spend $15, save $125

In December, I bought an Entertainment book for the first time. I always thought they were full of coupons that we would never use. And while that is mostly true (there are SO many that will never be redeemed by this family) there are a few that have totally made this book worth purchasing.

Using a Walgreen's coupon for the book, I purchased it in December for $15 (after coupon). Technically, I used a register reward or rebate gift card to buy it, so one could argue that I spent nothing on it, but I had to earn the RR or GC, so for the sake of argument, we can say that I spent $15 on the thing.

The reason I purchased the book to begin with was the JCPenney Portraits 50% off coupon (there are 2 of them in my 2009 EB). When my children turn 3, I purchase a 16x20 wall portrait of them, and my plan is to now hang all three of them together in my dining room (at least I think that's where they are going). I *heart* the age of 3...plus they are old enough to pose so cutely at the age of 3. Anyhow, with the first two kids, I had utilized a 50% off punch on my JCP Portraits club card, to get the savings on their 16x20's. But I've already used the 50% off punch on my current card, so I bought the book to save $70 on Gracie's wall portraits last month.

Then, we saved $10 using a coupon from the EB when Scott took us bowling over Christmas.

And thirdly, we booked symphony tickets for our anniversary. There was a BOGO (buy one, get one free) coupon for our local symphony orchestra in the EB that saved us a cool $45.

Not including a few other incidental (free coffee/restaurant) coupons that I used, I have already saved us $125 by purchasing the EB! And there are still a few other coupons that I would like to use, though probably not on "big ticket" items.

I don't know that I will purchase the EB every year, but I will definitely flip through it to make sure there isn't at least one higher priced item that would make it worth purchasing. Scott and I try to get to the symphony about once a year, so even if we only bought the book for that one coupon, it would have been worth it.

Spent $15, save at least $125, that's my idea of a great deal. :)

For more Frugal Fridays go here.

a bright spot in paperwork day

Today is paperwork/taxes day, as well as "quick, make sure the Honda gets inspected by the end of the month" day. :) But there was at least one bright spot in the day and that is, I booked tickets for my Man and I to go to the symphony to celebrate our anniversary next month! We have been waiting for a symphony featuring a classical guitarist for some time (Scott loves classical guitar.)

Here is a clip of the guitarist, Nemanja Ostojic, that we will hear. This is one of my favorites of his on youtube...





And here is a fun, little dance that I'm sure our kids would like to jump around to...





Actually, there have been quite a few bright spots today, not the least of which is the big, fat tax return that is coming our way. :) And also the dark chocolate that I had in order to get me through the tax preparations.

The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works. -- Psalm 145:9

pretty cool...especially if you enjoy US History, as I do

busy, busy

Last week was sheer chaos in this household. We were getting everything settled after painting, strategizing about future painting, starting to detangle for vacation, preparing for my dad's surprise birthday party, mulling some decisions, meanwhile doing school, paying bills, plus ministry and normal daily stuff. Eh. Too much to do.

This sweet girl (who is also one of our favorite babysitters!)...

...very graciously offered to watch our kids one evening so Scott and I could go out to eat by ourselves! I canNOT begin to tell you what a blessing she is to us! We tried out a new (to us) pizza place and took the laptop (we're nerds) and brainstormed, strategized, talked etc. It was great and a nice break on a Tuesday evening! Thank you SO MUCH, Kristen!

On Thursday, I attempted to make a yummy walnut torte that my neighbor (she's from Poland) made (and I tasted) at Christmas time. It was so delicious and reminded me of the kind of cake we had when we were in Czechoslovakia visiting my dad's family.

Incidentally, here is a different kind of cake that Betty brought over earlier in the week. Yumm-o! She is an awesome Polish baker!

So I decided to make the walnut torte for my dad's birthday party. Well, let's just say that we don't do things in America like they do in the old country. In the words of Anne Shirley, my first attempt at the cream filling was a "dismal failure." So I found myself on Betty's steps that evening with my bowl and spoon in hand, pathetic look on my face, and asking her, "What did I do wrong?" She helped me make the cream from scratch, again, with a wooden mallet/spoon thing not found in the US! And then she sent me home with some special Polish ingredients and the proper tools to make a second cake the next day.

