If you live in the Boise area, here is an opportunity for a great deal on a fun corn maze outing, plus a chance to help a deserving family in need! Click this link and you can buy tickets to Linder Farm for only $5.50 and all the proceeds go to Cathy and her family from the Fabulessly Frugal site. Great deal plus it goes to an awesome cause!
http://fabulesslyfrugal.com/2010/09/one-of-our-own.html
Friday, September 10, 2010
Thursday, September 9, 2010
My Liberty Mutual Moment
Isn't it nice when a total stranger goes out of their way to be helpful or nice to you?
I love those Liberty Mutual commercials where they show a whole series of people 'paying it forward' with kind acts that end up making a nice difference in someone's day.
When someone holds the door for me, or entertains my girls while I'm paying for my groceries, or picks up one of the many toys we seem to be so good at dropping while we are out, it totally makes my day.
Tonight I had the opportunity to 'pay it forward' in a small way. An older lady and I were unloading our groceries into our cars at the same time. I offered to take her cart back and she was so appreciative. Not a big deal and something that most people would do, but I have to admit, I don't always take those small opportunities to help people.
The other night I was behind a mom in line at Wal-Mart. It was very late and her little boy (maybe 2) was really fussy. She was holding him and unloading her cart at the same time. I was standing there in a total daze because it was so late and I was at Wal-Mart. Not even thinking...I totally should have unloaded her cart for her! It's bothered me since and I swore to myself that I am not going to pass up those chances to help others.
After my nice grocery cart experience tonight I went to Costco. Lexi was holding my wallet for some entertainment as we were about to leave the store. I didn't realize that she dropped it. The nicest man got my attention and very nicely pointed out the wallet. That was a life saver! I had just pulled out cash and that would have been very bad to lose my wallet. I hope someone does something nice for him so he can have his Liberty Mutual moment too.
I love those Liberty Mutual commercials where they show a whole series of people 'paying it forward' with kind acts that end up making a nice difference in someone's day.
When someone holds the door for me, or entertains my girls while I'm paying for my groceries, or picks up one of the many toys we seem to be so good at dropping while we are out, it totally makes my day.
Tonight I had the opportunity to 'pay it forward' in a small way. An older lady and I were unloading our groceries into our cars at the same time. I offered to take her cart back and she was so appreciative. Not a big deal and something that most people would do, but I have to admit, I don't always take those small opportunities to help people.
The other night I was behind a mom in line at Wal-Mart. It was very late and her little boy (maybe 2) was really fussy. She was holding him and unloading her cart at the same time. I was standing there in a total daze because it was so late and I was at Wal-Mart. Not even thinking...I totally should have unloaded her cart for her! It's bothered me since and I swore to myself that I am not going to pass up those chances to help others.
After my nice grocery cart experience tonight I went to Costco. Lexi was holding my wallet for some entertainment as we were about to leave the store. I didn't realize that she dropped it. The nicest man got my attention and very nicely pointed out the wallet. That was a life saver! I had just pulled out cash and that would have been very bad to lose my wallet. I hope someone does something nice for him so he can have his Liberty Mutual moment too.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
First Day of Preschool, 2010
Lizette is soooo excited for preschool this year. She had a great experience last year and can't wait to see all of her friends in this environment again. We are in the same little co-op we were in last year and I'm so glad. The other moms and kids are great and I feel so lucky that we found them last year.
Cute story: Last night Jeff gave Lizette a father's blessing before the start of the new school year. Normally during prayers, Lizette is about as squirmy as ever. She can't close her eyes for anything, like a normal three year old. But last night during this blessing she was listening so intently and taking it so seriously. I think it was everything she could do to not open her eyes, but she kept them shut the whole time. It was so cute to watch her and I'm so glad that she takes that kind of stuff seriously...at least some of the time! What a little sweetie.
