Two Hiccups Blog

The One With All The Pink

2012-01-28T18:54:00.000-06:00

The past few weeks I have managed to work on some projects that I had pinned on Pinterest.

I started by making a pin cushion out of a picture frame that I saved from a yard sale and painted pink. This was so easy. I might be looking for other pretty frames to rescue at yard sales.

I also made a cover for my composition notebook.

I love the fabric. It was some my mom has had for "who knows how long". It's for-real vintage. I have quite a bit of it, still. It's perfect for book covers because it's got stretch.

I followed the tutorial here. I actually followed a tip in the comments and layered the side panels in between the front and back when I sewed them. I forgot to add in the dimensions for the spine of the book (very small since it's a comp book) but the cover wouldn't fit because of it if it weren't for the stretchiness of the fabric. About a half inch probably would have done it. I plan to make a cover from the same fabric for my bible.

My daughter saw that they make tutus for Zhu Zhu pets and of course hers had to have one, so I made her one with some tulle that I had left over from her tutu. I attached the tulle to a stretchy pony tail holder and slipped it on. Yes, sometimes the tulle gets caught in the wheels. Oh, well.

Have I mentioned how much I love Pinterest? I bet I have. I love finding fun stuff to make on Pinterest and lately it's the first place I look for recipes, too. There are some good ones on there.

What's For Dinner 1/15-1/21

2012-01-15T20:24:00.000-06:00

This week I wore myself out chasing bargains at all the local grocery stores only to find myself with cabinets full of things that didn't seem to go together. So Saturday I made a list of everything we had and sat down to find some recipes to make a menu from. I am totally going to do try this every week, because I feel so much better knowing that I have a plan. Even if we don't stick to it, exactly.

I have already made some changes from the original because I realized that I needed something uber easy and fast on Fridays when I attend a bible study in the morning and we don't get home until ~~melt-down time~~ right at noon. That day ends up being PB&J for the kids.

Sunday 1/15
B-Grits & Black Beans
L- Leftover Pizza & Salad
D-Zucchini, Black Bean & Rice Skillet with Salad and Tortillas
*Make Ranch Dressing for the week's salads

Monday 1/16
B-Omelets, Grits, Fruit
L- Tuna Sandwiches, Homemade Potato Chips, Apples
D-Family's House for Dinner

Tuesday 1/17
*Start Sloppy Lentils in slow cooker
B-Oatmeal, Fruit
L- Beans, Rice, Fruit
D-Sloppy Lentils w/Homemade Buns and baked french fries

Wednesday 1/18
B-Scrambled Eggs, Fruit
L- PB&J, apple sauce
D- Chili & Cornbread w/Okra
*freeze a few sliced bananas for breakfast

Thursday 1/19
B-Frozen banana ʺice creamʺ w/ peanut butter mixed in
L-Veggie Chik'n Sandwiches, Baked Fries, Fruit
D-Squash and Onions, Broccoli

Friday 1/20
B-Eggs (omelet style), fruit
L-PB&J and Canned Peaches
D- Southwest Skillet Dinner w/garlic roasted zucchini
*prepare green bean casserole

Saturday 1/21
B-Overnight Oats w/ Raisins and fruit
L- Green Bean Casserole , Fruit
D-Black Bean Burgers w/homemade buns, Baked Fries

Snacks
Microwave Potato Chips
Roasted Chick Peas
Popcorn
Fruit
Cookies or some other sweet treat we make

Recipe: Easiest Slow Cooker Black Beans

2012-01-15T19:30:00.000-06:00

My Slow Cooker

Easiest Slow Cooker Black Beans

2 lb Dried Black Beans (follow instructions on bag for rinsing and quick soak or overnight soak)
2 Tablespoons Garlic Powder
2 Tablespoons Cumin
2 Tablespoons Onion Powder
2 ½ Tablespoons Salt

Mix all ingredients in large slow cooker and fill almost to the top with water. Cook over night on high or for at least 8 hours or until ~~they aren't crunchy~~ done.

We use the exact same recipe for Pinto Beans, too!

I would take a picture of the black beans but there is not much to see with black beans cooking in a black slow cooker. Ya, know?

Tip: I buy my spices at a local grocery store where they have almost every spice you could imagine for $1 each. (If you are local, that would be Oaktree.) The bottle of cumin that I get for $1 is twice the size of the bottle at Wally World for $2+!

Homemade Flour Tortillas

2012-01-03T13:10:00.000-06:00

I made flour tortillas today! (Well, actually I had help.)

I used this recipe.

Tortillas

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 tablespoon shortening

1/2 cup water

Directions

In a large mixing bowl, combine together flour, salt and baking powder. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal.
Add the water and mix until the dough can be gathered together. If necessary, add more water (1 teaspoon at a time) until the dough comes together. Cover the dough with a damp cloth and let rest for 15 minutes.
Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces and roll into rounds. On a lightly floured surface, use a rolling pin to flatten and stretch each round into a circle 7 inches across.
Cook on an ungreased skillet over medium high heat until brown spots begin to appear on the tortillas. Keep covered with a clean, dry towel until ready to serve.

It was much easier than I thought it would be. I had tried making tortillas before (corn, ones) using the cast iron skillet (before I we got the griddle) to make them and they ended up terrible.

I followed the recipe and separated the dough into 12 dough balls in a bowl that I kept covered while I rolled each one out. The first few came out thicker and I realized that I needed to roll them much thinner than I wanted them because they puffed up just a little.

If I were making these for a dinner I would definately want to double the recipe because 12 small tortillas don't last long around these parts.

Daniel watched the tortillas that were cooking and flipped them for me while I rolled and that made the difference. That was way better than trying to keep up with the ones that were cooking AND rolling them out at the same time.

He said these were the best tortillas ever and wanted to eat them all up. I think they are way better than store-bought and I love knowing exactly what is in them. I just need to work on the rolling out part. Although I think having them not be perfectly round gives them "character".

Next time I will try whole wheat tortillas.

Tip: After the tortillas are cooked, put them in a Ziploc bag or airtight container to keep them soft, unless you want them to be crunchy. Ours got crunchy so I stuck them in a container and they softened right back up.

Books I Plan To Read In 2012

2011-12-27T17:50:00.000-06:00

I have been inspired by one of my favorite bloggers, Crystal at Money Saving Mom, to write out a list of books I want to read in 2012. She picks 24 books to read (2 a month.) I think I'll go with one a month for me. I have plenty of books on my bookshelves that I either haven't read yet or want to read again.

Here is my list of books that I want to read in 2012:

January:

Don't Make Me Come Up There

February:

Margin

March:

The Quest For Character

April:

A Woman God Can Use

May:

Five Love Languages

June:

Shepherding A Child's Heart

July:

Landmines In The Path Of A Believer

August:

Greatest Salesman In The World

September:

How To Listen To God

October:

One Thousand Gifts

November:

Jesus: The One And Only

December:

Good To Great In God's Eyes

I am also working on a list of books I plan to read to the kids for this year and some other goals for the year.

25 Books Of Christmas

2011-12-01T19:30:00.000-06:00

There are many ideas of fun things to do for Advent that range from candy calendars to different activities every day. Today a friend of mine shared one that is nearly free. She goes to the library and checks out 25 books about Christmas and wraps each one in wrapping paper. Then, every night leading up to Christmas her family unwraps one book to read at bedtime. Unlike some Advent activities, this takes almost no preparation.

You could do this for almost no money, if you have leftover wrapping paper from last year (bought 90% off at Target after Christmas, of course.)

As soon as I found out about this, I went to our bookshelves to find out how many Christmas books we already had and I was halfway there before our trip to the library.

I thought I would include a list of some of our favorite Christmas books to get you started.

The Animals Christmas Eve
The Night Before Christmas
Polar Express
The Gift Of The Magi
Can't Wait Till Christmas
Bear Stays Up For Christmas
Mortimer's Christmas Manger
How The Grinch Stole Christmas
Franklin's Christmas Gift
Gigi: The Perfect Christmas Gift
Fancy Nancy: A Splendiferous Christmas
The Berenstain Bears And The Joy Of Giving
The Berenstain Bears Meet Santa Bear

There are so many Christmas books that this list could go on and on, but you get the idea.

Because our lives have been very crazy lately, I was running late on getting these wrapped and ended up just wrapping them today. We don't have our tree up yet, so this little bit of festiveness really livens up our house.

Toilet Paper Roll Turkey

2011-11-23T19:15:00.000-06:00

This week has been busy (understatement of the year) so I wanted a Thanksgiving craft that was easy, fast and cheap. I found this on Pinterest:

Perfect! And I always have toilet paper rolls around.

I pretty much followed the directions at BusyBeeKidsCrafts.com. We didn't have googly eyes {sad face} even though I was *sure* that I had some in my craft stuff somewhere. I was sitting at the table lamenting the lack of googlyness when I noticed the top of the glue stick tube. I traced it and drew a black dot and "voila" cute eyes. I also added a little piece of orange paper on top of the beak.

P.S. When did my 7 year old's hands get so big. They are like grown up hands! Gah!

I think ours are pretty cute. The kidlets helped put the eyes on and I love how they look sort of crazy.

Crazy-eyed turkeys on a platter

Hope your Thanksgiving is full of happy times!

God bless your family!

In Which I Profess My Undying Love For All Things Cheap

2011-11-17T18:22:00.000-06:00

Have I ever mentioned how much I love Freeycle? Well, I do. If you know me, you know that I am terrible about checking my email. Last night I checked my email (!) and happened upon a recent (ie. posted a few minutes before I happened upon it) Freecyle post of pots and pans. You have to be fast to get stuff on our local Freecycle, so I quickly shot an email to the poster and was surprised when I got an email back that I could get them. I have had "another large pot" on my wish list for quite a while. I find myself in need of it when I have spaghetti sauce boiling in my one big pot and have to get the HUGE stockpot out for the noodles or when I have several different vegetables needing to be cooked at the same time.

I don't know why I am always so shocked when God provides the things that we want or need in the most interesting ways. Like Freeycle.

I also stopped into our library to check out the sale books. Our library has books 3 for 25 cents on a regular basis! I always feel a little like I am stealing when I get books that cheap. There seems to always be some kind of treasure just waiting for me when I stop there. I found a book with pictures of bugs that the 7 year old thought was super cool. I also picked up some fiction from Beverly Lewis. I have not read any of her books, but I know some people who like them and I figured I might as well give them a go.

Today my big find was that big blue book on the bottom of the stack there- Wild Flowers Of The World. Not much to look at on the outside and weighs a ton, but check out some of the illustrations in it.

They are beautiful. I have no idea what to do with them, but I am sure I can find some ideas over on Pinterest. I mean they are pretty to look at in the book, but they need to be framed or something.

Any ideas?

From Pinterest To Reality: Button Monogram Wall Hanging

2011-10-13T12:40:00.000-05:00

I love Pinterest! Do you? I find some really great ideas on there. I didn't want to be one of those people who collects ideas and never does anything with them (because I have a tendency-you should see all the pages I've pulled out of magazines and filed in notebooks.) I read an article somewhere about a challenge to turn some of those ideas that you find on Pinterest into reality and so I decided to start with something easy.

I found this:

Credit: BHG

and this:

Credit

I loved them both. I knew something like that would look precious on my girl's bedroom wall and knew I could make something like that.

I went to my parents house to hunt for 1) buttons and 2) a frame. I can always count on my mom to have just what I am looking for. I found a whole bag full of white buttons and a really nice frame that just needed a coat of paint. I really wish I had taken a 'before' picture of the frame, because you would really have to work to see the potential it- it was an ugly gold/black color.

I didn't take the time to print out a letter or trace it on the paper per the tutorial directions. I just winged it, hot glued the buttons down on construction paper and ended up with this:

All the buttons are white, despite what they look like in the picture. I think because they are 'shell' looking the flash did something weird to them. I love it and my girl does, too!

Wall Collage Makeover

2011-09-03T22:22:00.000-05:00

The other day (okay, it was several weeks ago now) Grace Hart Interiors posted a picture of a dining room wall with a photo collage on it.

I was inspired.

I took all my framed pictures down from the hallway. It was a mess. Frames were all different colors and styles and not in that good, cool, 'eclectic' way, in a bad mix-matched ugly way.

