Today is Birthday Book Day!

I got my birthday gift from David in the mail yesterday. He got me two books I have been wanting: one is A Sane Woman's Guide to Raising a Large Family and the other one is The Complete Tightwad Gazette. I've already read almost half of the first book since last night, and it's a good read. You don't have to have a huge family to apply the principles, as we only have 3 kids and I'm finding it really helpful. A friend recommended the book to me, and I'm definitely glad I got it. There are some really good tips on organizing and running a household, some of which I am already doing and some of which I would like to start implementing as the kids get older. The second one is a hefty book that addresses any topic you can think of related to living frugally. It's a must-read if you're working on a tight budget.

In the next couple of days, I am tackling the arts and crafts supplies. They need to be sorted, organized, and stored to my satisfaction. Well, they are already in bins of varying sizes, but I'm wanting to pare down and re-sort some things. They will need to be easy enough to get to for regular projects with the kids, but up and away from Charlotte, who loves to destroy and/or eat anything she gets her little hands on. She keeps me on my toes and forces me to be creative with how I organize and store things.

Wolf it Down Wednesday
On the menu for today....
B: Blueberry bagels again, plus some milk and juice.
L: The girls ate toasted cheese sandwiches, applesauce, and green beans. I ate half of the au gratin potatoes and half of the remaining salad. The other half of those will be used tomorrow for my lunch again.
D: We may be eating dinner at church if we go to small group, but if not, I made a batch of this amazing shepherd's pie from some veggies and mashed potatoes I got at gleaner's in the past few weeks. The ground beef was from my mother-in-law, who is super kind and generous. When I go to Costco with her, she always helps us out and shares some of her groceries :). Last time she gave us 5 lbs of ground beef and a huge jug of olive oil, among other things. Anyhow, I put it into two 8x8 pans and froze one for a rainy day. Perfect and sooo yummy!
I forgot that yesterday and today we have eaten those brownies for dessert. It's sure a mood-lifter, especially since I didn't sleep well last night. Chocolate always helps.