick up and a paper bag full of egg cartons for the lady to come by and get. Now I am used to porch trades and they are something I do not need to be involved in. I do not need notice of precisely when you come by to get the item so when the doorbell rang I was debating not answering it. I should not have, the gentleman picking up the ice packs was odd and felt we needed to have a conversation on my porch. I got myself out of it as quickly as possible only to find out after a little bit that he took the egg cartons and left trash on my porch! I sent him an email questioning him about it and his response was yes I took them to use as candy molds. I sent him one back saying " I guess I will have to let the person who was supposed to pick those up know not to come by because you took them." If he ever emails me again about anything I have listed I am just going to have to ignore them.
This was also a learning opportunity for Logan. He did not listen when I told him not to come outside with me and he kept trying to "help" the man stack up the items. We had to talk about strangers and how when mommy is telling you to do something you really need to listen. I did not know this man and he could have grabbed him and run before I blinked an eye.
Tuesday night turned out to be crazy and most things were not working the way they were supposed to. I left work and headed to do a trade off my normal route home. On the way I stopped and got some gas and picked up a drink for Logan. The person turned out to not have the item out and she was not answering her door. I had sent her a message and thought maybe I was just there ahead of her so I went across the street to Sonic and had one of their "snacks" while I waited a bit. She still had not responded so I left to go pick up Logan from Loralee's. They were actually at an outdoor karate lesson so I headed there to get him. I talked to Loralee's dad for a little bit and then we headed out to the next errand. We headed to Target next to pick up a prescription for Clark. Phillip had taken him to the doctor earlier in the day and he turned out to have a double ear infection. Got that picked up before the pharmacy closed and then checked out the clearance sections. I was able to pick up some meat for next to nothing.
Target Trip:
1pkg (4) pork chops
1/4 sliced ham
1 pkg (2) eye of round steaks
1 gallon milk
trip total: $11.61
Monthly total:::: $108.31 ( I am getting back $16.95 so far from the rebate apps)
I was able to get an additional $1.00 back using one of the rebate apps.
After checking out at Target I had wanted to go by the library to see if a missing DVD had shown up but they were closed by this time. Logan and I headed home where he needed to tell Phillip all about his day and I needed to catch up on how the tiny one was doing. While getting these updates I started working on dinner. Before it got dark Phillip ran to get the clothes off the line and fold them. Dinner was grilled steaks, black beans and fruit smoothies using fresh fruit from our freezer. As we were eating I was feeding Clark and then went to give him his medicine. As soon as he took the medicine he started throwing up. Rushed him into the bath and got his jammies on. He wanted to snuggle and we tried again by putting the medicine in his milk which thankfully worked. The throwing up was something I took in stride and after everything I finished my dinner, Phillip on the other hand could not finish. Logan was wore out and slept all night while Clark slept but restlessly. He was still a little warm this morning but kept the second dose of medicine down and was just sleeping a little more than normal.
My original plan was to try eggplant parmesan last night for the first time to use up an eggplant I bought for 48 cents but that will have to wait for tonight. I hope this one turns out and I can add another thing to our dinner rotation especially when one comes in my co-op basket
The only strange thing was actually a person. I listed some free pick up items on Criagslist and there was a gentleman coming to pick some up and a lady picking up another set of items. I myself was trading some toilet paper for metal Tonka trucks so had to tell them a time to come by. I got home and put out all the ice packs in a smallish box for the gentleman to pick up and a paper bag full of egg cartons for the lady to come by and get. Now I am used to porch trades and they are something I do not need to be involved in. I do not need notice of precisely when you come by to get the item so when the doorbell rang I was debating not answering it. I should not have, the gentleman picking up the ice packs was odd and felt we needed to have a conversation on my porch. I got myself out of it as quickly as possible only to find out after a little bit that he took the egg cartons and left trash on my porch! I sent him an email questioning him about it and his response was yes I took them to use as candy molds. I sent him one back saying " I guess I will have to let the person who was supposed to pick those up know not to come by because you took them." If he ever emails me again about anything I have listed I am just going to have to ignore them.
This was also a learning opportunity for Logan. He did not listen when I told him not to come outside with me and he kept trying to "help" the man stack up the items. We had to talk about strangers and how when mommy is telling you to do something you really need to listen. I did not know this man and he could have grabbed him and run before I blinked an eye.
Tuesday night turned out to be crazy and most things were not working the way they were supposed to. I left work and headed to do a trade off my normal route home. On the way I stopped and got some gas and picked up a drink for Logan. The person turned out to not have the item out and she was not answering her door. I had sent her a message and thought maybe I was just there ahead of her so I went across the street to Sonic and had one of their "snacks" while I waited a bit. She still had not responded so I left to go pick up Logan from Loralee's. They were actually at an outdoor karate lesson so I headed there to get him. I talked to Loralee's dad for a little bit and then we headed out to the next errand. We headed to Target next to pick up a prescription for Clark. Phillip had taken him to the doctor earlier in the day and he turned out to have a double ear infection. Got that picked up before the pharmacy closed and then checked out the clearance sections. I was able to pick up some meat for next to nothing.
Target Trip:
1pkg (4) pork chops
1/4 sliced ham
1 pkg (2) eye of round steaks
1 gallon milk
trip total: $11.61
Monthly total:::: $108.31 ( I am getting back $16.95 so far from the rebate apps)
I was able to get an additional $1.00 back using one of the rebate apps.
After checking out at Target I had wanted to go by the library to see if a missing DVD had shown up but they were closed by this time. Logan and I headed home where he needed to tell Phillip all about his day and I needed to catch up on how the tiny one was doing. While getting these updates I started working on dinner. Before it got dark Phillip ran to get the clothes off the line and fold them. Dinner was grilled steaks, black beans and fruit smoothies using fresh fruit from our freezer. As we were eating I was feeding Clark and then went to give him his medicine. As soon as he took the medicine he started throwing up. Rushed him into the bath and got his jammies on. He wanted to snuggle and we tried again by putting the medicine in his milk which thankfully worked. The throwing up was something I took in stride and after everything I finished my dinner, Phillip on the other hand could not finish. Logan was wore out and slept all night while Clark slept but restlessly. He was still a little warm this morning but kept the second dose of medicine down and was just sleeping a little more than normal.
My original plan was to try eggplant parmesan last night for the first time to use up an eggplant I bought for 48 cents but that will have to wait for tonight. I hope this one turns out and I can add another thing to our dinner rotation especially when one comes in my co-op basket
Tuesday, July 21, 2015
Thursday After Company Until Today
Having to get back to normal after company is hard enough but when you do not feel good it is soo much harder. Also being a mom you have a hard time getting time to recoup because the kids want you. The day after my mom left was Thursday and I headed back to work. It took me a little while to get going in the morning but I made it in. Luckily I work in a pharmacy so I bought some AZO and kept going. The only thing I ate through the day were some crackers and tried to keep my fluids up. Dinner that night was scrambled eggs for Phillip and a bowl of cereal for me.
Friday I felt quite a bit better although not well. Made it through work but still did not feel up to eating much for dinner. The boys wanted grilled cheese sandwiches so I fixed those. Phillip had spinach grilled in his while Logan went with the traditional form.
