Check out our "Pinned-It-Then-Did-It" Pinterest Board!
Happy Pinning! :)
Wednesday, October 15, 2014
Our "Pinned-It-Then-Did-It" Pinterest Board
Curious about what we have been baking, cooking, and crafting lately?
Friday, October 10, 2014
Frugal Friday 60
Happy Frugal Friday!
Here is how we saved money/spent money wisely/made extra money this week:
- Annabeth and I enjoyed lunch out with friends. We used coupons to get the three kids' meals free. Saved: $14.97
- My friend Alysha gave me her pre-sale pass to a GREAT consignment sale! I spent $34 on 8 items. I was able to get some very nice, high quality clothing for a fraction of retail prices.
- I finished my third consignment sale. I made more than 2x as much at this sale as I have at the last two. I FINALLY broke my goal of earning $100+ at a sale!
- We celebrated Annabeth's birthday with a Hello Kitty party and as much free fun as we could find!
- Monday morning our homeschool group met at the library for a game day. We enjoyed an hour playing new games. This was a fun way for each family to play new or different games without having to buy them!
- I had free prints ready to expire through Shutterfly. Placed and order and only paid shipping. Saved: $21.56
- I found an adorable Mickey Mouse Club shirt on Zulily. I cashed in a credit and spent only $.94. We will give it to Annabeth as a Christmas gift. Saved: $19.99
We have had a wonderful week spent with friends and family. We are SO blessed!
Happpy Savings to All!
"Buy Used and Save the Difference!"
Here is how we saved money/spent money wisely/made extra money this week:
- Annabeth and I enjoyed lunch out with friends. We used coupons to get the three kids' meals free. Saved: $14.97
- My friend Alysha gave me her pre-sale pass to a GREAT consignment sale! I spent $34 on 8 items. I was able to get some very nice, high quality clothing for a fraction of retail prices.
- I finished my third consignment sale. I made more than 2x as much at this sale as I have at the last two. I FINALLY broke my goal of earning $100+ at a sale!
- We celebrated Annabeth's birthday with a Hello Kitty party and as much free fun as we could find!
- Monday morning our homeschool group met at the library for a game day. We enjoyed an hour playing new games. This was a fun way for each family to play new or different games without having to buy them!
- I had free prints ready to expire through Shutterfly. Placed and order and only paid shipping. Saved: $21.56
- I found an adorable Mickey Mouse Club shirt on Zulily. I cashed in a credit and spent only $.94. We will give it to Annabeth as a Christmas gift. Saved: $19.99
We have had a wonderful week spent with friends and family. We are SO blessed!
Happpy Savings to All!
"Buy Used and Save the Difference!"
Wednesday, October 8, 2014
Frugal Birthday Fun!
I love LOVE celebrating birthdays - especially Annabeth's, Mark's, and mine.
For the past two birthdays we have lived in Franklin and the weekend of her birthday just so happens to be the Dachshund Derby and the Franklin Fall Festival. Both events are free, although you can choose to make purchases to support local businesses. We have a lot of fun at each event and it's nice to enjoy FREE fun! Last year we had lunch at our favorite coffee shop in Franklin, Benjamin's, but this past Saturday the line was out the door so we headed over to Ann's - the oldest restaurant in Franklin. My parents and sister were already in town and I think they enjoyed coming along as well. Because her party was Saturday afternoon we did not stick around the festival too long after lunch but she did enjoy jumping in the free bounce houses for nearly an hour.
Sunday, her actual birthday, we went to Appleworks Farm. They have SO many fun things to do, especially in the fall. Guests can pick apples and pumpkins, nature hike, pet animals in the petting zoo, explore a maze, play in the playground, and more all for free! Many of the other orchards in our area charge per person to enjoy these kinds of activities. We did end up purchasing some apples and Mark and Annabeth picked their pumpkins for the year but Appleworks' prices are very affordable.
When it comes to birthdays, especially Annabeth's as she is only three, I want them to be fun and memorable but I do not think that we have to spend a lot of money to accomplish those goals. We had a wonderful weekend with our family and we enjoyed it without spending a lot of money.
There is one birthday thing that I really splurge on: each year I have made a Shutterfly photo book of all of her birthday celebrations. I make it soon after we finish up the festivities and then I wait to order/print it until I have a coupon to get it free. I pay <$8 shipping and I think it is the best birthday gift I can give her.
Happy Frugal Birthday Nanners!
