See my disclosure policy here
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Deals and steals :)
I know I've been quiet. Lots going on right now and as soon as I find some time to get it out of my head you'll hear all about it. But I thought I would share with you some of my favorite sites to get great deals and earn some extra money. As a reminder I only share with you sites that I have used and am a member of! :)
See my disclosure policy here
See my disclosure policy here
Sunday, June 16, 2013
Traveling
I am not a traveler.
Neither on my children.
Road trips are not fun in this house.
At one point before we got married Nathan always dreamed of us packing up and just driving for days and doing nothing much planned.... until we went on our first long drive and decided that's just not going to happen...... ever.
I am seriously a horrible traveler - I don't mind the being somewhere but I hate the getting to and coming back.
On Friday we took Lydia to her dr apt (more on that later) and it was just about a 5 hour drive one way. We did it in one day.... 10+ hours driving... we left at 8:30 and got home at 10:30.... I was willing to walk the last hour it was that bad. Plus Nathan was not feeling well so that just added insult to injury. Lydia did great though - she's always been our best traveler. She was such a trooper with all that traveling and having to go through evaluations at the dr.
I think my worst fault is that I feel like I'm wasting time in the car. I need to be doing something - but you can only read so long, and it's not really practical to take all my coupons and cut them. These are the times I wish I was crafty or handy that I could knit or crochet. I know I wouldn't be able to do that for the entire 10 hours but to split the time up would be so helpful.
What do you do on long trips? Any tips to keep sane when you hate to travel? Or any good tips on how to teach yourself how to be crafty with your hands? :)
Neither on my children.
Road trips are not fun in this house.
At one point before we got married Nathan always dreamed of us packing up and just driving for days and doing nothing much planned.... until we went on our first long drive and decided that's just not going to happen...... ever.
I am seriously a horrible traveler - I don't mind the being somewhere but I hate the getting to and coming back.
On Friday we took Lydia to her dr apt (more on that later) and it was just about a 5 hour drive one way. We did it in one day.... 10+ hours driving... we left at 8:30 and got home at 10:30.... I was willing to walk the last hour it was that bad. Plus Nathan was not feeling well so that just added insult to injury. Lydia did great though - she's always been our best traveler. She was such a trooper with all that traveling and having to go through evaluations at the dr.
I think my worst fault is that I feel like I'm wasting time in the car. I need to be doing something - but you can only read so long, and it's not really practical to take all my coupons and cut them. These are the times I wish I was crafty or handy that I could knit or crochet. I know I wouldn't be able to do that for the entire 10 hours but to split the time up would be so helpful.
What do you do on long trips? Any tips to keep sane when you hate to travel? Or any good tips on how to teach yourself how to be crafty with your hands? :)
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Our growing garden
My post today is about something new that I've never done - growing potatoes. Many years ago I bookmarked this link from Heavenly Homemakers, one of my favorite blogs. I've hung onto this print-out for a couple years, moving it here and there. Finally my mom found an article too and got interested so boom we were on a mission.
About two weeks ago we made our potato pots, four in total, bought some seed potatoes, used some old chicken wire we had laying around, old newspaper to line them, and some bags of potting soil/compost. The cost really wasn't that much for how many we ended up planting. The basic theory is to plant some seed potatoes with eyes, let them sprout, once the plants get to a certain point, cover with another layer of soil, wait for plants to grow again, cover again and repeat... once you reach the top, you let the plants grow and blossom. Wait a couple weeks after the plants die and turn yellow and then clip the the plastic ties used to hold the pots together and VIOLA pounds and pounds of potatoes to store for the winter! I'm thinking digging through the dirt for all those treasure is going to be an excellent job for my little ones.
There does seem to be some disagreement or confusion over at what point we put another layer of soil over the plants.... one of the bonuses of the internet - you learn how to do things and then you learn there are many ways to do the same things. Some say 1-2 inches, others say 7-8 inches... big difference there. We might try one of each since we have multiple pots. Don't know how it works but supposedly it does.
We'll play it by ear this year and make changes for next year. :) Have any of you done this before?
About two weeks ago we made our potato pots, four in total, bought some seed potatoes, used some old chicken wire we had laying around, old newspaper to line them, and some bags of potting soil/compost. The cost really wasn't that much for how many we ended up planting. The basic theory is to plant some seed potatoes with eyes, let them sprout, once the plants get to a certain point, cover with another layer of soil, wait for plants to grow again, cover again and repeat... once you reach the top, you let the plants grow and blossom. Wait a couple weeks after the plants die and turn yellow and then clip the the plastic ties used to hold the pots together and VIOLA pounds and pounds of potatoes to store for the winter! I'm thinking digging through the dirt for all those treasure is going to be an excellent job for my little ones.
