Goody Gladys

Where does the time go?

2008-09-13T10:13:00.000-07:00

Hey all,

I sure have missed blogging and will be taking it up again. I have been so busy with the family. All the stuff I do here with the yard and the homekeeping and the frugality are all for my family and they have really needed me and I sure have needed any time off I could get and that meant not blogging for a bit.

Now I have the school year in swing and an entirely new schedule.

Here is a new picture of us, our first family portrait, touched up and everything!

Summer Squash Risotto

2008-08-06T15:53:00.000-07:00

digginfood posted a neat recipe for summer squash risotto. Looks good to me and a great way to use up all that summer squash!

Hold it now - crockpot gyros!!!

2008-08-05T14:52:00.000-07:00

My friend Lori just posted that she is making crockpot gyros this week. Follow the links to get to the recipe. Sounds great to me! She got the recipe from A Year of Crockpotting who got the recipe from CDKitchen.

Now I'm wondering if crockpot recipes could be adapted to solar ovens. No I don't have a solar oven, just thinking...and wondering...

Sunscreen Guide

2008-08-05T14:30:00.000-07:00

We've all are trained to wear sunscreen and put it on our kids. Another mommy and I were talking about this on a recent camping trip. Put the sunscreen on the kids but what is in that sunscreen; is it safe? What are are options? Check out Environmental Working Group's guide to sunscreens and learn what is in your favorite sunscreen brand.

Team Everest - A Himalayan Journey

2008-08-02T21:03:00.000-07:00

My husband took the boys for the weekend to visit his hometown. This was the first time in my parental history to have been alone. I mean, come on, who would want to be away from these adorable guys?

Well, it happened and so I needed to do something besides pick up my order from the CSA and buy grass-fed organic milk and beef from the dairy hub sooooo I watched some television, you know the good stuff, two-hour plus inspiring documentaries.

If you need a dose of inspirational style reality television check out Team Everest - A Himalayan Journey. I guess it's true - you can do anything!

Creepy Babydoll and Cardboard

2008-08-01T18:04:00.001-07:00

Angry Chicken posted about this creepy babydoll. It reminds me of a doll I played with when visiting my grandmother in Arizona; it gave me nightmares for years!!! I think it so funny what kids will find to play with. Our oldest is enjoying playing with cardboard boxes. Do you recycle for play time???

Cash for Books-Referral

2008-07-22T18:34:00.000-07:00

I want to thank whoever you are for signing up for Cash 4 Books through my blog. It was nice to receive the referral bonus. I have another program to tell you all about - soon - that allows you to sell your old cds and dvds! It's very similar to Cash 4 Books.

A Fun Wormy Post

2008-07-21T14:24:00.000-07:00

Hey folks,

It's me! I know I've been gone a long time. See we went camping and with us went the camera. Seems the camera is still in my husband's car and well, I normally shoot and then post so that's why no posts lately.

I did read a really funny post from In the Garden on her new wormery. She took a different route than I. Read about it here. I think having your kids set up the wormery is the way to go!

Harvest Keepers Challenge

2008-07-08T16:39:00.001-07:00

I'm slow in getting there but am joining the Harvest Keepers Challenge.

My Clothesline Arrived

2008-06-30T12:56:00.000-07:00

and here she is...see item 3000. I'll post a pic once my husband gets this baby into the ground.

Because my kids won't eat peanut butter and fruit sauce sandwiches...

2008-06-30T11:59:00.001-07:00

Hey folks! I've been busy canning and drying some of the fruit we receive from the CSA. I'm not one to follow recipes so I have been making lots of "fruit sauce" instead of jam. I now have surrendered to the recipe; wish me luck! To further the challenge, I'm trying to master the use of Pomona's Universal Pectin because it doesn't require sugar. I prefer the taste of no sweetener in jams or if needed, honey. I buy the honey and the pectin from Azure Standard. I haven't broken down and called the hotline yet; give me a few more attempts as I'm stubborn. I would love to hear from anyone who as tried universal pectin.

Homegrown - The Movie

2008-06-28T18:29:00.000-07:00

I'm looking forward to seeing this documentary.

In the news...Designed to Sell

2008-06-24T17:13:00.000-07:00

The Hanford Sentinel wrote up an article on our appearance on Designed to Sell.

Happy Anniversary Husband!

2008-06-22T14:23:00.001-07:00

How to recycle those corn utensils...or not.

2008-06-22T13:40:00.000-07:00

From today's LA Times

RESTAURANT JOURNAL
Dig into debate over 'green' utensils

More Los Angeles-area restaurants turn to eco-friendly to-go packaging, but not everyone's up on how to dispose of them.
June 18, 2008
Now that you feel environmentally conscientious for having used a corn fork -- those forks made with corn starch that lately are the darlings of the takeout world -- what will you do with it?Santa Monica passed an ordinance banning all non-recyclable plastic and polystyrene (Styrofoam) at food service establishments in February, and with daily fines topping $250, restaurants have been quick to comply."Our goal is to become zero waste . . . to go back to a 1950s approach of using less, like wrapping a sandwich in paper instead of plastic," explains Josephine Miller, an environmental analyst for the city of Santa Monica's Green Programs Division. "But first we've got to do what it takes to get the Styrofoam and non-recyclable plastic out of the ocean."Acceptable choices include recyclable aluminum and plastic, paper and those compostable vegetable products.But compostable isn't the same as biodegradable. Corn forks must be professionally composted at high temperatures, or they'll end up sharing landfill space with Styrofoam.Some chefs, including Daniel Snukal of , have always preferred paper products "because they just decompose." And they cost a fraction of their shiny new vegetable great-grandchildren.But others aren't as up on their composting lingo. At Bar Pintxo, manager Angel Stork says the restaurant recently switched from aluminum to corn to-go containers "because they were on the city's list, and they sounded better, so we thought they must be." Aluminum, almost 100% recyclable, is also on the list.The problem isn't the product, but the lack of public compost bins. "The city said we could sign up for a food waste program," says Sang Yoon, owner of Father's Office in Santa Monica. "But we don't use to-go containers. Our customers do."Santa Monica doesn't currently have public compost bins. Miller says the city plans to provide green compost bins for all single-family homes "very soon" (some private homes already have them). But getting compost bins to apartment buildings and office parks "is much more complex."At Andiamo in Silver Lake, which isn't affected by the ban but "tries to keep everything compostable," manager Casey Anderson offers to take customers' used corn products and "put them in our composter." So far, no one has brought back their used cornware."You can always boil the stuff until it dissolves," Anderson says. But he calls back to say, "Forget that -- it'll only turn the fork into a twisted-up, weird science experiment."And distinguishing between recyclable plastic items and corn products isn't always easy. The website for Tender Greens in Culver City touts its "strong sense of environmental responsibility." But co-owner David Dressler says he doesn't alert customers that the box housing their tuna niçoise salad can't be recycled. "We're not the end user of the product, so it's not our responsibility."At Father's Office, Yoon is more direct. "We choose not to give people forks at all."--Jenn GarbeeSmall bites* Animal, the new restaurant from Carmelized Productions caterers (and former Food Network hosts) Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo, has opened, with its daily changing menu of seasonal dishes including fried soft-shell crabs with pancetta vinaigrette and more than two dozen wines by the glass. 435 N. Fairfax Ave., (323) 782-9225.* SugarFish, sushi chef Kazunori Nozawa's latest restaurant, opens Monday with "Trust Me" (omakase gone casual) menus that include his blue crab rolls and white shrimp sushi. 4722 1/4 Admiralty Way, Marina del Rey, (310) 306-6300, www.sugarfishsushi.com.

