Being frugal

I've been doing the coupon thing for a while, that is, until I organized my stockpile & realized how much shampoo, body wash & toothpaste we actually have! LOL! So now I'll just use coupons when there's a super great deal on something we don't have as much of.

I've been aware of bent & dent stores but never went because I don't go in that direction. However! Folks here at the farm are eating like it's going out of style & I can't seem to keep up (our budget either). So I went. Awwwesooome! From just 2 visits I've found & bought:

10 boxes of taco shells-$.35ea (only a couple boxes had broken shells)
40 Caprisun pouches-$.10ea
3 10pk juice boxes-$1 ea
20 boxes Kraft mac & Cheese-$.35ea
11 boxes brand name cereal-$1.50ea.
lots of fuit roll-ups & granola bars & other odds & ends

Most boxes are a little smooshed, and I make sure to find ones that are not yet expired.

Coupon prices without the coupon work! Love it!

He loves me

Jesus loves me this I know
for the Bible tells me so.
Little ones to him belong,
they are weak but He is strong.

YES, Jesus loves me!
YES, Jesus loves me,
YES, Jesus loves me!
The Bible tells me so!

One of my favorite things....

is (are) cloth diapers! Yep, with Jif I took the plunge & tried them. With a little trial & error I've found the cloth diaper I love! The Kawaii Baby diaper can be found at theluvyourbaby.com in many colors & styles. They are easy to use, wash & dry (which can sometimes be more trial & error!) Cloth diapers are not as bad/hard to use as some believe. Sure, there is a tad more work but not having to constantly BUY diapers is wonderful! And Kawaii Baby diapers are VERY reasonably priced compared to other cloth diaper systems. You should really check them out!

If you'd like a chance to win a Kawaii Baby diaper, head to Life of This SAHM where she is GENEROUSLY hosting a giveaway for one! She loves these diapers too! Thanks Life of This SAHM for the chance to win!

52 days & counting! Seriously.

People...there are only 52 days until Christmas! Holy moly! Have you started shopping yet? Have you thought about Christmas cards? Our family just had our picture taken this past weekend so I'm all about getting Christmas cards taken care of soon.

This year, I'm going to try Shutterfly for Christmas cards. I've gotten many photo greeting cards from them in the past & have been really impressed. It's just so cool that you can customize a card just for that someone special!

I am totally going to enjoy browsing through Shutterfly's 700+ holiday cards! I love that sort of thing! I haven't made my final selection but a few favorites are "Most Wonderful Story" 5x7 folded card, "Merry & Bright", & "Puzzle Pieces Christmas" 5x7 folded card. Since photos (and sharing them with family & friends) are some of my favorite things, I'm excited to get this project rolling!

Shutterfly is offering 20% off all holiday cards right now so if you'd like to check them out, go HERE.

They also have some REALLY cute gift tags and return address labels. I love all the colors on these things!

Anywho, I'm so excited for this Christmas season...I've got quite a few gifts for the kidlets already. It's so much fun figuring out what each one likes and personalizing their gifts!

Happy gift-giving everyone!

decisions, decisions

Hey. Want an update?



-Jif is 6 months old, almost sitting by herself, & is growing like a weed.



A very large weed in fact.



She is leaps & bounds bigger than ever her big brothers were at this age. Yikes!





-Skippy is in preschool & loving it! Since we are holding him back a year, he is quite a bit older than most of the children there.

And he got his first combine ride this fall since Farmer planted corn & soybeans. He said,



"That was the funnest combine ride ever!"





-Peter Pan is a mighty 2nd grader & getting too big for his britches.



Just kidding!



Maybe.



He wants to wait for the bus by himself! No more mom! =(

Seriously, he is such an awesome kid! He is in LOVE with legos.



Oh. My. Word. Does he love them!

They are everywhere!





-Farmer is extra busy now that the leaves are starting to fall. Farming is slowing down now; he just got a load of beef feeders for next year's butcher and in a few weeks he'll be taking 12 hogs to the processor.

Unfortunately we did not go on vacation this year & is he ever missing his R & R! He is never able to fully relax unless we are MILES away from all his work. I hope he can hold out another year!



-At the beginning of July I was fortunate (insert sarcasm here) enough to experience the pain of plantar fasciitis in both feet. Oh the pain! I was pretty much out of commission for 2 months & I'm still not back to my old self.

The house is almost 100% finished. Remember the family room mess? And we had siding put on the house too.





