I Love Quotes

I had several things that I really wanted to rant about, but then I decided that ranting isn't a great way to start the weekend.  So, instead of ranting, I'm gonna share some of my favorite quotes that I have come across lately.

• "Eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day." ~Mark Twain
• "Every thought is a seed. If you plant crab apples, don't count on harvesting Golden Delicious." ~Bill Meyer
• Eat drink and be merry, for tomorrow they may make it illegal.
• "Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself."  ~George Bernard Shaw
• "I say, if your knees aren't green by the end of the day, you ought to seriously re-examine your life." ~Bill Watterson, Calvin & Hobbes

I love quotes.  These brought a little smile to my face and hope they amused you more than (or at least as much) as my ranting would have.  Have a great weekend!!

 

 

What's For Dinner?

For years, I participated in the whole what's for dinner dilema.  However, a couple years ago, I sat down and started planning our dinner menu on a weekly basis.  I believe it has saved us money and I know it has saved us time.

When I first started planning our menus, I created a blank menu that I would print off each week and fill in.  These days, in the name of being more green, I have a dry erase board that I use. 

Both methods have their pros and cons.  For instance, I kind of miss being able to print out multiple pages and planning for more than one week at a time. 

So, here's how I go about planning our menu each week:

I glance through the ad from the store where I shop to see what is on sale.  I flip through my coupons to refresh my memory on what I've got.  Also, I pull out any recipes I've found that I want to try out.  Then I figure out the main dishes for each day.  Fridays are easy because we have pizza every Friday night.  (Middle kiddo has a meltdown if any other food is suggested for Friday nights.  He's very serious about his weekly pizza intake.)  During warm months, I give Saturday nights to the hubby for grilling.  That leaves me with four nights to fill in.  After I figure out a main dish, I add a vegetable and a starch for each night.  We eat a lot of potatoes and rice for our starches.  But I like to throw in mac-n-cheese every now and then too.  If I add a casserole to the menu, it usually has the starch and vegetable thrown in so total score for me on those nights.

And, there you have it...my method of avoiding that daily what's for dinner dilema.  Menu planning also makes grocery shopping a breeze because I create the list directly from the menu and avoid buying anything that'll end up going to waste.  As you can see, I don't add dessert to our menu.  If the kiddos finish their dinner, we always have some fruit or yogurt that we let them have as a sweet treat after dinner.  Sometimes I'll have some cookies or brownies or something like that.  But, honestly, my kiddos just aren't huge sweets eaters (please don't hate me).

I hope this helps you out if you've been struggling with meal planning.  I really believe everyone should give it a try.  Find a method that works for you and stick with it.  I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

Wordless Wednesday

These pictures of the kiddos crack me up...

Random Random Random

Happy Tuesday!  It's time to get random, yay!

**The street sweeper is out today and my dogs aren't happy about it.

**Middle kiddo went on a field trip today.  He was so excited that he was the first one out of bed this morning.  Normally, he's the last one up and I have to drag him out of bed.

**I applied for three jobs in a local school district yesterday, so I'm hoping that I'll get an interview for at least one of them.

**I love coupons!  But I'm not all crazy about them.  I have a strict only-clip-for-what-I-actually-buy rule. 

**I could really use a nap.

**Baby Girl cracks me up.  She doesn't really know a lot of words just yet, but she still yells at her big brothers when they are acting up.  She's like a little mama.  It cracks me up.

**I'm considering moving the boys to a charter school this fall.  I don't know if I really want to put them through changing schools again, but I think they'd be happier in a more challenging environment.

**Since the kiddos are about to get out of school for the summer, I'm working on making a summer schedule to keep us busy.  So far, I've got plans to take them to the library storytime on Saturdays and the water park on post one day during the week.  We've got some leftover workbooks from our move that I'm going to have them work through too.  I think we'll stay busy but not so busy that we don't have time to be spontaneous.  It's a fine line with kiddos, I think.

**I also have big plans for my own summer reading.  My mom sent me a few books that I'm looking forward to reading.  If they are any good, I'll tell ya'll about them.

