What we did this summer…..

We had a busy summer!  I know that for some people they don’t consider it to be over quite yet, but at our house summer is unfortunately over.  Natalie started first grade on Monday.

 

So here is a quick recap of a few of the activities that we did this summer:

Megan turned 4 in June! 

She asked for a birthday Barbie and was so excited to get one from my parents.

We went to the beach with my entire family.

 

The girls got their hair braided as a beach souvenir.

(They stayed in for a little over 2 months!)

In July I catered a wedding reception (with lots of help from great friends!) for a couple from our church.  I only have a few pictures that Steve took before the ceremony.  We were just a little busy during the reception. 

We covered a big piece of styrofoam with “pretty” lettuce and then filled it in with the veggies.  My friend Rebecca made a mini radish bouquet in the center.

Another one of our amazingly talented friends, Stephen, (not my husband), spray painted and stenciled watermelons for the centerpieces.

We had a beef tenderloin carving station and a mashed potato bar.

We also had a flavored water bar – cucumber mint, mixed berry, citrus, or plain water were the options. 

Steve & I ran in the Color Me Rad 5k.  It was a lot of fun – and yes all of the color came out.  The blue was the hardest to get off, but we looked normal after a much needed shower.

Michael turned 2 in August!

Natalie & I both participated in the $10 school supply challenge this year the school supplies went to the Henrico Education Fund.  The school supplies we gathered went to Donahoe Elementary and Henrico High School.  Natalie’s total was a shelf price of $58.47 that she got for $10!  (She was excited to pose with her purchases.)

 

 

This is a picture of my haul.  I technically won the challenge with a shelf price of $178.97 for $10, but this year prizes were randomly awarded.  It is nice to have bragging rights. :)

Steve and I celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary in August and were able to get away to The Homestead Resort for two nights – I snagged a LivingSocial Deal.  Steve took this picture of me when we went to the complimentary afternoon tea on Saturday.

Thanks for checking out my summer pictures!

~Ann

No Match-ups This Week

I have decided to take a week off from my MARTIN’S Top Deals Post.

We have had a busy week and have enjoyed catching up with family and friends in addition to reflecting on the true meaning of Christmas, the birth of Jesus Christ.  This is also a busy time for us because it is Natalie’s birthday.  (My oldest daughter.)

We have been really trying to avoid adding more clutter and things to our home. I have been purging clothes and toys for the last month. In an effort to cut down on things being brought into our home we were trying to focus on spending time together, and making memories. We have season passes to Busch Gardens and were able to take the kids down to Busch Gardens Christmas Town and enjoy lunch with Santa. Here is a family picture that we were able to have taken in front of Santa’s fireplace before the kids got to talk to Santa. The kids had a great day, enjoyed the shows and loved the decorations.  We were even able to catch-up with family and friends who were also there for the day. When we got home Natalie and Megan both told us, “Thanks for a great time and a fun lunch with Santa.”

 

Check back next week for match-ups, but until then have a Happy New Year. 

~Ann

It’s Not Fair!!!!!!

“It’s not fair!” is a phrase that Natalie has begun to say and now Megan has picked up and is repeating.  I don’t like it.  One night at dinner, when I was breaking something in half for them to share, Natalie exclaimed that it wasn’t fair.  I had had a long day and was exhausted.  I looked at her and I asked her what wasn’t fair.  I then proceeded to let her know that it wasn’t fair that there are people who don’t have food to eat and we have more than enough, and that there are people who don’t have a nice, warm house on a cold night like us.  My rant didn’t phase her.

Since I have become a parent I have really seen my relationship with God in a new way.  I always knew that God was my heavenly father and that He loved me.  I knew that my parents loved me.  It wasn’t until I became a mother that I realized how much a parent truly loves their child.  It allowed me to see the Bible verses I had learned as a child in an entirely different light.  For example, probably one of the first verses I can remember memorizing was John 3:16 (ESV) – “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”  I can’t imagine as a parent loving something or someone else enough to give up my child.  WOW – God really loves me (and you)!

