Thanksgiving Pics

A collection of pictures from the day... I am just getting around to posting them!

These two cuties!

Mom and Briana--- a rare picture together.

Natalia's purple hair (a little faded).

Ohhh The Blogs....

I just went searching for a blog that has been mentioned to me a few times by a few people (Livin and Lovin)and I have spent the last hour looking at everyone else's blog that I know and did not know they have a blog! It was so nice to look at the pictures and see what they have been up to... a great way to keep in touch! And it is nice they all have links to each other!

I tried it! Coupon Mom- Preparing for the Grocery Store!

In preparing for my grocery trip today (I hate going to the grocery store) I tried out Coupon Mom via recommendation of Betsy. I also resorted back to an old site, Menus4Moms to get some inspiration for dinner this week. I did not get to fully investigate Coupon Mom, but I did find some good coupons to print. Her free ebook about cutting your grocery bill in half looked promising, but I did not have time to read it during my prep time. Menu4Moms is great since the grocery list and recipes are all ready for you. I did not resubscribe, but went to their archived lists and selected a menu with all food items I would eat. I then gathered up my cut coupons from other weeks and pulled all the coupons before I left the house. While it did take less time at the store, overall, it all takes a lot of time to shop with coupons. But hey--- I did save over $20 using coupons, plus I went to Walmart and bought all my packaged goods so overall, I probably saved more than my typical trip to Publix. I will go to Publix tomorrow to get my meat and the local produce stand for produce. A lot of trips, but saving the money is worth it!

Frudal Friday: Homemade Gifts

Vicki has posted some great ideas about making your Christmas gifts this year to save money. I wanted to add a few that I have tried and that I will be doing this year.

Over the years, I have attempted to make some gifts- a fleece blanket for my niece and hubby (no sewing required, just cut some fringe on the edges), a Big Church Bag for another niece made from a simple square of fabric with some embellishments, and some picture ornaments. Mostly, I do my best to not make it look too crafty and many that don't require too much pre-planning. Projects that take the fewest amount of items to create are also good. Simple is the best plan!

Here are some of my ideas...

If you work outside the home, you often have some special friends that you may want to give a gift, but you do not want to spend a lot of money on. Like Vicki pointed out, food is always great. I have made peanut clusters (3 ingredients- how can you beat that), pickled vegetables, and eggnog cookies. These are all simple, but not so common, food items.

A new favorite this year are sugar scrubs and bath salts. All are very simple and very reasonable for gift costs. Find some nice jars and you have a great gift.

And let's not forget, cookies in a jar. Who can beat a premade jar of homemade cookie ingredients!

Pictures in frames always make a nice gift too. My mother never displays a picture unless you give her a frame too. There are some great photo crafts from HP you can find or even a photo memo board. You can even make it a project for your kids so it can be an extra special gift for grandparents.

We also are doing a special gift for my parents this year. The local shop class made Adirondack wooden chairs and ottomans, sold them at a special price for teachers. We are going to stain them for my parent's lake house. This is cheaper than purchasing them already stained and we will make them a little special with some personal touches.

And as Vicki stated so well, it is not about the gifts or the money, but the celebration of Jesus' birth. "For to us a child is born, for to us a child is given..." In these tough economic times, do not worry about the gifts you give, but be more concern with the love you share.

The First Santa Letter

Today my son wrote his first letter to Santa, all by himself. It is so cute! He wants the entire collection of Toy Story toys, plus a TV and a clicker. And don't forget the candy cane (which he drew a picture of!). He said not to mail it because Santa comes here anyway, so there is not point in sending it to him. I wish I had all of this recorded!

The Great Turkey

My son figured a new way to get gifts every month...assigning a special character each month. This month, he wrote a letter to the Great Turkey. He got the idea from Charlie Brown's The Great Pumpkin. He requested one gift for himself and one gift for his father.

Get Trkey I wut u e.r.pen for Cresms
(translation: Great Turkey I want a airplane for Christmas.)

He decided later that the Great Turkey would know it was not for Christmas, but for Thanksgiving.

And BELIEVE it or not... the Great Turkey came and brought the Charlie Brown DVD set.

Next month will be a given, Santa is on his way!

New Pictures

New pictures from my friend Sarah Sandel from Sandel Studios. Here are some other pictures on her Sarah's photography blog and my preschool blog.

Sugar Scrubs

Our moms group had a Pamper Night tonight and one of the events was a make and take of sugar and salt scrubs. So many of the woman did not realize how easy it is to make scrubs!

The most popular, but my recommendation, was brown sugar coffee scrub. The trick- don't stick to a recipe. Just mix what you think will be good. There is no set formula. Good oils to use are olive, safflower, sunflower, almond, jojoba, light vegetable (the most affordable) and/or a combination of all the above.

Here is a recipe I use for a brown sugar coffee scrub:
1/2 cup coffee
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup coarse salt
2 tablespoons baking soda
1/2 tsp vitamin e oil
2-4 tablespoons oil (mix until the consistency you want- it should stick together at least a little)

Mix all together. Let sit overnight. Slather on before a bath or before you start the shower.
Caution: the bathtub/shower may be slippery!

