Strawberries

I got strawberries for a killer deal a few weeks ago, so my cute friend taught me how to make freezer jam! I am so excited to have all this jam in my freezer! And, it was so much easier than bottling peaches and pears, I think I'll starting feeding my kids a bowl of jam instead of peaches with their sandwich :)




I had lots of strawberries left over, so I had to make some tasty things with them. Yum!


Love Strawberries!!

Poopy Day

When I say I've had a poopy day, I mean it. Literally. Ha ha. Sometimes between my 3 diapered kids, I change like 80 diapers in a day. Yesterday, it was 5 POOPY diapers before 10am. You know, some people aren't even up by 10am? Not me, I am up and changing diapers. I don't know if it's the weather or the menu, but some days are just a "poopy day." And, honestly, it just makes me laugh. I am so grateful to hang out with my kids and wipe bums all day. I love it.

Couponing

Ok, I've talked to at least 4 people who want to know how to find the good deals. Here are the websites and resources that I know - for getting great deals:

Coupons
-Good old fashion Sunday Paper
Collectable Coupons - buying spare coupons clipped from the paper, they're like 8 cents/coupon. I've done this before, and it's totally worth it if it's a killer deal. It took maybe... 2 days to ship.
-Printable Coupons:
Coupons.com
Red Plum Coupons
Smart Source coupons
Betty Crocker
*Most sites will allow you to print 2 coupons per computer.
-Electronic Coupons:
Shortcuts
CellFire
Smith's


Websites (that combine the coupons and weekly sales to tell you about the great deals):
Coupon Sense - There is a membership fee for this one, but it's a totally GREAT site.
Savvey Shopper Deals
Grocery Smarts
Pinching Your Pennies

Bargain Blogs (these crazy bargain hunters will post great deals when they discover them)
A Thrifty Mom
Hip 2 Save
The Obsessive Shopper - maybe more like a full website than blog
Utah Deals Diva
Totally Target

There are tons of these kind of sites. I think the trick is just finding the sites that work for you!

Here are some "home -ecky" style accomplishments I've had in the last several months. If you know me, you know I am sewing machine-retarded, and lack most kitchen skills. So I proudly call them accomplishments :)



Bibs and lap/car seat quilts for a friends twinners (I got help from Liz)



Boy bibs. For Colton & Murphy (again, help from Liz - she's my super-smart seamstress sister)


Apple sauce

and dried apple chips


made from these


canned pears

from these


canned peaches

from trees

I know this seems like nothing, but holy-time consuming! I can't believe my mom used to bottle every fruit off every tree, juggling 7 kids, Stake Relief Society president, a less than helpful husband (sorry, dad -LOVE YA- best dad in the universe! But less helpful to wifey when you work all day and run your own business at night:) Crazy. Anyhoo... I really hope to get a little smarter every year. One day it will be super easy, right!?

Holy savings, Batman!!

One of my New Year's Resolutions was to put meal plans together and focus on making better meals more often for my family. As I was trying to figure out how this all works, I asked a well-known bargain shopper in the area how she meal plans/grocery shops because I heard her say one time that she LOVES to shop for food! Crazy! Grocery shopping was my arch-nemesis. It's no fun at all. But if she loved it, she must know some secrets, right? Lucky for me, she was totally excited and willing to show me exactly what she does. I had no idea what I was getting into...

Lisa showed me some websites, how they work, and where/how she does her grocery shopping - with coupons. It was all very intriguing but a little overwhelming. But what sealed the deal for me was when she took me into her storage room and said, "This is where the real savings come in." Her storage room was ah-ha-aaawesome. She pointed out cases of canned veggies that were 11 cents a piece, containers of laundry detergent that were 50 cents a piece, a big pile of feminine products that apparently she never paid a dime for. What-what? Yep. Cereal, crackers, shampoo, soap, everything. Incredible, I tell you. She finds these awesome deals then stocks up! So, she really never needs anything or even buys anything unless it's a super duper deal. I had storage envy. Bad. And since I found out these crazy deals existed, I couldn't ignore it. I couldn't pretend I didn't know you could save so much frigin' cash. I became a believa'

I now get the Sunday paper, save all my coupons, and stock up on the bargains. It's crazy-exciting. Tyson was so totally up for it (what bread-winner wouldn't be?) He agreed to hold down the fort on Wednesday nights while I plan and execute my scary hunting trip. I mean, grocery shopping trip. I do it with a friend or two, and we stop for milk shakes after wards to congratulate ourselves on a job well- done. It's a party!!

It's been almost 3 weeks. The deals I am most proud of are:

Quaker Chewy Granola Bars
Original price: approx $2.79/box
MY price: $0.20/box
That's right, I bought 20 boxes of of granola bars (200 granola bars) for $4.04.

Pepperidge Farm Goldfish Crackers
Original price: approx $1.99-$2.19/box
MY price: $0.13/box
Yes, I also stocked up on these.

My last shopping trip, I was so excited, I took a picture of my loot:

Lot's of good stuff, right? Lunch meat, tomatoes, crackers, tortillas, tons of cheese (for my new freezer, of course!) sour cream, gummie vitamins, plastic ware, etc etc etc.
Orig Total: $159.73
MY total: $40.29
That's 76% savings. Crazy, eh?

Thanks to my new friend Lisa, I am having so much fun shopping like crazy (but not spending much) and now my arch-nemesis is my favorite past time.Woo hooo!! I am loving these mad coupon skills.