More On Tomatoes

2008-06-20T17:49:00.000-07:00

Another good article on contaminated tomatoes, this one from the Rodale Institute. Uh, don't wash your fruit and veg in contaminated water, no duh. But did you know the bacteria can become internalized when washed at a processing plant and that is why washing them doesn't clean them? Icko.

Frugal Friday - Cut Back on the Television

2008-06-20T15:51:00.000-07:00

Hey there folks,
I've been making lots of changes and always looking for ways to challenge myself on being frugal and more self-supporting. Well, I pulled the family into this one... We cut back our cable. My husband works in the tv biz so this is a big deal in our house. We, I confess, had 3 cable boxes. I further confess that I did like to watch Judge Judy on the flip-down kitchen television while I cooked dinner. Well gone are those days, at least for now. We are now down to one box that is shared in operating the living room tv and the one in the master bedroom. Third confession, I just ADORE falling asleep to some Masterpiece Theatre! Step two of the cable cut-back is programing changes. Do we need HBO and Showtime? I know you're thinking, do we need cable at all? Well, we live in the foothills, and 1/2 mile from a mountain and the only way to get reception is by cable or satellite. So now you're thinking, do we need television? The answer is yes because I do need my husband, LOL!

Co-Op Delivery

2008-06-18T15:20:00.000-07:00

Path To Freedom picks up from the same co-op drop as we do. They took some pics and posted about yesterday's delivery. You can see my backside. I'm wearing a pink top and a denim skirt and am holding on to my little guys. I do like ordering through a co-op as it allows me to buy 25-50 lb. bags of flower, pectin and granola in bulk and more. I think the best buy can be found in spices. You can easily buy 1lb. of a spice for the same price as one small jar that you would find in a grocery store. We order our goods from Azure Standard and we get our fruits and vegetables from Abundant Harvest Organics.

Are you organic-transitional?

2008-06-18T14:36:00.000-07:00

Laundry & Children posted a very funny video.

Sustainable Living

2008-06-15T18:16:00.000-07:00

There is a family nearby who has been living sustainably for years now. CNN just ran a segment on them. It's great to be able to see inside their live and see how they pull it off.

Click here to play video

I showed this to my husband and he said that he was discussing the way I run our home with one of his co-workers. It came up because she is a vegan, does she eat organic, does she belong to a CSA, etc. The co-worker wanted to know if I worked, yes part-time. Wow, how does she get all that done, etc. My answer is learn to love what you have to do. The family in the video knows no other way and must love what they do. I took on this attitude when I first married and had kids and realized that if this was what my day-to-day would be like I better learn to love it or else risk turning into one grumpy gal.

Today, we had homemade cinnamon-raisin bread for breakfast. We had something fabulous and homemade for lunch, oh, I remember. We had some great southwest chicken with a potato casserole. I made extra for later in the week and some goes in hubby's lunch tomorrow. Hubs took one of the boys to see the new Narnia movie and I canned some pickled beets while my little guy tried to nap. I started some homemade tomato-basil bread (what do I do with all these tomatoes - problem solved). For dinner we had cold teriyaki chicken, cucumber salad and cherry pie for dessert. I still have lunches to pack for preschool tomorrow, bread to pull out and a bit of counters to wipe. Oh, I just remembered I did tons of laundry too. Now this was fun for me today. I took a break for tea, called my folks, talked to my dad about what to do with all the green beans I had. It was a good day. It's only 6:30 now and I am off duty soon. I gave one kid a bath already, forgot about that. If I didn't like all that I needed to do in a day, I would be in a real pickle! I'm sure I can complain another day but now I have a cute 5 year old who wants to cuddle!

ps I don't like to organize clutter. Ick. I need to learn who to love that next.

Happy Father's Day!

2008-06-14T20:28:00.001-07:00

DAD

GRANDPA

UMPA

It's My Birthday!!!

2008-06-14T10:56:00.000-07:00

WooHoo!! It's my birthday, well yesterday! I'm 38 which has been really great so far. 37 felt a bit stale, hmm. 38 seems like a fresh year.

I'm kinda excited about having received some birthday money. I'm leaning toward buying an electric food processor. I only have a manual food processor. It's great but, you know, it is 2008.

Now my husband and the boys gave me the most amazing gifts.

This was gifty number one from the guys, a garden kneeler. My son A says this will help me "to get close to the thing I'm gardening." He's so right. In addition it will cut down on the comments from people driving by the house such as "Nice butt." I obviously need the kneeling pad, okay. I can admit that.

Now ladies, I bet you're as surprised as I was when I found out that there are garden fashion accessories for the lady gardener. The men folk also gave me this garden tote. It has a zipper compartment in the middle, two open compartments on either side of that and these exterior pockets. Now to make this gift even sweeter, well the one they gave me was PINK! You know this means that hubby won't fill it with plumbing tools! I'm so stoked!! I'm going to call this my gardening purse!

This is called a hori hori. This ladies is a knife for you!!!! Whoa! I never knew I wanted a knife until I received this one! This has a million uses in the garden. It digs holes for bulbs, it cuts away stubborn weeds, it's uses just go on! I admit this was my favorite gift.

Of course there was a celebration, I'm not just into the gifts, really but that was where the pictures came in so I started there to keep you reading. Okay, my oldest son wanted me to have a Power Ranger party and I wanted a garden tea party. Since we couldn't agree we simply winged it. My hubby got off work early and we went to eat at a restaurant. This is a rare occurrence in our home. We went out for Mexican and I even drank a margarita! I made it through the whole thing; I was celebrating! Then we came home for cherry pie. I'm not a cake girl, never have been; I adore fruit pie. Anyway that was my birthday. It was great and I'm thoroughly recharged and ready to tackle my chores this Saturday.

Frugal Friday - Life as Mom: June CVS Primer

2008-06-13T11:28:00.000-07:00

Life as Mom put together a nice little primer for CVS shopping in June. Even if you don't give it a try yourself, this is a great description of how it all works.