For the past two birthdays we have lived in Franklin and the weekend of her birthday just so happens to be the Dachshund Derby and the Franklin Fall Festival. Both events are free, although you can choose to make purchases to support local businesses. We have a lot of fun at each event and it's nice to enjoy FREE fun! Last year we had lunch at our favorite coffee shop in Franklin, Benjamin's, but this past Saturday the line was out the door so we headed over to Ann's - the oldest restaurant in Franklin. My parents and sister were already in town and I think they enjoyed coming along as well. Because her party was Saturday afternoon we did not stick around the festival too long after lunch but she did enjoy jumping in the free bounce houses for nearly an hour.
Annabeth and Mark with the Dachshund Derby sign.
Her cute dachshund shirt is a hand-me-down from her cousins.
It was the perfect thing to wear to that event!
She LOVED the bounce houses!
We loved that they were free!
Sunday, her actual birthday, we went to Appleworks Farm. They have SO many fun things to do, especially in the fall. Guests can pick apples and pumpkins, nature hike, pet animals in the petting zoo, explore a maze, play in the playground, and more all for free! Many of the other orchards in our area charge per person to enjoy these kinds of activities. We did end up purchasing some apples and Mark and Annabeth picked their pumpkins for the year but Appleworks' prices are very affordable.
Daddy and Annabeth hiking out to find their pumpkins
Us girls in front of the big pumpkin sign
She really enjoyed feeding the animals at the petting zoo.
When it comes to birthdays, especially Annabeth's as she is only three, I want them to be fun and memorable but I do not think that we have to spend a lot of money to accomplish those goals. We had a wonderful weekend with our family and we enjoyed it without spending a lot of money.
There is one birthday thing that I really splurge on: each year I have made a Shutterfly photo book of all of her birthday celebrations. I make it soon after we finish up the festivities and then I wait to order/print it until I have a coupon to get it free. I pay <$8 shipping and I think it is the best birthday gift I can give her.
Happy Frugal Birthday Nanners!
Tuesday, October 7, 2014
Hello Kitty 3rd Birthday
This past Saturday we celebrated Annabeth's 3rd Birthday.
Thanks to Pinterest I had orignally wanted to have a Monkey Party (since I have always called Nanners "Monkey Monk") or a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse party in honor of her favorite show. I picked her 1st birthday theme of Under the Sea and Mark picked her 2nd birthday theme of Princesses. We thought we probably would only have one more year of getting to pick the theme before she really had her own ideas and interests. We were wrong. In April, her friends Bella and SJ had parties on the same day and so she thought it should be her party day too. She decided that she would have a Hello Kitty party and has talked about little else since.
I love to decorate for all holidays and especially for birthdays. Thankfully we had LOTS of decorations on hand so the only thing I purchased was a pumpkin. Mark had surprised me with a Hello Kitty decorated house for my 23rd birthday and I, of course, had saved all of the decorations. I had also kept decorations from Cassidy's pink and brown themed bridal shower last spring. In addition, I used lots of Hello Kitty toys to decorate. I think it was very pretty and festive and affordable!
We decided to make our own food this year. I had made lasagna, bread, and cupcakes from scratch for her first birthday and it had really stressed me out so last year Mark suggested we order pizza. That was much easier but also pretty expensive. So, this year we decided to serve white bean soup with chips and cheese. This is one of Annabeth's favorite meals and it's easy to serve a crowd! We spent just $40.16 on food for 20 people.
What did we splurge on? The cake.
We love Piece of Cake bakery in Evansville - they did our wedding cakes and also her 2nd birthday cake. We decided to use them again this year and Dad, Lu, and Mama had the task of picking it up and making the drive up with it (Thank You!) They have the absolute best cake and they do such a wonderful job decorating!
For party favors, we needed favors for 4 children - ages 10, 8, 2.5, and 18 months. I saw an idea of filling a themed cup on Pinterest and I liked that better than the goodie bag idea. Annabeth and I shopped (and completely overspent! oops!) at Party City and made some really fun cups!
Thanks to Pinterest I had orignally wanted to have a Monkey Party (since I have always called Nanners "Monkey Monk") or a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse party in honor of her favorite show. I picked her 1st birthday theme of Under the Sea and Mark picked her 2nd birthday theme of Princesses. We thought we probably would only have one more year of getting to pick the theme before she really had her own ideas and interests. We were wrong. In April, her friends Bella and SJ had parties on the same day and so she thought it should be her party day too. She decided that she would have a Hello Kitty party and has talked about little else since.
