COPPOLA: August 2012

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Back-to-School

It's back-to-school time and I thought I'd share some photos of my counseling office at my school. I have to say that I absolutely LOVE my office. Here's why...

-I love it's location in the building...right up front so I can see out the front door from my desk and can greet people as they walk down the hallway. I also love that it's situated in the Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade wing of the building. Little kids are my personal favorite, so I like seeing them so often. :)

-I love that I get a great view of our school's courtyard which has blooming flowers and soon will have a brand-new chapel. Even if the power goes out (which has happened many times), my room is still brightly lit due to the wall of windows.

-I love the color of my walls - bright, BRIGHT green and dark royal blue. The green was a bit shocking when it first went up, but now I like how warm and inviting it is. Many kids have told me over the years that if they lived in the school, they would want my office to be their bedroom. :)

-I also love that I have so much space. I have my "work area" with my desk, lesson binders, personal stuff, and shelf of resource materials. I have my "comfy area" with a couch and three fun chairs. And I have a completely separate small-group room, complete with a table and chairs, shelves of games, books, puppets and videos and a huge closet for everything else.

Many school counselors have small offices or even work out of closets (yes, it's true!), so I feel so lucky to have such a great space in the building. I never ever dread coming to work...this is really the right career for me and I can't ever imagine doing anything else, anywhere else. Although I love being home with my kids during the summer, I am really excited to be back at school for another year! And two bonuses: Carter will be attending preschool every afternoon right down the hall from me, and I still have my Wednesdays and Fridays to be home with the kids. I'm welcoming the 2012-2013 school year with open arms!!

View from my desk

My small group room. That blue paint is new...I like it!

Friday, August 10, 2012

Once-a-Month Groceries

I'm a planner. Type A. Organized. Budgeted. And I'm going back to school next week. So I got this crazy idea from Pinterest to try one-a-month grocery shopping. Last Spring I started grocery shopping only every other week and found that it worked out just fine. I usually would make one or two quick runs to our neighborhood store for a gallon of milk or bag of lettuce. This summer has been different though. Since I'm home all of the time, I'm constantly finding new recipes on Pinterest to try, thinking of something we just HAVE to have, or am just plain bored...and I'm off to Target. :)

So I did it. WHY?
1. Our family grocery bill is outrageous. I read that a woman who normally spent $700 a month on groceries (not much more than our family), cut her bill in half by shopping just once each month.
2. Going back to school, I don't want to spend my days off at the grocery store. I want to spend that time with my kids doing fun things.
3. I really don't like grocery shopping with my kids. I figure I can find a 2 hour time period once a month that I can get away to shop without the kids.

HOW I DID IT...
First, I planned out 20 meals. I figure we'll eat out one weekend night each week and can have some simple grilled-cheese type dinners or left-overs a couple of times too. When I planned the meals, I tried to think of multiple recipes that used the same ingredients (breakfast burritos, tacos, and chicken fajitas all need tortillas, etc.) or recipes that could easily be doubled and make enough for two meals. I also decided to buy a spiral-sliced ham from Costco and get 5 or 6 meals from that. My friend Laina suggested breakfast for dinner, and so I added that too. Also, I chose two different chicken recipes from Pinterest that could be prepared ahead of time, doubled, frozen, and then cooked in the crock pot. I chose simple recipes, nothing too fancy or out of the ordinary. And I added ingredients for two different desserts too. Finally, I had to think of items that were fairly non-perishable or freezable. For the recipes that did include something fresh, I "starred" them so I know to make those earlier in the month.

1. ham sandwiches, baked beans, chips
*2. ham sandwiches, cole slaw, chips
3. cheesy hashbrowns and ham, peas
4. scalloped potatoes and ham, carrots
5. breakfast burritos, fruit
6. scrambled eggs, toast, fruit
7. egg sandwiches, fruit
8. grilled chicken, baked beans, fruit
9. chicken fajitas, corn
10. beef tacos, corn
11. teriyaki chicken and rice, peas
12. teriyaki chicken and rice, cooked carrots
13. beef burgers, chips, fruit
*14. baked sausage pasta, salad, garlic bread
15. baked cheese pasta, peas, garlic bread
*16. french bread sausage pizza, salad
17. french bread cheese pizza, carrots
18. hot dogs, baked beans, chips
19. apple chicken, wild rice, green beans
20. apple chicken, sweet potatoes, veggies

Chocolate Chip Cookies
Butterfinger Cake

After my menu was complete, I compiled a list of grocery items needed. I went through my pantry and fridge to see what I already had and what I needed to stock-up on. And then I added all of the "other" stuff that you need to run a household - detergent, handsoap, cereal, milk, juice, coffee, snacks for the kids, lots of fruit and yogurt, etc. That stuff added a ton to my list.

