Getting Philosophical With Dr.Pepper?

Has anyone seen this comercial?  Does anyone get the irony? 

It's such a revealing snap shot of human behavior.  We are incredibly ironic people.  It begins with people wanting to be different than the status quo.  Above the humdrum, they want to stand out, to be different. 

The irony is that end the end, they all look more alike than they ever did before.  If you don't read the detail of their shirts (which even the font makes it hard to differentiate), you have no idea why they are different. 

People do this all the time.  We like to make statements of being different and then group up with all the people who want to be the same kind of different till irony takes over and we look the same again. 

Think about it!  People don't want to be like the world when they become Christians so they all take on this other/culture "Christian" look and they all look the same.  The hippies hung with the hippies, the gender statement groups, even the goth kids in school hung with the goths! 

My point is, truly being one of a kind means that you can be with those you are like and without them.  To start a different group and all start to look and act the same is just another social security setting!  You are immediately no longer ONE OF A KIND!

Man, the irony is just so thick here!  People are such a study. 

What do you think?

Emma's Open House Fare

Just plain loved this.  It was up at Emma's open house.

Here is a zoom in.  Gotta love when you kids bless you with something like that.

Love that it's all in time taking rainbow.  So like her.....:) 

Curses Don't Just Come In Four Letters

I heard in a sermon once that if a Christian uses four letter words, they are not saved.  I disagree.  I think we really put too much stock in our cultural emotional reaction to words.  On the other hand, I also think some believers are way too relaxed in this area as well.

I enjoyed what Randy Alcorn had to say on it today from a link on his Facebook, and there were a lot of great verses he had there.  It was funny to me though, as I read through what he was getting ready to refer to, another man's post on profanity, and I was starting to feel all bad for some things I've liked that have language in them.  OH, or worse, when I actually find the language fits and is funny!!! (Oh, SOO unholy of me!)   THEN the guy says he was referring to the movie "The Hangover" and how friends had said how great it was, blah, blah, blah...
WELL!
If we are using that movie as a baseline...um yeah, I feel better.  I hated the movie.  I laughed rarely and found it a huge waste of my time and sense of humor.  I agree with Randy though, you cannot take people's word on movies for the most part.  At least not if you are going to sit down with your kids and let them watch it with you for the first view.  I also wondered to myself why the title of the movie was not a clue in and of itself to this guy as he says he was researching whether it was a good family movie...um...ha,ha..hello!?  HANGOVER might be a clue!
 I had a friend over to bring her son to Caedmon's birthday party the other day and I asked if he was allowed to watch the original "Men In Black".  My kids love those movies.  She said she did not think so because the movie had some language.  I responded that for us, it was a common conversation issue since they hear it at school anyway (her kids are home schooled, and heavens, I say that only for context people).  She kind of gave me a funny look, not a bad one, just a funny one.  First of all, I want to say that our policy, and our teaching to our kids, is that we respect other people's convictions for their children and we don't play or watch music or movies that they are uncomfortable with.  No matter what we think of their decisions.  We don't seek to offend people, and THAT really is my guide line on this issue.  Still, the reason I said that to her was because I don't believe keeping their virgin ears is as important as discussing the heart of the matter.

In our home, we don't want to curse eachother.  There are many ways to curse eachother.  The bible tells us not to speak curses against one another.  So, it's not really the word choices but the heart attitude.  My child can say all manner of accepted language and be cursing me or his or her sibling, or their teacher at school etc.  So here are my main points:

• It's not the word, it's the sinful heart-  We are too easily shocked by some words and not by others.  We need to NOT SPEAK CURSES, in any form.  We should be more shocked by heart attitudes than we are.
• Profane language oozes pride and malice-  In my mind, no language should be wasted.  So many times, I have heard people using language every other word that means NOTHING.  It's goal is to give the one hearing a sense of greatness, or intimidation from the one speaking.  What you are basically saying is a lot of exaggerated adjectives about your self or what is happening to you.  Basically, over usage of profane language is just a DRAMA QUEEN under cover.   
• It has it's place-  WHAT?   Did I really say that????  Yes, I did.  There are times when I truly believe that certain culturally unacceptable words are completely appropriate in context.  IF they don't come with attitude (pride, dissension, accusation, malice, anger etc).  When would this be applicable?  I have a good example.  I was asking Victoria to do a bunch of things one evening and she was trying to tell me she needed a break.  I was not being very sensitive and went on saying "well, this and this and this!"  She looked at me and very calmly said "Mommy, I had a very sh**y day."  She fought back some tears as she said it.  Now, at first I was tempted to get on her for her use of language.  The only reason though was because of my legalistic pride.  She was using it without attitude (and trust me, I can tell), as a descriptive adjective that her day was congruent with poop i.e. VERY BAD, and quite honestly, the communication adjective was effective as I suddenly knew she was not doing well.  Yes, I really believe that is a perfectly fine place for my child to use language. In fact, I was glad she felt she could use it to me.   Mind you, those times are RARE!  Be warned, my children! :)  There are times that women are behaving in such a way that referring to them as a "B**ch" is completely descriptive.  If I need to see a teeth-bared snarling dog in my mind, so be it!  I say again, these times are RARE.....please remember that, because these words are most commonly used with sinful motives.
• It is only for use in our home- I don't let them use these words (frankly, the instance above is really the only time they have used them as yet) in public.  Really I speak in future tense, I won't let them because we have not even faced this much yet. The reason is the same for why we are careful of what music we play, and movies we watch when company is over.  The goal is not to offend.  This is not about putting on a face of perfect Christian behavior in front of people either, we DON'T want to teach that at all!  It is about thinking of others.  
• F*boms NEVER acceptable- For one good reason, it's making sick what God created beautiful.  I don't like to hear it, I don't use it in conversation.  S*x is over-spoken, under-valued, and under-respected in our culture enough as is.  I mean, let's go back to our common sense reasons to use or not to use.  If we agree that some words are correct in context, when is this acceptable?  If it is, I don't want to hear about it!  Know what I'm saying here? Yeah, keep that to yourself where it belongs okay ??? :)   I dare anyone to say "I copulated with..." instead of the F*bomb every time... now that would be a shocking conversation to hear!  It's a simple case of throwing language around wrong.  IT's purpose is SHOCK VALUE, pure and simple.  To make an emotional impression once again on the hearer, that usually lacks substance in reality.   It would be just as stupid as saying "refrigerator!" in between conversation of heightened description or anger.  You really are looking just as idiotic in my mind.  If you can't say what you are saying well, you are doing it no better with a word out of context.  You may as well grunt angrily and loud (or add a splash of beating your breasts) in between and show yourself for the true animal you are. SO, yes, biblically I think this is the one word that is always "dirty"  but truly, outside of my conviction and into just common sense, it is a hollow expressive grunt. 

This is not a case of holy-er-than-thou however.  We will fail in our cursing to each other whether we use a four letter word or not.  I'm just saying, we should be more concerned with the heart attitude flowing out of our mouths than merely the word choices.  Culture conditions us, and though I agree we don't want to be desensitized to the language, we should be more concerned about being desensitized to our own selfishness and sin.  We should not boast to the world that we are so much better because we don't use language.  We should not dare to think that makes us better.  Cursing can come in different alphabetical packages.  I do think because, like the verse says, we are now children of the light we should be very careful in our usage of any language.  People should see a difference in our lack of sinful speech in any form. The four letter formula is not enough, and the soap in the mouth hides the stench of the heart.

I'd love to hear your thoughts.....

Why Coupon? Part 4: What I Do

This post has to be quick.  I don't have time to put up links to the last few parts.  See the side bar....

I really don't do all I use to for coupons.  I use to use baseball card holders and have each coupon folded and in one.  That takes way too much time.
The fact is ....

