Camera or iPhone? Or...Both?

In this month's goals post, I mentioned the decision I was trying to make between getting a new camera or getting an iPhone.  Surprisingly enough, I ended up with both. 

About a week ago, we got a Canon Powershot SX500 on sale at Target for $100 off.  (We did splurge and get the 3-year "if anything happens to it, it gets fixed or replaced" plan, based on my previous history with 2 cameras dying for no apparent reason at about the 3 year mark).  The sale was at the right time, we had the money for it, and we had family in town that we see about once a year, with whom I wanted pictures.  It made sense.

Fast forward to later in the week.  My husband found out that the church where he is a pastor is going to start paying for his cell phone, since he uses it mostly for church-related things, and since his number is the one printed in all of the church ads and whatnot.  My Tracfone was almost out of minutes (again), so we discussed getting me a different phone.  We will be paying about $10 plus taxes more than what we were paying before for me to have the smartphone, which when you factor in the cost of the Tracfone minutes I was buying, is actually a pretty good deal.  It made sense.

So now I have both.  I love the quality of the pictures the camera takes, and even with the option to take pictures on the phone, I still prefer taking them with an actual camera.  With the phone, I like having all of my money-saving apps available to me, I like being able to check the weather with one touch of a button, and I like the ease of it (once I got past the learning curve). 

But. I don't like how easy it is to pick up the phone to check one quick thing and get distracted checking every little thing because I can, because it's there.  I have to work on limits.  Good thing I'm still planning on doing the Unwired challenge!  I'm sure I'll have more thoughts on this as time goes on, but for now, I think it's a good thing that I have both.

Weekly Coupon Shopping

Walgreens

• 2 Huggies Jumbo Packs: $8.99 each. Used two $3/1 printables (no longer available) = paid $5.99 each.
• 7 Simply Lemonade and 8 Simply Orange (1 of each pictured): 5/$5 (when you buy in increments of 5). Used $0.50/1 (July Walgreens booklet) = paid $0.50 each.
• Total spent: $20.73

What I'm Reading...

The Afterlife Of Cheap Clothes. (Slate)

A Too-Small House? (Unclutterer)

The Real Normal. (The Simple Dollar)

Why I Need A Paper List To Be Productive. (Andrea Dekker)

5 Ways To Choose Less And Simplify More. (Home Your Way)

July Goals

I realized today that I didn't make an actual list of goals for this month, something I wanted to get back into.  It's true what they say about "mommy brain" after having kids. It's crazy.

Home:

• Hang pictures on the walls. We got most stuff unpacked right away but I didn't hang anything up yet.
• Find a replacement camera and/or a smartphone (read more below).

Food:

• Try 2 new Pinterest breakfast or muffins recipes.
• Try 2 different kinds of popsicles (I'm thinking chocolate pudding pops for sure!)

Personal:

• Start the Unwired challenge. I've started reading the ebook, so I need to finish that and plan for my two week challenge.

So here's my dilemma with the camera/smartphone. 

I have a nice camera. My camera, which we bought about 4 years ago before Jonah was born, has stopped turning on correctly.  It takes about 18 pushes of the on button to get it to turn on, and even then it sometimes shuts off.  So something with the wiring is wrong. 

I have a dumb phone.  I've purposely kept it that way, because I see people playing on their phones all the time, and I feel like I'm online a lot as it is, so I don't think it's necessarily smart to have access to everything all the time.  But. There have been many moments lately where I think, "That would be such a cute picture!" but by the time I get up, get the camera, and get it turned on, the moment has long since passed.  I haven't taken many pictures of Hannah because of the inconvenience, and I don't like that.

So I have to decide.  Get a smart phone, so I don't have to worry about counting minutes, and have the ability to take photos all the time, but possibly slip into spending too much time online? Or get a camera, but risk missing out on those moments anyways?  And all of that doesn't even take into consideration costs.  These are the things to figure out this month...stay tuned!

Weekly Coupon Shopping

I didn't do much shopping this week, but I did order some more coconut oil online.

• Tropical Traditions: 2 quarts of Coconut Oil, normally $40.00 each.  On sale B1G1 free through today.  Total after shipping: $47.79. Used a $25.00 certificate from the referral program.  Paid the remaining $22.79 with Paypal money from Swagbucks.

Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are my referral links.  I will get credit if you sign up or order through my links.

Yell, Yell, Yell!

"I do not like this one so well.  All he does is yell yell yell!" --Dr. Suess, One Fish, Two Fish

Yelling.  This is something I have been struggling with lately in parenting.  Some days we get to bedtime, and I feel like I've spent my entire day yelling at Jonah and Matthew.  I hate that. 

There are moments when yelling is appropriate.  Like when the boys wake up from their naps, and I'm in the middle of feeding Hannah in the other room, I'll yell "Sure! Get out of bed!" or when we're walking and a car is coming, I'll raise my voice to say, "Move over to the side!" 

