In our house, diaper rash cream is called Butt Cream, or “Buh” Cream to my 15 month old.  Every diaper change, I tell Baby Boy, “Let’s go change your diaper.”  He toddles into his room and lays down (face first) onto his Boppy pillow.  I get a diaper and sit down with the wipes.  then I turn him over on his back and he automatically holds up his legs for me.  It truly is funny.

Now, if he is dirty, he will first go to the changing table (that is now a diaper supply holding table) and get his butt cream.  We put all the tubes of butt cream in a tie-on cloth pocket holder-thingy.  It is at his level, so he can get it. 

The funny part about this is that he truly likes the butt cream on him.  I don’t know why…I guess it has a refreshing feeling…anyway, I thought I would share one of his many “quirks.”

I was not too impressed by MSN’s article this morning titled “Can a Family Eat on $100 a Week?.”  First I will say that I have the same size/age family as this woman.  She has a 4 year old, a toddler and her husband and herself.  I was astonished to learn that she normally spends about $250 a week on groceries.  Keep in mind that this is not to include paper products at all, JUST FOOD!  I about fell over!  How in the world do people eat that much food?  Maybe in isn’t the quantity…maybe they are just eating a lot more luxerious stuff that we are!  I was also astonished to learn that the federal government gives $117 in food stamps for a family of four. 

Now, with that said…there were some rules for her $100 budget challenge…

• she couldn’t shop at Sam’s or a large foodclub
• she could not buy paper goods/cleaners at all
• no coupons
• food must be healthy

Now it says she ended up going over by a $1-2.  No big deal.

With that said…here is my weekly budget for groceries, cleaners, paper towels, etc…

$70 + 120 every 3 months for meat (that is about $10 a week)= $80 per week

I use coupons (they save me about $10-15 a week)

I use Sam’s for my meat every three months and freeze meat in my freezer after I have packaged everything for single meals

My meals are healthy.  We eat a veggie, a starch and a protein almost every meal.  We eat crock pot 1-2 times each week.  I try to grill once a week.  I have 3 squash plants outside that have, so far they give me one squash a week (enough for one meal for us). 

We have lots of snacks in our house (we are not hurting for goodies).

Now, on the downside…

• I cannot assume that this woman stays home as I do (and has time to coupon clip).  I didn’t coupon clip when I was working full time because it was the last thing that I wanted to do (and milk wasn’t $4.19 a gallon). 
• If this woman works fulltime, it is probably easier often times to go out to eat (if they can afford it).
• We do not include eating out as part of our weekly grocery budget.  That expense falls under “entertainment” for us and we get a separate weekly allowance for that category.

What do you all do?  How much do you budget for groceries?  Am I alone in not being impressed by this article?

Okay, I don’t usually look at other men…I really don’t think much about it.  If you ever get a chance to watch USA and see the show Burn Notice–do it.  Why I think the guy who plays Michael is so hot, I am not sure.  My mother would call it “Animal Magnetism.”  He is not the ideal model type, but for some reason he does it for me.  The show is pretty good to.  The cool thing about this show is my husband likes it too (of course I suspect he feels the same for the girl’s character, Fiona, as I do for Michael.)  We don’t talk about it, we just enjoy watching the show. 

My son (baby Boy) ate cheetoes today…He discovered that eating cheetoes dipped in vanilla icing off a cupcake was the greatest snack ever….

‘Nuff said!   (ugh!)

Today I bought this stuff at CVS:

1 speedstick 24/7 Mens:  3.99

1 Herbal Essence Shampoo:  2.50

1 Herbal Essence Conditioner 2.50

1 3pk of Brita Filters 14.99

1 Nice and Easy Hair color 2.25

1 Foam beads for beading with Big Brother 1.00

2 Johnson Buddies Soaps 1.98

————–

Coupons I used:

3.00 off 2 herbal essence shampoos (making my shampoo and conditioner $1.00 each)

2.00 off Nice and Easy hair color (making my hair color .25)

1.98 off 2 Johnson Buddies soaps (making my purchase free for kids soap)

———-

Total: (after Tax):  23.73  (out of pocket)

Earned:  7.00 in ECB’s (extra care bucks to use like cash)

and 1 Cash register coupon for $1 off any colgate toothbrush)

Now, I realize this isn’t the greatest transaction in the world, but when you figure I am going to take that $7.00 and buy something else without using any cash (like maybe some diapers)…you have to figure that I got a lot of stuff that my family will use for very little money. 

