Day 27: Memberships

This whole month of the No Spending challenge would have been more difficult without our memberships. I like to get out and about for at least part of each day to expose the kids to new things, to meet up with friends, or to avoid going crazy. Enter memberships.

We are fortunate to have Grandparents that gave our kids memberships for birthday gifts instead of toys. As a result we have memberships to the Riverbanks Zoo, EdVenture, and the State Museum which means we can visit any of these places any time we want without spending a dime.

Living downtown makes all of these venues convienent for just an hour of playtime or longer if we are up to it. 4-5 p.m. at any of them is blissfully quiet and abandoned. Today we spent Day 27 at the zoo with friends (and it was really busy because today was also 70 degrees and the last of the Free Friday days). Even still the kids got to hang out with other kids, I got to catch up with a mama I haven't actually talked to in ages, and we looked for the new baby giraffe.

Even if we had to pay for the memberships out of pocket I would purchase each one of them again. Having these year long options (plus the library and parks) makes being a stay at home mom much easier for me. And I have to believe that I would more than spend the cost of membership trying to fill our days with admission fees, painting pottery, happy meals to access fast food playgrounds, Chuck E. Cheese tokens, and guilty train table book purchases at Barnes and Noble.

Goodwill Love.

I confess. I spent. It happened on Wednesday morning at the $1.09/lb. Goodwill in West Columbia. But it felt SO good I think it was worth it.

What I got: a tractor smocked t-shirt for Wesley, a 4T winter coat for Clare, a complete Little Mermaid sheet set, a Disney princess sheet, a new doll dress for baby doll, 3T pink skort, 4T pink tank top, 3T fish swim suit, 2 retro mama tops, 7 children's books for the car, an orange scarf for the dress up box, 2 pairs of Old Navy 3T tights, a 4T summer 2 piece outfit for Clare, 2 hand knit kitchen cloths, and a pair of size 8 pink princess croc style mary jane shoes.

Total spent: $5.45

Clean up.

Cleaning is boring. Making your own cleaning products is fun. Spending a less on cleaning supplies is super fun.

Today I ventured into the realm of DIY cleaning supplies with my first project: an all purpose cleaner. Someday very soon I hope to make my own laundry detergent!

But first, here's what I did to make 32 ounces of all purpose cleaner that actually made cleaning up this afternoon fun!

• 4 TBS white vinegar
• 2 tsp Borax
• 1/2 tsp dish liquid soap
• hot water
• essential oils (optional)

Directions: Mix vinegar and borax. Swoosh around until dissolved. Add hot water and a few drops of dishwashing liquid. Add essential oil if desired.

Clare's cupcakes.

Mama: What do you want to do today Clare?
Clare: Make cupcakes.
Mama: What kind?
Clare: Pink with purple icing. And sprinkles. True to 'let the kids help in the kitchen' Clare mixed the icing colors up herself and added the food coloring.

She frosted the cupcakes for our afternoon post-rest time snack. Wesley approved and was so eager to dive into his cupcake he skipped the sprinkles.
After a bit of sampling we had four cupcakes left for dessert tonight. I know the color scheme is off but we only had sprinkles that came with the icing on hand. I got to try out my favorite cupcake tip from Hello, Cupcake! too. After icing cupcakes, hold cake by the base and roll it in a plate filled with sprinkles. The sprinkles even out the edges and look super cute too...just imagine if the sprinkles matched.

Unfortunately nobody under the age of four ate their dinner which means that there are two more cupcakes for the grown ups tonight. I'm thinking: tea and a late nite snack.

Everyday here.

My babies and their babies. Clare's doll got a new gown this week courtesy of Goodwill...now she wears pink and according to her mama she's much happier. Wesley's baby still runs naked.
Trouble. If there's a chair anywhere in sight he's climbing.

Air drying. Antibiotics are awful! After a consult with the nurse this afternoon we are stopping treatment because it doesn't seem to be helping and he's got awful awful diaper rash.

Our dinner companion this evening.

Can you believe they're forcasting SNOW for Monday?

