DEVON MADE ME SMILE YESTERDAY

Tasked with making coleslaw while I cleaned the stove, Devon put this in front of me and asked if I wanted a purple Christmas tree. He often sees the little random things I miss because I'm focused on my task, things like how the edge of a cabbage core can look like a tree.

Tyler was working on science and had some questions about wind chill factor, so Devon talked to him about it until Tyler could explain it in his own words.

Gummy grapefruit is one of my favorite treats in the world, so I declared all Devon's sins were forgiven when he unexpectedly put one on my lap at the end of the day. Evidently he bought some over the weekend, then decided to share one with me.

These are all little things, but sometimes the little things are the big things.

** This post contains affiliate links and I'm grateful when people use them. **

EIGHTY POUNDS OF CHICKEN

Do you remember when we got blessed by the chicken fairy last year? We liked that Zaycon chicken a whole lot more than the frozen stuff we'd been buying at WinCo and it was less expensive than the fresh or previously frozen stuff at Costco or Safeway. Needless to say, we decided a while back that we'd start buying our chicken from Zaycon on a regular basis. 

Zaycon sells fresh chicken breasts in 40 lb. cases for $1.89 a pound. It just needs to have the breasts split and a smidge of fat trimmed off. We eat chicken once a week, use three pounds per meal, and the chicken events happen about every six months, so we bought two cases this time around. The plan was to freeze much of it plain, which will allow us to use it in a variety of ways over the coming months, then freeze some of it in marinades. I like doing that because it allows the meat to marinate as it thaws and I can easily toss it in the crockpot for a super easy meal. 

I did all the cutting last night, but Tim helped with two of the marinades while I cut, which made the whole process more efficient. Here's what we ended up with.

Three bags with do-it-all marinade. With garlic, Worcestershire sauce, dijon mustard, balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, and more, I love this marinade on both chicken and salmon.

Three bags of Greek chicken. We have rosemary and thyme growing in our yard and I opted to use dried oregano we had in the house instead of buying fresh this time around.

Three bags of sesame honey chicken. I buy honey at Costco, but won't be there until Sunday, so these bags were all just a smidge short on honey because I ran out of what we already had. No biggie, as we can just squeeze some into the crockpot when we cook these. This stuff, which has yummy things like honey, sesame oil, and onion powder, is great with a bunch of toasted sesame seeds on top!

Three bags of teriyaki chicken. This was the easiest one to prep because we just dumped some Soy Vay's Veri Veri Teriyaki in the bag.

The final result? A bad picture of a lot of chicken before it got stacked up in the freezer. 

I realize that not everyone has the cash sitting around to make a bulk purchase, but try and budget for it if you can. Tim had one really big payday over the summer, so we used some of that money for this purchase and are setting aside a little grocery money each month to pay for the next round of chicken. If money is tight, then maybe you could do something similar with a tax refund in a few months.

If you simply don't eat chicken, then you may want to check out the other products Zaycon sells. They sell beef, pork, poultry, fish, and some other non-meat products like berries, milk, waffles, and honey. While I've only had their chicken, I've heard nothing but good things from friends who buy their other products.



(This post contains affiliate links.)

TEN ON TUESDAY - 4/22/14

The little Ws - If you're a parent, then do you ever have those moments when your kids seem suddenly older? That happened to me recently. Teebs is seeming less like a toddler and more like a little kid. Naomi says things and asks questions that prove she's no longer a little kid ... just a kid.  Devon is about to hit double digits and only has one year left before middle school. Silas is about to enter his last pre-teen year and has so much freedom now. Time flies!

Nice view - I was sitting in a corner of our living room recently, curled up in a chair with a kid, and realized how much I loved what I saw. The whole house isn't always this tidy and not every room is all color coordinated like this one, but the bright blue and green, crisp white, wood, natural light, plants inside, trees out the window (can't really see them in the glare of the picture), evidence of the little Ws, things that remind me of friends ... I love it. There was a camera within reach, so I quickly snapped a picture. A little moment of ordinary life that makes me smile.

New-ish friends - Last school year we started attending a local homeschool group, but this year we've become even more involved. It's been fun getting to know the other moms better this year. We have varied personalities, beliefs, and circumstances, but that's part of what makes me enjoy their friendship. I'm thankful for the chance to laugh with and encourage each other. Neat ladies!

Skyble study - Beep and I have a weekly Bible study via Skype that recently morphed into an ongoing e-mail/Skype study. We started off with a particular study, ditched it about halfway through, went through the book of Matthew, and are now reading The Complete Green Letters, written by Miles J. Stanford. Excellent book! If you're looking for something that will make you look less at yourself and more at Jesus, that will get you grounded in some Biblical truths, then read this one.

Gift - Earlier this month Connie gave a few people some dishcloths that she had made. I love handmade dishcloths, these colors are perfect, and I think this pattern with the edging on these is neat.

Sonlight code - A lot of people are making school decisions for next year right now. If you plan on ordering from Sonlight and if you'll be a first time customer and if your order will be for $50.00 or more, then this link will give you a $5.00 discount. In the interest of full disclosure, that link is for their referral program and any qualifying purchase made through the link will give me points that turn into money off of my own orders. I'd actually forgotten about the referral program until a month or two ago. That's when I realized I had about $70.00 sitting there and I was able to buy a year's worth of math for Silas for $.71...  a savings of about 99%.  Such a blessing that turned out to be! If you already have a Sonlight account and plan on ordering from them again, then be sure to share your own referral code. Every little bit helps when it comes to saving money!

Zaycon - Speaking of referral programs, I signed up for a Zaycon account after the chicken fairy blessed us with a bunch of poultry in the fall. That chicken was so much better than the frozen breasts I usually buy that I figured I would start ordering from them once we were off food stamps. That time recently came to pass, so I figured I should share my referral link.  Zaycon has events all over the country and sells all kinds of things - various chicken, milk, sausage, honey, steak, salmon, ribs, strawberries, peaches, and more. They sell in bulk, so split an order with a friend or two if you don't have the space or desire to freeze a bunch of food. If you order through this link right here, then I'll get a little bit of credit when you pick up your order. As with Sonlight, if you are a Zaycon customer, then pass your referral link along to people!

