Works For Me Wednesday

What works for us is a chore chart! I bought my daughter a "My Magnetic Responsibility Chart". This is our first time trying a chore chart. She will be 4 in August so I started off with simple 'chores'. Things she does everyday anyways: stop whining, say please and thank you, get dressed, brush teeth, put toys away, take a bath, and get ready for bed. Once she gets used to these things I will change them out for more difficult tasks.

Edit: I had a few people as where I found this chart. In case anyone else is wondering I bought it at Toys"r"Us. It was by the puzzles and the brand is Melissa & Doug. I think it costs around $20.00. Well worth it if chores get done! :)

Sorry the picture is so dark. The board is shiny so there was a reflection every time the flash went off and the rest of the board was dark.

For more Works For Me Wednesday tips check out rocks in my dryer!!

Things About Me

4 Things I Was Doing 10 Years Ago:
1. finishing my freshman year of high school
2. met my then soon to be step dad
3. taking dance classes 3 times a week
4. being interested in boys!

4 Things I Was Doing 5 Years Ago:
1. getting out of an abusive relationship
2. moving back into my mom's house
3. in college
4. going out with friends

4 Things I was Doing Yesterday:
1. went to my mom's house
2. ate BBQ
3. cleaned out the kitchen cabinets
4. figuring out where to fit a pool in my yard

4 Shows I Like to Watch:
1. Supernanny
2. The People's Court
3. TMZ
4. the news!

4 Things I Love to Do:
1. spend time with my kids
2. read
3. spend time with Piggy
4. sleep *that doesn't happen often*

Menu Plan Monday

Adi's last day of school was Friday. Now I will have both kids home 7 days a week. I've decided to start planning lunches and snack instead of just breakfast and dinner.

I will be the first to admit that we are by far not the healthiest eaters. I would like for us to be!!! Our pantry had lots and lots of processed, pre-packaged food. I can't bring myself to throw any of it away so I have decided that we will use it all then start buying more healthy alternatives and begin cooking from scratch more often.

With that being said, let't begin. As always breakfasts will be simple. *I'm not a morning person and I am way too tired to do complex meals that early in the day* I will throw in a few other things just to mix it up.

Breakfasts: cereal, oatmeal, grits, cinnamon rolls, and biscuits all served with fruit and milk

Lunches: trying to use up unhealthy foods

Snacks: yogurt, fruit, crackers with cheese

Dinner: Monday- BBQ, Tuesday - tacos, Wednesday - leftovers, Thursday - grilled chicken breasts, Friday - crawfish etoufee

For more menu ideas check out Orgjunkie.com!

Picky Eaters

I always knew my childrens eating habits weren't "normal" but I don't think I realized how unusual they were until recently. Not long ago we had spaghetti for dinner. I serve the kids their food in divided plates. There is a big section and a little section. For KK I put the meat sauce in the big section and noodles in the little section. For Adi I put noodles in the big section and meat sauce in the little section. Of course, he only ate the meat and she only at the noodles. Last week we had chicken for dinner. This time around she only ate the side of white rice that was served with dinner and he only at the chicken. No vegetables, no fruit, no bread.... I must also mention that her noodles and rice have to be 'clean' with 'syrup' *aka soy sauce*. SO not healthy!! I offer different foods but I can't get them to eat them!!

If I am able to get Adi to try new foods she gags so badly she is almost to the point of vomiting OR she'll just hold it in her mouth, she won't chew, swallow, or spit! I feel bad but I don't really know any other way to get her to eat!

Kadyn has always had feeding issues since he was a baby. In addition to having SPD he also has horrible reflux that makes meal times very difficult.

Then, when Piggy's home he's a picky eater too. I'm sure the kids pick up some of their habits from him as well!

I wish I could fix ONE meal that everyone in the house would eat!!!!

"Honey Do List"

Piggy made a surprise visit last night. The job he was working on decided they wanted to start work Wednesday morning. He made the trip home thinking he would leave Tuesday night after the kids went to bed. Well......... as always, that isn't the case. They called this evening to let him know they are having a safety meeting at 9:30 tomorrow morning. Instead of leaving tonight he decided he will leave early tomorrow morning.

I'm bummed he has to leave but while he was home I did manage to get a few things scratched off my honey do list!! :) I finally convinced him to build me a square foot garden. We altered it a little bit so it's not exactly "square feet" but hey, it works for us!!

We put lattuce *sp?* in the back because we planted some cucumbers and they needed something to climb! We also planted some tomatoes, purple hull peas, and a few different herbs. My step-dad also gave me a barrel he cut in half to use as planters. I have two tomato plants that will go in there tomorrow. I need to drill holes in the barrels and of course the drill was dead!!

We also got some flower seeds for my daughter to plant in front of her playhouse. I sure hope they grow! I was thinking I would give them a while and if nothing happened I would send her away for a few hours and plant some actual flowers in the planters! Shame on me!

