The OTHER gift giving months....

Well guess what? I'm thinking about budgets again.

We did NOT do the CSA this year. It was $300 for 12 weeks last year and I loved every minute of it. But.... for $25/week I can buy a lot of veggies at the farmer's market so that is what I've decided to do. (Along with Project Garden Plot (aka Ha-ha, try to get in HERE, deer)... which you may hear more about later.) So chalk up that point to freaking out about the economy. And I'm saving a few pennies to buy myself some new clothes after the baby..... or, well, in the fall. And a couple new maternity bras because people, mine are RATTY.

But what I'm really thinking about is gifts.

June-July is birthday, graduation and wedding months around here. This year we have one graduation gift, three wedding gifts, our anniversary, 3 kid birthdays, several family birthdays, Father's Day and um, that's all I can think of right now.

What do you get for graduation gifts? My husband says the only appropriate graduation gift is either cash or a check. So I'm going with that. And a card from the dollar store. Now to decide how BIG the check should be.

The wedding gifts we have for this year are mostly Hot's former students. They pretty much get a standard gift.... Target gift cards. So that's fairly easy.

For our anniversary, Hot got a chop saw. Or a miter saw. Or, well, it's a big ass 12" saw that will allow me to add exponentially to his "honey do" list. We are both thrilled. It is a little fuzzy as to what I got for our anniversary. Technically, I got new tennis shoes for Mother's Day (but I mostly used gift cards to pay for them) and the game "Pass the Pigs" from the kids.... I love that the kids get me a new game every year.... it is a tradition and a laptop for our anniversary. I think. But I haven't gotten the laptop yet. By the way... suggestions??

For Father's Day, Hot is getting (honey are you reading? Don't look.) reloading equipment. Really expensive reloading equipment. And a new cheese slicer... because he broke ours. Oh, and a very cool new silicone flipper.... because I banned the metal one to the bbq (it killed all my cookware and electric frying pan) and he broke the nylon one.

Sweet got 2 new pairs of shorts ($25), new swimming trunks ($9), a transformer ($11), a fake ipod ($20), a transformer music player thingy ($13) & a school backpack ($13.. I love Lands End clearance). I think that is all we got him. He's getting yet another transformer when the baby is born and maybe some school workbooks and school supplies.

Tuff is getting new swimming googles, a pink flashlight and, um, some other stuff for her birthday. And, um, something when the baby is born. Yikes... I better get on that, huh?

The baby is getting some new diapers and some pacifiers.

Father's day.... hmmm. My dad will get... something.... probably snacks from Costco... he loves that. Hot's dad will get money towards his season football tickets. My grandpa will get a card with a note telling him we put xx amount of money into savings for college for our kids in his name. He loves that. Oh, and pictures of the kids.

I haven't even thought about all the birthdays we have in June.... Hot got my mom a spidey because she mentioned she lost hers and he loves the one she got him. It's this stretchy spiderweb looking thing with plastic hooks on the sides that you can move around. You put it over a load of junk in the back of the pickup. He thought of that all by himself. I'm so proud. Then we have his sister, a 9-year-old niece and his dad. June is a busy month.

I feel the urge to document all of this out so I can figure it out and get busy because, well, ack, I'm going to hatch a baby here in 3 weeks or so....

Last Weekend.

We did some birthday weekend last week and I forgot to tell you all about it.

Saturday was a pretty low-key kinda day. Took the kids to the farmer's market but I was really tired when we got there so I gave them each a couple of bucks and they spent a good long time in the bouncy house. Then we went to lunch.... a real treat.... and I had a ragin' cajun rice-potato bowl (I love those.... and screw everyone who says a nine month pregnant woman can't have green peppers, onions, spice sausage & cajun gravy). The kids had "guts" for lunch. Bread guts. Oh, come on, you've never been to lunch at The Staggering Ox?? I can't explain.

My mom and dad called on Sunday and said they were on their way down and, in fact, were about 90 minutes out. Who-hoo. The house was clean enough and I had some burger thawed. Hot grabbed a bag of chips and salsa and an extra package of buns while he was in town at the dump. We lounged around and drank beer (ok, so I drank cranberry juice & club soda with a lime) and just enjoyed the day. Sweet got a gift card to Target... his favorite thing in the world... and some other good gifts.

One of the best lines from Sweet was, "Hey grandpa, 3 days and 2 nights." ??? "I've been wearing these same shorts for 3 days and 2 nights." Grandpa was so proud.

Tuff came in the house at one point with a very odd look on her face and said she was going to throw up.... but she didn't. She was obviously not feeling well for a good part of the later evening.... she draped herself around her daddy and would not let go. Seriously. She was like this little mink stole draped across his shoulders as he moved the sprinklers and she would recline on him like he was the best lawn furniture in the world while they were relaxing. She had a bit of a fever so we dosed her before bed.

After my folks left Sweet made "the face" and ran for the bathroom. He almost made it to the toilet. So I cleaned up those piles and tossed him in the tub and called work to let them know I probably wouldn't be in on Monday.

Monday was cold so we spent most of the day on the couch watching cartoon movies. Tuff was clingy. I finished Sweet's brownie-ice cream-pizza cake. Nana and Papa stopped by that night for the official "day of" party. More presents. Awesome cake. (Pictures later.)

The first official "kid" party will be at The Adventure Zone on June 13th (3:30-5:30, personal pizzas provided) and now I have a five-year-old.

Windows

Ok. I give. How do you wash windows?

Seriously.

I've tried the attach-it-to-the-hose spray cleaner thingies.

I've tried vinegar and water and old newspaper.

I've tried windex and a microfiber cloth.

I've tried sudsy ammonia and a squeegee.

My windows look like heck. Usually in the spring I get all gung-ho and do two or three windows a weekend until they are all done. (Six windows upstairs, ten regular windows downstairs, one big picture window and the front door glass....) This morning I was looking through the ONE window I've done so far and it looks terrible.

Sigh.

Transition

Glah. I'm in transition.

Hot changed from is "winter" schedule to his "June" schedule this week. Meaning now he is working 8-5. The end of the month he will go to his "fire" schedule.... 9-6 and on call all the freakin' time. The challenge of June is something called "first out." He is "first out" on the call list if there is a fire. Once he goes to the regular fire schedule that will rotate between all the Engine Bosses and Crews.... but for now he's pretty much first out for the whole month. (A lot of the other crew and bosses are teachers and not "on" yet.... but a lot of the new crew came on this week.... so it is training and testing and chaos.)

So during the winter Hot picks the kids up around 4:30 and comes home and feeds them. But now.... I'm suddenly in charge of DINNER. EVERY NIGHT. Ugh. The pressure. So far this week we've had: red beans & rice (Sweet's favorite) and burritos. Tonight will be something delightful with leftover taco meat. Tomorrow may be a spinnin' chicken since I need to make a Costco run. I'll cook a roast on Saturday... so that will cover Saturday night and possibly some bbq beef sandwiches for later. We are all completely in love with the 29 cent corn on the cob and I drive by that store every night so I'll try to stop there for that a few times a week.

I've made some lists and it will smooth out but right now it just isn't all that fun to try to plan meals that are moderately healthy and can be tossed together in 15-20 minutes.... especially when I could eat burgers or sandwiches pretty much every night and be happy. Boring.

It Coulda Been Worse....

Last night my husband came to the door with a sad look on his face.

He was trying to tell me something without the kids realizing it and I THOUGHT he mouthed "I just ran over a cat" which was very sad and not at all what he said.

He backed over Sweet's bike.... which I pointed out to him was not as sad as running over a cat. AND the GOOD NEWS.... Sweet was not ON the bike at the time. (Side note: Anyone else notice how many local kids are getting hit by cars lately??)

It wasn't even Sweet's 'spensive $15 bike... it was the 50 cent bike Papa got him at the last sheriff's auction. Bent the back rim and scratched the bumper on the van. Granted... I just invested $8 in tire tubes for it but I'm hoping we can send Papa to the NEXT auction to buy another 50-center so we can steal the rim and fix this bike.

Sweet was very sad but understanding... he and daddy both said they were sorry. The bike that DIDN'T get smooshed is:

It PROBABLY isn't what you think....

My brother and his wife have an announcement.... we are all waiting to hear it.....

Go ahead.

Tell us.

What are you DOING this summer?

So Elle is asking.... What are you DOING this summer?