This saves a fortune compared to purchasing premade products. Also, you know what is in it! I put mine in small kitchen containers with a tight lid- use plastic in the bathroom!

Christmas Decor November 3???

Driving to the grocery store from Curves, I happened to glance up and saw a Christmas decoration (much less a cheezy Florida decoration). November 3 is a little earlier isn't it!?



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Consumer Reports Money Saving Websites

I was in Walmart today waiting forever for the cashier to get a customer out of the way (typical Walmart), and I looked over and saw the Consumer Reports magazine. They had some money saving websites listed that sounded really interesting. Not wanting to spend the $4.99 on the magazine for the list of sites, I was hoping someone had posted them...
and someone did. Check here for the cool money saving sites.

The Ultimate Way to Save Money

I am joining Vicki on her Frugal Friday journey again this week on the ultimate money saving tip.

The ultimate tip to save money is to actually SAVE IT! You cannot save money any better than designating a portion of your income to savings. You can cut coupons, buy in bulk, and find all sorts of ways not to spend money on things you buy everyday, but if you do not turn around and save that money, you will just go and spend it on something else.

A good goal to shoot for is 10% of your income goes directly into savings every time you get paid- whether it is through a regular pay check, by the job, or by the month. If you do not make it automatic, it will be easier to find a way to spend it. I have my bank account set up to transfer money out the day I get paid. I never see it. I also set up an online account without access to a debit card so I really have to think before I spend the savings. You can set up an entire account without leaving your home. And the rates are not bad, sometimes better than your local banks (check for fees before you start- CitiBank is a great option). I easily transfer into my main household account, but it takes more than swiping a card.

This summer, when vacation time came around, we had some money saved and did not go into debt going on a trip. (My kids and nieces this summer on vacation.)

And right now is a great time to start savings for next year's Christmas gifts. Think of the relief you will feel when you don't have to figure out how you are going to purchase the gifts or use the credit card!

My ultimate tip to save money- open a savings account and use it!

Frugal Fridays

I am participating with Vicki in her Frugal Fridays blog carnival. This week is your all time favorite frugal tip! My favorite frugal tip has been making my own laundry detergent.

Using some simple recipes, I selected a recipe I liked that included a bar of laundry soap, borax, and washing soda. I used some hot water, a large 2.5 gallon bucket, and a few drops of essential oil. All together, the entire box of borax was around $2.50, the washing soda the same, the laundry soap bar was around $1 at Big Lots. I only used about 1/50th of the borax and maybe 1/25th of the washing soda, so all together, it probably cost $2.00 to make approximately enough soap for 60 loads!

Now my dear friend asks me why I would waste the time making laundry soap when it is not too expensive to buy.

My response:
1. CHEMICALS I know what is in my soap and it is not chemicals.
2. It cleans better- even hubby noticed when I temporarily switched back to store bought soap when I did not have time to whip up the recipe (or the energy, even though it takes 10 minutes to cook, 1 hour or so to cool... the hardest part is getting it into containers, but you can just leave it in the bucket and cover it!).
3. WHY not?? The money saved compared to name brands is significant for a family that does a lot of laundry.
4. At $.03 a load, I think it is worth it!

I would encourage you to try making laundry soap just one time--- you are not committed to a life long journey of making your own soap- but you may just decide you like it!

And here are some more tips I have for saving money.

Family Fun: Easy Recipes for All Occassions

Family Fun sends great emails with tips for crafts and recipes. While I do like the meal planner I found elsewhere, there were some great recipes on today's emails that look like fun!
My favorites from today were Easy Egg Rolls and Scrumptious Pretzels, both things I have wanted to try the past few weeks.
If you try them out, let me know!

Sick and Tired.... Literally

This past week, I got a bit of a bug and was too tired to think straight. So I was literally sick and tired! And today, feeling a little more recuperated, I felt it was about time I blogged again! So I am going to add a post to my preschool blog and hope that my readers have not left me forever.

That is the day of a mom, sick and tired, literally or figuratively!.

BlogTipping for September

I am joining in with other work at home mom blogs to blogtip other blogs.
I have not blogtipped in forever, but trying to get back into the habit! This time, I am participating with the Smart Moms Work at Home Moms Forum.

Blogtipping Definition: Blogtipping is where you publish a blog post in which you link to three unsuspecting blogs and offer three compliments and/or one helpful tip to each blogger. (Or adapt those numbers to your own preferences; the principle of selflessness is what matters most here.) Blogtipping is a refreshing and useful surprise that can start a blogger’s month with a huge smile!

It is great to find other blogs that have wonderful information and to encourage others to view your blog.

This month's tips:

Danielle's Altered Art World and Homeschool Blog
Women Who Have Pet Peeves blog
A great new find- Retro Housewife Goes Green

Check them out!

