I get by with a little help from my....everyone!

Happy Sunday, Friends!!  Today was a pretty good day.  I was able to get a lot accomplished today.  Not as much as I would have liked, of course, but a lot nonetheless. And how did I do it?  Well, with a little help from my friends!

The fabulous S.K. came over after church and played with Nicolyn while I tackled the ever-growing mountains of laundry around my house.  The wonderful M.W. took care of Bryant at t-ball practice and even drove him home afterwards so I didn't have to drag Lynnie and her rash to the ballpark and have her out in the heat for 2 hours.  The beautiful Becca took care of the kids at church so I could attend a seminar about financial planning and writing a will and all of that incredibly important stuff that Mike and I need to do sooner than later.

I have been thinking about blog-worthy topics.  This one keeps popping up in my head.  How are perfect moms able to do all they do and seemingly do it with no help?  Well, I definitely haven't figured it out.

As I've mentioned before, I have a very high maintenance daughter.  I am not able to get a lot done when she's underfoot, either because she just turns right around and undoes it all or she doesn't let me do it in the first place.  My mother-in-law tells me stories of how she'd be cooking dinner and vacuuming her house and that kind of thing with a kid on her hip.  That worked for me when Lynnie was really small, but it doesn't work anymore....mainly because my back won't allow it.  But also because I'm frankly not willing to do it. 

I really miss having my family in town.  They lived close by when Bry was a baby, and they were invaluable.  My mom didn't have to work, so she was our on call sitter whenever Bry was sick and couldn't go to daycare or Mike and I needed a date night or I had a meeting at church or whatever the case.  She had a room stocked full of diapers and clothes and bottles and everything else Bry needed.  Her house was his second home.  I was devastated when they left.  Not only was I going to miss having seeing my parents all the time, but I was going to have to start paying for babysitting!

Mike's family is in town, but they live a good 40 minutes away and all work.  Even so, my mother and sister-in-law make it to nearly every one of Bryant's t-ball games.  My father-in-law has even made it to a couple, despite his crazy work schedule.  They also come to every awards assembly, church performance, and birthday party that they possibly can.  My sister-in-law has been particularly awesome about keeping Lynnie for me while I go help out with Bryant's class during the week.  They are the type of people who will be there to help with whatever, whether it be cleaning or packing or yard work, if they can at all, and I appreciate them so so so much! In fact, my sis-in-law is keeping the kids overnight next weekend so Mike and I can go to Orlando.  It will be the first night I've spent away from Nicolyn, and I am ridiculously excited!

And then there are my ah-mazing friends and church family.  Several of the teens from church just adore Bryant and Lynnie (and, almost more importantly, my kids adore them!) and volunteer to come over and play with them so I can get stuff done.  S.K. comes with me every Wednesday night and wrangles Lynnie so I can help get everything prepped and cooked and set out for our church's Wednesday Night Dinner ministry.  One of my babysitters has even called me and asked if she could take Lynnie to the beach with her (while Bry was in school) just because she wanted to spend time with her.  (Um, heck yes you can give me a few hours to myself!)  Another one of my sitters who also happens to attend the Bible study I host at my house on Monday nights comes over a few hours before it starts so I can get the house in order and get dinner ready before everyone else gets here.  Several friends at church have offered to take my kids for a few hours over the weekend so Mike and I can have time together to just hang out or do work around the house.  I mean, wow!

And that brings me to Mike.  He helps me a ton by playing with the kids when he's home. I can always tell when he's had a wacky work schedule or put in a lot of overtime because my house is in even worse shape than normal.  And that doesn't count all of the things he helps me with like taking out the trash, unloading the dishwasher, or sweeping and mopping.  He may grumble the entire time he's helping out, but he pretty much does it if I ask him to (and every once in awhile when I don't!).  I have NO IDEA how military wives and single mothers stay sane and accomplish anything at all.  I am truly in awe of military families and appreciate all of you and the sacrifices you make for my freedom.

I'm blessed by so many different people giving their time and energy to help me out, and I haven't even mentioned the financial blessings! My church family sends any leftovers from Wednesday night dinners home with me and another girl almost every week - that helps more than you can imagine, my grandparents helped us buy our new-to-us vehicles when the tree crushed our other ones 2 years ago, my parents and Mike's parents are always buying our kids clothes and toys and video games and just plain spoiling them rotten, Mike's parents pay for our cable just because they want us to be able to have it, and Mike's parents also paid for almost all of Bryant's t-ball needs - the fees, his equipment, nearly everything.  And we're also blessed with "just because" gifts from both of our families as well.

So this post needs to be renamed - I actually get by with a LOT of help from everyone!  Thank you all for blessing me and helping me the way you do.  I wouldn't "get by" without you!

So this pic has nothing to do with anything I've written, but it's a great photo bomb, and I just had to share it with you!  It was a double date night at the Sharks game on Saturday night (YAY for free tickets from Office Depot)!!!

Here are the frustrating and awesome parts of my day - I'm sure it's why you're still reading!  Hahaha  :-)

Frustrating:  1). Lynnie still has her diaper rash.  It's significantly better, but it's still there.  2). While I did get a lot of laundry done, I was really hoping to get a lot more done around the house.  Even though she had someone to play with her all afternoon, Lynnie still showed her Diva side a lot.  3).  Mike and I have some seriously important decisions to make, specifically in case anything bad happens to both of us.  And we need to get it legal and in writing, which will cost money.  It's always frustrating to hear you need to pay for something!  ;-)  4). Right now I'm feeling something that I think is pretty typical for moms in general.  Even though I appreciate the people who helped me take care of my kids today, I feel guilty that I did not spend more time with them.  And I feel guilty that my housework STILL isn't finished.  I feel like I live in an endless cycle of guilt sometimes.  If I'm getting my housework done, my kids suffer.  If I'm spending a lot of times with my kids, my cleaning doesn't get done.  I know it's ridiculous.  I really do know that, but it is what's frustrating me at the moment so I felt I should write it.

Awesome:  1.  I was able to fold, organize, and put away 3 laundry baskets worth of clothes in addition to 3 loads I washed today!!!!  I put away so many of my kids' clothes that I had to go through their closets and take out stuff that doesn't fit them anymore because I ran out of hangers!  2.  While it's frustrating that Mike and I have some serious and seriously hard decisions to make, the seminar was really interesting and informative.  I'm glad I was able to go.  3.  I got to play with my kids on the church playground for a few minutes before the seminar started.  The sound of their laughter is the sweetest sound I have ever heard, and it makes my heart smile. 4.  I was told by a couple of different people at church today that they enjoy reading my blog and that it is encouraging.  That totally made my day! :-)

Poor Lynnie

So tonight's post will be short and sweet.  I just want to tell you a little about my day and ask that you continue praying for Lynnie.

