Randomness

I'm feeling all over the board today, so bear with me.

My little guy below is home sick today. Isn't he so cute bringing me weeds...oops...I mean flowers? (Picture not taken today) He was sick with a fever of 102.6 at 10:00 last night. (My thoughts immediately went to illness of the swine variety!) Today, no fever. Thank the Lord, of course, but since he can't go to school (no fever in the past 24 hours), we are home. My day without kids is not happening. :) But we are having a great day working on numbers, writing, counting, and coloring in our pj's.

Next random topic....

I went through a time when I would only purchase organic fruits and veggies.

I felt it was the best for our family. I STILL feel it is the BEST choice for our family, but my desire to get out of debt outweighs the desire to put $5/lb. strawberries into my kids.

So, I've tried to come up with ways to feel better about putting $1.50/lb. strawberries into my kids, that are potentially laced with pesticides and herbicides. (Makes me cringe even uttering the words!)

I make my own fruit and veggie wash. It's much cheaper than the store bought kind and I think it is just as effective. I can't promise that it removes ALL of the yuckiness from our fruits and veggies, but I'm sure it removes most of it.

Here's how we do it....

(I can't WAIT to get a new camera...sorry for the fuzzy pictures)

Ingredients:

1 cup water

1 cup distilled vinegar

1 T baking soda

20 drops of grapefruit complex liquid

1 empty spray bottle

Recipe courtesy of Sophie

Put 1 cup of water and 1 cup of vinegar in a large pitcher.

Add 1 T Baking Soda.

This is my kids favorite part! Now you see why it has to go into a large pitcher first.

Then add approximately 20 drops of grapefruit liquid complex.

Lastly, pour it into a clean spray bottle.

That's it! So easy!!!
Then you spray on your fruit and veggies. Let stand for about 5 minutes.

Rinse with water and eat.

We washed these grapes, then we popped them into the freezer for a refreshing snack later.

We heart frozen grapes around here!!

Last randomness....

I wanted to let you know about a promotion that Hallmark is doing. This is a great idea for a Mother's Day card. Mother's Day is just around the corner and will be here before you know it!

Go over to Hallmark.com and choose a 5x7 greeting card online. Give them the mailing address and they will mail it for you. It will be completely FREE! Just use code CARD4MOM at checkout. If you'd prefer to receive the card so you can sign it yourself, put in your own address (quick, though, or you won't have enough time to mail it again).

If you want to send a photo card, find a photo and upload it at KodakGallery.com. You can make a custom photo card there for FREE also by entering the coupon code FREECARD at checkout. You can mail it directly to Mom for just $.99.

That's all the random thoughts for now...have a great day!

Aaahhhh.....

Photos by Southern Living

I can dream my backyard looks like this....

At least someone's does. :)

Welcome spring!!!

Working hard

My sweet little 4-year-old has been working hard to learn his numbers and counting! I love that he is so interested in learning.

I put together a counting game for him, using an egg carton and beans. We numbered the bottom of each compartment 1- 12. He then counted that particular number of beans to go into the slots.


He took this task very seriously!

And enjoyed counting out loud...


Little brother had his own, as well.

"Counting? What's counting? I just want to scatter beans!"

He's also learning to write his numbers. He's doing quite well!

Great job, sweetheart!!

Free Dave Ramsey series!

As you know, as a family we are working hard to get out of debt. We have been living on a budget and free of credit cards for almost 4 years now. By the grace of God, we're getting closer each day!

We have followed Dave Ramsey's plan and it has worked beautifully. We are always encouraged by him and inspired to keep on keepin' on!

He recently did a three-part series of messages at Lifechurch.tv which is available to watch free online here. It's like a mini-version of his Total Money Makeover Live Event, with his session on Giving, from Financial Peace University, thrown in as well. If you've not listened to him before, I encourage you to take some time and go watch this three-part series. You just might get a little motivated, encouraged or hopeful!

Super Power Muffins

We had a great time making some very yummy and nutritious muffins!

I wanted to share the recipe with you. HOWEVER.....I would totally give credit where credit is due, IF I COULD REMEMBER WHERE IT IS DUE!!!!! I cannot, for the life of me, remember where in blogland I picked up this recipe. So, in the very far-reaching chance that the owner of this recipe reads, or hears, about this...I never intended to take credit. I just can't remember where it came from. I'm so sorry! But be encouraged if the recipe is yours...it is DELISH. We love these!

We made "Super Power Muffins". I made actual muffins..and the boys "made" their own.


The RECIPE:

1 cup brown sugar (don't pack it)
1/4 to 1/2 cup peanut butter
1 banana
1/2 cup of applesauce or carrot puree
1 egg
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
*optional 1/4 cup chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all dry ingredients well and set aside. Blend everything else and then sift in dry ingredients.

Spray muffin tray. Bake for 15-18 mins.
Makes 12 ~ double for 24. (I made muffins and mini-muffins)

It makes a great breakfast!
I put some in the freezer for later, as well.

So how are they, you ask? Let's ask my 2-year-old....


Enough said!