However, I woke up on Friday not feeling well. I have an irregular heartrate and so heart palpitations plus low iron/blood sugar/pressure issues rear their ugly heads from time-to-time around here. I didn't want to end up passing out like I did last time, so my mom graciously offered to take the kids so I could hopefully rest off the palpitations. It took ALL day. Anyone who has ever listened to their heart beating wildly for HOURS on end knows what I am talking about when I say it is miserable. Exhausting, unable-to-stand-up, much-less-do-anything miserable. I think my poor little ticker sensed the second my knight in shining armor (did I mention he had another deadline on Friday?) walked in the door, because all heart rates were calm and normal within minutes of him coming home to rescue his maiden in distress! Poor guy, after years of marriage my pulse slows when I'm in his presence, rather than the other way around. :)

At long last, the second cake was made just in time for the party and I felt SO MUCH better by Saturday when we woke up and my Man stayed home with us ALL day for a change. It was so nice!

Here are some photos from the party...

My dad and brother-in-law (the host)

Little girls in hand-made Slovak garb

Slovak food a-plenty!

I *heart* Slovak food! I don't make as much of it as my mom did when we were growing up. But I'm starting to incorporate a few recipes into our menu.

Actually, I love most ethnic food. Our street should be labeled "International Lane" because there are only 3? families on our street who are naturally-born Americans. My next-door neighbor has shared her wonderful Indian food with me and promises to teach me how to make more Indian food (as long as I teach her how to bake). We've tried pastries from the Macedonian neighbors, and Polish cakes, as I've already mentioned from my friend, Betty. Now I just have to sweet talk the Chilean neighbors on the corner to introduce me to some of their traditional food. :) But first, Betty has promised to make real pierogis with me! I think I shall die and go to ethnic food heaven. :)

To top off a super-busy (but yet fun, in a heart-palpitating kind of way) week, I also made some sweet money at the children's second-hand store! And the closets and toy storage areas have said, "Amen."

All in a week's work. I am ready for vacation. :)

daydreaming

Florida...you can't come soon enough.

deal of the week

Compliments of P&G and a local supermarket, I utilized a store deal (buy 10 P&G products, get $10 off your next shopping order) and a P&G mail-in rebate (buy $40 of P&G products, get $15 gas card).

I purchased 13 items (2 items not pictured).

Spent $41.99

Used one FREE coupon for the Cascade rinse agent (-$2.99) plus -$8.50 in additional manufacturer's coupons.

Total after coupons and $10 off the next order (which I used right away because I split my transaction) was $22.65, minus $15 gas card, makes the grand total after all deductions:

$7.65

Which means each item cost approximately $0.77 each!

Great deal and I love being stocked up on dishwashing detergent because we go through it like water in this house.

[ Thanks to my sister, the Wondershopper, for alerting me to this fabulous deal. :) ]

For more Frugal Friday go here.

our favorite poems

I'm sure I have mentioned several times that this is our favorite book of poems for small children. We have loved it since the minute that my mom gave it to Lily when she was a baby! I still have memorized the poems in this book that were Lily's favorites.

Then when Joey was little, he had certain favorites too. But definitely fewer than Lily. His literary interests were in heavy machinery at the time. :) But he still remembers them and loves to hang over my shoulder and listen to me read from this book.

And now that Gracie loves this collection too, I'm finding it amusing that her favorites are sometimes the poems that we barely read when Lily was a baby. There are a few in here that she requests over and over again, that I feel like I never read more than once for Lily.

Anyhow, I thought I would highlight a few of our favorite poems in a series of posts. Eloise Wilkin's selection of poems in this book are so precious because they really do touch on things that are so relevant to children. Plus the illustrations are just too lovely for words!

Enjoy!

Here is one that was Gracie's favorite from the start because it talks about her dear blanket (or "beelah" as she calls it). Usually I recite this one as I tuck her into bed all snug under her little quilt, with her baby doll, and very special blanket. :)

Sleeping Beauty - February 2007

Woolly Blanket

I have a woolly blanket.
It's cuddly and it's pink.
And it is very dear to me,
More so than you would think.

Whenever I go travelling,
The blanket travels, too.
And if I should forget it, why
I don't know what I'd do.


It always goes to bed with me.
I like to feel it near,
Because it is so cuddly
And so very, very dear.

- Kate Cox Goddard

man work

"what my Man was doing while I was painting the powder room... assembling furniture"

But it kindof looks like he is either fixing a boat or coming up out of a coffin. :)

Wordless Wednesday

S&A Painting presents...

Joey's room painted in Pale Waters

and the living room in Green Wash

Sorry the pictures aren't the best. I will post more one day when we get more stuff hung up and the rooms are more "finished." For now, we are pleased with the colors. Scott and I were able to paint the rooms on Friday and touch-up and clean up on Saturday. It worked out really well and I think we make a great painting team. :)

As much as I enjoy decorating, I am looking forward to the day when our house is "done." It took awhile after we moved into our first house, but there came a time when there wasn't a pressing to-do item on the "decorating/getting settled" list. And that was a nice feeling. I like having a little decorating project to dabble with, but I'll be quite content when the majors are done at this house.

spiral binding - homeschooling mom's dream

Here are two books that I use daily. They both had regular book bindings which made it awkward to snuggle up on the couch with my son and read from them together. So I made a quick trip to an office supply store, handed them over, and a few hours later and just $9 poorer... Voila! Spiral bindings! This makes them SO much easier to use and more comfortable for my Joey and me!

