Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Maybe she's a tomboy


Abby looks like this all the time. I was a preschool teacher for 6 years and have cared for literally hundreds of infants and toddlers. But never ever ever have I encountered such a dirty child. She's like Pigpen. There is a cloud of dirt and dust (and sweat, too) all around her. All the time. She leaves a path of destruction where ever she goes. If Will is a hurricane, wild and sometimes surprising, Abby is a severe rainstorm. Slow and steady, but mellow and incessant. She's quiet and content. Usually just mild destruction... a little crayon on the table, easily wiped up if you scrub a little. A broken glass, a pain, but easy enough to clean up. But while you're cleaning up the glass she's removed her diaper and pooped in the driveway. And while you're cleaning up poop she's quietly drawing with chalk on the front door. Little things. But constant. She's happiest when she's quite messy and messing something up. Someday I'll look back on this post and laugh. Maybe she'll grow up to be a tomboy and we'll say 'we knew it from the start' or maybe she'll be a pageant queen and we'll say 'you should see how you were when you were a toddler'. Time will tell.

Monday, August 16, 2010

Sleepy Will Pics



Almost exactly 4 years later...

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Homework





With school exactly one year away we figured it's time to get serious about learnin'. Will has been sort of resisting education. He doesn't generally like being persuaded to do anything. But we got a workbook that he really loves and now he's all about it. He's gotten really good at tracing and coloring. He finally wrote his name. He did it once and we were so proud. Then he did it ten more times. He even read a few words this week! Crazy. I think Abby's right behind him. She practices homework with Will every night and is starting to learn the sounds that go with the letters. So that's kind of creepy, but cool I guess. I just hope she doesn't get smarter than us. That would be embarrassing.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Day 4

I'm over it. :P

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Day 3


Ok, I told you I'd tell you how I'm doing this, but you've got to follow me...
Today's Day 3, so I should be at $30.
Dinners for Days 1, 2, and 3 cost $14.39. So that left me with $15 to spend today on what we're running out of. I got more milk, canned fruit, pancakes, cereal, pierogies, and some brownie mix. Stuff like that. That was $15.55, but I had $8 left on a gift card, so I totalled $7 at Target for all that. So... for 3 days, $30, I've spent $22.51 on feeding the fam thus far. Pretty impressive, actually. Tonight we're having pork chops, crash potatoes, green beans, and brownies for dessert. The rest I'll carry over and get some real produce and healthy snacks tomorrow.

And for the Random Pic of the Day, Will when he was a wee little baby. Remember his duck obsession? He's presently agonizing over the whereabouts of these ducks. I'm rolling my eyes.

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Day 2


Today's meal is costing $3. Pancakes with cooked apples and sausage patties. Cheap, but tasty. I've diced a few green apples and threw them in with a little sugar and cinnamon. That's our pancake topping. Tada. Fruit, carb, protein. $3. We weezed lunch at mom's house. She's on vacation. ;)

And The Random Photo of the Day is a picture of Miss Molly, Jason and Kara's little one. She's turning one this month. Don't you love the cheeks?

Day 1


We're starting a new 21 day challenge! It's $10 a day again. I like a challenge. Last time people wanted to know wanted to know how I did it, so this time I'm documenting. :) The catch is that I am too lazy to take and edit new photos everyday, so you're getting rare, never before seen photos just for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy.

Last night was a practice in creativity. At lunchtime Amy and the boys ended up here at lunch time. I had nothing to feed the mob so I pulled out dinner and figured I'd just get more at the store in the afternoon. It was penne pasta and marinara sauce. We had quite a bit left over, but not enough for dinner. So that's when I got clever. I bought some Italian Sausage and cooked it and threw it in there. Then I heated up some frozen broccoli. And that's that. I had the broccoli, pasta, and sauce. I just bought the sausage. My total for three days of food was $14.62. More details on that later. But milk, sausage, and bananas costed me about $5.

And the Random Photo of the Day is me, mom, and Anne stuck to a velcro wall in velcro suits at Brandon's 30th Bday party.