Are Newer Cars Frugal?

Some of you may be wondering why we chose to buy a newer vehicle when we are supposed to be trying to be more frugal with our money. Well, it was a decision we thought about for quite a while.

The major problem was the old van. It was ten years old when we bought it last year for about $2600, and seemed fine for a while. But then things suddenly started going on it, one by one. We were spending so much on it, we might as well have had a car payment! Now, we could have tried scraping enough together for another old vehicle, but it just didn't make sense. My husband doesn't know how to make major repairs, and we only have one family vehicle, so having another car that would potentially need repeated repairs wasn't feasible. Plus, my husband drives 90 miles round trip to work each day. He really needed the security and peace of mind that his only vehicle wouldn't break down on him. We have no family or friends in the area, so who would pick him up?

Also, the cars he has owned that he purchased fairly new were all reliable and ran well for a long time. Our truck had almost 300,000 miles on it when we got rid of it, and was still going strong. The cars we bought that already had high miles tended to have problems. It just seems that we get more usage out of cars when we've had control over the car for most of its life. We're not super-careful with our maintenance or anything, I guess a lot of people just abuse their cars.

We just figured it was worth the investment. Plus a newer car gets better gas mileage than old worn out cars. And the previous owner took the hit on the depreciation, leaving us with an almost-new car for a very good price. I'm guessing about ten thousand less than new.

We did a lot of research and carefully chose a model that would fit our needs and wants. It wasn't completely loaded (for the Town & Country--compares to other vans it was) but it had what we really wanted. We also checked the CarFax report to make sure it hadn't been flooded, totalled, etc. It had been owned by a rental company, but leased by an individual customer the entire time. Probably an executive car.

We felt the car would fit in our budget because we could count on no repairs for a good while (still under manufacturer's warranty) and we had recently given up other expenses that added up to about the amount of the car payment. We did have to pay more for insurance, but I never liked having only liability coverage anyway.

Now, buying a newer car might not make sense for other families, particularly if the husband is really good at fixing cars, but for us it was a good choice.

Got a New Van! wooo hooo!

We got a new car! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!! (See shoutbox in side bar for super-happy smilies.)

Okay, it's new to us, anyway. I'd never pay for a new car, especially a mini-van. They depreciate at least $10,000 the first year, worse if it's a Windstar. We got a 2005 Chrysler Town & Country. It is sooooo nice! We got a good price on it. It comes with CD and cassette (I wanted both, and that's not always easy to find), Sirius radio, a DVD player with wireless headphones, TWO sliding doors (yes!) and a lot of other great features. It has 29,000 miles on it, a lot for a one year old car, but over 6,000 miles left on the warranty. It runs so smooth and quiet.

I don't think I ever posted about my old van. Ugh! It seemed nice at first, it was a 1995 Oldsmobile Silhouette. After we got it, I realized it wasn't as roomy as we thought. I couldn't even comfortably cross my legs in the passenger seat. And the seatbelt would tighten up on me, and I'd have to undo and redo it to get comfortable--not very safe. There was NO legroom. And the floor was littered with diaper bags, purse, etc. so you couldn't walk to the back. Plus, worst of all, after we got it, it seemed like every month there was a bigger and bigger problem cropping up. Rotors, ignition coil, burned out tail lights, fuse problem, etc. etc. It felt like it was going to fall apart any second. The new car was an answer to our prayers...literally. My four year old son prayed with me every night that we could get a new car.

There was another T&C we wanted in a beautiful blue color, with EVERYthing I wanted, including power sliding doors, power rear lift gate, back up alarm, and a remote starter, which would be nice in the winter times, to warm up the car without it getting stolen. But they wouldn't come down on the price, and it was two thousand more, plus 4000 more miles. *sigh* But the car we got is really good. All I really wanted was a roomy comfortable van with two sliding doors, CD and cassette, and a DVD player. The DVD was crucial to me. Try going on a cross-country trip with a four year old, a three year old, a two year old, and a newborn. We've gone cross-country waaaay too many times! Anyway, the DVD player was for my sanity. I'm not very patient when the kids get loud all at once in the car. But the best thing is, the wireless headphones. They can listen to their movie (and not yank on any wires) and we can listen to the radio up front.

Oh, and another great feature is the dual zone climate control. The driver and the passenger can each choose the temperature level on their own side. Great if one person tends to like it cooler than the other. Plus there's a rear climate control for the kids, for when they get older. This car is also really roomy. Being overweight, when I cross my legs, I'm really putting one ankle on top of my other knee, so you need a lot of room width-wise. This one has it! And the seat belt doesn't lock up and strangle me, praise God! I can't tell you how much that bothered me. I was seriously praying after we bought it that it wouldn't lock up, because I forgot to check. It didn't, and the seat belt is a nice soft kind, not stiff.

But the best feature is the Stow-n-Go seating. All the rear seats fold down into the floor, which is great because I'm always hauling something home from a yard sale or something. I can just pull out the safety seats, stow the van seats, and stack the safety seats in a corner. But better than that, when the van seats are all up in place, you can use the compartments under the floor as storage. Major storage! Now we keep a large diaper bag full of diapers, extra clothing, etc. under the floor, and a small bandolier style diaper bag under a seat for trips into church or the store. Plus I keep phone books, road atlases, extra toys, etc. under there. Sooooo nice. And the van is big enough to easily crawl to the back to buckle the kids in, which is great when you're a larger size. Or pregnant. Or both! (No, I'm not pregnant yet, lol.)

Can you tell I'm happy? Wheeeeeeeeeee! I'll update this post with a pic of the van. Too dark now to take one. If you're looking for a new van, I'd recommend it. We're so happy with it. :-D The only downside is that I am seriously doubting we'll be able to add a third car seat in the back row. It doesn't look like there's much space between the two that are there. We'll probably have to invest in the slimmest booster seats on the market. I guess we'll see.

Belated Father's Day

This should have been posted last weekend, but I thought it was important not to forget all together. How was your Father's Day...more specific, how was your husband's?

Sometimes we forget to take the time to show our husbands how much we appreciate them. I know I do. My husband is a wonderful father who loves to spend time with his children. He would like to develop friendships with men outside the family, but he hates the idea of spending his precious free time with anyone else but his family. He loves teaching things to them, and reading to them, and playing on the floor with them. I knew before we married he'd be a good father, but I had no idea he would be this good. It means so much to me that he loves and takes care of his children so well. He's so willing to help out, change diapers, look after them so I can take a nap. He's completely "tuned in" to their lives.

The children all looooooove Daddy. He's the man. It's so funny that even though my children are kept close to me all day, and were all breastfed, they are still so attached to him. But I guess it's not so surprising, since he's so much fun for them, and he's so patient with him.

This Father's Day I had a lot planned, but unfortunately relatives came to town, so the plans were pared down a lot. But I made him a card on the computer (I didn't like any store ones, and this one was much more personal) which included pictures of the children and little scribbles by each of them. I also bought a carrot cake, his favorite. I was disappointed that I wasn't able to do more. Next year I plan to do a lot more. I can't tell you what, though. He doesn't read my blog, but you never know if he might decide to someday. ;-)

If things got crazy last weekend and you didn't get a chance to tell him, let your husband know every single thing that you love and appreciate about him as a father.

Frugal Tip: Dispose of the Disposables part 2

Have you priced diaper wipes lately? Wow. Now I admit I pay for the good ones. If you're going to buy something to wipe up poop, pay for something you think works, lol! I tried the cheaper ones, they didn't seem to wipe easily, weren't wet enough, etc. I use Huggies Naturals Pop-Up. I think it's $6.84 or something like that, at Walmart.

That was fine before, but now with a fourth child in diapers (well, number one is mostly trained, but he's been using up pull-ups lately) it's crazy. Plus I was using them to wipe the table and dirty hands, too. I stopped that by buying microfiber towels that I cut into quarters (see previous post). But what about their intended purpose? I make homemade wipes.

