My Short-Lived Christmas Miracle

On Christmas morning we were running behind schedule. We were to be at my in-laws before 9 to open gifts. And since we were at their house til around 11 the night before, I was dragging my sweet bottom getting outta bed.

Once up and our little family Christmas time over, I figured I should dress myself.

This last week I've been extremely busy being unproductive; therefore, I hadn't washed any of my jeans. On the laundry table was a pair of jeans that are still classified as some of my fat pants, they just aren't my fatter pants. Since I've gained about 10 lbs since October I was thinking it would be a miracle if they'd fit me this Christmas morn.

The good praying girl that I am sent up a prayer asking the Lord if He could just purdy please grant me my Christmas miracle of letting this pair of jeans fit. Afterall, I didn't get the dad I wanted for Christmas, so I figured He could give me this little deal with the jeans.

And He did.

It was wonderful.

Until about 7 p.m that night when I had to ask my niece for a pair of her super comfy elastic banded flannel pants because I completely stuffed my face with all the Christmas goody goodness.

So, the Christmas miracle was wonderful. However long (or short) it lasted.

Merry Christmas, Family and Friends!

I'll be taking a bit of a bloggy break until friends and family head home. I want to spend as much time with them as possible.

I pray all of you have a very Merry Christmas!

The following was originally published last Christmastime.

Since I only have eight days until Christmas, I thought it might be fun to post a few more Christmas memories until the big day!

After we moved out of the fifth wheel we moved to "The Icky House" and to tell you the truth I don't know that we upgraded any.

The good thing about the place was that it did have a bathroom, an upgrade from the McDonald's bucket, the bad thing (or one of the many) was the Hallway to H-E-double hockeysticks we had to go through to get to it. It was a scary scary hallway I tell you!

The house was like a big open room, cement floor with some outdoor carpet thrown down in the living room. The only source of heat a wood stove. In case you didn't know, you're supposed to buy the wood to put in the stove. You're not supposed to send your daughters to the neighbors when it's dark and take a few pieces.

It was a wonderful time in our lives! It's so fun to be in 8th grade and live in "The Icky House" :)

That year, my youngest sister, Megan, had this amazing teacher. She knew our family wasn't going to be having much at Christmas. So, she put us on every charity known to man.
We weren't aware of that until we get a knock on the door one day during Christmas break. My sisters and I were home alone but I wisely opened the door anyway...

A man was standing there with groceries and presents! So, of course I let him in. We were excited for the gifts but more importantly, there was food!

We arranged the presents around the tree.

An hour or so later. We get another knock on the door.

Uh huh. More gifts. More food.

When someone knocked the third time, the three of us looked at each other and the ever-growing mound of gifts under the Christmas tree. We were brilliant I tell you! We each grabbed some presents and hid them. We wouldn't want the next person to see how many we had and then take them to an actual needy family!

I think we ended up answering the door three or four times. Each with food and presents.

It was amazing. And even though at the time we weren't "church goin" folk, I knew. I knew He was providing. I knew He was letting us know He loved us.

His birthday but He gave us the presents.

It was a great Christmas. "Icky House" and all.

In the Car

These were from last night.

Jaylee in the back. Josh and I are talking. She's interrupting.

"Daddy?"

"Dad?"

"Joshua?!"

And we busted up. Yes, she was naughty, but the "Joshua" part killed me.

*******************************************

Between Josh and me...

Him: "You're handling cold really well this year, I'm proud of you. You must be accumulating to it."

Me:

Him: "I said the wrong word, huh?"

*********************************************

In the Starbucks drive thru...Josh is ordering. The girl sounds quite flirtatious. He's playing it up. I'm laughing at him.

We get to the window....

Barista, with flirty smile and perky, never-nursed-a-baby-boobs: "Good evening! $4.44, please!"

Josh pays her. She continues to smile. Takes his money, closes her window, we're cracking up.

Barista comes back, hands Josh the drink.

Josh, nodding my direction: "This is my sister."

Me, completely dying, needing to come up with something quick to pay him back!: "Yes, and these are our children."

*******************************************

We were laughing so hard. Mainly because Josh didn't get my meaning behind the "these are our kids." Until he realized he'd called me his sister. Uh huh. Loved it.

And my coffee.

Christmas Lights, Firetrucks and maybe some Parade-type waving

Last night there was to be a cookie exchange at our church.

Thankfully, there was not. As I am not a fan of cookie exchanging. Just the eating of said cookies.
Since the plans were cancelled my mom and decided to head to a town about 20 miles away and have us some Starbucks. Mmmm.

After we got our Iced Venti Hazelnut Breves (hers decaf) we went driving around to look at Christmas lights. While driving we happen upon three, THREE! firetrucks! The Lord blessed us. =) Of course we decide to follow them and see what they're up to. What we found ourselves in was a bit of a parade. The firetrucks were decked out with Christmas lights, Santa, and some firemen. They were honking their horns and waving and throwing candy. We brought up the rear, rolled down our windows in 16* cold, and thrust our hands out to do the parade wave. You know what I'm talking about (Melissa).

Here's a ditty of our good time.

My mom may or may not have called me by my nickname at the end. Please ignore her, she's delusional at times. Like last night.

Let me just tell you that everyone loved us. Oh yes they did! Families were out in their yards, waving and videotaping us. Several women told us we had great waves. Oh yes we did! We were naturals.

Once the firetrucks got into town they were running stop signs and since we were part of their parade we thought we could too. Um, guess not. Because at one point the truck in front of me stopped! And a man dressed in all his fireman glory came back to scold us for running the stop signs. He totally burst my bubble of glee I tell you!

We had a hoot anyway. I love that Charlie Brown Christmas is playing in the background and that my mom is jamming to it. You can't see her very well, but she's totally rocking out. She rolls mad hard that way.

Dear Summer

Please hurry. I miss you.

Longing to be warm,
Sarah

It seemed like such a good idea

First off, not a fan of my videoed voice. Oh, well. And about 37 seconds after the video was recorded, the following pictures were taken.
Wet Boots: Cold Hands:

The 3 yr old who 37 seconds ago thought the snow was FUN! The baby who wasn't getting enough attention!
After I uploaded the video and pics, the sun came out. The 1/16" of snow we just got will be gone in about another 37 seconds.

I'm so glad we got layered up with jeans and socks and turtlenecks and boots and more socks (for gloves) and the big red coat that she loathes for mere seconds of fun.

Snow is so overrated.

I'm so over snow.

And I'm so ready for summer.

Well, I made it...

In case you were wondering, it is possible to not be on the internet all day.

Who knew!?

I won't say it was easy, 'cause it wasn't.

My fingers may or may not have twitched all day.

I got stuff done. I spent time with my girls. I read a book. I read the Book. I wrote a letter to my ex-stepdad's mom. So, I guess you could say I wrote a letter to my ex-stepgrandma. I made dinner. I did dishes. And then my husband offered to leave.

With the kids.

To get me a coffee.

IS HE NOT THE GREATEST, EVER?!

I'm sorry, he's not for sale.

well, how much you talkin'?

I'm a Junkie

I've been trying to think of ways to say what I'm about to say in a way that wouldn't make me sound like a total addict but basically there's no gettin' around it.

No, I'm not talking about coffee, even though I'm addicted to it.

Or chocolate, which seems to be addicted to my thighs...

I'm talking about my internet time.

I've gotten rid of the internet a couple of times. I can mentally see some of you nodding your heads. But getting rid of it is sad. And I don't think that if I got rid of it and then got it back that they'd give it to me for the $4.95 they have my rate at now.

There's an obvious lack of discipline on my part. I know. It's embarrassing. But this black box people, is my outlet to the world! It's my way of talking to people over the age of 3. Women who understand me! Or at least pretend to...

Yesterday I decided that I'd ask Josh to put a password on the computer, so that I can't use it all day. If I get up early in the morning (like now) I can be on or after he's home from work. He just kinda looked at me. We discussed that it'd give me some down time after he's home from work to be online, email, blog, MySpace, Facebook, Twitter...all those things that consume me during the day.

I hate that about me. That I can't just be on and be done. I have to be on to check this and that and then this and that, again and again...um and again. You just never know, someone might have commented! or sent me an email! or twittered! You just never know!!!

Anywho. There it is.

I'm an online junkie.

Who will now only get her fix in the wee hours of the morning if she can pull her lazy bones outta bed or in the evening.

For all the men I know

Dear Husband of mine and husband of all my friends, family and loved ones,

This short video will help your kind.





You can thank me later.

Love,
Sarah

Freezing my Assets

It's official.

Winter is here.

And all I can think about is Summer. Shorts, tank tops, flips and a sunset at 9 pm.

I've never enjoyed winter and I've never enjoyed being cold. I don't like snow, except to look at it. I hate being in it, hate driving in it.

