Frugal, it doesn't mean being cheap it means being SMART!

There are so many sayings that we all have heard time and again. Some may be ,"Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without", which is one of my favorites; there are so many others. *Nothing is a waste of time if you use the experience wisely *"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." --Albert Einstein Well I have just tried so hard to do what I could to use it up, everything, not be wasteful. When there are leftovers (save them and freeze them) how many times recently that I was going to throw away a little corn or green beans that were left and at the time not worth saving, keeping them in a small container in the freezer, after a couple weeks there's enough different veggies in there for a "FREE" meal of wonderful beef veggie soup! Wear it out - I am losing alot of weight (Thank Goodness!) so instead of having the fun LOL and the cost of buying more clothes I just keep taking them in! I am grateful for anything friends or neighbors give me for my kids or anything else for that matter and I use it the best that I can! I bought a bunch of fleece pajama pants that ended up being way to big for Brian and instead of taking them back because they were only $2.00 per set of pajamas, I used the material for the pants and used that to make the boys new fleece hats and matching mittens. Then the shirts I took in and remade them so I could wear them. I also when going through the boys clothes try to find other uses than clothes for them. I think I already blogged about this too but I picked up two king size sheets at a thrift store close to us for .99 cents and ended up cutting them into squares and made 44 (approx.) cloth napkins! Can't buy material for that price! Please share with me what ways you are trying to be more frugal and smart! I would love to hear and learn from your ideas as well!

Because I Have Been Given Much

Are you Ready? Don't forget to pause the music below first

The Best Me for My Children

I want to give my children LOVE: I want them to have a mother who truly loves them and expresses that love not just in words, but also in deeds.  I want my actions and attitude to exhibit my deep love for my kids so that even if the words were gone, they would never question my love.

I want to give my children JOY: I want to create a joyful home—one that is full of laughter and silliness and a true grasp that all things are in God’s control and therefore we can always rejoice.  I want to be a joyful mother, not doing my work grudgingly but with a cheerful heart and attitude.

I want to give my children PEACE: I want our home to be a peaceful place.  I do not want our hours and days to be filled with stress, hurry, and angry words.  I want to be organized, disciplined, and rest-filled so that our home is a place that the children (and Jason) long to be in after time in the “real” harsh world. I want my family to be in our home and just say, “Ahhh….”

I want to give my children PATIENCE: I want my children to have a patient mother—a mother who understands their ages and limitations and extends them loving grace even in the midst of training and discipline. I want to be patient with their short-comings, personality quirks, and childish ways.

I want to give my children KINDNESS: I want my children to have a mother who looks for ways to serve them.  I don’t want to just do the bare minimum while I quietly hope that no one else needs anything.  I want to be intentionally kind—looking for ways to express my love for them.  I want to speak kind words—to them, about them, and about others.

I want to give my children GOODNESS: I want to give my children a mother who is good and who seeks the good for others.  I want to always be above reproach and never afraid that listening ears may pick up on sinful hypocrisy.

I want to give my children GENTLENESS: Oh how I long for gentleness!  I want to give my children a mother who speaks in gentle words and with a gentle tone of voice.  I want my facial expressions to be gentle, my touch to be gentle, and my correction to be gentle.  I don’t ever want my kids to avoid me for fear of harshness.

I want to give my children FAITHFULNESS: I want to give them a mother who is always, always faithful—faithful to them, faithful to their daddy, faithful to my word, and faithful to my work.

I want to give my children SELF-CONTROL: I want my children to have a mother who is strong enough to control her words, her actions, and her body language.  I want my children to see a mother who intentionally chooses to do and/or say what is right even when emotions are high and sleep is low.

And so, although I am sure there will be some Legos and dolls and craft supplies under our tree this year, I pray that our home will also be filled with gifts of love, joy, peace, patience, kindess, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control.  And those, my friends, can’t be ordered online.

