Days 2 and 3

Day 2 was fairly uneventful. I did get to enjoy Starbucks for free since my sweetie bought me their cup that gives me free freshly brewed coffee the entire month of January, a great purchase. We bummed around the house, watched Gamecock football, played and watched movies we received as presents for Christmas. I am excited about starting this New Year off on the right foot financially, especially with all the tax changes we are seeing (Hubby's taxes doubled this coming payday and I am sure there are more to come).

Day 3 was good. I worked today. My sweetie was home with the kids, they jammed to our music collection and worked on our ever present laundry pile. Then when I got off, we loaded up the kiddos, took them to the park to play and spend some quality time together. Then it was home for baths, dinner and hopefully a movie after the kids are in bed, a few of them are still going strong!

Day 1 of 31 Days of Nothing...

We started the morning with a homemade breakfast of Yellow Grits topped with diced ham (left over from Friday's meal) and shredded cheddar cheese, whole wheat toast with all natural grape jelly and sweet tea.
Then it was off to the store for a few necessities. I bought a half gallon of almond milk, a gallon of Hickory Hill milk and a dozen eggs for a grand total of $7.38. Lord willing this will be the only shopping trip I will have to make until grocery day on Friday. Our meals could get interesting, but we will not do without.

Our little ones spent the day playing outside on scooters, chasing Sophie and Sara (our two pooches) and just enjoying being kids. I played games on the computer, read (I finished Courting Morrow Little today, a book I highly recommend by the way) and researched frugality.

Lunch was PB and J on whole wheat bread, carrot sticks with ranch and dinner was leftover black eyed peas and macaroni and cheese. Now it is on to movies and family time, life is good!

New Year, New Approach

First let me apologize for not blogging since October. Inspiration has been very little here lately and writer's block was the norm. I do hope that has changed and we are back on the blogging horse so to speak.

With the new year I feel a renewed inspiration to get our budget under control. I started working part time which will help us meet more of our financial goals if we do not lose sight of what is important. I also want to start paying off our mortgage early. That is a mountain to take on but what I keep hearing in my heart of hearts is slow and steady wins the race. So I have started a change jar and when it gets full I will apply that money to the principle of our mortgage. I don't want to take away from our emergency savings to do this with our government's fiscal cliff looming, I think it would be better to save as much as we can but change is small and does add up so that is my approach for right now. We are also bringing back the 30 days of no spending (except necessities). There is plenty in this little house of ours to keep us occupied if we just stay focused. And we have a few home improvement projects that really need to be put on the forefront. And I want to try my hand at gardening, which I am not good at in this South Carolina soil, but perhaps this will be the year I find what works.

Happy New Year every one!

Gluten Free and Loving It!

We tried a new brand of gluten free cookie mix this week, they were on clearance so I couldn't pass them up. I am so glad I didn't. The brand is Gluten Free Sensations. Their chocolate chip cookies looked and smelled delicious  (I can't eat them now that I am post bypass) the kids devoured them in one sitting. So look for them in your stores. I bought 2 packages of their sugar cookie mix for Christmas cookies!

Delayed Grief

The thing about grief is you can't get away from it. We as humans have to take time to grieve properly, if not it will hit you full force when you least expect it. For me it hit 7 years after the loss of our Elisabeth Grace (Libby). We were to adopt a beautiful 5lb baby girl in June of 2005. The day we were to sign the paperwork with the hospital to bring her home our world was shattered. She was not coming home with us.
At the time we had 2 children to raise so life had to go on. And to be honest Donald and I had no idea how to honor this life that had meant so much to us. What makes adoption loss so unique is there is no traditional way to grieve. Our child did not pass on to heaven, she was still alive here on this earth but did not belong to us. There would be no funeral or service to give us closure. I kept her baby things for months, I couldn't bring myself to get rid of them, to be honest I kept hoping that we would get a phone call asking us to go get Libby and bring her home, they had made a mistake. Then I found myself needing to get rid of everything that we had been given/bought for her. Including pictures. Then we just chose to act like nothing had happened.

That was a big mistake. So there I was at work, in the bathroom washing my hands. Then the next thing I knew I was crying uncontrollably, it hit me, the soap was the same soap I had used 7 years ago to scrub in to see my baby in the NICU. Who would have known that this one small detail would be forever etched into my memory via my sense of smell? Just waiting for the right trigger?  I remembered everything about those three days. The placement of her bed, holding her warm little body as I rocked her and talking to her about all the plans her daddy and I had for her, the first time she smiled (which by the way was the 2nd day she was alive, her daddy had come to meet her, I didn't even know that was possible) and the way I felt when she was taken away. These were tears that should have been shed 7 years ago. But how do you grieve a loss when the child is still here growing and thriving? How do you grieve when others don't even see her as having been yours? These are difficult questions but I have decided that we should and will grieve this loss. And we will honor her memory and all that she meant to us. I will talk about our sweet girl. This was a very real loss in our lives. We were to be parents to this sweet baby and that dream was taken away. We loved her, had hopes and dreams for our life with her that never came to be. Even though 7 years have passed there isn't a day that goes by that we don't miss her and wish she were here with us. I look at our two younger girls when they play and I wonder what it would be like if there were 3, there should be 3. I wonder if Libby would be a little mother hen encouraging the younger two to get along when they disagree. Would she play school and insist on being the teacher? What is her favorite color, book or television show?



Donald and I have sat together this week and cried over our loss and the beautiful memories we have of our baby. This was such a healing time for us, I just wish it hadn't taken us 7 years to take the time to heal.

Frugal School Lunch Containers

Rubbermaid Lunchblox Bento

With 5 kids we are always looking for ways to cut back on waste and save money at the same time. Sometimes that is a tall order. With 5 lunches to pack I needed something durable and wanted something that was stylish. While Amber and I were shopping this weekend I picked up two of these Rubbermaid Lunchblox sets. There are 2 inner containers that fit into the larger outer container. They also have smaller containers that snap onto the top to fit into any lunchbox and keep things neat and together. I scored these on clearance at a local K-Mart that is closing. Walmart has a pack of 6 for $28.88 online.

I also use 4oz glass canning jars for yogurt, applesauce, and side salads for the kids. It keeps cost down and gives the kids the perfect portions. A win-win. Now I just need to find drink containers that are not plastic and don't cost a fortune. Wish me luck!

Things I can do now...

I am 104lbs lighter than I was in November of 2011. I still do not own a scale because I refuse to let my weight define who I am. I follow my doctor's plan, if I do that I will get to where I need to be. If we hit a hiccup, he knows how to fix it. So with that said I look to nonscale milestones to see my success. And I must say all of these things are better than the best piece of cake, pie, candy, etc.

1. I no longer need my seatbelt extender when I buckle up.
2. I can cross my legs like a lady.
3. I can now walk 12 hrs without feeling like I am going to die.
    (thank you day at Kings Island)
4. My kids can wrap their arms around me for the best hugs ever.
5. I can run after my kiddos.
6. I can use a Wii Fit.
7. I can hold my toddlers on my lap now.
8. I fit in movie theater seats.
9. I can ride theme park rides.
10. I can tie my own shoes.

This is my inspiration to keep going. Each day I get a little more of my life back.