Kids in the kitchen

Tuesday morning I reluctantly went to SPOTS. The topic: kids in the kitchen. But they do offer a free chance for fellowship, networking, breakfast, and child care so I went ahead and attended. Clare wanted to see my classroom so before I dropped her off we climbed up to the second floor at Shandon and I showed her around. "There's going to be a party here Mommy!" she exclaimed when she saw the festive tables and balloons. At the moment I internally shifted my outlook and looked at the next two hours as a wonderful gift meant to be celebrated with other mamas.


The speaker came from the Young Chef's Academy in Irmo, SC. A mama herself she created a business with her mom that teaches kids how to cook in a studio kitchen environment. I can't wait till Clare is old enough to go and learn fractions while measuring and experiment with baking soda in cakes.


She taught us how to include our children in cooking rather than banishing them to the sidelines. Kids can learn motor skills, healthy eating choices and develop buy-in when they help in the kitchen. My most important take away message: kids don't necessarily have to be helping with the actual thing you are making to feel like they are involved. So I now have free reign to put Wesley in his booster seat next to me cooking with measuring spoons, a stalk of celery, some beans, and a bowl.


Other ways to involve kids: give them matchstick carrot and celery sticks to cut up using safety scissors, pizza cutters or lettuce knives. Brilliant! I'd never thought of letting them chop because I thought they were too little, but both of my kids would love to get their hands on a pair of scissors in the name of cooking.


2 year olds can: scrub veggies, wipe tables, dip veggies and fruit, tear lettuce and greens, break bread for stuffing, and snap beans.


3 year olds can: pour liquids into batters, mix muffin batter, shake a milk drink, spread peanut butter on firm bread, and knead dough.


4 -5 year olds can: roll bananas in cereal for a snack, juice citrus fruit, mash soft fruits and veggies, measure dry and wet ingredients, grind cooked meat for a spread, and beat eggs with an egg beater.


(age related source: http://www.nncc.org/)


The last part of the SPOTS program included a make and taste for mamas. We used all of the safety cutting tools and made Supreme Pizza Pasta Salad. Good stuff. Last night I made it here at home complete with a little extra help from the kids.


2 small chopped tomatoes
1/2 medium red onion, chopped
8 mushrooms, chopped
1 small green pepper, chopped
1 small pkg. peperoni, chopped
1/2 c. grated mozzarella cheese
20 fresh basil leaves minced
1 lb. wagon wheel pasta


Dressing:
1 tsp. garlic salt
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. tomato paste
2 TBS. red wine vinegar
1/3 c. olive oil
pepper


1. Cook pasta. Drain and cool under cool water.
2. Combine tomatoes, onion, mushrooms, pepper, pepperoni, mozzarella, basil and pasta in a big bowl.
3. Whisk garlic salt, oregano, tomato paste, and vinegar together. Stream in olive oil while whisking dressing. Pour dressing over pasta.
4. Toss to coat evenly and add pepper to taste. Serve at room temperature or cold. Makes 6 servings.

What do you make with your kids? How do you let them help in the kitchen?

Officially a crunchy mama.

Today is Day 24 of not spending and I am getting a wee bit tired of it. It's not so much that there's something I am wanting to run out and buy, I realize now that I don't really need anything right now, but I want to be able to spend should I find something worthy of spending on. And a meal out sounds just decadent.

However, all of this not spending is blossoming in our kitchen where I am turning out all sorts of interesting things. I love granola (especially over yogurt!) but rarely purchase it because it tends to be expensive and a certain 3 year old likes to try and eat it too. But the certain three year old also hates nuts and ends up spitting out every other bite. Today's solution: make my own. I followed this recipe minus the almonds and coconut. We used a combination of dates, raisins, and crasins for the fruit. And wow...my house smells incredible now. Making this batch of granola was 1. cheap, 2. easy, 3. pleasing to all palates in the house.

From Gourmet, Feb 99 (Epicurious) :
Almond Coconut Granola

3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
2/3 cup sliced almonds (skipped)
1/2 cup unsweetened desiccated coconut (skipped)
1/3 cup hulled green pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter
6 tablespoons honey
1 cup mixed dried fruits such as raisins, cherries, and apricots


Preheat oven to 325°F.

