Is it worth $500...a "corny" picture

5 minutes for Mom is hosting a giveaway with Prego. All you have to do is post a fun, family food related photo on your blog and then link it to their blog for a chance to enter. Here is my entry...


















This was Manny with his first ear of corn. He really enjoyed it once he realized that he could lick all of the butter off!

Ready...set...jump!

The Bloggy Giveaways have begun again and are in full swing...and for those of you with the courage, go and jump in! For some reason the giveaways seem a little overwhelming to me right now so I have only entered a couple instead of my usual 100's.

My friend Richelle is giving away the cutest shoes I have ever seen...














To win a pair of these (also a boy pair being offered) do the swan dive over to her site and enter.

wordless wednesday

And speaking of coffee....

Barnes and Noble is giving away a free cup of coffee! Click here to get the coupon to redeem. Hurry! It is only good through October 31st.

Thanks to MY PENNY PILE for sharing this great info!

You know it's love when...

This evening I started the bedtime routine. It can be quite intense sometimes but I wanted to do it tonight. As I put our little ones in bed (well, actually just my little boy...my daughter was looking at her pet snail. Yes- a pet snail named Sam. My hubby said that she could keep it til' it dies. Did ya know that snails can live a whopping 10-15 years? 10-15 years!!!! I love to hear her talk about him, she says 'yeah, he's a wild one'"

Anyway...back from la-la land...I am almost finished listening to my daughter read from If you give a pig a pancake when my sweet hubby comes in to finish putting her to bed. As I walk toward the living room I get smell a wonderful aroma. That sweet, wonderful aroma of coffee. My coffee. To me, my hubby making coffee for me is one of those sweet acts that a hubby can do for a wife. He doesn't drink it, doesn't like the smell, etc...but he makes it for me.

So, here is my coffee that I should be sipping right now in the silence instead of typing...

















And here is my lovely clean kitchen, thanks to my hubby. Yes, I realize that the door is open, this is my flaw. So, I thought I would leave it open as a true testament of myself...

For The Love of Blocks

I try hard to come up with things that my two year old will sit and do. I also try to incorporate those same items into homeschooling my six year old. There is one single item that I have grown to love....blocks!

I found these foam blocks in the craft section at Wallace World








They came in a box of, oh say, a couple hundred or so (at least that is what they look like when they are dumped in the floor by a two year old!) and they come in such wonderful colors.

Here are our uses for them.

1. They came with a large yellow plastic needle and plastic thread. My little one will sit and string these beads for a good ten or fifteen minutes (which is a woo-doggie! amount of time for him to actually concentrate on something)

2. We do this awesome game (again for my two year old but my six year old enjoys the simpleness of it as well) with them.

I had to head to the doctor's office one day and knew that there would be an awful wait. So, in a moment of pure genius, I grab a pair of my hubby's black socks from the drawer and a these little blocks. I put one or two of each shape and size of blocks in the sock, making sure that each sock had the exact same amount/color/sizes

At the doctor's office, each child was given a sock. I would say "find the large circle" and they would put their little hands deep down into that dark sock (so that they couldn't cheat by looking) and try to find that shape/size.

To my amazement-my two year old did it every time! And it killed a good twenty minutes. Now I must warn you that this game of sticking ones' hand down into a black sock while sitting in a doctors office and pulling out different colored shapes while yelling "I got it! I got it!)" may bring different reactions from those sharing the lobby with you. Just a thought.

3. They are great for homeschooling.







The fact that they are the same size/color/shape makes for a great way to not only practice shape identification/color/shapes but it also helps to teach units/sets/fractions.

I told my six year old, for instance-using the small ones pictured, that the rectangle shape that they make has been divided into fourths. Each one is 1/4. Two makes 1/2 of the shape, three makes 3/4 of the shape and so on.

They do a much better job than chocolate graham crackers (*guilt* especially when one said homeschooling/nursing mom shouldn't eat wheat!)

4. They are great for stacking and making towers

A mommy minute

For just a minute I long not to be a stay at home mom.

