coupons?

I have been diligently working away at couponing, meal planning and grocery lists this past week.
All of which are not exactly something I would choose to do willingly. I really have a hard time with each of these. But I have been challenged lately to work harder at these things because they are some thing I not only need to do but must do. They are my responsibility.
My job, given by God, is to run the home. To be the home maker. Not lead the home- that is my husband's God given gift, but to organize and efficiently keep it in order. It's something I think some women shy away from, or procrastinate or somehow justify not doing for the sake of so many excuses. I fit right in there.
It's easy to put other things ahead of these tasks that, well are not exactly my favorite. I have laundry to finish, a little boy to teach, emails to respond to, bathrooms to clean, meals to cook...and on goes my list.
Yes these items need to be done too, but along with the ones that I well, dislike.
But I know that I am more than capable, and God is willing to help with each task He has expected me to do.
I'm not a failure. In fact I can be pretty determined when I set my mind to doing something. Firm even.
So I jumped in this past week. I knew the road before me would be long and frustrating as I planned out meals, researched sales and coupons and wrote my grocery list.
And guess what? I finished it. (meal plan here if you'd like to look)
I was determined to finish no matter how long it took. And I did. Thank you God for helping.
I prayed over the time I invested as I headed to the store and I feel God blessed the efforts I put in.
Will it get easier? I am hoping so. I'm starting to see a reason to all the madness.
Meal plans= less stress each day, less money on store trips, and more time for other things. So it does make sense. I think I forget that planning always equals more time in the long run.
And the coupons.
I struggled using coupons for the fact that I try hard to keep our foods more whole food based, or with as little processed foods as possible. It's tough to do this on a small budget but also with coupons as so many of them are for boxed, canned, packaged processed junk that really shouldn't even be on the shelves, because of the unhealthy things that are in them. (thinking of sugary cereals, microwave meals...etc.)
But I was again challenging myself to find the best deals, whole food or organic, without stocking up on things that were unhealthy.
The first thing I did when I was researching coupon deals was to look for all the free things. By free I mean the things that you end up getting free when you use the coupons combined with sales. Now these items can often be junk items if they are food, but not always. Free things were also toiletries or paper products such as toothpaste, kleenex, cough drops, soaps etc. When I saw those as free I knew that even if we didn't use some of them, I could still pick them up and donate them to others. Now that is awesome! Also, some of the freebies actually make you a little money when you have coupons that pay for it, with overage. So even if you don't use the items, buy them to make the little overage and donate them.
After I found all the free items and made sure I had the coupons necessary (that's key), I then looked at sales for things we could use.
After shopping between Kroger and Publix (they are minutes from each other where I live) I was able to stock up on some great items including: organic soup, organic broths, organic granola, annie's mac and cheese, natural eggs, salsa for cheap! I also picked up some other basic groceries including produce, which I could spend a little more on with the savings. I picked up a turkey for a great deal at .79 lb for Thanksgiving. Overall between the two stores I spent roughly $58 or so. $19 at Publix (saving over $19) and $38 at Kroger (saving $25 or so).
Also for the free things I headed out to Kroger on a special trip just for those. My total from that trip? I was paid over $7 back. That was pretty awesome. I think that was what encouraged me to try a little harder at coupons. A word of encouragement- you can coupon, save and still buy healthy good food for your family.
Shop sales, in season, and stock up when you have coupons combined with sales on good foods. I thought it was kind of like hoarding to stock, but you want to buy a bunch when it's at it's lowest price so that you are well stocked until the next sale. And I don't greedily buy things we don't use. If something is free, I'll pick it up to donate if we don't use it.
It's a lot of fun to chip away at our budget and get things as low as I can. We don't have wiggle room when it comes to going over so I have to shop smart, there isn't an option here!
Here are the groceries from my two grocery trips:

Also I stick to one site for all this- www.southernsavers.com
I think this helps me tremendously, otherwise I'd be all over the internet searching for sales.
I also shop at Aldi for things, and CVS- but that's another story for another day.
Be encouraged women, you were made for the calling God has on your life- being a home maker, managing all the tasks at home, training up your children, what a huge blessing and honor it is! You are capable of doing all this too, with God's help, don't give up.
Psalm 128:2 
For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands: happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee.
I also like the translation in the ESV that says:
You shall eat of the fruit of the labor of your hands; you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you.