I love to decorate for all holidays and especially for birthdays. Thankfully we had LOTS of decorations on hand so the only thing I purchased was a pumpkin. Mark had surprised me with a Hello Kitty decorated house for my 23rd birthday and I, of course, had saved all of the decorations. I had also kept decorations from Cassidy's pink and brown themed bridal shower last spring. In addition, I used lots of Hello Kitty toys to decorate. I think it was very pretty and festive and affordable!
My 23rd Birthday/Annabeth's 3rd Birthday Banner
I put it back in the decoration tote as we may have another Hello Kitty birthday one year
Our mantle.
I reused the tutu wreath that I made for her 2nd Birthday and just added a HK button.
I used our Hello Kitty toys across the mantle
and then put up pictures of her in Hello Kitty outfits.
Pink and brown dots reused from Cassidy's bridal shower.
The Birthday Girl with her Hello Kitty pumpkin.
The pumpkin decoration was one Mark and I got in 2009 and used that Halloween.
We decided to make our own food this year. I had made lasagna, bread, and cupcakes from scratch for her first birthday and it had really stressed me out so last year Mark suggested we order pizza. That was much easier but also pretty expensive. So, this year we decided to serve white bean soup with chips and cheese. This is one of Annabeth's favorite meals and it's easy to serve a crowd! We spent just $40.16 on food for 20 people.
What did we splurge on? The cake.
We love Piece of Cake bakery in Evansville - they did our wedding cakes and also her 2nd birthday cake. We decided to use them again this year and Dad, Lu, and Mama had the task of picking it up and making the drive up with it (Thank You!) They have the absolute best cake and they do such a wonderful job decorating!
Annabeth picked out the theme of Hello Kitty and Balloons.
She selected her invitations and found this cake on Pinterest.
For party favors, we needed favors for 4 children - ages 10, 8, 2.5, and 18 months. I saw an idea of filling a themed cup on Pinterest and I liked that better than the goodie bag idea. Annabeth and I shopped (and completely overspent! oops!) at Party City and made some really fun cups!
Party Favors.
One of my splurges because we love the kids in our family! :)
I think we had a wonderful party! Annabeth was so happy to share it with our family!
Happy Third Birthday Sweet Nanners!
Love, Daddy and Mama
Sunday, October 5, 2014
3 Years Later...
Today, our sweet girl, our Nanners, our Annabeth Sage is 3.
3 years old.
As I sit, amazed, that three years have passed so quickly, I, as always near her birthday, really feel a lot of emotions about her birthday.
I, quite honestly, despite reading the baby books and taking the baby classes had very little expectations about labor and delivery. My birth plan literally said, "Get her out." Until I learned I couldn't have an epidural due to my drug allergies I had planned on that, plan changed. I always kind of thought I would have to have a c-section like my Mama did with both of us girls, plan changed. For the first 20ish hours of labor I thought "this isn't so bad," that changed. I think even after it all happened, I did not realize how much it would change my life. Our families came and met her. They held her, took pictures, and we all were so happy. But, slowly, over time more and more of what happened came back to me and more and more I realized that it was very traumatic for me and for Mark.
I am sure some people reading this are thinking...
"Really?! It's been three years. Be thankful for your baby."
"I lost a child to a miscarriage, be thankful you have a baby."
"Our child died, yours is alive, be thankful."
If you are one of those people, you have the right to those thoughts. But I will add:
We do have a child.
We have a healthy and happy child.
BUT
We also suffered something very traumatic.
We saw our child die. We saw her breathless, lifeless.
At the end of labor and delivery, we had a body not a breathing, living baby.
AND
By the grace of God, we have our Miracle Girl.
That does not make the rest of it easy or better.
It doesn't take away when she was gone.
It doesn't mean that I have to move on today.
I will rejoice and I will grieve in my own ways and my own time.
So today, I will hold my three year old. I will kiss her and hug her and be ever so thankful that she is here with us. I will also cry today. I will remember with sadness and gladness the day she was born. Most of all today I will pray. I will thank and praise the Lord for Annabeth. I will pray for St. Francis and Riley Children's Hospital staff with thanks for their work in helping our family. I will pray for families who have also walked through this. I will pray for those that will walk through it in the future. May His Will be done in our lives and theirs. Amen.
3 years old.
As I sit, amazed, that three years have passed so quickly, I, as always near her birthday, really feel a lot of emotions about her birthday.
