A Little Cute Therapy...

You Need To Try This

If your family hasn't tried whole grain pasta yet, this is the one to start with. I buy it at Kroger and Wal-mart also sells it. The recipe and directions are on the back of the box, you use the pasta straight out of the box, no need to cook it first! I follow the recipe as it reads except I use cottage cheese in place of the ricotta and ground turkey instead of beef, and add an extra 1/2 cup of water. I add the water because we like our lasagna a little saucier! I double the recipe and make two pans so we can have it a second night or freeze one for later!
Here are the ingredients as listed on the box...
durum whole wheat flour and semolina blend, whole flaxseed mill (adds the heart healthy omega 3's), wheat fiber, thiamin monotrate, niacin, riboflavin, iron, folic acid.
Now go buy some, cook it up and try it, you will like it!

Abigail's Eleven!

In honor of Abby's eleventh birthday, here are eleven words to describe her...

smart

beautiful

feminine

crafty

sensible

helpful

motherly

genuine

sweet

attentive

lastly...she has a heart for the Lord.

Happy Birthday young lady!

love, Mama and Daddy

CVS!

The first two pictures are Abby's deals. Abby (aka the coupon queen) is my eleven year old. Happy Birthday Abby:0) She planned her two transactions using the weekly flyer, our list of what we had left to buy of the April deals, and a list of needs I had made to work into this weeks shopping. She did a great job as you can see. In the second picture you can see a small bag of Hershey's Bliss candy (good stuff). She had to throw one of these on the counter when her total after coupons came to -.02. The candy was on clearance for .25! She really understands how to make CVS work for us and is a huge help to me in many ways. With her help we are able to get in and out of CVS in under 30 minutes, which is about the limit for our little Rose.

Here are the totals...

Total before coupons...around $81, each transaction was just over $20

total out of pocket... 95cents!!

Extra care buck's for next week...$27

Go here to see how to get a $3 off $15 coupon!

Read more deals here... Super Savings Saturday and CVS Superstars!!

Wendy's Four!

Wendy was excited about her birthday for a loooong time. She told everyone, I mean every single person she came in contact with that her birthday was March 31. Her age varied depending on the day, but she always knew March 31, which started out sounding more like March farty-first. We worked quickly to correct that pronunciation:0) This is Wendy at my sister's house in Maryland. We really enjoyed having her party there. Wendy wanted cup cakes with sprinkles and strawberry ice cream! Her gifts included new sand box toys, clothes, play-doh, and pink tye-dye crocs!

Here's Wendy playing dress-up. This dress has been loved and worn for years. I can't believe it is still in one piece. That's a lavender hankerchief with a green scrunchy on the front, her own fashion creation!

Wendy's hair is getting so long. She is learning to brush it and can put it up in a pony tail all by herself.
Wendy loves to play babies and puppies. She would drop any inside fun to go outside and ride her scooter or jump on the trampoline!
Happy Birthday Wendy, we love you!

5 Budget Busters!

I've been tagged by Sarah at Fiddledeedee! She shared her top 5 budget busters last week and "tagged" me to do the same! So here goes in no set order...

1. These first two are totally dependant on planning and organization. We spend less in these areas when I plan and organize. I would say this is true in all areas of spending! Food! Food is a biggie here. With so many mouths to feed and two growing boys , there is a lot of food coming in and quickly being eaten. "What's to eat, Mom?", "What's for ......breakfast, lunch, dinner?" echoed over and over! It's nice when I actually have an answer, and I usually do, because I have a menu plan and shop accordingly. But when things don't go as planned food is a huge budget buster! Feeding so many with take-out, even the dollar menu is expensive. I always think in terms of how many groceries I could buy when we have to spend extra. I need to do a better job in planning for times when I need a quick meal and we could save more in this area. I have said, it's a shame we can't eat toothpaste and shampoo, hee-hee! Fellow CVS'ers will know what I mean!
2. The second is clothing. When we aren't organized, it is so hard to know what we have and what we need. It is so nice to pull out a well labeled tote of size 2 summer clothes when you need it for the next in line, but it doesn't always work out that way! Having five girls in a row, organization of shoes and clothes can and has saved a tremendous amount of money as they "hand down". I am a "sucker" when it comes to dresses. It is so hard not to add to our dress collection. We have been blessed over the years with a huge collection of dresses. I love having them and try to resist the urge to buy more....I just remind myself..."Tommy's gonna kill me if I buy another dress...OH, this would be so cute on...But, Tommy's gonna...." You get the idea?!
3. Heating and cooling a 4000 square foot house....enough said!
4. Hobbies can be a budget buster. Photo supplies and scrapbooking, I love it! I have a small fortune in supplies and little to show for it! Someday I will get it done, I love scrapbooking and if someone can tell me how to get it done with so many littles, please share! Oh, one more thing, babies, sweet babies, another "hobby" of mine:0) I love all the stuff that comes with babies. I have learned to keep it simple in this area, but I have to resist the urge to buy baby things. It helps that I am a home-body and don't shop much!
5. Lastly, having three babies and moving twice in the last four years has been expensive. I'm not complaining...I love my babies and the moves were job related and God is good to us. We have everything we need and a lot more! I have been blessed with a very hard working husband and I have never had to worry about money.

Now I'm tagging Monica and Tisha!

Just Curious...

I don't want anyone to think that I go through life making decisions based on what people may think. I guess that is fairly obvious based on the facts...seven children, two born at home and all home schooled, breastfeeding past a year, sometimes past two years. With that said, I am curious about something. You see, we live in a neighborhood of lovely homes, most built in the seventies, all well maintained, with about an acre of well manicured yard. Our back yard connects with the backyards of five other homes. It is really pretty especially this time of year with everything green and blooming.
So now I have a question for you. Should I put up a clothesline? Leave me a comment and let me know what you think.