Newest Project

This is my latest project. My good friend is having a little girl in May, so I thought a rag doll would be a really great handmade gift for her. And gee, having 2 boys, I really had to twist my own arm to do some "girly" crafts for her! The project itself actually was really easy. I had a Raggedy Ann from when I was a child, that I used somewhat as a guide, since I hate using patterns so much! So, I just sat down, thought it through and started sewing! It is a little more "gardeny" than I would have liked, but I was trying to use up some old fabric scraps rather than go by new! I am thinking about making another one for another friend, and if I do it again, I think I will use more modern colors. Maybe black, hotpink and purple! I also really want to try doing some brown or yellow pig tails on the next one instead of the traditional red hair. And I won't miss tying all that hair on there, that was the biggest pain in the butt of it all!

All in all, she turned out really cute. I hope my friend new daughter loves it. I made sure it was 100% baby safe, no buttons, ties, etc. So she will actually be able to play with it when she is a bit older!

It's been sooooo long!

So, it has been forever since I have posted anything. So since my last post in February, here are the highlights:

1. The hubby lost his job.
2. Planned and executed my mom's surprise 60th birthday party. We had family fly in from all over the country and had about 40 of my mom's friends (some from 30+ years ago) all there...let me just say, it was a major "to-do" and I was exhuasted after that!
3. A friend turned 30 and we had a 70's themed party for her, which was a total blast.
4. I am now planning my best friends baby shower, and we have 2 weeks to go.
5. After 6 weeks off, the hubby found a new job. He is now a "garbage man". I use quotes, becuase actually he does residential recycling. Today was his first day out of training and actually on a truck...he is hurting in muscles he didn't know he had.
6. Had a "girls" weekend in Galena with my mom which was totally fabulous. We stayed at the Eagle Ridge Resort and went to a fancy dinner and shopped until we pretty much dropped. I loved looking through the art galleries and the used book store there.
7. I am painting again. I have tried working with oils...but I still hate them, so I am doing mostly watercolor work ( I think I will post a totally seperate blog with a bunch of pics).
8. I am in the middle of painting my living room (it's half done), my kitchen cabinets (half done), my kitchen walls (half done) and my bedroom (all but one wall done). I really need to work on finishing one project before starting another.
9. We had to get rid of our cat. As much as we love him, he began randomly attacking people & animals...go figure. We couldn't figure out why, so we had to take him back to the shelter we adopted him from.
10. Incidently, we have adopted a second dog. Our neighbors who moved a few months ago, had a small puggle who the boys just adored. Well, they decided she was just too energetic and they weren't home enough to walk her and care for her, so we took her in. She immediately fit into our family like she belonged, and the boys love walking her! So, Ruca (think short for Veruca Salt from Willy Wonka) became the newest member of our family.
11. I am trying to start thinking about new landscaping for the yard and also what I plan to put into the garden this year, just haven't ordered any seeds yet, but I do need to do it soon!

Ok, in a nutshell, I think that is what has been going on over the last couple of months for us. I know there is more, but I think the other stuff is pretty small potatoes and I've hit the basics! ; )

February Grocery Challenge - Week #1

Great way to start off the month...I'm over budget!

Ugh, what are ya gonna do, right? With the superbowl being more Godly than Christmas in our house, I should have better prepared my budget for the expense of the day! The best I can do, is look ahead at the month, and look back at my freezer and take solice in the fact that it is full of good deals on meat. So, I should still come waaaaay under budget for the month, since I have a freezer full of food!

So, I also found a recipe for Cracker Jacks, that I had to try and OMG! It is fabulous and just as good if not better than cracker jacks. Phe-no-men-al! I ate almost half the bowl, by myself last night. So, I won't be making it often...but it is a good alternative to buying it...becuase it is super cheap to make!

So, I'm posting my lunch and dinner menu's this week with cost analysis, just because I broke down the cost for my own knowlege, so I figured, what the heck...I'll post it!

