Praying for Stellan

MckMama at Mycharmingkids.net is a blog I read religiously and she is also the one who started Not Me! Monday. Her youngest son Stellan is in Pediatric ICU and is not doing well. Please click on the picture above to go to her blog and more than anything, please pray for this sweet baby boy.

Frugal Friday

A couple of the blogs I read do a Frugal Friday post, and since being Frugal is a part of my daily life, I thought I would add one to my blog and see how it goes. Basically I will the Frugal Friday post to talk about ways I save money each week, or new ideas I have read. Here goes nothing!
This week was a very frugal week for me, not just out of habit, but also out of necessity. Even Mr. Wright was frugal this week! Here are some ways I saved money this week:

• In the mail this week, I recieved quite a few of the free magazine subscriptions I had signed up for, including Martha Stewart!
• I also received a free sample of popcorn and lots of coupons from offers I had signed up for this week in the mail.
• My sister and I went to Gardner's used books and bought well over $100 worth of books for $30. I finally got Twilight and have started it!
• My mom, sister, the prince and princess and I took advantage of the Salvation Army's 50% off all clothing on Wednesdays. I love thrift store shopping, as does my mom. We got to spend time together, have fun, and left with 4 bags of clothes for all of us and books! My mom got especially lucky with clothes for her, which was great because she really needed some clothes. When I find really, super-great deals, I will even get bigger sizes for the kids and put them away for upcoming seasons. That way they always have clothes to grow into and I don't have to run out and spend full price on anything.
• I am trying to be more aware of using only half of the recommended amount for most household items (Shampoo, dish detergent, clothes detergent, etc.) I usually try to do this, but I have not been as aware of what I am using lately. Most items like these you can get by with using a much smaller amount than most of us use.
• All of our Spring Break entertainment has been free. We went to the park at the River one day, had a friend over, played at the neighbor's house, etc.
• I am trying to make sure paper has been thoroughly used up before it is recycled. I use both sides to print on, cut used paper into scraps, and write on both sides of the paper I use for my to do list. This is not only frugal, but good for the environment, as alot of frugal doings are!
• I am being more diligent about lights. Both Mr. Wright and the Princess have a tendency to leave lights on when they leave a room. I am trying to double check for them and turn them off.
• On the hottest day this week, we left the windows open and fans on until right before bed to cool down the house. We also only used the heat for a teeny bit this morning, other than that it has been off all week.
  
• When the trash bag in the can is full, I take it out of the can, and continue to use it. There is so much more room left in the bag!
  

I would love to hear anything frugal tips you have, or your frugal doings for this past week. Hope you learned something from mine! Can't wait to hear some of yours, be sure and post some tips! Now, I am off to read more of Twilight. I think I may finish the book tomorrow. Yes, its THAT good!

Not Me! Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

Here we go again!

I am definitely not excited for the Princess to be on Spring Break this week and to have the excuse to cut back on my working hours. I love my job and working is always a pleasure! I am also not going to pretend that I am a Stay At Home Mom this week while she is off, as opposed to a Work At Home Mom!

I am not so horribly exhausted this morning that it is hard to look at my computer screen without falling asleep. And this is not due coughing all night last night and having an over tired little boy who woke up way too much last night. I also did not just give up on weaning him from the bottle last night because the night before was to miserable for both of us! I am also not contemplating napping when Henry, Abi (who is playing with us today) and Cadence take naps this afternoon. I have too much to do to nap!

I did not think how pretty Henry's hair would be if we were a girl last night, right before Oma gave him his first hair cut. I did not wish for just one second and Henry and KK had each other's hair!

And I am not totally enjoying the silence while Henry and Abi nap and KK play's at a neighbor's house. Ahhhhh.....

Weaning

The Prince is now 1 year old. And that means its time to wean. When Cadence was getting close to this age, we gradually started weaning her, and by her first birthday, no more bottles. Alot of this was just her personality also. She did not really rely on the bottle. Now comes Henry. Since Henry spent most of his first year going to work with me, he got hooked on bottles to go to sleep. Since I was in an office close to clients and could not let him "cry it out" as we had with Cadence at a much earlier age, Henry has never really had to do this. I have relied on the bottle to get him to sleep for naps and bedtime. (I know this is a huge no-no!) So here we are now, working from home, where he can cry it out, and while I have been home for close to two months, I have not even tried weaning him. Its just gotten so easy to put him to nap/bed with a bottle and that's it. Now its time to wean him. I am dreading this. See, when Henry was a young infant, it took quite a bit of training to get him to sleep. He did not know how to sleep well, and I literally had to train the kid to sleep. Well, I have him well trained now. Nap time starts to roll around and he is cranky. 6:30 at night and he is ready for bed. The problem is the bottle. And I know part of the reason I am hesitant to wean is because of all of the problems I had getting him to sleep in the begining.
Earlier this week, I was training volunteers one evening while Ben had the kids at home. When I got home, he told me he put Henry down for bed without a bottle and it took 1.5 hours for him to go to sleep. But he went to sleep eventually. So yesterday I decided that for afternoon nap, I would not give him the bottle. I knew that Ben could pick KK up from school so that if it took Henry a while to fall asleep, it would be okay. I put him down about 1:30. By the time Ben and KK got home, 3:15, he was still crying. So I left to go run errands, and when I got back at 5:15, HE HAD NEVER GONE TO SLEEP! I went and got him out of his bed, and I found this horribly tired baby.
Look how red and tired his eyes are. So, I gave up weaning for the day. I think tonight I may try to put him to bed without a bottle. I am thinking that starting at bedtime will be a smarter option. Wish me luck!

