Frugal Things I Did Last Week

We had a great time enjoying the new Reptile Exhibit at the Zoo.

We went to the zoo one day using our zoo pass which is going to expire at the end of the month.  It was lovely and we even packed a picnic.  We have a very nice sized cooler that fits conveniently in the bottom of our stroller.

I mended a bunch of Eli’s clothes including a bunch of underwear.  I don’t know how in the world he gets holes in them all the time.

Thankfully I was able to cook again this week.  It was a busy week for me but I used the Crock-Pot 3 times.  I even used it to make Tapioca one day for dessert.

I made this tote bag for my son this past week. The outside has a pocket that holds 8 crayons.

I sewed a small tote bag for Elijah that is very similar to the one I made for my cousin Anna.  I had all of the material on hand.  I let Eli choose between a couple of different fabrics that I had purchased on sale.  He chose a fun jungle print.  Thankfully I even had some webbing on hand.  I have made tote bags in the past and have used fabric for the handles but I really prefer the webbing.  The tote bag is a great size for a 3-year-old.  It holds a couple of toys, a book, and a snack.

We finally got to go kayaking again for the first time this year!  My husband & I both own kayaks so this is an almost free activity for us.  We usually kayak on a large local lake so our only expense is gas.  We always pack a cooler so we aren’t tempted to stop to buy drinks on the way home.  :)  It’ll be interesting to see how far into the summer I will be able to kayak since I’m expecting.  I felt pretty wobbly getting in this time.  :)

I canned strawberry jam using strawberries I had purchased for 1.00/pound.  This was my first time making strawberry jam and it was definitely a success.  The jam itself is also highly addictive!  I think we ate more peanut butter & jelly sandwiches this week because of it!

We have been keeping the windows open instead of running the air conditioner most days.

My sweet hubby picked up a book for me on Photoshop 11 from the library.  I have taken two 2 classes on Photoshop from our library but I really only know how to do a couple of things in the program.  One of my goals for this year is to learn how to take better photographs & edit them.  Does anyone have any tips on great free tutorials online?

Eli & I went to a street sale.  We had lots of fun together walking around the entire neighborhood.  I purchased a tablecloth, 2 maternity skirts, 3 dress shirts for Brandon in his exact size, a bassinett cover, a book for Eli that I hope to read aloud sometime next year, 2 vintage handkerchiefs  a pair of earrings, and a magnetic game for Eli.  I’m planning on purchasing a cheap cookie sheet and letting Eli play with magnets on our next road trip.  Has anyone tried this?

What frugal things did you do last week?  

 

18 Weeks

Our little “pumpkin” & I standing in front of the Old Mill along the Cades Cove Loop Road in the Great Smoky Mountains.

I thought it might be fun to share a little bit about my pregnancy this time around.  I’m totally copying this idea from my sister-in-law Renee who is also expecting.  Isn’t that fun?  :)  

I’m just now starting to feel a little better.  We are so thankful for this pregnancy but it has been more challenging than we thought it would be.  (Not near as difficult in my opinion as when I was pregnant with Elijah though.)  I’ve had my fair share of morning sickness but I am so thankful that the throwing up is subsiding for the most part.  :)  I lost a little bit of weight and have regained some of it.  I’m currently -4 pounds from my starting weight.  I have been concentrating on eating more fruits & vegetables.  I’m still not feeling most vegetables but I have been making Green Smoothies in order to get my veggies!  Brandon was horrified when he picked up a recipe for a Spinach Green Monster Smoothie today.  Ha, ha!  

Right now our baby is the size of a sweet potato.  I had a doctor’s appointment last week and again we were able to hear the heartbeat (155).   That NEVER gets old!  Brandon wasn’t able to go with me and I really wish I had recorded it for him.  One of the coolest things lately is the fact that our little pumpkin is really starting to move a lot!  I first felt the baby move while on vacation at about 16 weeks.  This week I have really noticed a lot of movement which is so fun.  It’s one of my favorite aspects of actually being pregnant!  