I actually had a pretty great day.  Bry was on time for school, and Lynnie had a great morning.  Her diaper rash was looking a little better, and she wasn't screaming with pain every time I changed her diaper.  My awesome sister-in-law took care of her today while I volunteered in Bryant's class.  As a side note: I appreciate Bryant's teacher so so so so much.  I don't know how she puts up with some of the kids in that class every single day and keeps going back.  I know they're just in kindergarten, but some of the blatant disrespect and attitudes I see from some of them make me cringe. That may be a tangent I continue later.  ;-)

Anyway, Lynnie was great for Laura and seemed to be feeling well, so we headed to the gym after I picked her up.  She slept on the way to the gym.  I changed her diaper right when we got there so I could put a fresh coat of cream and medicated powder on her rash.  Well, the rash was getting worse again, but she was acting ok so I went ahead to my Sh'Bam class.  SO FUN!!!!  I got out of Sh'Bam and wanted to get some weights in before my shower.  The childcare worker came to get me again and said that Lynnie had pooped and that she was screaming and shaking and looked like she was in a lot of pain.  I went back and changed her diaper, and the rash had opened and was bleeding.  One of my friends read my post yesterday and reminded me to mix Neosporin with her diaper cream for bad diaper rashes.  I had forgotten about that (so thanks, Jessica!).  I got her home and found the Neosporin and some silvadene cream, which her pediatrician gave me last time her rash got really bad, and I slathered it on her.  She actually asked (in sign language) for me to put more on her.  I think it felt good and soothing.  That's a good sign.

She went to bed with no problems, and I said a prayer that the rash would be significantly better in the morning.  Bryant has a t-ball game tomorrow, which I'll probably miss because it's supposed to be over 90 degrees here.  I don't want to risk having Nicolyn out in that heat with her rash like it is (unless it's totally better in the morning, and maybe I'll be able to go. We have a big God, and prayer works!).  Luckily Bryant's Grandma will be able to take him to the game, just in case.  Maybe a later post will be about how blessed we are to have family close by.  :-)

So thanks again for reading my rambling.  :-)  I sort of included my frustrating and awesome points within the post.  And thanks, also for your prayers for Lynnie.  I can definitely tell you've been praying about her pacifier issue because she was AMAZING with that today.  Didn't even seem to miss it.  So please say a prayer for her rash, too.  Prayer works!

Saving money on groceries is fun!

It's true.  I love saving money!  It started as a necessity, but it has become sort of a hobby.  I am specifically going to talk about couponing/shopping today.


Lindsay and Rissa introduced me to couponing.  I remember first hearing them talk about it, and I was definitely overwhelmed.  The terms and lingo and sheer logistics of it all just sort of scared me.  Rissa had me over to her house and just broke it down for me.  Yay!  Now it's the only way we are able to afford groceries!


As I've said before, I can't really take any credit for the coupons and such that I find.  I follow a few websites that really make it easy.  It's still time consuming, but the ladies who run the sites do all the really hard work for us.  I still know the basics and how they find the deals they do, but it's so much easier to just use the deals they've already found!


I do about 90% of my shopping at Publix.  They really are the best grocery store in FL, and they're just so easy to work with.  I don't think I've set foot in a Winn Dixie in over a year.  The basics for Publix are this:  1.  Publix accepts competitor coupons.  Each store has a different list of the competitors they will accept.  2. You can pair a manufacturer coupon (one put out by the product manufacturer) with a store coupon (this refers to Publix or any of their accepted competitors) for each item that you buy.  3.  If an item is on a buy one get one free (BOGO) sale, you can use a coupon (or coupons if you have a store and a manufacturer) for the item you buy AND the one you get for free.  4.  If the store is out of a sale item, you can get a rain check and come back later and still get the sale price, even if you come after the sale ends.  5.  If you have $5 off of $30 (this is for example - it can be any amount off of any amount), the second amount is BEFORE coupons.  And you can use a Publix AND a competitor coupon like this in the same transaction as long as the totals add up correctly.  For instance, if you have a Publix $5 off of $30 purchase and a Winn Dixie $5 off of $25 purchase, your total purchase before coupons has to be $55.  You can find the complete coupon policy here. 


The two sites I follow most often are www.southernsavers.com and www.addictedtosaving.com.  My friend Cilla has also started a site that helps with this, but she focuses more on organic and healthful items than the entire ad.  Find her info at http://www.cillasdeals.com/.  She did a great job explaining the lingo and jargon.  You can find all of that here.


You can find coupons in the Sunday newspapers, online, and at the stores.  The sites I mentioned above will also usually tell you if a special coupon happens to appear in a different day's paper or a magazine or whatever.  


I have learned to use the sales and deals in the weekly ads and plan my meals around the stuff on sale, and not the other way around.  If I do happen to want to make something special and want to try to get it on sale or find a coupon for it, I'll look at Southern Savers.  She has a section called Best Deals This Week.  Southern Savers and Addicted to Saving both have coupon databases on their sites.  You can search the database for specific items.  I usually use the search for diaper coupons.  Every once in awhile I'll search for specific food items.


If I can offer you any advice about couponing, it would be to plan your shopping trips when you'll have little to no interruptions at first.  When I was first starting out it would take me quite some time to get everything together - all the coupons printed and clipped and all that jazz.  Now that I've done it a ton, I can do it pretty well with Nicolyn on my lap and Bryant talking incessantly in my ear (although it gets done much faster if they're not in the same room as me!).


In addition to shopping at Publix, I have a Sam's membership.  I buy almost all of my paper products at Sam's.  It's also the best place for cheese, milk, and eggs (unless I get them on sale at Publix).  I buy almost all of my meats at Carroll's Meat Shoppe in Arlington.  Their non-sale prices are lower than even Sam's everyday prices, and their sale prices are unbeatable anywhere.  Check out their calendar to see what's on sale this month.  As I've mentioned before, I get most of my produce from the co-op I work with.  If you prefer organic produce, this is definitely the way to go.  You save $10-$15 on average per bag of produce.  Check them out here.  If you're like me and not necessarily into the whole organic thing, the little produce store at the corner of Rogero and Merrill has an excellent selection and excellent prices.


The longer I've been only shopping sale items, the better I've learned what items should cost and what I'm willing to pay for them.  It definitely PAYS to be a savvy shopper!  (Threw that one in there for you, Dad!)


So on to my day:


Frustrating: Phew.  This was a very frustrating day in several ways.  First, Lynnie cried during most of the deliveries I had to make this afternoon.  It's day 2 with no paci and she's developing a bad diaper rash, and she did not take a nap for the entire 4 hours we were in the van.  Usually she would have slept from 3:00 or so til 4:00 or so, but she fought it tooth and nail and won.  Guess who lost?  My sanity!  And I tried to go work out (i.e. shower) afterwards, but the child care ladies had to come get me because Lynnie's diaper rash was too bad and she wouldn't stop crying.  Poor kid.  She gets crazy bad diaper rashes so quickly.  I'm talking within an hour's time.  It's insane.  And I really needed to try to get my house in some sort of order today, but I didn't get to even touch it.  I'm praying I get a few minutes in the morning to work on it.  


