Beach in October

We usually get some nice weather in October...but this day is exceptional! The water has a little chill...but not uncomfortablly so. Sun and sand memories to help make it through the winter.

Spicy!

Grocery deal today: all the above seasonings for $7.47.

Eat Your Broccoli!

I found the most awesome way to get my preteen boy to eat his broccoli. I assured him it would give him gas. If you know any boys in the 11 year old range...you know the attraction. :)

Dealing at Staples

I think my favorite store in the world is Staples. (Harris Teeter is a close second.) So, for our tax free school supply shopping I went to town! I got all the stuff pictured plus a 20 pack of toilet paper and a backpack for less than $97! (the phone dock/clock was 30 something by itself!) There were a few things not tax free, but still good deals. Combined with a few deals I picked up earlier this summer, we should be set for school supplies plus paper crafting for the daycare for a nice long while.

Beach view

I was mowing the grass and getting ready to take a swim in our pool when I got a call from Mr. S. He was missing a part he needed to finish up a house and asked me to run it over to him.  I figured I should make the most out of a trip across the bridge, and gathered up the kids and the beach bag. The water is a little chilly but very clear. Enjoy the view from my beach umbrella!

Beating the heat

Headed out to a beach near our house. We have a pool, but the kids love it here more! I think they like it because other kids show up to play as well. Also, I am not allowed to take daycare children in our pool, but I can bring them to the beaches!

Sorted and stored

I get a ton of hand me down clothes for the youngest girl. (Totally awesome, by the way.)  The bad part is that we get them at random times, not necessarily coordinating with what size baby girl needs. Also, we have decent closets...but not enough to hold all these things. They had been piling up in our classroom/spare room. Then got shuffled to the dining room and finally to my room in random stages of sorting size and season. Today, I finally made it through them all and got them into bins in the attic! I am so happy I can see my bedroom floor again...and I should be able to find the clothes when we need them. What a relief! Not pictured are the 5 bags of things that were too small or not our taste. We pass them to another girl when we are done. So blessed!

Time flies

I recently had a friend ask me to check out a geocache he had placed. My family and I have been funloving geocachers for a number of years. Since 2006, I believe.  Of course I said SURE! We headed out after a pool party and found it without too much trouble.

I went online to log the find, and realized we had not found a cache since 2011!!! I knew we had felt pushed for free time, but wow!

The good news? There are tons of fun new caches hidden in our area. We are going to have to hit the trails soon!

Graduation favor

A cousin of mine graduated high school today. I made this cute little favor for his party.

Ouch!

Today has been a sick day for me. I was hit with a migraine in the wee hours of the morning, and had to close the childcare. I will say it has been quiet here, since my two slept late.  My granny has been here to take care of us.  While I was resting, and looking fabulous in my black sleeping mask, she has done laundry and dishes and swept the floor.  The pain finally broke around 1pm, so I am trying to get back to normal.  I hate being sick!

Daycare Bathroom

I'm still failing at the evening meal planning. (Just in case you care!)  But, I did make time for a craft project today.

I wanted to make some changes to the daycare bathroom, and I thought I might paint the room dark blue.  I changed my mind about painting when I found this cute owl shower curtain on clearance at Target that coordinated with my already yellow walls!

 

Once I got the curtain up, I felt like the room was still pretty empty.  But I did not want to spend a bunch of money for matchy-matchy accessories.  One friend suggested I paint an owl on the wall. I decided that a canvas would be easier to move and repurpose if (and when) I change my mind again.  Cinderella told me which colors she wanted me to use.  The canvas is 16 x 20, and fills the space nicely.  Now I just need to find just the right something for the opposite side of the room.  There is a plain towel bar on the wall now.  I want something practical...but cute. I may have to search pinterest for some ideas.  This craft was done using paints I already had, so my only real cost was the canvas.

Planning Slump

So...I have failed miserably at the last month of meal planning.  I made it almost to the last week of February.  We went out of town for a couple of days, and I totally have not been doing any real planning since then.  I consider a few other things that have taken up my time.  One was finishing out a season of Upward basketball and cheerleading as director.  My kids have hit a slump in school, where they are not completing work without numerous reminders and devoted guidance (and I am having to put so much energy into this! - who knew?).  A few spring-like days have pulled me into doing some outdoor maintenence tasks.  My husband has started his own plumbing company, and this has required me to take time to figure some things out financially and otherwise. I have started a personal journey to train for a 5k race later this spring, and must have time to train.  My daycare has been running at maximum capacity most days, which is nice, except it adds more to the workload.  I need about 14 more hours in a day!!!!!!!! 

Resolution and Challenge....Pass or Fail?

I challenged myself to finish out the month without major grocery shopping, and what I did need to be less than $60.  I guess I technically failed. :)  I spent $111 dollars to finish out the month.  But, here is my disclaimer:  I spent less than the $60 on milk and produce.  A couple of things came into play that I did not take into consideration.  My guys had a cake baking contest to enter, that I did not have all the ingredients on hand.  They spent about $10.  Also, Harris Teeter and IGA had a few specials come up for items that are major staples in our home.  I figured it was worth it to fail my challenge to stock up on staple items at lower than my target price. (Pasta sauce, eggs, frozen pizza, and cereal). 

So...overall I think I did pretty good overall. For a family of 4, plus the childcare food, I spent approximately $450 on grocery store food & I still have a pretty full pantry. We will see how it compares to the future spending.

I am not going to give myself a challenge for February spending, but I am going to use some time to evaluate and itemize what kind of food we are spending on, to see where it all goes! 

The Resolution has been easier to maintain...but a new page on the calendar means I need to get busy planning again! 

Sneaky Cooking

I made spaghetti tonight, and on a whim I decided to try a little adventure.  I had some leftover cooked blackeyed peas.  I used my stick blender to puree the beans to oblivion and poured the slurry into the sauce.  I prepared my sauce as usual otherwise, except I added a little more seasonings.  No one at the table noticed anything different, and the kids even exclaimed how delicious it was.  I declare SUCCESS...since I could use up leftovers and sneak this past the extremely picky Mr. Snippity.

SHHHH...I'm still not telling him  :)

Keeping up the Resolution

So far, I have been completing the meal plans.  There was one day that I "kind of almost" had a meltdown...and a frozen pizza came to the rescue. :)

I have planned out a little less than two weeks from today...and to make it extra adventurous, I am adding a challenge to myself.  I want to try to make it through the rest of the month without doing major grocery shopping.  I will have to buy milk (we use vast quantities that I do not have room for in the fridge) and fresh fruit/veggies at least twice before then, but I have given myself a $60 limit (sounds better than the word budget!) for the rest of the month. (I almost think I am beginning to sound like my friend Amy!)

New Year Plan

As it is a new year...most people make resolutions.  I am not really one of those people who thrives on them.  But- for this year, I have made a resolution.  My goal is to purposefully complete a meal plan for my family's dinners.  I already do meal planning for breakfast and lunch for my business.  My kids usually follow along the same plan.  I have become extremely unmotivated about our dinners, and ultimately this means we eat way too much restaurant food.  SO...I have printed up blank calendar pages for the year, and I will fill in several days in advance.  For now, I only have tonights meal...but I did it in advance :)  Will we still eat out?  Sure.  Will our meals be set in stone? No way.  Will this be a better planning tool for me? It should!  I will try to share meals and recipe links as I have time. 

 

Tonight is spaghetti & meatballs with garlic bread.  I'm using the last bag of crushed tomatoes I froze from the garden with a can of store bought sauce.  The meatballs are some leftover meat chunks from last night's meatloaf.  Garlic powder and sea salt sprinkled on buttered italian bread completes the meal.