I HATE CUTTING COUPONS!!!

So, I don't if I don't have to.  The main way the blogs alert you to a deal is to tell you which coupon to use from what insert.  For example it will say "SS 6/03/12"  that would mean that it was from the Smart Source insert in the paper and from that date of paper.  So, now what I do is just print out the post that tells me what will be in the paper and put that in front of the inserts, and then place them in a folder in my home organization notebook.   When I see I need them, I cut them out.

I get the paper, but I watch the alerts for when there won't be one, like this weekend.  That way I don't waste my money.  If I see the heads up blog post of what the coupons are looking really good for what I like to buy, I will buy two papers.  The LA Times is the best around here.  The coupons are higher value and there are more of them.  Each paper is in it's own set of coupons folder spot.

I print the printable on coupons.com and target.com.  I keep the target coupons separate and they both have an envelope.  I do cut these when I get them because I use the big paper cutter at work to save time.  I sort them in food, body, and cleaning.  I use paperclips of color to tell at a glance.

When I plan a trip to the store, I gather what I need and paperclip each deal together.  Usually it will mean a few coupons.  Sometimes, if I need to remember the scenario I write it on a little paper and clip that too.
I clip my reward "money" for that store to them so I have it right there with me.

I carry my notebook all the time in case I see a sale I know I have a coupon for.  I also use my iphone to check the blogs I keep up with.  If I'm going to Albertson's, I check her post for the sales that week.  I zero in on the red checks especially.

I check my two sites (linked in the right side bar) a few times a day real quick so I don't fall behind.

Once a month I go through the coupons and get rid of outdated ones.  I think I need to do this by-weekly though.


So, that's it.  Remember, the previous posts have helpful links for you to get started.  There are easy "101" links that make it simple.  Feel free to ask questions in the comments.

Mama Fashion: AKA How To Dress Up A Chubby

A fun thing happens when your have girls and they start to grow up, you catch up on fashion a bit lol.  I am a strange shopper though.  I rarely buy anything off the rack.
For years I was a Goodwill shopper.  That became lame for the most part when prices went up and I could do better at Target clearance and Kohls clearance.  I also went through some pretty strange thrift store fashion statements.  I think my worst one was when I thought it was more holy of me to wear long skirts all the time.  Rick asked me to wear pants so that was that.  I love that man!
I also grew up as a tom boy so looking pretty was not on my mind till my late teens.  I was not allowed to wear nail polish till I was 16 and my grandma snuck me to get my ears pierced when I was in college.  So, yeah, I didn't bother much till then.  My late teen fashion spurt was short lived  as I had my honeymoon baby nine months after getting married... I was 20.  Back then fashionable maternity or nursing wear did not exist. Then, I went through years of feeling frumpy, and not really sure what I liked.  Mostly, I had three young kids and didn't have time to think about it.  It was going to get spit up or pooped on so why did it matter?
Now, I'm not claiming to be a fashion diva here, I'm just saying I'm having more fun with it.

See I've put a few lbs on since taking a desk job (insert sad face for me please, thank you).  I'm sure being 35 does not help that.  It's not like I'm a couch potato either, I work out a few times a week and we walk as a family when the evenings get longer.

My first reaction was sheer frustration.  That only makes it worse though.  I don't want to be perfect, I want to look good for my husband, and I want to feel good in my own skin.  That is all I need.  So here are a few things I've found that help my chubby self:

• Low cut pants- I use to think these were the curse of this generation on mom's.  I kept hearing that these make you look thin but for me they just would not allow me to bend over.  Sure they were elongating and did not cut into my tummy when I sat down but I'm not into vulgar when I sit either! The solution was found in my next fashion must have....
• Tanks-  I rarely wear them solo, though I probably should.  I consider them a layer piece.  I get them when they are cheap and keep a bunch of colors.  Now days they help you get to wear the unwearable.  So many tops are immodestly low.  Start to look at tops with new possiblities when you know you have your tanks in your back pocket! Get the long ones you can tuck in your low jeans, throw a shirt over that and you have solved your low jean problem!   (Oh, and keep an eye for Target coupon deals on the sites, this shirt here was only $3 after I waited for a sale and used a coupon!)    It's so comfortable too.  I use some "Fat Free Dressing" tanks when I find them on clearance or at Ross.  They are SOOO helpful!
• Long Necklaces-  A few that are casual, a few dressy, always grab cheap.  Your best bet is Kohls clearance and Forever 21.  Victoria and I LOVE a trip to F21 for some cheap accessories!  Long necklaces elongate your figure and when you are chubby, that is a good thing. Get ones that are very transferable, and not too many in specific color requirements. I sometimes wear more than one, like here.  This is actually a REALLY long one wrapped twice adn my favorite bird cage necklace I probably wear too much (I adore bird cages!)   Last year was the year of the earring for me. Clearance sales at Kohls helped feed that with awesome selections for a buck or two. This year is the year of the necklace it would seem (are we not all thinking Guy De Maupassant now!?)

This picture makes me look way more trim than I am.  I'm flattered it turned out so well, I should figure out how I twisted my hips there and do that more often! lol

• Loose the Tennies- unless I need them for comfort, I don't wear tennis shoes with jeans anymore.  UNLESS they are converse.  I don't do those often either.  To finish the casual dressy look I use sandles, thongs or one inch comfy heals. I know some mom's do comfy Mary Jane's too.  A little bit of foot fancy can make you feel much better!  

Many of us are in that stage of life where we are not ready to look like our grandma, but we sure can't do the skinny jeans our teen girls are in either.  Putting some effort into getting cute and comfortable helps us just be happier mom's.  Should we still have a gracious attitude in sweats and burp up?  Sure, but come one now, you have to admit.....it's harder!  

USE THE MAGIC YOU HAVE PEOPLE.....;)

Why Coupon? Part 3: Keep It Simple

In this series:
Why Coupon?
Why Coupon? Part 2: Your Hired!

The biggest problem with coupons is it's madness snare. In fact, I found it humorous that there was even an episode of Bones based on coupon crazy women.

Here are a few guidelines I use to keep it simple:

• Skim The Surface- coupon deals can be a BOTTOMLESS PIT!  Don't fall in it.  Get the good stuff and only the others if you really need them. 
• Use the 1-2-3 Rule-  mine have to fall into three categories most of the time.  1) Is it something I need or use anyway (not 20 years from now either).  2) Is it on sale or a reward deal? 3) Do I have a coupon?  This method allows for triple the value to me.  
• Narrow Your Baseline-  I'm just getting back into this so yes, right now, I'm snagging some name brand body washes, toothpaste and such for a buck or so.   Soon, however I will have my stash piled a bit and I can afford to SIT and WAIT for a better deal.  For instance, last week, I got a great deal on Dial hand wash for .29 ea.  Now, that I have 8 of them, I'll sit and set my baseline at anything that price or less.  Soon, you will be only taking in free or nearly free items.  Be okay with starting with a discounted stash.  
• Resist The Temptation To Overstock- especially on items you don't use often or that will expire. 
• I Am Not Running A Charity- some people are, and that is great!  Perhaps I will be someday but for now, I'm not doing all this homework and running to stores to donate items.  Don't feel you have to do the deal just to not let the deal pass.  IF you don't wear contacts, don't go get free contact solution just to give it to someone.  Let your friends do their own homework.  This is a cruel rule I have for myself because I use to do a ton for my neighbor and I became over committed.  If I'm doing the deal anyway I may grab some for someone I know wants it or needs it.  If you are at a different place in life this can be an AMAZING ministry!  Do, definitely do.  
• Keep a Budget- I've not been good at this the last few weeks.  This next paycheck I'm switching to cash so I can do better at this.  It's easy, when you do a lot of transactions to loose track.  I am also going to be tracking my savings more. 
• Notice Your Inventory!-  My husband and I had over a thousand books when we first got married.  We loved book sales.  Eventually we noticed we were buying discounted books....WE ALL READY HAD!  Don't do the same with couponing.  Check your inventory of food and toiletries often!
• Less Is More!-  Yes, even here.  Once in the free zone, watch out with collecting.  If you have enough for a few months (or a year!) skip it.  The stress of clutter is a heavy problem for you psyche.  Don't become one of those crazy people!  