While I am posting pictures I just have to say I love the table Piggy built for me a few weeks back! Love it love it love it love it!!!

It's the third thing he has ever built out of wood. The first two were children's picnic benches. I think he did a darn good job! If you're reading this THANK YOU!! :)

Menu Plan Monday

Just like before, breakfasts are simple and lunch is made with whatever is on hand!

This is Adi's last week of school so I guess I will have to start posting lunches next week!!

Monday:

• Breakfast - cereal, fruit, milk
• Dinner - shrimp & butter sauce (not at all healthy!!!)

Tuesday:

• Breakfast - oatmeal, fruit, milk
• Dinner - Sausage, rice, & gravy

Wednesday:

• Breakfast - grits, fruit, milk
• Dinner - Leftovers

Thursday:

• Breakfast - cereal, fruit, milk
• Dinner - Baked chicken

Friday:

• Breakfast - oatmeal, fruit, milk
• Dinner - Steak & Tomato Gravy

Piggy will be home Monday and Tuesday so I figured I would cook things he enjoys these two

days!

For more menu ideas check out Menu Plan Monday hosted by OrgJunkie!

Just in case!!

I am going to post these pictures just in case Piggy finds a way to get online! I don't want him to worry! ;)

It's Saturday!

Soooooo... yeah, I forgot to post last night! I went to a wedding and didn't get home until after midnight..

Piggy is gone again for no telling how long. I don't mind him working for long periods of time, I just like to know ahead of time how long he will be gone. I DO NOT like to be told "it will be 2-3 days. Then find out it's more like 2+ weeks!!

While he is gone I have to assume the role of mom and dad. Since he has been gone this has involved:
1) fixing a toddler bed
2) dealing with ants
3) family DRAMA
4) gardening duty *something I greatly DISLIKE*

It's only day 4... Seems like 1 problem each day!

I am trying to find out if Piggy has internet where he is. I took some pictures of his bell pepper plants and I would love to prove to him that I AM taking care of them!! :)

I think I will take a break from shopping next week. Unless something strikes me as a REALLY REALLY great deal, I'll pass. I don't think my CVS ECBS expire anytime soon so I should be good to go! I haven't even cut out my coupons from last weeks paper! I'm slacking, I know.. :(
Tomorrow I plan on going to a playdate at Girouard Park. I hope the kids and the weather cooperate! I even took some bread from my mom's house to feed to the ducks! Adi is SOO excited!

Until next time, bye bye!! :)

Kind of Boring Day

After the weather we got early this morning the rest of the day was just B-O-R-I-N-G!!

KK had S/T at Women's and Children's, we went to Walgreens, and we went get Adi from school. Nothing at all afterwards!! I did manage to find the Gillette 2 in 1 Body Wash I have been searching for..... My Walgreens hasn't had any the last 2 times I went. I need to go back tomorrow and get my free one! Piggy loves that stuff! I sent him some offshore and he told me he wanted more!

Speaking of Piggy, he came home late Saturday night.. and he left late Tuesday night. No telling how long he will be gone this time. As much as I don't like being by myself I am thankful that we both have family in the area to help out if I need!

Hope you all have a nice night!!

Sorry I've been MIA!

Okay, I haven't posted in a while.... DH came home late Saturday night. Know what he did?? He mangaged to blow my budget in less than 24 hours!!! I guess that's what I get for not telling him about it! He left again last night to do a land job in Alexandria, I guess when he gets home I will have to sit him down and have a heart to heart! I wonder how that will go over!??!
So, I have to throw out the budget for this month. I am too embarassed to share where it stands now.. Let's just say we went over, WAY WAY OVER!
I will try and get things back on track soon. I didn't get to do a menu plan or a WFMW post this week. Things have been CRAZY!! Starting tomorrow, I will try to do at least 1 post a day. Even if it's just HI I'm still alive! :)

Wow.. I didn't realize I spent that much!

Just a quick rundown of the money I spent this week. I calculated it and was amazed.. I kind of let my budget slip this week and it's really showing!! I must mention this before I show the numbers.. All of our bills are paid this month except cell phone and cable/internet which total about $220.00. (<--- I need to do something about that amount!) So overall I guess it's okay, I would have liked to have done better though!

Total Spent in May: $1251.99
Total Remaining to Spend: $748.01

I didn't include the mother's day gift that I bought for myself either. I FINALLY broke down and bought a new digital camera. I have an older model but I lost the memory stick for it. To replace the memory stick is about $100.00. I figured if I was going to spend that much money I might as well get up to date and get a new camera! Piggy is still offshore so he hasn't seen it yet! :) Total I spent about $300.00 but I fell it is well worth it. If you include that I only have $448.01 left to spend. If it comes down to it I'll just say I used our tax rebate for the camera so it doesn't count!!!