This is how I started out arranging them before I decided to put them on the other wall.

I thought I wanted to put the collage in the dining room but then realized that there was a huge space over the sofa in the living room that needed something.

I "borrowed" some black gloss spray paint (thanks, Aunt Candy) and set to work spray painting the frames. (Some of the frames that I already liked were black, so I just went with it.)

I found a blog that said to use templates cut out of newspaper to tape on the wall before you hang the pictures, so I traced each frame and marked on the template where the hangers where. I also numbered each template and each frame, so I would know which template went with which frame. (Very important.)

Yes, this took extra time but I think it's well worth it. Especially the part about marking where the hangers on the frame are. Genius.

I had found one of those pretty wall decor stickers a while back at at yard sale for $1. So I dug it out of my closet and I went to work arranging the sticker and the pictures frames in the middle of the living room floor. One of the things Grace Hart Interiors mentioned was to mind the distance between frames, not too much or two little. You want it to feel like one big art piece not a bunch of different frames.

When I had an arrangement that I liked I taped the templates on the wall.

I remembered to take this picture after I had already hung some of them on the wall. Oops!

I used the marks for the hangers and just nailed the nails right through the templates and then I hung the frames. The sticker was the tricky part. I taped it up, but that didn't really help when you had to take it down to peel the backing off.

Some of the frames currently don't have pictures in them because the pictures that I have are old or aren't turned the right way for the frames. So I put generic pictures in them until I can get some good pictures to put in them.

It's time for new family photos anyway.

I love it.

Chair Makeover

2011-08-19T19:38:00.000-05:00

If you have been reading along (have you?) you will remember this chair:

One can of Krylon White Gloss spray paint and some new fabric on the seat later:

Tada! I love how some spray paint and fabric can COMPLETELY change a chair from roadside trash to treasure!

Bargain Shopping Spree

2011-08-05T17:51:00.000-05:00

I love to wait until I have several really good coupons that make for cheap or free stuff and go out and use them all at once. Like a shopping spree, but without spending a bunch of money! A good (Bargain) shopping spree will cheer me right up when I am feeling down.

Today our (Bargain) Shopping Spree led us to The Shoppes At Eastchase! (Since gas is so expensive, I find that I need to justify to myself going all the way to the other side of town by hitting a bunch of different stores at a time.)

I got a Birthday coupon from World Market for $10 off a $10 purchase. (You can sign up for World Market Explorer emails here. They send out some pretty great coupons!)
I used my coupon to get a 4 pack of pretty kitchen towels priced at $12.99 for only $2.99 plus tax!

We stopped in Ross and found Daniel some 'back to school' shoes for $9.99!

The next place we went was Jo-ann Fabric store. I was prepared to use a 40% off coupon but ended up not needed it because what I wanted was ON SALE. I got a dress pattern for Sarah for only $1.99. They are having a big Founder's Sale this weekend!

My best deal of the day was at Lane Bryant. If you get on their mailing list, you will get advertising catalogs every so often with coupons. Sometimes those coupons are $15 off $15 purchase! I found a pretty shirt that was originally $44.99 (that is why I never shop there without a coupon) on clearance for $39.99 but it had a gold dot which made it 60% off the clearance price. So it came up to $16. You see where this is going? It was just $1 after the $15 coupon and no sales tax!!! Best buy ever at Lane Bryant.

For lunch we stopped at our favorite fast food restaurant, Chick-Fil-A!!! The little ones had coupons for Free Kid's Meals that we got at the end of Vacation Bible School at our church. I bought a 6 piece for myself and drank water. The best thing about Chick-Fil-A is that the kid's meal toys are usually something useful like books or games instead of junk that will break or clutter up the house for no reason. Sarah got an adorable little board book Biscuit's Day At The Beach and Daniel got a Pictureka game.

Being revived, we headed to Earth Fare to redeem our coupon for free Mozzarella cheese.

Then we headed home for naps and ~~rest~~ blogging. Spent just over $25 dollars total! I'd say that's a great Bargain shopping spree!

Happy Birthday To Me!

Because I Am Nothing, If Not A Procrastinator..

2011-08-04T15:44:00.000-05:00

When I have too much to do, I tend to get overwhelmed and do exactly the opposite of what I should do. I either do nothing or (like today) I start a new project that is completely the opposite of the one I should be working on. Today, instead of sitting down like a good home educator and working out the curriculum plan for this year (which was supposed to start this week, but has now been postponed until next week, or the next, maybe) I decided that my sewing machine needed a new cover.

I found this tutorial and loosely measured the old cover that I had and then cut and stitched. I don't have a zigzag stitch on my machine, like she says to use to make the seams stiffer, so my cover is a little floppy. I also had some trouble with the corners at the top, but I persevered.

Pretty New Cover

It's a huge improvement over the one it's replacing, which I was slightly embarrassed to actually have on my machine in my living room.

Old Ugly Plastic Cover

I will be working on home school planning in the next few days. I will not do another sewing project until I get school planned. There. I made a promise.

Sometimes You Just Gotta Give Up!

2011-07-30T17:18:00.000-05:00

I have been having a bad time lately trying to sew a dress for my girl. I won't go into all the nightmarish details but it involved being almost done and suddenly realizing that there was NO WAY this dress would go over her head or even a doll's head. So, I put it away hoping to come up with some sort of fix. Later, I took the neck apart and resewed (is that a word?) it thinking that snaps might be the answer, only to realize that there was just nothing that I could do to make it work out. So I gave up. On dresses, for now. Until I get a pattern or take a dive into pillowcase dress world. (Who knows-that could be tomorrow.)

Besides, we have been distracted by a little of this:

And a LOT of this:

But this afternoon was rainy and thundery, so during naptime, I decided to try making things that didn't require exact measurements. Two of the things are going to be Christmas presents so I can't go into detail about them. The other thing is a grocery bag/sack holder. I kept looking at the one in my kitchen and thinking that the sunflowers seemed a little *dated.*

Old Sacsoc (c)

Not to mention it was dirty. (How long have I had that thing and why haven't I washed it?) So I went to work hunting down a tutorial.

Oh, internet, how I love your wealth of information! I found a bunch of tutorials on Tipnut and I ended up using a combination of a couple different ones.

I managed to make this in about 30 minutes.

Someone who knows her way around the sewing machine could probably make 3 or 4 in that time.

I didn't even measure the fabric. I used these two pieces left over from the purse that I made (you thought it looked familiar, didn't you?) Next time, I will make the hanger loop smaller and higher up.

(Family: Don't be surprised if you get one of these babies for Christmas. You might want to put in color requests now, just in case.)

Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot!

2011-07-22T15:05:00.000-05:00

Today's been a good day. For some reason busy days seem to be the best days. (Today is so hot though. I hate to complain but I am really looking forward to cooler weather.)

We went to International Fun Day at our library. A day to celebrate the end of the summer reading program. There were booths focusing on different countries with coloring sheets and activities. (I picked up a few because they will be handy for school!) Also, free food and games!

Sarah won a necklace at the Mardi Gras booth!

Side Note: My kids both officially read (or had read to them) over 50 books each during the reading program. I didn't even count books that we read that weren't library books. The 7 year old would read a book to the 2 year old and then I would add it to both of their reading logs. Daniel was sure that he had read the most books, but there were two other kids who had more than him. He is very competitive, so he has vowed that next year, he will read 100 books so that no one will beat him. The library had some really good prizes for the kids who read the most books. I helped Sarah choose this drawing book:

I Can Draw! looks like it will be great when we start "Preschool"

Daniel picked a Bug Discovery Kit which they have been putting to good use.

Daniel "caught" a cicada shell to put in his bug holder.

After the library, today, we went to my parents' house. My parents never get rid of anything. Well, except now. All of a sudden, they are sorting through things and getting stuff together for a huge yard sale in a few weeks. They have been cleaning out and organizing a room in the house that we call the "craft room."

In the "craft room" they have every thing that I could ever need for sewing or crafting and now it's all organized so I can actually find things that I am looking for. Today, I went "shopping" in the "craft room." I came back with a few things that might come in handy for some projects that I am about to start working on.

Fabric, Rick Rack, Ribbons, Threads and Snaps

I think it's really cool that some of it is vintage-y.

(Speaking of cooler weather. Did I mention that I am attempting to have a handmade Christmas this year? Yep, I have set my sights on making everything that we will give to family and friends for Christmas.)

I also came home with this chair that I am going to paint (white) and recover (with any other fabric) and put in our dining room or use at my sewing table or some combination of the two. You never know when you might need an extra chair around the table.

Tonight we have plans to go have some pizza and see a movie at our church. It's outside! I love days like this-shopping without spending money, free food and great family time!

Have a great weekend!

Ball Discover You Can House Party (Part 2)

2011-06-26T22:39:00.000-05:00

Our House Party was so much fun! We crushed, mixed, boiled and tasted and it was great!

I wanted (really badly) to go pick the strawberries fresh out of field but apparently this is a little late in the season around here and the heat has already taken it's toll on most of the U-Pick strawberry fields nearby. So I settled for grocery store strawberries and was able to find them for $1.50 per 16 oz. container at a certain supercenter.

The party checklist called for 26 pounds of strawberries but there was noooo way I could afford that much. So we ended up with 15 pounds- 5 for the practice batch, 5 for the regular party jam and 5 for the no cook party jam. It worked out great. Everyone took home two jars of jam-a regular and a no-cook and we had lots left over. Yum!

My hubby and I put ~~all the~~ both kids in bed and worked on a practice batch the night before the party. I had lots of worries about how difficult canning was going to be, so I wanted to be prepared. We followed the recipe that was provided for the party for traditional strawberry jam and we didn't mess it up! We were so happy!

During the party, we had guests crush the strawberries. Then we mixed up the traditional jam and while it was being boiled in the canning basket (hubby was overseeing that process) the rest of us worked on mixing up the No Cook Strawberry Jam. By the way, the basket that comes in the Canning Discovery Kit fits perfectly in my large stock pot that I rarely have use for. Now I know what to do with it. Can!

Before the party, I was sure the no cook jam wouldn't be as good. But after taste testing both, most of the guests liked the no cook jam better. And it was easier to make! Go figure!

Ladling the No Cook Strawberry Jam into Ball Jars

It had never occurred to me until this party that you could even make Strawberry Jam without cooking it. How do you make No Cook Strawberry Jam, you ask? Well, you use the Ball Instant Pectin. Just crush the berries, stir into the sugar and pectin and pour into a jar. Couldn't be easier. You can even make as little as 2 jars at a time. The No-Cook recipe is on the pectin can for strawberries and several other fruits as well. The only thing is that these won't keep for a long time like the traditionally processed jams will. You have to eat them within 3 weeks or freeze it for up to a year.

Since it was mostly family at the party we started talking about Christmas or more specifically the Christmas gift exchange. One aunt suggested that maybe we could do all homemade gifts this year. I had been wanting to suggest this for several years, but was reluctant to speak up. I had been planning homemade Christmas gifts this year, anyway, and now the rest of the family is on board. I'm so excited!

Prizes, gift bags and the fruits of our labor-plus the pretty blue jar that I found at an estate sale last week!

I already applied for another House Party. I love inviting people over to the house because it gives me real motivation to clean up the house. I am thinking I should have people over more often so my house would stay cleaned up more. Ha!

I intended to keep track of how much I spent on the party and report here on doing a House Party on a tiny budget. House Party provided the pectin, the tools and the party favors. The biggest cost was the fruit and sugar (around $30.) I used plasticware that I got on clearance last year and cups left over from the last kid birthday party. Guests brought snack foods and drinks. I bought the jars using some really great coupons in the House Party Party Pack (less than $10.) With everything else I bought (plates, napkins, etc.) I would put the cost at less than $50. Plus, we have several jars of Strawberry Jam put away for later (or for gifts). I think that's a win for a budget House Party.

Ball Discover You Can House Party (Part 1)

2011-06-18T23:28:00.000-05:00

I am so excited that I can hardly stand myself. I applied for the Ball Canning House Party and got chosen! I got the box in the mail this week! The party is next week!

I have never canned anything in my life!

I have to plan a party! On a budget! A very small budget! A tiny budget! (Can you say, "Dollar Tree Party Supplies"? I think you can.)

But look what I got for freeeee for the party!!!!!

