Money Saving Ideas!

As a Mom of nine kids....six of them mine and three of the step-children, I have a LOT of people to buy for at Christmas time. Four of those 9 are married, three have children. One has a VERY significant young man in her life. We are up to six grandkids now!
So, at Christmas time, it is REALLY difficult to actually buy for everyone on our list. That is something we both want to do...continue to give something fairly nice to each of our loved ones.

I always buy early for the next year, starting in January. This year, I have MOST of it done already and it is just February! What a blessing it is to me to know that I have nice gifts for everyone already! If I have to stop now and buy no more, it will be ok! I have been able to go to Kohl's Department store and buy things on clearance sale. They ALSO often have "Kohl's Cash" that they give when you spend a certain amount of money. I was able to buy clearance, I had a 30% off coupon AND I got Kohl's Cash to spend THIS week.
My receipt said that I saved nearly $1000 and I spend about $200...and got $40 in Kohls Cash.

I have come across another money saving idea though, last week. Target has promotions that if you buy a certain product, or sets of products, you get a gift card in return! I only buy the things that are really on sale...not just a gimmick sale... So far, I have six $5 gift cards just waiting for a time closer to Christmas to finish buying Christmas presents! I will continue to watch for those deals and then just save them until I can use them for toys for the grandkids, Israel, and things for our teenagers.
Last week, they had a promotion that if you buy 10 selected items from Mexican or Italian foods, you got a gift card.(Everything was on sale as well....) So I figured out which items I had coupons for (Ragu), and bought them. Then, I figured which items would be the least expensive (pasta) and bought ten of them. They also had taco shells at a really good price....bought some of those as well! THEN....over in the cereal department, they had certain General Mills cereals on sale for $2.50. I had to buy five of those and got the $5.00 gift card. (I had coupons...of course...) Our teenagers eat a LOT of cereal, pasta, etc....so it makes sense to go ahead and buy them to have on hand. If I don't get a really good deal, I then can go to Aldi's to make those purchases...
Having enough storage space DOES become a problem...we may have to have a few things sitting on counters for a little while...but we are used to that!

There are also ideas bouncing around in my head for home made Christmas presents. I'm trying to get a head start on them so that I don't feel overwhelmed in December. I know, I'm kind of strange...I think about Christmas 12 months of the year!

Anyway, I just wanted to give a few examples of ways to save money AND get a good deal in return.

Have a lovely day!
Beth

Pictures and Stuff like that!!

Our little puppy Annie continues to do very well after near death from parvo. Goodness...it was so bad and that little black wiggly thing almost died. The vet really didn't know if she would make it or not but she is BACK........MORE wiggly than ever and rotten....rotten...rotten!!! (But still wonderful and believe it or not, relatively obedient for a 14 week old puppy!) We are teaching her new tricks...the newest one is to "leave it"....she has to sit or lay and we put a treat about 4 or 5 inches away and she has to "leave it" until we tell her to take it. (Even then, she doesn't take it and actually waits until we hand it to her!) Someone should do that to me with brownies...only don't ever tell me I can take it....that might help me a bit.

Wow...it is suddenly snowing really hard and heavy. It is coming straight down down like rain!! It would be nice if it would stick a little bit! I have a few "snowy days" stories I would like to read to Israel and having snow on the ground would make it even better! (See the pictures BELOW...taken after I started this post...)

Speaking of stories, I have recently come across "Five in a Row" materials. I can't believe that I have been involved in homeschooling for several years now and I have never known about it!
For anyone who has never heard of it, the parent/teacher reads a childhood classic to the student for 5 days in a row...thus the name "Five in a Row." Each day, you concentrate on a different aspect of the story. For instance, we have been reading "Madeline" this week. Israel is happy with the rhyme and repetition of that story and the illustrations are interesting as well. From that book, we have then studied Paris, France, the buildings in Paris, "order and symmetry", being "unique", compassion, the flag of France, the continent of Europe, etc.......

Israel is really interested in these books and this style of learning. For each book we read and study, he is making a kind of  lapbook and putting them in a binder. ( I have notebook dividers that I found in our stash of stuff and I have had him use two of these to make each story's "lapbook." Some stories we have added a vertical piece of stiff paper to the dividers and taping it at the top so that it can flip up for additional work/fun!)

