Making life Simpler DAY ONE-Freezer Breakfasts

So in a quest to make life more like playing with my kids and less like working with my kids, I have decided to make some changes that will save me time and money. The first change is going to be making freezer breakfasts. I hate the drudgery of cooking breakfast every morning so I am quitting:) I am going to make a bunch of big batches for the fridge and freezer and have healthy microwavable breakfasts for my kiddos:)

On the list for today are breakfast burritos, freezer waffles, and pancakes. I am also going to do a big batch of just the breakfast burrito filling for Aidan. Although today is going to result in a messy kitchen and alot of work-think of the time I will save every day!

I figure I spend atleast 15 minutes making breakfasts each day and then 5-10 minutes doing the dishes and cleaning the kitchen. So let's say I use 25 minutes x7=175  minutes or almost THREE HOURS of my life back:)

Three hours is alot of cuddling, book reading, and spending time doing what I love-producing giggles:)

It Is an Honor to be Nominated

Lately, it has become really easy to complain. I haven't been feeling well. My husband had to go back to work. It seems like we never see him with school, and football practice, and game nights.

We are adjusting back to life on our own. The kids miss him and are grumpier than ever. Aidan is nothing short of King Kong. He hits and kicks and climbs CONSTANTLY. He is the world's cutest wrecking ball. Maya is an emotional disaster. She misses him. She misses the one on one time we have when there are two parents in the house. She is hurting.  She doesn't say this. You see when a two year old hurts she breaks something, or covers something in marker.  This is her language.

Everyday is beginning to feel like an epic fail. Never accomplishing as much as I should. Never being as good as I could. Never quite cutting it.

At night I lie down and pout. I complain about how tired I am, how much work it all is, how unfair life is...

Who is this person? This is not me. I am a positive person, a fighter, a worker, a striver.  So after a good long cry and a prayer for help and forgiveness for this little brat act I have been been pulling, it is time for a new perspective.

I don't feel good. Yeah, so??? I am a healthy, functioning mother of two. My body is able, and I am blessed beyond measure to have it.

My kids are crazy...well yes. But how many people would do anything to have a child, not to mention my amazing kids!! They are my everything. They are amazing. They are the energy that runs this house.

As far as feeling like an epic fail, I think I have to stop making this a competition. I am not a perfect mom. I never will be. But I am not even sure I want to be. I want to be a fun mom. A mom that makes mistakes and admits it, a mom that says she's sorry. A mom with more kisses than spankings and more smiles than tears.

As far as life being unfair. Well, I think I had that part right. Who am I to deserve this? A God who loves me, two beautiful children to love and raise, a beautiful (albeit messy) home to live in, and a husband that works feverishly to support our family.  God has given me so much more than what is fair, so much more than i deserve. I am just. so. blessed.

In this great oscars ceremony of mommyhood I am done focusing on winning best picture, I think for now it is an honor to be nominated.

Go Rogue

Sometimes, I am just blown away by the sweet little daughter that God has given me. This morning at 3:15, I heard Maya's tiny little feet running across her room. This was quickly followed by her shouting "Hello?", "Hellllllooo????" I am very sensitive to her need to see me in the middle of the night. I was never a good sleeper. I spent many nights snuggled in with my mom sitting on the edge of my bed-all the way into middle school, so I could fall back to sleep after a bad dream.

I went to the hallway and saw her standing there-already prepared for her trip-pink blanket hanging over her shoulder, cup in hand, and the sweetest, sleepiest grin on her face. "Mommy, I was thinking I could come lay with you now??" Her eyes watched me expectantly, waiting for my usual answer. Normally at this time I walk her back to her bed and climb in with her. I tell her a story and tickle her toes and say goodnight again...but not this time. Sometimes it is not worth it to follow the rules. Sometimes, the rules are made to be broken.

Seeing this tiny person with so much hope and expectancy in her eyes, left me no choice. I swept her up in my arms and brought her into my bed. I laid her on my pillow and whispered to her that she couldn't talk-it was late and we needed to sleep. I closed my eyes and I felt two tiny hands softly touch my face. A tiny pair of lips kissed me. And in a whisper barely audible although we were only inches apart I heard her say " I love you Momma."

I am a structured mom. I believe in rules and consequences, responsibilities, bed times and routines. But sometimes, it is worth it to go rogue.  You might just find yourself making a memory...

