No more dinner dilemmas

Dinnertime in our house has become a nightmare and I am done. I'm over it. No more, I say! No more begging and pleading, no more negotiating, no more nagging, no more bribing. Now that dinner is the first time we sit down together as a family each day, it WILL be a pleasant time, if it kills me!

I realize most of you will read this and think I'm a Nazi, but I know you have areas where you're fed up, well, dinner is an area where I am fed up. (Um, that sounded funny. No pun intended...)

I figured out a few months ago that if I give the kids an afternoon snack (no matter how light) they don't eat dinner. Easy solution: no more snacks. If they get hungry before Daddy gets home, I will feed them dinner early, but no more popcorn for dinner. Or raisins. Or granola bars. Or apples. And they've finally stopped asking, so that rule is working out well.

Also, I'm not one to cater my cooking to be kid friendly. Lunches more so, but never dinners. I don't make brussel sprouts and liver...I make good food and sneak in many pureed veggies that probably wouldn't get eaten, so I DO try to cook things that everyone likes, but I make one meal...that's it. And it's not chicken fingers with mac 'n' cheese. It may sound harsh, but the kids eat what we eat or they don't eat.

I expect some grumbling with my mommy-attitude, but I've finally created some new dinner rules (mostly for Mommy and Daddy) that should make the dinner hour nicer for everyone.

1. I will serve a little bit of everything to everyone. No more, "You can have a roll after you eat 5 bites of your chicken/green beans/something else healthy." I'll give the kids a roll with their meal and give them the choice of eating whatever they want to eat first on their plate, just like Mike and I do.

2. No seconds until everything on the plate is gone. Kaylin will eat a hundred carrots for lunch some days before touching her sandwich, so this rule goes for lunch, too. I'm glad she likes healthy food, but there needs to be a balance...carrots aren't filling enough to hold her over until dinner.

3. If the kids choose to eat the best part of the meal but are suddenly "full" before they eat anything healthy, I'm fine with that. BUT they will finish their dinner at lunchtime the next day. Wednesday I made soup and cornbread muffins for dinner and gave them the muffin with the soup for the first time. Of course, they ate the muffin and begged for more. I told them they could have another muffin when their soup was gone. But the soup had lentils and they refused to touch it. I'm sick of "you can get up after _ more bites." I've talked Mike into not forcing them to eat their dinner. But I did serve the leftover soup yesterday for lunch. They refused to eat it then, too, so that's what they ate when they woke up starving from their naps. Guess what? When they're hungry enough, they'll eat! Yes, I know this sounds stubborn of me, but my kids are both becoming ridiculously picky and ungrateful. I think about kids in large families or the kids starving in other countries. They eat what they're served or they don't eat. I think as Americans we spoil our kids and allow them to get away with way too much, just to avoid the battle. (and I don't judge you if you don't choose this battle, but I'm not making your kid a different meal if they come over to my house and I don't expect you to do that, either)

4. Everyone stays seated until dinner is over. The kids are asked to do this, so Mike and I have to, too. The reason I started this rule a while back was to train the kids to stay seated for longer periods of time, even when they're done eating. It has come in very handy when eating at restaurants; they know that they can't hop up and run around the place just because they don't want any more food. But when Mike gets bored waiting for the slow-pokes to finish eating and hops up to start the dishes, they get antsy and want to be done, too.

5. Dinner is 30 minutes. No more, no less, unless everyone is done eating. Somewhere along the way, dinner began lingering into an hour or more. With Mike getting home later, we've been going from dinner straight to bed with no time for Mike to spend with the kids. They play with their food, play with each other, have to go potty, get in trouble for gargling milk and go in time out...I'm done. If you're not done eating in 30 minutes, you can eat your dinner for lunch tomorrow. Again, sounds harsh, but this rule has seemed to correct the hour-long dinner problem. If they're not hungry, that's fine, but if they ARE hungry, then they need to eat and get it over with so we can move on with our evening and go play. When everyone's really hungry, dinner is over in 15 minutes, so I think 30 minutes is plenty of time. If not, I'll make it a little longer, but I have a feeling it will be fine.

6. No more force-feeding. I want the kids to trust their bodies and to be done eating when their tummies are full. No more, "3 more bites and you can get up" or bribing dessert for them to eat more food. If they're not hungry, they won't get pressure from us to eat.

We've already started some of these rules and they're working like a charm. Dinner last night was SO nice. We ate, we talked, there was no nagging, bribing or threatening...it was lovely. I sure hope that picking this "battle" won't backfire on me! My kids certainly aren't malnourished or starving, so I think they'll adjust pretty well to the new rules over the next few days. Wish me luck!

#84 is much harder than I expected

#84 on my list of 101 Goals in 1001 Days is "Go a whole week without raising my voice to the kids, not once."

I have attempted to complete this goal several times over the last few weeks. I've gone a whole three days without raising my voice, but I can't successfully get past day 3. It is HARD to do, people! Some days I don't even make it until 8:30am, and as soon as I raise my voice, I feel defeated, and vow to try again tomorrow.

This week has just been a total lost cause...for hormonal reasons. Today I lost it at 7:15. But in my defense, I woke up at 6:55. Since Mike returned to work last week, it's been easier to get up earlier. I've woken up before the kids every day, taken time to pray, read my Bible and the Love Dare book, plus get Mike's lunch made and breakfast started. It's been a wonderful way to start the day and has made a huge difference in how I respond to the kids.

Today I slept in. And I'll be feeling the results of that decision for the rest of the day, I'm sure. Since I've been waking up at 6am, hearing, "Mom-meeee" all the live-long day isn't quite as irritating. Stopping melt-downs and explaining the proper way to respond has been easier. Correcting bad behavior over and over can be done without emotion.

Each morning, before my feet hit the floor, I've taken time to pray for the day. I pray for Mike (another one of my 101 goals) and for his day at work. I pray for guidance and wisdom as I attempt to raise our kids in a Godly way. I pray for gentleness for myself...I really want to be more gentle in how I speak and how I respond to Mike and the kids. I want my home to be a peaceful one and that is where my most recent intentions are focused.