In a large bowl stir together oats, almonds, coconut, pumpkin or sunflower seeds, and salt. In a small saucepan melt butter with honey over low heat, stirring. Pour butter mixture over oat mixture and stir until combined well.


In a large jelly-roll pan spread granola evenly and bake in middle of oven, stirring halfway through baking, until golden brown, about 15 minutes. Cool granola in pan on a rack and stir in dried fruits. Granola may be kept in an airtight container at cool room temperature 2 weeks. Recipe from here.

We'll definitely add this to our snack and breakfast rotation. It is 'healthy eating' week at preschool too, the crafts coming home crack me up. Finding something funny in their backpacks really can make my day.

Things I want to make.

Making granola.
Painted picture frames.
Homemade graham crackers.
Embroidered hand prints.
T-shirt toddler pants.
Ribbon pony tail holders.
Dishtowel skirts for Clare.
Flower hair clips for me and Clare.
Button hair clips.
More spiced pumpkin bread.
Twig books.
A popsicle stick book.
Child's dishtowel apron.

Monday Musings

This is what I found in Clare's room when I went to get her from rest time. Dress up princess school for dolls complete with Mardi Gras beads and magic wands. The time she spends in her room each afternoon (usually from 1 p.m. - 3 p.m.) yields the most active imaginative play I have ever seen her do. There are a series of costume changes, bookcases of books read, dolls rearranged, and toys used each afternoon.

During her rest I curled up in my bed and treated myself to 2 hours to finish reading The Chosen by Chaim Potok. Our book club is meeting to discuss it on Monday and next month we are moving on to Rabbit, Run by John Updike. I really enjoyed The Chosen and love how I read things I might not have picked up just because they are our current book club selections.

I am getting the itch to do something creative again. Over the past few weeks I have directed most of my energy into household things and am ready to play with glue and thread again. Today during school I wandered through two Goodwill stores in search of things on my 'want' list that I created because of our No Spend month. What's on the list? Silly stuff like an electric water kettle, a new Foreman grill, a waffle maker, photo books, spring dresses, and green fabric to make Clare a mermaid costume.

Later tonight I almost broke my No Spend Challenge in the name of this apron at Target. It's $12.99 and I was thinking I could wear it with jeans and a white t-shirt because I am currently digging the layered dress with jeans look. But I didn't. Instead I just picked up Wesley's prescription for antibiotics (I give up on him...maybe this will make him feel better) and a mattress pad for the girl who refuses to wear diapers at night anymore. $10 for a mattress pad seemed like a much better option than the stinky pee smelling mattress option. Oh, and I also got some oatmeal so that I can try making this homemade granola tomorrow. Not exactly a no spend run but prescriptions and oatmeal don't count...and the mattress pad I am chalking up to a necessity.

Here's to a magical day for you! Don't forget to wear your magic slippers and carry your wand.

Christmas In February

This Christmas I put a bunch of experience based gifts on my holiday wish list. Things to do rather than things to have. Michael and Mikie jumped on it and surprised us with two tickets to see George Winston at the Newberry Opera House and a voucher for babysitting. Good stuff! They hung out with the kids while we got an afternoon off. Totally off. I went to a brunch for Elizabeth's newest addition, Mario cruised around and then at 1:45 p.m. we set off for Newberry together.
At the Opera House we relaxed. George Winston played his Winter concert which we've heard before but this time being at a concert felt even more luxurious. Two hours to relax in the dark, listening to gorgeous music, and being able to hold my husband's hand. At intermission we skipped the snacks and took a brisk walk around Main Street. And staying true to our No Spend Challenge we skipped dinner at Steven W's in favor of coming home to make a warm pot of soup.

Friday afternoon during rest time I read this blog entry about a curry chicken soup and instead of rushing over to Amazon to buy the Silver Palate cookbook I went to www.myrcpl.com and looked it up. Friday night I went to see Slumdog Millionaire with a friend (an $8.50 spending violation) and started missing all things Indian. And Saturday after helping a friend paint her new office I stopped by the library to check it out. Later that night I realized we had all of the ingredients on hand and did a little happy dance in the kitchen. And tonight I finally got a chance to make it and our house delightfully smells like curry. Ahh...inhale.