So don't give up! It will be worth it.

wedding, family, and beach fun

We've been busy this past month.
Oliver had his first long car ride. First trip to the beach too. And first time sitting through a wedding. My brother in law got married to a lovely new sister in law, so we made the drive to Florida last week...wait, I mean the week before that (what day is this?). The 7 hour car ride started to get a little hairy at the end, but overall Oliver did great. And he successfully sat quietly through the wedding- my biggest fear. I was praying for him and for me :) My sister in law saved the day with some goldfish crackers. I have never given him these (I'm pretty choosy about what he eats, and I try to avoid processed foods whenever we can). BUT let me just say, thank you Jesus for goldfish crackers. They were a wonderfully quieting food. And Oliver sat and chomped while I held him in the back, and watched the ceremony.
The reception was at a Bed and Breakfast that had a lovely little outdoor area for tables and dancing. We stayed there overnight that last night and loved it. It was my second time staying at a B&B and I have got to say I am loving the experience you get at them, in comparison to a hotel. The personal attention and the food....oh my the food!...is always sooo good. My mind had visions of Jonah and I running our own little B&B somewhere tucked away...minus all the work, time and patience it must take to make it work! It just looks like such a fun job to meet so many people in their own walks of life and to cook too...
I think I was drooling a little over the massive kitchen that the owner cooked all our food in! I am so thankful for our own home, and our own kitchen, I truly am, but it was fun to take in all the space, the deep sinks, huge stainless steel fridge and ginormous center island. Think of all the meals you could make- at once!
We also had such a great time staying with family and visiting with everyone. It's not often we all get to get together on Jonah's side, so it made it even more special.
Oliver loved seeing everyone, exploring new spaces (hmm, must take after Jonah who easily adapts to change and traveling) and playing with his cousins. His first experience at the beach was a lot of fun too, he loved it. Loved the water, loved the shells, loved the sand- and ate it too.
It was sad to say goodbye to the time away, to family. But we were thankful it went so well, and thankful we could be there.
Great memories! We have many photos from the week, too many to post. I'll have to add some photos in another post, such sweet ones!

Oliver's messes

Love this boy.
He is really getting into everything now, and it's hilarious!

I came into the living room the other day to find this. Oliver had taken every book out of his book bin. He was quietly reading along...so THAT's why he was so quiet!

campout

Busy Busy.
Oliver is all over the place now, walking away. He is getting faster and faster and it is sooo much fun watching him! My days are definitely not dull- never a dull moment!
I love being at home with him. Every day is confirmation of this and I thank God for the privilege.
We celebrated Jonah's 29 birthday this past weekend. Such fun.
My goal was to be creative in my gift to him. So after some brainstorming I decided to create a sort of scavenger hunt.
I called a friend of ours and asked if they would mind if we borrowed their tent over the weekend. Then I shopped for a few special things Jonah liked, and placed them around the house, so that he would find them on his birthday. The tent idea was for us to have our own little campout. I purchased s'more supplies and put them in a basket with some matches and candles and his headlamp. I scurried over to my friends house to pick up the tent, came back and set it up.
Another little surprise was a box of popcorn with an old classic movie I borrowed from the library. A little Bob Hope and a bag of popped corn, sounds like a lovely night.
I then made clues for each of these two gifts, hid the gifts and had Jonah find them. The first clue he found was the popcorn and movie- that was for that night as his birthday was on a Thursday. The next clue was the basket of outdoorsy stuff that lead him outide- where the tent was set  up. We broke into that on Friday night and 'camped out' in the tent. What a fun couple of nights!
I loved surprising Jonah and he had a lot of fun celebrating his birthday.
I would love to do surprises like this more often, they are worth it, and the time with Jonah was definitely the best part of all.

apple/blackberry pie

finding his campout clues!

