Monday Musings

When Tyler was maybe 5 or 6 I had made dinner, I don't even remember what it was, but Tyler certainly liked it. He looked at me and said, "Mom, you are the great cookest!" It's been our little joke around here since then that if someone makes something especially well, then they are the great "whatever"-est.

Monday Musings

When Bethany was 3, and asked me anything, if anyone else would answer she'd look at them and say, "I'm asking to MOM!"
When Timothy was about 3 and asked me anything, if anyone else answered he'd say, "I'm talking to the GIRL Mom!"

Renaissance Festival

The kids and I went to the annual Renaissance festival held north of Charlotte today. We had a great time. We had the "priviledge" of watching a sword swallower which had everyone freaked out for the rest of the day, and a cool jousting tournament. Brittany bought a pretty feather fan to replace the one the little girls tore up from last time :( The boys still have their wooden swords and shields and daggers from last time. (Dad just had to buy them "for the boys".) The only bad side was the traffic to get in . We went 6 miles in 45 minutes! David didn't go because he wasn't feeling well. :( So, yes, I braved the fest alone with all 7. I did run into a few friends.

At least we weren't a "show stopper" this time. The first time we came to the fest the royal procession was making it's way down the path. I saw them and I knew what was coming. David had left me standing there with the kids while he was off getting a drink or something so I was on my own.

The procession stopped right in front of us and the King said (to me), "My! Do all of these children belong to you? A regular baby factory!" After the Queen firmly planted her elbow into her Majesty's ribcage, she said, "You have a most beautiful family!" And as we exchanged smiles, the royal procession went on its way.

Farewell until the morrow. I bid thee good eventide. (Translation: Bye!)

Monday Musings

Back on the Fourth of July this year we went to our local army base to watch fire works. On the way over I noticed dh's tire was low (we take two vehicles if we have to go across town because we don't all fit in the van anymore) and so he asked all the kids if they had any change for the tire machine. None of them did except for Tristan (2 and 1/2). He said, "I've got money for you Dad!" and pulls out his wallet and gives Dad his only penny. It was soooooo sweeeet!

Monday Musings

Timothy, my 7 year old dear son, is one of a kind. One morning after getting out of bed, he complained that there were "eye crumbs" in his eyes.
When Timothy was about 2 or 3, he was looking at the case of one of my husband's computer games. It had a skull with wings (It was an ad for another game) He didn't know the word skull, but he knew "bone" and he knew that the skull was a bone. So he said, "Mom, what is that flying bonehead?"
Once when he was about 2, we went into a sandwich shop. I let go of his hand for a minute and he had walked over to someone else's table to sit down with them and try and eat their food. He's always been my friendliest child. :)

Yard Sales

Today my 12 y.o. daughter and I went out to the yardsales-one of our favorite things to do. I was really pleased with what I found. i spent about $30 and bought the following
3 jeans and 2 shirts for the boys, 5 playstation games (we do video games, but I'm very particular), 4 books on tape, The Real Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes book, Collection of Beatrix Potter stories with her original drawings, 4 baby board books, 3 books for homeschool, a baseball glove, a Melissa & Doug solar system puzzle, 3 preschool puzzles and a Fisher Price musical chair for the baby.
My daugher found the cutest tea set with china doll in a white wicker basket for $4 (her most exciting find!), an almost unused scrapbook kit for $1, some well-kept barbies and clothes, and some slip-on Keds for $1.
We usually only do the big neighborhood sales in the spring and fall. The other sale we went to this fall was a few weeks ago. I found some Amazing Animals vidoes, a presidential Fandex and some homeschool books for $1 apiece. Most of the kids clothes, toys and homeschool/educational stuff comes from yard sales. You have to be selective and most people are ready to bargain if you ask.
I think that this was the last biggest sale for the fall. We'll have to wait til spring. :( but, we have been very excited with all our good finds. :)

Grocery Shopping

Okay, how much does it cost to feed a family of 9? Well, Kroger had to get special permission to accept the amount of the check I wrote out today! I had 2 BIG carts full of stuff. My dh only gets paid once a month, so I like to shop for everythinig intially then I only have to go back for stuff like milk and fruit later on. I am a bargain shopper, we eat fairly simply and I am known to clip a mean coupon, but it is quite costly these days. We belong to a fruit and veg. co-op, where we and some other families buy from the farmer's market for quite a bit cheaper than the store. I make homemade stuff-a lot.
So........for breakfast this month we'll be rotating pancakes, granola bars, cheerio bars, and french toast & bacon. For lunch we usually do sandwiches with veggies or fruit. Sometimes for a treat I'll buy some inexpensive chips. And this month I splurged and actually bought yogurt! And frozen chicken fingers and fries. (One can only eat so much PB&J). And for dinners, my dh loves beans and tortillas -pintos with cheese and ground beef-it must be a mexican thing :) And he is a very much meat-and-potatoes-no-thanks-for-the-salad-kind of guy. So for dinners we'll be rotating beans and tortillas, grilling out burgers and brats (another dh fave), chicken and rice, homemade pizza and baked mac and cheese. I'll whip up a jello salad and some corn on the cob to go with the grilled stuff and maybe some fresh green beans with the mac and cheese.
Last month Bi-Lo had their pork roast on sale, so I bought 6 of them. We are kind of tired of pork now..........
I keep it fairly simple (I don't really enjoy cooking, but I do enjoy eating) and fairly healthy. I do buy some boxed cookies or crackers to have once a week or so. They can eat an entire box in just one sitting, so I try to make it a special treat. I found it also makes them finish their meals because they haven't filled up on snacks in the meantime. And sometimes on the weekends my dh likes to make rootbeer floats for the kids, so I went ahead and got some ice cream and soda.
And okay, I did buy M&M's to reward my 2 and half year old ds for going potty. Which is going fairly well actually. :)

Monday Musings

Brooke, my 4 year old little redhead, was such a delight when she went to bed and when she woke up. Whenever we would hear her wake up we'd go get her and she always wanted us to bring every single stuffed animal with us to go downstairs. We called it her luggage.
This is the same sweet little redhead, who when she was around 18 months old or so, would spit when she got mad. She would be sweet one minute and the next spitting mad. It was pretty funny.