Going A Year Without Groceries

From the store, that is! How wonderful would it be not to have to go to the grocery store 3 x a week like most of us! There are times I think I have gone two times in a day. I found a fabulous blog I wanted to share with everyone about this family who went a year and now longer without going to a grocery store. They could do a butcher's, farmers market, food stands on the side of the road, their own garden, etc. I love this blog. She has tons of great information and tips, please check it out!
http://ayearwithoutgroceries.blogspot.com/

Felt Car Mat

Well, where have I been? I have been busy sewing hats for my boys, nieces and nephew and making this awesome felt car play mat for Chase for Christmas. I didn't want to post it until after Christmas because my kids sometimes check out my blog too. Anyway, this was so much fun to make and very time consuming. I didn't end up completely finishing it. I told Chase when he opened it up that this is our work in progress and that maybe each weekend we can add something else to it so he would feel like he was creating it too ( way to cover up not being finished ! LOL). So here are some pictures of it with some of his other "car things".



How funny is that? Even my other boys were having fun playing with this!
Who would have thought that four older boys would spend over 4 hours playing with this too! Gotta love it!



IS DRYPACK CANNING FOR YOU?

Ensign - August 1996
Random Sampler Section
Church members living near a Church-owned cannery are encouraged to participate not only in welfare canning sessions but also in family canning programs. The focus of the dry-pack canning program is to give greater assistance to families and provide more opportunities for them to obtain and store a year’s supply of basic, life sustaining products.

Members are invited to set up an appointment through their ward or stake canning specialist (your priesthood or Relief Society leader can tell you who this is) to use the equipment at their local cannery to dry-pack food. Canneries have more than a dozen products available to can at a nominal cost, or you can bring your own food and pay only for the cost of the cans.

Many stakes also have access to dry-pack canning equipment that can be checked out for individual use at home.

Dry-pack canning is an effective method for storing dry foods. Bulk storage foods such as wheat or beans are placed in large metal #10 cans, along with a packet that removes oxygen, then sealed without further processing. Food that is stored this way has an extended storage life and is protected from moisture, insects, and rodents.

The following basic food storage items are available at dry-pack canneries:

*Apples slices, dried

*Oats, rolled

*Beans: pinto, pink, great northern

*Onions, dry

*Puddings: Chocolate, vanilla

*Carrots, dry

*Cocoa, hot mix

*Rice, white

*Flour, white

*Soup mix

*Fruit drink mix

*Spaghetti

*Macaroni

*Sugar, granulated

*Milk, non-fat dry

*Wheat

Not all food storage items are appropriate for dry-pack canning. The following types of items do not store well in cans because of moisture or oil content. However, their shelf life can be extended by storing them in sealed containers in the freezer:

Barley, pearled

Granola

Cereal, milled-grain Nuts, roasted or raw

Cornmeal Rice, brown

Flour, whole wheat Yeast

Additional products that should not be home dry-pack canned include these products, which are best stored in their original containers and rotated frequently:

Baking powder

Baking soda

Bouillon

Mixes w/leavening, Oil such as pancake or biscuit mixes

Spices

Sugar, brown

For more information, contact your regional welfare agent, Church-owned canneries, local bishops’ storehouse, or stake and ward canning specialists.

Motherhood Is Not a Hobby

“Many voices in the world today marginalize the importance of having children or suggest delaying or limiting children in a family. My daughters recently referred me to a blog written by a Christian mother (not of our faith) with five children. She commented: “[Growing] up in this culture, it is very hard to get a biblical perspective on motherhood. … Children rank way below college. Below world travel for sure. Below the ability to go out at night at your leisure. Below honing your body at the gym. Below any job you may have or hope to get.” She then adds: “Motherhood is not a hobby, it is a calling. You do not collect children because you find them cuter than stamps. It is not something to do if you can squeeze the time in. It is what God gave you time for.”⁷
Having young children is not easy. Many days are just difficult. A young mother got on a bus with seven children. The bus driver asked, “Are these all yours, lady? Or is it a picnic?”
“They’re all mine,” she replied. “And it’s no picnic!”⁸
As the world increasingly asks, “Are these all yours?” we thank you for creating within the Church a sanctuary for families, where we honor and help mothers with children.”
Elder Neil L. Anderson, “Children”. October 2011 General Conference.