A bad mummy moment

Today I was putting away the laundry, and put Rona on the single bed in her room while I put away her clothes.
I had seated her in the middle of the bed and gave her a book to hold.

I was turned around to put the nappies on the shelf, and I heard a THUMP!
Rona had decided to lean over and wriggle to the edge of the bed and then fell face first.

Poor baby now is sporting two large bruises :(

I feel like such a bad mummy, when it was just an accident, but still..... poor baby

No Spend Challenge - day 14

It is the end! We made it!

So, the spend for 14 days was:

$96.50 for food
$50 for medications
 $260 for Rona's nappies

Total: $406.50

One expense that I was anticipating but did not eventuate was Rona's paediatrician fee. The paediatrician didn't charge us any more than Medicare costs. Which was great for us, saved us a $50 "gap" payment.

While Medicare can be annoying, and you will find us Australians complaining about it a lot, that it isn't good enough, I am so very grateful for it. I really think that socialised medicine is fantastic!

No Spend Challenge - day 12

Almost the end of the challenge!

We doing well so far, nothing spent these past two days, and only two days to go until the end of the challenge.

Rona and I went to the library, lots of free entertainment there. I am enjoying our library, they have in the last year gotten an extensive DVD collection, which is fantastic for me, I don't have to rent any from the shops to keep myself entertained.

Spent so far: $406.50 (including Rona's nappies)

No Spend Challenge - day 10

Had to get another couple of things from the grocery store, $30.

I have been really good lately, I feel better when I think of the money I haven't spent rather than if I had bought those things for me.

But, I must admit I did spend almost $300 today. Rona wears Modern Cloth Nappies, and she has grown out of her current set, and so I have been looking for a good deal on the next size up. And I found a set of 13 for 15% off.

I still maintain that it is an essential (and way cheaper than disposables) but I feel bad for spending that much money during my No Spend Challenge.

So..
Spent so far: $146.50
plus $260 for Rona's nappies

No Spend Challenge - day 8

Day 8 of 14!

Yesterday was a stay at home day, so that was easy.

Today I needed to get some veges, and had to go to the bank to use their coin counting machine.
So I made sure I only bought what I needed and got $140 from my piggy bank!

Tomorrow will be more expensive, but I will blog about that later.

Spent today: $14
Total: $116.50

No Spend Challenge - day 6

Today is day 6 of the challenge

Yesterday I needed milk, so I went to the shops and went home with ONLY the milk! Okay, so that isn't that exciting, but I usually pick up "just a few things" while I am there.

Today Rona and I are staying at home, I am working on some craft.... or trying to when Rona will let me.

Spent - $3.50 on 3L of milk

Which brings our total to: $102.50..... not too bad for the groceries and medication, but we will see.... almost half way!

One thing that is really useful is a memory trigger. I have printed some off my favourite website Simple Savings. I have one next to my EFTPOS card, and another in my coin section of my purse. That helps me to remember that I need to Stop, Think and Save.

Another thing that helps me is the knowledge that I am going to write it down here and be accountable.

No Spend Challenge - day 4

Day four of 14

I spent nothing! It was 40C and so Husband, Rona and I stayed home.

So, I am doing well at the moment, we will see how the next 10 days go

No Spend Challenge - day 3

Day 3 of 14

Yesterday, Rona and I stayed at home all day, so that was a very easy no-spend day. Today, however, was harder.

I realised that we needed milk and some of my medications were running out, so we went to the shops. Deciding on doing a No Spend Challenge during New Years sales is definitely a challenge! But I bypassed the 75% off Christmas decorations and the marked down gift things and just bought what we needed.

Spent -
Medications $50
Weekly grocery shop $49

I am reasonably happy with that, I didn't spend any money on anything that wasn't essentials!

No Spend Challenge

Okay, so my favourite website Simple Savings has what is called a No Spend Challenge.

The idea is that you don't spend money on ANYTHING (well except for absolute essentials) for a set amount of time, a week, month or year.

Essentials are NOT:
Lollies
Magazines
Clothes

Essentials are:
Food
Petrol
Your regular bills and nothing else.

So I am going to go a fortnight without spending anything. Well, I will be buying food (as little as possible) and petrol (ditto) and our regular bills (which include Rona's paediatician appointment next week).

I really hope I can make it, because yes, we need to save money and because it would be a good challenge for me :) So, fingers crossed and here I go.

Spent so far $0!

What I cook to use up leftovers :)

I use this to use up any meat and veges that are left over, I hate wasted food, and Husband loves it when I cook pie :)

Leftover Pot Pie

1/3 C. Chopped Onion
1/3 C. Flour
1/3 C. Margarine
1 bag peas/carrots blend or a big can of veggies
1¾ C. stock (whatever suits your meat)
1/4 C. Milk
1 c. cut up cooked any leftover meat

Melt butter, add onions- sauté for a minute, add flour, mix till pasty, add broth and milk. Stir constantly until creamy and thick ( cooking over medium heat), Add veggies & chicken. Dump into a pie crust, bake 40 minutes at 180ºC.

It is yummy and easy and it uses up pretty much anything you have in the fridge :)

The passion of teenagers

I have been pondering for the past couple of months about my past. Thinking of what has been and what could have been.

But what struck me, was I have lost the passion and the enthusiasm of my teen years. For teens, being passionate is as necessary as hormones.

Passion for my faith. I am still in love with God, I believe him wholly, I am never going to change that. But I feel the fire, the passion and enthusiasm has died down.

Falling in love with God in my teens was like falling in love for the first time, all your time and attention goes towards your paramour, every moment you are thinking of him, and him only. You pine until you can see him again and rejoice when you meet again.

But now, it feels like some marriages (so I have heard), stale and lacking in the spark that you used to have.

So how do I resurrect this spark?

I am going to pray more, read the bible more and thank God that He is faithful, even when I am not.

Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you. Psalm 9:10

Facebook - Fun or a social menace?

I love to use Facebook. I am able to keep up with friends and family that, frankly, I really don't have time to ring or see very often.

I don't play the games, take the surveys, or really anything but post photos and update my status.... but lately there has been much media about the Menace of Facebook (Insert scary music). The media really hype up any dangers that could or could not happen with ..... well, really anything.

I realise that it is important to keep private things private, only my friends can see anything about me (gotta love privacy settings).

But sometimes people aren't careful. They can get fired or evicted because of what they post.

But I really think that Facebook isn't evil, or really.... good. It all depends on how you use it. Everything in moderation, and remembering that whatever you post, everyone can see!

My 200th Post!

Yay my 200th Post!

Who would have thought that I would make it this long? Thank you to those who are reading, for listening to me for this long :)

10 reasons I love staying at home

Reasons I love being a Stay At Home Mum

1. I get to spend everyday with my beautiful baby girl
2. The way Rona smiles at me whenever I walk into a room
3. I get to nap when Rona does
4. I get to run errands on a weekday, instead of a Saturday when everyone else does
5. Weekends are spent on quality time with Husband, rather than being exhausted from paid work all week
6. I have time to blog :)
7. I get to spend time baking when the mood hits
8. I get the opportunity to catch up with my sister and her children during the week (because they homeschool)
9. I get to witness all of Rona's milestones, not hear about them from others
10. Waking up hearing Rona's voice everyday

Links for January

Happy New Years! 2010 was a great year, so hopefully 2011 will be even better!

A great recipe for no knead bread

Wordle
Make words into pictures, I can spend HOURS playing on this website, so be warned :)

One day when I don't need a nappy bag anymore, I will make this for myself

A museli type bar, but more cake-y than museli, Husband and Rona both love it