My life is pretty simple compared to most around me.  I like it that way. Sometimes I think maybe my life is too boring when others ask me what I’ve been doing and I don’t really have all that much to tell them.  I mean, we are always doing things, but it’s just simple things that are exciting to a 3 year old, but probably not to them.

My husband and I like doing simple things together too.  We are happy just to go on a walk or hike somewhere or window shopping or to a nice coffee shop.  We just like getting the opportunity to hang together….in quiet.

One of the main reasons that I am a Stay At Home Mom is so we can keep our lives simple.

I like being able to get up in the morning and have a fairly leisurely (although nothing is really leisurely with small children) breakfast with good coffee with my family.  I also love that I am able to have the boys fed or eating by the time their father gets home in the evening.  This allows them more time to play with Daddy and also allows for an easier and quicker bedtime at 7:30pm, allowing the rest of the evening for the adults.  Woo hoo!

My husband enjoys this too.  Better still, he appreciates it.  Neither of us are willing to give that up for me to go back to work.  Sure, the extra income would be nice, but the quality of life that we’d be giving up just isn’t worth it.

Now, let me just say that I fully understand that some people have to work to make ends meet or whatever.  However, I also know many who choose to work because they want to.  They choose it because they want more spending money or they love their job or they just don’t want to stay home with the kids.  I get that.  And maybe it works for them.  I know many dual working households that thrive.

We are just not one of them.  I would wither and die in that kind of environment that to me, would feel like chaos of not enough time to stop and just be.  Plus, I would also just miss my kids too much.  The time is just so fleeting.  My youngest is nearly one and I just don’t know where that time went.  I tried to hang on to moments, knowing he will most likely be my last baby, but it still just went so fast.  Too fast.

Therefore, we choose for me to stay home and run the household.  We choose to give up certain other, more material, luxuries so we can have the luxury of time and peace.

This is not to say we don’t still have many crazy days.  I mean, we do have children after all.  Small ones.  Boys.  If you were my friend on Facebook you would see many updates involving my making of and drinking margaritas after the kids are in bed.

So, what have we been up to lately?  Not much really.  We check on our garden to see what new veggies have popped out and get super excited when we can pick and eat something.  We pretend play in the yard.  We sit outside and eat frozen smoothie pops.  We swing.  We paint.  We go to the pool or to my sister’s place.  We might go to the zoo (we are members) this week if it cools down some.  We read books.  We build block castles.  On Friday we are hoping to go to a spray park and to get Snowballs from the Farmer’s Market.  We’ve got lots of options and will probably just decide on the day…see what we feel like doing.   Because that’s how we roll.

What do you do to simplify your life?

photo by Flo’s Shots 4 Me

Well, the title says it all.  It’s one minute to 10pm on Sunday night and I’m typing this post.  I’m tired and need to go to bed to face another week.

And here is the part where I give you my excuse.  Frankly (and sorry if this is too much information), I was having boob issues.  Mastitis to be exact.  And, if you are a breastfeeding mother and have never had this, trust me, you don’t want to…ever.  I started to get on Friday for the second time this month as I’m trying to wean my almost 11 month old who has insisted on only eating off one side for months.  He was starting to wean himself, which is how I got it the first time, but then on Thursday I must have skipped one too many feedings because on Friday I felt like total shit.  Like I had the flu.  Friday night was even worse.  I finally fell asleep after lying there for HOURS in misery, only to wake up drenched in sweat at about 4am to Little C’s cries.  Lovely.

But, then Saturday morning I felt pretty good.  My body does really well (knock on wood) to fight off illness.  Took it easy though just the same.  I think I’ve got him down to two feedings now, in the morning and before bed.  All of the other times he had started to bite me, so those were taken away.  Sorry baby…no biting allowed!

Hence my not posting since Thursday, or whenever it was.

But, I have a couple of articles that I think are pretty cool that I wanted to share.

Veggie Terrain has a great post all about smoothies.  My son loves it when I make smoothies and I always have to share mine with him.  So, I’m always looking for new ways to make them super healthy to get some extra vitamins and nutrients into his picky little stomach.  She has a lot of other great veggie recipes too, so have a look around her blog.

