Meal Planning: More Work, Less Money

It seems these days that everyone is pinching pennies....not to mention the Christmas season (though its over a month away) is being crammed down our throats already! I am sure we are all looking to save a little money, here and there. I have heard from SEVERAL friends that MEAL PLANNING is the best way to go. It saves you money and makes for healthier, at-home eating for your family. Because lets face it, though Taco Bell (3 times a week) is a quick fix, it will haunt you in the long run!

I first got really excited about this new household endeavor for the obvious reasons...I love making lists, I love to cook, I love to EAT yummy food and my husband will be thrilled to know I am not spending a bazillion dollars on groceries.

A few downers to this plan...I like to make lists-but I tend to forget them or lose them before they are carried out, I am not really good at coupons( again I always forget them or don't read them correctly), and I barely ever have time to go to the store with two small kids. It seems like such a chore to bring them and it seems so daunting when i have to go LATE at night, exhausted (not to mention i spend more money when I am not thinking straight). YES, these are excuses but pretty much reality these days.

BUT no matter MY PERSONAL ISSUES.....I am going to make myself do it!! It's the weekend and I WILL go grocery shopping with a plan and be successful.....hopefully! I will let you know how it goes.

For my first "new" meal of the week I am going to try this AMAZINGLY EASY Crockpot recipe I found on Less Cake More Frosting, it seriously calls for three ingredients (and one of them is my favorite product on the planet...SODA!) No it's not organic (thats an idea: ORGANIC CocaCola!) but I am not sure I care so much about that. I am more into EASY right now and if it's a crowd pleaser. I am working on making my grocery list more "green" but it's not a huge priority right now (and yes my babies wear disposable diapers ;). Saving money is the priority right now.

Do you have any tips on how to successfully Meal Plan? How do you only eat organically on a budget?! (this one I am dying to know)

Confessions of a Frazzled Mommy

I have yet to figure out that every day is different and I should have ZERO expectations for how my day should look. You would think that after two kids (the youngest being 9 months) that I would know this and that it might make my day go a bit smoother if we just flew by the seat of our pants.

Unlike you, who I am sure is the PERFECT MOTHER, Here are a few things I haven't quite figured out, though you are probably wondering if should have by now:

#1 You would think after two years of waking up to feed the baby in the middle of the night or wee hours of the morning, I would jump up, sprint downstairs, make the bottle in 2.4 minutes and have her back asleep in 5. Yeh right! I am lucky if I can get my tired behind out of bed. Fortunately my husband is my knight in shining armor and helps more than you know before the sun comes up.

#2 Speaking of sleep deprivation.....You would think I would learn to chug my morning cup (or 2) of coffee. Otherwise it sits on the table, counter, or whenever I deemed worthy of being out of the babies' reach. (Caffeine is a necessity to this momma's day) Today I had no coffee in the house, made a trip to Dunkin Donuts with the kids (all in our Pajamas) and have yet to take the first sip of my delicious Pumpkin Flavored treat! It's 11:30am and I am kicking myself.

#3 After two years of sleep schedules you would think I would remember that I only have 1.5-2 hours of naptime to do the dishes, throw in a load of laundry, pay bills, make a QUIET phone call and most importantly take a shower!! I was told before Hudson (my first) was born"showering and putting on 'big girl clothes' makes you feel so much better about yourself, just a shower makes the world of difference" In which my response was "who do I have to impress? the mail man?"

And now nap time is over and I am sitting here in my sweatpants and messy pony tail (don't judge me!)

#4 Please tell me I am not the only one who time and time again, forgets to change over the continuous loads of clothes in the washer and after dinner realizes.... STINK (literally)! Sour clothes! Not only do you have re-wash the clothes, but this basically sets you back another few hours in your "domestic progress"

No wonder you get SO MANY CLOTHES at Baby Showers, every knows (but you) that you will be changing small peoples clothes 3-4 a day! (atleast when you have a lot of clothing options, you don't have to wash as much....right?!)

NOTE TO NEW MOMS: INVEST IN STAIN REMOVER!!! (I like Shout, Oxi Clean works too!)

#5 No matter how many times you clean up their toys (during nap time, while they are watching a movie, after you have stub your toe on the SAME LEGGO four times!) The floor will be messy again in a few minutes, if not seconds! Don't bother!! I completely agree with teaching your child at an early age to clean up! At our house we sing the song (props to Barney!) and we teach our toddler how to clean up COMPLETELY!! But whats the point in the middle of the day? unless it helps your sanity and you can't continue in your day.....by all means PICK UP THE TOYS. But it just frustrates me. If my kids are having fun and they are playing with their toys (not just throwing them around and abusing them) then I will wait until bedtime to, as Hudson says.... "Meem up"

the joys of Mommyhood!

(when all else fails, just have fun!)

I love lamp

Well, really I love lanterns...paper lanterns to be exact! Just thought I would spread the love and share some super cute ideas I saw on ohdeedoh a few days ago and fell in love with. To be quite honest, I am a little too excited about them. I used them today for Hudson's 2nd birthday party and I have some stored away for my friends baby shower in November! (No one will notice, right?!) I will post pics of the little man's party ASAP, but for now you too can LOVE LANTERNS. (don't get too carried away, yes these pics are of baby nurseries, no I am not pregnant. I am thinking about using them in Hudson's "big boy room")

My absolute favorite I love the gray and yellow colors!

Can anyone share an easy tutorial on how to make the "Martha Stewart-ish tissue paper "lantern"? (the fringy ones)

Do you have a new obsession? decorating or not....

Just go to bed...and sleep all night long.

