Happy Birthday, Eric!

Eric loves noodles. Eric loves peas. Eric loves chicken. So for his birthday dinner I made some chicken and noodles (with peas and carrots thrown in). It was tricky as Eric is allergic to dairy and eggs. I found egg-free noodles and used soy milk in place of regular. Seeing him scarf it all down was worth it. Funny thing about Eric is that he loves green veggies. He will eat those first so the peas were the first to go followed by noodles then chicken. It looks like he eats like his mama, one thing at a time.

Unlike his mama though, Eric is a huge fan of chocolate. Keeping allergies in mind (good thing the kid is so cute), he had a yummy egg-free, dairy-free chocolate cake. He didn't care. All Eric knew is that is was chocolate. He was fascinated by the candle although he seemed puzzled by it. Joanna helped him blow it out and seasoned the cake a bit more with flecks of spit (had to make sure that candle was out) ... ick!

Oren made Eric a heart shaped pillow (crocheted it) complete with Eric's name. Mom and Dad (Mom bought and Dad said "yeah, sure") got him a Bug Jar. He loved it and was quite mad when it was taken away so the chocolate could be washed off him. The older kids like it too.

Oh yeah, sorry about the video, just tilt your head to watch. I thought the clip was funny since we couldn't tell if Eric was trying to smell the cake or eat it off the plate.

Happy First Birthday, Little Man!

Cyclops

So I have no picture which would make it even funnier. I was going outside to hang clothes on our clothes since the day is just gorgeous. I glanced at Cara and Joanna who were busy eating lunch at the table (they have today off from school). I did a double-take. Each one of them had huge goggly eye stuck to their foreheads.

I guess they got into the craft bin I keep for the days I hear "I'm bored!" or rainy days or too hot days or ... you get the idea. They stuck one of the eyes to their forehead because they asked, "What?" when I shook my head and sighed. The lightbulb went off though as they reached for the forehead at same time. I was rewarded with a couple of cheesy grins.

Cheap entertainment, I guess. Speaking of cheap entertainment, I had to go to the elementary school Thursday to set up lunch for the teachers. The PTO provides lunch for the teachers on conference days which was Thursday (we did breakfast for them this morning). I had to take Eric with me as school wasn't out quite yet. He wasn't a happy camper especially when I put him down in the school office. I managed to get him quiet and ran out to my car for the last load of stuff.

When I came in, the office staff asked where Eric went. I said he was still in here. They asked what I did to get him quiet. A pacifier, perhaps? No. I had to confess. I put a visitor sticker on each of Eric's thighs. He was busy trying to get them off and quite content (until I pulled them off for him).

Yeah, sticky things are great entertainment. That 80 cent roll of tape can amuse most children for quite a while. It has foiled many a fits too to have a piece of tape stuck to the nose.

Pictures of the Past Week

Eric has a new love, Oreos. Unlike his mama who eats Oreos just by mouth, Eric also ingests by osmosis.

Toothless in Illinois, Cara lost her first tooth on her own. She has lost her two bottom teeth, but they had to be pulled because of permanent teeth already in place. You'd think the tooth fairy would remember to visit. Hubby says we need to fire our tooth fairy. At least she is fair and pays interest.

We have two playing soccer this year, Cara and Joanna. Joanna is into it more than Cara who aims an occassional kick in the direction of the ball. Joanna is more gung-ho sometimes overly but it makes for amusing entertainment.

Is That a Challenge?

I read an on-line article and watched the video for a local article about raising awareness for the area food banks and raising funds. I have no problem with helping out so that isn't the issue. Things happen and change in the blink of an eye. I realize that there might be a time I need help.

What gets me is the article and attitudes expressed which is why I had to comment on the article. The article/video "$25 Challenge" comments how hard and near impossible it would be to live on $25 per person per week. I find it really realistic as I do that every single week for my family. I even blogged about living for under $100 a week for my family in my Cornbread & Cookies blog.

That isn't what I budget normally for food alone, but I wanted to find out if my family could make do on less if required. We can. It takes time and planning which is one problem I perceive with people not being able to make it for $25 a week per person. We are busy people. Forget the busy as a bee cliche. It needs be busy as a human. Society as a whole seems to have a I-want-it-now-I-can't-wait attitude.

What does that have to do with the article? People buy convienence. It may because we over-schedule ourselves. It may be we just don't know how to cook from scratch or plan a menu. Those all can create havoc with the food budget.

The reporter said she tried the challenge. The first two things I noticed that set her up for failure are (1) she went shopping without a plan (no menu, no list), and (2) she went shopping at one of the higher priced grocery chains in the area. There is an Aldi right across the street from that Kroger she used. I find some great loss leader prices at Kroger. Their brand chocolate milk is the best (when on sale). Their brand of milk also freezes well when I stock up on a good buy. So I do shop Kroger just not only Kroger.

Other things I have issues with (I got a lot of issues actually ;P) is the reporter's comment of having to buy store brand or generic. There is nothing wrong with that. There are some items I do buy name brands because of quality or whatnot. Some generics are gross and poor quality. I got that. Not all of them are though.

