Menu Planning

Okay so it has been awhile but I am finally getting back into a 'routine' if you can call anything a routine in the summer with 2 little ones in the house and a hubby who is home all summer (David, I am not complaining).  So here goes a menu starting from last Sunday.

Sunday ~ Chicken Kabobs (w/Yellow Squash, Onions, and Bell Peppers) marinated overnight in Kraft Italian Dressing
Monday ~ Tacos, Fruit Salad
Tuesday ~ Breaded Pork Chops,  (I used boneless pork chops, btw) Cheesy Potatoes, Green Beans, leftover Fruit Salad
Wednesday ~ Leftovers
Thursday ~ Creamy Potato Soup
Friday ~ Lasagna, Garlic Monkey Bread, Steamed Broccoli
Saturday ~ Breakfast for Dinner (Sausage, Eggs, Pancakes, Fruit)
Sunday ~ Probably out for Lunch, Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup for Dinner

SAHM and Budgeting

Going from working full time and 'bringing home the bacon' to a SAHM raising our two kiddos has been an adjustment to say the least.  I do love the opportunity and I am so blessed to be able to be with my boys while they are so young.  But, with this adjusting comes some more worries.  Instead of worrying about how many phone messages and emails I will have to answer in the morning when I get to work I now worry about putting together all three meals for us everyday and instead of worrying about the budget for a whole daycare I am FREAKING out about how to budget our money with one income. 
I have been asking friends who are also stay at home moms the same questions and searching the internet for effective budgeting, etc. and I think eventually we will get there.  I found this site tonight:
www.livingonadime.com

These are some ways I have come up with watching where our money goes so far:
1.  making a menu before I go grocery shopping
2.  buying generic when possible
3.  planning at least one meatless meal a week (I have kind of strayed away from this but plan on doing it again)

Things I want to try:
1. making homemade cleaners and detergent
2. finding an effective and less time consuming way to keep track of our spending

If anyone has some more ideas or suggestions please drop a comment!

Easter Treats

Here are some super simple treats to take along to an Easter egg hunt or put at the kiddie table for Easter.  Make rice crispies as the recipe on the cereal box directs you.  The little guy added some fun sprinkles to our mix too.  After you get all your ingredients together take a clean plastic Easter egg and stuff the mix inside, close it tight and open it up to find a yummy egg treat.  Enjoy!

Gift Bag: $0

Empty boxes

Wrapping Paper

Ribbon

Cut the tabs off the box and start wrapping your paper of choice.

With a hole punch, punch two holes of each side string your ribbon through and knot on the inside.

A gift box for any party and it cost $0. 

I am not sure the link is working but I shared the idea at: Full of Great Ideas: $0 Budget Party

Activity: Hammering

An easy activity to do with little ones and great practice for hand-eye coordination.

block of Styrofoam (the white kind doesn't crumble as easily but I already had this one on hand)

plastic/toy hammer

large head nails or golf tees (I would have normally used gold tees but couldn't find them)

Noah hammered away for quite awhile and there was very little mess or prep.  Pretty easy activity.  If you have older ones let them use a scrap of wood, nails and a small hammer.  Just watch out for those little fingers and you might not want them hammering on your dining room table.

If your little one has their own tool belt that would be a fun addition to role play a carpenter/handy man!

Dresser Redo

 I have seen this idea several times out in blogland and fell in love with the idea instantly and I was never really happy with how I painted the dresser before Noah was born so Noah's dresser got a redo.

It really was an easy redo after we got the dresser painted.  I measured the drawers and cut the maps with about an inch overlap, to wrap around the sides.  I used Modge Podge to adhere the maps to the dresser fronts and the pulls were original to dresser that we had saved.  So really my only expense was the paint!

 I used maps of places (states and cities) that we have lived.  So Noah and I have fun time finding those places on the maps.

I did the dresser redo in Noah's room, made new curtains and put a new cover on the chair.  I wanted to replace the carpet with a new one and put the green rug in the nursery but Noah wasn't willing to give that up for his little brother so it is what it is.  I am happy with how it has all turned out.  The chair cover is temporary.  To be honest with myself I don't have the slightest clue about where to start with a whole upholstery job and I don't want to pay for it.

What the dresser originally looked like - the colors were horrible.  I can not pick out paint colors - I can picture it all in my head but when it comes to finding that paint chip that matches what I am envisioning I totally lose it.  The pulls had jungle animals on them.

Here is the chair original color, which was actually in pretty good shape I just wasn't too into the 70's orange.  Someday I will get the upholstery done the right way.

St. Paddy's Day: Freezer Paper Stencil

I have seen the idea all over blog land and I finally gave it a try.  I have been holding on to a t-shirt of Noah's because it still fits him but he had gotten a big grease stain on the front and I just knew I could save the shirt somehow. Check out what I came up with:

It was super simple and I am happy with how it turned out being my first attempt.  

For the Shamrock:

I simply found a shamrock clip art in Microsoft Word, printed it on cardstock, cut it out to make a pattern and traced it onto my freezer paper.  *Remember shiny side down.

For the 'No Pinching':

I used my Cricut and Lyrical Letters font, I cut a piece of freezer paper to fit on my mat and let the Cricut do the work for me.

Once I had my stencils ready I ironed shiny side down to the shirt and painted with acrylic paints.  I let the shamrock dry over night and then ironed on the 'no pinching' on painted and let dry.  It was super easy and I plan on doing more freezer paper stenciling.