My sister lived in Montana for three years (thankfully she's back in the valley) she told me last night that she checked Butte's forecast. A low of -37 and a high of -6. Um, no thanks.

The wind is blowing like crazy. It's miserable outside.

All I can think about is how my husband works outdoors, his boots have holes and cracks in them and his 2009 Kenworth that he drives...well, the heater doesn't blow on his feet. He tells me this morning, "I'll be fine, really. It's not that big of a deal."

He's amazing.

So, while he's out there freezing his assets, I'm stoking the fire and thinking of ways I can bless him when he comes home.

Any ideas? Well, besides the obvious... ;)

Simplify and enJOY

I think this Christmas many of us are simplifying.

Yes?

No?

I know that many in my family are. I know that I am.

A simple way that I am simplifying Christmas at our home this year: Gift wrap. I bought a large roll from Costco a few years back that seems to be the never ending roll of gift wrap. It's double-sided and simple.

So, this year, that's the only wrap I'm using. In years past I'd pull out all 397 rolls that I have and wrap each person's gift in a different paper and I'd want to pull out all my hair and yours, too, if you were standing next to me.

I know it seems like such a simple thing to do but it's amazing how little mess I made in the whole wrapping process spiel. I'm all about the wrapping of the gifts, I just don't like the clean up part. This eliminated my huge mess and made the wrapping and clean up enJOYable.

And I'm all about adding some JOY to my household.

Two nights ago I told Josh I'm more excited for this Christmas than I've been for the last few Christmases.

"Why? You don't even have any gifts."

I know he knows the true meaning of CHRISTmas. I know he knows it's not about the gifts but about celebrating the birth of Jesus our Savior. But he knows I love me some presents! =) This year it's been so different. Deciding to only purchase gifts we could afford has made this Christmas season so much more enJOYable. And I'm really excited about it. I dunno...

So, what are you doing to simplify this Christmas? What are you doing to add JOY this season to your household?

The Christmas Card you're getting

Is there baby announcement etiquette? Thinking instead of sending out Christmas cards this year, I'll send out the baby announcements I made for the baby I had seven months ago.

Yep, that's what I'm thinking.

"Merry Christmas, we had a baby...seven months ago! in case you didn't know!"

I mean, really, that basically sums up our life this year.

Just one bra this morning, thankyouverymuch

I'm only wearing one but it's the second one I put on.

The first one broke.

It's a tough job holdin' these girls up.

I didn't realize that yesterday's post made me seem so down and out. But by all of your loving comments (thank you for them, thank you for loving me and encouraging me) I realized that uh, maybe there's something wrong with me.

There isn't.

Not any more so than normal. The word normal always makes me laugh when I use it. Just doesn't seem natural coming from me.

Sometimes this blog is hard to maintain, maybe maintain isn't the right word. Sometimes it's hard to know if it's okay to write that. That, as in, whatever I feel like. I put a level of pressure on myself that I really shouldn't I suppose. I have family that come here and read. Mostly Josh's family. And sometimes I wonder, "should I write that? what will they think?" After 12 years of me, though, I'm not sure anything surprises them anymore. =)

But I started this online journal in hopes that maybe my transparency would help someone else. Another girl who may be walking a similar path. Heck, a lot of the time it just helps me. I see the muck and I realize I need to take it to Jesus. Sometimes I do, most times I don't. I'm really good at trying to fix me myself. I'm not good at it, I'm just good at trying.

Barb asked when I find time to write. The answer...when the kids are screaming and this is my only thread of sanity. =) KIDDING! sorta... I try to write when they nap. Or, like now, Jaylee is watching Curious George. She gets half an hour of TV in the morning and I can either do some quick chores around the house or sit on my rear and blog. I'm choosing the latter today.

Giordi's comment about homeschooling cracked me up. It's obvious that we went to church with some homeschoolers that may be just weren't so well rounded. We've definitely all seen it. Home schooled, public schooled, private schooled... When I home school the girls it won't just be the subjects I know, otherwise all their lessons will be about is why the Christmas tree should never go up, or... here is how you decorate your bloggy for the holidays. I'll learn math. I'll learn sentence structure. And hopefully I'll get learned enough to teach it. Cringing yet?!

My discontent as far as staying at home is my own deal. The days I feel that way are the days I've let myself get behind on chores or haven't showered first thing or brushed my teeth right away. I don't know why I let myself think that if I worked outside the home that miraculously my world would be perfect. I mean, hello! I'd for sure have to brush my teeth right away! I can't keep up with stuff and I'm home all day. The women who do both, amaze me. I'm learning if I get dressed immediately, brush my teeth, put a smile on my face and ask the Lord for His help, that my day is amazingly brighter. Dishes will always be there, so will laundry and the kids...but just taking a couple steps first thing in the morning, makes a world of difference in my attitude.

I know moms/women who seem sooo put together. I compare myself to them often. I don't compare the stuff we have because that's not what I'm after. I don't care about the stuff. I just want to know how she got four kids out the door with matching shoes (hers and theirs) and hair that isn't sticking up (again, hers and theirs!) and how the hay she's looking happy and calm with lipstick on her lips and mascara on her eyelashes. I wear those things too but sometimes I start to put the lipstick on my eyelids and mascara...well... Anyway, I just don't believe we all have it all together all the time. We don't. As women. As mothers. And if it looks like we do, who we trying to fool? Maybe it's just me....

I put the Ugly Sarah on the blog because that's me. I have good days. And I have bad days.

Today...thank You, Lord, is a good day.

But it's not even 9 am. Let's give 'er a bit. =)

A list of everything that seems so important but I know when I look back on it in a few months

...it won't be.

Jaylee had pizza and cottage cheese for lunch today because I'm amazing at whipping up a healthy lunch. I turn around and Alison has cottage cheese all over her mouth. Yes, Jaylee was feeding her. No, I didn't ask her to.

Monday is garbage day. I love garbage day. Love when someone comes to pick up my junk and haul it away. I always hope that my inner junk will leave on Mondays as well but it never seems to.

I'm gaining weight on a weekly basis and I don't know why or how. I'm thinking the scale may be leaving next Monday.

Jaylee gets two presents for Christmas this year. A McDonald's cash register and some Play-Doh. We spent $13 on her. We spent none on Alison, she doesn't know any better, right? I'm trying not to feel like a bad mom because my kids have so little. It's not about the gifts, right?!?

I've been discontented with my SAHM status. Sometimes I just want to dress up and go to work and feel needed.

The Christmas tree is plaguing me. I hate that thing. 17 days til Christmas and I'm not sure that thing will make it that long. She may come down 16 days early.

My spiritual life is being attacked. I only notice this when I'm reading my Bible. It's amazing how smoothly things seem to go when I'm riding the fence. However, I'm never more bluuhhck as when I'm not reading God's Word.

I don't know what bluuhhck means.

I put on two bras this morning.

I haven't brushed my teeth.

I had a "date" with Josh on Friday but I'm not sure he was there. Or maybe I wasn't there. I don't know. I just know it wasn't what I was expecting and I'm sad. Sad that I didn't try harder to make it more fun. Sad that I had too high of expectations.

There are no dirty clothes in the laundry basket. Everything is folded. I'm just needing to put it away. I'm actually looking forward to it this time. Fancy that.

The average temperature in our house now that the woodstove is in here...76*. I get cold at 70 now.

Wintertime is not my friend. The cold and dark make me lonely and sad and Lord knows I have enough issues with that during Summer that Winter is no help of mine!

I think it's been five months since I've seen my grandpa and I don't feel bad about it. I feel bad that I don't feel bad.

I haven't had a good night's sleep in about 10 months. Think I'm sleep walking most everyday.

Shadow just rubbed his cold wet nose on my arm and is trying to hand me a rag. I don't like his cold wet nose.

Josh went to work this morning and I was reminded about his faithfulness to go to work each day to provide this wonderful life that I live. I don't show or tell him enough how thankful I am.

I may change that up this evening...

There was a Mennonite family at church on Sunday. I've always wanted to be like them. I don't know why. I loved their head coverings. I loved their dresses.

I signed myself up for a Beth Moore study on Esther at the church I went to in high school. I'm excited for it. I'm not sure if I'm more excited for the study or the 2.5 hours of free childcare.

Think anyone would notice if I just dropped the kids off and didn't attend the study?

The Christmas tree is still bugging me.

I want to go on a family vacation. STAT.

It's my heart's desire to homeschool my girls. Today, I was impatient with Jaylee when she tried to help me sweep the kitchen floor. How will I ever be able to teach her anything?

I'm struggling with certain areas of conviction lately. Books, movies, music, etc. What is and isn't okay? Ugh.

Alison is squealing with delight at seeing her shadow on the wall. She cracks me up. I still haven't come to terms with the fact that she has teeth and crawls. What happened to being a baby?!

Life in my nut shell.