I started to think about the “it’s not fair” outburst with Natalie and Megan and about how many times I have said that to God about something in my own life.  I was the selfish preschooler upset because the “other piece” looked more appealing.  God was the parent looking back at me and saying, “Was it fair that my son came to live on this earth, and then died on the cross for your sins?”  My response, “No God, it isn’t fair.  Thank you for giving us your son, Jesus, and allowing him to sacrifice himself for me.”

I hope that I can stop being the selfish preschooler and instead be the thankful adult and realize that no it isn’t fair, but I appreciate everything that I have and that has been given to me.  I hope that in the busyness of Christmas that you have the time to reflect on what a precious gift it really was to the world when Christ was born.

Merry Christmas!

~Ann

A little of this and a little of that…..

I want to start of and wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.  Here is a picture of just three things that we have to be thankful for this year.

Natalie (4&1/2), Megan (2), Michael (3 months)

 

I wanted to share a few tips and some info that will hopefully help you as you shop with the upcoming holiday deals.

I first want to share a tip from Katie a friend, who I have known since Kindergarten.  I haven’t been “playing the drugstore game” since Michael was born, but she found a great deal that I wanted to share.

...at CVS they have SOME shades of L'oreal make up on clearance for 75% off! I've been to 2 CVS's and gotten some! Plus, there were coupons for $5 off 2 and $1 off 1 in the paper. So I just bought $30 worth of make up for $3! Yay! !

I checked the coupon database and it looks like the coupons Katie is referring to are from the 11/14 RedPlum Insert.  The $5/2 is for any L'Oreal cosmetic face product and the $1/1 is for any L’Oreal facial cleanser.  If you can find these they are not only great for “grown-ups” but to use as stocking stuffers for any teenagers.

My second tip is just a coupon tip in general.  Did you know that just because a manufacturer coupon says “Do Not Double” it may still double at the register? If you look at the barcode on the coupon look at the first number.  The coupon will double if the first number is a “5”, if the number is a “9” it will not double.  I know from experience that this is the case with both MARTIN’S and Kroger.  (Just don’t forget that MARTIN’S only doubles one “like” coupon per customer per day.)

The final thing that I wanted to share with you is about Groupon.  I had read about Groupon for a while and finally took the plunge this fall and bought my first one.  It is awesome!  If you don’t know what I am talking about here is the “Ann version”.  Groupon is a coupon that is available to a group usually for one day only that allows you to purchase a coupon to a retailer for a discount.  They are usually valid for 6 months after your purchase.

I bought a Groupon recently for $40 to The Body Shop for only $20.  I am planning on going there and buying a few gifts and maybe a little treat for me as well.  Saturday there was a Groupon for a new doughnut shop near our house – Daylight Donuts.  I was able to buy a $10 Groupon for $5.  I took the girls there this morning for a special treat and we got a dozen doughnuts for only $0.51 with my $10 Groupon.  (So, in reality I paid $5.51.)   The doughnuts are made fresh at the shop and tasted sooooooo good!

Here is a picture of what we came home with.  Can you guess which two I let each of the girls pick out?

If you are interested in Groupon check out the link.  I will let you know that if you click on that link, sign-up and buy a Groupon within 72 hours I do get referral credit.  If you feel uncomfortable with the solicitation you can just go to groupon.com.  By the way, you can sign-up for Groupon in your area if you live outside of Richmond.  There are both local merchants (like the doughnut shop) and national retailers (like The Body Shop) who participate.

 

Happy Shopping and Happy Thanksgiving!

~Ann

Preparing for Baby #3 – Part IV

If you missed the first 3 parts of of my mini-series feel free to go here, here, and here, to read them.

One of the biggest decisions we had to make when we realized we were going from  a family of four to a family of five is where to put everyone.  We are fortunate to have a four bedroom house, but the fourth bedroom has always been a playroom for the girls.  We purchased a double bed for Natalie two years ago when we transitioned her from a crib with the thought that the room would serve as a guest room if needed.