Today is going to be a long day.

Man, I'm tired. I'm starting to see why people are addicted to coffee and Diet Coke with Vanilla...

30,000 hits

I just reached 30,000 hits on my blog! I logged on and happened to notice that it read 30,002. That seems so high...I find it hard to believe that I've had so many visitors. Thanks for reading, everyone!!!

Menu Planning Basics

Early last year, I began pre-planning our weekly dinners and I've never looked back. It has saved me time and money, I've dramatically reduced our food waste and best of all...no more 5pm STRESS!

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I fought the idea of meal planning for a long time, partially because it overwhelmed me but also because it took the spontaneity out of dinner. But here's the thing: before meal planning, the stressful moments FAR outweighed the spontaneous ones.
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I'm sure many of you out there hesitate to try planning your menus. But hang with me as I break down the process to the basics so you can see how simple it really is.
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* Start by making a list of meals that you make regularly. I categorize mine by type: chicken, fish, beef and vegetarian and also by cooking method: crock pot, stove top, grill and oven.
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* Figure out what you already have that can be used to make a full meal. Start with fresh ingredients and produce then move to the freezer for meats and the pantry for dry items you have on hand. Jot down which items from your list that you can cook without going to the store for every ingredient.
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* Other places I find meal ideas are my recipe binder (to see if there are new recipes I'm willing to try that week or that I have all of the ingredients for), Cooking Light for healthy meals and Super Cook, where you can type in ingedients and it will pull up recipes to use what you have. I like to try at least one new recipe each week so I don't get in a rut, but that's just me...I like to cook and experiment.
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* Once you have about 5-10 meals written down, pull out your calendar (I used a small, checkbook-sized calendar that fit in my purse last year and it worked really well) and slot the meals into the days you'll cook them. (Tip: write in pencil! Plans change, schedules change, you'll end up with extra leftovers, you'll need some flexibility.) I like to plan easy meals on busy days, crock-pot meals on days when I have appointments in the afternoon and new recipes for slower days. I also reserve oven meals for the weekends because it heats up the whole house and we don't need the extra A/C costs when it's warm outside. In December and January we'll cook more in the oven, but I do my best to avoid it the rest of the year.
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* Make your grocery list. Look through the recipes one more time and check to see what you need from the store. Remember to see how much you need of an item or if it may be needed for more than one recipe and if you have enough of it.
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* One thing I have NOT been paying attention to is balancing fattening heavier meals with lighter meals within the same week. I think that's part of the reason my waist line has been expanding. Good food can still be high in calories, especially those with lots of cheese, butter or thick sauces. But who really wants soup every night for a week? Or chicken and rice four times? I need to look at the bigger picture and make sure I'm mixing it up.
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* The other thing I'm going to start doing is varying the contents of the meals. We seem to eat a lot of chicken, but then I'll go on a beef kick and eat too much beef in a week (I'd prefer to keep it to once a week, max) and I really want to incorporate my 65th goal of making three vegetarian meals each week for a month. So far, I'm having trouble just doing TWO.
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* I'm also going to start attempting to cook cheaper menus without completely sacrificing the quality of the meals. I recently found the $5 Dinners blog and will try to incorporate one or two of those each week, too. I've come to finally realize (I'm slow) that part of cooking cheap is shopping cheap and having food that you can use on-hand instead of buying it at a premium at the store. If you don't have much food stocked up, consider shopping from the sale ads and planning the following week's meals around those items. Read my recent post about how to save money at the store to learn how to reduce your grocery spending.
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So who's with me? Are you willing to give meal planning a try? Unless you eat out every night, you ARE planning your meals, it's just a matter of doing it once a week instead of seven times a week. You can still be spontaneous at breakfast and lunch if you just start with dinners. Menu planning definitely works for me!

Tuesday's Time Saving {Lunch} Tips

I'm an efficiency freak, so I love time-saving tips to shave extra minutes off tasks throughout the day. Anyone else like doing things in LESS time so you can have more FREE time!?!?!?

With a little prep work, making sack lunches can be quick and simple. They're healthier than eating out and much less expensive. Now that Mike's working far away from home again, I'm back to packing him lunches every day. I used to have this thing down to a science, and all of my short-cuts are slowly coming back to me.

Time (and money) Saving Tips for LUNCHES:

* Prep once, serve twice (tip 1) - If I'm going to make one sandwich, I may as well make two. I make sandwiches twice a week (and Mike eats them for 4 days) and he gets leftovers on the 5th day. I realized that Mike doesn't mind a day-old sandwich after several last minute staff lunches popped up and he had to save his sack lunch for the next day. PB&J works really well for this, but so does turkey, egg salad, tuna, whatever kind of sandwiches you make.

* Prep once, serve twice (tip 2) - If your family (kids, husband or yourself) is weird about a non-fresh sandwich, use the prep once, serve twice theory for the rest of you who stay home. I make lunches in the morning, so I will make Mike's 2 sandwiches (for the next 2 days) plus a sandwich for Kaylin and one for Ryan, then stick those in the fridge for later in the day. I already have all of the "stuff" out in the morning and it saves me time at noon when the kids are starving.

* Prep once, serve twice (tip 3) - I usually eat salads for lunch and make the same salad 90% of the time. Green leaf lettuce, 1/2 a tomato, 1/2 can of tuna or leftover chicken, feta, dried cranberries, sometimes chopped apple or grapes. Oh, and homemade oil and vinegar dressing. (I make the dressing in a larger bottle and use it for a week or two - 1/3 part balsalmic vinegar, 2/3 parts olive oil, a few shakes of Italian seasoning and a pinch of salt, maybe some chopped onion if I have it handy) When I get my lettuce from the produce co-op or the store, I wash, spin and cut it up right away. I stick it in a large Ziplock with a dry paper towel (to absorb the moisture) and it's ready to go. The only time I buy the salad-in-a-bag is when it's on sale for $1 and I get it free with a $1 coupon. Because seriously...I can make my own! I also use the prep once, serve twice theory with my tomatoes and anything else that I need to chop. If I'm dicing 1/2 of the tomato, I may as well continue dicing the whole thing and save the other 1/2 for tomorrow. Why dirty the cutting board and knife twice?

