Frugal Friday 313: 8th Birthday Edition

Happy Frugal Friday!

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

- Two weekends ago we celebrated Annabeth's birthday with her cousins and some school friends. We had the party at a paint your own pottery place. I made the cupcakes and Annabeth chose invites, cupcake  liners, and toppers all for around $10. The actual party place was more than if we had the party at home but fit within the budget that Mark and I had chosen.

- Annabeth requested a Garfield Cake. We got on Pinterest and searched for many ideas until we found one I thought we could reasonably do. I think it turned out well and had great fun getting my butter cream just the right colors and piping it all on.

Our birthday girl with her Mama-made Garfield Cake

- Starting with Annabeth's 2nd birthday, her first in our current house, it has been a tradition that the kids wake up to a decorated mantle on their birthday morning. This year I reused her birthday banner that we've been using since her 5th birthday, some Garfield books form the library, and these purple paper flowers leftover from a bridal shower. 

- Annabeth's #1 Birthday Request was an American Girl Doll. After looking through all of them, she chose Samantha. This is the doll I had as a girl. We made a list of ways that she had to earn such a big gift and were very proud of her for completing the tasks. Mark and I gave her some little gifts (all purchased on clearance) and then the Samantha doll, outfits from the books, and school desk that I had as a child.

Annabeth and Samantha headed out on a birthday date

- My parents knew we were giving Annabeth Samantha so my mama found a doll bed at a consignment store, made a mattress, and sourced some blankets, quilts, and pillows for the doll. She also found some sweet nightgowns for both Annabeth and her doll.

- Annabeth's second birthday request was a date with just Mark and me. She wanted to go to sushi and to the bookstore. We had sushi at Kumo at the Greenwood Park as they have an excellent lunch special. We treated her to new books at the bookstore purchased with my educator's discount and a giftcard from our Ibotta earnings so totally free. We also walked the mall a bit and she used a gift card for a Starbucks drink and a coupon for a headband at Justice. We spent just $40 total on this big date. 

- We only allow the children one meal out on their birthday. She chose to have cinnamon rolls for breakfast and a simple dinner of hot dogs, mac and cheese, baked beans, and Annabeth Munch for dinner. After dinner, we watched Annie. 

- Sunday afternoon we went to Mark's parents to celebrate Luke's birthday as well as Annabeth's. We generally do their birthdays together and they look forward to celebrating at the same time. The birthday people chose Jockamo's Pizza so we split the cost of that with the family. There were also leftovers for each family and for us the leftovers covered two meals.

- For her birthday dessert with the Rileys, Annabeth chose dirt pudding. 

 She looks pretty happy about dirt and worms :) 

We had such a wonderful time celebrating our 8 year old! We always want our kids to feel special, especially on their birthday, but don't want to spend a fortune on doing so. This year it was especially important to stick to a budget as Annabeth also got her new retainers and glasses - those make this a $2,000+ birthday week! 

Last Minute Snuggles

Today was one of those days.
It was the first day back in a routine in nearly a week.
We had a hectic Thursday last week with a long orthodontist appointment for Annabeth, a fall off a horse for Owen. Friday we had an eye exam and then came home to play outside and bake a birthday cake. Saturday was Annabeth's birthday and then Sunday was birthday part two with Mark's family. Yesterday was birthday recovery, co-op, and difficult news from a friend.

I woke up today not excited.
Not excited to clean or teach or work or parent or... anything.
I wanted a day to myself, to recover from the busyness, to process that hard news.
BUT we homeschool. I'm home full time. The kids are home full time. So no time off here.

Lots of little things added up all day:
getting all of the clothes done, baskets empty, clothes put away only to find a whole outfit under someone's bed,
finding that the kids had played with something I needed for my Usborne Books & More business that I can no longer use. It will be $30 to replace,
Getting to the library only to find that the single item that we HAD to return today was still at home because despite being asked 15 times no one grabbed the library bag,
We got some library books, went to Travel Club, enjoyed a fast-food dinner and a fun movie and yet when it was time for bed all they said was "I wish Grandpa and Mimi were back" and "I wish Daddy was home"

I was irritated. Maybe even angry. I wanted to just throw my hands up and say, "Get in bed people!" while I planned to do better tomorrow.

