Menu Planning Monday

Cheesy potato soup
Fresh fruit

Blueberry French Toast Bake
Bacon
Fresh fruit

Japlapeno and Apple Baked Beans
Corn Dog Muffins
(Held over from last week so if you want the recipe, look there.)

Bean and Cheese Burritos
Corn
Fresh fruit

Homemade macaroni and cheese with tuna fish and peas (I add Velveeta, milk, and shredded cheese to cooked pasta. Then I put in drained canned tuna fish and cooked frozen peas. Just a dump recipe.)
Jello with fruit

Grilled steak
Mashed sweet potatoes
Green beans

Head over the Menu Planning Monday host site for lots more recipes.

Week in Review

The lifespan of a cardboard box, when loved by a two year old is actually longer than one week! Who would have thought? It's great for riding in, hiding things in, climbing on, pulling and pushing, and just about anything else you can think of. (Or perhaps, the box is part of a fashion statement called Corregated Silky Athletic Chic? Don't you think the satin belt neck tie is magnificent when paired with red Adidas shoes?)

We also talked about stocking hats this week. We looked at pictures of lots of hats and looked at Kenson's hats and Mama's hat. We talked about the parts of a hat including the band and the pom pom and then made our own hats by cutting a paper plate in half and adding a band and a pom pom. These hats lasted a very short time! I'm lucky I even got them assembled; Kenson really wanted to destroy them before we even got them put together. (Note the doubling up of hats in photo one; we're starting a new trend.) This also meant that for a few days Kenson wanted to wear his stocking hat everywhere.


Enjoying some peanut butter/cream cheese from a pudding dessert...yummy!



We went to Lincoln on Friday since D had the day off from school and did some major shopping. Plus we played on a gigantic playground at Antelope Park. (Wonderful park with equipment big enough for grown ups to be on so we could go down lots of bigger and winding slides with Kenson. Also the site of Kenson's first pout session over having to stop playing.) Saturday we went to Norfolk to see D's grandma and Sunday was church.

That's it! That's the week!

My Life as a Widow has now Begun

Can you hear the blue haired woman dressed in polyester playing the organ? Soccer season is now in full swing. Just call me a soccer widow. D supervises a before school study hall for his boys and then has practices after school so he gets home a lot later now. Next week is their pre game scrimmage and then we'll have 1-2 games every week. It gets crazy and there are definitely times where I wish D were home more. But, my husband loves it. And I love it too in some ways.

We get to interact with a whole new age level: high school boys. And a lot of those boys were kids we taught in elementary so it's fun to be back around them. And with our school, the soccer team is about so much more than soccer. It's one of the few truly multicultural extra curriculars so D's had to teach about teamwork and community building. And our team is full of kids who don't have many expectations for their future. They think things like "Finish high school. Find a job." The soccer team is really about creating a culture of developing your potential rather than settling for the minimum. It really is a ministry opportunity for us. Each year, we find ourselves a little deeper into relationships with the group of boys before us. With the addition of Kenson, the boys seem to be very interested in being around us as a family and checking him out. Hopefully, we'll have some more opportunities as a family to interact with the team.

Penny Pinching Ideas-Part 2

Here are my list of strategies that I'm going specifically going to try to get my grocery budget down.
-I intend to stretch my food budget by trying to do more with cheaper foods like beans, rice, pasta, and cheaper cuts of meat. When we were first married and had no money, we ate all sorts of cheap things like Ramen and frozen pizza and frozen french fries. We've of course evolved and usually eat chicken a couple of times a week which isn't exactly the cheapest thing to do. I catagorized all my recipes by protein source and really when I got down to it, I have a lot of meatless choices so we're going to be eating less chicken and pork and more meatless or beef entres. (My parents give us beef from their cattle so beef is basically free.)

-I think Kristi also suggested using the bread outlet stores. I'm going to start doing that and freezing the bread so I will get all my bread once a month or so. My aunt Sheree bakes all of her bread from scratch using her bread machine to do the kneading. (Not something I'm opposed to and something I may get around to; we'll see.)

