Slippers

Brady got a pair of Lightning McQueen slippers for Christmas.  He hasn't shown a ton of interest in wearing them, however, he does have moments when the sub-zero temperatures finally make his feet a little cold and he'll keep them on.  I think he looks funny in them; they make his feet look humongous compared to the rest of his body.

More Cars

Most of The Smoller Family faithful readers know about our son's obsession with cars.  In case you don't know, little B is obsessed with cars.  Cars the animated movie Disney, cars that you can drive around and play with, trucks, etc.  Cars, cars, cars. 

One of his little habits lately is gathering all of his cars and putting them together in one spot.  A lot of times he flips his table over so it's upside down and then he places his car there, but this time he decided to do it with the table upright. 

 And after he had all his cars on the table he had but one thing to share with us, "I want more cars." 

Riiiiiight.  Because that's clearly what you need, son.  More cars.  **spoken with a heavy dripping of sarcasm**

2011 Resolutions

Yes, yes, I realize it's now February and I am just tad late in posting about my resolutions for the year.  Alas, better late than never.  Besides, I don't make my resolutions for January 1.  It's nice to take a little post-holiday time and really think about the things I need to change in myself, my life, my surroundings, etc.  I have 2 resolutions for this year. 1.  Develop and follow a consistent skin-care routine. 
Yeah, yeah, I know I should already be doing this and I kind of do, but not as faithfully as I should.  I already wear a moisturizer with sunscreen every single day and I have for over a decade now.  But I'm not quite as faithful about making sure I wash my face every single night and then put on some anti-wrinkle cream and some eye cream (because let's be honest, this face isn't getting any younger).  So, I'm going 2 weeks strong now.  I wash in the morning and then slather on my moisturizer/sunscreen.  At night I wash my face and then put on the anti-wrinkle cream and the eye cream.  Can't say that I've really noticed a difference in how I look, but the skin definitely feels better, especially around the eyes.  No fancy products or anything--drugstore brands on everything except for the Clinique eye cream that I absolutely adore and must have.  Otherwise, it's Oil of Olay, Biore, generic stuff, whatever.  I figure something is better than nothing.  Oh, and a little t-zone mask treatment once a week for my oily areas.  That's my routine.  I've followed it for 2 weeks.  Let's hope I can keep it up the remainder of the year.

2.  Decrease our household grocery budget.
That's pretty vague,but I do have more specifics.  For us, I've set a goal of not spending more than $70 per week on groceries.  My inspiration for this challenge - the $5 dinner mom cookbook.  Check out her blog here.  I already follow several blogs that give great advice on how to combine coupons with sales to maximize your budget; I just need to do a better job of following those blogs.  And so far we've been successful.  I need to get a Sunday subscription to the Kansas City Star so I can get the print coupons regularly, but I print what I can from the internet (including tons of diaper coupons!). 
Do you have a similar goal?  Here are some places to help get you started, if you so desire.
   A. Check out My Frugal Adventures - her blog is on the right, but she posts weekly deals at Target, Walgreens, CVS, Rite-Aid and other all-around good deals.
   B.  Be Centsable - this blog has links to other blogs that show coupon matchups for local grocery stores in Kansas (and other states).  Find your store and shop away (within a budget, of course). 

So, what are your 2011 resolutions?  It's February 3rd; how are you doing a month into the year?

Bad, bad blogger

Yes, I have been a bad, bad blogger lately.  I could give you a zillion excuses (holidays, work, tiredness, technical difficulties) but I'm pretty sure none of you want to hear about those.  I'll post a few pictures to entertain you for a bit and then I'll start blogging on a more regular basis. 

Resolutions

Just a short little end-of-the-year note that my 2010 Resolution was MET!  In case you forgot, I resolved to read at least 2 books per month.  Well, I managed 27 for the year, so I did a little more than 2 per month.  And, I may add a 28th book to that list before it's all done. 

Have a Happy New Year!

Milestone Alert

Brady passed another milestone over the weekend.  Saturday night he slept in the big boy bed for the very first time.  Went to bed and didn't have any issues.  In fact, he was still sound asleep when I went in to wake him up Sunday morning.  The kid was tired!

Nap time yesterday was successful, but shorter than usual.  But 2 nights in a row and not a peep out of him.  Off to a good start.

Thanksgiving, a little late

a few days late and with no actual Thanksgiving pictures to show you.  Alas, I'll tell you about our holiday anyway.  We hosted Thanksgiving this year at our house and had 2 of the 4 sets of parents out for some completely delicious eating.

This hostest was quite nervous about the bird cooking, since she has never cooked an entire turkey.  No worries, however!  After 2 weeks of non-stop Food Network viewing and cyber stalking the bird came out moist and tasty.  Cooked it upside down in a poultry bag (thanks to the tip from my faithful morning Spinner, Nancy) with a Bobby Flay herb butter mixed rubbed all over it.  Add to it creamy mashed potatoes and pancetta-mushroom-apple stuffing (yeah, it had all those ingredients along with 3 types of bread, including homemade cornbread!) courtesy of The Pioneer Woman.  Include a side of Blackwood Family green bean casserole (that is not made with cream of mushroom soup and tastes all the better for it) and the tasty side dishes and desserts that our guests contributed and you can say it was one fabulously awesome meal. 

And yes, I'll brag.  It was good.  Really good.  So good I'd even do it again for Christmas.  And I think I might! I love food. 

Brady has been quite enamored with his backpack that he got for his birthday.  We help to put it on and he just runs around the living room with it on his back, just like he's going to school.  So cute!  And so grown-up looking.  Sniff sniff.

Hop everyone else had a great Thanksgiving.  We have so, so much to be thankful for.  Really.  The list is endless.  Family, friends, health, home, etc.  It's a good life we have!