Domestic and Yet Not So...

I'm feeling rather domestic today. Last night after we put the kids to bed, I took apart the whole chicken that I had crockpot cooked all day till the meat fell off the bones. I bagged it up in 5 different parts. 3 bags of bite size pieces to use in various recipes, and 2 separate bags for each b*reast (sorry you have to break up words like these so as to avoid certain kinds of lurkers on your site). All that for 99 cents a pound which in today's economy is a pretty good price. Man I loved finding it for 49 or 59 cents a pound not too long ago. Then of course I kept the chicken stock to use in my made from scratch potato soup I'll be making later today. I was contemplating boiling the bones, but I didn't know if that was even a good idea seeing as I had already crockpotted it. Gonna look into that for future projects.

I then stayed up way to late watching 20/20 and making a menu for the next two weeks worth, so that today when I take my entire family and our cash envelope to the grocery store, I can buy only exactly what I need...no more and no less. We've decided to do this as a joint venture that way Jason can calculate as we go. I'm determined to be very strict with our grocery budget as I'm still trying to stick to our $50-$60 a week thing even though the price of groceries has gone up considerably. Also, I'm going to try to catch the box sale again...haven't done that for quite a while.

So, we are getting low on groceries cause it's time to go to the store today, but I wanted to make b'fast for the family this a.m. We had some muffin mix and it had a recipe on back for making the muffins into strawberry and almond creme muffins. I had all the ingrediants (so I thought) so I thought this might be a nice alternative to something rather plain. Had to use PET evaporated milk cause we are out of milk. No problem. called for Almond extract. Which I pulled out only to find it empty. ugh. so I try banana extract instead. So now we are to have Strawberry Banana creme muffins. Still sounds good. But something went array. And by the time they had been removed 2-3 times, they were almost burned on top and rather mushy on the inside...not to mention they were stuck to the muffin baking cups. So disappointing! So J and M make a quick run to Mc D's and ask for the unadvertised special. They came home with 5 bfast sandwiches for $5. Not bad. Not good for you, but hey...it worked in a pinch. After having made a huge mess in the dishes and the floor, and managing to burn my arm (which I haven't done in sooo long). I'm still managing to feel a little domestic.

On a totally different note, I am sleep training Wyatt now. He's no longer sick. It is obvious he doesn't need a night time feeding anymore. It seems he just wants me to be near him for 2 hours or so at night. Well, this mama needs her sleep, so he will learn to soothe himself. Which he's not too bad at in the first place. We just complete night 2 and it's going very well if I do say so. More on that to come.

And I haven't posted pics cause I haven't figured out how on my hubs computer.

More from Mercy

I over heard Mercy "reading" the words on her conversation hearts after dance class. It went like this, "To Mercy From Ms. Lindsey (her dance teacher) who shows us our dance so we can have fun in dance class. Here's a snack you can have at your home. I love you. Goodnight. I love you." then to herself, "Isn't that sweet?!"

Now keep in mind while she was reading the one or two word phrases on the hearts, she is using her finger to scan the words as if actually reading. Back and forth and back and forth with her pointer finger as if with no problem at all, every word of what she verbalized truly was printed on those hearts. So funny and so cute.

Just the other day, she, of her own volition, decided to play with W. She brought him toys that she thought he might like and of course instructed him how to use them. She coddled him as even grown ups do with babies. It was very sweet. So I encouraged that behavior saying, "you are such a great big sister!"
to which she replied, "Yes, I know. I bet you wish you had me for a very long time!"
with raised eyebrows, from surprise and hilariousness, I replied. "Oh yes! I do wish that everyday!"

She never fails to bring entertainment of the highest degree.

Crazy Times...

Been dealing with a sick girl all week. Not too bad really, but the fever wouldn't go away till 4th day of antibiotic! Baby boy is not quite himself either but doesn't appear to be sick. Best I can tell his tooth is about to punch through and that is probably the underlying deal there. Long nights though! We have weaned him too, which I like and dislike. Of course, the freedom to eat Moes with my family this valentine was nice, but I really set out to make it all the way through winter in the hopes of reaching the year mark. I had so much difficulty with supply (not sure if it was so much me and him). That boy can eat! it is unreal!

It got to the point that I was nursing 2-3 times a day but not for very long and still supplementing. He seemed entirely more interested in the bottle seeing as he could down that alot quicker. It was more about me than him, so I just said...oh well. Try again with the next one. Not going to beat myself up about it.

My dad's been ill and my mom scratched her eye while working in the yard during this glorious week of weather! I got an unexpected monetary gift and was able to designated it for the cloth diapering system that I'm purchasing from a friend. Yeah! I even registered for the knitting and book discussion group at the library. I ordered the book. Received it on the 9th and have finished reading it. Now to get the knitting supplies...

Gotta clean some more before it gets too late. And need to get in bed rather soon as W's nights have been pretty eventful and I need all the sleep I can get.

P.S. the reason I haven't posted any pics lately is that I'm finally using my hubs new computer and I have no idea how to do the photo stuff on it yet. When I figure it out, I'll have a hayday updating my blog.

Strange...and other stuff

I was just thinking STRANGE cause I share my ipod with my hubs and I put it on shuffle and some heavy metal thing is the first song in the fray! So not me! So I'm trying to have a me morning cause its thursday and my babies are in other people's care...just didn't fit. Oh well. I did sneak out to Dunkin Donuts with a coupon for a free donut with purchase of a coffee. Then off to the library to pick up some movies for myself and for M.

Good selection today. I was thrilled to find The Hungry Catepillar and other Stories DVD there. If you haven't seen this, you should. It is all Eric Carle and the Music is fantastic. M loves it! I also picked up some YOGA video. Thinking that I need to do a good bit more stretching in my daily routine, I thought I'd get some ideas here. haha! wonder if I'll crack the case open? We'll see.

Just got a bday invite for M that happens to be this weekend. Need to RSVP. But, that doesn't leave much time for planning, that's when I'm thankful for my prize box in my closet. When I find a good gift for an incredible price, I buy it and stash it away. I have just the thing for this little girl and it's already been purchased! Hallelujah.

Need to go clean and fix my hair. Guess I should, but I'm enjoying the doing of nothing. Going to babywearing tonight. Wish my Mei Tai was done, but I don't think I'll have time to finish it before I go. Plus I really need more fabric than I originally picked up. phooie.

Gonna file our taxes soon and hoping for a refund (most likely since we had a kid this past year). Wonder what we'll do with it. I have a list of things I'd love to do with it, but who knows. Most of it involves going to some type of Doctor. Our insurance (though we are thankful to have some) isn't very good. My hubs informs me that there are tons of people in the same situation as us. Sad though. Such hard times. I long for days when our budget can breathe a little, but I am so thankful that we went the debt free way, cause we don't have to deal with a lot of the problems that others are now having to deal with.

Well, nuff said. Gotta go be a housekeeper for a while.