Gasp! No! Eeeeeww! I can hear it now. But really, it's not that bad, especially if you're using cloth diapers. I thought it would be nasty, but it's no worse than the cloth diapers. They work really well. I use cut-up flannel baby blankets--you know, the ones everybody gives you, but are too small to use with any baby but a preemie? You have to hem the flannel, though. You could use the microfiber cloths, poop would probably rinse even easier off those, but I'd cut them into smaller squares and be sure they're not too wet when you use them--they hold a lot of water.

The easiest way to use them is to get one of those sprayers you can attach to the water line at the back of the toilet. It hangs on the side of the toilet. You just turn it on and spray over the toilet. It's pretty handy for toilet cleaning too. They sell them on a lot of cloth diaper sites. Don't pay more than $35 for it (it's worth it, trust me, and easy to install).

You can use your wipes three ways: wet each one as needed at the sink (sounds like a hassle to me), you can make up some diaper wipe solution and pour it over a stack of wipes in an empty wipes box, or you can keep a stack of dry ones on the diaper changing table, along with a sprayer of wipes solution, and spray each wipe as needed. I prefer method two, although you have to keep in mind that the water in the wipes tub will get mildewy if you don't take steps to prevent it. There are tons of wipes solution recipes on the web. I like the ones with a few drops of tea tree oil and lavender oil. Use distilled water, or it will mildew quicker. Only make up enough wipes that you can use in two days. Smell the wipes every day. If they smell mildewy, throw them in the wash, clean the container, and start over.

The amount of laundry the wipes add is negligible. If you use one pack of brand name wipes a month, this should save you about $7. But it all adds up.
I'll post more about diapers in the future.

The Duggars are Back!

For those of you who love to watch the documentary programs aired on Discovery Health (and other Discovery-owned stations)about the Duggar family, I have great news...they're back!

The most recent installment of Duggar shows just aired on June 11th, called On the Road With 16 Children. It is airing again today at 4 p.m. Go to www.discovery.com to the Discovery Health section of the site for times. And if you miss it, don't worry, just keep an eye out and they'll replay it, like with the other shows.

For those of you who are thinking "Who the heck are the Duggars?", click on the Duggar Family link in my side bar, or read on. There have been three previous shows about the Duggars:

14 Children and Pregnant Again!
Raising 16 Children
16 Children and Moving In

They are a family with sixteen children. The dad, Jim-Bob (yes, they're southern) was in politics for a while and makes a living in real estate. The mom, Michelle, homeschools all of her children. They seem to be a wonderful family, and an example to all of us who are quiverfull-minded...meaning we accept all the blessings (children) God chooses to give us. She is very organized, and I have picked up many tips from these shows, such as the pantry, the family closet, dressing in all one bright color when on road trips so as to easily spot a "lost lamb" (though our kids are too little to be able to wander off on their own much yet), how to live debt-free and more. I wish they'd spend more time on talking about how she runs her house.

But the miracle is that while they do refer often to how unusual Michelle and Jim-Bob's family is, they don't make fun of them or treat them like freaks, and that is amazing considering that this is mainstream media we're talking about. These shows are very enlightening, showing that it IS possible to provide for a family of 18 without being on welfare or winning the lottery. They are not a wealthy family, and though they appear to have a comfortable living now, it comes from hard work and sacrifice, and putting what is important first.

I would recommend this show to anyone, but especially to Christian families. It is nice to finally see a show that portrays a close-knit, loving, hard-working, modestly-dressed family that we can hold up as an example for us all.

So remember this: Discovery Health Channel, On the Road With 16 Children, watch it!

Also, if this picture I got from the website is recent, Jim-Bob is running for senate. If you are in his district in Arkansa...VOTE people, VOTE!!

Frugal Tip: Dispose of the Disposables part 1

One way I am chipping away at the waste in our budget is trying to ban paper towels. No, not altogether...I think it's worth the money to clean up something particularly greasy or nasty. But for normal spills and messes, paper towels are a waste. I have tried to scrounge up some rags from our towels, but unfortunately we have so few that our "holey" towels are actually still in use, lol!

We're going through way too many of those paper towels. Now I admit to sometimes using them as plate substitutes for PB & J sandwiches, but when my husband uses three of them in one night to dry his hands after doing the dishes, when there is a perfectly clean, dry hand towel...something's got to give!

Then I heard rumors on other blogs about these microfiber towels available at Sam's Club. Found in the automotive section, they are sky blue in color, and come in packs of 25 for about $11.25. They are almost as big as normal kitchen towels, but square. Kind of an odd shape, and a little unwieldy for anything other than drying dishes. So I cut them into quarters. Brilliant!! They don't even need to be hemmed, just cut and use. They are just the right size for wiping faces (I admit to using baby wipes for this normally, yikes), wiping tables, counters, floors, chairs, etc. They catch crumbs great, and hold a TON of water. I originally heard about these on blogs and websites about cloth diapers, because uncut and folded into thirds, they're supposed to make great diaper doublers or inserts for cloth pocket diapers--and they do.

If you cut all the towels up, that makes 100 cloths, plenty for my family. A really large family may want two packs. If you think of the savings, it could really add up. It's almost $17 for a large pack of paper towels at Sam's. If you use Bounty. I don't know how long that lasts us. I think a month, maybe more. So the microfiber cloths more than pay for themselves in a month. And the cloths are so small that if you're using just a few a day, it won't add to your laundry at all. If your family would normally use one large pack of paper towels a month, this will save you around $193 a year, and a lot more if you use more paper towels than that,or if you buy them a roll or two at a time.

There are many other uses too, such as "cloth diapers" for dolls. ;-)

So I've asked my husband nicely if he might think of using the hand towels to dry his hands, and the cloths to wipe up spills, etc., so we can try to conserve money. Hopefully he'll remember. :-) If not, at least I'll save money using them myself!

Yard Sale Fever

I think I am coming down with something. The symptoms are: racing pulse, breathing fast, breaking out into a cold sweat. What is the cause? Well, the symptoms occur only when I am driving down the street and see it...the YARD SALE sign!!

Oh, how I love to turn the car around and follow those beloved neon paper signs to that "pot of gold" at the end of the rainbow...a driveway full of someone else's junk! There is no thrill quite like discovering a treasure--either something you can't get anymore, or something you've been wanting, for a great price.

My chest swells with pride as I climb back into my car with a pretty picture, a cute toy, or a really neat book, for less than a dollar. I can't wait to show my husband my new dress, or the kids their new toys, or put that new knick-knack on a shelf. Even better yet, when I look into the FREE box, and find something that I can't believe they are giving away! Yeee haaaww!

Garage sales (yard sales, moving sales, tag sales, whatever) can be a great way to get things you need for a great price. Some stuff is like new, and some (with a little creativity) can be good as new...and even more interesting. Once I paid twenty dollars for two van loads of furniture plus a bunch of smaller miscellaneous items. It saved my family a lot of money, because we really needed some dressers and dining chairs (I later found a table and three more chairs for free).

However, these sales can also become addictive, to the point where instead of saving money, you are wasting it. It is easy to buy things you don't need. Sometimes you can even develop a habit of buying without thinking, and end up with a bunch of things you never use cluttering up your house.

It can also cause strain between you and your husband. He may resent seeing you drag other people's junk in the house week after week, knowing that most of it wasn't needed, and your budget is very tight. This isn't fair to him.

I realized this myself recently. Although my husband has been wonderful about it, I can tell it has been bothering him when I go yard saling. I have cut way back, and resisted most temptations, but I can't hide it anymore. Yes, my friends...

My name is Mommaroo2, and I am a sale-aholic.

I can't pass up a yard sale. If I have only two dollars to my name, I will still stop. I'm ashamed to admit it, but I have even been known to make arrangements with kind souls to have them hold an item for me until later in the week, when we get paid. Thec worst thing is, I will tell my husband I'm only going to look for a particular item we need, and that is my intention...then I'll come home with a big bag of other stuff.

I told myself that I had it under control. I can stop anytime I want. Yesterday, I went out to find those clothes for my son, because he really needed it. I was strong at first. I passed up the box of flexi blocks for three dollars, the marble run game for two dollars, and even the Brita water filtering pitcher for a dollar that we really (kind of) needed. I was so proud!

