Mommy and Sweet Pea

We were in Hawaii for Christmas this year, thanks to Average's mom's generosity. She gave money for plane tickets and reserved housing for her five children and their families. We were only there for five days but managed to fit a lot in, including snorkeling, a luau, visiting a black sand beach, Volcanoes National Park, and the Place of Refuge (a historical site). It was a fabulous trip, and Sweet Pea LOVED playing in the water, or "simming," as she called it. It was hard to get her in the water the first day but by day three we could barely drag her out to reapply sun block. She also loved tagging along with her cousins and getting to hang out with so many aunts and uncles all in one place. The plane ride was a little rough, just because we couldn't afford to buy her a ticket if we didn't have to, and she still technically is young enough to be a lap baby, although when she napped she had to be laying across both her dad's and my lap. She kicked

Tonight we had a lasagna that cost $.79, some carrots and radishes with salad dressing, and home-made (from our trees) applesauce. The whole dinner, for three adults and a toddler, cost less than two dollars. I have been working at getting our food expenses down and this is the cheapest thing we've done yet! I've GOT to get back to the Grocery Outlet for more Buitoni frozen lasagnas before they run out. I think the reason for the sale at the G.O. is that the box is labeled to hold two lasagnas but there is only one inside. We've been doing really well at eating inexpensive dinners since Sunday, actually. I should have been taking pictures! Our menu has been: Sunday night we had pork buns that a friend brought for my husband's birthday the day before, along with green beans that a relative had brought for Thanksgiving dinner and never cooked (frozen). I cooked the green beans with some onion (5/ $1 - and local!) from the Grocery Outlet, and some soy sauce and they

This has been a busy week. On Monday, on my drive to work, I hit a patch of ice as I was coming around a curve and onto a bridge, and slid all over the road before hitting the bridge barrier with the back right side of my car. We just found out yesterday that it is a total loss. Boo. Although Average thought it was a grandma car, I really liked my 98 Camry. It served us well for the past 4+ years and spending time on looking for a new car was not on my list of things I was hoping to do soon. In other news, I had two meetings with doula clients this week. It is so exciting to be working with expectant families as they prepare for the births of their babies! Today is the birthday of my husband, a.k.a Average. He is 29 years old today! He was able to get the day off work, so we actually have a 2-day weekend together, and he is enjoying himself laying on the couch and watching the Civil War. If you don't know what that is then you are not from Oregon. Yesterday afternoon Sweet