Steve and I had decided that we wanted to move Natalie and Megan into the same room.  Natalie’s current room is now going to be a guest room, and Megan’s room is going to remain a nursery for “baby brother”.  Their new room is going to be the playroom.  We had already cleared out lots of toys that were missing pieces, not being played with anymore, or that they had outgrown.  We boxed up the toys that were gender neutral and would be appropriate for “baby brother”. We debated about what type of bed to get the girls for their new room.  The room isn’t small, but two twin beds would be rather tight.  We didn’t think that a double bed was a good idea, and we felt like the girls were too young for bunk beds.  We decided that a trundle bed was the best idea.  Steve found one for us on Craigslist that we were able to purchase at a good price.

The girls have enjoyed the trundle bed and getting to help pick out the bedspreads for their new beds and helping to bring over their clothes to the new room and organize everything. 

We are still working on “baby brother’s” room.  I have never been a mom that had a theme for the nursery.  I have also never had a true crib set for the crib.  I realized that I didn’t want the bumper pad, partially because of the SIDS risk, but also because it is easier to peek in on them without the bumper pad.  I also never used the quilt because we just swaddled up the little ones or put them in a sleep sack when we put them to bed.  The only thing I really used was a dust ruffle that a friend made for us when we were expecting Natalie.  I had a friend from church pass on some little boy curtains that work great with the colors we have in the room.  I have some pictures on the wall that will work for a little boy, and I just use white crib sheets.  I am always the one who sticks with white sheets because they can easily be bleached.  ;)

We have had to do other things besides set up new rooms for the girls and for “baby brother”.  We realized that we needed to break down and buy a mini-van.  Steve was driving a four door sedan that I had bought when I graduated from pharmacy school ten years ago.  I was driving a mid-sized SUV that we bought five years ago, before we even had any children.  The SUV can seat seven people and we can get a booster seat, a rear facing car seat, and a forward facing car seat in there, but it is going to be tight.  Steve knew that it would be difficult, especially for me,  to be alone with three kids and try to take care of daily errands and get everyone in and out of the car.  We had narrowed down our choices to either a Toyota Sienna or a Honda Odyssey.  We didn’t want to take on any debt with buying another vehicle, so we found a 2006 Honda Odyssey on Craigslist that was in the Richmond area.  We looked at it, talked to some people, researched it on-line, and prayed about the decision.  We were able to negotiate the price down a little bit more and decided that this was a good deal and that it was the vehicle that we were suppose to buy.  So, I am now a mini-van mom.  I didn’t think I would like driving a mini-van, but I have to admit it is easier to get the girls in and out of the vehicle.  I also like all of the remote open doors.  Mini-vans have come a long way from my parent’s 1988 Plymouth Voyager I grew up with and learned to drive. 

One other thing that I have been working on to prepare for the new baby is stockpiling and making freezer meals.  I worked on this last week.  I began this task by taking advantage of one of the “cooler” days.   I cleaned out and inventoried the contents of my freezers in the garage.  I took a few hours over the course of about 3 days to make and freeze several things.  Our church is always very thoughtful and generous to new moms and different families provide meals for the first two weeks that you are home from the hospital.  I figure that after those two weeks I will have enough meals to last us until almost October. 

Here is a picture of one of my days of cooking:

 

In this picture I have one batch of three cheese baked pasta that I divided into three small foil pans so each pan will work for one night.  I had leftover sauce that I made for the pasta that has Italian sausage and onions that will be great just to go with spaghetti one night.  I browned up a pound of ground beef and already added taco seasoning so we just have to pull it out, heat it up, and we have a ready to go taco night.  I also tried out a recipe that Savingourway sent me for individual macaroni and cheese cups.  I think these will be great for a quick lunch for the girls.

I spent another day cooking chicken.  I made a large chicken casserole and divided it among two foil pans.  I found some chicken breast on manager’s mark down in MARTIN’S on Saturday and baked them then pulled the skin off and the meat from the bone.  Steve helped me chop it up into chunks and divide it into about one cup portions and froze them.  I plan to use at least one batch of the chicken in these Spicy Black Bean and Chicken Enchiladas.  I already have one batch of these ready to go in the freezer that I divided into two foil pans.  I made an extra batch of waffles one morning and froze them.  (I am definitely stocked up on waffles now that I hit the Kellogg’s deal at MARTIN’S.)