But then I saw it...the cutest framed picture you ever saw. It was very similar to a Thomas Kincade. I loved it. I wanted it. I HAD to have it! It was five dollars. I'll offer them three, I thought. No, $2.50. They'll never take it. But...they did. Well, it's a great deal, and it's sooooo pretty. Okay, that's the only extra thing I'll buy. At the next sale, there were three heavy hardcover fairy tale books for children. 25 cents each!!!!! How could I pass them up...after all, that's just 75 cents. After that, it was all a blur. Fifteen yard sales and twenty dollars later, I made my way home, mortified. I couldn't resist the temptations!

I had told myself we could afford for me to spend a few dollars, but at home I realized I had spent money my family truly needed this week. Here I am trying to find was to save my family money, and I was throwing it out the window!

Yes friends, the time has come to admit my addiction. Unfortunately, there are no "sale-aholics anonymous" groups, therefore I will have to overcome this addiction on my own. It will be difficult, yet it must be done for the good of my family. So from this day on, I'm going cold-turkey. No more yard sales. None, nada, zip, zilch. Until I can control my impulses, the Queen of Yard Sales must abdicate her throne. It won't be easy. I know that the Fever will strike, and I will have to force myself to drive past the lovely neon signs, quell the shakes, and fight the uncontrollable urge to screech to a halt and race up the seller's driveway, purse in hand...but...*sigh*...it's the only way.

Wise Wife's Guide to Stretching Her Husband's Dollar

Over at Getting Back to Basics, there is an ongoing series called the Wise Wife's Guide to Stretching Her Husband's Dollar. It's a fabulous title for a fabulous bunch of posts about conserving your family's resources. I highly recommend it. This is one of my favorite blogs to read.

I have been trying to cut back on expenses, by cooking only healthy foods from scratch, trying to eliminate "disposable" products in my house (diapers, paper towels, baby wipes), making my own cleaning products, and hanging some of my laundry to dry. I can always use more advice on the subject. I know I have a long way to go before I can consider myself to be a good steward of my husband's money.

Bread Baking

In my quest to lower my family's expenses and raise our level of health, I am trying to bake my own bread. I've only done it a few times, but I'm getting the hang of it, and it tastes soooooo good fresh out of the oven, with butter.

Tonight I used my bread machine that I got at a yard sale for the first time. It's baking now, so we'll find out. Unfortunately I started it so late, that I'll have to get up at 4:30 am to take it out, in order to have a crisp crust rather than a soggy one. I hope it turns out well.

I probably won't use the machine often. I like the idea of making it by hand, plus with a bread maker you can only do one loaf at a time. I'd like to make 5-6 at a time, and freeze the extra. Tomorrow my husband is baking a bunch of stuff so I'll have a freezer full of baked goods for snacks and easy meals once he goes back to work. We're planning on making some sweet breads, muffins, bread, and breadsticks. And knowing him, a cake! Well, HE'S making it. I'll be resting in my chair...at least that's the plan...I haven't truly rested much this week! I'm hoping to get up the strength to fold some laundry tomorrow. I'll let him put it away though. Oops, I've gotten way off-topic! ;-)

Back to the bread...can anyone tell me what freezing does to it? Is it still pretty good when you thaw it? I know store bread seems the same, and although I'm sure homemade bread won't be as good as fresh-from-the-oven, I'm wondering if it's still as good as next-day bread. What do you knead your bread on? My mom has a big pastry board she uses for pie crusts. I wish I had one to try for breads. When I use my countertop, it seems to stick a lot, and I end up putting in too much flour to keep it from sticking.

I think bread making is an art, but my last loaf was pretty good, so it's not too hard. Once I find a recipe I prefer to others, I'll have to run an analysis on how much it costs to produce. I'll be using organic ingredients, which raise the price, but I still think it's cheaper. And a heck of a lot cheaper than buying organic bread--it costs almost four dollars for a tiny loaf!!!

Parenting Tip of the Day

I read something recently that made me think. How often does my child see me smile throughout the day? Or frown?

Wow. At first, we're tempted to think "of course I smile more than I frown." But do we? If we are having a bad day, how often will we frown, mumble, complain? How often will we get frustrated with our children...even when they've done nothing wrong? How many complaints, or gossipy conversations, or sarcastic remarks do our children overhear? These things are never so evident than when we have a four year old who listens and understands much more than we realize, and who then repeats every word and tone of voice he or she hears!

So today, let's be aware of what we say and how we say it, and the expressions on our faces, and make sure that our children see and hear far more positive things than negative.

Contest Winner!

I have selected the winner of the "Cruddy Job Challenge". I thought it would be a big decision, but as it turned out...SHE WAS THE ONLY ONE WHO ENTERED! Mrs. Wilt of The Sparrow's Nest, you are now the proud owner of a lovely 1951 Simplicity Apron Pattern! :-D


Thank you for entering, Mrs.Wilt! I liked your post on reclaiming your closet. That was a great idea on storing your hats. I plan to buy more hats, so I think your idea will come in handy for me. For anyone who would like to read her prize-winning post, go to http://the-sparrows-nest.blogspot.com/2006/05/reclaiming-my-closet.html and don't forget to check out the rest of her blog. It's my favorite, so many inspiring ideas, and fun to read! Plus she has a shoutbox and chatroom.


Mrs. Wilt, I'll contact you to make arrangements to send you the pattern, hopefully before the weekend. Please be sure to let us all see the results when you make your first apron! I'm sure it will be beautiful! I wanted to use the pattern myself, but I knew I'd never get around to it, so I'm glad to see it find a good home. :-)

I'm still working on my kitchen, but veeeerrrryyy slowly right now, while I recover. Yesterday bought a few storage containers to organize the clumps of hair accessories I have in a basket for my daughter. So instead of an unsightly basket on the kitchen counter, I have an organizer with a handle kept inside the diaper changing cabinet. The container was chosen from the hardware department, and I wanted one that had a snap-shut lid and handle, so I could send my daughter to fetch it for me whenever I was getting her ready in the morning.

Home from the Hospital

Thank you all for your prayers. The surgery went well. There was only one hernia to repair. I was pretty sick feeling and in a lot of pain the first day, but then they worked out the medication and I continued to get better after that. I was in the hospital four days. I pumped the whole time for my daughter, and she latched on right away when I came home. I was relieved, because I worried she wouldn't want to nurse after having bottles.

I'm still extremely sore, but the doctor gave me plenty of pain medication (unlike my last o.b., who didn't seem to care that I was in pain the whole time, grrr). My wonderful husband will be home for a week to do everything for me. He even tidied up and organized some stuff for me while I was gone. :-)

I was very nervous before going in for the operation, because I was getting general anesthesia, and I was in the hospital alone (my husband had to drop me off and stay home with our four children). But it ended up being no big deal, and I was glad they put me under, since it meant not having to experience any discomfort or fear during surgery.

Well, I'm pretty sore right now, I'll post more tomorrow when I feel better. God bless.

Surgery on Friday

I mentioned in an earlier post, I will be going in for surgery on Friday. It is for a hernia, which I developed following my fourth c-section three months ago. It's gotten worse, and can be extremely painful sometimes. I will be going under general anesthesia. I'm not too thrilled, since I'm overweight, have sleep apnea and some other medical issues which raise my risks of being put under.

As you know, I have four small children depending on me, ages 3 months to four years old. They and their daddy need me, so PLEASE remember me often in your prayers, that the surgery may be successful and uneventful, and that the pain and recovery time will be minimal. My husband doesn't have much vacation time left, so I won't be healed when he goes back to work, and I will have no help then. Now is one of those times I could really use an older child! The four year old is pretty much only good for fetching things. I could use a baby-holder and a diaper-changer and a dinner-maker, lol.

