How to Stack Coupons

I know it seems excessive that I'm talking about couponing.  But since I blog about my life on a daily basis, I'm just reflecting on what happened that day.  It's been quite crazy to say the least.  When I research something I research it to the core my husband says.  I'll do it till I get it.  Errors and all.

Before coupons and savings $267
After coupons $73
I bought 108 items so if you average it out, I only paid .67 per item you see here.

Last time I blogged about saving 60% but because I'm so competitive against my own self I had to beat that.  Some of the major sales were ending today so I needed to finish my shopping.  I figured out what some of my errors were and decided to get pickier in what I purchased.

This time I stacked coupons.  I went to Target.com and chose the coupons I wanted to be printed out. Then I looked through my super organized folder that I made.  I will have to share that soon because it's an amazing system.  When I go through each aisle in the store, it's incredibly easy to flip through it and find the category I need.  Takes about 5 seconds each time to look for a coupon.  

How I stacked coupons for the pickles:

1.)  The jar of pickles were on sale 3 for $5
2.)  I had a coupon for 75 cents for each jar
Right now all coupons are worth a dollar at Fry's.  Even if a coupon was for 20 cents off it equals a dollar
3.)  Then, it had a tag over each pickle jar for $1 off.  (Some places won't let you do that with a manufacturers coupon you are already using)
Final cost: -34 cents
4.)  Fry's doesn't give you cash back so instead they applied it to the rest of my purchase.  
I actually made $3.06

Plus, I found coupons for my last purchase that I forgot to use so they gave me $9 cash to put towards my purchase.
In the end I didn't pay for:


Raid (ant killer.  Darn pesky freaks)
Always pads
16 M&M's
2 Bounty paper towels
4 Colgate toothpastes
L'Oreal eye shadow
Mt. Olive pickles

Another example is that I bought coffee creamer that was already on sale, then used a Target coupon (since they take competitor's coupons), plus the store's own coupon, plus a manufacturers coupon.  That's how they can owe you money or you get it for free.  You can stack coupons.

My cereal boxes that I got are all almost $5 normally.  After sales and stacking coupons I paid only about 67 cents a piece.  So of course I stocked up BIG TIME.  My kids looove cereal in the morning so we fly through it. Of course I'm gonna stock up on it. That's basically a month and a half's worth of cereal for my family.

So I got 45 boxes of cereal which would have cost me $213.  Since I waited for a sale and stacked coupons, I only paid $30.  CRAZY!  I guess what amazed me about this is that it's all food I actually use and it's ALL name brand.  I used to always buy generic to save money and on my best day only save about 20%.  I had no idea what I was missing out on.

I'm a new couponer so I'm still a baby at learning this.  I've challenged myself to beat my percentage saved each time I go on a major shopping trip.  Last time I blogged I saved only 60%.  

I ended up only paying $73 after savings

This time I saved 71% so I definitely starting to understand it!  I'll freak when it hits the 80's.

Stocked up on meat last time when store had big sale

When you look at the picture on the top of this blog post of course you don't see a huge variety.  But that's because things can go on sale at different times.  So what you do is stock up on the things on sale plus your coupons, like box type foods or cereal. Then when the meat goes on a crazy sale, stock up on the meat.  Last time I stocked up majorly because it was only 88 cents a pound.  Then maybe a while later pasta will go on a huge sale.  Stock up on that. My goal is to always have food in my pantry and freezer so I'll have a variety as different big sales hit. I'll no longer be shopping at Sam's Club or those huge wholesale stores because I was spending way too much money.  

Anyway, I'm still learning and just want to pass on some knowledge to anyone else that might be trying to learn about it also.  :)  I used Target.com and Coupons.com to get all my coupons along with ones that come in the paper and in the mail.

By the way, you can find lots of other frugal sites by just clicking on the badge to the left.  When you are on the site, look on the right sidebar and you'll see a category called Frugal Living.

My First Shopping Trip with Coupons

It's hard to tell but most of the stuff on the top
shelves go 3 layers back.  

Whelp, I finally used my coupons and went out to shop to see what I could save on my grocery bill.  I clipped, studied ads, looks for coupons at different places, bought reduced Sunday papers (Hint: The 99 cent store), studied some more, waited for an amazing sale.  Sigh.  I'm exhausted but happy.  ;)

I got soooo much meat that it's STACKED in my 2nd freezer from top to bottom.  Thank goodness for the extra freezer.  My pantry is packed, fridge is packed, freezer is packed, extra fridge and freezer is packed, my cupboards are packed.  It's amazing.  I'm in love knowing how much I saved.

