Buying In Bulk

I recently started to store some groceries in our storage room. We hadn't done this before b/c we haven't shopped at Costco since we moved here since it's 2 hours away, & we'd just made do w/ the amount of space we have upstairs. However, since we are here long-term I figured that since some items are cheaper to buy in the larger quantities or sizes, I might as well do so.

There are some things that I'd like to stock up on, but can't, like margarine b/c it has to be refrigerated, but I figured I might as well buy the big peanut butter.

I can refill the smaller jar that we keep in the cupboard since peanut butter doesn't have to be refrigerated once it's opened. I realized after I got home from getting groceries on Monday, that I had already had this brilliant idea before.... Now I have TWO huge jars of peanut butter! Guess I'd better get baking!

Which Would You Rather......

Toys of the past were made to last. Sure, they may have been taken off the market b/c they were thought to have been choking hazards, but if you shelled out $25 for a toy, you KNEW it wouldn't break mere days after being brought home, even if it wasn't played w/ according to it's instructions.


You may be asking yourself, How does Sherilyn know that toys were so well made back then?

Well, I have a few toys from yesteryear that I let the children play with & I can assure you that when you are hit squarely in the face with this:


as I was yesterday, you KNOW it's solidly built & nothing short of a car running over it will break it.

However, if you could imagine being hit with this:


well, I liken the difference to being hit with a chair, or being hit with a break-away chair.
So, which would you rather?

Mission Accomplished!

After much blood (well, ok, not so much blood), sweat, & tears (I'm sure they were tears of elation b/c we could have steaks) PChad made it to the grill!


The only hitch we ran into was running out of propane.... luckily the steaks were 90% done at that point, so we called it good enough & they were PERFECT!

What Kind Of Mother Do You Think I Am?

The other night I got out a new jar of baby food for Chancery. A jar of peaches. I had forgotten that w/ Asher we had decided peaches just weren't worth it b/c they are SO runny & nearly impossible to feed w/o them spilling all over the place since you have to use these microscopic spoons to feed your babies.

Anyway, I opened the lid & noticed that they looked a bit darker than normal & had a stench that could knock your socks off.... in fact, it smelled like someone had put their old stinky socks right there in that little jar of peaches.

So I got a different jar of fruit out for Chancery & kept the peaches out in order to call the company. I called them & this is how the conversation went:

Me: "Hi, I bought a jar of your baby food peaches & when I opened it, it wasn't good."

Baby Food Company: "What do you mean, 'it wasn't good.'?"

Me: "Well, it was dark & smelled like dirty socks."
(Just to be sure, I opend the lid again & INDEED it STILL smelled like dirty socks!)

BFC: "Did you feed any to the baby?"

Let's take a moment to think about this... If YOU had opened a jar of baby peaches that appeared to have gone off & smelled like dirty gym socks, would YOU have fed any to YOUR baby?

Me: "No, I did not."

BFC: "Ok, let me get some info from you & I'll send you some coupons...."

BFC: "From the info you have given me, you're in Canada, is that right?"

Me: "Yes."

BFC: "Well, maybe the jar froze since it's so cold up there."

I'm pretty sure that part about Canada being cold wasn't in the script of what she was supposed to say, but I let it go. Either way, it's not really my fault if the jar did freeze since my house maintains a temperature above freezing, which is especially important since we have a baby in the house!

BFC: "Did the contents of the jar appear watery?"

Me: "Well, the peaches are always watery, if anything, I'd say they were a bit thicker than normal."

She proceeded to get the rest of the info she needed & assured me that my coupons would be on their way. I felt a bit weird calling about it b/c I didn't want to seem to be an opportunist calling just to get some baby food coupons. I was only calling b/c it says on the label "if you are not completely satisfied with this product call 1-800-xxx-xxxx." And I wasn't satisfied, I must have sniffed that jar 5 times to see if it really was stinky or not, and every time I checked, it still was! I just found it amusing that they had to ask if I had fed any foul smelling food to my infant & possibly try to blame it on Canada being cold.

Words That Should Have Made Him Happy

"Honey, I bought some steaks!" I came home & told PChad this morning.

He looked outside.....



.....He looked less than pleased as he said, "I'm going to have to shovel ALL that snow. *sigh*"

Does This Mean He Thinks I'm A Pig?

I was getting dinner ready last night & Asher asked if he could go sit in his seat. I told him it wasn't quite time yet b/c I had to heat up our pizza pops (healthy, I know! What can I say? I'm a gourmet cook!) & then I had to wee.

He asked me, "Are you going to wee all the way home?"

Sunday Pictures: week 29

We're all sick here today, so in lieu of the regular Sunday Pics, I'll show you what we've been up to today.

Reading books

Playing with Animals

Lazing around & climbing on Daddy

The animals are "Going around the Mulberry bush!"

Wiping noses & playing with cars

Goin' On A Trip?

This morning Asher awoke & went into our room to find it empty. I was in Chancery's room & PChad is gone to a Classis meeting this weekend. I could hear him saying, "Daddy? Where are you?" before I got in the room. I came in & told him that Daddy was gone on a trip for a few days & so it was just going to be the 3 of us.