Milestone video - Grumps, which is what we call my dad's dad, recently posted his first video on Youtube. He lives on a houseboat in California and frequently e-mails pictures of sunsets he can see from his home, but he decided to make a movie of his surroundings one morning and share it with the world. I love that he's still having fun with technology as he comes close to his 90th birthday!

Nice weather - I love the weather this time of year! It's a perfect mix of warm sunshine and cool rain.  Last week I was able to sit on the front porch in the evening and bask in the sun as I corrected math.  Bliss!

I also planted a bunch of seeds two Saturdays ago and have seen a few sprouts peeking through the dirt in the last few days.

Worthy cause - Devon's technology teacher currently teaches class with seven different types of computers, many of which are missing keys. Devon and his classmates sit through technology class in mismatched chairs, about half of which are not tall enough for the tables they all sit at. Needless to say, it would make life much easier if all the computers were the same and the students could all sit high enough to reach the keyboard comfortably. If that sounds like something you'd like to help with, then please visit their Go Fund Me page and donate whatever amount you are able.

** This post contains affiliate links and we're grateful when people use them. ** 

I LOVE FRANZ

I know I've said it before, but I really love the Franz outlets.  I could list the reasons, but I'll just show you some pictures that explain most of my affection instead.

Here is what I purchased yesterday, all of which went in the freezer.

Eight loaves of organic bread.

Four loaves of organic bread, one loaf of sourdough, and one package of rolls.

Fifteen items, thirteen of which are organic.

Grand total?  $15.59

Yes, I love Franz.  A lot.

LOVE IN THE FORM OF RAW POULTRY

Someone sent me a message earlier this week saying they had ordered some Zaycon chicken for us, so I met them at the delivery site early this morning to pick it up.  All forty pounds of it.  I split the breasts, trimmed the fat, and was about to bag it up when I mentioned to some friends that I should have planned ahead to freeze it with some marinades or something.  And that was when I decided to spend a little extra time in the kitchen.

The end result?   Six bags of plain chicken to use for whatever strikes our fancy on future menus, two bags of teriyaki chicken (we use Soy Vay Veri Veri Teriyaki), two bags of garlic chicken with more garlic, and two bags of sesame honey chicken.  All mixtures ready to dump in the crockpot and all plain meat ready to be sliced, diced, or whatever needs to be done to it.  All now in the freezer.

You know what else?  The chicken fairy also gave me a box each of quart and gallon ziploc bags to freeze the chicken in, a bag of pumpkin pie almonds for the family to snack on, and two hugs, one just because and another when the emotions of the last few days caught up to me and I started crying in the parking lot.  Feeling pretty blessed!

WINCO, COSTCO, & FOOD STAMPS

I was a Costco shopper back in college and the early days of our marriage.  Then one year I opted not to renew my membership, primarily because the location of the nearest Costco was totally out of the way.  Since then I've been a Winco shopper.  If you want the lowest prices, without having to check ads or clip coupons, then that is the store for you.  They also have a gigantic bulk department, which I love, love, love.

Several years ago I started clipping coupons from the Sunday paper and using some sites that helped me find the best deals at a few drug and grocery stores.  I still did 95% of my shopping at Winco, but I hit a couple stores every Sunday morning for a few smokin' deals.  I didn't pay for shampoo, conditioner, razors, toothbrushes, toothpaste, dental floss, over the counter meds, or various other things for years.  In fact, many times I earned money by taking them out of the store.  I did pay for other items, but they were dirt cheap.  I never spent more than a quarter for a bag of pasta, fifty cents for mustard, or four bucks for a block of Tillamook.  I'm a generic kind of shopper, but everything we were getting for free or cheap was name brand.  We had four to five people in our family and my grocery budget was $300 a month.  That included all food, toiletries, paper products, and diapers.  (Let me discreetly add that, thanks to the downsides of heredity, one of those categories required a much bigger budget than most people would think.  Do you read me?)  It was wonderful!

Then grocery prices started climbing.  We kept our budget the same, but cut out some non-essentials.  They kept climbing.  We made some more cuts.  We were still eating well, though, and it was fine.

Eventually it became hard to stay in the budget, so I bumped us to $350 right around the time we moved last year.  The extra wiggle room was nice, but now we live 20 miles from the closest Winco and it's a hassle to go there.  Shopping locally, however, is too expensive.  As for my couponing, I haven't clipped a coupon in a very, very long time.   The days of that being worthwhile are long gone for me.  The deals now are unimpressive and require printing out various internet coupons, so I'd just quit doing it.  It wasn't cost effective.

So we decided to try Costco again last spring.  We figured I could still hit Winco occasionally, once a month or less, but we thought it may work to make Costco be our primary store.  There's a Costco near church, which makes shopping there really convenient.   We knew some of their prices were lower, others higher, and many comparable to Winco and we figured the money saved from cancelling our paper subscription and the time and gas money saved by not travelling to Winco may balance out the things that were more expensive.  Additionally, we knew they had low gas prices and we thought that would be icing on the cake. 

We gave ourselves some extra in the budget for the first couple months, as we knew it would take a while to adjust to buying the large packages of things there, but planned to be back to our regular budget within three months.  Then I lost my milk supply when Teebs was five months old.  There was no way we could take $70 of Kirkland formula from our $350 monthly budget for seven months.  So I bumped us to $400. 

But Costco just isn't working out for us.  I'll explain why, but first let me say that I like Costco.  The employees are friendly, the shelves are always stocked, they have great prices on a lot of food and non-food items, I love being able to grab several cans of olives (or whatever) at once, and it's handy to not have to fill multiple bulk bags. 

The problem is that there are so many things we buy that Costco doesn't carry, which means I still have to go to Winco on a regular basis.  Other things are a great deal at Costco if you're brand loyal, but still way more expensive than a generic brand at Winco.  And other things I simply don't need in Costco quantities.  So, I'm actually making more shopping trips now than I was before. That just doesn't work for me, at least not in this season of life.   We also started running out of grocery money before the end of the month when we were shopping at Costco, which had never happened before. 

Ironically, the thing most people say is better at Costco than Winco is produce, but I actually had Costco produce go bad more quickly than Winco's.  Go figure. 

One totally superficial complaint?  I hate their milk jugs.  A lot.  I've never had more milk spilled in our home than when we started buying those jugs. 

Vent over.

So, what now? 

