Posted in Home, Uncategorized on February 15, 2011 | 1 Comment »
Today I’m in love…
With a man who reminds me to brush my teeth every night
With a runny-nosed, red-cheeked baby who is constantly smiling
With a big girl who says to me everyday “Mama, have I told you today that I love you?”
With a son who is the best big brother a girl could have
A little girl who is imagination and beauty and joy wrapped into one
Posted in Uncategorized on February 11, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Some great/interesting/thought-provoking articles I’ve read this week. Enjoy! (And if you don’t, leave me a comment as to why you didn’t!)
Baby Mason’s Birth (graphic — if you consider a placenta to be graphic)
Planned Parenthood to Pro-Life
Language of Lament (I linked to this on FB a while back)
Posted in Uncategorized on February 11, 2011 | 1 Comment »
I remember:
Walking (waddling for me as I was 9 mos pregnant) to the courthouse in the bitter cold
Leading the way down the marbled halls to the right courtroom
Waiting (im)patiently in the hallway
Seeing faces of friends and family as they gathered with us
Sitting in the squeaking wooden benches
Rising as our judge walked into the room, smiling
Sitting at the table, my husband on my right, our daughter on my left, our son in my lap
Listening as our adoption case worker listed all the reasons we should be a family
Listening as our attorney recommended us to become the parents of two very special kids
Hearing the judge call those kids by their new names
Holding my hubby’s hand while hearing the “verdict”
Signing our names, together
Simultaneously crying and laughing as the gavel came down
Hugging my kids, my husband, our support group
Smiling for photos
Wondering if my heart would burst
Posted in Funny kids, Parenting, Uncategorized on February 9, 2011 | 1 Comment »
My son, who’s 6 years old, is really into bugs. When I say “into” bugs, I mean he crawls around on the ground after ants. He pokes sticks into dark places, hoping some interesting new bug will jump out at him. He chases gnats, follows roaches and scoops up worms. He refers to himself as the “Teacher of Bugs.” If one of us finds a spider in the house, we say, “Teacher of Bugs — there’s a spider in the bedroom!” and he comes charging in, with his head light strapped on, ready to examine the find. At this point we’re not really sure if he means he will be a teacher of bugs, as in be a professor of entomology, or if he means he’s going to teach the bugs a lesson. Either way, it’s a hoot to watch him run around after insects. Last summer we found a snail on the back of the house and he was tickled to death. (My son was tickled… we did not tickle the snail until he died.) We let him go, but not after we named him Simon. My guy was so disappointed when Simon’s slimy trail was no longer to be seen.
He’s quite the character, that boy of mine.
Posted in Uncategorized on February 8, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
I’m in love with …
A little boy who just needs his Mama to hold him
An 8 year old who makes all the beds “just because”
A 1 year old who plays peekaboo and laughs all day long
A 2 year old who “jumpen wope” with a silk scarf
A husband who works overtime, even when he doesn’t really want to & when I don’t want him to, but does it because we need the money
(I’m In Love will be a recurring Tuesday post — join in if you want and leave me a link to your own love fest!)
Posted in Mamahood, Parenting, Uncategorized on February 7, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
I’m having a bit of a Mama-crisis.
My daughter (my first born, but my third child) is having her 3rd birthday 2 weeks from today and that’s a little hard for me to grasp. It is not her getting older and smarter and stronger and wiser, because I relish every moment of this time in her life. Every single moment I have with her is precious — every snuggle, every curl I push back from her eyes, every tiny toenail I paint, every bubble we blow, every song we play together on the piano. I love seeing her change, but I will never forget the first time I laid eyes on her – how that one single moment changed my entire being forever. I hold that image of her in my heart and remember it every day as I see her running around and singing and talking to her ponies and cuddling with her siblings.
She is my big girl – my baby girl -
She is my heart.
Sidenote: I know I talk a lot about her and that I don’t about my older kids. Trust me – I love them more than words can say. My main reason for keeping things low-key about them is that honestly, their situation was pretty high-profile during our adoption. And I don’t know who’s reading this blog. I have a lot that I can say about them, and I will. Come back later this week as I will have a Happy 3 Years to Us post up!
Posted in Food/recipes, Uncategorized on February 4, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
We have approximately $180 to spend on groceries for the next two full weeks. My goal was to split that into three smaller shopping trips. Today was shopping trip #1. I was able to get everything on my list, plus I purchased 4 additional items (which took it over my $60 budget) because I had inadvertently left them off the list. All in all, I stuck to my list and was able to get everything for $66.22.
This is what I bought:
2 gallons of milk @ $2.48/each (combined with the 3 other gallons in our fridge, this will last us until about Wednesday)
24 oz. container of sour cream @ $1.78
2 types of cheddar cheese @ $1.98 each
1 package of meatballs @ $4.66 (Hubby likes these tossed with bbq sauce cooked in the crockpot, which is why I buy them instead of make them — I don’t get making delicious homemade meatballs and then covering up the taste with bbq sauce!)
1 package of boneless, skinless chicken breasts @ $9.68 (This has approx. 9 breasts in it, which I will most likely roast and shred to add into soups, casseroles, etc to make it last longer)
1 dozen eggs @ $2.38 (plus I had a .50 coupon)
1 loaf of wheat bread @ $1.38
1 box of Crunch ‘n Munch @ $1.00 for hubby to take to work
1 box of individual packets oatmeal @ $1.42 for hubby to take to work
1 carton oatmeal @ $2.24
1 bottle of creamer for hubby’s coffee @ $3.00 (coffee is a very pricey habit!)
2 cans pineapple chunks @ $1.42 each
2.76 lbs of bananas (7) @ $.49 per lb (these will be gone by Sunday morning)
3 romaine hearts @ $2.88
1 bottle of bbq sauce (to add with my own homeade sauce for the meatballs) @ $1.77
1 jar Jif peanut butter @ $1.98 (we go through a LOT of pb)
1 jar applesauce @ $1.48 (baby likes this mixed with her oatmeal)
1 bag dried cranberries @ $1.48
1 100 oz container of laundry detergent @ $8.97
1 container of vanilla yogurt @ $1.78
1 container butter @ $3.24
My total before tax was $63.93, so I think I did pretty well! Kayla kept everything added up for me in her head as we shopped, so I could concentrate on making sure I had found all the items on my list, plus it’s a nice little math lesson for her.
What’s your grocery budget like? For a family of six, ours is not that large, but we make do! What are some ways you manage to keep your grocery costs down?
As an added note, I rarely ever go grocery shopping without my husband. It makes it so much easier when he goes, because he takes the kids somewhere else so I can do the shopping, plus he always knows exactly how much it’s going to cost before it’s even rung up. And there’s the fact that he loads the car and unloads it for me!
