3/17/2010- Such a busy, busy week

I can't seem to keep up with my promise to update this once a week. I started a post over the weekend, but didn't finish and forgot to save it. I started this one a couple days ago and am not sure if I will have enough time to finish it. I will try better. Recently, Chad and I have been watching several documentaries. We saw just a brief clip on this new one called "Food, Inc." I went to the grocery store to pick up items for the week ahead and looked at the price comparison of organic items over processed items. I found that milk was about $3.50, instead of the normal $2.00 milk I usually buy, chicken was the same price per package, but the chicken breasts were smaller. Actually, I like that idea better-who needs an 8 oz chicken breast when a serving is only supposed to be 4 oz. For $5.00 I was able to buy 4 chicken breasts, about 4 1/2 oz each. I like it much better because they look nicer, cook better, taste better, and are individually wrapped so I can freeze them separately. I found beef was about 20 cents more per package, not bad at all. Fruits and vegetables were quite a bit more when I bought organic. However, I found that if you buy frozen vegetables (less preservatives) it was not much more at all than canned vegetables and you get more in a bag than in a can. Overall, the cost to replace our milk/dairy products, fruit, vegetables, and meat with the healthier alternatives only added about $10.00 to my bill. We were very pleasantly surprised. Our neighbors are putting in a 30 X 10 foot garden this summer and are taking our requests for vegetables. That will really help with our plan to eat healthier.
Easter is quickly approaching. Kiley has her Easter dress but still needs a cardigan. I have to make a trip to the mall to pick up outfits for the boys. I have several thank-you cards to send out for gifts/money that was sent to Creighton for his b-day but am waiting until I can send an Easter pic of the kids in with the card. Creighton had a fun b-day. It was pretty low key though. I made him a big bird cake (my first attempt to make a cake....and the only tool I had was a butter knife. I need to prepare better next time! We had the neighbors over and grilled out brats, polish sausage, and hamburgers. We had cake and ice cream for dessert. The kids all hit the pinata several times, but it eventually took Chad to break it open (even after I tried and failed) . Creighton loved his Black and Decker weed whacker and wore the batteries out that night and again the next day. I eventually put rechargeable batteries in it. He also got a shovel, rake and hoe (he thinks it's a pooper scooper because it looks like ours that Chad uses). He loved his kitchen I made him and our neighbors got him tons of food and dishes to use with it. Sabrina, Kiley's friend, stayed the night and we had a friendly game of Texas Hold'em with our neighbors. It was a really fun night.
Daylight savings made for a rough weekend with the kids. Instead of getting up at 6:30 Sunday morning to get to the church, we had to get up at 5:30 and it took them several days to adjust. I am not a fan of daylight savings. I like it to be light out when I wake up and now it's dark until about 7am, which makes it more difficult to pull myself and the kids from bed at 6:45. I do like it staying light in the evenings, but not at the expense of the morning.
Cort has been sick with bronchiolitis for about two weeks and it looks like we are on the road to recovery now. Fortunately, the Pediatrician said it is really rare for a child over the age of 2 to get it, so we have been safe from him passing it to other kids. He did sleep in a bouncer seat, in my room for the two weeks and it has been difficult to transition him back to his crib. He was waking up about 10 times a night when he was sick-he was coughing and couldn't breathe well out of his nose. I think he has now gotten into a habbit of waking up and even though he isn't sick any more he is still waking up about 6-8 times a night. I hope he adjusts and gets back to his normal sleep schedule soon!
I am looking to take Easter pics of the kids this weekend. Hopefully, I can get them posted right away....no guarentees though.