I, quite honestly, despite reading the baby books and taking the baby classes had very little expectations about labor and delivery. My birth plan literally said, "Get her out." Until I learned I couldn't have an epidural due to my drug allergies I had planned on that, plan changed. I always kind of thought I would have to have a c-section like my Mama did with both of us girls, plan changed. For the first 20ish hours of labor I thought "this isn't so bad," that changed. I think even after it all happened, I did not realize how much it would change my life. Our families came and met her. They held her, took pictures, and we all were so happy. But, slowly, over time more and more of what happened came back to me and more and more I realized that it was very traumatic for me and for Mark.
I am sure some people reading this are thinking...
"Really?! It's been three years. Be thankful for your baby."
"I lost a child to a miscarriage, be thankful you have a baby."
"Our child died, yours is alive, be thankful."
If you are one of those people, you have the right to those thoughts. But I will add:
We do have a child.
We have a healthy and happy child.
BUT
We also suffered something very traumatic.
We saw our child die. We saw her breathless, lifeless.
At the end of labor and delivery, we had a body not a breathing, living baby.
AND
By the grace of God, we have our Miracle Girl.
That does not make the rest of it easy or better.
It doesn't take away when she was gone.
It doesn't mean that I have to move on today.
I will rejoice and I will grieve in my own ways and my own time.
So today, I will hold my three year old. I will kiss her and hug her and be ever so thankful that she is here with us. I will also cry today. I will remember with sadness and gladness the day she was born. Most of all today I will pray. I will thank and praise the Lord for Annabeth. I will pray for St. Francis and Riley Children's Hospital staff with thanks for their work in helping our family. I will pray for families who have also walked through this. I will pray for those that will walk through it in the future. May His Will be done in our lives and theirs. Amen.
Friday, October 3, 2014
Frugal Friday 59
Happy Frugal Friday!
Here is how we saved money/spent money wisely this week:
- I finished tagging 120 items for the consignment sale. We turned items in on Monday evening and will know our final earnings tomorrow when the sale concludes.
- I helped a friend tag about 30 BIG items for the sale. She hopefully will be able to make quite a bit of money from selling her girls' baby equipment.
- Instead of paying to rent movies, we borrowed three from the library. Good thing we did not pay for them because our weekend was so busy we did not watch any of them!
- We volunteered at our church fish fry. Annabeth and I worked Friday afternoon and the whole family helped with tear down on Saturday night.
- This weekend Shutterfly offered a free set (24) of address labels. Saved: $9.99
- I colored my hair at home for just $2.99.
- We ate at home all week - with the exception of Sunday lunch at a church potluck.
- Since Annabeth is taking two classes each week at our dance school, I caved and signed up to do the fall fundraiser. She will earn back 30% of our sales and the school will earn some as well. Annabeth has already sold enough to earn nearly a month of one class for free. Thank you to our generous friends and family - this is a HUGE blessing!
- Annabeth and I made homemade cupcakes for Luke's birthday party instead of buying them at a local bakery where they are $4/cupcake. We made 20 for around $6!
- I preshopped the consignment sale on Wednesday evening. I spent $44 on 11 items. Annabeth was allowed to select one toy and she picked a very nice princess cash register - a toy I had been hoping to get for her this fall anyway. I also got 10 clothing items: 1 pair of gymnastics shorts, 2 leotards in the next size up, a Mickey t-shirt, a princess long-sleeve shirt, a plain long sleeve shirt for layering, pink Colts sweatshirt, and three dresses. I came in under budget and stuck to my list so I was very glad.
- We grocery shopped for Annabeth's birthday party this weekend. By planning ahead a meal at our house I spent only $40.16 on all the food and drinks for dinner as well as the one decoration I purchased. With careful planning we were able to spend money where we really wanted to - on her cake, her gifts, and party favors for the kids.
What have you been saving money on? Do you take a list to consignment sales or garage sales?
Happy Savings to All!
"Buy Used and Save the Difference"
Here is how we saved money/spent money wisely this week:
- I finished tagging 120 items for the consignment sale. We turned items in on Monday evening and will know our final earnings tomorrow when the sale concludes.
- I helped a friend tag about 30 BIG items for the sale. She hopefully will be able to make quite a bit of money from selling her girls' baby equipment.
- Instead of paying to rent movies, we borrowed three from the library. Good thing we did not pay for them because our weekend was so busy we did not watch any of them!
- We volunteered at our church fish fry. Annabeth and I worked Friday afternoon and the whole family helped with tear down on Saturday night.
- This weekend Shutterfly offered a free set (24) of address labels. Saved: $9.99
- I colored my hair at home for just $2.99.