I wish....

Sometimes I wish that I was as cold and detached as I pretend to be. I am not. I have feelings and they get hurt. Often.

Sometimes I wish that I was as brave as people think. I am not fearless. I have a hard time putting myself out there. I am terrified of birds, being laughed at, and failing.

Sometimes I wish I was better. Better at listening, more patient, more forgiving. I wish I cared more about being nice than I did about being right. I wish I yelled less. I hate how much anger I carry just beneath my skin.

I wish I did more for others. I love to give, but time seems so tight that I never seem to have any left to share.

Sometimes I wish I had more money. I don't need to be rich, but I would love
to be able to forget about the bills that are rolling in. I wish we could travel more and take our kids on fabulous vacations.

I wish I was graceful. I have always been awkward and downright clumsy. I am constantly tripping, falling, and tromping about. I wish I floated into rooms like Audrey Hepburn did.

I wish there was some way to lose this weight once and for all. I am so tired
Of losing and regaining this same 30 pounds. It is hard to even try again. I have lost faith in myself. I don't believe
I will ever be thin.

Sometimes I wish I could be someone else. Someone smarter, prettier, taller. I wish I lived somewhere exotic and picked fresh mango for lunch, right off the tree. I wish that I only had to be myself and that that would be enough. I wish I could sleep until noon on a beach of soft sand and that the waves would rock me to sleep.

Sometimes I wish I was 8 again, climbing cherry trees. Life was so simple then.

But then I realize that all these things that I wish I could change, are what have made me me. They have brought me here. They have worked together to build me this life and make me who I am today. With two tiny arms wrapped around my thigh and a baby on my hip, how could I ever want it any other way?

A cold mother wouldn't be a kind one. I need that warmth when there are broken legs or broken hearts to heal.

Maybe I am braver than I think. I brought two children into this world without blinking or even once doubting my decision.

I may not do a lot for others, but I give of myself to my own family everyday, asking nothing in return.

Money is tight, but we have a place to live and food to eat. Our vacations are not elaborate, but don't kids like camping in the backyard? I know I did.

Although my body is not graceful in the conventional sense, I can carry two kids and my purse and open a car door, that's something right?

Thinner, yes I still want that, but I do not want my daughter to believe her body is her most important asset. I can show her that her health is more important than her weight. I will show her how to live an active lifestyle, I will teach her to love herself, no matter what.

Dream are important, but I hope they never get in the way of me seeing how beautiful of a reality I am already living.

940 Saturdays...how are you spending yours?

My mom recently informed me that there are 940 Saturdays between the day your child is born and the day he/she turns 18.   It makes me sad to think of how many of Maya's Saturdays have already been wasted. How many Saturdays have been spent telling her we were too busy to play, working on projects, doing laundry...?


Saturdays are often our work day around here.  It is when we catch up from the busy week, get the house back to a livable state, and unbury ourselves from the toys and dirty clothes that have been ignored for the last few days.  It is also yard work day, shopping day, garage saling day, grocery day...The list goes on and on. Often times, I use Saturdays to list my ebay items and sort clothes for my facebook selling page, it is our project day, our work day, but should it be more?


With only only 940 Saturdays to spend with our children, shouldn't we be valuing them more highly? Maybe, Saturdays should be fun day, adventure day, picnic day, and snuggle day? Maybe Saturdays should be reserved for giggles, and stories, and the tickle monster?  Maybe, Saturdays should be special sacred days when we don't even mention work?  When the answer is always yes, we are never too busy, and nothing is more important than making memories.  In the grand scheme, when my children are grown with children of their own, I highly doubt I will wish they had lived in a cleaner house. I doubt the stories they tell their own children will be about the day they watched a movie so I could deep clean the kitchen.  No, I can only hope that the memories I give my children will match the ones my own mother gave me. 


Saturdays full of trips to the zoo, walks in the woods, and catching butterflies. Saturdays full of reading books and snuggling , imagining to live in the lighthouse painting above our couch. Saturdays full of baking cookies, singing songs in the car, and watching for Christmas lights out the window.  She was never too busy to count how many somersaults I could do in the pool. My record was 11.  

Today is Saturday. Make it count.