How Good Tomatoes Go Bad

2008-06-11T17:27:00.000-07:00

Homegrown Evolution has a nice and simple article on how cooties get into our tomatoes. Boy am I glad I'm growing lots of tomatoes this year. I have 12 plants. My neighbor thought I was crazy for planting so many! Hah! Anyway, here is the link to the article.

Homegrown Evolution: Dookie in the Tomatoes

Weeds-day New Comoposting Tools

2008-06-11T14:15:00.000-07:00

I have new composing tools, cool! I have a compost turner. Yes I do move my pile and that is the best way to go but sometimes it just needs a quick turn not a big turn, you know. I also have a pink tote to store my completed compost. Pink is so pretty in the garden and besides, my husband won't take my pink bucket now will he. I know I won't see this bucket being used to wash cars. It's mine, mine, MINE1

Frugal Friday - Ebates

2008-06-06T16:20:00.000-07:00

Edit: Egads! I just realised that this post was drafed a wee bit ago and the info might not be totally up to date. Oops. The shoes.com deal, etc. might not be going on anymore so be warned. I can say that the experience with KB Toys was bitter sweet. The free delivery was a bit of a pain as they required a signature; this wasn't cool since they didn't warn me about this and in fact KB said they didn't intend to do this. My husband had to go to the post office to pick up the packages by the way. Anyway, KB was so nice when I called trying to sort out the snafu that they gave me a $10 gift certificate!! So the prices were great, free shipping, getting a rebate and scored a gift certificate. Woohoo! Always call if there is a problem you never know, you might get a gift certificate.

I heard about http://www.ebates.com/ at a few other blogs. It is similar to other sites in that you earn rebates for your purchases. The main difference is that this one actually pays you and the deals are pretty good. I did purchase our Entertainment book through the ebates link. It was on sale and I received the rebate. I think I received a check for about $15. It isn't a fortune but it was better than if I purchased directly from the Entertainment website. I saved again recently. I found out about a KB Toy sale from the ebates website. I got great deals on my son's birthday presents, and received free shipping. The rebate was only $2 but overall, I did save quite a bit on his birthday gifts. I used to use UPromise.com to find out about online sales but the rebates were so small. Yes the rebates go into a college fund, I know but they were soooo small it just didn't seem to be worth it. Click on this referral link if you decide to try ebates and I'll get a referral bonus - http://www.ebates.com/referral/0508bonusosu.htm?referrerid=%2FerZ%2FSx32KkJmNKlCXxdyw%3D%3D Right now there is an offer for 8% cash back from shoes.com orders and 10% from Snapfish, not too shabby.

Weeds-day Fuschia

2008-06-04T14:08:00.000-07:00

This fuschia was only planted a few weeks ago and it's going crazy with blooms, no shock for this plant. The parent to this fuschia is at my parents' home and I'm told it was my grandmother's prior to that. I planted it, like I said, only a few weeks ago. I have been pinching it back to encourage new growth and it is growing like a weed. I'm seeing new growth everywhere. I live in zone 9 and it turns out that if you're a fuschia this is where you want to be, better still my particular Sunset hardiness zone.

Celebrities and Such

2008-06-03T17:42:00.000-07:00

Why is this little boy so happy?

Oh, that is Husband sitting next to him with one eye on him at all times.

Well, could that be Elmo and Mrs. Mister (Joanne) Rogers at the Fred Rogers Scholarship Awards?

Yo Gabba Gabba! creators.

DJ Lance!!!!

Aunt Mimi chatting up Mrs. Mister Rogers.

Hello! It's me, the boys and Mr. McFeely. Sppedy Delivery!

We attended this super fun scholarship ceremony. It was a blast! Not only did we meet all these great celebs from childrens television but they served ICE CREAM afterwards! The kids were on cloud 9.

The $0.01 Cherry Pitter

2008-06-03T17:24:00.001-07:00

All you need is a straw and an incredible hand model.

Score the bottom of the cherry with the straw.

Slide the straw over the stem then score and push.

Out goes the pit.

I came up with this solution for pitting cherries as we received a bunch of organic cherries in our CSA basket last Saturday. Okay, I don't let the kiddos eat cherries with pits. I just have nightmares of little boys jumping on top of the backs of dining chairs while they choke. I think they teach that in preschool, right. Anyway, normally I solve this problem by waiting for the kids to go to bed, taking the cherries to my bedroom and eating all of them myself while watching Masterpiece Theater or some other worthwhile program. Ahh, peace and quiet.

For some reason, I had my fill of the cherries and decided I would share "my" cherries with the boys, but had to pit them quickly (didn't want to spend all day on it like when I was shelling peas, arghh) and frugally (I wasn't going to buy a gadget). I confess the truth, I waited until my husband was out with one of the boys so I only had to share them with the other boy, but I did pit them first. Good mommy!

Organic Squash

2008-06-03T17:21:00.000-07:00

A sampling of what was in our CSA basket last Saturday.

Take Time for Tomorrow - Tuesday

2008-06-03T13:50:00.000-07:00

My new pressure canner arrived. I didn't buy the top of the line since I'm a beginner but I did select a monster Presto 23 quart model. To give you an idea of the size of this wonder of wonders, I've asked my 5 year old son and his Bionicle to sit next to it. Wowee! is that baby big (and so is that canner, hee hee)! So far I have successfully canned pickled beets and stonefruit jam. The first Saturday of June I will receive my order of 15 lbs of stonefruit. I'll make jam with that fruit in my new ginormous canner! Clear the kitchen!

Do you ever just...

2008-06-02T17:22:00.000-07:00

throw a tea bag into a tea cup, throw it in the microwave, hit beverage, hit start, hear the beep, stop to tie on some bandana capes to your kids, retrieve your cup from the micro only to find that you never put the water in the cup? Do you ever just need a cup of tea that bad?

It's 5:24pm and I'm finally getting my 3:00pm tea. Ahhh.

Happy Birthday Baby!

2008-06-02T15:42:00.000-07:00

Today is my baby's birthday. Watch the years go by...

He's 4 years old today!!!!

Frugal Friday - Borax

2008-05-30T14:25:00.000-07:00

I use Borax in several ways.

-50/50 borax and baking soda replaces dishwasher detergent.

-use the same mixture instead of Comet when cleaning the sink or as an abrasive when cleaning your pots and pans.

-I use a few scoops of the same to swish in the toilet. Straight borax works great too.

-I use borax in my homemade laundry detergent.

You should be able to find borax in the laundry section of your grocery store.

Sid the Science Kid Coming in September

2008-05-29T13:39:00.000-07:00

There is a new children's' show coming to PBS it's Sid the Science Kid. The Henson Company and KCET Los Angeles are co-producing this show premiering in September.

Weeds-day

2008-05-28T14:02:00.001-07:00

Yep, another theme. It just makes it soooo much easier. We schedule everything in our house it seems so why not the blog. Besides everyone else is doing it.