A Picture of my Laundry Pile

Yes, along with being a great wife, fantastic mother, loving friend...daughter, sister, I am an artist through and through.

You can quit laughing now.

If you can't read it very well, click on the picture. It'll blow 'er up for ya.

Just one more reason to love her

She may be the girl who stole my boyfriend in high school but we've come a long way since then and Saturday, when she came over, I found yet another reason I love Melissa.

She brings me coffee. She brings Jaylee a hot chocolate. I mean, really, how can I not love her?! We're chatting. Because y'all know we're amazing at that. And then I had an itch on my knee. I wasn't able to scratch it through my jeans.

I start to pull up my pant leg and midway I remember, I haven't shaved my legs in about 5 weeks.

I'm wondering if I should be embarrassed or not.

She quickly relieves my fears by lifting one of her pant legs. Revealing her unshaven legs too.

I love this chick.

And I really hope it's okay that I shared with the rest of the class that she doesn't shave her legs in the winter either. Guess I'll find out...

Cutest Baby, Ever!

So, maybe I'm biased but still...this kid is cute.

It's official. She moves. She crawls. She'll be 7 months old on Thursday and already is on the go. This is the baby that took Josh and me two years to decide we wanted. We just weren't sure we could love another baby as much as we love Jaylee. Oh, how silly it was to think that. She's the baby that still doesn't sleep through the night. (Woe is me) She's the baby that cried almost non-stop for about two months. The Lord knew my breaking point and answered many prayers. She's the girl who loves to eat. And eat. And eat. (gets that from me) She can be crying and smiling at the same time and from what I've been told, she gets this from her daddy. She's spoiled. I admit it. And man am I mad at myself for it. She has rolls upon rolls on her little legs (gets this from me, too.)

Even though she's terribly naughty most of the time, I can't get enough. It's amazing to me that even though she has tested me beyond what I feel are my limits, I'll sit at 2 am, feeding her, and thinking that yes, I could have another baby. How is that possible when many days I feel I should be wearing a straight jacket?!

I love this kid. I really do.

Showin' off my Ugly

Today my SIL came over to help me with my living room. I'm constantly rearranging the place. I can never find just the right place for all my junk. Usually the living room has a cluttered closed in feel to it and that makes me feel crazy. Or...crazier.

Denise's home has a very open, clean line feel. It's open yet cozy. Know what I mean? There are plenty of homes that are free of clutter and stuff but almost feel sterile. I don't want that feel in my living room so I tend to put as much stuff in it as possible.

In the process of moving furniture around we had to go into one of the rooms of my house to get another couch. Right now that room is becoming a scrapbook/laundry room. But at the moment it looks like a hurricane of clothes threw up all over it. Clothes. Ev-er-y-where!

Embarrassing.

Okay. Beyond embarrassing.

Some were dirty clothes that had piled up from my week last week. Most were clean clothes that had piled up because I'm really good at washing and drying said clothes. It's the whole FAPA (fold and put away) part that I blow at.

Basically I wanted to twitch my nose and have all the clothes disappear so Denise wouldn't be able to see them. I hated that she saw that nasty part of me. The part that isn't so good at the whole home-makery deal. She was given a glimpse into my world. And I'm not sure she'll ever be the same!

It made me think about how I try to hide my ugliness from God. I want to shut the door on all the bad stuff and just let Him see good Sarah. I don't think Denise loves me any less because I'm bad at laundry. And I know God doesn't love me any less because of it either. But exposing this ugly area of my life was good for me, it kinda felt freeing to be like, "yep, I suck at laundry and keeping this room in any kind of order but HERE IT IS!" I'm not saying it's going to change overnight but I definitely want to start working on it.

Ignorance is not even close to bliss

Yesterday I looked at my statcounter and saw that someone had entered my blog under one of my posts from almost two years ago.

I re-read the post and my heart hurt.

I deleted it.

Though I'm embarrassed for it, I'll share a bit of it anyway.

I spoke about being a stay at home wife/mom. Basically saying if you weren't one that that was bad. That the woman wasn't caring for her husband, children or her home.

UGH!

I do believe as women that it's our job to take care of our home and our husbands and our children, should we be blessed with these. Just because a woman may work outside the home doesn't necessarily mean that she's not doing those things. But I no longer believe that if a woman works outside the home that she's not doing what she's supposed to. Me staying home with my girls, works.

For our family.

For now.

We know there may come a day when it doesn't work. We'll face that day if/when it's upon us.

I'm learning that just because our family does things one way, doesn't mean that all families should operate the way we do. How boring would life be if we all did the same thing?! And how dysfunctional you all would be if you did everything the way we do! =)

I'm sorry to my friends that I may have hurt with that post.

Ignorance blows.

Giving Thanks

I don't like Thanksgiving. I don't know why. I think it's because I'm just so darned excited for Christmas to come already!

But I have so much to be thankful for. So much.

• My husband. Seriously, cannot believe I have this man in my life. He has put up with more than his fair share and still he loves me. He is the greatest friend to me. And he's always a source of amusement for me. Whether he wants to be or not.
• My girls. Yes, there are days I want to lock myself up in the bathroom and never come out because they are out there, but I remember a day about nine years ago when a doctor told me I wouldn't be able to have children. I have two. Two beautiful girls that I've been blessed with. They are cute and sweet, loving and forgiving. Their smiles and giggles melt my heart.
• My family. There just aren't words for what these people mean to me. I can't get enough of all of them.
• My friends. I feel so blessed this year with my friends. The friendships I've been blessed with for a few years: Amber, Linds, Melissa, Candee, Kristie, Melinda and new friends like Megan. These are girls that I love so much. Girls I don't see or talk to nearly as much as I'd like to but are just a phone call or email away.
• My sisters-in-law. I'm still in awe that the Lord blessed me with two girls that I love as much as my own sisters. Treena...Denise...I love you.
• My church. Love those people. Love our pastor who pulls no punches. Love that we still have the freedom to attend church in our country.
• My blog friends. The girls I go to for encouragement, a laugh, a recipe...thank you for taking the time to post your life in the blogosphere. Thank you for taking the time to email me when I have questions. I hope to some day meet all of you.
• My health. I don't take this for granted.
• Jesus. Thank You, Lord, for loving me. Never giving up on me. And always seeing the good in me even when there's not much of it.

There's so much more, I know there is. But that short list put this day in perspective for me. It's not about the food (though I like that part) and it's not about the craziness that will be my day (8 children under the age of 4) it's about giving thanks.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

How to be a Girl

and change your own oil.

*Warning, this is THE longest post, ever! And our disclaimer is that we ARE NOT professionals. This has worked for us, if it doesn't for you...you can have Alison.

The husband is sitting co-pilot right now. I want to make sure I don't lead any of you astray with how to change your own oil...should you actually do it.

Most of you are probably thinking I'm a moron and that I should post something about dirty diapers or coffee or New Kids on the Block.

I'll get back to those, I promise.

We'll list 'er out in steps.

And we're off!

Josh just said cloth diapers make the best rags for soaking up oil on your hands, hey Liz, you have a head start!!

Step One

Head to your nearest oil havin' store. Such as Wal Mart, Auto Zone, Napa, Schuck's or Kragen.
Before you head inside the store, make sure you know the make and model of your vehicle such as Ford (make) Taurus (model) and the size of your engine. To find out the size of your engine you can look in your owner's manual or pop the hood on your car and sometimes you'll find the numbers displayed on your engine. For my van it says 3.8 L.

Another thing you need to know is how many quarts of oil your rig will need. This is another thing you can look up in your owner's manual. Look under "capacities" in the back of the book and find what it says about engine oil. Typically a rig will need 4 or 5 quarts of oil.

Okay...at the store! Head to the oil department. Not the olive oil or canola oil department. The oil for vehicles. =)

You're now looking for your oil filter.

Often there will be a little digital thing (technical term there) that you can punch all your information into and it will tell you the number for your oil filter. More often than not, that little digital thing will be outta batteries and you'll have to go all old school and look in the book that is usually hanging by a thread from one of the shelves.

Look through this book, you're looking for your make (Ford, Dodge, Chevy, Maserati (that one came from Josh) etc...) and then your model (Taurus, Grand Caravan, Suburban, Pinto (and another one from Josh)etc. And then your year.

Then it will show your engine size.

There will be a series of filters listed that will work. One is claiming to have better filtration than the others. (Aren't you glad Josh is sitting next to me!?) When we buy 'em we stick to the basic filter. If you change your oil often (3,000 miles)you don't need anything fancy shmancy.

For example, my filter was a PH16, I think. So, I looked on the shelf and found the lil orange box that had a PH16, threw 'er in my cart and headed for the oil.