* Save money on portioned snack food - There's no need to buy those 100 calorie packs or mini bags of crackers and cookies. Do you have any idea how much money they make off those things? Buy a box of crackers and some "snack size" Ziplock bags and portion them out yourself. I watched my aunt in KC do this on Sunday afternoons for years and it was genius. She had a husband and 2 kids, so every Sunday she made 15 bags of crackers or chips plus 15 bags with cookies or another dessert. So as she was throwing the lunches together, she could toss in one of each...so easy.

* Prepare fruit all at once - You can pre-portion fruits and veggies, too. I wash and separate bunches of grapes as soon as I buy them (they also make a healthy and quick car snack) or you can slice apples or pears and stick them in Ziplocks, ready to go. Once cut, they'll last a couple of days - if you don't want them to turn brown or you want them to last a little longer, squeeze a little lemon juice on them and toss them in the bag to coat.

* Make-your-own "Lunchables" - A friend of mine just started doing this. Her son was jealous of his friend's "Lunchables," but she didn't have the money for that particular convenience food. Instead, she got creative: she sliced up some cheese and bagged it up with crackers and pepporoni slices with a small dessert and voila: Lunchables!

* Skip the drive thru - I realize fast food is quick and easy, but it can become quite expensive and is incredibly unhealthy. If you know you'll be out during lunch, whether shopping or on a play date at the park, consider packing a sack lunch to bring with you. Plus, think of how much less clutter you'll have from all of the missing toys from the kids meals!

Okay, that's all that comes to mind now. Do you have any time (or money) saving lunch tips? If so, please leave a comment so everyone can benefit! Next Tuesday, I'll post about other kinds of time saving kitchen tips.

#27 - Attept to make homemade cinnamon rolls

Do you ever feel so intimidated by something that you have a mental block against doing it? That's how I felt about homemade cinnamon rolls.

And now I feel like an idiot.

I've wanted to bake cinnamon rolls from scratch for over 2 years and was convinced I'd screw them up. Notice I subconsciously put "attempt to make..." in the title of #27 on my list! I just noticed this detail. We're talking a serious mental block.

This recipe for no-rise cinnamon rolls took 45 minutes from the time I pulled out the ingredients to the rolls hitting my children's lips. Incredibly easy. I put it on my meal plan for this week to force myself to finally try them. If you try these, two quick tips: I didn't add quite enough milk...they were a little dry. I think they would have been more moist, too, if I would have put them closer together in the pan. I just wasn't sure how much they would expand and the outsides were too crunchy as a result.

Next time, I'll plan ahead and make my friend's "Cinnabon"-like recipe that requires about 100 pounds of butter, some time to rise (I'll make them the night before) and taste like a little bit of heaven. When I do, I'll post the recipe with pictures to share.

Ryan ate his cinnamon roll just like he eats cupcakes...just the frosting on top, leaving hunks of crumbs on the plate. Kaylin ate every last bite and loved it. And I felt a little sick from eating sugar so early in the morning. So I made us all some eggs. (Ryan said, "Mommy, these eggs are good for me. I think I should have an egg every morning!" Fine by me, my little health-conscious boy!)

Then Kaylin said, "Mommy, I have frosting on my lip, just like Frosting the Snowman!" I love kids' interpretations of words.

#27 on my 101 goals list is officially crossed off - fear conquered!

A little laugh for your Monday morning

You don't need to watch all 9 minutes of this video to get a giggle. But do check it out...this guy's laugh is contagious!

Meal Plan - 1/26/09

Breakfast:
Homemade Cinnamon Rolls - either this recipe or this no-rise recipe - (#27 on my 101 goals list)
Oatmeal
Cheerios

Lunch:
Sandwiches, carrots and fruit
Salad for me

Dinner: (it's a light cooking week for me!!!)
Monday - Turkey Tetrazzini
Tuesday - Chicken Parmesan with pasta and salad
Wednesday - Chili
Thursday - no cooking - weekly meal swap with neighbor
Friday - leftovers - Mike's camping
Saturday - Girls Night Out
Sunday - Super Bowl Party - party food for dinner!

Links to Freebies

Okay, friends...I've had many requests for the "how to's" of my grocery geek ways, so I thought I'd link to some current freebies.

But first, I explained my process of clipping coupons and planning my grocery trips in this post. If you don't know where to start with the overwhelming task of coupons, grocery lists and meal planning, read that whole post.

Here are some of the free things you can get right now. Realize that you DO need to print coupons that are linked to the post and bring them with you to get these deals. Just wanted to throw that out there for those of you who think I walk into the store, shop without a plan and save tons of money. My savings are pre-meditated, for sure. And if you clip coupons from the weekend newspaper, whoa mama...your savings will go through the roof. But I digress...

Groceries freebies (or CHEAP) this week:

* Johnson's Soap Buddies at Walmart (they're usually $.97 there and the link gets you to a copon for $3 off 3 Johnson's products, so you can get 3 for free)

* Progresso Soup for $.33/each and South Beach bars for $.38 each at Target - click here for coupon links

* Coffee-Mate creamer (Target and Walmart both have this product on sale for $1.50 right now - FREE)

* Ocean Spray Juice at Target

* Hansen's Junior Juice - anywhere

* Rice Works rice chips - valid anywhere (PS - you can print the coupon several times, but only use it once per grocery trip)

Other freebies:

* Arizona residents can get a free Chipotle burrito, taco, salad or bowl on Saturday from 2-4pm if you wear red (thanks for this Rachael!)

* Get 6 free personalized photo cards for Valentine's day - details here.