Not Me! Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

Confession time. Here goes! (I am not in a fabulous mood, so it will be interesting to see where this takes us...)

I have not cursed my husband (silently) numerous time last week and this weekend for being sick. I have not thought that he really just needs to get over it, because I am sick too and am taking care of two sick and cranky children. I understand Mommy's can't get sick and even if they do, they definitely cannot act sick because there is no time for that. Especially Mommy's who work from home and are still home, so there is really no excuse not to work. Not Me!

I did not let the Princess stay home from school again, even though I knew within a couple of hours she would feel fine, just so I would not have to get out since I felt horrible.

I have not been pretending to be weaning the Prince from a bottle/formula, but not really doing it. I have not been thinking that I have plenty of formula and so what if he is one and a half before he gives up his bottle? Its not like he's 3!

I have not stopped almost all of my recycling since we moved back into the house, just because I am too lazy to get it all set back up again. I would never do that because I deeply care about the environment. I also have not forgotten my shopping bags for the two weeks and collected more plastic bags. At least I have sacks for dirty diapers!

That's it for today!

What a week!

TGIF! Since I now work from home, I don't look forward to Fridays as much as I used to, although the prospect of sleeping in on Saturdays is always appealing. This week I was ready for Friday just for the week to be over. Last weekend was very event filled, with Henry's birthday. Towards the end of the weekend, some major events happened that, while they did not directly affect my family, we definitly felt the after shocks. It is incredibly hard to watch people that you love hurt and be hurt so badly. The whole week has been over shadowed by these events. It has been a hurtful week and I am praying that the damage from the events of this week can be repaired. Last night we got some good news on this issue, so hopefully things will be looking up.

On to the good events of the week, Ben got started on the process of becoming a volunteer firefighter for Berryhill. He will be on probation for a month before he can actually have any duties. Ben unfortunately, came down with a bad cold virus and has been pretty sick this week, missing two days of work. By the end of the week, we all ended up with the virus and are trying to get better.

Wednesday, my mil and I went to the Just Between Friends Sale and picked up a bunch of clothes for the prince as well as some toys I had wanted to for him for this birthday at half the price. The same day I went to the Salvation Army thrift store because every Wednesday all clothing is half price, and got tons more stuff for both kids. It was a great day for bargains.

Thursday, we played outside after school and then went over to my mil's for a cookout. Friday, I went to watch KK's dance class in the morning and by the time it was over, it was obvious that she was very sick, so I just took her home with me. I ended up caring for Ben, KK, and Henry most of the day, and worked in between.

It has been a busy work week for me, because we are sending out our first fundraising letter, finalizing the website, and I am starting a new training on Monday. Hopefully by next week, we will have some much needed money rolling in from our letter.

Here are some recent pictures to enjoy!
(Never mind, I just discovered I left my camera at my mother in law's!)

4/365

1. Daily chats with my mom
2. Thrift stores
3. Instant mashed potatoes
4. 100 calorie snacks
5. Nose bulbs for suctioning baby noses

3/365 Grace

I know I've missed some days, but lets see if I can still complete 365 of theses, even if it takes me longer than a year. Because face it, these are just cool to do and give you perspective.

1. Working from home (which today allowed me to take some time off of work and take a nap when the Prince did because he kept me up all night.)
2. Redbox for renting DVDs
3. Warm Swaeatpants
4. Taco Bell on a night when I had not energy to cook
5. Sleep

Grace in Small Things

I know these posts have fallen by the way side, but I would like to jump start them again.
1. Internet
2. Snuggling with Joe (the Guinea Pig)
3. Fat baby legs and feet
4. Disposable diapers
5. Secret Life of the American Teenager. Such a great show emotionally and educationally for teenagers!

Not Me! Monday

Get ready to confess your sins!

I have not picked out a new name (I already have another) for a third child, a girl, especially since there is very little chance of actually having a third child, since Mr.Wright is done and I am 90% sure that two is fine. And I am definitely not keeping this name to myself in case someone might steal it!

I have not been getting Joe the Guinea Pig out of his cage after the Princess goes to bed to snuggle with him on the couch. And he definitely did not pee on me one of those times!

I did not go to sleep at 9:30 last night, even though House was on (and you know I can't miss House!) and it was so nice that I am definitely not thinking about doing it again tonight.

The Prince did not take off walking last week and never stopped. And I do not let him walk into the Princess's room and play in there while she is at school!

I have not just now realized that I never did another "Grace in Small Things" post. Oops!

I did not buy my husband a 44 oz bag of Reese's eggs at Sam's the other night, that is so unhealthy!

I did not threaten the horribly cranky Princess that we would be sleeping in our can in the Sam's parking lot if she did not wear her seat belt properly! Good mothers never have to threaten!

I hope you all enjoyed my indiscretions!