I'm by no means an extreme couponer because I don't save 90% or more.  Some of my receipts I did save 87% but after checking out several times because there was no more room in my cart, it averaged out to about 60%.  I can do better and eventually I will.  I'm gonna keep trying.  I have so much food right now I just can't possibly put anymore anywhere else.  

Only some of the stuff that went into ONE of my freezers
The other half of freezer stuff is not in picture

Price before savings and coupons:

$1,056.76
What I paid:
$433.45

So I saved:
$623.31

Some of the meat I got.  It was 88 cents
a pound so had to stock up!

I had to check out 5 times because I kept running out of room in my cart.  The first time I checked out , I was really nervous.  I would see the cost rising and rising. I thought "Dear me, I don't have that much money on me. I hope this works.  It would be quite embarrassing to have to walk away from it".  I also had to use the bathroom really, really bad because I had been drinking soda.  I couldn't leave my cart so I was just stuck and had to wait. I don't know whether my legs were shaky from being nervous or just relieved to finally go potty.  


I KNOW I WILL LEARN AND DO BETTER AS I KEEP WORKING ON IT.  WOULD LOVE TO SAVE SO MUCH MORE.


I got my camera back from repair!  Whoo hoo!!!!  


Anyway, I have a really sick baby, a sick hubby,  and a sick daughter I have to tend to.  I can't wait to take pictures and share them again of our fun adventures!

Resident Faces 93 Days in Jail For Vegetable Garden

Facing jail for having a garden in your front yard?  Come on!  This is outrageous.  It's YOUR property and your house. You are told that you can have trees, bushes, flowers, weeds, dirt.....

BUT YOU CAN'T HAVE A GARDEN?  WHAT?  

I don't know this really bothers me.  Here's the story.

Julie Bass' vegetable garden in her front yard. (WJBK/myFOXDetroit.com)

A Michigan resident is facing up to 93 days in jail for planting a vegetable garden in her front yard, MyFoxDetroit.com reports.

Julie Bass, of Oak Park, Michigan was first given a warning followed by a ticket and now she is being charged with a misdemeanor for her simple front-yard garden.

"I think it's sad that the City of Oak Park that's already strapped for cash is paying a lot of money to have a prosecutor bothering us," Bass told FOX 2's Alexis Wiley.

The city is claiming that the garden violates a city code which states that front yards must consist of suitable, live plant material to which Bass responds, "We think it's suitable."

They say, 'Why should you grow things in the front?' Well, why shouldn't I? They're fine. They're pretty. They're well maintained," Bass told the station.

"I could sell out and save my own self and just not have them bother me anymore, but then there's no telling what they're going to harass the next person about," continued Bass.

A pretrial is scheduled for July 26 and a jury trial could be next.

Click here for more on this story from MyFoxDetroit.comRead more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/07/08/michigan-resident-faces-3-days-in-jail-for-vegetable-garden/#ixzz1RZeZUACZ

6 Ways to Save and Earn Money While You're At It

Because we're a family of eight we try to save money.  However, I would do this if I had one kid just because I love being frugal!  :)  Here are ways I try to save and earn money.

1. Swagbucks is a place where you can use their search engine like you normally would use to search a particular topic.  However, with this, you can earn points and I always use them to buy Amazon gift cards. Every time I'm in need of something, I will use the Amazon gift cards to purchase it rather than having to spend my own cash.

2. Coupon Sense helps me to save big because it tells me where all the sales are and which coupons I can use to save BIG.  I love it!  There is a monthly subscribing fee but because it tells me where in the valley to get free stuff and at least saves me half off my grocery bill, it's completely worth the $15 a month.  Please use my referral code if you decide to sign up.  I LOVE this site.  Referral code: 2017636

3. Product reviewing through Tomoson was introduced to me by Ellen Ross.  It's been a big blessing to my family for obvious reasons.  I get to receive some really neat products of my choosing and all I have to do is talk about it on my blog.  It's a win-win for them and for me.