I have also prepared one of my favorite freezer cooking tips.  I picked up an extra London broil last week and placed it in a freezer bag with a bottle of marinade that I had picked up earlier in the summer.  Now, I just have to pull out the meat let it thaw in the refrigerator and it will marinate while it thaws.  I have several pounds of ground beef and boneless skinless chicken breast that are uncooked and were frozen in one pound portions so I can pretty much with a little planning have a variety of meals just from “shopping” from my freezer.  I not only have my freezer stocked with meat and already prepared meals, I have plenty of frozen vegetables.  Now if I don’t have a chance to get to the store for fresh produce we can still have vegetables.

I am sure it won’t surprise any of you to hear that I also have a huge stockpile of diapers and wipes waiting for the little guy.  Megan is probably ready to potty train, but with a new baby on the way I am putting that off until we establish a new “normal” to our household.  I made sure to stockpile diapers for her as well.  If she potty trains before I run out I will just hold onto them for the little guy.

So, all in all we are ready for “baby brother”.  He still doesn’t have a real name.  There are things that I still would like to clean and organize.  But, if they don’t get accomplished he will have clothes, diapers, food, a place to sleep, and most importantly love.

Check back later in the week and hopefully I will have some pictures to share of the little guy and his big sisters.

Wow – it is already July!?!?

I realized that the last month and a half have been very busy and that I haven’t been doing very well with keeping up with my crazy life blog post in addition to my coupon savings blog post.  So, here is a a quick update of what we have done since the middle of May and I will hopefully find time to share more and some pictures in future posts.

May – During the last week of May the girls and I visited my family, Steve joined us Friday afternoon, and had a whirlwind time with celebrations.  My mom was an elementary school secretary for 24 years and officially retired the end of June.  The school had a retirement party for her and the other staff members who were retiring at the end of the school year.  That same week we had a bridal shower for my soon-to-be sister-in-law, and a family birthday party to celebrate Megan’s second birthday.

June – We had a family day with Megan on her actual birthday.  Steve took the day off and we got pictures taken, enjoyed lunch together at California Pizza Kitchen, and went out after naptime for bowling and finished the day off with dinner and ice cream at Friendly’s. 

Steve and I were able to add a trip for just the two of us to the end of a business trip he had in London.  He left a few days before me and then I left the girls in very capable hands and flew over to meet him.  We had a great time together exploring the city together and enjoying some time just the two of us before baby #3 arrives in August.  We even happened to get a glimpse of Queen Elizabeth during a parade in her honor. 

July – My brother (who is 12 years younger than me) got married on Saturday.  The girls were flower girls and my sister and I helped with coordinating the wedding.  It was a whirlwind few days with last minute preparations, calming nerves, and making sure everything was taken care of.  The girls did a good job as the flower girls, they were not perfect angels, but they definitely provided some comic relief.

The next thing I have “on my plate” is a reception for a missionary family at my church Sunday evening.  After that the next plan of attack is getting ready for “Baby Brother”.  I have to finish getting the girls settled in their new room, get his room ready for him, and start getting the house ready for guests.  I also need to start thinking about things like packing a hospital bag and picking out a real name for the little guy.

These are just the highlights of the things that have been keeping me busy.  Like I have said before my life is always crazy, just some times are crazier than others.  :)

~Ann

A little of this & that…

I have had a crazy last two weeks.  We had one impromptu and one scheduled meeting that went late (like after 10PM) last week and my 15 hour shift on Saturday put me in a downward tailspin.  The extra 13 hours (over two days) I had to put in this week to learn a new pharmacy computer system for MARTIN’S this week didn’t help.  So, enough of my whining.  I had a doctor’s appointment yesterday that allowed me to have a babysitter watch the girls and give me some “me time” (in addition to seeing some more pictures of the little guy who looks healthy and is growing like crazy.)  I was able to relax a little after the appointment with a manicure and pedicure, hit CVS & Walgreens, met Steve for dinner, and then we headed to a baby class.  It was nice to be out of the house without going to work and without kids and to have a quick meal with Steve to talk and catch-up without little interruptions.

