Blogging Break

I will be taking a blogging break for the next month or so. I have, at this time, nothing to say. I have fallen completely off the frugal wagon, and will be concentrating on climbing back on.

Thanks!

National Library Week 2009 -- Day 4

Library Lion by Michelle Knudsen

National Library Week 2009 -- Day 3

The Boy Who Was Raised by Librarians by Carla Morris

National Library Week 2009 -- Day 2

Tomas and the Library Lady by Pat Mora

National Library Week

In honor of National Library Week, I thought I would share some of my favorite library/librarian themed childrens' books (since that is all I seem to read these days).

Bats at the Library by Brian Lies

Happy Easter

Happy Birthday Baby!

From: http://www.sugarliciousonline.com/cakes/birthday/animals/black_labrador.html

Happy Passover

And the Winner Is...

Blue Violet

Her frugal cooking tip,

"I try to plan my meals for the week around the grocery store sales for that week. That really helps cut costs on the expensive items like meat. Also, if I double the recipe and freeze half of it for later in individual portions...it saves on waste and prevents us from having to cook on busy days."

Thanks you to all who entered and Thank you to Gina for the free advertising!

I will be contacting the winner shortly. :)

Dining on a Dime Giveaway!

This will be my first ever giveaway of Cuppa, Cuppa, Cuppa, and I am really excited. I have in my possession one brand new copy of the Dining on a Dime Cookbook. I own this cook book and I LOVE IT. If you need a recipe for taco sauce it is in there. If you need a recipe for sidewalk chalk it is in there. If you need a recipe for a pore-minimizing clay mask... well, I am pretty sure that you can find a recipe for something close in there!

So, if you are interested in having your own copy... leave me a comment and a give me one frugal cooking tip. Winners will be picked on Monday, April 6th!

Mama Drama

My mom watches Nate while I am at work. I work close enough to her house that I go and have lunch with Nate just about every day. Today while I was there Nate tripped over a blow-up Krusty the Klown punching bag (don't ask) and fell face first onto another toy made of hard plastic. He hit right at his orbital bone, it must have hurt like hell. He screamed. I happened to be right there when it happened so I scooped him up, coo-ed and cuddled. Nate wailed harder and try to throw himself out of my arms and into grandma's....

It was devestating. I actually felt my heart break wide open. I cried real tears.

We got some ice of his face, gave him his sippy and a bink and he was fine. He's going to have a shiner, but he will be fine.

Knowing the fragile state of the mama ego, my mom whispered to Nate to "go give mommy a hug and a kiss" and to his credit my little man did just that. Complete with the universal sign for pick me up (both arms straigt up) and he cuddled me and kissed me and mended my broken heart.

It was a lot for a lunch hour.

Hillbilly Housewife

One of the things I have always loved about the Hillbilly Housewife is her emergency $45 and $70 menus. Recently, she updated these to reflect 2009 prices.

What a change... the $45 menu now costs $70 while the former $70 menu now costs $89.

What was interesting to me was the price changes of individual items like the 10lb. bag of flour that went from $1.92 to $3.98. That's more than double the price in 3 years! Wow! Rice was another shocker with a jump from $.99 in 2006 to $3.50 in 2009.

I knew the food prices went up, but seeing it in black and white in a side by side comparison is really eye opening. Yet another good reason to keep a price book....

Easter Basket Fluff

I started to put together Nate's Easter basket this week. There isn't/won't be much too it. He is too little for candy and has a ton of toys, so it will contain a few new things for the spring a summer, like sidewalk chalk (the egg shapes they have out at Easter are easy for little hands to hold), bubbles, and these little felted bunnies and chicks from Beneath the Rowan Tree.

So... Darn... Cute!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

An Open Letter to Trendy Restaurants:

Dear Trendy Restaurants:

I understand that I am no longer your target clientele. I am no longer a twenty-something who hangs out of the rooftop bar drinking insanely overpriced cocktails with cheeky names like "Smarty Pants" and "Champagne-o-rama." I am now a 30-something with a baby and a diaper bag in tow who likes to sit at a table and drink insanely overpriced cocktails with cheeky names like "Smarty Pants" and "Champagne-o-rama" while ordering food.