4. The reason I decided to try Google Adsense is because I had been looking into finding a part job during the night every since we were greatly affected by the economy. My heart was broken so I tried to think of another way for me to stay home.  Since putting the ads on my blog, I can get a monthly check from Google that has really helped us.

5. I never buy clothes at full retail value. The last time I needed to go clothes shopping, I waited till major sales were happening.  My last shopping event, and I don't do it very often, was at The Limited. They were having 50% off in almost the whole store.  Then they gave me another 50% off at the register.  I ended paying $6 per shirt that were originally $35-50!  That's how I shop.  If no major sales are going on I find amazing stuff at Ross stores.  I'm picky though and won't just buy for the love of shopping.  I keep a list of needs and wants in my family organizer.  You're not saving if you're spending money just to spend it.

6. Making my Own Laundry Soap has saved me more money than I can imagine.  I haven't added it up but I know it's huge.  It cost me all of $3 to make and it last my size family for 8 months.  It's super easy so just go and check out my pics to see how simple it is to make it.  All you need is 3 items from the store, a sauce pan, and a bucket.

Who Else Loves Breaking the Rules?

Has anyone had weird and crazy fun with their kids this summer?  For us it's just been staying up all night and playing.  We literally have our hours mixed around since it's so hot in the day.  We try to bypass part of it.  My whole family is not up till around noon and we go to bed around 4 or 5 in the morning.  It's so kewllllll.  Tonight, at 1am, I took my boys to Walmart so I could get some organizing things.  I'm sure it looked odd that a family was walking in so late and we were wide awake.

Do you ever feel like you are breaking the rules by not following the normal mommy book of do's and don'ts?  I feel guilty a lot. I mean, if you have a really strong bed, who says you can't jump in it with your kids?  I have not had one break yet.  Of course mine are all so little still.  Better jump some more while we can.  

Who says you can't skate in the house that is all tile?  We do because our windows are blocked off by the furniture and we don't keep breakables around here.  Where I'm from the heat is intense outside so we take everything inside.

In the morning we all wake up so groggy and in no hurry to do much.  The only issue I have is my coffee cup goes missing.  So in order to find it, I put up this post.

"Missing: My nice warm cup of coffee. If you know it's whereabouts please return to the owner. I fear for it's safety. For every minute that it's missing, the chances of finding a full cup become more slim"


About an hour later....


"Coffee cup found. Evidence shows all form of life was taken from it. I will have to go make another. Not to replace it of course. But I do need to move on."

When Will the Economy be Looking Up Again?

It's so hot here and I can't let my kids play outside.  So far this summer I've lost two chickens to the heat.  :( Both were egg layers. I'm missing my camera and according to Fed Ex, it's still a few states away.  Sniff....  Wherefore art thou camera?

Thankfully, even with Charles having a forced month off from work we have been able to work ahead and pay some bills in advance.  Not all of them of course. During his month off he is gonna look into maybe putting some resumes out for Electrical Designing again.  My husband is such a stinking genius and he's so good at what he does.  He just misses that line of work.  Hopefully the economy will pick back up soon.  I guess I'm just a little worried it'll fall again and he'll be looking out of his field again.  I can't think like that though.  God doesn't promise to give us whatever we want but He does promise to meet our needs and I am faithful to give what belongs to Him.  

On a different note, the last few days of purchases of some things I needed, I was able to save about 75% off my bill after I average everything out.  One store in particular I saved 88%!  However, I've made some mistakes too.  Not reading coupons right, or missing a sale price, etc that cost me a good amount of savings.  I think my worst so far has been only saving 65% off my grocery bill.  So I'm not doing FABULOUS but I still think I'm doing pretty good.  I can't stand those grumpy checkout ladies though that put a magnifying glass up and question every coupon I have.  Just scan it and it'll tell you if its good.  I had to demand a raincheck on one product today because the manager didn't feel like getting me one from the back. I said, "Well, it's on sale and I have a coupon.  If I wait till after midnight, it's no longer on sale."  His reply?  "Oh well, you can get it a different day."  Riiiiiight.  But you see, if I come back with no raincheck then I don't get the sale price.  I went round and round for a minute until he finally wrote me the darn raincheck.  Sheesh.

Retail price at store for a 6 pack: $8.99

On sale at store: $5.50

Manufacturers coupon: $4 off

Cost after savings $1.50

That's an 83% savings

So yeah, I needed that raincheck, dude.

