Dude, that’s cold

{Tai’s school is going to end up hating me. I’m okay with that.}

In the words of a Facebook friend, “Dude, that’s cold”. That’s exactly what I thought when Tai brought home his latest fundraising flyer from school.  We received a really nice magnet that had Tai’s original artwork on it. All we have to do is pay $6 and we get to keep the magnet or return the magnet if we don’t want to keep it. NOT KEEP IT???? Is that even an option? You want me to have my 5 year old son take back his masterpiece magnet because I don’t want to pay $6 for a magnet??? How heartless are you?

I’m keeping the magnet, even though I’d prefer to spend my $6 on some other item in the catalog with his artwork on it.

Here’s the problem, though. Some parents won’t have the money to purchase the magnet. So they’ll be left with 2 options. One is to figure out how to pay for it . Do they not buy gas? What about the kids’ families who are on free lunch and free breakfast because they can’t afford to feed their children at home? What about the ‘take a backpack of food home for the weekend’ families? Does the school really think they have $6 to spend on a magnet? What if they have more than one kid at the school? This could be a few days worth of food for them.

The other heartbreaking option is to send the magnet back to school with the child. I don’t know about you but I would probably cry if I were in elementary school and my mom sent my artwork magnet back with me and I had to give it back to my teacher because my parents didn’t want it or couldn’t afford it.

I cannot believe the school is putting this guilt trip on parents and this heartache on children simply to earn a few bucks. It’s insensitive, heartless, and greedy.

Oh, if you want to check out the program that offers the ‘See Before You Buy’, www.originalworks.com.

Shameful Display

I love bowling. Getting the family together for some healthy competition and physical impress. The kids are really starting to love bowling, too. Tai has graduated from the ramp and Baylee is trying – although her slight throw only helped the ball sloooooooooowly get down the lane only to stop midway. We have fun.

I hate bowling. Or my pride does. I lost. Horribly. I lost to my 3 and 5 year olds. Yes, they have gutter rails but they threw their own balls. Heck, they even each got a strike. Me? I’ve never seen so many gutter balls in my  life.

It’s a truly shameful display. Wanna go with me next week????

‘Disconnect’ or ‘Discontent’

Disconnected, from feeling alright.
Disconnected, it a’int black & white
Disconnected, there’s a sword through the dove.
Disconnected from the country I love.

I’m always in discontent and disconnected. Discontent breeds change. When?

‘Every Morning is the Same’ or ‘Groundhog Day’

Every morning it’s the same scene. I am downstairs working and Baylee is always the first one up. She sits at the top of the stairs and yells ‘Mommy’ in her distorted, weak, and forced morning voice. ‘Yes?’ I call back up to her. ‘You downstairs?’. ‘Yes’, I say. ‘I can’t do it!’ Apparently she’s too weak in the mornings to walk down the stairs. If I could be carried downstairs in the morning I’d choose that option each time as well. I hope she always does. We sit on my chair and I ask her if she had any dreams last night. Of course she did. Every morning it’s the same.

I love our morning routine. Even though I can’t stand repetition in my everyday life, I love this sameness.

‘Welcome Back to Crazy Town’ or ‘Inspired’

I always enjoyed the non-commital variety offered in Rocky & Bullwinkle’s double titles. So I’m gonna do it, too.

At the request of several friends, I’m going to give this blogging thing a Swhirly Whirl again (there’s a throw-back to my Fazoli’s days when we used ‘Whirl’ to butter the breadsticks). I feel like I have a ton of crazy thoughts in my head on a daily basis and I tend to think they are hilarious. I think others tend to think I’m crazy. Please tell me you have odd thoughts as well. Please?? I’m ot promising that I’m keeping this sane. I’m just keeping it.

So much is changing in our lives right now. The biggest is that my two babies (has it been 5 years already??) are going to be in school. My stubborn, precious baby is going to kindergarten. Don’t tell him but I’m nervous as hell. I don’t function well without a plethora of information. Trust is not my strength (except with Jeremy). I don’t have a lot of information to give Tai, who is my double. I’m hiding nervousness as best as I can but I can tell Tai is nervous. I worry about things like:

• When he gets to school how will he know where to go first?
• What will lunch be like?
• Will he remember which bus to get on on the way home? What if he doesn’t?
• Do the teachers/bus drivers care as much about these things as I do?
• Will Tai miss out on a lot of time with Jeremy due to his working in a restaurant?
• What am I going to do with my ‘free’ time?

Baylee? I’m not worried about her at all. She’s so excited to meet her friends (they are already her friends because EVERYONE is her friend). She won’t care at all when I leave.

You can call me crazy and that’s fine. That’s a label I’ll lovingly accept. As long as you have answers.

Tai’s Heart

It’s a simple little heart. It’s a 5 year old’s heart. It’s Tai’s heart for me for Mother’s Day and I cherish it.

$138.20 for 2 weeks of food

My husband gets paid every other week and my money trickles in throughout the month so it’s hard to count on it. So, I have to do my shopping once every other week. I’ve been doing this now for maybe 6 months and have gotten quite good at knowing how to stretch the food to last that long, especially since I am trying to keep healthy fruits & veggies in the mix at all times. Here are some of the tricks I’ve learned along the way:

 

• Don’t allow for leftovers. If you are going to make lasagna, instead of making it in one large pan, make it in two smaller pans. Freeze one for next week and eat one now.
• Soup is your friend. Easy to make in a crock pot, too! Use some now, save some for later this week and freeze some for next week!
• Beans are your friend. Dried beans, too! Lentils are great for protein & quick soups.
• Use canned and frozen fruits & veggies the 2nd week. Slide them into your meal wherever you can so it adds up.
• Make as much as you can by hand – breadsticks, rolls, breads, pancakes, soups, muffins, etc.
• Buy what’s on sale
• Plan your meals around what is on sale and what you already have
• Be prepared to have the same thing more than once in 2 weeks.