Also, I strongly recommend shopping the "deals" at CVS and/or Walgreens. I get free stuff from there weekly. Batteries, cold medicine, hair color, you name it. And sometimes it will be a money-maker deal, where they (technically) pay me $$ to leave the store with the product. (hence the 3 tubes of toothpaste sitting in my closet) For instance, I just got 5 boxes of Soy Joy bars. Have I ever tried Soy Joy bars? No. But they were $6 per package with a $6 ECB (extra cash back) bonus for the first 5 boxes you purchase. So they're technically free. BUT I had two $3 off 10 Soy Joy bars (and the boxes counted) plus 2 $1 off coupons, so again, I spent $25 (in ECB, so it was free) but left the store with $30 in ECB. They paid me $7 to leave the store with those Soy Joy bars. That are healthy and probably taste just fine.

I don't want to reinvent the wheel and list everything on sale at all the stores...that's why I always point you in the direction of Money Saving Mom and The Good Deal Gal. You can see MSM's freebies list here and GDG's freebies here. If going to their sites and seeing ALL the deals is overwhelming, consider saving those links to your favorites and checking in with them every day or two.

Happy Savings!!!

My Husband Rocks - I get to be a SAHM!

I am thoroughly enjoying getting back to being a stay at home mom again...all by myself. Like I've said, it was great having Mike home for a couple of months, but I've missed the daily life I had. My time. My space. My schedule and my time table. As selfish as it sounds, I like having a certain amount of control over our day and with a second parent around 24/7, I lost that.

As a part of living life-as-normal again, I forgot how much I missed the sights and sounds of what used to take place after Mike got home from work. Yesterday, for example, he was so excited to see the kids (and they, in turn, missed him so much) that he went right outside and played in the backyard with them. He's back to appreciating the time he gets to spend with them each night, which is beautiful to see.

On our way to the gym this morning, I have to share the conversation between Kaylin and me:

Kaylin: "Why isn't Daddy coming with us?"

Me: "Where is Daddy?"

Kaylin: "At wert."

Me: "That's right. Daddy can't come with us because he's at work."

Kaylin: "I want Daddy to come with us."

Me: "Daddy has a job now, honey. He will only be home with us during the days on weekends."

Kaylin: "I want Daddy right now."
Me: "I know, but he needs to work to earn money to support our family..." (I wasn't finished yet, but she interupted, all excited..."
Kaylin: "Mommy! I HAVE MONEY!" (like she has the solution to the problem) "I have some money in my piddy bank!" (not a type-o, that's how she says, "piggy")

Me: "Oh, sweetie...that's your money. Daddy has to earn his own money to pay for our food, our house and our clothes. You get to keep your money in your piggy bank. That's for you."

Kaylin: "I miss my Daddy..."

I am so grateful that he works so hard so that I get to be a stay at home mom. We budget and we often go without certain luxeries so that we can live this way, and I'm so glad we've chosen this path.

After the gym, I took the kids to the mall to replace my lipstick. I can't tell you the last time I went to the mall. It was so long ago that Kaylin was in a stroller, that much I know.

The department store was at the opposite end of the mall than the kids play area, but since we had an open day, we walked (ever so slowly...) all the way down there so they could climb and run around, likely catching whatever new cold or virus is spreading this week.

The fun part for me was on the walk back to our car. The kids peeked in the store windows, I looked at a few clearance racks, we gawked and people watched, not in a hurry to get anywhere.

As we passed a candy store, the kids saw all of the bright colors and begged to go inside. Sure, why not? On a whim, I told the kids they could pick out three pieces of any kind of candy they wanted. Because I never do stuff like this (ever) it was a HUGE treat for them. They looked in all of the bins and cases, carefully deciding what to get. I assumed they'd pick a favorite and get 3 of one kind of candy, but they each chose 3 candies and wanted one of each. Ryan got a gummy frog, a gummy bear and a candy-coated gummy bear that turned his mouth completely black. Kaylin chose 3 different shades of pink Jelly Bellys. (SHOCKER!)

We found a bench and ate our treats and I was suddenly so thankful for the simple life we lead. My kids were thrilled to have 3 small candies and were in awe of their adventures walking through the mall.

My Husband Rocks because he works so that I can stay home and have these experiences. Every. Single. Day.

Be Careful Little Eyes What You See...

Has anyone heard "Slow Fade" by Casting Crowns? The video is below, but the first line of the song, "Be careful little eyes what you see," seems fitting with this story:

Today at pre-school, Mrs. B was writing down "the rules" as the kids in the class offered suggestions. (apparently they needed a reminder after a horrid day on Tuesday) No hitting, no stealing toys, be nice, listen the first time...all great rules from Ryan and his classmates. Some of the rules were random, but most were appropriate.

Then Ryan shouts out, "No tongue to tongue!" Um...huh? Mrs. B looks at me (I was aiding) and I was just as confused as she was. I said to Ryan, "That's a rule at home, too, right buddy?" Dude - I didn't want the teacher thinking anything weird was going on in our house! The other aide and I exchanged wide-eyed glances and the awkward moment passed.

More rules were called out and written down, then Ryan said, "And no tackling!" Mrs. B shot me another look and said, without hesitation, "Looks like someone needs to remember to lock the door, Miss Katie!" All of us adults (there were 4 in the room at the time) died laughing. I had tears streaming down my face I was laughing so hard.

Somehow, we moved past THAT awkward moment and the kids suggested more rules for the list. After about 5 minutes, one of the newer boys (whose parents are divorced) said, "Mrs. B? Could you write a letter to my parents? About the 'no tongue to tongue' rule?" Mrs. B said, "Which ones, Tommy, your dad and step-mom or your mom and step-dad?" He said, "Both. They both really need to know about that rule. They do tongue to tongue a lot and they need to stop. I think they'll stop if you write them a letter."

If you've never heard this song, check out the video and listen to the words. It's a great message and was tied to the movie "Fireproof" when the husband character was dealing with an addiction.

And for the record, I do lock my door!!! Mrs. B just has a dirty mind...

So many freebies!

I had another record breaking grocery trip this week. I saved 86% on my total bill at Fry's. To spell it out for you, I saved $86.61 and spent $14.77. There were so many free deals with sales and coupons, it was nuts. I also saved $30 just in coupons off my $81 bill at Walmart, which never happens to me because Walmart doesn't double coupons.