Then I looked at their little faces, I felt my heart change.
I pulled them in for a last minute group snuggle.

I'm not a perfect parent, I'm not a model homeschool parent, I'm not a boss mom who manages it all beautifully BUT I am currently SO aware of the gift of time with my children.

Two weeks ago, a friend of ours lost his life on the way to work. I know his family, his children would love to snuggle him. This week, my hard news, is that a friend is entering what may be the end of her earthly struggles. I know her family is wishing for time, for her to hold them.

So I hugged my children for myself, for themselves but also for their Daddy who had a meeting, for their grandparents who live out of town and in honor of those who can't be with their families.

I love these two more than they will ever know

Happy #8!

Today we celebrate 8 years with our Miracle Girl.

I wrote last year about how seven was the age she always wanted to be and she was right in wishing for this year - it was wonderful!

At seven Annabeth - mastered reading, bike riding, swimming, and more.
I remember meeting her in the NICU and just staring at her, sobbing, thanking the Lord for saving her but also wondering what huge plan God had for her. He chose to save her. He chose to restart her heart. He gave her this life. I stand in awe of Him always.

As for Annabeth there were SO many times this year that she just amazed me...

Annabeth Sage is sweet, curious, kind, and full of curiosity.

I love her passion for life, her refusal to take "no"for an answer, 

and to see challenges as opportunities to grow.  

One of my favorite moments of the year was this one. 

At the Applause Regional she earned a scholarship to a dance camp in Chicago.

She cried for HOURS. She was just completely overwhelmed with joy and excitement.

It was such a beautiful moment as her Mama to see her hard work pay off - so much so that 

we rearranged our whole summer and our year's budget to make that trip happen.  

While in New York, I found that Annabeth is my kind of traveler,

she also likes to wake up and hit the ground running each day. 

We had so much fun grabbing coffee and exploring Lewiston, NY together.  

Annabeth has been asking for about a year to audition for "America's Got Talent"

so when the opportunity to dance in Johnson County's Got Talent came up, we said "yes."

She danced her little heart out and won the WHOLE show. Her first Grand Champion at just seven years old. My favorite part? All she told anyone about it later was how awesome the ventriloquist

was and how much she loved that girl's act.
Even when it should be all about her, she never makes it that way. 

When Annabeth was four years old, she came out of Toy Gym with Miss Kari

and she said, "Mom. I need to do compete now." Miss Kari just shrugged and smiled and said

"When they love it, they love it." On the way home Annabeth told me her goal was to get 

her picture on the wall of national champions (at four years old this was her goal!!!)

This year, she made it happen. 

She went to Best of the Best for the first time with two dances and her acro group

won first place!  

Dancing in Chicago at Fuzion Dance Camp.

She was the youngest in the whole group, went in confidently, danced her heart out

each and ever day. I would be afraid at my age to do something so intimidating (walking into a group

of strangers, finding my place, and succeeding) But she did it and she did it so bravely.

As Grand Champion, and division winner, she was able to dance at the 

Indiana State Fair. She was, again, the youngest had a great dance and earned a 

Participation Ribbon.

You know what I love?

I love that she was SO proud of her ribbon, proud of her first time at the state fair,

proud to be the first one in the family to earn a State Fair ribbon. She didn't care one little

bit that she didn't place or win. She was just happy to be there.

That sums up Annabeth, happy to be here.

That also sums up how we feel about her. We  know what it's like to wait years for someone, to pray so hard your knees go numb, to wish and dream and plan, and to have it all change when a heartbeat stops. We also know God's incredible goodness and His grace. If anything good comes from any of us, know that it's all because of Him. 

Happy #8 My Miracle Girl. 

Frugal Friday 312

Happy Frugal Friday!

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

- Last Friday, my dad and I took the kids to the Children's Museum of Indianapolis. My parents gave a us a year pass last Christmas and we have really enjoyed visiting it as much as we can. On Friday, we really explored the outdoors sports area and the Take Me to Greece exhibit. We also enjoyed touching a real T-Rex bone (it's the only place in the world that the public can do that!)