I did not/do not expect you to make accommodations for my baby. I understand that I will be sat at a table that is out of the way and where my child will not "kill the buzz" of the Gen-Y folks that usually fill your seats. So, you can imagine my surprise when I was asked if I needed a high chair. Fully expecting you not to have them I brought my own, but that you for asking. Perhaps you are more child friendly than I thought.

Imagine my confusion then when I took my son to the Ladies room to change him and found that it was not possible, there being a complete lack of a changing station and all. Knowing that what goes on in your bathrooms has more to do with primping in front of the mirror and less to do with powdering a behind I guess there isn't much call for a diaper changing station.

However, you might want to consider installing something that could be used to change diapers, because nothing is going to "kill the buzz" of your Gen-Y clientele faster than me changing a poopy diaper at the table next to them when they are trying to enjoy their tapas.

Just a thought.

Thank you.

Limeade

Since we had a cold snap and 6-8 inches of snow, I was in the mood for something summery... enter Limeade.

1 Cup Lime Juice
6 Cups Cold Water
1 3/4 Cups Splenda (or Sugar)

Combine and enjoy... pretent there isn't snow on the ground.

My Cloth Diaper Stash in Pictures

(L-R Top Row) mommy's Touch One Size Diaper (almost out of picture) One Size Fuzzi Bunz, 2 One Size Bumwear, 1 Sticky Peas Prefold
(L-R Next Row) OS Blueberry Minky in Blue Camo, 6 Bum Genius OS Diapers
(L-R Next Row) Swaddlebees OS Econappi in cow print, 2 Bum Genius OS Diapers
(L-R Bottom Row) Bum Genius Organis OS All in One Diaper (darker green)

Since I only cloth diaper part time my stash is modest in comparison to some. I don;t know that I would consider this frugal, because this is the expensive way to cloth diaper, but it certainly is green. Although considering that one diaper costs @ $18.00 and will last through potty training and then could be used on another baby, maybe this is frugal. I have 3 Goodmamas (the hottest cloth diaper around at them moment) on the way (I bought them used) and am even going to try my hand at making some embellished prefolds out of organic bamboo velor.

I have also just discovered a cloth diaper store (Diaperware) in my area that I will be visiting next week. The owner also has a web presence, and judging by the website she keeps the store stocked. I can;t wait to see some of these diapers in person. :)

My Frugal Philosophy

I have been trying to figure out my frugal philosophy for a LONG time. I see Meredith with her envelopes and her budget and I think how far off I am from that. I see Stephanie with her garden and her animals and I think of how I am no where NEAR that. I see any number of mamas on the Frugal blog roll and I think that perhaps I should move my little patootie off of it because many of the things I do and much of how hubby and I live is NOT frugal.

But then it occurred to me that frugality is a choice we all make. How we choice to use it or practice it is entirely individual. I will give you an example.

Monday was a day of extravagance. I bought really expensive tea at Teavana. I bought makeup at Sephora. I had lunch with Natey at the Cheesecake Factory. I bought him some new cloths at Baby Gap. Now I did have gift cards for Teavana, Sephora, and Gap but I bought beyond what the gift card covered. And I am ok with that.

To contrast that last night and this morning was an exercise in frugality. I was out of bread and skim milk. Sure I could have run to Wawa and bought bread and milk, but instead I mixed up some powdered milk and made a loaf of bread. This morning I stopped at CVS to get a prescription filled. I had a coupon for a free $25 gift card with a new prescription and I had a coupon for 1 free month of the medicine I had the prescription for. I also picked up a bottle of shampoo using a free coupon. This meant that I walked out of CVS with my meds, and a bottle of shampoo and CVS paid me $25 to do it. I then headed to McDonalds for a free cup of coffee with a coupon.

A contradiction to be sure. Does this make me a hypocrite? Maybe it does... but what I have decided is that for me frugality is a set of tools in a special tool belt. I pull the tool belt out and put it on when I need it... I don't wear it 24/7.

SHHH... Don't Tell Hubby...

But I had a date with my boyfriend yesterday. We had lunch at the Cheesecake factory, just the two of us.

Isn't he dreamy?

My Men part II