So, just to entice more of you to come down the road to coupon savings with me, here are the freebies I got:

7 Johnson's Soap Buddies

a box of Kashi granola bars

2 cans of Ro-tel diced tomatoes

2 cans of Hormel chili

2 boxes of Kleenex

2 bottles of Ken's salad dressing

1 package of Kraft cheese singles

5 bags of corn - Green Giant Steamers

1 bottle of French's mustard

1 bag of Quaker rice cakes

4 packages of 4 rolls of Cottonelle toilet paper

3 packages of Kotex pantiliners

3 Hallmark cards (at CVS)

Things I got for $.50-$1:

3 packages of Kraft cheese singles

6 (yes, six) boxes of Cheerios

1 box of Rice Krispies

1 bag of marshmallows (only $.25 - for Krispie treats, of course!)

3 Quaker oatmeals

6 (yes, six) more boxes of Kashi granola bars

1 jar of Kraft mayo

2 boxes of Fiber One bars

2 more boxes of Kleenex

You'll notice I got a ton of cereal, granola bars, cheese, kids soap, Kleenex and toilet paper, right? These are things that won't go bad. (well, the cheese will, but not too soon) My philosophy is: when it's on super sale and you can get it cheap or free, why not? Especially if it's something we'll use up; I am careful not to over-buy. (like 40 boxes of cereal *ahem* ANDREA...)

Seriously, people...if you haven't started clipping coupons, please do! Even though we eat very little processed food, I still get great deals. And I don't have to buy Cocoa Puffs and Rice-a-Roni to do it. I'm buying real, healthy food or household items and saving cold, hard cash. Does anyone else get a HIGH from saving like I do?!?!?

A New Day

Today was Mike's first day back at work. This this my picture of the day for Project 365:

Looking closely, it kind of looks a little gay (my stupid, slow camera didn't take at the right moment and Mike didn't want to be late to let me re-shoot the picture...) but it's very real. We kiss in our family - no shame in that! That's how we roll. And who knows how long Ryan will allow kisses from Daddy, so I'm glad I captured this sweetness on film. What you don't know about this picture is that Ryan went running out to the garage to give Daddy one last kiss on his first day AFTER we'd already said our good-byes in the kitchen. Then he ran to the front window to wave to him.

The kids asked about Mike a gazillion times today. They missed Daddy. They wanted to see Daddy. When is Daddy coming home? They got WAAAAY too used to every day being a Saturday in our house.

Ryan hurt himself this morning, accidentally cutting his lip on his guitar, and had a really hard time getting over it. After lots and lots of tears, he asked to be alone, so Kaylin and I left the playroom and closed the door. He proceeded to sob for another 10 minutes, crying out, "I want my Daddy!" Personally, it seemed like the drama was prolonged so he could get out his sadness that Daddy's not going to be around as much anymore. Because the physical pain couldn't have lasted quite that long. Poor little buddy.

I packed Mike a lunch, like I used to way back when, and included a little note that Ryan got to sign. We also threw a Hershey's kiss in there, just so he knows he's loved. I know... awwwwww *vomit* (did that ruin the moment?) No seriously, though, I'm trying to be mushy 'cuz sometimes even men like that kind of stuff!

And just for fun, here are more of my pictures for Project 365:

Jan 11th - Indoor camping in our new tent from Christmas...

Jan 14th - Grandma Barb stayed for dinner after babysitting last week and I captured them playing golf in the backyard...

Jan 16th - Kaylin making brownies with her little friend Kaitlyn...

Jan 18th - Ryan Wii bowling for the first time...

Jan 19th - Ryan playing baseball with Daddy (he actually hits the ball about 1/2 the time and yes, he IS turning out to be left-handed)...

Jan 20th - Kaylin taking a picture of me (backwards) taking a picture of her during our backyard picnic yesterday (I also accidentally got her black middle finger in the shot - Ryan closed her finger in the car door last week - ouch)...

How I get it ALL done

Last week, I sat down and put together a cleaning schedule. I want to tackle #2 on my list of 101 Goals...soon. It popped into my head second out of 101 other goals for a good reason: cleaning is my enemy. (not a great attitude when hoping to tackle the problem, is it?) I love having a clean house, I just hate being the one to clean it.

While coming up with the daily cleaning to-do list, I realized that when Mike returns to work tomorrow, I'll need to come up with a whole new daily routine for myself and the kids. Completely different from anything I've known, considering the fact that since the day Kaylin was born, Mike's worked 5 minutes from home. I no longer need to plan around coming home to meet Daddy for lunch or rushing home by 4:30 every day to start dinner. There may even be days that he doesn't come home in time for dinner becuase he'll go to the gym on the way home from work. The down-side is that he won't be around as much anymore, but the up-side is that I'll have a little more time to get my own stuff done. (always trying to see the positive!) We'll go from eating 21 meals a week together *literally* to around 8-10 if you count weekends.

SO...since I'm often asked questions like, "How do you get so much done?" or most recently "Do you ever sleep?" I thought I'd share my new routine. I should add that I've come to realize that (unless I'm in front of the computer) I don't sit down much. There's always something to do. Dishes, picking up toys, putting away coats and shoes, sweeping crumbs from the last meal...it's never-ending. And now that the kids are old enough to enjoy playing together, I can sneak in chores throughout the day and spend naptime checking emails, blogging, scrapbooking or truly having downtime.

I love routines and don't mind at all if my days are too similar. I'm boring that way. (items that are bolded below are things I'm working on for my 101 Goals list) I am also a natural procrastinator, so I keep with the philosophy of getting things done ASAP. Otherwise, they sit on my to-do list for days and weeks. In fact, Simple Mom just wrote about Doing the Worst Thing First to get it out of the way so the rest of your day you can be free to enjoy yourself, guilt-free. It's a great philosophy and since I'm going to start getting up BEFORE the kids, I'll have extra time to do the things that I currently put off all day. Like Donna Otto says, "It's not what you DO that weighs you down, it's what you DON'T do." So true!