School Lunch: Bologna sandwich (.18 - bologna at $1 per pkg on sale), chips (.20), banana (.11 - on sale at .29 per pound), dessert (.10) = .59/day

Hubby's Lunch: Bologna sandwich (.18), chips (.20), powerade (.69 - he's been buying pop at the gas station...since powerade was on sale, it'll save at least a buck a day) = 1.07/day

Home Lunch: leftovers (free) = this has been working well for us for the last month!

Dinners:

$2.02 ~ Chili made from dried beans and homemade garlic cuban bread ~ (plus, chili will also be used for superbowl day dip)

$2.89 ~ BLT's with wheat crackers

$3.00 ~ Chicken and Rice Casserole (chix, rice, brocolli & cream of mush soup)

$2.38 ~ Brats, frozen green beans & salad (Brats were on sale for $1/package...so I bought all 9 that they had left & froze them, buns & kraut were also on sale for .69/each, and the green beans and salad, I have left over from last week and need to use them up)

$4.63 ~ Pork Chops & No-Cost Stuffing (pork chops were on sale last week, so we stocked up. I have tons of left over bread heels and some buns in the freezer, plus extra stock...so I will use some of it up in the no cost homemade stuffing)

$2.38 ~ Chicken Parmesean Pasta & Salad (we love this as a side dish without chicken, so I am going to throw chicken in and see if it will fly as a main dish...plus, I will still have 1/2 a container of salad to use up)

$18.30 ~ Superbowl meal - So this includes alot of stuff we wouldn't normally pig-out on all in one meal. So we have TONS of BBQ & Hot wings (homemade of course), sausage dip with wheat thins, and chili dip with chips.

Snacks: yogurt (.24/carton), bananas (.11/each), cheese and crackers (1.50 for all), and carmel corn

So here is where my budget stands, thus far:

Groceries: $69.65/$200.00

Household: $1.70/$40.00

Meat Sales: $28.43/$50.00

Frugal Living vs. Extravagance

Making friends as a child was so simple. It amazes me that as we get older, it becomes so much harder to make new friends. Personally, I think as we get older, we become more judgemental of others who are not just like us, and it makes it harder for us to accept and make friends with people who are "different" than us.

What am I talking about you wonder? I'm talking about frugal vs. extravagant living. Can these two worlds come together in friendship and harmony? Honestly, I have no idea. When I make new friends, I tend to seek out like minded people. I was thinking about this recently, and looked around at all of our friends and realized that we have surrounded ourselves with people who tend to treat money like we do.

I made a group of "new friends" this summer, and found that even though we were all Stay-at-Home mom's, I had very little in common with many of them. Out of the deal, I came away with one friend, who seems to be like-minded about things. She seems to enjoy the simple things in life, crafting and inexpensive projects for her kids, reading for entertainment, etc. Her and I have had free playdates with each other at the park or at our homes. Never once have her and I been to McDonald's playland together, or out for ice cream, or really spent any money together. Is this how I choose my friends? Absolutely not! But it sure is a bonus to find a friend who doesn't feel like dropping money at every turn, and expecting me to do the same with her. With her, I have never had to explain or defend my frugal lifestyle. She seems to understand my desire to save my money, not spend it on unecessary things, and she understands the joy and pride I take in making many things myself. Her and I have not talked at length about frugal living, but I believe we have the "unspoken bond" of two frugal mom's trying to do the best we can in a very expensive world.

Is that to say that I don't hang out with the other mom's I met? Well, yes actually. Through the fall months when we first met, we spent one day a week having picnic's at the park, and we all had a wonderful time. Once it got too cold for that, I shifted my weekly outings to taking my son to the free storytimes offered by the two local bookstores, and many of the other moms shifted their schedules to include a weekly lunch date at McDonald's and bowling each week. As much as I and my children love to bowl (and my kids love Micky D's), we save those things for birthday's and special occassions. It is one of the things that my kids love to do, and it would lose it's excitement if we did it each week. Not to mention it would break my budget.

