Changes, changes...

I have reached a point in my life where I can't find time to get my roots done so, in an attempt to avoid very Britney Spears level roots for the foreseeable future, I am back to natural. Not a big deal, except that I have been blonde for a while! My own mom was a little shocked when she saw it. Will told me, "Mom, you look like a different kind of mommy. You are still my mommy, but you look like a different kind of mom." What does that mean I ask you? Exactly what KIND of mommy do I now look like? I am a little freaked out about it for now but I will get used to it I think. We shall see how it grows back in. I am hoping a little lighter than this but I am not holding my breath!

After my very dramatic hair transformation, Will begins asking again for me to cut his hair "like daddy's". Well, if you know Jeff, you know that "like daddy" means not a lot of hair. Jeff's is buzzed these days to keep the attention away from the fact that there is much less there than there used to be. But Will has beautiful blonde curls! Like most things in world of Will, I am constantly on prevention mode. I am trying to always stay a step ahead of him because I am scared of what happens if I don't. So I am thinking, if he keeps asking and I keep saying no, one day he is going to grab a pair of scissors and do it himself. If I know my child, he will probably do it the day before Courtney's wedding in May. So, I decide if it is going to happen, I am going to control it, do it myself now so that it has time to grow out before the wedding.

So, I did it. It is cute, but makes me want to cry because he looks like such a big boy. I miss the adorable blonde curls. But, he thinks he looks cool and in Will's world, cool is all that matters. Luckily, Jake said before his haircut, "I do not want you to cut my hair like Will's". Jake lives to make me happy - thank goodness because I think Will lives to remind me that God has a sense of humor and gets a kick out of watching Will humble me each and every day!

Things I should be doing...

1. Laundry
2. Finishing the agenda for Sunday's meeting
3. Unloading the dishwasher
4. Sleeping because there are no children awake

But alas, I am doing none of these. I felt the need to chronicle my day because I have this feeling that one day about 5 years from now, I will wake up and go, wait a minute, I'm 26, not 36 right? Where did 2004 - 2015 go?

Since I am trying to save more and spend less, I have become an official crazy coupon lady. Today was my first experience with couponing on Super Doubles Day at Harris Teeter and I've got to tell you, I am hooked. I am in love with the website www.southernsavers.com. This week, I have officially bought 3 weeks of groceries plus a stock pile of various bath / medicine cabinet products for $150! For a family that spends WAY too much on food normally, that is pretty darn good! My goal is to cut our grocery budget in half this year and I am well on my way! Just to brag a little... I bought $100 of groceries today for $25.

So, my morning started with a 6:30am trip to the grocery store because with all of this coupon madness, it is too hard to go with the kids since I need to pay attention to what I am buying. Once back home and a quick shower, I got Will to school but had to come back home because he forgot his hat & gloves and they were going outside! I finally made it to work at 9:30 where I got much less done than I would have hoped. We have an important meeting this weekend I need to get things together for. After lunch with Will, Courtney, MM and Natalie all I had time to do was run home, feed Maddie May, change her diaper and it was time to get in carpool line!

It was not until I was on my way home from school at 2:30 that I remembered I DIDN'T BUY THE INGREDIENTS FOR THE CAKES!!! Clark, our fabulous youth pastor and I alternate months taking youth to the homeless shelter each month. We take dessert & coffee for 15-30 homeless men & women. We offer a short devotion time, accept prayer reguests, and we pray with them. They enjoy the dessert and warm coffee and we are blessed by the opportunity to serve. Last time I was there, a sweet man asked, can you make Pineapple Upsidedown Cake? To which I replied, because that's what I do, "I never have but I'm sure I can. I will make sure you have it next time!" Ahhhh the ambition that seems like such a good idea at the time. So, since I was vehemently opposed to taking all 3 kids to the grocery store again (I did that yesterday and had enough fun for the week) I called my mom, the saint, and asked her to stop for me on her way to my house.

I am realizing now that I actually have no clue where the time went between 2:40 & 4:00. So... it is now almost 4:00, Jake has just read me the VERY cute book Small Pig, MM is napping, halleluia, and Will is off to spend the night with MiMi and I have 1 hour & 45 min to get these cakes ready before I need to be at church for choir... Easy right? Well, Maddie May wakes up with no plans to let me bake if that means she sits in her chair alone so I am making Pineapple Upsidedown Cake one handed. Anyone who has or has ever had little kids knows that anything you try to do takes about 3x as long as it should so when Jeff walked in the door at 5:45, I practically tossed Maddie May to him as I pulled the last cake out, dumped it on a plate, and walked out the door to pass the cakes off to Clark to take to Bethesda. Whew!