Now for the oil. Again, refer to owner's manual recommendation. It will vary from summer to winter. Example, winter will be 5/30 (which is very light) and summer will 10/30 (a bit heavier). I've just been informed I bought the wrong one. OOPS! =) If you have a higher mileage rig- 100,000 miles or more you could go 10/30. And here's my free advertisement, we buy Castrol oil. Pennzoil has a tendency to build up inside the engine components. A 5 qt. jug is the best deal, rather than buying 5 individual quarts.

Step Two

Go Home

Step Three

Determine if you can get underneath your rig without elevating. This nursing mama was not able to do that without ramps. (Stupid milkers anyway!)

If you don't have ramps, you can use a jack but that's not the preferred method of my husband. And he's all knowing. =) I'm going to assume you have ramps. If you don't and need instruction on how to use your jack, email me, I'll ask Josh and get back to ya.

Get your ramps. Place them in front of your tires, tight up against 'em. Make sure no children, animals or husbands are in front of, beside or behind your car. If your husband is there, he should be doing this for you and you don't need to read on. Ahem.

Drive your vehicle up on the ramps, slowly! You'll need to kinda ooomph it to get up the ramp but be sure your quick to stop once you get to the top of them.

Pull the emergency brake. Shut off the car.

Step Four

Pop the hood. Or if you're in England, Josh says the bonnet. (this guy is weird.)

Most mid-sized to small vehicles have a brace arm to hold the hood up. Do that! Larger vehicles (SUV's, Pick ups and cars from the 70's (not that we know this)...have springs that hold 'em up).

Step Five

Prepare tools.

Needed:
Box end wrench

size for your vehicle will vary. Possibilities: Standard sizes-1/2"; 9/16; 5/8; 11/16 and 3/4" (which would be large drain plug) or metric sizes 13mm; 14mm; 15mm and 17mm. All cars late 90's and up will be metric.

Filter wrench

Hammer, Josh laughed at me when I said this, but I've always needed one when changing my oil since I don't have stupid human strength.

Drain Pan or if you're outta one of those, you can always use a pot from your kitchen that you'd like to replace. I'm just sayin...


Step Six

Now it's time to get down and dirty, Ladies.

Get underneath your rig. Yes, underneath 'er.

You're looking for your oil pan.

most likely yours will not be red but black. It has a plug on it, hexagon shaped bolt. You need to take your end wrench and loosen it. Use the round end of the wrench, not the open end. It grabs all six sides rather than two. This is where I use the hammer. If you don't have the strength to loosen it on your own, place the wrench on the plug and and hit it pretty good. This should loosen it and you should be able to just use the wrench now on its own. Remember the age old rule: Lefty Loosey, Righty Tighty.

Once loose, set drain pan underneath. Notice the direction of where the oil will come out. So that you don't have oil all over the place like I do right now. pfft. Loosen the plug with your pretty lil manicured fingers, make sure you have a tight grip on 'er so you don't lose it in the oil pan. Pull out the plug and let the oil drain. Place the plug where you will not kick it, lose it, or eat it.

Step Seven

Remove oil filter.

Take oil filter wrench and place on the oil filter.

big black round thing.

This will also leak oil, so you may want to wait until your oil pan is done draining before taking off the oil filter. Put the filter wrench on and pull to the left. Twist it off. It's normal for oil to leak out. Hold upright and then dump out the rest in the drain pan. Take your new filter outta the box and put the old one in upright.

Step Eight

Put the new filter on. Dip your finger in the drain pan oil and rub it around the seal. Twist new filter on. Tighten by hand only. Once again, I'm finding out I did that part wrong. Oops...

Step Nine

Replace drain plug. Put the drain plug back in the hole and tighten reaaaal good. With a wrench.

Step Ten

Add oil to the engine. Come out from underneath your rig and look under your hood. Find the cap that says oil and twist 'er off. Get your jug of oil. This is where it can be tricky not to spill oil all over the stinkin' place. If you have a large funnel, use it. I didn't have one so I cut the bottom off of an empty water bottle and stuck the water bottle in the hole. Then open your oil and pour it in. It's gonna glurrrgh at ya. Don't get skerd. =) Hold it there til the desired amount is in. Then replace your oil cap.

Start the engine. Oil light may stay on for a second or two while the engine is filling the oil filter, it should go off very quickly. Back the rig off the ramps. BACK it off. Not drive it off. Or you'll need more than an oil change.

Shut the engine off. Look under your car and check for leaks near the areas your were working on. Then let it sit for 2 minutes or so. Then check level on the dipstick. (really don't wanna find another picture, hoping you know where this is, if not, again...email me) Pull the dipstick out, wipe it off on your rag, put it back in, pull it back out and check it. The oil will be hard to see since it's new and clear but it should read at the top of the meshed rectangle and it should read full.

Pour used oil into empty container. Take to recycle center and empty.

Josh says if you'd like to skip steps 2-10, while standing in the aisle for the oil, look as desperate as possible, when a man offers to help, tell him you'll buy him a case of beer and you'll not need to worry about any of these steps.

And he likes Bud Light by the way. =)

The post where I feel manly

Another way to save money is by doing stuff yourself, rather than paying someone else to do it for you. Whether you're making food from scratch, sewing your own clothes, or changing your own oil.

Such was the case for me on Friday.

Many moons ago Josh taught me how to change my own oil and rotate my own tires. Last Thursday evening he informed me I needed an oil change before Amber and I left for the New Kids concert in Seattle (yes, you read that right, I went to see NKOTB!) I knew that by the time he got off work on Friday, it would be cold and dark and he'd be tired.

So...I went to Wal Mart, found myself in the oil department and proceeded to buy my filter and my oil. Which was horrid! I remember when we paid a little over a buck for a quart of oil and now it's over 3 bucks! Smokes!

I got home and duct taped my children to their beds and went to change my oil in my van.

No worries, I didn't really duct tape them. Staples work better. =)

Kidding!

I put the van up on ramps (the scariest part for me of changing the oil) crawl underneath the rig to find the oil filter and drain plug and set to finding the needed tools for the job. This did not prove an easy task as the husband has a very messy shop. The wrench I needed was nowhere to be found. I had to make do with a 1/2" socket but I could tell it wasn't right. I made 'er work though.

I got the drain plug off and oil went everywhere! Oops.

Got the oil filter off and got oil all over me. Oops some more!

While draining those out I cleaned myself up a bit.

Plugged the oil pan. (Think that's what it's called)

Put the new filter on.

Put in 5 quarts of oil.

Backed the rig off the ramps.

Shut the rig off.

Went inside the house.

Grabbed a brewski, sat on the couch, put one hand underneath my belt (Al Bundy style) made an unintelligible manly noise (Tim Allen style) and flipped on the television.

Okay, that last paragraph didn't really happen but it coulda! =)

Josh came home and was quite proud. His exact words were, "you're hot."

It felt good to do something for him. It also felt good not taking my rig in to have it done and pay more than I needed to. Filter and a 5 qt jug of oil cost me less than $20. Yes, it took awhile but the look on my husband's face and his thankfulness made my time and money worth it.

Tomorrow's post...How to be a girl and change your own oil.

Laughing at the Expense of Others, My Favorite.

Last night I went to Ladies Bible Study and my "new" purse went with me.

I got this really fun purse from Goodwill and I was struttin' my stuff with her last night.

My aunt shows up and I proceed to thrust the purse in her face.

"Look what I got for $5.50!!"

"Wow, that's really nice! Is it a Carriage purse?"

I'm thinking...and am wondering if I'm so out of the loop on brands that I don't know who Carriage is.

"No, it says it's Liz Claiborne."

"Oh. Okay."

There was another lady within earshot of our conversation and she comes up to us.

"Did you mean Coach?"

Roar of laughter.

"Oh, yes. I did mean Coach."

Coach, Carriage. What have you.

It was the funniest ever. I was so glad that it wasn't just me that was outta the loop on brand names.

Talk about keepin' the home fires burnin'

Still shaking.

My husband, bless his heart, put in a wood stove a month or so ago. I'm not a fan.

I don't like fire.

He usually starts one before he leaves for work and all is good for the day. Not so today.

I had to make my own. I was pert near proud of myself because it's going splendidly. I built a fire!!!

Until I hear a "poof!" And I look over. There is a fire ON TOP OF the wood stove.

ON TOP OF!

The smart girl that I am, left the matches on top of the wood stove!!!

I'm such a moron.

Smoke has filled my house and my lungs. Luckily the fire burned out without causing any damage. But still!

Still shaking.

Tis the Season

It's that time of year when you start getting all excited to buy gifts for people and all that jazz.

I love me some gifts. I really do. I'd like some recipe cards, a vegetable scrubber, and a baby who sleeps through the night. But more than all those put together, I want what I've wanted every Christmas for the last 9 years.

A dad.

I'd rather not have a repeat of last year when I asked the guy at church (who I secretly call Daddy Mike) if he dated and he informed me he was married. Needless to say, he didn't marry my mom and I don't have a dad for Christmas this year.

Woe is me.

