Ahhhh.... FALL!

Summer days have passed and the kiddos are back in school. Where did the summer go? It seems like just yesterday, we were watching snowflakes fall, dreaming of the days we could walk outside in shorts and a t-shirt... and here we are, silently slipping into a changing season.  A season that brings with it cool breezes, open windows, sweatshirts and jeans, pumpkin aromas filling our homes, and the wonderful sights and sounds of fall! It is indeed my favorite time of year. The rustling leaves beneath my boots as I find my way to the deer stand, the smell of cool rain on crisp, freshly fallen leaves, the excited anticipation of the upcoming holidays... oops, is it too early to talk about holidays? 

I am happy to report that things are starting to calm down in our lives. Matters that were at hand are now settled and laid to rest, kids are back in school, the house has once again begun to find it's order again. 

My oldest daughter, Miss Aleix Noelle, decided she wanted to re-enroll in school, and in doing so, she found herself on the JV volleyball team! I am extremely proud of her, though the first game I attended I cried for much of the first set... the reality that I now have a *high schooler* set in... my baby girl is in high school? No, that can't be. I still see her sitting in the living room, playing with her dollhouse, having pretend conversations, back and forth, back and forth... now her conversations involve a phone keyboard and the keys of a computer. 5,000 texts a month to be exact. Say what?! I know, right? I agree. But you know, when the kid is managing to pull straight A's, and does her homework every night before doing anything else... without being told, and putting an A+ effort into her volleyball team, I can't say too much. 

I've once again gotten back into menu and meal planning for each week, Pinterest is my new best friend. I need to incorporate a voting system, however, for new meals I am introducing to the family. I'm thinking an index card system, each family member gets a "yes" and "no" card. At the end of the meal, they can drop their vote into the box, anonymously, on whether they would like to have this meal again or not. If majority rules "yes", the meal will be written down on a card and permanently added to the recipe log/book and added to our menu list. This way, everyone will have a fair say in the matter. 

It feels good to be back into the swing of meal planning. After the move this last Spring, everything got out of whack around here. I need to start couponing as well.. I can only imagine how many savings I am missing out on. Today's trip to the grocery store totaled $110, but only $95 of that was actual food. Of those food items, many items (I'd guess $10 worth) were purchased on sale for a later date, and I will just freeze them. So, my immediate grocery bill, the things I needed for our meal plans and menu this week, came out to about $85 for the week. I broke this down to a per meal cost, and basically what I came up with is our meals this week are at a cost of less than $6 per meal! Not too shabby for a family of 6! 

In other news, last weekend Chandler, Cole, and I met up with some amazing mommas from my August 2012 birth club on Babycenter. We had such a wonderful time and are planning several more get togethers! I can't wait to hang out with them again, even Chandler enjoyed himself. 

I keep saying I am going to stay current on this, yet it never happens. Priorities I guess... I guess it isn't even fair to promise I will be back to write more any time soon! One never knows in the life of this crazy family... so... until we meet again!