Tomorrow I will do my last post in this series.  It will just be on how I do things.  It will be simple.  For more info on how to get started, I suggest you go here.  

I may be doing some weekly show and tell's however as I go.  I always find those inspirational.  

Little Valedictorian

She May go to a small school, but she is ending the year on top.  We can take no bragging rights for this.  One, because God has gifted her with a great memory and study ethic. Secondly, she did this all on her own.  I've never seen anything like it.  In all the years at public school, (she was homeschooled till 5th grade), we have never once had to hound her about her homework.  She is so good at being self-motivated that I hardly know when there is a test or a deadline at all.  I have not had to!  She navigates it all with great maturity and independence.  Sometimes I ask her just cause I feel left out!  She has been a leader in the classroom and her teacher tells me she has a gift for leading and instructing others. 

Next week she graduates 8th grade and will have to give a speech in front of the whole school.  She is so nervous about that, and I'm worried I'll blubber all over the gym floor! 

I realize that HS is a HUGE pond and it may get a little tough, but I'm excited to see what this girl can do!  I thank God for giving her her these gifts and I pray she will always bless Him and others with them.  

We saw this newborn dress at Target  (it looked a lot smaller in person).  It made me realize how much she has grown because she had a newborn dress when she was born and she was swimming in it!  Way to go big girl, keep it up.  We love you!

Why Coupon? Part 2: Your Hired!

(For Part One, go here)
You have to think of couponing that way, as a job.  What you make an hour varies.  Sometimes it will amaze you, and other weeks it will be slow.  The nice thing is that you set the hours, and you don't even have to work that week at all if you don't want to!

My suggestion is to think of how many hours a week you are willing to give over to your new job.  For me, it's about an hour a day, and some of that is done while I'm doing other things.  For instance, I may be waiting to pick up the kids at the bus stop and I'll use my iphone to see what the deals are online.  In one hour, I can be made aware of usually about ten deals at various (or sometimes even one!) places that are going to save me money.  Usually that money amount is well over min wage, and there are no taxes lol!  So, think of it that way but....

ONLY GIVE THE JOB WHAT YOU WANT TO!  

Remember, you are the boss here, you are not a slave to all the deals, you are a prioritized busy woman, so give it just ten min a day if you can and only pick up that free of cheap item if you happen to be at that store.  It can be that simple.  Even if you only do that, you will save.

Let me demonstrate.  I'm going to go over to Southern Cali Saver right  now and time how long it takes me to see what the deals are that I would do at Target and Walgreens this week.  Ok...here go...

Ok..in 8 min I skimmed to see what deals I would do.  Here they are:

Kotex U tampons $3.99 - $1.00 coupon, get $3 rewards (used like cash in that store)
Coupon Paycheck = $4 (rounding the penny...ok:)

Ajax BOGO (Buy One Get One Free) .99  w/ in add coupon= .49 ea
Buy two
Coupon Paycheck= $1

Target

Banana Boat Sunscreen (I don't even have the coupons needed to get these free as many do.  I am just getting back into this and don't have the paper's coupons from the needed dates, but that's OK...I need some of this for my husband and kids anyway so it's still a good deal with just the Target coupon)

Buy two, get a $5 Target card....$6.49 ea
buy two= about $7
minus two $1 off target coupons
minus $5 gift card value
Pay $6 for two
Coupon Paycheck= $7
(it would have been $13 with those coupons)