It's still going to be on my list. It will be at the top every year until Jesus sees fit to give me the desires of my heart.

I'm not going to ask any random men this season if they date. It has been a bit embarrassing to look Daddy Mike in the eyes every Sunday these last 11 months.

I don't need that to happen again.

Around the House

It's been nine years today since we got the keys to our house. It's hard to believe we've lived here this long. So much has changed. If Dwayne and Sharon came back to this house, they wouldn't recognize it. I love knowing my husband has done all the work. And even though I don't live in a town I love, I live in a house I love.

A conversation between Josh and me on Saturday:

Going through clothing and coats to see what can be donated.

Josh, holding up a flannel shirt, "I can get rid of this."
Me, shocked, "Oh no you can't, we can use that for toilet paper!"

Family cloth is outta hand, folks. Outta hand.

A conversation between us last night:

Josh, "oooh, I got you something today!"
Me, again...shocked, "really?!"
Josh, "Look what I got from the shop!" He hands me a gallon sized Zip Loc bag.

It was really sweet. And honestly, I enjoyed it more than flowers or candy or anything else he could have brought me. He told me that he knew I'd put it to use. It was really cute.

He's really cute.

Last night Jaylee got the brilliant idea to put Alison in her dolly stroller. For about an hour last night she just cruised that crabby baby around and had her laughing so hard. We video taped it. Last night was such an enjoyable evening.

This morning she's trying to zip up her jammies and they got stuck, Josh was helping her. In her best Mater voice I hear her say, "Well, shoooot." I snorted. It was really funny. And then of course I told her not to say shoot ever again.

I'm excited for today. The girls and I are headed to Tri-Cities to hang out with my SIL and her little girl.

Have a wonderful day!

*what's your family eating this week?
*and have I mentioned recently that I leave on Saturday for Seattle. To go to a NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK concert!!!!! 1992 here I come!

$35 groceries week 2

Yes, homemade tortillas not workin' out so hot. 3 cups of flour basically down the tubes. I did make all 12 tortillas, but eating just one would fill your gut up for a week.

Oh well.

Live.

Learn.

Buy store bought...

Week two of $35 or under for groceries:

Potatoes
Popcorn
Tortilla Chips
Shortening
Pizza sauce
2 cans of chili
Nacho cheese dip
oranges
2 lbs of cheddar
18 ct eggs

$31.67

Seems like so few groceries for $32.

Dinners will consist of:

Nachos (requested by Josh)
Chicken and sweet potatoes (both in crock pots as we speak, er..type)
Rib steak with baked potatoes and broccoli
BBQ Beef over Mashed Potatoes
Chicken tacos using leftover chicken from tonight and my lovely homemade torts. =)
Homemade Pizza with salad
Leftovers

I have to tell you something amazing! We've been out of syrup for a bit and I only had a couple of onions left (which go fast around here) and I haven't been buying much fruit 'cause it's expensive.

Anywho.

I go to Linda's on Saturday to clean. I'me there for a few hours and when I go to leave she asks me to follow her. She proceeds to load up a box of pears and apples, hands me a sack and tells me to fill it with potatoes and onions and then hands me two jugs of maple syrup.

I kid you not!!!

I'm standing there smiling. Just amazed.

God is so good. I knew He was telling me good job and that He loved me! He's so faithful to me.

Pop Quiz!

What looks like this?



Is as thick as this?



But tastes like this?

The answer...later today. Any guesses though?

Drum Roll, Please

You guys said such great things about your husbands! I loved what Keely had to say about how it was good that she wrote things about her husband because she'd been upset with him that morning and writing it out made her realize all the good stuff she loves about him.

Man, wouldn't more issues be resolved ahead of time if I would just think of all the amazing things about Josh during the day than the little bickering we did in the morning?

Let me assure you, the handling of the drawing was done officially.

I wrote all your names on a piece of paper. Turned the pieces of paper over. Mixed 'em all up and called my three year old over to pick one out.

Why I turned them over and mixed them up when she was the one choosing, I don't know.

It just made it seem more official that way. :)

Drum Roll........

Keely!

Um, not sure I have your address. I know I should but I'm thinkin' I don't. So, email it to me and I'll get this fun lil cookbook out to you.

The Grocery Store brings out the Evil Sarah

There is never a more difficult time for me to be a nice person than when at the grocery store.

For real!

The people who stand in the middle of the aisle. Those that ram your cart and pretend it didn't happen. The ones who reach in front of you to grab a can of soup without saying excuse me. The ads on the loud speaker that are in a foreign language. And don't even get me started on the person whose cart is parked in the "20 items or less" line, who cuh-learly have more than 20 items.

I'm no cusser, but this makes me wanna cuss!

Anyway. Sorry. Venting.

I do have one nice thing to say. People love my girls. They talk to them, ask them questions, tell me how pretty they are (they get that frome me) and then they tell me to treasure them because this time will pass all too quickly.

I also got all but two items that were on my grocery list for under $19. I have to go to another store for the last two items. But I'ma thinkin' I'm going to be under budget this week!

Thank You, Lord!

maybe we'll make that trip to Portland after all???

Recipe Swap

I found a recipe on recipezaar.com that we've come to love. I've just adapted it to what we enjoy. My sister was needing a recipe for dinner a couple of weeks ago and didn't want to go shopping. So, I told her how to make this and most of the ingredients are usually "on hand" so she didn't have to go to the store.

She calls a few hours later saying her picky eater husband loved it and so did her kids, yay!

BBQ Hamburger over Mashed Potatoes

1 lb of hamburger
1 onion-diced
green or red bell pepper-diced
couple cloves of garlic-minced
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup of bbq sauce
1 cup or so of cheddar cheese-grated
3 or 4 potatoes to make mashed potatoes or make instant mashed potatoes
*all the veggies are optional

Brown the hamburger with the vegetables.
While hamburger is cooking make the mashed potatoes.
After hamburger is browned add the bbq sauce.
Scoop some mashed potatoes onto plates, make a well in the middle and spoon some of the bbq beef mix into the middle. Top with cheese.

Mmmm.

We eat this once a week now and my husband loooves it. And I love that I always have these ingredients on hand in case I haven't decided what's for dinner. I can always pull this recipe out!

Head over to Gayle's for more yummy recipes!

Have a great weekend!

My Husband and a Giveaway

Nooo nooo nooo. I'm not giving him away, although there are days I'm sure he's tempted to ask me to. *edited here and there...

Emily posted about her man last night and I thought it was a hoot, so of course I had to do it, too.

1. He's sitting in front of the TV, what is on the screen? Besides dust? We're not big fans of TV. Oh, and the occasional football game. He tries to pretend he likes that. Makes him feel all manly-like.

2. You're out to eat; what kind of dressing does he get on his salad? Ranch.

3. What's one food he doesn't like? Sugar Rice. I told you about Sugar Rice a looong time ago. Short story...18 yr old new bride, didn't know how to make rice other than for breakfast with sugar and milk on it. Hint: this does not go well with hamburger over it. Who knew?

4. You go out to the bar. What does he order? Bud Light

5. Where did he go to high school? Sunnyside High School.

6. What size shoe does he wear? Oh he'll shoot me for posting this. An 8. On a good day...

7. If he was to collect anything, what would it be? Vehicles, ones that don't run or look pretty with weeds growing around them in our pasture, we are so white trash. And tools. He'd like the collection of guns but he has a wife with a nasty coffee habit; therefore, cannot afford said guns.

8. What is his favorite type of sandwich? French Dip

9. What would he eat every day if he could? Taco Salad.

10. What is his favorite cereal? He's not a fan of cereal. But if I were to buy it, he'd prefer Raisin Bran. *shiver*

11. What would he never wear? Pink. I've begged. I think he'd look HOTT in it but he refuses. Even if it matched my outfit, he wouldn't. Pffft. And he will not wear slippers. Hates 'em.

12. What is his favorite sports team? Prosser Mustangs High School Football Team.

13. Who will he vote for? He voted for our buddy John. sigh...

14. Who is his best friend? Um, that'd be me. And he likes his brother. And he likes his BIL. And Dale. And Ken. And he thinks he doesn't have friends....

15. What is something you do that he wishes you wouldn't do? He hates that I'm overly critical of myself.

16. How many states has he lived in? Just one.

17. What is his heritage? German? I dunno.

18. You bake him a cake for his birthday; what would it be? He'd love an ice cream cake. But he settles for vanilla.

19. Did he play sports in high school? He ran Cross Country and Track. Oh, and he was a band nerd but I didn't say that out loud... =)

20. What could he spend hours doing? Working underneath a car. Riding his road bike. Playing with Jaylee.

21. What's something cool about him? Besides everything? He's cute. He's a hard worker. He can drive a truck with 18 gears. I'm lucky to hit 4th... He's patient. Parents of teens ask him to teach their kids how to drive. There's too much to list.

