The Queen of Coupons (not me!)

Go HERE to watch this video of an amazing woman! My friends Mandy and Sarah have got me excited again about couponing, but to a different level this time...only buying what you can get on sale with coupons for as little as possible. I am not where this lady is, and even Sarah keeps beating me with her deals! ha! But, I'm learning to do better. I was always one for buying ahead when things were on sale, so my pantry and freezer are pretty well stocked right now. I actually don't have any more room in my freezer for a week or two.

So, last week I spent last week's budget, plus half of this week's (because I found some really good deals), and so I had to be really careful this week with the little I had. I'm not where I want to be, but I have cut my grocery budget in half for the last two weeks, and I'm very excited! So is Shane!

I don't have a picture to go with this week, but here's how I did yesterday:

Kroger

2 dozen eggs

loaf white bread

16 slices american cheese

(3) 12 packs dr. pepper

box Kroger brand fruit loops

box Kroger brand rice krispies

1 pkg. Ore-Ida hashbrowns

1 pkg. Ore-Ida tater tots

1 reduced for quick sale steak (for Shane's bday last night)

5 bags chex mix

2 (4 pack) Yo-Plus yogurt

1 bag Dole salad

3 tubes Colgate toothpaste

1 roll sausage

4 air wick room freshner sprays

1/2 lb. tomatoes on the vine

2 cans rotel tomatoes

1 can organic kidney beans

1 tub Betty Crocker frosting

12 double rolls Quilted Northern T.P.

Before Coupons: $83.60

After Coupons/Kroger Card: $33.73

Today's Savings

Okay, so a friend told me today about a Salvage Grocery Store in Harrodsburg, called The Bread Basket. (thanks, Jen K. via Angela V.) :) I usually go to B&E Salvage in Louisville, but I was excited to try this one out. It is only two aisles, and so MUCH smaller than B&E, but there were some good deals! I spent $42.11, so I am done for the week. No more grocery shopping! :) But, if I had paid full retail, I figured it at around $108.79 worth of food! :) Here's what I got:

11.5 oz. Lucky Charms Cereal

(2) 10 oz. Organice Gorilla Munch Cereal

15.7 oz. Cinnamon Toast Crunch

(2) 5 oz. bags Salt & Vinegar Kettle chips (shane's favorite!)

4 oz. bag Veggie Pirate Booty

52 ct. size 4 Huggies Diapers

(2) 14.5 oz. boxes Fiber One Cereal

(2) 15.6 oz. boxes Fiber One Cereal

(2) 5 oz. boxes Organic Late July Peanut Butter Mini Crackers

8 ct. box Pop Tarts

7.5 oz. Annie's Naturals Cheddar Bunnies Crackers

(2) 3 ct. boxes Organic Newman's Own microwave popcorn

15 oz. Patak's Curry Sauce

(3) 10 oz. bags Nestle Toll House chocolate chips

6 pkgs. Stride gum

15 Harvest Whole Grain Power Bars

Grocery Savings 10.23.09

Okay, so I went grocery shopping today, after doing my research on prices around town (via the internet) and printing off all my coupons. I had my list in hand, and this is how I did. (and I'm happy!)

At Kroger, I spent $46.09, and I got:

1 box Honey Bunches of Oats
1 Amy's Organic Pizza
2 1/2 gallon jugs orange juice
3 lbs chicken breasts (boneless, skinless)
1 pkg. chicken leg quarters (5 lbs)
3 pkgs. shredded cheese
1 pkg. block cheese (8 oz)
1 pkg. (of 6) soybaby organic yogurt
1 bag corn chips
2 dozen eggs
1 box cake mix
1 bag chex mix
1 loaf whole grain bread
3 bags Nature Valley Nut clusters
3 cans corn
1 bbq sauce
1 container Betty Crocker Frosting
2 pkgs. cinnamon-raisin english muffins
2 pkgs. dole romaine salad
5 lbs. potatoes
16 oz. mushrooms
1 pkg. celery hearts
1 box shells and cheese deluxe dinner
1 tin black pepper
1 pkg. albacore tuna
2 pkgs. keebler cookies (choc. chip and rainbow chip)
5 lbs. ground beef
1 box Mothers Cereal

Then, I spent $31.92 at Wal-Mart and got:

2 packages Trident layers gum
1 box lean pockets
1 Gillete Fusion shave gel
1 loaf french bread
1 pkg. hamburger buns
1 pkg. fat free flour tortillas
1 pkg. frozen broccoli
1 box Honey Bunches of Oats w/ Pecans
1 box simply salted Orville Red. popcorn
2 lbs. carrots
10 lbs. chicken thighs
2 lbs. bananas
8 yogurts
1 pkg. halls cough drops
1 container kids crest toothpaste
Lea and Perrins thick worchestershire sauce
16 oz. tomato sauce
1 gal. 2 % milk
1 Febreeze noticeables starter kit

So, altogether, I saved over $50 at Kroger, between coupons and sales/clearances, and I saved $13 at WalMart with coupons. I spent $78.01...and saved a total of about $63, which comes out to about 55% savings. Included in the above lists are 23 pounds of meat, not including all the other stuff! Woohoo!!!! :) Thanks, Sarah and Mandy, for the inspiration to shop like I used to! :)

Cause We're Homeschooled...yeah, yeah

"Where's Mom?"

Well, I can't sleep, feeling a little antsy(could it be the Diet Dr. Pepper I had this afternoon?) :), so I thought I'd write on my blog about a new book I just read. It's called, "Where's Mom? The High Calling of Wives & Mothers" by Dorothy Kelley Patterson. I picked it up at the Sovereign Grace Church bookstore, when we were in Virginia. It's a small book, a pretty quick read, but challenging for sure. :)

Here's the description on the website of this book:

"An adaptation from an article in Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood by John Piper and Wayne Grudem, this booklet addresses the special calling of a
woman to be a wife and mother. In a world that lacks respect for these two
positions, several vital questions are answered. This questions include, "Is
Homemaking My Job?," "Is Homemaking a Challenging Career?," "Is Being a Mother a Worthy Service?," and "Is Being a Wife a Fulfilling Function?" All the answers affirm the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood's Danvers statement that men and women are created equally in God's image but are designed to perform different functions. With this statement, women are exposed to the Biblical roles and duties assigned to women -- including being a wife and a mother. "

I loved a few of the last paragraphs in the book and wanted to share them with you:

"Homemaking-if pursued with energy, imagination, and skills-has as much challenge and opportunity, success and failure, growth and expansion, perks and incentives as any corporation, plus something no other position offers-working for people you love the most and want to please the most!.....

Homemaking-being a full-time wife and mother-is not a destructive drought of uselesness but an overflowing oasis of opportunity; it is not a dreary cell to contain your talents and skills but a brillian catalyst to channel creativity and energies into meaningful work; it is not a rope for binding your productivity in the marketplace, but reins for guiding your posterity in the home; it is not the bitter assignment of inferiority to your person, but the bright assurance of the ingenuity of God's plan for complementarity of the sexes, especially as worked out in God's plan for marriage; it is neither the limitation of gifts available nor stinginess in distributing the benefits of those gifts, but rather the multiplication of a mother's legacy to the generations to come and the generous bestowal of all God meant a mother to give to those He entrusted to her care."

Frames!

So, this summer, I decided to do some pictures of my OWN kids! Wow! That's rare for us these days! I took Lizzie and Nehemiah out into the woods. Myra was too afraid of bugs, so I have yet to get a good one of her! I'll post them on my photo blog some time this winter when I have no work to do for others, but I was so excited to get a few of them in print today. I had to go out to get groceries, and I thought I'd check out Big Lots just to see what kind of frames they had...and I was SO excited to find these SOLID WOOD frames (origninally from Target) for $8 each! $8!!! And, they are 11x14. woohoo! I think the style fits the pictures just perfectly...and our home, which I'd call "country eclectic." yea Big Lots! (and, yes, those are my kids' pictures in the frames)

A new book and an update

(cartoon above by Todd Wilson, Family Man Ministries)

Well, I'm home today...actually, in bed. Sick. With a sore throat, body aches, and I'm very cold. :) My husband left earlier with my youngest daughter to set up his deer stand and prepare for this very looked-forward-to-season of deer slaying! I know that's hard for some of you, but at least know we eat everything he shoots. :) As I have been laying here in bed, occassionally having to get up for my other son and daughter, I have taken the time to read, and I looked over and saw Shane's laptop on his desk, and thought it might be time to catch up on my blog...something I have let go, but only out of neccessity of what's important and what's not so much this season of life. We all get busy, and this has been one of our busiest seasons with the kids and church and my business taking off. It's been crazy, and tough at times, and there hasn't been alot of times for much else, but God's grace has been sufficient. We are growing and learning what to do and not to do this next season (of our lives) and pressing on.