 I took my son with me to "work" today collecting coupons
and to the store to learn how to save.

Highlight of my day:  Walking from door to door with my son collecting my neighbor's packet of Redplum coupons they didn't want.  Did you know I met neighbors for the first time?  Yee haw!  Now I have a reason to wave as I pass by without them thinking I'm gonna rob them.

People Will Never Forget, Casey Anthony

Oh my...... I'm speechless.  Hold on.

Another repeat of OJ Simpson, getting away with murder.  Do you think Casey Anthony will write a book called "How I Killed my Daughter, if I Would Have" like OJ did about his wife?  Not even guilty of child abuse? Anything?  From beginning to end her coldness was written all over her face.  


Where is the justice for the little girl?  


Believe me, Casey, if will never be forgotten.  You may think you got away with murder but people don't forget.  Don't think it's gonna be the same for you when you walk with your girlfriends, if you have any left, into a restaurant.  At best people will whisper and stare wherever you go.  I guarantee people will never ever let you forget even when you wish they would.  

Life will never ever be the same for you, Casey.  Never.  You will be a wanderer in this world from here on out because no one will trust you.  If being a mommy is not something you wanted, you could have just given her up for adoption rather than snuff her beautiful little life out.


Added:
Casey left the family's home on June 16, 2008, AND THEN HER DIARY:The following diary entry by Casey Anthony is dated "June 21" and reads:

I have no regrets, just a bit worried. I just want for everything to work out OK. I completely trust my own judgment and know that I made the right decision. I just hope that the end justifies the means. I just want to know what the future will hold for me. I guess I will soon see – This is the happiest that I have been in a very long time. I hope that my happiness will continue to grow– I've made new friends that I really like. I've surrounded myself with good people – I am finally happy. Let's just hope that it doesn't change.


*  Here's Casey cam as the verdict is read:http://www.wftv.com/video/28452270/index.html
*Watch videos and past trial days HERE.  

It's Not the End of Construction Just Yet

Lately I've been doing a lot of study work about saving money.  I'm tired of overspending each month and feeling like I'm not being as frugal as I truly can strive to be.  So I finally did it.  Took up the dreaded couponing that I've always hated.  I starting losing my hatred of it after saving so much money the first couple times around.  I even invested in a folder with inserts to hold my coupons. The same ones you'd use to hold baseball cards.  Anyway, makes holding and viewing your coupons quickly so much easier.  I did sign up with Coupon$ense and it's been really, really helping me. I even found a list that I've always DREAMED of having called The Never Pay More list.  It actually tells me for each type of product what is a good deal and what is not.  Whoo hoo!  Exactly what is needed.  Plus it saves me from standing in the aisle for 20 minutes and scratching my head. "Is it a good deal?  Hmmmm."

Plus I do some product reviews lately and book reviews.  Sometimes I don't get to bed till the sun comes up but thankfully my kids sleep in so I've been getting at least 4 hours of sleep.  Sometimes 6.  Hey, studying comes with a price and I can't just ignore my kids to do it.  I just wait till my little stinker angels are sleeping.  When I want to learn something I'll go all out and search and search for answers online for hours till I get it.  Sometimes it's about chickens, gardening, couponing, writing, hairdos, how to do something, learn a skill, yada yada.  The internet is such a fantastic tool.  Mwah!  Love it.  It's almost 4am so I'm turning in and done with my work.  But most of all I love to come on here and blog.  I've met some fantastic people on here so it's a highlight for sure.  It's a pity when people think they've arrived and just aren't open to learning.  I hope to love learning till the day I die.

My tombstone should someday read. "End of Construction."  That's the only time we should quit trying to learn how to better ourselves and become less selfish or self absorbed..

Finally, a Fashionable Wipes Case for Moms to Carry

I was excited about picking out a case to carry my baby wipes in from Faithworks Boutique!  I'm such a girlie girl I just had to go for this exact one.  I get sooooo many comments on it from other moms. Hey, I may not be envied for having a great body, but I got a wipe case to die for.  Whoo hoo!  Look at this incredible gorgeous case.

I was even thinking about giving this as a baby shower gift for a friend but my HUSBAND said no because he loved it so much he wanted to me keep it.  Oh, so guys go for this stuff too?  Or do I just have a fashion conscious husband?  I'm in love with this case and I can use it even after I no longer need the baby wipes.  Here is another color option below and you can also see them on Facebook.