There does seem to be some disagreement or confusion over at what point we put another layer of soil over the plants.... one of the bonuses of the internet - you learn how to do things and then you learn there are many ways to do the same things. Some say 1-2 inches, others say 7-8 inches... big difference there. We might try one of each since we have multiple pots. Don't know how it works but supposedly it does.
We'll play it by ear this year and make changes for next year. :) Have any of you done this before?
Join us for Gratituesday at Heavenly Homemakers!
Sunday, June 9, 2013
My new favorite summer activity!
I have a confession to make.
I am a lazy mom who hates crafts.... painting especially. It's so darn messy and time consuming for all the longer they ever actually paint. Even water colors.... they mix all the colors, then the colors get runny, and they all look brown eventually... plus you have to leave them out so they can dry before you can actually put them away - just not my cup of tea at all.
Then the other day we got a $10/$10 coupon in the mail for a local department store. I was stoked for something free. Sent my dear hubby over lunch and after numerous phone calls (do you know how expensive one pair of underwear is anymore??? geesh) I told him to just forget about it. Disappointed and sad that we had lost out on 10 free bucks. But he came home with something for the children and I just threw it on the table not really looking at it.
Until today when my son looked up at me with those big blue eyes and asked 'we paint today'..... first reaction was no. Let's find something else to do but then I remembered that the item Nathan had bought were paint with water... ok how messy could they be.
I AM IN LOVE!
These things are so cool - you just rip each page out. Along the top they have 5 little squares of paint - you wet your brush, rub it on the paint square and voila you're painting with water! And the best part.... when they are done you just cut the strip off the top where the paint used to be and throw it away! The sheets still end up being regular size after you cut the strips of used up paint off so they aren't small by any means. Melissa & Doug make them so you know they are going to be neat but I am seriously impressed. I don't know how economical they will be in the long run but for this mama who just really doesn't like messing with paints they are perfect.... for vacations or trips to the grandparents they are amazing.... all-in-ones and absolutely wonderful. I looked them up on Amazon and they have a huge selection of them, more than I realized that's for sure. Here are just a couple that I'm going to be stocking up on ;)
I am a lazy mom who hates crafts.... painting especially. It's so darn messy and time consuming for all the longer they ever actually paint. Even water colors.... they mix all the colors, then the colors get runny, and they all look brown eventually... plus you have to leave them out so they can dry before you can actually put them away - just not my cup of tea at all.
Then the other day we got a $10/$10 coupon in the mail for a local department store. I was stoked for something free. Sent my dear hubby over lunch and after numerous phone calls (do you know how expensive one pair of underwear is anymore??? geesh) I told him to just forget about it. Disappointed and sad that we had lost out on 10 free bucks. But he came home with something for the children and I just threw it on the table not really looking at it.
Until today when my son looked up at me with those big blue eyes and asked 'we paint today'..... first reaction was no. Let's find something else to do but then I remembered that the item Nathan had bought were paint with water... ok how messy could they be.
I AM IN LOVE!
These things are so cool - you just rip each page out. Along the top they have 5 little squares of paint - you wet your brush, rub it on the paint square and voila you're painting with water! And the best part.... when they are done you just cut the strip off the top where the paint used to be and throw it away! The sheets still end up being regular size after you cut the strips of used up paint off so they aren't small by any means. Melissa & Doug make them so you know they are going to be neat but I am seriously impressed. I don't know how economical they will be in the long run but for this mama who just really doesn't like messing with paints they are perfect.... for vacations or trips to the grandparents they are amazing.... all-in-ones and absolutely wonderful. I looked them up on Amazon and they have a huge selection of them, more than I realized that's for sure. Here are just a couple that I'm going to be stocking up on ;)
Has anyone else tried these - do you like them?
Friday, June 7, 2013
Some recommended reading
Summer is here.
well for most of us.
which means vacations and road trips :)
I thought I would share with you some of my favorite reads that you might be interested in.
By Sarah Mae:
Desperate: Hope for the Mom Who Needs to Breathe
Desperate - Kindle Version
31 Days to Clean - Having a Martha House the Mary Way
Frumps to Pumps - Your one-month motivotional to getting dressed and staying that way
By MoneySavingMom:
21 Days To A More Disciplined Life
The Money Saving Mom's Budget: Slash Your Spending, Pay Down Your Debt, Streamline Your Life, and Save Thousands a Year
Miscellaneous Books:
A Woman After God's Own Heart®
Chronicles of Narnia Box Set
Kisses from Katie: A Story of Relentless Love and Redemption
Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream
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See my disclosure policy here
well for most of us.
which means vacations and road trips :)
I thought I would share with you some of my favorite reads that you might be interested in.