Guest Blogger: Loose Thread Stitchers

Here is a motivational letter from Colleen. She is on a journey to earn $30,000 in 30 days. Read her letter and see if you can help, or know someone that can. She is accepting small in kind donations or large investor contributions... who knows if you are one that can be the one!


I would like to start my story by thanking Rebekah for the opportunity to guest blog on her site and tell others my story. It was a very generous offer and I truly appreciate the opportunity.

Good day! My name is Colleen Leader and I am a SAHM who is trying to accomplish a Herculean task. No I am not talking about potty training my 2 year old or take 3 children under 5 to the grocery store at lunch time. That is for a super mom (if she is reading this could she shoot me a quick e-mail with the answers. I would appreciate it! Thanks). I better start from the beginning.

I am fortunate enough to be able to stay home with my 3 small children (4 years, 2 years and 9 months) full time. Over the years watching my children grow, I have realized that an individual can do anything they set their mind to do. I think any mom with small children and a jar full of cookies can attest to that! So I thought to myself, why not, take the chance and finally commit to making my dream a reality. That day Loose Thread Stitchers was born.

You should probably sit down for this. Seriously, are you ready? I am on a mission to raise $30,000 in 30 days to fund my dream – www.LooseThreadStitchers.com. I know you think I am off my rocker but allow me to explain.

I have spent the past 5 years researching and developing an online company that will revolutionize the needlework industry. We have self funded the project until now. Currently, we need an additional $30,000 to finish our site and launch in time for our first tradeshow at the Stitching Jubilee.

I have created a blog to narrate my journey. Each day I will post my adventures in creating funding opportunities and how my work is paying off. I truly believe that $30,000 in 30 days is possible. Won’t you join me and help make my dream a reality?

BTW – My husband and I has Chinese tonight and I quickly ate my dinner and ran right back into the office to finish my work. He just came in the office and handed me my fortune cookie. My cookie read, ”Your dearest dream is coming true”. How cool is that?

I look forward to reading your comments and suggestions and feel free to pass my story along – you never know who could change your life and make your dreams come true!

Things just got interesting!

In Stitches,
Colleen



Hope you are inspired to make your own dream come true or to help Colleen!

Homemade Laundry Detergent- It Works!

I FINALLY made the homemade laundry detergent. I have an HE washer, and it seems to work well. Of course, I was putting most all of the ingredients in there anyway! I saved three of the old laundry detergent (ultra liquid) containers, and filled all three PLUS I still had half a bucket full. I just kept it in there and scooped it out, although a milk jug would be good too. I use as much as recommended by my laundry machine manufacturer in the soap dispenser and did not add fabric softener. AND I hang my clothes to dry. They were still soft and CLEAN!

This is the recipe I used:

Recipe #3

Hot water
1/2 cup Washing Soda
1/2 cup Borax
1/3 bar Soap (grated)

• In a large pot, heat 3 pints of water. Add the grated bar soap and stir until melted. Then add the washing soda and borax. Stir until powder is dissolved, then remove from heat.
• In a 2 gallon clean pail, pour 1 quart of hot water and add the heated soap mixture. Top pail with cold water and stir well.
• Use 1/2 cup per load, stirring soap before each use (will gel).

I chose this one because I wanted to see it gel (and it did!) and it did not seem to make an atrocious amount. I also added 10 drops of Phthalate Free Fragrance Oil in Clothesline Fresh from GoPlanetEarth.com. I probably should have added more, but there is a subtle scent.

Altogether, this had to of costs not more than $2.00 for all of it. And there is a lot! Let me know if you try it!

Smart Moms Blog Carnival

Thanks to Vicki for hosting the Smart Moms Blog Carnival. Vicki has her own blog at Simply Vicki. Make sure you check her and the other postings there.

This carnival is sponsored by Smart Moms Smart Business forum as part of our $25 US American Express gift card give away. If you have not already, check it out!

The topic for this carnival is balance.

Having started back to work after a great summer off, the meaning of balance means more this time of year than any other.

I am not only a wife, mom, and teacher, but a volunteer, club member, church member, and Moms group leader.

That requires a lot of balance (and a good husband).

Balance is important to keep you sane! Without a balance of your personal and business life, one or the other will be off kilter and make you crazy!

Being off balance in your personal time and volunteer time will make you the champion of volunteerism, but a loser with your family.

All of areas I have to balance are important to me, but I occasionally have to remind myself that God and family are the most important and need to be given the priority.

If you find yourself off balance, make a change. Give something up. Say no.

It is not easy or maybe not what you want, but sanity is a much better option!

Cool Reusable Shopping Bags

My addiction to great handbags has flowed into an addiction to great reusable shopping bags... how life changes.

I found these through my friends Homeschool Diva website through a recommendation for a going green tip site. You can buy them individually or as a set in one pouch. Too cute! And so much better than the grocery store brand (plus they take up less space in the cart!). Check them out.

P.S. Join the Ideal Bite and get free shipping on these great bags from Ecoist!

And pat yourself on the back for saving the plastic!