Awesome: Lynnie slept really well last night, despite not having her paci.  She was also really good again while Samantha and I packed the produce bags this morning.  That was a huge blessing.  And my van was nearly out of gas by the time I got home tonight.  We're talking below the E.  Mike took it and put gas in it for me so I didn't have to stop on the way to take Bry to school in the morning.  Such a good guy!


Is there anything I've written about tonight that you would like me to explain further?  Where are your favorite shopping spots?  How do you find good deals?

Same last name, and it ends there.

It's amazing how different people can be.  It's even more amazing, in my opinion, how different siblings can be.  Same mom, same dad, two completely different kids.

My son Bryant is 6 now.  He is very tall for his age (the size of an average 10 year old) and has beautiful red hair and adorable freckles.  I prayed every day he was in my belly for that red hair.  And, like most redheads, he's very pale.  He's almost finished with his kindergarten year, and I can hardly believe it.  It seems like such a short time ago that I was cradling him in my arms and nursing him and changing his diapers.  While I was still pregnant with him, a patient at the rehab facility where I worked told me something that I didn't understand until I held Bryant in my arms.  He told me that each age has its own ups and downs.  But every time you think, "Man! This stage is so amazing.  It just can't get any better than this!" that it is amazing, but just wait!  It gets better.  And better.  And better.  Oh how right he was.  Bryant was born, and I thought, "It just can't get any better than this."  But then he learned how to crawl and was learning how to do fun things and I thought again, "This is it!  It can't get any better than this!"  Then he learned how to talk and how to take steps and I thought it once again - it couldn't possibly get any better than that!  But it kept going and going and going!  It kept getting better and better and better.  I think of that patient often and how right he was.


Bryant was an amazingly easy going baby.  He only cried if he really needed something - a diaper change, to be fed, etc.  There were the very few, very rare exceptions to this, but for the most part he was super easy.  He would go to anybody for anything.  Never had any separation anxiety. He just loved everyone.  He'd eat anything I put in front of him.  I didn't know he was teething until I saw teeth in his mouth - he never fussed about it.  I had to use every ounce of mommy instinct in my being to know when he was sick because he never fussed.  He'd have a 104 degree fever and be playing happily on the floor.  And he was an excellent napper. It took him a little longer than normal to sleep through the night, but he was an EXCELLENT napper.  He took 4+ hour naps until he was just over 4 years old.  Everyone told me how lucky I was.  I just figured I was a great mom.  ;-)  


Poor kid actually had to have tubes a couple of times and 2 bowel disimpactions because he had some pretty severe health issues, but he rarely acted sick. It took me forever to get his GI doctors to pay attention to me because they would inevitably ask, "How is he acting?" when I'd call to tell them he hadn't pooped in over a week.  Sometimes I felt like lying to them to get them to believe that he was really sick.  In fact, the day of his second disimpaction, he had 7 - SEVEN - adult enemas INSIDE of him with NO bowel movement whatsoever, and he was playing happily when the doctor came in to examine him.  The doctor looked at me like I was crazy until he looked at the x-ray and saw that the kid, not me, was the one literally full of crap.  He was on adult doses of fiber and mineral oil and still needed the occasional enema until he was 4.  Do you know how pitiful it is when your 3 year old brings you an enema and asks you for it because his belly hurts and he needs to poop?  It's heart breaking.


And my pregnancy with him was super easy, too.  I was extremely swollen, but other than that I had no issues whatsoever.  No morning sickness.  No nausea.  Very little fatigue.  No dizziness.  It was fantastic.  His delivery kind of sucked, but that's because he was 11lbs 2ozs and 24 inches long, and my epidural broke.  I could have done without that.

This was 5 days before I delivered Bry.  Notice my sexy ankles?!

And now we get to Nicolyn.  Nicolyn, or Lynnie as we call her, is 16 months old and was born on my 30th birthday.  Her name is a combination of my sisters' middle names, Nicole and Lynne.  She is tall for her age, but not nearly as tall as Bryant was at this point.  And she's blonde and very tan and has amazing, beautifully dark eyelashes of which I am incredibly jealous.  

I knew from the get-go that she'd be a handful.  Almost the day I found out I was pregnant I was sick and had bad back issues.  I started swelling way earlier than I did with Bryant, but I didn't stay swollen constantly like with him.  But I was miserable for most of my pregnancy with her.  So miserable, in fact, that my mom flew down from Baltimore to stay with me for a long time just to make sure Bryant was fed on a daily basis.  It was terrible.  I knew she was a girl before I had the ultrasound, and I knew she'd be a diva.

This was 2 months before Nicolyn was born.

 

The only easy part of my pregnancy with her was actually her delivery.  Because of the epidural fiasco with Bryant (and because he was memorably huge), the nurses at the hospital actually remembered me and made sure it didn't happen again.  I barely felt anything.  Lynnie was a mere 9lbs 6ozs and just under 22 inches long.

She let us know she was a diva pretty early on.  She didn't really want anyone except Mike or me to hold her.  She screamed when she went to nursery at church.  She wasn't colicky, but she was very demanding and very high maintenance.  She still is.  She doesn't like it when my attention is elsewhere, whether that be reading to Bryant or doing dishes or laundry or whatever.  And she lashes out when she's frustrated.  She hits Bryant or Mike or me.  She screams at the top of her lungs.  She throws things.  Some days it's enough to make me consider going back to work - even if it's just a passing whim.

She's very smart, which makes her even more demanding.  She loves to be read to, and she can climb anything.  She's already figured out how to open our back door, and she loves to be outside.  She can climb the fence at the ball park where Bry plays t-ball.  She has even figured out how to undo the child "proof" cabinet locks around our house.  And it does me absolutely no good to try to put toys up around the house.  She runs behind me and takes things out of cabinets and toy boxes and drawers.  And, quite frankly, I always end up just letting her do it.  It's easier than cleaning up after her for the billionth time, and she's usually pretty happy (i.e. not screaming) when she's running around destroying my house.  

My mom took care of Bry for the first year of his life.  Then a good friend of mine took care of him for a year, and he was in daycare starting at 2.  I wished every single day to be able to stay home with him.  We didn't think we could live without the income.  When we got pregnant with Nicolyn and made the decision for me to stay home, I was so excited!  I had fond memories of my easy child who took 4 hour naps, giving me time to get stuff done around the house.  What a surprise when I had Nicolyn instead!