By Sarah Mae:
Desperate: Hope for the Mom Who Needs to Breathe
Desperate - Kindle Version
31 Days to Clean - Having a Martha House the Mary Way
Frumps to Pumps - Your one-month motivotional to getting dressed and staying that way
By MoneySavingMom:
21 Days To A More Disciplined Life
The Money Saving Mom's Budget: Slash Your Spending, Pay Down Your Debt, Streamline Your Life, and Save Thousands a Year
Miscellaneous Books:
A Woman After God's Own Heart®
Chronicles of Narnia Box Set
Kisses from Katie: A Story of Relentless Love and Redemption
Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream
Follow me on Facebook
Follow me on Twitter
See my disclosure policy here
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
The dreaded yard sale summary
Well the yard sale happened..... I still can't move from it. Those things are so much work. By Saturday night I was barely able to get up and down from a chair. I know I'm not in the best shape but being on a cement floor for hours when I'm not used to it is brutal!
It was partially a success. People don't just come to shop and browse anymore, they are in and out - looking for specific things. But I sold a large amount of surplus - stuff I had leftover from my drugstore/GE shopping deals. That stuff sold pretty well - some of it did some of it didn't. Always a toss up. Am I glad I did it - sure but will I do it again next year, right now no. But ask me again in December when we are clearing away more toys to make room for new ones.... I'll probably say yes! :)
I forgot to take a picture of the garage but partly because we were supposed to start at 8 and by 7:50 we had already had our first group come and go.... yep. Early birds! And to top it off from 7:30-8:30 there was a downpour that was hard enough to make us scramble and get everything in out of the rain.... we were soaked. But I was looking at things positivity and was happy that it had rained and I didn't have to worry about watering my garden that night. For that I was thankful for.
My children were pretty good that day - having so many people in and out and some of them having very tempting puppies or children with them, they too were beat. Due to other circumstances we had to have the tables we borrowed from our church back there before Sunday morning, so we gave a call up to Grandma & Pa and after delivering the tables went out for ice cream.... now that was a nice treat and a wonderful way to end the day (and the kids even stayed awake the whole way home!).
So all in all I am thankful for the day and the extra bit of money we now have stashed for Lydia's next appointment and the traveling that goes along with that. God is good!
It was partially a success. People don't just come to shop and browse anymore, they are in and out - looking for specific things. But I sold a large amount of surplus - stuff I had leftover from my drugstore/GE shopping deals. That stuff sold pretty well - some of it did some of it didn't. Always a toss up. Am I glad I did it - sure but will I do it again next year, right now no. But ask me again in December when we are clearing away more toys to make room for new ones.... I'll probably say yes! :)
I forgot to take a picture of the garage but partly because we were supposed to start at 8 and by 7:50 we had already had our first group come and go.... yep. Early birds! And to top it off from 7:30-8:30 there was a downpour that was hard enough to make us scramble and get everything in out of the rain.... we were soaked. But I was looking at things positivity and was happy that it had rained and I didn't have to worry about watering my garden that night. For that I was thankful for.
My children were pretty good that day - having so many people in and out and some of them having very tempting puppies or children with them, they too were beat. Due to other circumstances we had to have the tables we borrowed from our church back there before Sunday morning, so we gave a call up to Grandma & Pa and after delivering the tables went out for ice cream.... now that was a nice treat and a wonderful way to end the day (and the kids even stayed awake the whole way home!).
So all in all I am thankful for the day and the extra bit of money we now have stashed for Lydia's next appointment and the traveling that goes along with that. God is good!
Join us for Gratituesday at Heavenly Homemakers!
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Passion
So I have a friend from high school who is married to a man that has a passion for helping people. Frank Fumich has an amazing ability to get stuff done. Do not think for once I am doubting why he is doing this or what he is doing is wrong. I am just comparing his dedication to his projects to my dedication to things I consider important in my life.
He's an ultra-marathoner or destroyer-of-his-body.....literally. The week after the Boston Marathon bombing he ran 78.6 miles straight thru to raise money for the victims. Him and a couple buddies are now running from DC to Boston - 450 miles. You can read about it here or at Stand United. Run United. They have raised almost $63K which is amazing.
And I am not putting down what they did but what if Christians had that same drive or passion about helping the needy, sharing the gospel, helping orphans.... I know some who do and they do complete amazing things with it but what if everyone who called themselves a Christian truly had that passion about Christ and His commands?
I will be the first to admit I am shamed that I haven't done this type of thing - it all started as one thought and went from there. He started small and it grew and grew.
Just think how big something could grow if we had the hand of Christ in it too. If He blessed it and encouraged it. We just have to be willing, have to put ourselves out there, have to give all that we have and sometimes a little bit more.
What are you passionate about that you would be willing to give your all and then some?
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