I do believe that someone frugal can be friends with someone who lives an extravegant lifestyle. However, I do think that it is much, much easier for two people to become friends when they have the same mind-set towards money. I have never had to defend my lifestyle choices to my frugal friend, or turn her down for a playdate because it doesn't fit in my budget. Frugalites understand that there is no need to talk about it (ok, well...unless you are sharing frugal tips). It doesn't matter to us whether you are being frugal because you choose to be or because you have to be. The fact of the matter is, it is one thing you have in common, and with other Frugalites you don't feel the need to defend yourself at every turn!

Grocery Challenge - Week #5

Ok, I think I screwed up my totals for my weeks. My total for groceries should have been $250.00 for the month...and I think I was only tallying $200. It should have been $50 per week and I included the last week in December, since most of it was January!

Breakfasts & Lunches are the same as each week.

Dinners:
Corn Chowder & Grilled Cheese
Steaks & potatoes (our major splurge this week)
Goulash
Spagetti
Chicken Quesadillas
Tacos
Biscuits & Gravy
Hamburgers & Fries
Bagel Dogs & Fries

So, I will now tally up my grand total for the month. I'm 99% I went way over my budget, especially after getting the steaks...plus, I stocked up on meat when it went on sale. Sausage went on sale for .99 per pound, so I bought a bunch and pork chops went on sale for 1.67 per pound, which almost never happens here. So I probably blew my budget...but it's less meat I will have to buy next month!

So here is where I stand:

Week #1 ~ $44.14
Week #2 ~ $52.03
Week #3 ~ $27.88
Week #4 ~ $42.57
Week #5 ~ $49.32

Ok, so it would appear that I stayed on budget. With a total of $215.94. However, those don't include our miscellaneous trips to the grocery store or our meat stock up!
So here is the misc stuff:
1/8 ~ 11.92 (jewel)
1/9 ~ 6.84 (jewel)
1/15 ~ 12.96 (Sullivan's - sausage stock up)
1/16 ~ 4.45 (Aldi's)
1/17 ~ 5.54 (jewel)
1/18 ~ 7.58 (jewel)
1/26 ~ 32.86 (jewel - steak dinner & stock up on pork chops)

Misc. Total = $82.15

Grocery total for month of January = $298.09 (overage of $48.09)

Ok, so not horrible with all things considered. This is the first month we have done a severe reduction in our grocery costs. Before we didn't even have a budget, and what i spent for January, I would have spent for 2 weeks of groceries before. So, now, this gives us something to shoot for, for February!

So, again for February, I plan to budget $50 per week. So I have a total of $200 for the month. I am also adding a household category to our budget this month. So for things like TP, hair stuff, dog food, cat food, kitty litter, etc., we will have a seperate household budget for that. I am going to put that at $40.00. Then I am also going to set aside another $50.00 for meat stock up. This way, if meat goes massively on sale, like it did this month...then I don't have to feel bad about going over budget to buy it. I will use my meat budget for it! I am also adding an entertainment section. We have not officially had this in the budget, up til now. I am hoping this will keep our eating out expenses down to a minimum! So officially, we will have some money to spend that we shouldn't feel bad about spending!

So, my categories for this month are:

Groceries: $200.00
Household: $40.00
Meat (sale): $50.00
Entertainment: $100.00

Total for misc spending this month is $390.00.

I can't believe my baby is FOUR!!!

It's hard to believe he's 4! I hear parents say, "I remember the day he was born, and it feels like yesterday", and I silently roll my eyes with everyone else in the room...but it is true. When it's your child, I think you will always remember the day they were born as if it were yesterday (insert eye roll here, if you must).

In his 4 short years, this child has taught me so much...the first and foremost, being patience! He has tried it time and again, teaching me to further my patience each time! But he is also one of the funniest children I have ever met. I honestly think we are going to have some real trouble from him when he gets into grade school. I'll be constantly called to the principals office to talk about my little class clown's behaivor!