Apparently I was a terrible baby myself.  My mom prayed for me to have one just like me, and her prayers were answered!  She hilariously stated one time, "When I prayed for Shannon to have one just like her, I forgot I'd have to be her grandparent!"  haha Thanks, Mom!  She used to tell me that one day my strong personality would be used for good, and she looked forward to that day.  I tell myself the same thing about Lynnie.  One day she will be a strong woman.  I can only hope that I manage to get a few values instilled in there somehow, too.  :-)

Because they are so different, my kids bring me different kinds of joy and frustration each day.  Bryant is very laid back still, but that means he dawdles all the time. It takes the kid forever to do anything.  His focus is definitely lacking.  But he's off the chart smart.  He passed the preliminary testing to be accepted into his school's gifted program.  We're just waiting on the school board psychologist to test him to make it official.  Lynnie amazes me every day with how she catches on to things.  She's one of those kids who is very observant and doesn't miss a thing.  She knows how to put a DVD into the player.  She knows that moving the mouse around will make the computer screen light up.  She knows she gets a cookie at Publix and gets to slide at the gym.  For every moment I get frustrated with her during the day, I also have moments of gratitude that I get to see her passing all of these milestones and am not missing everything.  I missed Bryant's first steps.  I witnessed Lynnie's.  I get to hear all of her new words and know that Mike or I are most likely the ones who taught them to her.  I get to watch her grow and develop and know that it's me helping her do that.  And I get to be very involved with Bryant's class and school.  All of the office staff and, of course, his teacher know me on a first name basis.

I have to be honest, though, and tell you that I'm looking forward to the day Lynnie is in VPK for 4 hours a day.  :-)  Maybe then I'll have time to get my house in order.  But until then I'll just do the best I can and thank God for my life.  I also thank God for my (mostly) patient husband who has seen how stressful it can be to be home with the kids.  :-)

So for today:

Frustrating: Bry had a very bad headache when he woke up this morning.  It was bad enough that he held his head every time he stood up.  I probably should have sent him to school, but I kept him home to rest.  Today was also the first full day Lynnie spent without her pacifier.  Honestly, it could have been a lot worse.  The only real frustrating thing this brought about was that she didn't nap, even in her car seat, for more than 20 minutes.  That made her behavior *interesting* at church tonight.  Thank GOD for S.K. who took care of her all afternoon while Lindsay, Vickie, and I cooked and prepped!

Awesome: I met another mom at the gym (yes, I went even though I kept Bry home from school.  I know.  I'm a terrible mom.  His head was better by that point, though.) who totally understands being a SAHM and all of its frustrations!  She also joined the gym for the child-less showers!!!  I believe we'll end up being great friends.  ;-)  Also awesome was the dinner that Lindsay and I made tonight.  It was Lindsay's french toast casserole recipe, and it was AH-Mazing!  I'll post it tomorrow when I get the recipe from her.  I forgot to grab it before I left tonight.  

On that note, though, please say a prayer for Lindsay's family.  All 3 of her boys are sick with a stomach bug, and 2 of them got sick at church.  Lindsay is pregnant, so please pray she doesn't get sick too (or anyone from church tonight!).  

I'll end with a question to my readers.  How many kids do you have?  How are they different/the same?  Did it surprise you?

Oh boy.

That is my precious Lynnie, in a very typical state of hers.  Notice the paci.

My day started off with a lot of promise.  I had a PTA meeting at 8:15, so I got everything together last night.  I packed Bry's lunch, picked out his clothes, packed my gym bag, picked out my clothes, packed Lynnie's diaper bag, took a shower.  You get the idea.  I wanted this morning to flow smoothly and to be on time for the meeting.  I had big goals for today.  I wanted to catch up on putting away my laundry.  I wanted to get the rest of my dishes washed and put away after having small group last night.  Well, since my life is realistically imperfect, absolutely none of that happened.  

I woke up a few minutes late, but that shouldn't have been a big deal since I had everything ready.  Bry got up with no problems and started eating breakfast.  Lynnie woke up at her normal time after what seemed to be a good night of sleep.  But she was in a foul mood.  I'm talking FOUL.  My diva had crossed the line to devil.  She screamed literally all morning unless I was holding her.  What a great start to the day!  Well, dealing with her caused that few minutes I was already running late to be 20 minutes.  I was 20 minutes late to the meeting, which means Bry was also late for school.  Lynnie showed her diva colors during the entire meeting.

That's ok.  I had my gym bag and was heading to the gym for some me time and to let her play.  She walked right in to play, and I had a great workout.  Then I go in to take a shower and realized I hadn't prepared as well as I thought last night.  I forgot to take my towel for my shower (the gym doesn't provide them in an effort to keep costs low).  Great.  I have to get a shower and NOW because I have to pick up Bry for a dentist appointment.  Luckily I had worn a light jacket to the gym.  Being the realistically imperfect mom that I am, I used my jacket to dry off, thinking the whole time about how I would be able to laugh this off during my post tonight.

I went to get Lynnie, and she had fallen asleep for one of the ladies.  Yay!  Maybe she'll be super good for me at the dentist's office now!  I grab us a quick lunch (yay coupons!), but she refuses to eat anything but the fries.  Lovely.  I would have never let my son eat fries when he was a baby, but my life has become all about appeasing my daughter's temper.  So she ate fries. Ugh.  I know some moms who would flip.  No telling what nasty stuff is in french fries.  ;-)

Lynnie was perfect at the dentist's office.  Perfect.  Yay!!!  And then I was a stupid mom and had to open my mouth to ask the dentist a question about her.  I've noticed from posts by some of my friends that made me think her teeth seem to be coming in way faster than other kids her age.  I asked the dentist about it, wondering specifically if I needed to start taking her to dental appointments sooner rather than later since she already has so many teeth.  Well, she does have 2-3x more teeth than the average 16 month old (no wonder she's so rotten!  She's spent her entire existence teething, apparently!).  And the dentist noticed something else.  Her bite is being severely affected by her pacifier.  I need to stop allowing her to suck on her paci immediately or her bite may not correct itself without surgery.  As it is she'll probably require significant orthodontic intervention.  

Remember how I said my life is spent appeasing my daughter's temper?  The thought of taking her paci away literally terrifies me.  I am not a patient person, by any means.  And she's already so high maintenance.  Please say a prayer for me and for her!  I know it won't be easy on either of us.

Lynnie after some destruction she's created

I have had a very frustrating day.  I think one of the most frustrating things is that I had goals to accomplish today, and none of them got done.  Maybe if I don't set goals for tomorrow I'll have a better attitude when I write my post.  :-)

So let's break it down.

Frustrating:  The obvious things: Being super late to the meeting, not accomplishing any goals I set for myself, forgetting my towel for the gym, and hearing the news that I needed to wean Lynnie off of her paci sooner than later.

Awesome: The PTA meeting went well.  I found a sponsor to donate a few teacher appreciation gifts for us (yay!).  Bry didn't need another spacer because the one he had did its job perfectly (VERY yay!). I've noticed that my jeans are so loose on me that I can pull them off without unbuttoning them.  My working out is finally starting to pay off (very, very, very YAY!!).  

Despite my frustrations, I still have a lots of blessings to count and a lot to be thankful for.