So, school has started for us several weeks ago, and it's actually going well. Our first day was one of our best EVER, let alone for a first day of school. The second day didn't go quite as well. :) We have had bumps (and a few yelling matches probably) along the way, but it always brings us to humility and our need for Jesus! The girls are being much more pro-active in school this year, and more independent than ever. We turned our "craft area" into our "school area" and that is going really well. We have not made any scale models of early America or even baked any food from the civil war era. As much as I plan those things in my head every year, we're good to get our reading in. But, it's going good...overall, I have no big complaints...at least today, but then again today is Saturday, huh? :)

We were very blessed to be able to go to Virginia last week to visit our dear friends, the Thomas'. They graciously took us into their home and fed us well, and took us all over D.C. and Colonial Williamsburg, and Stacy even took me to my first visit to IKEA! It was a dream for me to be able to go that way and see everything I'd never seen before (even IKEA!). :) Oh, and did I mention I got to go to Ross again? We had them in California, and I have missed them. But, anyhow, it wasn't really a big shopping trip, regardless of how it sounds. :) We love that family and it was alot of fun. Stacy and David watched our kids one day, and Shane and I got to go to Mount Vernon by ourselves! It was lovely. We had a great time, and I was just in awe that George Washington actually lived and walked where I was walking. I think it opened my eyes even more to the history we had been studying. And, when we decided to homeschool years ago, it was always my desire that we could SEE the things we were studying, so it was definitely a dream trip for us.

While there, my friend Stacy (who homeschools her four kids) lent me the book "Lies Homeschool Moms Believe" by Todd Wilson. Now, I LOVE Todd's books. They always make me laugh and they are easy reads, and I always walk away from reading them, thinking.." it's okay. I'm okay. I'm actually normal." :) This book has been no exception. I'm not finished with it yet. I'll keep reading it today as I lay here cold and aching, but it is encouraging my spirit, even though my body is decaying. (I know..drama!) :)

Starting on page 57, he has a section called "Be Real." This really stuck out to me, because it's what we've been tlaking about at church lately. Being real, being authentic, being in community. I hope it's okay to quote part of his book..if not, sorry Todd. And, this doesn't just stand for homeschool moms, I really think it stands for what we as a church are trying to get to..

"When you read the words 'be real' what comes to your mind? Close your eyes and think for a moment. You probably think of words like: transparent, vulnerable, unguarded, defenseless, exposed, and naked.

Being real is all of those things. It is admitting to a friend that your voice is not hoarse because you have a cold...but because you've been hollering at your children all morning. It's admitting to a homeschooling friend that you sometimes hate homeschooling and would love any excuse to put your kids on the magic yellow bus.

It's admitting that you'd be ashamed if some of the vocabulary words you've taught your children were repeated. That's being REAL.

And you know what? We Christian homeschoolers {and I add Christians in general} don't like to be REAL. In fact, we are encouraged not to be real or are criticized when we are. So we do the only reasonable thing we can do-hide......

Behind every 'fig leaf' is the same thinking, I can let them see the real me because they won't like the real me......

One of the greatest benefits of being REAL is people can pray for you and healing takes place...James 5:16.

..Be REAL. Quit hiding it and tell someone the ugly truth about you. It will be hard, and you will feel embarrassed, BUT you will be glad you did. And the good news is-someone will be praying for you! The promise along with confessing is healing!!!...

...Refuse to 'put your best foot forward' as was the counsel of a prominent Christian leader, but instead put your 'REAL' foot forward. Let the world see your failures and shortcomings and then demonstrate what God can do through your weaknesses.

That's the power of being REAL."

The boy

He's 3 now! And, just the joy of our lives...and sometimes the pain! :)

Jen's Kids

Jen's sneak peek is up on my photo blog. :)

Piper on William Cowper

I finished reading the sermon entitled, "Insanity and Spiritual Songs in the Soul of a Saint" this morning, given by John Piper in 1992, about William Cowper, the hymn-writer. I recently read a sermon/short biography on Spurgeon by Piper. I have found that these are very encouraging to me..to read of saints gone before us, of their struggles, and yet to be reminded of how God used them and continues to use their lives today. I don't have the same struggles as William Cowper, and yet was still encouraged.

