I am totally suffering from the desire to gorge after a long famine. We were doing so well to pay off all the CCs and now....Well I like cooking real food, not quick cheap throw togethers. I like buying fruit, not hoping that multivitamin does the trick. I like baking and sharing. I really hate hanging laundry, or rather I hate having it doen early enough to hang! I want to goof off online for the first hour, not switch laundry and hang a load!

But I am doing good on cloth diapers still, and we are still frugal with all that cooking, just not as frugal as we could be. In any event I am not going to need your tax money to pay for it, just might never own this house!

At the store yesterday we walked all around, and backtracked, cause I let my son be in charge of the list, which means we walked right past so many things we needed and had to go back for them! But he felt very important, so I don't mind.

Course my legs mind! I am tired, I am a wuss really I must be to think walking around a store for 45 minutes is work, 'course I had to carry my 18 lb kid for half of it, that is part of why I think it is work.

I am wondering if it counts as frugal fitness though, I would have done it regardless of my get in shape goal...

err we don't want to talk about it....

Actually we bought, grapes, apples, flour, and sugar, that was the budget, then we also bought cheese, pickles (splurge) grahams (splurge) milk, eggs, corn bread (I make lousy from scratch) and bounce.

Really not like we got that much splurging.

Most of the flour is to bake and share at church, the rest is all foods I think are healthy, and I don't want to cut just to pay off the house earlier.

My son hates handwriting, he loves being creative, loves drawing, loves reading. But hates handwriting, mostly I go easy on him because I didn't write for years do to my dislike, not till we accuired a word proccessor and my hands grew did I 'write' for fun.

But I hit on an idea for some subtle weekly practice, the grocery list. Kid wants my to buy burger buns, he needs to help make the grocery list! Plus it will help with spelling, though many foods are 'weird' (sugar?)

So far this Months working out challenge has been a frugal success, apparently if you just do it it works! I am a 'perfectionist' not as in I do it all right, but that if I don't do it perfect I want to give up and avoid it.

Well Self.com has some strength training moves, written out, I am terrible at following workout directions written out. But I did it, I just tried to figure them out for 20 minutes, and I surrvived! Judging by mild pain and desire to rest the following day I think I did some good! I have done it three times now, and while I still don't think I am doing it perfectly, but I seem to be getting more definition in my waistline, so it must be doing something!

I also have the misconception that a mini walk is a waste of time, which is silly with all the reports on how any excercise is beter than none, so this week even if I can only get out for 15 minutes (20 if you count coat s on time for 3 little ones!) I am doing it! I did it once already this week (the other days we had time for 30 minutes or more) It was a bit cold and we had to spend more time bundleing up than at the playground, but we did it, and I burned (according to self.com) I think 75 calories. Hey thats 75 more than nothing!

Ok so I relly shouldn't complain, plenty of people in the north are in the middle of winter right now, and here I am with cold feet complaining about the weather which will be 65 or 70 mid afternoon. But I live in the south for a reason, I want summer here!!!!

Now ask me mid August and I will be desperate for winter!

I am cold, I want to dress my baby in less, My kids out the door faster and without wondering whihc coat is needed. I want to go outside more (burn calories!) and I want to stop having the winter sloth that effects me every year (I think they have a disease name for it now, something about lack of sunshine makeing people depressed, and stuff - I just get fat and lazy though, or well that and a bit depressed)

well actually the kids ate them up, but my husband and I were not interested in a repeat anytime soon!

I actually have a sortof menu for the next week planned:

Spinache lasagna
Burgers (found them on sale, great price)
Enchaladas (or tacos, depending on how lazy I am)
Chili
Rice something (I said sortof!)
French toast

I keep forgetting to put in here, I picked Marches goal, frugal fitness!

I really need to get back in the habit of walking and working out, between a baby and winter sloth I am out of shape!

I found

DH has said NO to the bigger car, and I understand why, I just don't happen to agree. But oh well.