I find that it's so easy to take Josh for granted. After all these years and all he's done for me...for us. So, real quick I just want to say some stuff I love about him.

I know that when he wakes up in the morning he tries so hard not to wake me. He'll use the restroom and put the seat down. Always. He'll brush his teeth and shave. Cleaning out the sink and drying off the counter. I know that he'll bust his butt at work all day so I can stay home with our girls. I know he'll always be home 10 minutes after 5. I know that if he's not going to be, he'll call. I know that he'll come home from work, drop his lunch pail and give the girls and me a hug and kiss. Then he'll take off his boots and sigh. I know that even though he's tired he'll lay on the living room floor and let Jaylee jump all over him. He'll snuggle Alison. He'll keep them busy while I make dinner. I know that he'll gather the girls around the table so we can eat dinner together. He takes our hands and prays for our meal. I know that he'll always say thank you for making his dinner. I know that at bedtime for the girls he helps Jaylee clean up her messes, puts on her jammies and reads her a book. I know that we'll lay them down and he'll pray over them. Thanking God for blessing us with them. I know that he'll turn out their light, shut their door and then spend time with me. 'Cause he knows I'm needy like that.

And then tomorrow...he'll start all over again.

Okay, now for the giveaway. Tell me what's so amazing about your man. List at least 5 things. You'll be entered to win this Pampered Chef Cookbook.



"Even desserts get dressed up for the holidays! This collection of 19 festive recipes is so impressive, yet so easy to prepare. Simple, step-by-step instructions guarantee sweet success every time. Includes Chef's Corner, featuring techniques and tips. Spiral bound on 8" x 6" coated pages." *edited* It's just a fun lil cookbook for fun lil desserts. I think you'll like 'er. And what with The Season and all...


Go tell your friends they can play, too! I'll figure out a way to pick a winner on Sunday night (Random.org I think). And I'll announce the WINNER on Monday morning!

To do list: At least 5 things about your man. Tell your friends. And waa laaa you're entered! How easy is that?!

Oh the temptation!

Safeway sales ad showed up in my mailbox today. If you buy 2 packs of soda you get THREE FREE! I will not do it. I will not...

I guess if by some miracle I'm under budget on Friday I'll buy it. I just don't see how that's possible.

Today I made a pie with my friend Megan. My name may be Sarah Lee but man, I'm no baker. Ugh. Josh will be home in a bit and I'm hoping he likes it. I did slave away, after all. :) It was fun to make the pies. I don't know why I've never made one before, it was pretty darn simple. Megan is so sweet and encouraging. Totally didn't know what I was doing and the whole time she's telling me I'm doing a good job. I wish I could take her home. :)

She has a little boy a few months younger than Jaylee and it's really funny to watch them. Well, kinda. They fight quite a bit, which I hate. But when they are being nice to each other...they are being realllly nice. Hugs and kisses all around! We joke that in a few years that won't be so cute.

I really should be in my kitchen getting it cleaned up. Breakfast dishes are still on the counter. Bluhhck.

On the menu tonight. Black bean tacos. Putting on my big girl panties and eating corn tortillas...I will like them, I will!

What's for dinner at your place?

Over budget by .88

Not too shabby for Sarah. (seen that Friends episode?)

Last Friday I went grocery shopping at the dreaded Wal Mart. Seriously, I don't know what my deal is with that place other than the fact it's dirty, the workers are disgruntled and the loud speaker is in Spanish. If I could look past all that, it might not be such a bad place to shop.

I had to buy things I wouldn't normally because of my Scentsy party and needing to feed the peeps coming. So, my grocery list has some random stuff on it. I didn't need to buy too much for our meals because we still had quite a bit stocked up. Josh had done some work at his parents house the week before so they fed us each night he was there. Therefore, the groceries I'd bought the week before were still waiting to be eaten.

Here's my dinner menu:

Spaghetti with meatballs and green salad
(meatballs were turkey and were on clearance a couple weeks ago for .99 and already had the noodles)
Tuna Noodle Casserole w/broccoli
(have all ingredients for this meal)
Black Bean Tacos
Cheddar Chicken over Rice with green salad
(we ate this last night and I wasn't a fan. I won't make it again, had all ingredients for it, too.)
BBQ hamburger over Mashed Potatoes
(this has become a staple in our house, we love it and it's super cheap! I'll post the recipe on Friday. Have all the ingredients for this as well, the potatoes we grew in our garden. Our garden that consisted only of potatoes! My SIL sent us a bunch of hamburger. Such a blessing! Thank you, Treena!)
Leftovers

For lunch Josh takes sandwiches and Jaylee and I either eat sandwiches, too, or we eat leftovers from dinner the night before.

For breakfast we have a bunch of eggs and some bacon that I'd bought at Costco a couple weeks ago. I also made pancakes and froze the leftovers.

Here's my grocery list:

*Carrots
Wheat Thins
Peanut Butter
Sour Cream
Fudge Brownie Mix
Dry Roasted Peanuts
Cream Cheese
*Popcorn
2 loaves of Bread
Toilet Paper (cloth tp is going well!)
tea
flour tortillas
lettuce
spaghetti sauce
*mozzarella cheese
pretzels
*vanilla

Items with * I didn't end up purchasing.

I did end up with two cans of artichokes. Normally 2.62 per can but I was able to get two cans for 2 bucks. Sweet! I bought some cabbage which wasn't on the list. And instead of flour tortillas I bought corn. They are half the price of flour. I'm not a fan of them but for half the price, I'm going to be! :) I think this week I'm going to learn to make flour tortillas. I tried a few weeks ago and just got mad. They didn't turn out.

Spaghetti sauce can be expensive but I've learned to buy it in cans instead of jars. It's at least half the price if not more. Cans are on the bottom shelf usually. A while back when I was buying bread, the lady who was stocking the shelves told me to buy bread from the bottom shelf. She said it's fresher.

My total came to $35.88

I was pretty excited but I also realize my next shopping trip will have more actual food stuff instead of snack food for parties. It was nice that we had almost all the ingredients for our meals. I know this Friday will be a different story and I'll have to get creative in planning our meals for $35.

I'll definitely let ya know how it goes.

What do you take to work for lunch? Josh takes a lunch everyday except Wednesday and he always takes two PB and Jelly sandwiches. I'd like to have some variety for him but it's difficult since he can't warm anything up while he's in the truck.

Any ideas for me? Also...what's your family eating for dinner this week?

But I LOVE Mondays!

It's just one of those days, I 'spose.

Where it's all gonna suck. My baby decided to get a tooth and I don't know who told her she could do that. If that kid bites me while I'm feeding her, she's free to good home. The older child has decided to call me "Mother" instead of "Mommy" or "Mama" and I don't remember telling her she could do that.

I received an overdraft notice to my bank in town. Dumb me. The account that has like 4 bucks in it, yeah I usually just use that one for coffee but I guess I grabbed the wrong card. Anywho. They charged me $20 and that made me sad. So, I decided I'd just go in and ask them if they could pretty please just take the charge off and I promise I won't be a moron and use the wrong card ever again. I asked the Lord if He would just please go before me and if they wouldn't reverse it, well...my bad. I was in the wrong so I had to deal with it if it didn't go in my favor.

Josh told me they wouldn't go for it.

Hehehe, Joshie was wrong. It doesn't happen very often that he is. :) I guess that's a good part about today. The reverse charge not Josh being wrong....

Another thing that is exciting is that my first ever, I'm gonna get my groceries for $35, went splendidly! When I'm feeling up to it, which isn't now, I'll show ya my receipt. I went over budget by 88 cents. 88!!! That's it! It was great. I was on this amazing high. I told my mom and she says, "it's not just bare bones is it, you have other stuff too, right?"

Uh, no. It's bare bones. That's the point at the moment.

Silly Mother.

I had a Scentsy party on Friday night. The only word I have for that is, WOW! I got most of my girlie Christmas shopping done without spending a dime with all the free goods I earned. That was a bonus.

I'm reading over my post and realizing that today really should be a good day. Lots of good stuff has happened. Not having coffee today is not part of the good stuff. Sigh...

Part Two of Stretchin' da Budget

Thank you all for your comments yesterday! You bless me. I appreciate your encouraging words and suggestions. I'll try to address some of them in this post.

Yesterday I started off with what I'm already trying to do to keep our budget down.

Today I'll share what our family is going to try doing.

We are a family of beef eaters. So, I tend to buy quite a bit of hamburger. I used to buy hamburger from Costco in the freezer section. You can get 5 lbs. of 91/9 hamburger for about $13, I think. They come in 1 lb chubs and I loved this. Even though it's a pretty inexpensive way to buy hamburger, right now I'm just not able to buy meat in bulk.

Since I'm needing to cut back on how much hamburger we're eating I'm going to be using a half pound of hamburger when a recipe calls for 1 lb.

