It's a Love/Hate Relationship....

There is this thing I have to do every week. Sometime more than once a week....and I just hate it...unless I don't have the kids and then I can sometimes enjoy it....

WAL-MART

Our small little town has 2 grocery stores besides Wal-Mart. One of them is too expensive, the other I will go to get meat and some other items when I'm in a hurry and on that side of town (5 mins across town....how spoiled am I)

Things I love about Wal-Mart...
2 minutes from my house
Can get most everything there
Best prices in town
We still have our fabric dept :)
They have cute clothes that fit me
The Pharmacy...three of my friends work there so I feel like I could call them day or night!
Did I say cheap prices

Things I hate about Wal-Mart...
puts the little man out of business
Never enough checkers
Something always goes wrong in the checkout line....today the satellites weren't working for debit and credit cards....ugh! Luckily I had a check!
Taking away fabric depts in stores...please leave ours:)
Other Walmart have cuter clothes and more things than ours.
Takes all my $$$$

I guess I just need to get used to it...it's about all we've got!

Pop Tabs for Ronald McDonald House

Do you ever think that there is nothing you can to do to help people because you don't have time to volunteer or don't have the money to donate....

There is something simple you can do to help families that take refuge at the Ronald McDonald Houses. You can begin collecting pop tabs from aluminum cans. Check out this website to see what it's all about.

We started this as a philanthropy project at my son's school. The kids get so excited to bring their bags of pop tabs. According to the Ronald McDonald House Website a gallon of pop tabs is worth about $1. 49 but I look at it this way....It's something that you were throwing away so why not keep it and do some good from it. If adds up over time!

You never know when you or someone you know might need to use the Ronald McDonald House. For more information about the Ronald McDonald House Charities click here.

How Comfy do I look?

We ran errands after school today...selling tickets to the chili supper at school, library, etc. A was wired....I don't know what they fed her at school but man she usually doesn't have that much energy after school. In fact, my kids are usually pretty good when we go into a friends jewelry store with lots of breakables but not today. A game of chase proceeded! Thankfully nothing broken!

Got home around 4:30. Instead of hearing the kids fight over what they wanted to watch I let A go into E's office and watch NOGGIN...her favorite. She hollered at me to get her a drink and it took me a few minutes...usually she'd ask again but didn't hear anything. I went to check on her and this is what I found.





I think that she is just a little bit sleepy!

The Letter "M"

Here's the deal:
If you want to play, leave a comment on this post letting me know, and I’ll assign you a letter. You write about ten things you love that begin with your assigned letter, and post it at your place. When people comment on your list, you give them a letter, and the chain continues on and on..

Meredith has assigned me the letter "M"....thanks Mer for the easy letter.

Things I love...

1. My Family!
My Family is awesome! Yes I may gripe about them but who could ask for more. My husband is wonderful and takes good care of us. My children may fight too much but they are healthy and sweet and loving and smart....
2. My God!
Where would I be without him...He has been with me all my life and takes care of me. He has given me everything on this list...I only wish everyone knew my God and my Savior Jesus Christ!
3. My Friends!
I have some of the best friends...You guys support me so much and love me even when I'm not my best. I love my new blog friends too...It's fun making new friends!
4. My Church!
We have a great church....We have a rotation of bi-vocational pastors so we get the benefit of learning from several great teachers. The worship is awesome...I left this past Sunday in awe of God's power.
5. My Home
We've lived in our home for the past 2 years. We didn't buy this house the first time around but 6 months later when it came up for sale again we knew God was telling us it was time. It's perfect for our family.
6. My Town! Read this to see why I love my town
7. Mexican Food
I love Mexican food especially EL MARIACHI!!!!!!!!!!! It's a little mexican restaurant in our town and my new favorite Jose's in HS.
8. Michael Miller Fabric
I love me some fabric and Michael Miller is one of my favorite designers. This outfit is made of Michael Miller favorite.
9. Making Things
I love to sew, knit and just come up with new things to make. Visit my other blog to see what I've been doing in the craft/sewing world.
10. Meredith
Visit Meredith here. She's one of my dearest friends. It made me so sad when she and her sweet family left our town. She was my rock when I had my first baby. I would call her crying and asking for her advice...she had just had her 3rd. We've been able to reconnect through Blogworld. I miss her so much!

