I have soymilk, I am redeemed for making it through the weekend on the milk we have!!!

This is one of my children's favorite games - to pretend we're poor, or we're Laura in The Little House series - they had three girls at one point, though ultimately Grace joined the family. However, for our girls, Mary, Laura and Carrie it is, as we're not having a fourth.

In any case, we are actually trying to live this right now. Due to the unfortunate timing of a few large ticket items coming into our world at the same time, and me with no "real" income right now (I have a grant stipend that doesn't even cover our current childcare bill) we've had to become rapidly frugal. Phil said to be "careful", but I decided to see just how frugal we could be. As such, my goals are as follows:

• To NOT purchase a new kitchen table, rather to clean off the one we already have (which is not the style we would like, and doesn't quite fit our space optimally, but it is still already in our possession and therefore "free") rather than purchase a new one.
• To make do with the groceries we have rather than going grocery shopping, until Monday. I think I can do this, and more will follow.
• Not to spend any money until after the weekend is out... and then to proceed as gently as possible.

So, back to the topic of not going grocery shopping. Between now and Monday, I need to research how to TRULY grocery shop frugally. On the whole I try to buy the deals. However, I feel like shopping on the cheap is all new territory. My biggest thoughts are:

• Don't buy processed snack foods.
• Lay off the good cheeses (darnitall).
• Buy ingredients rather than pre-made "stuff".
• Don't buy anything you don't see using in the near-to-immediate future, you can always come back later (we DO, afterall, live just blocks away from an amazing fresh produce store, a Trader Joes, a Safeway and [if truly needed] a Whole Foods).

Additionally, I'm doing what I can to use up what is already in our kitchen. Soooo, last night an egg went into our burgers to stretch them. Tonight we're making chili from what was leftover from the burgers and from Chloe's birthday party last weekend. Overnight I will make stock (in the crock-pot of course) and tomorrow night's dinner is veggies, chicken and rice made from that and other veggie leftovers. In the AM the girls and I will make banana muffins, pumpkin muffins and fresh whole wheat bread out of old bananas, and pumpkin leftover from Chloe's birthday party (she wanted pumpkin pie instead of cake - smart girl!).

The hardest part I foresee is that we're running out of milk. That one may make it tough.... but we'll see what we can do. I do have soymilk and condensed milk which will likely go in our baking.

Butterflies marked the one year point from Matthew's passing, as they did at his memorial. His free and flying spirit was acknowledged by those beautiful creatures. Children's laughter, the gathering of loved ones, all the foods and games that Matthew loved. It is a day of love.

Which is the emphasis that Bob Roll puts on the Tour de France (somewhat infamously now)...

The Tour this year is really heating up, the top 6 riders are all within a minute of each other going into today's stage (which I haven't seen yet, no spoilers please, I'll be watching it tonight after the kids are down and I can actually HEAR Phil Liggett speak). Christian Vandevelde, an American, is one of those riders. He's always had to be a work horse in the past, and this year he's starting to shine. Sunday's stage saw another American (and teammate of Vandevelde), Danny Pate, in the breakaway, trying to take the stage win, though he had to be satisfied with 3rd on the day.

Oscar Perreiro, winner of the Tour a few years back as the default when Floyd Landis came up doped, ended up in a nasty crash and with a broken shoulder, so regretfully, he is out for this year.

Team CSC put in an impressive bout of teamwork on Sunday's stage and were rewarded with the Maillot Jaune on the back of Frank Schleck, thanks in large part to his brother, Andy.

So for anyone who is interested in reading about this year's Tour, reports are put up regularly (even live!) at www.cyclingnews.com.

This coming Saturday marks the one year anniversary of the passing of Matthew. His mother, Gigi, is gearing up to run a half-marathon with Team In Training in his memory, and also in honor of Caren McCormack, who has beaten her leukemia in the past year. A mother of two small children, Caren has fought to live, to help maintain a normal life for her girls. Her older daughter is entering the second grade at Phoebe's old school, and her youngest was adopted around the same time Caren was diagnosed with her leukemia from Russia.

Matthew's memorial fund is currently being developed, along with the memorial funds of two other little boys, one whose name I'm currently missing, the other is in honor of Nicholas Colby, into LiveSTRONG Kids. I'll update about that regularly.

In the meantime, we continue to send love and support in the direction of Matthew's family, and all other families affected by cancer.