We have our 20 week ultrasound at the end of the month and have to make the difficult decision of whether or not we are going to peek.  I really want to be surprised at the birth but then I also want to spend the next 20 weeks sewing like crazy.  What to do?  Do you have any guesses?  

 

 

Frugal Things I Did Last Week

The Curling Iron/Flat Iron Case I sewed last week.

 

I sewed a mother’s day gift for my mother-in-law using materials I had on hand.  I made a Flat Iron/Curling Iron Case since she does a lot of traveling.  It is made out of special batting (Insul-Brite) so you can actually put your hair tools inside while it is still hot.  I thought it was a pretty neat idea.  I used this tutorial but I attached the bias tape differently than they did.  It was a little tricky but I was pleased with how it turned out.  I may have to invest in a walking foot if I sew another one.

I cooked!  I’ve been fairly nauseated this pregnancy so this is a big accomplishment for me.  I even cooked ground beef one night which is huge for me!  Along with cooking lunch & dinner most days I made Banana Muffins (to use up old bananas) and homemade CrockPot granola.

I received a book from PaperBack Swap that had been on my wish list.

Elijah & I made homemade Koolaid Playdoh one day when it was rainy.  He played with it for almost an hour!

We picked wildflowers to use as our table centerpiece this week.

I combined all of our errands into one morning to save time and gas.  It was tiring (I ran 8) but it was great to get them all out-of-the-way at once.

I hosted Mother’s Day brunch at our home on Mother’s Day right after church for 10 people.  I served: Fresh Fruit with Dip, Biscuit & Gravy Casserole, French Toast Apple Strata, Sausage Bake, Cinnabon Coffee Cake, and we had a Yogurt Bar with different toppings.  For drinks we had Water with lemons, Milk, Orange Juice, Coffee, & Homemade Starbucks Iced Cappuccino.  I think everyone had a really nice time.  I really enjoyed changing things up and serving brunch instead of lunch or dinner.  :)

I watched a free newborn photography class from Creative Live.  Realistically I doubt I will feel well enough to take our new baby’s newborn photos but we’ll see.  I learned so much from the class.  I’m half tempted to borrow a baby doll and practice!  In case I’m not feeling well enough I would welcome a recommendation for a photographer in the area who has experience with newborns.

Elijah & I picked up a free small jar of paint from Lowes.  I had a craft project in mind for Eli’s room so I let him choose the color.  The man at Lowe’s was so kind that he let Elijah pick out whatever color he wanted.  Then he let him go behind the counter and watch the paint get mixed.  I think this was the highlight of Eli’s day!

My aunt came over and worked on our landscaping.  She gave us some perennials to fill in some of the bare spots and even planted them!  I can’t wait until they bloom.

I still haven’t been able to get my garden planted because it will not stop raining!  Does anyone have any advice for speeding up plant growth?  

 

 

 

Frugal Things I Did The Last Two Weeks

The lined tote bag I made for my cousin’s 4th birthday. The pocket on the outside holds 8 crayons.

We just returned from a WONDERFUL vacation to the Smoky Mountains a couple days ago.  I took a break from technology while on vacation so I thought I would share things I did during the past 2 weeks.  Honestly we pretty much took a break from our “frugal ways” and splurged a lot while on vacation.  We saved up for our vacation and paid cash for everything.  :)   

I made a nice tote bag for my cousin Anna’s 4th birthday.  It has a pocket on the outside for crayons and is lined (& padded).  It is small enough that she can actually carry it but large enough that it will hold enough toys for a day trip.  I was really pleased with how it turned out.  I hope to make Elijah one sometime this summer.