I love CVS!!!

Okay, I admit it…

I have officially scheduled more things in my life than I care to.  I must kick some things out the door…starting with….

1)  The homeschool Blog-  I am finding that I barely have time to get all the homeschool stuff together, let alone keep it around and take pictures of it so I can blog about it.  Sorry folks, it is just not happening.

2)  Working late at night more than twice a week-  Okay, for those of you who didn’t know this, I am tutoring online about 10 hours each week.  These times typically fall in the evening.  The problem is that I was online almost every night late because I was doing 13 hours each week.  I was waiting until late because it gets a little busier, and then staying up till 1:00am to tutor.  I like tutoring, so actually doing it isn’t the problem…however, getting up at 7:00am was the problem.  Unfortunately Big Brother doesn’t sleep in like Baby Boy does (he makes it until 8:00am).

3)  Flylady–I still am cleaning up the house EVERY evening (maybe let it go once a week–but pick up in the morning).  The boys and I are cleaning rooms every evening before bedtime (thanks Chuck E Cheese for the cleaning room chart) and I do dishes every evening.  Also, I still do a load of clothes almost everyday.  I am also dusting, vacumming, doing both bathrooms and mopping the floors every week.  So, essentially, I have moved into my own little “Flylady” method where I am doing all this and although I might need 5-10 minutes to pick up toys, just about anyone could come by at anytime and it would be clean enough that I wouldn’t be embarrassed.  Lesson learned:  How to clean as I go–and not let things get so built up that the last thing I want to do is clean.  Thanks Flylady–Even if I am not following your program to a T, know that I have learned something from you.

My son told me two magical sentences today:

Upon asking for a TV show to watch, I asked him, “What would you like to watch?”  He answered with,

“Whatever you want to put on for me, Mommy.”

Upon asking for a snack to eat, I asked him, “What would you like to eat?”  He answered with,

“Whatever you want to get for me, Mommy.”

Okay, so where is my son…what have they done with him?

Well, I have heard of moms who spend lots of time taking care of their childrens’ wounds.  I have talked to parents who say, “Just wait…” 

I am starting to realize this situation.

We have been very lucky in the past.  Big Brother is very cautious.  He looks before he steps, he is timid and doesn’t rush into things. 

Baby Brother, on the other hand…Now he is NOT timid, NOT careful, and NEVER looks before stepping.  Of course, a lot of this has to do with the fact that he just started walking, doesn’t talk yet and is still pretty young (only 15 months).  For those reasons, I do need to give him a little credit.  However, I can already see part of my future before me.  He is my accident waiting to happen.

My friend was telling me last night that she got a call from her daycare the other day.  Her 6 year old had fallen during swinging and split his head open.  3 staples later…he was okay.  She is pretty gutsy…and she can handle blood.  I, on the other hand, do not handle stuff like that well.  I would have freaked. 

I guess at some point I will be “broken in.”  I am not looking forward to it…I am pretty darn freaked out about it, actually.  It is a good thing daddy is a Doc, and I can ask him things.  I can also count on him to keep me steady and not let me freak out unless it is time to.  Now, the freaking out that I happen to do before being able to reach him because he is on a case in surgery and cannot return his page immediately, I guess that I will have to figure out how to handle that myself.

So, I have been stripping Baby Boy down to his diaper in the evenings, right.  He sweats all the time and loves to be naked.  (completely understandable).  Well, the Big Brother has decided that he wants to be stripped down to his underwear too…Okay, I can handle that–it is in the privacy of our own home, whatever.

So, you can imagine my surprise tonight when I went to check on my sons (they had gone to Big Brother’s room and were really quiet).  I peek in to the room to see Big Brother stark naked.  I say, “Where are your clothes?”  He says, “I took them off! (all smiles).”  I tell him, “We just put on your jammies, put them back on!”  I then turn the corner to look at Baby Boy.  All I see is him, big smiles, looking up at me with his diaper and pants pulled down to his knees.

…Grown!…

Either he learned how to get his britches off or “someone” wanted brother naked too!

….Ooh, I can only imagine the spam and searches I am going to see from this post…

We went to the doctor the other day to discuss Baby Boy’s hearing test results–He is 100%! Yea!  Tubes are still in and everything is working as it is supposed to.