62 and heading to 70

On Facebook today I posted the question: What do you keep your thermostat set on? I've had mine set pretty low because I was anticipating high gas bills. Seems like when we lived in Kansas City in a house that is smaller then this one our bills were pretty high - even keeping it at 68 degrees during the day and lower at night. I set our thermostat here to kick on to 72 degrees in the morning while we are getting ready for the day, 62 during the day, and 72 again from 6 - 10 pm for the evening. At night it is set at 60 degrees. Based on all the responses I've received so far I think I'm kicking it up to at least 70 for the whole day! These settings worked when it was 50 degrees out but now it feels COLD! Wonder why I never am motivated to get up off the couch and from under the blankets to get things done???

What do you keep yours set at?

We have another busy week ahead of us. Seems like when the calendar is full during January and February it helps the winter pass by faster:) Today I had a dentist appointment (worth a whole post by itself!) and ran a few errands before coming home to tackle the mess that is my home! Tomorrow Ethan starts preschool at the church preschool and has his 3 year checkup (Late!) Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday we have more appointments and we go to Baby Joy Friday morning at the nursing home. At some point I'd really like to start taking Ethan to the library and to a free playgroup through the school and tackle the basement. The basement will take me an entire week so I keep putting it off:)

It's chili for supper tonight which I'd better get started! Stay Warm, Readers!!

Follow Up

This is a follow up to the comments that were left on the previous post.

I have found that I mostly buy generic except for a few things where the taste/texture is better in the name brand. For example - Cool Whip holds the air better than the generic when I'm making strawberry tapioca jello salad. The jello salad is fluffier when I use name brand over generic. Also, I have tried many American cheese brands and find that I still like Kraft the best. Or like Dona said, sometimes the flavor or type of food you want is only available in name brand - when I looked for bread flour the other night I could only find Pillsbury or the kids like GoGurt for lunch which at Wal-Mart is only available in name brand. Aldi's has generic GoGurt but most weeks it is not worth the few pennies of savings to make the trip to the nearest one for me. OH - I will not buy generic mac and cheese! Kraft has everyone else beat in that category! Otherwise I stick to generic - I have found that for most products there isn't much of a difference. Looks like everyone who's voted so far buys both, too...

BTW: It is interesting to note that when Ryan used to visit manufacturing plants he said that sometimes they would run a product and label it with a name brand label and than midway through they would switch the labels - still the same product - to a generic brand. This isn't true for every product out there but there are quite a few that are this way.

Good idea, Sara, to plan menus. I've never been good at that. I keep a standard supply of ingredients on hand and then go and buy 2 - 3 different kinds on meat and figure out what to do with them after I get home. This usually works although there are a few times when I've had to text Ryan to stop by the store on the way home to pick up something that the recipe calls for that I do not have on hand.

As far as the reusable grocery bags - I have found that if I keep them in the van I usually remember to take them in with me. I have to say that I've never taken them in to the store and then forgotten to used them! Too funny, Elizabeth!

Groceries, Cupcakes, and Snowmen...???

Grocery Shopping...if you want to send shudders down my spine just mention this phrase to me! It is the task that I dislike the most! It is something that I put off until we are absolutely desperate for food which coincidentally makes it an even bigger and overwhelming task!

When I'm actually on top of things I'm a very organized grocery shopper. I spend some time cleaning out the pantry, freezer, and fridge and carefully make a list of all the things I need. I keep on ongoing list on the fridge of items that we are running low on so that I can get them before we actually run out - i.e. ketchup, flour, or syrup - you know, the things that if you run out of you have to stop what you are making or eating to go get them because you just can't make it/eat it without 'em. Then I ditch all three kids and head to Wal-Mart or Jewel for an hour long torture session. I usually stick to the list and only allow myself 3 spur of the moment items. When I checkout I have my reusable bags that drive the check out ladies CRAZY because they have to actually take the time to open each bag up and get it to stay open while they are trying to load the groceries in. Then it's out to the van where I've parked right next to a cart corral for convenience. Load the van up, drive home, start unloading. The kids bring the bags in while I empty them all out onto the counters.

This way I can see how much food goes in the pantry, how much in the veggie drawer, in the fridge, etc. Now, like I started the paragraph off - this is WHEN I'm ORGANIZED. This hasn't happened in at least a month!!!

OH, NO, instead THIS is what my shopping experience consists of....

Load all three kids in the van after school in between homework and supper because I couldn't get it together enough to try and go when the older two were in school. They are tired, hungry, and wanting to run around. I spend my time chasing Ethan, telling the twins to quit hanging on to the cart, saying, "No, we are not buying Twinkies today", running from the front of the store to the back of the store because, "Oh, rats! I needed tomato juice which is kept in the Juice Aisle which is in the clear back of the store!" and telling Ethan to stop throwing food into the cart because he's smashing the bread. Than we head to the checkout where I've realized I've forgotten my reusable bags (which makes the aforementioned check out ladies REALLY happy and in a good mood) and I load the belt with groceries while trying to keep Ethan out of the candy, Kenton out of the arcade, and watch for Kaitlyn to come back from the bathroom because she JUST couldn't wait another minute. (She never has to go when we are in the back of the store by the bathrooms back there!) Next we head out to the van where the kids climb over the back seat into the van and proceed to start fighting over who sits where while I unload the bags into the van forgetting where I put the eggs and bread and praying that they aren't smashed!! On to home where I unload the whole van after making a quick PB&J supper for the kids because they are STARVING and can't wait another second for food. Then I hurry to get the frozen and cold stuff put away before whisking the kids off to bed and leave the rest of the groceries to get put away until sometime tomorrow...Did I mention that I dislike grocery shopping???

