So here is the air mattress we have been sleeping on for 6 months.
Here are pictures of the new bed..It is awesome but we are saving the air mattress “in case of a water landing.” per Matt
Wordless Wednesday-the new bed
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Category Archives: Life
Randon Thoughts Tuesday
I am so glad I get to post this tonight. I have ALOT of Random thoughts right now.
Square Foot Gardening is over. Tonight we ended up going and pulling up the remaining watermelon plants as parts were dead. We left the pepper plants as they still have blooms on them and some small peppers. I also left the basil it is starting to flower but it smells so good that I will just go out and smell it. We definitely learned alot and hopefully next year will expand to 3 boxes and actually grow enough to enjoy several times. The key things for us to remember is water water water and we need to start the new plants inside in January.
Zach is so proud of himself for two reasons today. First he has learned to climb. He can climb in the small rocking chair, on Kendall’s bed and of course on top of the toys. He also has discovered he can drive out of Kendall’s cup. We are very careful that it has only water or juice but he is so happy just to get it.
Our eat out of the pantry challenge may end a week sooner than we originally hoped for and 4 weeks then my dream. The reason is that we are starting to run out of food such as bacon and juice. Haley also needs more Fruit2Os for school. I know that we will probably end up going to Costco on Thursday while we are in Greensboro. If we can buy only the items we are out of then I will be very very excited and happy. Maybe if we make a small trip then continue with the plan it will work out.
I have decided that I really really really dislike working at the Nursing home. I feel like I go in and really just loose track of time and never seem to get out at a decent time. I have already scheduled myself through the end of the year. I am hoping that I can at that point stop doing it on a regular basis but that will me a lot more work at the hospital. It is just so hard to juggle to two jobs. I have been scheduled to work every day at the nursing home next week so hopefuls that will keep me motivated to get our budget down.
Saturday Catch UP
This week has been busy as usual. I was trying to decide what made it so busy that I have not been able to post…the only thing I can come up with is that I worked on quizzing every night to prepare for our monthly meet today. At least I have part of the morning before heading that way. So here is the long and short of the week.
Eat out of the pantry/No grocery shopping for the month of October. So far so good, we have had to buy Diet Cokes, cream, milk, formula and eggs. The one exception is that we bought cake mix and icing for Amanda’s cake. But we returned a battery cores so this technically no money was spent on this. I am not sure if I said this upfront but I am continuing to shop at CVS as usual. I do count this in our grocery budget but I usually only buy sale items that we use in the stock pile and diapers. So far for the month we have spent 200 this includes our Angel Food so that is about 1/3 of what I usually budget and 1/4 of what we have been spending. The next 3-5 weeks depending on how long we can actually go will be challenging simply because the food we have left requires thought and preparation. Matt has been using the crock pot several days this week.
Kendall is doing really well with potty training. She has been staying day most days with only 1 accident per day.
CVS has an awesome monthly long deal on AZO products so I have made several trips this week but next week looks lame. I am saving over 80% on all the trips.
The other big news this week is that we finally bought a bed for Matt and I. I will be posting before and after pictures for Wordless Wednesday.
20 Years…..
20 Years… man at most points in my life that sounds like A LOT of time. Especially when thinking of my kids.
20 years… from now I will have an empty house or at least they all will be old enough to take care of themselves and I can pretend the house is empty.
20 years… Amanda still has another full year before reaching this point. I barely remember a time in my life when she was not around.
20 years….ago I was in high school. Wait it can not have been that long, maybe some one miscounted when they schedule our reunion. Even today, I still think that 20 years should feel longer.
So I did attend 2 parts of our 3 part 20 year reunion this weekend. I was able to catch up with most of the people I care to talk to between the Homecoming football game on Friday night and the family style picnic at the Park on Saturday. Some people were hard to recognize, some were much more enjoyable now than 20 years ago. But the thing that amazed me the most was that my 2 best friends from high school even as different as our lives have been we were together and it was a blast. Just a few difference neither Julie or Sherry are married nor have any kids. Both moved away from Lexington for extended periods of time. Julie still is in another state. But we are still us and we still laughed and enjoyed out time. I hope it doesn’t take another ….20 years before we can spend time together again.
