Last Week’s Accomplishments – Snow Gear is Gone!

07 Tuesday Apr 2015

≈ Comments Off on Last Week’s Accomplishments – Snow Gear is Gone!

I can say spring is here now, though there is still snow on the ground in places. Here are some fairly large patches from our yard taken yesterday.

Registered the boys for the last round of school year activities
Put 3 spring soccer schedules and 1 spring baseball schedule in my calendar
Dealt with one more stomach sick kid
- Did a lot of excess laundry & cleaning as a result
Rejoiced at the idea of being stomach bug free.
Prepped freezer cubes of cilantro & chicken broth
Divided and froze a bulk package of ground beef
Cleaned and put away all the snowpants
- Note – there is STILL snow on the ground. And, it hasn’t really reached 60 yet. But, its April so they’re going away. Unfortunately the hats and gloves will have to wait as we still need those sometimes.
Cleaned and put away the snow boots.
- It’s a little muddy still, but not too bad in most places (in our yard anyway).
Cleaned and put away scarves, balaclavas, ski helmets & goggles
Swept the driveway in an attempt to keep the remaining winter road sand out of our house
Went to the park! It was actually sunny and nice out one day this week.
Ordered some shorts for our oldest who needs a new size
Fixed the Minecraft pickaxe

Weekly Menu & Grocery Update

06 Monday Apr 2015

Posted by Nora in Groceries, Menus

≈ Comments Off on Weekly Menu & Grocery Update

Shopping went well the past month. I’m starting the transition from winter to summer foods – ie less oven and no school lunches – earlier this year as last year I had stuff that basically sat around all summer until fall came again. I’m trying to work down the pantry and be a bit smarter about those things. As such, the grocery bill has been nicely low.

March TOTAL: $722.12
- Stop & Shop: $80.37
- BJs: $329.66
- Other: $312.09
  - Local: $45.87
  - Wegman’s: $141.73
  - Star Market: $61.96
  - Trader Joe’s: $21.89
  - Target: $28.65
  - Other: $11.99

(I’d like to say the local purchase was all produce, but its not. It is still consistently below freezing here with heavy snow cover. $30 of this was the birthday cake.)

Sickness is still afflicting our house, but now it’s a cold so that’s not so bad. But, you’ll see some dinners that didn’t get made last week and I’m pretty sure not everything listed will get made this week. So, there might be a few that reappear next week.

Saturday
Chili
Corn muffins

Sunday:
Leg of lamb
Baked potato
Green beans
Corn

Monday:
Tuna
Red potatoes
Peas

Tuesday:
Nacho chicken
Rice
Broccoli

Wednesday:
Kids: Leftover steak and lamb, gravy, carrots
Adults: Homemade pizza

Thursday:
Tacos

Friday:
Kids: Eggs
Adults: Homemade pizza

All the Light We Cannot See

03 Friday Apr 2015

Posted by Nora in Books

≈ Comments Off on All the Light We Cannot See

My book club (which I readily admit I’m rarely able to attend) read All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr a few months back. Without giving too much away, I’d give it a 4 out of 5.

I found his writing excellent. And, the story was captivating for the first three quarters. Then I felt like it went downhill. Some others had issues with how the characters’ stories ended. That was not my problem. I took issue with the need he seemed to have to touch on everything that happened towards the end of WWII even if it took stretching the story to reach it. I know this from other sources so it was truly unnecessary and did not add to the book.

In summary, I would read another of his books, but if it resulted in a similar ending I’d probably stop. That’s unfortunately as this book was enjoyable for so long and then just dragged to the finish.

Easter Foods

02 Thursday Apr 2015

Posted by Nora in Groceries

≈ Comments Off on Easter Foods

I love grocery shopping the week before Easter. There is so much I want to buy on good sales, especially roasts. To an extent its like the Thanksgiving/Christmas stretch but more concentrated. But, I find then that the emphasis is so strong on Turkeys that you don’t get such good deals on beef or lamb roasts, which we will happily eat. Next week’s menu should reflect this abundance; maybe even the week after too.

Here’s what I picked up at Stop & Shop this week.

The Randomness of Four

01 Wednesday Apr 2015

Posted by Nora in Family

≈ Comments Off on The Randomness of Four

My 4 year-old required I take some interesting pictures this week, so I thought I’d share.

The first is his birthday cake, which was inspired by the Wegman’s bag of flour (but had to have chocolate sprinkles).

The second is his spaghetti. They were doing a color mixing project at school, but I think it all just ended up black/brown.

And, finally I was told that I just had to take a picture of the hole in the back of his pajamas.

The morning after that picture was taken he proudly showed me that he could flip the tag through the hole like a tail.

Last Week’s Accomplishments – Winter becomes Spring

31 Tuesday Mar 2015

Posted by Nora in Accomplishments

≈ Comments Off on Last Week’s Accomplishments – Winter becomes Spring

I feel like I’m coming out of a fog. There’s the never ending (or melting) snow and the sequence of birthdays conspiring against me. But spring is here (technically), activities are changing, and cleaning must be done.