Lots of stuff for canning!!! Lots of party favors and prizes for my guests! The box included some very high value coupons for the jars, so that will be great. Now, I am looking for a deal on strawberries, so we can make some yummy strawberry preserves!

Here are some party ideas and tips that I have ~~stolen~~ borrowed from other people on the House Party website:

Use Ball Jars to hold cut flowers to decorate (So cute! I think my dad has some antique Ball jars around his house somewhere, too. Score!)

Have guests bring different kinds of berries and make a mixed berry jam (I'm not doing this because I asked my guests to bring finger food, but it's a very good idea.)

Week In Review

2011-06-11T22:44:00.000-05:00

We went to the park every day this week! It has taken forever to get this going but we finally have a system worked out. Danny goes for his walk early. (He likes to walk alone-no distractions.) I get up and get the breakfast going. He comes home from his walk. We eat breakfast and then we all go for a walk to the park down the road from our house. I walk (sometimes jog) around the walking track and Danny plays with the kids while I walk. The kids are totally loving this Daddy time. Yesterday, I was telling Daniel that I was sure they would get bored of going to the park every day and he said that he wouldn't because he loved going to the park. He said, "Me and Daddy throw the ball back and forth and Daddy swings. Daddy smiles when he swings." How sweet is that?

Maybe I should explain, we don't get up at 4 am to do this. Danny doesn't go to work until 11, so we have plenty of time in the mornings. His new job has been good in lots of ways. We get to spend more time together as a family and he is doing the thing he loves most, working on guitars. Okay, maybe second most. The thing he loves doing most is playing guitar. That's coming, hopefully. He would love to get paid to play guitar.

I put my ~~little used~~ cake decorating certificate to good use on a cake for a friend's work. I think she got the idea from a post on Cake Central. The original cake was covered in fondant, but my friend wanted only buttercream (I don't blame her) so I iced it and she stuck the candy on it. I really like the way it turned out.

Daniel used the leftover blue icing to decorate sugar cookie cakes that Danny made (he got tired of dropping by spoonfuls on the pan, so he just put all of it in a pan and called it a cookie cake.) Here are Daniel's creations (he is pretty good with a piping bag for a 7 year old.)

The first one is Toothless from How To Train Your Dragon, bordered by "viking hats."

Next up, so from How To Train Your Dragon, is Astrid (wielding some sort of ax or hammer)

Lavender Gain=Love

Gain is on sale at Publix this week and, although I NEVER buy brand name laundry detergent and even though it was still not as cheap as the cheap stuff I usually get at Rite Aid or CVS, I bought it anyway, because I love the smell. Since I brought I home, I have been washing anything that will go in the washing machine. If I could fit my sofa in, I would wash it, too!

I ordered Daniel's math, spelling and handwriting curriculum for 2nd grade this week! I am so excited to get the books and start planning for next year! We already have the science curriculum. I am still trying to figure out history, though. We used Story of the World last year, but it just wasn't quite right for us and I don't think we will go back to it this year. Do you have any recommendations for 2nd grade history with a biblical worldview?

Homeschool Expo Notes: Preparing For Perilous Times

2011-06-05T15:55:00.000-05:00

"Preparing for Perilous Times" was a workshop given by Teresa Knight of Knights Book Knook. I have never been one of the "doom and gloom" types, but given the current state of the world, I have been thinking more about preparing for unforeseen circumstances. I am glad that I attended this workshop because she brought to light several things that I had not thought of before.

Following are my notes from the workshop (I have expounded on a few things to clarify.)

Three areas to prepare for the future

Mentally
Read, Make lists of things that you use everyday-toilet paper, foods, etc.
(Teresa said the Family Preparedness Handbook: Making The Best Of The Basics is a good guide for this.)

Physical-
Start by being healthy, eat healthy, exercise.
Garden-Teresa suggests the Prepare and Pray curriculum
Learn to can-not just limited to fruits and veggies, you can can meats and potatoes (find directions online or in a book.)
Help your children prepare by playing a game- Ex. We have to leave the house before a fire gets here. You have 5 minutes. What do you take with you? (Use what they grabbed as a springboard for discussion on if it's useful and why or why not.) This sounds a little gloomy but you can come up with other scenarios that are less scary to use.
Get out of debt, look for other sources of income. What can you sell? Is what you have useful now? Will it be useful in a time of disaster? You might not want to get rid of something that could be useful later on. Foster a spirit of entrepreneurship in your children. Develop marketable skills. If they are interested in sewing, that skill could be useful in tough times. Other examples: mechanics, canning, home repairs.
Store what you eat, eat what you store. Rice, beans, wheat (only if you know how to use it and have the equipment to grind it-grinder-not electric), oil, sugar, yeast, salt, etc. Source: www.BreadBeckers.com
Organize: create space to store extras, use bed risers for extra space under your beds, buy furniture that doubles as storage space, store canned goods behind books on shelves
Keep your house clean- in an emergency situation the last thing you need is to be tripping over things, if the power is out.
Have some cash on hand.
Have extras in storage- toothpaste, toothbrushes, deodorant, feminine hygiene items, water
Survival Backpack-Handy to have when traveling and to have easy access to in an emergency. Contents might include-pouch tuna, summer sausages, emergency candles, first aid kit, (put small items in boxes or zipper bags to protect from water) water pouches (available on Amazon.com) (Bottled water is not safe to keep in your car in the heat, because the heat causes chemicals to leach from the plastic.) (Note: I have seen canned water before. The brand was Dasani.) Survival Straws (filters 5000 gallons of water, costs about $25, could save your life.)
When thinking about what food to store, buy storable items when they are cheap, even if your family doesn't eat them, they might be useful to barter with or to share with others.
FEMA has good info on preparedness, including printable guides and videos.

Spiritual- Be prepared to help others, not just your family. A disaster is a confusing time for people and you can point them to God and provide comfort to them in the name of Jesus. Most importantly: Raise up your kids for God. Having the kids hearts being for God is more important that all the other things you teach them.

Muffin Tin Monday 4/11/2011

2011-04-11T09:29:00.000-05:00

My son reminded me that today was Muffin Tin Monday. I hadn't planned to do Muffin Tin Monday because I didn't think I had anything fun to put in the tins, but Daniel sort of said that he wouldn't eat unless it was in a muffin tin today. I asked him to help think of some things put in there and of course his answer was cookies. Ha! He would be happy with a muffin tin full of cookies. But... since I won't do that, I brainstormed and came up with this.

Bottom Row (l-r): Apples, Mandarin Oranges, More Apples

Top Row (l-r): Chocolate soy milk, Peanut butter, Yogurt with red sugar sprinkles (and a Toucan Sam spoon)

He actually doesn't like the Mandarin oranges, so sister ate some of those and the rest will be snacked on later. He dipped his apples in the peanut butter and the yogurt and loved it. You can check out other Muffin Tin Monday posts here!.

Alabama Homeschool Expo

2011-04-10T23:33:00.000-05:00

This past weekend, I was blessed to be able to attend the Alabama Homeschool Expo here in Montgomery, Alabama. I say blessed because God used the speakers to teach me so much. This was my very first homeschool convention and I must admit, it was a little like a vacation for me. My parents graciously kept the kids because Danny had to work, so I went by myself. (Not always a bad thing.) The workshop schedules are set up so that sometimes (most of the time) you have to pick one of four or five speakers when you really want to hear all of them. I was determined that I would hear as much as I could, so even during lunch time. I went to a workshop, instead of skipping it for lunch. I just grabbed a Chick-Fil-A sandwich from the exhibit hall and ate it during the short breaks between workshops. I spent the free time between each workshop sitting in the hallway reading the descriptions of the workshops and praying, "Lord help me make the right decision on which one to hear." I would have to say that He must have directed me, because I was deeply affected by so much of what I heard. I filled half of a notebook with all the things that I wanted to remember from ladies like Debbie Strayer, Teresa Knight, Rebecca Keliher and Rebecca Powell and from men like Kirk Martin and Todd Wilson

I have read a lot of homeschooling books. I have read a lot of homeschooling blogs. But, there was just something about sitting at the feet of these ladies. Meeting them. PRAYING with them. It was like two days of a big hug from someone who understands and knows.

God was just everywhere I turned. I met a new friend. I even learned something from an elderly couple at a booth in the exhibit hall. We were talking about the ages of my kids and she was talking about reading aloud to them instead of using a curriculum at a young age. Because, she said, "Once they are off your lap, you don’t get them back." How sad that made me. They will one day (sooner than I think) be too big to sit and read a story with Mommy.

It’s funny when God is trying to get a message to you and He uses a lot of different people but you hear the same thing, because you don’t seem to get it the first hundred times. So He keeps on, because He loves you and wants you to “get it.” I attended twelve workshops and no matter who was speaking I heard God saying, “Focus on your kid’s hearts. Nothing else is as important. Not history, science, handwriting, foreign language or any of the other things that you always seem to be distracted by.”

I have let myself be distracted. I have let myself be ruled by curriculum. I have let myself be ruled by what other people think that the kids should be learning or by what I think other people think my kids should be learning. Oh! That is the thing. They are my kids. I have been called by God to teach them. I have a unique opportunity to speak God’s love to them all day long. But I haven’t done it. I have failed. Blessedly, I have the opportunity to fix it. I can reach the hearts of my kids for God. I am going to be making a lot of changes in the way we school around here and I hope to blog about some of it. Maybe it will help someone else. God used some of the ladies that I met at the expo to enlighten me on some things that I could be doing differently.

I have a lot of notes from the expo that I will be typing up just so that I don't forget what I meant by what I wrote. I will probably be sharing some of that here, too. I am just so excited by what God has shown me.

Muffin Tin Monday

2011-04-04T13:26:00.000-05:00

Today is Muffin Tin Monday and I have to admit that I haven't participated in a while. I started new blog that's less home and family stuff and more local deals and freebies for the Montgomery area, so I have been spending a lot more time over there. I didn't even plan to participate today, but I was making breakfast this morning and inspiration hit! So here we are:
I saw this 'recipe' for Fruit "Sushi" on the Today Show a couple of weeks ago and wanted to try it.

The "sushi" is a whole wheat tortilla spread with peanut butter and a line of strawberry chunks then rolled up. We also had yogurt.

Project: Simplify Hot Spot #1-Wardrobe

2011-03-11T15:47:00.002-06:00

I have to admit that when I first found out that Project: Simplify Hot Spot #1 was the wardrobe, I was a bit disappointed. I had really expected something like the kitchen, or the bathroom-even the living room. But it worked out better than I expected. I don't have the book: Organized Simplicty, yet (it's on my Amazon Wish List) but I am going to order it soon. I am still playing along in the mean time.
I started working on this project by taking all of my drawers out of my dresser and taking before pictures. I had been noticing that my dresser drawers needed some work. When you have trouble closing them because stuff is hanging out it's time for some organization. I had gotten pretty good at just shoving the clothes in and slamming the drawer closed.

L-R: Sock/Underwear Drawer, T-shirt/Shorts/Sweats Drawer, Gloves/swimwear/Christmas Socks Drawer

Then I started looking at the items in the drawers. I got rid of some things that I don't wear. I removed things that don't belong in the dresser. (Hairbrushes, guitar picks, etc.)
My husband and I share one dresser and I have every other drawer except the bottom, which holds sheets and pillowcases. The top drawers are smaller than the bottom drawers and the 'every other' arrangement had him ending up with more smaller drawers than larger. (I had two small drawers and one big drawer and he had one small drawer and one big drawer.) Unfortunately, his socks are bigger (work boot socks) and take up more space, so his socks were always hard to put away. I reallized after I had gotten rid of some unused things that I didn't need as much space. So I switched the sharing arrangement up. I now have the three smaller top drawers and he has two larger bottom drawers. Here are my three smaller but more organized drawers:

L-R: Sock/Underwear Drawer, T-Shirt/Shorts/Sweats Drawer, Glove/Swimwear/Christmas Socks Drawer

During this time I realized that my shoes were in the way. (They were hanging on a shoe organzier next to the dresser and I had to take them down to get the drawers out.) Well, I decided that I was tired of looking at them hanging in the bedroom and that I needed to put them somewhere where I couldn't see them. So I used a trundle that had previously been under my daughter's crib to stash the shoes under our bed. They didn't all fit so I had to get rid of some. I have a ton of flip-flops (that I am not getting rid of. I heart flip-flops). They all fit neatly in a plastic shoe box and I put them in the top of my closet.