Cute story: Last night Jeff gave Lizette a father's blessing before the start of the new school year. Normally during prayers, Lizette is about as squirmy as ever. She can't close her eyes for anything, like a normal three year old. But last night during this blessing she was listening so intently and taking it so seriously. I think it was everything she could do to not open her eyes, but she kept them shut the whole time. It was so cute to watch her and I'm so glad that she takes that kind of stuff seriously...at least some of the time! What a little sweetie.
Got Bows?
I found a fun way to keep all of those cute hair bows organized. If you find yourself with a mess of hair bows, clips, etc., go here for some ideas on how to store them: http://www.howdoesshe.com/7-ideas-for-hair-bow-holders
Here are some pictures of the one I made. Pretty cute, huh? Best part is, I already had the frame and it took maybe 10 minutes to make. Easy! I think I need to make a bigger one next time though. We've got lots of bows.
Here are some pictures of the one I made. Pretty cute, huh? Best part is, I already had the frame and it took maybe 10 minutes to make. Easy! I think I need to make a bigger one next time though. We've got lots of bows.
Last Day of Summer
We had a really fun summer this year. Many days were spent at our neighborhood pool, which the girls loved. We went to Las Vegas to see Karrie, Utah to see Abby, and the Oregon Coast. We spent the 4th of July in Soda Springs and Lizette still talks about the fun parade there.
Lizette had lots of fun play dates with cousins and friends. It's so fun to watch her growing up and learning to interact and really have fun with other kids. She figured out that her floaties will actually keep her up in the water. After that she had a much better time at the pool!
Lexi learned lots of fun things this summer like how to crawl, how to stand up to things and how to eat finger foods. She loved, loved, loved the pool which I am so happy about. It was so fun to watch her splash around in the water. So cute!
Here are some pictures of our last official day of summer, playing at the park:
Lizette had lots of fun play dates with cousins and friends. It's so fun to watch her growing up and learning to interact and really have fun with other kids. She figured out that her floaties will actually keep her up in the water. After that she had a much better time at the pool!
Lexi learned lots of fun things this summer like how to crawl, how to stand up to things and how to eat finger foods. She loved, loved, loved the pool which I am so happy about. It was so fun to watch her splash around in the water. So cute!
Here are some pictures of our last official day of summer, playing at the park:
Sunday, September 5, 2010
The Fruits of my Labor
For the last few weeks it would appear that I have had a big focus on food. Not eating it, but stocking up. I didn't really set out to have this happen, but somehow an interesting turn of events has occurred and I find myself with a full freezer, fridge and pantry.
It all started with the Totino's pizza sale at Albertson's a few weeks ago. I was able to buy Totino's for $.55 a piece. Jeff loves Totino's so I definitely wanted to take advantage of this sale. Between the two of us (I made him do some of my coupon shopping), we bought 40 Totino's pizzas. Why 40 you ask? Well, to get the deal you had to buy in groups of 10 and I had great coupons and one thing led to another and well, here we are with 40 Totino's.
As you may have guessed from reading this far into the post, I've never been much of a naturalist when it comes to food. I don't really care about buying organic. I've never grown my own garden, never canned anything but jam and truthfully have never had much of a desire to do so. Until this summer. In this post I will be sharing with you the beginning of my transformation into a canning and freezing Diva (if I can be so bold as to label myself as a Diva of anything)!
Now on to the corn.
It all started with the Totino's pizza sale at Albertson's a few weeks ago. I was able to buy Totino's for $.55 a piece. Jeff loves Totino's so I definitely wanted to take advantage of this sale. Between the two of us (I made him do some of my coupon shopping), we bought 40 Totino's pizzas. Why 40 you ask? Well, to get the deal you had to buy in groups of 10 and I had great coupons and one thing led to another and well, here we are with 40 Totino's.