Like I said I got any easy letter....let me know if you want to play along.

Please Pray

I have been following Kelly's blog for about 2 weeks now. She is a woman of profound faith and has just delivered her first baby girl, Harper. Harper is having some problems breathing and they have transported to another hospital 3 hrs away (which is a wonderful hospital). Here is a link to her post requesting prayer.

I've been tagged!

Lisa tagged me with this....

Here's what you do:

1. Go to your 4th folder where you store your photos.
2. Select your 4th picture (no exceptions)!
3. Post the picture with an explanation and link it back to your tagger.
4. Tag 4 people to do the same!!

This is Halloween 2007. My kids love Veggie Tales and I found these costumes so of course we had to have them. A is Bob and L is Larry. My kids decided they wanted to be Bob and Larry again this past year...didn't bother me at all...No cost and no thinking!!!

I'm not going to tag anyone but if you want to do it let me know so I can take a look at yours too!

Fundraising Fun

One of the reasons I wanted to be home so bad when my kids got to school is so that I could be at the school to help out with whatever needed to be. Well all I can say is...I've got my hands full or should I say...my table full.

This is what I got when I went up to the school this week. This is about 2 weeks worth of box tops, pop tabs, Campbell soup labels, coke lids, and Tyson chicken labels.

We collect Box Tops through the Box Tops for Education program, Campbell Soup Labels for the Labels for Education program, coke lids for the My Coke Rewards program and Tyson Chicken labels for Tyson Project A+.

We get $.10 for Box Tops, points for the soup labels, 3 points for every coke lid or 10 pts for the code off the box and $.24 for the Tyson labels.

All these things are things that people would normally just through away so the frugal mom I am decided to be the coordinator for these programs. So far we have earned at least $300 through box tops...not sure about all the rest of the programs but will figure it out this week. I know $300 doesn't sound like a lot but it was just going in the trash before.

I've also been known to walk up to someone that has a coke box and ask for it...hey it's worth 10 points. Some ladies that are collecting pop tabs for us even found someone that has 3 gallon ziploc bags full that he is going to give us.

Pop Tabs you ask...We're collecting these for the Ronald McDonald house. One of the local tv stations is having this contest for one county in the state. They may open it to the rest of the state next year so we decided to do a little philanthropy and be ready for the contest if it is opened up to us next year. I have counted over 3000 pop tabs so far and have about 10-20,000 left to count. We give each kid credit and the one that gets the most will get a prize at the end of the year. Next year there may not be an incentive so we don't have to count :). I counted the first few thousand by hand but I think that I'm going to use a scale and my mathematical skills for the next batch.

I also have a friend whose school collects plastic sacks. When they fill up a 60 gallon sack with sacks then they get $5 from Walmart. How hard is that? I'm trying to get our school signed up for that too.

So you see what I will be doing for the next week...what does your school do for fundraising?

Taking out the Trash and Duck Hills....

My kids are so funny! I shared this one with some of my friends and I debated on sharing it with everyone but decided that I would...

My six yr old was using the bathroom the other night and I asked if we was done pooping. His reply was "No, I'm not done taking out my trash". Where he got that from I have no clue.

My 3 yr old asked me the other day..."Mom do I have Duck Hills?" I thought Duck Hills, Duck Hills, what are Duck Hills...then she proceeded to show me what she was talking about...."Oh you mean GOOSE BUMPS!" I definitely see where she got that from!

Blahhhhh!

My husband asked me last night what was wrong...

I just haven't been able to get into the swing of things since the Christmas break is over. The house is a disaster. Laundry is not put up (I keep forgetting to buy more hangers). And I just don't want to go anywhere. I just want to stay here and not leave the house.