I'm starting to get pretty nervous. General anesthesia is a big deal. I could go to sleep and wake up before the judgement seat of God. I'm a little worried when I think about that, because I'm not happy with the kind of Christian that I have been lately. I have been extremely lax, particularly in my prayer and worship. And although I think I have been much more patient with my children and somewhat more diligent with my household duties, I feel that I am still falling far short of what I could and should be doing as a mother and wife. So hopefully when they put me to sleep on Friday, I will wake up...for REAL!

Thank you in advance for your prayers.

Mommaroo2

Oh, and by the way, I'll let you know next week, when I'm feeling better, who the challenge winner was. And I'm sorry to say I won't finish the challenge myself, due to the unexpected surgery, but I'll get done what I can. At least I have one cupboard done, and that's more than what I had done before, lol!

Belated Tribute to Veterans

I read a moving and wonderfully patriotic tribute to veterans on Stephanie's "Getting Back to Basics" blog (which is fabulous, by the way--and I stole your vet pic Stephanie, hope you don't mind).

It is sad that our veterans, after serving so honorably in our armed forces to protect the freedoms of this country, are forgotten. As with Christian observances, our patriotic observances have turned into hedonist free-for-alls where one lays about, drinks and eats past satiation, and completely ignores the meaning of the day.

This post should remind us all of what Memorial Day is supposed to be about:

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/evenavapor/

One Cabinet Completed

One cabinet down, a whole lot more to go!

Before:


After:




This is the dry goods cabinet. I keep mixes, cereal, grains and legumes in here. Notice the crumpled bags all over the place. Those are there because I buy many things at the health food store in bulk. Then I never get around to transferring them to other containers. I am working on accumulating some more half-gallon canning jars. Mrs. Wilt at The Sparrow's Nest had pictures of laundry detergent in nice glass jars by Martha Stewart that she got at Kmart. I find them a little pricey, but it's cheaper than buying other types of jars. I did find some similar jars at Target for a little bit less. I'd like to get some. I also have been buying canisters at yard sales. I bought a set of four for $2. I don't like the pattern on them, but I plan to print out a pattern I like on my computer, then decoupage it to the outside of the canisters. You'll see them in future photos as my kitchen clean-up progresses.

I chose not to clean the cabinets yet. Although it would save time in the end to clean them now, I decided it would get me off track, and I'm more likely to organize them if I can just do it quickly in five or ten minutes, without having to get out cleaning supplies and a step stool. There's also a few things that I probably could get rid of, like the Atkins food, since we're not doing Atkins any more. But I'm still deciding what to do with them (will I use them, donate them, or toss them).

The beans were put into half-gallon canning jars. I couldn't get them all in, I only had four of them. Each jar holds approximately three pounds of dried beans, usually with a bit of room left over. Although the jars do take up more space than stacking the bags of beans flat, it looks nicer and will be easier to use. And really, I have quite a bit of storage space in the kitchen. It's embarassing, some of the "before" pictures I took have empty drawers and cabinets that I actually forgot about, lol! Seriously, since I never use them, I forgot they existed!! But others, as you will eventually see, are crammed full of small appliances, bags of sippy cups and who knows what else.

The other bags of beans are stacked into a small plastic tray. I used another tray to hold packets of organic instant oatmeal. I re-used a plastic cous cous jar for brown rice. Then I got rid of some things that didn't belong in that cabinet. It only took me about ten minutes--would have taken less if I wasn't dealing with the kids eating their lunches. :-)

I wouldn't say the cabinet is 100% done. I may add more containers. But for the most part, it's done. I plan to attack one more cabinet today, then get to the laundry monster. I can't decide if I should do the baking cabinet, or the really bad corner cabinet. We'll see how it goes!

Apron Pattern Prize

Here is the apron pattern I am giving away for the "Cruddy Job Challenge". It is a true vintage pattern, a Simplicity Printed Pattern # 3718, copyrighted in 1951. It shows four views of aprons. The envelope is torn a bit on the front. All the pieces are there, and in very good condition. It doesn't appear to me to have been used.

For some reason, the pattern pieces are lettered, A-M, except for I and J. There are no pieces marked I or J, and the list doesn't include I or J. The pattern lists eleven pieces, and all are accounted for. Being a novice, I don't know if this is typical, or not. The pattern comes in a ziplock bag to protect it. I will probably just send it in a manila envelope.



Here you can see the directions sheet, the envelope, the ziploc bag, and the stack of pattern pieces.






This picture is a close up of the direction sheet, where it shows all the aprons you can make. I showed this because one apron isn't visible on the envelope,where it is torn.



Good luck with the contest. Just think how much more you'll enjoy your next "cruddy job" if you are wearing a cute vintage-style apron that you made yourself! And you just KNOW everyone will ask where you got it! :-)

I Did It!

You may have noticed that beginning with my Memorial Day Tablescape post, I have FINALLY added pictures. After figuring out how to upload pictures from my camera and add them to my blog, I am extremely embarassed that I publicly posted that I didn't know how to do it...it was easy, once I spent the time to figure it out!

The hardest part of the whole thing was finding the stupid port to plug the USB cable into on the camera. I knew I had the right wire, but I spent five minutes looking all over the darn thing for a hole to fit it into. I finally found it under a hidden panel. Okay, not-so-hidden...it was marked AV/DV plus a USB symbol, but it was hard to notice. ;-)

I will be updating some of my old posts with appropriate pictures, and the next post will include pics of the apron pattern. I will also add pictures of my family. However, they pictures will be blurred or altered to protect my family's privacy. I am a big advocate of maintaining privacy on the web, particularly if you have children.



Too bad though. My kids are so cute! :-D Maybe I can let a picture of the baby slip by. They change so much in a few months, anyway. Here is a picture of me holding my three year old daughter at the zoo, as we look at the tigers. My three month old daughter is in a carrier on my chest. The white blob is her bonnet.

Memorial Day Tablescape

Since today was Memorial Day, I wanted to do something special. It was a hectic day, and my husband had fed the kids dinner while I napped, so I never had time to plan. But when I went to the store to pick up a few things, I decided to get some "picnic" type of food

and decorations. Inspired by Mrs. Wilt at The Sparrow's Nest (see sidebar for the link), I decorated my table for Memorial Day.

I used a red table cloth I already had. Not perfect, but it was red. Then I bought two little pails with star cutouts in the rim, one red and one blue ($1 each at Target), a flag-motif star-shaped candle dish ($1 at Target), a few little flags (3 pack for $1 at Target), some foil star garland ($1.50 at Kmart), and little red white and blue decorative "sprays" (pack of 3, $1.50 at Kmart). I also bought a four-pack of annuals at the grocery store for $1.79 with tiny white flowers.

At home, I cut the four-pack apart and arranged them into one of the pails. Then I stuck the three flags and decorative sprays in between them. Then I unwrapped the garland and coiled it around the centerpiece. I lined the other bucket with plastic wrap inside and used it to serve cut fruit, and set the pail on top of the candle dish (I had planned on using a candle, but it wasn't needed with such a full centerpiece). I used a red and white plate for the cookies, and used two blue glass plates I already had for eating on. It looked pretty cute. After the fact, I decided to add a white doily under the centerpiece for more contrast. Not sure if I liked it that way or not. These pictures don't do it justice--they were taken at angles strategically designed not to show my dining area. ;-) Really, it's not that bad at all, but would make the picture look very cluttered.

I will re-use the decorations for Independence Day and Labor Day. I also plan on going back in a few days and trying to purchase some red white and blue swags, flags, and other decorations on clearance. Thanks to Mrs. Wilt for the inspiration. My husband was very pleased.

In case anyone was wondering, I served hot dogs, cole slaw, macaroni salad, cherry pie, cut fruit, and cookies with holiday sprinkles for our dinner. I am embarassed to admit it was all store-bought, as I didn't have time to prepare anything. My fault for lack of planning. But hey, this is the first "minor" holiday that I actually did something for, so I'm making progress.