I plan on starting a home organization project this weekend. I will try and post before and after pictures *if I'm not too embarassed*. Hope you all have a great weekend!!!

Update on Budget!

This will be a quick post........ Well, I spent some money today. More than I would have liked to but hey, it had to be done! I had to pay for Kadyn's earplugs from the ENT, groceries, water bill, and gas. *Did you notice how expensive gas is!??!?!?!?!?! LoL Yes, I'm being sarcastic!*

Total Spent for May: 747.21
Remaining to Spend: 1252.79

Post-Op Visit With the ENT

We went for KK's post-op visit at the ENT today. The doctor said that his ears look great and there is no fluid build up! YaY!!!! He had T-Tubes put in on April 24th and I have already seen an improvement in his speech!! I'm so excited!!!

Before starting this post I got out my calculator to figure out how much money I had left to spend this month but then I realized.. I haven't spent anything since last Thursday!! I'm sure tomorrow will be different though. I NEED TO put gas and go pick up a few things in town.

But as of right now the totals are:
Total Spent for May: $608.61
Remaining to Spend: $1391.39

My First Works For Me Wednesday!!

This week is a special themed edition of WFMW - What Doesn't Work for Me.

What doesn't work for me is - sending DH grocery shopping. If you're lucky he will buy what's on your list..... plus tons of other stuff!! Most times I think he must lose the list on the way to the store because he manages to buy a basket load of items and NOTHING is what you asked for! Now, I do the shopping myself preferably without him!

Click here for more WFMW!!

Sorry about the date, I typed this earlier but can't figure out how to change it to today!

My First Menu Plan!

This is my very first attempt at menu planning. With that said, I will try and use things I already have in my pantry before making a menu from the present sales. I must also admit that we don't eat as healthy as we should but I'm working on that! Once the junk food is gone I don't plan on stocking up on more. I will only buy the occasional treats!

For now Saturday and Sunday will be left open in case things don't go as planned during the week. Breakfast will be simple and lunch will be made with whatever is on hand.
I should probably also mention that my daughter is in school for breakfast and lunch so that just leaves my son and myself to feed.


Monday
Breakfast: Cereal, Milk & Fruit
Dinner: Baked chicken

Tuesday
Breakfast: Oatmeal, Milk, & Fruit
Dinner: Sausage, Rice, & Gravy

Wednesday
Breakfast: Grits, Milk, & Fruit
Dinner: Leftovers

Thursday
Breakfast: Cereal, Milk, & Fruit
Dinner: Pizza

Friday
Breakfast: Oatmeal, Milk, & Fruit
Dinner: Spaghetti


For more menu ideas check out Menu Plan Monday!!

TGIF!!!

I don't know how some Moms manage to get it all done! I am at home with both kids today and it seems like the work is just piling up! I'm on my last load of laundry *for now, these kids dirty way too much clothes!* and now I'm staring at the pile of dishes in the sink. Oh how I wish we had a dishwasher!
We went to McDonald's for lunch today, I didn't have the energy to cook lunch :( I will start meal planning next week so I can be fully prepared!!
The kids are almost finished taking their naps so I wanted to post while I had a chance.
I worked on my price book today. Well, I don't know if I could actually call it a 'book'. I used index cards, and index card box, and A-Z dividers. I thought about using a notebook but I wasn't sure how I would be able to find what I was looking for.
I also started making my shopping list for next week. There is not much that I need, I try to stay well stocked with all of the basic necessities. So far I need bread, ham, liquid fabric softener, and milk. I hope they have some good sales this weekend so I can stock up on other things that we use often!

Total Spent for May: $608.61
Remaining to Spend: $1391.39

Today is Piggy and I's 4 year anniversary... I'm sad that he can't be here for it. I wonder if he even remembers?? Hahaha I doubt it!

It is also the first day of our new budget. So far I paid the rent, electric bill and admission into the zoo. (My daughther had a field trip so KK and I went meet her after his therapy.)

KK had speech therapy this morning at Women's and Children's. He did very well! He is getting much better at imitating words and he is attempting to imitate sounds. I was hoping he would show at least some improvement since getting his third set of tubes last week. We are working on getting him to go in the back by himself. When I am in the room with him he tends to cling to me. I'm sure he would be much more cooperative if I weren't there! After S/T we had a P/T evaluation. I noticed recently that sometimes he feet turns in when he walks. Sometimes it's the right foot, sometimes the left, and sometimes it's both. We went to the pediatrician a few weeks ago and he said that KK's feet seem to be formed normally so his concern is that it might be neurological. The physical therapist agreed to see him to work on his balance and just to keep an eye on his foot. She also measured his legs and it seems that his left leg is 1/2 cm longer than his right. We have an appointment with Dr. Dersam, a pediatric orthopedist, later on this month. We will be able to set better goals once he evaluates the condition.

Total spent this month: $600.59
Remaining to spend: $1399.41