Saturday morning I really could not afford to feel bad as we had places to go and people to see! We headed out early that morning to pick up our sodapalooza drinks, head by the library and then head to Phillip's sister's house for her son's birthday party. Logan had a great time playing with the other boys and I was wore out chasing Clark around. They served a good meal of smoked brisket and pea salad along with birthday cake and ice cream. We left there after a few hours and made the 2 hour trek home. This required another stop for sodapalooza drinks and some gas. Once home the boys played for a bit and I worked on trying to clean up the house.
Sunday was the day everything hit the fan again. On the way to church that morning Clark threw up twice in the car seat. I gave him a bath in the sink and church and got the seat cover washed and put out on the picnic tables to dry. He seemed fine through service and honestly through the rest of the day. Logan however hit his head playing after service and though no other symptoms ever came up he started throwing up. He did not go to sleep for many hours and I kept an eye on him but until about 2pm on Monday he was throwing up anything he ate or drank. It went away as swiftly as it came on. This however meant that neither child slept very good and so I was up and down all night. I did fix tostadas for dinner again just because we have shells to use up, they are tasty and really easy. The leftovers have been my lunch for the last 2 days, with I think tomorrow being the last of them.
Friday I felt quite a bit better although not well. Made it through work but still did not feel up to eating much for dinner. The boys wanted grilled cheese sandwiches so I fixed those. Phillip had spinach grilled in his while Logan went with the traditional form.
Saturday morning I really could not afford to feel bad as we had places to go and people to see! We headed out early that morning to pick up our sodapalooza drinks, head by the library and then head to Phillip's sister's house for her son's birthday party. Logan had a great time playing with the other boys and I was wore out chasing Clark around. They served a good meal of smoked brisket and pea salad along with birthday cake and ice cream. We left there after a few hours and made the 2 hour trek home. This required another stop for sodapalooza drinks and some gas. Once home the boys played for a bit and I worked on trying to clean up the house.
Sunday was the day everything hit the fan again. On the way to church that morning Clark threw up twice in the car seat. I gave him a bath in the sink and church and got the seat cover washed and put out on the picnic tables to dry. He seemed fine through service and honestly through the rest of the day. Logan however hit his head playing after service and though no other symptoms ever came up he started throwing up. He did not go to sleep for many hours and I kept an eye on him but until about 2pm on Monday he was throwing up anything he ate or drank. It went away as swiftly as it came on. This however meant that neither child slept very good and so I was up and down all night. I did fix tostadas for dinner again just because we have shells to use up, they are tasty and really easy. The leftovers have been my lunch for the last 2 days, with I think tomorrow being the last of them.
Lots of Stuff with Company Part 2
The items I forgot in all of this are the "chores" on my list that my mom helped me knock out. The first was all the mending that had been piling up. She did the hand sewing and then entertained the kids while I did all the machine work. The next chore was going through all my jewelry after the tiny one pulled over the jewelry box. I have a lot of costume pieces and we sorted through all of those. She worked on untangling while I sorted them by type and got rid of the pieces I was not using. I also had a bunch of items that left the house in trade over the time she was here. I netted paper towels, toilet paper, canned goods, pasta, soap, and chapped stick over the weekend. These are items I am going to start taking pictures of also and posting since they really help extend my budget while also helping me clear unneeded/unwanted items out of the house. I will probably have a yard sale with a friend soon to purge the remaining items that have not traded.
Back to fun things with my mom. On Tuesday we took the boys to a splash park by the house and let them run wild for quite a while. It was funny listening to Logan tell Phillip about the splash park. According to him we were only there for 2 minutes. After leaving the splash park I wanted to take the kids to Chick-Fil-A to eat but once we got there it was soooo packed. We opted for the other choice in the neighborhood McDonald's. Once home I put some pork chops in the crockpot for dinner. Once they were close to ready my mom snapped the green beans I had in the fridge and got them cooking. This is the Pork Chop Recipe I used which my mom liked.
Wednesday was the day I had to take my mom back to the airport but we wanted to do something in the morning before she had to go so we took Logan bowling. Our only problem was we went before they opened so we had to waste time. We ran a couple of errands and then headed back to the bowling alley to get our game on. My mom decided not to bowl as her arm was hurting from carrying the tiny one around the whole time she was here! It was Logan's second time bowling and he ended up beating me, my score was a huge disappointment.
The really bad part was I was starting to really hurt and feel sick as the day progressed. I ended up throwing up on the way to the airport which worried my mom. I am pretty sure it was a UTI and after 6 days of antibiotics I am feeling better. Because I felt like crap everyone was on their own for dinner.
Back to fun things with my mom. On Tuesday we took the boys to a splash park by the house and let them run wild for quite a while. It was funny listening to Logan tell Phillip about the splash park. According to him we were only there for 2 minutes. After leaving the splash park I wanted to take the kids to Chick-Fil-A to eat but once we got there it was soooo packed. We opted for the other choice in the neighborhood McDonald's. Once home I put some pork chops in the crockpot for dinner. Once they were close to ready my mom snapped the green beans I had in the fridge and got them cooking. This is the Pork Chop Recipe I used which my mom liked.
Wednesday was the day I had to take my mom back to the airport but we wanted to do something in the morning before she had to go so we took Logan bowling. Our only problem was we went before they opened so we had to waste time. We ran a couple of errands and then headed back to the bowling alley to get our game on. My mom decided not to bowl as her arm was hurting from carrying the tiny one around the whole time she was here! It was Logan's second time bowling and he ended up beating me, my score was a huge disappointment.
The really bad part was I was starting to really hurt and feel sick as the day progressed. I ended up throwing up on the way to the airport which worried my mom. I am pretty sure it was a UTI and after 6 days of antibiotics I am feeling better. Because I felt like crap everyone was on their own for dinner.
Lots of Stuff with Company Part 1
Sunday the kids and I skipped church and stayed home with Granny. We did some shopping which resulted in Granny buying too much stuff for the kids and getting birthday stuff for the tiny one's party on Monday. Later in the day the kids hung out with Phillip while my mom and I went to get her a cell phone charger since she left hers at home. Once we managed to find something that would work for her then we went by and picked up some chicken for dinner since my mom wanted chicken.
Monday was a bit crazy! The morning started with a quick breakfast and then my mom and I taking Clark for his 1 year appointment. Once we finished with his appointment we headed home and the boys were acting crazy. My mom kept taking Clark out in the stroller for walks since he loves that even though we are in the middle of a horrible heat wave. That evening it was birthday time! We decided to have it at Rosa's because they are the #1 bean place and it is budget friendly. Friends and family came by to celebrate with Clark and then we came home to open presents. This of course reminds me that I still have not written out the thank you notes from either of his parties.
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| He looks a little worried at this point |
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| Logan is always a ham |
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| Cake that little hands has already taste tested |
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| Yummy! |
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| Birthday Loot |
Friday, July 10, 2015
Thursday Evening Rush Before Company
My mom is coming into town tomorrow and so this week's lists have partly been a reflection of my trying to get as much done as I could before she arrives. Last night I actually went straight home from work to find both kids had just fallen asleep. I let the sleep for a little bit while I picked up some stuff from the hall floor and started dinner. I woke Clark up before I finished dinner and just held him while I finished. Logan slept until dinner was almost done and then he got up and started playing. Before I woke them up I had also discovered that a documentary I wanted to see was now available on Netflix so I went ahead and started it. I was able to give Little White Lie part of my attention but I may have to rewatch parts of it. Dinner was a chicken stir fry with snow peas, broccoli, asparagus, corn, mushrooms and the awesome noodles. I also finished off the slice of watermelon that Clark did not finish. Can not let some great watermelon go to waste.