Our neighborhood is having a community yard sale this weekend and I am debating about participating.  Because of our busy schedules the last 2 weeks I haven’t really pulled much out, but I do have some things that I have pulled out in the past that I would like to unload.  I am also considering selling some of my unopened stockpiled toiletry items.  I realized I have TONS of body wash, shampoo, toothpaste, and razors.  My rule of thumb is that I don’t spend more than $1 after sales and coupons on these items.  I was thinking about marking them $2 and then figuring out what I want to do with the money.  I found out that one of my neighbors’ husband and daughter are going on a missions trip this summer and she is using her yard sale to help fund their trip.  (She called me and told me she has lots of little boys clothes if I wanted to come check them out.)  I may look at doing something like that with our profits.

I have had a chance in the last few weeks to find some little boy clothes on sale at different children’s clothing stores.  I have an Old Navy credit card and last week was part of the “stuff the bag” promo they have about twice a year.  This promotion gives you an additional 20% off your entire purchase including sale and clearance merchandise.  I found lots of little boy clothes in an assortment of sizes.  (Our girls were larger babies and this little guy is already measuring by ultrasound a week larger than he should be so we won’t need many little clothes.)  Some of the things were so cute I couldn’t pass them up – like the oxford shirt and sweater vest.  I also found a few things at The Children’s Place for the little guy.  Natalie actually helped me pick out a few things.  She is getting excited about having a baby brother and she picked some clothes and said “Ohhh, won’t he look so cute in this.” 

Here are pictures of the baby clothes I got at both stores last week (I couldn’t squeeze it all into one picture):

I got an assortment of pants, tops, and some pajamas at Old Navy that were originally $283.50 marked down to $137.69 and an additional 20% off for a grand total of $110.17 (before tax).  That gives me a savings of $173.33 or 61%!

I got a pair of overalls, a few shirts, a sleeper,and some socks at The Children’s Place that were originally $45.50 marked down to $19.96.  That gave me a savings of $25.54 or 56%! 

I now have a few baby boy clothes.  I have several friends who have offered up some clothes to us and I will probably check out my neighbor’s yard sale tomorrow.  I am sure he will end up with more than enough clothes!

My Crazy Week – Part II (The Circus)

We got home from DC Wednesday afternoon, took afternoon naps, then headed over to church Wednesday night.  Steve went back to work on Thursday and I had an appointment that morning and a friend let me drop of my girls to play with her 3 kids for a few hours.  I spent the afternoon trying to find our house underneath all of the stuff that had accumulated in the last 2 weeks while I was suffering from allergies and had to work. 

Friday morning I had my women’s Bible Study and then I took the girls to get haircuts.  We ended up getting lunch while we were out and running a few other errands.  We got home in time for naps because we had a big night ahead of us – we had tickets to go to the circus!  My parents came up to Richmond to go with us and my brother and his fiance’, who are students at Liberty University, were on their way home to Gloucester for the weekend and stopped in Richmond to go to the circus with us.

• On a side note – I stick with my motto to always shop around for things.  We found a discount code on-line (“mom”) that allowed us to get $24 seats for $11 (We did have to end up paying ticketmaster fees that made the final cost ~$16 each).  We ended up with lower level seats and we saved a total of ~$8 on each of them. 

They allow you to arrive an hour before the circus actually starts and go down to the floor and interact with the circus performers.  The girls loved watching the acrobats and the clowns up close.

Natalie got to help pull the rope against one of the strong men.

 

This is really how close we were during the preshow.

I was showing Natalie that the elephant would come out during the circus and put his foot up on the platform.  (I didn’t realize how much I resembled the elephant.  :))

Steve got a shot of the first part of our row – Megan is sitting on my lap and Natalie is sitting on Geoffrey’s lap.  I love the expression on Megan’s face.

Geoffrey and Audri – during the intermission

We were waiting for Geoffrey and Audri to get to where we were parked so that we could all grab a snack afterwards.  Natalie was on the look-out for them by standing up through the sunroof.

We had a great time and I really think the rest of our family had a good time.  The girls also enjoyed hanging out and getting spoiled by family at the restaurant afterwards.  It was a late night for all of us, but a memorable one.