Introducing Thrifty Thursdays:)

With my page still in its infancy, I am trying to develop some structure for this whirlwind of a blog. So, from now on, Thursdays will be Thrifty Thursdays. I will aim on these days to share some of the things I do to help keep my families costs down, save money, earn money, and to become debt free. So for starters, let me tell you that one of my number one secrets for saving money is to avoid buying new clothes at all costs.

The secret is out-not that it was really a secret, I hardly EVER buy new clothes. I shop Goodwill, Salvation Army, and garage sales for my own clothing as well as my children's clothes. I am not embarrassed by this. Why should I be? It is the ultimate in recycling. As I type I am wearing a J Crew shirt that cost me $2 at a garage sale, a pair of American Eagle jeans that cost me $2 at a garage sale, and a pair of Sperry Topsiders I got for $10 at a Salvation Army- let me tell you $10 was A LOT for me to spend on shoes-but I have wanted some for ages ! That makes my entire outfit $14 ( FYI my unmentionables were purchased new at an outlet on clearance). Retail for these pieces? Lets look it up.

A similar top at Jcrew-$69.50

Same jeans at American Eagle-on Clearance for $29.99

My "splurge" Sperry Topsiders $75 

So cost for this outfit retail would be $174.49!!!!!!!That was even with the jeans on clearance! That makes my total savings 92%!!!

This is a perfect illustration of why I LOVE garage saling.  

Some things to keep in mind when garage saling for clothes are:

CONDITION-make sure you quadrupley check for holes, snags, missing buttons, stains, etc. This stuff isn't new and some people don't presort what they are selling like I do:)  I make it a personal rule to not sell anything stained, ripped, or broken at my own sale.

PRICE- I have a price point in my head that I think is reasonable for used clothes. It depends on brand, condition, and how much I love the item. In general I don't pay more than $3 or $4 for jeans, $2 for shirts, and $5 for jackets and coats. I do make exception-like the nearly new Columbia 3-in-1 coat I got for $12 last year.

HAGGLE- This took me years to get brave enough to do but ask if they will take less. I would say atleast 80% off people go down on the price if I ask. 

SAVE GAS BY SUB-SALING- In order to make the actual garage saling more affordable, I love to go to subdivision wide sales. These are a collection of people in a neighborhood who have sales all at the same time. One trip, lots of sales-this saves you lots of time and gas!

ONLY BUY WHAT YOU WILL WEAR- You aren't saving if you aren't buying what you will actually wear. Look for items that are the right size that you would be tempted to pay full price for. A closet full of cheap clothes that you hate is not really a bargain.

If you still think you are too good for garage saling, well I guess I am kind of glad:) That's just one less person to compete with! Happy shopping!

Stop planning and start living

I am at a place in my life where I am becoming immobilized by ambition. Isn't ambition supposed to be a good thing? Isn't it the drive that pushes the successful? The extra something that makes me a contender? Always striving, improving, growing...

All still sounds good right? And it is, to a point. But the problem is that the dreaming is so much simpler than the DOING.

If you have a pinterest you know what I'm talking about. Now I am not dogging pinterest,I love it and recommend it to people constantly,but is it doing its part to enable us dreamers to store our dreams and pin them like trapped butterflies instead of getting off our butts and actually carrying them out?

Would my kids rather I made a board of 100 great craft ideas to do with them later, or that I get on the floor with them and tickle their chunky little toes right now?

Why is it I would so much rather dream about doing things, plan them out with intricate details, and pin them than actually start taking REAL concrete steps toward these goals?

The answer is sad and simple. It's easy.

On pinterest, I can imagine my cake looks just like the picture. My souffle is perfectly fluffy. My photos will be just as perfect. My house a perfect hybrid of pottery barn and restoration hardware. It is an imaginary world where I choose all the pieces,money is no object,nor is time. I am perfect on pinterest and so is my life.

It is the ultimate tool for a modern consumerist, a catalog that lets you shop for your life. It makes me feel like finding someone else's good idea is just as valid as having my own. That recognizing beauty is as important as creating it. It is the ultimate spectator sport.

But I am tired of watching from the sidelines. I am ready to play. I am too strong to stay silent and too smart to stay still.

From now on, each Wednesday I will be wiping some of these ideas off my Boards. Some will be successes, some will be failures, but they will be real life experiences and that's what counts. But first things first, I think I have some toes to tickle:)