Product Description 
Our posh baby wipes cases are such a great and practical way to carry around those much needed baby wipes!  Don't need wipes anymore?  They make a cute case for pens/pencils for your girly girl at school.  They also make a very couture clutch for a night out with the girls!

******

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com created by WebBizIdeas.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissions 16 CFR, Part 255 Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising. Tomoson Product review & giveaway Disclosure.

Finally Found a Way to Not Lose My Keys!

I hate not being able to show you the cool things I can do with a product since my camera is STILL on it's way back from the shop.  However, I've had plenty fun with the Gripole.  :D  Tee hee..... The best think I can do is show you the video first.  Just looking at the picture to the left you'd probably say "What the heck is that?"  Once you watch the video you'll say "Ahhhh... I see."

I'm so forgetful with keys.  Often I'll just set them down anywhere.  I put one of these on my key chain and when I walk in the door, I literally just put it right on my door as soon as I walk in the house.  These are so strong you'd be surprised what it can hold.  Once while I was cooking, I used 4 of these to put my cell up on the fridge so I could see texts that came in and easily respond . I've used it to hold things on my fridge. It's just super convenient.  You know me, I'm a gadget lover of any kind!  Anything that makes my life easier I'm happy about.  I've had friends tried to get one of these from me but I love them too much to share. Ha!

*****

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com created by WebBizIdeas.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissions 16 CFR, Part 255 Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising. Tomoson Product review & giveaway Disclosure.

Crazy Amounts of Money People Spend for Holidays

People spend a ginormous amount of money for the holidays. Check out this chart! The original graphic didn't fit on this page so if you need to see it larger, just click on it or go HERE to see bigger version.

CrAzY Deals and cRaZy Happenings

Pic taken at ER while waiting. I squeezed
Kyle so hard he looked like a chipmunk

CrRaZy, cRaZy weekend!  I'm telling you.  Phew!  I recently took my daughter to the ER but the doctor refused to give my daughter medicine for her ear infection because it was small.  Sure enough a day later she was crying in pain.  So I had to take her back in around midnight because the agony for her was so bad.

Since we had to wait in the middle of the night for her prescription, I looked around for some things I had coupons for.  I'm telling you, the savings is incredible.  I bought some really expensive make up for $2 total.  Yep.  CRAZY wonderful!  I needed it too because I was running out of a lot of stuff.  I saved 90% on my makeup by using a coupon on top of the sale.  

My mom took two of my boys out to McDonalds.  :)

Sunday night we got to watch fireworks in a town close to ours and let the kids swim.  Someone there got so rude with me I had to finally get up and leave with the kids crying behind me. They were so sad but I was being so humiliated I couldn't take it anymore.  My kids were enjoying swimming so I felt really, really bad about it but we just needed to go.  :(  The night ended bag but thankfully they get to swim at Grandma's tomorrow.

Hopefully this next week will be MUCH better.  So much has been going on but I can't share.  I just love my blogging friends!  :D

Adventures in ER Visits and Extreme Couponing

Yesterday I finally went in to get an xray for my foot, hand, and elbow.  I injured them over a month ago and they are still sooo painful.  They just get jammed over and over. Then Ivy was having a lot of pain in her stomach that was causing her to double over, an ear infection, and a really bad sore throat from something viral.  What's funny is I figured if I was gonna drive so far, I might as well call some friends and see if they were having any freak accidents that need to be treated. Turns out my friend was in agony with her knee and she ended up in a knee brace.  I just have tissue damage they think and will be seeing a specialist.  They put a brace on my pinkie finger which made it stick up straight in the air.  It was funny when I was sipping coffee with my pinky up like that.  Felt like I was a snooty or something. So we finished up at the ER around 2:30am.

After we left I said "Hey, lets stop by the grocery store!  I had some coupons and wanted to use them.  I only grabbed a few items but since I had some coupons that would make it totally free, I just had to get them.  It was pretty cool even though I didn't get home till 4am.

My camera is still on it's way from repair so I can't take a picture.  But here is my list.



