Way Back When-esday

Timeline: Spring 2006

Zachary's Age: 4 years old

My sweet angel baby all tucked in for his nap.

Play along with Cheryl over at Twinfatuation

for more great pictures of times past.

Baggu Grosgrain Guest GIVEAWAY!!!!

Baggu Grosgrain Guest GIVEAWAY!!!!

Pack N Play Fun

Zachary was playing with his dinosaurs and I am sure you know what the result was with two crawling curious girls. So...he had an idea.

Olivia is not a big fan of this idea.
Her look says it all. She knows she is missing out. :-(

So he took pity on his poor sister.

So much better for Olivia.


Abby wanted in on the fun, too.

Olivia just wants his juice pouch.


So he left them to play.
(I LOVE Abby's face in this picture.
I can just hear her saying, "Cheese!")

BTW - Zachary was dressed up for 50's day that day complete with the slicked back hair.

Makes My Monday

What "Makes My Monday"?

Zachary home all week.
There will be lots of Lego Indiana Jones

Yay!! Love Spring Break!

Play along with Cheryl over at Twinfatuation

Menu Plan Monday

The Oriental Chicken Wraps were good, but I have to say the sauce was very strong. With the teriyaki seasoned chicken it was too much. In the future I might try them again with a lighter teriyaki sauce. I loved the crunch of the noodles with the oranges though. Yumm!

Monday:
Dinner - Hot Dogs

Tuesday:
Breakfast - Cheese Toast
Lunch - Subway
Dinner - Enchiladas - recipe on sidebar

Wednesday:
Breakfast - Cereal
Lunch - Spinach Wraps
Dinner - Pizza

Thursday:
Breakfast - Oatmeal
Lunch - Subway
Dinner - Pre-seasoned chicken with red potatoes and sugar snap peas

Friday:
Breakfast - Eggs and toast
Lunch - Tuna
Dinner - Out to Eat - we will be going to Fossil Rim

Saturday:
Breakfast - Biscuits
Lunch - BLTs
Dinner - Leftovers

Sunday:
Breakfast - Bacon and eggs
Lunch - Grilled Cheese
Dinner - Spaghetti

Children's Book Give-away

Oh fun!!

Jen reviews a great book.

and I want to win one.

Still here...

...just took a little break this week.

Olivia has had a really bad cold this week and has been just miserable. I have it also, just not as bad. Poor little thing does not understand why her little nose isn't working and has not let me out of her sight all week. Both girls are cutting top teeth and sleep has been in 30 - 45 mins snatches at night. It got so bad that Gary took off a day to sleep and then I slept the next day when my mom got here. We each got about 5 hours of uninterrupted sleep and it was heavenly.

I am hoping to get back on track with everything on Monday (or even Sunday if I can get it together, but no promises).

By the way,

I lost 3 pounds this week. :-) !!!!!

I am sure it is due in large part to not having time to eat and sleeping through half the day on Thursday but hey, I'll take it. I have lost 9 pounds so far and am about to be in the next "tens" in which I can see the light of my previous weight before IVF. ::sigh:: there's that light, right there. I can see it now.

Meanwhile, I will leave you with some cuteness.

Abigail

Olivia

Thank you

Thank you so very much for all my kind comments. I feel better just for having "dumped the purse". I love you guys! :-)


Abigail is getting over an ear infection and Olivia has a bad cold that we are trying not be turned into a sinus infection. So we are sleeping very little and cuddling very much.

Good times, good times

Thoughts...

I am going to make this quick since it is 11:40 and I feel like it's 1:00. I should be going to bed, but my head's kinda full. I just went back and re-read all this and I have to warn you, it's pretty real and raw. If you don't care to read about my emotional purse dump, then move along to the next blog on your list.

This blog is my sanity. It is the one and only thing that is just mine, for me, by me. I love it and my life is not quite so lonely because of it. But there are times when things just stack up, don't they? I have a list a mile long that needs to be done. Like I know everyone does. But I feel like it will never go away. I will never cross everything off. There will always be something that comes after. Life would be boring otherwise, I guess.

but...

I miss sitting for hours and just reading a book. Usually I go through about 3-4 books a week. Lots of them are re-reads. I have read 3 books since January. I miss it.