Challenge Update

Journey to Homemaker

I just found out I have to have surgery on Friday. I will be in the hospital over the weekend, and recovering for a couple of weeks. I will still judge a winner for the contest, but it may take a few extra days to get the apron pattern sent out. I hope the winner won't mind. If you are doing the contest, please post a comment telling me what job you plan to do. I'm trying to flush out all you lurkers! ;-) I am going to post a picture of the pattern tomorrow. I'm still trying to figure out how. If I don't, you all have my permission to post a million comments bugging me to do it! :-)

I have not yet gotten to my kitchen, mostly because I got behind and it turned into a pigsty. My wonderful husband cleaned it up for me this weekend, and now I'm ready to tackle it. Well, actually I did start a little bit, because on Friday I started going through the piles of paper and putting them into in/out boxes, the stackable kind you use in offices. I have four down in the computer room and four in the kitchen, which gives each of us an in and an out box in each room. I cleared an entire counter of clutter, getting rid of the CD's (I got a new CD rack at a yard sale for a dollar, to keep in the computer room) the tapes, and a pile of junk that didn't belong there. It looks SO much better. That had been a major hot spot for months!

Tomorrow I will begin to pull stuff out of the cabinets. When we moved in, I just shoved stuff into them, unorganized and in bags and boxes. We actually have a lot of storage space in our kitchen, but it is under-utilized. I may try to paint the interior of the cabinets white, to make it cleaner looking and easier to see inside. Our cabinets are a very dark 1970's style wood. VERY dark. I may ask the landlord if I can paint the outside, too. I'm planning on repainting the walls no matter what. They painted them a very odd pinkish beige. It's the kind of color you can NOT match anything to, in decorating. Pinks are too pink next to the paint, beige looks funny, and so do most other colors, except maybe white and some greens. Trust me, it's wierd. I have a feeling it was in the "oops" section of discounted paints.

Plus, the landlord told me he painted with washable, scrubbable paint. Bless his heart, he's a nice man, but he doesn't know what he's talking about. The paint is FLAT paint, and you moms out there with a lot of kids know that flat paint is not scrubbable or washable, no matter what the paint can says. I need walls I can wash. I'm going to pick a very neutral creamy yellow that will go with almost anything. But I'm going to ask first about the cabinets, because painting them is a big deal. I want to paint them a semi-gloss white. I hate to spend money like that on a rental, but it will make me happier, and we have an eighteen month lease.

I can't wait to have my kitchen clean so I can start decorating it. I'm going to do before and after pics, it will be great! Just being able to have a place for everything, and know WHERE that place is will be wonderful! The challenge is helpful to me. I can't very well have a challenge and not do it myself!

Cruddy Job Challenge

Journey to Homemaker

Is there a job in your home that you have been putting off, but really needs to be done? Cleaning out the garage, decluttering the basement, paring down on the amount of clothing in your house, organizing your pantry? If you have a job that you need motivation to do, I have a challenge for you.

Get that cruddy job you've been dreading done within the next two weeks, and post before and after pictures on your blog...then leave a link to it in the comments section of this post. I'll chose the winner, who will receive...da da ta daaaa!...a vintage apron pattern. It is circa 1950's, has several styles to chose from (all waist aprons), very cute. I don't think it's been used at all, but I have to double check...I didn't actually open up every single page of the pattern. I'll try to get a picture of the pattern envelope on here in the next day or so.

But the real prize is pride in a job well done...plus the bragging rights when you show the pictures on your blog, lol! Just think of how much you'll smile when you finish...you'll just sit and stare at the neat and tidy results! The deadline is June 5th, and I will announce the winner by June 7th. Good luck!

Treasure Hunting

Journey to Homemaker

I've been yard saling and going to thrift stores to find some decorative and practical items for my home. This weekend I passed through a small town on the way home from a Walmart trip and saw piles of junk by the curb of many houses. Then I saw trucks going by loaded with some of the good "junk". It was a neighborhood curbside pickup weekend!

Towns often have one day a year that you can set out anything--furniture, appliances, junk, etc.--to be picked up for free. Thrifty-minded people often scavenge most of the good stuff before the truck come. Last night I loaded my car with useful items--two sets of nice looking metal shelving for the garage, some children's riding toys, a couple of cabinets, a lawn seeder, a wooden rocking horse, a four-drawer filing cabinet, a stereo cabinet, a nice tapestry footstool, and much more.

Today I went back and got even more. A nice green wing-back chair (will go well with the footstool), a baby gate, a nice Eddie Bauer infant car seat with matching stroller, a flip-and-fold cushion chair for my son, a white dresser for my daughter, a race car bed for my son, a little tikes picnic table, a little tikes double easel/chalkboard, a razor-type scooter, a little tikes toddler basketball hoop, a nice decorative shelf, and miscellaneous smaller items. It was a great haul!

Most of it I want to keep, but some of it I plan to repaint and repair (only a few things were damaged) and sell at a future yard sale. I happened upon a "vintage home sale" today. Basically a fancy garage sale. The lady had her garage arranged like a little country gift shop. She had white Christmas lights strung up, painted lattice as a back drop, and carefully merchandised furniture pieces. Looking closely at the furniture, I'm sure it was stuff she got at the previous weekend's curbside pickup, which I misssed. Or they were very cheap yard sale finds. She repainted them nice, pastel colors, and arranged nice decorative items in them. She had homemade soaps tied in tulle and ribbon, and most of her stuff was very expensive. If she had priced stuff half of what she was asking, she could have made a good profit and had more traffic. But I got some really good ideas!

One thing she did was to take a waist-high cabinet and place a small bookcase on top, and paint them both a light sage green. I've seen this trick on Decorating Cents on HGTV. Though I think she should have permanently mounted the two together, for safety. It made it look similar to an old china hutch. It looked pretty cute.

I had so much fun this weekend. The only thing better than getting great deals on cool yard sale stuff, is to get a huge haul of good stuff for free! Just recently I had been wanting to wait and do without the furniture we needed til we could afford nice, new furniture. But now I remind myself that by being thrifty and re-doing old furniture inexpensively, I can help keep down my family's expensive, and still make my home look nice. In a way, I'm "earning" money for us. And if I paint and re-sell some furniture, I will really be earning some money for the family.

Of course, I have to remind my husband of this, when he sees our garage so full of stuff, he can't park in it!! But it's just for a few weeks. ;-)

Ready for Unexpected Visitors?

Journey to Homemaker

Have you ever had anyone show up at your house unexpectedly, at the worst possible time? Your kids were dirty, screaming and fighting, the dishes were piled in the sink, the floor was filthy, clean (or dirty) clothes were piled up, there were toys strewn everywhere, and you looked a mess...or worse, you weren't dressed yet and it was afternoon already. Sound familiar?

A couple of months ago, our neighbor showed up unexpectedly to introduce herself (and complain about my dog). I was soooo embarrassed, because the house was a mess, the kids were in their pajamas, and although I was dressed, I was a total mess because I hadn't had a shower and had just woken up from a late nap with the kids. I was mortified.

I kept her in the front hall (with the dirty floor) and luckily she couldn't see much of the house. She's the nosy type that not only asks a lot of questions, but also gets in your personal space. And she feels the need to come over and chat every time we're in the back yard, even if only the kids are in the back yard (really, coralled on the back porch, with me watching closely while I clean the kitchen). So I was really worried what she might be thinking. And of course, you never know if someone is the type to call Social Services on you just because she doesn't agree with the way you bring up your kids. I've heard stories that would curl your toes! My mother-in-law had CPS called on her by a neighbor because her kids were skinny. Those kids were eating the poor woman out of house and home...they were just skinny kids!

You'd think I'd have shaped up after that experience, but I didn't. Not much at least. There were other times I almost got caught in my nightgown, with a messy house, etc. Last week, my son fell over in his booster chair, slammed his cheek on the floor and bit his tongue really deep. I had to take him to the doctor. My neighbor had to come over to watch the kids. Thank God that the house was reasonably tidy, and we were all dressed and clean. That could have been really bad--neighbors left alone to see a messy house up close!

Not to mention if it had been a different type of injury and the neighbor or an overly zealous doctor had called CPS on us, I could have arrived home to a social worker wanting to inspect our house. (Which will never happen, I'm educated on that topic, and know my rights and the steps to take if ever they show up--go to www.hslda.org for more info, and if you homeschool or are thinking about it, JOIN THEM they will help in these situations!)

