mystery diaper fun :)

SoftBums will be unveiling it's new diaper tomorrow and there will be fun prizes to win. Anyone want an iPad? how about some diapers or baby legs? Head on over to the blog for the details.

http://loveclothdiapers.blogspot.com/2010/09/softbums-mystery-new-diaper-event.html


update: It is so cool! I love how versatile this diaper is. Good luck with the contest!

huge diaper giveaway at Doopsy

There will be a huge giveaway at  Doopsy with 30 prizes. They'll give away 20 one size diapers and 10 inserts. If you cloth diaper you don't want to miss this. 

 

why I hate mopping

Mopping is my least favorite chore. It is hard work and there really isn't anything satisfying about it. Now that I have a steam mop I do it a little more often, but I would never say my floors are clean enough to eat off of.

First I have to get all the chairs out of the way and roll up the rug.

Then the kids need to stay out of the way so they don't slip on the floor and when I'm all done it looks wonderful.

Then about 5 seconds later someone (short and blonde and 3 years old) grabs a handful of brown sugar out of the bag on the counter and runs.

And the part I like the very least is how angry I feel about the mess on the floor. If I hadn't just mopped it would have been no big deal, but because I had I snapped at her :(

paper mama photo challenge "touch of color"

Here is what I did for this week's photo challenge.

Isn't she gorgeous?!

As always you can see the other entries (or enter a photo yourself) here

monthly food budget

We are not strict about budgeting food and every month varies, but we do stay in the $300 range. How is that possible for a family of 4?

Well, we are on WIC. We were going to wean ourselves off of it, but then things got tight the last couple of months so we haven't. I get a little bit of milk (Walmart's is rbst free), cheese, juice, cereal, beans, fruits and vegetables, and whole grain bread. On average it saves us $60 a month. They also offer eggs (but, we get fresh eggs delivered to the house) and peanut butter (Eric is allergic) and we never get all of the milk or juice.

We have a garden. I'm not sure how much it really saves us because we had to build the raised beds and buy the plants and some soil, but it's producing more zucchini and jalapenos than anyone could eat as well as melons, cucumber, tomatoes, and bell peppers. We also have an herb garden with basil, peppermint, chives, and rosemary.

We also choose not to purchase on a regular basis: bottled drinks, snack foods, convenience foods, desserts, and very out of season fruits and vegetables.

So, here is what a month of grocery spending looks like at our house (not counting WIC).

1.5 gallons organic milk
4lbs cheese (cheddar, pepper jack, mozzarella)
1lb of cream cheese
5lbs butter (wow)
4qts yogurt (1 plain, 3 vanilla)
1qt cottage cheese
1qt sour cream
2 small strawberry yoplaits
2 cans grated parmesan
10lbs all purpose flour
5lbs whole wheat flour
5lbs sugar
bottle of vegetable oil
4 loaves of bread
Naan bread
1 bottled vanilla Frappuccino (needed that at the moment)
1 small bag of m&m's (Anika announced that she had been good and wanted them and it was true)
lemonade concentrate (for fruit slushes)
1 bag frozen raspberries (also fore slushes)
3 garlic bulbs
7 avocados
3 cucumbers
1lb spinach
8lbs bananas
6lbs grapes
1/3lb snow peas
1lb strawberries
4 lemons
3 limes
4lbs bell peppers
1lb green beans
small box of blueberries
2 packages of mushrooms
5 lbs pears
5lbs broccoli
1 pineapple (75 cents)
3 organic romaine hearts
10lbs potatoes (baked fries, mashed potatoes, breakfast potatoes, etc)
3lbs tomatoes
10oz frozen spinach
5.5lbs ground beef
couple pounds of cube steak
8lbs frozen chicken breasts
2lbs frozen reduced steak for about $2 a lb
flank steak ($7.56!)
bison steak (Eric wanted to try it)
sale frozen pork ribs for about $1.20 per pound
5 bags tortilla chips (we've been making lots of salsa from our garden)
3 bags of tortillas
mayonnaise (on sale for $1.69)
bag of popcorn kernels (we air pop)
6 pack of small raisin boxes
2 cans black olives
ground nutmeg
curry powder
ground cumin
oatmeal (plain 5min oats)
4 boxes of Cheerios ($1.31 a box)
maple syrup
small bag of Reisen's (really good sale, couldn't resist)

Grand Total $277.72

With that food we make lots of Indian and Mexican food (cheap!) and grill lots of meat and veggies outside. I've been baking tons of zucchini bread from our garden zucchinis. Eric has sunny side up eggs and toast most mornings (sometimes I don't feel like getting up at 5am) and the kids and I have oatmeal or cereal and fruit. Eric's lunch is almost always leftovers from the night before while the girls and I have sandwich and vegetables or pasta and salad. We drink a lot of water and tea and the girls drink watered down apple juice sometimes. Instead of running to Sonic when it's hot we pull out the blender and frozen fruit. Snacks around here are zucchini bread, air popped popcorn, or fruits and vegetables.

