Silly Hats & Sunshine

On Thursday just after I laid the boys down for a nap, I heard the doorbell. It was Mom - the first time I'd seen her in almost a month. We went for a walk with the kids and then headed to the shoe store where the gal measured Caleb & Joshua's feet. Thankfully, Caleb is the exact size Joshua was for his first pair of shoes, and Joshua's feet haven't grown since the last time we got him sneakers. So, I didn't spend a dime! Yeah! (Not that you don't do what you have to do when it comes to your kids, but when I can save, I'm pleased.)The next day, Mom watched the boys so I could go grocery shopping. We were out of everything, from flour to peanut butter to seasonings like dry mustard to aluminum foil and milk to a bare pantry and an empty freezer. I hate grocery shopping (even without kids) but I was diligent and made a list and organized it by section, and I tried to hang in there when I couldn't find things. I spent almost $200, but I'm now stocked with meals for the next few weeks, and I planned out what we're eating each evening this week, which saves us money from going out to eat (which is also not the healthiest option!). That afternoon while the kids napped, I made four batches of mini-cheddar meatloaf and put them in the freezer, which will give us meal choices to defrost. Shawn said that it sounded good that evening, so I changed my plan for that day from the stuffed porkchops (which we ate the following night) to accomodate. I made pineapple stuffing and Shawn cooked a small ham steak for us to split for lunch on Sunday before small group. We had a fun time as usual!

The weather these past few days has been brilliant - up to today, which is cold, rainy and windy. I'm missing the sunshine, but at least the weekend was nice so Shawn could enjoy it along with the boys. Today I'm preparing for my last class of the semester. I love the feeling of freedom that each end of semester brings, but that also means an end to my paycheck until school starts again. So, hopefully we can be wiser in how we spend and save and learn to live with less.