Getting Naked is Awesome!!!

We had our weekly play date over at Grizaland today and I thought...we should bust out the baby pool. Being the casual moms we are...we decided to let our boys paddle naked in the baby pool. They are just so European...a new age of baby men comfortable in their diapers or without their diapers. What a fun day! :) Enjoy.....

Our "MY GYM" Experience

Little W has tons of energy and I'm trying to figure out how to harness it and keep him socialized. So my friend Anna told me to check out the My Gym in Brentwood. After my holy trinity of a comfort stroll one day (City Cafe - Southern Meat and 3, TJMaxx and the wine store) I stumbled upon the very location that housed this kiddie paradise. Turns out you get 1 free visit to check it out...free...love that word right now.

All in all we really enjoyed it, but I think we are going to wait a little bit before joining this weekly class. W was the youngest baby and I think he would have a lot more fun as soon as he perfects his walk/run skills. Great teachers, fun environment and I really can see the benefits for taking your little dude or dudette...such as....social skills, learning to follow, exercise, etc. Now that being said and being the smart ass I am....I made a little video about what not to do when you take them to MY GYM...enjoy!

1st Menu Monday ever, whoa.

My sad little list there with my terrible handwriting screams "going to gain 5 pounds this week", but I'm in a mode of cleaning out my pantry/fridge/freezer and saving major money...so hence the scribbled list. I'll try to elaborate on some money saving tips...because that is what this week is all about!

Sunday Night: Pasta and Salad - I love some BOGO at Publix and Pasta/Sauce and Salad is an easy way to each week have Italian night. Some extras I purchase and add in to make is special...can of Stems and Pieces Mushrooms, Garlic, Red Peppers and sometimes....wait for it, wait for it...frozen green beans and orange rind. Whoa!


Monday: Wings and Salad - I've had these dang chicken drummettes in my freezer FOREVER! Breaking these bad boys down with some Frank's Wing Sauce and asking my very rookie Grillmaster (Chad) to grill them out. Add some crinkle cut carrots, ranch and salad...you have a cheap meal.


Tuesday: Pork Chops/Rice/Frozen Veggie - Pork chops were on major sale, add some Mrs. Dash Sesame Ginger 10 minute marinade, Uncle Ben's Jasmine Rice (BOGO item) and a 1/2 bag of frozen veggies that piled up in my freezer and voila....I cooked a real dinner for 2.

Wednesday: Pizza and Salad - Tombstone (BOGO) and a salad....Chad's favorite meal when I go do something off the grid. This week that will be returning to Spin Class with Wooten!

Thursday: Marinade Chicken - I have marinade and I have chicken. I'm going to try to get creative this night....we shall see what happens. Sometimes you just gotta put some tunes on and let the inspiration flow. Free Skate! :)

Friday: Taco Night - Taco Kits are always BOGO and I like to buy the 1/2 soft 1/2 hard...use them one pack at a time and you have 4 taco meals in 2 boxes. Ground turkey breast for the meat, lots of veggies to add and some chips and salsa. Heck...I need a marg for that night!

Saturday: Burger and Fries - Boca Burger for me, Real Burger for Chad. Sweet Potato Fries...a GIANT bag at Costco is $7 and it lasts forever. Wheat Buns were also on sale this week at......Publix. I heart Publix.



Okay, there it is. A lot of blogs I have been reading lately have Menu Monday. I love this idea and hopefully the week will go smoothly in the kitchen. Chad's home all week...so that means I'll be in the kitchen every night. Maybe I should bust out the apron! Ha!

Trying to be Wonder Woman...

A long, long time ago when I was in college I dressed up as Wonder Woman for Halloween. I talked the entire night in the 3rd person saying "Wonder Woman is having fun!" "Wonder Woman will be right back!" "Wonder Woman is ready to fall down and sleep like a champ!"...I guess I look back on that fateful night and fondly remember that just wearing the costume made me feel like a super hero and that 3rd person dialect can be fun occasionally! :)

At the ripe age of 32 I am now beginning to channel my inner Wonder Woman again and I thought I would share my latest adventures of taking on this role. It's been a roller coaster of learning the ropes of being a stay at home mom, good wifey, amateur house cleaner, chef...now balancing all these things at once is not enough...I must do them better! My friend LG calls me an over achiever...she is right. I'm not good...at not being good! Sometimes I need to tell the Internet what's on my list to accomplish....so here is what I am working on!

CLEANING!!!

In honor of "we just upgraded our kitchen and downgraded our savings account" I have cancelled our maid service. Yikes!!! I am a fan of outsourcing to professionals, but the time has come for me to step up to the challenge of a lifetime....keeping the house clean. I am planning on a week on, week off rotation with specialty cleaning/organizing projects on the off week. Wish me luck! This week I spent every nap period on my hands and knees, vacuuming, dusting blinds, baseboard cleaning....who knew there was so much to be done! Holy crap! My inner Monica Gellar Bing is coming out...it's scary.

COOKING

Meal Planning. Cost Efficiency. Food Storage. Organic. Healthy. Weight Conscience. Kid Meals. OVERLOAD, OVERLOAD, OVERLOAD! Trying to juggle all these things is tough peeps! I'm doing the best I can, but it seems my work is never done. Pinterest has really been helping me find some interesting meals and I always love SkinnyTaste.com Do you guys have any good blogs/websites/ideas you could pass on? Getting back into Wonder Woman shape is tough, doing it on a budget with creativity and skill....even tougher!

ORGANIZING

This is not my pantry and it never will be! Ha! I'm a strait up rookie when it comes to organizing, but I am honing my super power skills in on this task as much as I can. As we get older we keep acquiring items, and more items, and more items and I am in item overload in our house right now. Even with our bi-weekly trips to Goodwill...we will have too much stuff. Help! I'm drowning in a sea of.....items! Especially baby clothes! OMG, when is consignment sale season starting up? I'm ready....bring it! We will be participating in the BUMC sale for sure!

A lot of 1950s pics of ladies busting up their wifey skills...I'm working on mine. My vacuum is my Golden Lasso and I'm trying to telepathically organize my life while stirring up some homemade white chicken chili that is all natural and delicious. Wish me luck and I'll try to post some of my successes and failures!

Also, I added a "Subscribe by Email" gadget on the right side of the blog....hook yourself up with an email reminder and I'll try to deliver some Happy Holder happenings/thoughts/shenanigans right in your inbox.

Why Libraries are Cool...

Walker and I have been trying to find new things to do in our wonderful city of Nashvegas lately and one of our little outings took us to the Nashville Public Library downtown for a showing of:

They have so many cool events on the Children's Floor and we deemed a puppet show the perfect event for our first trip. The Children's Theater was really cute...lots of kiddies, mommas reading, comfy surroundings. Walker really enjoyed looking at all the children. The puppet show was really adorable and I think as W gets a little older this will be a home run of an outing. He watched every now and then, but really just enjoyed the entire experience. Here's a little video he asked me to publish on his two cents....enjoy!