Curried Cream of Chicken Soup
from The Silver Palate Cookbook with a few changes by me.

6 TBS butter
2 cups chopped onions
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 TBS curry powder (I used three)
5 cups chicken stock
6 sprigs of parsley
1 chicken (I used 2 chicken breasts)
1/2 cup rice
1 cups half and half
10 oz. frozen peas

1. Melt butter. Add carrots, onions and curry. Cook till tender.
2. Add stock, parsley, chicken and rice. Simmer till chicken and rice are done.
3. Remove chicken and dice. Reserve.
4. Strain soup and place remaining solids in a blender or food processor with 1 cup of cooking liquid.
5. Return puree, cooking liquid and half and half to pot.
6. Add chicken and peas. Cook 15 minutes until peas are done.
7. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with fresh bread for dipping.

Thank you Michael and Mikie for our Christmas in February present! Next month we get to enjoy another holiday gift: Ira Glass in Greenville. In the meantime we are enjoying season two of This American Life on DVD to prepare.

Role Assignments per Clare

Clare: Ariel the mermaid
Wesley: Flounder the fish
Daddy: Sebastian the crab
Mommy: King Triton the Daddy

This morning to get out of the house and to stay warm we visited the library in search of mermaid books. She nearly melted my heart when she asked 'Can we go to the library and get more books today?' after she got up from bed today. And how cool is it that the children's librarians know her by name? When we walked in she got a chorus of "Hi Clare!"

The mermaid books we brought home: The Merbaby by Teresa Bateman, Princess Fishtail by Frances Minters, and Donnatalee by Erika Tamar.

Mermaid Friends

Clare: Do you like mermaids?
Mama: Yes.
Clare: Do you like Ariel?
Mama: Yes. Did you know I have a friend named Ariail?
Clare: Is she a mermaid?
Mama: No, she's a lawyer.
Clare: Does she have a costume?
Mama: She wears suits.
Clare: Are they pink?
Mama: I don't think so.
Clare: Pink and purple are my favorites.

Mermaid fever is officially here. She's in love with all things mermaid, pink, purple and aquatic.

Staying In

It is now officially hip to be thrifty.

The age of perfect entertaining seems to be giving way to simple entertaining. Gourmet is nice but potluck is finer. Many of the magazines and blogs I enjoy reading herald the new wave of evening entertainment. The focus is now on the actual get together rather than the pomp and circumstance of getting folks together.

My mind is spinning with evening entertainment ideas. Going out to dinner can be wonderful but I am convinced that we can have just as much fun at home. Here are a few of the stay-in movement suggestions from Everyday, Ready Made and the web. All rely on guest participation, a bit of potluck principle, and a willing host or hostess.

• Host a Mardi Gras Party.
• Have a Women's History makeover and spa party.
• Go-Green Tailgating with cloth napkins, be outdoors, and grill out.
• Cheese and Beer Bash
• Roaring 20's Garden Party with tea sandwiches, tug of war, sack races, and tea cups.
• Ultimate High School Reunion: come dressed as who you were.
• Vintage Game Night with Operation, Sorry!, Clue, and Risk.
• Swap Meet to clean out the closet. Guests can bring a box of donations and go home with new duds.
• Cosmic Thing to read fortunes, play with Ouija boards, and read palms.
• Breakfast Club brunch complete with make ahead casseroles.
• A soup swap.
• A movie night.
• A craft circle: bring your own snacks and craft project to work on.
• A house concert/CD swap night/sing along karaoke night.
• A cook off a la Iron Chef/have an in-home cooking class/play restaurant.
• Cocktail hour/wine tasting/chocolate tasting.

During the no-spend challenge this month I continually blanked on free evening entertainment with mama friends. Entertaining at home sounds lovely but unless it happens after bed time it probably will not be an adults only event. So what's a mama to do?

