My Picky Eater!

My 2 year old son gives picky eaters a new name!! Most kids will at the very least eat mac & cheese - a peanut butter sandwich - toast  - cereal ... NOPE! Not my picky eater! He eats raw carrots! Radishes! Kohlrabi! Pickles! Black Olives! Broccoli !! Corn! Olive Garden Salad!! I know I should not complain he is after all a very healthy eater & generally a very healthy little guy!  But it does make it challenging when dinner time rolls around! & he is also a junk food junkie too! Jones chips, pretzels, cookies, popcorn ... smarties ... skittles ...

He's what I call a grazer ... does not sit to eat but rather munches all day - randomly going to the fridg to help himself! Two days ago, however, we had a breakthrough!! I recently purchased him a place mat with Disney's Cars on the front. He loved it instantly! After explaining to him that it goes on the counter (where we eat) he promptly put it to use & ate TWO BOWLS OF CEREAL!!  & yesterday, he ate for the 1st time a PB sandwich for breakfast on a whole wheat bun!! & ate an entire McDonald's Happy Meal 4 piece nuggets for dinner!! YES! I know not good food! But you have to understand that my son does not eat meat. PERIOD! Peanut butter was an exciting deal for me because all I could think was YEAH! Protein!! (Oh & technically he only ate 3 nuggets sharing #4 with is not-so-picky-eater baby sister!!)

 Eating his very favorite steamed broccoli!!

I'm still here!

At least a 1/2 dozen times a day I think of things I want to type in my blog ... BUT at least 2,010 times I get called off to do something else instead ... Maggie Jo took a nose dive out of the high chair - Camden took a nose dive over his Tonka truck oh & lets not forget Joe needs something typed up & sold on craigslist.com!!


... but I've finally made it over here to my blog! FINALLY it's almost "mommy time" - Camden on my lap - wiggling - making it very difficult to type! I've so many things I want to share but obviously my time is going to be short ... so I will share something that really made me smile today!!


I've always used coupons! Always looked for deals! Years ago some even called me the coupon queen! I've fallen away for a few years. My excuse it simple - coupons were hard to come by because I do not receive the newspaper ... but like many others out there I have been motivated by TLC's new show Extreme Couponing.  I've only caught a couple episodes & let me be quick to say I think these people border on hoarders!! I honestly think it's foolish to own obscene stockpiles of food!! Yes, we are in an economic recession ... & yes, I do stock up on good deals!! But I don't let my good deals take over my home or make it my full time job! I am a mommy first. A mommy second!! A mommy 24/7!! ... my trips to the store are small in comparison to the show's extremers & my time is limited to how quickly my 2 year old gets bored ... actually in comparison to the show you could say my shopping trips are EXTREMELY SMALL!


So motivated by the show - I have found a newspaper recycle bin that allows me 3 - yes, only THREE - coupon inserts. I don't dumpster dive for more! I don't beg neighbors to save them. I don't advertise on craigslist asking ... I take my 3 inserts compare them with store flyers from only 3 - yes THREE stores - Walmart, Walgreens & Kroger's ... oh & yes, I'm guilty of "like"ing a few facebook pages that share deals & I've jumped at the chance to sign up for freebies in the mail ... but I buy only what I know we will use & what we need! or what I can give to family ... & yes, if it's FREE & we don't need it I donate it to the local women's shelter ... 


So with all that said - I want to share today's "haul".  I save money all time using my coupons but this is the first time I walked away with my stomach jumping ... my bill was $32.08 ... I paid $5.20 ... & I also got a $5 rewards to spend on my next trip so TECHNICALLY this "haul" cost me a whopping .20 cents!! My absolute best shopping trip by far!! & with some goodies for the diaper bag as a bonus ... we've got Grandpop's Father's Day present!! ... & since I have 2 more coupon inserts left ... I might just do it all again tomorrow for Daddy!! & now with the kids asleep & Joe snoring I'm off for my real mommy time to watch my FREE Redbox rental!