Just so blessed

Mondays are super busy days for me.  I have to pack produce bags in the morning (usually after getting Bry ready and to school), get the bags to M.G. (the owner of the co-op), get my house back in order (it's in shambles after produce days), get ready for the young adult Bible study we host at our house (which involves making dinner and cleaning the house), and finally have the study.  Unless it's t-ball season, which it happens to be, then the study still happens at my house, and I still have to get ready for it, but Mike and I head to the t-ball field where I'm dugout mom.  Sorry for all the parenthesis (I had a lot to explain).  ;-)


My Mondays are rivaled only by my Wednesdays, when I spend my time volunteering with Bry's class during the day then helping prepare and serve dinner for our Wednesday night dinner ministry, followed by co-leading an 11th and 12th grade small group.


So the current hats I wear (in no particular order) are:
Wife
Mom
Wednesday night dinner ministry co-leader
Small group co-leader (Wednesday night)
Small group host (Monday night)
Dugout Mom/co-team Mom (whenever we have games)
Sunday School teacher, Sundays every other month
Class Mom, which includes volunteering every Wednesday and extra if needed for special events
PTA member
Nursery worker, once about every other month or so
VBS director
Produce bagger/delivery person


Yup.  I'm super busy.  I'm busier now than I was when I was working.  Know what all this stuff has in common, though?  It's all stuff I choose to do.  It's all stuff God has led me to do.  It's all stuff I can do with my kids.  It's all stuff I was meant to do.  I was not meant to sit behind a desk all day.  I have the utmost respect for moms who work full time and still manage to get dinner on the table and homework completed and attend t-ball practices and games and everything in between. I would never have time for all of these activities if I was still working. 


I know it seems like I'm too busy to keep a clean house, like I complain about, or to keep up with laundry or make dinner or do crafts.  And that may be part of my incompetence.  But, truthfully, even when I'm home with no activities planned, my daughter isn't exactly keen on letting me get stuff done around the house.  There is a fine line between Diva and devil...and she crosses it often!  But more on that later.


The point I am trying to make today is this:  When I look back on my busiest days I feel incredibly blessed.  I would never have even met the lady who runs the Neighborhood Garden if I was working, and I certainly wouldn't be working for her.  I couldn't host a Bible study at my home because there wouldn't be any time to get Bry's homework done or the house ready or cook for it if I had to work.  I couldn't be team mom because of all the time and energy it requires.  And every last one of these activities includes my kids, except the Sunday School and teen small group.  In those cases my kids are in their own classes, which is still great.  


I can do all of these activities and spend time with my children at the same time.  I am so blessed my heart may burst thinking about it.  Thank you for allowing me to share it all with you!

Bry at Show N Tell.  He's telling about his sunglasses.

Lynnie just being cute

Playing together sweetly

On to my day.

Frustrating:  The only really frustrating part of my day occurred when I realized I had totally forgotten to go buy Ziplocs to separate some produce stuff.  We need a bunch each day.  Luckily I had a bunch on hand, but they were all Toy Story or Cars themed.  So it is kind of funny that everyone who bought a bag of produce today ended up with Cars or Toy Story themed bags for their garlic and mushrooms!  I hate being so forgetful!  Oh yeah, and Bry couldn't find his hat before his t-ball game, which made stuff really stressful for awhile.  I swear, I don't know how many times we tell him specifically where to put it and it still ends up on the floor or under his bed.  I just don't get it!

Awesome: 1. The most amazing babysitter EVER came over around noon today.  She took care of Lynnie for me while I cleaned up after packing the produce bags and even went to get Bryant from school.  She stayed until Mike got home so I could actually get the house ready for small group.  I didn't even shove stuff in my room to clean up today!  And, as an added blessing, she didn't accept any payment whatsoever - she did it to get credit for volunteer hours for her school!  I mean, WOW!!!!  2. Bryant and his team did really well in their game.  So well, in fact, that they scored 30 runs and Coach Ed is treating them to a pizza party in a couple of weeks to celebrate!  3.  I saved the best for last again.  I didn't have anyone to keep an eye on Lynnie while I was packing produce today.  More often than not, Mike is home for at least a little while and can keep her entertained so we can get done quickly.  Well, that was not the case today, but she was a perfect angel anyway.  I think that may be the first time I've said that about my daughter, but she was P-E-R-F-E-C-T!  I was so glad and so relieved!!!!  :-D


What simple things (or major things) blessed you today?

I did it!

Yay!  I did it!  I used a "perfect mom" tip, and it actually worked for me!  :-)


Tonight I made a zucchini bread recipe that I have been dying to try.  I really needed to get some dishes done and the kitchen and dining room cleaned up since tomorrow is produce day.  I pack the produce bags for the co-op on Mondays and Thursdays.  A semi delivers tons of boxes full of delicious produce to my house, and S.H. (my good friend and partner in witty rhetoric) and I organize it and pack it all into bags to be delivered to the folks who ordered them.  We've had zucchini a lot lately, so S.H. gave me her recipe for zucchini bread.  What better time to whip up a batch than when I have an hour's worth of cleaning to do while it bakes?!  


So, as I was mixing the ingredients together, I realized I would not have quite enough vegetable oil.  I remembered that some people use applesauce in place of oil.  Never me.  I'm a VERY Southern cook.  I use real butter, lots of seasonings and spice, and you could pour my sweet tea over pancakes, the way God intended.  But WAY better try something like applesauce than make a run to Publix, right?!  I was 1/4 cup shy of having enough oil, so I grabbed my applesauce.  Oops.  It's chunky with cinnamon.  Well, luckily there is cinnamon in the recipe already.  A little extra umph never hurt anyone.  But the the fact that it was chunky made it significantly less liquidy than the oil.  So, knowing nothing about this, I figured it'd be better to add a little more than the missing 1/4 cup to replace the needed liquid.  I added about 1/3 of a cup.  


It smelled amazing while it was baking!  AH-mazing.  And, as I'm sure you've already guessed, it tastes amazing, too!  Very moist and flavorful.  I doubt I'm ready to replace all of the oil with applesauce, but this definitely worked out for me.  Here's the recipe in case you'd like to try it:


Zucchini Bread
3 cups of flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
3 tsp cinnamon
3 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 cup oil (remember here I used 3/4 cup oil and 1/3 cup applesauce)
2 cups grated raw zucchini
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup chopped walnuts


Combine flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon.  In a separate bowl, beat eggs until light.  Stir in sugar, oil, zucchini, and vanilla.  Add dry ingredients and then nuts.  Pour into greased pans.  Bake in 350 degree oven for 1 hour.  Makes 2 loaves.


Today was quite an interesting day as far as my frustrating and awesome moments are concerned.  So instead of separating the two, I'll just tell you about them together.  


Poor Mike was up a lot last night.  His stomach was really cramping, and he was spending a lot of time in the bathroom, which, of course, kept me up. So we finally are able to drift off to sleep for some length of time, and our dog barks at something outside.  With our dog, this could be a raccoon or a person or a leaf fluttering by.  Mike is always super good about going to check it out, though. Last night it happened to be a flipping huge tree limb that had fallen right over his car.  I say "over" and not "on top of" because the way the tree landed it did no damage whatsoever to his car.  This is super significant to our family because two years ago we had a tree fall in our driveway and land on and total BOTH of our vehicles.  So having another huge tree limb fall was super annoying, but the fact that it did no damage to Mike's car is nothing short of miraculous.  Plus Mike got some great fire wood for grilling out of the deal!  God was watching out for us in a big way.

