Cold Flordia

I decided to check in real quick and give everyone a quick update.  We are still here in FL, I would say sunny but its been pretty chilly here.  Last week we were in Orlando and the weather was a little warmer.  We Loved every minute of our resort and trips to Disney and Sea World.  We made lots of good memories and have lots of fun pictures.  This week we are in Grandmas part of Florida. Palmetto to be exact.  We are enjoying our time with the grandparents.  We went to a museum today and saw Snooty the oldest known manatee in captivity.  Tomorrow were going to the ocean,,its supposed to be in the high 60's , warmest day we've had this week.  Yesterday it was in the 40's...brrrrrr!  I think we are all ready to be heading home though,, 2 weeks is a long time away.  Emma has been saying she misses her toy box :)   Thursday were headed back on the long 2 day drive home.  I was very pleasantly surprised on the way up here.  All three kids did great!  We only stopped 3 times the first day of driving and we went for 13 hours!  That's pretty good if I say so myself.  I think they were meant to travel.  Hopefully the ride home will go as smooth. 

I can not put into words how thankful I am that we have been able to go on this trip.  It was worth every penny of saving.  Hopefully we'll have many more vacations to come in the future!   I'll post pics when we get home!

Thoughtful Thursday--"Food Matters"

Well here it is,, Thursday again already!,, That means 8 days til we leave for our 2 week vacation!  Woo HOO! 
Today's thoughts are about food and nutrition.  Yesterday I watched the movie called Food Matters.  It is a documentary and I enjoyed it.  In the past I have also watched Food Inc,,, which is another great one.  These movies can really open up your eyes to what we are putting in our bodies.  There is a lot of talk in these movies about organic food.  Now, I 100% totally understand and agree with buying/eating organic.  I want to do it for myself, my children, and the farmers that take the time to do it right.  The only thing stopping me from buying organic is the ridiculous cost of these items.  My food budget is already so tight,, I go to the store and stand in the  produce section and look at the fruits/veggies with great intentions of buying the organic ones and I just can not bring myself to put the so much higher priced item in the cart.  So I don't then I go home feeling guilty.  It tears at my heart and makes me feel like a bad parent,, especially when I know others that do buy mostly organic stuff.  But I can only do what I can, so I have a plan.  I am going to do the best I can with what I have and can do.  Food Matters, talks a lot about vitamin's, so I am going to start taking them regularly,, last night I went out and got a multivitamin, some calcium chews, and some b12(that said it is supposed to help give energy and boost metabolism.   My only problem is standing in front of the big isle of vitamins can be very intimidating,,, I don't know what I need and not sure if I can take to much of something.  so Im just gonna start out small with this and try to keep gaining more knowledge about it.  I already give the kids a vitamin every day so I will continue with that.  I am trying to talk Ben into taking some vitamins but he is a worthless cause.....he could care less about his health.    

I am going to try and cut out most of the processed junk that we eat,, that is the hard part with the kids. and keep introducing a variety of healthy foods.  If my budget allows I will keep slowly switching to organic on some items. I plan to do another bigger garden this summer and put up as much food as possible.  Drink more water and healthy juices.   I am hoping that for myself I might get a little weight loss that comes with this.  I've given up on the diets, I just wanna be healthy and comfortable.  I am hoping maybe with the vitamins it will give my body some more energy,, I've been dragging something fierce lately.  This is also what I hope for Ben, but he is just so negative about everything,, I don't know what to do about him. 
So there you have it.  I highly recommend this movie,, if you have netflix it is streaming on it now.  Do you guys feel you and your family are following  healthy guidelines?  Do you buy organic?  Any recommendations for me about vitamins?

Thoughtful Thursday--Eating out

I decided Thursdays are now officially thoughtful Thursdays here at Everyday Life of a Mom.  It will be the day that I will share something that's been on my mind.  If you have your own blog and wanna do a thoughtful Thursday post feel free and just leave you blog address in the comments section and please link your post back to my blog, and of course please feel free to comment and let me know what you think of my post.  

Today's topic here is on "Eating Out".   My family LOVES to eat out.  I'm not sure why,,, I know I'm a fairly good cook and they always compliment me on my cooking.  I like to eat out because it leaves little to no work on my part :)  Plus the food is yummy,, but I was thinking and there are many disadvantages to eating out also...I'll name a few...

 1. costly----hardly anywhere can you go that you can get a well balanced meal for less than you can make it at home.  (I say that because some could argue that you could go to Mc Donald's and buy a cheeseburger for a dollar and you cant make a cheeseburger at home for a dollar,, but that is NOT  a healthy well balanced meal)

2. unhealthy,, fattening food  (when I go out to eat I am not thinking of any diet,,, I figure if I'm going out and paying for it I might as get something I really wanna eat.)

3.  stressful ---For me anyways,, when we go out with my kids in tow,, there is always some kinda drama when the little one is there.  If its just Ben and I then no its not stressful.

4.  Guilt-----  lately whenever we go out I feel so stinking guilty.  I view it my job to provide my family with their meals.  When we go out to eat that usually means I was to lazy that day and didn't feel like cooking.  I failed to suck it up and make something.  I mean really,, how hard is it to boil some noodles and throw some spaghetti sauce over it?  As a wife it is my job to help be smart with our money.  And going out to eat is really a waste of it.  For that $40.00 meal my husband had to work like 2 in a half hours...or if you look at if from what I make, that's watching one kid for 2in a half days!!!!!  Is it really worth it? 

This is what I need to think of next time I don't feel like cooking.  My money goals right now are to important and I need to keep my eyes on the prize. 

And one more thing,, this is not to offend anyone.  If you have the cash and its not hurting you to go out to eat than more power to ya.  I am not one to judge.  I am purely speaking for myself and my unique situation.

for more frugal tips visit lifeasmom.com

Fun in the snow and some other pictures

 Well we got some snow today!  It was freezing cold outside but the little one wanted to go out so bad .

 We only stayed stayed out about 15 minutes but that was good enough,, then we came in and had hot chocolate.  Emma sled down the hill and Gary cried cause he couldn't make a snow ball.

 We need to get Emma some new gloves, she was wearing mine, and some new boots, the ones from last year are to small but she wore them out anyways :)

Here is a pic from Thanksgiving morning,, Gary is crying cause I had just yelled at him for giving Emma bunny ears in the pic I took b4 that one.  I love that boy to death, but he really is a crybaby sometimes.  You can see here how funny the girls think it is.. LOL

 And here is a pic from the other day when I let the childcare kiddos paint.  Emma is always wanting to paint,, its fun, but messy!