Frugal Friday 26

Happy Valentine's Day!

Here is how we saved money/spent money wisely this week:

- On Friday a huge box came in our mail. It made the perfect box to do her afternoon school in. She loved coloring and doing sticker work!

Color and sticker fun in her BIG box!

- The three of us enjoyed a few hours at our local museum, The Johnson County Museum. Annabeth loved playing dress up in the pioneer clothing and with the train table. Hours of fun for only $2.

O Pioneer! 

- Babies R Us ran a sale on Annabeth's favorite push-up style snacks. We purchased all they had - 30 pouches. Saved: $26.70

- As a Kohl's Reward Club member I received a $5 gift certificate for my birthday. I found a pair of Mickey Mouse pajamas for Annabeth for next winter. They were on clearance + my $5 gift certificate + a 15% off coupon. Saved: $26.60

- I enjoyed my FREE birthday drink from Starbucks! That is my favorite part of having a registered gift card! Happy Birthday to me! Saved: $4.81

- We enjoyed a FREE Gymboree class at our local library. We invited up our friends Sarah and Bella to join us and the girls loved it!

Making a snowman mask at the end of Gymboree

- We played clean out the pantry/fridge/freezer. We were able to use up all of our bread, milk, bagels, and even a lot of cans in the pantry. We like to do this every few months to make sure we are really using all that we purchase.

Total Saved: $58.11

What have you been doing to save money? What free/affordable things does your family do on the weekend?

Happy Savings to All!

"Buy Used and Save the Difference!" 

Sweet Beet Cookies!

Last Novemeber, we realized that Annabeth is allergic to peanuts. We had followed our doctor's advice and had not given her any nuts or nut butters until she was 2. We gave her a piece of a Reeses at her 2 year well visit and she did not have a reaction so we knew that even if she did have a peanut allergy it was not going to be extremely severe. But, when we spread peanut butter on a bagel and gave it to her for breakfast, she broke out in horrible hives across her face and down her neck, chest, and arms/hands. Thankfully Benadryl cleared the hives after two doses. We are not going to give her any more nuts until she is 3 and then we will see if she has outgrown the allergy or if we need to see an allergist.

Since then, we have been very careful with the foods she eats since each exposure can potentially make the allergy much more severe. One of the things our doctor said to avoid was all restaurant desserts because while they may not have peanuts on the ingredients list they were most like processed on the same machinery. We also have to be very careful about prepackaged snacks. SO we have been making our desserts and snacks at home. It's been a fun challenge to make new desserts and to try to make healthy snacks for her as well.

This week I received a food processor for my birthday from Mark's parents! We were so excited! Mark opened it and and began chopping anything he could find in the fridge. He made a lovely "carrot soup" the first night! :)

My first adventure with the processor was to make these Sweet Beet Cookies I found on Pinterest.
These cookies were a great find as they are dairy, egg, and peanut free! Annabeth and all of her cousins can eat them!

Pouring the shredded beets from my FOOD PROCESSOR into the flour mix!

It was so much easier to use the machine! 

 Cookies cut out into one star and the rest hearts.

I love the pretty beet red for Valentine's Week

Baked Sweet Beet Heart Cookie - Yum!

Not ones to waste anything we threw the greens from the beets out to the little

rabbit that comes to visit our yard. Enjoy Bunny Rabbit! 

Encouragement from a Stranger and Sign

Today, Annabeth and I had to drive to Mark's parents to pick up our camera and other items we had left there over the weekend. It is about 45 minutes each way so by the time we were on our way home, Annabeth was getting a bit frustrated. She was throwing things and yelling at me. But we had to stop at Walmart for our medications and groceries. Our sweet Pharmacy Tech Jodee offered me a dumdum sucker for Annabeth and for the first time I gave in and let her have it. The sucker made her SO happy and I was able to get our shopping done with a happy toddler.