I should say I subtracted the $6 I spent on laundry detergent and the $22 I spent stocking up on toilet paper and the $6.88 on AAA batteries. Even though they were purchased at the grocery store I don't consider them part of the grocery budget.

winnings :)

I like to enter lots of giveaways on blogs and facebook. It makes me feel like I'm shopping, but I don't have to spend any money :) When I first started these a few months ago I had beginners luck and won this adorable diaper.

Then I won this board book from Minimal Mom's blog :)

Then I went through a dry spell. Now in the last couple of weeks I am on a roll!

I won an Organically Raised cookbook from the Bragging Mommy

The girls get a cute caterpillar clippie I won on CCbaby

and a Halloween hair clip from Glam Babiez

$7 in credit to Forward Thinking

some credit, Hawaiian coffee, and oatmeal baby bath from Ali and Swan

and a wetbag from Tree Huggin' Mama

I'm really hoping to win a wrap or wipes or more diapers or that Silhouette machine I posted on here yesterday. Fingers crossed that my winning streak holds out a little longer.

children doing chores

Do your kids do chores? At what age do they start? My girls' playroom has been a disaster for about a week now. I'm talking can't-get-through-the-doorway-looks-like-a-tornado-hit disaster. The only way I can get her to clean it is if I sit in there with her and tell her what to do every step of the way. Sometimes we do that, but if I'm supervising the playroom the dishes aren't putting themselves away, the diapers aren't washing themselves, and the rice from last night's dinner is still stuck to the floor and the table and the girls' chairs and who knows where else.

Telling her she can't leave the room until it is clean really doesn't work. It is the playroom after all.

Threatening to take the toys away if she doesn't pick them up also doesn't work. We tried that for awhile and ended up with most of the toys in a box in the garage and she didn't care.

If I don't push her she sits there and plays and if I do push she sits there and cries.

Any advice on how to making picking up toys less of a chore? She's not quite 4 years old, am I just expecting too much?

one more Silhouette giveaway here

Twig and Thistle

Silhouette Craft Cutter Giveaway

I'm blogging about the giveaway because it gives me another entry and I really want one of these! If you want one too head on over to The Finer Things and enter before the 30th.

Look what fun can be had with this tool.

Snaps & Snails is having a giveaway!

If Snaps & Snails can reach 800 fans on Facebook they will give away 5 Fitted Diapers, 6 Prefold Diapers, 3 Boosters, and 3 Wool Covers! 4 days left to join and enter in the discussion tab.

pretty in purple

Anika wore this dress to a wedding when she was 9 months old. 

It was a little big, but I bought it on Easter clearance so I was guessing. It's been hanging in Emily's closet for awhile now and there has been no occassion to wear it. Anika pulled it out yesterday and said, "this dress is pretty, Emily wants to wear it". I started to say no, but then changed my mind and put it on her. If it doesn't get worn now she'll be too big and will never try it on so why not?

wordless wednesday

paper mama challenge "brown"

This one was hard for me. We are not "brown" people. My kids are blonde, we all wear blue and green and pink, and we live in a land of dust and gravel so not even any dirt for the kids to play in. Then I found

this one :) Isn't she cute!

Check out the other entries here

last contest post today, I promise

I have to share this one because it's an Ergo! Heavenly Hold is giving away a new Performance Ergo. Lighter and cooler than the original version. I want the green one :)

Forward Thinking

Head on over to Forward Thinking on Facebook. They had some fun giveaways last night and the fun isn't over yet :) While you are over there check out the items they sell. They have some gorgeous fabrics for their diapers.

my kids make me laugh

I was taking the photos off my camera today and came across these. About half way through I was laughing. That may have something to do with the margarita I just finished, but I do love the random things Anika photographs and all the wonderful faces she makes.

Self timer is figured out

Emily is a willing model

These giraffes are watching the world outside our kitchen window

I have no idea what was going on here. I guess I was putting away groceries, yet Emily was down to her diaper and one shoe and has food on her face?

Isn't she beautiful?

And see how nice her teeth are

anyone want win a Kindle?

Well, I do so I'd prefer if you all don't enter :P

And if you must enter here is the link http://bittenbybooks.com/?p=30336

the bed is here

I have two very excited little girls. This bed is massive and adorable and I am never going to make the top bunk again so enjoy the photos now.

They found a perfect place for their babies :)