Well, the first time I paid $3 a blade for a package of razors at Costco I realized that my disappointment in the fact that I can't get them free (or make money off them) at the drugstores and my unwillingness (until now) to pay $1 for them there was something I was going to have to get over.  Yikes!  I'm not convinced that Sunday coupons would be worth the cost of a subscription at this point, but I am going to start watching the drugstore ads again for non-food items.  I just need to go back with the realization that the glory days of drugstore shopping are over and shift my target prices accordingly. 

Our Costco membership still has several months left on it, so I'm sure we'll still pop in for some things and we'll keep getting gas there, but I don't think we'll be renewing our membership.  I'm glad we gave it another try, though.  Now we know.  In another season of life we may feel differently and start shopping there more regularly again, but Winco works for us now.  If only they'd open one closer to us!

Incidentally, we recently qualified for food stamps and our grocery budget increased significantly. We were given our benefits after this month had started, but our caseworker recently called Tim to let him know what we'd be getting next month.  Ummmm .... $900.  What in the world?!  Yes, I know it's a screwy system when an employed family can easily feed itself on a fraction of what the state will allot them when they're unemployed.  Yes, I'm also thankful that we know how we're going to feed our family each month until Tim has full-time employment again.    

But $900?  Just for food?  When we're currently spending $400 for food, formula, diapers, toiletries, and paper products?  Yes, I realize we could go all organic, but I can't justify that.  Personal conviction and no judgement toward those who use food stamps that way.  I'm really not sure, though, how else we could possibly spend that much money, unless we ate steak every night.  Goodness gracious!  So, what will we do with all the excess money?  I don't know.  We may buy some extra non-perishables.  We'll probably let most of the extra sit and let the state keep it.  I'll definitely allow myself a little more wiggle room in our budget, which will be nice for my brain when it's time to plan a menu, but I'm not going to go nuts just because I can. 

And that's the latest update on our shopping habits.  Exciting, isn't it? 

A BUNCH OF RANDOM STUFF

Officiating - Tim's officiated basketball for nine years and we've started some of those seasons with babies in the house. Silas and Devon were about six months old and Naomi was four months old when he officiated the years they were born. Tyler, however, was due the same week games started. Tim suggested that he take this year off. He enjoys doing it and the money always comes in handy for one thing or another, but the thought of having him gone during the evenings when I wasn't going to be sleeping through the night sounded like a recipe for disaster. So, I said I thought it was a great idea. It was kinda weird to be basketball-free, but it was the perfect year to take a break. He'll work tournaments this summer, then we'll figure out next season when it gets closer.

Charms - I want to have a "W" wall, so I've been figuring out where to put it and how to arrange it. Two of the pieces I have are little charms. I didn't want to nail them to the wall, but wasn't sure what else to do with them. In a sudden stroke of genius I decided to get a jewelry holder. It's perfect! Two charms up and plenty of room for more!



Freedom - The big boys recently started riding their scooters down to the end of our road. It's not far, but it's out of sight of our home. Some may think they're too young and others may think they've waited too long for this new freedom, but that's irrelevant. I just think it's cool to see the boys growing up and to watch them have fun together in the process. Snipping apron strings - that's what we're doing around here. Slowly, but surely.

Coupons - I miss the glory days of couponing. I miss getting free or money-making toothpastes, toothbrushes, razors, shampoos, conditioners, and OTC medicines a few times a month. I miss all the other random freebies that weren't as frequent. I miss having all the best deals be available with just the store offers (coupons, rebates, etc.) and the coupons from the Sunday paper, rather than needing a gazillion internet coupons. Getting great deals just takes more work now and there aren't as may deals I'm interested in anyway. Vent over.

Rash - On Wednesday night the inside of my right wrist started itching. There were some raised spots and my skin was red. I chalked it up to bodies being weird and went to bed. I woke up in the middle of the night and it was itching like crazy. When Naomi woke up on Thursday her first words were that her wrist hurt. She had the exact same rash in the exact same spot. Bizarre! Hers covered a bigger area, wasn't as red, and looks better than it did a few days ago. Mine, on the other hand, hasn't changed at all. Well, I may have a few more raised spots, but it's basically the same. The itching comes and goes, but the rash remains. I know this isn't a great picture, but does anyone have any idea of what it may be?

Updated on 3/12/12 - A conversation about the rash on Facebook helped me figure out what it is. Apparently it's a contact rash from the wristbands our church uses for checking kids into their classes. Must have been a funky bunch of bands.



Devon - Many of you have already read about this on my Facebook page, but Devon spent the weekend with his grandparents. This was the first time one of our kids have spent time at my dad's without us also being there. He had so much fun!! If you want to see some pictures of his adventure, then click these links to my dad's blog posts about their time together - ICE CREAM, UNO AND RAPUNZEL, TWO MAN JOB, and SPENDING A DAY'S WAGE.

STRETCHING A DOLLAR - CHANGING THE STYLE OF MY CLASS

I have an ongoing list of people who want to come to these classes, but I don't anticipate doing any in the near future. What I'm going to do instead is host a class on Facebook, which will start today or tomorrow. I'll post the info from my notes in small sections, doing a little each day until we've worked our way through everything. Discussion would take place in the comment section of my Facebook posts just like it does when we're all sitting around a living room.

If you are interested in participating in the Facebook class and want to be tagged in the posts, then please let me know. If you keep a tight reign on your Facebook friend list, then feel free to friend me for the duration of the class, then unfriend me. My feelings won't be hurt in the least.

If you're local and prefer to attend a live class, then let me know. A friend of mine will be hosting a class, probably in August, and I'll give you her contact info.

MENU PLANNING 101

Over the last week I had three people ask for some help with menu planning. I typed up a little lesson for them, then shared it on Facebook. I'll post it here for any of my blog readers who need a little kick in the pants when it comes to making meal time less stressful and grocery shopping less impulsive.


Method #1

Check the store ads & make note of what's on sale. Plan your meals accordingly. I don't do this method, as I'm not good at making meals from random ingredients. My brain just doesn't work that way and WinCo, where I do my shopping, has low enough prices that I don't have to plan around sales. Mary Lou's brain works this way and she would be a good person to talk to if you prefer menu planning this way. She and I are total opposites with this stuff, but our methods work well for each of us.