Another issue is the Food Bank Director saying how unrealistic $25 is. Yet when I watched the video I saw Chex Mix (love the stuff btw). It never struck me that was a staple and neccesity. No wonder the budget is shot. Junk food will eat the budget up fast. Do I have junk food? Yeah, sure I do. Sunday nights are for sundaes in my house so I have ice cream and toppings. I have pretzels in a jar on the counter for snacking along with animal crackers in another. Off-brand Honeycomb are in a third jar. My kids snack on those, and I don't have to answer the I'm-hungry-what-can-I-eat question seven times an hour. I do buy junk and snack foods. I just don't buy a lot for nutritious reasons as well as cost.

How do I cut costs? One is where I live. I live in the midwest in an area that has a lower cost of living than say the east or west coasts. I grow my own produce and herbs. I buy locally for things like produce and fresh meat. While meat might costs a little less at the store, I find the quality makes it far suberb in taste. We drink "clear kool-aid" for dinner. That is our nickname for water. I tell the kids it has no added sugars, colors or preservatives. It was funny until a wiseguy added flavor to list of don't haves. LOL! Almost a funny as the time we did really serve clear Kool-aid. The kids' reactions were hilarious when they took the first swallow.

I also don't generally cook meat and potatoes meals. A grilled steak or pork chop tastes good, and boy you gotta have it sometimes. I find that taking that same steak and making Fajitas or Broccoli-Beef are also yummy meals. I use up leftovers as a different dish. Oren says it is a leftover for a reason. Haha ... Leftover green beans and mashed potatoes become Shepherd's Pie. Leftover roast is shredded to make BBQ Beef Sandwiches. I use leftover scrambled eggs and bits of veggies to make Fried Rice.

I plan. That means I make a menu though some weeks are better than others. I check out the local ads. I can do that on-line even. I find what is on sale and plan my menu around it. Right now I have a freezer full of meat so I haven't had to buy too much meat lately. Then I check my pantry to see what I have and what I need. The shopping list is made and off I go. Another budget saver is using area programs like AngelFood Ministries. For the units I bought (3 of them this month for $90), I will get 14 dinners out of them for my family. I plan how I can best use what is included. With the leftover money in the food budget I supplement with fruits/vegetables and other perishables I might need. I also use SHARE foods which supplies me with 3-5 meats and fresh fruits/vegetables for $16 a unit.

There are classes offered at local churches, home extension offices, libraries to teach these things. You can find inforomation in books, magazines and the internet which are all offered for free at libraries. There is a wealth of information out there that can help living on $25 a week a bit easier and very realistic.

A Day of (un)Rest

I knew I would be watching 4 extra children this morning. I was to get them to church. That was it. As the story of my life goes, that changed as fast as the weather here.

I got a phone call from my hubby at 5:30 a.m. saying that the extra children were on their way (an hour earlier than planned). You see I watched these kids yesterday too. Their mother is expecting twins and was put into the hospital with pre-term labor this week. Their dad is military and had drill this weekend. I volunteered to watch the children. I was the only one with a big enough vehicle to haul everyone in one trip so I figured I qualified.

The reason my hubby called me is because he left for Vegas yesterday afternoon. The children's dad called him to let him know. Unfortunately, Vegas is 2 hours different so Clint got the phone call at 3:30 his time. So the message was relayed, and the children arrived just after 6 a.m. The reason for the phone tag was the hospital had called our friend with the news that his wife's water broke. She is just 30 weeks gestation.

So I had to feed 11 children breakfast. We had French toast, bananas, apple juice. I got them all ready for church or at least the ones that needed help. We were not only on time but ten minutes early too. We took up a whole pew. Charissa was at one end while I was at the other. That was to block any wandering strays.

Back to getting ready ... I went to check on Eric. Complete nastiness awaited me. Eric had a major, major blow-out. It was smeared all over the bed and him. Did I mention how nasty gross it was? So in the tub Eric went. After he was ready and clean, I had to do a load of wash. Then I got ready while Eric ate some dry cereal in his chair. The carseats (5 of them) went into our 12 passenger van. That took some planning arranging seats. I had to take into account of who fights when together and all that fun stuff. I couldn't have any "His leg is on my side!" or "She's looking at me!"

I get through church which I had a lesson to teach too. I got as many kids in the van to go home as I did coming. I think they are the same ones too. I made some pizza for lunch even. Whoever said neccesity is the mother of creativity is right. That sauce I had in the freezer was not tomato sauce as I thought (lesson on labelling things better). It was enchilada sauce. Ya know what? With some Italian Seasoning it makes good pizza sauce. I had just enough cheese and toppings (crumbled leftover breakfast sausage, canadian bacon & pepperoni) for a meat and a cheese pizza. I was even told it was the best pizza.

So now I am about to take my well-deserved nap. To be sure that I get it, I told my oldest that if she made sure I had at least a good hour nap, I would lift her computer grounding. I think I am going to get a good nap.

Creepy Crawly

Eric is on the move. Despite his odd way of getting from Point A to Point B, he is fast. He is also my floors-need-mopping indicator. Or vacuuming as the case may be ....