I hadn't intended to tackle my closet because I had just gotten rid of a few things a couple of months ago, but I was having such a "good time" that I thought I might as well. I wanted to try the "turn the hangers around" trick, anyway.
I had a few clean clothes to put away first:

Go to the happy place.

Happy Place= Pretty Baby in Tutu

One I got them all hung up. I turned all the hangers around. I can't wait to see what I actually wear.
Since I am the type of person who can start by putting away clean dishes and end up cleaning out the entire kitchen cabinets, I also decided that since I was in the closet anyway I might as well pull the cedar chest out from the bottom and sort out what was in there. I found a few things to get rid of from there and made some extra space.
The final result was pretty happy!

I can't wait to find out what next week's Hot Spot is. See you then!

Hobo Tote Kit

2011-03-09T08:13:00.006-06:00

On one of our date nights, Danny and I ended up walking around Wal-mart. (My, aren't we exciting!) I found a cute purse kit on clearance in the craft department for five bucks. I was feeling brave because I had recently finished the quilt and Danny was being very supportive of my sewing skills, so we bought it and I brought it home. (I looked for the kit to link to on Wal-mart's website but couldn't find it. I only found this on Amazon: Daisy Kingdom Easy Cut and Sew Reversible Hobo Tote Kit, Geo Fern)

The kit was basically a package with two big pieces of fabric, the handles and the instruction sheet on how to cut the fabric and sew it together. I put it together all by myself. (Okay, there were only two frantic calls to my mom for how to work the sewing machine-I think I will finally remember how to refill the bobbin. Also, Daniel wanted to help, so I let him help with the pinning.) I might actually really dig this sewing thing. The cool thing about this kit is that you could just use the directions, buy some more fabric and a couple of handles and make more purses. This is what mine ended up looking like.

The directions had you cut the ties for the handle out of the lining fabric, but I think that if I did it again, I would use the outside fabric, so it would blend better. At first, I thought it was weird that the purse is tied to the handles but in a way it's kind of cool because if it gets dirty you untie it and throw it in the washer.

I didn't even realize there was such a thing as a purse kit. But now that I know how, I might not be so intimidated to try another purse. Maybe not even from a "kit." Have you ever made something like this from a kit?

Free 3 Pound Bag of Apples at Earth Fare 3/2/11-3/6/11

2011-03-02T21:50:00.000-06:00

Go to Earth Fare's website and login. Click on Quimby the dog to print your coupon for a free 3 pound bag of apples with a $5 purchase. Valid 3/2/11-3/6/11. To save paper and ink, you don't have to print the coupon. You can show it on your mobile device or write down the offer and the PLU # that you see on the coupon when you bring it up on the computer and take it with you to the store.

Earth Fare Gift Card Giveaway Winner!

2011-03-01T19:33:00.002-06:00

Our very first giveaway winner is.....

announced in this video:

It's funny because Danny didn't realize that I had just printed out the comments and cut them up, so when Sarah handed him the paper, he didn't know how to tell who wrote the comment. He expected just a name. Oops. Ahh, glitches. C'est la vie!

Congratulations, Tiffany! I hope you enjoy getting to shop for free!!! I know I did. Send me your address and I will send you your gift card as soon as I go buy some postage stamps. ;-/

I would like to thank Earth Fare again for just being awesome!

Rite Aid Wrap-Up 2/20-2/26

2011-02-27T22:35:00.001-06:00

Thia past week at Rite Aid was a blast! I was sad to see this deal go.
Bought a total of 140.52 of merchandise for the sale price of $83.72- used $25.50 in manufacturers coupons and $51 in +up rewards and store coupons to get to a total out of pocket of 4.59 before tax. Over all, I earned 56 in +up rewards. This was done in 4 different transactions at 4 different stores over the course of the week. I also used some of the rewards to buy diapers and other items during the week. I still have. $20 in +up rewards left. I am stocked up on baby shampoos and baby washes for a long time or until a couple of baby showers come along, anyway.

Now, what are the deals for this week to spend my +Up Rewards on? I haven't looked into the ad too in-depth but I did see that Clairol Color Foam has $2 +Up Reward and I still have the free coupon from Facebook. So, money maker on that. Looks like I get to color my newly cut hair. If a bob is good for Jennifer Aniston, then it's good for me.

Bread for .83 at Arnold's Bakery Store

2011-02-25T21:54:00.001-06:00

Because we are friends, I am going to tell you a secret. I never pay full price for bread. Never. If I had to go to Publix and buy bread for full price, I would probably have a nervous breakdown. I don't even buy it when it's BOGO.
About once every week or two I go to the Arnold's Bakery Store here in Montgomery. It's located at 452 N. East Boulevard. The store is in a little shopping center near the intersection of the bypass and Wares Ferry Road. If you aren't looking carefully, you might miss it. It's squeezed in between a gas station and a fast tax place. The store hours are Monday-Friday 9am -4pm. Not being open on Saturday might make it hard to get to for some people that work all week, but in my opinion, it's worth a lunchtime trip.
I have not found better bread prices anywhere. They have the really good Arnold's Bread-whole grain, whole wheat, multi-grain, all that jazz. They also have Entenmann's cakes and doughnuts, Sara Lee breads, Thomas bagels and english muffins and some other brands.

On my last trip, I got this:

for under $10. What you see in that picture is Arnold's Sandwich Thins (99 cents each), Thomas English Muffins-the whole grain ones (2 for $3) and assorted Arnold's brand whole grain breads. Those run 99 cents each but if you buy more you pay less. Six loaves is $5-making it only 83 cents per loaf! You might be able to find plain old white bread for that price or less in a store, but I have yet to find any whole grain bread that cheap anywhere else.
The breads that I bought today have sell by dates in the next few days. I always look at the dates on the bread before I buy it just to get the best ones. We eat a lot of sandwiches (PB&Js), so we go through bread pretty quickly, but sometimes, I still put loaves in the freezer until we need it. Since it is essentially a bread thrift store, you don't always find the same thing. I can usually count on the Arnold's breads and sandwich thins to be there. I always see the Sara Lee bread. Most of the time I can find wheat hamburger and hot dogs buns. Sometimes, I see rye bread. My favorite thing to find there is Boboli pizza crusts priced at only 2 for $3. I see these in Publix for around $4 each and I never see a sale on them. When I see them in the bread store, I grab them up and it's pizza night!
Do you have a place that you go to find great bargains? Tell me about it in the comments or send me a message so I can check it out!

Earth Fare Montgomery: A List and $50 Gift Card Giveaway

2011-02-20T20:20:00.000-06:00

I'm into lists lately.

Things that I love about the new Earth Fare in Montgomery (not in any particular order):

Free dinner for four!
Fresh ground peanut butter (you can grind it yourself in the store or buy it already ground-there is even peanut and chocolate-Wow!)
Brussels sprouts on the stalk - I had never seen them like that before, I thought they all came from a plastic bag in the freezer case ;-)
Free Samples (lots of them-all over the store, and you can have a taste of anything that they have in the cheese or deli department-all you have to do is ask)
No High Fructose Corn Syrup-anywhere, they don’t carry products that contain it in their stores.
No Hydrogenated Oils, either (In fact, there is a long list of ingredients that you won’t find at Earth Fare.)
Friendly employees

Blueberry Pie from the bakery (Yummy and loaded with blueberries!)

Great coupons! (Sign up for their emails to get the Free Dinner for 4 coupon and get a Pantry Makeover Coupon)
Rustic Mashed Potatoes from the Deli (Yum!)
Kids Eat FREE on Thursday nights
The Boot Challenge
A free gift card for you!

Earth Fare was awesome enough to give me a gift card to shop with and also one to give away. One lucky reader (it could be you!) will win a $50 gift card. To enter, all you have to do is post a comment (on this post) telling me something that you love. It can be about Earth Fare or is can be anything. I will take entries until February 28, 2011. Then I will draw one commenter's name. Make sure you leave your email address so I can contact you. I won't chase you down, though, so if I email you and don't hear back, I will find someone else. Fair enough? Right, then. Post away. Share with your friends. The more the merrier.

Animal Enrichment Day at the Montgomery Zoo

2011-02-19T16:53:00.001-06:00

Saturday was animal enrichment day at the Montgomery Zoo. The zookeepers give the animals special treats and toys that they don't usually have. It starts at 10 in the morning and lasts until about 2. About every 15 minutes you move on to a different animal exhibit. They usually keep the animals locked up in their night enclosures until time for them to get to the treat. It's entertaining for the animals and the humans. I believe that every family with children in Montgomery may have been out there today because the parking lot was full to overflowing.

The spider monkeys had boxes with treats in them hanging on their island.

This monkey was using his tail to hang from the posts to reach the box.

I think she was checking us out!

You should have heard the crowd when they saw that the prize in the box was a big fat rat! Eww!!!
After the Jaguar we headed to the River Otter, then the North American hoofstock exhibit. Where we saw some:

Elk

Bison

Big-horned sheep

Then we took a break for lunch at one of the picnic shelters.

PB&J, Popchips (Yum), grapes and grape tomatoes.

After lunch we checked out the bears, the lions, the cheetahs, the siamangs and the elephants. Then on to my favorite part. The Tigers! (War Eagle)

Where are those Tigers????

There they are:

We had a great day!
I highly recommend a membership to the Montgomery Zoo and Mann Museum for any family with kids. We love it! We had the train included with our family combo membership (makes it around $100. One visit for our family with regular price admission including the train would be $50-Yikes!) I think that makes it a great deal!
The zoo has so much to offer that the membership really takes the pressure off. You don't feel like you have to see everything every time you go in order to get your money's worth. Sometimes we just go to see one or two animals and then have a lunch and go home. Sometimes when it's raining, we just go to the museum. Sometimes we just go to the playground. It has recently been upgraded with swings for the big and little kids. With the membership we also get free admission to The Christmas Light Festival and Zoo Weekend. (We went to the Christmas Light Festival at least 3 times during the holiday season.) We also get a discount at the gift shop and the concessions stands. But usually we bring our own food, because a picnic is more fun. If you want to check it out for yourselves you can look at their website. I'm not getting anything for this post. I just think it's a great deal and I wish that we had done this a long time ago, so I wanted to pass it on.
See you at the Zoo!

Muffin Tin Monday: Valentine's Day

2011-02-14T17:24:00.001-06:00

When my son realized that today was Monday and also Valentines's Day he was beyond excited that there would be muffin tins AND Valentines. Our Muffin Tins today contained the side dishes to some heart-shaped pizzas.

The two kids shared the one tin. Left to right: Yogurt (if I had thought ahead it would have been pink, but I only had peach), strawberries, Valentine's Cookies. I got the picks at the Dollar Tree.

The pizzas are made from Arnold's Sandwich thins, cut with cookie cutters and covered with tomato sauce and cheese. My son actually said that the pizza was better than the cookies. But he still ate everything. :)

We made the cookies earlier this morning. Before we rolled the cookies, Daniel practiced spelling words in the flour on the table. Sarah just tried to lick the flour off the table.

Then we went outside to the enjoy the beautiful spring-like weather. It was close to 70 degrees today.

Kitchen Cabinet (Sort of) Organization

2011-02-10T18:57:00.001-06:00

You ever have one of those days when you are glad that you have a plumber in the family? You don't. Well, we do. For the last week our tub would not drain. We tried Draino, Clorox, plunger, wire hangers shaped into pipe snakes-anything we could think of, but to no avail. We resorted to Shop-Vac-ing the water out after every bath and shower (What fun!) until Danny's dad (a plumber-Thank God!) could come rescue us.
Saturday, he brought his pipe snake and his master plumber skills and helped us out. Danny and his dad replaced the drain and snaked the pipes. All they found was a clump of hair and some shoddy drain pipe work that was causing it to get clogged. The fix involved clearing out the kitchen cabinet to gain access to the tub drain. I decided that if I had to take it all out I may as well make it more organized.

Step 1.
While the guys went to Lowe's for the new drain, I took all the junk from under the cabinet and put it on the kitchen table. I cleaned the inside of the cabinet. Eww, it was dirty. I wish I had taken a before picture.