I'm trying to extend our garden beds and bought this Calibrachoa yesterday. It is generally used in baskets but I thought it might do well under one of our citrus trees; maybe it will spread out.

Designed to Sell - June 1st

2008-05-27T16:14:00.000-07:00

I hear our episode will air on the 1st!

Here is the link:

http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/shows_hdts/episode/0,1806,HGTV_15857_56861,00.html

Take Time for Tomorrow on Tuesdays

2008-05-27T14:50:00.001-07:00

I thought I would add another theme day and selected food storage. I'm hooked on food storage as a way to save money AND prepare for emergencies.

More to come...

Frugal Friday - Buy Honey in Bulk

2008-05-23T13:45:00.000-07:00

Hello Readers,

We went to pick up our order from the co-op this week. We do this once a month. The co-op orders from Azure Standard. If you want more information just ask me about it.

Well, one of the items we ordered this week was a gallon of honey for $23.10. This is a great purchase for us since the generic "bear" honey from our local Vons retails for $4.13 and that is for 12 oz. only.

Why so much honey? Well, I make a honey wheat bread for the family and each loaf requires a half cup of honey. The boys eat this most mornings. I could make wheat bread sans honey but then I would end up with a bunch of whole wheat doorstops and nobody wants whole wheat doorstops. If you disagree just let me know and I'll be happy to make one for you.

I bet you want to know what a gallon of honey looks like (while being embraced by two darling boys). Well here it is:

Two Honeys and a gallon of honey

Steven Curtis Chapman's daughter killed by car in driveway

2008-05-21T20:33:00.000-07:00

Steven Curtis Chapman's daughter killed by car in driveway
By KATE HOWARD and LINDA ZETTLER • Staff Writers • May 21, 2008

Steven Curtis Chapman’s youngest child died Wednesday afternoon after being struck by a car driven by her teenage brother in the driveway of the family’s Williamson County home.Maria, one of the Christian singer’s six children, was taken by LifeFlight to Vanderbilt Hospital, which confirmed the death, according to Laura McPherson, a spokeswoman for the Tennessee Highway Patrol. The 5-year-old was hit by an SUV driven by her teenage brother, she said. Police did not give the driver’s name.The teen was driving a Toyota Land Cruiser down the driveway of the rural home at about 5:30 p.m. and several children were playing in the area, McPherson said. He did not see Maria in the driveway before the vehicle struck her, she said.“It appears to be a terrible accident,’’ McPherson said. No charges are expected, she said. The accident was witnessed by two other children; the entire family was home at the time, McPherson said.Singer/songwriter Chapman, who recently was inducted into Music City Walk of Fame, is one of contemporary Christian music’s most recognizable and most awarded names. He and his wife Mary Beth have long been supporters of international adoption, having brought three girls from China into their family. Maria was the youngest.The couple is so active in the cause that they formed an organization, Shaohannah’s Hope, to aid families wanting to adopt. With his latest music tour, which came through Nashville in November, Chapman started a campaign called “Change for Orphans”. He asked audience members at each stop to bring spare change to the concert, where it was counted and given to a local family to aid in their adoption process.“I don’t know of anybody who loves his children more than he does and is so committed to the adoption concept, and to lose one, no matter what the circumstances, is heartbreaking beyond all comprehension,” said John Styll, president of the Nashville-based Gospel Music Association.“He talks about his kids all the time. That’s his life. His kids are more important to him than music, that’s for sure.”The tragedy was announced during Wednesday-night services at Harpeth Hills Church of Christ, which the family attends. Maria had just graduated from the church preschool.And word spread throughout the tight-knit Christian music community on Wednesday evening.Styll got the news not long after Maria’s death.“I’m confident I can speak for everyone in the community to say we will do everything we can to support this family, as we would do at any time, but especially at a time like this,” he said.Most of the Chapman family was at Vanderbilt children’s hospital after the accident and could not be contacted. The long, gravel driveway leading to the home west of Franklin was blocked off by Williamson County sheriff’s deputies.

Best Friends

2008-05-21T14:41:00.001-07:00

You can always count on your best friend.

If you're lucky, you have more than one.

Can your kid to that?

2008-05-21T14:39:00.001-07:00

Look at my dear R. He's cleaning the counters after having scrubbed all the cabinets. What a great kid! I didn't bribe him or anything!

Raccoons

2008-05-21T14:35:00.000-07:00

Sadly the swimming pool bit the dust. Two raccoons came for an early morning swim without wearing protective footware; they tore up the bottom of the boys' pool. Naughty raccoons. They'll have to find somewhere else to play, that is, unless they can turn the sprinklers on!

On A Hot Sunday Afternoon...

2008-05-18T14:36:00.001-07:00

the boys hop in the wading pool. Yes I know the pool is lop-sided. We shift the pool each weekend and we're all out of flat spots!

How To Wash A Car

2008-05-18T14:29:00.001-07:00

Step One: Get a Buddy

Step Two: Gather your suppplies: bucket filled with soapy water,

shammy mitten, scrubber brush and combine.

Step Three: Wave

Step Four: Get to scrubbin'

And keep on scrubbin'

Dale Chihuly - Glass Artist

2008-05-18T11:31:00.000-07:00

This is just beautiful.

Dale Chihuly's Glass GardenNora Quinlan, researcher, Alvin Sherman Library, NSUThe NSU Glass Garden by Dale Chihuly in the atrium of the Alvin Sherman Library on the Nova Southeastern University campus is a rare opportunity for the public to view and enjoy a beautiful one-of-a-kind glass sculpture for free. Watch as this permanent exhibit is installed and learn a bit about Chihuly's creative process.

Steven Curtis Chapman and R...

2008-05-16T17:12:00.000-07:00

Thought it would be fun to post a pic of R from the Steven Curtsi Chapman website from a few years back when he visited Hong Kong. Click the below link. R is in the slideshow, the slide "Mother's Hope desires..." They meant to say Mother's Choice, R's orphanage home until the age of 14 months. R is wearing the striped overalls. We are in touch with the families of some of the other kiddos in the pic. It's really cool.

http://members.shaohannahshope.org/site/PageServer?pagename=abt_chapmanStory#a

Two Minute Potato and Carrot Salad

2008-05-16T12:57:00.000-07:00

I'm always looking for recipes to use ingredients from my food storage. Since it's officially potato salad weather I'll post this recipe for two minute potato and carrot salad. I have no idea where I first saw it, perhaps a blog?

This all comes from your food storage. Hopefully you stocked up on canned sliced potatoes and canned sliced carrots when they were on sale for $0.50 per can.

Drain 1 can sliced potatoes and 1 can slice carrots and add to a bowl. Add mayonnaise, dijon mustard and pepper to taste and you're done. You now have a great $1.00 side dish to go with a quick lunch.

