In which I sit back and breath deep

Right now, at 10:06 a.m., I am still in my pajamas, playing on my computer. Half of my children (Marcus, Ethan and Wes) are still in bed, while Papa and Myles shoot a puck around on our rink out back. The house is messy. The washing machine is silent. I am drinking coffee and enjoying the scent of a mistletoe candle. I am on vacation...frozen pizza anyone?

In which we learn to be thankful

Yesterday I grocery shopped and brought home a carload of groceries. My sons graciously carried it all in for me, and then they helped me figure out where to store all that food. My cupboards are full, my pantry is full, my basement is stocked with food. We will never, ever, ever have one hungry day.

Today my two youngest sons and I volunteered at the Neighborhood Center delivering Christmas boxes of food to people in our town who know nothing about carloads of food. They were thankful for a box of food. They live in places we never imagined people to live in. Some of them don't even have a house to live in. They live in a room. A room! We went to places with smells we had never wanted to smell and saw people we never knew lived in our town. We were saddened and humbled.

Tonight, as I lay my head on my pillow, in my bed with the heated mattress pad, I will do so with gratitude. I will pray for the people we met. I will also pray that my sons will never forget what they saw and smelled today. I know I won't.

Reaching out a bit

I am a very independent person by nature. I do not feel a great need to be with people all the time or even to talk to people all the time. Most of the time this works for me. I will admit to times of feeling lonely and wishing I had someone to hang with, but usually that feeling is fleeting. I am pretty content to mainly share myself with just my husband and my family.

Don't get me wrong. I value the Body. I value it greatly. I understand our need for one another. I just struggle with being the one in need.

So, will you please grant me grace and not ask too many questions when I reach out just a little bit and tell you that my family is going through something hard and that I need you to pray for us? We are facing a battle with darkness, and we need the body to pray for God's hand to move in our home. I know it isn't much to go on, but if you read this, will you please pray for us?

Thank you.

What $222.62 can buy at Price Chopper

2 six pound sirloin tip roasts
2 large Sargento ricotta cheeses
2 PC lite sour cream
4 cartons of Earth Wise juice ( 2 lemonade, 2 blueberry pomegranate)
12 bags Green Giant steamfresh veggies
4 bags Birds Eye veggies
18 boxes Green Giant veggies
6 Oscar Mayer bacon
2 jennie o turkey and gravies
3 cans Dom Pepino pizza sauce
8 cans Hunts tomatoes
12 boxes Betty Crocker ogratin potatoes
3 bags Knorr rice mix
2 Heluva good dip
9 cans dole pineapple
2 bags raisins
2 Nestle chocolate chips
2 boxes blueberry pancake mix
2 boxes cinnamon struesel cake mix
2 boxes coffee cake mix
8 bags New York croutons
4 bags Snyder hot wing pretzels
8 bags Cape Cod reduced fat chips
6 2liters Sunkist orange soda
2 12 packs diet coke
1 12 pack coke
2 bags Snyder multigrain tortilla chips
12 packages Ziploc bags
15 boxes Scotties tissues
4 bags Marcal napkins
1 roll Reynolds parchment paper
1 12 roll Northern toilet paper
1 bag Lifesaver sour gummies
1 40 ct. Excederin Migraine
2 GE energy smart light bulbs
2 Aussie hairspray
1 Garnier mousse
1 bottle Wisk detergent
4 Ortega taco seasonings
4 Ortega 10 count flour tortillas
2 Vanity Fair 20 count dessert plates
2 33 ounce Maxwell House lite coffee
1 bag Christmas sugar cookies
2 Skippy peanut butter
2 boxes Kelloggs Corn Pops
2 bags Hormel turkey pepperoni
2 cans Ocean Spray cranberries
2 Pillsbury refrigerated cookie dough
2 Nestle refrigerated cookie dough

I think that is everything. When you look at this list, you might think what about produce, milk, bread etc... I spent $ 20.00 on these things at Aldi. If it seems like I am missing things like chicken or soup or anything else, that is because I have all of that already. I only buy when prices are rock bottom, stockpile those things and never, ever need to pay more than the very lowest price for anything. This has given me so much wiggle room in my grocery budget, that I can pay for Marcus' guitar lessons out of my grocery money. We go out to eat occasionally from the grocery envelope. I have so much of some things, that I will give a huge box to the Neighborhood Center at Christmas. Learning to do this well has really made a huge difference in our ability to stretch our grocery money. I am so thankful that God led me to
http://www.moneysavingmom.com / Check it out. Do some reading. Follow her for a while and follow the comments and threads on her sight. You will be glad you do.

ps. One example of a "rock bottom" price...right now Walmart has Campbell's creamy soups marked down to .58 a can. I used 9 $1.00/5 coupons and bought 45 cans. That makes them .38 a can. That is rock bottom for creamy soup, and I now have about 70 cans in my basement. I will never need to pay .55 at Aldi and I am using name brand instead of store brand.

