Frugal Friday 550

 Happy Frugal Friday!

Here's how we saved money/spent money wisely/made extra money this week:

- Friday and Saturday Annabeth attended her first confirmation classes. Each family was asked to bring along some food to help with meals. She took some Made Good bars for snack and/or breakfast and also made Birthday Cookies. They were a big hit! I love how much she loves baking. Please continue praying for Annabeth and her five confirmation classmates as they work through this year. 

- Saturday evening the boys went to an Indianapolis Indians Game. Mark had originally bought the tickets back in May for a Cub Scout event but that game was rained out. They finally cashed in their rain out tickets this weekend and enjoyed a special super hero game night. 

Rowdie and O

O even got a ball from one of the coaches!

The boys had a great night. 

- Last spring, the boys pulled up the wooden boards around the kids' former play area. We put the wooden boards and mulch down our first full spring here (2014) and added different yard toys as we were gifted them. A few years ago, we passed along our slide, playhouse, and everything else to cousins and friends and so it's just been a mulch-pit. Once the boards were pulled up, we debated what to do. Pouring a patio was going to be expensive and not really worth it as we already have a large patio. I suggested a fire pit area but our neighbors have very large trees that hang over our yard and Mark worried it might be a fire risk. We discussed a yard barn but for the price we just don't have enough need for it. As we debated, grass grew in and now it looks pretty much just like it's part of our yard! It does sit a bit lower than the area around it BUT for our family, for now it works! We were so relieved we had been patient and hadn't jumped into spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on it. 

- As always, we are trying to not eat out in the months of August and September. We usually do this in January and again in August but we haven't held to it 100% this month so we're going to go for it in September too. We don't eat out super often but the kids always be sure to comment when we don't at all. This year, we've been doing some different cooking challenges (new pizza recipe each week, different slider recepes all summer, etc) so this week I had them pull out recipe books and they made our meal plan for the week. They were SO excited and enjoyed making many of the items all on their own. This was a win-win-win, no one complained about meals, I had help, AND they got in lots of practice! 

- Tuesday we enjoyed Conner Prairie for FREE. Thank you to our sweet friends the Henninger Family for inviting us to join them for the day. It was one of the homeschool days so we bumped into no fewer than a dozen homeschool families we know! The kids had a great four hours playing and learning with friends. Thank you Sarah for the invite and for sharing your pass! Saved: $63

- Wednesday morning Annabeth started back to work assisting in dance classes. She really enjoys teaching and I am so thankful for the opportunity for her to develop this skill. 

- Wednesday afternoon we met our friends Amanda and Logan at the park. We met through Little League several years ago and the boys have the best friendship! I always love seeing them. This week, Amanda invited us to join a park play event with a homeschool group they meet with. We made some new friends and reconnected with friends we haven't seen for a while. We packed along a lunch and skipped the group ice cream outing afterwards.

- Wednesday night, I mowed our lawn and the neighbor's. The family closes on the house this weekend so it was my last time mowing for them. As I did, I prayed over the children and grandchildren of our neighbor. I am so thankful that we truly have the best neighbors and while we miss Mrs. W every day, it's been such an honor to care for her children in this small way each week. 

- Last night was Back to School Night for our co-op. Since we've been in school since early July, it's a little hard to think about back to school but it's a whole new level of fun when we get to do school alongside friends! We are praying for a wonderful year ahead!

If you follow me on Facebook, you know that as I teach 4th Grade History this year we have purposed to visit all 92 Indiana Counties. We have six done, thanks to Conner Prairie for checking off Hamilton Co this week. We are looking forward to sharing what we see and learn in the months to come!

Happy Savings to All!