Good Morning

There's nothing like baking a pretend cake while dressed up as a princess.

A Happy Daddy

While watching TV today, Rowan saw a boy on TV and announced..."I don't like the boys.... they're bad".

I could see Barney's smile beaming from across the couch....

A bathtime conversation between Daddy and Rowan

Rowan : Ah Booobies....
Daddy: (giggle) you washed your boobies?
Rowan: yeah.... boobies
Daddy: Wash ya bum.... singing..."rowan has a dirty bum...."
Rowan: Yeah.. smelly

An artful chair

I love reclaiming old or antique furniture. I think it started when I was a kid, and my mother brought us to the 2nd hand store to get my little sister and I, new dressers. We lived in northern NH near a shaker village and the two dressers she bought were done by the shakers. They were so beautiful, and old, with hand carved dove tails and skeleton key holes.

I loved mine... and I still own it.. upstairs in my bedroom.

This morning I went out to start my car and could see a tiny child sized rocking chair by the dumpster... and you bet your tookus I ran over and grabbed it. I've wanted one for Rowan for a while, but had not yet seen one around to buy.... and there the Good Lord sets one at my feet for free! Thank you God.

So I white washed it today... and after Rowan got out of school I let her paint it all by herself. :) Its beautiful... and so is she.

Christmas Shopping and Bj's

So today I went to Bj's and bought a huge package of chicken, and a 3 item pack of kielbasa... as well as a super sized box of cheez its, fruit chews for Rowan, cheerios, Raman, and some other random items. I spent 90 dollars but I think this food will last me months. :)

Now on to more fun topics. I've already started buying Christmas presents for my pumpkin.. I really can't help myself.

Here is the stash thus far:

Leaf pile

Remember doing this when you were little???

Bliss

The anatomy of a grocery bill

Ok so I ran the grocery store this afternoon to buy a few groceries. Barney was kind enough to do the bulk of it by himself (such a big boy) on Sunday so we'd have enough to get us through to today when I could go myself.

I spent 85 bucks!!! I remember the day I could run to the grocery store, buy a few groceries, and spend only 40... What the FUCK!!!

Ok so here is my bill..I thought it would be interesting to go through it and analyze.. yes i'm that bored.


1 lb Land O'lakes White American Cheese 6.09 Holy Shit face! When did a pound of cheese start costing more than 2 gallons of gas. Are you kidding me?

2 cans of Delmonte Corn 3.18 What? Wasn't corn 50cents a can at one point? ugh

Glade Scented Plugs Ins Apple/Cinnamon 11.36 WTF? I had a 1 dollar off coupon but seriously? Should I spending more than 10 dollars to make my house smell good? For some people that's an entire hour worth of working.

Generic Whole Wheat Bread 1.49 Ok so that's reasonable, however I had intended on buying my usual Country Kitchen brand until I glanced at the price, which I'd never done before, 3.89 a loaf.. and I usually buy 2 a week.. so yeah, generic from now on people!

Generic Complete Pancake mix - 1.89 I think that's a good deal.. that's at least 10 meals worth of pancakes.

Store brand Skim milk - 2.95 That's alot better price than the 3.85 for the name brand milk. I go through about 2 gallons a week with a toddler... so that's 6 dollars worth of milk. I guess I can't complain because formula was 25 dollars a can.. and that only lasted a week... milk is way cheaper!

I can't Beleive Its Not Butter Spray - 2.99 I bought the large bottle.. and this will last me a month or more. So I think that's an ok price. right?

Oven Fry Chicken - 1.69 This is a premixed breading for chicken... I guess its ok.. but do I really need to spend money to put breading on my chicken? Not really but it is yummy.

Sprite 12 pack 2.99 That's not bad.. i'll pay 2.99 for a 12 pack... That's only 25 cents a can.

Viva Paper Towels - 2.19 Ok so when I first started buying the Viva brand paper towels they were only 99 cents a roll. I love them because they're soft and feel almost like a thin wash cloth. I've actually accidently put them through the laundry and they come out clean and reusable! haha I'm ticked that they're 2.19 now.. but I bet its because people have realized how much they rocked so they've raised thier prices.

Wise Cheddar Popcorn 2.50 Remembe when a large bag of chips was 99 cents??? grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr


Softsoap Hand soap Refill 2.77 This is a large bottle to refill my bathroom handsoap.. it'll last probably 4 or 5 months... so not to bad.

90%Lean Ground Beef 4.46 I'm not sure the weight on this, but its more expensive because I buy the leaner version. Still, the price of meat has sky rocketed and its vomittish.

Boneless Chicken Breast - 5.31 Ok so the price of chicken makes me furious. I remember when I could get a package with 3 breasts for 4 bucks.. now I get 2 for over 5.00!!! Damn chicken fuckers!

Chocolate Covered Pretzels - 80 cents. It was only a few.. for a snack haha no more expensive than a candy bar.. however I also remember when I could get one of those for only 50 cents.

Dried Mangos - 2.99 I have become addicted to these, even though they're not cheap. I figure its better than eating crap all day and Rowan thinks they're candy haha

Maine White Potatos 5 lbs 2.99 I think this is a steal. I'm making Sheppards pie out of them tonight and will probalby have 1/2 a bag left over for a side dish with dinners... I figure that's only about 50 cents per meal.

Gourds - 2.64 Ok so this was a total luxury item... probably not worth the money but they do look super cute on my coffee table

Mini Pumpkin - 69 cents.... also in my gourd bowl

Large Carving Pumpkin - 5.99 Total rip off.. but again, looks so nice in my fall garden

Star Fruit - 4.98 Only 2 of them folks, they're super expensive and they're in the "exotic fruit" section. But my daughter loves them and when you slice them they look like stars... any opportunity to get her to eat fruit!

20 pack of Postal Stamps 8.40 I had no idea they sold stamps at the grocery store! I was so excited.. the old man ahead of me bought them so I did too... saved me gas from having to drive to the post office. :) (ps.. remember when a stamp was 25 cents?)

I can't remember what this one was.

Brkstn Act Cttg Pnap 2.89 But whatever it was, i'm sure it wasn't worth it

So that's my grocery bill. It totalled at 84.70 I had a 1 dollar coupon, and also was credited 20 cents for my grocery tote bags..

I also just noticed that the tellar accidently credited me 3 1.oo dollar coupons.... sweet!