I went to lots of yard sales with my Mom one Saturday.  I don’t often get to go shopping with her so this was a real treat.  I found some really cute clothes for Eli, a maternity jacket for myself, and even a few baby items.  ;)

I found the 3t/4t  summer clothes box for Elijah.  He always gets so excited when I get out of box of clothes.  Sometimes there are even toys inside!  I buy most of Elijah’s clothes at yard sales or thrift stores the year before he will be a certain size.  This summer I will be looking to buy clothes for this winter and next year.  This saves us LOTS of money and really helps us from having to purchase lots of clothing last minute when the weather changes.  Usually I notice a few gaps in what is in the box that I will fill in as needed.  I also found a pair of sandals in his box that fit him great but no gym shoes.  It’s really hard to find decent used little boy shoes at this age!

My aunt gave me a huge box of Pink Pull Ups and Little Swimmers.  I don’t care at all that the Pull Ups are pink and will let Eli sleep in them.  :)  I am sending the Little Swimmers to keep at my parent’s house.  They have a pool and Eli often goes swimming when he visits.  (Since we swim a lot we use cloth swim diapers most of the time.)  My aunt also gave me a pink sled and a pair of snow boots which may or may not fit Eli next winter.  I will add the snow boots to Eli’s winter box.  If they don’t fit this winter then I will just give them to a friend.

My husband preached a revival at another church in the area.  Each night before the service they had dinner which we enjoyed. It was so nice not having to make dinner for four nights and a great way to fellowship with members of that church.

I received two free books to review in the mail this week.  I read one while on vacation and it was great!  :)

We stayed at a Comfort Inn (Choice Hotels) for our vacation.  Usually when traveling this is our hotel of choice because as Farm Bureau Members we receive an excellent rate.  Our rate was about $15 cheaper per night than anything I found online.  Comfort Inn hotels are usually family friendly, have a great indoor pool, clean, quiet, and have a wonderful breakfast.  We ate breakfast every morning of vacation (except 1) at the hotel since the food was really good.  We chose to eat out for both lunch and dinner but I did split my food nearly every meal with Eli rather than purchase him a separate kid’s meal.  We also drank water (no stupid tax for us) when dining out.  For snacks we enjoyed fruit or homemade energy bites that I took with us.  We took a small cooler with us.  Each morning I packed it with snacks and drinks to enjoy throughout the day.

A friend passed along jeans that should fit Elijah this winter.

What frugal things did you do last week? 

 

Reflections of a Soccer Mom

 

For the past 10 days I have been a soccer mom to two of my cousins while their parents were away in Hawaii.  I thought it might be fun to share what it was like being a soccer mom from someone who actually isn’t in that stage of life yet.  I realize it’s coming and it scares me!

• It really made me think about the future and how children’s activities can really impact a family.  My two cousins aren’t really involved in that many activities compared to a lot of other children.  One plays baseball and the other is involved in Girl Scouts and plays soccer.  They do not have any activities on Sundays which is wonderful.  At three years old Eli is only involved in a handful of activities: Sunday School, Wednesday Night Church, Flower Buds (a monthly class for 3-5 year olds at our extension office), and the occasional play date.  In the past he has also taken swim lessons and attended StoryTime weekly.  One drastic difference I noticed was that except for Wednesday Night activities, all of Eli’s activities happen during the day so our nights stay fairly open.  When we do have activities they usually start at 6:30 which allows us plenty of time to eat dinner as a family.  Our family attends church together on Wednesday evenings and the hubby works on Tuesday nights.  On some days a cousin would have practice from 5-7 which is right during dinner time.  I felt bad eating without the cousin who was at ball practice but by the time we would get home from picking him up at practice it would be 7:20 which is way to late to eat dinner.
•  Honestly it’s been a year or two since I got up regularly at 6am (I much prefer 7am).  Most days I had to wake up both cousins and get Eli ready to go since I had to drive the kids to school.  I’m also pregnant and want to sleep all the time but I successfully got the kids to school ON TIME every single day.  Their school started at 7:25 which just seemed insanely early to me.  I believe my biggest accomplishment from the past week was getting the kids to school on time every day.  I had to call my mom up and apologize to her for all of the times that I got mad at her when I was late for school which was not very often.
• Some nights you don’t get near as much sleep as you plan on!  One school night the dog set off the house alarm when he went downstairs.  I was jolted out of bed to the sound of the super loud alarm going off (not the regular alarm that goes off when you set off the alarm.)  The lights came on and the alarm company called to see if we were okay.  I was so embarrassed to tell them that everything was fine and that it was just the dog.  Then Eli woke up and started screaming from all of the noise and not knowing where his parents were.  It took about two hours for me to get back to sleep and then my cousin came in because she was scared (it was storming).  Nevertheless the kids were at school by 7:20!  :)
• Overall despite the early hours and crazy amount of driving around I had a nice time.  I’m sure if I were asked again I would probably say yes.