We missed Sunday School because we were just so darn tired from having been up more than half the night, but made it to worship.  It was a fantastic service.  If you're in the Jacksonville area and need a church home, Fort Caroline Christian Church is where it's at.  


We were enjoying a nice lunch at Crispers, thanks to a gift card and free kids meals with the purchase of an adult meal, when I remembered Bryant had been invited to a birthday party today and I had completely forgotten to RSVP.  Luckily it all worked out, and he was able to go.  I had to think of a fairly inexpensive gift, and quick!  I went to Party City and bought a little treasure chest money bank for $1.  Then I bought a bag of assorted chocolates wrapped in gold and silver foil and added a lot of change that totaled $6.00 (it's the boy's 6th birthday) and some of the candies to the chest.  Bryant's friend is on his t-ball team, and they're the Pirates.  I was pretty proud of my idea, and Bry's friend seemed to like it, too.  :-)  


So, on that note, what are some super simple, fairly inexpensive gift ideas you've used in the past?

My hubby's day off

I absolutely love days my husband has off work.  Not only do we get family time, but it's my time to really get stuff done around the house.  He is an amazing father, and he's so good to wrangle the kids for me so I can get things accomplished.  Today I made lots of muffins and breads and candies for a bake sale for our Jacksonville Roller Girls' double header tonight.  Mike and I are HUGE derby fans, and our son's teacher happens to be one of the stars of the team (pic of her and me below).  

Here's the carrot bread/muffin recipe I used tonight.  It turned out super tasty, and if I can make it and make it right, anyone can!

Ingredients:

2 cups grated carrots

3 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon cloves

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

3 large eggs

2 cups granulated sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup milk

3/4 chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare two medium loaf pans by spraying with cooking spray.

1. Grate and measure the carrots and set aside. (I used my food processor to do this.)

2. Mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.

3. Whip the eggs together in a medium bowl.  Stir the sugar in and then add the oil, extract, and milk, stirring well after each addition.

4. Make a depression in the dry ingredients and add the wet mixture along with the carrots and nuts (if using).  Mix with a spatula until combined.

5. Divide the batter between the two loaf pans.  Bake on the top shelf of the oven for 50 to 55 minutes or until the loaves test done when a toothpick is inserted in the middle of the loaves.

I also used this recipe to make 24 muffins. I baked those at 350 degrees for about 25-30 minutes.  I think I actually prefer the muffins to the bread.

Credit: I modified a recipe I found on preparedpantry.com. 

On to the frustrating and awesome parts of my day.  I hope by now that you realize that I am not posting this stuff to brag or complain, but to show you that real moms have moments of frustration AND awesome moments that make up their everyday lives.  I want you to know about the good, the bad, and the ugly so you know that EVERY mom experiences that stuff ALL THE TIME.  :-)

Frustrating:  Lynnie dragged a bunch of egg shells (from my baking today) out of the trash and was playing with them before my husband or I could get them from her.  Then my son stepped in the mess and tracked the goo all over the kitchen.  As I was putting the Swiffer wet away after cleaning it all up, my son tried to pour himself a cup of juice and instead poured it all over the kitchen floor.  Well, Yippy.

In between (not really frustrating, but not necessarily awesome either): While waiting for my groceries to be rung up at Publix today, Bryant was very hyped up on the free cookie he received and was jumping up and down mumbling some sort of gibberish.  As he was doing that, Nicolyn kept trying to push the buttons on the credit card pad and put the pen thingy in her ear. That's pretty typical for us.  Luckily the cashier thought it was cute.  :-)  Also, Nicolyn started saying, "cookie?!" when we pulled up to the Publix parking lot.  She's super smart. It's funny that she correlates the two now.

Awesome:  1. Lynnie put a DVD in the player by herself and closed the drawer when she wanted to watch a movie.  It's so amazing to watch her discover her world and not have to miss every little moment. 2. My hubby and I went to a derby bout, and the New Jax City Rollers totally kicked butt!!!  He had a Outback gift card that he had earned at work, so we had a nice dinner beforehand.  It was fantastic to spend such a nice evening with him and a few of our friends.  3. Our babysitter (AKA the most amazing babysitter to ever roam the planet) organized our Tupperware cabinet, put away the dishes from the dishwasher, AND cleaned up the living room after the kids went to bed and before we got home.  I'll attach a pic of the cabinet - I just wish I had a "before" pic to show you!  Seriously, what a blessing!!!!!  Also, you know you're jealous of the hideous green paint in the cabinet.  ;-)

To green or not to green? That is the question.

Day 3 of blogging.  I find myself getting really excited when random stuff happens throughout my day because I know it's a potential blogging subject.  I never thought it'd be this way.  I hope it ends up being beneficial to someone.  :-)

It was brought to my attention that I need to be more careful when I'm writing my blogs.  I need to consider my whole audience.  When I wrote my post yesterday, I was only thinking of moms I have talked to who claim they would love to stay home with their kids but that it wouldn't be possible to survive on one income.  Some of these folks are driving hugely expensive cars and live in hugely expensive houses and wear brand new designer clothes and, well you get the idea.  That was my target audience.  It IS possible with some sacrifices.  I didn't consider the opposite end of that spectrum - the families who make less than we do and truly barely survive.  I sure didn't mean to offend anyone.  As I said, I want to be encouraging to other mothers.  But I appreciate the constructive criticism.  I have a one-track mind.  I'm glad to have a friend who had the guts to call me out.  

Please believe me when I tell you that I feel incredibly blessed to live the life I do.  I have an amazing husband who gave up his dream of being a fire fighter so that he could maintain tenure at Office Depot and work his way up the ladder.  Working in retail was never his dream.  It's not what he thought he'd be doing with his life at this point, but he is doing what he feels is necessary to support his family and keep me at home.  And I appreciate him and his sacrifices more than words can express.  While I know some folks who would scoff at $42K per year, I realize that there are others who would dream to make that much.  I guess it's all about perspective, isn't it?

Friend, you know who you are.  And I appreciate your candor.

And now on to my actual topic of the day:

I had one response to my little "survey" at the end of yesterday's post.  The vote was for me to write about how annoyed I get when hoighty-toighty "green" moms try to make me feel guilty (whether in person or by writing a snobby blog post) about not being Kermit green.

I love my country.  And I love the world that God has given us to take care of. I truly do.  But I also love technology.  I love that we live in the age of easy to use vacuum cleaners and toaster ovens and real shampoo and cleaning supplies and washers and dryers and medicines and ..... The list here is endless.  As I've said before, when I make a decision to use a product, it almost always involves finances.  If I can get the product for a great deal, I'll use it.  If it happens to be a "green" product, well that's a bonus.  So here is a list of things I use, habits I have, and standards I live by that would send some "green" moms into an all-out hissy fit:

-I use bleach.  Apparently bleach is considered a weapon of mass destruction to some.