Today at the park I was talking to another friend and she suggested trying to include children in the new entertainment trends. Rather than not inviting folks over and not planning events I can include everyone in the family. How do you entertain in your home? And if you have little ones what do you do with them?

My goal: organize an imperfect mama's coffee hour for one morning this month. The kids can run wild in our home, the mama's can snack on potluck treats, and the coffee will flow freely.

Thrifty afternoon entertainment

Mission: spend a rainy afternoon at home doing something deemed fun by one mama and 2 toddlers.
Supplies: anything we can find in the house.
The Activity: making oatmeal sugar cookies. I found the recipe here via Mom Advice. I put both kids near the counter on bar stools. As I measured out the ingredients Clare dumped them into the mixing bowl. Wesley sort of stood as chief watch guard and banged the measuring cups together. After the dough came together, I rolled out each piece and Clare helped me cut out our shapes: Easter eggs and stars (I'm deficient in cookie cutters and only have these 2 thanks to Stacy.) Clare decorated each cookie with mini m and m's from her Valentine's Day treat stash and we popped them in the oven.

Cookie cutters are fun!Mini M and M's are even more fun!

The Result: One hour of entertainment and four dozen cookies. The kids lost interest after cutting the second batch and I finished up while they played in the house. Now we have cookies to bring to our next play date and a few for the freezer. The cookies are mildly sweet and remind me a bit of the Walker's Oatmeal Heather Shortbread at Starbucks that the kids like to eat. They are perfect for tea and may even be delicious iced: with pink icing of course.

Oatmeal Sugar Cookies
cut and pasted from Jane's Apron

2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup butter; softened
3/4 cup sugar
2 Tbsp milk
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup oatmeal (regular or instant)

Combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Add all but the oatmeal (I know this seems weird that you don't cream the butter and sugar but just go with it). Mix until combined and stir in oatmeal. Roll and cut. Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes...until slightly golden on edges.

School Choice

I am happy to announce that as of 8:20 a.m. today the preschool drama officially ended. No more conversations deliberating merits of schools, planning camp out techniques for registration, comparing tuition fees, and mapping out locations. We are done. Hooray!

Clare is now enrolled in a private Montessori school five mornings a week and Wesley is enrolled in a Methodist preschool program. Two different programs will mean a bit more driving for this mama but we are very happy with both of our choices. Wesley can join Clare at the Montessori school once he hits the golden age of three too.

I fail to understand how having parents camp out to ensure a spot is more fair than accepting applications and doing a lottery. Does the size of my tent and the duration of my stay demonstrate something that is actually desirable in a preschool parent? Does the first come first serve attitude of fairness apply to the class room too? First one to the potty gets to go first. First one to the swing gets to swing first. First one to the play doh gets to play first. Or maybe the directors of these schools have really spent too much time around preschool age children and it is warping their enrollment policies.

As annoying and semi-stressful as this process was I am sure it pales in comparison to what we will face as college choices surface. And to think that then we don't even really get to make the choice and camping out certainly won't ensure a spot.

#1 reason I *heart* Columbia, SC

Because Mario can come home at lunch time. We have enough time to eat as a family and then he can read the kids a few stories. I'm not sure we could get away with that if we lived somewhere else.

Princess Power

One of my favorite princesses.
A little wand action in the storage bin with pencils.

Taking a break after some power princess play.

Happy Valentine's Day

I had intentions of making pink things for Valentine's Day breakfast and drawing hearts in the sand. However, somewhere in the process I lost my voice, got really sick, visited the eye doctor for a bacterial infection in both eyes, and it rained. So we went with plan B: Valentine's Day was that party at school you had on Wednesday.

We thought things were finally looking a bit better until Clare fell backwards in a kitchen chair Saturday afternoon. She caught her foot in the back of the chair leaving a nasty wound and bruise on the top of her right foot. Things seemed to be okay until a few hours later when she started limping and refusing to use her foot to walk. So we went to the Urgent Care for 3 x-rays of her foot to make sure. The result: nothing looks broken.
We pretty much wrote off Valentine's Day as any kind of adult celebration early in the day. We decided we would pop a frozen pizza in the oven and call it a night. Lately getting to bed early seems to be the best plan because we are so ready for each day to end and we always have great hopes that the next day will be better.

