Coolest and Fastest Way to Carve your Pumpkin

I have a really weak wrist and carving a pumpkin will absolutely kill my wrists.  I am a busy Mom and when I get off of work at 5 pm I have to pick up my son from his school, and most nights we have to stop for gas or groceries and it is 6 pm by the time we get home.  So then the race begins, dinner, laundry, lunches, baths and maybe 30 minutes of relaxation before we have to read stories and tuck in for bed.  Throw in a holiday and I am TOTALLY crunched for time!

How does a busy Mom have time to carve a pumpkin in less than 30 min on a school night?  POWER TOOLS!

I always let my kids design the pumpkin and then I cut, but using a carving knife or even the carving tools you can buy in a kit takes time, and also takes a toll on my wrists too!  So check out my easy to do video less than 2 min to carve out the face!  Just borrow a tool from Dad's shop!



My five year old was the camera man, so well no excuses he really did a pretty good job.  lol
*This is a repost...he is eight now and wants to use the power tools him self!  LOL

Fastest Way To Carve A Pumpkin for Halloween!

I have a really weak wrist and carving a pumpkin will absolutely kill my wrists.  I am a busy Mom and when I get off of work at 5 pm I have to pick up my son from his school, and most nights we have to stop for gas or groceries and it is 6 pm by the time we get home.  So then the race begins, dinner, laundry, lunches, baths and maybe 30 minutes of relaxation before we have to read stories and tuck in for bed.  Throw in a holiday and I am TOTALLY crunched for time!

How does a busy Mom have time to carve a pumpkin in less than 30 min on a school night?  POWER TOOLS!

I always let my kids design the pumpkin and then I cut, but using a carving knife or even the carving tools you can buy in a kit takes time, and also takes a toll on my wrists too!  So check out my easy to do video less than 2 min to carve out the face!  Just borrow a tool from Dad's shop!



My five year old was the camera man, so well no excuses he really did a pretty good job.  lol
*This is a repost...he is seven now and wants to use the power tools him self!  LOL

Being a Working Mom Means....

You have to do ALL the same things as a Stay-At-Home-Mom, AND also work 50 hours a week for a company that does know that the MOST important part of you is being a Mom.  Sigh...


I am tired tonight and I may be getting my Green on... LOL

One2one Network BlissDom '13 PICK ME!

 

One2one Network is holding a contest for a complete sponsorship to BilssDom ’13 and I would love, love, LOVE the chance to be the one chosen.  They are requesting a blog post talking about the reasons why I should be chosen.  This is a great idea not only for the chance I could win but also you can get to know me a bit more if you are new to my blog or if I let loose and tell you even more juicy details about this crazy red-headed girl’s life!  I am not a new blogger, but I have never been to a blogging conference yet and that is one of my dreams!  Maybe I should say it is a goal because then I am more likely to make it happen?   

I would be a good candidate to win that is for sure.  One reason is that I am a good blogger and have been self-teaching my way along this four year blogging journey of mine.  I enjoy it so much it is like a little bit of release for me when I finish a good blog post I am proud of.  Kind of like when you get so stressed and tense from all the Mommy-hood pressures and you finally get a moment to yourself to take a bubble bath uninterrupted and you step into the tub and go “AHH!”  Yeah that’s how rewarding and releasing a good post is for me.  I have always been on the creative side and that shows up in my blog I hope.   I know most Moms are creative; we have to be to change diapers, cook dinner, wash clothes, drive to soccer practice and band camp, buy the groceries and talk on the phone all at once!  But my creativity is more about art on top of all of that. 

This is my painting in progress, got a used painting from thrift store and painted over it!!

I went to school for creative writing once in California and I thought to myself while I was there that this is the only time I felt like belonged.  I was in a GIANT art school surrounded by artists of all levels and designs.  There were singers, dancers, actors, photographers, writers and painters and we were all a bit quirky, so much so we understood each other on some level.   I would love to connect again on that same level of understanding with other bloggers out there and really be energized by the surroundings.     I want to soak in the creativity, experience and kinship in the air and offer up that same part of me to others.  

