Around the House | Marriage Confessions Around the House

Having two kiddies in daycare is, among other things, not cheap. In fact, I write a $375 check every single week. Feel sorry for me. Feel very, very sorry for me. I know my checking account does.

But just like we did with Bean, we’re somehow finding a way to make it work. It’s not easy and we have to go without a lot of things (goodbye wonderful hair stylist I just found who I can’t afford to ever see again…), but we’re doing it. Our bills are paid, we’re all healthy, we’re all (mostly) happy. What more can I ask for?

To help with the costs around our house, one of the things I’ve started doing again is meal planning. I used to do it many moons ago when we first had Bean and I was, ironically enough, flipping out over how we would ever afford ONE child in daycare. But after a few months, I realized we weren’t going to be living in a cardboard box and so I got lazy and stopped. When we moved into our new house and the kids started daycare, though, I decided it was probably time to get back to the ol’ recipe book and shopping list thing so that I could scrimp and save as many pennies as I could.

For me, meal planning begins with a menu. I know some people who start with coupons and whatever is on sale, but to be honest, I don’t really have time (or the patience) to be that strategic. With a good menu, a few coupons, and a shopping list, I get our grocery bill down low enough. On Saturday mornings, I sit down at our kitchen table with a few tools. My church’s cookbook, all of my Gooseberry cookbooks (if you don’t have any of these – get one, get many of them…), my Betty Crocker cookbook, a notepad, and my envelope of coupons.

First, I begin by flipping through the cookbooks for meal ideas. Because I work and don’t get home until around 5:00, I look for quick, simple, filling, healthy meals. We do a lot of grilled meats (chicken, ribs, porkchops), a veggie, and a starch. But lately, I’ve found that I can cook a little more substantial meals and then use leftovers to make a second meal the next night. For example, last week, I put a whole chicken, potatoes, carrots, celery, onion, and garlic into the crock pot before work. That night, we had chicken and veggies with a big salad. The next night, I took what was left of the chicken and put it into a chicken, rice, and broccoli casserole. And the next day for lunch, Chris and I were able to take leftover casserole. That was three meals for two people out of that one chicken, and we probably could have stretched it one more dinner or lunch, but Chris was over chicken at that point.

When I’m hunting for recipes, I look for things that cook large quantities at one time – like that whole chicken, or I’ll make a couple pounds of ground beef for one meal and then reserve the beef for the next night. That saves me time and it enables me to cook bigger meals for our family without wasting any food.

Here is my menu this week:

Sunday night: Low Country Boil (a Louisiana classic: shrimp, corn on the cob, potatoes, and sausage all boiled together with Old Bay seasoning) and french bread
Monday night: Sante Fe chicken (in a crock pot with black beans, corn, and salsa), Mexican rice, and a salad
Tuesday night: Flank steak (marinated in V-8 juice, Worcestershire, and hot sauce), leftover Mexican rice and black beans, and watermelon
Wednesday night: BBQ ribs, homemade french fries (baked, not fried), and lima beans
Thursday night: Leftover chicken on homemade pizza and fruit salad
Friday night: Leftover night

With my recipes chosen, I make my grocery list based off of what I need for my recipes (less anything I already have). I also add fresh fruits and veggies, bread, milk, and a few other staples, like Cheerios for Bean and Chris’s breakfast. Usually, if I stick to my recipe lists, I don’t actually end up having to buy a lot at one time. I keep my panty well stocked with things like chicken broth, canned veggies, and pasta by buying it in bulk when it’s on sale. Really, the only things I end up buying on my weekly shopping trip are the necessities for dinner that week, replenishing my lunch supply, and fresh produce.

With my shopping list prepared, I go through my coupons. I’m not a big couponer, but I do keep a giant envelope on the side of my fridge and I toss in whatever coupons I find throughout the week. We don’t get the paper, but I get a lot of stuff in the mail and so I stick the whole ad down in my envelope and on Saturday mornings I clip out all the coupons. That way I’m not wasting time through the week clipping and snipping. Saturday morning, I clip all my coupons from my envelope and pull out any that are for products on my list.