After dinner Clark had his bath, then a load of laundry was started and the big project of the night was underway. I started working on cleaning and organizing their bedroom some more. I need to go through all of Clark's clothes but am having a hard time mustering up the motivation to do this. I went through and organized Logan's a few weeks ago and pulled out the next size for Clark but have not cleaned out the former sizes yet. Maybe I can work on this while my mom is here.
Clark went to bed a little later than normal because of the nap but not too late so I was able to read a little bit while Logan played minecraft on my phone.
After dinner Clark had his bath, then a load of laundry was started and the big project of the night was underway. I started working on cleaning and organizing their bedroom some more. I need to go through all of Clark's clothes but am having a hard time mustering up the motivation to do this. I went through and organized Logan's a few weeks ago and pulled out the next size for Clark but have not cleaned out the former sizes yet. Maybe I can work on this while my mom is here.
Clark went to bed a little later than normal because of the nap but not too late so I was able to read a little bit while Logan played minecraft on my phone.
Thursday, July 9, 2015
Books July 3rd Through July 9th
With all that has been going on around the holidays here and Clark's birthday I have just not read as much as I would have liked.
I managed to finish listening to Still Alice. I really, really liked this book although it has me constantly questioning when I forget things. I have put this author's other books on my to read list. It will be quite some time before I get to them since I am determined to get all the books on my currently reading list read!
After finishing Still Alice I started American Rose which is a book about Gypsy Rose Lee. With this book being due the day after I started it I did not get very far in before having to start on something else.
American Rose is on hold and I started listening to NPR Road Trips: National Park Adventures. I always like these and this one is really no exception. It makes me want to visit all the parks.
I am still trying to get through Bet The Farm. It is a good, informative book but is heavy with information.
Also trying to finish up The September Society, hopefully before my mom comes into town.
I managed to finish listening to Still Alice. I really, really liked this book although it has me constantly questioning when I forget things. I have put this author's other books on my to read list. It will be quite some time before I get to them since I am determined to get all the books on my currently reading list read!
After finishing Still Alice I started American Rose which is a book about Gypsy Rose Lee. With this book being due the day after I started it I did not get very far in before having to start on something else.
American Rose is on hold and I started listening to NPR Road Trips: National Park Adventures. I always like these and this one is really no exception. It makes me want to visit all the parks.
I am still trying to get through Bet The Farm. It is a good, informative book but is heavy with information.
Also trying to finish up The September Society, hopefully before my mom comes into town.
Wednesday Groceries and Dinner
Monday and Tuesday night I put a bunch of stuff in my car so I would not forget to divest myself of it. Last night on the way home I decided to run all the errands I could and get the stuff out of my car. The first errand was to get by the library before they closed at 6pm, which is a feat when I get off at 5:30 and the library is 20ish miles from my work. I made it with 4 minutes to spare! I was able to drop off 32 jars of baby food for their food drive and pick up 2 books they had on hold for me. After leaving there I went by the sitter's house and picked up Logan's hat. Next on the list was Winco foods, I wanted to check if they still had some of the same sale items. The sale items were not the same but I picked up some other items the people in the house wanted for daily snacks.
Winco trip:
4 boxes snack cakes
1 jar pasta sauce
5 containers yogurt
3 packages breakfast rolls
1 jar seasoning
1 pkg pasta shells
1 pkg marshmallows
Total: $13.54 Cash
After leaving Winco I ran into Racetrac which is practically next door and used my sodapalooza cup for a free drink. This meant I was pushing it to get by Goodwill before they closed to drop off the donation I was carrying around in the car. I made it barely but this meant all my errands were taken care of. Once home I partially unloaded the car and scanned in the grocery items to 1 app before tackling dinner. I decided to go with meatloaf "muffins" because they are tasty and quick. I used a tube of semi stale Ritz vegetable crackers in them rather than breadcrumbs or oatmeal. Making them in the muffin pan saves an amazing amount of time. You just cook them for 15 minutes at 450 degrees.
This was after dinner, the leftovers will make great lunches or a meatball sub sandwich. It was served with shells and cheese which is one of Logan's favorites. Dinner was followed by baths and me cleaning the boys bathroom while Clark was playing in the tub. Clark was actually soo sleepy that he went to bed while Logan was getting his bath so I finished up the bathroom after Logan got out. Once that was accomplished I checked some stuff online and then read to Logan before he went to bed. My mind was racing so I watched a little TV before falling asleep myself.
Today's list includes getting the boy's room cleaned up and their clothes put up. I was hoping to work on the mending but just not seeing that being accomplished.
Winco trip:
4 boxes snack cakes
1 jar pasta sauce
5 containers yogurt
3 packages breakfast rolls
1 jar seasoning
1 pkg pasta shells
1 pkg marshmallows
Total: $13.54 Cash
After leaving Winco I ran into Racetrac which is practically next door and used my sodapalooza cup for a free drink. This meant I was pushing it to get by Goodwill before they closed to drop off the donation I was carrying around in the car. I made it barely but this meant all my errands were taken care of. Once home I partially unloaded the car and scanned in the grocery items to 1 app before tackling dinner. I decided to go with meatloaf "muffins" because they are tasty and quick. I used a tube of semi stale Ritz vegetable crackers in them rather than breadcrumbs or oatmeal. Making them in the muffin pan saves an amazing amount of time. You just cook them for 15 minutes at 450 degrees.
This was after dinner, the leftovers will make great lunches or a meatball sub sandwich. It was served with shells and cheese which is one of Logan's favorites. Dinner was followed by baths and me cleaning the boys bathroom while Clark was playing in the tub. Clark was actually soo sleepy that he went to bed while Logan was getting his bath so I finished up the bathroom after Logan got out. Once that was accomplished I checked some stuff online and then read to Logan before he went to bed. My mind was racing so I watched a little TV before falling asleep myself.
Today's list includes getting the boy's room cleaned up and their clothes put up. I was hoping to work on the mending but just not seeing that being accomplished.
Wednesday, July 8, 2015
Meltdowns and Tuesday Evening
Sometimes the weight of things I need to get done actually feels like a physical burden. I need to be able to release some of these items on my to-do list and realize that it does not make me a failure. There is only so much time in a day and I just can not work full time and be the picture perfect homemaker also.
Anywho, yesterday evening was one of those evenings where things got out of control and it was painful to come back from. I picked up the kids from the sitter and as soon as we parked in the garage Logan realized he left his new minions hat at the sitter. This resulted in him not wanting to get out of the car so he just sat out there crying. Phillip finally told him if he would quit crying he could call the sitter. If she had it Phillip would take him today to get it. This did nothing but cause more crying to the point he was throwing a tantrum and had to be sent to his room. After he had been in there a few minutes I went in to talk to him and made him understand that he needed to calm down and call the sitter. She was not home and rather than leave a message he kept hanging up. It took 5 calls for him to understand and leave a message. We did not hear from her last night but this morning I called her and will be going by after work to pick it up.