Frugal Friday - No More Paper Towels

2008-05-16T06:02:00.000-07:00

For the most part we do not buy or use paper towels. Instead we use bar mops. These can easily be purchased for $1.00 each or less. I find that if they are called shop towels they are even less expensive than when sold as kitchen towels or even bar mops. I buy white towels and bleach them if necessary. Once they are too, well plain old ugly for the kitchen, I get out my laundry marker and write a "G" on the tag. Then the towels are off to the garage and live a new life as garage rags. I do buy paper towels when I find them on sale AND I have a coupon, well if they're free, plain and simple. Let's face it there are some clean up jobs that are too icky for even a bar mop. I suggest that if your husband or kids run into the kitchen screaming for a paper towel, give it to them; don't stop to ask questions. Who knows where that towel is needed!

Hey, when did they start doing that?

2008-05-15T19:36:00.000-07:00

Okay, this has been all over the ladies-who-don't-lunch blogosphere....

"Well, I would like to share this with you. Yesterday I went to throw out an empty Reynolds foil box and for some reason I turned it and looked at the end of the box. And written on the end it said, "Press here to lock end". Right there on the end of the box is a tab to lock the roll in place. How long has this little locking tab been there? I then looked at a generic brand of aluminum foil and it had one, too. I then looked at a box of Saran wrap and it had one too! I can't count the number of times the Saran warp roll has jumped out when I was trying to cover something up."

I must have seen this on three blogs today. My goodness ladies! I want to say, come now, there is so little going on in your lives that you are so excited about wrap. Then I remembered the number of times that wrap just flew on the floor and there I was with something gooey to cover and my kids laughing and getting in the way as I try to straighten out the wrap which we all know is IMPOSSIBLE. Okay, I've locked all my rolls.

Food Storage - Sort of...

2008-05-11T16:38:00.001-07:00

I suppose we store some of our food outside. We have a small garden. This weekend we harvested 3 heads of brocolli.

Composting and one of our 3 new fruit trees.

We grow our prennials in our flower beds. Here are some artichoke plants growing amongst gladiolas, boxwood, a mock orange, etc. We have strawberries growing in the bed in our front yard along our walkway along with chives, society garlic, rosemary, etc.

Previously we had more food in storage. Since I started receiving weekly produce from the CSA we have less storage and more fresh. It's a constant balance between budget and space. Our overall is to eat the best quality for the least amount of money.

Food Storage - Part III

2008-05-11T16:31:00.001-07:00

Oils and vinegars.

Soups, sauces, seasonings, rice, etc.

Breadcrumbs, noodles and my mixer.

Granola, biscuits, cereals.

Baking necessities.

More baking.

Food Storage - Part II

2008-05-11T16:21:00.001-07:00

All of the food storage from Part I was in our garage. We also have a full size upright freezer. I buy cheese when it is $3.50/lb. or less. I buy meat, poultry and butter when it is on sale for it's lowest price. I will store bread if I find a great deal or hit the bakery outlet. I would like to get ahead on my own bread making and store a few loaves. Tonight I'm cooking with a 5 lb chub of beef. I'll make spaghetti for tomorrow when I have jury duty and Nana and Umpa are here to watch the kids. I'll also make two meatloaves for later on.

Here is a 5 gallon pail with 25 lbs of wheat flour. I do seem to go through this quick enough that this is acceptable storage. Each loaf of bread takes 5 cups of flour. I just leave this in the kitchen where it's cool.

This is my cleaning storage. I use borax, baking soda, washing soda and vinegar for the most part. I make my own laundry detergent and use the vinegar in place of fabric softener. I store the powders in cracker jars. I also have a collection of rags. I make my own anti-bacterial wipes. I use small dish towels instead of sponges. We also have switched to bar mops instead of paper towels and dish towels for drying dishes.

Above our microwave I keep glass canning jars. I use these to store opened containers of foodstuffs.

I found that crocks are the best way for me to store root vegetables.

Food Storage - Part I

2008-05-11T15:30:00.000-07:00

This may be of interest to few of you but I am asked about food storage from time to time and thought it would be good to post about this once.

In order to feed our family of 4 for as little as possible I purchase food on sale or in bulk and use that food storage in our meal plan each week. I've taken some pictures to illustrate.

The above two pictures are mostly canned goods, box mixes and pastas purchased as loss leaders at the local grocery store. None are organic. Most have been purchased for $0.50 or less as I shop the loss leaders and use coupons. I only buy when items are on sale AND I have a coupon.

The above picture includes my #10 cans, health and beauty, infrequently used appliances and cookware.

I purchase the #10 cans from Emercency Essentials and Honeyville Grains. The cans contain dehydrated milk, meats and vegetables. I know it sounds unappetizing, however when making a soup these ingredients do come in handy. Since we don't drink milk, I like to have dehydrated milk on hand for baking.

The health and beauty is purchased almost exclusively from CVS for little cash. I use their Extra Care Bucks system. I purchase items for little cash and store them for use later. I have plenty of Fels Naptha for making laundry detergent.

The above are items used for cleaning. I make most of our cleaning supplies but hold on to some commercial products for hard to clean jobs. I use these products rarely. I make most of my cleaners from vinegar. I buy vinegar from CVS when on deep discount or from Costco. The last picture is paper plates (camping, eating out of doors), batteries and confiscated toys :)

Happy Mother's Day

2008-05-11T08:00:00.000-07:00

From me to all the mommies...

Mother's Day Eve

2008-05-10T17:02:00.000-07:00

digiscrap by Nana

Frugal Friday: Vinegar

2008-05-09T13:00:00.000-07:00

I thought I would try my hand at theme days. I think Frugal Fridays are a natural choice.

Now can you believe it's May is National Vinegar Month!!! Yippee!! Clip art wouldn't lie. I love vinegar. I make cleaners out of it; I used it in place of fabric softener; it is a great rinse agent in the dishwasher; I even use it as a scalp tonic/husband repellent (hee hee). If you have some free time (and I know you do because you're reading my blog), then head on over to the Vinegar Institute (no joke). http://www.versatilevinegar.org/ There is tons of information there. Especially here, Uses and Tips http://www.versatilevinegar.org/usesandtips.html.

Super Cook!!!

2008-05-08T13:23:00.001-07:00

I was reading another blog and the author mentioned this new recipe website http://www.supercook.com/ Wow is it cool! Sign up for an account and enter the items you have in your fridge and pantry and it will list the recipes you can prepare with your ingredients on hand. It will recommend some items to puchase (listed below your list). If you already have these items, just click on them and they'll be added to your pantry list. It's pretty cool. It was no surprise that I can make brocolli soup, onion bread, mac n cheese, LOL!! I had no idea that I could make mac n cheese in the crock pot, LOL again! I'll play with it a bit. I'm bound to find something new to make with my staples.

