Menu and OCD'ness!

I am going to try really hard to start making a weekly menu and posting it to my blog. I will also try to include recipes on most things.

Monday: Chick-Fil-A to support Destiny Church
Tuesday: Island Jerk Chicken, rice pilaf, carrots
Wednesday: Cheesy Beef Tostadas, corn, fruit salad yummy yummy
Thursday: Butter Chicken over egg noodles, green beans, french bread
Friday: Pizza and salad (my little girl is 12 today!)
Saturday: Spicy Dr. Pepper Shredded Pork on buns, homeade french fries and coleslaw

I try to stick to a weekly menu and I try to stay on budget while grocery shopping. I'm pretty OCD when it comes to my shopping list. I even categorize it by the aisles. I have a slight problem!

Anyways, I already had Frozen Chicken (tenderloins and breasts) and Ground Beef in the deep freeze, so all I had to do was lay that out to thaw. I didn't have to buy any spices (which can cost a lot! Hello Ground Coriander was like $11 and I only needed 1/4 tsp for the Butter Chicken). But since I have become friends (ok obsessed, stalking, whatever) with Ree, aka The Pioneer Woman, I have bought more spices then I know what to do with. So I just had to buy a few things...like a Pork Butt, chipolte peppers, dr. pepper, peppercorn ranch, egg noodles, and some fresh veggies and herbs. I only spent about $60 on the items I needed to buy!

I just wanted to give you a little peek into my fridge and pantry once I unloaded the groceries. Some call me crazy...I call myself organized. Haha!

I recently have heard of something called E-Mealz and it is $5 a month and the website says this:

"E-Mealz has been created to provide a kid-friendly and family-uniting meal planning resource for busy Moms and frugal family cooks. E-Mealz will help you to save time, money and make time for family with delicious weekly dinner menu plans everyone will love."

I think I will be hooked. I am going to try this out for 3 months to see if it helps my family. Dave Ramsey also endorses it. So that should give you an idea that this helps to save money!!

I hope that the 1 person reading this blog finds my menu helpful. And that maybe I can encourage you to cook more also!

P.S. This menu idea came from Amanda over at Torres Tidbits. I don't know her in real life but from reading her blog I have come to the conclusion that she is an awesome girl, momma, and wife.

SUYL - Happy 1st Birthday!

Photo by Sherri Scarpa Photography

I am linking up with Kelly's Korner to show you Colton's 1st birthday party!! We had a big party planned for Saturday, February 5th at a Community Center, which would have given us lots of space for the 80+ people that we love (and invited). Unfortunately the blizzard came and we had to cancel his party. They wouldn't have another opening until March 14th so we decided to go ahead and do a family-only party on the 19th (2 days after his first birthday).

We did a "Monster" theme and I think it turned out wonderfully!

**I'm getting really mad at blogger in regards to uploading pictures...so this is all I am posting for now. Any ideas where I can create collages?***

I may not be the best party planner, but I absolutely love coming up with ideas for my kid's birthdays. My daughter has had a bowling party, American Idol party, an updo/nails and fancy restaurant party, and a swimming party at a hotel. My other son has had a bike party (I should have given bandaids as the favors), a campout party (so much fun, they even slept in tents), and his most recent was a paintball party. Now I have to go search for pictures from Em and Z's first birthdays.

I cried...

Today when I took my baby to daycare he kissed and hugged me bye, then turned around and reached for his teacher. He shed no tears today. Usually he will cry for about 10-20 seconds and then stop. I know because I stand (where he can't see me) and listen for him to stop crying. This is his 10th day at this daycare. The one he will most likely attend until he starts Kindergarten (the day I will cry again). It did make me feel good that he didn't cry and that he reached for his teacher. But it also was a little sad for this momma. This momma who will have no more babies. He is my last baby.

It is so hard having a BABY after your other kids are practically grown and hanging on with one foot out the door. Some of you blog readers may or may not know this about me...but I'm a young mom! Bless the Lord that Teen Mom wasn't a show when I was knocked up! Lock your kids up people! Some kids make bad choices and I was one of them. I like to think that now I am a little smarter, more mature and better off then I was at the age. But that's just my opinion :-)

I had my sweet girl just 19 days shy of my 17th birthday. Followed by my son just 18 months and 3 days later. E is almost 12 (in 27 days...eek) and Z is 10.5. I finally get these kids to an age where they wipe their own bottoms, they have started mastering using a stove, they go to friends houses, and they don't depend on me for EVERYTHING. I was finally starting to feel a little bit of freedom. And then the line appeared. I was pregnant! ALL of our lives were going to change.

My baby is now one and this last year has been crazy, but amazing, to say the least. I have learned again how to manage on a little bit of sleep, I have remembered why it was so nice to finally have kids out of diapers and off the boob/formula. I had forgotten ALL the items you need for a baby when you leave the house. Haha! But I was also blessed to be able to hold a sweet baby and rock one to sleep again, I was able to nurse him and comfort him. I was doing this ALL on my own and I enjoyed it. Sure, I had the help of his daddy. But it wasn't the same as my first two babies.

When I had E & Z I was still in High School. Then eventually I went to College and got a job. I had so much help from my mom with the 2 of them. She helped me raise them. I was their mom and I was there for them. But she was like a mom (or I guess dad) to them too. With C things have been so much different. To him she is just "Nana". And I am his MOM! He still hasn't stayed the night with anyone besides his daddy and myself.

So today when I left him at daycare and he didn't cry for me, I felt a sharp pain in my chest. My baby is growing up and even though he will always be my baby, he will eventually not depend on me for everything just like his big sister and big brother.

Being a mom is so rewarding. But it is so hard to cut the cord.