Spiral bindings work for me!

another crazy week

Well, another crazy week has come and gone, and I've missed you blog-people. :) Great discussion, by the way, in the comments of the chick flick post! If you haven't read them, check them out. I have so many more movies to watch. Maybe I'll get sick again and be able to watch them. :)

The beginning of this week drug along. My week always feels weird if I miss an entire day of church. That's a rarity for me, and I think I set an almost 8-year first, in that I stayed home from church and there were no little people at home with me! I can't remember the last time that I was sick and the kids weren't. (maybe we're turning a corner!) Plus, even when I was sick, even if the nursing baby was well, he or she was home with mama. So this was definitely strange for me.

Then I had all of these errands to catch up on, I had not grocery shopped in almost 2 weeks, and I had to spend almost an hour in the paint store preparing for Friday. (separate post on that one) I also went through all of the children's summer clothes, which I never purged out of their closets last fall (bad me)...the only drawback to having well-sized closets is that you can let them fill up and aren't forced to go through them each season. Our upcoming Florida vacation forced me to go through and see what I had/still needed, and it turned out to be the perfect timing. I had an appointment at the children's second-hand store to take in some clothing and I found several more items in their closets that made it into the bins in time to take to the store. Hopefully, I will make some $$. :)

And we're trying to sell our entertainment center on Craigslist, which means emails, and phonecalls and scheduling...eh. (Anyone want to buy an entertainment center?) We bought a new one and Scott put it together, and it's in the corner of the family room waiting for the old entertainment center to vacate the premises. I can't wait until this place is DONE. Ah, more on that in the next post, I'm getting ahead of myself.

So I'm selling stuff on ebay and trying to get all of our loose ends tied up before we leave for Florida. Sometime it's just hard to go away on vacation...the whole extricating one's self from daily duties and things that need to be done isn't easy. Scott always struggles with taking an entire week off of work, and the same is true at home. Plus, invariably, he has a deadline just prior to our departure, which means, I am home, tying up loose ends, accomplishing stuff, packing and he's working OT. But it's a blessing to be able to go away as a family, especially to somewhere warm. :) So I won't complain anymore.

Then Valentine's Day snuck up on us. And we were busy touching-up paint and getting the house put back together, when my Man brought home a dozen roses for me. :)



Awww, he's so sweet! White with pink edges...so pretty.

And my mom helped the kids make us some Valentine's cards that they mailed to our house from hers while they were there.

I love this one from Joey:

Happy Valentine's Day

Love your Cowboy

I have the best little cowboy in the world. :)

We had a nice little Valentine's dinner at my parents on Friday night...complete with food from our favorite pizza shop. Tony's...how we miss you!

And here we are and it's Sunday again. Praise the Lord for a week accomplished!

What did you do this last week?

valentine's craft = $1

I love Valentine's Day! Even though we don't go crazy in celebrating it in our house (though I have high hopes every year), I like to do a little craft with the kids, because they so enjoy handing out little treats to their friends.





A few weeks ago, I was in the dollar store and saw their ginormous display of Valentiney stuff. I started to select a few things for the kids to use to make projects. And then I remembered that even in the dollar store, one can go crazy and "over-spend." Sounds crazy, I know, but it happens sometime. So I stopped and decided that I was only going to get one thing for the kids to use. I selected a 12-pack of Valentine's pencils, trusting in the internet to supply me with the formula for a cute Valentine involving a pencil.




Once again, the internet did not disappoint. :)





We used some cardstock, stickers, and foamies that we already had, and the kids put together these crafts relatively quickly and with fairly little help from me.

A cute Valentine for 12 friends. All for $1. That's my definition of a frugal Valentine's craft. :)

The New Definition of Muddy:

An unseasonably warm February afternoon, after weeks of snow and ice. Wherein you send your children outdoors.

Ugh.

chick flick talk

So I'm back among the living. And there is no more lying in bed with an aching head for days and surfing the internet and acquainting myself with PA homeschool law (bleh) in between naps. And there is also no more Jane Austen and Elizabeth Gaskel. ::sigh:: Oh well, I guess life has to go on, the children must be educated, clothes must be laundered, meals must be prepared, coupons must be clipped.