I am ashamed to say that this picture is after I had already thrown some things away and put some in a box to store in the storage room. That plastic box is full of candles and air freshener plug in holders. How many Glade Plug-In holders does one house need, anyway?

Step 2:
Sort out all the stuff into categories (dog stuff, air fresheners, cleaners, sponges/scrubbers) and (if you are like me) make one of those categories "things to go somewhere else".) I had probably 10 bottles of glass cleaner. (Why? Because when they are BOGO at Publix with a manufacturer's coupon, I can get them for less than a quarter.) So I put a whole box of extra cleaners in the storage room.

Step 3:
Find something to put the stuff in. It seems to make it look neater for things to be contained under the cabinet. I found the big plastic bin/drawer in another room and it was not being used, so it has become my candle/air freshener holder.

Step 4:
(Optional) I went to Dollar Tree for shelf liner and containers. I thought I would have to resort to boring old white shelf liner but I found a pretty blue and then some plastic bins to match.

Step 5:
Put it back (neatly) and step back and admire it. I really like the blue shelf liner and the pretty green stckable bins.

My kitchen is painted yellow and is in bad need of some updating (painting, new cabinet handles). That is on my list of things to do in the very near future. Cleaning the cabinets made me realize just how badly they needed painting inside and out. I really loved the yellow when I first painted it, but now it just makes everything in the kitchen look yellow and not in the sunshiney happy way that I first thought, but in the dingy yellowed old newspaper way.

I am thinking white. Because we are thinking about selling in the near future. Do you have any suggestions for a good color for a kitchen to make it buyer friendly?

Muffin Tin Monday: Mid Morning Snack

2011-02-07T14:15:00.001-06:00

Today we used the muffin tins for a morning snack. I had two eggs left in the fridge so I boiled them and cut them in quarters. We also had halved grapes, sliced apples, and heart shaped peanut butter sandwich bites. (I know, I know: Valentine's Day is next week, but we are studying the circulatory system this week in science, so it goes.)

Muffin Tin Snack

The only thing left was a little piece of gnawed apple. I have really enjoyed looking at all the different Muffin Tin Monday meals every week. I am getting very inspired.

Rag Quilt

2011-02-04T14:39:00.000-06:00

If you know me (or if you have read any of my previous posts) you know that I have a tendency to procrastinate. Just like the hooded towel, this is a project that I bought the fabric for and then it just sat. I cut the pieces and then the pieces just sat. I got the directions from my aunt and also from an old magazine that my mom had. I used three different colors of flannel: brown, pink, and a print called: Nursery Rhyme Thyme (it's sort of like a kid's toile in brown and pink). I love it.
Making a rag quilt is very easy because you don't have to actually quilt and pretty much you only need to be able to sew a sort-of straight line. I recommend some electric scissors. They made this go a lot easier. In fact, my scissor's battery died toward the end and I had to use my regular scissors and that was a pain in the hand.
You can find a really great tutorial here.

This is Sarah and my momma.

Sarah is clearly not posing for the camera with my momma. She just wanted to "see the picture."

I have been reading One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp and it's just the best book that I have read in a while. I really needed to read it. I hope to have a post about it soon. If you are interested, check out the Dayspring Bloom Book Club for a link to read the first chapter. I promise that if you read it, you will want to read the whole thing.

Muffin Tin Monday Theme: Favorite Foods

2011-01-31T12:48:00.000-06:00

Today is my first Muffin Tin Monday. The theme was a really easy one~ favorite foods. Even so, our most favorite food is pizza and I couldn’t figure out how to put that in muffin tins, so I used what I had around that we like. (By the way, Michelle posted how she put the pizza ingredients in the muffin tins and I think that sounds so fun that I plan to try it very soon.)

This picture is kind of dark, but I am no photographer. In our Muffin Tins we have a little bit of all of our favorites- Cheese, Bananas, Carrot sticks, Peanut butter for dip, Chicken chunks (a leftover piece of Shake and Bake chicken from the other night) and lastly Ranch for the carrots or the chicken. My son thought this was, “So cool.” We had sandwiches to go with it.

Random Things

2011-01-24T16:17:00.000-06:00

It really does make a difference to have a plan. I copied a daily schedule out of a homeschooling book that I have been reading- Home Style Teaching. While we didn’t exactly follow the schedule, it seems like we got more of the more important things done today than we usually do. We even managed to go outside and rake leaves. Actually, I raked while the kids chased each other around on the patio. Then, Daniel helped me put the leaves in bags. But, hey, we all got some good exercise (P.E.) Sometimes we neglect to go outside and that makes me sad.

I think I want to paint my kitchen white.

We are about to start the Scale Back Alabama contest. Our team consists of Danny, my parents, and me. I am going to attempt to get back on the Eat To Live bandwagon. I did so good with that before Sarah (and before I was at home all the time with a 7 year old that seems to want to eat non-stop yet not gain weight.) We are going to weigh in tomorrow. Wish me luck. (Hey, maybe I should look up other colors to paint my kitchen that will help us not eat so much.)

The Long Awaited Hooded Bath Towel

2011-01-21T22:40:00.002-06:00

A long time ago ~~in a galaxy far, far away~~, I found this hooded towel tutorial and thought it would be perfect for my little sweetheart. Months later, I found some clearance towel sets at Target in a lovely shade of green (it was the 2009 College clearance, if that tells you anything about this timeline.) Sometime after that, I found the ribbon that I wanted to use. At some point, I cut the towels and sewed them together. Then I put it all ~~in the closet~~ in my "To Do" pile (a big pile of stuff that I intend to make something out of- you don’t have one of those?) for oh, about a year, until Monday night when I finally finished it. (I also finished something else but that’s another post. I have to get a good picture of it. My aunt will be so proud of me!)

