Friday, November 30, 2007

on the move

I feel bad because my posts have been so sporadic lately. I apologize.

We are on the move beginning tomorrow, so I wanted to give you a heads up that it will prolly be next week before I can check in.

I am sure I will have all kinds of good moving stories for you. Something always seems to happen, right?

Till then...take care and keep on writing. I'll miss ya.

Sunday, November 18, 2007

A Special shout out

I wanted to throw a special shout out to her and her.

I have always wanted to be adventurous and make a fresh pumpkin pie. I have always wanted to. Then the idea really sinks in and I get cold feet. I think of how much more work it must be. How it is going to take so much time...time that I don't have to spend on a pumpkin. How, if it tastes so dang good, then it must be way too labor intensive for me.

So quickly comes my surprise. After I get a couple step by step tutorials. Just how simple it is. I was so happy. I have just washed and gutted 2 pie pumpkins and they are officially roasting in the oven. I have rinsed off all the seeds(per request of my older son) and they are anxiously awaiting their turn in the oven.

I will then let the pumpkins cool and scoop out all the yummy squash and puree it all up and then store it for my pumpkin pies, but also for later this year when I will be able to have fresh pumpkin muffins or fresh pumpkin waffles.....the list could go on and on.

30 days of thanks

Entry #18

I am thankful for all my fellow bloggers. All the new ideas and everything that you can share. All the supportive words, and cyber hugs. The ongoing relationships that you never thought would happen and then all of a sudden you feel a certain kinship with these people that you have never physically met. Some to the point that you feel like you may have known forever. Some to the point that you feel like you could most certainly pick them out of a crowd! And then even those who it seems you have everything in common with and how could you have gone so long without having them as your friend.

As Thanksgiving draws nearer, I have to say that I am so very thankful for all my new blogging friends.

Thursday, November 15, 2007

30 days of thanks

Entry # 15

I am so very thankful for my heated mattress pad. I can turn it on while I get the kids ready for bed. I can have it slowly roasting my flannel sheets and fleece blankets. I can have it all nice and cozy at the foot of the bed so that when I get in my toes stay super warm. Even if I have to slide way down in to the bed to reach the foot of the bed. Yes, I am short. My name is Frugal mom and I am short and okay with it.

The best part? I no longer have to sweat my husband out of the bed before he even gets in. My mattress pad has dual controls. I can be toasty warm and he can be cold and comfortable. I can start my bed on high and then turn it down while I sleep. It is a little green. I mean, we turn the heat of the house way down during the night...but I have my cozy mattress pad going.....just a little.

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

30 days of thanks

Entry #14

I am thankful for my oldest child. I am thankful for her beautiful smile. When it shows up even during the most trying times. There are times a plenty where we butt heads and expect each other to give and it just doesn't happen. These are the times that she helps me to remember that she is still a child, even tho she so desperately wants to be an adult. An 11 year old going on 30....sometimes in the midst of all the gifts she possesses, I have to remind myself that underneath it all she is still just 11. Still growing up(even tho I don't want her to!) Still trying out new things. Still making mistakes. That last one is the hardest for me to get past. As mature as she is...I think at times I expect her to know what all the right things are. And how to do them. I am thankful that she allows me to make mistakes as well. Because what else can we do, but learn from them.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

30 days of thanks

Entry #13

I am thankful for my littlest one. I especially look forward to that time in the evening where we have bath time and book time. That time where he starts to wind down(finally) and he begins to cozy up and give out handfuls of kisses and hugs. That time that you hold on to for as long as you can because you know once you turn your head for just a split second it is gone and you can't get it back.

Monday, November 12, 2007

The great plastic Challenge

Over here, she has challenged me. I should not say me. Us. All of us. But, I tend to take it personally, so I will be promptly kicking her hiney in this challenge!