Not to be the one who’s shirttail becomes a make shift tissue.
Not to be the one who is responsible to make sure that breakfast does not consist of tootsie rolls and lollipops.
Not to be the one to have to tell a child “no” for the thousandth time in under an hour.
Not to be the one who has to remake coffee for the tenth time just to try to get a sip of it while it is even luke warm.
Not to be the constant playmate.
Not to be the one to convince a child that one bite won’t kill them.
Not be to the one to ask the oldest child not to talk like a baby but to use the beautiful voice that God gave them.
Not to be the one to have to clean up, not only the diaper but the entire baby when that tell-tale brown slime starts oozing onto the onesie.
Not to be the one to not get to have a nice long shower unless Daddy is home or it is 5:30 a.m.
Not to be the one who has to watch a temper tantrum.
Not to be the one who cleans up vomit.
Not to be the one who…

I could go on and on. But then, at the end of my day when I put my babies to bed, I find myself loaded with guilt. Not everyday, just some. Some when the day has just seemed really long and my own sin has been so heavy on my back that it oozes and squeezes all of the prettiness right out of me. Some when I have just been too busy with my own desires to truly take time to enjoy my children. Some when I have just not wanted to be a stay at home mommy that day.

Would I change my “job”? My mission field? Not for the world! This is where God wants me and this is where I want to be. I need to remind myself that I am not doing these things for my glory/happiness/contentment/convenience but for God’s. He is the one who so willingly puts up with all of my shortcomings. He is the one who, by His wondrous grace overlooks all of my ugly, oozing with slime and decay, stinky brown goo to love me. He is the one who marks my steps and my days. It is for His glory that I am raising my children. For them to know Him and love Him.

I love my children, thank God everyday for them. They bring me so much joy. To see their little eyes light up when they see genuine joy and laughter come from me. To see the enjoyment that they get from me just sitting and playing with them for a moment. To know that the love that they have for me is a true and honest love.

I thank God for His love for me. He brings me so much joy. My eyes light up at the thought of His genuine joy over me. From the peace that I get from sitting with Him. To know that the love that He has for me is a true and honest love.

Whala!

Ok, I blog that I look at, but don't usually comment on is "Where the Kudzu Grows". She made a wedding cake over the weekend and could use some love! I know first hand what a fun but challenging thing making a wedding cake can be!

Head on over and give the love that is deserved!

Oh, I thought I would post a picture of my last cake in case "Where the Kudzu Grows" should hop over here to check out my post...

No more eggs, bread, pasta...

Ok, so my poor baby Kate has a very serious case of eczema. Serious in that it is covering most of her little legs and arms. Serious because it has begun to ooze and she is now on antibiotics to clear up an infection/keep her from getting an infection in the open sores. My poor baby Kate!

Eczema runs in our family, both my hubby and I have very small patches of it. My oldest had it, my son had it 10 times worse than my oldest and now...poor baby Kate! We tested my son for food allergies and he was allergic to wheat, eggs, peas, dogs, and cats. So, it is a safe assumption that Kate is also allergic to wheat and eggs. Since the only way that she would be getting these two items is through nursing, I must give up wheat and eggs!

Oh I love having two eggwhites in the morning for breakfast. I love eating breads/pastas/pretzels/any thing made from dough...so-goodbye my favorites...goodbye

Does anyone have any suggestion for healthy foods that don't contain any of the above mentioned foods?

A nod to homeschooling

I don't remember when it was exactly that I learned that Starbucks was giving away free coffee on Monday's to teachers for the month of September (uh...maybe a run on sentence). Anyway, being a homeschool mom, I emailed the company to find out if they would recognize homeschoolers as part of this giveaway.

The company responded that only teachers, K-12, with proof of employment at a school would be granted the free coffee. It was a very polite response, please don't get me wrong-but denied just the same.

In my mind, it was ok. My hubby is a teacher so he picked up a cup for me on his way home one Monday afternoon. It was very strong-STRONG, coffee. But apparently, someone else was not quite as content.

Today, I received an email from the HSLDA (home school legal defense association) that stated the following:

Starbucks Offers Free Coffee for Homeschool Parents

This coming Monday, September 29, homeschool parents will be able to pick up a complimentary tall size (12 fl. oz.) cup of Pike Place Roast from Starbucks.

This promotion is part of Starbucks “Great Start for Great Teachers” promotion, and is now open to all teachers.

HSLDA intervened when we were alerted that homeschool parents were not included in the promotion.

We are pleased that Starbucks is recognizing the contribution of homeschool parents by extending their program to us.