Now..... I don't really feel qualified to answer this..... I mean.... I go to an office 40 hours a week and my kids aren't in school yet.... so, with that qualification.... Here's our summer plan.

The babe is due June 28th.

Our lives are going to be simple, simple, simple....

Sweet & Tuff will do some private swim lessons in July and, possibly, an organized group set in August. This will let them be in the pool without me risking drowning 3 children (or myself) in the process.... Happy.

Wednesdays are "town" days. We will try for 10:30 story hour at the library and any errands on Wednesdays. Most times I will probably pack a snack lunch and we will eat at the park or somewhere.

Sundays are grill days. I'm going to try some new grill recipes.... veggies and stuff.... besides the usual fare of steak, burgers & hobo dinners.

We have plans to, periodically (every 10 days or so) meet family at our favorite lake-type place in town and have a picnic for dinner. Spinnin' chicken and strawberries for dinner. I love Costco.

Our daily schedule will vary but I try to sneak out of bed between 6:15-6:30 and have some quiet time... this summer I will be able to walk because Hot won't go to work until 9. On the elliptical at 7 if I can't walk. Kids get up and eat breakfast, do sunscreen, get dressed and brush teeth with minimal help. Tuff needs help with her hair and her pink sparkly lip gloss.

I shower ever day. Every. Single. Day. Mmm.... what a decadent goal.

My "projects" for the summer include cleaning the garage and painting the porch posts and upstairs outside window trim. Wish me luck.

The kids' "projects" for the summer include making fairy gardens and building things out of old wood and painting rocks.

Creek time. We try to play down by the creek a few times a week. It is cool in the heat. We also will have the swing set done and the pool on the corner of the porch. I can sit in my rocker and see everything I need to see.

Lunches will, generally, be eaten outside every day. We have a little table set up on the porch.

Saturday mornings are Farmer's Market and/or Cartoons.

Friday nights are movie nights.

I'm going to try to sneak in 8-10 hours of work a week during the first few weeks to stretch the maternity leave.

I'll let you know about mid-summer how it is all going.....

Nesting This Week: The Basket

I updated the list.

And I'm adding some little piece of advice for all future mommies.... The Basket.

What, you ask, is the basket? Well.

Mine is a round hard-sided basket with an arched handle.

What makes it The Basket?

It contains all important baby/mama gear for those first weeks on the couch. The importance of the hard handle... you can snag it with your foot and heft it to yourself without disturbing a nursing infant.

What is in mine? All those things I just might need and often can't find.....

wipes & a spare diaper & diaper cream
pacifier
burp rag
remote control
notepad (for documenting nursing times and jotting down thoughts) and pen
phone
boob lube
spare bra liners
hand sanitizer
chapstick
ponytail holder

What's in Your Basket?

I don't really do fast food.

Just going INTO fast food places... well, it makes me feel like I'm slinking into some sleazy porn shop or something. Some people eat that stuff EVERY DAY.

But I was recovering from a stressful day at the legislature the other day and I though I needed Taco John's potato ole's to sooth my troubled mind....

Can I mention that there is NO TJ's like the Havre TJ's??? Those of you who have been there know what I'm talking about.... Havre doesn't have much going for it but they have a great TJ's and, of, course Rod's Drive-In (Home of the Ugly Burger) and the infamous triple-marshmallow Mountain Dew.

Oh. And then. I was out-smarted & upsold by a high school dropout with less than half her natural teeth. I went inside because I can't stand the pressure of the drive-thru.... I never know what I want to order. So I look at the menu and decide I want a burrito-type meal... because that's what I left at home when I forgot my lunch.... and I decide I don't want the #1 because, well, if it is #1 then it must be trendy OR the cheapest for them to make.... so I get a #2.... a burrito and ole's and a drink. I usually don't get a drink but they have ok lemonade at TJ's. So I go to order and I say, "#2" like I order fast food every day and am a pro... and SHE says, "small, medium or large" and I get really confused but I have to hurry because that's why they paint those places bright red-yellow-orange colors... so you hurry.... and there is a line so I just say, "Middle-sized" (Which.... interestingly... is what dad always says.... never "medium diet drink" but "middle-sized diet drink" and my sister mentioned her mate is the same way.... which supports my theory she is dating her father and icked her out totally AND she said she gets angry when they only have small and large as options.)

So anyway.... I pay and am leaving the cashier clutching my change and my receipt and a plastic card with the number 51 on it and it hits me. She just played me. Instead of regular, super-sized and extra-super-sized they've switched to small, medium and large. Who orders small? five-foot-two-inch tall women and children.... that's who. I consider myself average so I order regular... but when the options are s,m,l..... then average becomes medium. Tricky, tricky marketing.

I did enjoy the HELL out of those potato ole's tho....

And later in the doctor's office I read a "Time" article about child obesity and I felt really guilty.... but we've already been down THAT road......

Maple Bars Part II

It has come to my attention some of you are not familiar with MAPLE BARS.

Here is a link.

You will love them.

Lloyd

My brother & sis-in-law have a new family member.....

They named him Lloyd.

12V-71 Detroit (450 hp +), 13 speed, no A/C, no radio (you couldn't hear it anyhow). He needs straight pipes, so he can be as loud outside as it is in the cab. Starts instantly, and runs as smooth as glass.

Smooth, Baby.

Maple Bars

My 4-year-old looked at me and said, "Mom, what's a maple bar?"

I loved maple bars when I was a kid. We got them from the local bakery on Fridays after story hour at the library.... hot out of the oven. And sometimes mom would bring home a dozen "just because" and we'd stuff ourselves with them. (Actually, I think we gorged on them because we knew dad would eat them all that night and none would be left in the morning... the man can midnight snack like no one I know...)

Chalk this one up to just another way I've failed my children.... and know we will be hanging out at the bakery counter some Saturday morning soon to get fresh, hot maple bars.

Car Sharing

We've decided to co-op our vehicles.

Meaning.... we don't have "mine" and "yours" cars anymore. Usually I drive the Outback and Hot drives the Sienna.... but not always.....

First, add to the list of things I do that makes my husband crazy, "Leaves cell phone in car." (Other things, you might remember, include burning candles, leaving the garage door open and starting 5 projects at a time.)

Then, put on the list of things that make me look at my husband cross-eyed, "Always leaves floor mat askance and sideways when exiting the vehicle."

This brings up a dilemma..... something city-folk who take public transportation will laugh about.... but....

What do you keep in your car?

Here's the list of essentials I think need to be in each vehicle:

baby wipes (in a travel container)
small notebook/pen (I have cute little ones I got as a freebie at a conference.... I can use them for work meetings and list making.)
lip balm
phone charger
spare sunglasses
plastic bag (folded and stashed.... for back seat puking or wet clothes)
towel
ice scraper
spare diaper
sweatshirt for each kid
water bottle
small first aid kit (bandaids, tylenol)
pony tail holders

Hot thinks you need:
ice scraper
giant plastic garbage bag looped over the shifter
Metallica cds
sunflower seeds

You see our challenge. I used to keep all my spare keys in the car... now I'm hauling them around in my purse or forgetting them on the key hook at home.... same goes for my ipod and cell phone.... And my coupon file used to live in the car.... now it lives in my go-bag. Sometimes I get in and the passenger seat is piled to the ceiling with, um, gear. And sometimes he gets in and the passenger seat is piled to the ceiling with library books and stuff to return to Target. And the garbage bag in the car.... that makes me nuts.... it makes the mice move in. Pack it in, pack it out, I say.

Hot can never find his favorite sweatshirt because it is always in the wrong car. And when fire season really gets rocking he will start misplacing his fire radio and boots. I can see he will need a special go-bag for that gear.

I also have totally different standards for summer vs winter. In the summer I keep beach towels and picnic gear in the car at all times. In the winter... snow boots and spare gloves.

On the up-side..... Hot is very punctual about filling up with gas and he keeps the windshield clean. Huh, I can't think of anything beneficial I contribute to the balance.... I throw away the garbage. And we've learned those extra cup holders come in handy for storing a spotting scope. Oh, and you can totally misplace your (very expensive and sentimentally dear) binoculars in all that van storage.

Sigh. I need insight and planning to make this work.

Any ideas?

License & Registration Please

I just did the license for the van. $358. Jeez-um. I knew it would be about that much but I still hyperventilated a little writing the check.

