Re-evaluation

That is what I'm doing with my life right now. I have had all I ever wanted, and now I don't want it any longer. I want things simple, uncluttered, out of the way, and I no longer want to be dependent on certain things. I no longer want to live paycheck to paycheck.

For this reason I will be changing some aspects of life. Unfortunately that means not so many road trips, not so many new clothes, no more new diapers for the kiddos. There is too much in this house already. I have no where to sit a drink down. Time to "downgrade" in the words of Ashley. I'm going to learn to do some things on my own. Knitting, sewing, all the neat stuff. I guess as I get older, accomplishing this on my own is a greater reward than paying some outrageous price for having someone do it for me.

I'm cleaning out once again. There is so much here that we don't use and I can't keep waiting on people who want it but never come to get it. One more big yard sale and the rest goes to goodwill.

And on a good note. We introduced H to the potty this morning! No, he isn't actually sitting there and using it, but the way he keeps stripping and peeing in the floor, I figured at least letting him see it, sit on it, feel it, all that good stuff would be a start. He actually likes it. He smiles when I sit him down on it...and then jumps off to pee in the carpet or by the door. Haha!

Heading out for some shopping! **updated**

Let's see how well I do!! **Will update when I get back! :D

Ok, so after 3 trips I finally made it into the grocery store. LOL! Here's my score. Not the greatest, but remember I'm just learning. ;0)

Kraft ranch dressing
Kraft italian dressing
Miracle whip
Kraft mayo X 2
BBQ sauce X 2
McCormick Steak Seasoning
Toasted Ritz Chips X 2
Snuggle dryer sheets 80 count
Canned biscuits
Ice cream sandwiches
Southern Home Spaghetti Sauce X 2
Southern Home 12 pks drinks X 2


10.05 pounds of split chicken breasts
Beef tip roast
2.82 pounds cubed steak
thick cut bacon X 2

Total cost before savings = 102.86

Total savings = 56.73

Total OOP with tax = 46.84

Now, could I face going out to a public place without having my family with me (I have a fear sort of thing going on), I could have eliminated about $7.39 of that bringing my total to 39.45. I'll get there someday I suppose!!

Here it is.....

Last post for today. Hopefully it will look better once I have time to fix it. Honestly tonight, I'm just done with hair all together. And apparently I was also interuppting DS time which doesn't sit well with an 8 year old.

For the family

They haven't seen me much this time and think I look very tired these days. Wonder why that is? LOL! So here ya go. See? I don't look that tired....that only happens when I've been up for a long time with a baby who doesn't want to sleep (make that 2 since A kicks at night). Sorry for the bathroom pics...still sort of hard to take pictures of yourself. Excuse the halfway finished paint job. Were in the middle of a remodel and the bottom half of the wall hasn't been painted yet.

Latest baby AJ update

I had a very uneventful appointment this morning. Will had to work, so it was just H and myself. (A FINALLY went back to school this morning completely bug free.)He loves going out with Mommy. For once he was also very well behaved! :D He did have a little bit of fun with Dr. Villers. She made the mistake of picking up a toy that he threw down and he decided that it would become a hilarious game of pick up sticks....only toys instead of sticks. You get my point.

A is doing great. Her heart sounds great, not one issue at all. She was kicking up a storm. I'm now at 125 pounds, still measuring small, but baby still measures a little big so I guess that evens out or something. Ha! I do think that she is going to be the one to give me stretch marks on my belly. I guess it was coming, the Lord couldn't let me have 3 and keep a decent looking tummy. That just wouldn't be right. It is perfectly ok with me though. They're my service stripes.

And just because I haven't posted any pics in a bit, here is H. All worn out from the car ride downtown and back.

The fun part of military life....

As I sit here in between lice-picking sections of my currently public schooled child's head, I also get to fight with Tricare over my prescription coverage. Apparently, even though I just picked up a script a couple of weeks ago, they now say that I haven't had Tricare coverage in over a year. Nice. This should be really fun at the OB's office tomorrow also. Funny how they have covered all sorts of things and all of a sudden I'm not covered. They also let me know that they don't have Henry's SSN. I've taken that into the DEERS office 4 times now. I was just saying today that it is the little screw ups that these people don't think about. To them its just "Oops, I screwed up." To me its wake both kids up early, get them bathed and dressed while they are still cranky, get H fed, get A fed, get them both into their carseats (yes..my 8 year old is still in a booster), drag them around base, force them to sit in a waiting room quietly so we aren't disrepectful to those around us, and still put on a happy face because with my volunteer position I can't make an arse out of myself, then drag them back home and repeat the whole process only backwards. It really is grand. *Please notice that sarcasm.*

