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6/15/2009 Upstate SC Cloth Diapering 5/9/2009 Grandma got it right 5/3/2009 Mother's Day 4/26/2009 CVS shocker Tis a gift 4/22/2009 Bilo-coupon changes 4/19/2009 To Bloom or not to Bloom? Coupon Communists 4/18/2009 Fields of green Paint me a memory 4/17/2009 Can one live on mustard alone?!? 4/16/2009 Grocery War 4/15/2009 Eleven going on annoying vistory or recession garden? Soap nuts--a laundry tale Tripple Coupons at Boom 4/9/2009 Spring break week |
Date: 6/15/2009 Title: Upstate SC Cloth Diapering Custom BB Buns BB Buns cloth diaper wraps and potty training pants are custom made to fit a variety of sizes. Made in Upstate South Carolina between Greenville and Clemson in a little town called Liberty, the design was born out of necessity. Braelyn had reoccurring ear infections, and a sore bottom from all the antibiotics, disposable diapers were making the problems worse. I designed BB Buns to be super durable and adjustable. One diaper cover will fit, wash and wear from approximately 10 pounds to potty training (or about 35 pounds). I designed the waist to fully enclose the fold over elastic and channeled waistband a focus on function and comfort for the diaper covers. The covers have enough room to cover a diaper and soaker pads for heavy wetters. The leg elastic stops and starts in a hidden area to prevents bulges and wear marks on babies’ thighs. The front rise adjustments keep the cover from riding up baby’s armpits when used in smaller babies. The snaps are KAM press- machine applied, and tested to be sure they do not come off. Super soft fabric is double layers with the PUL hidden. I found this method provides longer wear and protects the waterproof aspect. BB Buns diapers and potty pants wear, washy and dry well in the hottest dryers with out melting or losing the waterproofing. Date: 5/9/2009 Title: Grandma got it right Grandma got it right With mother’s day just around the corner, I have been reflecting on maternal figures from the past. I have admitted in the past that being outside on the porch is one of the best times for me. The grandmothers of yesterday were constantly on the porch or outside. I had to examine why that was. Could it be that the connection to the world was felt outside, and the now-known benefits of a little sunshine (vitamin D) spurred them on? Did the work of their hands keep them outside-shucking corn, shelling peas, and gardening? For me personally it is a combination. I love the sun and I truly enjoy gardening. The added benefit is what grandma did NOT tell us. She sat outside working with her hands to feed and care for her family-an honorable feat. Her children (like my own) did clamor to her side to recite the million-and-one questions, problems, and non-sense. Grandma got it right; in order to sit with her, by her side the chattering child was told to help with the task at hand. The normal reply was, “you can sit but you have to help”. Sucking corns, shelling peas, stringing beans, and pealing potatoes are not equal to the toys and enticements of childhood. Sure, the occasional bad day warranted a little hand work and a one-on-one conversation with her wisdom. More often than not, the trappings of childhood left grandma alone on the porch tending to the needs of her family, tending to her own sweet spirit, and her sense of self. To all of the grandmothers, Happy mothers day thank you for being the examples we all follow today Date: 5/3/2009 Title: Mother's Day What a Mother wants With Mother’s Day fast approaching I though it necessary to reflect on the Mother’s day tradition. Mothering, in my book is, caring for and nurturing a child’s mind body and spirit. Being a mother in the physical sense (caring and delivering a baby) has been life altering, then again so to has adoption. The avenues to ‘mothering’ can be vast. On example of ‘mothering’ is a having a special friendship with a child, like our oldest daughter has with our neighbor. Our neighbor is a grandmother who loves to play intellectual board games. She and our Annie enjoy hours of one-on-one time (plus that little goodies and treats Mrs. Peggy gives her). A mother figure can be an aunt, friend grandmother, teacher or guardian. A mother can also be a single father doing it all. What would be a great gift for Mother’s day? The Practical: I personally enjoy gifts that are useful in the everyday. Practical gifts let the recipient know you understand their daily