If you are struggling with your household duties, as I am, make it your first priority to have you and your family members clean and neatly dressed--nothing fancy, just clean and in decent clothes. Your next priority should be having a reasonably tidy house...particularly the areas of the home visible from the main door, and also the pathway to the main bath, should someone drop by and end up needing to use it. If at least this much is done, you will be much better off for it.

It is also a good idea to have a plan in case of emergencies. If you suddenly become very ill, go into labor, etc., who will be able to get there right away to watch your children if you have to go in an ambulance? How will they know what to do if there's no time to tell them? Here is where a home management binder can come in very handy. You should have emergency numbers in it, and posted on the fridge as well. All your main medical info and insurance info should be in it, as well as your master schedule.

It may even be a good idea to have a separate babysitter binder as well, in case you need to take yours with you. It can have emergency numbers, rules for the children, instructions for the sitter, a master schedule for the children, a list of allergies and medical conditions for the children, the locations of necessary items (diapers, bedrooms, clothing, cleaning supplies in case of a huge mess, extra bed linens in case of accidents, etc.), meal suggestions and preferences for the children, and other necessary info.

It is also a good idea to include contact info for other sitters or relatives that can cover if your sitter has an emergency. For my last child's birth, my sitter's husband had to go to the emergency room just as I was going into surgery for my c-section, and the hospital I was in was an hour away. My sitter had to wait til we got out of the recovery room before we got the message, and then my husband had to leave me and drive an hour home before she could go to her husband in the hospital. There was no room in her car for our kids, and she'd have needed three car seats anyway, which she didn't have. If we'd had back-up sitters lined up, that situation wouldn't have been a problem.

If you have a babysitter binder that you keep near the phone along with a local phone book, the babysitter will have everything they need to care for your children. I already have a babysitter's guide with most of the necessary info, and plan to add other info from my home management binder. That way I can keep personal info in my binder, and take it with me or put it away so the sitter doesn't need to see it...she'll have her own sitter binder to use instead.

I think I finally learned my lesson when my son was hurt. I was very thankful that we were dressed and ready to go, because the doctor's office was already closing and they said they could only wait fifteen minutes for us. If he and I had to get ready, there wouldn't have been enough time, we couldn't have gone in. And the injury really wasn't serious enough for an emergency room visit. Who wants to pay five hundred dollars and wait three hours to be told "he'll be fine, just give him ice cream and pudding for the next 24 hours." Yikes! So being "ready for anything" came in handy. Well, ALMOST ready for anything...we never did find his sneakers. I had to carry him into the doctor's office, lol. I'm glad he's only four!! :-)

Lovely Aprons and Pretty Dresses

Journey to Homemaker

Aprons are making a big comeback nowadays. At least they are in homemaking circles. Most Christian homemaking blogs contain a post or two about them, particularly if the blog owners believe in modest dress. There is something about how you feel in an apron. It is the homemaker's "uniform". When you put it on, you feel as if you have truly begun your day.

I often feel more productive when I am dressed, my hair done, and wearing socks and shoes (I am a lover of slippers). But when I don that old-time wardrobe necessity, that's when I feel truly ready to work. The aprons I have now are simple, modern, solid-colored aprons with logos on the front. Only one is long and has pockets. As a plus-size woman, most aprons don't give me the coverage I desire.

A lot of homemakers like the cute half-aprons of the fifties, the kind meant to use while serving your dinner party guests. But for me, those are kind of pointless, because when I spill stuff, it's down the front of me, not on my lap. There are many styles out there, the no-tie type often seen in Jane Austen movies being a popular one. The type I like is one I would consider more of a pioneer style--feminine but not frilly, flowing and very practical...giving me the full coverage I need. These are hard to come by, but I found a pattern for them online here: www.candleonthehill.net/store/catalog.php?item=40&catid=12&ret=catalog.php.%3Fcategory%3D12

I plan to get the pattern at some point, but I may for now try to just wing it. I know, I know...I don't know how to sew. LOL. But I found a free pattern online that tells you how to make a similar apron for a child. I just have to figure out how to make the back of it, since I think it is different. I have some nice blue toile I plan to use, and then make one for my older daughter to wear. That style with that particular print should make a really lovely apron. If I ever get the time!

Lately I've been wearing my nicer dresses around the house. I always avoided that, for comfort and also to keep them nice. But how many "church" dresses can you have? Plus they are mostly prints, so stains won't show as much as they do on my solid-colored casual tops. And most of them are actually pretty comfortable, and really aren't all that dressy. I twist my hair up and clip it, then blow dry my bangs and curl tendrils over my ears. It's quick and easy, and I look pretty good.

Now I need some comfy shoes for the house. I feel silly in a dress and sneakers. Those go better with my denim skirts. I have some nice sandals I wore all last summer. Very comfy, and I don't have to search for matching socks. I'd never worn sandals before because I thought I had ugly feet. But I did my toenails (and plucked hairs from my big toes--I know, too much information, lol) and moisturized my feet, and they looked pretty good. I actually felt prettier.

Wednesday I was on the back deck with the children, sweeping up the sand from their sandbox. I actually wasn't worried about people seeing me, because I had on a nice dress, an apron, had my hair done, and was peacefully sweeping the deck. As a mother of a "large" family (small compared to most people at my church) I often feel like the "poster child" for moms of large families. You feel uncomfortable if you and your children look like slobs, and you're screaming at them as they run wild. Really, it's the moms of one kid who should feel like that if they look that way, they don't have as much of an excuse, lol! But since you're a spectacle if you have more than two kids (especially as young as all mine are) you don't want to be any more of a spectacle than you have to!! So looking nicer is definitely a good thing!

Diving into the Dining Room

Journey to Homemaker

Boy, I could swear I blogged yesterday. Guess not! Well, I was pretty busy! I really hated the way the dining room (really a dining area) was looking, full of junk it had accumulated. So I dragged everything into the living room. I just bought a table to use temporarily til I can find a cheap dining room table. It's one of those heavy duty long plastic tables with the folding metal legs. This particular table also folds in half and has a carrying handle. But it's narrower than I want, and not heavy enough...the kids have pushing matches with the table! So I plan to return it. But since it folds in half, it was easy to get out of the room, which was nice.

I swept the floor, dry-swiffered it, wet-swiffered it, and mopped it twice. Looks pretty good, the best it's looked since we moved here. I vacuumed out the chairs with the booster chairs on them, and put them back. (I was glad to find those heavier wooden chairs, because my son had tipped over in the folding chair with the booster on it, and bit his tongue BAD.) Then I moved one of the free dressers I got into the dining room. It's chipped and really old, but it will do for now. There's another set of two low dressers I plan to repaint and move in there, but I haven't picked them up yet. So for now this old tall white one will hold my table linens and some of the baby's pajamas, for quick changes.

On that dresser I put a Battenburg lace runner, a picture of my baby, and a bud vase with a few carnations in it. Just adding those touches distracts from the ugliness of the dresser.

Fresh flowers make an amazing difference in the house! My husband recently brought home a bouquet of wildflowers, which I've decided I like much better than roses. I love roses that smell nice, but most store roses don't anymore, and don't last long at all. The wildflower bunches always last a long time, and then you can get rid of the flowers that are wilted and still have a few good looking ones. Alstromeria (sp?) are so pretty, and last a long time. We can get those flowers for about $5 a bunch. I've decided that as long as we're not broke, I'm going to buy a bunch every two weeks, and have one vase on the table, and take a few buds and put them in bud vases around the house.

On the dining room table I put a red jaquard tablecloth and a round, white linen doily (it MUST be linen, I just couldn't get it pressed well) with crocheted lace trim, and a glass vase of flowers on top. Looks pretty good for a plastic table with mismatched chairs!