 

I used to spend $150/week on groceries, feeding 2 kids (ages 3 and 5), myself and my husband. My goal is $300/month so I think we’re good! Here’s the plan for the next couple of weeks around my house.

Breakfast Options:

Honey Nut Cheerios
Kashi Go Lean – already have a full box
Eggs – scrambled, hard boiled, over easy 
French toast
Homemade Pancakes
Banana Muffins
Peanut Butter Muffins
Oatmeal
Spinach & Egg Quiche Cups (quiche is always a cheap meal!!!)
Peanut Butter toast

Lunch Options:
Homemade Pizza 
Tuna Salad
Chicken Salad
Burritos (we always have beans & tortillas on hand)
Grilled cheese (we use shredded cheese)
Leftover dinner
Hot dogs
PB&J
BLT
Veggie Wraps
Turkey Calzones
Baked Potato & Salad

Dinners:
Beer Cheese Soup, Homemade Rolls, Salad (freeze some soup for next week)
Homemade Pierogies, Broccoli (freeze some soup for next week)
Homemade Pizza – fun for the kids to make the dough & put on their own toppings, Salad
Chicken with Pistachios, Cauliflower, Rice
Turkey Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans
Saturday – out
Pasta with tomato sauce and turkey meatballs, homemade garlic breadsticks, Broccoflower
Beer Cheese Soup
Pierogies, roasted carrots
Pizza & Salad
Mexicali Chicken, mexican rice, frozen peas
From the Pantry – Lentil Soup & breadsticks

There are only 12 meals here because  we usually will end up having leftovers one night or something quick and not on the list due to being tired or busy. 

Snacks:
Raisins
Carrots & dip
Cheese & Crackers
Cheese Balls
Fruit
Celery & Pb
Fruit Snacks
Popsicles ( already have)
Pretzels
Homemade hot pretzels

Here’s my grocery list & total. Somehow it didn’t add up to what the receipt says but oh well. I win I do still need to pick up 2 gallons of juice ($8) and some chicken ($5). But, I did spend $10 on pop when I should have only spent $4 so I guess I could have spent $145 total but will spend $151. I used one coupon for $1. Ta Da!!!

View this document on Scribd

The end of an era

I didn’t cry. My heart did. Baylee did. The kids’ baby crib is gone. Taken away by someone off of a Craigslist ad. $30 and their childhood security is gone. But really I don’t think that is the hardest part about it - the loss of their infancy. No, it’s the statement that we’re not planning on having children anytime soon or maybe even ever again.

Wait! Who am I?

The person above is not who I used to be. Before Tai I couldn’t imagine loving anything more than I loved my dog.

“WHAT dog?”, I ask now.

I’ve never known such love. Such adoration.

My babies aren’t babies anymore. Tai will be going to kindergarten next year. Baylee will be in preschool. Each day they learn to need me less and less. Perhaps that is why I long to have a baby need me. I want to hold a baby that can’t hold itself up quite yet. I love the jerky movements their heads make when they haven’t mastered voluntary muscle movements. I love their reflexive noises. I love when they cry. That’s when I want to hold them most.

I also love my growing freedom. When the kids are playing outside and I’m left in a quiet house, alone, with grown-up things to do. I can do them. Alone.

It’s a double-edge sword but I’m willing to love it and to love my children just AS IT IS.

As You Are Now

I will take up all your tears
Salty tissues through the years
Spread them in the sun to dry
Diamonds from each time you cry

I will treasure all your teeth
Your laughter and the pearls beneath
Keep them in a cardboard box
Through the tickings and the tocks

I will gather all your hair
Floating in the sultry air
We will make a braid of gold
For you to keep when you are old

Now I kiss your milky skin
Sheet of silk and soul within
Put this kiss upon your brow
Treasure you as you are now

 - Suzanne Vega, As You Are Now

Something I Didn’t Burn

I’m a notoriously horrible cook. I multi-task apparently WAY too much and burn everything from pancakes and frozen waffles to butter. The cookies I bake always come out too, er…..um….done or they don’t cook at all.

As I’ve told people before, I am a planner not a plan maintainer. That flows into my being a list maker, not a list follower. A recipe is a list. A rule. I don’t DO rules. Especially not yours.

Ask me at what temperature those cookies are supposed to bake. I don’t know. Ask me for how long they should cook. I don’t know. Ask me why they are burned. I can tell you that – it was the stupid recipe.

If I make up a recipe then it comes out just fine. So, tonight I made something I like to call

Chocolate Cinnamon Popcorn (feeling creative tonight)

Pop your favorite popcorn. I did it the oil in a pan way because I like to watch those little buggers pop.
Toss in a bag with a bit of melted butter:
     Cocoa
     Cinnamon & Sugar (equal parts of each)
     Sprinkling of salt if your popcorn is not already salted

Sorry I can’t give you measurements. As I said, I don’t follow rules. I don’t even follow my own. Use your tasters. Enjoy!

A Common Conversation

Here’s a transcript of a conversation held between me and Tai, my 4 year old yesterday. It’s up to you to decide who said what.

In all seriousness: “We need to have a talk”
Perplexed & stunned: “What about?”
“Why you won’t let me play with the hammer”

I welcome your guess.