PLEASE, make me clean the TOILETS!!!!

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I decided to post a new poll:

Do you buy generic....

or name brand?

You can vote off to the side!

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Before all that craziness happened this evening I actually had a relaxing afternoon making cupcakes for the twins' after school snack. I realized today that I have this complex where I think cake is only for birthdays. Where did that idea come from??? The twins were pretty excited because usually I steer them towards a more healthy snack - yogurt, fruit, or wheat crackers and cheese. Plus it helped me get into a Valentine's Day mood which means I'm finally motivated to take down my Christmas decorations:)

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And Last But Definitely Not Least...

Introducing My Newest Little Buddy...

Mr. Snowman!

He has the privilege of sitting next to my computer where I can see him all day long. He was made by a sister of mine for Christmas! Isn't he cute??? I bet he's really looking forward to all that snow that I just saw on radar that is heading this way....

Warm Thoughts

After much, much thought I've decided to get the ol' blog up and running again. I'm not sure that I have any readers left though:) We are FREEZING so I decided to update my background with something warmer...and post a picture that reminds me of much warmer days!

If I didn't have to actually ever go anywhere it wouldn't be too bad!

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Since I haven't posted any pictures for awhile here are a couple of recent pics of the kids from our Christmas. It was fun to actually be able to open presents the day of Christmas Eve instead of having to do gifts a week early due to traveling.

Kait got her American Girl doll

Legos were the NUMBER 1 thing on Kenton's list!

Ethan had just as much fun helping Daddy put together his tool bench as he did playing with it once it was completed!

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I'll leave you with a warm thought:

Yesterday morning Ethan and I were having a bit of a bad day. He was crabby and I was trying to get motivated to get bills paid and laundry started (it's going to be a week long project, I'm afraid!) so we weren't meshing too smoothly. Pretty quickly after lunch I put him down for his much needed nap. He got some sleep and I got some paperwork done. I was downstairs on the computer a few hours later when I heard him start crying upstairs, "Somebody!" He called. "I scared! So-0-mebody!" I rushed upstairs to get him and carried him back down to the living room where we snuggled in the rocking chair for awhile. "I love you, Ethan" I said as I bushed his hair off his forehead and kissed his sleep induced rosy cheeks. "I love you, too!" He smiled back at me. We sat there for quite awhile just snuggling and rocking and forgetting all about our struggles from the morning. Sometimes our greatest joys can come from such seemingly small moments!

Happy New Year, Friends!

Today I am meeting with a landscaper. I had her come out a few weeks ago to look at what we want to do and she's coming back today with the plans for the front of our house - I'm excited to see what she's come up with! We'll be able to take those plans and do all the actual planting ourselves which I'm looking forward to - it's been awhile since I've gotten to dig around in the dirt. We'll start on the revamping next Spring. For now I'm going to plant a bunch of tulip and hyacinth bulbs - here's hoping they come up next Spring!!!

Finally...

I'm finally unpacking and organizing the last few things in the upstairs that had gotten shoved to the side for the past few months! Mostly it was stuff that I could get rid of - I figured if we didn't need it in the past few months than why keep it around? Next will be on to putting summer clothes away (they are still in their drawers!) and organizing the toys in the loft. Hopefully next week I can start working on the basement. There are still a few storage boxes down there that need to be unpacked and all the toys that landed there need to be organized so they can be put away each time instead of scattered all over the place! That won't happen though until next week at the earliest as my sister Melissa and her family may be coming up this weekend and that would just be counter-productive!

Mostly every one is settled in - the twins like school and have made friends both there and with the neighbor kids. They have made friends at church as well although we don't see those kids during the week usually. Ryan's job is keeping him incredibly busy - we're hoping he gets some help soon to do some of the busy work. Ethan keeps me busy - he likes to jump off counters, take baseball bats to the walls and furniture, play ball in the house, eat anywhere but the kitchen, get out one toy after the other (I'm working with trying to get him to put away the last toy first, ha!), and tell me continually - "I hear the bus!" He misses the twins while they are away at school:) He likes climbing and I find him at the top of the entertainment center reaching toys, in the pantry reaching the top shelf (scales the shelves!), and IN the fridge also reaching the top shelf (or any shelf that looks like it contains something he's interested in eating!) If we had a house with tall, mature trees I'm sure we'd find him at the top.

I took the kids last night to the fellowship center at church to help pack health kits for kids down in Mexico. Even Ethan helped for quite awhile filling the bags. Today I was going to meet my sister-in-law to do some shopping but Ethan woke up in a horrible mood so we stayed home instead. He's walking around the house crying and wanting to be held so I wonder if he's coming down with something. Right now he's walking around saying, "I'm busy! I'm busy!" Maybe I'd better go check and see what he's busy with...

So - that's a quick update on us. Not too exciting:)

Hmmmmm

I have been having loads of trouble trying to log onto this account. I will keep posting here for now but eventually may have to make the switch to http://beckyweiss.blogspot.com. There is a post on that site for now that says to continue checking this account but in the future if it's been awhile since I last posted check the other site to see if I've had to make the switch. I will also try to send out a mass e-mail with the new address if I need to do that. I'm really hoping that I don't have to start over!!!