* Cheerios Cereal <--- coupon for Free
* Red Barron Singles french bread pizza (2 boxes) <---On sale, used store coupon, manufacturer's coupon
* Dole Ultimate Caesar Salad (3 bags) <--- One of them was free, the other two were manager specials
* Bag of frozen vegetables <----Coupon for Free
* 3 Musketeer Candy Bars (6) <----Coupons paired with sale made them Free
* Twizzlers candy (2 bags) <----Coupons paired with sale made them Free
* 16oz Oscar Meyer sliced chicken <---Coupon for Free
* 1 gallon Shamrock Milk <---used store coupon and was on sale

Total before coupons and store card: 
$40.01
Total after coupons:
$7.60

That's a 81% savings!  (Didn't buy a lot but was a good start!)

If you want a really easy way to calculate when you save just go HERE.  Pretty awesome tool!

We Love Anonymous Commenters, Yes We Do

Oh, I miss, I miss, I miss my camera.  I wish I could share pictures with you but I can't.

By the way, I had to take the anonymous option to comment back off my blog since right away I started getting critical people that are too scared to insult without sharing their identity.  Sorry if it ruined it for nice and polite people.  I tend to attract the overly critical type.

In reply to a recent anonymous comment, of course not everyone is going to understand how others can handle or even want a large family.  Not everyone wants a large family.  Fortunately for us God has given us a free will.  The day someone shows me a scripture in the bible that says to limit the amount of children is the day I might consider your point of view.  Good luck though finding that scripture.  Children are an inheritance from the Lord.  Whether you are poor or rich.  

By the way, I've gained 11 lbs back!  Have mercy.  I've been so busy that I've hardly had time to eat though.  I have NO idea how that happened.  No joke.  Something has definitely changed since I turned 30.  My body is betraying me.  I need to have a talk with my metabolism and remind her of the days I could down Big Macs and still lose weight.  Those days are very good memories.  Sigh.  Waaaaaait a minute.  My heart is bigger now.  It's holding love for allll my kids.  Maybe that explains the poundage.

By the way, check out this hilarious parenting technique!  LOL.  I can't imagine every being brave enough to do it.  But it's hilarious to watch!

How Can I Get My House This Organized Again?

Yesterday I spent a whopping 14 hours working on photos to get printed for a photo album.  It was only 2007 I worked on.  Can you say "Papparazi momma"?  Haha.  Anyway, I found soooo many old pictures of events I completely forgot about.  However, I found a set of pictures that make me SICK to my stomach.  It's when my house was new, I had thrown out a ton of stuff before moving, and it's completely organized.  Please know I felt like sobbing when I saw these.  Check it out....

Note: Pics below is of my house organized with no clutter 4 years ago.  Was AWESOME.

I'm putting these pictures up to inspire me to get my house decluttered and back to this.

My living room.  Sob.....

Sob..... View of dining area from living room.  Do you see clutter?

View of living room from hallway

Part of my bedroom.... sniff

Other part of my bedroom

I'm gonna print out these pictures to put up so I can see  where I need to get the house again.  I'm not a hoarder or anything. I hate STUFF.  I don't go for knick knacks at all so I don't do collectibles.  It's just easy to get sooo busy and not realize that stuff keeps coming in from birthdays, holidays, or people just dropping stuff off thinking I might need it.  I have so much organizing to do and I'm having some sort of brain block.  Help!  I need Chris' brains for this job.

Hilarious Quotes for Moms

Moms definitely have their humorous moments and these 16 funny quotes are testimony to the laughs that mothers often enjoy (and sometimes endure). 

1. "Mothers of teenagers know why animals eat their young." ~ Author Unknown

2. "Mothers are all slightly insane." ~ J.D. Salinger

3. "I want my children to have all the things I couldn't afford. Then I want to move in with them." ~ Phyllis Diller

4. "There is only one pretty child in the world, and every mother has it." ~ Chinese Proverb

5. "It takes a woman twenty years to make a man of her son, and another woman twenty minutes to make a fool of him." ~ Helen Rowland

6. "The most remarkable thing about my mother is that for thirty years she served the family nothing but leftovers. The original meal has never been found." ~ Calvin Trillin

7. "A suburban mother's role is to deliver children obstetrically once, and by car for ever after." ~ Peter De Vries

8. "It would seem that something which means poverty, disorder and violence every single day should be avoided entirely, but the desire to beget children is a natural urge." ~ Phyllis Diller

9. "All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That's his." ~ Oscar Wilde

10. "A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie." ~ Tenneva Jordan

11. "You don't really understand human nature unless you know why a child on a merry-go-round will wave at his parents every time around - and why his parents will always wave back." ~William D. Tammeus.