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I love my job as a mom, housewife, whatever you want to call it. I do not miss the working environment at all. I miss teaching the kids and planning fun lessons, but I do not ever wish to be there right now. I am so where I want to be. I love that I am home to meet Zachary getting off the bus. I love that I am here with my girls all day. LOVE it. I am passionate about my job as CEO of this family. The cooking, cleaning, caring for the household is so rewarding to me. I don't just like to make the girl's baby food, I thrive on it. I don't just like grocery shopping, but I find the best deal and grit my teeth when I know I have a coupon for something I forgot at home.

So why is the house always cluttered?

The dishes always need to washed, the floor always needs to be vacuumed, dust settles everyday. Every night I go to bed as a failure because something was left undone.

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Sometimes I feel like I am spread so very thin that I am not good at any of the things I need to be. I feel like I end up being a half-assed cook, cleaner, gardener, blogger, friend (this one just makes me want to cry because I MISS my friends I don't see anymore), wife, homework helper, organizer, mom to Zachary...not good at any of them, just getting by. Not to mention that there are huge chunks of me not even being used; like a volunteer for Zachary's school ( this one really gets to me because I so wish I could do more there), church goer (sigh), scrapbooker, reader, decorator... I know there is a season for everything. I know that...I do.

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Another huge thing is...
I look in the mirror and don't see me. I see a woman who looks like she ate me. I cringe at pictures of myself with the girls, but regret there are not more. I have no time to exercise, but can't find the energy or will to do it even if I do grab a minute here or there. I barely have time to eat during the day. If I do eat I grab something quick (and unhealthy). Then in the evening (aka - the worst time) my mental thing kicks in and tells me I haven't eaten all day so I must eat, eat, eat. I know it is possible for me to be thin because I was and I maintained it for several years. It just seems like a long dark tunnel in front of me with no end.

When I go grocery shopping or anywhere, really and I catch myself in a mirror, half the time I am horrified and half the time I could care less that I am wearing sweats and a overly big t-shirt of Gary's with Crocs, no makeup and my hair...Oh Lord, my hair...is really bad. I don't even recognize myself.

I have very few clothes that are in my current size because I have never been my current size without being pregnant. I flew past it so fast during IVF that I just made do. And it's not that I can't go get some. It's when...it's how can I buy another t-shirt? How can I justify nice clothes when they will end up with carrots spit on them?

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Moving on...

Our house is not one that is for hosting...anything. We all dream of our houses being magazine ready (or am I the only one?) We are slowly changing it from one of display to functional. And it's barely there. Our dining room is now both a playroom and a dining room. We were only using it as a playroom, but we feel it is important for us to eat dinner as a family at the table. So we moved some things around. My tree that is perfect for the decor in the dinning room is heading upstairs to my bedroom to join the chair from the living room. My beautiful buffet that holds all my candles, dishes, serving platters, and silverware got moved to the hallway and will be emptied tomorrow for diapers, wipes, lotions and other things we need downstairs for the girls. My gorgeous mirror hangs in the middle of the wall very lonely and will probably have to be taken down as well. As it is, we will have to squeeze past the wall to get to one side of the table and the girls' space to play got drastically cut, but we do what we have to, right?

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And then there are 3 mamas who sit out there tonight without 1 or more of their children. Sweet Tuesday, who lost her battle with cancer and left not only her twin but a whole family missing her. And a family whose blog I stumbled onto and can't even find now that read very much like my blog does; bath time in the sink, sweet faces for the camera...until January when they took their 6 month old daughter to the doctor for an ear infection and then a month later were putting her in heaven's arms.

And then Brook...I haven't even let myself fully go there yet to even comprehend it. To lose both of your children within 24 hours after only finding out about the illness, again, in January. Within a month 2 beautiful girls are gone from this earth and we are all left wondering...Can I admit I haven't been able to make my mind go there? To try to comprehend what she might be going through? Of course, I can't even imagine the pain she is in...but I could. I could imagine it if I let myself, but I haven't. The few times those thoughts have crept in I have had to shake them away. Does this make me a terrible friend? I feel like it does.

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So you see why I felt the need for a little dumping?

I may get up tomorrow morning and regret I ever put this one up.
It may go away after tonight.

Snack Time is Fun Time

The girls (and Zachary) got these trays from Grandma for Christmas.
They already love eating their snack from them.

So serious about eating puffs

No thanks Abby, you can have them all

This picture tells me how Olivia might look as a kid.