That is it!  Not much this week I am doing at either of these.  I don't need a lot right now so I'm not even looking at the so, so deals.  Southern Cali Saver does this wonderful helpful thing of putting a red check on the items that are outstanding.  Unless I know I need something, I am looking to just skim the cream of this process so I don't look at the rest for now.  Also, there were some red checked diaper items and free breathe strips I have no need for, so I'm not even gleaning it all) ((UPDATE:  Those are not breathe strips, they are natural sleep aid strips, sorry.  So, I will be doing that deal especially because it has now become a MONEY MAKER: go here to find out more.))

SO...in 8 min, I was made aware of a savings of?

$12
Yes, you do need to factor in the rest of the process such as cutting and gathering your coupons, going to the store, looking for the item etc.  Still....

Let's just say that my savings would be about the same looking up the rest of the cream of the crop deals for the rest of an hour, I would be looking at a coupon paycheck of about...

$75 or so!  That is a well paying job people....just sayin.
Of course it's not that great all the time, but when there is nothing, you don't take the time to gather and go anywhere and you really loose nothing but the browsing time.  We all have a little browsing time when we do other things.  There are going to be big score weeks and low score weeks, but if you are looking for the cream of the crop, and not trying to do every somewhat discounted item, you won't use much time. Remember also, that though I call these discounted items "paychecks", for me they have to be things I would buy anyway and definitely use.  Also remember that there are often real, true, actual money makers that add to that "paycheck".

My friend Karen always encourages me when I get away from saving, back into it to do just a little something.  She is always right.  Just so you know though, I drag my feet sometimes and I just don't do it at other times.  Some balls have to just drop, and this is definitely one of them that I allow to drop.  Just starting with the free or close to free stuff with one drugstore would be saving you money.  She is so right.

Try to remember also, you live in a day and age that does homework for you!  Just the two sites I follow daily (and throughout the day on my smart phone) highlight what I should be looking for, give me links and do all the work for me!  This use to take a lot more work years ago.  My two links are in the side bar all the time.  Join the facebook pages of your favorite sites to get updates all through the day.  Many you have to act on right away because they are facebook offers that are limited.  For instance, while I was writting this, I was alerted to a $2/1 coupon for Country Time's half and half lemonaid/tea.  Most places this will come out for two free.  I had to just click over and print it.  So, it's pays to follow these blogs. More on that later....

Tomorrow, I will post what I do practically to get started to keep it simple and stress free.
Feel free to ask questions.

Dessert Pizza

Caedmon had his little guy party/sleepover last night and his wish was to make individual pizzas. So, I thought, why not finish with dessert pizza?
I bought some Nutella a while back because there was a coupon for Costco and I'd never tried it. I knew it had to have been used before so I found some ideas online.
I used the same dough we used for the pizzas because many of the recipes used it. I don't recommend that. It was not bad but if I could do it again, I would make the dough myself and make it a bit sweet and add a little extra butter for moisture. Or, use sugar cookie dough or shortbread Still, it was yummy, and pretty!!

1 pizza dough (brush with butter and bake 400* till done as you like)
Spread with Nutella
Top with what you like!
We put on marshmallows and returned it to the oven for a few minutes till they got puffy and gooey. Then we added chocolate chips and Strawberries.

Why Coupon?

