My dear friend, Sharon Neely, passed away this past Tuesday. On my birthday. My Daddy said that Sharon was such a special person that, to him, she died also on a special day. Its been hard this week though I have to admit. Especially sorting through the photos of us. We’ve been friends for 21+ years. I met her in 7th grade. She was an absolute angel and now she’s traded her wheels for her real wings in heaven! I will miss you so much Sharon!

Travis and I have been budgeting our money since January. We are making some great changes in our financial lifestyle, thanks in large part to Dave Ramsey. We still have some debt that we are paying off, but living according to a budget has been an interesting challenge.
I have found that when I plan a menu for our week we save a lot more money on groceries. In May, I only spent $200 on groceries for the month! $216.84 exactly, and that included buying diapers for Arwen. So, how did I do that? Menu planning. I typically go through my recipe book and decide on what we will have for dinner each night, sometimes we don’t go exactly accordingly like I may say we will have Spaghetti on Monday but we will actually have it Thursday. After I plan out the meals for the week I go to the pantry and see what I already have then I make a list of what we need. I also go through any coupons I may have. I’m not great at clipping coupons especially because I don’t normally buy a paper and we don’t have a printer at home so a lot of times I buy the store brand of certain items. I don’t or won’t skimp on cereal and some things though. I discovered that if I buy the $0.98 Hunts Spaghetti sauce and then season it with spices it taste better than Prego and other jars of sauce. I don’t make my own. Keep in mind, I have really only been cooking for 10 years. I didn’t grow up in the kitchen because my Mom was always the cook for our family. Travis loves to cook and so he has taught me a lot and I call my Mom and Aunt Melba a lot to ask about how to cook various things. I digress.
Back to the menu…here’s an example of a weekly menu for us…
Monday…Spaghetti and Garlic Crescent Rolls
Tuesday…Chicken and potato foil packet dinners w/ purple hull peas
Wed…Pasta Tetrazinni w/ tuna
Thurs…Hamburgers w/ chips and baked beans
Fri…Asian salmon w/ rice and corn
Sat…Dinner out…
Sun…Chili w/ cornbread
And that’s it, a lot of times Travis has enough to take lunch for the next day. I only do this weekly, I found that if I made a menu for the month that I don’t stick to it and since I usually have to go back to the store anyway for milk or eggs or something like that I found that the weekly menu works best for us, but many people can do a monthly menu. When I plan really well and have all the staples already in my pantry I can get in out of the grocery store spending less than $50 a week sometimes. For 4 people I don’t consider that too shabby!

Today was my baby’s first day of school! She seemed excited and I hope she has the best time!
I think this poem sums it up well…

She started school this morning,
And she seemed so very small.
As I walked there beside her
In the Kindergarten hall.

And as she took her place beside
the others in the class,
I realized how all too soon
Those first few years can pass.

Remembering, I saw her as
She first learned how to walk.
The words that we alone made out
When she began to talk.

This little girl so much absorbed
In learning how to write.
It seems as though she must have grown
To girlhood overnight.

My eyes were blurred I have to say,
But I brushed the tears away
Lest by some word or sign of mine
I hurt her first big day.

Oh how I longed to stay with her
And keep her by the hand
To lead her through the places
That she couldn’t understand.

And something closely kin to fear
Was mingled with my pride.
I knew she would no longer be
A baby by my side.

But she must have her chance to live,
To work her problems out,
The privilege to grow and learn is
What life is all about.

And I must share my little girl
With friends and work and play;
She’s not a baby anymore –
She’s in Kindergarten today.

Anya had surgery on her teeth last Friday. She had to be sedated with a tube in her mouth and everything, pretty scary for her Mommy and Daddy but Anya did great! She listened to her nurses and they said she was an absolute sweetheart. She didn’t talk much to them of course because she is her father’s child, but she was awake and smiling as soon as I saw her after it was all over. She apparently has weak teeth, the curse of the Irish blood I guess, so she had to have some caps put on several of her teeth. Her Dentist thinks that she’s still a year or so away from losing her first teeth so the caps were the safest thing to help her permanent teeth be strong. We thought he was going to have to pull a couple of teeth, but luckily none of the problems had abscessed so he didn’t have to pull any!
The night before her surgery I got to go meet Anya’s Kindergarten teacher. She’s very sweet and I think Anya will have a great time at her new school. Tonight is open house, so Anya and Travis will get to see how nice the school is and everything. And Thursday will be her first day because for Kindergartners this year they are trying something new in our county. All the boys report for their first day on Wednesday, girls on Thursday, and then they all get to experience their first day together on Friday. Not really sure why, but okay, that should be interesting. Anya will also have a girl in her class with spina bifida, the same condition my friend Sharon has and is having some serious struggles with lately. I thought it was interesting that Anya will have hopefully a new friend in her class that has the same condition as one of her Mommy’s best friends. Back to my friend though, Sharon has had heart complications for years in addition to the spina bifida, and she’s just not doing the best, so prayers are needed for her right now.
Everything is set for Anya’s school though, we got her Scooby Doo lunch box and her pink and black backpack and her first day of school outfit! Wait til you see the pictures…Mommy is going to cry for sure!