Am I depressed? No...Not that I know of.
It's cold outside but not as cold as those of you north and west of AR.
I just don't seem to be able to get enough sleep...that's kind of normal though.

Well I'm trying really hard today to get going....I've gotten a load of laundry done...not folded though. That's the next project. Dishwasher is unloaded. About to iron and pick up the living room and playroom. I probably need to vacuum too.

I have plenty of TIME to get everything done...just not the motivation. I'm trying!!!! My husband is so good to us and that should be motivation enough. He is starting his busy time of the year. The next four months are going to be very stressful for him so I should be able to do the little things I do around here.

So enough rambling on my part...if nothing else I have cooked dinner quite a bit the past several weeks!!!

What keeps you motivated around the house?

Rex- A Book Review

I just got done reading Rex by Cathleen Lewis. This book is a great book for anyone. I normally would not have picked this book out for myself but something about it intrigued me. I absolutely loved it!

This book is a journey through Rex's life as written by his mother. It will make you smile to see Rex's successes. It will make you cry when Rex regresses and it will make you want to reach out and hug Cathleen, his mother and author of the book. Rex was born blind and also battles other neurological issues including autism. Through a simple gift, a piano, Rex's life takes a unique turn. The piano gives Rex an outlet for learning, escaping and eventually socializing with others.

Cathleen also took a journey of faith throughout Rex's life. She began praying for healing and ending up realizing all she needed to do was "Walk by Faith, Not by Sight". Rex was truly a blessing from God.

As a mom, reading this book made me realize how good I have it and how petty things are that bother me. Cathleen makes you realize how difficult autism and other disabilities can be on parents financially, emotionally and physically. As a first time author, she did a fantastic job pulling you into their lives as you are reading this book. I highly recommend this book!

The Challenge

The January Challenge from Meredith is challenging to say the least....


I was going to go eat with a ladies group yesterday for lunch but A fell asleep so I couldn't go...well I could have but she was so peaceful...Guess God gave me an out.

I did buy some fabric at Walmart b/c when Walmart gets cute fabric you jump on it or it will be gone. I got an order yesterday using the fabric. Yeah!

My son also wanted me to make him a scarf since I was making my daughter one so I had to get more yarn to make his and I got more to make a scarf that I wanted to make. Then I found a sweater I wanted to knit so I needed even more yarn. But they were having a big SALE so I didn't pay full price on any of it... and I'll have a sweater for less than $20 that is handmade.

So all in all I have done ok...no trips to sonic or any other place that has milk shakes or quick lunches but I can always do better...

Lovin Where I Live

My friend Meredith did this on her blog several months ago and thought I'd steal her idea. Here are the top 10 reasons that I love where I live. I hope I can come up with 5!!!

1. Love being able to get anywhere in 10 minutes...except for Amber's house :( (Wish you lived closer)

2. Not much shopping therefore not too much temptation to spend money. E's glad for that.

3. Our waterpark...I don't think we realize how lucky we are to have it here.

4. Having the resources of 2 Universities is wonderful especially as my kids get older.

5. We have a great sports complex for our kids.


Top 5 things I don't like about my town.

1. Not much shopping....it keeps me out of trouble though.
2. Not many restaurants...also a good thing b/c we don't need to spend the money to eat out.
3. Not a lot for the kids to do besides parks but that's ok...we love our parks.
4. We make friends and they move...bad thing about a University town. At least 4 of our closest family friends have moved in the past 5 years.
5. Gas prices. They are always at least $.10 higher here than any of the towns around. I don't get gas here unless I have to. They don't realize they are hurting our towns economy more.

I'm An American Frugal Housewife

I just love Joanne. She has the most encouraging post. After reading Meredith's post and joining the band wagon I read this post from Joanne about ECONOMY. I've never really thought about ECONOMY in the scense of her post but she really clarified a lot of things. I've always thought of the ECONOMY as well just that the ECONOMY...not how we spend our time and resources and spending them wisely. This also can be put into practice in our households.