And what a, ahem, cluster-fluck. The DMV. They are transitioning to an online system on the 20th and, as of today, the printers aren't working with the new system. The woman who helped me said everyone was on edge and I saw two employees in tears.... and it was before 9:00 am. I don't think it helped when some crabby woman behind me just wandered back into their space and started complaining, loudly, when someone wouldn't help her. Seriously. We were the only people there..... it was going to be all of a 5 minute wait.... maybe.

And I didn't even get a good number for my new plates.

This is why I usually do my licensing by mail... so I'm excited about the online system.

Before Baby To Do List

Ya know I love Money Saving Mom. Well.... I also really like her other blog Mom Of Littles.

She has a master to do list for preparing for baby up.

So I thought I'd work on my own list:

Household:
Review insurances (done, with Hot's help.... we changed some of our car coverage.)
Document household for insurance (video and photo... this was "begat" from the insurance review. We need to document what we have and get a copy to the insurance guy's office for safe keeping..... no, we aren't doing this because we are concerned Baby #3 is Satan Spawn....)
Get van registered and licensed (Due April 22nd, done)

Baby Stuff:
Dig out and wash all baby clothes (done)
Decide where to put baby clothes (the dresser in the bathroom... but that means moving all of Hot's fire stuff OUT of that dresser.... we compromised and the babe gets ONE drawer..... Hot is keeping the other.)
Figure out additional stuff to buy for baby. (gas drops, pacifiers, diapers... um, what else? I decided that is enough.)
Get hospital gifts for Sweet & Tuff (possibly mp3 players?)
Plan and pack hospital bag(s) (I packed the kid craft bag. I planned the kid clothes bag. We plotted out the great carseat exchange and I made careful instructions because it turns out Papa may end up by himself with both kids.... Next I need to figure out MY stuff..... the infamous grey bathrobe, some shampoo/conditioner, toothbrush, comb, chapstick, ponytail holder, change of clothes, eyeliner.... there... done.)
Find car seat bases and put in cars (Yeah, huh, can't find those bases.... I have the car seat but not the bases....)
Write out kid instructions and pack bags for kids for labor (done-ish)
Get thank you cards (done... I have a couple packs of little notecards.)
Design birth announcement (suggestions?)
Get stamps (Darn. Forgot to do this before the price went up.....)

Mama stuff:
Feminine hygiene products for post-birth (check. Elle sent me a BOX)
Get new tennis shoes (Done. New Balance for Mother's Day.)
Plan post-baby wardrobe for the summer (you have to have a uniform and at least one outfit you look and feel great in..... people will want to go to lunch.)
Get 2 pairs cute elastic-waist shorts (I got one pair so far.)
Plan the mama 6-month list (new panties, a few wardrobe purchases, a major closet cleaning)

Plan the bedroom transitions:
Get new bed for Tuff (Hot is doing this tonight)
Measure Sweet's room and think about putting two twin beds in there (Done. We put both kids in the same room.... working ok so far.)
Find co-sleeper (Elle? Do you have it? Do I have it? Found.)
Measure Tuff's room and think about putting crib and full sized bed in there (Done.)
Think about bedside tables/chairs

Other nesting:
Continue to clean the garage (must be done by the end of summer)
Think about getting a double-door garage door opener and installation
Do the dreaded "June shopping" for all those birthdays
Plan meals and schedule for maternity leave
Decide the "summer projects" for this year (swing set/play area and paint porch posts and paint upstairs outside window trim)

Pondering

I know how to microwave something for 45 seconds. I know how to microwave something for 33 seconds...

... But how do you microwave something for 100 seconds??

The Perfect Sunday

It was the perfect Sunday. It was, really, just about a perfect weekend.

Let's go back a few days....

Monday was my I'm-on-top-of-it-Super-Mom day.... all because I cooked some chicken and was caught up on laundry.

Tuesday was my Poor-me-single-parenthood-sucks day.... we managed to get a few errands done and Hot had 3 fires in two days. The kids and I also each picked a fruit at Costco... Sweet picked strawberries, Tuff picked bananas and I picked pineapple. We can now eat chunks of fruit with an appetizer pick (the greatest toddler food-eating innovation of the current century) for every meal.

Wednesday I had "centering" for baby school..... more about that later.... and a chiro appt at 5. I do adore my chiropractor.

Thursday was a mad dash to get kids and get to an Easter egg hunt. Fun was had by all and pizza was had for dinner. Mmmm. Pizza.

I can't really remember Friday but it was a good day. Another fire. For those of you counting that makes FOUR fires last week. We watched Dinosaurs for movie night and then stayed up late watching the season finale of Friday Night Lights. I cleaned house during the commercials.

Saturday is usually reserved for cartoon viewing but Sweet said, "They are all reruns anyway..." so we had a playdate with Princess & Flower. After a quick lunch and naps/rest, the cousins came down and eggs were decorated. Then off to Nana & Papa's for pork roast and fingerling potatoes for dinner. Purple potatoes. We ate purple potatoes.... and they were good. And I love the dressing my mother-in-law makes for salad. I don't think it is complicated... it just tastes so good.

The tulips are up. Must make a note to spray them before the deer get them. Tonight.

Sunday we headed to Nana & Papa's for brunch. I had coffee and hot milk. Somehow that makes me feel sort of.... cosmopolitan or something.... Italian? Maybe it's all the Dave Robicheaux novels I've been reading.... He always has hot milk and coffee.... I'm just doing it to reduce my caffeine intake but I'm kinda starting to like it. And I did have some trauma in the morning... Tuff didn't want to wear her dress and I couldn't find my pants. The pants I wore on Thursday. I still can't find them.

Nana made a new egg casserole recipe. It was very rich and very yummy. I vote we have it again. Although I do love the old egg casserole recipe as well. Nana got the short end of the stick... she did all the cooking this year. The kids got some good Easter presents and I got a box of candy from the BEST chocolate place downtown and a gorgeous salmon begonia. Then off to our house to hunt eggs in the field north of the house. And to be thankful we didn't have to do this. Then a few laps with the 4-wheeler to make sure they got all the eggs. Then to play baseball, t-ball, soccer, kickball, horseshoes in the field south of the house. And the kids dug out all the yard toys and had a great time. The adults played some softball and a little horseshoes, sat in lawn chairs visiting and a few even napped. The only thing missing was Bloody Marys.

I won't lie... I spent a good bit of the time obsessing over what would make the afternoon a little better.... a good picnic blanket, an automatic ice machine, more lawn chairs, sliced lemons, having the hammock set up, a swing set, better organization of the kid toys, a quicker offer of sunscreen, better drink selection (I'm a water person.... we have that, Crystal Lite Pink Lemonade and Diet Caffeine Free Pepsi....), a completely dog poop free yard, two bathrooms, Bloody Marys, snacks (besides chocolate), moving the pile of old fence rails with giant rusty spikes sticking out that the kids wanted to climb on.

Everyone left by 3:00 or so and we still had time to tidy up and get a few things done before bedtime! I had some sheets to wash. Tuff had a little accident in our bed.... on me. She never does that. Seriously. Like.... 3 times since she quit wearing pull ups.

Ok, I admit, I napped. And I made Sweet's NEW FAVORITE dinner. Red beans and Rice. (A modification of the Zatarain's mix (which I think is too salty... even the low-sodium mix we got at Costco).... add two extra cans of beans and some turkey brats and serve over brown rice.... I'm still convincing myself I like brown rice.... Remember the days when I existed on white rice all the time?) Again... a very Dave Robicheaux meal.... very New Orleans, right? And we ate in the living room because Extreme Makeover Home Edition was on and that's our new favorite show. (Shut Up... I know it has been on for years... we just discovered it.) Last night made Hot cry. Seriously. Tearing up over tv. That's my sensitive man. But then he recovers, looks around our house and says, "Hey hon, I bet if we cut your leg off they'd come redo our house...." That's romance folks.

We started watching Pride & Glory but I faded out and had to go to bed. And that, dear friends, is another week at the homestead.

I guess we will start calling him Chubby.

Ok, go here, and tell me how your kid calculates out for BMI.

For background, go here and read the article about overweight pre-schoolers.

Then come back and tell me how your kid rated.

Because I have a complex right now.

My son is, apparently, overweight.

Yup. The 4-year-old in the size 6 Slims.

This child:

Fatty.

The Season Has Begun....