-I vaccinate my kids (or allow my pediatrician to do it, as it were).  I do not buy into the vaccines cause Autism thing.  I chose my pediatrician because she's awesome, and I have developed a close relationship with her.  And I trust her with something more important than my life - I trust her with my children's lives.  If she tells me it's safer to vaccinate than not to, and if nearly all the research out there tells me the same, I am confident in my decision. I'll be honest - It makes me nervous sending my kid to school when I know some of the parents have made the decision to not vaccinate.  And it makes me even more glad that my daughter is not in daycare.

-I use anti-bacterials.  Yup, even in my kids' rooms.

-I don't necessarily care whether or not my food is organic.  I know I work for an organic produce co-op.  And the produce is delicious.  But I don't buy into the whole organic thing, either.  It's more than double the money to buy organic in a lot of cases, and I won't be spending the extra money.  (That is the great thing about the co-op I work for, though.  It makes the organic produce about the same cost as regular produce.)

-I consume regular dairy from regular cows on a regular basis.  

-I LOVE processed foods with processed sugars.  It's a weakness, I know.  

-I drink bottled water a lot.

-I use actual medications to treat ailments the kids or I have.  Acetaminophen or ibuprofen for aches and pains, decongestants for stuffy noses, antihistamines for allergies, etc.  I will use "green" remedies every once in awhile, but usually only in conjunction with something that will actually work for me.  And I'm not afraid to take antibiotics if the kids or I need them.
-I gave birth to both of my kids in hospitals with the use of epidurals, and I wouldn't change a thing.  Except that I would have had the epidural machine actually working when I delivered my son.  He was 11lbs 2ozs.  That hurt with no medicine, and I did not intend to let it happen again.  My daughter's delivery was blissfully easy.  She weighed in at a teeny 9lbs 6ozs, and the epidural worked the whole time!

I'm sure there are other things I do that would give hippies heart attacks, but that's what I came up with for now.

While we're on the subject, have you heard the new hype topic about the wood pulp (AKA cellulose)?  Read about it here:  http://www.thestreet.com/story/11012915/1/12-food-companies-that-serve-you-wood.html

OK.  I don't buy into that, either.  It is probably true.  There is probably cellulose in our food.  So what?  By the article's own admission, the cellulose is not harmful to our bodies.  It is simply not digested.  It is not adding extra calories.  It has no nutritional value whatsoever.  It's sort of like eating hidden iceberg lettuce, which has very very very little nutritional value.  I mean, granted, I would rather fill up on something that is good for me if that is my intention.  But if I'm eating a Little Debbie, I'd way rather half of the thing that's filling me up be void of nutrition AND calories than be really extra fattening and disgusting.  And isn't wood fiber?  Don't we need fiber?  It's extra roughage to help clean us out, just like fiber is supposed to do.  To me, it's just another thing to get hyped up about that really isn't that big of a deal.  It sounds worse than it is, but people need to have drama in their lives to live I guess.

Now that I've complained enough about green stuff, here are things I do and products I like that are green. 

-I recycle.  (although I have heard the argument that recycling is actually more harmful to the environment because of the extra energy the recycling process requires. blah blah blah)

-I have started making my own laundry soap.  It is super easy, pretty effective (at least as effective as store-bought), and is about half the cost of store-bought detergents, even from Sam's.  Mix one cup of Borax, one cup of Washing Soda, and one shaved bar of Ivory (grate it with a cheese grater) in a food processor until fine.  The ingredients can all be found at Publix for around $10 total.  Thank you, Lindsay, for convincing me to try it!

-I LOVE Melaleuca products.  But they're pricey, so I only get them when my mom gives them to me for free.  She's a distributor, but not to actually make any money - only so she can get the products at cost.  :-)  Works for me!

-I turn off the water when I brush my teeth and have taught my son to do the same.

-I use reusable containers instead of baggies whenever possible, including in my son's lunch.  

-I use dish cloths and rags to clean with instead of paper towels.

So, there ya go, Ash.  

And now onto the frustrating and awesome parts of my day:

Frustrating: I left a plate a little too close to my daughter's little hands while I got up to get a drink of milk, and it shattered all over the dining room floor when she tried to snag some food off of it.  Lynnie (the nickname we have for our daughter, Nicolyn) also screamed bloody murder the whole time we were in the carpool lane waiting to pick up big brother.  She usually uses that time to take her 2nd nap of the day, so I was really looking forward to doing some reading.  That didn't happen.  And I got a lot of laundry washed and dried, but not nearly enough of it folded or put away.  That was my housekeeping goal for the day, and I failed miserably at it.

Awesome: 1. I did a Sh'Bam dance class at the Y and was joined by my friend Jenna.  I ran into her last week very randomly.  She was one of my absolute best friends in high school, and we had lost touch.  How great it is to catch back up after all these years!  2. Lynnie ran to the childcare workers with no tears or reservations or anything.  She was so excited to be there, and that makes my workout a lot nicer!  3.  My husband very randomly told me he loves me.  It melted my heart.  4.  Best for last.  My son got his report card today, and he scored all Es and had all positive comments from his teacher.  I'm so proud of my smart boy!

I'm praying God's blessings for each and every one of you.  Thanks for reading!  :-)

The financial aspects of being a SAHM.

OK.  I need to start off with a couple little disclaimers.  I had over 90 views of my first post.  THANKS!!!!  I'm a little a lot paranoid about grammar, so I read it again about 50,000 times.  I realized that it sounds like I think I'm right and all the perfect moms are totally wrong.  I truly don't feel that way at all.  I'm very thankful for the crafty moms in my life. Several of them create then sell cute bows or clothes for really reasonable prices, and I take advantage of that when I can!  I have gotten great mommy ideas from lots of my creative friends.  And several of my friends home school.  The biggest point I wanted to get across is that not everyone does all that stuff, and it's ok not to just as it's ok to.  I guess it's ok to make your own decisions about how to raise your kids and not feel degraded for making or not making certain decisions.  And second, anyone reading anything I post should know I'm one of the most sarcastic people on the planet.  I doubt I could live without sarcasm.

And now that that's over, let's get on with the blogging, shall we?  :-)

I am blessed beyond blessed to be a stay at home mom.  I know it, and I try to remember it all the time.  Sure it gets frustrating.  Sure I question my decision.  Sure I want to pull my hair out when my daughter throws her crazy fits, and I crave adult communication.  But when it gets tough, I try to remember how blessed I am and how many moms wished they were able to do the same.  