But then our neighbor, Miss Gloria, swooped in and said she would like to bring us dinner. And candles!

So she packed up bacon wrapped fillet Mignon, skewers of shrimp, asparagus, twice baked potatoes, garlic bread, salad, a bottle of wine, and this tray of candles. All we had to do was fire up the grill after the kids went to bed and enjoy. We still can't believe that she went through all of the effort to make sure we had a Valentine's celebration together. That dinner together in the candlelight was the highlight of our weekend. The house was quiet, talking in whispers seemed appropriate, and we enjoyed the time being together without crisis.

Later that night the cold from hell hit me hard and Mario went to CVS at 4 a.m. to buy an arsenal of cold fighting supplies. Cough suppressant hand delivered at 4:30 a.m. by my sweetie was perhaps the very best Valentine's Day gift of all.

Cupcake Love

The nicest neighbor in the whole wide world invited Clare over to bake cupcakes. The whipped up all sorts of icing to top the cupcakes and included Clare's favorite colors: pink and purple. The yellow is for Daddy and the green is for Mama.

Here Miss Gloria and Clare make sure that the cupcakes are done. We peeked in on them several times through the back door and saw them working diligently on the batter. It was so sweet to see Clare interacting with Miss Gloria on her level.Tasting! This girl ate cupcakes all weekend long. Thankfully Miss Gloria had the wisdom to also make a batch of mini-cupcakes to support this habit. And during all of this activity Wesley napped so Mario and I got a super afternoon break. Thank you Miss Gloria for a great afternoon!

For my peeps

Introducing No Spend Valentine's Day cards for my sweeties. If you're in need of a card or two head over to The Long Thread's free download and make yourself a set of lovebirds. (And if you need some for your children's class parties check out this free download that she's created too!) Honestly all of my mama crafting has gone to the wayside lately in favor of constructive stuff, like making dinner for my family. Soon I hope to figure out the balance and have a bit more glue and thread in my life but for now this was a great 15 minute diversion that used supplies I had on hand.

For Valentine's Day this year and in the spirit of No-Spend-Month I am going to try to make the kids 'love books' aka: mini scrapbooks filled with pictures of people that love them and that they love. They are HUGE fans of the photo books I've made in the past from Snapfish and enjoy reading those on a daily basis. I'm also planning a Valentine's Day breakfast complete with pink pancakes or waffles and lots of heart drawing in the sand at the beach. If he's lucky Mario may get a coupon or two for things that I know he may enjoy.

I'm also loving this idea for a Valentine's evening date from Design Sponge.

One Sweet Party

This should be a great time! And if you want a pair of specially priced tickets (just $50 each!) let me know, I'll be on a different date with my 2 crushes: Mario and Ira in Greenville that night. So have fun, get dressed up, hire the sitter and go on a little adults only EdVenture on March 7th.

$3.52

Today I broke my 'no spending' pledge in the name of not outcasting Clare. I spent $3.52 at Walgreens this morning at 9:15 a.m. buying one bag of lollipops, a roll of scotch tape and 12 photo valentines.

I knew her party was today and brought our contribution to the class fiesta but totally forgot about Valentine's until I walked into her classroom. The entire wall was lined with bags with their names on them just for tucking in treats and sweets.

With two hours until the party I had three options: 1. do nothing, 2. go home and make some kind of Valentine and run back with those, 3. go to Walgreens and spend a little money to create a treat and still have an hour and a half of me time.

I went with option three. It's not that I'm against Valentine's, I just would have wanted her involved in the process somehow and they would have been handmade by her. And I wanted her to have something to tuck into her friend's bags as a symbolic act. But in the midst of ravage sickness and snot around our house I forgot that there might be a great pink and red sugar exchange this morning.

So I went for the cute photo Valentine's trading cards (on sale this week for 14 cents!) and a heart sucker. She got to distribute them and mama sucked up her $3.52 on principal to let Clare be a normal kid at pre-school.