lives and appreciate all they do. A well thought out gift does not have to be expensive. I love to sit out on the porch and read the newspaper in the morning-coffee in hand- before our youngest wakes. To find a useful gift one should think of activities that the recipient does daily or most days. Find or make a gift that makes the activity easier or more enjoyable. The Pampering Gifts that pamper tell the recipient that you appreciate all they do and you understand the sacrifices she makes for others. Most mothers choose for their children before themselves. Most mothers have gone without a true need to get things the children or the family needs. A pampering gift is one the mother would buy for herself if money were no object. I love full body, warm stone massages-only a weeks worth of groceries. Pampering gifts can be done cost effectively. Set up a foot spa in the living room, have the kids paint her nails-THEN CLEAN UP-she receives the same message. The Bling Jewelry is often a popular gift idea. Many women love jewelry, and it is s symbol of the appreciation you have for her. It shows others that you remembered and gives the recipients a tangent reminder of the day. The Creative Creative gifts are those MADE by the giver. Handmade cards, tee shirts picture frames from Sunday school. Sweet reminders of how fragile the mother-child relationship is. Some precious home made (low cost) gift ideas are small painted flower pots with perennial flowers. The flowers can be plated and will return every year (creative and practical). Create a mini kitchen herb garden using 6 cleaned out cans fixed together with wire and filled with cooking herbs. The possibilities are endless, and ideas are widely available on the internet. I personally do not wear jewelry much (kids love to pull on shiny things). I do have several treasured pieces that I bring out on Mother’s day. I have a baby blue cameo of a mother holding her sleeping babe; I received the First Mother’s day after we lost our baby girl. I have a custom made pendant with our children’s birthstones in a heart (#6 was not here yet and I feel guilty wearing it). SO what is the best gift? The better question is what is the best gift for the specific recipient? Every mother is different, and so to is each relationship she has with her children. That relationship changes and evolves as the child grows. Braelyn and Tricia are still in the “I need you, you are the center of my world’ phase. It is different from the boys who are 3 yards into the teenage years and are evaluating the world on their own terms. Annie needs to be challenged intellectually at every turn. Lacy still yearns for guidance, like Braelyn, but the needs lessons as she matures. A final thought, the point of Mother’s Day is not the gift; it is taking the time to acknowledge what this woman has DONE for you and what she continues to DO. She may get up and go to work everyday making sure all the ends are tied, or she may stay at home. She may have a cleaning service come in, or she may do it herself. She may pick up dinner, or grow and cook it. Whatever the situation, SHE DOSE it, you appreciate IT so find a way to show her. Date: 4/26/2009 Title: CVS shocker CVS shocker Today was a lighter savings day. No triple coupon sales, no rushing, no frazzled cashiers. We only found a few items at CVS. It was quite a shock when I looked at my receipt. I had purchased 4 Speed Stick deodorants that were on clearance for .80¢ each. I had a coupon for .75¢ off of 2. With the coupons my deodorants cost only .43¢ each plus tax. The total for the 4 deodorants after using the two coupons was only $1.70, a deal in itself. When I looked over my receipt I realized that I had been given the CVS extra bucks for the Speed stick (did not realize it) I received $6.00 in CVS bucks for the deodorants alone. I walked away with 4 deodorants and $4.30. CVS actually paid me to take them home. I LOVE COUPONS. This little venture just fueled my coupon addiction! Date: 4/26/2009 Title: Tis a gift Tis a gift. . . I thought a glimpse into life with the gang would be fitting this morning. The Greenville News carried an article in the Voices section that rings simple and true. With the economy in the tank, many are finding the multitudes of past children’s activies (and the associated costs) are not longer feasible. Baseball, football, soccer, cheerleading, clubs, music lessons, swim teams, gym memberships and more. I want to let you into