As you may have guessed from reading this far into the post, I've never been much of a naturalist when it comes to food. I don't really care about buying organic. I've never grown my own garden, never canned anything but jam and truthfully have never had much of a desire to do so. Until this summer. In this post I will be sharing with you the beginning of my transformation into a canning and freezing Diva (if I can be so bold as to label myself as a Diva of anything)!
It all started with buying frozen berries from our church's cannery in Garden City. This place is amazing. Several times a year, they offer frozen berries for sale at an excellent price. So this year I bought a bunch of berries. Blueberries, strawberries, raspberries and marionberries. After making several batches of jam and setting aside many bags of blueberries to eat for snacks throughout the year, I was left with still a lot of berries to find a home for. So, I looked up some recipes for pie filling, bought a canner and canned a bunch of pie filling.
Doesn't sound that significant, but the moment that I tasted the marionberry pie filling changed me forever. It was like those moments in the movies when someone falls in love or something and they play the Hallelujah type music in the background. This stuff is good. Way better than anything out of a can from the store. Mmmmm. Here is the recipe:
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup plus 1 Tbsp Clearjel or cornstarch (I used cornstarch)
1/4 tsp cinnamon (optional)
but, definitely add the cinnamon!
1-1/3 cups cold water
1 Tbsp plus 1 tsp lemon juice
3-3/4 cups fresh berries (Marionberry, Loganberry, blackberry, raspberry)
**
Wash one quart jar. Keep hot until needed. Prepare lid as manufacturer directs.
(I used pint jars)
Combine sugar, cornstarch and cinnamon (if desired) in a large saucepan. Add water. Stir mixture and cook over medium-high heat until mixture thickens and begins to bubble. Add lemon juice and boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Fold in berries.
Ladle hot filling into hot jar, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Wipe jar rim with a clean, damp cloth. Attach lid. Process in a boiling water canner for 30 minutes.
Yield: 1 quart
* This recipe is for one quart of pie filling. The amounts can be multiplied by the number of quarts needed (up to 7 quarts at a time).
** Frozen berries may be used. If they're sweetened, rinse off while the fruit is frozen. Thaw and drain juice away from berries. Measure drained fruit, and use the juice in place of the water, adding water to measure 1-1/3 cups.
Now on to the corn.
A few months back we were invited to dinner at some friends' and they served the most amazing tasting corn. I had to find out how this stuff was made. My friend recently gave me the recipe which was pretty similar to something I had looked up online as soon as we got home from their house that night. I combined the two recipes based on the sweetness level I thought we would like. Well, the end result was oh. so. good! Here is the recipe I used and there are several similar online if you search.
8 cups uncooked corn, cut from the cob
1 cube butter
3 Tbsp. sugar
1-1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup water
Combine ingredients in pot. Bring to a boil and simmer for about three minutes. Cool quickly (I just stuck the pot in a large bowl half full of ice water, then stuck the pot in the freezer for about 15 minutes.) Place corn in freezer bag, or some type of frozen food container. I made sure that some of the liquid made it's way into the freezer bag to make sure that yummy flavor stays with the corn!
How can you go wrong with butter, sugar and salt, right? However, the star of the dish was fresh and local and you can't beat that either.
You may notice in the picture above that nestled snugly in with our Totino's and corn are several containers of Cool Whip and bags of Kraft cheese. Oh my. Should I even share this? Some of you will think that I am a hoarder of food. I don't blame you. I realize this is excessive. Honestly, I don't know what has gotten into me. It just feels good to get a great deal and know that our freezer is stocked, I guess. Maybe I need therapy. Well, I've had lots of therapy already so I really don't know if any more will help. I'm just resigned to the fact that I am addicted to shopping for good deals on food. Is that so wrong?