I've been on a cooking jag lately.... It is like I've run out of things to nest about so I'll cook instead....

Sunday the kids & I made bread, pigs in blankets, and brownies. We also made a meal outline for the week's dinners.

Su: pigs in blankets, green beans, apples
M: bowtie pasta, alfredo, sliced chicken breasts, salad (with lots and lots of ranch), corn-n-beans, bread.
Tu: sandwiches or chicken nuggets, corn and cottage cheese
W: Eggs (I'm having deviled eggs and salad... the kids may have scrambled eggs or fried egg sandwiches.... Hot will probably have an omlet.)
Th: Hamburger something or other.
F: Tomato soup and grilled cheese, apples
Sa: hobo dinners maybe

I'm trying to get into the concept of deconstructing dinner. So, for example, I added red bell peppers to the alfredo for Tuff and I. And I added cherry tomatoes to mine. Tuff likes slivered almonds on her salad. And she and I eat salad mix.... Hot & Sweet eat iceberg. So I'm trying to adapt basic meal plans instead of making a completely separate meal for kids and adults.

And by *I* I mean.... I plan and Hot executes. I did make dinner on Sunday and Monday but usually he makes dinner.... It is true.... he's more than just a cute butt in fire pants....

So I was so pleased that I got dinner together on Monday night. I know... it was nothing fantastic... but still. Hot had a fire in the afternoon so I had to get the kids from daycare.... He got home soon after and we sat down to a lovely meal at the table (remember to add that to my list of my very favorite things in the world... dinner with my family at the table) and the phone rang. Another fire.

So off he goes. And the season has begun.....

Power in a Pink World

I picked the kids up last night and we were all kinda grumpy.

I had a rough day at work and I was tired of being a single parent (oh, poor me, two days....) and I was missing Hot and wondering what he was doing. (I have this secret theory about what they DO when they are on a fire....) And I really wanted a glass of wine.

Sweet was tired and whining about wanting a Transformer.

Tuff... well, Tuff just said, "Mama, I cwabby." We left it at that. I like to think I support my kids through any emotions and they don't have to pretend like things are all rainbows and unicorn poop to make me happy.

So I said, "Well guys, Daddy is going to be late tonight so lets go do something before we head home.... suggestions?" Sweet wanted to go to Target and get.... a Transformer. Tuff wanted to go to Costco. Tuff ALWAYS wants to go to Costco. I wanted to go to Joanne's to get chocolate melts to make faker Cadbury Eggs.

Mama says, "Tuff, are you the kind of crabby that should just be left alone and you'll tell me when things are in balance or is it the kind of crabby that means you want to do something?"

Tuff thinks about this. She savors the power. The option to DO SOMETHING is so huge in her little two-year-old petal pink world.... she drinks it in and revels a moment and then pauses dramatically and says, "Mama, I think some frozen yogurt would be good."

So, after much 'splainin' about how we don't "buy toys just to buy toys" we ended up at ShopKo looking at toys... and life jackets.... and ballet shoes..... and spiderman beach towels. Then to Costco to get a few items and, if kids be good, some frozen yogurt. Swirl. Because sometimes ya just gotta eat dessert first.

And so ends another salvaged day at our house.

Yellow American.....

..... Cheese.

Yellow American Cheese is the bane of my existence.

There.

I said it.

My kids had never really had it until hunting season this year.

Sweet came home from deer hunting with his daddy... (What? You don't send your 4-year-old out with a heavy pack to hike for miles on end in search of food?)

"Mama, we had the coolest thing today. (This I expect.... excursions to the woods have introduced Sweet to all sorts of things... peeing on a tree, the smell of elk, the joy of a Snickers bar, the fun of a camp fire, how to make an air hanky, the fascination of MRE's and the exhaustion of a good hike.) Yellow Cheese. (Big deal, I think to myself....) It was called...... American. And it came in little wrapped squares."

He is, at this point, dancing around.... so excited he can't contain himself.

"And, mama, I brought some home to share with Tuff!"

Great.

So, from that point on, my kids were American cheese eaters. I gave in and started buying it in the giant five pound blocks at Costco. Do you know that stuff doesn't ever mold? Seriously. Scary. I will admit I believe there is a place in this world for sliced squares of yellowy-orange processed goodness.... camping, road trips, picnics.... just not in everyday life.

So mark this in the box of "things I said my kids would never...." and get on with it.

Cheese Sandwich

Do you ever have this conversation with your child?

Here, I made you a quickie sandwich for the road.

Does it have yellow cheese? American cheese?

No.

I don't want it.

It's what you get. Eat it or wear it.

I want a bagel.

No.

I want American cheese.

No.

Please?

Eat it.

No.

Eat it.

No.

Try it please.

No.

One taste.

No.

One tiny nibble.

No.

Ok, one tiny nibble and if you don't like it you can spit it out.

Hmmm. Ok. One.

(Pause, chewing, grinning)

Hey mom.... I really like it.

This was us with monterey jack cheese today. And, honestly, it makes me wonder what things I'm not trying that I might like....

Baby Things I Know

Here's something I learned this week.

1. The baby's heart rate is 136.
2. She weighs almost 3 pounds... or so.
3. It's ok to go get monitored when you think you are having preterm labor... even if you aren't really.
4. Gunnar is super-sensitive. He is absolutely clingy and won't leave my side and is fretting about me... he always knows when I am stressed. I have to coax him out to go pee and I'm covered in dog hair from the knees down. Seriously.... he's going to trip me and I'm gonna fall down the stairs.
5. My husband is a darling. And he gets a little clingy when he gets stressed as well... but he likes to take me to breakfast and get me chai tea when he's worried about me.

Are you buying a new car??

Wise Bread has a post up about new car incentives. Anybody gonna bite?

I have some extremely un-frugal confessions to make to you, internets....

We bought a new car.

Well, ok, we traded in the 1999 Toyota Camry for a 2006 Toyota Sienna.

It's fancy. XLE and AWD. Leather seats and automatic doors and second row captain's chairs. I make everyone laugh when I exclaim over some clever little feature that is "like they designed it for kids" or something.... who, exactly, do I think they are marketing these minivans too? Non-families? But I do love the tinted windows and built-in pull-up window shades.

And this fugger has more storage than my kitchen. I'm not kidding.

And I dropped several hundred on some fancy-schmancy glass coating that promises me a crack-free windshield for 5 years.

Anyone out there remember the windshield on my old Toyota pickup? Yee-gads. The things we do in our youth.

Here's the funny part.... I never get to drive it. Nope. I'm still driving the Subaru. Hot Stuff has fallen in love with the van and drives it everywhere. I'm ok with that.

And still no car payments. (Yes, I'm bragging.)

Now, you might ask, short of selling a kidney or pimping out Hot Stuff on Tuesday nights, did we do that?? Helifino.

We got lucky.

I'm such a cheap-ass when we bought the Subaru (shortly after Tuff was born) they offered 5 years of financing and I decided to eat more mac-n-cheese and do it in two..... which put us, after the down payment, with payments around $500/month. (2.9% financing) We finished those up in October. (I had to take Hot with me to be the "heavy" when I told the insurance agent we wanted to drop it to liability-only.... still not sure about that decision.) And, knowing Hot was not going to be put off much longer, I had been skrimping for a down payment for a new jumbo-vehicle. It wasn't much of a decision.... Hot wanted a minivan with all-wheel drive. That leaves us with a long list.... a Sienna. I wanted a 2006 because that's when they upgraded the safety features. He wanted a 2007 but I vetoed that on grounds of budget limits. We found a good deal on this one and it was owned by people with no kids so the back seats are flawless. So we gutted it up and went for it. The financing was pretty sucky.... 5.5%... so we skipped that part. I'm still pretty pleased with the deal we got... I think it was fair.... even if I'm not completely in love with the idea of driving a loser-cruiser. I'll get over it.

Huh. That story wasn't as exciting as I had hoped. I got to play guitar hero at the dealership and enter a drawing to win a tv or a laptop or an ipod.... I'm still waiting for them to call and tell me what I won.....

Update

My son has learned to fib. He was sick last week and stayed home with daddy. This means movies all day and lunch on a tray in the living room..... that kind of sick. So this week he's been complaining of tummy troubles.... but as soon as I say, "Ok, you can stay home in bed but no tv....." he magically gets better.