Then, with my list and coupons in hand, I head off to the grocery store – ALONE. In the past couple months I have learned two valuable lessons about grocery shopping:

1. Never take your kids.
2. Never take your husband.

I leave all of them at home and go by myself. For one thing, I don’t like having to stop and explain to Chris everything I’m buying or listen to him complain about how he doesn’t like sour cream when I’ve been putting sour cream in our food for years and he’s never noticed. But for another, it takes a fair amount of concentration to save money at the grocery store. And when my babies are all over the place and my husband is throwing things like bags of Coco Puffs and four tubs of ice cream into the buggy, I’m not trying to save anything but my sanity.

On average, we spend a little less than $100 a week on groceries, but with meal planning, I’m seeing that number get smaller and smaller each week.

What about you? How do you save a few pennies in your family?

60 comments | posted in Around the House, In the Kitchen, Marriage Confessions, Money | tags: Family, grocery shopping, meal planning, Money

I didn’t want to post pictures of the new house until everything was just perfect, but then I looked around and realized that that may not be for YEARS. So, I grabbed my camera and happily snapped away.

LIVING ROOM – BEFORE

LIVING ROOM – AFTER

In the living room we stripped the wallpaper and sanded and painted the walls. We also pulled up the old carpet and re-carpeted. We took down the window treatments, but we still need to decide on new curtains. (Ignore the laundry on the couch and the baby on the floor…)

DINING ROOM – BEFORE

DINING ROOM – AFTER

We did the same in here as we did in the living room – new paint and new carpet. Chris also fixed the chandelier and we are in the process of mounting that on a medallion which will match the crown molding we’re eventually going to put in this room. The only other immediate thing we’re doing in here is painting that back door white and putting up a white chair rail around the entire dining room to help set it apart a bit from the living room.

KITCHEN – BEFORE

KITCHEN – AFTER

The kitchen was already renovated and updated (except the appliances), so we didn’t do much in here. We have picked the paint, but haven’t painted yet. It’s going to be a pale green that picks up the green tones in the sand color in the living room and dining room. You can see the sample we painted in the right corner of the first picture below. I think it’s really pretty. We just got that kitchen table and chairs from my parent’s house this past weekend and we can’t quite decide what to do with it. I think we’re going to move it to another wall in that breakfast room area, but I do like it against the wall like how we have it. Such a space saver.

UPSTAIRS LANDING AND HALLWAY – BEFORE

UPSTAIRS LANDING – AFTER

This has quickly become one of my favorite parts of the house. I love it because it’s so open and neat. It’s not cluttered and it feels really calming. We painted and put carpet here, too. We also hung some art work, but may have to move it because it is an original and right now it’s situated right under the skylight so we’re a little worried about the sunlight fading the paint. For now though, I like where it is placed and I love that the card catalog is front and center. For those who don’t know, that card catalog is an original from the first library at Yale University. They were selling them when Chris was a student at Yale because they were renovating the library. We bought it for $50 and it’s one of my favorite things in our house. I’m glad it now has a prominent place in our house.

GRACIE’S ROOM – BEFORE

GRACIE’S ROOM – AFTER

We still have a lot to do in the kid’s rooms. We put in new carpet, but that’s about it. We are painting this room very similar to her room at the old house. Chris is going to do pink and cream stripes again, but this time it will be above a cream chair rail and below that rail it will be solid pink. We also need to hang pictures and bookshelves in here, too.

BEAN’S ROOM – BEFORE

BEAN’S ROOM – AFTER

Bean’s room is HUGE. Almost as big as the master. It holds all of his toys perfectly and he loves it. We put in new carpet, but haven’t painted yet. We are at a stalemate about what color to use in this room. We’re experimenting with different shades of blue and yellow, but no decisions have been made yet. I’m not in a rush though. Bean seems pretty happy with it just the way it is!

The master bedroom has been painted and carpeted, too, but that’s it. There’s hardly any furniture in there and we are still missing closet doors because we’re replacing them. We have the paint for our master bath, but haven’t painted in there yet. I’m really excited about that color though. It’s a clean, crisp, sea green color. Really pretty. We also haven’t even started on the downstairs playroom. We have set up our desk and computer down there for a quick makeshift office, but that’s about it. It hasn’t been painted, cleaned, or carpeted yet so it feels kind of yucky still. But at this point, that room is so far down the list of things to do. We’ll get to it when we get to it.