Another scene stealer?

Remember this little scene stealer?


I think we may have another one.

I gained a pound

::sigh::

Couponing: Using "The List"

I just want to put this out there. I am in no way a coupon expert. I am just learning myself. It is one of those things that I found to save money and am so excited I want to share it with everyone!

So here's what I do. Every Sunday I get papers and print off my Albertson's list. The list has sale items with and without combined coupons. The Grocery Game even color coordinates items that you need to stock up on and items you buy only if you really need them right now. The chart has a column that shows where you can find the coupon to go with the sale. It may say 1/4 R = This coupon can be found in the January 4 Red Plum packet.

(I will also look at the CVS and Walgreens lists throughout the week. Those are a post all by themselves.)

Since I have cut my favorites out of the packets already, very rarely do I need to go searching for anything, but every couple of weeks I do. There have been those great finds I have missed so it is def worth it to save those coupon packets.

I plan my menus around what I have stockpiled with a few exceptions. Did I stockpile Pillsbury crescent rolls? I will have chicken packets, pigs in a blanket, and other recipes I can find to use this as an ingredient.

Also, I understand a lot of you think that most coupons are for processed foods. There are a lot, but here is what I found in this week's packets:

P&G - Every coupon in this packet is for toiletries, batteries, medicine, diapers, makeup, well, you get the idea.

Red Plum -
Frozen veggies and fruit
Folgers coffee
Suave Hair products
Rice
Vaseline lotion


Smart Source -
Pedialyte
Huggies Diapers
Teddy Grahams
Jello Pudding
Excedrin

And that's not all, I just picked a few that I thought might be good. This is just one week. All I am saying here is give it a chance. Sometimes I find bread coupons, cheese coupons, even fruit or veggie coupons.

Leave me a comment if these posts are helping or if anyone is even still interested. I am feeling a bit like I am talking to an empty room.

Lesson tomorrow

Actually later today since it is almost midnight. I was with my dad today for a heart procedure then at my annual consignment sale. I did not expect to be gone all day, but that is what happened. :-( I will post tomorrow about the awesome deals I got and couponing.

I was prepared...

...for the changes I would see in them this first year

Absolutely 100% prepared myself for how much they...

would change




What I had not prepared for and what has totally thrown me into a tailspin is

How Much He...


has changed

Totally unprepared for that.

Pooped

Crawling makes a girl soooo tired

Menu Plan Monday

Last week was not one of my best. I forgot to put the meat in the crock pot for the beef sandwiches, I didn't make the the chicken for the 3rd week in row. Ugh! BUT, I did make the most delicious meatloaf. Yummy! We even had it for leftovers the next night. I have to share the recipe. I got it from my ex-step-mother-in-law. Got that? She is a wonderful cook. She had her family's recipe and she tweaked it to become her "Nowdays Meatloaf". I usually don't follow the recipe exactly. This time I did with only a few additions ( my additions are blue ).

Here is my Meatloaf Nowdays Recipe:

1 lb ground beef
1/2 can of tomato sauce (about 7 oz)
3/4 cup uncooked oats or 3/4 stack of crumbled saltines (I used oats this time)
1 egg
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 1/2 t salt
1/4 t pepper
1 T beef bullion
2 or 3 T Worcestershire sauce
2 or 3 T liquid smoke
1/2 cup sweet potato puree
1/2 cup butternut squash puree
1 T wheat germ
2 T flaxseed meal

Mix everything in a bowl with your hands. Press into a greased loaf pan or round pan.
Top with a mixture of:
1 cup ketchup
rest of tomato sauce
1/2 cup of brown sugar
2 T liquid smoke

Bake at 400 degrees for 1 hour Oh so yummy

Monday:
Breakfast - Cheese toast and smoothies
Lunch - Spinach wrap with tomato
Dinner - Barbecue Sandwiches (the meat is already in the crockpot, dang it!!)

Tuesday:
Breakfast - Cereal
Lunch - Subway
Dinner - Lasagna

Wednesday:
Breakfast - Oatmeal
Lunch - Tuna Sandwich
Dinner - Pizza and salad

Thursday:
Breakfast - Cereal
Lunch - Subway
Dinner - Oriental Chicken Wraps

Friday:
Breakfast - Cheese Toast
Lunch - Spinach Salad
Dinner - Take Out

Saturday:
Breakfast - Cinnamon Rolls
Lunch - BLTs
Dinner - Something without cheese since we are having our friends over who gave up cheese for Lent. :-0 !!

