Someday You'll Be Hiring These Two....

My kids are obsessed with my camera...

Not with being in front of the lens like I wish, but being behind it.

The funny thing is though...

Sometimes I actually like what I find when I am deleting.

I love these two kids!!!

Aunt KiKi and Tommy!!

Complete boredom can sometimes turn into something pretty good...

Thanks Sis....I had fun!!

I've Gotta Start Somewhere...Part I

So I have a huge confession to make....

We need to start budgeting!!! Like yesterday!!!

But where to start??

Well I have been pondering this for quite a while. See...it isn't like we are one of those families swimming in debt. Frankly I can't take the pressure and stress that comes with endless heaps of debt, but we'll leave that story for another day.

I just feel like it would be nice to be AHEAD!!!

I am pretty sure I am not the only one that feels this way, but nevertheless I have decided to stop thinking about it...talking about it...and do something!!

So my plan starts today...

And it starts with the kitchen.

Tom and I took survey of everything we have...Freezer...Fridge...Pantry!!

And came up with a menu for the next nine days. Now to be fair I think we could have stretched the menu to 15 days, but this will be an experiment to see how we do.  Don't want to bight off more than we can chew.

We made a menu, then made a very small list of things we would still need from the grocery store and that was that.

I thought I would share our menu and our small grocery list.

Wish us luck!!

Menu:
1. Ribs with Caesar salad and cornbread  Perfect meal to end a day of yardwork and cleaning!!
2. Burgers and Hot dogs with potatoes Au gratin
3. BBQ Chicken with rice
4. Spaghetti with green salad
5. Halibut with green salad
6. Baked Chicken with Alfredo pasta
7. Ravioli
8. Potato Soup
9. Taco Salad

I know...you are probably laughing at my menu, but its what I've got and if I buy stuff to create the menu I am accomplishing nothing!

Our small grocery list...  Got everything on the list and a couple added due to good coupons and a clearance section!!

2 Gallons of Milk (Got them on clearance because of pull date, but the way we go through milk it won't make it to the date)
Toilet Paper
Head Lettuce
Cucumber
Tomatoes
Eggs

Added....Bananas, two pillsbury dinner rolls $1.00 and two 4-pks of yoplait for $2.00.

The goal is to spend NO MORE on groceries until the nine days is up!! 

We shall see......

Happy 300th....

This will officially be my 300th post!!

Sunday morning we split the kids down the middle and went our separate ways.

This one went with dad...

Thomas' eyes just light up when he gets to go to the driving range with dad. He wants to be just like his dad...News flash Thomas...you already are!!

And this one went with me...

We headed off to the park and although she probably would have rather been with the boys...I think she was pretty happy once we got there.

Just a List....

So I have figured something out...

I love crossing things off my list!!!

Whenever we go on vacation I make a list...and I get a little thrill every time something gets crossed off.

Which leads me to the meat and potatoes of this post.

I thought I would make a list...A "To-do" list!!! Since blogger allows me to put a line through things it seems like the best way to start getting things done.

So here is my list....

1. Clean and organize master bathroom linen closet.


2. Go through all of the kids' clothes and pull out the winter. It may not OFFICIALLY be summer in the other 49 states, but in AZ it is!


3. Clean and organize my craft room.


4. Work on a shelf that I got from Goodwill for the kids' playroom.


5. Take photos for my photography class.


6. Book first camping trip!!


7. List at least 10 things on Etsy (I have really neglected my Etsy shop lately and the truth is...I have probably over 50 bows/hair clips that I just need to take pics of)

It may not seem like too much, but I forgot to mention that everyday I have to go to my moms to watch her dog for a few hours...On Wednesday night we have Kindergarten round-up...On Saturday we have two parties...

AND of course all of the normal, everyday mommy stuff!!!

Proud Mommy!!

So yesterday was RECITAL day!!

And except for the few tears Taylor shed when I dropped her off...it went off without a hitch!!

Unfortunately NO CAMERAS/VIDEO TAPING were allowed, so if you have come looking for the much anticipated Dad's dance...it is not here.

I did order the DVD, so hopefully I can figure out some way to share with everyone. Taylor had a great time and she did great.

She was back to her normal self after the show though....and refused to help get a good picture of her with mommy and Aunt KiKi.

She half way cooperated for the pic with her dad.

And the day wouldn't have been complete without a pic of our good friends The Tavenner's. Evan is in Taylor's dance class (if you missed the matching dresses) and Landon takes the hiphop class.

It was a great day!

Thanks a lot BLOGGER!!!

Dollar Tree Tuesday had to be delayed two days this week due to BLOGGER, but I decided that I would go ahead and post anyway...

I mean my loyal lurkers readers may want to see what I picked up this week.

The weeks trip was for ME and me only. I picked up some household items that I would buy only at the Dollar Tree.

Yes...I am aware that there is a machine known as "Coinstar" AND yes I am aware that this machine counts your money for you....BUT I do not want to give up any of my the kids' money. So, every six months or so I sit down...find something on the DVR that I need to catch up on...AND roll coin.

$1.00 and I get 36 coin wrappers and I don't have to give up 8.9% of the money.

Tom reminded me the other day that we were in need of a good scrub brush...so I can now check that off the list.

I have showed both of these items before, but they deserve a second shout out...FLOSSERS and LATEX GLOVES. The flossers are probably my number one best find at the Dollar Tree and if you ask my hubby I cannot live without them.

Manila envelopes, a plastic basket and a 2pk of white drawer trays finished off my list.

I have a few organizing projects that need to be done this week...

So I will most likely be back to my favorite store.

Toddlers and Tiaras

OK...

I am going to confess something

I am not cut out to be the mom of a dance diva or Taylor isn't cut out to be a dance diva. Either way...

The look on her face and the DumDum in her hand (yes I am not above bribes) should tell you how our morning went.

And lucky me US we get to do it all again next Saturday for the actual recital!!

Dollar Tree Tuesday....Teacher Appreciation Version!!!

So if you have kids in school you should know that this week is teacher appreciation week!!

I like any excuse that directs me to the Dollar Tree and this was a great one.

The Dollar Tree has a good school supply section, so I decided to put together a little basket for our favorite pre-school teacher. Hopefully she isn't reading this, hehe!!

I have a few other little surprises for the basket, but these are the "store" bought items.

1. Two books of stickers
2. Two packages of super cute pencils
3. Hand sanitizer...which is essential with all those little ones
4. Flash cards for both 123's and ABC's....I guess this is more for her kids next year, but I couldn't resist.

I got the basket and the shreds at Dollar Tree also...All for a little under $10.

PB and Banana Anyone??

If it were really true that you are what you eat...well then my Thomas would be a big ol' PB and Banana Sandwich...

He eats one almost everyday for lunch. Probably 6 out of 7 days a week! That's a lot of PB and quite a few bananas too!

I let him do the honors the other night (yea he has been known to have one for dinner on occasion) and I took pictures while he did the making.

Did you know that Elvis himself enjoyed PB and Banana Sandwiches??