As I took the groceries out to the car I realized I really needed to go to the bathroom and didn't want to wait the 20 minute drive home. Annabeth was not happy about having to go back in the store and kept yelling "Home! Home!" as we walked back in. Then, as soon as we entered the bathroom stall she dropped her sucker on the floor. I quickly snatched it up and put it in the trash. "Oh no! Candy! Candy! Mama! Oh no!" I explained, "Well, that fell on the floor and we do not eat off the floor. Especially not bathroom floors." "CANDY!!!" I repeated my explanation. She yelled "CANDY!" I tried to distract her by reviewing what we bought at the store and looking for colors around us. I tried to be patient and to speak kindly even though I was ready to lose my mind! 

We came out of the stall and a woman was standing there. She said this to me:

"I am not a mom yet, I will be. My husband and I would love to be. I just want to say that I really admire the way that you handled that. You were so patient and you spoke so kindly. I hope I am able to do that with my children."

I blushed. I mumbled "Thank You" and silently said a prayer of thanks to the Lord. That patience, that kindness came only from Him. He gives me the strength to be the Mama I want to be. 

I was so thankful for that woman and her willingness to spend a moment with me, to encourage me more than she will ever know. I am thankful that the Lord used me for a moment to encourage her.

On the way home we passed a sign that said,

Attitudes are contagious.

Is yours worth catching?

I thought about it all the way home: Is my attitude worth catching? Today, in a Walmart bathroom for a moment it was. But it is not always. I am too impatient. I am quick to overreact. I am quick to snap at people. I am quick to judge. I am quick to complain. I am slow to compliment, to be patient, to take the little moments to encourage others.

My goal this week, and from here on out, with God's help is to have an attitude that is pleasing to the Lord and one worth catching. 

Napless Naptimes

Annabeth has never been a good sleeper. Even as a newborn she would sleep less than 12 hours a day. As a toddler she sleeps even less!! While family and friends talk about what all they are able to get done around the house while their children nap, I just spend "naptime" praying that Annabeth doesn't destroy too many things!

A few weeks ago, Annabeth's Uncle Luke gave her a new Tiana storybook. We read it before naptime and she asked so sweetly to take it to bed. I put her down, went out to get the mail, and came back in to hear pages ripping. I went into her room to find the book destroyed (in two minutes!) and her laughing wildly.

What a mess!  

 Wild laughter! 

Friday, Annabeth earned a maraca at the library as part of the Winter Reading Program. Again, she asked to take it to naptime. It was made of good plastic and I thought perhaps it would keep her from shaking her bed apart like earlier this week. I went in to check on her several times, all was well, she was jumping in her bed shaking the maraca not napping but happy. However, at the end of the hour I found the maraca in pieces on the floor. Chewed into tiny pieces.

How is this even possible?! 

How did her tiny teeth do this?!

What does your child do during naptime?

"NOSE!"

It's SNOWING! 

Again.

This has been the coldest, snowiest winter in all of our memories. During the first big snow we had, temperatures stayed warm enough that it was safe to play outside. However, the snows since then have been followed by multiple sub-zero degree days. Although Annabeth loves the snow, or "nose!" as she calls it, she does not like keeping covered thus it has not been safe to take her out to play in the very cold temperatures.

Another seven inches of snow came Tuesday night and then yesterday it stayed warm enough to play outside. I checked the temperatures and then had this conversation with Annabeth:

Me: "What do you want to do today?"
Annabeth: "Watch Mickey Mouse."
Me: "Would you like to play outside?"
Annabeth: "OUTSIDE?! NOSE!!!" Wild cheering!

So, we bundled up and enjoyed a morning out hiking our neighborhood as more, fluffy snow fell.

In front of our house. 

Even in the snow she was posing with her accessories.

Snow Boots: $4.00 at a consignment store

Purple Snow Suit: Hand-me-down from a family at Mark's work.