Fun-loving FRUGALITY!

What a week this has been! We’ve been super busy. But what FUN it’s been to be at home!!! (Thank you, sweet husband of mine, for letting me be at home and take care of you guys. I love you for taking care of us so well.)

Making the decision to be back home full time, we decided that my job would no longer be to MAKE us money…but now it would be to SAVE us money. I was excited and up for the challenge! I am so not THERE yet....I haven't arrived. There are amazing women out there who inspire me, encourage me, and get me energized for the task. I don't even know these women personally, but love receiving their giftedness through other blogs and sites. In my "novice-ness" (is that even a word?!?), I would love to share some of the things we did as a family this week to be as frugal as possible.

One way is through couponing. I have to first put the disclaimer out there....I AM SO GREEN AT THIS! I'm not the best at the couponing game. My sweet friend, Nickie, introduced me to the power of couponing a couple of years ago. I've partially participated (when I've felt like it), but now I'm serious about it, and it's actually pretty fun competing against myself each week.

Here are the results of a couple of my outings this past week:

Kroger...

2 4-packs of Angel Soft toilet paper

6 packages of Birds-Eye frozen vegs

2 grill spices

2 Pillsbury Family Sized Brownie desserts

Total spent = $1.96

The picture is blurry, I know...and you can't even see it.

But you have to trust me....$1.96!

CVS this morning....

1 gallon of milk

1 shaving cream

1 hairspray

1 Crest Pro-Health toothpaste

and 1 double pack of newspapers (for next week's coupons)

Total spent = $1.06 out of pocket, with $6.89 in Extra Bucks to spend next time I shop.

I'm not bragging, because I'm definitely not the only one out there who does this. There are many, many, many talented women who do this far more and far better.

But isn't that FUN to know that it CAN be done?!

Another way we were frugal this week was with pure will-power and determination!

We undertook 'THE GARAGE' project today. It was a MESS....a ROYAL MESS!

So we took EVERYTHING out, so we could see what we had to work with.

All clear! Now we can move things around and start over.

We spent the afternoon clearing out, dividing items into "garage sale", "get items back to rightful owner" and "trash" piles. The rest we put back neatly. Hopefully we can keep it that way for awhile! (I'd give you an "after" photo, except that our other 3 piles are currently neatly piled in the middle of the newly clean garage...so it would still look like a wreck to you)

As you know, on any home project day, the last thing you want to do is cook. Or clean. At lunch, all we really wanted to do was go get a hamburger. Easy! (Also, I'm behind on menu planning and regular grocery shopping, so food items to choose from are slim pickins around here!)

We decided to scrape the barrel and eat what we could find. We ended up having a salad with leftover chicken, carrot sticks and fruit. How much cheaper...and healthier...than a burger!

At dinner, we were totally tempted, yet again, to eat out. We were exhausted! And we STILL hadn't been to the store. We scraped the very BOTTOM of the barrel this time and had leftover ham (a tiny bit between all of us), leftover spinach/rice casserole, frozen peas and we all split a sweet potato. We all got filled up...it was cheaper than eating out....we cleaned out our frig...and it was healthier than fast food. We won all around!

I'm encouraged that we chose well in an exhausted moment.

Lastly, I wanted to direct you to a great blog I found today. The writer over at Simple Mom wrote a really encouraging piece entitled The Emotional Benefits of Becoming Debt Free. I found it encouraging and helpful as we plug ahead in our serious quest to "Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another..." (Romans 13:8)

Thanks for traveling along with me on this frugal road...and letting me share our journey with you!

Breathe.....

Obviously, by the name of this blog, I’m truly interested in living a more simple life. In previous posts, and always in my head, I’ve tried to examine what simplicity IS in 2009. Life is busy. Technical. Fast. Activity-ridden.

I really enjoyed reading Tuesday’s post over at New Every Morning. She spoke what is always on my heart. Slow down. ENJOY life. Play. Simply.

Somehow, I’ve always associated living in the country with simple life. I suppose in some ways that may be true. But oh no…I live in the city…so what now?

This is where I am today on the subject:

Living simply is NOT:
about activity.
keeping up.
doing more and more and more.
having the most well-behaved children, who are involved in everything.
having a model home.
the exhaustion of keeping up appearances.
living beyond your means.
not about WHERE you live.
not even about having a well-read blog (although that would be fun!).

Living simply IS:
about HOW you live.
about relationship.
about being intentional with life.
about being mindful of people.
about loving.
about giving to others.
about sharing your true, authentic heart.
about protecting yourself from getting caught up in the 2009 current of life.
about enjoying the food on your fork, slowly.
about smiling patiently at your 2-year-old who is determined to buckle his own seat belt.
about being content with the blessings you are given.

It’s about daily giving it all to the One who gave it in the first place..and owns it all anyway.

I’ve said before…it’s a state of mind and attitude. I believe that. But now I also believe it requires mindful attention to maintain it.

I would love to hear what your thoughts are on what it means to have a simple life in today’s world. Leave a comment, if you’d like. But also enjoy your day. Breathe...and count your blessings!