 The kids LOVE seeing this "cat statue" on our walk in each visit

Touching the T-Rex bone

- Friday night we took dinner to Mark's parents. We purchased two Chicago's pizzas for $.01 thanks to gift cards we had purchased from a fundraiser. The part for our oven still had not arrived so I baked Annabeth's birthday party cupcakes while there. The kids and Mark had a great time playing with Baby Jackson while I baked.

- Saturday we celebrated Annabeth's birthday with her school friends and cousins. She chose to paint pottery and we had a nice little party with them. This party was very affordable as far as out of the home parties go. We also treated Mark's mom and our nieces to an early dinner at the Mexican restaurant next door to the pottery place. The kids really enjoyed that.

Celebrating #8 at uPaint Pottery in Greenwood

  

Annabeth chose the gold foil wrappers,

pink and purple frosting, and these Happy Birthday toppers.

- Sunday we had a busy church day. The kids played handbells and sang at both services. We had a quick lunch and then set up for a special celebration. Mark is on the Parish Relations Committee and they put on a lovely event to celebrate our Pastor's 40th year in ministry. It was a surprise event and so many special people came from near and far to celebrate with Pastor Lee. We enjoyed hearing our District Superintendent speak as well as one of our favorite retired pastors.

- We had some time between lunch and Pastor Lee's celebration so we stopped by the church library. When we lived in Greenwood, we often borrowed books from the church library on days we volunteered. I have gotten out of the habit but I was excited to see two of the books from my Amazon list there. We can check out for three weeks and then renew if we need to just like at the public library. 

- Sunday night Mark and the kids helped me load the cars and I spent nearly two hours placing all of our items and our Express Taggers' items on the sales floor at the Here We Grow Again - Indy South sale. I look forward to selling LOTS of items this week!

- Tuesday it was over 90 degrees. After school, we chose to have some play time at the library. The kids enjoyed doing the scavenger hunt, playing with other homeschool friends, and we brought home with two huge bags of books for the week.

- We donated a box of clothes and toys to a local thrift store run by church volunteers. We also donated a pack of pull-ups to Michelle's Free Little Pantry.

- I met a sales goal with my Usborne Books & More business and accomplished a long time goal of making Month 1 towards Team Leader. I also met a sales challenge and earned $20 in FREE books! It was so much fun to get some great books for our home library as a thank you for my hard work in September.

- Yesterday, between an orthodontist appointment and Saddle Club, we had a picnic lunch in the woods at a park. I love to find ways to be out in green space each day with the kids. We've had fun exploring lots of extra parks while eating "out." Even if we only have twenty minutes, I find this to be a much more enjoyable (and affordable) way to have lunch than running through a drive-thru.

- Last night we had "Buffet Dinner" - aka Leftover Dinner. The kids thought it was so fun to go through the buffet line to pick their foods. We had cinnamon pancakes, bacon, BBQ pork, corn on the cob, and mini corn dogs. They each had to choose one meat plus some other fruits and veggies that I had cut up. It was a good way to use up what we had in the fridge in a way that didn't feel like, "Oh man, leftovers :( "

My biggest frugal success of the week was tough for me. For the first time, I did not shop the Here We Grow Again sale. I LOVE this sale! I have always found the best items (toys, clothes, and books) there but this year we did not have any true needs and I knew I would spend money if I went. So, we stayed home. I seriously feel like I missed out because I saw some amazing items when I dropped our things off but we have some huge financial goals for the next 13 months and every little sacrifice will add up.

We are looking forward to a wonderful weekend celebrating our Miracle Girl's 8th Birthday!

Happy Savings to All!

Frugal Friday 311

Happy Frugal Friday!

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

- We enjoyed Friday Night Movie Night at home with a movie from the library. We snacked on homemade cookies.

- Saturday-Monday Mark was out of town for a training. He had a good time and learned a lot. He is working on a training and project that will take about 18 months to complete. I so appreciate that Mark always gives his best when working on projects like this.

- We stopped by a friend's garage sale. It was the end of day three but we did find two books, two little toys, and three clothing items for $6.