The towel set had the bath towel, a hand towel and the matching washcloth. The only thing that I did differently from the tutorial was that I sewed a curve for the back of the hood instead of leaving it pointy. Then I used the ribbon to trim the hood and the top edge. I can count on my hands the things that I have actually sewn, so the fact that this is together is some sort of miracle. Maybe I am making progress. Or maybe it will fall apart in the washing machine.

~~~

The other day when Danny was off work, the whole family went to the grocery store. It's always work to take two kids to the grocery store. Especially Miss Grabby McGrabby Hands. As Danny was buckling her in her carseat, (I am sure she was fighting him-trying to pick up something off the floorboard or the seat) he said, "this is like running a marathon all day long”. No wonder I am so tired all the time. I run a marathon every day. I wish that I looked like I did insead of just feeling like it.

Toy Story 3 Deal At Toys R Us (expires 11/6/10-I think)

2010-11-05T16:23:00.001-05:00

I purchased:

Toy Story 3 DVD Blu-ray 34.98
Tinkerbell and the Great Fairy Rescue DVD 19.99

Coupons I used:
$5 off $25 purchase (birthday club home mailer)
$8 off Toy Story 3 Blu-ray combo pack (printable from Disney Movie Club)
$5 off Tinkerbell and the Great Fairy Rescue DVD or Blu-ray (printable from Disney Movie Club)

$3 off Toy Story 3 and any other Disney DVD (store coupon from Magical Savings booklet)

Then she scanned the pre-order slip and it took off the $5 that I had already paid when I bought Beauty and the Beast.

The total was $28.98. Tax was $4.50. My total including tax was $33.48.
I got these things free (per advertisements in the Big Toy Book):
Toy Story Clock when you buy Toy Story 3 on DVD or Blu-ray
Toy Story Popcorn Tin with any Toy Story purchase of $30 or more
$10 Gift Card with and Disney Movies purchase of $40 or more

I paid in total less than the price of the TS3 DVD combo by itself!!!

It’s like I bought Toy Story 3 and got everything else for free!! Thank God for coupons. Our Christmas is looking awesome so far! God just keeps on providing. I hope no one thinks it's silly that I thank God for coupons and sales, but honestly those things are things I would never be able to purchase if it weren't for couponing.
I always think of it as God's providence when I find something that I needed (or maybe even just really wanted) on sale. Today at Sav-A-Lot I was thankful to find gallon jugs of milk on unadvertised sale for $1.50. All in all, today was a good day for deals for me and I thank God for that!

Favorite Deal This Week-Cheap Diapers at Rite Aid

2010-09-24T14:35:00.000-05:00

Bought:
2 packs Huggies Jumbo Diapers (8.99 each)
4 tubs of Huggies wipes 64ct BOGO50% off (2 @ 3.49 and 2 @ 1.74)
1 Celestial Seasonings Tea Chamomile (clearanced priced at 0.92)
Used:
$5/$25 Rite Aid coupon for watching Video Values video
-(2) 2.50 of Huggies Little Movers
-1.00 Rite Aid Video Values Huggies coupon
-2.50 off 3 Huggies wipes
-10 +Up Reward from last week
-5 +Up Reward from last week
= 0.86
Got back:
$2 +Up Reward Huggies
$2 +Up Reward Huggies
$1 +Up Reward Celestial Seasonings Tea
Then I can submit the $25 in Kimberly Clark purchases for a $10 Rite Aid gift card.

I am loving Rite Aid lately!

Time flies when you are not blogging. Or how can I let my blog go so long between posts?

2010-09-23T20:50:00.000-05:00

I think my daughter is potty training herself and I am just ~~lazy~~ efficient enough to let her. I haven't followed any schedule and I only take her to the potty when she looks at me and says, "Potty!" So far that is working out. She tells me and she goes. But she also uses her diaper, too. I think we have a little ways to go.

I am still in the process of working on a Rite Aid plan for this week and I have high hopes to go there tomorrow morning. Hopefully, after that I will have an awesome deal to ~~brag about~~ share. I am in love with the +Up Rewards.

I am currently reading Bringing Up Girls by Dr. James Dobson. I think that every mom and dad with a girl should read this book. I think every woman should read this. I have learned a little about why I am the way that I am.

I checked the book out of our local library, but I like it so much and it's so full of good info that I am thinking about buying it from Amazon (using Amazon gift cards from Swagbucks, of course.) That is, if I can't find it at the thrift store. It goes great with Bringing Up Boys, which I have already read and own.

Today, I got a free two-piece fish and fries meal from Captain D's just for signing up for their email club. Because it's not at exactly healthy food, I shared it with the kids and added a salad for each of us. (Well, tomatoes for Sarah. She isn't hip to the lettuce yet.) That, I think, is a pretty frugal dinner.

Random Tips For New Parents

2010-09-09T08:00:00.000-05:00

This list is not in any particular order, except how the ideas popped into my head. Some of these are good to know when you are preparing for baby's arrival and some are good to remember as baby grows into a toddler. Here goes:

Read Baby Wise before baby comes. Your baby needs to sleep. Your baby will love a sleep schedule. You will love to be able to count on a time when baby will sleep. When the kid gets bigger, afternoon naps will be a blessing to both of you. Hold on to that afternoon nap dearly- until age 5 or maybe even 6. Trust me, you will miss it when it's gone.

If you have video capability on your phone, take videos of your baby or toddler. Save it for one day when she is particularly fussy and you need her to be quiet. Then show her the video to distract/entertain/calm her down.

The Gerber baby bath towels are the best. They don't stretch out into weird non-shapes. I have some that came from Kohls and I can't even begin to explain what shape they are. Stick with Gerber. Second to them, surprisingly, I have found that the Walmart brand ones have kept their shape also. Baby bath towels should be almost square, so that you don't end up with one short side and one long side to try to wrap baby up with.

Keep baby nail clippers in every room in your house that you might be in with baby. Inevitably, you will be sitting in the living room, baby will fall asleep in your arms and you will want to clip those little nails. Even better put some in the end table by the sofa, a set in the drawer by the chair, some in the kitchen drawer, in the desk drawers... In other words, you can never have too many.

This last one is my favorite idea, because I think I invented it. Please don't link to me where someone else already did a post about this because if they did, I don't want to know. I want to go on thinking that I came up with this. Ignorance is bliss, or something like that.

How to clean the valves on sippy cups: Use a Wilton Tip Brush. (That's right, it's the small brush used to clean cake decorating tips.) The "nipple brush" that is on the end of some of the baby bottle brushes is too large for sippy cup valves. One end of the Wilton Tip Brush is more like a paint brush and is perfect for sliding around the inside and around the valve opening of the tops of the cups. The other end is like a smaller version of the nipple cleaner brush. It's perfect for going through the valve. Another plus, it's less than $2! You can find it at Walmart or at a craft store like Hobby Lobby or Michael's.

My Favorite Bargain This Week: Bausch & Lomb Bio True Moneymaker at Rite Aid (9/5/10-9/11/10)

2010-09-08T23:34:00.002-05:00

Last week, I got Pampers at Rite Aid for cheap and ended up with a $2 +Up Reward. So this week I was super excited to find my new favorite contact solution on sale for $4.99 with a $4 +Up Reward. (I am starting to like these +Up Rewards almost as much at CVS Extra Care Bucks.)
I happened to have a $2 coupon that I printed a few weeks ago to go with this. So I used the $2 coupon and the $2 +Up Reward from last week, to make it 0.99 for the solution and then got a $4 +Up Reward back for next week or diapers or whatever we need. Yay!

My favorite deal this week: Yoplait Smoothie for 19 cents at Walmart

2010-07-17T15:05:00.000-05:00

I was at Walmart (not one close to my house) one day last week without my coupons (I know, why? But it was just one of those days.) and I saw these Yoplait Smoothie bags in an endcap of the freezer section. They were marked 1.19 and I said, "I know I have a coupon for these and I think that it's for $1." So I excitedly made a mental note to come back soon. Well, I promptly forgot until I was sorting my coupons and saw the coupons for $1 off. I put them in my "To use soon" section of my coupon holder. Then I went to the closest Walmart to me and of course they didn't have these. Not a one. Just my luck. I thought that I had missed out, until I decided to make a trip to the farther Walmart and found four of them on the top shelf near the frozen juice. I had only four coupons so it was perfect. I haven't tried them yet but I can't wait. We usually make "fruit shakes" out of frozen fruits and soymilk and my son begs for them. A. Lot. A lot more than how often I actually want to make them. So this will (hopefully) be easier and tasty, too.

How I Am Going To Homeschool for Free

2010-05-23T20:26:00.001-05:00

Step 1: Sign up for Swagbucks.
Step 2: Earn Swagbucks. (See my tips below)
Step 3: Redeem Swagbucks for Amazon gift cards.
Step 4: Buy all my homeschool books from Amazon.

Just this week I got my first order: Shepherding A Child's Heart, First Language Lessons for a Well-Trained Mind and The Usborne Internet Linked Encyclopedia of World History. I am so excited to be saving money on all the curriculum that I will need to teach my son for first grade. I have a Wish List of all the items that I want for my homeschool (and some things just for me) and I am convinced that with the help of Swagbucks I will be able to get all that I need and not have to spend any money.

I would like to pass on my tips for earning Swagbucks quickly:
Always search using Swagbucks. Make it your homepage, so it is the first search engine that you see. I win bucks at least 2-3 times a day for searching as I normally would.

Install the Swagbucks toolbar. I have it and have never had problems with it slowing my computer down. Sometimes The Swag Guy puts Swagcodes that are good for Swagbucks in messages on the toolbar.

Invite your friends. When they earn for searching, you earn the same amount.

Follow Swagbucks on Facebook and Twitter. The Facebook group always lets you know if there is a code out and sometimes you can find helpful hints for finding it.

Read the Swagbucks Blog. There you will find hints for earning Swagbucks and sometimes even Swagcodes.
Earn at least one buck every day for using the toolbar, one for answering the poll question and one for scanning through the No Obligation Special Offers.

There are actually several other ways to earn Swagbucks that are covered on the Swagbucks website. These are just my favorites.

Very Veggie Lasagna

2010-05-05T13:43:00.002-05:00

Very Veggie Lasagna
(Or a recipe that I can prepare during naptime and then put in the over for dinner because Sarah won't let me do anything in the kitchen after 5.)

I use whatever veggies I have, but we seem to like this combination the best. I don’t use “spaghetti sauce” because it usually has sugar and high fructose corn syrup and other stuff that I can’t pronounce. So I just buy the store brand tomato sauce. It has some seasonings and tomatoes and not much else. If you can afford to get organic ingredients then go for it. The more organic foods that we buy and eat the better.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil (or use non-stick cooking spray)
1 medium onion, thinly sliced (use whichever kind you have, I used purple)
2-3 medium yellow squash, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
2-3 medium zucchini, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
1 8-ounce pack of washed, sliced fresh mushrooms
1 (15 ounce) container ricotta cheese
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 eggs
1 Tablespoon Italian seasoning
1 can (29 ounces) of tomato sauce (find one without any sugar, high fructose corn syrup or oil-I used the Wal-mart brand) You could use more sauce if you like your lasagna “saucy”- I don’t.
Uncooked lasagna noodles (I used the whole wheat kind)

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Heat olive oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and cook onion, mushrooms, squash and zucchini, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes or until tender. (I use enough veggies to fill the pan up and then I cover it and let them cook until they are tender.)

Meanwhile, combine ricotta cheese, 1 cup mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese, Italian seasoning and eggs in medium bowl.

Spread thin layer of pasta sauce in 13 x 9-inch baking dish. Layer uncooked noodles, then some sauce, 1/2 of the ricotta mixture and 1/2 of the vegetables; repeat. Top with remaining uncooked noodles and more sauce and remainder of mozzarella cheese.

Cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake 45 minutes to an hour or until bubbly. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.
I do all the chopping, veggie cooking and assembly during Sarah’s naptime. Then I cover it and stick it in the fridge so that I can just throw it in the oven about an hour before dinner.

Sarah's To Do List

2010-04-13T09:32:00.001-05:00

Danny always makes fun of me for my lists. Last night I wrote down some things that I needed to do today and I left it sitting on the sofa. This morning Sarah found my pen and notebook and was carrying it around so Danny asked if she was getting started early on making "To Do" Lists. I thought I would share some of what is on Sarah's To Do List today.
1. Eat
2. Poop
3. Go for a ride in the stroller
4. Pull all the books off the book shelf
5. Wait for Mommy to start putting the books back and then start pulling all the movies off the movie shelf
6. Sit in my crib and play with my Bunny when I am supposed to be taking a nap
7. Turn the light in my room on and off from my crib, during "nap"
8. Eat
9. Take a long afternoon nap since I spent all my morning nap playing with the light switch
10. Clean off the bookshelf again (why does Mommy keep putting all those books back on it?)
11. Wait until it's time for Mommy to start making dinner and stand between her and the sink/stove/refigerator with my arms up.
12. Eat
13. Poop
14. Take a bath
16. Go "Nite, Nite"

Very Veggie Enchiladas

2010-04-02T22:14:00.002-05:00

I love to try new recipes using lots of veggies and I mostly make stuff up as I go along. I decided that I should write this out because I really liked it and wanted to remember what I put in it. I also have a tendency to change recipes every time that I make something. Tonight I made this:

Very Veggie Fajita Enchiladas

3 Zucchini Squash
3 Yellow Squash
1 Green Bell pepper
Sliced mushrooms (one small container)
6-10 Wheat or flour Tortillas
2 Small Onions
Sliced Black Olives
Shredded Mexican Blend Cheese
One can of Enchilada Sauce
Can of black beans, drained

Filling:
Cut up squash, zucchini, onion and bell pepper into small, similar size pieces. Sauté in pan until tender. Pour half the can of the enchilada sauce and the can of black beans in with the veggies and mix well. I let this simmer for a few minutes while I prepared the casserole dish.

Spray a casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray. Scoop filling into tortilla, roll closed and put in casserole dish closed side down. Continue this with all tortillas until you use up all the filling. Drizzle the remaining sauce evenly over the enchiladas. Sprinkle with cheese (I like lots) and black olives.

Bake at 350 degrees until cheese is melted. Serve with sour cream and salsa.

Yum.

I forgot to buy the bell pepper, so I made it without it and it was still good. I also forgot to rinse the beans and so my filling was sort of black but it still tasted fine. I have made something similar to this using corn tortillas, layering the ingredients and using refried beans and called it Enchilada Casserole.

One Month To Live - Day 1

2010-03-04T13:51:00.009-06:00

My whole church is reading the book, One Month to Live: Thirty Days to a No-Regrets Life. In the book, at the end of each day there are questions to get you thinking.

Today one of the thoughts is: List five things that you would change about your life if you knew you only had one month to live.

1. Be more positive. Say "yes" more and "no" less. I find myself saying "no" so much, so starting today I am looking for ways to say "yes" more. This applies mainly to my children, but there are certainly ways it could apply to my husband and other family and friends, too.

