Introducing...

I'd like to introduce you to someone.... he's an adventurer, a social bug, avid reader, and loves life... This is what he used to look like: And this is what he looks like now: Yes, Youngest is the last in our home to need glasses! Thankfully we caught this before he forgot that trees had leaves, but he has been so amazed about how MUCH he can see now! He loves his new glasses because they are blue, his favorite color, and they have cool racing flames on the temple! We told him he looks more studious!

Earth Day Freebies and deals

I love to save a buck or more when I can and have found that I save about $35-45 using coupons, Sams, and Redplum.com . Now these are not deals that cause me to purchase something that I usually do not use, these are items that we use regularly in our home. I don't have all the answers, but these are a few things we do. You have to be careful becuase some places do not allow coupons printed from home. Reusable shopping bags: I have about 5 that I keep in my car and I must say that the store clerks don't always appreciate that we use them, but they don't complain too much. They aren't as convenient for them, but it sure saves on bringing home those plastic bags! When we do get a collection of plastic bags, we take them to Walmart and recycle them in a bin they have just for this. Love it! Gas: Vallero, Walmart, Sams will take $.03-04 off your price per gallon if you use their card. This may not seem like much, but it adds up. Kum and Go recently sent me an email for $5 off for my next tank of gas. Laundry: I spend about $21 per year on laundry products by making my detergent, using vinegar for fabric softner, and 4 dryer balls in the dryer. You can get the laundry balls just about anywhere now. We also shop at used clothing stores when we can, and here at home, Rags is our favorite, though there are many. Many of the clothes still may have original tags still on them, great prices, quality clothes. We've even found beautiful pillows and such there. We buy the kids jeans there and save a bundle, many times they are designer jeans at a mere fraction of the original cost. Many of the books we use for homeschooling we get gently used: vegsource, Ebay, Finders Keepers, learning things.com etc. There are several blogs that feature different ways and coupons that help save money: moneysavingmom.com The Thrifty Mama I know that so many people have wonderful ways that they are saving, so if you stop by here and make it all the way to the end, please leave a comment on how you save your family some $$ each month. There are so many more things we do, but I didn't want to bore you or drive you to insanity. If you come away with one more way to help you save $$, then I'm thrilled! Thanks for dropping by and sharing.

A scentilating evening

Yesterday evening we had the pleasure of dining with friends, who also happen to be the creative minds behind an amazing candle company called Adair Ya. After dinner, Sara invited Only and I back to her studio to an experience that was delightfully fun! Set in the quiet hills of Arkansas, we were surrounded by the woodland night sounds and a ever so gentle breeze while walking to path from their uniquely artist retreat/home to her studio. We were so thankful that her sweet husband tended to the kids so we could have this experience. To be honest it, it was a wonderful girl time for the three of us and she showed us how she makes her unique candles and diffusers. We had no idea all that went into making candles, but we quickly discovered it's a lot of chemistry, math, and health all rolled into one! What fun we had. She had all the bottles of delightful scents out, showed us how to blend different scents for uniquely special scents. Almost 3 1/2 hours later, we had created new scents, watched her create and pour candles, mix the special ingredients for the diffusers, and help attach labels to an order that she was preparing for a wedding. It was so refreshing to see her enthusiasm and knowledge, plus the care she takes with each order. She showed us the special art work that her talented husband creates for the candles, the labels and graphics he has designed. We are both so thankful that she allowed us so a wonderful experience last night and for letting us experience this. She even allowed us to create our own personal fragrance, named it for us, and sent us home, excited and anxious to try our new creations! Now I have to tell you that she did not invite us out there for me to blog about it, but rather because she wanted to share with us what she is doing. During our experience, I knew that I needed to write about it. She has the softest, gentle voice with a beautiful smile to go with it. One can tell that she not only cares about her business, but she really cares about people. How wonderfully we've been blessed by the friendship of her family!

Works-For-Me Wendesday

Dishwasher Frustrations? We know the pain. Someone always seems to put dirty dishes in with the clean dishes because they didn't know the were clean... Years ago, we grew frustrated with really being able to know if the dishes in the dishwasher were clean or dirty, so made a simple sign on Printshop, punched a single hole in the middle, and use a simple suction cup (I found mine at Target). When someone runs the dishwasher, they know to flip the sign to the appropriate side. When the clean dishes are emptied, the "Dishes are dirty' side is shown. Simple and effective. Now I can't say that this will help get dishes unloaded any quicker, but it sure cuts down on sticking dirty dishes in with clean stuff!