He is learning so much and we are both enjoying this. (We had been doing First Grade History with a well known Christian publisher and we were both incredibly bored! What freedom and fun this has brought to our homeschool!)

I highly recommend Five in a Row if you know of anyone who could use it!

 This was our rapid snowfall....and then it ended as soon as it started! Israel, Annie, and "Foxy"-Annie's toy all went for a walk in the snow in the front yard.

 This is just a cool picture (I thought) of an old wagon wheel and a bush on the side of our house with a light layer of snow.

 Baby Annie!!! It is REALLY hard to get this little puppy to hold still for a picture! Doesn't she look like a black baby bear?

 These are our two raised bed that I have been babying along this fall and winter! Every time it is a fairly nice day, I try to add some more "ingredients" to the soil. I have been layering composted cow manure, some soil, and decomposing yard waste. It looks pretty good now but I guess the real test will be during growing season, right?

This is kinda funny....kinda. See that old roll of fencing between Israel and the raised bed? That fence has so far cost me $510.  You see...I was on my way to buy that old grungy fence that it's previous owner did not want. I was buying it for $10 and it is my plan to fence in the garden area...to keep out the deer that may venture out of the woods behind our house..... Then....the deer with the death wish ran into my new car. After the deductible, that old nasty fence will have cost us $510. Ok...go ahead, laugh.  This is the story of my life! EVERY TIME  I think, "I am NOT going to pay a professional to do such and such....I can do it myself!"...it ends up costing me more in the long run. Don't even ask me about the wedding dress I was making for myself...the ONLY part of the wedding dress that ended up in our wedding was a tiny bit of lace that I wrapped around our Unity candle!! HAHA!!! I ended up buying a pretty suit dress from JCPenney instead! (I looked like a fat blue mermaid in the dress I was trying to make! SERIOUSLY!!)

Have a lovely day...take care!!
Blessings!
Beth

Update on our Puppy!

Little Miss Annie is doing well!! I was able to see her for a few minutes yesterday and she whined when she heard my voice. She was able to sit up and she ate a little bit of food for me!

If all continues to go well, I can bring her home tomorrow! Of course, this is a terrible illness and things can go backwards as well...but I'm having faith that she will continue to recover.

PLEASE...if you haven't had your kitties or doggies vaccinated, please do so. We were planning to get it done a.s.a.p....but most likely she had already been exposed to parvo.  We have a wonderful clinic in downtown Indianapolis that has reduced costs for spaying and shots but we just hadn't gotten it done yet.

If Annie lives, we will be posting some pictures of the most adorable little puppy ever!

Thanks for your thoughts, ladies...even though I have never met you, you are ALL so important to me. It's strange, isn't it?? I look forward to your words when I have time to get on the computer!

BLESSINGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Beth

Sick Puppy

It is amazing how quickly a cute, black, wiggly puppy can get into your heart. We've had our Annie less than two weeks and yet I love that little dog so much.
She is now critically ill. She threw up on Monday night...I thought she was just overly excited because I had been gone most of the day and she was soooo very happy to have me back home. But the next morning, we couldn't get her to get out of her crate...she wouldn't eat and would barely drink. She then got even sicker, intestinally
My sister in law, who is a wonderful  breeder of  champion Australian Shepherds, facebooked us and told us to get her to the vet's right away.
She feared the worst and she was right...Annie has parvo, a deadly virus that attacks the intestines and bone marrow. Since we had only had her a little while, we hadn't gotten her to the clinic to get her shots. It wouldn't have mattered at this point anyway because the incubation period started, most likely, before we even got her.

I had to make the hard decision to either let Annie die or to invest LOTS of money into trying to get her well.
That is something that we really can't afford right now...but I did it anyway.

She is currently in the animal hospital...holding her own...but dreadfully sick.

She is such a good little girl. I have high hopes of her living a long and good life being adored by all of us.
I'm going to go see her as soon as we get done with our homeschooling today. Hopefully she will be a little bit better.

Could you offer a prayer to our God for our little puppy? I know it may sound silly but I do think that the Lord cares about what we care about...and we really care about our puppy...

Blessings,
Beth

Strangely True Story...Or..."It Would Only Happen to Me."

Friday evening, Israel and I were on our way home from the beautiful western part of Indiana's Amish area. We had tried to go to a quaint little out of the way Amish market where we buy a lot of dry goods but they had just closed. Hmmm...if we had just been a few minutes earlier...or if they had JUST stayed open a little while longer, the "strange but true" story would never have happened....or at least...not to US.