- Saturday the kids and I met Jenn and the kids down at Apple Works for the afternoon. I had packed water but it was much hotter than we had anticipated so I ended up buying $2 in bottled water. Once we had seen the main area, we went to the Trafalgar Library for some fun air conditioned play. I am so thankful to have precious time with them.

Apple Works with my loves. 

- I mentioned last month that we bought half of a pig. That came in handy this week as we made a pork roast for Mark to take along to his training. It provided the meat for one of their dinners. We also used BBQ pork roast plus fresh fruits and veggies to take to a dear friend on Monday for lunch. Please pray for "A" and her family as she lost her husband that morning in a car accident. They have two small children at home. They are part of a large family in which we know and love many members.

- Monday evening I went to cook dinner only to find that the heating element in our oven was broken. I had plenty of meals on hand to be cooked in the crock pot or stove top so I wasn't worried about that BUT this weekend is the church fish fry and I had signed up to bring pies. I am so thankful that my dear friend Jeanette is the kind of friend I can reach out to and say, "Hey! Can I come bake a bunch of pies in your kitchen?" and she'll say yes! Thank you Jeanette!

- Tuesday we played at the library, got books and movies, and then met our friends the Eblings at the park. I love getting together with them and watching our kids grow up as best friends - and in the case of Owen and Asher, best enemies.

- Wednesday my dad came to visit! He brought the kids a new-to-them art easel. They also spent that afternoon geocaching. Wednesday night Annabeth had dance, Dad and Owen had a park/ice cream date, and Mark and I had a REAL out-to-dinner date (our first since March!)

- Yesterday, we dropped pies of for our church fish fry. The kids also had Saddle Club and my dad enjoying coming along to see what they do. In addition to horse things, they did some fishing this week. After horses, Dad took Annabeth out on a date and Owen and I spent some time together.

- Last night the kids, Mark, and Dad had an ice cream sundae bar and movie/play outside night. I went with two friends to see the new Downton Abbey movie. Yes, I realize movies are not remotely frugal BUT it's the first theater movie I've seen since I was expecting Owen so $12 every 4.5 years doesn't seem *too* crazy to me.

We had a great week and really enjoyed having Dad here.
We are looking forward to a good weekend and to kicking of Annabeth's birthday festivities! 

Frugal Friday 310

Happy Frugal Friday!

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

- Friday night we skipped our usual night out for dinner and ate at home. After that, Owen and I did the grocery shopping. We spent $93 for the next two-ish weeks.

- Saturday morning, Mark took Annabeth to run some errands. They stopped by Starbucks for a treat and were blessed by a friend who purchased their order for them. Thank you Scott!

- Owen and I had our own date as well. We ran by the Farmer's Market, played at the library, added some books to our stash at home, then redeemed a gift card from My Library Rewards at our local toy store. We cashed in 200 points for a $5 gift card. We purchased two Christmas gifts.

 Our $6 Farmer's Market Finds

$5 flowers in glass jar and $1 pumpkin for Mr. O 

"Hey Mama, let's just sit at that table and talk a while."

- Saturday afternoon, Mark and Annabeth went to help with a friend with an Eagle Scout project. Annabeth enjoyed helping and Mark always loves supporting scouts. Owen and I went to Chick-Fil-A and used one of his gift cards from summer reading for a free ice cream and park play.

- This week we made homemade chili and thanks to my friend Ann, homemade and healthy sweet and sour chicken. I tried to make bigger dinners and then served the leftovers for lunches.

- Mark worked overtime, I worked my Usborne Books & More business, and I added my final express tagger. This tagger has over 300 items and I've spent the last two nights just getting everything entered in the computer. Now I'll spend the weekend physically tagging everything.

- Tuesday night the kids and I helped unload and deliver mums for a fundraiser for the dance year. We were able to pay Annabeth's choreography fee and part of our September budget with this fundraiser so thank you to everyone who purchased fall flowers! We drove up to Indy and delivered the flowers two evenings. The kids LOVED seeing the city lit up at night.

- Wednesday morning, before it got hot, Owen and I cleaned out our car. It was a mess from transporting all of the flowers. We also helped our neighbor do a bit of work in her garage.