I have a lot to offer.   In my short 42 years I have been able to experience so much of this life and I try to soak up every moment of that like a greedy sponge.  I had a child when I was just 19 a single unwed teen.  Holding that life in my hands instantly gave me such a huge amount of love and responsibility that I knew I was born to care for this being, and that being a Mom will forever be a huge part of my soul.   Since that time I have built two other great humans inside of me and that alone is such a tremendous task, but I have also experienced so much more.  Like being a single mom to a married mom.  I had moments of joy and strength while we were living in Germany as a Military wife mom.  Then when we moved all over the United States I was able to learn and connect with all of the great people in our own fabulous country.  Being able to experience a fire fly for the first time, or a Nor’easter, the difference of BBQ from one side of the country to the next, and sweet tea made by a sweeter person, I have been honored for certain.   

found this lily at the zoo

All that learning gave me a stronger sense of myself and what is most important in my world and that was God, family and my country.  I have been trying each day to make my life reflect that.  I have had set backs or maybe they were just learning experiences in disguise I am not sure.  But really to come away from an abusive marriage to a being a strong divorced working hard at it single mom was a great adventure that we can look back on now with a smile.  I have a great adventure ahead of me still, my honey and I have been living together for several years now and he has been asking me and asking me to marry him, and I finally was able to trust in the fact that he is really the kindest and most honorable and loving person I have ever met, so I said yes!    The adventure is our new lives we are building together with the wedding, him graduating his Medical School next year, us planning on moving back East, and the Wedding (I said that one twice because I am so excited about it) all at the same time.  I know my experiences are bound to double in just this coming year alone!  We have been living apart while he goes to school these last two years so it is like I am a single working mom all over again! 

 

I also have a love for life and kindness that I really would love to share with my readers and women everywhere.   Sometimes when we are young we overlook the important stuff and only knowing what I know now can I teach someone else how important it is to a girl to find a person in their life who has some real basic qualities that will never change through time. Qualities like honor, kindness, love, faith and a good self-worth.  I know they are sometimes unrecognizable and I can see in my hindsight more than I could at the moment of choice, but it is my duty to warn the younger generation so to speak that prince charming does not have to rescue you if you don’t live in the drama of a fairytale! 

 

Don’t let me go on and on about that subject and get too preachy because that is not all that I am.  Being a Mom makes everyone so diverse but it is easy for us to get hooked up on one subject alone and with my artist background it helps me break free of that and start telling you about the many aspects of me like, how I love a good deal and can find them so easily that I had to start sharing the ways to save as a blog.  It makes good sense to save as much as you can when you are buying items for your family so you can provide and support your family in a better way.  

When you start thinking about the food that goes into your families mouth’s you start wondering how you can save time and money to provide only the best for them as well.  That’s basically me a mom that cares so incredibly much for my family that I want to provide only the best for them.  I also see other moms out there that maybe need a bit of help finding the best deal on soap to save money, or don’t know that the easiest was to stop a diaper rash is with pure corn starch and an oatmeal bath not an expensive cream,  or simply finding a moment to spend with your child and bake cookies builds a life time of memories, or you can lift up the front end of the shopping cart where you push it and it opens up like a trunk lid.  Then kids can climb in rather than you trying pick them up and lift in a “I’m too tired to walk 4 year old’”.  I just want to share all of those quirky and sometimes necessary moments and tips with other busy mom’s like me.  

So pick me!  I am easy going, friendly and I can take a pretty picture with the right make up and lighting!  I will look forward to hearing from you!

Ways to Save Your Sanity This Back to School Season

Source: justorganizeyourstuff.com via Michelle on Pinterest

I am a busy working mom, but even if I was not working I would still be a busy mom because let’s face it the word “Mom” has so many meanings and one of them is busy! We rarely get a moments rest.   But I noticed that my life at the office seems to run a whole heck of a lot smoother than it does at home.  Why is that?   Don’t say it is the lack of children because the behaviors of some of the folks in our work environments are sometimes that of a spoiled toddler.  No I think the reason it runs so smooth at the office and chaos at home is because of one key chaos killer and that is organization.   