12. "Working mothers are guinea pigs in a scientific experiment to show that sleep is not necessary to human life." ~ Author Unknown

13. "Any mother could perform the jobs of several air-traffic controllers with ease." ~ LisaAlther

14. "My mother had to send me to the movies with my birth certificate, so that I wouldn't have to pay the extra fifty cents that the adults had to pay." ~ KareemAbdul-Jabbar

15. "My mother had a great deal of trouble with me, but I think she enjoyed it." ~ Mark Twain

16. "My mother's menu consisted of two choices: Take it or leave it." ~ Buddy Hackett

Yes, children often give their mothers something to laugh about. Hopefully it makes up for the things their children will inevitably do to make them cry.

Secrets of the Heart

Sometimes it's sooooooooooooooo hard to have a servant's heart.  Some days I want to be selfish when my husband asks if I'll make him some of his favorite lemonade I made from lemon juice.  It'll be right when I'm so happy to finally be done with dinner and cleaning up the kitchen.  He'll ask and everything inside of me wants to say "No, I don't want to make you some lemonade.  Here is the recipe.  Please make it yourself."  That's what'll be in my head.  Instead I'll just say "sure".

That's me, fat with responsibilities
and trying to run the race.  Heh heh.
Looks impossible huh?  Yeah, only
by God's grace.

I know in America things are going more and more equal.  The husbands and wives just both work and serve themselves or work out their own order of things.  Ever since I can remember I was very traditional at heart.  In the class, when we had to write down what we wanted to be when we grew up, I said I wanted to be a homemaker.  I usually got odd looks from my teacher.  It was hard to go to college because there was NOTHING I wanted to go for.  After being coaxed to take computer classes for a year that I completely loathed, I left college. That was torture for me. My only interest was maybe culinary.  Everyone kept thinking it was because I wanted to become a chef.  Nope.  Just wanted to cook great.  Recently I looked into gardening classes because I wanted to learn the science behind growing vegetables and knowing the soil for our own benefit.  

On the days where I feel selfishness rise in me.... I look up at my husband and realize that he gets up and goes to work every day to support his wife and 6 kids.  He does it lovingly whether he feels like it or not.  I may work hard at home and work hard at caring for 6 messy kids.  But I can stop whenever I want, read a book, take a break, read a blog and then get back to work.  I've never once been pressured by him to go work a job.  NEVER.  I love him like CrAzY for it.  We've even downsized one time just so I didn't have to go to work.  We lived in a teeny tiny place.  In due time and through God's blessing we got a house we could afford.  I've tried different ways like it talks about in Proverbs 31 to make some of my own money while at home to help.  Finding little ways here and there to pitch in took so long for me to figure out.  I had to get creative.  (See my ads on my blog?)

I guess the hardest thing for me to beat down (on some days) is my selfishness and secret thoughts of the heart.  Not wanting to serve anymore.  Or wash any more clothes.  Wash another load of dishes.  Reorganize and declutter an area YET AGAIN.  Then I remember that Charles and I are a team.  We are a team working together the best way we know how.  Life doesn't have to be all fun, games and goofing off.  

Sometimes I wish I still lived in the Garden of Eden where everything grew on it's own and in abundance.  I can see myself picking all the flowers I didn't have to care for.  When I get to heaven, I'm pretty sure I'm gonna see a long line of women waiting to talk to Eve.  I'll be in that line.  Not to condemn her of course.  I figure if it wasn't her, eventually some lady would've ruined it.  Likely would've been me so I can't really judge her.  She must have people knocking on her door all the time while enjoying her mansion in heaven.  I can see a lady standing there, fumbling about, looking a little shy but finally asks "Why'd you do it?"  I've thought about this a lot obviously.  Heh heh.  I'll be knocking on her door.  Thankfully she'll be clothed though.  Leaves aren't in style anymore.  Oh, and I want to see what she looks like.  What was God's idea of what the first woman should look like?  Heck, I'm curious then about Adam!  He was taken right from the dirt.  Hmmm.... must've had sandy blonde hair then.  I go more for the superman looking type.  Thankfully God made everyone have creative genes because I got me one.  

I think about odd things like this all the time.  Especially while washing dishes.