Yesterday my hubby and I were talking about how well we do minimizing our garbage, but we’ve got nothing on this couple at Rubbish Free Year, who limit theirs to only one very small rubbish bag per year!  Granted, we are convinced they can do it because they don’t have kids, but it’s still amazing and we could all learn a thing or two for sure!

On another note, we took our oldest son to see Up this weekend.  It’s a lovely movie with some very valuable life lessons.  I just loved it.  After all of my travels and my desire to see so much more of the world, it’s a good reminder for me that I don’t need to leave my city or even my backyard to make wonderful memories for my children.  Some of my most wonderful memories are, just like Russell said in the movie, the “boring” ones.  So sweet.

It was a sad week too, with the passing of Michael Jackson and don’t let’s forget Farrah Fawcett.  I feel she sort of got lost in the shuffle and shadow of Michael Jackson even though so many had been following her illness and documentary.  I had a Farrah Fawcett glamor head as a girl that I put makeup on and did her hair.  Hilarious.  She was as much of an icon to me as MJ was, for sure.  Although I have been singing, Wanna Be Startin’ Something all weekend.

Did you read anything great over the last week or weekend?  If so, tell me about it.  Or maybe you have tips on weaning…hey, I’ll take it all.

I took my car in yesterday for an oil change and tire balance since every time I was getting over 60 mph my car would vibrate so bad it felt like it was going to fall apart.

Well, they told me they couldn’t do the tire balance because my two back tires were bald and my right front one was splitting.

Oops.

So, I had to get four new tires and also a new CV boot and something else as one of my wheels was leaking some fluid of some sort.

I am clueless about cars and always take my car to the same place because they are very honest and trustworthy and I don’t feel like I’m being ripped off because I’m a woman.

Anyway, $942 later….my car runs like a dream.  Oh well, it’s paid for and $942 is a hell of a lot cheaper than a new car.  Plus, we have an ample emergency fund, so I never stress over things like this.

It still sucks though.  I hate spending money on stuff like that, even though it’s necessary.  $1000 gone.

So, after the whole car thing, that took pretty much all day after juggling between getting to and from the car place (which is across town) I was feeling a little deflated yesterday.

Then, my tenant told me he was on the search for a healthy oatmeal cookie recipe that he wanted to bake.  Huh?  The man has lived in that apartment for over 10 years and has he ever even used the stove?  He remembers using it once, but can’t remember for what.  Hysterical.

So, I found this oatmeal cookie recipe that has no refined sugar (yay!) and made them last night for a little cookie therapy.  YUM. I am giving my tenant some today for him to test to see if he likes them and wants to use that recipe.  Note about the recipe:  The instructions say to put the batter in the fridge for 20 minutes and this really helps to make it easier to work with.  I added extra flour before doing this and mine turned out a bit dry as a result.  Next time I will put it in the fridge first before seeing if it needs extra flour.  But, all in all, very nice cookies with a lovely flavor.

Thinking I will take the boys on a stroll to work off those cookies now.

Photo and recipe from Whole Grain Gourmet.

After our recent spending spree, I have vowed to cut back for the rest of the summer, as hard as that may be for me.  One way I was thinking of doing this is to refocus on my grocery budget, that I sort of gave up on the last couple of months.

There are a few website I like to view for inspiration in this department, however many of them tend to make a lot from scratch, of which I’m not great at doing.  I would like to, I just don’t make the time.

I found this blog today, These Mommy Moments, which talks about saving money while still eating healthy.  She shares my gripe about people boasting about only spending $40 a week on food for their family, yet often sacrificing on health in the meantime.  I want so badly to save that kind of money,  yet just can’t find those kinds of deals on the foods we eat.  However, in her post she lists another blog called, The Good Deal Gal.  This blogger does what I often do too, which is to email companies I buy from and ask for coupons.  She has gone one step further however and has listed all the companies she has had luck with!  Score!  What a great list!

So, I’m going to go down her list and start contacting the ones that I like!  So excited.  Looking forward to having the deals hit my mailbox.