So, I'm thinking hoping the Summer of Chaos is finally on the way out. And I'm left with some decisions to make.

I am SO craving calm, simplicity, organization...and I'm realizing how much work & discipline that is going to take- physically, mentally & spiritually.

Do I keep this little blog going or not? I really DON'T need to blog; we live 5 minutes away from most of our family. I'm not blogging to provide extra income. And there is always that little nagging in the back of mind to write a post.



But I do kind of like it. It could have great potential.



So.



Maybe I'll be back.



Or maybe I won't.



Who knows?



Because I sure don't!

*Sigh*

Hmm, what a coincidence that it is 2 months to the day that I last posted. Two months!

*sigh*

I really want to be a good blogger.

I really do.

But for some reason I have this gigantic impenetratable mental wall that I can't seem to scale. And it's not just affecting my blogging...

Oh no.

It's before me when I need to make supper.

It's right in front of me when I need to clean the toilet.

It's smacking me in the nose when I need to pull all those darn weeds in the garden.

I'm fighting....with myself.

And it's not because " I just had a baby!" I've heard that one WAY too many times. For Pete's sake, Jif sleeps through the night, like 7-9 hours through the night. It's not like I'm sleep deprived. And she's a pretty content baby, thank goodness.

I could go on complaining, giving reasons for this or that, but that won't do any of us any good. Maybe someday I'll figure it all out and magically change. =)

Until then, I'll keep taking one hard-fought step at a time.

Baby Jif's here!

Baby Jif arrived @ 12:30 pm on April 10, a beautiful spring day! It is quite an interesting story so I thought I'd share, as much for me to have a record as anything. But I do always enjoy hearing about others' birth stories. Here is ours in a timeline....(as close as I can recall)

Friday evening, April 9 - some Braxton-Hicks & other things told me it might not be too long until we meet Jif. However, later that night, everything stopped.

6:40 Saturday morning April 10 - woke up to some mild contractions every now & then but could sleep, so I did.

8:00 am - contractions about the same but I decide to get up & start the day & get some last things done b/c by now I'm pretty sure it will be the day.

10:30 am - my parents come to pick up the boys, they were going to anyway; the contractions are a little stronger but still not very long or very close together.

11:15 am - I decide to get in the bath to see if it will help me relax. While in the bath, contractions start harder & closer. I decide I better get out & get ready to go but can only move in slow motion it seems!

11:40 am - tell Farmer (who was sticking close by) to come in & get ready. He was ready in record time.

11:53 am - get in the van to go to the hospital. Text a few people but then need to concentrate on those contractions! It seemed to me to be a short ride (usually 25 minutes) to the hospital b/c I couldn't pay attention to the road. Farmer was disgusted with traffic however! =) One thing I do remember is hearing one of my favorite songs playing on the CD; the song?...Deliver Me. No joke!

12:15 pm - by now I know the baby is coming soon! I can actually walk in; we skip the registration desk (I neglected to pre-register, oops!) & head straight for the OB unit. The nurse starts asking questions to get us in the computer; Farmer doesn't know all the answers & I fill in when possible. I'm sitting & waiting for the contractions to ease up but they keep coming. Another nurse comes to take us to our room & asks if I'd like a wheelchair; thankfully the contractions stop for a minute & I say "Nope! Let's go!" While walking to the room, she asks if I'd like an epidural. In my head I think "There won't be time for that." Out loud I say, "Nope." I get dressed in one of those lovely gowns & the nurse starts asking more unimportant questions, to me at least. =)

12:19 pm - I feel a small urge to push & tell the nurse so she finally decides to check me. I'm 8. What! Only 8? I can't take much more of this! She calls other nurses & my doctor. By now my body has taken over, I have no control & the baby is coming out! My doctor still hasn't come so they call a doctor who just happened to still be there (& I've never met) filling out some paperwork. She comes in & I remember her saying, "Nice to meet you."

12:30 pm - With great relief, Jif makes her appearance & so does my doctor! We were told later that he came strolling onto the unit & asked what room we were in & the nurse told him, "She delivered in room 16." He took off almost running! =)

By 1:00 pm everything & everyone is back together & where they should be; Jif in my arms included!

What makes this story so interesting is that I had no idea that my water had broken sometime in those 4 1/2 hours. How do you not know something like that? I thought once maybe that it had but never saw or felt anything to tell me for sure. And by the time I decided it was time to go & that it was probably obvious that it had broken, I could have cared less!

We are all doing well, the boys LOVE Jif & Farmer is pretty taken with her too! =)