Thursday, June 11, 2009

Couponing and new friends...

I love couponing and coming up with new ways to save money for my family. I've probably saved several hundreds of dollars this year alone by being thrifty at grocery shopping. But, it can get overwhelming sometimes. I've spent literally hours before getting coupons together, finding deals, matching up sales with coupons, cutting or printing the coupons, searching for the best price on something we need....and that doesn't include getting the kids ready to go to the store or getting me ready etc. It can be a daunting task and give me a spirit of frustration if I let it.

When this happens, I have to remember my purpose behind all of this "work". The reason I strive so hard to save money is to be a blessing to my family and work on being a Proverbs 31 woman--providing food for her family. If I get stressed or frustrated or crabby while working to be a blessing to my family, then am I really being a blessing?

So, just like everything else in life, you have to figure out how to accomplish things in a way that works for you. I think the most important thing for me to be successful at couponing is to be organized. Now that sounds like an easy step, but have you seen how many coupon inserts you can accumulate over say...3 months? 48! (That number comes from a double edition of the DMN every week for 12 weeks.)

I used to cut out only the coupons I needed and throw the rest away. Horror, I know! Well, now I know. LOL. Now, I keep all coupon inserts until they expire--I have yet to find a store that takes expireds but I hear they are out there. There are SO many websites out there that have great coupon matchups with store sales. They tell you exactly what insert each coupon is in and how to match it up with a store sale to get the most out of your savings. What would we do without the internet?

Speaking of the internet, I've been going to a site created by The Thrifty Mama herself for almost a year now and I LOVE her deals. She has so many great deals and ideas that have taught me a lot about being thrifty as well as a new feature on her blog...a chat room for couponers like ME! I have really enjoyed getting to know the regulars on there and hearing about all the deals they've found or ideas they have on being thrifty. It's been so much fun, so thank you, THRIFTYMAMA, for giving us an outlet for coupon talk. :)

More later...

Ciao,
J

Friday, June 5, 2009

Crafty Irony

I am not really into crafts and doing crafty things, which is humorous because I am surrounded by women in my family that are very creative and make beautiful things! You know who you are!

Anyway--even when I taught school, I never liked decorating or doing crafts. The girls I taught would decorate the bulletin boards for me or else they'd stay the same all year long. Lol! But, my kiddos LOVE crafts and making things. Yesterday, we spent 2 1/2 hours coloring, cutting, gluing, veggie tale characters and then put them on craft sticks for puppets. They both loved it and kept wanting to do more. So, we did. :)

[You can't really tell in the picture but the characters come in 4-8 pieces that have to be cut out and assembled after coloring. That was the tricky part for the kids, but we did it!]

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Too cute!


This photo was taken for Chris' birthday in May. This is one of two that I took that day that made the cut out of about 89! I have a new appreciation for kid photographers!

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Wonderful start to my morning...

I'm not really good at keeping up with my kids' firsts. I don't do baby books or memory books. I barely develop our digital prints and when I do develop them, I definitely don't rush to put them in albums so they just end up stacking up in a pile...make that a dusty pile on my dresser. I have a very keen memory and so I personally remember events and details very well. Not that those memories would stand up in court but...

Anyway, I just watched a video advertisement from Karen Kingsbury (one of my favorite Christian fiction writers) about her children's book called: Let Me Hold You Longer. It's a book about celebrating not only our children's firsts but also their lasts in the midst of our busy lives. Last time they are small enough to crawl up on your lap. Last afternoon nap they take. Last day of Kindergarten. Last time they come to you with a boo-boo. And so on. It's a very thought provoking and sometimes tearful book that seems like a wonderful gift for any mother. The link for the video is:

But, anyway, this all led me to appreciate today's moment with my daughter much more than I might have otherwise. We were in the kitchen getting ready to be gone all day with errands. I was packing the diaper bag with extra underwear and clothes for Sarah, since she is still learning how to tell me ahead of time when she needs to use the potty. Filling up their water bottles, getting everyone's shoes on, grabbing a banana for me since I hadn't eaten breakfast yet, putting my contacts in while making sure Josiah went to the bathroom before we left and trying to get Sarah to get a ponytail holder, when all of a sudden Sarah says, "Mommy, I love you." And, then scampers off. Probably not going to do what I asked her because she still tends to get distracted by anything shiny on her way. :) So, it took me a couple of seconds to realize what she said and to realize that this was the very FIRST time she said "I love you" without any prompting or in response to someone else saying it first. Wow! What a precious moment for me to treasure up in my heart for the future.

And, then what struck me later this afternoon is that I might not have even realized the importance of that moment had I not watched Karen's video the other day or if I had cut her off from speaking because she wasn't immediately doing what I said or if I had tuned her out while going over my 18 million to-do items in my head. But, instead, God prompted me to listen to her at that exact moment and I did. Just think what I would have missed if I hadn't. So, I know this isn't a last like Karen's book talks about, but it is a first that I will definitely remember. Maybe not the exact date but I'll remember how it made me feel and how special it was to hear, "Mommy, I love you!" for the very first time from my sweet 2 year old angel. :)

Ciao,
J

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

See...I told you so!

I knew I wouldn't keep it updated regularly. Which is relatively amusing because I check about 10 blogs every day...sometimes multiple times a day, but I can't seem to find the time/motivation to write on my own. :)

Well, today I am, so perhaps that can count for something.

We've officially started homeschooling...as of yesterday. I've been schooling my son for months now but not on a regular schedule. I felt compelled last week to change that and worked for two days on lesson plans, researching what I wanted to accomplish over the summer, printing out everything I needed etc. It was well worth the work because this week has gone wonderfully smooth. I was worried about having planned too much for a 5 year old. I used to teach 5th graders so I am working on slowing down the activities for my son to keep up with. However, he has done great and is asking for more. He's very eager to learn and "do school".

Now, I'm working on how to keep my two year old occupied without letting her just watch a movie or something equivalent while I teach my son. (I do work with her as well, but I'm wanting some individual time with my son.) I've found a couple of sets of manipulatives that she likes to play with at the table where we are and they do keep her engaged for a time.

I found a great science curriculum that I really like from Christian Liberty Press called The World God Made (kindergarten level). I've always taught public school in the past, so it's so refreshing to me to be able to teach everything from a Christian perspective.

I better be off to finish dinner before my hubby comes home.

Ciao!
J