our lives. We have six children. Two boys ages 13, and 4 little girls, ages, 11, 10, 9, and 2. Our house rule has always been no constant weekend activities, no activities on Sunday and no more than one activity per child per season, no quiting and activity, and Mom and Dad must be able to attend activities together. To be a family we must be together at least occasionally. We created these rules after trying to do it all. We tried: tee ball, softball, baseball, cheerleading, basketball, dance, the list goes on. Each time we found, that in the end, we were left frazzled and run down. Pocketbook depleted from the events, meal out, gas and a multitude of associated needs. Today we do church and school events, community events and we plan our own. The Upstate parent and our local newspaper are great sources for ideas. Our children enjoy gardening, strawberry picking, museums, exploring the world, family walks, the local parks, outdoor games, and craft projects just to name a few. Most of all our children enjoy our TIME. We spend the majority of our time as a family. Time with family and time around family is not the same. To be WITH family, everyone must be engaged, sharing, helping, contributing and enjoying. Every night we watch one hour of kids TV together, the kids help with the laundry during TV. time and we have popcorn and cookies. It is cheap and fun. Sometimes we substitute the TV with the karaoke machine, or the Wii, or we just play outside. The kids do their family chores so that we all can sit and watch TV. It is an end result that they desire, so they are motivated to do the chores. We stick to the rules no family-chores no family time. (Personal chores are the chores that pertain to hygiene and bedrooms.) Every Sunday we have brunch with the grandparents. A fabulous tradition the kids will always remember. Sunday is also a day of rest. No TV, no chores, no video games. The kids read study or work on school projects in their rooms. They can nap or read the comics, listen to their MP3 players or any number of calm quiet activites. It is a time to be still and listen, a time to prepare for the week, a time to just be. Our house can be BUSY, and chaotic, but most of the time it is a calm retreat from the world. We have created a home that is a refuge; it is not unusual to find our home filled with extended family, friends and neighbors. All looking to reconnect, visit or learn. One day the kids will relish the peace in our home, they may even yearn for it. Tis a gift to be simple, tis a gift to be free, tis a gift to come down where we ought to be, Date: 4/22/2009 Title: Bilo-coupon changes Bilo-coupon changes Bilo is having a fantastic sale! Many buy one get one free items that have recent coupons. They are however changing the coupon policy. It is my understanding that if the coupon reads “one per purchase” in the top line of the fine print, you are now limited to only one item of that kind per trip. For example: The Land-O-Lakes eggs were on sale for $1.99 a dozen. I had seven .50¢ off coupons that are doubled. So that is one dozen eggs for .99¢. A great deal, and by having seven coupons that savings really adds up. However, the policy change means that I could only get 1 dozen. I just wanted you all to be aware of the changes. I had a good many items both on sale and not. The manager graciously let me use my multiple coupons this time but I was made aware of the new policy. I believe the policy was put in place due to ‘coupon communists’ (see previous entries) abusing the system. This is only one example of how the few are able to ruin a good thing for all of us. Check online and with your local store to be sure you know all the ‘rules’. It is impossible to win the game if you do not know the rules. Date: 4/19/2009 Title: To Bloom or not to Bloom? To Bloom or not to Bloom? After a rainy morning, we finally decide to visit our local Bloom grocery store again, only one kiddo in toe, and she is a great bagger! She waltzed away with a candy treat and flavored water. No wonder she always asks to go. We were searching for only a few items from the famous triple coupon deals. We were prepared but more reserved than our previous trip. This trip’s highlight was a deal on the Ortega products. Bloom close-out priced at $1.15 each. My coupon was .75¢ off of 2. The end price for 2 items was .05¢. Taco’s anyone? The frozen ready to cook brownies were on sale 2 for only $6, they were only .75¢ each after the triple