The really funny one is when he uses one of MY lines on me. "Oh, mom, I ate too much and my tummy is over-full. I need to sit down and rest a minute."

I say that, oh, daily, these days.... it would be my baby-complaint of the day for today.... feeling either stuffed or starving. 10 bites of food and, if I don't stop eating, I will feel stuffed. But 15 minutes later I'm starving again. And, seriously, if that's my biggest complaint.... things are going well, right?

I did the glucola test. So I must be 26 weeks. I don't mind that orange drink stuff. It isn't bad. It isn't great.... but it isn't bad. I love the crazy baby antics from drinking that stuff... although I dread the sugar-crash a little while later. But I had a granola bar. I was ready. And I got pink coban wrap at the lab. Good times.

Can I blame this on the breakup of Ma Bell?

Lord help me. I'm nesting. I'm nesting in ways I didn't know I could nest.

Today. It's the phone book's fault.

We got a new phone book.

This triggers a series of "begats" that would make your head spin. (You know..... begats.... like in the bible.)

The new phone book begat a recycling of the old phone book.
Which begat a transfer of the random numbers written on the cover of the old phone book.
Which begat a collection of the random phone number in various locales around the house.
(Like the fridge calendar, the emergency phone list in the phone book, the work call lists, the notepad in the silverware drawer.)
Which begat an update of all these lists and a consolidation into one list.
Which begat a search for a new smaller binder clip because the phone book has to be bound down or it gets all fraggledy in the drawer and the drawer won't shut... but the new phone book is larger and thinner so needs a smaller clip than the old square chubby phone book.

So here I am with a very tidy phone book drawer, a very tidy phone book and phone list and a very tidy fridge calendar and updates of all important phone numbers in ALL THREE cell phones.

The rest of the place looks like Kansas-in-the-time-of-Dorothy but, by the power of Grayskull.... the phone numbers are organized.

Who the HELL has a phone book in their house anyway? Seriously. Google. Join the new millennium people. I horrify myself.

Where is the milk?

Do you keep your batteries in the refrigerator?

What about nail polish... where does it live in your home?

Mayo or Miracle Whip? And regular, low-fat or fat-free?

Do you keep butter in the fridge or at room temp?

Do you have lard in your fridge? Margarine? Something else?

What is your opinion of spray butter?

Do you save ketchup/mustard/mayo packets?

What is the oldest identifiable object in your refrigerator?

Do you baking soda your fridge?

How much pop is in your fridge?

Do you say pop, soda or something else?

Do you have a second fridge in the basement or garage?

What do you do with old refrigerators?

Do you store eggs in egg cubbies in the door?

Where is the milk?

Pillow Talk

Apartment Therapy has a post up about how many pillows are too many on the bed.

Go.

Read.

Come back.

Now confess.

I'll go first.

In the past we've had jillions of pillows on the bed. Jillions. Two euro, two standard, four decorative..... all in addition to the actual sleeping pillows... Why? Call it "I registered and they purchased" syndrome. Wedding gifts. Those pillows are repurposed. Our new simplified bed still has a lot:

Hot's sleeping pillow (one of the tempurpedic looking neck things)
My sleeping pillow (one of those half-sized buckwheat jobs)
The middle pillow (a very tired and flat feather pillow for, um, snuggling.... or whatever kid is sleeping between us or additional belly support later in pregnancy)
Two feather fluffy but dense pillows (for reading in bed and to cover the hodge-podge of other pillows for decoration)
One decorative square pillow with some really cool beadwork (that keeps coming off and ending up in Willie's* belly)

And aren't you glad I didn't mention the we-are-trying-to-make-a-baby-hip-elevator pillow?? Oh, come on, you know you all had one.
*Willie is the roomba. Please.... I'm not feeding the dog beads.

Maternity with a B-word

No.... BUDGET, silly.

I'm almost into maternity clothes.

Here's the deal. My maternity wardrobe needs a re-vamp. As Elle has said.... styles have changed since we began birthin' pups. So I'm trying. I'm not going for a whole new wardrobe... just a few pieces to freshen things up a bit.

First, let's do the math. Baby Due June 29. And, to make it easy, let's start March 1st..... that gives us about 121 days...... seventeen weeks plus. So 85-ish work days. So how many work outfits do I really even need? Ten? Twelve? And I can wear the same things over and over again on the weekends..... I have no problem with that. Ok, maybe this is do-able. I'm planning a splurge of Victoria Secret yoga pants (unless someone has a better idea) for post-baby work wear.... think this fall. Probably 2 pairs. And I have about 4 tops I really like that are good for work.... and a few others that are ok. So what I really need is maybe 3-4 top-half outfits.

1. I don't like crew necks.... tight crew necks anyway.
2. I don't like spaghetti straps.... my maternal instinct is to corral these puppies... with a heavy-duty brassiere. (I love that word.... it reminds me of my Grandma.)
3. I don't like super tight.
4. No horizontal stripes. (Trust me, my mom has me covered in this area.... she has purchased MANY horizontally striped items for me.)
5. I like black yoga-style pants.
6. No ironing.
7. Everything must go with either black professional danskos or black Keen sandals (sorry, no linky.)

Any suggestions? Links would be appreciated. Should I just go to Target and get it over with? Shopko had some cute stuff last time I looked (ok, that was years ago). What about Kmart? My favorite summer maternity top came from there. Old Navy.com? Ebay. Gap. Anywhere else I should be looking?

Next week we will tackle my post-baby wardrobe.

The B Word

Elle has a post up about the dread word... BUDGET.

I don't have a copy of the most current budget for our household right now but here are some estimates:

House Insurance: $850/year
Pellets: $750/year ($250/ton)
Daycare: $8500/year
Vehicle Insurance (3 vehicles): $1700/year (geez-UM. Need to shop this around.)
Property Tax: $2000/year
House: $10,000/year
Propane: $300/year
Vehicle Licensing (3 vehicles): $600/year
Student Loan: $4000/year
Electricity: $1800/year (is $150/month average?)
Land line: $480/year
Cell phones: $1020/year (3 phones)
Internet: $265/year
Netflix: $200/year
Fuel: $3600/year
Groceries: $2400/year (this seems low)
TP & Stuff: $1800/year
Entertainment/Gifts: $1200/year
Hot Stuff Lunches: $400/year (not much in winter.... lots in summer)
Spending Cash: $960/year
Things I'm failing to report: Donations, shopping, home repairs, car repairs.... um, what else?

SHIT. It isn't pretty when you list it out like that, is it??

Things we've dropped: $47/month for health club membership is on hold until June.... I'll probably pick it back up for the summer so we can swim but I have to add Tuff for $6/month so maybe not. Video store rentals..... we were spending about $30/month so netflix is a great deal for us plus we can get tv shows and no fuel expenses driving to town to get or drop off a movie. Take out pizza.... we get take-n-bake from Costco or make it at home now.

Things we are getting more careful about: I'm planning to "shop" our insurance... but I've been saying that for years. We've done more "winterizing" work on the house but the price of electricity is out of control. We are watching our credit card bill more closely and really working to keep it under $1500/month. We are saving for some major home repairs that are going to strike at any moment.... like a new roof and a new water heater. I really want text messaging but I'm not getting it yet. I also really want high speed internet.

Things I WANT but I'm not buying because of the economy and/or our budget: frontloading washer/dryer, recliner, dvd recorder, new slipcovers for the couch, a new mattress, new flooring, headboards/bedframes.

Things we've bought but budgeted carefully for: a new fridge (happy anniversary 2006), an elliptical trainer (happy anniversary 2008), a new tv (happy birthday 2008).

How about you?

Still trying to justify stimulating the economy

Go read SarahP's comment on the last post.

Ok, now stop laughing.

I sprained my ankle on February 6th.

How? Oh, I tried to stand up and rolled it. Then I was off balance and stepped on it and rolled it again.

It is now February 24th. I'm wearing "real shoes" for the first time.

Yes, I did get an xray. No, it isn't broken.

But it is still black and blue around my toes and on the outside of my foot.

Poor me.

The sprain (and the fact that I can't bend my foot to properly heel-toe when I walk) is making my back hurt.

Does this justify the purchase of a new mattress for our bed?

No?

A tempurpedic? One of those sleep number ones?

Help me out here.

It is time to support the economy, I'm going shopping....

Ridiculous things I will purchase in an effort to support the economy.... come on now... we all have to do our part.