In order to pick up your free cup of Pike Place Roast you will need to present evidence that you are a homeschooler.

Any one item on the following list should be accepted by Starbucks:

• Home School Legal Defense Association membership card.
• Membership card from a state homeschooling organization.
• Notification from a school district or state government recognizing compliance with compulsory attendance.
• Paperwork submitted showing intent to establish a homeschool program.
• Paperwork showing the establishment of a private school.

If you don’t have one of the items on this list be creative and try to provide other proof of homeschooling.

Please note: the final decision about whether to accept proof of homeschooling resides with Starbucks.

We hope you choose to take advantage of this offer.

foniks

Each day during school we work on sight words. Monday it was “my”. Yesterday it was “two”. Today it was “but”.

I had Gracie spelling the word out loud.

Have you ever spelled the word “but” out loud? It sounds like a completely different word- (b)ea(u)(t)y.

How in the world did we come up with this fune langwige?

A new use...

I found a new use for the baseball card holders that I bought to organize my coupons....
It is now a chore organizer for Gracie!


















There is a "token" inside each little sleeve of things that she must do everyday. Once the task has been completed, she can take the token out and put it in the "Gracie did it!" slot. She will be rewarded for the tokens that she does on a daily basis with a happy heart.

No gas

Yesterday, in light of Hurricane Ike, people went crazy (C-R-A-Z-Y) in our small city buying gas before it soared to $5.45 a gallon for the cheap stuff. My hubby called me from work and told me to go get some too. The result?

This morning, there were only a couple gas stations on Main Street that actually had gas. I hope that in your hometown, you didn't experience this crazy price hike.

Hannah's Hope in Guatemala

Hannah's Hope in Guatemala

My cousin Emily and her husband Phil are currently waiting (for God is good!) to try to adopt a little girl from Guatemala. They have been waiting a long, long, long time and could really use your prayers.
The orphanage where "N" is, needs help. Emily has put out a plea for help so, here is a copy of her blog page...(this way you don't have to click to go somewhere else!)

From Emily's blog...

In the past, our adoption agency, All God’s Children, used adoption fees to cover the cost of running Hannah’s Hope Orphan Care Homes in Guatemala. Now, with adoptions in Guatemala completely stopped, their ability to financially sustain the homes has also stopped.

Given the critical situation, God inspired them with a new vision: to build a self-sustaining orphan care ministry in Guatemala. Without it, Hannah’s Hope will need to be closed and every remaining orphan will have to go to other orphanages. Through the UNITE campaign, friends and families are called to join together to financially support Hannah’s Hope.

To accomplish this goal, AGCI needs to raise $50,000/month. Currently, AGCI has 286 sponsors but have reached only part of the goal. To make this happen we need more people involved.

Phil and I have been sponsors since the summer of 2006. It has changed and blessed our lives. Of course, with N still living at Hannah’s Hope, we want to help make it possible for her to continue to live there as long as she can, as well as the other precious children in their care. Phil and I have been there, witnessed the conditions and the care these children receive. It is drastically different than other orphanages in Guatemala.

We are asking that our friends and family step up and make a difference in a child’s life. Please help us to spread the word and support Hannah’s Hope Guatemala.

“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress…”James 1:27

Kroger Run!

Last night I did a Kroger run! I love going to Kroger when I have a coupon for absolutely everything that I am going to buy and those things are on sale. It was alot of fun!


















Here's what I got:
25 boxes of Granola bars (Nature's Own & Fiber One)
11 bags of Chex-mix
26 cans of soup
1 deodorant for my hubby
4 packages of chicken (not shown)

Total before card and coupons: $180.52
Total after card and coupons: $49.11
That's a savings of: $131.41

Shocked!

Several days ago, I followed a link off of one of my favorite blogs (I would give them credit but now I can't remember which blog it was). Anyway, I hopped over to enter a giveaway and left my entry.

Guess what? I won! I won! I won! I am so shocked and amazed and utterly thrilled! I won a $25 gift card to CVS!

So, go over and visit Sweet Pea and share the love. She is the mom of twins (oh so cute!) and has just started her blog.