Ok so I really do know that I do not need a bigger car, but Oh I REALLY want one. We have a car that seats 5, two adults in front, and three car seats accross the back.

But no one else, just us, which means I can't ask my niece to babysit, no way to get her home .

I can't have any friends of the kids in the car, no room.

I can't sit beside my baby to distract him on long car trips (like 5 hours to Bros, or 8 to Pgh) No room.

This sucks....

At the playground yesterday I was talking to a woman who said my son looked like the kid who won the parents cover contest. Or parenting, or something. Really I swear they are all written by the same person! But the winner got 3,000 dollars for sending in a picture!

I was thinking I should consider sending my kids picture out (all 3 of the kids) to see if I can get money, but at the same time, do I really want to look up all those addresses and spend the stamp money? What are the odds on that sort of thing?

I am trying to get the stuff out of my 'uncategorized' group from the old format into nice neat categories, and in the process I am reading up on things about a year ago. Back when I thought I would be in debt for the rest of my sons childhood! I am still sure I will have hte house that long, but I have hopes of improving that.

I was also reading on how hard it was to get my grocery bill down, and now I am still complaining, so I guess not all has changed in the year!

My son has requested a dinosaur cake for his birthday, I aim to please but I am not buying a store dedorated cake, So instead we got him a lego dinosaur set, and we will put the dinosaurs on the cake, he gets the rest as his gift. I figure some green grassy areas, and some blue water maybe some form of vulcano (cupcake on top, with red icing on sides?) But now I have to work on the invitations to fit, and decorations or games.

Last year at 3 he got a 'treasure hunt' complete with buried tresure.

The year before (2yo) we played 'Blue's clues' complete with blue pawprints.

At 1yo we just did balloons and hoped he didn't have a meltdown (he didn't)

I was thining of doing an invitation with dinosaur footprints or something, prehistoric wording maybe? Not sure how to do that, but I know after my experience with antiqued paper for the treasure hunt, I am NOT doing that! I want printable paper! No way am I handwriting that many invitations again!

I had a bag of fresh carrots yesterday so I shredded the whole lot. Only my son eats them raw, but we all like them in things. Last night was black bean fiesta, and I tossed in a cup of shreds, you couldn't even tell, but it tasted good.

Actually the beans were really good, not err, beany . I have no idea how I did that, but I hope I can repeat soon.

I also have plans to make carrot muffins with the shreds, and in the meantime I froze them, unfortunatly I don't have enough freezer containers to freeze that much, so I used ziplocks, my last two. I will have to get more, I would rather go with containers for reusability (no offense to ziplock washers, I just don't) but I like the flexability of the bag, cause I have to 'break offf' a chunk when I use it.

So yesterday we went to BJs and Foodlion, not bad for a total of 100$ Not great but better than last month, and it included two gifts.

But then we also went to the science center, for $37 plus 25 for dinner.

I also paid the phone bill, we spent 20$ in calls over the limit!!! No more talking to mom every day (sorry mom)

The good news is I grabbed a cloth diaper today, and am a bit more commited to spending less.

This is a good thing I am the only woman I know whos husband is generally smaller, but he is in great shape, and aside from around an inch when I am pregnant he has always been. (he is also the same height, so no extra width due to height.


The only excercise planned today is a trip to BJs for groceries, but luggimg around my 18lb kid should make it count!

I payed bills last night, still a rather large total in there, which is partly cool, but also partly hard to be frugal with!

This is a good thing, I don't want them to fit, and they don't, only 1 week of half hearted effort and already they don't fit, that is awesome, I love it, I really am looking forward to the next few weeks in hopes of more good news (maybe more pants that don't fit!)

Oh and I have great news, spring is here in NC!!!! I went for a walk this morning, wonderful weather, I have windows open right now! I love NC!!!! (well talk to me again in August, but I love it now!)

My husband has been playing the challenge game for only 2 months in his spare time. You can check the details at his site if you want