Threw out 7 socks
Did the laundry backlog and actually put it away now that I’m convinced that the little guy isn’t getting in the closet anymore. The drawers are still an issue.
Got sour cream and eggs free based on other grocery purchases. The sour cream was free after a cheese purchase, which was on my list anyway. The eggs were free after purchasing bacon, which we use a lot of. All items were on good sales even before the free items.
Triggered the “you’re using too many coupons” flag on the Wegman’s register. I’m thinking this means I saved more than they anticipate, but I had no manufacturer’s coupons. I bought sale items and used $7 in Wegman’s coupons for a total savings of $11.59 with a final spend of $21.05. I’m not sure what would have happened if I’d actually had a bunch of coupons, but the cashier gave me no issues and confirmed all my coupons were properly used.
Fixed 2 books
Migrated three more months of this blog to WordPress
Took the dining room chair seats to the reupholster
- While they were there I cleaned the frames (and the table and walls for good measure)
- Reinstalled the seat cushions (this was not terribly hard, but much harder than removing them) after they were done
Dealt with three stomach sick kids (fingers crossed it doesn’t spread further)
- Did a lot of excess laundry & cleaning as a result
Replaced the wiper blades on my minivan
Mailed the reimbursement for towing to the Roadside Assistance company that was unable to find a tow truck for us. From what I’ve read online I’m not expecting to get our money back for many months.

Weekly Menu & Snow Update

30 Monday Mar 2015

Posted by Nora in Groceries, Menus

≈ Comments Off on Weekly Menu & Snow Update

The menu is in flux this week as we have many sick folks. The stomach bug has been ravaging our area. So, I’m including the plan, but you may see something pop up again next week because we don’t get to it this week. And, the front end of the week is very basic since I know there are sick folks. Hopefully they’ll be well in a few more days.

I did make it to BJs without any kids in tow to get supplies for this weekend as we had company. As it turned out we didn’t use it all with the sickness, so some will be used later in the week and some will be frozen.

As for the snow, its not gone. I’d say we have just under a foot left on unpaved surfaces. To add insult to injury we got an inch of snow on Saturday and woke up to flurries and accompanying cold and wind today. It does not feel like spring. Here’s the bench and tree you’ve seen before.

The last time we had rain the snow depth went from seat high to this (minus the fresh inch). We’re due for more rain at the end of the week so maybe some more will depart. Though, what is left is very, very solid.

As for the menu:

Saturday
Kids: Chicken nuggets (for those who are not sick)
Adults: Homemade pizza

Sunday:
BBQ chicken
Pasta salad
Tossed salad

Monday:
Kids: Macaroni & cheese (for those who are not sick)
Adults: Tuna noodle casserole

Tuesday:
Tacos

Wednesday:
Ham
Sweet potato
Green beans
Raisin sauce
Egg bread

Thursday:
Chili
Corn muffins

Friday:
Kids: Eggs
Adults: Homemade pizza

“New” Dining Room Chairs

27 Friday Mar 2015

Posted by Nora in Home

≈ Comments Off on “New” Dining Room Chairs

Our rather old dining room chair seats had seen better days. With professional cleaning and reupholstering running similar in price I decided to spruce things up a bit. They were pretty plain. (This was one of the cleanest chairs.)

So, we invested in a much more interesting fabric with stain resist. Hopefully this will both resist stains and not show them as clearly. And, it makes the room seem a bit more put together.

It is Raining.

26 Thursday Mar 2015

Posted by Nora in Home

≈ Comments Off on It is Raining.

Thankfully this is not snow. Though, it is not as warm as they were forecasting. Hopefully this will reduce our snowpack to something more manageable. The areas under the trees were starting to emerge in places already and I think this should spur them along. But, in the center of our yard (where things are pretty level with no piles), the snow is still up to the seat of the bench.

Areas that are clear – shoveled paths, trampled areas, areas near roads where rock salt was sprayed – are all very muddy. It will be a long spring.

What to do While I Wait?

25 Wednesday Mar 2015

Posted by Nora in Family

≈ Comments Off on What to do While I Wait?

I find myself waiting for one child or another multiple times per week. Sometimes one can watch the children, in which case my preferred waiting activity is to watch them while talking with the other adults. But, my toddler usually doesn’t let me stay in one place so we watch briefly (if I’m lucky) before watching someone else’s child (always more interesting) while I follow him around so he doesn’t leave or otherwise get into trouble. When the weather gets nicer I will take him for a walk in the stroller, but according to the Weather Channel that is no time soon. Maybe next year when he can be dropped off for these 30-45 min activities I’ll bring a book. It’s not really long enough to leave and actually get anything done.

The trickier one for me is the 5-10 minute wait before picking someone up. Honestly, I play Candy Crush. Yes, that’s a bit cliché. But, I spend no money and I bother no Facebook friends. I like puzzles and am willing to try again (or wait) until the Tooth Fairy comes along and promotes me to the next level or the lives regenerate.

I’d like to do something more productive, but what. I used to keep a magazine in the car, but that’s not much better. I do try to think up quick errands, but unless it’s a drive through nothing is quick with a toddler in tow. I’m open to suggestion.