I'm so thankful for my darling husband who took care of everything so I could just totally get well. The last two winters (coincidentally, the only two winters that we have homeschooled), I have gotten dreadfully ill and it lasted a month each time, resulting in a round of antibiotics (which I think made things worse) and then more recovery after that. It was bad both times. Very bad. So this year, I went into the winter fully prepared to totally shut down if I got sick, and praise the Lord, I feel very well-recovered today. I hope it lasts. :)

So back to the Austen/Gaskell talk... I was totally out of the Austen/Gaskell loop. I haven't read a one of their books (though I would like to). Several years ago, I watched Wives and Daughters (Gaskell) and loved it, but it had been awhile. So my mom sweetly lent me much of her British chick flick collection and I hunkered down while I was sick. I hardly ever watch TV, so this was fun!

Here is my commentary...I think I like Gaskell works better than Austen, though Austen is much more well-known. Perhaps the fact that Gaskell was a married woman herself (Jane was single) sheds light on why I think her stories have more "meat" to them, or maybe it was just the renditions that I watched. But I really like Jane Austen too. What do you think?

Here is what I watched:

I started with Wives and Daughters again...loved it. Molly Gibson and her father are two of my favorite characters of all of these movies, Mr. Gibson especially. The acting was great and I think it was easy to "click" with her dad...he seemed real and very likeable. The poor man, there were so many scenes where I thought, "Oh dear, that man surrounded by all of those cackling women!" The same was true of Molly- I loved her. I kindof thought the ending could have had a little more substance, but that's OK because it ended the way everyone wanted it to end. Plus, Gaskell died before she finished that novel, so who knows how she would have ended it herself.

Sense & Sensibility: Kate Winslet and Emma Thompson did a great job, but Emma Thompson struck me as a little old for her part. I liked how the "bad guy" from Robin Hood was the Colonel. Hugh Grant was OK, but I think knowing too much of his own personal life, jaded my opinion of his role. Plus, I think he comes across as a little bit of a jellyfish. But then again, I have never read the book, so perhaps one day when I do, it will shed some light on his part. Good movie though.

Pride & Prejudice: Loved it! Dearest, loveliest Elizabeth Bennett was awesome! As was Mr. Darcy. Though he could have talked a tad more. My favorite part was when he ran into Elizabeth after swimming in his lake...loved that part. This was one that I would like to re-watch soon.

Persuasion: I watched the 2007 version and I thought Anne came across as very woobly. Wentworth was a good actor and the story had so many twists and turns that I was kept on the edge of my seat. I'm planning to watch the 1995 version to compare the two. Did anyone else see this one and what did you think?

North and South: Quite possibly my favoritest movie ever! Well, in a really long time. This one was SO GOOD! I didn't think I was going to like it with all of it's dark cityness and politics. But the acting was incredible and had a lot of "substance" to their characters (this is a Gaskell novel) and I was totally drawn into the story of this one. Of course the ending was awesome! I want to rewatch this one again sometime soon to catch all of the things that I missed.

I didn't review Emma here or watch it this week, but I have half of that memorized from watching it years ago. We're getting a DVD copy of that one soon, so I'm hoping to refresh my memory.

So what do you think of these movies? It seems that I liked the BBC movies (as opposed to A&E and Hollywood films) and Elizabeth Gaskell stuff best, but what am I missing? Are there any other good ones? I still have a few on my shelf from my mom. Which ones were your faves?

Portrait of Sweetness

I got the email from the portrait studio with all of the pictures from Gracie's sitting last week. Here she is in all of her innocent-looking glory...

I chose this last one for our 16x20 to hang with my other 3-year olds. :)

I've been ill - Jane Austen-style

Thursday morning around dawn, I awoke and realized much to my displeasure that I had contracted an illness. Oh, it was a most dreadful condition, fever, chills and the like. My dear mother went well beyond and offered to come and relieve me of my motherly duties by taking my own sweet children into her care for the day. As you can imagine this situation much set my mind at ease and gave my body a chance to rest and recuperate a bit.

I spent much of my time confined to my own bed chamber. But as the afternoon wore on, I found my chamber to be most disagreeable and instead the drawing room suited my fancy a bit more. I should say that I do believe that I spent more sedentary time in my own lovely drawing room in the last three days than I have in the entire time that we have made our abode in this lovely parcel!

Whilst I recuperated there, it pleased me to watch a few cinemas by the lovely Mrs. Elizabeth Gaskell and Mrs. Jane Austen. My, what lovely works they both have wrought. I should say that I have quite had my fill of them. But at the same time, I was unable to remove myself from my most comfortable position until they were thoroughly completed. As the gentleman of the house was detained by his professional career until late Thursday evening, our offspring kept themselves quite occupied in the homestead of my dear parents overnight. Oh, I do hope that they weren't a trouble to my own father and mother!