Euro Sunday Road Rally

2008-05-06T15:58:00.001-07:00

Big A told me that there is a pic of him and Little A at the website for the road rally. Here it is...

http://www.eurosunday.net/fresno/images/052008/052008-sarah/slides/100_0681.html

Road Rally '08

2008-05-05T15:10:00.001-07:00

My husband takes one boy at a time on little road trips to visit his hometown. Last weekend it was little A's turn and they went on a road rally.

Here is Little A looking all his five years with his camera.

Little A and what I assume must be a five year old's idea of a RED RACE CAR.

I agree, that car is worth a picture.

Little A and our family friend; we'll call him "J".

We always protect the innocent here on Goody Gladys.

Here is Little A, Big A and the road rally car.

Grandpa L allowed the boys to drive this car in the rally.

Here is Little A and J apres rally.

Okay, okay, they never made it past the car show and to the rally but it looks like they had a great time!

Do You Ever Just...

2008-05-05T15:07:00.000-07:00

...take your kid's shoes off, give him a popcorn, turn on his favorite movie and hope for the best?

CSA

2008-05-04T14:51:00.000-07:00

My mom was visiting yesterday and joined us on our trip to the park to pick up our CSA delivery. She creates fabulous digital scrap pages. She sure made the trip to the park look like a real event!

CVS Today

2008-05-04T12:21:00.000-07:00

I haven't been blogging much lately. It seems there is so much to do as we sort through our storage facility and decide what we will keep.

R and I did go to CVS today. We did pretty well. Here is what we bought:

4 Colgate 360 toothbrushes
1 Drano (yes I clogged the kitchen sink, or as R says... I broke it)
1 Garnier Fructis hair wax for my husband, can't have that hair moving ;)
1 Sally Hansen cuticle cream for me, and boy did I need that
1 M&M for R who was nearly a good boy at the store...

I paid $1.45 out of pocket and earned $15.96 in Extra Care Bucks for next week.

Happy Shopping....

CVS Today

2008-04-22T13:51:00.000-07:00

We hit CVS today. We had a money maker with SoftSoap Shower Gel. It was selling for $4.99 with $4.99 ECB back and I had a coupon. We bought the limit of 5. We will be very clean for the rest of the year. Speed Stick was selling for $3.99 with $3.99 in ECB back. Herbal Essence was B1G1 Free. It was selling for 4.29 and I had two coupons for $1 and $1.50. The boys selected M&Ms as a treat. Can you believe one candy is now $0.79! Where have I been. I used some of my big ECBs from last week in addition to the coupons. My ECBs were for $19.95 and $10.00. Total out of pocket was $0.63. I also came home with more ECBs to add to what I didn't use from last week, another $28.94. I'm getting the hang of this. I'm posting all these details for my gal friend whose name starts with D. You know, I like to protect the innocent here on my blog.

I'm a CVS Nut

2008-04-18T18:12:00.000-07:00

Here is last week's haul from CVS. My total was $46.49 but I earned $41.45 in Extra Care Bucks. Let's hope there are some good deals in Sunday's ads so that I can flip my bucks!!

Company and BBQ

2008-04-18T18:09:00.001-07:00

Grandpa L. came out for a visit and the boys were so excited to play with him. We spent the day mostly in the backyard, can you tell? We had BBQ and swimming time for the boys.

His Birthday Continues....

2008-04-18T17:53:00.000-07:00

A.'s birthday continues with some packages received in the mail.

Guess what it was, money from Nana and Umpa. They are all ones which makes for a VERY fat wallet.

Kid Surplus - Clothing for Kids

2008-04-07T14:36:00.000-07:00

I try to buy my kiddos' clothes on clearance and generally buy a size in advance to do this. I just hit the sale at Kidsurplus.com. They sell great StrideRite sneakers (the wide ones I need for R) and I also picked up some $3.00 t-shirts. Besides Kidsurplus, I normally only get good deals like this at Walmart or at the Goodwill.

http://www.kidsurplus.com/

Baby Turnips and Sugar Snap Peas

2008-04-05T15:20:00.000-07:00

It isn't often I find myself with Baby Asian Turnips and Sugar Snap Peas. This recipe sounds awesome and I'm going to cook this up tonight!

Baby Turnip and Sugar Snap Peas
1 bunch baby turnips1 C sugar snap peas, strings and stems removed2 T bread crumbs2 T butter1 T lemon zest, minced, plus some whole strands for garnish3 T scallions, chopped2 T cilantro, mincedsalt, hot sauce to taste
Wash the turnips, trim and cut them in half (peeling not necessary). Blanch about 3 minutes in rapidly boiling salted water, then remove to a collander to drain and cool. Blanch the peas about 2 minutes, then drain. In a skillet, melt the butter and toss the the turnips and peas over medium-high heat for a minute or two. Add the bread crumbs, scallions and cilantro and toss a minute or two more to brown the crumbs. Season to taste with salt and hot sauce.

http://www.stephencooks.com/2006/06/baby_turnips_an.html

Cash4Books.net

2008-04-03T16:15:00.000-07:00

I just can't stand it when my favorite bloggers join affiliate programs and advertise to their readers. HOWEVER, I did just try Cash4Books.net and sold 4 books. I earned $40 and they picked up the shipping. I am happy to say that I received my check today. I would guess that I received the check withing two weeks of mailing the books so not too bad. Since it went so well, I thought I would share the links on my blog with full disclosure and having had a good experience with the company myself, well, perhaps I can bend the rules. In the spirit of full disclosure, the links on this blog are tied to my account so that if you do join Cash4Books.net I will earn a whopping $4.

If you see me wearing a new pair of sandals this summer you'll know where I found the money...

Vintage Mom

2008-03-31T15:33:00.000-07:00

My A. had his 5th birthday party and requested everyone attending dress up. He was a Power Ranger, his brother Bob the Builder, husband was a racecar driver and I dressed as my mother at the time of my 5th birthday party.

Who does he resemble?

2008-03-29T17:20:00.000-07:00

Does he resemble my husband?

Or myself?

Or is he his own man?

Don't Be Alarmed!

2008-03-29T17:13:00.000-07:00

It's just my Power Ranger turning 5!

Here comes the birthday cake!

And here comesthe wish!

And here comes the big gift!

It's a scooter!

Do you Compost?

2008-03-29T17:11:00.001-07:00

In addition to our new worm bin we have a new compost bin.

CSA

2008-03-29T17:06:00.000-07:00

We finally have a CSA delivering to our town and it's called Abundant Harvest Organics. Here is the website https://www.abundantharvestorganics.com/ If you would like to learn more about CSAs you can check here http://www.localharvest.org/csa/. The produce from Abundant Harvest Organics comes to us from the California Central Valley. Here is a picture of our box from last week.

Mother, May I Eat a Tomb, Please?