**June 1!!  Yeah, that's the day that Alice in Wonderland comes out on DVD.  I'm super excited!  The boys and I went to the theater to see it and we loved it.

And I'm out of random for now.  Hope you all have a great Tuesday!

Mama Got a Brand New Ride

I got a new car!!  (Insert annoying, excited squealing here)

I loved my old ride (a 2008 Jeep Wrangler X), but hubby's been after me for a while to consider something a little safer.  Last week, I finally conceded that it might be time to look at other options.  While I loved the Jeep, I did not love the payment or its gas-guzzling ways.  So, I did my research and fell in love with the Ford Fusion.  We went down to the dealership.  I figured we'd be able to comfortably afford the base model.  So I was super excited when I discovered that there were some really good rebates and we could actually afford the mid-priced model.  Actually the car I ended up with is only a couple features away from being the top of the line model they offer.

(Not the best pic, I know, but it'll do)

I got a 2010 Ford Fusion.  It has the Sync system in it (Bluetooth and all that) and satellite radio (which I have fallen in love with).  It has a sunroof (yay)!  I was concerned that I would lose space, but actually the kiddos fit in the backseat just the same.  Hubby can actually sit in the backseat comfortably too.  (He's 6'1" so that's pretty awesome)  The trunk is huge.  I totally love the car!  It has lots of creature features.  As far as hubby's concerns go, it is a super safe car.  It has one of the top ratings out there for safety and the anti-theft features are good too.  (That's important since we live in a border town and stolen cars are in Mexico faster than you can dial the cops.)

All things considered, we got an awesome deal.  Our payment went down by a couple hundred dollars, the gas mileage doubled and, best of all, I totally love my new car!

Because I Have Nothing Interesting to Say...

I'm going to share some pictures with you. 

Oh...I did get a new car, so that's interesting :)

To Snip or Not To Snip...

The hubby and I are having the great debate...

...to snip or not to snip...

We are pretty happy with our family size.  It worked out nicely that we had two boys then almost a six year gap and a little girl.  I would hate to have another boy after her.  But, for some reason, I just can't bring myself to be on the snip side of the debate.

I am not sure why this is.  I am going to be 28 this summer, so I really don't want any more kiddos.  (Not that 28 is old, but I am looking forward to having them all out of the house before I'm 50.)  I really have no desire to have any more kiddos.  I don't know, the whole snip-snip thing is just so permanent.

Isn't it odd that hubby is the one for the big snip?  On TV, it's always the woman who is advocating for it and the man is running around trying to figure out ways to get out of it.  Hubby is actually the one who brought this up.  I have an IUD, so birth control isn't even something I think about.

Anyways, that's where we stand right now...in the middle of the great snip-snip debate...any thoughts?

Oh Random Tuesday, How I've Missed You

In case you forgot how this works, it's Random Tuesday Thoughts...I get a pass to be completely random and pass it off as an actual blog post.  Yay!

**I just saw a Starbucks commercial and am now totally craving a JavaChip Frap...dang power of suggestion.

**I think my favorite sitcom on TV right now is The Big Bang Theory.  Seriously, funny.

**I bought a new bookshelf today to replace the one that the movers busted.  I'm going to attempt to put it together in a few minutes.

**What is the deal with speeders?  I just don't get it.  There are two really straight stretches of road on the way to where we live now.  The speed limit is ridiculously low, but it's the speed limit and I abide by it.  But I cannot count the number of times I've been passed like I'm standing still.  Seriously, this one car passed me using the turn only lane in a school zone.  He got to the red light about ten seconds before me.

**I have a confession to make...I love watching the Real Housewives...any of them...can't get enough.

**I am one stupid self-paced course away from graduating.  Yay!

**Did I mention that when our stuff got packed up it took 9 boxes to pack up our books?

**The boys are still not impressed by the whole uniform thing at their new school.  I'm not either, but what are ya gonna do...

**Baby Girl's new word is "uh-oh"...she says it about everything.  It's pretty cute.

**And finally, I would like to send a big ol' birthday shout out to my bloggy buddy, Cheryl!!  Go visit her and give her some birthday love.