Penny Pinchin'

With never ending car trouble this month, and in anticipation of our very first vacation this summer, Adam and I have been trying desperately to watch our money. (Watch it burn into flames is more like it.)

My parents raised my brother and me like we were in the Great Depression, so I know how to deal. Adam, not so much. Adam has always been one of those got some money in my pocket, now I gotta spend it quick, before it does something crazy, like get SAVED! No! Anything but that! I guess we even each other out. I would prefer to spend nothing. He wants to spend it ALL. Together (and with me occassionally taking his debit card away) we manage to spend reasonably. But, this month has made even Adam want to save money.


I posted on Facebook, earlier this week, that I actually dug out soggy croutons from our dinner salad, the night before, and toasted them in the toaster oven. Don't want to waste food. I got this idea from my Dad. The last time he visited, he did the same thing. I told him then it was gross and to just use new ones, but he refused. He actually put the re-toasted ones back in a bag and used them throughout the whole week he was here. They actually aren't too bad. I guess I grossed people out, though, because my one friend told me she would send me a fresh bag of croutons every week if I promised never to do it again.

Lesson 109: your eating habits cause such disgust, your friend from another state wants to send you croutons for life = white trash

Today, Adam and I were rearranging Jovie's and Stone's room. Jovie is now in a toddler bed. Can we get a sarcastic "Yeah."? Now she's free to torment and wake Stone up at all hours of the night. Anyway, as I swept, I commented on how the sweeper bag was full, and we needed to buy some more. Adam disappeared and came back with the shop-vac. He pulled the bag out of the sweeper and began to shop-vac the bag.

 Lesson 110: sweeping out a sweeper bag = white trash

The really sad thing is, when he was almost done, the bag broke. All that gross work for nothing. I did get a laugh at how much he looked like my Dad, as he dug out loose change and random legos. "I can't believe how carelessly you sweep," he said, "you have no mercy." This was exactly one of the things Adam complained about when he helped my Dad clean his old motorcycle shop. Adam swept and my Dad had to waste time digging through the dirt and pulling out every penny and loose screw.

The one cool thing that resulted from his bag digging, he found the little Jesus that fell off of his rosary about a month ago. He was so distraught when it happened. He searched everywhere. You should have seen his face when he pulled it out of a big ball of dirt. Even though the bag broke and his effort to save some money was futile, we still feel like it was an absolute success. :) 

Potty Time, Excellent!

Whoever said girls were easier to potty train than boys, never met my daughter. My four older boys were very easy. They peed on the potty once and it was over. They rarely had an accident. The only accidents were during the night, and that was only Jude and Jet. Jagger and Marky never had accidents.

Jovie has been a whole other, hair pulling experience. I've tried on several occasions to potty train her, but after a few days of cleaning puddles off of everything, and absolutely NO tinkle in the potty, I'd give up and tell myself I'd try again in a few months. Time and time again, it was the same song and dance. I accepted the fact that I would probably be changing my daughter's diaper before I helped her get into her wedding dress. Ok, so I knew it wouldn't be that bad.

A few days ago, she complained about her bum hurting. She gets diaper rashes often, and this one really bothered her. As she complained, Adam told her, "If you peed on the potty, your bum wouldn't hurt anymore." A light bulb went off in her little head. She ripped off her diaper, then went and sat on the potty. Excitement bubbled inside me. Could this be it? Has the day finally come?

"I peed!" she exclaimed. Adam and I ran over to check. Nothing. Talk about a let down. To our surprise, though, she didn't ask to put her diaper back on, which is what normally happens, followed by a tantrum when we tell her "no". She just jumped up all nudey-bum and went about her business.

About a hour later, she went upstairs. Suddenly, she came sliding down the stairs with a huge smile on her face, "Mommy! I peed!"

"Ok, I'll be there in a second," I said, not in any hurry to go look at an empty training toilet. I eventually made my way up there to find her doing a happy jig by the potty. I peered inside and VICTORY!! I danced with her, then gave her a whole cookie. She finally got it.

We have had a couple of accidents. One, she had just been woken up, and I think I took her diaper off before she was truly awake, and she peed on the couch. Then, she did her first #2, got so excited, stood up, and peed on the floor. We'll have to work on that one, but other than that, she's done great.

There was just one more thing I had to teach her. The potty chair downstairs, in the living room, has a little removable cup, so it can be quickly cleaned. I was sitting at the kitchen table when I saw Jovie coming into the room holding the cup. "I peed, Mom." Before I could grab the cup, to my horror, she lifted it to her lips and took a big old swig.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" I screamed in disgusted terror. As soon as it touched her lips, she realized it was nasty. She pulled the cup down as tinkle drooled out of her mouth all over the floor. "Ka-ka," she managed to cough out. I laughed, "Yeah, it's ka-ka. We don't drink our own pee." She handed me the cup, completely grossed out.

Sorry Jovie, but......

Lesson 108: drinking your own urine = white trash

I love ya baby girl, and we're so proud of you!!

Car Seats

Car seats are gross, especially after you let your kids eat in them. My kids' seats are always full of dry crushed cereals and old McDonalds fries. They also are stained from spilled juice boxes.

Like any other normal parent, I will get fed up and remove ALL car seats to give the fabric part a good cleaning in the washing machine and to wipe down the little crevices that aren't seen any other time, but for some reason are filled to the brim with mysterious filth.

The other day, Adam went to Lowes to get wood, so he removed all the car seats and put them on the porch. He never put them back in, and that night we had a torrential downpour, and all the seats were drenched. Let me tell you, a car seat full of Froot Loops is gross, but a car seat full of soggy Froot Loops is just plain nasty. It was time to be cleaned.

Adam and I removed all the material parts and cleaned them. When they were finished Adam put all the seats on the kitchen table to be reassembled. When we were finished, we left them on the table. We were leaving in an hour, so, we figured we'd put them back in when we left.

The time came to leave and Adam went out to the kitchen to retrieve the seats. A few seconds later, I heard him yell out in frustration, "Are you kidding me?" I ran to see what had happened. I got there just in time to see him tipping Stone's car seat upside down, as Cheerios rained down onto the kitchen floor.

Lesson 107: car seats full of cereal before they have a chance to be put back into the car = white trash