As the days go by and I realize that my son won't always want to spend every minute of every day with me, I think more and more what we can do together as a family. That being said, with the economy the way it is, we have to be frugal in what we do each day! So Jamie and I came up with an idea to save money and spend time with the entire family (including our dog!). Every other weekend, weather permitting, we take our dog, Gotti, to the dog park. Afterwards, we drive to an awesome place we found called That Dirty Dog . We can all go in together and give our pooch a nice bubbly bath. They even have extra little aprons for kids to wear so they don't get soaked during the classic doggy shakes! Of course my son, being as particular as he is, refused to wear the apron, but he avoided the flying water anyway.
We used to drop our big Gotti off at a dog grooming place in Acworth and pay $50 (before tip!) for a wash, dry and nail clipping. Here we paid $25 and got to have a fun afternoon together as a family. Not to mention it's right next to a frozen yogurt place...I think I'll convince the hubs to stop off there next time!
I know it's hard to plan time to spend with family. If I had it my way, I'd spend my Sundays on the couch eating snack foods and watching tv BY MYSELF! But we really need to hold on to these times we have together. I want my son to remember all the good times we had together as a family - going hiking, camping, and yes, even washing the dog. I think I'll continue finding ways to spend time together (cheaply) and write about it. Not only can I share the information with who chooses to read it, but it gives me an excuse to try out new things to do with my boys.
So give this a try, people. I'm telling you, it takes the CHORE out of washing your dog!
Link: That Dirty Dog
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Famliy
We have had to move recently (joy). The decision was hasty, the move was stressful, and the reason was unfounded. It's all an incredibly long story which I won't bore you with; I just wanted to express my thankfulness to my family who helped us along this ambiguous journey.
We were renting a house in Acworth that wasn't exactly perfect, but we made it our own. We spent a lot of time and money to make our family comfortable there and now we are in a place that is not our own, nor will it ever be. I genuinely enjoy decorating and now I am in a position where I can't even rearrange furniture...I know that may sound insignificant to some, but to me it's been very stressful and sad for me.
I feel like a bad mother because my son's room isn't painted a fun color and that the living room doesn't have our beautiful family pictures hanging up. I also feel like a bad mom because through this move, I haven't spent as much time nurturing and teaching my son. We used to read multiple books and learn a new word/sound everyday! Now I struggle to read him one book a day because I'm too busy worrying about packing and unpacking and paying bills and so on. I have been making more of an effort to turn off the TV and get down and play with him. I need to do a better job. He is everything to my husband and me and that's really all that matters.
We should be happy that there is a roof over our heads and food on the table. So what if the money in our checking account isn't as "happy" as it used to be (I had to quit my part time job in order to move). Even if we don't have as much, at least we have each other - doesn't that sound like a line in a crappy movie! Now is the time to focus on building ourselves up again and becoming the strong family we were made to be. I can't let anything/anyone stand in my way of enjoying life. This is a time for readying myself for the next 'chapeter'. What is the next chapter? I don't know!
It seems that each year some thing significant happens - getting a new job, meeting Jamie, getting pregnant, getting married, quitting my job, having a baby. Oh wait, all of that happened in ONE YEAR. What was the reasoning behind all of this? That was the prequel to my new life as a full time mom. Oh well, now a slough of things have happened to change our lives completely again. At least I have a loving husband and adorable son who stand by me daily. I will continue to do the things I love - writing, running, and cooking.
Currently, our son is in a preschool for a few hours a week so I will have more time to write. I am hoping that maybe one day I can just write articles for a magazine/newspaper and still be able to be a stay at home mom. Of course, the way that my life goes - that dream may be untouchable!
We were renting a house in Acworth that wasn't exactly perfect, but we made it our own. We spent a lot of time and money to make our family comfortable there and now we are in a place that is not our own, nor will it ever be. I genuinely enjoy decorating and now I am in a position where I can't even rearrange furniture...I know that may sound insignificant to some, but to me it's been very stressful and sad for me.
I feel like a bad mother because my son's room isn't painted a fun color and that the living room doesn't have our beautiful family pictures hanging up. I also feel like a bad mom because through this move, I haven't spent as much time nurturing and teaching my son. We used to read multiple books and learn a new word/sound everyday! Now I struggle to read him one book a day because I'm too busy worrying about packing and unpacking and paying bills and so on. I have been making more of an effort to turn off the TV and get down and play with him. I need to do a better job. He is everything to my husband and me and that's really all that matters.
We should be happy that there is a roof over our heads and food on the table. So what if the money in our checking account isn't as "happy" as it used to be (I had to quit my part time job in order to move). Even if we don't have as much, at least we have each other - doesn't that sound like a line in a crappy movie! Now is the time to focus on building ourselves up again and becoming the strong family we were made to be. I can't let anything/anyone stand in my way of enjoying life. This is a time for readying myself for the next 'chapeter'. What is the next chapter? I don't know!