Back to the lice. This makes our second time dealing with it within 4 weeks. Amazingly the teacher told me "confidentially" that the same child that also had it the last time, got sent home with it again. I know for a fact that her mother isn't treating it correctly. There is no way that you can pick them up at school, treat them, and have them ready for school the next day. This makes our third day of treatment and even the prescription shampoo didn't kill this stuff. A's head full of really thick, down to her butt hair isn't helping. She has agreed to a hair cut, but I just don't want her to go to school and be ridiculed....we all know that the one coming back with a haircut is quickly pointed out as the culprit. As of now I have it all sectioned off. It's not pretty. I thought I bought bobby pins but I bought some other kind of hair pins and had to make do. I'm definitely no hair dresser...that's for sure! And now I'm all itchy. You probably are too, aren't you? Welcome to my life. Only 17 more school days left and we are officially a homeschooling family!!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's day to all of my mommy friends tomorrow! I hope your day is filled with lots of nothings....by that I mean you should have nothing to do with the cleaning, nothing to do with the cooking, nothing to do with anything at all. We can dream right?

I happen to be a mom to two of the most awesome kids. A wonderful, albeit talkative little girl and a mischievious, dirty little boy. They are both growing too fast for me to catch up and I don't like it one bit. A just turned 8 years old and I am in the midst of planning H's first birthday party. It is a big reminder to stop every now and then just to watch them grow. The little things are the best....like when A comes home and tells me her science book is wrong (and it is) or when H learns that the roll from the toilet paper that he just unraveled matches the roll that he pulled out of the bathroom trash can. Yes, even just taking a shower brings surprises these days. I normally just gate H in the little shower part of the bathroom with me if no one else is home.

A is not into as much as her baby brother of course...aside from the occasional stuffing of food where it doesn't belong when she doesn't want to eat it. I have to say that I honestly don't like this pre-preteen stage. The attitudes, eye rolls, head bobbing, and all that comes along with it. But we will manage and she is learning that there is a fine line between "expression" and rudeness. She can be very sweet most of the time though. She has a heart of gold when it comes to anything living be it an animal or a weed growing in the garden. She's a total nanny's girl and I have no doubt that when she grows up she'll be right back in North Carolina.

That's about all I have for tonight. I just wanted to take a little time to brag on my babies. :) Again, I hope you all have a wonderful day tomorrow.

With a new baby on the way, I've been trying to find ways to be "thrifty". Amazingly this has actually turned into something fun and I'm learning new things in the process. Who on Earth ever pictured me making bread in a machine....wait, who ever pictured me making bread at all that didn't require me to twist a little tie to get it open?!

I just pulled a loaf out of the machine that I let bake overnight. YUMMY! Now I have to stop eating it before I end up with some extra weight.

I also used my food dehydrator (that in being thrifty, I found for a quarter at a garage sale!), but that didn't turn out so well. It wasn't until after I had cut up enough bananas to fill it up that I read online that bananas are hard to do. Apparently the stuff you get in a bag at the store isn't only dehydrated, but the bananas are first dipped in sugar water and fried...then dehydrated. So my bananas are a little, let's see...what's the word...rubbery! I am going to mash them up and try them in a banana bread instead. :D

All of this has me wanting to be the next Laura Ingles or something. If I ever get this house cleaned, I'm going to work some more on my knitting. I'm ok at it, but thats about it. I should start learning to sew again too. Imagine the money I could save!! And imagine how close to self-sufficient I could get us! See? Told you I was feeling all Little House on the Prarie...even though they weren't as self-sufficient as one would think. They were at that darn general store at least once a day. OH, I want to learn to can my veggies too! No way can we eat all that comes out of our little garden. We didn't last year and all we had were peppers! This year we have much more and I would hate for it to go to waste. The supplies are a little expensive though, so I'll have to save up for that one. I've got a while before the stuff starts to produce veggies anyway.

Oh and yes...with my learning to coupon I have saved us $113.55 in the past few days on groceries. I have enough free spaghetti to last us through the next great depression, eggo waffles too. Those weren't free, but can't beat .69 cents a box!

Garage sales and coupons are my new best friends. Cheaper than most consignment shops around here and recycling items to boot!