In this house, I am amazed at how comfortable and homey everything feels. I feel like we’ve lived here for years. Part of that is all the new paint and carpet, but I think a big part of it is knowing that this is our house for a long, long time. That comfort is comforting and comfortable. Home has never sounded so good!

53 comments | posted in Around the House, Florida, Marriage Confessions, Moving | tags:

This morning in church, the sermon was about community and how important it is to be involved and form relationships with others. It was centered around introducing the new fall line up of classes and small groups our church is offering this year. The sermon ended about 15 minutes early and the minister said the last 15 minutes were intentionally being left so that we could meet the new small group leaders and join a class. Or, at the very least, we could turn to the people sitting next to us in the pews and spend a few minutes getting to know them. I thought it was a really neat idea. I like meeting new people and, even though I’m shy, situations where EVERYONE is forced out of their comfort zone makes me feel a little more confident.

Chris and I turned and met this young couple sitting down the pew from us. They were expecting their first child in January and were closing on their first house next week. Turns out, we actually had a lot in common. People were wrapping up their conversations and so rather than checking out the small groups, Chris and I headed out to pick the kids up from the nursery.

On the way home from church, I made a big decision. I’m going to start saying no.

I like to be involved. I like to make people happy. And so, if someone asks me to do something, I tend to do it. Incidentally, this is how I became the co-chair for the entire Pre-K Vacation Bible School at our church next summer… The thing is, I actually like volunteering and being involved. It makes me feel good, I meet nice people, and I’m able to give back in thanksgiving of my own blessings. Volunteering, leadership, and being involved have always been part of my life. But I am starting to feel that changing a little bit.

It’s not that my feelings about doing so much have changed – I still want to be a yes person and say yes to everything someone asks of me – but I can feel that tugging on my family dynamic a little bit. On a good day when everything is going right, the kids are behaving, Chris and I are at the top of our game, the wind is blowing just right, and the sun, moon, and stars all align, I can handle everything on my plate. I meet deadlines. I make it to meetings. I answer emails. I make tissue paper pom poms for my classroom. I stuff gift bags for the nursery workers. I donate boxes of clothes to a women’s shelter with a church group. When everything is going my way, I can meet all the obligations I have. But if one little thing is off, I drop all those balls in the air.

I’ve been thinking about that lately as we move into this new house and begin a new chapter in our lives. Not only is this a new physical place for us, but it’s the beginning of a lot of new things. Bean is getting big so fast and in the next year he’ll start playing soccer and join the children’s choir at church. Gracie will grow up just as quickly and before you know it there will be ballet recitals and piano lessons and Girl Scout troop meetings. And it’s not that those things are going to take over my life so I have to cut out my things to make room, it is truly that I WANT to be part of those things. I WANT to be there with my kids. I WANT to sit down to dinner every night together as a family. I WANT to have days where we have no obligations at all. I WANT all of that.

What I don’t want is to become one of those people who’s known for not following through or, even worse, who is not dependable. I don’t want to be one of those frazzled women who run from function to function, just to prove they can. I don’t want to be spread so thin that nothing has value anymore.

And so, I’ve decided it’s time for me to start saying no. I started this morning with the small groups at church. Normally, that would be right up my alley, but I really just don’t have an extra night a week for eight-weeks to participate. Before, I might have joined and then just gradually faded out because I didn’t have time to attend all the meetings, but now I’m looking at things from the long-term. I know I won’t be able to meet that commitment. Quite honestly, I know I don’t WANT to make that kind of commitment, no matter how worthwhile the group might be. So, I’m saying no. And I don’t feel bad about that, either. Because every time I say no, what I’m really saying is that I value time with my family and friends over that commitment.

I still believe in setting the example of giving back and getting involved for my kids and for myself, too. I still love the things I am a part of and so I’m going to continue those happily. But I think, for a while, I’m going to take a little break on saying yes to anything new. I have two young kids, a new house, a full-time job, a blog, a 31 Gifts business, a husband, and friends and family. At some point, something would have to give. And I’m making it my new mission to make sure that none of those things are sacrificed. I’d rather do those few things really well, then try to do a lot of other things poorly.

So, with a completely clear conscious and a happy, full heart, I’m going to have to say, “Thanks, but no.”

What about you guys? Am I the only one who struggles with finding balance when you have small kids? Does balance come more naturally the older your kids get or do you always have to intentionally seek it? What say you, Imaginary Friends?