- We ate at home all week - with the exception of Sunday lunch at a church potluck.
- Since Annabeth is taking two classes each week at our dance school, I caved and signed up to do the fall fundraiser. She will earn back 30% of our sales and the school will earn some as well. Annabeth has already sold enough to earn nearly a month of one class for free. Thank you to our generous friends and family - this is a HUGE blessing!
Little Bit at gymnastics class
- Annabeth and I made homemade cupcakes for Luke's birthday party instead of buying them at a local bakery where they are $4/cupcake. We made 20 for around $6!
Maple Bacon Cupcakes
- I preshopped the consignment sale on Wednesday evening. I spent $44 on 11 items. Annabeth was allowed to select one toy and she picked a very nice princess cash register - a toy I had been hoping to get for her this fall anyway. I also got 10 clothing items: 1 pair of gymnastics shorts, 2 leotards in the next size up, a Mickey t-shirt, a princess long-sleeve shirt, a plain long sleeve shirt for layering, pink Colts sweatshirt, and three dresses. I came in under budget and stuck to my list so I was very glad.
- We grocery shopped for Annabeth's birthday party this weekend. By planning ahead a meal at our house I spent only $40.16 on all the food and drinks for dinner as well as the one decoration I purchased. With careful planning we were able to spend money where we really wanted to - on her cake, her gifts, and party favors for the kids.
What have you been saving money on? Do you take a list to consignment sales or garage sales?
Happy Savings to All!
"Buy Used and Save the Difference"
Wednesday, October 1, 2014
Maple Bacon Cupcakes
Today is Mark's brother Luke's 22nd Birthday!
Luke is not only Mark's brother but he and his wife are also some of our best friends. Luke is also Annabeth's Godfather.
Brian and Kristi offered to bring dinner down to our house to celebrate and Mark offered us to do dessert. As soon as Mark offered, I thought of a time when Luke and Cassidy took us to a fancy cupcake place in Indianapolis. Luke and Mark both really enjoyed the bacon cupcakes so instead of buying them (they are around $4 each!) I decided to bake them ourselves.
I found this recipe (midway down the page) on LDS Living's website. It looked very close to what we had eaten at the cupcake place and also fairly simple. So, this morning Annabeth and I included baking cupcakes in our homeschool lesson.
I did modify the original recipe some, here's mine:
Luke is not only Mark's brother but he and his wife are also some of our best friends. Luke is also Annabeth's Godfather.
Brian and Kristi offered to bring dinner down to our house to celebrate and Mark offered us to do dessert. As soon as Mark offered, I thought of a time when Luke and Cassidy took us to a fancy cupcake place in Indianapolis. Luke and Mark both really enjoyed the bacon cupcakes so instead of buying them (they are around $4 each!) I decided to bake them ourselves.
I found this recipe (midway down the page) on LDS Living's website. It looked very close to what we had eaten at the cupcake place and also fairly simple. So, this morning Annabeth and I included baking cupcakes in our homeschool lesson.
I did modify the original recipe some, here's mine:
Maple Bacon Cupcakes
Vanilla Nutmeg Cupcakes:
1 box white cake mix
1½ tsp. nutmeg
2 jumbo eggs
⅓ C. oil
¾ C. milk
¾ C. sour cream
1 T. vanilla extract
Maple Buttercream:
1 C. butter, softened
4 T. milk
4 C. powdered sugar
2 tsp. maple flavoring
6 slices cooked bacon for garnish
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 and line pans with cupcake liners.
2. Sift cake mix and nutmeg into a bowl; set aside.
3. In a large bowl, combine eggs, oil, milk, sour cream, and vanilla extract.
4. Add cake mix and nutmeg mixture; stir until smooth.
5. Fill cupcake liners ¾ full and bake for 17–22 (19 for our oven) minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.
6. For Maple Buttercream: Beat butter for 2 minutes. Scrape down the bowl and stir in 1 T. milk. Slowly add powdered sugar until buttercream is the desired consistency. Add maple flavoring; adjust for flavor depending on the brand of flavoring you use.
7. Pipe onto cooled cupcakes; top with crumbled bacon to give cupcakes a salty and crunchy taste.
Made 20 cupcakes.
Annabeth helped by counting out the cupcake liners
and putting them on the cupcake pan.
She also helped taste-test the frosting.
She approved!
Our finished cupcakes!
I only made a third of them with the bacon on top
because I was not sure that everyone would like that.
Happy Birthday Luke!
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