Having a Sleep Over at Home

Owen was with Jason Friday night and Micah was sleeping over at his cousin's, so Noah, Jamie and I decided to have a big sleep over in the living room. We put down a bunch of blankets under each boy to make the hardwood floor a little less hard and then folded down the couch for mom. She's a little too old for sleeping on the floor :P

Before he fell asleep, Jamie came up onto the couch, where he proceeded to try and push me off the entire night. It was a great time with my middle two, who are probably the two that get the least attention from mama.

Remember when I said things weren't cheap here?

A friend of mine did a comparison shop of grocery prices in the USA and Canada with basic items that most people buy.

It's really unbelievable how much more Canadians pay for their groceries and Im even willing to bet that the prices are even higher in my province. I know at least that milk costs double here as it does in Ontario.

Seriously, go check it out! Your mind will be blown!

Avoiding Wasteful Spending

One day a few weeks ago, I received all of these coupon books in the mail. Sure, those coupons could save me a few dollars if we were to eat out but if I didn't have the coupons, I probably wouldn't go there anyway. It seems like having coupons for 'buy one get one free meals' or whatever else, makes me WANT to buy whatever it is. Like my mind thinks it will be such a good deal and I'd be wasting it if I let the coupon expire. Plus nothing in those restaurants is healthy.

So, when those things come in the mail, unless it's something that Im planning to spend my money on anyway, they go right in the recycling.

What are some ways that you avoid wasteful spending?

sickness, trip planning, budget issues

....and I was doing so good at posting nearly every day.

Oh Well

That nasty bug stayed with me for an extra week after everyone else was feeling better. I'd wake up feeling horrible and through out the day, it would get tolerable, to the point that by dinner time I was fine. At least it's gone now.

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I got a call from my boss a couple weeks ago asking if I could be ready to be backup for a conference in Portugal in February. I didn't have a passport but my work was willing to cover the cost, so I thought, why not? Well, after about a week of being not sure, it turns out that I AM going:

Mothering and Motherhood in the 21st Century: Research and Activism,

February 18 and 19, Lisbon Portugal

How cool is that?

Our project's Lead Researcher will also be there so I have to attend her presentation and then Ill be speaking, along with my boss, at the session following. Otherwise, I don't know how much I'll need to attend, but I am so excited to see a little Europe in the process!

Thankfully, I have some wonderful people around me that are going to take over the childcare while Im gone. It'll be about 5.5 days that Ill be away, including travel and for a single mom, that could be really difficult to pull off. Instead, I have four people taking various shifts to make sure the kids are well looked-after. Without them, I would never be able to take advantage of such an opportunity.

But that brings up some difficult issues regarding my budget. I've not done nearly as well this month as I would have liked so I was hoping to make up for it in February. Not gonna happen. My trip is covered in that I don't have to worry about flights or hotels, and I get a daily allowance for transportation/food. What's missing from that? Childcare. Two of the four people who will be looking after the kids will need to be paid, and well. There are two full days and nights of all four children, and two full days and nights of two children. I have no idea what is reasonable for each person, but it isn't going to be cheap. Add to that, I'll be missing out on three days of babysitting money and I don't have much of a chance to save anything in February.

One way Im trying to reduce expenses is to think of easy, cheap meals to leave for whoever is looking after the boys at dinner time each night. My brother isn't much of a cook and so I know he'll most likely open a box of kraft dinner or order something. My cousin is more of a baker, but when she cooks it involves more expensive items, as she doesn't have any children. Id appreciate any suggestions of easy, cheap meals that wont be a chore and that my kids will eat! Now if that isn't a tall order....

I think Ill leave a little money for pizza one night and thaw out a chicken in the fridge for another. I've taught my brother how to roast a chicken and it's one of the few things all the kids will eat. I just have to find one on sale between now and then. It's funny; when it's just me to menu plan, grocery shop and cook, I don't worry as much. But knowing that someone else is going to have to do it, Im scared that I wont have enough food in the house and they'll all starve!

There's also the worry of school. Do I keep them out during the 3 school days Ill be gone or do I try to navigate homework, lunches and pick-up/drop off times with a babysitter? My cousin will most likely have them during those school days and she has picked them up for me before, so I know she could pull it off, but it's a stress Im not sure I want to deal with. If they stay home, that's more work for the babysitter. If they go to school, Ill have to send in a note to their teachers explaining why homework isn't getting done, set up hot lunches with their teachers before I leave and leave detailed instructions about drop off in the morning. Ack, I so don't know what to do!

