Pantry Living Weeks 3 & 4

My life was a whirlwind and the dust has finally settled. In the last three months I choreographed three plays, performed in a play, had a dance recital, worked as choreographer for a performing arts summer camp, choreographed and performed in the Ms Senior NJ Pageant for women over 60yrs old,  my in-laws visited, my sister and her family visited, my brother and his family visited.

I played Morticia in "Addams Family the Musical".

my costume for Ms Senior NJ pageant

Seussical Jr. choreographer, assistant director, and costumer

My incredible "Family"

My cute kiddos ready to perform

Stage Managing for Fiddler on the Roof Jr

Recital time

 In the past two days I scrubbed my kitchen floor, changed the sheets on beds, folded laundry, moved furniture, purged my wardrobe of those clothes I never wear but held on to for ages, weeded the garden, actually cooked dinner, went to the beach, swam with my kids in the pool, and watched a chick flick.

These last two weeks I've received so much food and household items as gifts. The Lord has truly blessed us with amazing friends and family who make sure we will never go hungry. My friend made me a "panrty living survival bucket"! She knew we were out of fruit roll ups and wax paper and included a million other awesome treats and cereals for my family. I love and adore her!

My parents seem to drop off food to me at least once a week.I don't think they can go a day without being amazing! This week they added 3 boxes of Life cereal to our pantry.

My dear in-laws came to town and took me to Sam's Club to replenish items I'm low on. They bought me chocolate chips, bisquik, toilet paper, paper towels, milk, grapes, peanut butter, Snapple, water bottles, lemonade and nutella.

Returning the pull ups!

BEST NEWS OF THE WEEK: Levi (my almost 4yr old) is officially night potty trained!!!! So he was potty trained at 2yrs old with little effort. It all just clicked for him during the day. My children have all figured out how to hold it at night all on their own. I don't do anything special at night. Once they keep their diaper dry for a week straight they get to wear underwear to bed. Well. about 3 months after he was potty trained he was night trained. 6 months later it all went downhill. we have no idea why. He just started wetting the bed regularly. I had to re-diaper him and I just kept hoping for a miracle. Well, about a month ago he said he wanted to wear underwear to sleep. of course he wet the bed and was very disappointed. We removed his sippy cups from his room and he was angry with us. well, last week we noticed he was keeping his diaper dry at night. He asked for underwear so we gave it a shot. And boom!!! It has been over a week with no incidents! So that package of pull ups I cheated and bought a few weeks ago were returned to the store. sigh. life is good.

My garden had as many weeds in it as plants. I finally got my hands dirty and got to work. I actually found 2 huge cucumbers hiding in the weeds. lol. This week I harvested 3 cucumbers, a large green pepper, a handful of cherry tomatoes and a handful of green beans, and 1 large zucchini and a small zucchini.  My tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers are monsters! My green beans and zucchini plants are dwarfs and I'm disappointed. I was pretty sure that garden bed of the smaller ones was depleted last year so I added a bunch of new rich soil and fertilizer, but it hasn't helped much. I think next year I will not plant anything in that soil and give it a real rest. But the rain this past week has been good for the garden!

Pantry after Week 4

Cereal after week 2: 49
Cereal after week 4: 47 (5 gifts)
Cans, jars, bottles, boxes opened: alfredo sauce, pasta, dog food, ranch dressing, pickles, mayo, peanut butter, nutella, sugar, flour, tuna, onion powder, chili powder, garlic powder, cumin, margarine, chips, pretzels, veggie straws, toilet paper, paper towels, glass cleaner, toilet bowl cleaner, juice boxes, water bottles, juice, fruit roll ups, cookies, animal crackers, ziplock bags,
Allowable credit card purchases: gas, ice cream
Cash purchases: blueberries, blackberries, bananas, roses, potatoes, mushrooms, cilantro, lettuce, carrots, goggles, bobby pins, cumin, onion powder, chili powder, bread, cook book, nail polish remover, brush, water bottles, brown sugar, burger king, raspberry danish, cookies, challah(totally amazing fundraiser and the best challah!!), ice cream, french fries, mcdonald's,
Gift card purchases: lots of Wawa hoagies
Gifts: cereal, pantry living survival bucket (see above), Sam's trip with in-laws (see above), milk and pancakes, ice cream,
Trash: I had to throw away a freshly opened box of cereal this week because ants found it. funny how no one wants to eat cookie crisp with the added protein of ants.
Garden: 3 cucumbers, 1 pepper, tomatoes, green beans, 2 zucchini
Cheats: NONE ( I know I'm shocked too)

In other good news I won tickets to see School of Rock on Broadway! That was awesome! I was voted best dancer in a dancing contest at Broadway on the Boardwalk. They taught a simple combo and 9 of us performed it. I was chosen as the lucky winner. I had a slight advantage being many years younger than most competitors and probably the only one with formal training. But the audience was amazing and roared with approval when it was time to vote for me. I couldn't stop smiling for hours!

In the past 2 weeks I lost a small diamond in my anniversary band and my father was in the hospital. We have insurance on my ring so the diamond is being replaced and my father is finally home and he also has insurance so he's getting the care he needs. Many thanks to all who have been praying for him and lending a hand.

Kissing Pop after he made it home from the hospital!

My summer vacation is finally here. I have few obligations and am trying to say "yes" more to my kids and "no" more to everyone else who wants my time. My kids and I have yet to make a new "Tuesday Adventure" but I hope to pick that up in the next week. Last year we started a youtube channel and posted new episodes every Tuesday. I would read stories,we would sing songs, act, tell jokes, dance, and feature our dog, Molly. They were so fun and I am anxious to start them again.

Happy Summer and Happy Pantry Living!

Photo taken moments after they announced

 

 they will take us to Disneyland soon!