Frugal Friday Tip

I am a member of our local Freecycle group and last summer a lady posted that she had a box of old gourmet cooking magazines. I love to be in the kitchen so I knew I could put those to good use. I was dreaming of all the fabulous recipes I'd be trying out in my new kitchen. I knew that I would tear out the 'good ones' and create a notebook of my new found favorites. What I didn't expect I'd receive was this...

Kitchen decor! The Cook's Country magazines have beautiful full-color photo's on the front. I cut out 6 of my favorites (trying to vary the colors utilized) and took myself to the nearest Dollar Tree. I found this burgundy wood frames and they happened to have 6! Bingo!

Now I have unique & colorful wall decor in my kitchen for a whoppin' $6!!

Check out more Frugal Friday tips at Biblical Womanhood.

Pardon Our Mess

Whittaker Woman put it out there today. She thinks we should all confess our dirty little hiding spots. *sigh* I think this could get ugly here in Texas!

Downstairs couch was my first spot to check...
...2 roll-up crayons, a small notepad, emory board, bracelet, snack size ziplock, coupon for dog treats (and it's NOT expired!), a popsicle stick, one piece of popcorn, 2 ponies (pony tail holder), 2 pink "x"'s (for tic-tack-toe), one pink monkey (apparently to some game), a cheez-it (or is it a cheese nip?), 2 dirty socks, and a pile of miscellaneous trash

wow. what can i say? (i'm typing in lowercase now since it's my way of shrinking back a little :))

Next I went upstairs to the "supply closet". When we first moved in a year ago I filled it with pens, pencils, misc office supplies, phone books, etc. I set up 2 wire baskets (one for each child) to collect school work throughout the year and utilized the upper shelfs for some of The Coach's keepsakes. Now it looks like this...

Heather said it best...


I am fine with the fact that I have areas in my house that are just dirty. H



Alright girls...let's see whatcha got! Check out everyone else's dirty little secrets at Whittaker Woman.

Full Disclosure - It's Ugly Folks!

Last week I worked part-time for my aunt on Tuesday, Wednesday, & Thursday and then I subbed for 4th grade at Veggie's school on Friday. It was a really long week and things around the house got pretty out of control. I hate not being home to stay on top of things. I've come to realize that the older I get the more of a homebody I become.

Periodically I decide that I'd like to work a little to earn some extra money. Our 10th wedding anniversary is coming up (4/18) and I'd like to actually go somewhere. A wonderful family from church has offered to let the kids stay with them overnight so we are deciding what we'll do. :) God's provision is always there, isn't it? He knows our needs and meets them (in accordance with His will). How blessed we are.

I digress. I've decided to post the pictures of just how bad the house got last week for a couple of reasons. 1) In the spirit of full disclosure - it's all too easy for my blog to portray my life as something it's not and, 2) As a reminder - I need visual reminders of what happens when I work too much. I'm human. Sometimes I slip into the "I wanna go back to work 'cause the money would really help us out" mode...I lose sight of God's constant provision.

I planned to show pictures of the "after"; however, I'm working this week. (Seriously, did I just type that? I know I said "full disclosure", blah, blah, blah, but...)

I know. It's ugly.

St. Monica, Pray For Me! :)

Success!!

Wouldn't you agree that sanctuary is in the small things? Rachel Anne at Home Sanctuary has been encouraging us to take it one small thing at a time! In joining this adventure with the other Company Girls, I'm feeling great about the idea that we're doing it "together".

Last week we re-introduced fruit to our family. (10 points for everyone who ate a piece) I eagerly put out my bowl of fruit - 2 pears, 2 apples and 3 kiwi.

Veggie Boy nearly knocked me over to get a kiwi right then (which is why there are only 2 in the picture), but after that....nothing! Since we're on the honest system with the points I'm putting it out there - we earned 10. That's it.

But success was eventually realized...

(see only the remnants of the hairy little kiwi is left!)

It only took 4 days - guess I'll be heading back to the store! :-)

Making My Home A Haven

I've decided to join Crystal in one of her new year challenges. Mondays will be "Making My Home A Haven" day! Crystal will post a challenge each Monday intended to help us make our homes the haven we desire. An accountability system of sorts!

My day started by making my to-do list. I'm trying to keep it do-able. Lots of times I have grand plans for the day and it doesn't allow for any interruptions or down time. So in the spirit of simplicity I'm keeping it short.

Here's the coat closet before... (don't make fun!)

After spending a few minutes cleaning and organizing, I'm pleased with the clean result!

Yea! Off to item 2! I've been using the tortilla recipe at Hillbilly Housewife and my family loves it. When I make the batch I usually get about 2 dz tortillas so it's more than enough. We had a neighborhood mexican-themed potluck and I tried them out there. I came home with a empty bag so I assume they were well received (in addition to the fact that there were 3 pkgs of store-bought tortillas which did NOT get finished off) :-)

During the fall semester I really struggled to get up early and get everything done before 8am that is necessary around here. My biggest problem was procrastinating at night. I really should pre-prepare (is that a word? lol) breakfast and iron the night before, BUT it seems I never get it done. So now that The Coach is back to school I'm trying to do better. Ironing today what he will wear tomorrow should help me tremendously!

Veggie Boy decided he wanted to do my pilates video with me. I pulled out an extra band for him to use and we got set up in the spare room upstairs - plenty of space. He lasted 5 minutes! What a weenie! Oh well, maybe he'll stick it out a little longer today.

Alright, stranger-friends quit looking all my messy spaces and get out there and Make Your Home A Haven!

Be sure to check out the others participating over at Biblical Womanhood.

The Story of Stuff

Calling all Stranger-Friends! This is a must see video!

The Story of Stuff

Click on the "comments" link below and let me know what you think.

Works For Me: Color Coded Calendar!

Well I've already admitted to being a freak of sorts when it comes to organization so I might as well let you in on one of my favorites.

I color code my calendar! Veggie Boy is blue, Saucy Girl is red, The Coach is orange (school colors) and I am green. By using colors I eliminate the need to write names with activities. My calendar has one week on two pages so each day is...well, not small but not huge either. By not writing names with everything I save space and can fit all the activities, appointments, reminders, etc. on each day! And, at a quick glance I can see who has something scheduled without trying to visually wade through the blue/black ink.

On Monday I asked for your input in creating a Home Management binder (by the way, I've not heard from you yet!) so my calendar will be a part of a larger notebook come January. I can't wait to get started on it.

So, I admit it's a little neurotic but hey...it Work's For Me!

Don't forget to visit Shannon at Rocks In My Dryer for more Works-For-Me Wednesday tips!