Good Deals and no Cash

All of our bills have piledx up and money getting tighter and tighter.

Wouldnt ya know Im finding amazing deals on items that ive been wanting :(

Someone PLEASE take advantage of these deals because I can't.

HP all in One Wireless Printer

$44.99 at 1saleaday.com

AANNND.......

Panasonic VIERA 42-Inch 1080p 120Hz LED Smart HDTV
for $549.99
at Amazon.com


For now...I will be grateful for ALL that I have and keep racking in the Swagbucks:


to trade in for prizes (hopefully in time for Christmas) :)

Try it out and help me out?

I am really excited about Shaklee cleaning products



AND looking for some "extra" food money. I do not have the time or energy to start a business right now. There is a special going on right now that may help us both. If you go look around the Shaklee site and find products that you'd like to try, you will receive 15% your first order. If you purchase more than $30 I will also receive products. If you fall in love like I have I could become a distributor and meet all your cleaning supply needs. If not, you got a great deal on inexpensive, helping products that do what you want them to and feel no pressure.
Click here to shop under my affiliate link

There are many many fan pages written about this baby here:

and I agree and they are true and I use it and like it and all but I CANNOT keep enough of this stuff aound

all natural, made from cherry pits and actually made MY sink and oven clean. With NO scrubbing. I believed that it would but figured it would also be a lot of work. NOPE. I also made new again three large stainless steel pots that I had burnt stuff on. (I know I know I am a natural before and after challenge:)

I can rave about these products but there are two ladies that do SUCH a better job...check out their how tos and before and afters (they also offer give aways from time to time ;)

I honestly do suggest that you try their cleaning supplies. I haven't even ventured into laundry and dishes yet :) Wanna join me on this journey and try them out with me? Id really really appreciate if you go through

 this link:

Thred Up

When my first son was born, a dear friend at church supplied me with a full wardrobe. I returned the clothes when my son outgrew them and her new son wore them. I have found some magical arrangements like this along my parenting road. Still, they are always gaps. When my daughter was born I scoured yard sales and thrift stores and found some great treasures. When she outgrew them, I sold them. With five children and an ever growing to do list I haven't kept up with clothes swapping like I wished I had. I have often wished for a group of friends who gathered and swapped clothes.

Enter Thred Up.

I pack a USPS Priority Mail box and list its contents. Someone chooses it and pays shipping. I print a label, mail out the box and choose my own.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnrqcWjBoBM&feature=player_embedded


Right now, they are offering an incentive for joining. Read through the facts page and see if it will work for you. They also offer programs like giving your box choosing credits to a military family

With God all Things are Possible

Here begins yet another post about how amazing our home is. Not because of my decorating or our amazing hospitality or anything like that. That's not it at all.

Nine years ago we moved into a modest rental with 3 children under 4.  Our landlord was a sweet kind women who was a single mom and didnt do much upkeep on her home. There were mildew problems, there was one plug in the kitchen and only one row of counter and cupbaords on one side of the kitchen. There was one living room and it was small and akward, two small bathrooms that could fit one person if that. I found cancer and had surgery, my husband injured his back and was out of work for three years. God surprised us beyond belief and added two more blessings to our little family. We wnated to move--We searched and searched and no one would even talk to us. If they did they were gone when we told them how much money we made or that we had 5 kids. No luck for us.

Then one day I got turned around and lost and happened upon this amazing home just outside of town.



3,400 square feet, 5 bedrooms, two fireplaces, outside built in BBq and fireplace, two living rooms and a loft...HUGE kitchen with a 4 foot by 7 foot island, eat in kitchen and dining room. I tried to explain to my teenagers that they wouldn't rent to us. They did.
 
It was a weird situation and before we knew wether we had the house or not  we had to buy a refrigerator and put in notice on our old house. We had to start utilities (electricity required a $750 deposit) The whole time I couldn't decide if I was incredibly blessed or really gullible.
 
I do my best to explain how amazing this house is. It is very grand and was the model for the area. People believe me but when you walk in you kind of gasp and realize how amazing and grand it really is. I came across a sticker at the Dollar Tree that reads " With God all things are Possible" and thought, if we get this house I want to post this on the wall so that when you gasp you know why. It's God. All Him.
 
I searched and searched for just the right decal and found the perfect one. found just the right decal. Then it sat there for almost a year while I over thought it.