I've been reading on ways to stretch hamburger and one way I read was a woman would add some oatmeal to it. Weird, huh? I know! I'll let you know how that goes.

Yesterday I told you that when I first enter the grocery store I head to the meat section, I do. I also first head to the clearanced meat. This is where meat that needs to be used or frozen quickly is marked down sometimes up to 75% off. I love this section of the store! I know Winco and Safeway do it, I haven't shopped enough at Wal Mart to know if they do. I haven't ever seen meat marked down there and I'm just not a fan of Wal Mart meat in the first place. I think I'll continue to check Safeway for clearanced meat.

We already eat quite a few meals that have beans in them but usually they have beans and meat. I f a recipe calls for both, I'll be omitting the meat portion. I would like to start having three meatless dishes per week. I believe if it's a heartier meal we won't miss the hamburger or chicken. I want to start buying more beans and finding some yummy recipes using them. The protein in them is excellent and they are so inexpensive! And ya know...this household needs more beans! :)

To drink at our house is basically milk or water. If we're having company I will occasionally buy soda but now that I'm trying to actually stick to a budget, that may not happen very often. Since we go through a lot of milk and milk's not cheap these days I'm going to take Gayle's advice (again!) by supplementing with part milk, part powdered milk. I'm not really looking forward to it but I'm pretty much willing to try anything at least once. With the exception of illegal drugs, of course. ;) Most illegal drugs, anyway...

I've noticed I drink more water if I put ice in it. I don't care for water much but it's basically free and it's good for me. Amazing how God works that out, huh?

Kristie had asked yesterday if my budget included toothpaste, tampons and stuff like that. I am going to try. The other night I bought toothpaste at the dollar store. The dollar store is tricky. It's easy to think everything is a deal there but you gotta watch. There were four different brands of toothpaste, all of which were...a dollar. However, one brand was 4.6 oz, two others were 6.4 oz. and then the one I bought is 7.2 oz. So I got a few extra oz. for my buck. As for tampons, I haven't had to use those in a year and a half so I completely forgot about those! That's a benefit of nursing!!! After I had Jaylee it was nine months before my period returned (tmi?) so if it comes back around the same time I still have a couple months of not worrying about it. I need to check the dollar store on those!

Okay...as far as toilet paper. This is where some of you may freak out just a bit. :) I still kinda am myself. Bear with me and brace yourself. I had mentioned corn cobs, remember? And Jeana left a comment saying maybe family cloth would be a better try. So, I started researching family cloth. Ever heard of it? I hadn't.

Family cloth is basically cloth toilet paper. Crazy, huh? I KNOW! Some families are doing it for the green effect. Others for cost. And still others for both. For us it's about the cost but it does make me feel good knowing I'm at least doing something to help our environment.

I'll link you to a couple of articles about it and you can check it out if you wish. But I'll tell you a little about how we're doing it. I read that the easiest way to start is just cotton t-shirts. They don't fray after they've been cut and they are absorbent. Plus, most families have some t-shirts they could do without and if not, thrift stores or yard sales are a great place to find inexpensive ones. The lady suggested 5x5 squares. So, that's what I did with the first shirt. I'm going to do 6x6 the next time. I have also just seen some women making them out of flannel and stitching them real cute. I might try that.

So, we have these squares sitting by the toilet. A bucket with a lid. And once we use one, we put it in the bucket. Now, let me just tell you that today I will be buying toilet paper. For our guests and for #2. I'm not that hardcore, yet. Seem weird? It still does to me but the lady had a good point, if your child wet the bed or his/her pants you wash, dry and reuse, right? And that's true. I guess the cloth t.p. is no different. It's something we've been doing for two days now. Jaylee loves it. She thinks it's so cool to put it in the bucket and she's very proud that she remembers not to put it in the toilet. For me, I'm still trying to adjust. I guess I'm just excited about the savings.

How does Josh feel about it? His first response was, "how much overtime do I need to work so we can afford t.p.?" LOL! I assured him he didn't have to use it and that made him feel better. He also asked if there were other areas we could cut back instead of there and I'm sure we could but why not try them all and have it add up to a significant savings? He agreed.

Link One.
Link Two.

I know the family cloth seems a bit extreme. Something I'm learning though, you have to do what works for your family. And if a family is doing something I deem weird it's usually because I haven't tried it out for myself. I want to be more open minded when it comes to trying new things, whether I'm trying it or someone else is.

Now that you want to run.... :)

Another area that we have control of spending is the amount of driving we do. Gas prices have fallen and for that we're thankful but it doesn't mean we can just drive wherever whenever. Unfortunately. We go to church in Yakima, which is about a 40 mile drive for us. So we have at least 80 miles on Sunday morning, then we go to Trevor and Megan's for evening church in Grandview about 10 miles from our house. So, on Sundays alone we have at least 100 miles. Our goal has always been one tank (20 gallons) per paycheck. Somehow we just have not stuck to that! It's ridiculous to think that we drive more than 400 miles in two weeks.

There's really no reason for it other than I get bored at home and just decide to drive. I've noticed the more I'm away from home, the more I spend. I am going to start planning a day of the week that I run my errands so I do everything in one shot. Post office, library, grocery store and a visit to friends. I think this will help with me not spending money on random stuff and it will also be less gas driving around.

Christmas is coming. I love Christmas. I love to give gifts. This year I was very close to just telling our families we wouldn't be buying gifts for anyone. I couldn't do it though. But I also knew I couldn't put gifts on credit card anymore. Josh and I have decided this year our girls will each get one gift, probably worth $15, possibly less. We won't be buying gifts for each other this year. And the gifts for the rest of our family will be in the $5 range. Is it weird to say that I'm more excited for Christmas this year than I have been in years? I think part of it is that I'm excited to make some of my gifts, part of it is knowing I'm not going further in to debt and the other part is that Christmas will be more about CHRISTmas. More of Christ.

I have some more ideas floating around on how to spend less but I feel this post is getting extremely long and I wouldn't want you to fall asleep at the wheel. :)

Questions? Comments? Suggestions? Feel free!

Part Uno of Stretchin' da Budget

Here and there I've talked about the ways I go about grocery shopping or skimping on stuff so that I can have coffee.

Here is one about my Menu Managment and here's the one on the corn cobs. I'm not resorting to the corn cobs just yet, though I have decided on a solution for our family in that area.

A couple of weeks ago a friend of mine from high school who stops by my blog (hi, NJK!) sent me a message on MySpace asking how I get my groceries for the price I do.

First off...I don't. Or, at least I haven't. The main reason, I just wasn't trying very hard. Another reason, was that the last time I shopped, it was a Friday evening in Wal Mart. *shiver*

I don't know how many parts to this Stretchin' da Budget I'll have. But this is the first. And I'm hoping I don't make a jumbled mess out of it. And, if there's something I'm doing wrong and oh, I'm sure there is, please leave a comment and let me know what's working for you. We're in this together.

Where to start?!

I guess the best place would be the budgeting part of the groceries. I've looked over our income *more shivering* and I'ma thinkin' that I'd like to have our groceries at about $150 per month. That's roughly $35 per week. Some of you are shaking your head. QUIT IT! It's totally possible! Gayle feeds her family of six for about $60 a week. Right now, she's my hero.

Figure out what works for your family for a grocery budget.

Moving on...

Another step I've taken that my husband laughed at but later appreciated...I decided to take some extra time at the grocery store one day and map out the store. I mapped it out as I usually shop. So, if you find yourself backtracking at the store pretty often trying to figure out if you got everything on your list, this is super helpful. It's very rare that I have to backtrack for anything now. When I make out my shopping list it's in order of the layout of the store. I think I've cut down my trip by about 15-20 minutes. I work my way around the store by starting in the meat section and follow the store all the way around to the produce and then I go down all of the aisles.

If you decide to do this, take pen and paper and be prepared that your next trip will take longer. Maybe map out the store when you aren't going to shop so that you aren't trying to do too many things at once. Key is to not be overwhelmed. Grocery shopping is probably one of my favorite things to do. I find it relaxing and fun now that I have order to it. It's probably the only area of my life that's organized. Stop laughing, Treena!

The Menu!

I love cookbooks. I love blogs that share recipes. I love magazines with recipes. It's wonderful when it's time to plan the menu!

The first thing I do is check the fridge, freezer, cupboards and pantry for the items I have on hand. I check out the sales ads for what's on sale. And kinda make a mental note. An example...I know I have tomatoes, black beans, salsa, cheese and onions so I know that I'm fairly close to having all the ingredients to make Tortilla Black Bean Casserole. So, I check the ads to see if Tortillas and peppers are on sale. If they are, woo hoo! If not, then most likely I'll pass up that recipe and find something else to use my ingredients for. It's important to incorporate the ingredients you already have into your menu plan so that you aren't overloading your cupboards with food you aren't using.