In Which We Get Wet

Michael and I grabbed a sunny moment, threw the kayaks in the truck and drove to Brandy Brook on Sunday. You gotta get in the water when the sun shines these days, as the autumn days are swiftly passing. We had a picturesque paddle as the sun shone on the trees ahead luring us to the very end of the brook.

And then we turned around...and saw the heavy clouds gathered over the St. Lawrence River. We paddled hard and fast, but could not outrun the rain. I laughed and enjoyed the entire thing. It was a grand adventure!

Gotta Love Free

So, I went to Price Chopper in Malone yesterday. You do know about Price Chopper in Malone, don't you? That's the one where they double coupons worth a dollar. As in huge savings if you match your coupons to the sales. So, here are my totals from yesterday. I spent $192.47. And I saved $248.02. Yup, that's right I came home with $440.49 worth of groceries for $192.47. Not too shabby, although I have done better. I got $48.00 worth of Dannon yogurt for free. You can bet my boys are loving that. I also got 6 Colgate toothpastes, three deodorant and a few other things for free. Fun, fun!

As fun as this is for us I have to say, it is also God's provision. I remember when groceries started going up, but my grocery money each paycheck was not. I didn't see how I was going to make ends meet on that same amount of money. God was so faithful to lead me to some blogs that really opened my eyes to the savings that could be had through couponing and shopping the drugstores. I learned about stockpiling, so that I would never "need" anything, because I had already stocked up when things were at rock bottom prices. I learned that I should never pay for toothpaste or toothbrushes and never pay more than pennies for deodorant or shampoo or conditioner. I learned that when I can get toilet paper for .41 a roll, it's a good idea to buy a ton of toilet paper. So, I am going to share with you one of my favorite websites. Go there, read, follow links, and you can learn how to save money on groceries too. Because free is fun!http//www.moneysavingmom.com/

Forever in Love...or how I am playing at making collages

It's true. This guy still makes my heart thump when he walks into a room. He knows how to make me happy, and he pretty much spends his life doing just that. I AM ONE LUCKY GIRL!

Appreciation

My thoughts these days never stray far from thankfulness. There is such sorrow in this world. I carry burdens that can only see release through intercession and thankfulness. I intercede for those living through pain and sorrow and yes, I feel a partial release of the burden. It is the act of praise to a Living God though that brings me complete release from the burden I carry. It is as I thank Him that I am reminded of his great love and faithfulness. And I remember that He cares more than I do even. And release comes once again, for he is a good God!

The Hippy Van

My thirteen year old has a dream. And this hippy van is it. He is hoping to buy his first car a little early and 'fix it up" a.k.a. paint flowers on it, cover it with stickers and put a table and a bed inside. How cool would that be? He is a one of a kind kid. He doesn't want to be like everyone else. He has his own way of looking at things and doing things. I sure hope he stays that way!

Alas... the Hippy Vanagon.

Vacation

Michael and I took the two younger boys on a mini vacation this past weekend. It turned out to be a lot of fun. We spent the first day in downtown Syracuse. We took the boys to the Museum of Science and Technology. It was very interesting, and we all really enjoyed it. Then we walked around to find a pizza joint. That was great fun, as we were able to eat outside and the weather was gorgeous. We had tickets to IMAX at seven, so had to kill time and fortunately we found a Starbucks with a comfy couch that was perfect for time killing. You can't beat coffee and leather together! Yum. IMAX was very cool. We all loved the movie.

Next day, off to Corning to the Glass Museum. I highly recomend it. It was informative, interesting and fun. The men enjoyed it as much as me.

Add in a day of shopping, lots of eating out, HGtv, pools and hot tubs and all in all, it was a great get away.

Summer Fun... or how to upload pictures to my posts

Just Chillin'

Such joy...a good book and a bowl of cherries.

kayaking on the Raquette

Mini golf guys

Learning

I actually have no idea why I am doing this. I just have this desire to learn something...to do something on my own. Computer stuff scares me, it really does. I have always depended on my sons to figure it all out and help me/do everything for me. So, here I am trying to make my own blog...all by myself. We shall see if I can learn my way around here. Not that it matters much. Noone knows I exist anyway. God is good!