-I'm going to do more stocking up on basic grocery items when they are on sale, especially aound the holidays. Due to limited pantry space and laziness, I usually buy canned vegetables, cereals, breads, etc. only when I am out and only a few at a time. But I think if I would be very deliberate about taking advantage of rock bottom sales, I could save money. Especially on soda. I'm not ready to give up my soda habit and I usually end up paying full price for soda. That's silly. It would be very easy to get it on sale. I also think that about household items like cleaning supplies and tolietries. Shopko and Walgreens often have rebates or special offers on this items and I think if I am intentional about stocking up during these sales, I can save money.

-I am going to create a price list of pantry staples to help me gauge sale prices. Often, I think sale prices are great steals and then think that I should stock up. But I find it so hard to remember what the "real price" of an item is and if I'm stocking up just because I think it's a good deal, that may not be a great strategy. Shopping at Walmart is especially tricky because they often post advertising that sticks out from the shelf, making it look like an item is on sale. But then when you look, it's the always low price.

-And lastly, I'm going to start the envelope and calculator method of shopping. (You know, where you get cash for the amount you have to spend and take only that cash with you into the store. And then you use your calculator to make sure you don't go over.) I hate shopping like that but I think it will help me decide if I really can afford to buy the ice cream bars or not. (I shopped like that when we were first married so it's not like I've never done it before. But in recent years, I have a grocery budget but didn't get too worried if I went over. )

Penny Pinching Ideas-Part 1

Thanks to those of you who left comments for me on ways to cut my grocery bill. I got lots of great ideas plus there were personal opinions on if certain things really do work to save money. Exactly what I needed. I'm guessing most of you have enough to do already and don't spend your time constantly monitoring the comment section of my posts, so I thought I'd summarize what people mentioned plus share some of my own findings/brainstorming.

-The concensus among most people was that Sam's Club did not seem to save them more money. (I thought that this perhaps might be true but didn't know for sure so I'm glad others affirmed it.) No one said anything about trying to hit multiple stores which is something that is often suggested but to me seemed to be a bit crazy. (Is it really worth the .50 off a can of soup if you have to drive to another store to get it?) A lot of people vouched for Walmart's bargains.

-Jenny left me a mail order diaper website that seems to be comparable and sometimes even cheaper than purchasing in the store, especially if you prefer a name brand diaper. I didn't look through all the brands and I need to do a bit more investigating but I think I may order through them. Another plus is that they are delivered to your house so you don't have to try to haul a bulky diaper box through the store and to your house. (And it's free shipping on orders of $49 or more which is quite easy to do.) They also have other baby products which might be worth looking into.

-Kristi left some good information on two non profits, Food Net and Angel Food Ministries, that are trying to help people afford groceries. Food Net is a food distribution group that provides free food while Angel Food Ministries provides discounted foods. Neither have income restrictions and I appreciate that both of them follow a Biblical model for community where you receive when you are in need but then have opportunities for giving to the group as you can. There are two Angel Food locations close to me and I signed up for several things from them in March. It is advertised as food at 50% off normal grocery story pricing. It looks to me like their basic box is especially true of this. The fruit box I'm not so sure about but I signed up for one anyway.

-Natalie said she cuts out all snacks except for Goldfish crackers and popcorn. Nothing else fru fru.

-Natalie also offerred me the use of some old cloth diapers she has. I know cloth can be a real money saver; I'm just not ready to make that committment when hopefully we'll be out of diapers fairly soon. (Thanks though, you're a peach, Natalie!)

-I also know several people on here do freezer cooking. I often freeze our leftovers so I'm not throwing away food. My Granny took this to a whole new extreme. (If you are my family members reading this, quit laughing!) She used to keep a jar in her freezer just for food scraps. Anything that was left over and could be made into a soup went in there. Pasta, hamburger, vegetables, and more...she just kept adding to it after every meal. Then when it got full, she'd add some broth or tomato juice and make soup. Not kidding; I've eaten it many a time. (I've never eaten the same soup twice because each time she made it, it had different ingredients but that's another story.) I actually almost started doing that and then my husband talked me out of it.