Method #2

Make a menu. Buy the ingredients (at WinCo). Prepare the meals. Easy peasy.

I menu plan and shop twice a month, but doing one week of dinner menus is a great place to start. Baby steps, folks, baby steps. :)

There are two ways to do this. First is to assign meals to each day of the week. I used to do this, but then, being a little uptight about scheduling, would get all frazzled when life interfered and messed up my menu. The second way is to make a list of seven meals, assuming you're starting with a one week menu, then decide each morning which of those things you're going to make. It really doesn't matter which way you do it. The point is that you'll have all the ingredients for seven night's worth of dinners.

I like to make things as easy as possible, so I only plan for five nights a week. How? Sundays are always leftovers. That guarantees that I truly get the day off. That means I make our biggest meals Friday and Saturday to ensure that there will be leftovers on Sunday.

Tuesdays are always Taco Tuesday. I regularly make crockpot beans (the best beans in the world, by the way) and freeze three quart-sized bags at a time. I also freeze three pounds of taco meat at a time, one pound in each of three quart-sized bags. That makes Taco Tuesday really easy because I just have to pull two bags (meat & beans) out of the freezer in the morning, chops some olives, cilantro and limes, then pull the sour cream & salsa out of the fridge at dinner.

I'd really encourage you to plan on having leftovers one night a week. It gives you night off and keeps your fridge clean. I'd also encourage you to pick one night of the week that's always the same meal. It could be Taco Tuesday, spaghetti on Thursdays, baked potato bar on Mondays ... whatever would make your family happy and keep menu planning simple.

Go look at your calendar. Are there nights where you need to make special plans? Company coming? Potluck? A crazily busy day without much time to cook? Factor those details into your menu.

Ok, so now you know what's on your calendar, you've designated a night for leftovers, and you've picked a set meal for a particular night of the week. Now let's tackle the rest of the menu.

Time out. Big, honkin' detail to mention right now.

You need to be making your grocery list as you plan your menu! Now, don't actually look in your cupboards yet. Instead, make a shopping list of all the ingredients you need for each recipe/dish you'll be making *as soon as* you put that recipe on your menu.

As you may already know, I do my grocery list according to the floor plan of WinCo to make my shopping trip more efficient. So, in this part of menu planning I may write "flour" in the bulk department section of my grocery list. Then I'd make a little note of how many cups I needed for a particular recipe. Each time I needed more, then I'd add another number. Here's what it may look like once my menu is planned.

flour 1/3/2/2

That means I need a total of 8 cups of flour to make all the things on my menu. The numbers may stand for pounds, cups, or whatever unit of measurement for the item on my grocery list. Make sense?

So, back to the menu. Write down "leftovers". Write down your set meal. Put all the ingredients you need for the set meal on your grocery list (including quantities), even the ingredients you think or know you already have. Now pick another meal and repeat the shopping list process. Keep repeating until you have seven dinners planned. I try to include one new recipe each week, but you can do whatever floats your boat.

Now you should have seven dinners planned and a shopping list that includes all the ingredients you need for those meals. Is that done?

Ok, now we're going to pare down the grocery list. I know you're probably thinking I'm a little crazy for making you write down the ingredients you already know you have, but here's the deal. Sometimes you'll know you have sausage in the freezer, but you won't realize until cooking time that it's not enough for the two recipes you needed it for. Crisis. Or you'll think you had a ton of paprika, but it was actually cayenne. Crisis. Or, like me, you buy a lot of things in the bulk department and don't actually know how much flour you have. It's just a lot, but perhaps not enough for all the baking you're going to do. So, that's why I have you write down everything the recipe calls for.

Now you're going to check your grocery list against your cupboards. This only takes a couple minutes, I promise. If it's something you know you don't have any of, then put a little dot or check by that item on your grocery list. I just do a dot, which tells me that I've checked and know I absolutely need soy sauce (or whatever). Then I look at all the other items. Using the flour example from earlier, I'd check my pantry and estimate how much I have. If I already have about four cups, then I''d adjust the total of 8 on my grocery list to say 4. Or maybe 5, to err on the side of caution. Then I'd put a dot by the flour. Quickly go through your whole list and check what you need against what you already have, then dot those items so that you know you'll be buying the right amount.

Everything dotted? Great! Go shop. :)

Now you can wake up in the morning, scan your menu and decide what's for dinner that night, pull any necessary ingredients out of the freezer to start thawing, and pace the prep work so that dinner's served on time and without stress. If you have littles in the house, then do your prep work during afternoon naps/down time. I enjoy that time doing mindless work in a quiet house, though I sometimes opt to listen to a sermon online or some music on Pandora while I work. If you work outside the home, then do some of the following night's prep work after dinner and just wash the prep dishes with your dinner dishes.

I think that's Menu Planning 101, so I'll call it a wrap right here. I don't want to keep throwing out more little suggestions that make the whole thing seem overwhelming or like it's turned into Menu Planning 102. :)

Questions? Suggestions? Fire away!

A SALE & A GIVEAWAY & A DOUBLE CONTEST

Ok, folks, I've got three friends with great things happening in their businesses. Think of yourself, Christmas, or whatever gift-giving occasion is coming up in your little world as you enter these contests and take advantage of the sales.

Jewelry Sale - Linda, the one whose jewelry I've been sporting and blogging about lately, is having a "sale of the day" every day between now and Thanksgiving for fans of her Facebook page. I love the items I own (she's even done some custom stuff for me) and those that I've bought as gifts have been hits with the recipients. She has two sites - her main site and one that's primarily sterling silver. Today's sale is one free pair of earrings after the purchase of three at regular price and you can find out how to get your free pair on her FB page.

Apron Giveaway - Robin, who is quite handy with a sewing machine, is giving away a half-apron on her blog. I'm not an apron-wearer, but I've bought two aprons from Robin as gifts. This is the first one, purchased straight from her etsy site, for someone with African-themed decor in their home.
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This is the second one I bought, a custom order. I showed Robin a picture of the style I wanted and told her the recipient is anti-girly stuff. She came up with this reversible apron that is so fun and non-girly that it almost makes me wish I wore aprons. Almost, but not quite.