I feel like this is our new family slogan! Hudson will be 2years old TOMORROW! (holy cow!) and for some reason the bedtime wars have started over again. This time they include stalling and screaming! He is perfectly fine until you actually walk out of the room. He's been bathed, fed, bottled (yes, he still takes a bottle because thats the only way I can get him to drink milk...don't judge me ;) He's gone potty and brushed teeth. We've read a story, sang a song, prayed. He has, not one but, TWO blankets and his passy and his sound machine is on. He's not afraid of the dark, and he hasn't always done this.

WHAT THE HECK IS THE PROBLEM?

When you first bring your kids home from the hospital, yeh of course they don't sleep much as newborns....they want to eat all the time. Eventually (if you are lucky) you can get them on some sort of routine, and even if they wake up in the middle of the night, you feed them and you BOTH go back to sleep. When our kids learned how to pull up on things we generally went through a phase of having to go in there rooms and lay them back down, because for some weird reason they crawled up the crib rails in their sleep?!

(maybe my kids are just weird? Ha!)

BOTH of our kids have slept through the night at 6 months, they sleep with ALL the sleep props we could find (and they would except).....passy, blankie, and sound machine (who cares what the books say...right?) They both LOVE their own bed (thank Goodness) and they never wanted to be rocked or cuddled to sleep.

You just laid them down and that was that!

With the exception of teething, we have really had great kids who had GREAT, if not FANTASTIC sleep schedules. So, maybe I am just spoiled? Maybe my expectations are too much?

Maybe I am just getting a taste of what "its really like"?

Now its generally a fight to get Hudson to actually give in to the idea that it's bed time. Riley for some weird reason wakes up most nights at 10:30 or 11am to SUCK DOWN a bottle (even though during the day she barely wants to take one) They both wake up around 5:45 or 6am...wanting a bottle or if it's Hudson, its SOMETHING different every time. More so Riley than Hudson, but sometimes they will go back to sleep. We try not to "get up" until 7 or 7:30am. I am exhausted by the time morning comes, which means I am exhausted all day! not to mention the lack of sleep Hudson gets from all of his fighting sleep, he is sooo grumpy and whiny until nap time, sometimes afterwards too.

I am by no means complaining, more so voicing my frustration with myself. I know moms are tired all the time. I can deal with that. Really I just want to know if I am alone in this?! and if I am.... any suggestions on how to get a 2 year old to sleep without WW3 breaking out? One day I would like to move him to a "big boy bed" mainly because he is potty trained....but I fear that he will just get up whenever the heck he wants to.

I think i might stop reading this book to Hudson

(one of his favorites, BTW)...he is getting the wrong idea! :)

For the love of cupcakes!

"Put on your matching hat, slip under the muffin top of your Cupcake Car, and let the world figure itself out for awhile. Get (or give) the sheer, joyful chaos of a gift that is mind-blowing, triple-dog-dare, double-infinity forever cool. Make the kids or grandkids literally squeal with joy. Bring it to work and buzz the breakroom. Crash parades! Putter about the ‘hood. Ever had a crowd of kids chasing after you just for the crazy gleeful heck of it? (No worries, the top speed is a comfy-safe 7 mph.) What’s it made of? A 24-volt electric motor, a heavy-duty battery, sheet metal, wire, fabric, wood…and mad genius. Launched at Burning ManSM as a cooperative art car project, the Cupcake Car sprang from the fevered mind of Bay Area artist Lisa Pongrace and her less-rules-more-laughs posse of artists and techno geeks. Yours will be tricked out with your favorite topping, so start thinking flavors." (directly from the website)

You can make your check out to Mr. Neiman Marcus to the tune of $25,000!

Family Traditions: Pumpkin Patch

I am a huge fan of Family Traditions, HUGE FAN! I get excited just thinking about them. When you get married and have kids, your world changes during the holidays. You can no longer just go and hang out with YOUR family. You are pulled in a bazillion different directions (if you are a people pleaser like myself) and most times "relaxing and fun" turns into "exhausting and exhausting". I love that now, Kevin and I are starting our own traditions. We can choose to incorporate our past traditions with our families, but we are also learning that it's okay to do new things without any expectations (which sometimes is hard for me;)

One family tradition that I LOVE is picking out pumpkins. It doesn't necessarily revolve around a certain holiday, but a season (my favorite season, btw)! Kevin and I started our annual trip up to Burt's Pumpkin Patch our first Fall together (married). Three years later we are hauling our two pumpkins up north to pick their own pumpkins. The weather was gorgeous (a little hotter than expected), the kids were in fairly good moods (for being sleep) and we very much enjoyed our time together

(Basically Riley wanted to eat everything she saw.)

one picture she wasn't eating red mulch.

our pumpkins

Look Out!

I am excited about my new love for baking, crafting and decorating. Really it's always been a passion of mine, however the last few years have been full of getting married and spitting out babies. Things have slowed down a bit (HA!) and I have a little more time to have a hobby....some might call it a CREATIVE OUTLET. Whatever you want to call it....I am here, I am going to create things and there is no going back (my poor husband).

Here is my first project.....

Seeing as Halloween has almost come and gone, I am going to spin this into a Christmas Wreath.

I am thinking bright reds, greens and whites (and of course polka dots)

Not sure about the bright big numbers (I do like glitter), I am leaning more towards a monogram, S.

what do you think?

Check out how to make this cutie patootie wreath.

I will let you know how it turns out. Now to bed, before my husband takes my computer privileges away ;)

More fall festivities to come....we are going to the pumpkin patch on Saturday! eek! can't wait!