Yes, I said it organization!   I cringe at the thought of making lists and schedules and trying to get not only myself but the entire fly by the seat of our pants crew to follow it, but I have to admit there is a good method to the organized madness that works.  

Source: etsy.com via Terre on Pinterest

I will not plan out our entire life and have to keep referring to lists to guide my entire lifestyle because making all those lists just takes too long and I don’t have that kind of time.  But I will give you some of the organization tips that I DO follow and that work.  And if you are like me and fear the word organization just try one of these tips at a time and ease your way into it.  You will be surprised how quickly you find the time for the little things you have been missing, like a bubble bath. 

First off are bedtimes and early mornings.  To get your kids and you back into the swing of things start waking up at least one week before the new school year starts.  Use that early morning time to get all the back to school supplies set up and ready to go.  (Teenagers will hate this, and you may have to adjust for the older teen.)  This gets everyone back into the swing of things however and helps ease that early morning chaos.  

Source: sewmanyways.blogspot.com.au via Jonabelle on Pinterest

So what do you need to get ready?   Well you can prepackage up all the snack items into baggies to save your money.   You can make up a big batch of frozen breakfast burritos, or your own P&J sandwiches that have the crusts cut off.  You can organize a drawer for each person in the mud room for seasonal items like hats, gloves, scarves, sunglasses, umbrellas, or back packs.  Preschoolers get their spare change of clothes ready and label your items and put in a huge Ziploc bag.  This keeps the spare clothes clean while traveling in the back pack.   

Source: iammommahearmeroar.net via Kim on Pinterest

Put up a dry erase or bulletin board in this area to have daily reminders throughout the month.  You can make your own dry erase board with a calendar in a picture frame.  I like to have a reminder as I walk out the door for things like Tuesday night soccer practice; because sometimes in the weekly chaos I forget what day is what.   

Source: media-cdn.pinterest.com via Terre on Pinterest

I have my preschooler leave his back pack in the car because it is really only used to transport his change of clothes and I take all work and notes out and put in my bag when go in the house.  This saves us one step and we always remember the backpack. Older kids and adults should bring their bags in and take out what is not needed for the next day and then hang up on designated hooks ready for the next day. 

In the mudroom or your designated area keep a bag or box designated only for library items that need to be returned and I write the date on our family calendar each time we go and get new items.  This saves me from late fees and lost items.  So if we read a book at bedtime it has to go back into the library bag in the hall so I am always ready to return. 

Keep all of your allergy medications or any other daily medications handy so it is ready to give out.  I keep mine by the coffee pot and my son knows to stop by there each morning to get his medication.   In the mud room I also keep a pack of baby wipes, a brush, comb and a lint roller.  So before we head out the door I can do a quick check of things like, jelly off the face, toothpaste in the corner of mouths,  dog hair on the back of my son’s pants, shoes on right feet, or hair combed in front but sticking up in the back!  It is also a good idea to keep these items in your car also and a spare allergy medication bottle in case after all of our planning he still forgot to take it.  

Save your steps in the morning by doing whatever you can the night before.  After dinner is done make the next day lunches.  This is easier at this time because you are first of all already in the kitchen!  Secondly you will have left overs handy to dole out for lunches.   So clean out the bottom shelf of your fridge and ready them for all the lunches you will be making.  I like to set out clothes for my kids when I am getting their jammas out at bedtime.  Again you are already there in the drawers getting clothes out so why not get out two?   This also saves you from big last minute morning surprises like you don’t have any clean underwear.   

Source: houzz.com via Suzie on Pinterest

If you can have everyone including you take their baths in the evening.  It really saves time, and also saves you from having to wash the sheets as often, and washes out any scary bugs the kids may have picked up at school that day like the dreaded….LICE!  Yuck!  The second reason taking baths in the evening is also a big win is that it naturally relaxes you and everyone goes to sleep faster.  The kids are asleep!  Ahhh quiet!  Those moments are cherished in a parent’s world!   