Back to the sales ads. Sales ads are good but they can also tempt you to buy things you wouldn't normally use but buy anyway just because it's on sale. When I see deals like that, on things I don't really need but ooooh, it's on sale! I just say, "away from me, Satan!" Okay, not really. But I do have to restrain myself sometimes from buying things, and this isn't just groceries. Pretty much anything that's on sale I make up in my head all the things I neeeed it for. But then I look at the ol' checkbook and she laughs at me.

So, just because something is on sale, doesn't mean you have to buy it!

If you're needing new ideas for dinner, check out Gayle on Fridays. She hosts the Grocery Cart Challenge Recipe Swap where I've found some really good dinner ideas that were fairly inexpensive.

The Grocery List!

This is going to be key to keeping my budget at $35 per week. I need to stick to my list! It's so easy to think "ooooh, but I neeeed that!" When really, it's just a want. While I'm figuring out my menu I'm scribbling on a piece of paper the ingredients I need. When it's time to make out the list, I go by the Store Layout when I write the master list, the one I take to the store. Backtrack No More! The list is in accordance to the layoutthus eliminating running back to aisle 7 for the can of soup.

So, how do I plan to keep my bill low?

Some things I'm already doing:

I'm not buying soda and rarely do I buy juice. If I do buy juice, I dilute it immensely.

We like snacks but I don't really buy them. Snacks are spendy. Packaged food in general is expensive. For snacks, we buy popcorn and use our Stir Crazy popper. I buy Jaylee graham crackers which aren't cheap but that's her main treat.

I don't buy chips unless it's Doritos for Taco Salad. Chips are expensive and loaded with stuff that's not good for us. This can be hard because sometimes chips just sound sooo good! If I'm going to buy chips, it's tortilla chips. But again, I don't do it often.

We've really been trying not to eat out as often. Man, this is a hard habit to break. We are SO good letting other people serve us food and clean up after us! When we eat out I've noticed it's nights when I haven't planned dinner or I'm just being lazy. I want eating out to become a treat to us instead of something we take for granted.

I'm trying to think of other things I do but I'm realizing there isn't much. Maybe more will come to me later. I dunno. That's a list of what I do now.

Tomorrow I'll share the new things we're going to be trying. I know Treena and Kristie are thinking I'm nuts. :) I've shared with them one area we're changing. It's pretty drastic I guess but exciting.

See ya tomorrow!

The Choice is Mine

Watching the election last night had me pacing.

I was pacing my living room. I'm surprised I didn't burn holes in my carpet. I'd check the computer, watch the television, stir dinner...

Lather.

Rinse.

Repeat.

It wasn't a good night in our household. I'm the more vocal spouse (shocked, aren't you) about how I've been feeling about this election. Josh just takes it all in and doesn't say much. And that makes me insane. When we sat down for dinner last night he turned the television off. That made me a little crazy but I understood his point. Dinner time is family time, election or not.

Tuesday morning Alison woke up at 5 am. As I sat to feed her, I could hear the rain pouring down. In that moment I knew Obama would win the election. I feel the Lord was weeping. Weeping for what America is to become. Weeping for the unborn children that will have no chance at life. Weeping that our freedoms will no longer be.

All day yesterday I was living in fear. And going to bed last night, I'll be honest...I panicked. Josh didn't say much. But he did say this, "We have nothing to fear, God is our Commander in Chief. In Him we don't need to fear."

I cried myself to sleep last night. Josh's words were a comfort but still I was fearful.

This morning I'm more calm.

If you've been feeling the same way, here are some verses I'm choosing to hold on to.

"The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is my strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?" Psalm 27:1

"For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind." II Timothy 1:7

"He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world." I John 4:4

"Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house were many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also." John 14:1-3

"Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." John 14:27

Just to name a few.

I am choosing to be excited. I'm excited for African Americans around our country, this is an awesome time for them. I'm excited that this election has spurred me to no longer sit on my faith but to embrace it. I cannot be a lukewarm Christian. And I'm pretty sure that's what I've been. A friend of mine sent me a message on MySpace telling me the urgency she now feels for her young daughter. Agreed. There is an urgency in me as well.

It's time I let my family, my friends, my husband, my children know that I choose Jesus. I choose to serve Him. I choose to trust Him.

And I choose not to live in a spirit of fear.

The post where I may lose some readers

.... Emily's comment on this post made me decide to edit my post...I agree with her, I'm not religion-clinging I'm Jesus clinging. Especially during this time.

It's all negative, I'd skip over this post if I were you

Frustrated.

Josh's dumb company decided to switch up our health insurance policy smack dab in the middle of the calendar year so now my deductible has not been met even though I've had a stinkin' baby and have paid out a lot of money. This means I just have to pay out even more money. No biggie, we're loaded.

Baby number two. She'll be six months old tomorrow. SIX MONTHS! And is still, I repeat still not sleeping through the night. Am I picking her up, feeding her, pacifying her? YES! They share a room, I don't know what else to do. I don't want her disturbing Jaylee's sleep. I don't know what to do. But at six months she should be sleeping through the night. I don't wanna compare my kids to each other but one of them slept through the night before six weeks of age and the other has yet to do that!!

I'm frustrated with myself. So many lessons I should have learned so long ago but haven't. Discipline where money is involved. It's always that. I just shake my head at myself and I know the Lord is probably wondering if I'll ever learn. Okay, He's not wondering. He already knows. I'm wondering if I'll ever learn.

Daylight savings time and falling back. Oh the glorious extra hour of sleep. HA!!! Maybe when the kids are teenagers I'll know what an extra hour of sleep is like. Right now, they're just up an hour earlier.

Sigh.

The election tomorrow...just not gonna go there.

Okay. I think I'm done now. you're welcome.

Good Questions, Peeps!

Emily asks, "What is your husbands best trait. Also, what would he say YOURS was. :)

This is really funny. Well, it's not but it is. Before I get to the funny part, I'll tell you Josh's best trait. And I don't think I can list just one.

Josh has the most amazing work ethic. He's usually the first to arrive and the last to leave. He works hard. And his hands show it. He's the first one called, whether it's my family or his that needs help with something. Like exit numbers. My sister Megan called and got herself lost a few months ago, she called Josh and explained to him where she was. He knew exactly where she was and gave her the exact exit number she needed to take to get home. A couple years in a semi and I guess you just remember all the numbers. He's kind and considerate. He's the most amazing daddy ever. I really like the guy.

As for the second part...what would he say mine was. I said to him last night, "Emily wants to know what my best trait is." His response, "Hmm, yeah, I don't know." I'm gonna let him off the hook and say that there are just so many that I have, he couldn't think of just one! :)

Amber's questions. Or...Amber's daughter's questions.

What's google? (love that she can read) Ryleigh, Google is the place your Mommy goes to when she doesn't know where I am. Like the other night, with Francine Rivers, she googled 'er and found out where I was going. Your mom's quick like that.

Where's Josh? Josh is at work...sigh...

Do you have a brother? I always wanted one but was stuck with two sisters instead. :) My dad bought me a boy cabbage patch doll so I could have a brother. Really I think he bought it because it looked like him, dark curly hair. Except the cabbage patch doll didn't have a mullet.

Kristie's questions, which cracked me up, were...First of all (said in my mom voice) why are there three blogs and I only know of two? Second, who did you vote for?:)

I meant there were three posts I had started, not three blogs. Sorry, my bad. :) You know of both of my blogs! I promise, mom. ;)

As for your second question, I voted for McCain/Palin. I sent my ballot in as soon as it came. This is the first time I've really gotten into an election. Up until a few nights ago, I've been worried sick over the election. Helllooo, I just need to trust Jesus about this. He's gotta plan! I think my pastor's wife said it best a couple weeks ago at Bible Study. She didn't say names, but ya knew who she was taking about. She said something along the lines of, "if one of them gets in, that Jesus will just be coming back four years sooner. And that if the other gets in, we're given four more years to get our country back on track to have revival in our land." I will be on my knees on Tuesday, November 4th. I hope everyone of you are, too!

Barb's questions Did I miss a post about "decisions" in 6 days? And are you having another baby soon? ;)

Nope, you didn't miss a post about those decisions. Josh's company hasn't said one thing about his contract being up. We're okay with this at the moment. He can leave if he wants, so that's what we're excited about. He still has a job for the moment, so we're excited about that, too. :) The other day Josh and I were listening to the radio at the same time and heard a pastor on CSN (calvary satellite network) what he had to say was very encouraging. Think I'll post about it next week. For now though, Josh is staying put.
And another baby?!?! pffft. :) Alison will be six months old next week. Is it normal to have days where you want to put that lil white jacket on so you can hug yourself but also think you want more kids? That's where I am right now. I don't want to say no to having more, but some of these sleep deprived days make me wonder...

Wow. This was a long post! Didja make it through?! Thanks for giving me something to write about. I 'preciate it.