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Go check out Robin's etsy site and see all the fun stuff she has available. You can also check out her past sales to get a feel for the variety of stuff she can make. To enter the contest, she's actually asking you to go check out Linda's jewelry site, then come back and leave a comment telling which item you like most. The drawing is happening 11/4/10, so I'm assuming the deadline is 11/3/10. Love it when friends use their businesses to support each other!!

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Monogrammed Bag & Gift Certificate Contest - Heidi, the one who made the framed "W" and monogrammed backpack I've blogged about, has two fun things going on at her blog. First up is a monogrammed cosmetic bag, with colors chosen by the winner. Second is a $15.00 gift certificate to put toward a custom item. She does all sorts of amazing embroidery, but if that's not your cup of tea (it's not mine either, so it's all good), then check out her woven monograms. You can see what's in her etsy site, but be sure to also scan her blog, as many of her items are custom and never make it to the etsy site. The deadline is 11/3/10 and the winner will be announced 11/6/10.

END OF SUMMER

Our last two days of summer were great! Sunday morning was spent at church. The message was awesome and the following quote really stood out to me.

The best way to gauge whether or not you have the heart of a servant is how you respond when people treat you like one. ~ Brett Meador

Serving is easy when it's your own idea and/or the recipient is appreciative, but I definitely have some room for improvement in my response toward inconvenient requests for help and people who don't acknowledge my efforts. Good stuff.

I took a 2 1/2 hour nap in the afternoon, everyone cheerfully ate a new soup that I didn't think they'd like, we used a gift card at Cold Stone for dessert, then Tim and I watched Driving Miss Daisy after the kids went to bed.

Monday morning we all headed to Value Village for one of their 50% off days. The boys each got a pair of shorts, Tim got four pairs of cargo shorts, Devon got a virtually new pair of shoes, and we got a jump rope for a total of $24.00. Love those sales!

We all headed back home, then I took off a little later to run errands alone. There were a few specific things I was looking for at each place. I hit Old Navy (four pairs of flip flops for $7.50), Michael's, Value Village (went back for me, got a sweater for $2.50), Home Goods (returned some pillows that I loved until I realized one had circles on it and the other had ovals), TJ Maxx, Ross (two pillows for $12.00 & a cute curtain rod for $5), Goodwill, & Kohl's (finally found the memo boards I'd been looking for all day, bought three, discovered they were on an unadvertised BOGO sale & got a fourth, final price of $8.50 each). I love a day filled with good deals on things I've been looking for!!

After my errands were done I headed over to Rebecca's house for some girl time. We hiked in Forest Park (my first time there & I loved it), she made a yummy dinner, then we spent the rest of the evening just chatting about life while listening to Pandora & smelling yummy candles.

Such a nice couple days!!!

Tim had a couple training days two weeks ago, worked three days last week, and students started today. At our house, we hit the books today. We normally school year round, which I love, but somehow we only did one day of school all summer. It was a fun summer, but I'm dreading the lack of flexibility in the upcoming school year that going all year provides us with. Oh well. It is what it is.

Anyway, we've done some school today, gotten some household stuff taken care of, and will bust out some more school later. We'll take this week to get back in the groove we had before our move and should be completely in the swing of things next week.

A FANTASTIC DAY

8:30 am - The whole fam heads to the store for bagels.

8:45 am - Head off for a part of Devon's birthday week. I'll do a separate post about his birthday week tomorrow, but this stop was outdoors and lasted well over an hour.

10:45 am - Pop in for at Grandma Linda's for a quick visit.

11:15 am - Head to Thriftway for a kid's safety fair they have going on. Kids earn prizes at some games, take a trolley ride around the parking lot, everyone gets a free hot dog and root beer float. See a couple girls from church with their grandparents and Silas sees a boy he knows.

12:45 pm - Time to go home. Devon and Naomi head down for naps. Tim, Silas, and I have some down time.

2:00 pm - I head to Old Navy. Get some new flip flops and find some jeans for Tim on the clearance rack. Love new clothes at thrift store prices! End up standing in line behind someone from church. Educate her on the ease of getting a sunburn.

3:00 pm - Drive to the beauty school for a five dollar haircut. Have fun chatting about money management (or lack thereof) in our culture, marriage (he's been married 20 years), canning (think I'm going to try it this summer), and various other things with the guy cutting my hair.

5:00 pm - Stop to chat with Granny for a few minutes on my way back from checking the mail.

5:30 pm - Tim serves his egg, potato, and bell pepper scramble for dinner. Tasty!

6:30 pm - The kiddos take off with Tim to buy me a birthday present. I get online to figure out tomorrow's bargains and listen to Dave Mincy. Empty house and mellow music are a great combo.

7:45 pm - Troops come home.

8:00 pm - Kids in bed, Tim starts doing some school stuff online, putter around the house.

8:30 pm - Bake 129 snickerdoodles. Devon requested some to take to his class at church tomorrow, as it will be his birthday, so I decided to make a double batch and keep some for our family. Work on this blog post and some other online stuff while cookies bake.

10:15 pm - Last batch of cookies comes out of the oven. House smells great.

10:30 pm - Hoping to be in bed with a book and asleep by 11:00.

LINKS I LIKE #6

I haven't done one of these posts in a super, duper long time!

Stuff Christians Like - Jon did a great post recently on pursuing the things that interest or matter to you, rather than talking or thinking about pursuing them. I know there are some areas I should do less thinking and more acting. I'm sure you have some too.

Coupon Cravings - This is a handy article on ways to get cash for your unused or outdated electronic gadgets.

From Mourning to Dancing - Monica is a friend who used her own illness as inspiration for this very practical post about how to help a friend battling cancer. It includes lots of helpful things and tells you the things to avoid. Read it even if you don't currently have a friend with cancer, as odds are that you will at some point.

Transformed From Glory to Glory - My friend Summer has done a couple posts this month that are fantastic for parents. Actually, they're good for anyone who may be a parent someday. The first one is an encouraging reminder that we need to be patient in waiting for the results of our parenting efforts, realizing that some things will take more time than others and that no two kids will need the exact same parenting from us.

This morning she had another great post about the phrase "kids will be kids". I was just talking to a friend over the weekend about the same idea. It frustrates and perplexes me when parents think inappropriate behavior, even if done out of childish curiosity or ignorance and not rebellion or spite, is funny or cute. Sometimes I just want to shake parents and say "This is not cute and it's certainly not going to be cute five years from now, so buck up and do the hard work of parenting your fit throwing, mischievious, disrespectful, or whining child!"

