Montessori

Brody started school on Tuesday!! He is going to the Montessori School of Leesburg. It is .7 miles from our house. We can literally leave at 8:25 and be there at 8:30. His teacher is Ms. Sandra from India. She is beautiful and sweet. This is his first "real" montessori class as he was in pre-montessori before. This means he is now with kids ages 3-6. He is going very well and talks about school non-stop. Here are some of his comments since attending school:

I think Jack Johnson should speak Spanish so we can dance to his music.
I love salads.
I love broccoli.
I am a big boy with my uniform.
I love meeting new friends.

Here's to a great year at school!

Virginia!

Who would have thought I would be living in Virginia again. Brody has now lived in every state that I have lived in. Funny how life takes us full-circle. Drew came home from Iraq in September. He got a job with Booz Allen Hamilton in October. Drew started working November 1 and the boys and I moved to Virginia on December 5. We bought a home in Leesburg, VA. Leesburg is 40 minutes outside of DC. It is a cute, quaint and historical little town. Drew works primarily in Herndon (13 miles away) but also has an office in Tyson's Corner and DC. We found it very difficult to find a decent priced home in a good neighborhood with a good school close to the city. We are very happy with Leesburg and the commute hasn't been that bad as of yet.

The boys are settling in nicely. The house came with a slide, 3 swings, a sandbox and a tree house. Doesn't get much better than that! They also have their own playroom, their own bedroom and are able to run circles around the house. Luckily we also have a basement that I can throw all the boxes into that I don't want to unpack just yet.

We are not sure how long we will be here but are determined to make the most out of being back east. We have a list of places we want to visit and hope to make it into DC at least once a month. If not to see something at the very least to see my dad.

The weather has been about 60 degrees. No snow. The water is awful. My hair doesn't do much but hang there. I may need to purchase a water softner sooner rather than later.

Overall, we are well. Drew likes his job and is doing Health IT Strategy. Not a bad field to be in. Brody talks all the time and I learn something new everyday from him. Jake is slowly phasing out of the baby phase and that makes me sad. But he is so stinking cute and wants to get into everything his brother is doing.

I will try and be better about posting.

Love to all.

H

Results...

So, it is May 1. Here is what I saved for the month of April:

Total spent in the month of March on groceries, dining out, household (includes diapers): $1,950
Total spent in the month of April on groceries, dining out and household: $724.61
For a grand total savings of:

$1,225.51

I know!! We were just as shocked! Now, granted we spent a week in San Diego and didn't have to buy groceries that week but we still saved way more than I thought we would.

Now according to the "challenge" I would get half of that money to spend on whatever I want. You should have seen Drew back pedal!! So, we compromised. I didn't think we would save that much and neither did he. So, I get 1/4 of what we saved to spend on whatever I want (clothes). And I get a huge surge of satisfaction and motivation to keep spending less. I will post what I did to save money in a bit. It was very quite simple and really just comes down to mentality.

It makes me sick to think of all the money I have wasted....

The Challenge

Drew has challenged me to a shopping game. Well kind of...

We currently are spending $800-$850 a month on groceries! My boys are 1 and 3 and eat oatmeal, cereal, peanut butter and the little one nurses! I don't cook anything that exotic so how in the world are we spending so much every month! This does not include eating out or household (well maybe some diapers here and there).

So, the challenge is to decrease our spending on groceries. Whatever I save this month in groceries I get to split. Half of the savings will go to debt the other half I get to spend on whatever I want.

I have taken polls from other households with 2 kids. Other moms have said they spend way too much. Generally the consensus has been between $500-$800 with everyone going over their budget.

So....how to reduce spending on groceries?

Here are a few thoughts:

Buy bulk
Eat seasonally
Eat leftovers (yuck)


My goal:

To spend $100 a week $400 a month for the month of April.
That would be $450 less than what I spent on groceries in March.

This is going to be a challenge...

2010

2010 was a good year. Here is a quick overview:

March-
Brody turned 2
Mommy turned 31
Welcomed Jake Henry
June-
Annie got married
July-
Spent 4th of July in McCall and Cascade
August-
Went to the cabin in C'dAlene
September-
Brody started Montessori
Said goodbye to Drew
November-
Went to DC and New Orleans
December-
Jake's first Christmas

It is amazing how quickly time flies. Brody is talking non-stop and is quite a little character. Jake has 6 teeth and is almost wearing Brody's clothes. Jake took 5 steps the other day and cruises down the hall holding on to the wall. It won't be long before they are both playing football and talking to each other!

Jake Henry

Jake Henry
March 25, 2010
1:15pm
8lbs. 10 oz.
Boise, ID

Brody 22 months

Here are a couple of recent pictures of Brody. These were taken a few weeks ago in Palm Springs CA. He still loves to swim. I also included a pregnant photo of his mom.