News of the week…
First Kendall is doing excellent with potty training! We went and bought “big girl” panties on Friday. She wore for exactly 20 minutes and pooped. But today she did much better. She was in a pull up because of my fears for most of the day. She was dry from this morning though the flu shot and my class reunion at the park. So after nap we put on Elmo and she stayed dry all afternoon. I was so excited and pleased. I am debating about church tomorrow will probably do a pull up but on Monday I am thinking all day in panties.
Next we have installed both a ceiling fan and a shade for more privacy in our new bedroom. Except for furniture and some caulking it is now how we planned. Next weekend we are going to change out Haley’s room floor. Hopefully this will do away with some of the awful smell :)>
Finally, we have not been grocery shopping at all this week. We did eat out on Friday at lunch but that has been it. We have only eaten 3 meals off our master list but Matt has enjoyed making several meals that were not on the list but he used items that were still here. I was even able to take a large bowl of slaw and baked beans from the freezer to my class reunion today with no extra cost! I am planning a post about that for Sunday!
September in Review
I am actually looking forward to post this, except for the budget but I think “the challenge” will definitely help with that one.
Blogging- I just checked the number of post for the month and it was 18, counting this one. This is a improvement over the summer and almost close to my goal of 20 or 5 a week. I am also pleased that I have once again been posting deals and not just Menu Monday and Wordless Wednesday post. I am going to met my goal in October just to say it is possible. One of the biggest reason I am doing much better is that my work has settled in a pattern. I am actually starting to enjoy some time off and realize I don’t have to work as much as possible :).
Reading my Bible- I am continuing to make strides in this area as well. I also am beginning to feel that I not only need to read a devotion but also spend some time just reading the Word, I am reading a devotion at least 3 times a week. The goal is for me to have a devotional time 5-6 times a week. Some have asked about prayer. I prayer several times a day. This is my conversation with God something I value and just like to keep private.
Preschool with Lily and Kendall- I am changing this to include both of the girls because I also want to be able to comment on where they are so I can look back in a year. Matt and I have finally worked out a system that I think is awesome. I am going to attempt to complete school with the girls at least once a week. I enjoy this time and really want to stay hands on in this area. I am also going to take some time each week and develop a lesson plan and pull together all the things needed for the week as far as school goes. This allows Matt to open a folder and have time to really teach the girls instead of trying figure out what to do. Lily is continuing with Reading. She is able to read some short sentences. She has mastered writing number the correct way and we are working on the concept of counting by 5s. Lily understands even numbers and counting by 2s. She continues to work through the workbooks we purchased and she is learning a verse a week at Club 254 at church. We are using this as practice for writing and review so she will be able to quote all 26 at the end of the year. Kendall is able to draw a circle and is working on recognizing colors and K in her name.
budget- We are finally on track in this area except for groceries. So we have decided to try and control expenses by eating out of the pantry. Matt and I develop a menu plan for 30 days with the hope of extending it until we travel to Michigan simply by buying Angel Food this month. We are going to purchase milk and sodas as needed but not ingredients for meals.
Overall, September has been a month of settling into a routine and getting back on track. I hope we are able to continue!
Randon Thoughts Tuesday
I love this idea especially this week, when I am trying to blog everyday and I have alot to say.
-Kendall is doing really well with potty training. She stays dry about half the day and is starting to realize she is wet.
– Lily was so excited last night when she was able to read a entire sentence by herself. Matt and her are completing a lesson for reading about 3 times a week with the goal of reading independently around Christmas
-I have been able to do “home school” 3 of the last 5 days. I have also been able to set up folders for Matt to use the other days.