Oliver loved the tent!

we also had sparklers at our campout

Add caption

nothing like s'mores, yum!

thanks

Thea Speaks-thankfulness

I started this post with a link to a friends blog.
Why?
Because it's the very thing I really needed to hear right about now.
What a day.
The weekend really led up to today I suppose.
We had a garage sale and it was a success. But the success was after many days of planning, prepping, praying...hmm, and I can't think of any other 'p' words to throw in there.
It was a full day, and I was so thankful we were able to share our driveway space with friends of ours- who also sold a bunch of their own stuff. I think it made the overall sale look fuller, and it was soo much more fun having them there to hang out with us all day. We walked away with a nice chunk of money from it, so thankful for God's provision through it.
But it was pretty tiring.
I didn't realize how much so until today. I crammed too much into one day. That's the truth. Today I thought I would 'catch up' on so many things- meal plans, grocery shopping (I did get these items done) cleaning, laundry...
I hardly felt like I really got ahead, or a start, on any of these to do items. And today Oliver was on strike for naps. And for good behavior. Sigh.
I love my little boy, but today I did not understand what was going on with him.
Jonah had a day off today, which was so much fun- if we had been able to have done something fun together! I feel like I ran around like a chicken with it's head cut off, trying to work at this and that and never getting it all done. Have you ever felt like that?
And with all this, Oliver was crying.
I came home after finally getting our groceries (the meal planning, couponing, and organizing of all this before I left for the store took me a good 2+ days) to a house with dirty floors, toys strewn out, laundry in the washer ready to be dried, and a crying little boy. I felt like I was spinning like a top on the ground. And my sweet husband held me and said- what is one thing you are happy about today? He was gently reminding me of what I had to be thankful for amidst all the craziness of the day.
After dinner, a bath, and tucking in a little boy to bed- and after listening to him cry it out before he fell asleep...I stopped to read this blog post from a friend.
How appropriate it was to be reminded of what I need to be thankful for. I say need because I really do need to be mindful of all that I have to be thankful for. So much. Everything really.
The dirty floors in our home that God provided for us. I have floors- for that I should give thanks.
The toys strewn all over the floor were another thing to be grateful for- so many friends and loved ones had generously given us those toys for our own little one. He has so many choices of things to play with!
And the laundry in the washer- it was clean. It may not have been in the dryer yet, but we had a place to clean our clothes, in fact we had clothes to even clean.
And my husband. How I love him. He can see farther than I can sometimes, past the present circumstances into what is truly important. How I need to learn this when I get all worked up like a mad woman.
And Oliver.
I don't know what had happened to make him so dramatic tonight, choosing to cry and whine when we told him no. How much I love this little boy, even if he acts ugly sometimes. I know it is not the first or the last time and I pray for wisdom throughout it all.
In the middle of crazy days like this I need to stop and give thanks for all that is around me. For the present life we live, for those that we live with, we see daily. What a blessing it is to have each other. At the end of the day, I don't care if my floors and clothes are dirty, I care about hugging my two men, kissing them, loving them.  But more importantly I have a God and Father that loves me sooo much more than I can love another. He knows what my steps will be in the day, He knows what I'll face and who I'll hear crying. Have I continued to give Him thanks for what He's given me? Have I surrendered the day to Him each moment, trusting Him to lead me and use me each hour?

Thank you Father for loving me, for providing meals, groceries, time to organize meal plans, a washer and dryer, a house to live in, beds for us to sleep in, a husband that loves and leads, a son that affectionately loves his mom and dad, a place we can close the door, turn off the lights, and find rest in. May I be mindful of how I need to 'turn off the lights' of this crazy world and just quietly find rest in You. Perhaps that is what You have been speaking to me all day long.

15 months

Oh my goodness, how long has it been since I last posted?
I can't really remember and I haven't looked on my blog to see my last dated post.
We've honestly been so busy just living our day to day that I kind of dropped my posting here.
But what have we been up to?
Here we are about a month into the school year already- hard to believe. I know school starts earlier here than it does in the north. I certainly don't remember starting school until 'real' fall began. But Jonah has been moving right along, and I am so proud of him. He is such a hard worker and a natural teacher. I wish I could sit in on his new class- photography. There is so much I have to learn yet, and he teaches me new things every time we do a shoot together.
I love my husband and I am so thankful for him in my life, by my side. Thank you Jesus for bringing us together!