It seems that each year some thing significant happens - getting a new job, meeting Jamie, getting pregnant, getting married, quitting my job, having a baby. Oh wait, all of that happened in ONE YEAR. What was the reasoning behind all of this? That was the prequel to my new life as a full time mom. Oh well, now a slough of things have happened to change our lives completely again. At least I have a loving husband and adorable son who stand by me daily. I will continue to do the things I love - writing, running, and cooking.
Currently, our son is in a preschool for a few hours a week so I will have more time to write. I am hoping that maybe one day I can just write articles for a magazine/newspaper and still be able to be a stay at home mom. Of course, the way that my life goes - that dream may be untouchable!
Friday, July 29, 2011
Saving StarBUCKS...
I have an addiction. An addiction to a Venti-Decaf-Nonfat-Caramel Macchiato. When I need to reward myself after a great workout or just a trip to the gyno, I take my happy self into the drive thru at Starbucks. You can smell the coffee as the sliding doors open while they take $6 from your hand. Yikes! That's a quarter of a box of diapers. That's two gallons of milk! These are the things that are going through my head (after I'm finished with my delicious drink, of course).
A couple of years ago I had given my mom a Mr. Coffe Cafe Frappe machine. It basically brews the coffee and then blends the drink of your choice. I began to look at the recipes and tried a few. SO GOOD. They even have alcohol-coffee drinks. I wrote down some recipes and tried it at home with a small blender my husband had (ironically) just given to me. Here's the three I've tried so far:
For all recipes, brew 1/2 cup of dark roast coffee or espresso. (3 tablespoons ground coffee).
Classic Mocha
Place all ingredients in blender in this order:
2 cups ice (14-17 cubes)
2 Tbsp sugar
3Tbsp chocolate syrup
1/4 whole milk or other milk
1/2 brewed coffee (cool to room temp if possible)
Vanilla Cappuccino
Place all ingredients in blender in this order:
2 cups ice cubes (14-17 cubes)
3 Tbsp sugar
3/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup whole or other milk
1/2 cup coffee (cooled to room temp if possible)
Chocolate Caramel Swirl
Place all ingredients in blender in this order:
2 cups ice cubes (14-17 cubes)
1/3 cup butterscotch-caramel syrup
3 Tbsp chocolate syrup
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup whole or other milk
1/2 cup coffee (cooled to room temp if possible)
Blend all until smooth or however you want it, of course. Please use REAL chocolate syrup. The kind that is in the easy squeeze container is actually watered down for 'squeezability'. I'll add some more recipes as I try them out. I can't tell you how much money this has saved us in just 2 weeks of making these! My husband likes to have a drink every morning during his commute so just that right there saves a few dollars a day! PLEASE TRY THIS! I just brew a full carafe of coffee and then stick it in the fridge so I always have some on hand to make a quick drink in the morning. It literally takes 2 minutes. That's probably faster than Starbuck's considering the lines!
Recipes from the Mr. Coffee Cafe Frappe book - minor changes made by me.
A couple of years ago I had given my mom a Mr. Coffe Cafe Frappe machine. It basically brews the coffee and then blends the drink of your choice. I began to look at the recipes and tried a few. SO GOOD. They even have alcohol-coffee drinks. I wrote down some recipes and tried it at home with a small blender my husband had (ironically) just given to me. Here's the three I've tried so far:
For all recipes, brew 1/2 cup of dark roast coffee or espresso. (3 tablespoons ground coffee).
Classic Mocha
Place all ingredients in blender in this order:
2 cups ice (14-17 cubes)
2 Tbsp sugar
3Tbsp chocolate syrup
1/4 whole milk or other milk
1/2 brewed coffee (cool to room temp if possible)
Vanilla Cappuccino
Place all ingredients in blender in this order:
2 cups ice cubes (14-17 cubes)
3 Tbsp sugar
3/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup whole or other milk
1/2 cup coffee (cooled to room temp if possible)
Chocolate Caramel Swirl
Place all ingredients in blender in this order:
2 cups ice cubes (14-17 cubes)
1/3 cup butterscotch-caramel syrup
3 Tbsp chocolate syrup
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup whole or other milk
1/2 cup coffee (cooled to room temp if possible)
Blend all until smooth or however you want it, of course. Please use REAL chocolate syrup. The kind that is in the easy squeeze container is actually watered down for 'squeezability'. I'll add some more recipes as I try them out. I can't tell you how much money this has saved us in just 2 weeks of making these! My husband likes to have a drink every morning during his commute so just that right there saves a few dollars a day! PLEASE TRY THIS! I just brew a full carafe of coffee and then stick it in the fridge so I always have some on hand to make a quick drink in the morning. It literally takes 2 minutes. That's probably faster than Starbuck's considering the lines!
Recipes from the Mr. Coffee Cafe Frappe book - minor changes made by me.
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