For the mama:
Be Band
Pink Converse
pale peacock blue curtain panels for the bedroom
Calphalon pans

For the daddy:
mp3 player
recliner
dvd recorder
Metallica cd

For the girl:
Pink Converse
Pink baseball cap
Skirt
lip gloss

For the boy:
jeans
socks
transformers
pre-school workbooks

For the baby:
pacifiers
baby legs
turtle night light
baby socks
Dr. Seuss onsies at Costco

Meal Planning again

I did a three-meal wonder this weekend.

I gave in to my secret Costco desires and bought a bag of chicken tenders.

Hot ate two sandwiches from them cooked in the microwave before I pointed out it says on the bag in BIG LETTERS to NOT cook them in the microwave. They are raw. So far he isn't showing any outward symptoms of salmonella.

But anyway... back to my giant Costco bag of tenders.

First. I cooked a pan of them and have been eating them all week on salad mix (from Costco, of course) with cheddar cheese blocks, sliced almonds & ranch dressing. (A total Costco meal.... except the ranch dressing mix.... I would LOVE a Costco-sized tub or ranch dressing powder. Do they make that??)

Twosie. For dinner on Saturday night we had chicken tenders, salad & rice.

Three-fer. For dinner on Sunday we had leftover rice mixed with potatoes and topped with cheese and sliced meat.... just like the potato-rice bowls at Staggering Ox..... wow, I love those things. And I love their blue horsies dressing.

I also made mashed potatoes and burgers with the other potatoes and I'm planning a little fried rice for tonight.

I do love a meal plan.

Guess what?

Last night at 9:45 I absolutely had to have a grilled cheese sandwich.

Made in my new calphalon pan.

With a side of peperoncinis.

I've been having a lot of cravings lately.... makes one suspicious, doesn't it???

Boys Vs Girls

Is it just me or are girls more complicated than boys?

I mean... in the little-ones stage of life?

Or is it that my boy is older and can do more things for himself?

But no. It's a social thing.

We have a basic weekday morning schedule around here:
Get dressed.
Eat breakfast (if you are going with Daddy we skip this step and eat at daycare).
Hair, face & teeth.
Gather special things.
Coat & shoes.
To the car.

Sweet gets dressed. He has a few decisions to make. He has to decide between spiderman and batman undies and short or long white socks. His bottoms choices are jeans, silky running pants, camo cargo pants or sweats. His tops are long or short sleeve t-shirts. Sometimes he wears a sweatshirt.

Tuff has so many more options. Dresses, skirts, tights, white socks, pink socks, t-shirts, fancy shirts, sweaters, sweatshirts, ponchos, vests, jeans, leggings, fight mama asking to wear a leotard (no... not to daycare), turtlenecks, sweats, stripes, dots, flowers, camo, solids, pastels.

Girls have hair issues. Sweet has a buzz cut. His daddy does his hair. Tuff has bangs and end-trims and squirty leave-in conditioner with an octopus on the label. Tuff has ponytail holders and clippies and headbands. She can wear piggies, clips, ponies, pony-in-a-clip, a little up and a little down, and "I wanna wear my hair like Grandma." (That would be up in a grabby clip in the back.)

Even the shoes are complicated. Sweet has snowboots, cowboy boots, mud boots, tennis shoes and sandals. Tuff has all of that plus more.

Poor kid. No wonder she's so contrary.

Is it just another Hallmark Holiday??

VD is coming.

You know what I'm talking about.

How do you keep it fresh?

How to you combine romantic and practical?

How do you make the littles happy without creating gimme-gift kids?

Flowers. Hot used to sent me lots of flowers. I loved them, but, as Elle has always said, "I prefer them with the roots on...." A flat of pansies is more my style. We've found our balance..... the Costco flower department. I get flowers. He gets style points. Our budget stays in line and no more useless vases collecting in the laundry room.

Cards. Let me go on the record as stating I think cards are the dumbest thing in the world. Just throw away a couple of bucks or, better yet, buy me a bag of m&m's with that money. BUT. Hot likes cards. Hot's family does cards for everything. So I suck it up. I get simple cards at the dollar store and try to use plain cards with a photo stuck on them when I can..... and when I have to do it I visit the card row at my local Target.

Candy. Bring it on. This year I got the kids each a big-sized Hershey's bar. Each. And I won't nag or make them save it. Does that say "I love you" or what? It will be FUN. I might also hit the 2-day sale at CVS tonight for a couple of bags of holiday kisses. We love kisses at our house. And they are 2/$3. Confession time: I DO buy red-silver-green bags on clearance after Christmas and then put the red-silver ones in the sweets jar for Valentine's. Then the green ones go in for St Patrick's day. Seriously. Don't YOU do that?

Gifts. I try not to commercialize my love. Try being the key word there. This year I got a good deal on an mp3 player ($40 for a 1000 song one at Shopko). So that's what I got for Hot. Let's just skip over the part where he was trying to help me clean the pile off the counter on Saturday and found the bag. And proceeded to read all about it while I squealed at him from the living room. The kids are each getting a little white piggy bank ($1.99 from Ben Franklin) to live on the cabinet by the phone for their "lowances" and "special monies." Last weekend it was dog poo. This weekend Sweet swept the garage and broke down all the recycling boxes. Tuff used the stroller to haul things from the back of the garage to the front and pile them there for me. Sweet is getting the Diego Leapster game (that was supposed to be his Christmas present but we ended up with too much stuff so I saved it) and Tuff is getting some lip gloss and a princess wand set (Target clearance). Is it too much? Probably.

Friends. We haven't had to do valentine's for classmates yet. I dread the day.

Food. Lasagna is the usual tradition at our house. Although last year it was steak. No dinner out. That's a nightmare. I like lasagna, salad, wine, cheesecake & peppermint tea.

Past VD Posts: ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR

It ain't so bad.

Well, see, it could be more crowded at our house.

Yet Another Organizing Challenge

There is a "Spring Cleaning for Normal People" Challenge going on.

I'm not gonna lie.... we worked hard during our little Christmas holiday staycation. Hot used his new drill to do things. (Wow... that didn't sound very good, did it??) I mean things like put anchors in for the kid coat hooks.... when I put them up I wasn't sure they should stay so I didn't anchor them and they were quickly coming out of the wall and leaving little piles of sheetrock dust on the floor. Now they are solid.

And just this weekend I got the whole "computer" corner in order. Backed up to the old machine and stashed it in the shed. (what? So what if my idea of cleaning is to stash things in an outbuilding. Don't you judge me.) I do still need to hang the power strip up where tiny hands can't get to it but big hands can so we can prevent that pesky "vampire" issue we have with energy. Yes, I do have a giant pile of "things to scan" but I'm working my way into it a bit at a time.

So progress is being made but I always love a little motivation..... here, in condensed form, is the to-do's for this week.

B) Quickly go through your entire home with a garbage can and toss out any and all trash you find.

DONE. Not so bad. The garbage can in Sweet's room was a little nasty so I soaked it. The garbage in our room (ok, yes, it's an old restaurant sour cream container) is empty. The bathroom garbage is out. And the kitchen garbage... well, we are back to sub-zero weather so the kitchen cabinet must be open all the time so that garbage HAS to be emptied or the dog will gorge buffet-style on trash. There. ta-da. Oh, bonus... I emptied the lint trap and gathered all the little bits of tinfoil from kisses wrappers by the couch. I also cleared the messy pile on the counter..... I admit to considering just putting it on the laundry room counter.... but I actually disposed of it. I also fixed all the "glue it" projects piling up in the laundry room. The "baby cut" horse. (It's an appetizer knife with a horse handle.... Tuff loves baby cuts for spreading butter on bagels.) A broken transformer helicopter blade, a broken arrow, a broken wand and a broken toy cell phone. Who knew the key to motherhood was crazy glue, epoxy and a hot glue gun??

Still hot and needing work: The laundry room counter. It's better but it is such a catch-all zone. Right now it has a plastic box of stuff to be sorted for baby books/ kids scrap books, a plastic letter organizer I need to return, a globe that I want to put on a shelf over the window... if I ever go get a shelf, the sewing machine (that actually belongs there), and a box hiding some sweets I got the kids for Valentine's day. Sigh.