- Wednesday evening, I dropped Annabeth at dance and then went and met Mark's mom with the rest of the flower order. I also stopped by the grocery store - ALONE! For the last year, I have been very very overwhelmed with being a mama, running two different classrooms all day, working, and managing the home. I was not taking nearly enough time for myself and so we've been working to find a better balance for me.

- I scored some good deals at a thrift store - two shirts for Owen, a shirt for Annabeth, and a shirt for me all for around $9. I also found $1.60 swim trunks on the Meijer 90% off rack for Owen for next summer.

- Yesterday morning, we enjoyed the preschool story time at the Franklin Church of God. This is Owen's last year of preschool and we are looking forward to enjoying one more year of this fun story time with friends before he moves on to Kindergarten.

- Yesterday at Saddle Club, a family brought a huge bin of free books. I chose two for Owen and Annabeth chose four new chapter books. I think next time we clean out ours, we'll do the same. It was fun to see how excited all the kids were about new books!

We had a good week here, received a "yes" to a prayer for a friend that we have been praying for 2 years, and are so thankful for a weekend ahead with good friends and family.

Happy Savings to All!

Frugal Friday 309: What I Spent This Week

Happy Frugal Friday!

I've been seeing these kind of blogs and vlogs and even had a request for one.
So, here is what I spent this week*
*I am ONLY sharing money that I spend. I will not be figuring the original cost of gas or groceries that were purchased before this week but used this week*

Friday (9/6) $0
I taught a co-op class on Friday morning and the kids enjoyed playing with friends.
I had an afternoon Zoom call for my Usborne Books & More business.
We played outside all afternoon, helped our neighbors with their groceries, visited with some friends who stopped by, and Mark mowed the lawn.
We ate all of our meals at home.

Saturday (9/7) $12.46
Mark left for a training.
Owen and I took Annabeth to Open Gym. This is included in our monthly fees so we did not pay for it.
We came home, did laundry, organized closets/dressers to include some items for the cooler mornings/evenings.
We took the recycling, returned books, and enjoyed a free train show at one of our libraries.
We did pick up dinner while out. A gift card covered $10 so we paid just $12.46 out of pocket.
We had an at-home movie night with movies borrowed from the library.

Sunday (9/8) $21.53
We went to church and the kids had music class. After church, we went to Wolf Run Park and played for an hour. Another family from church was also there and the kids enjoyed playing while I visited with a friend.

Park play

We went to Mark's parents' house for lunch and afternoon play with the cousins.
We did stop by the store for a little grocery fill-in (we had not been in a week) and for cookies to take as a treat for lunch. Spent $21.53
We came home for dinner and game night.

Monday (9/9) $170
We had a normal school day.
We took Annabeth to dance and paid her choreography fee ($150 - one time fee for the year) and also paid for a private lesson ($15)
We ate our meals at home.
I also purchased an item from a friend at 75% off retail. I will be adding it to Annabeth's birthday gift. I had not planned on purchasing this item new due to cost + shipping but to get it for $5 and no shipping I splurged.

Tuesday (9/10) $0
We had our normal school day and did lots of chores around the house.
We spent the afternoon at the library - getting new books, DVDs, doing a scavenger hunt, and enjoying Travel Club.
We came home for dinner and watched a little movie about The Artcraft - our local movie theater.

Wednesday (9/11) $2.37
We had our normal school day.
I did have to use the printer at our local UPS store. Spent $2.37 on printing.
Annabeth had dance class and Mark and Owen enjoyed Man Night.
We ate all of our meals at home.

Thursday (9/12) $40
We had our normal school day.
We did chores around the house.
The kids had Homeschool Saddle Club. This costs $40/week for a 2 hour class/ride for both kids.
We ate all of our meals at home.
In the evening, Mark had a meeting and the kids and I went to a special animal presentation at the library.

Total Spent this Week: $246.36
Breakdown ---
Eating Out: $12.46
Groceries: $21.53
Kids Activities: $205
Misc: $2.37

This week was MUCH more than usual as the kids activities are generally $55/week vs the $205 but we did have that one time fee this week.

Let me know what you think of this different Frugal Friday format.
Would you like to see another week of it?

Happy Savings to All!