Dinner was hamburgers which were pretty good. Baths went smoothly and the boys went to bed fairly easily. Before I went to pick up the boys I had swung by Target to pick up a couple of items. I spent nothing out of pocket because I had a rebate check and some giftcards from previous purchases.
Target trip:
1 loaf bread
1 gallon milk
1 jar nutella
1 can formula
1 block of cheese
1 pkg shredded mozarella
1 bunch bananas
2 jars of jelly
Total: $0.00
Anywho, yesterday evening was one of those evenings where things got out of control and it was painful to come back from. I picked up the kids from the sitter and as soon as we parked in the garage Logan realized he left his new minions hat at the sitter. This resulted in him not wanting to get out of the car so he just sat out there crying. Phillip finally told him if he would quit crying he could call the sitter. If she had it Phillip would take him today to get it. This did nothing but cause more crying to the point he was throwing a tantrum and had to be sent to his room. After he had been in there a few minutes I went in to talk to him and made him understand that he needed to calm down and call the sitter. She was not home and rather than leave a message he kept hanging up. It took 5 calls for him to understand and leave a message. We did not hear from her last night but this morning I called her and will be going by after work to pick it up.
Dinner was hamburgers which were pretty good. Baths went smoothly and the boys went to bed fairly easily. Before I went to pick up the boys I had swung by Target to pick up a couple of items. I spent nothing out of pocket because I had a rebate check and some giftcards from previous purchases.
Target trip:
1 loaf bread
1 gallon milk
1 jar nutella
1 can formula
1 block of cheese
1 pkg shredded mozarella
1 bunch bananas
2 jars of jelly
Total: $0.00
Tuesday, July 7, 2015
Monday Night Pancakes
As I posted yesterday I was not sure what dinner was going to be last night forgetting that I told Logan on Sunday we would have pancakes. I may have forgot but he did not! When I got home the stuff to make pancakes was on the counter and he was ready to help. I waited just a couple of minutes and then we got busy making pancakes. Logan put on an apron and was the stirrer, sometime flipper and mostly moral support. We made a couple of "normal" sized pancakes and then made the decision to make small ones. Once we were nearly done with the plain ones we started making some chocolate chip pancakes. Dinner was fun and went pretty quickly. After dinner and baths Logan went into our room to watch some minecraft videos on youtube. While he was in there I worked on cleaning up the kitchen, cutting up the watermelon and various other things on my list. I was home early and dinner went so quickly that I was surprised at how much time I had to work on stuff around the house. Of course a lot of it had to be one handed because Clark wanted to be held/carried most of the time.
Here is the list before the evening
I did a couple of items off the weekend list like cut up the watermelon, and filling in the July events calendar. I also had Logan help me and we made the shower cleaner. The only item I did not complete on Monday's list was putting the air pillows on craigslist.
Here is the list before the evening
Monday, July 6, 2015
Holiday Weekend Festivities and July Totals
 |
| The Weekend To-Do List |
Kroger Trip: ( Final one ever)
1 Reese's snackster
1 trail mix
6 cans biscuits
Total: $0.00
After leaving there I went to Babies-R-Us which is a store I hate and try to avoid. Clark had been given a gift card for Christmas and they were running a sale on diapers and a free sippy cup with purchase so I went by there to get those items.
Babies-R-Us Trip:
2 pkgs diapers
1 pkg wipes
2 sippy cups
Total: $3.38 Cash
I called home after leaving Babies-R-Us and let them know I was going to swing by Winco and then come home. So I hit the road, stopping by Racetrac to fillup my sodapalooza cup first. Saturday was going to be the last day on the Winco sale and so I wanted to pick up a couple more of their sale items and do a quick pass to see if I needed anything else. The store was a mad house with everyone getting ready for the weekend and it was one of the days when SNAP cards are loaded including mine.
Winco Trip:
2 cases Dr.Pepper
2pkgs diapers
1 box store brand velveeta
1 loaf garlic bread
2 pkgs hot dogs
1 jar seasoning
1 jar pasta sauce
Total: $12.67SNAP
$11.32 Cash
by this time I was exhausted so I picked up some beans and tortillas from Rosa's and we had bean burritos for dinner. I had put the refrigerated stuff up when I first came home but left the rest for after dinner. Dinner, then baths and then I started uploading the stuff I had onto my rebate apps. Once I had completed this I got bags packed for the parade. Clark wanted to go to bed by this time so I got him down and then completed getting stuff together and the car loaded for the parade. The last thing I did was set the alarm on my phone so I would wake up in time to get a shower.
Saturday morning when the alarm went off I asked myself why I do this every year. I would love to sleep another hour at least until the kids would wake up on their own but nooo I am going to get us all up and to the parade. I went ahead and got up and took a shower. I then got myself ready before waking up Logan. Once he was up and getting ready Clark woke up and so I just changed his diaper and put some clothes on him. Once his bottle was fixed and Logan had something to eat we jumped in the car and went to the parade. I lucked out and managed to park close so I did not have to haul the kids very far with all of our stuff.
 | |
| Before the Parade Starts |
 |
| Not Sure About This |
 |
| The Start |
 |
Logan Was Most Excited About This One |
I was able to convince Logan after a few minutes that if we stayed and played he would probably sweat the face paint off so we should leave and go get something to eat. This meant we headed to the McDonald's near Jane which has a play area. He played a bunch while Clark continued to sleep and then eat. Once he has played for a bit we packed up to run other errands before heading home. So we told Jane goodbye and loaded up the car. I took the boys by The Joseph Storehouse which was supposed to be a cheap grocery store run by a charity. I was not impressed and will not go back, it is definitely too far for the disappointing selection. Many of the items I could purchase for less with a coupon.
The Joseph Storehouse Trip:
1 pizza crust
1 sippy cup
1 pkg construction paper
1 box pancake/waffle/biscuit mix
1
Total: $3.00 SNAP
$4.38 Cash
After leaving there we started toward Target but both kids fell asleep in the car so I thought I would head home first and clean all the stuff out of the car before making the Target trip. Once home Logan decided to stay home and do experiments with Phillip while I took Clark with me. It was a crazy trip to Target with Clark who was touching everything. I think I managed to get everything we will need to get through this month with only another milk/bread run.
Target Trip:
1 can formula
2 bags frozen chicken
2 cans refried beans
3 pkgs cupcakes
1 birthday cake
1 pkg dried cranberries
3 pkgs ground beef
1 pkg hamburger patties
1 pkg frozen broccoli
1 pkg frozen corn
1 pkg egg rolls
2 pkgs yogurt
2 pkgs sliced cheese
2 frozen pizzas
1 pkg cotton swabs
3 pkgs canning lids
1 bag dog food
2 pkgs pantiliners
1 pkg pads
1 pkg tampons
2 pkgs pepperoni
2 jars pasta sauce
3 pkgs flash cards
1 hat
Total: $72.68 SNAP
$41.57 Gift Card
After I got home and unloaded again I put the items up. I went ahead and took a shower as I was incredibly sweaty from the day. After I got out of the shower I gave Clark a bath and then woke Logan up from his nap. Once he was up we got the next round of stuff loaded up and went to watch fireworks.
I could have posted a ton of pictures of fireworks as Phillip takes a bunch but this was just a snapshot of the 2 shows we watched.