If I have to drive a wagon (from hubby)

We have been owners of Volvo wagons for almost three years now. My dear, sweet hubby could not be convinced to drive a mini-van but fell in love with the wagons. Last summer, he even traded his beloved Toyota Tacoma for a 2004 XC70 wagon and now drives the 1999 V70 wagon.

A sample of our first wagon...(not for bragging purposes...stick with me you will see!)

A sample of our second wagon... (again stick with me here...)

My hubby showed me the following picture tonight and told me that if he had to drive a wagon, it might as well be tricked out to the max! Let him dream, sweetly dream!

Now that's a ball of fun - or is it yarn?

I just posted about having all of these newspapers left over each week and wondering what to do with them. I would like to give a huge shout out to my cyber-friend (is there a better etiquette word?) Richelle for giving me this awesome suggestion...

Turn the newspaper into yarn! Yep-you read it right, yarn.



Now, I don't think that I will get the chance to do this until my baby Kate is much older but it would be a neat trick to try. You will have to let me know if you try it! You can go here to see how it is done!

Thanks again Richelle and congrats on your 100th post!

Newspapers, newspapers

I must first admit that I stole this blog post idea from my friend Kim, so thanks Kim!

Kim and I, along with our friend Sherri have been seriously couponing for about eight months now. We had made several connections with people at our church who did not use their coupons and had ended up being able to snag four or fives sets of coupons each week in addition to any that we purchased for ourselves.

Kim is quite resourceful (I envy her-really) and was able to go to a local gas station late on Sunday nights to be given any and all newspapers that were left over for the day. This meant that we would have about 10-15 sets of coupons between us.

We came up with this elaborate and labor intensive coupon box. The coupons were cut and organized in this old diaper box into folders. The box was kept at our church so that we each had access to it. It quickly became overbearing!

Well. La, la, la and several months later, the coupons that we had been receiving ceased and the store where Kim got so many extra papers had to quit giving them away free. So what did Kim do (I won't even dare try to take credit for it)? She got her resourceful self on the phone to the newspaper and set a bulk delivery to her house everyweek. It turns out that for $7.50 a week, 25 papers will magically appear on her front door step each Sunday morning. This price is a savings of $30 a week off of the news stand price!

So, if you do the math, in a four week month, we are getting 100 papers for a grand sum of $30.00. The actual retail price is $150.00 so we are saving $120.00 a month in papers! There are four of us that each contribute $7.50 to the price and we each get 6 papers weekly. We each cut out the coupons that we ourselves will use and organize them our own way. We cut out the remaining coupons and store them in ziplock bags by date so that when a good sale comes along, we can put our hands on them quickly and easily. And we share them. This sharing has come in so handy on CVS purchases and double couponing at Kroger.

So, my hat is tipped to you Kim for figuring out a way to keep those coupons coming and savings in our pockets. Oh, and by the way...my friend Kim-you are amazing in many ways and God is definitely growing you girl! Go with the flow baby-He won't let you down or give you more than you can handle (*wink*). Love ya!

Now if only I knew what to do with the part of the papers that I don't use each week....any thoughts?

Good CVS, Kroger, Kmart week!

***This is from last week...a little late posting but worth sharing!
First Kroger-

I got some awesome coupons from Kroger this week and used them to their fullest potential. I also used a Target Pharmacy coupon at Kroger (Kroger matches any competitors coupons) and received a $10 gift card to Kroger for a new RX that I had filled.

Also at Kroger, I received two free pork loins due to pricing errors. It is always worth checking your receipt-even pennies off count!

As for CVS....

I started out with $0 ECB's

1st Transaction:
2 Children's Advil $5.99 each
-$1 Advil coupon
-$2/$10 CVS coupon
Total: $8.98
Earned $11.98 ECB's

2nd Transaction
I got two packs of Huggies diapers for $2.19
How...
Huggies $8.99 x2
- $2/$10 cvs coupon
- $1 off Huggies coupons x2
- $11.98 ECB's

Total OOP: $2.19!

Then at another CVS...
I walked in and there was clearance basket with items marked 75% off. Inside there were 3 Tide with Bounty marked $1.99! I grabbed them as fast as I could. I was so excited I didn't even think about trying to work them into a deal but $1.99 for tide is huge!

Then to Kmart for free pens...

I bought 16 packs of bic pens for 40 cents!
I had 8 coupons for $1/off two and the pens were 50 cents a pack