This week, along with my reusable grocery bags, I will continue to use my reusable produce bags. These are the greatest things. They are just little cotton bags that you take right to the grocery with you. Instead of using those flimsy little plastic produce bags that you see flying all over the parking lot. The cashiers seem to tolerate them just fine. They do have to look inside the bag instead of just looking thru the plastic, but they seem to manage just fine. They are machine washable and have a great drawstring on the top to close them all cozy like so your veggies stay securely in place.

Try them out. Tell me all about how you love them to death.

A new survey

Anyone out there canning? Have canned?

I am trying to figure out the best ways to store my jars that do not have the original boxes. I am limited on space and would like to figure out a way to have them available, but not all just setting on a shelf out in the open.

Any ideas for me?

30 days of thanks

Entry # 12

Yes, I know. I skipped some. I am thankful that I have good blogging friends that will still like me even tho I had to skip a couple days.

Had the birthday weekend this past weekend for J. #9....9 years old. It does not seem possible.

I am thankful for him. I am thankful that he has given me so much love in the past nine years. I am thankful that he has at times reminded me how to be silly when I had almost forgotten how. I am thankful that he still has that little boy face and those little boy hands that are always dirty. I am thankful that he doesn't give me a hard time when I don't know how to play the video games as well as him and I know sometimes he lets me win.

Thursday, November 8, 2007

30 days of thanks

Entry #8

I am trying to decide if I have anything else to write about besides my thankful post. I guess I have been so consumed with the house stuff that nothing really worth talking about has happened.

We drove thru our soon to be neighborhood this evening. Well, soon in like 5 mos. After we get our new house built. So, for the next 5 mos you guys will be bored to tears helping me pick out flooring, and cabinets, and doorknobs, and fireplace mantels. Doesn't that sound like fun? I know you are just chomping at the bit to help me with all this. Don't worry, no pressure. There will only be a small quiz after its all said and done.

Anyway. I am thankful for fall leaves. Here in this house and the one we will be in soon will have no trees. That means no leaves. I actually have thought about renting leaves. Do you think someone would let me rake up their leaves and take them to my house just for a little bit? And then bring them back. Fall leaves have such a nostalgic smell. One that stays with you forever and ever. One that, when you smell it and inhale really deeply, makes you cough and wheeze...no, no. Makes you think of all the times that you had to break your back as a kid and rake all the leaves just to watch them all blow back to where they were a few minutes before that. Just so you could rake them all up and then run and jump high into the sky and land in them...thinking it was gonna be really soft and cozy, but instead its not. Yeah, that kind of nostalgia.

When I was growing up, we lived right across the street from a huge public swimming pool. In front of the pool was a huge open field. Rolling hills and great big trees. I am sure it would not look nearly as big now that I am an adult. But I want to remember it so big...I would take my Ma's rake over there every fall and rake the leaves in the field. Now to a 7 year old....it was the greatest thing ever. All the leaves I could ever want. All I had to do was rake them into piles and then they were all mine. The joy if it all. To my 14 year old brother...being sent out there with me to play....not nearly as much fun to him!

So, if you wanna rent me some leaves....I am open to that.

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

30 days of thanks

Entry #7

I am thankful for chocolate.

Enuf said.

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

30 days of thanks

Entry #6

Anyone out there garden? Food or flower? I am thankful that I have a yard that has dirt and a sky that has sunshine.

I love to garden. I love to plant seeds and watch my own food grow. I love to harvest that food and know where it came from and how it was managed. I know it is healthy and free of chemicals and such. I know I am teaching my kids huge things when we garden together and then harvest together and then cook together. That is something that they will have forever in their memory. More so than a toy or a doll or a stuffed animal. A memory. And even more than a memory...a learning of where their food comes from and how to prepare it and eat it healthily. And I hope that when they grow up to have kids of their own they will pass on the teaching.

That can not be bought.

Monday, November 5, 2007

The plastic challenge

Over here, she has issued a challenge. Well, okay, not really in a mean way. More of in a green way!