I have a new understanding when a fellow mom looks at me and shares that she is overwhelmed and exhausted.  Honestly I can’t imagine keeping up such a crazy schedule all of the time.  I felt like all I did was drive!  I have a good 2-3 years before we plan on contemplating Eli playing organized sports or taking lessons of any sort and for that I am incredibly thankful.  I will be treasuring the uncomplicated/simple days of my 3-year-old.  In fact I think I will go outside and see if we can find any bugs right now.  It sure beats driving!  :)

 

March Reads

 

 

I have been trying to take it easy lately which means more time for reading!  :)  I have also been trying to prioritize reading more books aloud to Eli.  This month Elijah & I read two books together: Farming with Father & Old Town in the Green Groves.  These are both chapter books which I read aloud before nap time each day.  I’m really hoping to continue reading more and more chapter books to Eli.  So far I think we have read 10 chapter books together.  You can see which books we have read together here.  I would love suggestions for more chapter books to read to him in the near future.  (He is 3 and all boy but loves books!)

Taking God Seriously by J.I. Packer: I’m a big fan of J.I. Packer so I was really excited to read his newest book.  Although he does mention the Anglican church often throughout the book the material is still relevant to all believers.  The chapters in the book all detail taking the following seriously: Faith, Doctrine, Christian Unity, Repentance, Church, Holy Spirit, Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.  I enjoyed reading this book and thinking through each of these different aspects of Christianity.  Honestly it has been a long time since I thought through all of these things.  If you are new to Packer’s works I would recommend starting with Knowing God which is excellent.  Please note I received a review copy from Crossway in exchange for this review.

 Raising Real Men:Surviving, Teaching, & Appreciating Boys: by Hal & Melanie Young.  As the title suggests this book is all about raising boys.  The authors have SIX boys so they know a thing or two about them.  I only have one son (so far) who is shall we say ALL BOY.  Despite the many accidents we encounter on a weekly basis and the never-ceasing energy he is an absolute delight.  I am so thankful that I found this book while my son is young.  What a blessing!  All of the advice in the book was wonderful.  We are currently expecting another child and everyone has been asking me if I am hoping for a girl.  Although I would be happy with a boy or a girl, I am almost hoping more that we have a boy.  I think boys are wonderful and would gladly welcome a house full of them.  As I’m sure you can guess this was one of my favorite books I read this past month.  If you have sons I would highly recommend it!

Big, Beautiful, & Pregnant: Expert Advice & Comforting Wisdom for Expecting Plus-Size Woman by Cornelia van der Ziel M.D.  As a plus-sized expecting woman myself I thought it was wonderful that someone had written a book specifically for plus-sized women during pregnancy.  I wasn’t a plus-sized girl during my last pregnancy so this book was especially helpful to me in thinking through some of the different issues plus-sized women sometimes encounter during pregnancy.

Learning to Love: Passion, Compassion, & the Essence of the Gospel by Heidi & Rolland Baker.  Unfortunately I was very disappointed with this book.  It is about the Bakers who currently serve in Mozambique.  The book itself felt very unconnected and did not flow together at all.  I honestly had a really hard time getting through this book and I love books about missionaries.  I also felt a little bit uncomfortable with many of the methods that the Bakers used.  Please note I did receive a complimentary copy from Chosen Books in exchange for my review.