After the shows were over we loaded up and headed home. Clark fell asleep on the way home and stayed asleep as I moved him to bed. Logan was up for a brief period of time, enough to get something to eat and then he went to bed in his clothes. I was exhausted when I got into bed and do not think it took 2 minutes to be out.
Sunday morning when it was time to get up I again wished I could just stay asleep. We had people coming to church in addition to our usual members to celebrate Clark's birthday. So we got up and took baths, had breakfast and loaded up the car yet again with cake and the roast Phillip had smoked. On to church we went, it was nice to see Mimi and the potluck/party was good.
After cake and presents we headed home. Both kids fell asleep in the car and of course woke up not long after we got home so no nap for mama. So I put on the TV and started cleaning while Logan watched some mine craft videos in my room. I was able to knock some of the cleaning items off my list before fixing dinner. We had grilled chicken and salad. It was cool, easy and tasty after a weekend of eating on the run. I did not think of it this morning but I should have brought the leftover chicken along with one of the leftover tortillas and made myself a wrap for lunch. If there is any left I may go with that option tomorrow.
I almost forgot to mention that I had a trade of some spaghetti sauce Phillip did not like for paper towels while we were at fireworks. This saves me from having to put paper goods on the list.
My to-do list after the weekend still has quite a few items on it and while cleaning I was feeling a bit overwhelmed with the number of projects that are not getting done but I can not make more time in the day. I am just going to have to tackle them one at a time and be happy with what I can accomplish on a day to day basis.
Friday, July 3, 2015
Getting Ready for the Holiday Weekend Sort Of
Last night I needed to pick up formula on the way home from work so Clark would have something to eat today. Countdown to milk has commenced , 7 days until we can ditch the formula and save a ton of money! Anyway, the first store I went to close to work was out so I made the decision just to hit up the Target on my path home.Target has some great coupons right now as well as sales that along with there location on my path home made them the store to shop at. I used coupons, cartwheel, bag credits and rebate checks to get the following items (minus formula) for $1.87!
Target Trip:
1lb hamburger meat
3 cans of puffs for Clark
2 jars spaghetti sauce
2 bottles apple juice
TOTAL: $1.87, this was off a gift card so not counting toward monthly total.
After taking care of this I headed home to the chaos that was waiting for me. Evidently sometime during the day Clark was no longer content playing with the bracelets I allowed them to play with and pulled my entire jewelry box down....the closet was a messy tangle of everything I own. I was going to go through it and purge but now I guess I am forced to. That mess will wait until I get home tonight, I kept putting it off last night because I just did not want to deal with it. Dinner was the leftover spaghetti noodles, sauce and tomato sauce I had in the fridge along with the rest of the shredded cheese. I turned it into baked spaghetti and served that for dinner along with the garlic bread I bought at Winco the other day. After dinner I went to give Clark a bath and remembered I had not washed the bathtub after Turbo's bath. So Clark had to play on the bathroom floor while I cleaned the bathtub and then the kids were able to get their baths. After bathtime they played for a while which gave me a chance to load the dishwasher. After Clark went to sleep I payed some bills online and then read 2 books to Logan before I fell asleep.
This morning I was reminded why I need to make lists and operate off them....I needed to make more daily shower cleaner last night and I forgot so there was not any to spray down the shower with this morning. It is definitely going on the list I am about to make for the weekend. I am also a bit overwhelmed in the work I need to do on my target grocery list. I follow TotallyTarget and she has been listing a ton of matchups that will benefit me, coordinating this with my list and monthly menu is just a bunch of time consuming work.
I will post the weekend's to-do list later and once my monthly calendar is done possibly post that.
Target Trip:
1lb hamburger meat
3 cans of puffs for Clark
2 jars spaghetti sauce
2 bottles apple juice
TOTAL: $1.87, this was off a gift card so not counting toward monthly total.
After taking care of this I headed home to the chaos that was waiting for me. Evidently sometime during the day Clark was no longer content playing with the bracelets I allowed them to play with and pulled my entire jewelry box down....the closet was a messy tangle of everything I own. I was going to go through it and purge but now I guess I am forced to. That mess will wait until I get home tonight, I kept putting it off last night because I just did not want to deal with it. Dinner was the leftover spaghetti noodles, sauce and tomato sauce I had in the fridge along with the rest of the shredded cheese. I turned it into baked spaghetti and served that for dinner along with the garlic bread I bought at Winco the other day. After dinner I went to give Clark a bath and remembered I had not washed the bathtub after Turbo's bath. So Clark had to play on the bathroom floor while I cleaned the bathtub and then the kids were able to get their baths. After bathtime they played for a while which gave me a chance to load the dishwasher. After Clark went to sleep I payed some bills online and then read 2 books to Logan before I fell asleep.
This morning I was reminded why I need to make lists and operate off them....I needed to make more daily shower cleaner last night and I forgot so there was not any to spray down the shower with this morning. It is definitely going on the list I am about to make for the weekend. I am also a bit overwhelmed in the work I need to do on my target grocery list. I follow TotallyTarget and she has been listing a ton of matchups that will benefit me, coordinating this with my list and monthly menu is just a bunch of time consuming work.
I will post the weekend's to-do list later and once my monthly calendar is done possibly post that.
Thursday, July 2, 2015
Books June 23rd Through July 2nd
I have not been moving through the books fast the last couple of weeks.
I finished It's a Long Story by Willie Nelson. I liked this book, if you are a fan it is well worth your time.
After finishing Willie's book I listened to The Introvert's Way which was a quick interesting listen. I found that some of the book resonated with me but it tended to be very repetitive. Again I was sucked into a book by a blogger which is why I think it was soo repetitive.
This morning I started listening to Still Alice, I did not get very far as I spent part of the drive to work talking to my mom.
The Murder Room was due at the library so it is on hold until I can get it checked back out but I am pretty disappointed in it.
As I am winding down in the evening I am still reading The September Society. I have not decided if I like this one enough to continue with the series yet.
To fill in the temporary void while I wait to recheck The Murder Room I picked Bet The Farm back up.
I finished It's a Long Story by Willie Nelson. I liked this book, if you are a fan it is well worth your time.
After finishing Willie's book I listened to The Introvert's Way which was a quick interesting listen. I found that some of the book resonated with me but it tended to be very repetitive. Again I was sucked into a book by a blogger which is why I think it was soo repetitive.
This morning I started listening to Still Alice, I did not get very far as I spent part of the drive to work talking to my mom.
The Murder Room was due at the library so it is on hold until I can get it checked back out but I am pretty disappointed in it.
As I am winding down in the evening I am still reading The September Society. I have not decided if I like this one enough to continue with the series yet.
To fill in the temporary void while I wait to recheck The Murder Room I picked Bet The Farm back up.
June Totals and Heading Into a Tight July
With my fallen off record keeping it looks like I went over the grocery budget by $46.08 in June that means the totals were
$89.00 SNAP
$146.08 CASH
As usual when I go over I am disappointed. I need to plan better and waste nothing going into July that is what I am focusing on more than ever before.