See what you can do to participate. Even if it is just using less ziploc baggies and more reusable containers. Or getting your juices in concentrate or in glass bottles like she has suggested. Or how 'bout using refillable water bottles instead of all the disposable ones?
These things are the greatest! They eliminate the need to use ziploc baggies in your lunch bag. And the best part....they serve as a clean place mat on the dirty lunchroom table. Who isn't up for less germs on your kids food? Or yours for that matter! I purchased 4 of them quite some time ago and have been totally impressed. They hold up to the kids, the wash, and the usage over and over everyday. They come in all kinds of great patterns and stuff. I happened to go with the earth friendly design as it is not lined with PVC.

The owners are super friendly and go out of their way to help you and answer any questions that you may have. In fact, I ended up placing my order incorrectly and they were ever so eager to make sure that I was taken care of and that I was happy with everything. Total thumbs up!

30 days of thanks

Entry #5

Very simple, this one. I am thankful that somebody needed a new house and I needed to move on from mine at the same time. That's right. The house has been sold!!!!!

Sunday, November 4, 2007

30 days of thanks

Entry #4

As many times as I have said that I think cell phones can be somewhat unnerving when they are ringing in the movie or being used in the checkout lane....I am thankful that I have one so that my kids can reach me anytime and so that my husband has an added reason to text me to say that he loves me.

Saturday, November 3, 2007

30 days of thanks

Entry #3

I am thankful for good neighbors. In the world today, neighbors are not like what our folks probably remember. We tend to keep more to ourselves and not check in very much with those close to us. We don't allow our kids as many freedoms as they did then and we for sure don't allow our neighbors to watch out for our kids on a consistent basis or think that they will in case we can't.

I happen to have the greatest neighbors ever. I love them to death and know that I can count on them when I am in a pinch or need a cup of sugar. They are some of my best friends in the world and I am so happy that God placed them next to me. So, in today's world where we are always rushing about and not taking the extra time to smell the roses....my neighbor and I both have rose bushes...a fool proof way to make sure that you are always checked in!

Friday, November 2, 2007

30 days of thanks

Entry #2

I am thankful that the area in which I live experiences all 4 seasons. I have a liking to all of them, okay, not really.. I do not like winter. Can I say that I hate winter? Prolly not in a thankful post, huh?

At any rate, when it gets cold, like it is beginning to do now, it makes me so very happy and thankful to think of the warmer months. When it is warmer and so very hot and sweaty gross....it makes me thankful that I will see fall soon. Notice I did not say winter. Having to wait for the fall leaves and the first blooms of spring make me so thankful for all the seasons. It makes it well worth the wait when you see the first orange leaf falling from the tree and the first yellow daffodil peeking out of the snow.

Thursday, November 1, 2007

30 days of thanks


I couldn't be happier to have found this great blog activity to participate in.

Over here she has a great blog. She offers up tons of ways to "go green", she has great crafty ideas, has some great kids, and to top it all off she has brought to my attention the 30 days of thanks. Every day in the month of November you are to write one post that talks about something you are thankful for. How hard can that be? I am thankful for tons of things....big and small. If you want to join us, please do. Anyone can participate and if nothing else it makes you take a few minutes each to day to just have some reflection and think about where you are in your life.

So, here is my numero uno.

I am thankful for the fact that my kids love to read. I am so happy that they enjoy picking up a book(without any prompting from us) and just reading. That they find things in books that makes them smile and makes them laugh out loud. Sometimes, in the world of kids today it is a hard thing to get them to just forget all the everyday stuff and become immersed in the idea and the joy of a good book. I am thankful that there are nights when I have to tell them it is time for lights out because they have stayed up way past their bedtime because they got lost in a book. When I look around and see so many kids not choosing the right path, I am happy that one of my issues at home is to tell my kids to put the book away and go to sleep.


Happy Halloween

Here's my gang.