One night it became now or never and I climbed up on a ladder and got started. It was a lot harder than I thougth it would be. I started to wonder what business I had attempting a craft, especially one that requires patience. I was up there until almost 2am. and this is the result:
 


 


This is just before Christmas, hence the trees and teapot and chalkboard...can I leave the trees there year round? I like them:) 

I'm trying to figure out how to photograph the house so you get that gasp. This is an alcove area in the dining room. The vinyl lettering is two foot by three foot. It really is HUGe and you can see it when you first come in the door:)  
 
 
 
Linking up at Motivate me Monday, CraftoManiac Monday, Take a Look Tuesday Show and Tell, What I Whipped up Wednesday, Favorite Things Friday

New to Me Christmas Post

This year I am sooo incredibly thankful for our home. A year ago we were cramped into a little house with so many problems and this year is amazing and magical. Honestly, I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. Our home still seems to good to be true.

Christmas trees are a big issue every year. Is it a justifiable expense when you need food and want your kids to have something to open on Christmas morning. Every year, I tear eyed grumble, "YES"  We were given a small tree by dear family friends.
It had been theirs for years and years. Then we were given another 7 1/2 foot tree that did not fit in our house.

Then when helping a friend move we ended up with another.


Can you see our third tree hiding back behind my two littlest bakers? Have you ever baked with two toddlers? I always seem to forget how much WORK it is!!

I am sooo thankful for our new to us trees and a home that fits them all (Christmas trees and bakers)

It feels odd to be searching thrift stores for practical things right now. But my boys have outgrown their pants. All of them. So, I wandered into a thrift store this week and found THIS beauty!!
Isn't she wonderful??? $6.00. My big dilemma became: "Do I buy something for ME" which soon turned to "Do we use it now or wait until Christmas?" I guess no matter how blessed one gets there are always dilemmas ;)


Linking up at Twice Owned Tuesday, 65th Penny Pinching Party,

 

12 Week Holiday Planner

Last Autumn I shared with you how much I love this Holiday Planner.">

Still lOVE lOVE lOVE this planner and look forward to using it every year.

Sheri Graham improved it! Little tweaks here and there, new and improved graphics, holiday coloring pages and an added two weeks after the holidays.">

This planner is an especially good fit for me because I have great ideas but am not much of a beforehand planner. I can see after the fact what we should have done differently. I now have a place to record these flops and improve next year. There are so many good ideas and implementations in here-
Sheri Graham does what I don't even think of.
She plans out things like:
- doubling meals and freezing before the holiday rush so you don't have to make dinner DURING the holiday rush.
-planning time to make decorations and gifts for others (with tons of great ideas and links)

Do you have those moments on Christmas morning when you think: OH MAN! I forgot to extra coffee? Why didn't I freeze muffins and buy sausage when it was on sale? Oh NO! Did I mail them a Christmas card already? With a holiday planner as great as this on, you won't anymore:)
The neat thing about having a planner that I come back to each year is that I can figure out what works best for us and repeat it each year instead of spending the whole Holiday season planning. I like the idea of: plan once and celebrate repeatedly.

You want to know more about this planner, right?

Here is the full product description:
What you will find in this 171 page ebook:

Blank monthly and weekly calendar pages for planning your year
Weekly "To Do" lists showing exactly what needs to be done each week
Thanksgiving and Christmas Menus forms
Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years Recipe Card forms
A Holiday Self-Evaluation form
Shopping Lists
"Sheri's Tips"- tips to make your holidays meaningful, shared throughout the ebook
Christmas Craft and Gift Ideas
Memory Making Ideas for the Family
Holiday Journal Pages
Many, many forms such as:
Christmas Gift Shopping List
Gift Making Checklist
Christmas Card Checklist
Holiday Wardrobe Planner
List of Baked Items to Share/Give Away
Favorite Meals to Freeze for Later
Decoration Ideas
Needed Supplies to Purchase This Week
Holiday Baking Schedule
Kids' Gift Idea List
Christmas Gifts to be Shipped
PLUS!!! Two bonus weeks with family tradition ideas, menus, and
PLUS!!! Some of our favorite holiday recipes!
PLUS!!! Holiday Coloring Pages!

Here are some sample pages.

You can purchase your own planner: HERE
OR
You can win one! yes I really mean it!
Sheri Graham offered me a copy to share with you. I feel so honored!

To enter, do any (or all) of the following, and leave a comment for each:
*like Graham Family Ministries on Facebook
*follow this blog
*tell me your favorite holiday tradition, memory, or something I should add to ours
*purchase something else at Graham Family Ministries.and tell me about it






This planner begins October 2nd. To ensure enough time to get all situated and excited-- I will choose a winner (at random) on 9/29/2010.

"Free" DVDs?