Source: thebaezablog.blogspot.com via Elizabeth on Pinterest

The next tip that saves the day and your time is having a chore chart and making everyone do them right away when they get home.  If I start a load of laundry while I am getting dinner going every night I really keep up with my laundry.  If you have each child do one or two things when they walk in the door they will learn more responsibility and you will have a cleaner home.   Preschoolers can get involved too by emptying small waste baskets or picking up one specific item at time off the floor.  I gave my kids two items to do each day and each one takes less than 15 minutes to do.  If you have two children that are old enough to do dishes then assign each one a day. You will have fewer fights if you make one do on odd days and one on even days.  This works better because you don’t get the annoying battles of “I did it last time.”  One person will have to do it two days in a role on the 31^st of the month and then again on the 1^st but that is not that often, maybe that’s the person that needs more practice anyhow or you can do the dishes that extra night for them.  

I like to have a chore chart for myself because my house stays cleaner when I follow it.  When my kids were little and could not help out with the chores I vacuumed on Tuesdays and Fridays and cleaned the bathrooms on Thursdays and did at least one load two if I can every day.  Each person should make their own beds each morning and dishes need to be done right after dinner.   

I have a few more hints from posts past HERE and Laundry Time Savers, and Bread Pans and Leftovers, which you should also check out.  Each family is different so basically you should take a look at what you can do ahead of time or at least the night before and save your mornings from a very stressful mad house.

What “Real Moms” know.

I have come to identify myself as a “Real Mom”.  I am not a Real Housewife from Hollywood; I am not the freakishly odd super soccer moms that you might run into at the soccer game or PTA.  I am a REAL MOM!  

The “PERFECT” Meany moms have “it” all together, so it seems from the outside.  They have the nicest houses, the fanciest SUV’s or mini vans, the nicest clothes hair styles, fake nails and the biggest amount of debt on the block.  Their little perfect children are in every sport, and she volunteers for everything everywhere.  She is the one that gives you a snooty look when you try to volunteer and makes you feel completely uncomfortable and unwelcome.  She has her little click of like-minded “Perfect” Meany friends and they will cut you down with their evil snotty comments at the bake sale if you try to bring in your sad little homemade real cake next to their designer organic fancy and yet utterly expensive bakery tortes.  Those are the meanies, and they are not real.  

A real Mom is nice.  A real mom loves her children unconditionally but does not really feel the need to give their little one EVERYTHING in the entire universe BUT wants them to appreciate what they have.  Maybe your reason is twofold; #1 It is not good to over spoil your child like that and #2 you just cannot afford it!  

Yes I am a Real Mom; I have been a teenage mom, a single mom, a working mom, and a stay at home mom.  I did all of those things just for my children, nothing else.  Something came over me when I had my first child.  I held her in my arms and instantly realized that everything I do will affect her life and now not only do I hold a most wondrous gift from God but also a HUGE responsibility.  

Like all real moms my first child was my love, my sweet and my guinea pig.  She was my practice child.  I am joking of course, well to some extent.  You would be surprised on what a quick call to Granny can learn ya in a tight spot.  Now some of the mistakes I made then would now probably be just quite scary.  

I remember I was living in North Dakota in the dead of an 80 below winter and I had to take my new baby to one of her first check-ups and I went out started the car 20 minutes in advance so it would be nice and toasty warm for my baby girl.  I carried her out all bundled up in her snowsuit buckled into her infant seat covered with a few baby blankets to keep the cold wind off of her.  I put her in the warm car, and uncovered her face and she was screaming at the top of her little lungs but I could not hear her because I had so many blankets over her face.  (I wonder now how she was breathing.)  

My sweet baby girl has a funny little rash all over her body, and I want to know what it could possibly be.  The doctor checks her out and starts laughing hysterically!  I ask him what on earth is so funny?  He calmly turns to me and tells me with a slight smile on his face that it was a heat rash.  A heat rash, I wonder?  What does that mean?  How does a baby get a heat rash in the dead of a nasty cold North Dakota winter?   He sweetly tells me that I have been over dressing her.  I over momed my baby!  OK so now I learn that she needs only ONE extra layer than I do.  Whatever I am wearing I just add another layer of clothing or blankets to my baby.  Not five or six like I had been doing.  But hey, can you blame me?  I just moved to North Dakota from California for goodness sake.  I am so not used to the below freezing thing.  You can over mom, OK I get it.  First lesson learned.