I love making the trip to that area...seeing the beautiful scenery and the homes and carts of the Amish. I really am interested in their lifestyle so I always consider it an adventure! I had never been there in the winter months and it still held the same fascination to me. So when I drove up to the market and realized that they had closed just fifteen minutes earlier, I wasn't really disheartened. After all, Israel and I had enjoyed the trip and we had talked and talked....everything from Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation to Martin Luther King. (Heavy stuff for a six year old, right?)

Anyway, it had been a long, somewhat snowy drive and we were finally headed home...a different and more "direct way this time, through the little towns nearby and over to the "Main Road." We had decided that, as soon as we could, we would need to stop and take a "potty" break...and maybe grab a much needed snack. (After all. we HAD missed out on the Amish Woopie Pies, homemade bread and candy, right?)

Happily, we drove up to a little nondescript gas station on the side of the road in nowhere, Indiana.  This was the kind of place that they look at you oddly when you walk in...we were strangers....a chubby white lady, driving a beautiful Ford Flex...with the undeniable imprint of a dead deer in the side, holding the hand of an African little boy....decidedly not from that area. Yeah, we looked strange. Can you say...an "easy mark...a push over...a sap...a schmuck?"

So, there we were, potty break taken, Butterfinger bar chosen, KitKat ready to be devoured, heading to the cashier, when I turned and there was this lady holding the very embodiment of allurement, fascination.....enchantment in her very hands.......a sweet, precious, little black puppy.

"Awww...." I smiled, feeling my heart melting all over my shoes...."Can we pet it?"

"Sure!" she eagerly...possibly TOO eagerly... said. (Does this remind you somewhat of "The Twilight Zone?")

"This is exactly the kind of puppy my husband has wanted." I divulged. (Beth should learn not to talk so much...) I rubbed my hands over the silky little black head and relished the little pink tongue flickering out to lick my fingers...

The lady took one look at me...then over to Israel....HANDED HIM THE LEASH....and said,

"HERE, SHE'S ALL YOURS!"  she declared emphatically!!

"Oh my goodness, oh my goodness, oh my goodness..." I kept saying in a stupor...while the life that I then knew flashed before my eyes....

I was thinking, "What do I do? What will Israel do if I don't? What will my HUSBAND do if I DO...???"

During the temporary loss of my senses, I vaguely remember whispering a feeble "ok"...then, in somewhat of a rush, as she made for the exit, the lady said, "She hasn't had any shots and she still pees in the house..." and she disappeared out the door.

So, there you go. We have a puppy....or more exactly, she has US. Her name is "Annie"....as in "Indi-Annie"....I survived my husband's...ummmm.....uuhhhh..........how do you say...........well....I survived.
Blessings,
Beth

Crunch.....

I just posted on my facebook page that the punishment for loving my new Ford Flex way too much was a deer at 50 miles an hour. Yep. It happened about three hours ago. The driver's side doors are probably going to have to be replaced as well as the side mirror. It was horrible seeing that poor little deer....

But God protected Becca, Israel, and myself. If the deer had hit just a few inches higher, it would have gone through the window and probably have killed at least me.

God is good. Very Good...and I am exhausted right now.....Vegetable soup is on the stove and dirty dishes are still in the sink...they may have to wait...

Blessings,
Beth

Once Upon a Time Five Years Ago.....

Once upon a time, five years ago, there was a couple with a very large NEWLY blended family. The somewhat crazy lady of the couple had been praying and thinking about adoption for a very long time but was very hesitant to suggest this crazy notion to her new husband. After all....they were dealing with 8 children in their newly blended family, some married already. When she finally decided it was time to approach Mr. Wonderful with the idea, she was thrilled beyond belief that he also had been thinking and praying about adoption! God had been at work in BOTH of their hearts. So, the journey began.

First, there was a family vacation.....and if they had judged from "the not so wonderful family vacation taking so many blended family children on vacation at one time".....they would have discarded the idea of adoption immediately. But God triumphed....and in a little tshirt shop, the crazy lady decided to buy a tshirt for their "Not yet adopted child so he would know how long and how badly he was wanted."

So....there it is. Israel and his Florida Tshirt purchased almost five years ago. I think it fits him to a "T"...don't you???

Blessings,
Beth