Pre-Summer Sweet Stuff

Carrick's last day of Daycare/preschool was this week. I felt the impending summer with him being home all day like a G-force on a roller coaster. It is exciting, and scary at the same time. Somehow I have to entertain/feed/shuttle around two children for two months? I have him enrolled in swim lessons, but that's like 30 minutes out of our day. I'm going to have to schedule play dates, pool outings, hiking excursions and library time. Also, the new splash pad at the park around the corner is set to be finished sometime next week. That will make for some awesome park play! I think keeping the kids out of the house and busy is the way to go.

In celebration/preparation for Carrick being home full time, I took Lily out for ice cream, just us girls. For the next two months, all of my ice cream budget will have to include Carrick, so I pounced on the opportunity to pay for just one ice cream cone while he was still occupied at school.

I also bought a chocolate bar this week, and ate the whole thing before he got home, careful to dispose of the wrapper. If he caught sight of the evidence, he would feel betrayed that I didn't share with him. Sometimes, mama needs some chocolate, and I don't want to share. Selfish, yeah, maybe, but also, he has enough energy without adding chocolate into the mix.

I also found myself running around a little bit this week. And on Wednesday, several errands had to be run. Even though we live in town now, and stopping by the house for a snack in between running around is doable, I didn't have the time to do that. My errands were time-sensitive and I found myself getting peckish. Since one of my errands took me to Safeway, I bought a coconut water and two Odwalla bars (one for me and one for Lily. She ate half and I saved the rest for when I picked up Carrick at school.)

So, all those little items kept me going this week, as well as hit a place within me that needed attention. Somehow, eating chocolate helped with the feeling of sadness about the fire. The ice cream was a bonding experience with my daughter. The Odwalla bars and coconut water, well, it was as basic as needing food and drink, but it still served a purpose.

I also have to be diligent now that summer is here not to over indulge the kids in too much sweet stuff. Fruit-based popsicles will be a staple around here. I like to do home-made popsicles in the ice cube tray. They are smaller so that Lily can enjoy them without dripping it all over the house. Also, I might try my hand at making my own granola/power bars. Don't get me wrong we will go out for the occasional ice cream. I just need to make sure it's not an all the time thing. Living in a place that feels like vacation all the time triggers something in me that makes it feel okay to go out for ice cream whenever we feel like it. I am looking forward to the challenge of creating healthy and kid-friendly snacks. It should make all the play time that much more enjoyable.

Ice cream at Baskin-Robbins- $4.00
Chocolate bar at Natural Grocers- $3.00
Coconut water and 2 Odwalla bars at Safeway- $5.00

Balance this pay cycle-$0.00

Happy Spending!