 So while I am sitting in the waiting room with my sweeter than any button baby girl not a care in the world and a “Perfect” mean mom comes in…I get my first lesson in how the mean moms try to put you down to build their self up.   The meany strikes up a conversation with me about my cute baby girl and asks where her Daddy works.  I have to sheepishly tell her now that I am on the spot and at a loss for words that her Daddy lives in California.  She gives me her best “Bless your heart” and then tells me that it’s OK not every baby is lucky enough to have the momma and the daddy in the same home.  She said she thinks I will be fine and she just would not know what to do if she lost her wonderful fabulous most perfectly awesome husband.  How he is so successful and she can afford to stay at home with her little ones.  I leave the doctor’s office with some rash cream for my baby girl and some low self esteem from the freak show in the waiting room.  But at the time I don’t know that she is a just a mean mom.  At the time I think she is perfect and how I just want to be the perfect little mom with the perfect little life like she is.  Envious, the green monster...

Two weeks later I spot perfect little life mean mom at a parking lot at a strip mall.  She is getting out of her perfect fancy I can never afford SUV and yelling, no screaming at her kids like the wicked witch of the west.  I sit in my car watching her stomp into the payday check cashing place screeching out cuss words belittling her perfect little children every stomp of the way.  Second lesson; don’t let the meanies suck you in, because the grass is not all ways greener, shall not covet, don't judge a book,walk a mile, and glass houses....It could have been a week moment for that "Perfect" Meany, but it was a defining moment for me. I learned that Real Mom's are not perfect but we want to be.  I learned that I will never be perfect so I should not hold myself to such a standard.  Maybe I should concentrating on living life you know like God intended but know that even though I may not be perfect it is still OK.   I so don't ever want to be a "Perfect" Meany Mom anyway.  

Easy ways to get started saving!

What shaped me?

I have had several people tell me that I am a miracle worker when it comes to money, but that is not really so.  I just look outside the box and you can too.

Necessity is the mother of invention!  Or in my case I was always living paycheck to paycheck being broke but wanting more for my family.   That is how it started.  I had to look really hard on how I was going to do everything I needed to do like buy groceries, toilet paper, gas, rent, clothing, and somewhere find some money left over to let my kids do fun stuff or have a life.

We had a car payment, house payment, a loan payment, cell phone contract, credit card or I should say credit CARDS debt on top of utilities and groceries! 

I moved to Tennessee and my world was turned upside down, divorce bankruptcy, the crazy things that my ex did to my finances and credit were devastating.   I discovered Dave Ramsey and I was hooked! 

The debt free life is something that I teach my children now.  Imagine how much better off I would have been today if I had not lost my house to bankruptcy because of the divorce or imagine how much better off I would have been if I was not tied down to a cell phone contract, loan payment, and a car loan when my income completely dropped in half!

I started thinking.  How can I get out of this mess?  

I started from the beginning.  Where was all my money going?   So you make a budget.   Then you start looking at the $5-$10 dollar lunches I was buying every day and how quickly that add up!  That is like $150 bucks a month!   That could pay two of my utility bills! 

What about my cell phone bill now that we moved I didn’t get the same service I had in the past so I could make calls in town and on the road but not at my own house (unless I stood just perfectly in my bedroom facing North on a clear day!)   So I pulled out my bill and checked how many minutes was I actually using?   It was less than 300 a month and I was paying for 750 minutes a month!   I called and found out I could not decrease my plan because of the two year contract I was in.  But I could pay them a two month fee to get out of the contract and switch to a pay as you go phone with the same service, and pay over half each month.  I paid the fee because it was cheaper than keeping them for another six months!  

Then the dreaded car payment!   Really can you predict the future?  Are you sure you will have the same income in the next five years?  There are a lot of factors to include in your prediction:

·         Will you still have the same income?   Accident, injury, death, divorce?