My Crazy Week – Part I (Easter & Washington DC)

It must have been a crazy and adventurous week if I have to break it up into “parts”.  I mentioned earlier that we left Richmond mid-afternoon this past Sunday after a wonderful Easter service at church. 

Here are a few pictures of the girls checking out their Easter baskets before church.  I didn’t want to give the girls lots of candy (but everyone needs a chocolate bunny and jelly beans) so in addition to some books and granola bars I put new sunglasses, bracelets, and hair bows in their Easter Baskets. 

 

 

Here is a shot of how cute my girls looked in their Easter dresses after church with their babysitter Sarah and a friend she brought home from school also named Sarah.  Even Bitty Baby got a new dress to wear for Easter. 

 

After we got home we packed our last few items and the car and headed up I-95 to go to DC.  We got up there after a few minor traffic delays around 5PM.  We checked-in to our hotel, got ourselves settled, and then decided we wanted to get some dinner.  We found a restaurant we wanted to go to on-line that was about a mile away from our hotel.  We knew that the walk there would be entirely uphill.  So we opted to introduce the girls to the Metro (Washington DC’s subway system).  Because we were taking the Metro we knew we wouldn’t have to walk very far and decided to leave the stroller behind.  The girls were a little scared when the first train came into the station from the loud noise and the gush of wind that it brought.  When they realized what was going on they were fine and were waving good-bye to it as we waited for our train to arrive.  They really liked riding the Metro during our visit.  Natalie even became a pro at getting on and off the escalator. 

This shot is really from Tuesday afternoon.  Steve was on the escalator beside us balancing the stroller while I had both girls with me.  (How do you like that farmer’s “burn” I got the previous day visiting the zoo.)

 

We caught up with my parents, sister, brother-in-law, niece, and nephew at the National Zoo on Monday and enjoyed a hot and crowded day there.  The girls had lots of fun and they got to see the panda bear, the zebras, a tiger, an orangutan, the elephants, and several other animals.  There is lots of construction and remodeling going on at the zoo right now so some of the attractions weren’t completely open and some of the animals have been sent to other zoos while their homes are being remodeled.

Here are a couple of pictures from our day at the zoo:

Trying to pose with the Panda statue

Emma, Ethan, Natalie, & Megan with the Prairie Dog statue

Natalie looking at the map with Aunt Heather and asking what animals can we see next. 

 

A crowd shot with our gang – Aaron is in the blue striped polo, Heather in the black dress, Emma in the blue t-shirt, my dad in the green shirt with a baseball cap, me in the pink shirt pushing the stroller, Megan is in the backseat of the stroller, my mom is behind me in the light colored shirt holding Natalie’s hand.  (Ethan and Steve were missing from the shot).

Playing on a hill during our lunch break.

The only picture I could find of Steve – holding Megan while they look at the tiger.

Exhaustion – she fell asleep in the stroller during the 15 minute walk we had back to the hotel.

 

On Tuesday we got to ride the Metro again (this time with a double stroller) and we headed over to the Smithsonian Museum of American History.  It was a really hot April day in DC (mid 80’s) so we were thankful to be inside with air conditioning.  I think lots of other people had the same idea as us because it was really crowded at the museum as well.  Nonetheless we still had a fun time and got to see some of the exhibits and enjoy our time there. 

The American History Museum has been completely renovated in the last few years and museums have shed the “look but don’t touch” image I remember them having as a kid.  Natalie got to be a scientist in a section they call Sparklab which is an entire interactive area for kids.

Here is Natalie the scientist (they even gave her goggles to wear) doing an experiment dealing with color filtration.

We got to build structures with a model kit – we built a tower around Natalie.  (Megan wouldn’t stay still for us to accomplish this with her.)

Steve and Natalie got to learn and see for themselves how hard it is to balance and hold a windsurfing sail.

On Wednesday we slept in some and then packed ourselves back-up so that we could get back to Richmond before the traffic nightmares got bad on I-95.  We had a great time together and enjoyed Steve being able to take off a few days from work to spend it with all of us. 