I have always tried to think in terms of how many meals I can get out of a cut of meat when I was shopping but now that is almost the sole focus. Many times in the past I bought something because I wanted it or it sounded good at the moment and then I just made the best of it. Now I am doing what countless other poor people do I am thinking solely about how many meals over the course of the month I can get out of any item. I no longer can purchase whole chicken, pork or beef based on what I think I want to make it has to be based on can I get 4 or more meals out of this item.
With that said we will go into trying to make up the budget difference and grocery shopping for this month.
Monday after I left work I met up with someone who wanted to purchase extra diapers I had for sale. That was $15 recouped on diapers that no longer fit Clark. That also was $15 toward this month's deficit. After that I headed home where dinner was one of the chicken thighs cut up in marinara served over spaghetti noodles. This used up some of the chicken and all the spaghetti noodles I had on hand. The pasta situation at the house is pretty dire but hope to remedy that with some trades. That evening I was trying to complete items left on the weekend's to do list. That amounted to working on the boy's bathroom some while they were taking a bath. Not a whole lot happened before we all went to sleep.
Tuesday night I dropped off a trade that had tried on Monday night to pick up at the house but it would not fit in her car. That trade netted me 4 rolls of tp, some banana chips and a lemonade. It was random but that is the fun of trading sometimes! As I was heading home it started pouring so hard I could not even see in front of me while driving on the freeway. This really slowed getting home down and gave me some time to decide to go by Winco and pick up some of their sale items. You know that the rain has to stop somewhere but when you are on that line it is always amazing. It was raining on the parking lot of the store but not the store itself. Anyway the purchases and totals are listed below
Winco Trip:
2 cases soda
1 pkg diapers
1 pkg cinnamon rolls
bunch of bananas
1 head of lettuce
2 pkgs of hot dogs
1 pkg strawberry
1 pkg bacon
1 container grill seasoning
1 can black beans
1 pkg snack cakes
1 loaf garlic bread
1 loaf bread
1 pkg hamburger buns
1 pkg hot dog buns
Total: $25.59 CASH
Once I finally made it home for the evening we had chicken soft tacos using more of the leftover chicken. My original plan was after the kids had their baths was to wash the dog. Phillip pointed out though that it would be useless since it has just rained and the yard was muddy. So the other plan was just to pick up what we used that night and get the kids to bed. Amazingly Clark only woke up once overnight and slept until after I left for work.
Last night I overbooked myself. I had scheduled to meet someone who wanted to purchase the baby bath tub I had listed. Since I was going to be in that location I also scheduled a trade for the same time. The trade came through ( jeans for Phillip in exchange for a closet organizer) but the cash person never showed. I waited 30 minutes and then decided to hit up Sprouts for their double ad day sale. I must look like someone who knows works there or approachable. An older lady was asking me about the chips. She evidently only allows herself to eat so many chips as he dessert item and they were out of the type she wanted in the sale brand. She wanted sea salt and black pepper and they only had sea salt or sea salt and vinegar on the shelf. I pointed out that it was double ad day as well as the 1st so they had been pretty busy over the course of the day. She was still not satisfied and went to look for someone who worked there so they could check the back for her. Later as I was picking out a watermelon an older gentleman started to tell me how to pick them. It is what it is!
Sprouts trip:
2&1/2 lbs peaches
1&1/2 pounds fresh green beans
2 watermelons
2 ears corn
5 bags of chips
1 bottle of organic lemonade
1 pkg sliced cheddar cheese
1/4lb gummy bears
1pkg pork loin chops
1 rump roast
1 bar of castile soap
Total: $36.34CASH
Once I left Sprouts I headed toward home, I was passing the house I had a trade with so I took care of that. I traded some hand soap I had at home for a Christmas ornament and a new bra. The ornament will get put away as a gift for Christmas. After I left her house I decided to just swing into Walgreens and get some apple juice because it is also on the way. This stop warrants a call to the store since they charged me tax on the juice. This state has no tax on food or medicine so I was really surprised.
Walgreens trip:
1 bottle juice $2.15
Total: $2.15CASH
After leaving here I headed toward home and nearly was in tears. I was still going to have to cook dinner once I got home and it was already 7:30 so I turned around and just picked up a $5.00 pizza at Little Cesar's. It was not in the budget but if I can keep from doing that the rest of the month I will work it out. Once home we ate and Logan tattled on Clark for the same incident 4 times. Next was baths and then doggie bath! It was sooo much easier to give Turbo a bath with the removable shower head I traded for. Once Turbo was out Clark needed to be put to bed so I took care of that and then Logan helped me mop the floor in the bathroom. The next to final task of the night was to try to pay bills online. The electric company that we use had their website down for maintenance, who takes their site down on the first for maintenance? After that Logan and I read some before he went to sleep. He tried to buy some time by wanting me to sing a song which I had to refuse. I was beyond tired and that makes me emotional and sometimes mean so I knew I needed to get to sleep soon.
Almost forgot the good news in here. One of the jobs Phillip applied for gave him a conditional offer and I found someone who wants to use the pedal cars he refinishes for photo props.
$89.00 SNAP
$146.08 CASH
As usual when I go over I am disappointed. I need to plan better and waste nothing going into July that is what I am focusing on more than ever before.
I have always tried to think in terms of how many meals I can get out of a cut of meat when I was shopping but now that is almost the sole focus. Many times in the past I bought something because I wanted it or it sounded good at the moment and then I just made the best of it. Now I am doing what countless other poor people do I am thinking solely about how many meals over the course of the month I can get out of any item. I no longer can purchase whole chicken, pork or beef based on what I think I want to make it has to be based on can I get 4 or more meals out of this item.
With that said we will go into trying to make up the budget difference and grocery shopping for this month.
Monday after I left work I met up with someone who wanted to purchase extra diapers I had for sale. That was $15 recouped on diapers that no longer fit Clark. That also was $15 toward this month's deficit. After that I headed home where dinner was one of the chicken thighs cut up in marinara served over spaghetti noodles. This used up some of the chicken and all the spaghetti noodles I had on hand. The pasta situation at the house is pretty dire but hope to remedy that with some trades. That evening I was trying to complete items left on the weekend's to do list. That amounted to working on the boy's bathroom some while they were taking a bath. Not a whole lot happened before we all went to sleep.
Tuesday night I dropped off a trade that had tried on Monday night to pick up at the house but it would not fit in her car. That trade netted me 4 rolls of tp, some banana chips and a lemonade. It was random but that is the fun of trading sometimes! As I was heading home it started pouring so hard I could not even see in front of me while driving on the freeway. This really slowed getting home down and gave me some time to decide to go by Winco and pick up some of their sale items. You know that the rain has to stop somewhere but when you are on that line it is always amazing. It was raining on the parking lot of the store but not the store itself. Anyway the purchases and totals are listed below
Winco Trip:
2 cases soda
1 pkg diapers
1 pkg cinnamon rolls
bunch of bananas
1 head of lettuce
2 pkgs of hot dogs
1 pkg strawberry
1 pkg bacon
1 container grill seasoning
1 can black beans
1 pkg snack cakes
1 loaf garlic bread
1 loaf bread
1 pkg hamburger buns
1 pkg hot dog buns
Total: $25.59 CASH
Once I finally made it home for the evening we had chicken soft tacos using more of the leftover chicken. My original plan was after the kids had their baths was to wash the dog. Phillip pointed out though that it would be useless since it has just rained and the yard was muddy. So the other plan was just to pick up what we used that night and get the kids to bed. Amazingly Clark only woke up once overnight and slept until after I left for work.