·         Will you trust your credit to the government controlling the economy? 

·         Will your company that has been around for years fail? (Unemployment!)

Then the other no brainers in my opinion are the cost of full coverage insurance if you have a car payment is too high!   Do you think that if you add up the chances of you needing a rental car or other expenses outweigh the overall cost of full coverage insurance over five years?   They don’t.  You can save most of the money you would have paid for full coverage for that rainy day.   How much do you think you will actually get for your car with the full coverage if the one in a million chances of it being totaled?   Not much! Not enough to pay off your loan in most cases!    Then you have the silly argument of oh if I have a used car then I have to worry about it breaking down all the time, where my new car has a warranty that will cover all those repairs.    If you lease a vehicle then you are responsible for the tires and the oil changes.  Well that is exactly what I have paid into my two vehicles this year, tires and oil changes.  I have not paid $400 a month to anyone either.  If you save two months’ worth of car payments and full coverage insurance you will have enough to cover any major repair. 

The loss of value:  Did you know that the new car loses like 60% of its value as soon as you drive it off the lot?  Add into that 60% the cost of your interest on your car loan too and you are looking at a HUGE number.   

$10,000 dollar car 

60% of its value $6000

Are you willing to toss $6000 out the window? 

I am not, and most car loans are triple that amount.  It is really a no brainer like I said.   There used to be a saying that if you cannot pay cash for it you cannot afford it.  That is where I am now and that is how I taught my children to live too.

 

Then I moved down my budget paper and saw that I was spending like $1000 bucks a month to eat!  (Going out to eat and groceries)  So I had to take a hard look at that. 

Here is where I found a way to take a huge dent out of our budget.  I surfed the web and found that there were sites like mine that could tell me what coupons to clip and where to find the coupons to get me items for free or close to it.  No brainer!  I am hooked! 

I started buying with coupons. I would get four or five extra items when they were on sale and set them in my pantry.  Before long our pantry turned into a stockpile!  My daughter would come home from college with her laundry and go shopping in my stockpile.  I had everything from free soap and shampoo from Walgreens, to free peanut butter and Chex-Mix from my local grocer.   When one of our family members had to move out because of a divorce and start all over I was able to give her a complete stock and supply for her new house!   You can donate to your local food bank or church pantry too which makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. 

It is really not that hard.  Then you start watching other sales like office supply stores and they have penny sales for school supplies every year.  If you get all of your supplies for a penny you can even have a school supply stockpile! 

This saves!  Then you learn to watch the clothing store sales and get your family’s entire set of flip-flops for next year for five dollars!   Buy your families coats during the months of January and February for the next year and you will save over 75%!  

I am hooked on saving!  It really physically pains me to pay full price now, and I keep looking outside the box at ways I can save in other aspect s of my life.  Like homemade laundry soap, what a SAVER!  Seriously you won’t want to pay for that ever again and if so you will have a sale and a coupon! 

 

How about making your own crafts and décor like Martha or even better!   Learn when stuff is on sale and knock your Christmas list out for less and get it done before July!

If you want to start saving these are a few easy ways to get started.  My blog and other blogs like it will also help you to learn as you go.  Really you cannot go wrong if you save fifty cents more this week that is a step in the right direction.   Not all of my scores are big, but they add up over time.   You can start by only getting the deals with printable coupons and work your way up to getting the Sunday paper and clipping.  There is no wrong way to start, but you should look at where your money is going and how you can pay yourself instead of everyone else in the world. 

The Mom in Me Monday ~ Baby Talk

My four year old has a HUGE vocabulary and part of the reason he does is the fact that he was always talked to like a tiny person. We never really used too much baby talk. The other reason he probably has a huge vocabulary is probably just because of his particular personality also. He has to be a preacher, politician, rock star or a famous actor he just commands it.

When my son and I were at the pediatrician for a 2 year check-up the doctor asked me if he was saying Mama, Dada, Baba, and I honestly answered yeah, and about a 100 other words! My pediatrician did not believe me so we went home and started writing down all the words he said and by the end of the next night we had over 300 words!