coupon. Annie will be taking brownies to school for her class snack (she signed up for the 23rd). We found a Slim Jim coupon for .75¢ off a canister. Bloom only had 3, but they also have zip top packages of the Slim Jims. Many times the coupon from one product (a canister) will work on another form of the same produce. I believe it is called a coupon family. We ended up with 3 canisters and 4 packages, each containing 14 treats all for free due to Bloom’s closeout pricing. This trip’s total was $29, the value was $175. Thanks again to Bloom for kind cashiers, managers and a great coupon policy. I will address the people who are trying to ruin the use of coupons for everyone in my next entry. Date: 4/19/2009 Title: Coupon Communists Coupon communists I am sure I will catch a lot of flack about this entry. I am a coupon fanatic, admittedly. If there were a coupon addicts support group I would find a coupon for it. My poor husband is my enabler, he watches the kids while I play hunter/gather. I play my coupons like a poker hand. I use sales ads, clearance, markdowns, double and triple coupon days to decide when to play each coupon. I want to ensure I squeeze all the value out of the gems that arrive weekly in my papers. I always make it a point to be kind to the manager and cashiers when checking out. Normally I do not have any problems, nor do I try and cause any. There are other coupon fanatics who are causing some problems for the rest of us. Quite often I will come across a deal where the value of the coupon exceeds the item price. For example the item is a razor on clearance at Kmart for $2.19. The regular price was $8.99. I have a coupon for $1.50 off and Kmart doubles coupons up to $2 on specific days. The resulting sale is free after the coupon. I am happy. I have free razors. The ‘others’ are asking that the stores (Kmart in this example) give them back the coupon overage. In this example it would be .81¢. I have heard from cashiers and managers the stories of the fits people pitch when they do not get the overage back. This is causing problems for the rest of us. Our local grocery store manager will normally allow us to go back through the line with another batch of coupons to triple. It is at the manager’s discretion. The people who choose to get loud and raise a fuss negatively influence the manager. I get grumpy too when I have to deal with difficult people. Now I love a bargain, and I LOVE free items. Several stores do give the overage or put it towards the other purchases and that is great. Once you get a bargain you should be satisfied. Once you get a freebie you should be DELIGHTED. Stop expecting the store to pay you to take the item. This issue and those trying to abuse the system will cause stores to stop doubling and tripling coupons. That affects us all. Date: 4/18/2009 Title: Fields of green Fields of green 20 rows of corn 8 rows of beans Egyptian walking onions Beets 2 Blueberry bushes 2 Blackberry bushes Garlic 14 tomatoes Sun chokes The previous field of red dirt has been transformed. The tiny hard seeds placed in the soil have given way to tiny signs of life. Braelyn is mesmerized. Ya-Ya helped her pick the end of the onion shoot and devour it. She has put all the garden work into her terms, her own understanding. The seeds were tired, hard, and old (like a tired mommy), so she helped put them to bed, and covered them up so they would be warm. Now that they are ‘awake’ they are tiny, new, and soft,--her babies. I have yet to figure out how to break it to her that we will have to chop off their heads and eat them when the corn is ripe. I guess we will cross that bridge another day. All the hard work is worth seeing her enjoy being 2. One day she will remember and I will never forget. Date: 4/18/2009 Title: Paint me a memory Family ties How is it that the people that are put in place to support uplift inspire and assist--those closest to us can be the worst? Needless to say it has been a stressful evening. I stumbled across this blog on dealing with difficult people. http://thinksimplenow.com/happiness/dealing-with-difficult-people/ I choose to surround myself and my children with positive, productive members of society. I choose to instill peace in our home, I choose to be happy, live life and make the memories my children will carry forever. God made the canvas (life) HE gave me the brushes and I am painting my life the way I want it to be. I am authentic, the colors and shapes on the easel, are real and true. They may not be the work of a great artist but they tell my story. It is my choice, an expression of me. Sure my canvas has a bump here and a lost job there, an unexpected bill, or a torn edge. There is one spot on the left is not quite right. I have the power to work on it, make it better. I choose not to hide it, or fake repairs. There will be no quick fixes for the sake of show. I will not pretend that it is perfect. It is my canvas, my life, and I love it, I pray you can love yours too. Date: 4/17/2009 Title: Can one live on mustard alone?!? One can not live on mustard alone.