Excuses

I felt a little silly after posting some of my resolutions about messy houses, fitting in shopping, and asking for so much advise. People were probably thinking, "Uh... you only have 2 kids. What is your problem?" So, to make me feel less stupid, here are my excuses :)

I actually have 3 kids Monday - Thursday. Our sweet little friend Murphy (Or as Wyatt liks to call him, Murpee-Pie) is like part of our family. I've been watching him for almost a year and a half now. He is the cutest little guy. When my baby grew out of his little infant seat, we basically grew out of our car. Squeezing 3 car seats in the back of my Camry is tricky - to say the least. It's worth the effort when we're going somewhere fun like Farm Country, Hogle Zoo, or even the park. Really not the grocery store. Besides, after I stuff my kids in all crevices of the cart there's no where to stash the goods. (Although, I do love carting 3 tiny kids around and getting funny looks from people. They say things like, "Where are all the rest of them?" Ha ha ha... I tell them they're at school. And to eat my shorts. :)

Also, right after I had Colton, I was asked to be the Cub Master in our area (yes, apparently women can be Cub Masters). There was no prior Cub Master, no Den leaders, or help whatsoever. So Tyson- my dear, my love, my assistant (I'd be a stinking mess without him & his help) and I completely started up an entire cub scout program with 12+ boys, planning weekly den meetings, monthly pack meetings, attending monthly district Round Tables, organizing summer day camp, etc all while carting our 2 year old and 3 month old around with us. Anxiety took on a whole new meaning... wow. But we do totally love it, we have more help now (hopefully a full committee soon:) and we are really are grateful for the opportunities we have to sacrifice and learn so much. And hey, when our boys get into scouting we will be completely familiar with the program and so holy-involved they'll have all their awards before they turn 9! Yehaa!

So, anyway. This is not a complaint, only a little further explanation of why I am trying to make things a little bit simpler at home... And why my bedroom always looks like a tornado struck it with binders, papers, rope, glue & googly-eyes, scout manuals, and awards. Why there are toys in the fridge, marker all over my walls and bed. Why pieces of my nativity (yes, CHRISTMAS nativity) just went through the wash and why my 3 year old has a diaper on his bum and underwear on his head. Mercy.

Water Purifying

Jack Sprat - I buy cases of water bottles and rotate them out. But, this website tells you 5 different ways to purify and this website is all about storing it. It's good info to know!!

Storage

If anyone has lack of room for food storage, it's me. I am in a condo, 1-car garage NOT attached, and 1 storage closet on our patio full of camping shiz. So! I have big buckets of wheat and beans in my bedroom closet, and definitely planned to stop there. Clutter. Ugh! I hate clutter, there is no way I was taking tips like "you can slide cans under your bed!" or scarier tips like, "When we were young, we made end tables out of the cases of canned goods - just throw a table cloth over them!" I think I'd rather starve than live with that.

But 2 summers ago, I read a lot about storage, preparedness, and pandemic planning. I read about the flu pandemic that came around in the 20's (I think started in 1918). Not the 1600's, it was in President Hinckley's lifetime - and he lost loved ones to it, by the way. The Provident Living website had tons of resources about pandemics and preparing for one and even when they expected another. Within the next 3 years they said. Yipes. That, well, freaked me out a little. So I started stocking up on Clorox wipes and things like that. My doctor brother poked fun. No less than a year later the Swine Flue started up, and finally built up to "pandemic" level. When my brother got it, and his family was quarantined so they wouldn't spread it, I asked what I could do. Nothing! She had not only food storage, but plenty of other basic needs stored (toilet paper, cleaning supplies, diapers, etc). They were set.

It was then I realized how many reasons having storage is so important. Not just if there's an earthquake and you're stuck in your home, you suddenly lose a job, or some other catastrophe. We need to be prepared very realistic situations like getting stuck at home with a sick family. Or even stores closing because the pandemic is just too prevalent. I read the Bird Flu was only 1 strand from mutating to the point where it can transfer from human to human. (Now, it already can go from bird to human.) There will be a 2nd bout of Swine Flu after that mutates, and it will be worse. I plan to be prepared for it. Whose with me!? :) Here is a list of things basic things you should have:


-Food
-Water
-toilet paper (100 rolls of toilet paper per person-you use much more when you are sick)
-feminine products
-paper towels
-toothpaste
-soap
-Clorox wipes
-rubber cloves
-hand sanitizer - did you know stores ran out of this when H1N1 got around?
-breathing masks
-cleaners
-dish washing
-laundry
-disinfectant
-baby supplies
-diapers
-wipes
-formula
-baby food
-cash
-games
-batteries
-camping stove

So... I didn't start this post planning to say all that. I wanted to talk about my new freezer. Hmm. That's weird. Oh well, get prepared.

Improvement needed:

I guess you could sum it all up in the word balance.

orderly home
plenty of play
physically fit
financially adept
parental control
socially aware
service oriented
mentally challenged (you know what I mean)
=
a well-balanced mom

Everything has it's place. Children need love and attention, homes need order, bodies need work outs, brains need to be challenged. There are so many things to keep up on. It seems like when I get pretty good at one thing, I am neglecting something else that much more. There are some important things that could use real improvement in my life. I've identified so many, and that's the first step, right!?! Now I am tapping all my resources to help me improve them.