2008-03-23T15:23:00.000-07:00

a what? A tomb, it's something you put dead people in. Ahhh.

The boys went to Sunday School today. Yes it's Easter (and A.'s birthday. It'll be more than 200 years before that happens again). Even more exciting, it was R.'s first day of Sunday School. He's been before but never made it from start to finish. He has sat with me in the crying room with the "ladies" for the most part. The ladies are the wheelchair bound grandmas who sit in the crying room. I have not seen any babies in the crying room, just the ladies, R. and me!

R.'s first bible verse was "Do not be alarmed, He is not here, He has risen!" Mark 16:6. Yes, he did memorize it, complete with chroeography. Before the recitation, he drops to his knees and throws his hands to the heavens and says "Do not be alarmed..."

Well, at Sunday School, the boys made their artwork displaying their Bible verse and they also made a special snack "tombs". They had cinammon rolls that were risen, so they were hollow inside. When cut in half they resembled tombs. The boys brought home their leftovers. They seem to have enjoyed their tombs.

Sunland Smell-o-Vision

2008-03-22T15:35:00.001-07:00

Have You Considered a Career in Vermiculture?

2008-03-22T15:11:00.001-07:00

We are exploring vermiculture. Ewwww! Here are the steps to creating your own worm farm.

Step One: Go to the City and purchase a $5 Rubbermaid tub with holes drilled in it. Hey, I know you can do that at home, but the City calls this a Worm Bin and will give you lots of brochures and crayons and toy trash cans if you buy one from them. Kids love this stuff so it's worth the 5 bucks.

Step Two: Gather the kids. Worms like bedding. We shredded newspaper.

Step Three: Worms like a nice moist home, don't you? Pour in a cup of water and toss that newspaper salad.

Step Four: Gather your womrs. Here are the worms. We bought them at the local garden supply.

Step Five: Prepare the worms. This part is easy, simply remove the lid. The worms are ready to move.

Step Six: Pour the little guys in, gently. Here are the worms in their new home.

Step Seven: Feed the little worms.

Birthday Time

2008-03-22T14:57:00.000-07:00

A. has his 5th birthday this weekend. His Nana D. and Grandpa L. sent him a card and some birthday money. We went to the toystore to go shopping for a battery operated robot. No such thing was in stock so A. selected a variety of goodies. Before we get too far ahead, here is R. with his gift for being so patient in the toystore. It's a squishy, light-up UFO ball. It's fantastic!

Here is A. with his toys, 3 Bionicles, a 3-D dinosaur puzzle in an egg and a knight's sword with sheath!!

Now, I'm not a Bionicle building variety mom. I'm more of a cookie-baking, hey let's play ball in the backyard kind of mom. All those tiny parts and those instruction books just don't work for me. Big A. is the go-to guy when it comes to building models. Here is A. waiting for his Dad to come home. He sat here for hours!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY A!!!

Above is baby A at one month of age. Hey baby!

The Greatest Kids!

2008-03-19T15:39:00.000-07:00

Okay, I have the greatest kids. Here is one of them now. He's vac-ing the house, and he isn't pretending. He has taken to vac-ing after his nap the last few days. I adore that in anyone, but in a kid, whew! My husband does the real vac-ing. Am I lucky or what? My dear R. actually will come get me to move furniture to get the crumbs underneath. I don't clean the crumbs "under". He's so good at vac-ing that this will have to be his job ;) Cheers to R. for vac-ing until the machine loses it's charge each day!!

Free Stuff!

2008-03-19T15:31:00.000-07:00

I love free stuff. We are members of two local Freecycle groups. If you aren't familiar with Freecycle you can read about it here. http://www.freecycle.org/

A former teacher posted that she had a 50 gallon, yes 50 gallon, storage tub full of her old teaching texts and supplies for grades K-3! Holy moly, I was all over it. The box literally filled my trunk and I have the largest trunk available without tracking down a 1970s station wagon. Let me tell you, there was quite a bit of good stuff in that tub and I'm still working on organizing it in our "school bookcase". Well since I so willingly took these things off of this former teacher's hands, she contacted us when she found a box of educational games. Bingo! Literally, we received Money Bingo, Time Bingo, etc. as well as many great spelling games.

Here are some pics of the family playing Spin and Spell.

A Friend in Vinegar

2008-03-16T17:39:00.000-07:00

I saw this post on Sassykats blog. Ahh, well I do love my vinegar. It's a great cleaner and fabric softener. How wonderful to see someone is as fond of vinegar as myself, but I suspect even more so. Here is the link and the post http://www.xanga.com/sassykat1213

Sometimes I'm a poet...
Oh, vinegar, vinegar, my sour little friend

I love the way you clean for me; for the chores you gently tend!

I poured you in my teapot last night and turned the heat on high

As you toiled and boiled in my copper pot, I gave a thankful sigh.

"Mom, what's that smell?!" *cough* *gag* "My eyes are starting to water!"

(Our little guys do not realize that any drama will become my blog fodder!)

And then, dear vinegar, you soon dwindled and my teapot was bright and clean

I happily rinsed my pot and prepared a spot of tea~ named for Catherine the Queen!

Secret Messages

2008-03-03T17:49:00.001-08:00

I received a email post from one of my online groups from a mother of a 10 year old. She says she's been trying to get him to write more and she offered to dictate to him while he typed. He told her about the secret messages he leaves in his writing assignments. He'll type the assignment and then add his secret message in a white font. The secret message won't be visable until he highlights all, exposing the message. Pretty neat I thought. Try highlighing in black which makes the assignement disappear and your secrect message appear.

Huh, Creative Math Learner, What?

2008-02-26T15:17:00.000-08:00

The more I learn about giftedness and education, the more I come across all kinds of new lingo. It seems A. is a Creative Math Learner type of kid meaning he learns through story and application rather than worksheets. I want to be one too! It sounds like so much fun. Well, when I was at the CAG Conference I was quite unimpressed with the exhibits except for King Joe. King Joe is a set of texts that are in storybook form. I purchased the text that teaches problem solving and it is a huge hit. Both boys love this story and beg for more. At some point I may order the remaining texts.

www.kingjoe.com

2008-02-26T15:11:00.000-08:00

Our small town, Sunland is actually part of the City of Los Angeles. Home Depot has been fighting to place one of their stores withing 1/2 mile of our house. Here is a great video displaying the characteristics of our town. Tomi is a local realtor and representative to our Neighborhood Council and she put this together.

McGuffey's Readers

2008-02-21T16:24:00.000-08:00

Did you know that you can download the McGuffey's readers from this site?

http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/14640

Click on McGuffey, William to see the other downloads available.

Lunar Eclipse Dress Rehearsal

2008-02-20T16:34:00.000-08:00

Did you know there was a dress rehearsal for this evenings lunar eclipse! There was!

Here is the sun, a very small sun.

Here is the little moon. Isn't he a cute little moon!

