Yes I scrapbooked!!!

I so missed scrapbooking, but over the summer months I just don't have the time or energy. With the kids home, housework, entertaining all 4 of them, and all my other responsibilities, I just can't seem to find the time, but now with school back in session and set bedtimes, I can scrapbook. YAY!!!!! I love the look of altered canvas', so I tried my hand at it. I think it turned out pretty good.


I have also been making some mini-albums, at the end of this week we are going on a mini-vacation to the ocean, so I wanted an album to highlight that trip. I made my mom one too, I was going to give it to her for Christmas, but I think I am going to take it with me and just surprise her with it. They turned out really cute I can't wait to add some pictures.


I have something new, I am starting a new blog called Frugal $ents. I originally started "Snapshots of Us" to showcase my scrapbooking and talk about my family, and my new frugal ways and couponing have been slowly taking over, so I decided to start another blog totally dedicated to money saving. My hopes are to post everyday and help others save money, I am still in the learning process of this myself. I am really excited about this new blog so please go check it out, I only have one post, but after I get back from our mini-vacation I'll be posting more. Since it is a new blog I may also some fun give-aways, so stay tuned.

My little one is sleeping and I really need to get my house in order and finish up packing. Have a great week and I'll be back next Monday.

Hugs
*a*

Wordless Wednesday.....

hugs
*a*

1 Chicken = 3 meals

I love budget-friendly meals, something that will feed all of us and still have left-overs is even better. BB 12 (bloomboy 12) is very picky and really hates all types of meats, but I have found that he loves a whole chicken cooked in the crockpot. I usually put it in the crock pot in the morning with a lemon pepper seasoning or Mrs. Dash for chicken and then cook all day. The meat is really tender and oh so yummy. So this is meal #1 add a potato and a vegetable and you have dinner. Even with a family of 5 and big hearty eaters I have some leftover, so with this I make a cassorole or fajitas, meal #2. Now don't throw away the bones put them back in your crock-pot and add some onions, celery, seasonings and 6 cups of water, put your crock-pot on low and cook for 10 hours and you have your own, no preservatives added, chicken stock to make soup. So there you have it I get a chicken at Wal-mart for under $4 and get 3 meals from it. Pretty budget-friendly if I do say so myself.

Crazy Week

Hey all, I know I haven't been around this week, but it's been a crazy week. First of all Hurricane Ike came through on Sunday and we lost our power. Can I just tell you it was really scary... I know the folks down south had a lot stronger winds and rain than we did, but the wind we had was awful, it shook our house. The kids we really afraid, but after a few prayers we went to sleep and everything was fine. Praise the Lord we had no damage, other than our electricity, which was out for 2 days. After we finally had our power back, our computer was acting all wonky, we realized we had a virus, so that took a while to deal with. To top if off all my photos were lost, but hubby bless his heart, spent 4 days trying to restore them. He was successful, thank goodness, we need to come up with a better back-up system for our pictures so this doesn't happen again. So after all this craziness I'm finally back online!!

I'll be back on Monday with our menu, which I am working on, and pictures from Bryce's football game. Also I need to upload a picture of my baby, she is walking. I can't believe it, she is just getting so big. Also I have been scrapbooking, I am working on a school album for Nate and it's turning out great, so I'll try to upload some pictures of that. Out for now.....

Hugs
*a*

Weight Watchers

Every since I have had my baby I have needed to lose weight. Sometimes I get so discouraged about my weight it's not even funny. I know one program that works, because I have done it after my second child and lost a lot of weight, is weight watchers. It's a great program, I just need to get in gear and do it, not just talk about it. If you have ever wanted to try Weight Watchers but thought, boy that's just to expensive for me, right now Mel @ a boxes of chocolate is giving away 2 free online memberships. What a great give-away!!!!! So get over there and leave her a comment for your chance to win this.

Thursday's Thoughts

Last week I talked about wanting to prioritize my time better, and I think to some extent I did really good this week. Hense the no posting this week, I was on the computer some this week checking out my favorite sites, but I limited it to 1/2 hour during the day and I got so much done. The kid's rooms are now all declutter and so is the bathroom and laundry/mud room, I organized my frig and all my cupboards and my room got a good cleaning. I canned some tomato sauce and made some salsa (very yummy) and cooked every night except tonight, two of my kids went to their grams to eat and we had some left-overs in the frig, so we ate that. So hopefully next week I can fit blogging into that schedule.

Lately I have been thinking about Christmas (I know this is a completely different subject but the title to this post is Thursday's Thought), I don't want to spend a ton of money on things people don't need and I want to be finished with all shopping and wrapping by Thanksgiving. I really want to enjoy Christmas, making cookies with the kids, decorating and just having family time. I know this sounds ambitious, but I know we can have a frugal Christmas, be done early, and have fun too. If you have any frugal ideas for Christmas I would love to hear them.

So you know I couldn't end a post without adding a picture, and I hate blog posts that don't have pictures, so here is one of Nate. Daddy hasn't trimmed around the house for a while so Nate decided he would with scissors. You know it really kept him busy.



That's all for now,
hugs *a*

Prioritizing my Time

Lately I have been thinking about what is really important to me. With the kids going back to school, and only have one at home, I need to schedule my days so that in the evening I am here for them. I have to admit I love the internet, I love searching out the best deals and reading all the blogs, but on the down side the internet is very time consuming, before I know it I have been on here for an hour or longer. So I have to set limits and not just with internet, I need to lose weight also. After having my fourth child the weight does not want to come off and I am not happy at all about the way I look, so I need to make time to exercise and really make it a point to eat better.

This weekend I am going to sit down and make a schedule for my day, when I have one down I'll share it. I'm hoping by scheduling things I can feel better about myself and have more time for the people and things I love.



hugs
*a*

Menu Planning Monday on Wednesday

I know I am really late with this, butI have been sick since Sunday and then our internet wasn't working all the time. So today I am finally feeling better and the internet is working, it's a great day!!!!

Wednesday
Breakfast - Cream of Wheat
Supper - Meatloaf, cucumber salad, baked potato and bread sticks

Thursday
Breakfast - Toaster Strudels
Supper - Sausage in crockpot, salad and pudding

Friday
Breakfast - eggs and toast
Supper - Turkey wraps and broccoli, cauliflower salad, chips

Saturday
Breakfast - french toast
Supper - quiche w/swiss charde and cheddar cheese, with baked biscuits

Sunday
Breakfast - Cereal
Lunch - yogurt and veges
Supper - at Gram's

For more menu ideas check out Org. Junkie.