We, many of us, go through times of despair or darkness. Even if you don't, you know someone who does. Some go through deep dark times like William Cowper did. Others just struggle with despair from too much introspection, and for others it may just be brief moments of despair. May we be encouraged to press on and to cheer others on when they are struggling. May we be like John Newton, who never gave up on Cowper, but cheered him on til the end, even if it would have been easier to leave him behind.

I think we need to be reading the Word constantly, and yet also give time to study those who have gone before us...be encouraged by their struggles and how God was faithful to them, realize God will use us if we are willing to be used-despite our own struggles or failures, and be spurred on in our walk...whether to encourage someone else or to encourage our own souls. Be blessed today as you spend time with the Lord, as you come to know deeper who He is and who you are in Him, and the realization that you need Him for your very life and sustenance. Thank God that His mercies are new every morning!

A Good (and cheaper!) Cup O Joe!

I love those expensive coffee shops...but these days, it comes as a very special treat! I try to schedule photography meetings there, so I can write it off as a business expense! :) But, other than that, rarely can I afford the price or the calories! :) I've been experimenting with my coffee at home. Now, I LOVE coffee with heavy cream...no, not half and half, but the real stuff! :) However, my waist and other body parts do NOT love heavy cream! I still have it as an occassional treat...my favorite is coffee with 1/4 cup heavy cream, 2 tbsp. honey, and a dash of cinnamon--Cafe De Miele. However, that is off limits for me right now!

But, this morning, I made a good cup of coffee I wanted to share with you.

6 oz. strong brewed coffee

1/4 cup 1% milk

1 tbsp. cocoa powder (unsweetened)

4 tbsp. sugar-free (splenda) English Toffee Syrup ( I used Torani)

2 tbsp. light whipped cream to top (pressurized can)

I figured out it is about 65 calories! You could use any type of syrup here...caramel, vanilla, hazelnut, creme de menthe..mmmm! The cost comparison...well, no figures here, but I can tell you it did NOT cost me $3.95! :) And, at S___, a tall nonfat mocha (no whipped cream) would run you about 170 calories! So, have your cup o Joe, and have a great day! :)

My New Favorite Website!

As a photographer, this site gives me all the confidence I need! I laugh and laugh and laugh some more! Enjoy! http://awkwardfamilyphotos.com/

Drew and Anna-Kathryn

Drew and Anna-Kathryn...it was so much fun! :) So glad you love these as much as I do! :) http://www.karimcgrath.wordpress.com/

Phil and Ellen

Congratulations, Phil and Ellen! :) What a blessing to be able to photograph your wedding day! Thank you for the opportunity! :) May God's blessings rest upon your marriage! :) http://www.karimcgrath.wordpress.com/

From the Mouths of Babes

Awhile back, my oldest daughter was having a hard day, and so she got sent to her room and I wrote out 1 Thessalonians 5:18 on a piece of paper for her to meditate on. It says, "In every thing give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." (I guess we were having trouble being thankful for what we had that day!)

After awhile, she came out of the room and handed me back the paper, on which she had written: "God's word is true. God's word is holy. God's word is loveing. I'm sorry..... I love you mom. Love you mama. P.S. Look in the bak....I'm not saying this becus I'm sorry for my self. I'm saying this becus it is from my hart. I love you mom. Love, ____"

I love how God's word pierces through to the heart and marrow! :) Although, I guess we need to work more on spelling! ha! :)

From the Mouths of Babes

Garden

Here's a few pictures from what we have harvested from our garden this year! :) We LOVE eating food that we've grown...don't know why, but it seems fulfilling somehow to us! :) How about you? Anyone else gardening out there this summer? We've had a decent crop. We had some problems with some pesky little rabbits, but we put up a fence, and so far that has deterred them!

Encouragement for all the youth ministers out there! :)

Summer Fun

My dear friend, Cari, and her son, Joe are over at our house quite often...not as of late, because I've been so busy, but in the winter it was every week! In May, we spent forever blowing up the new slip-n-slide mom and dad bought Lizzie for her birthday and let the kids have at it! Here's a few pics from then. By the way, Happy Birthday Cari today! :) Love you!

The Kiddos

Well, I think it's been awhile since I posted anything, let alone some pics of the kiddos! So, here goes...enjoy! They just melt my heart! :)