I'm also getting back on track with praying and reading my Bible in the mornings. I'm positive this will be easier if I do it before the kids get up. I'm going to intentionally pray for God's direction throughout the day, his guidance and wisdom in how to raise my kids, patience and grace in dealing with my family, and the strength to handle each situation gently. That's my new goal...I want to have a household that's calm and gentle. (it's currently a little loud to be considered either of those things!) Here goes:

Mondays

6:00am - Get up, read the Bible, read The Love Dare, check emails

7:00am - Kids up, dressed and fed

8:30am - Weekly babysitting swap with Julie

* The weeks that her kids are at MY house, I'll clean the kitchen, which is perfect to do (I can easily stop and start this project) while the kids play in the backyard or the downstairs playroom.

* The off weeks when my kids are at HER house, I'll run errands or catch up on leftover cleaning from the weekend. (probably bathrooms because I always procrastinate those)

10:30am - Pick up kids/Julie's kids get picked up...go to the gym

12:00pm - Lunch

1-3pm - Nap time (free time for me - blog, email, make phone calls, scrapbook, catch up on t.v., shower, stare at the wall, whatever I feel like doing)

3:00pm - Kid time...help Ryan with his reading and writing while Kaylin colors, then all do a craft or activity together

4:00pm - Kids play or watch a movie while I make dinner and pick up the house before Mike gets home

5:30pm - Dinner

6:30pm - Get kids ready for bed

7:00pm - Bible study comes over

Tuesdays

6:00am - Get up, read the Bible, check emails

7:00am - Kids up, dressed and fed

8:00am - Clean glass throughout the house

8:50am - Leave to bring Ryan to school

9:00am - Go to the gym

10:30am - Run errands (CVS for sale items, Costco, Trader Joe's, etc.)

11:30am - Pick Ryan up from school

12:00pm - Lunch

1-3pm - Nap time (free time for me)

3:00pm - Kid time...help Ryan with his reading and writing while Kaylin colors, then go to the park, ride bikes out front or something else outside.
4:00pm - Kids play or watch a movie while I make dinner and pick up the house
5:30pm - Dinner

6:00pm - Family time
7:00pm - Bath time

7:30pm - Kids go to bed

8:00pm - Laundry

Wednesdays

6:00am - Get up, read the Bible, check emails
7:00am - Kids up, dressed and fed

8:00am - Leave for the chiropracter

9:00am - Go to the grocery store

10:00am - Grandma Barb comes over to babysit

10am-4pm - Work for mom, return calls, respond to invitations and emails, clip coupons and write out the grocery sales for the week, meal plan, organize paperwork in office

4:30pm - Go to weights class at the gym

6:00pm - Dinner

6:30pm - Family time

7:30pm - Kids go to bed

Thursdays

6:00am - Get up, read the Bible, check emails
7:00am - Kids up, dressed and fed
8:30am - Leave to bring Ryan to school

9-11:30am - Volunteer in Ryan's class

12:00pm - Lunch

1-3pm - Nap time (free time for me)

3:00pm - Kid time...help Ryan with his reading and writing while Kaylin colors, then do crafts or play outside

4:30pm - Make dinner

5:30pm - Eat dinner

6:00pm - Family time

7:00pm - Bath time...clean the kids' bathroom while they play in the tub

7:30pm - Kids go to bed

Fridays

6:00am - Get up, read the Bible, check emails

7:00am - Kids up, dressed and fed

8:30am - Go to Yoga class at the gym

9:30am - Errands

11:00am - Dust, bake or do a craft with the kids

12:00pm - Lunch

1-3pm - Nap time (free time for me)

3:00pm - Kids watch t.v. while I clean the downstairs bathroom

4:00pm - Play outside, free time

5:00pm - Make dinner
6:30pm - Family time
7:30pm - Kids go to bed

Saturdays
9:45pm - Kickboxing class
11:00am - Vacuum, mop and do master bathroom
12:00pm - Lunch
1-3pm - Naptime
4:00pm - Leave for church
7:00pm - Bathtime
7:30pm - Kids to bed

Sundays
NO SCHEDULE - day off

So there you have it. I'm going to do my best to stick to the cleaning portion of this schedule if it kills me. I've come up with a very managable system for doing my dishes and laundry. (I run the dishwasher most nights before bed and unload it after breakfast and laundry is done on Tuesday and Friday nights) I would love to feel the same way about the rest of the household chores! I really hope my new schedule works for me. Does anyone have any other tips for helping me get a handle on my house cleaning???

Meal Plan - 1/19/09

Breakfast:

Cereal

Baked Oatmeal

Homemade Waffles

Lunch:

Turkey sandwiches, carrots, fruit

Salad

Leftovers

Dinner:

Monday - Rice, Bean & Cheese Casserole

Tuesday - Vegan Shepherd's Pie

Wednesday - All Day Mac 'n' Cheese (with squash and pureed white beans snuck in)

Thursday - Chicken Enchilada Quiche

Friday - Crock Pot White Chicken Chili

Saturday - eat out

Sunday - Lasagna

#12 - Start an All About Me scrapbook

While I was flipping through my Creating Keepsakes magazine last week, I saw a scrapbook page by Ali Edwards with big, chunky numbers that said "1984" on it. The vision I had for an All About Me scrapbook was to document some events and memories about my life for my kids to read, just in case I get hit by a bus or something. :)

Seeing a 2-page spread of a year in this gal's life back in 1984 inspired me to take a different approach to beginning the scrapbook. I went through all of my old photo albums and pulled out 3-5 pictures of myself (or specific events that made the year memorable for me) and put them all on one page. I was so anal as a kid that I kept one of each of my school pictures, so I was even able to have some consistency with the layout of all of these pages.

Do you love the side pony tail? That was MY 1984, thank you very much!

Once I had all of the pictures separated by year, it was easy to throw them onto a page. All I need to do now is put together some text for each year and those pages will be done. #12 on my list of 101 Goals in 1001 Days is complete! The album is officially started.