2. Listen to God more. Listen to that voice in my head that tells me to call someone or to send a card. I have actually been working on this before the book but it's worth more focus. If I start to be able to focus and act on when God is telling me to do the little things, I hope that the big things will be even easier to act on.

3. Laugh more.

4. Smile more.

5. Use the good dishes. I pulled the box of my favorite Blue Willow dishes out of storage with intent to wash them and start using them. What good are they sitting in a box in the storage building? I love them and I want my kids to remember seeing them being used. I don't want them to remember that I had them hoarded away for a "special occasion" that never came.

I am starting to think that I could make a longer this than this, as other things keep popping in to my head. Thing like: hug my babies more and tell family and friends that I love them, make more crafts. For a little while, I thought that I would have trouble thinking of things, but it turns out I have a lot to do in the next month. I better get those dishes washed.

Leave your five things in the comments, if you want to.

Heart Shaped Food

2010-02-03T08:22:00.003-06:00

I went to a Thrift Store yesterday to look for books ($1/bag sale). They also had a sale on bric-a-brac (that is what they call random other junk like kitchen stuff, picture frames and decorations.) It was also $1 a bag. One of the things that I found was a giant heart shaped cake cutter. (I am actually not sure what it is. It looks like a giant metal cookie cutter and will cut an 8 inch cake layer.) With Valentine's Day coming up I am looking for ideas for a heart-shaped meal. I know I will do a cake shaped like a heart, but I am also thinking: Heart shaped quesadillas! I will just use regular quesadilla ingredients (cheese, chicken, peppers) but cut the wheat tortillas into heart shapes first and then bake the quesadillas. I can't wait. I think I will serve it with a side salad and some refried beans. Yum!

Walking

2010-01-06T21:28:00.003-06:00

Sarah is walking now! Finally! I thought she would never walk without holding on to my hand and that I would be hunchbacked before she did. Then all of a sudden today she has let go and walked all the way across rooms by herself, several times. Only now I am a little sad, because she is growing up so fast. She isn't my little baby anymore. Although, she will always be my baby. I even call Daniel my baby (even though he says he isn't "a baby", I say he will always be "my baby.")

We are still making it without my working. We are sure God will provide, since he obviously had his hand in this.

We are going to be homeschooling next year, when Daniel starts first grade. It's so cold right here now that I wish I was homeschooling already, so I wouldn't have to get out in the mornings in the cold.

Tutu Cute!

2009-09-19T20:43:00.005-05:00

I was feeling crafty after visiting the consignment sale this week and seeing all the cute stuff at My Kids Attic. So I made something.

Not the baby.

The tutu.

It was made as a gift for my niece's first birthday. But this is Sarah testing it out. I am hoping to make lots more of them. I know I will be making one for Sarah to wear on her birthday.

Life: Version 2.0

2009-09-03T20:34:00.001-05:00

Things I miss about work:
Free Postage
Bottled Water
I am sure that there is something else. Oh, wait… no… um. I guess that’s it.

On Monday afternoon about 4pm, my boss called me to his office and told me he had bad news. Business had been down and the company had to get rid of some positions. They were going to let me go. They gave me an extra paycheck and my left over vacation sick days. Not a bad deal. I could go get my stuff together and go home. It really was hard to keep from laughing while I sat right in front of my boss. I knew this was coming. I had even told some of my coworkers that someone was going to get fired. I didn’t mention that I secretly hoped it would be me. I told my boss that this was an answer to prayer because I have really wanted to stay home with the kids for some time now. We just didn’t know if we should or could. This was God telling us that “yes, you should” and that he would make a way.

So. This is day 3 of me being a stay at home mom. It feels really weird to say that. It’s something that I have wanted for a while and now that I have it, it just feels weird. It feels sort of like, I am on vacation or Sarah is sick and I am home taking care of her and I will have to go back to work eventually. I have had a couple of moments of “What have I done? I should go find another job.” There was even a moment where I wondered what I would do with the kids, since I was so used to being able to send them both to daycare and taking a day “for myself” every now and then. However, this is what I wanted and is obviously what God’s plan was for me. So why fight it? I get the sneaking suspicion that those thoughts are just the devil trying to make me doubt myself. I know that times could get tough and that we will have to make sacrifices but we seem to be ready. Danny and I are both in agreement that this is meant to be. We both know what has to be done to stay “afloat.”
There are so many things to enjoy and look forward to. Sarah is crawling very well now and the time of chasing after her is here. In just a short time she will be walking. I can’t wait to be the first person to see it.

Cake Decorating Classes

2009-08-21T08:53:00.001-05:00

My sister and I are taking Wilton cake decorating classes in September. She talked me into it. (Wasn’t hard.) I think I was just looking for something to inspire me, because just since I have signed up I have been super creative. I might even have some new craftyness to post on my little ol’ blog soon. I have lots of great ideas and I have been working on birthday party stuff, too.

So far, I have registered for the cake decorating classes and bought the kit that goes with the first course.
I went "shopping" at my mom's house last night and I got an old vintage, white, round Tupperware cake carrier and a lazy susan that should function just fine as a turn table. I can't think of why it wouldn't. My mom was all, "Oh, so you can make me a nice cake for my birthday in October." I was like, "Slow down old lady. Let's see if I am any good at it first."

I was reading the box for my kit and was excited to find out that we get to learn how to make DOTS!

I have been collecting prices of all the cake decorating stuff at all the craft stores, so that I can buy things where they are the absolute cheapest. I have Michael’s prices and Hobby Lobby’s prices. This morning I thought. Don't we have an AC Moore here somewhere? I must needs go get their prices soonest. My sister and I are using all those coupons for 40% off to get the cheapest prices that we can.

I am so glad that today is Friday and I am keeping my fingers crossed that we get outta here early today, because that would be AWESOME!

Sarah ate Rutabaga

2009-08-18T09:01:00.001-05:00

Last night we had random-food-that-is-in-the-refrigerator-and-needs-to-be-eaten-before-it-has-to-be-thrown-away for dinner.
Sarah ate some spaghetti noodle pieces and some chunks of rutabaga. She really liked it. I am feeling more confident about giving her real food lately. This is good because for a little while there I was convinced that she wouldn't be able to eat cake on her birthday because I hadn't given her real food to eat enough. I bought a couple of jars of 3rd foods. I started with Apple Cinnamon Raisin Oatmeal and she did really well with it. I stayed away from stuff with meat in it, just because it sounds gross.
I am convinced she is never going to crawl. Danny got down on the floor with her last night and put her on her knees but she just sits right back up. She does this thing where she slides her legs out and in and it scoots her where she wants to go, so she may have just found a "work around" for crawling. Danny was like, “Shouldn’t she be crawling already, she is nine and a half months old?” Leave it to my child to be too lazy, I mean, efficient to crawl.

My heart is not here today-

2009-05-06T14:39:00.001-05:00

It's rearranging bookshelves.
It's watching Daniel play in the park.
It's sitting on the swing in the backyard.
It's laying on the floor next to Sarah while she tries to roll over.
It's making baby food.
It's taking Daniel to the library.
It's holding the back of the bike while Daniel learns to ride without training wheels.
It's searching for gems in the book section of the thrift store.
It's reading to Daniel and Sarah.
It's cleaning out boxes and sorting for a yard sale.
It's watching Sarah sleep.
It's walking in the neighborhood, helping Daniel look for rocks.
It's sorting out Sarah's clothes and packing up the too-small sizes.

Hard Pill To Swallow

2009-01-28T08:46:00.003-06:00

I am feeling a tad bitter today. Yesterday I got a ticket in the mail for running a red light. Of course, I have excuses. I was right behind a garbage truck and didn't see that the light had changed, I was just going with traffic. But the cameras they have pictures.
So, if you see my car in front of you at a light and the light turns yellow, I suggest stopping, unless you have really good insurance. Because I would rather someone hit me, than to get another ticket.

Daniel liked looking at the pictures of my car on the letter. Then after I took it from him, (because honestly, who needs to be made to feel worse by a 5 year old) he disappeared into his room. I was giving Sarah a bath when Daniel came in with some Hot Wheels cars. "Look mama, I am playing 'mommy-gets-a-ticket-for-running-a-red-light' with my cars. This one is just like yours."
"You need to go put those up right now."

That Feeling

2009-01-13T07:41:00.003-06:00

You know that feeling. The one you get when everything is going right and you know. You just know that something HAS to be wrong. Like, you are early for work and then you realize that you forgot your lunch. Today I have that feeling. Everyone slept all night. I got up on time. I showered and dressed. Daniel got up on time. I got Sarah up. She was fed, Daniel was fed, Danny put the garbage out and we were ready to go at 7 this morning. Got the kids to daycare and I got to work almost 30 minutes early. But I just can't help but think that I have forgotten something. I still don't know what it is. Maybe I am just being pessimistic. I should just sit back and enjoy having a good day. Do you ever get that feeling? What could I have forgotten?

Sarah Anne

2008-11-25T08:52:00.004-06:00

Sarah Anne born November 4, 2008
7 pounds, 2 ounces
20 inches

Slow Down

2008-10-17T12:44:00.000-05:00

Today I had an actual phone conversation with Daniel. I called my dad to ask him something and he said that Daniel wanted to speak to me. I figured he would get on the phone, giggle a couple of times and then get bored and run off to play with something. I was wrong. He actually talked. He told me that he got his haircut today and "wait til you see it." I told him it was raining and he told me to be careful. I told him I was on the way back to work from the post office and he told me it was good that I had a roof on my car, so I wouldn't get wet. I asked if he ate the orange that I sent with his breakfast and he said he had eaten part of it was going to finish it later. He talked like a real person. He is growing up. Having phone conversations. Carrying boxes for me. When did all this happen? Next month he will be a big brother. Next year he will be in Kindergarten. Slow down just a little, time. I can't seem to keep up.

I could freak out about this.

2008-09-16T10:01:00.003-05:00

Well. Isn't this something. Just when I think I have things all planned out. I take Number One to school today and his teacher whispers to me to step in the room. My first question was did I have something on my pants. (Yep. There's some high self esteem for you.) No. It's was much better than that. She wanted to give me a heads up. The daycare is closing. The teachers found out yesterday and an official letter should go out today to the parents. 45-60 days is when they were told the closing date would be. That sounds familiar. Oh wait. That's about how long I have until Number Two is due. Two months. Plus the two months (max) I can afford to take off work. That's four months
Six months. That's about how long waiting lists are for infants at any decent daycare in our area. Oh dear. Seems we have a little problem.

Feeling Crafty!

2008-08-06T09:08:00.004-05:00

I made these closet size dividers for my baby's closet. Now I can get to organizing all the clothes we have been blessed to have been given.

Takes One to Know One

2008-05-29T14:49:00.001-05:00

Gah! Why do people think I am so weird because I like hot sauce on my peanut butter sandwich?

Dear Baby

2008-05-28T14:06:00.002-05:00

Dear Baby,
I promise to remember to take my prenatal vitamin, if you promise to stop making me wake up three times a night to go pee.
Love and kisses,
Mommy

Sticky Cheerios

2008-05-13T09:14:00.001-05:00

Yesterday on the way home I told Daniel that I had bought Cheerios for him to have for breakfast. (I don’t usually buy Cheerios but they were on sale and I had a coupon and I wanted cereal, too.) So he says, “Is it regular Cheerios or sticky Cheerios?” It took me a second to figure out what he was talking about but if you eat dry Honey Nut Cheerios they are sticky, while plain Cheerios are not. So, “Yes, they are sticky Cheerios.” I had never thought of it that way.

Daniel's First "Senior Moment"

2008-02-01T09:22:00.001-06:00

Scene: My parent's house. Waiting for pizza to be delivered.

Daniel and I were dipping cucumbers in ranch dressing and eating them. He got up from the table and headed to the refrigerator for a juice box. As he walked off, I reached over and dipped a cucumber into 'his' ranch dressing. He saw me do it and flipped out. "Get your own dressing," he snapped. I stopped him and told him that it was not acceptable to talk like that to me (or anyone). After his apology, he started walking back toward the refrigerator. He stopped in front of my mom's chair and said, "Where was I going?" I dropped my head into my hands and said, "He's only four."

My mom said, "He sounds just like you."

Pot. Kettle.

Let it snow?

2008-01-18T14:54:00.000-06:00

It might snow here tonight. I have lots of stuff scheduled to do. Ordinarily I would be happy but now I might have to reschedule a haircut, a portrait studio appointment and shopping.

Too cold to shop?

2008-01-03T08:49:00.001-06:00

It's official. It's too cold here for me to shop. I know. What? Yesterday at lunch I was going to go to the bank (payday) and then to Target to check out the after-Christmas clearance. But once I had to get out in the cold to get to my car and go to the bank, I decided that it was just too cold to get back out of the car and go into Target. So I went straight back to work.

I think that it was 17 here this morning. One thing that I like about the cold is the lack of humidity. My hair looks amazing today. Still, though-looking forward to Spring.

We are still doing the Dave Ramsey thing. Love it. Started our debt snowball this month. I am hoping that we will finish it in less than a year. We are starting with about $35,000 owed to 6 different creditors. About half of this is my student loan. Next month we will pay off the first on the list and in another 3-5 months the second one will be gone. It sure is nice to see progress. I really think that is what makes Dave Ramsey's plan work so well. You see progress and it keeps you going. Baby steps.

Bumbo Recall

2007-10-25T13:22:00.000-05:00

Okay, what idiot put their baby in this seat and sat it on top of the table? Raise your hand, so I can smack you. Britney, was it you?

I never had one of these for Daniel, because they are pretty new, but common sense would tell you not to put it on top of a table or a chair.

Guess what, you don't even have to have common sense, because according to the CPSC's website the seat has the following printed on the back of it:

“WARNING” – “Never use on a raised surface. Never use as a car seat or bath seat. Designed for floor level use only. Never leave your baby unattended as the seat is not designed to be totally restrictive and may not prevent release of your baby in the event of vigorous movement.”

Things like this are what cause prices to go up. See, now they are recalling all these seats, so they can put a new sticker on them that pretty much says what was already printed on it to begin with. Who knows how much this will cost the company and guess who gets to pay for it down the road-the consumer. This is why idiots should not have children.