Wanna hear my new hobby? First I went through all of our VHS tapes and treid to convert only to DVD. Our three year old son however is obsessed with Snow White. He sings "Im fishing! Im fishing! For the one I love..hahahahaha" Some VHS will stay for now.

We have been using PaperBack Swap for some time now with very good results but never ventured over to DVD swap. Not sure why.

I finally did and OH MY OH MY!!

You must check it out!!



I got rid of Dorah dvds and the Wiggles and ones I picked up for under a dollar at yard sales and thrift stores and I'm trading for things like Davey and Goliath (LOVE those classic cartoons) and the Jim Elliot documentaries--things I totally would have paid for.

Check it out! And if you do join, would you mention that I referred you?

Many wouldnt think this is very Green or Thrifty...but it works for me:)

Linking up on the Green Blog Hop, Works for Me Wednesday,the 46th Penny Pinching Party

laundry soap

It seems that everyone is making their own laundry soap. I researched it. I saved up for a food processor. I did price comparisons and figured out cost per load (that is approximate because I don't pay full price if I can help it)

I considered our needs: hard water, allergies to everything, not too much time to devote to this.
I researched many many different recipes:
this one looked good

I bought some "homemade" laundry soap from a neat lady on Etsy.

I beat myself up over and over for all the money I was "wasting" by not being cool enough to make my own laundry soap.

I have five children. I have three in different stages of puberty and two in toddler hood. Two in cloth diapers. We do ALOT of laundry. We make most of our food from scratch. I home school. Our laundry used to be done down our driveway in our garage in a anot so nice neighborhood, only during the day and not in the rain. We moved. We moved into a huge house. Not the problems I ahd beofre, but yet new things taking up all my time:) I'm trying to impress upon you that my time is limited. but really. Im just really not that person.

I looked into trying Charlies Soap. It sounded just about right. but there was a big investment. My husband was ordering some vitamins on Amazon and needed $9.99 more to qualify for Super Saver Shipping. I found this "trial of Charlies Soap:

So far it is working really really well.


Who knows. Maybe someday I'll have an empty house and make loads and loads of soap to deliver to my childrens' homes.OOH and design cute little labels for the cool unbreakable jars I put it in...but, at least for now, Charlies is a good fit for us.

My Living Room

You may remember that I got a small inheritance recently. Our living room furniture was borrowed and really not cutting it.


I was searching and searching for dining room furniture...

THAT didn't fall into place: but these did:


Originally from Ashley Furniture, I scored big time at Big Lots....for $329.00 Each.

It was really really hard to hand the checker 7 $100 bills. REALLY HARD. he assured me that it was a really good deal and to check the prices at the Ashely furniture store.
WOW. Apparently, I really scored.
I also have an amazing amazing friend with what she calls her "little red wagon" This amazing trailer that folds up into almost nothing in her garage but held both couches. She had this magic elastic netting to hold the couches in and could maneuver her husband's truck and this trailer with both couches well enough to whip us into the parking lot of a Starbucks with what seemed like no effort. Wow again.

**Photos to follow:)

I shared this adventure with the ladies at:
www.lifeasmom.com


head over there to see all their frugal ideas:)

Dining Table? Where are you??

Friends, I need direction.

I have been on a financial roller coaster more than normal. I had a death in the family with a lot of emotions. I was offered a house (paid off) I was offered a new vehicle. I was then offered $10,000. I started thinking and praying about ways to use that money to actually change our day to day struggles. What actually came of it all was $800 (and a silver tea/coffee service:) I am grateful for the money. Very. Im trying to get my mind and all it's plans to calm down and re-adjust.

Then I thought we could get some nice functional furniture for this small space that we are in all day. **We do get out in the fresh air and exercise and we do socialize :)

We are now using a borrowed (for 6+ years) futon that is sooo worn and not really functional. We have a pretty nice dining room table, but it seats 6 with both leaves in and we are now 7. The chairs are very worn and were recovered without cushions as in there needs to be a funky shaped octagon cut out of wood to staple padding to. We dont have the tools to do that. Right now, material is just stretched over the open space. Not really functional or comfortable :) We are renting and the dining room is tiny and wont fit anything bigger. I dont think. We are now eating on carpet. Im wondering how much space we would "gain" by moving the dining room table to the living room and switching things around....there may not be enough room for that and we really do LIVE in this room.


Here is our living room currently. The camera is ON a another wall, flanked in bookcases :) I dont know if I can squeeze anymore space out...

I think you can see in this picture how funky the legs are..You cannot add more chairs. Can you see how small the space is too? hmm....