My Husband Rocks - So Handy

My husband rocks because he's so handy. Not only did Mike spend last weekend putting up hooks all over my garage, he spent half a day (seriously - like 5 hours) putting together this dresser for our bathroom. It was a surprise Christmas gift from his parents and fits perfectly on the open wall in our master bath.

Within 5 minutes of helping Mike move it into place, I had it filled with spare toiletries, extra tissue boxes, make-up samples, you name it. Every drawer and basket is stuffed full and now the cabinet under my sink only has toilet paper and cleaning supplies. As it should be!!!

I love my new dresser. Now I just need to move that towel rack above it and put pretty decorative things on the top. Projects for another day!

Top 8 Tricks for a Guilt-Free 2009

This great list of "Tricks for a Guilt-Free 2009" was emailed out by Hungry Girl and I thought it was worth sharing. ENJOY!

1. Get by with a little help from your friends. Following healthy eating and exercise plans can be tough to do on your own. GET SOME SUPPORT! Find a buddy to walk with or join you at the gym. Compare grocery lists with a calorie-counting pal. (Check out our AWESOME new printable list for 2009!) And if you're a little shy about this kind of stuff, a discreet approach can be just as effective. Get your sweat on in your living room with a new workout DVD (consider the video trainers your new BFFs). And hop onto some discussion boards online to swap stories anonymously.

2. Just journal. Jotting down your daily diet is one of the best ways to stay on track. Even if you're too crunched for time to record every calorie, fat gram, POINTS® value, etc., just writing a little description of each meal and snack can have a huge impact. You can always review your choices later, and see if you need to make some changes. Ooh, and don't forget that old Weight Watchers credo, "Write before you bite!" That one's a keeper, since you're way less likely to scarf down 87 jellybeans if you see it in writing first.

3. When it comes to exercise, everything counts. Even if you can't get a full workout in one day, you can always squeeze something in. Go for a few calf raises while waiting in line at the bank -- or get a walk in before dinner. Do bicep curls with soup cans while you wait for the oven to preheat. Stretch in the shower (careful -- don't slip!). Commit to doing at least SOME physical activity each day.

4. Be prepared. Holiday shopping may be over, but you can still have a spree at the supermarket. A stocked kitchen is KEY to success, so print out our latest grocery list and hit the aisles running (okay, walking). Make sure to consider all your snacking and mealtime emergencies. Do you have purse-friendly snacks? How about nukeable dinner choices for when you get stuck at the office? Make a list of all your tough-eating scenarios and plan accordingly.

5. Rethink your resolutions. One of the main reasons resolutions fall short is because they aren't reasonable. If you're determined to lose 30 pounds by the end of January, you're setting yourself up for failure. If you've never exercised before noon in your life, yet you've made up your mind to hit the 6am cycling class five times a week, you probably won't do it. Adjust your goals and make them REALISTIC. Who says resolutions need to start on the 1st anyway?

6. Keep it fun. Face it -- if your meal plan is boring and your exercise routine's lame, you're never gonna stick it out for the entire year (let alone beyond that). So add some excitement. Find great new recipes to try out and seek out exercises that you actually enjoy. If running doesn't do it for you, try dancing. You can also take power-walks through the mall, try a new sport, hula hoop, take up karate, go swimming... Whatever! You can even work out with your video console (Wii Sports, anyone?). Just do it.

7. Rely on reminders. With all that's going on, you might need some "shoulder taps" to keep you from forgetting your New Year's wish list of personal goals. So buy yourself a cute calendar and fill it with activities. Schedule workouts. If they're written in your calendar, you'll be more likely to do them.

8. Forgive, don't forget! If you slip up and miss a day of exercise or accidentally inhale an entire week's worth of chocolate in one sitting, don't beat yourself up about it. It's one thing to acknowledge where you went wrong so you don't repeat your mistakes, but it's another thing altogether if you throw yourself a pity party that lasts until Labor Day. Don't give up, letting one bad day turn into a bad week or month. Be patient with yourself while you figure out what works. Live and learn!

#102 - (the one that didn't make the list)

Truth be told, I think a lot of things on my list of 101 Goals in 1001 Days are pretty conservative. I wimped out and didn't put as many of the "reach for the stars" goals that other people have listed.

One of the things that crossed my mind was to add the goal of being featured on someone else's blog, either as a guest post or by being interviewed. Other bloggers link to certain posts of mine quite often, which is humbling enough as it is, but I thought it was too big of a dream to publicly announce that I hoped to be featured on another blog. I further talked myself out of it by justifying that if someone did ask me, it would just be to fulfill the "check mark" on my goal list. I wanted to be invited to write a post or be interviewed on a blog because someone truly values my input. (I'm picky that way...)

Well! It was quite ironic that Maria at Thrifty Ways and Ideas emailed me with some questions about scrapbooking and asked if she could put the "interview" on her blog! What's even better is that, instead of reading the questions first and responding to the email later, I just hit "reply" and went through the questions one at a time before reading the email in its entirety. I didn't see the line about adding the answers to her blog until later, so my answers aren't as pre-planned as they might have been if I knew it was an interview in the first place.

If you'd like to see my interview on her blog, head on over and check it out. As cheap frugal as I am, I think my answers ended up fitting in really well with her thrifty blog theme!

#3 - Complete the never-ending project over our bed

Finally! This was seriously the never-ending project. I began it last summer and put everything up on the wall, I even posted about it being done. But it didn't look right. It was just...there. I decided it needed something to tie the 12x12 pieces together; an anchor. So I painted a celery-colored block, but it still didn't look right. Then I bought wood pieces to paint and assemble to "frame" the whole thing to make it look like all one piece. But those needed to be cut by my neighbor, then adhered to the wall...without being on my list of 101 Goals in 1001 Days, I don't know if I would have finished it until 2013. Giving myself over 2.5 years to finish it seemed like an attainable goal. :)

But today...it is complete!

Here is the "before" picture from August...

Then I painted the green block...

And the wood "frame" pieces...

And here it is altogether...

My bedroom looks complete!!!

Embarrassing Moments

I've read about some pretty hilarious embarrassing moments lately and wanted to share some with you. A few laughs for your Monday morning.