Senate Club on Marion Street

At the start of this year I said I wanted to write more. Specifically: be published more and have actual article assignments. So I emailed my editors at the Free Times and told them that I would love to start writing for them again. Recently I did a piece on modern decorating that featured Bohemian Home and this month I'm writing the Neighborhood column for Abode. But because Wesley was sick this morning I had to cancel my interview and rescheduled for this afternoon...with two children in tow.

They ran around the 2 br and 3 br apartments eating Princess fruit snacks (thanks Grampin' for buying me a few minutes to get the history of this building). The property manager responded to all of my questions and the toddlers well but I still felt really flustered running around asking questions, taking snapshots and chasing kids.

But in the end I think I got enough information to write a 500 word piece. This project took a building built in 1925 and renovated it keeping the original doors and floors. The kitchens have granite counter tops, stainless steel appliances, and a washer/dryer. Each apartment has it's own alarm system, front door code, porch, and charm. Rent: 2 br/2 ba is $1,300/month and 3 br/2 ba is $1,600/month.

The best part: Clare in the third floor apartment practicing her 'jumping' right above Jim Miles' apartment. Aye.

Cowboy Up

Right. This child was awake from 1:30 a.m. until 5:30 a.m. this morning. He only wanted to nurse. Mario tried and tried to get him back to sleep and I even nursed 3 or 4 times too. No avail. He's sick (can't you tell from this lunchtime photo?) and really needs to sleep.

We picked Clare up from pre-school and headed to Citadel Park for a low budget/no budget picnic. They barely ate, just like they would have barely eaten if we were at Moe's, and played for awhile. At least at the park I could say "I'm not pushing you on the swings until you eat your sandwich" and at least one child ate her sandwich.

Sibling Fun

Couch snugglers. I think my mom has this same picture of Michael and me.
Whoa Wesley! Slow down!

Cheesy kids in the hall this morning.

P.S. Grampin: Clare loves her pink dress that you found her!

Finlay Park

Today we played outside. Two hours at the zoo this morning. Reading in the sunshine during nap time. Snacking and playing soccer at Finlay Park this afternoon. I love this time of year in South Carolina. Today's dose of sunshine and the warm temperatures made me a very happy mama.

Wesley two fists his snacks. Apple or Cliff Bar? Tough choice. Clare played a lot of soccer with our new soccer ball. She's a soccer freak and pretty good at actually kicking the ball where she plans.

During naps today I took off to find a bit of refuge to refuel for the week. Unsure what to do besides the coffee shop/Target browse I headed over towards the USC campus. In my bag I packed a water bottle, raw almonds, a Luna bar, my journal, a novel, and my iPod. I parked and took off exploring. It was my first time in the new Russell House book store and I spent a bit of time browsing around. I smiled when I saw blue books for sale (35 cents) in the corner. It is nice knowing that those days are done.

I also went to the library and looked around. The idea of a library with a coffee shop still amazes me. Anyhow, after a bit of time in the library journalling I went back outside and enjoyed a few chapters of The Chosen (March Book Club) in the sunshine before heading back home. My inner geek loved the outing and I returned feeling refreshed. (And happy that I didn't spend a cent on my afternoon alone!)

Sunshine Morning

In an effort to slow down this weekend we opted to stay in Columbia. We took advantage of the gorgeous 70 degree weather to play and picnic at Seven Oaks Park with friends. Simple and nurturing the sunshine and conversation felt so good. As an added bonus, the alone time with Clare rocked my world and grounded us at the same time.

Clare and her friends.
Mama and her friends.
(Next time we need to do silly faces too!)

Not spending

This week I actively tried not to spend any money. Huh? This week I actively tried not to spend any money. And it was really hard. Immediately after I decided that I want to try and not spend any money outside of essential groceries and monthly payments (like the mortgage, heating/air, and the car) I thought of a million things I wanted/needed. So instead of rushing out to Target to indulge I wrote them down in a notebook on a page labeled: wants. I still want them but will try and find them other ways (maybe at a thrift store) or wait till the month is over to see if I still want them.