I also did a quick coupon search on Coupons.com. Here's my take on coupons: I know some people really save by using them, but I find that the Hy-Vee brand of most things is just as good and is cheaper than the name brand even WITH a coupon. I go Hy-Vee brand whenever I can. The best deal I did find was that GM cereal was $1.88 per box. We got the 'real' Cinnamon Toast Crunch this month! :)

THEN I WENT SHOPPING.
I had a general goal of spending $400 on this shopping trip. Normally we spend over $600/month on groceries. If this is to last us until Labor Day, then that would save me $200. I do expect to have to make a trip to two to pick up a few necessity items (like milk and dog food, for example), but it's really going to have to be a necessity-only trip! However, I am giving myself permission to go to the store if I need to bring an item to a party or get-together.

I started at Costco with the goal of buying a ham and whatever else I saw from my list that looked like a good deal. I ended up with the ham ($25), a huge container of blueberries that I froze, two big bags of carrots (because many of my meals include carrots for some reason), a big flat of peaches (which I sliced and froze half of those, just like my mom used to do), and some new shampoo and conditioner (which I LOVE...color resistant too!). TOTAL COSTCO BILL = $82

Then I went to Hy-Vee. This trip took me over an hour, but in the end, I spent $343. TOTAL BILL FOR THE DAY = $425. A bit over my goal, but still not too bad!

WHAT I'VE DONE SINCE THEN
Unloaded and unpacked all of the groceries in the middle of a severe storm (with tornado sirens, none-the-less) and a torn-up, un-useable driveway with no access to my garage! Yeah...that wasn't fun. I also have since prepared all 4 frozen chicken meals, cooked the ham and divided it into 6 meals, and cut-up and frozen 6 peaches.

FINAL THOUGHTS
I know we're going to run out of cereal, milk, apple juice, batteries and floor cleaner. I definitely will have to go pick up those things later. Other than that, so far so good. I'll post next month on how it worked for our family! :)

AND THIS IS HOW IT LOOKS...

Stocked cupboard

Full freezer

Organized pantry

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Ely 2012

We just got back from 6 days in Ely and had a great time! This year was definitely easier than last with Brynn being a little older. Carter wasn't really into tubing or riding the jet-ski. Instead he wanted to catch toads every night, collect rocks, play in the sand on the beach, jump off the lower dock, and go on boat rides. Brynn was a little daredevil and loved riding on the tube, going on jet-ski rides, swinging in the swing, and playing with her second-cousins Abby, Allison, and Avery. A few things I'll remember about this trip:

-Brynn fell asleep while riding on the tube. Cary was on the tube with her while his dad pulled them behind the jet-ski. He realized that she wasn't responding and immediately thought she was knocked unconscious from all of the bumps. Nope, sound asleep. Apparently that girl can sleep anywhere.

-Carter was way more cautious this year than in the past. I think he's old enough to realize that there could be negative outcomes of certain things, like falling off the jet-ski or tube or tipping the canoe if we floated into a rock. Papa Joe did get him to ride the jet-ski with Allison. However, somehow the jet-ski tipped and they all fell off. Of course, we didn't get Carter back on after that. :)

-Carter is way more independent and trustworthy around the island than he used to be. He wears his life jacket all of the time, he stays away from the edge of the boathouse or any edge of the water, and he just does what he's supposed to. This was the first year that we would let him leave the cabin or the boathouse and go explore a little without us being right there. Although, of course, he's so timid that he never went too far from us!

-Brynn made a friend on this trip. :) She really liked to play with Averi, 3. They would jump onto the tube on the dock, play with Brynn's "Nina's" (babies), color pictures together, and at one point they even played house. It was fun to watch Brynn interact with another girl and I noticed that she's definitely a bit aggressive. Might need to work on her social skills a little, but really, this was a great start! :)

-Cary was SICK most of the trip. On Saturday (day 2 of our trip), Cary and I went to the Lodge to have a mojito and he mentioned that he didn't feel well. By Sunday he was getting sick and spending most of his time laying around in the cabin. On Monday, we considered going home, but decided that surely he'd feel better by that night, but no such luck. Tuesday's 8 hour drive home was sooo long for him. We had to stop numerous times, and by this point he was feeling really weak. Just turning around to help the kids with something in the car would wipe him out. Wednesday he was almost worse than he had been, so we finally took him to the ER for some IV fluids. I'm so relieved to say that he's finally feeling better today. Now we're waiting on some test results to see if he picked up some sort of bacteria in the water or if it really just was a stomach bug. Either way, we're glad to have our dad/hubby back to being a part of this family. The last few days at the cabin weren't nearly as much fun without him by our side!!