I hold no judgement toward a parent or child simply because those behaviors occur, as that's part of humanity. It happens in our family, just like everyone else's. What concerns me is parents who do nothing about it. Or snap pictures to laugh over. Or use that sticky sweet voice to state the behavior "wasn't very nice", yet give no consequences. Or reward the poor behavior through bribery or with giving in to the child's demands. Or let the child merrily go on their way while the parent deals with the aftermath of the child's behavior.

I agree that kids will be kids. Similiarly, I agree that boys will be boys and girls will be girls. However, I think it would be fantastic if parents would be parents. Age and gender can explain particular behaviors, but that doesn't mean they excuse them.

Wow, that was a tangent. Didn't mean to go off on that, but it seriously drives me batty in the present and truly concerns me for the future.

Making Home - Jess looks at the "other" Proverbs woman, challenging women to examine the way they speak, think, and interact with others.

Centsational Girl - Lisa directed me toward this blog and it's super cool. I'm not artistic at all and this woman's taste is a little more formal and fancy than what I'm drawn to, but her ability to transform trash into treasures and re-purpose items, while doing it for pennies on the dollar, is awesome. Lots of ideas for sprucing up your home can be here!!

All righty, we'll call that a wrap. Hope you find something in all those links that you like.

HANDY CARSEAT INFORMATION

Out with the old - As you know, we recently got new carseats for the offspring. That means we now have three carseats to get rid of. They're pretty bulky to put in our garbage can and my online searching didn't lead me to any alternative. So, I did a little sleuthing and talked to someone at ACTS Oregon. They use expired carseats for training purposes with law enforcement and other carseat installers. While their training stash is set at the moment, they also serve as a dropoff for carseat recycling.

Here's the scoop. You can go to their office Monday through Friday from 9-4 (tomorrow is an exception and they'll be open 12-4) to leave an expired carseat. You do not need to call in advance. The harness, fabric, and foam need to be removed from the carseat before you bring it, as they don't have a way to recycle those items. It's the plastic "bones" of the carseat that they'll take. Their office is located at 8059 SW Cirrus Drive, building #20 in the Parkside Business Center, in Beaverton.

In with the new - My friend Tiffany told me about a cool program for families who need booster seats for their kids. Turns out it's also through ACTS Oregon. You can click here for a coupon that's good for a $5.00 booster seat. The coupon is good through 6/26/10 and there are two more event dates between now and then. The seats are part of the "Safe Routes to School" program and you have to write in the name of your school, so I'm not sure that homeschooling families are eligible. It's fine if they're not, as the whole purpose is to get kids to and from school safely. If they are, then that's awesome.

NAOMI'S NEW (& FREE) CARSEAT

Naomi desperately needed a new carseat. So, being the frugal person that I am, I got a free one for her. She was so excited about it!! She wanted to look at it online a gazillion times a day between the moment I ordered it and the day it arrived. She actually hugged the box when it came.
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So, how did I get a brand new Graco Nautilus for free? Swagbucks, of course! I'd been saving up the Amazon gift cards I earned for a while and used them to purchase the seat. Awesome, huh? Check out how cute she is in it!! We don't allow drinks in the car, but she had to try out the cup holder in the house. The girl loves her carseat!
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Wait! It gets better. The boys were also due for new carseats, but I had used up all my Amazon gift cards on Naomi's. So, I did the next best thing. I used the "shop & earn" option from Swagbucks to order the boys' seats online, which earned me two swagbucks for every dollar I spent.
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I love Swagbucks! I know I've mentioned that little fact a lot, but it's such a cool program! And I love cute girls in free carseats. And I love cute boys in carseats that helped me earn more bucks.

BOOKS I FINISHED - FEBRUARY 2010

All righty, here goes.

America's Cheapest Family: Gets You Right on the Money, by Steve and Annette Economides
Jess #1 is a friend and she has a blog. Jess #2 is another friend who found out about Jess #1's blog through my blog. Now Jess #2 is a fan of Jess #1. Well, Jess #2 saw a book on Jess #1's blog that she thought I, being a big fan of stretching a dollar, may enjoy reading. So, I reserved it from the library. While it was largely stuff I already knew, I'd definitely recommend it to someone who is trying to get their crazy finances under control or someone who wants to fine tune their controlled budget. It's a super easy read with lots of practical ideas and goals for people at every stage of living within and below their means.

The House on Walenska Street, by Charlotte Herman & illustrated by Susan Avishai
This was a school book. It's a simple story about a Jewish woman and her three young girls living in Russia in the early 1900's. It didn't grab me, but it wasn't bad either. Just a neutral book.

Identical Strangers: A Memoir of Twins Separated and Reunited, by Elyse Schein
I actually read this one in January, but totally forgot to add it to that month's list. This is the true story of two women who knew they were adopted. One had no desire to search for her birth family. The other decided, in her thirties, to look for her biological mom. She was shocked to discover that she had a twin sister and chose to have her twin, the woman without a desire to find her birth family (though the searching woman didn't know the other had no interest in her biological family), notified of her existence. This book chronicles the journey these women take as they figure out what to do with this huge discovery, the info they glean about the research project that led to their separation, and the emotional and practical ups and downs they experience as they adjust to their newly discovered life as twins. I really liked this book!

In Search of Eden, by Linda Nichols
This fictional story is filled with people who are hurting, but the main character is a woman whose grief and guilt over the child she was forced to give up for adoption consumes her. A fairly predictable story (though there was one element that totally caught me by surprise), but I enjoyed it. Lots of lessons about choosing between bitterness and forgiveness, which is a battle that I've been struggling with. Got sucked in and finished this book in two sittings.

White Stallion of Lipizza, by Marguerite Henry & illustrated by Wesley Dennis
Another school book. I had the hardest time plowing through this book as a read aloud, but it was a great story. It's about a poor boy who is obsessed with Vienna's Lipizzan stallions and dreams of riding them someday. A story of dreams and disappointments, goals and perseverance ... and a lot about horses.