April's Reign - always good for a laugh

The Good Deal Gal - a daughter's innocence turned naughty

I love embarrassing moments. I go through phases of being embarrassed easily and other phases where I'm the culprit, yelling at others to "STOP touching me THERE!" in the parking lot or writing "for sexual favors" in the subject line of checks to friends. But I've definitely had some embarrassing moments of my own.

One of my favorite embarrassing moment stories is the mom who was on her way to the OB/GYN. She grabbed a washcloth off the bathroom sink to quickly freshen up "down there." During her annual exam, her doctor said, "Wow, it's really snazzy down here" or something equally odd. She didn't know what he was talking about, until she got home and realized she'd grabbed a washcloth that her daughter had used to wash off her body glitter. And it was all over her hoo-ha.

Then there's the one where the lady bought a package of mini cookies at the airport. While waiting for her flight, she noticed the man next to her taking one of her cookies out of the bag sitting next to her. She stared at him blankly and took a cookie for herself. He smiled sweetly and took another cookie. Appalled, she grabbed a handful of cookies, shoving them into her mouth. He smiled again and took another cookie. She was furious, snatched the bag of cookies and stood in line to board her plane. Once in her seat, she was getting settled and reached into her purse to find a whole, unopened bag of mini cookies. The bag she snatched belonged to the gentleman sitting next to her.

This last story has to be the best. (...because I'm in love with Brad Pitt. Even after the Jennifer Anistan thing. I know, I know, save your comments. We all have our vices.)

There was a gal who went to Hollywood and wanted to go someplace where she could see a celebrity. Someone told her about a drug store where celebrities are often spotted, so she went in and walked around. Nothing. They had an ice cream counter, so she stood in line to get ice cream. After standing in line for a minute, she turned around and saw Brad Pitt standing behind her. She nodded respectfully (freaking out inside, as I would be) and turned back around, trying to be cool. She ordered her ice cream cone, nodded to Brad again, and exited the store. When she got outside, she couldn't find her ice cream. She was humiliated, but went back in to ask the guy behind the counter if she'd left it there. She had not. She was really confused, looking all over the place, when Brad Pitt walked up to her. She looked up at him as he said, "Are you looking for your ice cream cone?" She said, "Yes..." Then he said, "You put it in your purse."

What's your most embarrassing moment? Leave it in a comment or post it to your blog and add it to Mr. Linky below.

Meal Plan - 1/12/08

Breakfast:
Oatmeal
Pancakes
Yogurt and homemade granola (the crockpot recipe last week was easy and delicious!!!)

Lunch:
PB&J, carrots and apples
Leftover Chili
Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup
Salad for me

Dinner:
Monday - Tomato & Spinach Pasta Toss
Tuesday - Chicken Fried Rice
Wednesday - Vegetarian Bean Soup with homemade wheat bread
Thursday - no cooking - weekly dinner swap with my neighbor
Friday - Crock Pot Chicken Taco Stew
Saturday - leftovers
Sunday - Meatloaf, mashed potatoes and veggies

#13 - Organize the sports equipment in the garage

Do you hear that choir of angels singing? I do.

It's because my garage looks like Mission: Organization from HGTV!!!

I wish I thought enough to take "before" pictures. The growing clutter in my garage has bothered me each and every time I've pulled in my car for over a year. We used to have one little tricycle and a wagon, but once Ryan got a big boy bike and a scooter (plus a helmet and all the accessories to go with it) the clutter began to expand. Mike also got a bike for his birthday, Kaylin got a little priness bike for Christmas, helmets with each of those...plus Ryan's new 2-wheeled scooter and the baseballs and bat that roll all over...I shouldn't have started down my road of frustration!

BUT Mike and I have fixed these issues. Last weekend, we went to Lowe's to buy some hooks to finally start this little project. Each hook was under $1, no big deal, but there were packages of 10 hooks that were originally $4-5, but on clearance for 72 cents. No joke. I bought 2 of those, plus 2 packages of ladder hooks for 82 cents each, again, on clearance. We did this whole project for under $3.50!!! (this was before Mike got his job offer, so I was seriously praising God about this huge savings)

Below are the tricycles, scooters and helmets. (I ran out of hooks, so I just used 3 inch nails for the helmets) I had leftover pieces from shorter shelves that I put up in the playroom a while back, so we put one up high for additional outside "things" like bubbles, sidewalk chalk, and littler things like baseballs and knee pads are in the black crate.

Another source of frustration were the umbrellas and the kids' tent in the coat closet that fell over ALL THE TIME. Hooks for those.

And while we were on a roll (and had extra hooks leftover) - we hung up the rakes, shovels and ladders, plus put bike hooks into the ceiling for Mike's bike and, eventually, mine.

If you click on the above picture, to the far right, you can see the 3 legged chair that needs to be repaired so I can cross off #56 from my list of 101 Goals in 1001 Days.

Just to the left of the door, Mike put up the 2nd piece of "scrap" shelf and I plan to put some hooks underneath for backpacks and jackets. (but I don't want to go to Lowe's for the 3rd time this weekend) And on the shoe shelves below, I'll put out-of-season shoes so my coat closet shoe-shelf isn't so overwhelming. But that wasn't a part of the official title of #13, so this item is officially done!

#50 - Get 25 comments on a single blog post

I had NO IDEA I would be crossing #50 off my list of 101 Goals in 1001 Days so quickly. I suppose extemely good news (the post that helped me reach my goal was about Mike getting a job) and extremely bad news would get lots of activity. But still, the most comments I've ever received is 21, and I usually get between 2 and 10, so I assumed 25 comments was a HUGE goal.

And even though my sweet friend, DutchMac, left 5 comments to push me over the limit, I'm crossing this off my list. (currently, there are actually 28 comments) Partly because I have a feeling I still may get a couple stray "congratulations" comments from my readers who only check in once a week AND I got over 15 emails congratulating Mike over the last few days, mostly people who don't like to comment.

So...I am THRILLED to cross off #50 on my list. And I even have another goal I get to cross off today! That post will be next...