I know that part of the reason he talks so well is just his personality and the way he is. But my other two children talked just as well and had almost the same amount of vocabulary as he does. So the other reason is because of the Non-Baby talk stand I have. I am not saying I treat them like adults but I do talk to them clearly and we use real words for all the things in their world. What that means is that when it is time to go potty we go potty pee and poop, not tee-tee and wee-wee. We wear underwear or even undies but never sloop sloops or put puts. We call diner, diner and lunch is still lunch not num-nums or din-dins. Spaghetti is spaghetti not skedie.

When my son tries to say new word and pronounces it wrong I correct him sweetly by saying we say EXspecially not specially or I think you meant to say specific not pacific. We do the same for grammar errors also like I go-ed to the bathroom Mommy!

I am not saying that we don’t use fun words sometimes for play but we all know what the correct words to use are first!

And finally when my four year old son asks me why the sky is blue I tell him the answer correctly but age appropriately I don’t say that is the color Mother Nature painted it because it was her favorite color, but I tell him that when the sun high in the sky blue is the only color we can see but when it gets closer and starts to get dark we can see other colors like red and orange.

This really helps with reading, and other aspects of their learning. Communication is essential also and by building their vocabulary skills you are helping them be self-confident when they speak in front of peers and increase their learning and social skills. That is just one way I try to prepare my child for their successful future.
What ways to do you use to build your child’s vocabulary?

The Mom In Me Monday ~ Sack Lunches

This year everything is all new again, just like any day in Mom world I had to re-invent myself again this year.  I am a full time working mom now!  Surprise!   I am not so sure I like it so much but it might just take some getting used to.   Being a full time working Mom this year I had to find a day care/ preschool for my son.  That is a feat in its self-let me tell you.   But I did find one that I think will work. 

One of the new things for us to get used to is sack lunches.   The new preschool/ daycare only provides snacks and my son has to bring a sack lunch.  This was THE COOLEST THING!  (At least he thought so.)  I think it is an extra pain some days. We did go to the store and get him his own super cool cartoon hero thermo-lunch bag which is like the coolest thing EVER!  And to ensure that he will eat his lunch I let him pack it.  Choosing different items from what we have at home makes him happy.  He usually packs too much but I tell him to make sure he eats his main course item first.  The extras he eats usually in the car on the way home from anyhow.  String cheese and Cheetos now that is a cool afterschool snack!  LOL

I do let him take part in the lunch packing process.  I make my sack lunch and he makes his every night after dinner now.  We do it after dinner for several reasons.   One, I have a microwave at work and his school will heat any item I send in his lunch for him also.  I can put our dinner leftovers in small little containers and put them right into our lunch boxes for the next day.  We keep a baggie full of plastic forks and spoons in the same drawer as the baggies and all the little containers for our food.  Any time I get a plastic container from some place that will work also for packing a snack or a cup for ranch dressing we hand wash and save those too.  I also bring home some of my baggies that are not too icky.

I also do this after dinner because I want that to be one less thing I have to think about doing the next morning.  That is also one less thing on my mind before I go to bed and that helps me draw a nice blank in my head and get a good night’s sleep. 

In the middle of the morning rush to get out the door it is nice to grab a frozen water bottle or an ice pack out of the freezer toss it in our lunch boxes that are already packed and in the fridge.  Then we just have to go. 

I buy some items that are in single packs for lunch like juice boxes or chocolate milk bottles and he likes those little apple sauces in a pouch that he can squeeze and eat.  I am really careful to read the label though because tons of items that are marketed just for children had junk in their ingredient s that my kids don’t need to eat.  No artificial flavors or colors and no high fructose corn syrup if I can help it.  I try to avoid artificial sweeteners too. They doctors told me not to eat them when I was pregnant because there was not any long term studies done on what it could do so why would I want it fed to my child?