—we are gonna try! Yes we conquered the triple coupon dragon again at Bloom. Our local Bloom is very kind and gracious about the coupons. I have never had such an experience with cashiers and managers. They are to be commended. I may even send a thank you note. After grabbing our routine Bloom coffee (only .99¢) and very yummy, we got right to work. This trip was shorter in length but more productive. I think the preplanning really paid off. It took only about 2 hours, and our printed receipt saving was over $500. In total, we spent approx. $90. Not too Bad considering we came home with an upwards of 25 bags of groceries. Many of the items were triple coupon items. Sadly I did purchase 14 French’s mustards (all free). Three different varieties to my defense and several were donated to the food panty. Shopping trip highlights: Breyer’s ice-cream. Bloom sale priced at 2 for $6. So that makes them only $3 each-a deal itself, but coupled with the .75¢ off coupon ($2.25 tripled) I walked away with a normally $6 ice-cream treat for only .75¢, now if the kids would only go to bed. Kellogg’s cereals on sale for only $1.99 each. My $1.00 off coupons were not tripled, but a box of Kellogg’s of only .99¢--a no brainer! Can Chicken be breaded with frosted flakes? Would the leftovers be good with milk the next morning? Scary but yes I thought it. Free Betty Crocker frosting to go with the cake mixes I go last week at Bilo. Free Daisy sour cream-it can be frozen to use in cooked dishes. Free Yo-Crunch yogurt with the Crunch bar chocolates-yum Less than a quarter-the yummy Warm delights-Moms deserves something!! Clipping coupons is tough work! The Pepsi products were a bargain too, Bloom special prices buy four pay .89¢ each then they had coupons for buy two get one free. I bought four Pepsi, and got two Wild Cherry Pepsi for free. The list goes on and on. I ran into a friend, Sarah, I was going to pass a few coupons her way but she slipped out before I could get to her. I left many coupons at the store for others, and was never rude or pushy. I bought many things without coupons, and donated some things. I did pick up five of the cute re-useable shopping bags! All in all a great day, I may even skip the Sunday trip. That depends on the coupon inserts in the paper. Approx $600 of groceries for $90-Thank you Bloom. Date: 4/16/2009 Title: Grocery War Is it sad that my main weekend highlights consist, in general, of two main events? First triple coupon weekend at Bloom, and the Sunday newspaper with its coupon inserts. It is true that I had to get put on the mailing list for Bloom. The closest store is about 15 miles away. I will spend tonight (Thursday) filing and sorting my coupons as the kids watch TV. I will plan each attack; use each coupon to provide a necessary item for our family, or to stock the pantry at little or no cost. It is a game, no, it is war. Friday is the day to go, fewer shoppers in the morning, and fresh shelves to be scoured. “Open the doors and get out of my way” is my battle cry. Divide and conquer, is the plan. We embark on our mission, in scouting groups of two, no minors allowed-too many distractions! Ya-Ya and I careen from one isle to another temping the spend thrift fairy to work her grocery magic! Sadly, EARLY Sunday morn before the paper thumps to the cold concrete in the drive way I wake wondering if it has come. Like a child waiting on Christmas. OH YES!, we will make a second trip to Bloom and finish off the Sunday news paper. Trading casual, uneasy smiles while check out other mom’s (and a few Dad’s) coupon organizing skills. Competing for that last can of free French’s onions or the fiftieth bottle of brown mustard. Cheap is good-free is better and this is war! Date: 4/15/2009 Title: Eleven going on annoying She is the oldest girl, age eleven, going on annoying. The back