We had a wonderful party! Just family, grandparents, and neighbors (who are family to us). We had pizza and cake and he got to open lots of VERY LOUD, very moveable presents...so I thank everyone for that!

He had a wonderful time and that is what is important! Happy Birthday Josh, I still can't believe you are 4!

50 Fun Frugal Winter Activities for Kids!

Here in the Midwest, we are having an unusually horrible winter this year. It has been ridiculously cold and it just seems to be dragging on and on. So keeping my boys busy this winter has been a challenge. We haven't been able to play outside much, because the temperatures have been so low, so we have had to come up with new ideas for indoor play. We finally decided to compile a list of activities for indoor & outdoor activities for them to choose from. So I thought I would share them here!

Quiet Indoor Activities:

• Read a book! ~ Adults love to curl up with a good book on cold days, and so do kids! Hit the library, grab a stack of new books and hunker down and read for an afternoon!
• Write & illustrate you own book! ~ Kids love to be creative, so let them write their own story and draw pictures! If needed, you can help them write it out!
• Board games ~ These are great activites anytime of year, but especially great in the winter when you can't get outside!
• Play Office ~ Give your kids some old office supplies (old checks or deposit tickets, used paper, pens, pencils and a stapler) and let them set up an office!
• Grow an indoor garden ~ This one is a lot of fun to watch through the winter. Kids can enjoy the *responsibility* of taking care of their own plant!
• Cook something ~ Most kids love to measure and stir, so get them in the kitchen and let them mix up a snack or a batch of cookies!
• Indoor Picnic ~ Kids always get a kick out of the non-traditional things. Pack up some sandwiches & snacks, spread a tablecloth on the floor and have an indoor picnic!
• Math Treats Game ~ Find a great snack (m&m's work great) and have some fun with your child adding & subtracting. It's fun & TASTY!
• Rhyme Time ~ Say a word and have your child find a rhyming word. Kid's love to do this one, even if they are making up words, it will help them learn the concept of rhyming!
• ABC Game ~ Pick a category (like food), start with A, naming a food with each letter of the alphabet and see how far you can get!
• Movie Night ~ Let the kids usher you to your seats, dim the lights and pop popcorn and put in paper lunch sacks. Make it just like a real night at the movies!

Indoor Active Activities:

• Dance Off ~ Put on some music and let the kids take turns dancing. There doesn't have to be a winner, the kids will just have fun dancing!
• Exercise videos ~ Sounds silly, but kids love it! And it is a great way to keep them active and let them burn some energy during the winter...my kids particularly like Tae-Bo!
• What am I? Game ~ Like charades. Have one child act out an animal or object (my kids like to do cars, too) and the others have to guess what he is!
• Scavenger Hunt ~ For older kids, you can write a list of things to find indoors. For non-readers, you can draw or cut pictures from a magazine of items for them to find!
• Build a fort or tent ~ Grab some blankets and pillows and help the kids build a fort. Building it is fun, but kids can play in it for hours after it's built!
• Hot & Cold ~ Everyone leaves the room, while an object is hidden by one player. Try to find it, while the hider tells you when you are hot (close) or cold (far away).
• Hobo Band ~ Make some homemade instruments and start a band! (drums - old coffee can or pots & pans, guitar - kleenex box & rubberbands).
• Indoor Olympics ~ Get creative and come up with some silly games to play in the house. Then stage an olympics. Kids have a lot of fun "competing" in this one!
• Alphabet Eye Spy ~ The person who is *it*, has to choose an object, then says "I spy something that start with A", and the others have to guess what it is!
• Touch a color game ~ Someone shouts out a color, and everyone has to find something to touch that is that color. Last one to find the color, has to call out the next color.
• Alphabet hunt ~ Start with the letter A, each child must search and find something that starts with that letter. See how far you can get! X is tough!
• Play store! ~ Get out that monopoly money and let the kids open a store. They have a lot of fun with this one and also start to learn how money is really spent at a store!
• Block city ~ Get out the blocks or legos and build a city. Kid's don't know which is better...construction or demolition!
• Simon Says ~ An old classic that kid's today still love! It is always fun to change the name too! If a child named *Dan* is it...then change it to "Dan says". They get a kick out of that!
• What time is it Mr. Fox? ~ A good number game. Much like Mother may I, but the kids ask the fox what time it is, and are allowed to take that number of steps towards the fox!