Oliver has been growing like a weed. He is really developing his personality now and it's hilarious to watch him bloom.
He is 15 months now, actually getting close to 16 and really tackling the walking thing. I love being able to hold his little hand as he totters beside me. I often walk with him down the sidewalk to a park we have in our neighborhood. It's slow going, but I wouldn't rush it for the world. He is thrilled to have this new freedom too and walks all over the house now. He also loves to climb on things and his no fear mentality seems to be too often for my liking. One day he got himself up on our rocking ottoman while Jonah and I were watching. He was mad once he got up there because he couldn't figure out how to get down, until it tipped over. He was fine just a little shocked at it all. He hasn't ventured on the ottoman since then!
He has also discovered how to not only go upstairs but down, and will get all excited when we say 'lets go upstairs' because he knows not to go up without us there. However the other day when I had some friends over, he managed to climb all the way upstairs, without my knowledge as I thought my friends were watching him. They didn't realize he wasn't allowed to go up. Stinker. That was pretty amazing that he did that on his own- when he very well knew it wasn't allowed. Looks like we'll have to keep the gate up at the bottom of the stairs.
Oliver has really done well with learning 'no' for things. We've been teaching him this since he was around 10 months or so and I think that has helped him a lot. He still tries to do things even though he knows it's a no, but daily training... it will continually and consistently be daily training.
Another fun fact about Oliver, he has a fascination with his belly button. He's graduated from holding his hear (or ours) and sucking his thumb when he's tired, to playing with his belly button and sucking his thumb.
I'm not sure what the fascination is with this newfound body part, but it makes us laugh. One day when he's older we'll be sure to show him photos of all his little phases!
And the newest thing that Oliver has learned? What the elephant says.
We wave our arm out and say 'phrmmm' and he started mimicking this. So cute.
I can't believe how quickly he is learning things and copying us too. Truly the little mind he has is so quick and growing so fast, I think we underestimate what he is capable of doing!
We are truly enjoying all these milestones along the way, and looking forward to a very full fall! Pumpkins, roasted marshmallows and hot cocoa are a few things we have yet to introduce to this little boy!

9/11

In honor of 9/11 our town created a memorial called Field of Flags. On this field almost 3000 flags were planted, row after row of our nations symbol. Each flag represented a life- for all the lives that were lost during that horrific day 10 years ago. The day America was attacked by a hateful and lost religious driven group of men.
I'll forever remember the day and the place I first heard of it. I'll forever remember the feelings that I felt while watching all the images fill the television, the papers and the internet.
On Sunday night Jonah and I took Oliver to go see this site that was set up for the lives that were lost.
What a breath taking and sobering sight it was to see the rows of flags standing straight and tall against the  radiant night sky.
I was reminded of God's handiwork, His creation amidst all the grief that comes with this day. I was reminded that He reigns still, and how much of a Hope we have in Him. A Hope that will never be taken from our hearts, our lives. As horrendous as it is to watch our fellow American neighbors die without reason, without cause, I know still that we can find rest at Jesus feet. He desires for us to draw nigh to Him and He will meet us there. I keep feeling the urge for Christians to arise out of these ashes, myself included. We are in a world that desperately needs to grasp onto a Hope, a Life everlasting. And I'm challenged to share with others this Gift from Christ, His Son that died for each of us.
I took this picture of Oliver Sunday night beside a flag. While I'm not one to read into images and try to see things that really are just coincidences (thinking of the crazy pics people post where they see Mary in a cloud, or on a piece of toast etc!) but as I was looking at it I realized that Oliver's shadow looks like a cross. It made me again remember how much I desire to share this cross with Oliver- to lead him to a loving and lasting relationship with Jesus, so that he can live a life full and devoted to Him. Because that is what we are here for, to bring glory to Him.