Another helpful blog is Bargain Briana.  She has only recently started listing deals for Whole Foods, which is why I subscribed to her site.  She has a great post full of tips on saving money at Whole Foods.  And for those who think that Whole Foods is too expensive, I have priced many items at both Kroger and Whole Foods and Whole Foods is almost always cheaper.  Many just assume that it’s “Whole Paycheck”, when in fact it’s the better deal.  It just depends on the kind of food you normally buy.

Bargain Briana also has a 15 Days of Couponing to help newbies (like myself) through the art of couponing.  Think I need to go study up!

I am also going to have a baking day coming up and start menu planning again (not my favorite thing to do).

Summer is an easy time to save some money with all the fresh fruit and veg growing like mad and waiting to be either picked yourself (from a pick your own farm or out of your own garden).  I will be using my freezer to utilize this time for freezing fruit and veg that I can get cheap and in season.

If you have any grocery tips for saving on healthy, organic foods, please share them!!

I have been taking our oldest to swimming lessons all week.  And these aren’t wussy swim lessons either.

They are hardcore, survival swim lessons.  The object of this first week is to teach them to be able to roll over and float on their backs very calmly (no kicking).

Within the first minute of the first class, kids are put under water.  Parents are instructed to “not let your child see you”!  Most kids cry, but they still learn.  Parents are forewarned that they need to be supportive of the school’s philosophy and let the instructors do their jobs.

And even though they are tough and stern and basically just don’t mess around when it comes to learning to swim, they are very loving.  They give  hugs and kisses and high fives and tons of encouragement and make a super big deal over every accomplishment.

Big D cried some the first day, but he went under water many times and learned to float on his back with help from the instructor.  I was afraid that he would just flat refuse to go back, but he didn’t.  He got a lollipop and we called everyone and told them how great he did and he became really proud of himself.

The second day he was fine until it was time to go to the pool.   Then, he had to be pried off me by one of the instructors.  But he floated by himself with a life vest on for a lot of the class.  He also learned to go under water, then to roll over and float onto his back.  At the end of class, he was chucked into the pool (with his vest on) and he rolled over and floated.  Woo hoo!  And no crying!

The third day, again he had to be pried off me at the start of class, but by the end of class, he floated all by himself, no vest.  Wow, this is really impressive after only three days.  I took photos and loved looking at himself floating in the water.

Yesterday, the fourth day, he walked into the pool area, no worries.  Then he floated sans vest again for a really long time and also worked on going under water and blowing bubbles.  He didn’t like this because he swallowed some water, but I told him that was normal when learning to swim.  We have been practicing blowing bubbles in water with a straw today.

Not sure what will be going on in class today, but you can bet he will be chucked into the pool at some point so he can show them he can roll over and float.  I’m hoping it doesn’t rain this weekend so we can go the YMCA pool and see what he will do.

He will take another week in July and maybe a refresher in November before we head to our summer Christmas in Australia in early December.

I strongly believe that all children should have swimming lessons every year.  In the United States, drowning is the second leading cause of death (after motor vehicle crashes) in children 14 and younger.

44% of the drownings are related to swimming. The swim school that I am taking my son to will not graduate you until you can tread water for 25 minutes while the instructors repeatedly pull you under water and splash you!  Nuts!  But, very effective!  I will be taking both our boys to this school for upcoming years until they graduate and are confident swimmers.

Plus, the lack of pool fences in the US is just downright scary.  Most of the pools that I have seen in my city have no pool fence.  They might have a unlockable wooden fence around the yard, but that is it.  Any kid could get into that and into the pool.  Scary.

According to Wikipedia,

There is no federal pool fence law currently in place within the United States. However, several states, including Florida,^[2] California,^[3] and Arizona,^[4] have created their own individual pool fence laws. Some counties have pool fence laws where no state law currently exists. The Association of Pool & Spa Professionals has developed a model barrier code for residential swimming pools, spas, and hot tubs; this code has been approved by the American National Standards Institute.

Swim School Bob has a great blog and also some other great links and information on his site on where to find lessons for your child(ren).  I don’t attend Bob’s school, by the way.  I just found his blog and thought it had some great tips and articles!

Any thoughts?  Please share them! Happy swimming and be safe.