Sleeping In Is A Thing Of The Past!

Sleeping in seems to be a thing of the past! I suppose for me having children meant I have not one alarm clock sitting on my nightstand to anticipate going off at 6am, but one to three kids tapping me on the arm, at 545am. No longer do I wake up the sound of the music played by my favorite radio station, I now wake, to "Mommy, can we have hot chocolate?" "Mommy, I couldn't sleep"  To the latter I replied one morning " Well that is nice honey, but Mommy could sleep so please go READ A BOOK UNTIL YOU SEE THE SUN"... Ok, maybe Mommy is a little grumpy before the sun and before her first cup of sunshine, my Hawaiian Hazelnut brew...

So now that Elise is older, she took heed to my comments... This morning she woke me, tapping on my arm.  I peeled open one eye, and before I could utter a word, she quick responds to my very communicative eyeball, "Mommy it's 545, a little early, but I have your coffee! I made it for you!" I muster a smile, because after all she did try to do something nice, if even at 545, all the while, my thoughts are on the kitchen and what state it must be, along with concern about what was really in that cup.... Do I dare????  "Thank you sweetie." I say as I sit up and bravely sip.  She stares at me for my reaction which I was worried I couldn't mask... But oh my gosh!  It was perfect!!!  I guess the fact that the Tassimo coffee maker takes the guess work out of it, by using pods really helped (you must try, I swear it is a wonder! 50 cent lattes, baby! And what coffee shop can beat that? And no this isn't a paid commercial, this is mom to mom!) but she even got the cream right!!!!

So today is looking pretty bright, and though I may no longer sleep in, maybe this in bed coffee service, will continue!  I will keep you posted!

Homemade Equals Breaking the Bank?

So... I decided that I needed to channel my inner Martha. I am at home now there is no reason why I can't make our own ice cream, make the girl's summer dresses, do my own gardening. I think my husband is right when he says HGTV is the most expensive channel on television!  Obviously not referring to the price to watch it, but the cost of the projects it inspires.

I went online and I researched recipes for ice cream.  Who can screw that up right?  Well... about $25 dollars in incredients later I went home and made my first batch.  While delicious, it was not really all that much better than a premium store bought brand, however the price break down reminded me why Martha can be Martha! Her expense account is far larger than that of the average mom! The cost of the half gallon of ice cream produced is about $12.50!  Holy Moley!!!  All my ingredients make about 2 batches of ice cream, not to mention the expense of my handy dandy cuisinart ice cream machine!  I either need to go into business selling the stuff for $5 a scoop, or retire my ice cream making aspirations!  I went with the latter!

So being the hands on mom I am, I decided, my girls need handmade with love dresses for Easter... How hard can that be???  I go to the store to look at a machine... mind you a machine that will actually do the job starts at $200. Hmmm... my dress making plan seems to have hit a snag... Ok so let's go look at patterns... $15?????  For paper? Sheesh.... ok fabric.... 3 to 5 yards of fabric at $8.99 a yard... so $27 for one dress, $45 for the other... plus the $15 for the pattern, plus thread, $5, plus the machine... 2 dresses for easter would run me... $287????  Oh My Goodness, ok, take away the machine cost... $90 for two easter dresses, when I can go to kohls or target and get beautiful dresses with crinoline for $20 a pop!

Ok... so channeling my inner Martha, is looking to rich for my blood!  I decide to go out side and garden... that's free right? I mean pulling weeds, trimming, pruning... I walk outside, and as soon as I do... The heat hits me like a wall, I look around, my yard really isn't all that bad, I mean a weed here, a weed there, I always wanted big trees anyway, and that bush, man it fills that spot perfectly... Maybe I don't need to garden after all?  I decided to channel my inner martha another way... I grabbed a glass from the cabinet, poured my sun tea, copped a seat on the couch, and turned on HGTV in my cool, a/c chilled home. Life is good....