Mom of 2… (taking it one day at a time)

Can you say YUMMY!!  I was able to go to another Tastefully Simple party tonight and got to try out some new products that are out for a limited time and they were so good.  Especially the Vanilla Bean Chiller.  I was debating on buying it, but decided not to and maybe I’ll get it at the next party I go to since my best friend booked one for July.  I ended up just buying two items tonight.. the Beer Bread and the Beyond Blueberry Fruit Dip mix.  There were 7 people at the party and all but 2 said the Blueberry fruit dip was one of their favorites so I ended up getting it with never trying it.  I’ll let you know what I think once my shipment comes in.

Have you ever gone to a Tastefully Simple party?  If so, what is your favorite item?  I just wish their shipping wasn’t so high ($6.99) so I could end up buying more products instead.

Sorry.. just need to vent a minute.  What are the gas prices by you?  Ours is jumping up to $3.89 this morning.  Of course I knew it was going to jump up since it’s Mother’s Day Weekend and a lot of people travel to see their moms.  I woke Paul up (he works 2nd shift) to see if our truck needed gas and he said yes.  So I had him get up and “watch” the kids (lay on the couch and make sure nothing bad happens) while I filled up the truck.  The gas station on the corner was still $3.69 so I pulled in.  I thought the pump was never going to turn off as I was watching the cost go up and up.  Finally at $50.01 it was full.  $50 and the truck was over 1/2 full!! 

It just stinks… here we are making less this year than last year (Paul’s work has been slow so does that mean no OT, but they are sending guys home with no pay for the day.. plus we are paying more for health insurance through them) and the price of EVERYTHING just keeps going up and up.  Here I used to be able to buy us groceries for $40-50 a week… now it’s getting a little harder to do that unless I buy quite a bit less.   Speaking of which.. I better go start making my list up as I really need to get to the store as our cupboards are getting a little bare.

Hopefully your day started out better than mine!! 

This week’s Head or Tails is about Mother’s.  So what better way than for me to tell you a little bit about my Mother.

This is my Mom w/ Katie on Dec 28, 2005

It’s because of my Mom that I wanted to always be a stay at home mom.  When I think of my childhood I do think of all the fun times I had playing in the gullies and corn fields with my sister and neighbor, but I also think of my Mother. 

She was the Mom would would read me Barney Beagle 100 times in a row because I Iiked it.

She was the Mom who would let you choose whatever kind (shape) of birthday cake you would want and would try her best to make it for you. 

She was the mom that always would get up early to make sure I was up and moving around so I wouldn’t be late for school.  I can still hear her yell ”Jen.. Time to wake up” in that tune she would do it in.  

She was the Mom who would walk you to do school bus stop in the morning to make sure all the kids in the neighborhood got on safe and If it was raining she would drive you to the stop instead and ask the other kids if they wanted to get in the car so they wouldn’t be to drenched.

She was the Mom that when you would get home from school the house would be always clean, sometimes cookies on the counter (I do remember that once at least) or some kind of snack, and she would always ask how your day went.  Even though most of the times my response was.. ok, she would always ask because she cared.  

She was the Mom that said it would be Ok for me to try out for soccer my Freshman year in High School on one condition… I had to wear a helmet because she didn’t want me to hurt my head when I headed the ball.  ;)  Needless to say she still let me try out even though I told her I wasn’t going to wear no helmet!  (I made the team too!!) 

She was the mom that went to every band concert, basketball game, football game (I was in Marching band), Band competition and soccer game  Even in the snow, rain, heat she would be there chearing me on.

She was and still is the Mom that will sacrifice something she wants if someone else in the family wants/needs something.

She is the Mom that I call at least 5 times a day to just chit chat. 

She is the Mom that I LOVE to go shopping & garage saling with.  Needless to say we have had quite a few chuckles at some of those sales.

She is the Mom that will drop everything if someone needs something.

She is the Mom that makes the best Sunday dinners! (We all go over there every Sunday for dinner)

I know there are so many more things that make her the best mom in my eyes!!  The only problem is she was and is such a great mom.. I feel like I’ll have hard time filling those shoes.  If I can even be half the Mom she is, I’ll be doing good!

I LOVE YOU MOM!!!

OK, if you have read previous posts you can tell I’m trying to lose weight.  What I’ve been doing has been just trying to watch what I eat, but really haven’t been exercising that much.  While watching the Biggest Loser the contestants on there not just watched what they ate, but were getting their heart rate up and lifting weights so they could build muscle.  My friend Tammy wants me to join her gym, but I’m kind of hoping to do some of the exercises here at home to save some money.  Do you know of any good things I could do at home with out having to spend an arm and a leg?

I was talking to my Mother-in-law today (as I do most days) and we were talking about how they are hoping to go down to February again next year for the month.  I’ve been trying to find them someplace, but the prices are a little higher than what they feel comfortable spending due to the price of everything going up and since they are both retired and pretty much on a fixed income they really have to watch their spending.  We then started talking about health care stuff and how much it cost for Kevin’s surgery to remove his mole and she started talking about how she is so thankful they do have medicare insurance as she doesn’t see any bills unless for some reason the doctors office coded something wrong and even then it’s an easy fix.  I just hope by the time I get on Medicare the insurance will be just as good thing as it sounds to be for them now.

Kevin asked me if he could play his games on my computer. He likes to go to Noggin, Danger Ranger, and this is Daniel Cook along with his ABC and 123 we have installed on our computer. I thought why not since Katie is content playing in the living room by herself & I’m busy making lunch. It was awhile later and he came out and was all upset the computer wasn’t listening to him. (I guess my computer must have ears) I went to see what was going on and there was a thing saying I was out paper! So.. the lesson I learned today. If your child is playing on the computer, make sure your printers are turned off otherwise you might be going through a lot of paper & ink and that can be a costly mistake.

My friends husband started a business about a year ago and things seem to be going good with it as it sounds like he is quite busy working all the time now.  When the time comes that he is getting busy enough to start hiring employees I wonder if it would be wise for him to also get some business performance management software?

I don’t know to much about the Business world, but I know in the every day world many people are having a hard time financially.   People are having to sit down with either their spouse, maybe a parent, or financial counselor to evaluate their finances and figure out how they are sitting financially and where they can buckle down to save some money.  I’m pretty sure small businesses that are having a hard time as well,  are having a Small business valuation done too.

I’ve been off the Candida diet for a month now and am so embarrassed to say how much weight I’ve gained back since getting off it.  Of course I haven’t been watching what I’ve been eating and haven’t been exercising like I’m suppose to, but I was wishing it wouldn’t come back on so fast.  Part of me wonders what would it be like to try Orovo as they say you can lose up to 10 pounds in 7 days, but then the same will probably happen.  I don’t change my ways and the weight will just come back on.  Guess I just need to buckle down and start watching what I’m eating and put my kids in the bike trailer and start peddling away.

I’m always trying to think ahead of Birthday & Christmas presents for the kids.  Kevin will be turning five this year and I know it would still be to young, but do you remember how old you were when you got your first : Swiss Army knife?  I’m trying to think back when I got mine, but can’t remember for the life of me.   How old is old enough to give one for a Birthday or Christmas present?