The basics are the ones he loves anyhow, like P&J and bologna and cheese.  He loves fruits and nuts also.  Those are really good foods for a growing boy today just as they were when you were a kid.  I like to get fresh fruits when in season and freeze them or can them for my family.  So they can have foods that I know are good.  I try to make extra when I make dinner so I can freeze enough for another meal or lunch too.  This really saves money, time and gives your family good for you food.  

You can buy in bulk and freeze what you don’t need to save money too.  If your family loves crackers, and lunch meat or fruits and veggies for their lunch boxes, on the weekend chop and pack for a few minutes and then put in containers or baggies for the week.  Then you can grab and go.  It will save you so much more money and the food will be of a better quality than the pre-boxed stuff.  Five minutes after dinner saves a big mad panic dash in them morning so lay it out the night before.  


What is your secret to sack lunch?

The Mom in Me Monday ~ Bread Pans and Leftovers?

I have been accused of making too much dinner on numerous occasions.  The thing is there is a method to my madness.  I like to cook double the amount and then I can do several things with it.  If you start doubling your amounts you will find that you cook the same amount of time.  It really does not take any longer to make one meat loaf than it does to make two. 

Also if you buy the huge family pack for most meat you will find that generally you get about $1 per pound off the cost.  (Unless you have a deal with a sale and/or a coupon.) 

If you don’t save the rest of your spaghetti or macaroni casserole in the freezer for another night you could also eat it for lunch the following day and that saves you even more money and time because you don’t have to make another lunch.  Send it with the lunches the following day and have a home cooked meal at your desk for lunch instead of going to the local burger joint for lunch. 

I really have begun to have a complete aversion to too much restaurant food or any prepackaged.   I started really noticing how we felt after we ate it.  It was not good.  Start paying attention and I think you will agree. 

Another great idea I found was bread pans.   You can find bread pans at thrift stores or regular discount stores for very cheap.  Spay them with non-stick spray and they are the perfect size for a main dish for a family of four.   They stack so nice in the freezer too.  You can put a nice meat loaf or spaghetti casserole in them, and wrap them in plastic wrap and then foil or freezer paper and then label the front.  Stack a couple more right on top in nice neat rows in your freezer.  You will find they are real easy pans to come by and easy to work with.  You can put 4 pork chops with rice in one, squash casserole, chili or just about anything.  They are my new favorite thing. 

The main reason I love them is for the crazy nights when I am so tired and just don’t feel like cooking and SURPRISE, guess what company is coming for dinner.   So pull out your best meatloaf and squash casserole and bake….Tada!   You are a culinary genius and a magician with time!   This is perfect for Moms.  After all timing is everything.  

The Mom In Me Monday ~ Back To School?

The days of back to school are always so hectic!   I am feeling the crunch myself because I have been thrown so many hoops my way and I am getting too old I guess to jump so fast! 

I was working part time at the Post Office and my area manager called on Friday and asked me if I wanted a sweet full time job.  I said yes but that means I have to move!  Oh and here is the hoop, I start Wednesday!  

My Preschooler will have to find another school.  (No not all by himself, I will do that!)  His dad was accepted to a Medical School in another state!   So he will be taking the camper for the next two years and we will have to make it happen with 8 hours between us. 

Then there is more!   My oldest son is going to college for the first time on Thursday!  I wanted to take him to college (5 hours away) but I will be working that day at my new job!  Can’t leave on the second day I am sure!  

These are all good things and I am not complaining.  I have a wonderful Mom and Grandmother that will be filing in a big gap of caring for our preschooler until I find a school for him.  And we will be staying at their house until I have some time to find a new place to live as well!  

I am thankful though for all of these things.  My oldest son is so smart and mature that I have full confidence in him being able to handle this move.  He has always made me proud and he will always make right and good decisions.  How awesome is that! 

Two years is a long time for us to try and make this work apart but we have been there and kinda done that before with the Military and this will fly by.   Once he is done with this bit of book learning his opportunities will be much greater.  We have been stressing how we will handle the funds portion during these two upcoming years but God has provided again with this full time offer for me.  Don’t worry I will keep blogging because I will have so much more to share!   

I get to discover a new neighborhood, which will include more stores more deals and more ways to save!