Last night I overbooked myself. I had scheduled to meet someone who wanted to purchase the baby bath tub I had listed. Since I was going to be in that location I also scheduled a trade for the same time. The trade came through ( jeans for Phillip in exchange for a closet organizer) but the cash person never showed. I waited 30 minutes and then decided to hit up Sprouts for their double ad day sale. I must look like someone who knows works there or approachable. An older lady was asking me about the chips. She evidently only allows herself to eat so many chips as he dessert item and they were out of the type she wanted in the sale brand. She wanted sea salt and black pepper and they only had sea salt or sea salt and vinegar on the shelf. I pointed out that it was double ad day as well as the 1st so they had been pretty busy over the course of the day. She was still not satisfied and went to look for someone who worked there so they could check the back for her. Later as I was picking out a watermelon an older gentleman started to tell me how to pick them. It is what it is!
Sprouts trip:
2&1/2 lbs peaches
1&1/2 pounds fresh green beans
2 watermelons
2 ears corn
5 bags of chips
1 bottle of organic lemonade
1 pkg sliced cheddar cheese
1/4lb gummy bears
1pkg pork loin chops
1 rump roast
1 bar of castile soap
Total: $36.34CASH
Once I left Sprouts I headed toward home, I was passing the house I had a trade with so I took care of that. I traded some hand soap I had at home for a Christmas ornament and a new bra. The ornament will get put away as a gift for Christmas. After I left her house I decided to just swing into Walgreens and get some apple juice because it is also on the way. This stop warrants a call to the store since they charged me tax on the juice. This state has no tax on food or medicine so I was really surprised.
Walgreens trip:
1 bottle juice $2.15
Total: $2.15CASH
After leaving here I headed toward home and nearly was in tears. I was still going to have to cook dinner once I got home and it was already 7:30 so I turned around and just picked up a $5.00 pizza at Little Cesar's. It was not in the budget but if I can keep from doing that the rest of the month I will work it out. Once home we ate and Logan tattled on Clark for the same incident 4 times. Next was baths and then doggie bath! It was sooo much easier to give Turbo a bath with the removable shower head I traded for. Once Turbo was out Clark needed to be put to bed so I took care of that and then Logan helped me mop the floor in the bathroom. The next to final task of the night was to try to pay bills online. The electric company that we use had their website down for maintenance, who takes their site down on the first for maintenance? After that Logan and I read some before he went to sleep. He tried to buy some time by wanting me to sing a song which I had to refuse. I was beyond tired and that makes me emotional and sometimes mean so I knew I needed to get to sleep soon.
Almost forgot the good news in here. One of the jobs Phillip applied for gave him a conditional offer and I found someone who wants to use the pedal cars he refinishes for photo props.
Wednesday, July 1, 2015
Just no Title for this Weekend
As my post of Friday afternoon alluded to it was going to a busy weekend and it was. The kids certainly made me laugh but were not helping my sanity. Headed home after work with the plan to get dinner and start on my to-do list. Dinner happened, to do list not so much. Decided to make Cheesy Chicken and Rice Bake for dinner so as soon as I got home I shucked the ears of corn I had left and got them on the stove. I used up the leftover black beans, Spanish rice, a partial can of ro-tel, some sour cream and the leftover pork loin. Once the corn was done I took it off the cob and stirred it in also. Threw it all in the oven and despite the substitute of pork for chicken it came out great!
Friday night is also when Phillip and I discussed our July budget which was stressful for both of us. We are trying to make it without robbing the small amount I have in a "vacation" account which really looks like the money I will need to go home for a funeral as I have a few very sick relatives. I also do not want to touch the money in the kids accounts. Anyway this discussion led to us deciding no sitter days this month for Phillip unless he is going to an interview. Even with this and paying the minimum on my student loans rather than the extra we were about $500 short. A suggestion on my part to sell an older camera we had worked out and with an extra lens Phillip netted $300 so this left $200 that needs to be earned/found over the course of the month and nothing in the budget can be deviated from.
This of course necessitated hurrying up on the section of the list which was take pictures of items and list them on ebay, craigslist, FB sale groups and items to trade on my trade group's page. Friday night I started getting messages about items. Trades were scheduled and a couple of sale meetings set up.
Both kids went to bed ok but the tiny one decided Saturday morning would be a great day to wake up at 5:30am.....the only day of the week I can sleep past 6 and he was wide awake at 5:30am. This meant that breakfast, laundry and play time were taken care of way before normal. I got the car loaded up, a shower and the kids ready and then headed out for errands while Phillip went to weedeat the church's lawn. First stop was the post office to mail an item sold on ebay and then to drop items in the overnight drop at the library. After these 2 we headed to Lowe's for the build and grow and for once we were early and waited to get started. After leaving the build and grow Logan started pushing all my buttons. He said he was hungry, really really hungry and wanted McDonalds. It was early enough that McDonalds was not serving lunch yet, they start at 11 on the weekend in case you ever wanted to know. Logan did not want breakfast so we got out of line and we went to Chick-Fil-A. This is where the child frustrated me to the point of screaming. He DID NOT EAT ANY OF THE MEAL!!!! We got to his friend's house/my friend's house for a playdate and the entire meal was still sitting there. He said he was going to save it until after we were finished playing. I had to take many deep breaths and just enjoy the visit with a friend. After leaving their house which was refreshing but which the children never want to leave we headed to the grocery store for a few items they had on sale. This visit ended up being $23.14 which I will add to the total and post as my June final tally. Clark in this time has fallen asleep which was nice although I would have preferred he slept that morning! After Winco I ran by the house so Logan and I could potty and put the refrigerated stuff away. We then hit the road again and tried to complete a trade. My trade partner had forgot to set the stuff out and she was out of town but since she lives on the way to the library there was really not much fuss. We headed back to the library now that they were opened and checked out some stuff. After leaving the library I completed another trade I had set up and then we headed home. I might mention that Saturday was also my mom's birthday and we spent until I was trying to complete the last trade playing phone tag with her. We finally got her and Logan sang her his happy birthday song which never ends. He just does not know how to end the song and he keeps going and going and going until you cut him off. After we got home and the car was unloaded I just wanted to sit and collapse but moms just do not get that luxury. Logan was finally hungry enough to eat his meal and Clark wanted to eat also. I put more loads of laundry on and went to work cleaning out the refrigerator. I managed to get the fridge cleaned including the drawers and started with at least getting grapes into the dehydrator. Dinner was up after a little bit and that was a steak I found in the freezer and had put in the fridge to thaw. Threw that on the grill after a short marinade and made some mac and cheese. Once dinner and baths were complete kitchen clean up began. By the time this was done more laundry needed to be done and Clark was going down for the night. Phillip took his medicine and was down not long after. I was still working on some stuff on the computer so Logan came in with me. He wanted me to rock him which was not really possible in the office chair so I just held him and then he wanted me to sing to him. He decided on the sunshine song which I sang and then he wanted the dinosaur song. After I asked what song that might be I was informed it was the dinosaur train song. I ended up just pulling up youtube and played a video of the song. Once I finished my stuff we went to bed.