Stay tuned for Part II of our crazy week. 

The Adventures of a Family Road Trip

We haven’t really taken our girls on that many long road trips.  Our normal road trips are to visit family about an hour away.  We decided to take a trip to Philadelphia because Steve was given free tickets to a suite for a Philadelphia 76er’s basketball game (against the Boston Celtics).  One of our babysitters, actually our first sitter she started watching Natalie when she was 3 months old, goes to school outside of Philadelphia so we saw it as a chance to visit her at the same time.  We looked at the maps and saw that it should take about four and half hours to drive the trip.  We knew that we were going to be going through some high traffic areas, like DC and tried to plan accordingly for traffic and necessary stops so we figured it would take us about 6 hours.

I made sure we had water to drink in the car and some snacks so that everyone would stay happy in between stops.  I even packed empty ziploc bags in case my nausea and a car ride didn’t agree with each other.  (That was probably one of my best ideas.)  We loaded up the car (we were only going to be gone one night so we didn’t need that much stuff) and left Richmond around 10AM.  We were “on track” for getting to the hotel around 4 and the girls were excited about seeing Sarah.  We had the GPS set with our final destination and we were ready to go. 

Then around 11 – I had to go to the bathroom.  I encouraged Natalie to come with me, but of course she had decided she didn’t want to wear her shoes in the car and it took me longer to get the sneakers back on her than to actually make the bathroom break.  We decide that since we had to drive 2 miles off the interstate to find the Wawa and that the GPS showed the interstate only another 3 miles up the road we would drive through Spotsylvania for another 3 miles listening to the GPS tell us where to turn to find I-95 again.  We get back on the interstate and continue heading North.

We got near DC – thankfully it was around noon so the traffic was not horrible, but the GPS started having problems on us.  We realized the problem was because so many of the roads ran parallel that the GPS (through Steve’s blackberry) couldn’t decipher for certain what road we were on and it would tell us too late that we should have been on an exit ramp.  We ended up going 495 and I don’t know what happened through this portion because somehow we again ended up in a suburban area.  We finally found our way back to an interstate around 1 and at this point I had pulled out goldfish to hold the girls over until we could find a place to stop for lunch.  I had been feeling nauseous for the last hour and had cracked and closed the window numerous times.  Somewhere between the combination of turning around to hand out goldfish, the way the sun was coming into the car, and my stomach getting empty I really started to feel sick.  I cracked the window again and ate a handful of goldfish then quickly realized that was not a good idea.  Thank goodness for the ziploc bag!  Poor Steve, the girls were hungry and fussy, I was sick, and he was trying to find a place we could stop and just get out.  I know he was wondering what did I get myself into?

Thankfully we found an exit in the next 10 minutes and they even had a Panera.  I could not handle the thought of greasy fast food and getting back into the car to ride for several more hours.  We stopped got lunch, got some fresh air, and then packed up everyone again in hopes that the girls would take naps.

Megan must have been worried about missing out on something because she just would not give it up.  We tried everything, a DVD, a CD, “quiet car”, she just was not going to go to sleep.  “Quiet car” did help Natalie go to sleep.  Megan did finally crash as we drove into downtown Philadelphia, about 30 minutes from our hotel.

We did have to make one more stop before we made it to the hotel.  Because of all of our suburban side trips during the day we realized we may not have enough gas to get all the way to the hotel and instead of play the where is the closest gas station in an unfamiliar area we stopped before we hit Philadelphia (and were able to squeeze in another bathroom stop).  We finally arrived at our hotel right at 5PM.  An hour later than we had anticipated, but we made it there safe and sound without any more excitement.

Sarah watched the girls Friday night for us so that we could go to the basketball game and they had a blast hanging out with her at college.

Here are a few pics of the girls with Sarah on Friday night and Saturday morning when we took Sarah to breakfast and visited the town near her campus.

  So excited to see Miss Sarah!

The first time they slept together – they look so sweet and innocent when they are sleeping.  :)

Exploring the town together – Megan loves her big sister so much that she copies everything Natalie does.