Anyway, that's what's going on here. We're getting through the cold winter and Owen has decided to potty train, but that's a post for another day.

Sick

It was a tough weekend. I couldn't get out the the grocery store until the boys left Saturday evening at 5, and then my brother asked if I'd wait until the following morning so that he could go with me. Mistake. I woke up at 5am with horrible stomach pains that lasted for about 36 hours. I could barely move. This was the worst sickness ever to hit me.

Somehow the kids, with the exception of Noah, all got over it within a couple of hours. Their dad told me that Saturday night they had each woken up throwing up and so at 7:30am, Micah called to say they were coming home. This, might I remind you was only a couple hours after it hit me. I was not in the proper shape to look after children, but what could I do? So they came home and they were FINE! It was much better that way because they were able to help each other with getting drinks and snacks through out the day. Jason kept Owen (who also woke up Sunday throwing up) until late Sunday night and he was sleeping when Jason carried him in. That was a life saver. Jason also stopped by the convenience store and grabbed a couple of things to keep us going around here. If not for his help in keeping Owen and picking up those few groceries, I don't know what I would have done.

Monday, my SIL called and said she wasn't bringing the boys over because she was sick. That was great because it allowed me a couple extra hours in bed, which was the only place I still felt human. I drove my brother to school and picked him up later, then went to the grocery store. By the time I got home, I was in tears, my stomach pains were so bad. That's when I commented on facebook that it was worse than labor. It had been going on for so long, that I was just exhausted.

In the two days that I was sick I was able to eat an apple, two pieces of toast and some chips that Micah brought me. The apple was on Sunday, the other things were Monday. I think getting some food into me helped, but I know I wouldn't have been able to keep anything else in. Horrible, horrible. Even liquids were a challenge. Over the two days I drank two glasses of watered down ginger ale. That's all the fluids I had...so I know Im definitely dehydrated.

Today Micah and Noah are home from school and my nephews are here, both of whom are sick themselves. Im still queasy but not like I was.

Just gotta keep going.....

Randomness

Noah was throwing up all last night. NOT FUN!

My nephews showed up this morning with coughs and sniffles

Micah is still in bed (it's nearly 11) complaining of being really tired and having a headache

Owen is covered in snot. I seriously just can't keep up with it.

James and I are outnumbered and Im just praying that we get through the next couple of days without coming down with something ourselves. At least they're all at their dads' this weekend so I can either a) clean the house and get some groceries in preparation for being sick or b) hunker down in bed with a couple of novels and a bottle of Gatorade. We'll see.

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Yesterday I stopped to get gas before dropping my brother off at his school. I got home about an hour later and realised that I didn't have my wallet. Without even having to think about it, I knew I had left it on top of the garbage bin at the gas station. I remembered putting it there and thinking to myself that I had to get it before getting back in the van. Thankfully it was exactly where I had left it with everything still inside. Amazing!

Birthday Party Planning

Im enjoying this wonderful hiatus from planning yet another birthday party. My children all have birthdays from April-November, leaving 5 wonderful months (with the exception of Christmas) where I don't have to PLAN for anything big.

Noah's will be coming up next and although Im thinking about his birthday, Im not actually planning it, yet.

He's requested a candy land theme where the guests can feel like they're really playing the game. I had thought about doing the same thing for Jamie's 4th birthday but then decided against it due to the huge amount of work. Since Noah is turning 7 and will have actual friends from school to invite, I thought this might be the right birthday for it.

I stumbled upon this birthday party planning page and although it's not quite detailed enough for this party, it could work well for future ideas.

So far, all I've got worked out is:

1. that it should be held somewhere big like a local hall or something
2. I could use cardboard and paint giant squares to make a path
3. Id like to give out a candy land game to each child instead of a loot bag and so I've started to collect coupons from cereal boxes for $5 off each game. I know I can find candy land for around $10 so if I can get enough coupons, I think it would be reasonable.

Ive started to collect websites and pictures of other candy themed parties as well. I don't want ot get too heavy into the specifics of it just yet, but it does seem like a huge endeavor and so I should probably start in the next month or so.

What about you? Do you plan big parties or prefer more intimate ones? Or even better, do you have any ideas I could use?