-Reservation for both Birch Run and Claire have been made and paid for. So we are definitely going to MI for Thanksgiving.
– I have already started Christmas shopping and have finished about half.
-We are buying a ceiling fan tonight so hopefully we can go an entire week with using the central air.
Monday Menu Post 9/27 the Challenge
So instead of the weekly menu post that I have been regular doing for the past year, today I am going to review our “challenge” for October. I hope to update the challenge at least weekly on Monday from now until we finish in either October or November.
After not being able to really control our grocery budget at all, I really wanted a change for October. Matt and I tossed around the idea and decided to “eat out of our pantry” for the month of October based on a monthly list of meals instead of a weekly plan. So we developed a list of 30 meals that we knew we had the ingredients for and starting today are going to eat off this list for dinners and try to avoid shopping for grocery for most of the month. In the end, ideally I would like to make a monthly menu plan, shop for the ingredients and add stuff from sales as they come. I really don’t think that will happen but at least for the next 2 months I can challenge myself to not spend as much on groceries and free up some space!
Today, Matt decided not to use the list but made Sweet and Sour chicken. He used some of the ingredient that we already had to it will just extended the list into November, ultimately my goal is to limit grocery shopping until after our Thanksgiving trip. We can do this by buying Angel Food in both months and really trying to free up the freezer space and save money all at the same time. We have recently purchased alot of cereal and pop tarts that were on sale so breakfast except for milk will be covered. Lunches are all over the place with me eating at home 3 days, we did not include these in the plan but will start eating some of the extra food that is sitting around such as mac and cheese and fish sticks. I hope this at least helps with our budget!
A challenge
I LOVE yes LOVE to read (stalk) other blogs, especially those with small kids. I have noticed a common thread of monthly challenges on several. These have included “no dining out”, “living on x for an entire month” etc. I consider my entire life a challenge so have not felt the need to participate in any of these until today. Matt and I made a “quick” trip to Costco today to pick up some milk and other supplies. We came home and started putting up the groceries, but man we don’t have much space at all. We started talking about trying to use up all the food we have in the house and how menu planning and even sticking to a weekly menu plan is hard, and going totally without a menu plan is even worse. I also am kinda disappointed in how much I am still spending each month on groceries. So I thought it would be awesome if I didn’t have to shop for an entire month. Matt and I talked and this idea has grown and develop and refined. So during the month of October I am going to try and avoid going grocery shopping except for milk and Diet Coke. We also plan to purchase the normal for us amount of food from Angel Food in October. We have made a list of 32 different meals that can be made out of the food that is already here. This is not an all inclusive list because we also plan to eat lunches and breakfast at home. I also will continue to go to CVS on a regular basis for “deals” each week. I am actually anxious to see if this can work. I have realized in talking to Matt and planning meals that we do need a trip to Aldi to buy flour, taco seasoning and sour cream to complete the list. If this idea works we may continue to use the 30 meal plan each month and begin with the list of recipes instead of the ingredients. I wonder if anyone would like to join me or have you tried this?? Leave me a comment…
Upside
I think I finally have a hold on my life! Today I have managed to get a lot done including this blog and still think I will finish my list :)! So here is a quick update on things happening around here.
-I have a sinus infection and stomach bug. Hopefully the antibiotic will help and I will finally be cough and runny nose free for the first time since August.
-Zach has the same above mentioned stomach bug. We are still waiting to find out why he is not gaining weight. We are adjust to the no wheat diet and finding table food that he will eat in the process. We have accomplished the mission of 18 to 24 oz of Soy Formula a day
-Kendall has a sore throat and is continuing to work on potty training. So far once a day at best but at least it is a start.
-Lily is enjoying home school and likes it even better when both Matt and I get to “teach” her.
– We are trying to plan both our trip to Michigan at Thanksgiving and Disney at Easter.
-Haley is currently ground and has not died as expected from the lack of facebook.
Now to get things done 🙂