Thankfully our trip back home wasn’t as eventful and we were able to stop by Ikea so that Natalie could play in the kid’s area (Megan wasn’t big enough) and we could check out a few things.  We made family memories, but I don’t know when we will plan the next family road trip.

Menu planning progress

….or lack of.  I had a few good weeks of sticking to my menu planning and enforcing the eat at home challenge I came up with in January.  Then I lost my momentum – again.  I think one of the things that really got me out of the habit was that my sweet and wonderful husband took me away for the weekend of Valentine’s Day.  We obviously ate out and left money and take out menus for the sitter and the girls. 

The other roadblock is that although I have been trying to “push through” and “be a trooper” morning sickness and exhaustion have just seemed to really knock me down.  (Side note: I guess now is a good time to share that we found out in mid-December that we are going to have an unexpected blessing arrive mid-August.)  I had in my mind that by mid-February I would be at the end of my first trimester and starting on the best stage of pregnancy - the second trimester.  It hasn’t worked out quite like that, at least not yet.  The exhaustion has been horrible and sometimes just the thought of walking into the kitchen to fix anything other than water and crackers is more than I can handle.  I don’t like feeling so useless, but I keep telling myself that I am older and that I have two little ones to chase around and clean-up after.  (I won’t even comment on the state of the house.)  Steve is great and has tried to help me and be as encouraging as he can be.  He will try to handle the girls after he gets home or help me knock-out a task if I get a spurt of energy.  He has also been willing to either eat cereal for dinner, leftovers (not his favorite), or offer to take us out or bring something home so that I don’t have to worry about cooking.  He has even become a bit of a sous chef for me.  I have had a real aversion to touching any sort of raw meat, and the smell of something like hamburger browning has been enough to cause me to run out of the kitchen, so he has been a great help with prepping stuff in advance. 

I am trying to get back into the swing of menu planning again.  I know it sounds crazy but having a simple thing, like what you are going to eat or fix for dinner that night really reduces some of the everyday chaos around the house.  I know that Natalie also really liked having a menu plan.  Last week when I didn’t make one but still had the previous week’s posted on the refrigerator she asked me, “What is for dinner tonight?”  I told her, “I don’t know.  We will come up with something.”  Her response was, “Mom, look at the chart on the refrigerator.  It will tell us.”

A positive thing has been that with my overflowing pantry that we have had plenty of things to choose from for dinner and some of the convenience mixes (that aren’t my favorites) have really worked out great for side dishes or lunches for the girls.  The bags of frozen veggies have also been a lifesaver to rounding out a meal.  I am going to attempt to make a roast in the crockpot today and try to make bread.  I haven’t made bread in about 3 weeks.  I am thinking the roast will work for at least 2 maybe 3 meals, and we can talk about our weekend plans over dinner tonight. 

Another positive thing is that although we haven’t completely enjoyed home cooked meals, we have still been eating together and spending time together as a family.

Bedtime

Bedtime is sometimes a struggle at our house. Natalie is not allowed to get out of her bed unless she asks to get up. She is only allowed out of bed to go to the bathroom. Sometimes she really does, sometimes she just walks in there and pretends. She will however call us to come into her room. We don't generally respond to her - she is the queen of stalling. There are times however when we will go in there to either explain to her that she needs to be quiet so she doesn't wake-up Megan, or to pick up a book that has fallen on the floor. She continued to call for Steve tonight, "Daddy, please come here." We were playing the ignore game which works most of the time. Tonight though, we got a good laugh out of her bedtime stall game. She had called out "Daddy" several times and Steve would respond with "Just a minute Natalie and I'll be there." Finally after a few minutes of silence from her room she yells "Daddy, please come here. I am being sooo patient." Evidently we need to have some more conversations about what patience is.

The things kids say...

This morning Natalie crawled into bed with me and was asking me about what we were going to do today. She then asked me, "Is Dad going to stay home tomorrow?" I replied, "No, tomorrow is Wednesday. He has to go to work." She said. "Mom, do you know what Wednesday is?" I wanted to hear her response so I said, "No, what is it?" She responded with a big smile on her face and partially singing, "Double coupons day at Ukrop's!"

Do you think I have a future couponer?