C) Take three boxes labeled "give", "sell", and "maybe" and begin in one corner of your home and gradually move out until you have briefly scanned every room in your home. As you do this, scan each item you see and briefly question yourself: "Is this useful to me and/or our family? Is this beautiful to me and/or our family?"

Working on this. I moved most of the "give away" stuff to the garage but now need to load it in the car and take it to the local college for their annual fund-raiser garage sale. But it's so cold out.... ok, I know. Get busy. This is the last week for drop offs. This is hard for me. I'm so use to just stashing things in the garage and/or shed..... but my goal for the summer is to get the garage cleaned and organized (and make the most kick-ass kid play area EVER). You laugh and think that is a weekend project... you haven't seen how BIG my garage is.... or how full.

But more of that plan later.

How's organizing in YOUR life??

Spiders crawling up your back. Bite ya. Bite ya.

Great Grandpa and his best girl. (She's giving him a backrub doing "Treasure Hunt"... If I could remember the lyrics I'd tell you.... All I can remember is "Spiders crawling up your back. Bite Ya. Bite Ya. Cool Breeze. Shiveries.)

Possibly my favorite fruit.

My fingers are behaving oddly. They are dried and cracked on outsides of my index fingers and thumb.

It isn't the weather. It isn't a fungus. It isn't a lack of hand creme.

It is grapefruit.

Lots and lots of grapefruit. Torn apart with my bare hands and consumed with a sprinkle of sugar. I couldn't resist. It was a baseball fund raiser. I love the smell. I love the taste. Tuff loves "pink oranges" and will usually eat a section or two with me while we read bedtime books.

I love grapefruit.... but I think I'm going to have to start cutting them in half and eating them with a spoon like a civilized person.

The Dread Credit Card Bill January

Mmmm. Love this post about credit card debt.

Speaking of.... November & December were a little hard on the budget here at The 'Stead.

My "nose job" bill finally came through insurance and cost me more than I thought. Plus Christmas. Plus some serious work on the pickup. Plus another ton of pellets to heat our house. Oh and those omigod-cold temps are going to ding us when the (electric) heat bill arrives.

Well, it's officially taken care of (carrying a credit card balance makes me break out in hives... seriously....) but we made a conscious effort to cut back in January. Unfortunately, the billing cycle is mid-month to mid-month so I have half of December on this bill... but we shopped early so it isn't as bad as it could be... right? Sooth me here.

I'm not going to lie.... I'm not back in the $500/month credit card bills of my singleton days.

But if the bill is around $1500 I'm happy. Andy has cut back considerably on his "daily Bob's" purchases.... going from almost $200/month to almost nothing the last few months. I still spend a lot at Costco but it is our primary grocery source and I've cut out impulse buys almost entirely. We have a big line item for fuel. That's the problem with living in BFE.

We budget $40/each for cash each month. I mostly save mine for bigger purchases... like a dvd recorder or a new recliner. And I pay my library fines. And buy girl scout cookies. And I pay the kids the occasional bribe. This weekend it was a dollar each to help me clean up the dog poo in the yard. They scanned and located the piles and I picked them up. If they were too frozen to scoop they marked them with a croquet marker and I came back for them later that afternoon. It is a glamorous life I lead, isn't it?

Ok, so I know some of you are still gasping at the $1500/month credit card bill.... let me explain. I'm not buying myself a new wardrobe every month or anything. I have a Costco cash-back card and I try to put EVERYTHING on it. Fuel. Groceries. Car repairs. Doctor bills. Home phone. Cell phones. Internet. Netflix. I haven't figured out how to put the electric bill on it yet.... wish I could. Pellets are up to $300/ton and we use about 3 tons per winter.... on the card.

I know. I know. Using a card instead of cash isn't very "Dave Ramsey" of me, is it? But I haven't taken his course and I haven't committed to saving all that money over the convenience of plastic.... maybe someday but not today. For today I just bury my head and say "cash back, cash back" instead of listening to Dave's philosophy...

What about you?

Nesting.... at its worst.

Bargh. Spent most of the 3-day weekend looking at the stuff in my house and not liking it.

Let me make a whiner list:

Ugly couch. Frumpy.

Hideous recliners. (Is that redundant? Is there an un-hideous recliner out there?) Pink.

Icky carpet. Ugly linoleum.

Paint. I need to paint. I have the paint. I can't get motivated to paint.

Knick-knacks. Ugh. Just the word.

The computer corner. The giant monitor. The lack of solid internet. Ugh.

The dining room tinyness.... and lack of storage for mittens. I need mitten storage.

The pink Barbie shoe explosion that registers as my daughter's room.

The pain-inducing, toe-stubbing, transformer and action hero horror that is my son's room.

The laundry room. Ugh, the flooring again. And the desire for a beautiful new washer and dryer.

The bathroom. The outdated. The poorly designed and laid out.

The kitchen. You've seen the countertops.

Ugh, ugh, ugh.

I have a bad case of the gimmes and the toss-mes all at the same time.

Santa Pic 2008

Forgot to show this off. Yes, she's wearing her cowboy boots. Lordy... when did they grow up so much??

Safety First

Apartment Therapy has a post up about home security.....

Silly city dwellers.

Home defense at the Homestead is pretty solid.... and we don't rely on locked doors....

Also present:

Mary, the 4D utility flashlight on my side of the bed. First, I'll blind ya. Then, I'll beat ya senseless with her no-nonsense streamlined utilitarian functionality. (What? I used to sleep with an escrima stick under my bed and I have the knuckle scars to prove I know how to use it....)

Another serious consideration. We keep the "front" door locked all the time. It's the road-side facing door that opens into our living room. No one ever uses it. BUT. The doorway is directly across from the door to our daughter's room. Here's my concern... you tell me if it is valid. Our bedroom is upstairs, her bedroom is down. If there was a fire in the living room or on the stairway (or the pellet stove), we would go out the window and slide down the porch roof and drop to the ground (or use the hanging ladder stashed under our bed) BUT how would she get out? My husband says he would break her window and snatch her. I say.... I don't know if I can break her window and get her out. For now there is a BIG HEAVY FLOWERPOT on the porch outside her window to assist me. But what I was thinking was.... how about an installed push button combo lock for that "front" door.... so I could shimmy out the window and just open that door and grab her.

All a moot point since she's often in bed with us. But... anyone have any experience with push-button combo locks? How do they hold up in cold-cold weather? Are they pricey? Easy to install?

Need I say more?

How's the heat at your house?

Over at msn the Women in Red are talking about heating costs.....

Here's what is going on for us....

Our house is about 1700 sq ft and was built in 1897. We heat with baseboard electric (I know... groan) and a pellet stove. We have propane for the hot water heater and the cook stovetop. I think I forked over more than $400 to fill the propane tank this summer.... that will last us all year. Our electric bill has been running about $120/month but I'm sure this next one will be a doozy. We keep it around 60 all the time. They don't make programmable thermostats for baseboard heaters so we can't change that.... we don't turn on the baseboards in the two upstairs bedrooms and we don't have one in the downstairs bedroom so we all sleep with our doors open. The heat from the pellet stove keeps us toasty. We have installed all swirly-que light bulbs and are working hard to turn off lights not in use. Pellet prices are up to $250/ton.... we go through almost 3 tons in a typical year.... that baby runs 24-7 during the winter and is our primary heating source... much cheaper than anything else the way we are figuring it and a real luxury.

Flannel sheets & down comforters for all. Oh.... and a nice warm dog that circulates in the night. Although I can't get my kids to wear warm fuzzy jammies no matter how I try. They "choke my chest" according to Sweet and Tuff has some she will wear but she likes gowns the best.

Last week we took the doors off the cabinet under the sink. Due to some poor design the pipes for the kitchen sink run in the wall for a short distance and will freeze solid if we don't keep it open and water running at a trickle during the bitter cold weather.... 10 below zero. We took the doors off completely because my legs were covered in bruises from walking into the baby locks sticking out of the open doors.... I am a klutz.

So far we are holding our own and not freezing up. I have window insulation kits that I want to put up but haven't yet... I know, I know.... maybe tonight.

So what are you doing to stay warm this winter?

Stylista

Above... her "outside" clothes.... warm pink knit hat, goggles, hot pink snowpants, mittens, heavy hooded sweatshirt (the most important piece of clothing to own when you live here)....

Below.... what she is wearing underneath....



Damn. I love that girl and her fabulous fashion sense.

