Thankful for Friday!

I didn't get around to writing yesterday since I was feeling under the weather and William cried most of the day. Both he and Charlotte seem to be getting a bit of a croupy cough. Such is life during the winter. It's definitely better since they've stopped going to day care, but being in the church nursery still gets them sometimes. Now that I'm home, though, it's not as stressful (other than less sleep for everyone). I'm thankful to be able to just be with them. William and Charlotte both ended up in our bed for the second part of the night... and to be honest, I love it. It's so sweet to wake up to Charlotte stroking my face saying "nose" or William snuffling around in search of milk. I feed him and kiss his soft little head often when he sleeps next to me, and I find that having him nurse frequently when he's getting croupy keeps him calm and his airways more relaxed, so we avoid the breathing treatments he had to get when he was 3 months old. They seem to be feeling pretty good this morning other than some stuffiness. I plan on doing basic housekeeping things today... wash a load of diapers, wash and fold some clothes, do dishes, and try to clean the bathroom. This afternoon I will be putting in my volunteer hours at Gleaner's for the month. I'm signed up to work the first Friday of each month from 3-5/5:15 in the child care area. David will keep our kids today, so there will be 3 fewer children ;).

On the topic of our budget, I have begun selling some books on cash4books.net. I sold some textbooks for $118 and am also selling 2 more to Powell's for $10, which is better than the $0 the college bookstore was offering me! I'm not quite sure where I will apply the cash we make from books yet. We're trying to pay off debt and build an emergency savings, so perhaps we should split the money between those two things so we can be closer to both our goals. We have very limited shelf space for books, and many boxes of books in the garage. We'll only be keeping the ones we know we'll be wanting around long-term (ones we'll be likely to use often). And those that we can't sell will likely be donated to Gleaner's. This is going to be quite a long process, but my goal is to get through one box of books a week until they've all been gone through.

I did manage to go through the art supplies yesterday. It didn't take long at all since most of it was in bins already. I just needed to add a couple of medium totes; one each for beads & string and magazines & clippings. In addition, I put the excess crayons & watercolors in a small tote. I moved all of the arts supplies to the coat closet shelf, but my painting things, canvases, and larger drawing pads are in under-the-bed totes in our room. I think it will work well that way. Soon I need to make a batch of homemade playdough for the girls since their playdough is pretty dry and hard to work with now. Once that is done, our craft area will be completed. I also need to organize our office supplies, which are going to go in a stand-alone shelf unit that is in the kitchen/dining area. It has a child-locked door and doubles as a counter for our toater and breadmaker. The art supplies used to live there, but I find them easier to access in their new location. I love getting things done!

Thursday's Tidbits
For our meals yesterday...
B: English muffins with peanut butter and honey, plus some kiwi fruit and grape juice from WIC.
L: Spanish rice with sour cream and plain yogurt with blueberries and a sprinkle of sugar for the girls. David took spanih rice as well. I had the rest of the au gratin potatoes and sauteed half of the snap peas with olive oil and garlic.
D: Shepherd's pie.

Friday's Feasts
B: Oatmeal with brown sugar and raisins for the girls. I had eggs and the last blueberry bagel.
L: Shepherd's pie
D: Fish fillets I have in the freezer still. They're tilapia, and I think I will bake them with some lemon pepper and dill. We'll also have the tomato, veggie, and orzo side dish.