Pink Coat: A gift from Mark to Annabeth

Puffy Ski Gloves: Purchased at Kohl's with Kohl's Cash

Hello Kitty Hat and Scarf: A gift from Uncle Luke and Auntie Cassidy

Heart Sunglasses: $.99 at Children's Place last summer

Dressing warmly doesn't have to be expensive! 

Snow Girls!

Happy Snow Days Off School to our school going friends 

and 

Happy Homeschool Snow Days (twice the fun days!) to our Homeschooling friends!

Frugal Friday 25

Happy Frugal Friday!

Here is how we saved money/spent money wisely this week:

- Annabeth and I took our 3rd annual Christmas-Clearance-Mall-Trip. Each year we take $25 to the mall and see what all we can get for next fall/winter/Christmas by combining coupons and sales. This year we were able to get her 5 shirts, 4 pairs of leggings, 1 Hello Kitty outfit, AND three shirts for my Godson's birthday and Christmas gifts this year. Saved: $107.45!!

*We generally purchase used clothing both for Annabeth and myself. However, I like to have holiday outfits for each season and they are easy to find on mall clearance this time of year. Also, I grew up in a combination of hand-me-downs and new and I always really appreciated the new outfits that were given to me. We want Annabeth to have and appreciate both as well*

- My best friend gave us some leftover Hello Kitty fleece material from her Christmas projects. It wasn't quite large enough for a full size baby blanket so I made a tie-blanket for Annabeth's dolls. She has ended up enjoying it as a lap blanket as well. Thank you Rose!

My first attempt at a tie blanket. It was as easy as everyone said! 

Annabeth with her new lap blanket. 

She loves to watch her morning video cuddled up with it.

- My friend Sarah texted me about a deal on diapers.com for people new to the site to get $10 off/free shipping on first box of diapers. There was also an extra $1.50 coupon. This ended up being enough diapers for the next month for less than $40.00! Saved: $11.50

- Annabeth and I signed up for the Winter Reading Program at our local library. We earn points for visiting the library and have a Bingo card to check off extra items such as - do a puzzle, go to story time, or check out more than 5 books. So far Annabeth has earned a free flashlight and dress up necklace!

- We did a 4 item trip to the grocery to replenish weekly items. We also were able to score a great deal on our dishwasher detergent - Cascade Platinum Packs (with the hard water here we had to do some testing to see what actually cleaned our dishes). By combing a store sale + online coupon + paper coupon we were able to get a one month supply for $1.39! Saved: $2.60

- I took Annabeth to a FREE Hop & Bop Dance Class at our library.

Total Saved: $121.55

What have you been doing to save money this week? How do you use up extra material?

Happy Savings to All!

"Buy Used and Save the Difference"

May we all Wait Expectantly for Jesus: Anna in the Bible

We named Annabeth Sage after beloved family and friends however, we also loved the story of Anna in the Bible.

This week our pastor's sermon* was about Simeon and Anna and their wait to meet Jesus. What a great reminder of how to live a life of faith:

"When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord”[a]), 24 and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.” ... 36 There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, 37 and then was a widow until she was eighty-four.[d] She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. 38 Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem."

Luke 22: 22-24 and 36-38 (source NIV - New International Version)

Until she was 84 years old, Biblical Anna had waited at the temple, worshipping night and day, fasting and praying until she was able to see Jesus face to face. Face to Face. She was able to speak to Joseph, Mary, and Jesus about "all who were looking forward to the redemption of Isreal." What a powerful place in history she held. What an amazing faith she had.

Although I love the Lord, I do not find myself worshipping or praying night and day. I do not even find myself doing this half of each day. 

I pray that I, that all of us, would be more like Biblical Anna. That we would spend our time doing worthy things such as worshipping, praying, and serving our precious Lord and Savior and His people, all people. Amen. 

*If you live in the Indianapolis area and are looking for a home church or a church to visit, we invite you to ours! Christ United Methodist - Indianapolis