talking, rolling-eyes, huffing, and attitude all urge me to buy Midol stock. Does anyone know their number? I should listen to my inner voice and jut put it in the mashed potatos. Oprah had a show on mother hood. To my parents thank you for letting me live. Date: 4/15/2009 Title: vistory or recession garden? This year we are fortunate to have a large level area to create a vegetable garden. Our property used to have a tennis court, which was removed a few years ago. The area is large flat level and sadly deep red clay. We are working to amend the soil. We purchased 2 cute rabbits for the kids because we read that the droppings were great for the soil, we compost, and use leaves from the pecan trees. Today we planted 12 tomato plants. Two weeks ago we planted ½ lb of corn from the farm store. (I bought way too much) So that makes 20 rows of corn that are not about 3 inches tall. Then we planted eight 15 foot long rows of different bush beans. Victory garden . . . Recession garden .. . Self sustaining garden . . . or just good clean fun? Date: 4/15/2009 Title: Soap nuts--a laundry tale Normally I make our detergent. I use an octagon or zote soap and baking soda and borax recipe. It is lumpy but much cheaper than off the shelf. I ran across soap nuts for washing cloth diapers. I ordered bag (2.2 lbs) for about $20. The directions say to put 5-6 nuts in the little cloth bag and toss them in the wash. I also saw liquid soap nuts on ebay. Being cheap and a gluten for self-inflicted punishment I decided to make my own. I take about 15 nut pieces and pulverize them in my bullet blender. Soap nut dust. Bring 4 cups of water to a boil and add the dust. Let it boil for 15-30 min. It will get dark-think maple syrup. It is done, no lumps. I use about 2 tbs per load. It is less sudsy than the off the shelf ones. There is no smell. The ‘raw’ nuts have a vinegar smell as does the made liquid. The clothes are left fresh and clean. My diapers have no residue or build up. It is great. I make t batches at a time. One to use and one to freeze. With no chemicals it will go bad. We do 2-3 loads per day so I have never had any go bad. I it easier than the borax and soap recipe I had before. I may look into growing a few soap nut trees here on the property. I am also considering selling them to use on the diapers. It is a natural extension of the diaper business. One step closer to self sustained. Date: 4/15/2009 Title: Tripple Coupons at Boom It is triple coupon time again at Bloom. Here is a handy chart for those of you who are as math challenged as I am. 25 =.75 ¢ off .30=.90¢ off .35=$1.05 .40=$1.20 off .45=$1.35 off .50=$1.50 off .55=$1.65 off .60=$1.80 off .65=$1.95 off .70=$2.10 off .75=$2.25 off Our Bloom only triples coupons up to .99¢. Your may be different. I just never remember to bring the kids, the coupons, the Breeze card, the reusable grocery bags and the calculator! Fortunately the calculator and the bags are the only thing I have forgotten. I guess it could be worse. Happy grocery gathering Date: 4/9/2009 Title: Spring break week The kiddos are on spring break this week. I have activities planned for each day to keep us all in line. Monday we spent the day collecting rocks to paint in the afternoon. A great way to de-rock the garden and keep the kids busy. We used free paint from the recycling center to hand paint and decorate various rocks. We later used those decorated rocks to mark the border on the newly planted tomatoes. (Free/arts & crafts/gardening) Tuesday we visited Rose Hill Plantation here in Easley SC. It was a great day! The farm has one green house for strawberries. The berries are grown organic, in a hydroponic-raised system that made the whole thing wonderful! Tricia's wheel chair easily navigated the rows and the berries raised were the perfect height for her. BONUS-I did not have to get on the ground-save my knees!! They also have great local organic meats, cheeses and other goodies at the gift shop. That afternoon we cast stepping stones and decorated them with glass decorative rocks from the craft store. Wednesday we made strawberry ice cream. YUM Thursday we took in a free movie at the local Library--Bedtime stories! It was great. We walked the 3 blocks or so. The baby fell asleep during the whole movie-great nap an the older kids really enjoyed it. Friday we visited Barnes and Noble to see Curious George. It was so packed. Braelyn (2) was timid but excited. The older kids went and browsed the older books. |