Asher inquired, "Daddy's on a trip?"

Me: "Yes, he had a meeting."

Asher: "Well, we should go on a trip too & find Daddy!"

He just loves spending time with his Daddy & even though it's only 2 days, he'll be sorely missed!

Stubborn As A Mule

For the past month Asher has been sick off & on. He has started to play on this theme as well.

"I need to have juice & not milk because I'm sick!"

"I can't put my toys away, I'm not feeling very well."

Mealtime is no exception. He has taken to not eating. No bribe works, he simply says he's not feeling very well & can't eat whatever happens to be in front of him (No problems at snack time, however).

The other morning he looked at his oatmeal for 1/2 an hour without so much as tasting it. I finally had to feed it to him & then he reluctantly ate it. At dinnertime PChad said that we shouldn't have to feed his food to him & he sat for 2 hours until his small portion of chicken & rice was finished. At lunch he asked for peanut butter & honey & then refused to eat it until PChad helped put it in his mouth.

So we're up against a stubborn streak & don't know if we should make him sit 'til he eats by himself, or if we should assist in the feeding at some point. But at least he doesn't have many tantrums!

A Time To Dance?

Clearly this guy is excited about his impending win, however he might have forgotten just what the score was.....

A Giveaway!

No, I'm not having a giveaway,

but PChad is!

Head on over to his blog for the chance to win one of 12 great prizes!

Cleaning Schedule

The Queen B asked the other day about how people clean their houses. Here's what I do:

I like things tidy, so I'm constantly putting things away, that way it doesn't seem like too big a job b/c there's not that much to put away. Basically when the kids leave a room, we tidy it before we go.

As for cleaning? I generally clean when it looks like it needs to be clean (ie. you can SEE that the floor is dirty). That being said, I only vacuum once a week or so, but there is no set day/time. I have central vac, but I HATE it b/c I find you have to lug everything out & it's not conducive to doing a quick cleaning, so I use my old vacuum most the time unless I'm going to do a thorough cleaning. Monday is laundry day. Everyone knows to have their laundry in the hamper on Monday or it has to wait another week. I fold right away b/c then I don't have laundry lying about & I'm done for a whole week (unless there's a huge spit-up accident like there was yesterday). Dusting? Well I should probably do that from time to time......

Tired, Sore & Sick

Who are Tired, Sick & Sore? Let me introduce you.

First, there's tired. Tired is a little girl who has decided that there are more exciting things to do than sleep. Among these things are, trying to get up on knees to practice for when she learns to crawl; attempting to play w/ all her brother's toys b/c they just look so fun, then getting frustrated when she can't do all the things her brother can do; watching the cat; trying to hold herself up at the coffee table to prove she's a big girl. All these activities are extremely exhausting, yet Tired doesn't seem to know that sleeping will make these activities seem easier b/c she'll be well rested. Tired has taken to sleeping for 1/2 hour periods during naptime & waking quite cheerful w/ no intention of going back to sleep, this however, leads Tired to become fatigued quite quickly shortly thereafter, much to our chagrin.

Then there's Sore. Sore somehow hurt her neck & shoulder a week ago doing who-knows-what. Despite visiting the chiropractor several times, Sore's shoulder is still... well, sore. This might be due to the fact that Tired has to be carried everywhere, & Sick also wants to be carried. Sore can also attest to the fact that when you're not feeling 100%, you just don't care about some things like looking nice, cooking dinner, & cleaning up.

Lastly, meet Sick. Sick has been sick off & on for almost a full month. He's had a cough for the duration, sometimes better, sometimes worse. Between colds & flus he has not been 100% for weeks. This has caused Sick to take wonderfully longs naps in the afternoons, perhaps making up for Tired's lack of sleep (if only it transferred like that). Sick's poor little nose has become quite raw from all the nose wiping & blowing so we've taken to putting diaper rash cream on it which seems to have helped. Sick constatly reminds us, "I'm not feeling very well," & requests to sit & read books in his bed which he was doing moments ago until he fell asleep.

Inquiring Minds Want To Know

We were driving out in the country yesterday & we passed a house that was fairly close to the road. Asher saw it & told us, "That house has windows up there!"

We agreed that it did indeed have windows on the second story. He then followed it up with this statement:

"Those windows go in someone's bedroom. We should go in that house & find out who sleeps in those beds up there."

We tried to explain to him that we didn't know those people, so we would not be going in their house, but since we recently moved here & we've been meeting all new people, I think the concept of "people we don't know" is a little bit lost on him.

Sunday Pictures: week 28

Asher - 2.5 years
Chancery - 6 months
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Asher: "Do we really have to do this EVERY week?"

Chancery: "Oooh, I'm not feeling very well!"


Chancery: "In fact, I'm feeling quite faint!"

Asher: "Cough, cough, cough!"

Chancery: "You ought to cover your mouth when you cough!"


Asher: "Well, now she's not going to believe you, Chancery!"

Chancery: "Uh oh, did you see that, Mum?"

Asher: "Haha! We were fooling you!"

Chancery: "We're so funny!