Anyway, this week at Albertson's they are having a promo on Kraft products where if you buy five items, you get $5 off your next shopping order. This deal alone makes their bags of cheese $1 and Cool Whip free after you figure in the $5 you get back. Well, then along comes an additional coupon from Kraft for $5 off when you buy five items, making the cheese FREE! So, I went to Albertson's paid the initial $5 for five containers of Cool Whip. I got back $5 off my next trip coupon and rolled that over and over and over so that now I have 20 bags of shredded cheese, 10 8oz. bricks of cheese, and five containers of Cool Whip (probably will go back for five more). After the initial $5, all I paid was tax for all of this cheese! I think I ended up spending like $9 total and I have a coupon for $5 off my next shopping trip.
So, now our freezer is stocked with Totino's, cheese, Cool Whip, corn, blueberries ready to be snacked on, and Breyer's Rocky Road from a previous sale. Very balanced, I know.
Anyway, this week at Albertson's they are having a promo on Kraft products where if you buy five items, you get $5 off your next shopping order. This deal alone makes their bags of cheese $1 and Cool Whip free after you figure in the $5 you get back. Well, then along comes an additional coupon from Kraft for $5 off when you buy five items, making the cheese FREE! So, I went to Albertson's paid the initial $5 for five containers of Cool Whip. I got back $5 off my next trip coupon and rolled that over and over and over so that now I have 20 bags of shredded cheese, 10 8oz. bricks of cheese, and five containers of Cool Whip (probably will go back for five more). After the initial $5, all I paid was tax for all of this cheese! I think I ended up spending like $9 total and I have a coupon for $5 off my next shopping trip.
So, now our freezer is stocked with Totino's, cheese, Cool Whip, corn, blueberries ready to be snacked on, and Breyer's Rocky Road from a previous sale. Very balanced, I know.
Friday, August 27, 2010
Vacation 2010
We traveled to the Oregon Coast for our family vacation this year. I know, sounds pretty exciting to all of you jet setters out there. But why would we go on a cruise or something crazy like that when a nine hour road trip to a cold and windy beach was calling us? Cruises are for amateurs. :)
It was actually a really great trip. We spent four nights in Lincoln City and traveled up and down the coast seeing sights. I've been thinking...how do I best describe our experience? Since I tend to be quite wordy in many of my blog posts, I thought I would try using the ancient art of Haiku. (Please forgive me as my Haiku skills are a little rusty.)
Road trip
Nine hours
Painful
Three years old
First time seeing the ocean
Sweet to watch
Tillamook Cheese Factory
Marionberry Pie ice cream
I am in love
----------------------------------------------------------------
Diane, Phil and Hailey
Lovely family...Best Friends Forever
Highlight of trip!
Mo's
Gotta have it
Memories of Mom...
Grandma Hill
So sweet
Precious memory
Five days
It was actually a really great trip. We spent four nights in Lincoln City and traveled up and down the coast seeing sights. I've been thinking...how do I best describe our experience? Since I tend to be quite wordy in many of my blog posts, I thought I would try using the ancient art of Haiku. (Please forgive me as my Haiku skills are a little rusty.)
Road trip
Nine hours
Painful
Three years old
First time seeing the ocean
Sweet to watch
---------------------------------------------------------------
3 am
Kicked in the gut for the third time
Not sleeping with 3 year old ever again
---------------------------------------------------------------
3 am
Kicked in the gut for the third time
Not sleeping with 3 year old ever again
---------------------------------------------------------------
Tillamook Cheese Factory
Marionberry Pie ice cream
I am in love
----------------------------------------------------------------
Alderhouse - Glass Blowing
Spent $33 on a glass ball because it looked so cool
Tourists
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Spent $33 on a glass ball because it looked so cool
Tourists
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Diane, Phil and Hailey
Lovely family...Best Friends Forever
Highlight of trip!
Mo's
Gotta have it
Memories of Mom...
------------------------------------------------------------------
Burgerville
Oh so delicious
Why can't you open in Boise?
------------------------------------------------------------------
Burgerville
Oh so delicious
Why can't you open in Boise?
------------------------------------------------------------------
Grandma Hill
So sweet
Precious memory
Five days
Family time
Loved it
Loved it
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