Here is the little Earth. Ahh, what a sweet little Earth he is!

Can you see how the Sun's light shines on the Moon? It's faint but it's right there in the middle of the Moon's chest.

Hey, what happened? The Earth slowly moved in between the Sun's light and the Moon. The poor Moon is all dark now. You can see how hard the Earth had to concentrate to pull this off. Good job Earth.

I don't have a picture of this but I bet you can imagine what happened next! Yes, the Earth continued moving over, allowing the Sun to shine it's light on the little Moon!

Now, try not to miss the real lunar eclipse this evening!

Happy viewing,

The Sun

Two Happy Boys

2008-02-19T19:52:00.000-08:00

When I pick up the boys from preschool each day I ask them what was the favorite part of their school day. A., my dear, always says "You, Mom, you are the favorite part of my day." R., my dear, always tells me what he ate for lunch. Food is the favorite part of his day. Ahh, the simple life-family and food. Come to think of it, family and food are way up on my list of favorite things.

Here are a few pictures of happy boys.

A. after excavating and building his T-Rex model. Satisfaction!

R. preparing to eat his morning pancakes. Mmmm, happiness.

Who Ya Gonna Call - CLUMP BUSTERS!

2008-02-18T15:18:00.000-08:00

Today we added some soil to our new raised garden bed. Big A. assembled the bed using premade corners. Here are the corners now!

Everyone participated.

A. was the designated clump buster. See that clump right there? It's about to be destroyed!

I was the dirt leveler in charge as well as documentarian and R. was my trusty assistant. He took his role quite seriously.

Big A. was the dirt dumper. He's so strong. He wowed us by carrying 6 bags of stinky dirt to our work site.

Voila! The dirt is in place! We have about 4 inches of dirt and need another 4 inches before planting.

CAG Conference

2008-02-17T16:36:00.000-08:00

I co-presented with Dr. Barbara Klein at the California Association for the Gifted Conference today.

http://drbarbaraklein.squarespace.com/

http://www.cagifted.org/

It wasn't something I normally would do but Barbara asked for my help and I did have a good time. It was nice to step out of my normal role for the day.

Butterflies!

2008-02-14T16:45:00.000-08:00

A. and I really enjoy Journey North and their education programs on the subject of migration. Today we watched the amazing videos of the Monarch butterflies.

http://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/monarch/PoetrySanctuaryVideo.html

Chinese New Year

2008-02-13T16:06:00.000-08:00

Did you celebrate Chinese New Year? We started attending the Families with Children from China Chinese New Year banquets once R. came home to us.

http://www.fwcc.org/

The boys wore their vests again this year. These are magical vests as they never seem to grow into them. I think we'll get a third year out of them!

Year of the Rat Stamps

2008-02-12T14:50:00.001-08:00

The United States Post Office offers stamps each Chinese New Year.

http://shop.usps.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10152&storeId=10001&categoryId=18401&productId=35901&langId=-1

This year is the year of the rat! I have purchased a sheet each year for our son R.

The New Century Jelly Glass?

2008-02-11T13:40:00.000-08:00

Well you know, I'm always up to trying something new especially if it's on sale and I have a coupon. Alan picked up some Hillshire Farm lunchmeat. Typically we don't eat lunchmeat unless it comes from real meat, lol. Alan loves peppered turkey sliced from the deli but it just isn't in the budget. In comes the Vons flyer and the Hillshire Farms coupon for lunchmeat. I bite on the deal and Alan heads out to Vons to do the shopping. So today I try the new lunchmeat. It's so-so, typical suspicious water-added lunchmeat but it does come in reusable Gladware. Now we use Gladware all the time for packing our lunches. I would buy this again for that reason alone. I'm a sucker for Gladware. Aren't the folks at Hillshire Farms smart!

Baby Birds

2008-02-10T12:15:00.000-08:00

Who doesn't love baby birds! If baby birds are good then baby bald eagle birds are the best. Please take a look see at these little guys. Look early in the day as it gets dark in Florida before it does out here on the west coast. A. and I kept the birds up on the screen for several hours waiting for the adults to come home and feed the fluffy little babies.

http://www.audubonofflorida.org/friendsoftheeagle/cam.html

Ni Hao Kai-lan

2008-02-08T14:45:00.000-08:00

Ni Hao Kai-lan finally premiered. I haven't had a chance to see it yet. Have you? A. saw a bit of it today and was very excited to tell me about it. I'll record an episode for him on Monday.

http://www.nickjr.com/shows/ni-hao-kai-lan/index.jhtml

CVS Deals!

2008-01-26T11:57:00.000-08:00

I swear by the deals at CVS. If you have the time for reading the adds and you don't mind buying in advance of your actually needs, you can save lots of money. Today I made my weekly run and saved so much. My total came to $24.24 after saving $52.43 with coupons and sales. In addition to this I earned $9 in Extra Care Bucks to use next week. Basically this was a net $15 purchase, less than the cost of the diapers alone which were originally $10.49 each (see below).

I bought 2 boxes of facial tissue, 2 packs of batteries, 2 bags of diapers, 1 dishwasher detergent, 3 cold medicines, air sanitizer spray, breakfast bars, etc. These are all things I'll use, maybe not all this week, but I'll use them. We have a section in the garage where we shelve these things.

Final note: I know what you're thinking, why do my kids need diapers. They're for night time only okay. I like to think that they're too busy dreaming up ways to save the world and solve complicated math formulas that they don't wake up to go to the bathroom - sometimes :)

Coupons and Savings

2008-01-11T16:22:00.000-08:00

I heard a radio program where the value of coupons was being questioned; does anyone really save with those silly things? The host thought someone should keep track of their annual savings so we would know the truth. Of course, I thought that sounded like lots of fun.

Today my total at Albertsons was $107.09. I saved $50.66. This brought my total to $56.43. My weekly budget is $40.00 so I went a bit over but in my defense, I did bring my little boys with me and my brain was getting a little tired. I was bummed that they were out of the Peter Pan peanut butter on sale for $0.99 since I had a $1.00 coupon. Oh well. Let them eat Nutella!!

The kids are excited because we bought marshmallows for their marshmallow shooters.

Jingle Cats

2007-12-21T15:04:00.000-08:00

Did anyone say Jingle Cats? My Jingle Kid loves this clip...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=GPp0g0A_6x8

Here's my Jingle Kid now

Intacs

2007-12-20T15:43:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to post how excited I am about the news I received today from a fellow sufferer of keratoconus. Since I received my intacs implants I've made myself available through two internet forums and through my surgeons office to answer questions about Intacs insertion. Today I received news that one of the patients with whom I've been corresponding will be having the procedure in January. I'm so excited for her. I do hope that her experience is equivalent or better than mine. Here is the website for my surgeon. He's quite innovative.

http://www.boxerwachler.com/