**Those long underwear are fancy ones from the patagonia outlet and have survived two children....

The great snowman nose heist

It all started innocently enough.... a warm-ish Saturday in December.

And, then, the devious little angels had a thought.....

Ahem.

Oh my.

The nerve!

The co-conspirator.

I kinda feel like this should be an anti-drug campaign... don't do carrot.

The innocent.

Then not-so-innocent.

And, lo, it was a Christmas Miracle...

Suddenly... we have FOUR TV stations.

Oh. My. Goodness.

4. Four. FOUR.

Channel 10. What IS it? They have Smallville and Gossip Girl and reruns of Will & Grace and Sex & the City. Mostly when I check it out it seems to have Cheaters showing.

Channel 12. NBC

Channel 21-1. ABC. This is new. And so exciting.

Channel 21-2. FOX. Wow. New. Lovely.

How did this happen? Who knows. Hot re-scanned for channels (hoping for something new digitally) and found these two. They were on Friday, then out Saturday but back on Sunday night.

Yeah! 2 more channels of crap to gaze at blankly.

Ho-Ho-Ho

Clutter, clutter.... everywhere.

Elle has up a lovely post about enjoying the season. Go read it, I'll wait.

Ok, are you back?

Now you can go read what my darling apartment therapy has to say.

Now... for my thoughts. In an orderly, numbered list. I like to have a plan.

1. The gifts. I keep a running list (in excel, of course) of gift ideas. For me, for family, or just in general. Then, in October or so, I set the budget. The budget, this year, she is slim. Slim and sexy and wearing a little black dress... that's our budget.

2. The cards. This year we are skipping the usual holiday form letter. Just a photo card. From Costco. I ordered it online and bought the stamps there when I picked up the photos. I do the labels on the computer (don't tell Martha... tacky, tacky...) from an (you guessed it) excel spreadsheet.

3. The shopping. I try to shop all year. I follow the budget advice of several frugal websites. I hit cvs the weekend after T-day and got some good stuff for the stockings. I try. I try. My big and brilliant goal is this: Don't go in a store more than once in December. Sounds so simple, doesn't it? (Ok, I confess... there is an exception.... I MUST go to Costco more than once in a month. Must. But I've only been once so far.)

4. The decor. This year we went simple. And we tried to "take down" as much as we "put up" for decorations. The result is a lovely decorated home that doesn't make me want to scream for lack of empty surfaces. Trips to the potty at night are no longer an obstacle course of wooden sleighs and santa-men. It looks great. And my hope is I can take this stuff down after the holidays and NOT PUT BACK anything else. Wish me luck.

5. The packages. I don't mail any gifts. At all. And I've been wrapping & tagging as I go so I'm in pretty good shape. And I have a decent stash of gift bags for Hot's last minute wrapping fest.

6. The food. I make fudge. It is what I do. Everyone gets fudge. It's easy. I also do a little caramel corn. Maybe caramels if I'm feeling crazy... but mostly just fudge. And for pot luck stuff I make spinach salad or shrimp dip. Maybe some fruit dip. But nothing fancy. And I buy Yellowtail Shiraz in the big bottle at Costco for unplanned festivities. What's not to love about that?

7. The parties. Skipped. We each have a work party. Hot's was cancelled due to the extreme cold we are having and mine will be snacks & drinks from 6-8 on Friday. Simple.

8. The inspiration. Every year I save the December issues of whatever glorious decorating magazines I have. Then for the holidays I get them all out of the decorations box and flip through them. It's fun for me. I also collect all of the holiday and winter-themed books we have and put them on the empty shelf on the book case. The kids love reading them before bed.

9. The fun. We sled. A lot. Down the driveway for beginners. Down the big hill for the brave. Behind the 4-wheeler for the adventurous. Even if this year's Christmas Eve HIGH temp is predicted to be a balmy -9F. Yes... the high. (The low? -43F.... PLUS WINDCHILL.) We make snowmen and play fox-n-geese. We make snow forts and snow angels. We eat snow with maple syrup for dessert. We drink a lot of hot chocolate (with real whip cream) and eat a lot of popcorn and fudge. My kids are little so just making a pan of fudge is cause for an all-out celebration. We made a gingerbread house from a kit (clearance from last year) and it was a blast. Kae recommends frosting graham crackers on the outside of a small creamer carton and decorating it. I'm already planning to make mine a gingerbread outhouse.

Cartoons

I have the Jane & The Dragon theme song stuck in my head.

What? You don't? Oh. Go here and click the video link to hear it.

Ahhhh. Qubo.... you and your evil song lyrics.

How do you handle cartoons at your house? We follow a classic cartoon methodology that gives away my 70's upbringing.... Saturday mornings are for cartoons. And eating breakfast in the living room. I like waffles. We get two channels so the kids have a choice of the moral-n-nonviolent Qubo offerings or the more violent stuff on Channel 10. They tend to alternate. And by 11:00 they have to be dressed, have the living room tidy (including breakfast dishes in the sink & tv trays wiped off), and be ready to go outside.

Friday nights are movie night at our house. It was the only way we could stop the "let's watch something" begging every night of the week. Now I just ask, "Huh, is it Friday?" and they have to leave me alone. Although we are watching any and every Christmas cartoon and special during the holidays.... I'm not heartless.

Ah... the eternal Homestead quest to cut down on tv viewing.... sigh.

Jane and the Dragon

There once was a lady in waiting

Let's call her Jane.

That girl wasn't ordinary-

No way for me a lady stuck in waiting

I'd rather battle fire-breathing dragons

I knew I could prove that a girl could be a Knight

Though my friends all laughed at me

but...

I wouldn't be discouraged and trained in secret

Then a dragon pinched the Royal Prince

and everyone was freaking

So I went alone to the dragon's home

to slay the dragon

Hey now, hey now now

Jane and the Dragon are best friends now

Dragon's sweet, he let me save the young Prince

Then the King made me a Knight apprentice

Hey now hey now now...

With Dragon's help I'll be a Knight someday

Composed by Martin Kucaj

Lyrics by Arlene Bishop

Published by Cinesymphonies, Nelvana Limited 2005

Hunting Season 2008

Looking out my dining room window (wow... I washed that window not so long ago... can't even tell....) She's on the (covered) porch. She had to climb several steps to get here:



And then I found a scavenger in my compost pile:



Dude- Nice Rack. I've always wanted to say that. Seriously. He's within skillet-chucking range and 'tis the season....




This is actually a different guy (I think... I know there were two) over by "pirate rock." He's just hangin' with the ladies.... Deer in rut are a pretty funny thing to watch.

Watch This, Mama.....

Seriously... how can you not love a dare devil in snow pants??

*Edited to add: Yes, his feet really are that big. These are his hunting boots and they have extra insoles but he's currently wearing SIZE ONE shoes.... the size of your average 10-year-old.

Sweet Mama Soup

Caroline-

I have a great, great, great recipe for squash soup... from Better Homes & Gardens. It calls for Sweet Mama squash but I've used other kinds.


2 to 2-1/2 lb. Sweet Mama, butternut, or acorn squash
1 medium onion, chopped
1 Tbsp. olive oil
5 cups chicken broth
2 medium cooking apples, peeled, cored and quartered
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1 cup whipping cream
Salt and black pepper
Chopped red and/or green apple

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. If using Sweet Mama, use half to three-fourths of the squash. If using butternut or acorn squash, cut in half lengthwise; remove and discard seeds. Arrange squash, cut sides down, in 3-quart rectangular baking dish. Bake for 1 to 1-1/4 hours for Sweet Mama, 45 to 60 minutes for butternut or acorn, or until squash is tender. Remove from oven; cool slightly. Scoop pulp from squash halves. Place cooked pulp in a bowl; mash with a potato masher or fork (you should have about 2 cups pulp).
2. Meanwhile, in a saucepan cook onion in hot oil for 5 minutes or until onion is tender. Stir in broth, apples, and maple syrup. Bring to boiling, reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 20 minutes or until apple is very tender. Remove from heat. Cool slightly. Stir in mashed squash.
3. Transfer half the squash mixture to a blender container or one-fourth the squash mixture to a food processor bowl. Cover; blend or process until smooth. Repeat with remaining mixture.
4. Return blended squash mixture to saucepan. Stir in whipping cream (if necessary, add additional broth to make desired consistency); heat through. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Sprinkle each serving with chopped apple. Makes 8 side-dish servings.