Over the past two weeks I have removed a ton of stuff from our house and am increasingly aware of the excess that surrounds us. My children seem to have enough clothing to clothe 2-3 children! I found 9 pairs of jeans in my closet. We had 4 pasta pots. 6 bottles of aspirin, mostly expired. I don't even want to talk about the handbags. All of this stuff made it difficult to put things away because the drawers, shelves and cabinets were stuffed already. Now that we have removed a great deal of these things it is easier to keep up because everything has a place.

I haven't tackled all of the rooms in our home yet but I've got my garbage bags and am making progress each day. The idea of filling this new found beautiful space with things we don't really love or need makes me sad. But it doesn't stop me from wanting it in the moment while walking through World Market. I do want the stuff...badly...and if it's a good deal it seems to hurt even more. My solution for the week: staying OUT of the stores because being in them just taunts me and makes me feel crappy.

One area we tend to spend a lot of money in each month is eating out. This seems to happen mostly at lunch time because we meet up to dine as a family after pre-school. Our evening meals are now planned out using a bi-weekly menu planning system and it seems to prevent a lot of drive thru runs and trips to Moe's. (Here's a link to a free printable plan.) Under my new self imposed no spend month rules I am trying to pack lunches that we can share at a local park or even at the food court together as a family. It's just food and what I can pack for us to dine on saves funds and is healthier. This week we didn't eat out at all for lunch aside from lunch on Monday that Grandpa Mario treated us with before he went home.

I like the idea of compacting but never committed to the challenge. This month is different and I'm eager to try it for 28 days. It will be interesting to see how much we can save and how much we can alter our regular plans in favor of not spending. I have yet to figure out how to do mama dates without spending though. This week I enjoyed dinner with my book club on Monday night and met another friend out for pizza on Thursday night. I don't want to skip these events because they provide a valuable social link for me but at the same time I am aware of them as violations. And what seems to bug me more is that I can't figure out how to make them low/no cost events in the evening. It makes sense that we could meet for coffee and dessert in our home but I know that in our particular home an evening guest around 7:30 p.m. is an invitation for a dramatic show by our resident three year old.

So we are taking it day by day just to see what it feels like to actively not spend. After a week I know that our dollars are stretching further (especially on the grocery front) and that I am taking baby steps away from the haunted wanting that follows me through stores and catalogs.

(**Mario's not playing this game with me...but tonight he's at a bachelor party in Charlotte. My only request to him was 'if you must put $ in the panties of girls, please please just use ones.'**)

Now and Then

2008: pajamas

2009: night gowns

Crack Baby

Mario: Wesley! You look like you're making crack!
Wesley: Just laughs and giggles while playing in spilled baking soda.
Mama: What?
Mario: It's just cocaine and baking soda mixed together and microwaved.
Mama: Oh. Good to know.

So two years ago we learned about crack rentals. This week we learned how to make crack.

Temptation

Brownie mix made in a mini muffin tin. Addictive. Bite size. Not at all good for us. But so wonderful in the combination of mostly crust and chewy centers. I am really enjoying the new mini muffin tin in our house.

Not the help I had in mind

Behold! The cardboard box.

It's no surprise to us that the cardboard box made it into the Toy Hall of Fame. We got a new Hoover cleaner with super suction power this weekend which meant: box fun for the kids. A few windows later it lived on as the house. Only later to be put into time out because two little ones could not figure out how to share effectively. There's a chance it may emerge again this afternoon provided there's a timer involved.

Happy Birthday Bailey!

Look who celebrated his 10th birthday yesterday! He got a bit of one on one time with us last night after the little people in our house went to bed. Hooray for milestones and squeaky toys.

Maddox's Birthday Party

This girl LOVES her birthday parties! I drove back from Greenville in time to take Clare to Maddox's second circus themed birthday party. She ate popcorn and the icing off of her cake...skipped the hot dogs...and devoured her animal cracker treats and a juice box on the way home.

I had a great time too. With my new ballon hat I fit right in with the other mamas. Thanks to Maddox and co. for inviting us to share in such a super celebration. Thank goodness for events like these that bring us all together to play.

And Wesley loved his lady bug ballon that Clare requested from the Balloon Man on her behalf.