The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio: How My Mother Raised 10 Kids on 25 Words or Less, by Terry Ryan
Tim and I had seen the movie a while back, but I finally got around to reading the book. It's the true story of Evelyn Ryan, a woman whose natural ability at winning contests for various ad campaigns kept her family fed, clothed, and entertained during the 1950s and 1960s. She had a determination to make the best of a hard situation and consistently chose to not wallow in the self-pity that she could have easily justified. Good book, though it could have been a bit shorter.

Prisoner of Tehran: A Memoir, by Marina Nemat
Nemat shares her story of life as a teenage political prisoner in Iran. She spent two years in government custody and under the control of one of the jailers, a man who I believe truly cared about her, yet didn't always treat her well. Forced to choose between faith and family, a decision that determined whether she and those she loved would live or die, Nemat chooses to protect her loved ones. That choice not only protects those close to her, but allows her to be a blessing to other prisoners and to find her greatest support from those least likely to be her allies, the family of the jailer. Loved this book!

JUST TALKIN'

The 2009/2010 Wall of Love - I take our Christmas tree and decorations down a couple days after Christmas. The cards we receive, however, stay up for the whole month of January. I love looking at them. Here's what came in this year, minus one card that kept falling from the top. So fun to see all the faces and read all the updates!
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Devon - Last week Devon came out of his room and asked me what I thought of his outfit. He was wearing brown shorts and a brown shirt. I told him they matched nicely. His response? "Brown and brown, now I look like my dad and Silas." All right, buddy, we'll let you compare skin color to clothing color.

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Devon, the king of funny faces

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Seeds - I harvested some seeds from last year's garden, not realizing I wouldn't have a garden this spring. I've given some away already, but I have more to share. Four o' clocks, green beans, and purple beans (green beans that are purple on the vine and turn green when you cook them). Any takers?

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Pics - Just a little reminder that I post pics on our Picasa page every Sunday night. Cute kid alert!

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Naomi's Hair - Naomi recently got her first haircut. I ended up cutting about half of it off. While I do miss the super fluffy pom poms I used to give her and the ability to get all her hair up in two pigtails, I'm definitely liking how much healthier her hair looks. The only part that's still ratty is the back, which I'm told will be that way until her car seat days are over.

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The final moment of Naomi's long hair. Notice how dark the bottom is and how light the tips are.

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Bowling - One of the Christmas gifts the kids received was money for us to spend doing fun stuff with them. So, we headed down to the bowling alley last week and let them play a couple games. Silas and Devon each won a round and Naomi got the only strike (with bumpers, of course). Thanks to Tammy for hooking us up with a BOGO coupon and making that Christmas money stretch!!

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Silas happily waits for his turn to roll the ball.

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Shorts - I'm a bit picky about the length of shorts. Basically, that means I like it when girl's shorts have an inseam longer than their underwear. A lot longer is ideal, but a little longer would be a good place to start. I discovered, upon Naomi's birth, that I'm the only one on the planet who feels that way. It drives me batty that clothing for infant and toddler girls are designed to be sexy. Short shorts and low-rise pants are a little ridiculous when the person wearing them is still in diapers. Diapers that, obviously, aren't even covered completely when wearing these particular items of clothing.

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I'm also a bit picky about price and refuse to spend $20 on the rare pair of long shorts I can find for Naomi, as she'll only wear them for a year.

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I'm also a bit picky about my pot-bellied little girl being able to breathe. She's too young to be required to lay down and suck in her stomach just to get her pants on.

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So, imagine my delight when I found Bermuda shorts that fit Naomi at Target for $3.50 last night. Needless to say, I used her Christmas money to buy one in each of the four styles they were selling. They're normally $5.00 and the sale price of $3.50 is good through Saturday, in case you want to snag some too. I'm a happy mom!!

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Girl Time - I am going to Noodles & Company for dinner on Saturday. I'll be at the one in Beaverton on the corner of Griffith & Beaverton Hillsdale. If you would like to join me, then I'd love to have some girl time. We always eat dinner at 5:00, but I'd be willing to go as late as 6:00 if that meant others could make it.

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In addition, I have a BOGO coupon that has to be used soon. So, if you plan on joining me on Saturday, then leave a comment on this post to let me know. I'll do a random drawing of those names on Saturday at noon and treat the winner to a free dinner.

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If no one is interested in or able to join me, then I'll enjoy a night to myself with a mound of pasta and a book to read. I'd be content with that too!

HOMEMADE LAUNDRY DETERGENT

Several people have recently asked what recipe I use for our laundry detergent. As I neither understand nor care about the science behind it all, I went for the suggestion of Natalie, a friend who both understands and cares. I'm going to just copy what she wrote on a forum last year. She posted this on a forum where her username is "Geek". Be assured that I'm not calling her names. It's what she calls herself.

Oh, and a little lingo - dh = dear husband, SL = Sonlight, KWIM = know what I mean, FTR = for the record.

Ready? Here you go!



The Reader's Digest Condensed Version of Geek's lazy method for homemade laundry soap

Originally Posted by Geek

An OCD math nerd who got tired of grating the soap and inhaling the soap dust as an asthmatic, boiling it on the stove, bribing her dh to pour the heavy liquid into the jinormous bucket (I made 3-4 batches at a time), transferring the whole lot to old liquid laundry detergent bottles, shaking and shaking the bottles because the !*&% stuff was so thick and hard to get out...So I quit.

Now I:
1) Plop a bar of Fels-Naptha into a pitcher of hot tap water and let it dissolve as much as it can (saturated solution). Use 1-4 oz per load. (An old Oxy-Clean scoop is good for this.) As the liquid level goes down, add a little more water and stir well, allowing it to dissolve again to the water's saturation point.

2) Mix washing soda and Borax together in equal proportions. Use 1/2 - 2TBSP per load unless dealing with extra stinky stuff or very hard water. Voila.

My general proportions rule of thumb:
(An old Oxy-Clean scoop is good for this. Otherwise remember that 1/4 c. = 2 fluid oz.)

small loads -- 1 oz liquid Fels, 1/2 T. Borax/washing soda mix
medium loads -- 2 oz Fels, 1T. powder mix
large loads -- 3 oz Fels, 1-1/2 T. powder mix
ex-large loads -- 4 oz Fels, 2 T. powder mix

Notes:
--As with all detergents and homemade soaps, I do adjust up if a load is especially dirty. Do what you normally do. If I'm dealing with stinky things, I do not increase the soap but I do increase the Borax/washing soda powder.