But then there are the other moments.  The "I'm tired.  Please hurry up!" moments.  The "I've told you this seven times already!" moments. The moments I immediately wish I could do over.  Because a lot of those moments, it's not really about the kids.  It's about me.  I recognize it, and I also recognize how difficult it is to overcome.

And the worst part, for me, is that Jonah is becoming a yeller.  When Matthew does something he doesn't like, or when we tell him to do something he doesn't want to do, he yells.  He screams.  And I see myself screaming at him for something earlier that day, and know that he's learning.  Maybe we'll unlearn this together.

I've been reading a lot about yelling lately in the online parenting world. 

• I Like Your Nice Voice. (The Finer Things In Life) I am so positive that my kids could say this same thing to me, so I'm making an effort to use my "nice voice" more often and not my biting sarcasm or my angry yelling.
• Confessions Of A Yelling Mom (Now Reformed). (Club 31 Women) " I’d say I’m a fairly soft-spoken person. But something seemed to have happened once I had small children. Yeah, it’s like something snapped! I became a yeller." Again, something that spoke right to my heart.  I didn't use to yell.
• When Your Temper Scares You - Some Suggestions For Defusing. (Lisa Jo Baker) "There's no rage like the exhausted rage of motherhood." I've noticed that I've been yelling more in recent months.  The end of pregnancy, when I can barely move myself, let alone two toddlers.  The newborn days, when everything is a haze of feedings and diapers and no sleep.
• What All Mamas (And Us) Need To Thrive This Summer. (A Holy Experience) "What do I want my children to remember — my joy in clean floors, made beds and ironed shirts — or my joy of the Lord?" That's what is most important.  Not whether things get done, or go as expected.
• The Orange Rhino. Then there's this woman, who went an entire year without yelling at her kids.  Color me impressed. Here's her post 10 Things I Learned When I Stopped Yelling At My Kids.

I can take a bit of comfort in knowing that I'm not the only one struggling.  And when I have my good moments, when I know that I could have easily slipped into yelling, but I didn't, I'm proud of myself.   I'm trying to have more of those moments, and less of the yelling, but it's hard.

Menu Plan July 1-15

My last menu plan worked out pretty well.  I liked having all 3 meals listed out, while still having the option to pick and choose breakfasts and lunches.  We did have cereal a few extra times instead of some of the other options, which I recognize is mostly because I'm lazy in the mornings.  And we ended up with a few meals to carry over into this menu plan, thanks to friends and family taking us out to eat a few times.  Score! Here's the plan for the first half of July:

Monday, July 1
Breakfast: Cereal
Lunch: Macaroni & Cheese, Deli Sandwiches
Dinner: Sour Cream Beef Casserole

Tuesday, July 2
Breakfast: French Toast
Lunch: Salads
Dinner: Crockpot Sausage and White Bean Stew, Cheesy Biscuits

Wednesday, July 3
Breakfast: Eggs & Bacon
Lunch: Turkey Sandwiches
Dinner: Leftover Sausage and White Bean Stew and Biscuits


Thursday, July 4
Breakfast: Orange Blueberry Muffins
Lunch: PB&J Picnic at the 4th of July Parade
Dinner: Hot Dogs and Brats

Friday, July 5
Breakfast: Cereal
Lunch: Turkey Sandwiches
Dinner: Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup

Saturday, July 6
Breakfast: Oatmeal with Dried Fruits and Nuts
Lunch: Veggie Minestrone Soup
Dinner: Taco Bar Dinner with my family

Sunday, July 7
Breakfast: Banana Bread
Lunch: TBD, but probably lunch out with my family
Dinner: Family Dinner (Jesse's sister is "hosting" - she works at Pizza Hut and it's Friends & Family night)

Monday, July 8
Breakfast: Cereal
Lunch: PB&J
Dinner: BLTs

Tuesday, July 9
Breakfast: Oatmeal with Peanut Butter and Bananas
Lunch: Turkey Sandwiches
Dinner: Baked Potatoes

Wednesday, July 10
Breakfast: Banana Bread
Lunch: Quesadillas
Dinner: Black Bean Burgers, Homemade Fries

Thursday, July 11
Breakfast: French Toast
Lunch: Veggie Minestrone Soup (from the freezer from last week)
Dinner: Chicken Fajitas

Friday, July 12
Breakfast: Cereal
Lunch: TBD
Dinner: Chicken Sandwiches

Saturday, July 13
Breakfast: Oatmeal with Dried Fruits and Nuts
Lunch: PB&J
Dinner: Pizza with Chicken, Olives, and Mushrooms

Sunday, July 14
Breakfast: Cereal
Lunch: Macaroni & Cheese
Dinner: Family Dinner

Monday, July 15
Breakfast: Cereal
Lunch: Quesadillas
Dinner: Mexi Beans and Rice

I am linking this up to Organizing Junkie's weekly meal plan link-up.