Indoor Science Activities:

• Volcano ~ This one is lots of fun. You just need a jar or small cup, baking soda and vinegar. Place baking soda in cup and add soda. And watch it errupt! You can also add red coloring!
• Wave in a bottle ~ Fill a 2 liter bottle halfway with water colored with blue food coloring and fill the rest with oil. It will make a neat wave machine!
• Tornado bottle ~ You do need a plastic connector for this, but you can find them at most education stores!
• Color experiment ~ Add food coloring to several small glasses of milk. Mix colors to see what happens! Then you can drink your experiment!

Indoor Crafty Activities:

• Snowglobe ~ Make an object from clay, place it in the lid of a jar. Fill jar half with water, half with glycerine. Add blue coloring and glitter, put lid on & you have a great globe!
• TP roll binoculars ~ Lots of fun. Glue or tape 2 tubes together and let kids paint! They have lots of fun making & playing with after they dry!
• Macaroni Necklace ~ Even boys love to paint and make these! Let kids string up left over pasta, then paint it~
• Marble painting ~ Get an old 9 x 13 pan. Place a piece of paper in the bottom. Take marbles and coat in tempera paint, then put in pan & shake!
• Bubble painting ~ Place drops of food coloring in bubble mix. Blow "colored" bubbles onto a paper. When they pop, they leave a neat colored bubble shape on the paper!
• Toe painting ~ Messy, but lots of fun. Basically, it is a twist on finger painting. Try to paint with your toes!
• Potato stamping ~ Have the adult cut potatoes in half and carve shapes into the flat side. Dip into tempera paint and stamp with them! Lots of fun to use!
• Goo ~ Mix corn starch & water to form a liquid/solid goo. Put in 9x13 pan, give kids some kitchen utensils & cups and let them play!
• Homemade playdough ~ Always a classic for kids. Give them kitchen utensils (rolling pin, wooden spoons, etc) and let them play!
• Homemade puzzles ~ Either use photos or kid's drawings, glue to cardboard or cardstock (cereal boxes work), and cut into a puzzle shape!
• Paper mache ~ Kids can pretty much paper mache anything and have a good time! Let them mache and paint once dry and they will enjoy it!

Outdoor Activities:

• Animal Tracks ~ Put out some popcorn the night before. Check in the morning to see what kinds of animals left prints in the snow. Identify them!
• Bird feeding/watching ~ This helps the birds and the kids can enjoy seeing the birds in winter. The kids really enjoy filling the feeder on their own!
• Shovel for a friend ~ Shovel a friend or neighbors walkway. Kid's love to be helpful. They will enjoy this activity and someone else will benefit too!
• Photo tour ~ Kid's love to take photos. If you have a digital camera, hand it over to the kids and take a walk. It's fun to see what they took pictures of when you get home!

Outdoor SnowPlay Activities:

• Snowball fight ~ Always fun to play in the yard. When we play, we choose sides, and even our adult neighbors come out and choose a team to help!
• Snow Fort ~ Grab a bucket (or square tupperware works great!) and fill and make "bricks" to build a snow fort! The more snow, the bigger you can make it!
• Snow coloring ~ Grab a couple of spray bottles and add water with food coloring. Take them out and spray pictures into the snow!
• Snow angels ~ Kid's love laying in the snow...I have no idea why! But they do! So get out there and see who can make the perfect snow angel!
• Snow men ~ With enough snow, you can make a whole snow family! Don't forget the accessories, like old hats & scarves to make it unique!