My husband really liked what I had done. Unfortunatley, I was up so late, I ended up with a big mess to put away, from all the junk I'd left in the living room! :-( But the living room is almost picked up, and after that I plan to start on the kitchen. The counters are a mess, and there's unpacked boxes of kitchen junk stuffed in a bunch of cabinets...and some unused cabinets! Time to tackle that. The dining room isn't perfect still--didn't dust the trim or the ceiling fan, etc. But with the kitchen and other rooms so messy, they take priority over deep cleaning.

It makes me feel better getting stuff accomplished, and I'm so happy to sit and stare at my clean dining room! :-D

A "Tidy" Attitude

Journey to Homemaker

I've discovered lately that there is a big connection between the condition of my home and my emotional state. When I keep up with the housework and everything looks at least a little tidy, I am calmer and happier. The better the house looks, the better I feel. If I let the house get cluttered during one afternoon and don't clean it up, my mood deteriorates quickly. By the next morning I'm in a terrible state. I let too many small things get to me, and it can get to the point that I break down and cry, or get depressed and shut myself up in the computer room.

For the first time in a very long time, for the last week or two, I have kept the house tidy more often than messy. It has really improved my emotional state and attitude so much that even my husband noticed.

One thing I have done to make a difference is not let myself say "I'll do it later." Instead I tell myself "I'll just put a few things away now." I either end up doing it all, because the hardest part is getting started, or I do a little bit whenever I pass through the room, and it gets done over a short time. When the kids are eating lunch, instead of sitting and relaxing, I clean the kitchen and organize some things, a little at a time. That does the most for keeping up with the kitchen...which is always the messiest room.

The hardest thing is to keep up with it. If I get busy and the kitchen gets messy all of a sudden, I am at risk of letting the whole house get sucked into a vortex of chaos. Flylady often talks about "hotspots". In my case this is so true. My big hotspot is the penninsula counter in the kitchen. If I let a mess "flame up" there, next thing I know the whole living/dining/kitchen area is one big inferno of chaos! With four small children, it doesn't take long for a mess to crop up, particularly with all the meals I need to make them.

A lot of the homemaking blogs I visit talk about how it takes 21 days to form a habit. Unfortunately I never seem to be able to maintain a new routine for more than four days. But I'm improving, at least!

Kitchen Organization on a Budget

When I organized some of my kitchen drawers, I didn't have the money to buy neat organizing thingies. So I came up with cheap imitations. I used a tall round tin I found at a yard sale with a victorian picture on it, as a container for long-handled cooking utensils, and placed it next to the stove. For the drawer with other cooking utensils, I cut the bottom off some cereal boxes and some soda cases (the long type of box that you can keep in the fridge). The sides were about an inch and a half tall. I put long utensils in one, measuring spoons in another. There is another small box I use for smaller miscellaneous items.

Boxes are great to use in the kitchen, because no one really sees what's in your drawers and cabinets, and if they do, they'll probably marvel at your ingenuity and organizational skills. You can replace them at a later date with wicker baskets or plastic dividers if you want.

To organize some items in my baking cabinet, I'm using plastic jars that my cous cous and peanuts come in. They are sort of square shaped with round lids. I'm using them for brown sugar and shredded coconut so far. I buy this cous cous a lot, so it won't take long to accumulate a lot of them...if I can keep my husband from throwing them away!

I re-organized my tupperware cabinet. My loving husband put it all in a jumble up on the top shelf, which I can NOT reach. So I stacked and organized them, and put the kids' sippy cups on the bottom shelf, so it's all in a place that makes sense.

If you buy the cheap gallon tubs of ice cream at the store, you can save the tubs for keeping cleaning supplies in.

Budget Decorating

I've been making some progress at home. I've organized some drawers, and have turned my attention to some decorating. I really should do more decluttering and organizing first, but I wanted to make the house look nicer too.

We moved here just last fall, and had gotten rid of a lot of the furniture we had (which wasn't much) thinking we'd buy new. Well, the money hasn't been available, meanwhile we're sleeping on mattresses on the floor, eating sitting on the couch, and stacking our clothes in the closets with no drawers to use.

Now that I've accumulated some furniture (see previous post) I have some great plans. I plan to paint all the furniture a nice sage green. Someone from Freecycle is giving me two low, wide dressers, which I plan to also paint green, and paint the knobs white with a spray of flowers on each. Then I'll put them in the dining area, to use for arts and crafts supplies, homeschooling supplies, and kitchen/dining room linens. I have some pieces of wood in the basement that will make great wood shelves. I'll paint them green also and buy some white brackets to put them up, two on each side of the dining area's window. I have a Battenburg lace valance that I'll put over the windows, and I'll buy some matching lace trim to trim the edges of the shelves. Then I'll put some pictures, small religious statues, and small baskets on the shelves.

For the table I'll try to find a nice table cloth, and keep some fresh flowers in a vase. When I get a table, that is! The table and chairs will be green also (cheaper to just get a whole gallon of the green paint for everything).

I'm not sure what to do with the dressers. The kids' clothes are in plastic drawers, stacked in the laundry room. There's no room for both dressers in there because of the clothes rack. I'll probably use one up in our bedroom. Maybe I'll keep the other one in the upstairs hall closet. It's big, like a bedroom closet, and I can keep the kids' bedding in there, and maybe winter coats. We have tons of closet space here.

The bookcase I will put in the computer room. I have many baskets that I am utilizing as decoration and storage througout the house, primarily in the living area.

The other day I took my yard sale and thrift store doilies and pictures and redecorated the living room. I have a set of shelves with religious statues that had become cluttered with Christmas candles, our Nativity set, children's books, etc. I cleaned it off, dusted it (first time ever...seriously, I'm a bad housekeeper, I never dust) redid the decorations. I took some of the smaller picture frames and replaced the tacky pictures with pictures I printed off the computer of my kids. Sad to say, the only picture I had on my walls our whole marriage was one Walmart portrait of my first son when he was a newborn. So for the first time ever, there are now framed pictures, one of each child, in our living room. The top shelf of the unit has a large round doily with the lace draped over the edge, and two tall statues of saints. The next shelf has two smaller statues, a doily with pink flowers embroidered on it, and a small picture of my newborn daughter. The next shelf has a Battenburg lace runner on it, a very small religious statue, and a picture of my almost-two-year-old son. The bottom shelf has a round basket with books for my children. If I ever figure out how to post pictures on my blog, I'll post a picture of the shelves. It was a big improvement.

I also put up a matted framed picture with the Footprints poem on it, and another with a poem about marriage. I added two picture frames with pictures of my oldest son and daughter, next to the larger picture of my first son as a newborn, creating a grouping of pictures, which looks much better than a single lonely picture.

I found an old cheapo plastic wall clock that was in bad shape, banged up from the move. I took off the plastic face, and decided it was to scratched to be saved. The white cardboard face was warped from moisture damage, and stained as well. I printed off a piece of paper with a light green scrollwork background, then fed it back into the printer and printed off a clock face from the internet, and put it into the clock. I used double sided tape to keep the face in place, and put the clock on the wall in the corner behind the tv, so no one will get too close to see my cheap fix. ;-)

I need to do something with the curtains. I had bought some tan fabric that has a suede look to it, and hung it from tension rods and rings with clips on them. But in the sun, the fabric looks terrible, like a seventies gold! I may use it instead to reupholster our ugly stained cream colored couch. I'm thinking white Battenburg lace curtains, or something similar.

With our budget of...well, next to nothing...I'm trying to be creative. I'm using and re-purposing things that I'm finding as we (still) unpack. I've found some fabric that I may use to make bedding for my daughter, who just got a toddler bed. I also have some toile in a blue print that is soooo cute, and may make an apron out of. If it works out, I'll make a matching one for my daughter.

Now if I can just find a table!!!!

Happenings, and bargains

Journey to Homemaker

The diet isn't going so well...we're tight on money, so I really can't afford to have some of the more expensive foods I need. But I'm trying to watch what I eat. I'm holding at about 243, so that's not too bad.