Sunday:
Breakfast - Bacon and eggs
Lunch - Rotisserie Chicken with pasta salad
Dinner - Leftover Buffet

Couponing: The Lists

First of all, the winner is (drum roll, please)....Mrs. G! My nephew did the honors of drawing the winner from a bowl as Zachary looks on.

It was pretty funny when I explained what this was all about.
Nephew: (looking in the bowl) There's only 4. What was the prize?
Me: (showing him the prize) A coupon organizer!! Isn't it cute??
Nephew: (glancing at Gary) Ummm...yeah.
Me: Maybe I should get a better prize for next time.
Nephew: That would be good.

So maybe I will get a better prize for next time.

Mrs. G - I will be contacting you to get your address so I can mail you your prize. Thank you for reading my blog. :-)

Mrs. G is actually someone who I went to high school with. We were in band together. Isn't that cool?? (yes, I am a dork, hee hee)

Ok, based on the comments I have gotten maybe I should have posted this lesson first. I really didn't want to overwhelm everyone at first. The thing is, this whole process is a tad overwhelming until you get the hang of it. My goal was to start with the whole list thing in a couple of weeks so you could have about a months worth of coupons to refer to.

There is a whole database out there of coupons and sales. The stores do base their sales on the coupons that are out. What we want to do is catch an item on sale with a coupon. For example, a few weeks ago Softsoap was on sale at my Albertson's for $1. I had a .33 cent coupon that was tripled. I got that Softsoap for.01! Plus, since I had 6 coupons I got 6 Softsoaps (by doing 2 different transactions since they will only double 3 coupons per transaction). I'll let those goosebumps I know you have settle a bit before going on. So instead of spending the usual $2 every time you need it or however much it usually is, I spent.06 right now and I am stocked up for awhile. Some stores like Target, Walgreens, or CVS even have store coupons you can stack with Sunday coupons for even more savings. The thing is the Sunday coupon may have come out months ago and who can remember when it was or where we put it. This where The List comes in. These lists do cost money (with the exception of The Coupon Mom) to receive, but they will more than pay for themselves. The List tells you in a chart what is on sale, where you can find the coupon (1/1 RP = January 1 Red Plum coupon packet) and how much you will pay for it. These are the sites that have "The List"

The Grocery Game - this site has the option of choosing which stores you want to pay for. You can also get a free trial, which is great for you who are just wanting to try things out. I pay for Walgreens, CVS, Albertson's, and Walmart. This is the site that has all the store sales listed in the Walmart list so you can use it to price match.

The Coupon Mom - Like I said this site is free and I just learned about it. To get a free membership you have to click through some pages with offers on them, but just keep skipping and you will get to finally sign up for free. It has a lot of good info on it. It has a coupon database that you can search for a sale item and it will tell you the week and packet the coupon was in. Priceless!! I use my other lists less and less now that I have the concept down and I look at the ads myself. and go search here. This is also where I found the free ebook that had a lot about the concept of couponing. Required reading for anyone who wants to seriously do this. It is not long and hold vital info. You can read it on Adobe Reader from this site.

Groceries Dirt Cheap - This is a local site for the Dallas/Fort Worth area. One thing this site does have is a free Wal-greens list. It even tells you how to read the list. This is a great place to start getting familiar with The List and the look of it.

Go explore these list sites. Find one that may work for you. Ask any questions you may have. I will post another couponing lesson on Tuesday on how I use these lists to shop.

Coupon lesson coming up in a bit

My nephew stayed the night with us last night and things are a bit more busy today than I had planned (we all know how that is). I am working on my coupon post in between all the busy kiddos. And plus, we will see who won that fabulous coupon organizer.

If you haven't already, go get your Sunday papers. If you can find the double-deckers these are best. Double-Deckers are the Saturday Early Edition and the Sunday edition packaged together with a paper wrap. They have two sets of coupons in them for $1.98 instead of $3 for 2 papers.

If you are thinking of beginning this, today is a great day to start because the Proctor and Gamble insert came out today. This always has great stuff like batteries, toothpaste, laundry detergent (tide), diapers, you get the idea. So go get them and I will return as soon as things settle down, hopefully by this evening. :-)