I saw these at JCPenney.com:


HERE (I can add a leaf and seat 8..in theory) I wonder if I could add a bench for $60.00 too....

I dont normally buy new, but I'm having trouble finding anything used that would fit us on craigslit, the classifieds and yard sales. I fell in absolute LOVE with a table at a furniture store that will "let" me make payments for a year. I cant make payments. There just isnt enough to have "extra." There has to be an obvious design solution, right? Is there an online office furniture place that I could purchase a sturdy table from? Could I have my current chairs recovered by some great go getter for less than new? Can I get anything for under $800. Can I squeeze in a Jcpenney bench and buy my back injured hubby one good comfortable chair and pray for a new rental? Has anyone else dealt with this? What would/did you do?

Projects at My House (A Reality Check)

I don't compare myself to others. Honest. I'm just not competitive. But, I do WANT to be MY best. If you have a secret to making amazing dinners then I want that secret. But, if your secret is that you have a full time cook...it is good for me to know that and know that I can't afford to do the same and move on.

I see these amazing home projects on people's blogs and I am in awe. Melissa pointed out that it, at times it takes her months and months to get it done and that we don't see the in between. Kristen told us that the secret to her amazing kitchen redo was sanding during nap time and painting until midnight every night. Edie said that her kitchen WAS a big deal and she also worked along side a hired professional. I get that. My rose colored glasses are off.

I got these pictures from someone on freecycle.......Floral prints. Matted and framed in peach wooden frames. Circa 1980 Home Interiors.

I had these amazing pictures of my boys from a photographer friend.

And I have a very plain bathroom: no decorations, not even a towel bar.

I asked my husband to paint the frames. He said, "you can't paint when it's windy." It is ALWAYS windy here. Seriously. I laugh out loud every time someone comes to visit and says, "Gee, it's windy TODAY." I finally learned to smile and say "Yes it is." Then I remembered Kristen saying that when she redid her amazing kitchen she sanded during nap time and painted until midnight. HEY!! We have nap time! I am up past midnight!!

Sooo....I took TWO days worth of nap times (Yes, that IS kind of like a "month of Sundays." It took that long just to get the frames separated from the prints and matting and glass. Then I sanded. I also went to buy spray paint. I dis ask the hardware guy if I needed a special kind of paint. he was convinced that I didn't want black spray paint. I am not 13 and needing to be talked out of an EMO phase, honest. I bought black. I contemplated buying the little plastic nozzle attachment. I didn't though.

So, I painted. I had originally planned to paint in a cardboard box but I forgot about that when it came teim to paint. no big deal. Just two quick frames.... In retrospect I am glad that I chose the grass and not the garage floor. I checked the direction of the wind. Checked and rechecked. Yet, my feet and calves are now speckled black. Noticeably. And my hands--did I need to know that my hands couldn't indeed get uglier? Wouldn't have believed it.


AND. I thought that I could just place the pictures OVER the matting. NOPE there are funky cut outs....and 12x12 scrapbook paper didn't work either........

Why do seemingly simple thigns always ahve to get sooo complicated? I'm full of energy and eager and a hard worker. Why is nothing done?

I was going for HGTV, DIYer..not I LOVE LUCY. Yet here we are :) You want to see the finished product? Yeah, so do I.















o

Week in Review

This didnt get done this weekend and now it is into the next week....

I am back to drinking way too much cofee and enjoying it :):

We got a new bed! We went from this:

To this:

Our old bedframe was cracked and hanging on less than a thread. I had gotten it a few years back at the thrift store for $10.00. I guess it lasted us. We way overthought our new bedframe. We'd really like a King size but there is now way to fit that right now. We paid $229 including tax and shipping. It took all day to put in. Why do these things take ALL day and where do you put a toddler during the process. Where does said toddler nap during this process? Why are the directions so discumbobulated? Do they make sense to anyone?

My son approached me and said that that I had to much to do and could he do math with his sister...uh..yes please!


Her other older borther has also started reading her a Bible story each day and doing a Bible Study together.

I feel guilty that Im not doing it myself but it does warm my heart to see them spending this time together.

Dear daughter also finished her quilt sampler for Keepers at Home Girls' Club:


We had a celebration at church. Our dear elder stepped down after 41 years of service. Wow huh? We celebrated his service and continue to share with him in worship. We had a potluck and presented him with an awesome clock/plaque. I brought my camera but there are no pictures because...it wa a potluck and I was preoccupied with eating :)

Baby now has two big teeth on the bottom and is pulling himself up on EVERYTHING