One website I did like was HillyBilly Housewife. Usually, I think most sites tell me things I already know. (Like buy generic foods, shop the day old bread rack at Walmart, shop thrift stores, leave out expensive spices, etc.) But this one seemed more practical. I also kind of liked the site MommySavers. The articles were a little weak but there is a forum which lets people share and I thought the discussions that were up and going were relevant and helpful.

What's Worked for Us-Nighttime Sleeping

We had decided before Kenson came home that we would not be a co-sleeping family. There is much adoption literature that says that this is good for bonding and advocates this. And I know many families who have done this and done well with it. But it's not for us. Call me selfish if you wish but I need my bedroom to be "my" space to some degree. I need to sleep without having a toddler kick me and moosh me.

We toyed with just having Kenson sleep in a bed in our room but to me that seemed it would be adding just another transition into the mix. So we decided on sleeping on an air mattress on the floor of Kenson's room. We started by letting him fall asleep in between us on the air mattress and then moving him to his crib. We tried to make sure one of us was in the bedroom at all times once he fell asleep just in case he woke up.

He has slept through all but 2 nights since he has been home. (Thank You, Jesus!) So after seeing him sleep so soundly, we decided to not worry so much about being in the room with him once he fell asleep but to instead make sure someone was on the same floor of the house as him. But either way, we slept on the air mattress next to the crib for about a week and half.

One morning, I had gotten up to shower and D was sound asleep on the air mattress. Kenson woke up and for whatever reason didn't crawl up on the mattress next to D. He instead came into the bathroom and found me. We decided then to do a few more days of sleeping on the air mattress and then we would start sleeping in our own bed. (We're only a short walk down the hall from Kenson's room.) We figured that if he was confident enough to get out of bed and come find me in the shower, then he would do the same if we were in our bedroom.

So we continued to put him to sleep on the air mattress, next to us. We would then move him to his crib later that night. And then we would sleep in our bedroom.

Next transition-letting Kenson fall asleep in his crib on his own. Before we moved him to the crib on his own, for several nights, I left chocolate chips on the sheets for him to find as a good night surprise. I wanted him to associate the crib with good things and for him to practice getting in and out of it on his own as he crawled in to get the chocolate chips.

And just recently we have gone to having him fall asleep on his own, without Mom or Dad in the room. I started moving around more during his naptime and he had been falling asleep regardless of where I was in the house during naptime. So, we decided to try it with nighttime sleeping. We still stay upstairs and the first few nights, I wandered in and out of the hallway and his room so he knew I was still around. But he seems to be doing good with falling asleep on his own.

Kenson loves to come upstairs to go to bed. I think that's because he loves the routine of brushing his teeth and putting on pajamas and reading books and rocking. One of our favorites books right now is called "Counting Kisses". It counts down from 10 to 1, with each number representing a unique way of kissing a baby good night. Kenson giggles and giggles at all of the kissing, from 10 kisses on the toes to 2 kisses on sleepy eyes. It's a great book for attachment. We have also really liked the books "Please Puppy" and "Baby, Please" by Spike Lee. They both have simple rhymythic store lines and great African American characters.

Week in Review

We went to story time at the library for the second week in a row. This week, we celebrated Dr. Suess' birthday by listening to some Suess, playing a Suesstastical game, making a Cat in the Hat hat, and eating cupcakes.

We had D's soccer boys over on Sunday for chilli and snacks. The US vs Mexico soccer game (and Kenson) provided entertainment.

We went on a shadow walk since we had some wonderful winter sun. We also made shadow puppets from posterboard and plastic spoons.

We got a welcome home package in the mail from Travis, Michelle, and Ansel. We had to immediately put it on and practice zipping it. (Thanks, guys!)