Unbreakable by Nancy Mehl.  I am a big fan of Amish/Mennonite fiction but this book was a huge disappointment.  I found the whole plot to the story so incredibly far-fetched that it was hard to enjoy this book.  Most of the book was slow-moving and a little hard to follow at times.  I did find that the ending was surprisingly good.  If you are in the market for a good Amish/Mennonite fiction book I would pass this book up and find another one.  Please note that I did receive a copy of this book in exchange for my review from Bethany House Publishers.

Obamacare Survival Guide by Nick Tate.  I do not do a good job of keeping up with politics.  I do realize the potentiality of Obamacare to drastically impact my family so the issue definitely gets my attention.  We are currently expecting and also hope to have more children in the future so I know that healthcare will continue to be something I care a lot about.  I thought this book was great in clearly explaining many of the implications of Obamacare so that it can be understood.  I’m no expert on the subject after reading the book but I do feel empowered that I know much more than I did last month.  This book also has some great summary chapters at the end of the book that I would recommend anyone reading even if they can’t commit to reading the entire thing.

Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin.  The author is a well-known midwife who practices in Tennessee.  A close friend who has been blessed with 2 natural births recommended the book to me.  I’m so glad she did!  The first part of the book is filled with wonderful, encouraging birth stories.  I only wish this section were longer.  Although I can’t say that I would be comfortable with every technique utilized in this book I really enjoyed this book.  It was so unlike most other pregnancy books which tend to treat pregnancy like a disease.  I really appreciated Gaskin’s attitude about birth and pregnancy.

What books did you read last month?  

Frugal Things I Did Last Week

Eli has really enjoyed playing with legos lately.

I think I was more active this past week than I have been in weeks.  I can’t believe last week was the first day of Spring.  It has been cold and snowy here.  I keep telling myself that eventually it must warm up right?  Either way here is my list from this past week:

I received the results from my free soil test from our local Extension office.  This will be our 2nd year gardening and our garden plot needed a good deal of lime as I suspected.  I took Eli with me to buy lime at the Feed Store where he got to see a bunch of baby chicks.  We spread the lime (over 200 pounds) and dreamed about our garden.

This past week was my birthday!  Hooray!  The hubby took me out to eat at Red Lobster one of my favorite restaurants.  We used a gift card to pay for our entire meal so it cost us nothing.

My husband needed to buy new running shoes this week which are expensive.  Since this is something you really do need to try on he purchased them at a local store in town but used a 15% coupon.  I’m always super proud when I can get him to use a coupon. 

Instead of purchasing new piano music for Easter I dug through an old book of arrangements.  I found a lovely arrangement of Low in the Grave He Lay.  The ending was a bit challenging (5 flats) but I decided to work hard on it rather than buy new music which would have probably been $13.  It was good discipline to play a song with that many flats and will help me continue to improve my piano skills.

My mom gave me some celery, carrots, and lemons that someone had given her.

I received the book Raising Real Men by Hal and Melanie Young from InterLibrary Loan at our library this week rather than purchase it on amazon.  It was wonderful by the way!

I took my son to the dentist for a cleaning.  I’m counting this as frugal because we are fully utilizing our dental insurance benefits.    It also decreases the chance that my son will have to have expensive pediatric fillings which require him to be put to sleep at a young age.

Our family went swimming at our local gym where we have an inexpensive membership.  It was so fun to watch Eli splashing and trying to kick his feet.  It also felt wonderful to me.  My belly has popped out a little bit and it was hard not to rub it the entire time we were swimming.  Ha, ha!

I received a free Dentastix in the mail for the dog.  I also received baby safety latches in the mail which we will put to good use when our baby comes.  We moved into our current home when my son was almost 2 so we will need to install latches on some of our cabinets.

My mother-in-law sent some clothes for Eli that she had purchased at a consignment sale.

I cut my husband and son’s hair which saved us $30.  For the first time Elijah was really squirmy and honestly I did a bad job.  Thankfully Eli’s Mamaw fixed it!

What frugal activities did you do this past week?