My husband and I made the decision for me to be a SAHM 2 years ago this month when we found out we were expecting our daughter.  We played around with the finances and realized it just wasn't worth it for me to continue working.  I was pushing for it.  Really pushing for it.  He was hesitant.  Really hesitant.  But him being the wonderful (albeit passive aggressive) man that he is, he relented, and here we are.  (I'll use this time to say that most days he agrees it was the right decision.)  Some of our family were really in favor of the idea; some were completely against it.  In the end, we made the decision that we felt was best for our family.  And, let me tell you, this was the biggest leap of faith we've ever made as a couple.

I've promised to be candid, so here we go.  I mentioned that it did not make sense for me to continue working financially.  There were also some health issues at play, but ultimately it boiled down to finances.  Just about everyone will understand that.  "Sure, I am exhausted at the end of the day and can't function as a human being and my kids don't know who I am, but I gotta get that paycheck, right?"  It made sense for me to work with just one kid, just one daycare bill.  But add a second?  And an infant at that?  It would cost a lot for me to continue working.  $400/week for daycare for the 2 kids until Bry started school.  Then there's gas.  At the time I was working 25 miles one way away from my home. That's a lot of gas.  And a lot of driving.  

But here's why it was such a huge leap of faith.  We filed our taxes last month, and we filed $42,000 in income.  And that's after 2 years worth of raises.  For a family of 4.  I mean, wow.  That's really not a lot of money.  And we get zero government assistance.  I am one of the most conservative Republicans you'll ever meet.  I swore up and down when I was young and didn't know better that I would NEVER, ever, under any circumstances, be on public assistance.  Then I grew up.  When I first stopped working, I painfully swallowed all of my pride, and I applied for WIC, pregnancy Medicaid, and food stamps.  I knew other folks on it and was certain that we would qualify.  We didn't.  We missed the cut by $50/paycheck.  That's $25/week.  The lady doing the assessment said it's the first denial she'd ever processed in her 7 years of working for the department.  I was devastated.  I really thought we needed that help.

We are asked all the time how we do it.  First and foremost, we are prayerful all the time.  We pray constantly about our finances, and God has been VERY faithful, just as he promised.  When something arises that is unexpected, we pray specifically for that thing.  Case in point: Mike blew a tire on his way to work on Sunday morning.  We paid the $211 for 2 new tires.  And we prayed.  And prayed.  And guess what?  My husband, Mike, got a check today for a fireworks show he worked last Friday.  And I had the opportunity to make some deliveries for an organic produce co-op I work for a couple of hours a week (more on that in a future blog).  The total for the two jobs?  $220.00.  

So there's the praying.  And there has been a lot of sacrificing.  We rarely go out to eat.  Mike sold his truck that he had really hoped to renovate.  But our biggest change has been that we got rid of all of our credit cards AND our checking account.  We pay cash for everything.  We have one bill that requires a check or card payment, and I have a no-fee prepaid Visa card through AAA that I load specifically for that bill.  It's scary and really inconvenient sometimes.  But it also stops a lot of impulse buying.  And it has put an end to the bounced check fees that I'm embarrassed to admit plagued us.  People compliment us for this all the time.  Wow!  What a good financial decision!  Nope.  We did it because we're horrible with finances and realized we had no other choice.  There's no way we'd survive financially otherwise.

Mike works as an assistant manager for Office Depot.  Within the last few months I started working for The Neighborhood Garden organic produce co-op.  It is run by an amazing Christian woman, and it has been a huge blessing.  I originally started working just in exchange for a free bag of produce every week.  Now I get the produce and a little something extra that really helps us get by.  But I rarely have to buy produce anymore, so that is a huge blessing also.  But, like I said, more on that in a future blog.  This one is getting long enough as it is!

And finally, I've found a lot of ways to save money.  I coupon A LOT. Yes, coupon is officially a verb!  I almost always save 75% on my groceries by matching sale items with coupons.  But I can't take any credit for that whatsoever.  I follow a couple of sites that do all the hard work for me.  I just go clip or print the coupons the ladies tell me to and head to the store.  I hear all the time that people can't get the stuff they need on sale or never have coupons they need or whatever.  I have learned to plan my meals based on my coupons and deals and not to search for coupons based on the meals I want to make.  It was an odd transition, but it is working.  I shop and sell at consignment stores.  And very recently I learned how to make my own laundry soap.  I mentioned in my introduction that I am not a green mom.  I started making my own laundry soap VERY recently, just to see if it'd save me any money.  The fact that it's also good for the environment and all natural is just a bonus and had nothing to do with me trying it out.  And I'm just kind of generally frugal.  I have learned what things should cost and what I am willing to pay for them.  

So it may seem pretty random to write about this on my second ever blog post, but my ultimate goal is to be encouraging.  If I can do it anyone can, and this is no exception.  If it is your goal to be a stay at home mother, start praying about it.  It's worth all of the sacrificing and heartache and frustration because all of that comes with joy and exhilaration and smiles and hugs and love! You know how "they" say not to wait until you're "ready" to have kids or you'll never have them?  Making the decision to stay home is the same thing, especially from a financial standpoint.  

I promise you I'm just about finished here.  I want to introduce you to a new part of my format.  Each day that I post something, I want to tell you about something frustrating that happened in my day and something awesome that happened.  So here you go.

Frustrating: I had just finished making deliveries (which I skipped working out to be able to do), and I realized I had about an hour available that I could go and jump on the treadmill and (most importantly) get a shower!  So I'm heading to the Y, and Bryant (my 6 year old) let out a huge fart.  It ended up not being a fart at all.  He had totally just pooped his pants in my van.  And I had no spare clothes.  But, dangit, I really wanted my shower.  So I assessed the damage in the parking lot, and nothing seeped through his underwear. So I did what any realistically imperfect mom desperate for a shower that did not involve kids would do.  I took him to the bathroom, made him take off his underwear and wrapped them up in a plastic diaper bag and threw them away.  Then I made doubly sure that nothing stinky leaked through to his shorts and cleaned him up really well with his sister's wipes and sent him on his way to play, commando.  And I thoroughly enjoyed my half hour of cardio and subsequent shower.

Awesome: I got to see God work in incredible ways today.  He faithfully provided our finances.  He allowed me to be a blessing to someone else in a major way.  We had an extra bag of produce left over today, and my "boss" told me to be a blessing to someone.  God put a name in my heart, and it was SO the right decision - an answer to prayer for my friend!  Seriously amazing to see that happen.  I also managed to get some cardio in and get a shower.  I joined my gym so I could take daily showers without my kid throwing toys at me.  The health benefits are just a perk.  And I got to watch my son play with my daughter and push her in a swing.  He is seriously the best big brother on the planet, and it put a smile in my heart to see it.  

Thanks for joining me again today. :-) Is there anything I've written about today that you would like me to explain further? 

Feel free to share this blog with anyone you feel might be encouraged by it.  To end with a little survey: Would you rather my next blog be about A) the time and relationship benefits of being a stay at home mom, B) Other stuff that annoys me (specifically regarding hoighty-toighty "green" moms), or C) how I came to realize that my disillusioned vision of a SAHM just wasn't going to work for me?