Still...as the sun rose on Friday, I was happy to realize that indeed, the illness appeared to be leaving me and my spirits were much refreshed.

However, I awoke on Saturday to find that indeed my condition had relapsed into its former desperate state. Thus, I found myself once again in the company of the works of the lovely Mrs. Austen. You see, I have been much ignorant of her works these last few years as I've tended to the needs of my sweet little ones. And I've found her works to be most agreeable. Indeed, to the point that I find myself speaking (and typing) in her manner. :)

Organizing the old blog

Since I am lying in bed, unable to do much, I thought I would do a little organizing here on the blog. It's been too long since I've done anything with the layout of this thing. Especially for someone who claims to be so organized. :)

I removed most of the extras from my side bar and dumped them into this post, in case I want to find them one day (don't you just LOVE my organizational skills?) and I added a link to our ladies' paper, Grace & Honor (go check it out!). Plus, I added a link to all of you awesome people who follow my blog. (Thanks!)

I'll leave you with this quote that my aunt sent to me: "I have CDO. It’s like OCD but the letters are in alphabetical order, like they should be."

Ta-ta!






Education is not the filling of a bucket, but the lighting of a fire.
-William Butler Yeats

Organizing is what you do before you do something, so that when you do it, it is not all mixed up.
-A.A. Milne

Routine is not organization, any more than paralysis is order.
-Arthur Helps

The secret of all victory lies in the organization of the non-obvious.
-Marcus Aurelius

Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.
-William Morris

Three Rules of Work: Out of clutter find simplicity; From discord find harmony; In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.
-Albert Einstein

Funny

Tonight, I am...

...snuggled in my bed enjoying the warmth from my laptop and hopefully soon, the warmth from my husband :)

...wondering when it will warm up here in the Arctic

...thinking that if it has got to be, you know, cold in the winter, at least we are able to enjoy beautiful snow, instead of only gray skies and the occasional ice storm. Our house looks so pretty with snow!

...contemplating why I am loosing the chapstick battle against my man-child's extremely dry, chapped lips. And also contemplating why he detests chapstick so fiercely when he desperately needs it

...thanking the Lord for wonderful friends and church family

...looking at paint swatches taped up in various rooms

...surprising myself that I plan to paint our bedroom a shade of blue. I have never been a "blue" person and I think I am going to end up with 2 blue rooms in this house. How ironic.

...needing a "mental health break" tomorrow afternoon while my mom watches my kids

...avoiding listing a piece of furniture on Craigslist

...realizing that having a puppy would drastically reduce the number of times I would need to sweep the crumbs from underneath the kitchen table

...looking forward to our family vacation to Florida

...hoping to make money on some children's clothes at the second-hand store tomorrow

...resting in the truth that my Lord has thoughts of peace toward me and rejoicing over His working in my life!

Would I be a terrible mother...

...if I ate my daughter's chocolate cupcake? I hope not, because I just did. It was so yummy too. Chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream icing, made by my sister...pure heaven. I took the kids to the mall on a Monday afternoon. I deserved it. Right?

Gracie has been due for her 3-year portraits for several months now. I like taking them for summer portraits, but the week in August that I was going to schedule the session, she fell and bumped her lip and teeth, and consequently one of her teeth turned gray. As mentioned before, thankfully, the tooth healed, and now, six months later, I finally got her in for the portrait. And the 3-year portrait is kindof a big one, for us, literally, because I get a 16x20 of each child at 3 years. So I was feeling a little harried going into the appointment, praying that I would get a good one. Plus, Mondays are generally "recovery" day for us and we don't normally go anywhere, but I'm glad I got in today with the weather and all sorts of events on the calendar for the rest of the week.

As it turns out, Gracie did very well. She has always been a natural in front of a camera lens. :) And thanks to a coupon in the entertainement book, I saved myself a whole bunch of moolah today! So that made me happy.

But still, by the time we got out of the session, and I dragged the kids around one measly store looking for 2 measly things (which were found within about 3 minutes in each department) we were all DONE with the mall. :) Can you tell that it wasn't only the children who were struggling with a whiney attitude?

Some water bottles in the car, a little sunshine on the drive home, and a Patch CD helped to perk everyone up. Even Mama is encouraged by the truths in good old Patch. :) And then once I got Gracie down for a nap, and the big kids retreated to their rooms for rest time, I felt it necessary to eat Gracie's chocolate-chocolate cupcake. She won't know the difference. And it was really good too. Pass the Bad-Mommy Hat.