I use to really be into it. Back when we had Ralph's and they had a weekly page in the paper of their store coupons. It was like Christmas every time because the manufacture coupons were usually the same products and you could buddy them up for free stuff all the time. Buy three papers, prepare three sets, go through three times and the pantry starts to fill with ease. Back then I had a preschooler and a toddler, and no car so I walked. I had little to do and it got me out of the apartment I was stuck in all the time.
Then, we lost our Ralph's and I lost my umph.
Somewhere in there I had another baby and was beginning to homeschool. There was no brain power left for coupons. I would get a burst now and then but the homework was too much.
Years went by and I learned about a website called Money Saving Mom. From her I learned about "the drugstore game" and most specifically, CVS and their ECB deals. Once again I was bringing home free products and I'd caught the bug again. I eventually started a website to post the local deals.
I switched jobs and took on more hours, many more hours about a year ago and dropped the coupon search entirely. I'm just now getting back into it.
Why? Because frankly, when my CVS free toothpaste stash ran out (well over a year after I purchased them!), I was mad I was paying for toothpaste!!! I seriously would be going through the checkout and barking at myself inside "you slacker! You KNOW you could be doing better than this! You know this is free somewhere right now!"
The thing with couponing however is that you can't just dive right in. Couponing is like a slowly primed pump action. You won't have all you need right away to get all the deals, and you don't want to do all the somewhat good stuff. It's better to ....well, you know what, I'll do a part 2 soon and give you a narrowed down step by step I use to get priming your deals.
One of the turn off comments I hear from women is that it's all junk. That is so not true anymore. MSM even does a gluten free coupon post, and there are plenty of healthy food competitors wanting to help you help them now days.
In the last two weeks that I have really started to concentrate here are my favorites I've snagged:

• 6 bags of FREE Fresh Express green salad mixes. I have a few more coupons too and they are also going to come out free. You want to strategize your produce so you don't get too much at once.

• 20 FREE 2 liters if Dr. Pepper. (a rolling Catalina, which I can explain later). I only paid the CRV on these.

• Dial hand soap for .29 cents. We go through a lot of hand soap so this thrilled me. I did the deal three times and got 12 bottles, 4 for a friend.

• MONEY MAKER (you get these a lot with the drugstore game) on Jergens lotion. I made $1.40 to bring home two trial size intensive care lotions. I did the deal twice but I could have done it more.

• .99 Wonderful Pistachios for the large 1 lb bag. My hubby was happy about this one. I did the deal twice as the reward (printed "cash") was limit 2. However, I had one more dollar off coupon and with my $2.80 money maker at the same store, the third bag still only cost me $1.20.

• .95 for 5 2oz pkgs of Oscar Meyer deli meat ( came out to $1.52 per lb) another rolling Catalina at Vons still going right now. I will post the link for this deal on my FB page.

So those are just my top of the head favorites. Stay tuned for more broken down tips on part two!
(Note: I cannot link from my iPhone blogger app, which I'm using now. Tomorrow I will add links to many of the things I've referenced here. So check back!)

Caedmon's 9th Birthday

We usually kidnap the kids from school on their birthdays. True to his way of doing things, Caedmon didn't want to be kidnapped, but ditch altogether.
He had quite the day!

1) Get a haircut
2) Go to Nana's to find a surprise hiding. A 3-D movie ticket and a Cold Stone gift card!
3) Have pizza with Daddy! Lots of pizza. (I was amazed how much those boys packed away)

4) See the Avengers in 3-D dbox! (too long for him though. The last hour the action finally got going and he leaned over to me and said "now it's getting interesting!" :)

5) Get the biggest ice cream EVER!

6) Sing and blow out candles!

7) Have Nana come for dinner and open presents! A wonderful dragon book from Grandma and Grandpa O., and a much too cool Lego set from them too!

Happy Birthday to my baby who grew a little too fast!!!

Savoring Frugally

I had a bunch of bread crust from making the kids PB&J pockets.
So I looked for a savory bread pudding.

The Pioneer Woman had one.

I did not have bacon but I added artichoke hearts and green onion. I also used spinach.

It was lovely and seemed to be a hit for the most part.
On the food drive day through the post office, Rick brought home two loaves of bread because they said they cannot take bread. So, I plan to freeze a bunch more pockets and freeze the chopped crust separately. Thankfully, the savory bread pudding softens the crusts perfectly.
So be frugal and don't give all your bread to the ducks! ;)