Sunday morning the tiny one slept until 7:30...blessing I guess. It was at least better than the night before but still an hour earlier than we needed to be up. I went ahead and got up and got going on the stuff for church. Once Clark's bag was ready, breakfast was ready and Logan was up and getting ready I checked the stuff in the dehydrator. Grapes take a long time to dehydrate! Phillip got up and took his shower and then I got mine. Because we were up and ready earlier than normal I went ahead and put the cleaning paste on the shower walls and in the toilet before we left for church. This gave it time to work and meant I could just rinse it off when we got home. After church and lunch with friends we headed home. The kids of course woke up as soon as we got home so no nap for me. Phillip laid down and tried to take a nap while I worked on the house some more. After chasing Clark around while I was trying to get stuff done I just put him in the high chair and started giving him some of the fruit I was cutting up for the dehydrator. I really hate to waste and some fruit was getting a little too ripe to just eat. In addition to the grapes that were already on there I cut up a tray full of cherries which Clark loved, some strawberries, 2 apples, a pear and a nectarine. After I got those going and the peels/pits out to the compost bin I finished cleaning the kitchen. I put Crock Pot Chicken Tacos on for dinner but they ended up not looking like they were going to be done in time. I ended up making pigs in a blanket with ranch style beans for dinner. After Phillip woke up I went to work on the bathroom which was a challenge with Clark trying to touch everything. He was trying to lick the plunger and play with the trash cans. Phillip finally had to come get him so I could get finished. Phillip also had to keep up with him while I vacuumed and steam mopped the house. I was soo ready for them to go to sleep and Clark definitely was exhausted. He went down without any fuss and I read a couple of books to Logan before he fell asleep.
I had to be quite and get the chicken out of the crock pot and just put in the fridge for the rest of the week before I went to sleep on Sunday night. It was a productive and exhausting weekend.
Friday night is also when Phillip and I discussed our July budget which was stressful for both of us. We are trying to make it without robbing the small amount I have in a "vacation" account which really looks like the money I will need to go home for a funeral as I have a few very sick relatives. I also do not want to touch the money in the kids accounts. Anyway this discussion led to us deciding no sitter days this month for Phillip unless he is going to an interview. Even with this and paying the minimum on my student loans rather than the extra we were about $500 short. A suggestion on my part to sell an older camera we had worked out and with an extra lens Phillip netted $300 so this left $200 that needs to be earned/found over the course of the month and nothing in the budget can be deviated from.
This of course necessitated hurrying up on the section of the list which was take pictures of items and list them on ebay, craigslist, FB sale groups and items to trade on my trade group's page. Friday night I started getting messages about items. Trades were scheduled and a couple of sale meetings set up.
Both kids went to bed ok but the tiny one decided Saturday morning would be a great day to wake up at 5:30am.....the only day of the week I can sleep past 6 and he was wide awake at 5:30am. This meant that breakfast, laundry and play time were taken care of way before normal. I got the car loaded up, a shower and the kids ready and then headed out for errands while Phillip went to weedeat the church's lawn. First stop was the post office to mail an item sold on ebay and then to drop items in the overnight drop at the library. After these 2 we headed to Lowe's for the build and grow and for once we were early and waited to get started. After leaving the build and grow Logan started pushing all my buttons. He said he was hungry, really really hungry and wanted McDonalds. It was early enough that McDonalds was not serving lunch yet, they start at 11 on the weekend in case you ever wanted to know. Logan did not want breakfast so we got out of line and we went to Chick-Fil-A. This is where the child frustrated me to the point of screaming. He DID NOT EAT ANY OF THE MEAL!!!! We got to his friend's house/my friend's house for a playdate and the entire meal was still sitting there. He said he was going to save it until after we were finished playing. I had to take many deep breaths and just enjoy the visit with a friend. After leaving their house which was refreshing but which the children never want to leave we headed to the grocery store for a few items they had on sale. This visit ended up being $23.14 which I will add to the total and post as my June final tally. Clark in this time has fallen asleep which was nice although I would have preferred he slept that morning! After Winco I ran by the house so Logan and I could potty and put the refrigerated stuff away. We then hit the road again and tried to complete a trade. My trade partner had forgot to set the stuff out and she was out of town but since she lives on the way to the library there was really not much fuss. We headed back to the library now that they were opened and checked out some stuff. After leaving the library I completed another trade I had set up and then we headed home. I might mention that Saturday was also my mom's birthday and we spent until I was trying to complete the last trade playing phone tag with her. We finally got her and Logan sang her his happy birthday song which never ends. He just does not know how to end the song and he keeps going and going and going until you cut him off. After we got home and the car was unloaded I just wanted to sit and collapse but moms just do not get that luxury. Logan was finally hungry enough to eat his meal and Clark wanted to eat also. I put more loads of laundry on and went to work cleaning out the refrigerator. I managed to get the fridge cleaned including the drawers and started with at least getting grapes into the dehydrator. Dinner was up after a little bit and that was a steak I found in the freezer and had put in the fridge to thaw. Threw that on the grill after a short marinade and made some mac and cheese. Once dinner and baths were complete kitchen clean up began. By the time this was done more laundry needed to be done and Clark was going down for the night. Phillip took his medicine and was down not long after. I was still working on some stuff on the computer so Logan came in with me. He wanted me to rock him which was not really possible in the office chair so I just held him and then he wanted me to sing to him. He decided on the sunshine song which I sang and then he wanted the dinosaur song. After I asked what song that might be I was informed it was the dinosaur train song. I ended up just pulling up youtube and played a video of the song. Once I finished my stuff we went to bed.
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| The List at the end of Saturday night |
Sunday morning the tiny one slept until 7:30...blessing I guess. It was at least better than the night before but still an hour earlier than we needed to be up. I went ahead and got up and got going on the stuff for church. Once Clark's bag was ready, breakfast was ready and Logan was up and getting ready I checked the stuff in the dehydrator. Grapes take a long time to dehydrate! Phillip got up and took his shower and then I got mine. Because we were up and ready earlier than normal I went ahead and put the cleaning paste on the shower walls and in the toilet before we left for church. This gave it time to work and meant I could just rinse it off when we got home. After church and lunch with friends we headed home. The kids of course woke up as soon as we got home so no nap for me. Phillip laid down and tried to take a nap while I worked on the house some more. After chasing Clark around while I was trying to get stuff done I just put him in the high chair and started giving him some of the fruit I was cutting up for the dehydrator. I really hate to waste and some fruit was getting a little too ripe to just eat. In addition to the grapes that were already on there I cut up a tray full of cherries which Clark loved, some strawberries, 2 apples, a pear and a nectarine. After I got those going and the peels/pits out to the compost bin I finished cleaning the kitchen. I put Crock Pot Chicken Tacos on for dinner but they ended up not looking like they were going to be done in time. I ended up making pigs in a blanket with ranch style beans for dinner. After Phillip woke up I went to work on the bathroom which was a challenge with Clark trying to touch everything. He was trying to lick the plunger and play with the trash cans. Phillip finally had to come get him so I could get finished. Phillip also had to keep up with him while I vacuumed and steam mopped the house. I was soo ready for them to go to sleep and Clark definitely was exhausted. He went down without any fuss and I read a couple of books to Logan before he fell asleep.
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| List at the end of Sunday night |
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