After that, it is all pretty tame... I planned to work in my office on the Sunday meeting info while Jake was at shoir because I had the night off from Middle & High School bible study but because I work in a church with people I love so much, I kept getting distracted by friends walking by who came in to chat. By the time Jake finished choir, I was really no closer to finished with my agenda, but I was smiling because I got to talk to Bob Gammon (one of my favorite people ever) and the sweet Kristen & Shelby.

I came home to remember what a mess I had left in the kitchen and after reading with Jake again and getting Maddie May back to bed, I tackled the mess that was the kitchen. I still have about 100 lbs of laundry to fold since even though it goes against everything I believe in I took 2 loads of laundry out today and left them in baskets instead of folding them right away. I couldn't help it... it was one of those days that laundry just gets done between other things or else no one will have clean underwear and Maddie May will have no clean diapers in the morning!

So here I am, chronicalling my day so one day I will remember what it was like when they were little. When days were a blur of feeding little people, trying to work when I possible, and cleaning the ever present mess all over my house! As I think back over my day, the one thing that made it chaotic was baking the cakes and there is no way I would change doing that. I'm not even sure if the man that asked for it was there tonight since I didn't go, but if baking a cake could have brightened one person's cold (very cold) day, then it was all worth it. I have been so very blessed, the least I can do is share something I love to do with those who need something to est!

A New Project

So I have decided to write a cookbook... just for fun. I just think it would be something I would enjoy doing. I have thought about it for years and now I have an idea. You see, it seems that cooking is a dying art for so many in my generation. I have oodles of friends who do not cook, AT ALL. I find myself pondering that idea all the time and I truly have trouble understanding. I ask women I meet who say they don't cook, "So what do you eat? What do you feed your kids?" I can't comprehend it. Much of my day revolves around cooking. It is not just the cooking itself, but the planning of meals, shopping for food, and prep for meals that occupy my thoughts. I LOVE to cook. I adore food.

This year, Jeff and I are undergoing a complete finance makeover. We will spend less, save more, blah blah blah (thank you very much Dave Ramsey), and I am really excited about the challenge of shopping with coupons. I am going to try to maintain the level of cooking and meals we are used to while cutting our grocery budget dramatically. We shall see where we wind up but we are going to try! So, I have been thinking a lot about meal planning and what we will eat.

This morning as I was preparing the traditional New Years Day meal of greens, hoppin' John, & pork roast I decided, I should make my own cook book because I almost never follow a recipe as it is written. I should write an easy to follow, fun cookbook that chronicles what I cook for my family in 2010. I cook almost every night so there will be plenty of material. I will start each week with a grocery trip and details in the cookbook about what I spent and how much each meal costs per person. I can offer tips for where to buy what and how to save. Then, at the end of the year, I can give it to my non-cooking friends hopefully as inspiration to start cooking! Anyone can cook if you just have some inspiration and easy to follow instructions.

It makes me sad to think there are so many kids growing up in a house where all they eat is frozen pizza, nuggets, and take-out. Some of my best memories are of cooking as a little girl with my mom or my grandmother. Cooking is one of those generational links that can link a little girl with a grown woman or a single mom with a grandmother of 10. I just heard MeMaw say to Maddie May on Christmas, "are watching to learn what ladies do in a kitches?" It struck something in me to hear that. I want her to love cooking as much as I do. I want her to never feel she has to cook because her husband expects it, but rather she cooks because she loves it. I know men can (and should) cook as well, but for me it is a privilege to be able to cook for my family each night. It is a way to show them I love them.

Now just to be clear... I am totally aware that there is a place for frozen pizza and nuggets and I have been rescued by a box of Kraft Mac N Cheese more than once. I just wish there were fewer moms who simply say, "I don't cook" becuse that means there will be a generation of kids who become adults who have never been cooked for and will not know how either. I also know it doesn't mean you love your kids any more or less. In fact I know some who say they don't cook BECAUSE they love their kids! But, anyone can cook and I want to help more women discover the absolute joy making something from scratch that makes your husband smile and your kids know that not all chicken comes in chunks from the freezer. I'm teaching the boys to cook already. They might need that skill one day if they marry the daughter of an "I dont cook" mom.

Wish me luck - it should be fun. Happy 2010!