What does this mean for me?
**More time with God- I thought when I quit work 6 months ago this would be one of the things that I would make priority. Well to be quite honest I haven't. While I'm being honest, I might as well say that it has gotten a lot worse. God has given me a good life and I haven't given him the time of day lately, so my focus has to change. One thing I wanted to do was pray over my calendar and list for the day first thing every morning. I heard that once at a conference and definitely see how that God wants us to do that and we will be putting him in ever aspect of our lives.

**Focus more on cleaning and organizing of our HOME-Home is supposed to be a place of contentment and relaxation. Well I haven't done so good on that part for my wonderful husband. He has made so many sacrifices for me and works so hard for us and I'm not living up to my part of the bargain. The house is not a place of contentment and relaxation for him because I do not get the things done that make him relax and enjoy his time at home. I'm going to try my hardest to change that.

**I'm going to try to curb spending this year-Couponing and ad shopping will become more of a focus for me. See this post for more about this.

**I'm also going to try and use the resources I have on hand more wisely. I've got shelves of food, paper, ribbon, fabric, etc. I need to use all that I have before buying more. That will mean going through cabinets before I go shopping. I'm also going to try and make most of my gifts this year. Those to me are the most special gifts anyway. I got a pillow for our wedding and a blanket for the birth of our first child, the blanket is beautiful...well the pillow not so much but I still have it and won't get rid of it because Mrs. L gave it to us and she was so special to us. My husband wanted to get rid of it and I told him no and why and he understood completely.

**I'm also going to try and do more ebay selling and consignment selling this year when I go through my kids cloths and other household items.

**I'm going to focus more on sewing for my daughter than my business. If people want things great, but my daughters wardrobe will be by me. Check out my other blog to see what all I make.

**Time is of the essence and I will try and use it to the fullest to please and spend more time with God and my family and friends.

Thanks Joanne for the encouragement!

By the way...I really think it would do our government some good to think about ECONOMY in this way and be more resourceful instead of throwing things away!!!!

Frugality....Can I do It?

I can be frugal when I want to but then I go shopping and see a sale or November is here and all the Christmas decorations and ornaments are in at the local stores then I just can't resist and it all is just out the door. (I found some really neat ornaments this year)

Well my friend Meredith has issued a challenge for January. Her challenge is to not spend anything other than groceries, household items and gas since we end up spending so much during November and December. So I'm going to try really hard. We live in a small town so there is not much shopping but boy Walmart can really get me...especially the fabric section.

I don't know of any birthday parties this month but have 4 baby gifts that I need to make. Luckily they are all girls and I already have all the fabric I need. So can I do it? We'll see...Let me know if you will do it to and we can hold each other accountable.

By the way Amber and Lisa...this means no eating out for us on Sunday!

Also, I'm already thinking about next Christmas and gifts I can be making or bartering. For those who know me well know that this is normal for me. So happy shopping, couponing, etc to those who want to accept Meredith's challenge along with me.

Book Reviews

I got so excited after reading this post from StephaniesMommyBrain. I have signed up to do book reviews for Thomas Nelson Publishing. All you have to do is read the book in the entirety, post a 200 word review on your blog and on a retail site and you get to pick out the books from their site to read. I can't wait....I love the kids books that they have.

The first book I'll be reading is Rex by Cathleen Lewis. It's about a blind autistic boy and how music changes his family's life.

I have a problem with books though so I'm going to have to be careful. When I get into a book...I get into a book and can't put it down. I pretty much leave all my duties behind and become engulfed in the book. Some of my favorite authors are Karen Kingsbury, Dee Henderson, Terri Blackstock and Francine Rivers. One of my favorite kids authors in Sheila Walsh...I just found her. She has written Gigi-God's Little Princess and Will-God's Mighty Warrior. Both of these make great birthday gifts.