My husband isn't applying for that job transfer. His bosses said he's not really ready for the next step up yet. We're pretty frustrated though. He liked that job a lot, but then they transferred him to a different building to help them make improvements in that building, and his new boss has a major attitude. Plus they told him he'd be switched to first shift, which we really want, and now they're hinting that it's not going to happen. Plus they didn't give him as big a raise as they'd promised. So he's not feeling very appreciated. All that, plus they raised the insurance rates for the employees' families in order to offer benefits to gay employees' "partners". It's all making him feel like looking for a new job. He'll probably start looking in two months, when his contract is up and he's free to leave. It's too bad, things were going really great there for a while.

I've been taking Zoloft for about six months now for stress and depression, and since the baby was born, I've been feeling better. Probably getting my hormones more balanced, plus the beneficial hormones from breastfeeding. So I've been cutting back on the medication. I'm only taking 2/3 of a dose everyday. I'm doing okay on it, but had a bad couple of days. The hardest thing is weaning myself off it when it's a "good time"...which, as a mom of four, there's never really a "good" time, lol. So when I have a day when a lot of small things go wrong, I start to lose it. I stop cleaning, don't spend as much time with the kids, they get cranky, and it all goes downhill. I'm trying to stay motivated by reading some of my favorite homemaking blogs for inspiration, and that helps.

This past weekend I scored big time at a yard sale. I got a ton of stuff for $24--five wood chairs, two dressers, a bookcase, a sewing basket, and some nicely matted poems in picture frames. The furniture is older and needs to be repainted, but totally worth the money. I hesitated on the ten dollar table, and someone scooped it up! Grrr. Oh well, it was too small, really. I also picked up some matted picture frames and some nice doilies and battenburg lace table runners at the thrift store. Good bargain weekend overall. Now I just need a table!

Master Bedroom Cleaning Spree

Journey to Homemaker

I've recently been reading some great blogs. One is www.the-sparrows-nest.com. She's new, but her blog is so interesting and inspiring. Also www.xanga.com/MrsCatherine. She has a magazine and a yahoo group, too. Her house is soooo nice. She has been posting a lot lately on organization, decluttering, and cleaning. She talks about doing one drawer of decluttering at a time. I haven't been able to do that lately, but I got a lot done yesterday, including a few drawers, one at a time.

Yesterday, my husband was off work, so he watched the children for me so I could FINALLY get some work done. Lately the baby wants to nurse all the time when she's awake, and when she's asleep I am feeding, changing and caring for the other children. I can barely keep the house tidy. So I folded four loads of laundry and put it away (wow, what a concept!), refolded and put away the piles of folded clean laundry all over it for the last two months (I'm not kidding, it was since before the baby was born), changed the sheets on the master bed (it's been way too long), vacuumed (even longer), emptied the overflowing trash can (told you I'm a bad housekeeper), and actually MADE the bed! My husband was thrilled. We don't have any furniture in our bedroom right now except for my nightstand--unless you count a mattress on the floor and my husband's cardboard box "nightstand"--so keeping the room clean is really important.

I also organized five kitchen kitchen drawers. They look really great! I can actually find stuff. Oh, and the dishwasher is fixed, so there's actual CLEAN DISHES in the cabinets!!! Wooo hooo! I hate doing dishes, and it takes a long time by hand, so with all the kids I usually don't get to it often enough, so my wonderful husband does them for me. But he only does them every few days, so you can imagine the mess and hassle in my kitchen, never having a spoon clean when you need it. My fault, not his. My clean drawers make me so happy, I plan on doing a few more, plus some bathroom drawers in the next few days.

If I can just get on top of the laundry and the kitchen, it will make my life so easy. My husband is thinking of applying for an in-company transfer and promotion to a job in another state, so I really want to unpack now, for the first time in our almost five year marriage. If he gets it, it would be the first professional move we've had, so I want everything unpacked and organized, so it can be easily unpacked and arranged if we move. Plus, it would be nice to look for something and know where to find it! :-)

Joining Weight Watchers

Journey to Homemaker

I've been struggling with my weight fluctuating between 246 and 249. Well, not struggling much...I've gotten lax about my eating habits because I've been really hungry and I still lost no matter what I ate. Now the weight loss has leveled off, and I'm still really hungry, which I often am when I'm breastfeeding. So I've decided to join Weight Watchers.

I've heard really good things about it, and it seems like I often hear online and on tv weight loss shows about people who lost 100 pounds or more on WW. They have two plans, Flex and Core. On Flex, foods have a point value, and you're allowed a certain amount of points each day to use, plus an extra 35 points per week as a buffer. You can eat what you want. On Core, you can eat all you want, but only from a certain list of foods. At first Core sounded good to me, but then I found out all the dairy had to be fat free. I hate fat free dairy! So I think I'm going to do Flex. I get a lot of extra points for breastfeeding. I'll still have to probably use low-fat dairy in order not to use up all my points, but that's better than fat free. Yuck!

The meetings seem to be really short, in my opinion. If I'm paying twelve bucks, I think I should get more than a half hour. But I really need the accountability. Plus, I don't think I have enough of an idea of the calorie and fat amounts in certain foods. I blew a ton of points the first day on mayo! Right now I'm using a lot of the Smart Ones Weight Watchers frozen entrees, desserts, cereal, etc. It's expensive and not natural food, but for now it helps me stay on track til I get used to the program. I've done much better today. I probably actually didn't use up enough points. You're supposed to use them up.

Hopefully this will help me lose the weight. I feel I can't truly be a good wife and mother if I'm too lethargic to do housework, too tired and fat to play with my kids, too big to look sexy for my husband, and so unhealthy that I cost the family a lot in healthcare and risk dying on them. I owe it to them to get healthy. Plus I don't want my kids following in my footsteps. Being heavy makes life hard in so many ways, and I don't want that for them.

Guess we'll see what happens when I weigh in next week!

Weight loss :-)

Journey to Homemaker

The baby weight is gone!! Yipee!! I can't believe how fast I lost it this time. I gained a total of about 28 pounds, starting at 252 and ending at 280. I'm now down to 245.6! Woooo Hooo!!

I was down below my pre-pregnancy weight within a week and a half of giving birth. I'm now about six or seven pounds below that, at less than three weeks postpartum. That makes me feel a lot better about myself, because it means that I did a pretty good job of watching my weight with this last pregnancy. I have a digital scale that tracks your weight loss and your goals, and it was sooooo nice to see the little circle of stars pop up when I reached my goal of 250. I kept my goal there for a couple of weeks, for an ego booster, lol.

Now I've taken the brave step of reprogramming the scale for a new goal of 225. I hope I keep losing in the next few weeks, to keep my motivation up, because when I'm six weeks postpartum I can start exercising again, and that will really help me lose the weight. I do need to drink a lot more water though, since I'm nursing. I can't imagine how heavy I'd be now if I didn't nurse all my babies!

It will be nice to get down to 225, but I really can't wait to get down to 200. I was about that weight when I met my husband, and I think I can fit into an XL at that weight, which will be awesome, because then I can fit into off the rack clothing in most stores. Yes! I'm so sick of seeing really cute modest dresses in "normal" sizes at Walmart, but not in the plus sizes...when it clearly is a style that would translate well into a larger size! Instead the plus size stuff is ugly or clingy and unflattering. Can someone please get a famous plus size celebrity to host their own line of clothing at Walmart, Kmart, Target, etc. Instead of "Kathy Lee Woman", etc. What the heck does Kathy Lee know about plus sizes?! Although I have to say her stuff isn't TOO bad. But those designers for Target need to get a clue! Designs made of flimsy fabric that hugs every roll of fat is not going to sell well in a size 3x, people!

Okay, enough ranting. Hopefully pretty soon all this size discrimination in fashion will be irrelevant for me, because I'll be getting down into normal sizes...I hope! It's pretty bad when you can't even find patterns in your size to sew your own clothing!! If I could even just fit well into most XL clothing, I'd be satisfied! Not that I wouldn't LOVE to be a size 12, but any normal size will do, lol.

Wish me well on my weight loss journey! Maybe this will keep me accountable. It would be too embarassing to have to post if I GAIN weight!