Happy Birthday PopPop!

We were craft crazy today!  My boards on pinterest were getting overloaded with ideas!

My Dad's birthday is tomorrow and Toby wanted to make him something special.  We decided on a deer silhouette.  Something he could sit out in his den where he likes to watch tv...and fall asleep on the camo recliner!

 

We started with a graphic I made and Toby cut around the oval.

We then mounted it on black construction paper (the close-up looks to be purple but I promise it is black).

Mommy painted white in the oval and Toby painted over the black deer so it would truly be a work of art.

We finished it with an oversized popsicle stick frame painted black

I am sure PopPop will enjoy this piece of art!

Happy 3rd birthday, my son!

 Jay was so excited about his tractor cake!

 it even had a hitch!

 my big boy!

 Daddy and Jaybird!

Jay loves John Deere tractors so that was the theme of his party.  Other things he loves include: Mr. Potato Head, animals, playdoh, playing on his teeter totter, singing songs, talking, eating, showing you how smart he is with color, number, letter (capital and lower case) and letter sound recognition.  He doesn't care for organized crafts...he doesn't like waiting for the instruction or example - he likes to grab the glitter, glue, crayons, scissors and start exploring on his own!  His latest accomplishment is cutting tiny triangles out of paper by himself!  Jay has come a long way this third year - we are so proud of our little bird!

cheap skate, tightwad call me what you will...

I came across something called the $21 Challenge from Fiona Lippey & Jackie Gower at SimpleSavings.net.  It is a pretty neat idea - basically how we are programmed to over-buy especially in grocery and household items.  The $21 challenge is supposed to be for one week when cash is tight.  I am taking that to the next level and my goal is to spend $50 weekly on food items (not including milk).  Somehow a good friend of mine managed to keep this up for little while!  Way to go D!  Milk usually makes up $10+ of my grocery bill so I bumped the $50 to $60 to account for that.

I am 5 weeks in...week 2 was the hardest by far.

week 1 : $56.45 - yay!
week 2: $127.50 - hubby's list was way too long - hopefully we will convert him soon!
week 3: $38.43 - making up for horrible week 2!
week 4: $85.82 - hubby's grocery list again...ugh!  Damn pistachios $7.99 a bag!
week 5: $54.72

average = $72.58...much better than my normal grocery bill

I also came across a recipe for homemade dishwasher detergent that works wonderful!  Still trying out the homemade laundry soap recipe. So far works great on towels and I have a HE washer.

Helpful tips I've found out thus far:

• Breakfast for dinner is yummy and super cheap
• Homemade oatmeal is pretty disgusting but God love hubby he is eating it every morning and not complaining!
• That year old frozen smoked shoulder was actually good thanks to the crockpot.
• Soups are another super cheap dinner, my favorite is baked potato soup.  I just need to find a good crusty roll recipe.
• Be prepared for a lot of home cooking and good old fashioned baking for anything like this strategy to work...stock up on flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, butter, eggs

my sister is doing her own challenge, see her progress at Sharing Our Shenanigans

My goal is to take this savings and apply it to finishing the rest of the house...this could take a while!