Nine years already?

Attempt 101

I am attempting again to slow life down and really analyze what we spend our money on at the grocery store. Over at the grocery cart challenge, this mom spends only $60 a week on groceries. I have recently ran out of the beef we bought a year or two ago and have no freezer meals left. I jumped couponing ship when I had Ike a year and half ago. It was one thing it life that I just couldn't find time for. Now I am completely motivated to analyze our grocery spending each week in order to be a fulltime mom with a part time job versus the other way around. As soon as school starts I hope to have time to grocery shop by myself. A great friend who has been at this frugal shopping for a long time stated that shopping for deals is like a job. You can't bring children with you when attempting to keep everything straight. August first is coming quick. I hope (cross my fingers) I can blog my purchases each week to maybe motivate someone else to do the same. If you are in, let me know. Happy shopping.

Yes day?

Not sure if I posted about my yes project or it was yet another blog post gone, but here's a story.

In a discipline talk that a friend had recently ( I wasn't able to go but I got the cliff notes from my aunt Kendra), one major point was to tell your children yes more than you tell them no. This child my friends is my yes project. He is super sweet but so is the devil.... No Payton isn't evil, he just knows how to push all of mommy's correct buttons.

Tonight patton comes down stairs ( btw he is not aware that he is my yes project) and asks, "mom is today yes day." see this attitude isn't new. His annual Christmas book from
Me for the theme for the past year was "yes day!". He loves that book and thinks it is so funny. So tonight he asks is it yes day? I thought before speaking and stated why? Because I was going to ask if we can stay up late tonight. See the schemer he is, ha ha. In the spirit of my yes project I simply stated, you may watch a cartoon. I didn't state no, but guided him in better direction. Here's to the first yes day.

Fun with food

Meal planning monday

Breakfast and lunch at our house are fend for yourselves. We often have leftovers, pb and j sandwiches, sandwich meat, Mac and cheese, cereal. I used to think I needed to mix things up all the time, but am finding
My boys could eat the same thing all the time. Therefore why stress out over breakfast and lunches and focus on suppers. I make sure my cupboards or freezer has something easy to make. With living in the country, having this type of meal plan is ok. If I lived near a fast food restaurant... I might need to think of another plan.

So this will only be suppers for the exception of weekends.

Monday: mini pizza w hoagie buns and lettuce salad
Tuesday: crockpot cola ham with side of cheesy potatoes on the grill
Wednesday: chicken enchiladas with homemade refried beans
Thursday: we will be coming home from aurora from corn day so I am sure we might grab something on the way home.
Friday: grilled pizza yummy w the new grill pizza pan from pampered chef:)
Saturday: L: star city shores swim
Party in the am, so it might be fun for a picnic or just come home and eat sandwiches.
D: BLTs with cheesy broccoli
Sunday: L:leftovers or breakfast for lunch
D: Kenna's bday party in the afternoon, but I was planning on beef
Fillets and sweet corn.

Happy meal planning Monday to you!

New Olympic sport

I had just emptied the laundry baskets. I was getting supper ready when i heard this outrageous laughter, which can only mean one thing... TROuBLE I turned the corner and saw my eldest son fly down the small staircase to see his two little brothers watching from the bottom of the stairs. Watching Olympics + empty laundry baskets + bike helmets = basket sledding. Safety first...

In the words of Patton, do not try this at home mom. Well in that case lets stop this now. Kenner also pointed out that they had a another new sport, basket tipping. Maybe I don't want them to watch gymnastics. This could be a l long 17 days or I will resort to watching the Olympics after bedtime.

Budget, boys, blogging

Thanks to my aunt Kendra and having a job where I am in the car for 3 hours a day, I have found new motivation to live life a little different. Budget: do I have one? Yes have we lived and breathed by it? No. We just kind of do what we want and it somewhat follows the budget. Our family has truly been blessed by two great jobs. Two you ask...yes I am still working part time, but in the world of PRN SLP working half the time I did working full time equals the same amount in return. Only huge downfall is tha I am not guaranteed those hours...so with the craziness of having hours and not, I don't want to just waste away all our extra earnings. I want to follow more closely on how to live by the budget. Also inspired by the Dave Ramsey show, it would be fun to not have any debt. Now that our endless jobs on the house are through we can better see and save for other projects in the future. So I refigured the budget and we will be using cash for groceries, eating out/entertainment, and clothing aka the envelope system. Yes I am aware of the myevelope system where you don't actually have cash but it keeps track of everything for you....but Casey and I need the actual cash in order to really see what we have left. I had to add clothing not because I spend alot of clothes, but I shop at stores where you can get both groceries and clothes therefore taking away from my grocery budget. Big question: do you budget and how do you stay within your budget? Boys: I had a friend who had a bunch of moms over to take Godly discipline. Major points: say yes more than you do no, use a rod or spanking the first rule breaking and you will find your kids will be better choice makers, and to follow through the first time. No if you don't do this then...then after saying 6 times you didn't follow through with any of the things yu said. Hard....yes! But in the three days I have used it, the boys have been listening much much more. Blogging: I love love to blog, but for some reason Facebook gets more of my time. I find myself more accountable if I blog and I can share stories of the boys more...so here is try one million to blog more. Have a great day! Off to the YMCA pool!