If you put your child in this and then set it up on a chair or a table and they fell out, you should not be calling the CPSC, you should be calling someone who has some sense to come take care of your baby.

I hate that some children got hurt, but these injuries are NOT the company's fault. They are cause by the negligence of the parent or caretaker.

Financial Peace University

2007-10-02T15:54:00.001-05:00

My husband and I have recently started Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University classes at our church. We are on Step One of the process: The $1000 Emergency Fund. Right now we have about $58 saved. There isn't a lot of extra room in the budget for saving this month.

Every month we have to do a budget and an allocated spending plan. Writing everything down and trying to decide which bills get paid from which paycheck was a real eye-opener. After I totalled how much we made and subtracted all the payments we make on debt and all the bills, there wasn't much left over. How were we spending all that extra money? I don't know how we had been doing it. Actually I do, we were sort of floating from month to month. This is the first month we have a real honest-to-goodness budget. Every dollar we are going to earn has a purpose and plan.

Already I see things that I should have budgeted for and didn't. Dog food. Clothes. I thought, we don't buy clothes every month, but it would be good to put a little in a fund for that so that when Daniel's shoes get a hole we can go get new ones or when Danny wears his socks out. (Dang those guys are terrible on shoes and socks.) Christmas. Birthdays. The cool part is that Dave says that the first three months the budget will not work. Changes will need to be made for it to start working the way it should. That takes some pressure off of me.

I am the "nerd" in our marriage. According to Dave every marriage has a 'nerd' and a 'free spirit.' The nerd may actually enjoy writing out the budget, while the free spirit wants as little to do with actual numbers as possible. They just want to know how much they can spend.

We are also using the envelope system. All the money that is budgeted for groceries and gas in a month goes into an appropriately named envelope. When all the money in the envelope is gone, you wait until next month. Actually we do ours weekly. Danny gets paid every Friday, so every Saturday we fill up our cars with gas and I have a new envelope of money for groceries. We are currently doing okay on $85 per week. This includes dinner at church on Wednesday, that I pay for out of the grocery money. Of course we have only been doing this for three weeks now. I love trying to see how much groceries I can buy with a very little bit of cash. I use lots of coupons. Some people might think I obsess about coupons but if you know how to use them, they really can save you big bucks. If you are interest in learning more about coupons, I suggest this website. I am learning and I personally think I learned from the best.

I am going to try to keep track of our progress here on my blog. Should be interesting to come back to and read a little later down the road. Next week I am getting together with a friend and we are having a yard sale and every penny I make is going to our Emergency Fund. I can hardly wait. I have lots of 'stuff' to sell. I just hope we have lots of buyers.

I Thought Girls Had Cooties

2007-09-20T10:49:00.000-05:00

The other day when I picked Daniel up from school his class was on the playground. Walking to the car he kept looking at the playground and said, "After nap, we get to go back to school?" (He calls all sleeping 'nap' right now) I could tell he was having a lot of fun playing and I figured it was because they had been able to go outside more since the temperature finally dropped below 90 degrees. So I said, "Yep, tommorow you get to come back. Do you like when you get to play outside?" Daniel replied, "We get to go out when Keely gets here."
(Uh Oh.)
I said, "Oh, are you and Keely friends? You like playing on the playground when Keely is out?"
"Yep"
I asked "Is she nice?" Daniel replied, "Yes, she's pretty."
(Greeeat.)
He continued, "I was Spiderman and she's a princess."
(Cute.)
Change the subject. "Look over there, Daniel, it's a dump truck!"

The next day when I picked him up his former teacher stops me to say that he was being "Sooo cute today". I'm like "Really? What'd he do?"
Apparently he and his new friend Keely had been playing together alot and he was pushing Keely on the swing when she dropped her shoe. Daniel said, "I'll get it, you're my Princess."
(Uugggghhh.)

I think I am gonna puke.

Good Advice

2007-08-23T09:08:00.000-05:00

This morning Danny told Daniel “Bye, love you” on his way out the door for work. Daniel replied, “Love you too, Daddy. Be careful that you don’t beat your car up on the road.”

Redneck Disney World

2007-08-23T08:43:00.001-05:00

Because my husband doesn't already spend enough time fishing or doing maintence to his boat or looking at fishing stuff on the internet...
Saturday night we went to Bass Pro Shops in Prattville. It just opened last Wednesday, so there were about a million people there. They had police directing traffic in the parking lot. The parking lot reminded me of Six Flags. You can see the parking lot but you can't get into it until you follow a road about a quarter of a mile around to the entrance of the lot (don't forget to read the fish signs, they are funny). Then you park your car and hope you remember where. (Of course, that's a whole other story.)
The entrance to the store has turnstiles just like at an amusement park. Inside is massive and everywhere you look are animals. Not live ones. Dead ones. Stuffed ones. I guess. I mean they could be fake but they sure do look real. There are little squirrels sitting on top of the clothing racks. A huge bear just inside the entrance. A bald eagle on a nest up on the second level. It's like a wildlife museum. Chipmunks. Beavers. Deer. All over the place. And then there are two huge aquariums-one freshwater and one saltwater-and a waterfall. It was all very impressive.

They sell stuff, too! I almost forget they are actually there to sell stuff. I just go for the stuffed animals. They have boats that cost as much. as. our. house. They have clothing and fishing equipment and even household items like candles, towels and food.

It really was fun. Next time we go I will try to take my camera so I can pose Daniel with all the animals. He is still talking about it. He says, "Can we go look at the aquarium, later?"

I'm cooking...and working...at the same time!

2007-08-10T09:55:00.001-05:00

I know this is not new to most people but this is the first time I am cooking spaghetti sauce in my Crock-Pot (r) while I am at work. In fact the only other thing I have cooked in the Crock-Pot (r) was roast with veggies and that was a long time ago. So I put all the ingredients in the pot, gave it a stir, turned it on and left it. I am so excited to be able to go home and only boil water for the pasta, then eat. Yippie! So, I am cooking and working at the same time! If it works out I will share the recipe. If it doesn't we will be eating Hamburger Helper made without the burger.

Made In China

2007-08-03T07:37:00.000-05:00

I am officially avoiding buying things that are made in China. I don't think all of this is an 'accident'. I think they are trying to kill us.

Update: 8/30/07 This is too hard to do. I am just going to have to suck it up and hope for the best. Hopefully, we don't get botulism or lead poisoning from any of the junk we buy.

Look Out

2007-07-31T11:25:00.000-05:00

Don't be messing with me in the Winn Dixie parking lot at 7:35 in the morning when I am trying to get me some .39/lb bananas before I have to be at work.
A lady cut me off for a parking place this morning (and nearly ran over a woman walking in the parking lot) to get the parking place that I was lined up to get. I was turning right, the offender was turning left. I was waiting for the lady walking to actually pass the parking space before I turned into it (silly, me). So after I got out of the car I walked up to her in the store and told her what I thought about it. Then I said " And have a great day!" No, I didn't call her the name that initially popped into my head. I just told her that last I heard, if you are in the right lane turning right, then you have the right of way and then something about her not knowing how to drive.
I feel better now.

Why?

2007-07-26T10:48:00.000-05:00

Where did I go wrong? My child will not slide down a water slide. Today at school they had a water slide. Daniel would not go on it at all. I have failed as parent.

That Was Fast

2007-07-05T11:25:00.000-05:00

Having only one day off at a time sucks. I actually felt angry when I had to get up and come to work today. The Fourth was pretty fun though. I didn't have to call the police on any of my neighbors, so that was nice.

We had Danny's sister and her hubby over for dinner. Danny cooked a giant hunk of deer on the grill all day. (I still swear I smell like smoke.) We also had chicken and baked beans and sis-in-law made a really super tasty loaded baked potato salad. (So good, in fact, that late last night I was actually eating some more and Danny was all, "Why are you eating more potato salad?" and I was all, "Shut up and wash dishes.")

At first the plan for the Fourth was just dinner. Then the plan was changed to dinner and then go watch the fireworks at the river. Then Danny didn't want to go and when the sis-in-law's hubby found out fireworks don't start until almost nine he was all "We DO have a long way to drive home", so I didn't get to enjoy the big fireworks, but I did watch some on TV. Of course, without that feeling that they might land on you and catch you on fire it's just not the same.
Oh, yeah, we had cake and ice cream. With sparkler candles on top. That was fun. Those candles make ashes. I may or may not have said, "Get your ash off my cake." So I had to clean ash off the cake before we could eat it, but other than that.

After the cake from last night and all the junk food I ate at our work thing on Tuesday, I am back to salads. In fact, it has been so bad that I ate salad for breakfast this morning. I thought I would share.

I call it Sunrise Salad (because it's for breakfast, because of the colors and because of the SUNflower seeds).
Romaine or spinach leaves
Mandarin oranges (drained)
Pineapple chunks in 100 % juice (drained) but pour a little of the juice on the salad
Sunflower seeds (I use raw, but whatever floats your boat)
Almond slices
I also like to cut up a banana in it; I think this gives it some squishyness, which I think is good.

Dad's Garden

2007-07-03T09:42:00.000-05:00

Mom and Dad are away on vacation this week, so Danny and I are checking their house and picking their garden. We weren't going to go by there until Wednesday, but we ended up there last night and I am glad we did. We filled up Dad's "garden picking basket" with veggies. Mostly tomatoes. Those are some in the picture. I washed them up last night and sat them out on the table to dry. This morning when Daniel came to the dining room table he said, "Look at all those yummy vegetables."
I can't wait to go back in a couple of days and pick some more. They still have tons of tomatoes that haven't started turning yet.

My new favorite cookbook

2007-06-26T08:17:00.001-05:00

Yesterday I received my very own copy of Vegan Lunch Box the cookbook. I have been reading Vegan Lunch Box blog for a long time and I have been inspired by all the healthy food that Jennifer McCann makes for her family. In fact, her blog is how I learned about Eat To Live. Which is how I lost about 70 pounds since last year. She has a very good deal going on right now, two books for $30. Never one to pass up a sale, I had to make my purchase. Now, I just have to figure out who to give the other one too.

Veggies

2007-06-26T08:14:00.000-05:00

Daniel has been eating a lot of veggies and fruit lately. Last night he even ate a Daniel sized bowl of salad (lettuce and tomatoes with a little dressing). Mom and Dad have a garden and I have been cutting some of their squash up on my salad, so I have been giving Daniel one piece, that is all I make him eat. The other night he ate another piece voluntarily and then last night when I asked him if he wanted another piece he said no, but "could I have some salad?" I almost fell out of my chair. I guess always seeing me eat it and always putting a couple of pieces on his plate has finally worked. I don't know how long this will last but I love it. For dinner last night he also ate some rice (Uncle Ben's Vegetable Medley whole grain rice with lentils and barley), a banana, half a pear and a mandarin orange (he loves those.) Since it's summer we have been eating a lot of Watermelon. He loves that, too. He even asked for some for breakfast this morning after he ate his cereal. Of course it could be that we don't really have other stuff around the house to eat. Hmmm.... Now if I could just get him to eat avocado, he would see why I love it so much.

Guilt

2006-08-04T13:23:00.000-05:00

I am not very happy with myself right now. I went to a verrry expensive underwear store and bought a very expensive bra. Before I got to the car, I knew I was going to take it back. I can’t spend that much on one piece of underwear. I felt nauseous. What was I thinking? I know what I was thinking. I wanted to know what size I wore and the girl helped me find the right size and I felt guilty for taking so much of her time, so I bought it anyway. Now I have to take it back. I can buy 3 times that many bras at Wal-Mart or even Sears. I will never go into that store again (after I take this back.)

The Wiggles & Jelly Butter

2006-08-04T10:31:00.000-05:00

On Friday July 28, 2006 we took Daniel to his first concert. It was The Wiggles in Birmingham. It was so much fun that I can’t wait for next year. He was kind of reticent at first with all the noise and the people, but he finally got into it and enjoyed the rest of the concert from atop his daddy’s shoulders. We had seats in the last row on the floor so most of the Wiggles and Captain Feathersword managed to make their way from the stage and to pass right behind our chairs during their trips into the audience. We had a wonderful time, if you can go it is really worth the price of the ticket.

If I had a digital camera, I would post pictures. Of course, that is on my wish list for Birthday and Christmas, so maybe next time.

This morning I was making Daniel a (Smuckers Natural) peanut butter and (Polaner All Fruit) jelly sandwich for his class picnic and he said, “Make me a sandwich, a jelly butter.” So, I made him a half one to munch on while I finished getting ready for work. He ate most of it and then he slipped on a book and half of it fell on the floor and was eaten by our fast moving Chihuahua Pedro. Danny started laughing and Daniel fell face first on the carpet and said, “Leave me alone.” I thought, ‘Great, now he is scarred for life because Danny laughed at him.’ Then he started laughing too and soon we were all laughing while Pedro hid under the table and chomped on his treat.

Today is Daniel's last day in DC2A. They are celebrating with a picnic and then Monday they all move to DC2B. In between we are going to his first birthday party other than his or Logan’s. One of his friends from school is turning 3 and is having his party at Pump It Up Party. We are planning on having Daniel’s there in December, so I am glad we get to go and check it out this weekend.

What a nice walk

2006-07-24T14:28:00.000-05:00

Let me just preface all this by saying: I have been keeping up with cute stuff Daniel does for a long time. I have a 'diary' of sorts on my computer at work and whenever I think of something I write it there.

Don't ask me why I never just did the whole blog thing to begin with. I have a lot of catching up to do. So, hang in there.

Last night after dinner Daniel and I went for a walk around the block. Just us. No stroller.
He held my hand the whole time with the exception of times he had to stop and pick up a rock (his latest obsession). We watched squirrels and airplanes and it was just a good walk. He even said it was for exercise.

I don’t know why I expected him to yank away and run flailing into the street. He is just not like that, even if other kids are. He is just such a great kid. I told him when a car is coming to get up on the grass and stop until it passes and he did every time.

We are so lucky. Can you see me beaming?

Now, if only I could get him to eat carrots.

On another note: The big day is this Friday. The Wiggles concert in Birmingham.