32 comments | posted in Around the House, Changes, Family, Marriage Confessions | tags: Family, priorities, volunteering

I have sat down to blog for three days now and been stumped. You know in cartoons when a bunch of people try to fit through a doorway, but they all get stuck because they try to go through at the same time? Well, that’s been my brain lately. There is just so much stuff going on that when I sit down to try and let some of it out, it all gets bottled up and nothing comes. So today, I thought I’d just let it all out a little at a time, very slowly.

1. My 10-year high school reunion is this weekend. We’re heading up to our hometown of Gulf Breeze, Florida to drop the kids with my mother-in-law. She’s going to keep them all weekend while Chris and I stay out on the beach at a condo for a little getaway. The events of the reunion will be out there, plus there’s the beach. So the kids will get a mini-vacay with their Grandmomma (who spoils them rotten!) and Chris and I will get a mini-vacay by the beach with friends. I am so excited!

2. The only thing keeping me from enjoying this weekend 100% is that this also happens to be the only free weekend we’ve had in a few months to work on the new house. Next week we are painting through Wednesday, then the new carpet goes in on Thursday and Friday. And we’re moving on Saturday and Sunday. Oh, and I start work again on Monday. It’s a busy, busy time and not the best planning to be out of town. But, somehow we’ll make it work.

3. Speaking of paint. We are trying to get the house painted on the inside before the carpet goes in, but it doesn’t look like that is going to happen. Picking paint has been a bit of a nightmare. For one thing, we just haven’t had any time. And when we do have time, we have the kids with us, so we’re rushing before they get bored and fussy. Finally, Chris and I decided last night that it is better not to rush and to pick the exact colors we want and just paint carefully after the carpet is in, rather than hastily choosing paint we’re going to be stuck with. Yesterday though, we did spend some time at the new house painting ceilings (so not fun…) and looking at paint samples we’d painted on the walls. I think we might have found our bedroom colors. We’re using that sand color in our bedroom with white trim and that steel bluish color in our bathroom with white trim. We found bathroom tile that uses both of those colors and we’re thinking about putting that in the bathroom to bring both the colors in.

4. I usually love having my kids around no matter what we’re doing. But having them around while painting and moving into a new house is sort of a pain. Most of the time, we only get to work on the new house in the evenings after Chris works, so that means we load up a bunch of stuff to keep the kids entertained at the new house, get to the new house, and only have about half an hour where everyone is happy. Usually then, someone starts to lose it and I spend the rest of the time there taking care of the kids (who are whiny and cranky because it’s bedtime) while Chris has to work on the house by himself. Nobody is happy and it becomes a rushed, hectic event. Not fun at all.

5. I have been out of work for almost five months. If you remember, it was about this time when we first moved down to Florida and I was staying home that I started to go stir crazy. Well, it’s happening again. I love my children and I wouldn’t trade one minute of the time I’ve had home with them, but I am not made to stay at home. I just don’t enjoy it at all, so I get snippy and irritable. That makes everyone else snippy and irritable, too. It’s just a mess around here now. There’s so much going on, and yet we can’t do a lot of it yet. So, I am with the kids all day feeling like nothing is getting done. I’m counting the days until we’re in our new house, I’m working again, and the kids are back in daycare. Which, coincidentally, all happens on the same day!

6. I have a pimple. I haven’t had a pimple in 100 years and now, the week of my reunion, I have a pimple. It really does feel like high school all over again.

7. I have so many appointments that I was supposed to make over the summer and now it’s almost the week before school starts and I am trying to frantically get in to the hair salon, the doctor’s office, and the pediatrician. Way to go, Katie.

8. I am now an official consultant for 31 Gifts. YAY! That means a few things for you guys: a) You can buy 31 Gift bags and accessories through me directly (I’ll have a website for that soon). b) There will be some awesome reviews as I try new products and want to share them with you. Kind of like how I shared about my diaper bag. c) There will be some SUPER FUN 31 Gift giveaways coming soon!

There. I think that’s everything.Â I feel better already.Â Thanks, guys!

37 comments | posted in Around the House, Changes, Family, Jobs and Careers, Just for Fun, Marriage, Marriage Confessions, Moving, Random, Understanding Katie | tags: babies, back to school, Moving, SAHM, toddlers, working moms