--I like Oxy-Clean powder and add a small amount to whites or especially stained kids' clothes.

--I think that Goo-Be-Gone and similar products are the best way to get out grease spots. (Even old ones.) FTR, I have yet to find any detergent or homemade mix that will get grease out all on its own.

--I do keep an old toothbrush and use the liquid Fels as a spot pretreatment, and yes if I find I'm pretreating a lot of kids' clothing because of an especially messy dinner, then I can reduce the amount of soap I put in the washer. (Just use your common sense on this one.)

--I never need to double rinse because this stuff rinses well without leaving clothing stiff and in need of lots of fabric softener

--I do use dryer sheets with certain loads (when I remember them ), but I use only 1/3 sheet (Thanks Mamamoz!)

--If your water is especially hard you *might* need more of the Borax/washing soda mixture. I dunno. Experiment. Be brave people.

And one final BIG NOTE about the liquid soap, since this part seems to give people the most trouble:

I think the part that's giving people trouble is the "saturated solution". People are worrying that there isn't enough soap in the water. But if the soap is dissolved as much as it will dissolve without adding more water, then the solution is saturated and you're good.

When you need to add more hot water to the pitcher because the soap level has dwindled, be sure you stir it well a couple of times over the next day or so. As long as your liquid Fels is of egg-white consistency (or snotlike, whichever adjective you prefer, LOL) you're good, especially if your vigorous stirring causes some small floaters that don't dissolve. Think saturated solution. The bar will NOT dissolve completely until after you've recovered it with hot water several times (unless you're using a gallon sized bucket or something.)

It won't melt all the way down for quite a while, especially not in the beginning; you'd need at least a gallon of water to do that. I f you stir it well over the next couple of days, you'll find that you've got a pretty slimy liquid with a very swelled-up piece of Fels floating in it. The bar will get *bigger* than it was originally, as it dissolves and the remaining bar soaks up water and swells. This made an interesting science experiment for my kids, leading to discussions about the density of the Fels Naptha and how it could possibly expand as it simultaneously dissolved AND soaked up water to bloat it.

If you're using a 2qt pitcher, the liquid level doesn't have to stay at 2 qts. I wait until the level has dropped quite a bit or almost gone and then I add a bunch more hot water. Once a bar gets really small I just throw in another new bar alongside it, then cover it with hot tap water. I'm aiming for a saturated solution, kwim? I want it to dissolve to where the water won't hold anymore.

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I am glad so many people are interested in trying things this way! It's funny, though, how something so simple can take so many words to explain. I never realized I'd get so many questions, LOL! I have a theory: SLers are an analytical bunch.

Once you get the hang of it, it will save you time and will save your lungs. (Well, mine at least. As an asthmatic I don't do well with the soap dust.) You will never have to boil water and grate soap again, nor will you have to give your homemade stuff a good hearty shake anymore.

It truly is a lazy method. Dirt cheap, too. (And it removes motor oil, though it did take several washings to get out nearly a whole quart which dh spilled on a favorite coat and pair of jeans. And I did have to add extra washing soda to get that mess out. But it all came out, including the odor. I don't think my precious Tide would have done that. I'd have had to use so much the foam would have never come out. )




Ok, now it's Bethany again. I use Natalie's medium load proportions for all my large loads. I originally did the large load proportions, but realized everything came out clean when I experimented with using the medium proportions. So, I chose to not use unnecessary detergent.

Here's what I do. I turn the water on. My Borax and washing soda are in a tupperware with a tablespoon in it. I measure one scoop into the machine. My Fels and water are in an old milk jug (I cut the Fels into strips that are just narrow enough to fit into the mouth of the milk jug) with a 1/4 cup measuring cup next to it. I fill it half full and dump it in the machine. Then I use the measuring cup to give the water a couple swirls, which mixes the detergent in more quickly and gets my measuring cup rinsed off. Then I toss in the laundry.

I get my Fels, washing soda, and Borax in the laundry detergent aisle of the grocery store. I've seen them at WinCo and Fred Meyer, though I'm sure other stores have them too.

I hope that helps those of you who wanted to give it a try. If you have questions, then I'll try to answer them. If they're too complicated, then I'll have Natalie pop in to help out.

BARGAIN BREAKFAST

We eat a lot of hot cereal for breakfast around here. It's inexpensive, filling, and healthy. Occasionally we get 7-grain from WinCo's bulk section, but usually we just eat oats, also from the bulk section.

The other day I was in the cereal aisle, which is a rare occurrence, and couldn't believe the price of oats there. So, in an attempt to help you save a buck, I'll show you some price comparisons, rounded to the nearest cent.

$.03/oz - Bulk department 25 lb bag or regular bin
$.05/oz - Generic 42 oz. container
$.07/oz - Quaker 42 oz. container
$.12/oz - Generic individual packets
$.18/oz - Quaker individual packets - average, it went from $.16-$.21 depending on flavor and size

That's a significant price difference, folks!!

Now, if you just don't like plain oats, then dress them up a little. Toppings can include milk, fresh fruit, brown sugar, butter, jam, applesauce, cinnamon sugar, or this "syrup" that I like to use. If you like cold cereal more than hot cereal, then use your oats to make granola in your crockpot. I make a double batch and store it in a large, plastic container. We generally use it for breakfast, but sometimes mix it in with yogurt and fruit.

A CLASS & A QUOTE

These two things are completely unrelated to each other, but that's all right.

UPDATE - This class is full. The Class - I'm doing my fourth bargain shopping class on 10/10 at 7:00pm in Wilsonville. The class is free, lasts about two hours, and childcare will not be provided. Nursing infants are welcome to come, but arrangements will need to be made for other children. I'll show you some basic ways to save money and how to utilize the internet in your quest to stretch the household dollar. I'll provide writing utensils and a packet of information for you to take home. The class is limited to twenty people, so be sure to let me know whether or not you can come! My e-mail is, with spaces removed, bethanyandtim @ yahoo (dot) com and I'll give the exact location to those who will be attending.

The Quote - I stumbled upon this quote today while looking for something else on the Sonlight forums and thought it was great.

In my experience, if there is ever a need to preface any statement with the words "no offense" then any words coming after that are best left unsaid. ~ mustang67 (the username of the person who said it)