Kids clothes

Alright, so how do you organize the clothes your kids have outgrown - I feel like they are taking over and we only have 4 years worth of clothes!

So this is what I have been doing so far.  Monday is my laundry day so when something comes out of the wash that I know was too small the last time they wore it I put it in boxes to save for the inevitable "next child".  Each of my boxes has about 6 months worth of clothes, labeled accoridng to size.  I keep the boxes on the shelf above the laundry so I can put them away immediately.  Recently some of the boxes were VERY full so I decided to downsize.  I just wish there was an easier way!

I would love to hear you ideas!!!!!

Happy Birthday Olivia!

We are so thankful that our little Olivia is a part of our family! We enjoy learning more about her every day and know that this is only just the beginning.

She was so pleased to learn that these presents were for her -
she thought they were for someone else!

Olivia loves being able to tell (and show) everyone that she is 2!

The haul:
2 Angelina Ballerina movies - $1 (garage sale)
2 books - FREE (mine from when I was little)
8 "princess" rings - $1 (Dollar Tree)

Grand Total: $2

~~She loved the book about letters.
She can already point to and say
"B for Bailey, H for Hiram and O for ME!"~~

Ants on a log!

Thanks to Grandma Cindie Hiram and Olivia now know about ants on a log. It seems as though they like them, what do you think?

Frugal Baby

You know those walker/exersaucer things
that parents buy to put their baby in?
The ones with all the toys around the baby
that cost like $50 to $100.

Those babies were never as happy as this baby :)

Our New House

After about ten years of saving, one year of looking and several offers later we now OWN our first home! We are so excited that all of our work has paid off - literally. Although it has not been easy living the way that we do (http://livingbelowpovertyline.blogspot.com/) we now have something to show for it. Proving that BIG sacrifices really do give BIG rewards.

(Disclaimer: Just because we have reached one of our big goals don't expect that we will become any less frugal, if anything we will just get worse. Sorry kids, this is your birthday and Christmas presents for at least the next decade. You will appreciate this when you are older much more than a pile of junk that you only play with for a few days anyway.)

House Continued

Looking south out the back door.

Looking East out the back door.

Looking West out the back door.

OAMC - Chicken Recipes

Ok so I have had several people ask me about how to cook all of your family's dinners for one month in one day. I AM NOT an expert. I do what works for my family. It will be different for everyone. We love leftovers and don't mind eating the same thing 3 days in a row. You can begin my Googling "OAMC" that stands for Once A Month Cooking. Then just start with one week and work your way up to one month. I will start posting some of my favorite freezer recipes. These are all ones that I have tried out multiple times (freezing and eating). I don't have picky eaters so even my 2 year old eats this stuff. If you do have picky eaters, tell them to get over it and send them to bed hungry - they will eat eventually.

Easy Chicken & Cheese Enchiladas
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup picante sauce or salsa
2 teaspoons chili powder
2 cups chopped cooked chicken (I do 1 cup rice and 1 cup chicken)
1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
6 flour tortillas
1 tomato, chopped
1 green onion, sliced

Stir the soup, sour cream, picante sauce and chili powder in bowl. (To freeze - at this point put in a quart bag and freeze. When ready to eat, thaw and continue.) Stir 1 cup picante sauce mixture, chicken and cheese in a large bowl. Divide the chicken mixture among the tortillas. Roll up the tortillas and place them seam side up in a 11x8" shallow baking dish. Pour the remaining picante sauce mixture over the filled tortillas. Cover the baking dish. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes or until the enchiladas are hot and bubbling. Top with tomato and onion.

Chicken Pot Pie
1/3 cup butter
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/3 flour
1 3/4 cup chicken broth
2/3 cup milk
10 ounces frozen vegetables, thawed and drained
1-2 cups cut cooked chicken
double pie crust

Melt butter in a 2 quart sauce pot. Saute onions. Wisk in flour. Cook until bubbly. Remove from heat. Stir in broth and milk. Return to heat and heat to boiling. Stir in vegetables and chicken. (To freeze - at this point put chicken mixture into a gallon sized bag and freeze. When ready to eat, thaw and continue.) Roll half of the pie crust to fit ungreased 9x9x2 pan. Pour chicken mixture into crust lined pan. Roll other half to fit over the top. Turn crust under and crimp edges. Bake at 425 for 35 minutes or until golden brown.

Tetrazzini
12 oz noodles, cooked and drained
1 1/2 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1 cup chicken broth
1 teaspoon seasoned salt
3 cups shredded cheese
4 cups diced chicken
2 teaspoons parsley

Saute onion and garlic in butter, Add soup, broth and 1 1/2 cups of cheese. Cook until smooth. Add chicken and noodles. (To freeze - at this point scoop into a gallon sized bag and freeze. When ready to eat thaw and continue.) Turn into baking dish. Cover with foil. Bake 30 minutes at 350. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and parsley. Bake until melted.

Grandma Jamison comes to Florida

Alright, so this is a month late - sorry!

Grandma Jamison (Scott's dad's mom) came to Florida in the middle of June for Emma's (our neice) baptism. We are first so thankful that she was willing to come all the way from Utah to Florida. Second we were thrilled to see where she used to live in Florida.

This was their house - so cute. We all got out and she told us some stories. She said they owned the lot next door and that they had a cow.

This is lake right across the street from her house. Beautiful!

University of Florida

While they lived in Florida, Scott's grandpa worked for the University of Florida. This was the lab he worked in.
This is a picture of Vernon (far right) working in the lab.

He did agriculturial research. No wonder Grandma can grow anything!

Hotel

So when Grandma was in Florida, we went up to James and Tawnya's house in Gainsville and the kids got to stay in a hotel for the first time! I was a little worried about how all five of us sleeping in the same room would go but as it turns out they were great.

Getting ready for bed.

Sweet dreams

Good morning sunshine

Eat Mor Chikin!

Here are our pictures of Olivia and Bailey dressed as cows to get our free lunches at Chick-Fil-A. Unfortunately Hiram was being a little bull and would hide behind me every time someone tried to take a picture!

Checklist For A Rainy Florida Day

Chair and blanket fort for the kiddies ... check.

Good book for me ... check.

Chocolate for me ... triple check!

What a way to spend an hour in the morning :)

Old News

Looking at my knife block this morning Hiram askes me:
"Mom did you get new scissors?"

"Yes Hiram, I did."

"Why did you need new scissors?"

"Well Hiram my other scissors broke."

"Why did they break?"

"They got old."

"Like a grandma? But they didn't even have saggidy skin."

I am sure no harm or offence was ment toward any grandmas reading this!

Lazy Mornings

Do you have a husband that goes to work before the sun, children in school or worse - Seminary!? Ok, tell the truth there are days you can't (or just don't want to) get up to make breakfast. Of course being the great person I am, this has only happened to me once or twice - and by once or twice I mean almost daily!

Finally - the solution! I have not decided on a name for this little creation yet (perhaps someone can suggest something cute), but it is so easy to make and so yummy. Preheat oven to 450. Saute 1 cup of ham or sausage with 1/4 onion in a skillet while you make some biscuits. While the meat mixture is cooking, press the biscuit dough into the bottom and up the sides of a muffin tin. Scramble 4 eggs and a splash of milk (set aside). Spoon equal amounts of the meat mixture into each uncooked "biscuit cup". Pour equal amounts of the egg mixture over the meat (so that each "biscuit cup" is about 2/3 full). Bake until golden brown. Top with cheese, red pepper flakes and parsley if desired.

We eat a couple of these with a piece of fruit and some orange juice in the morning. These can be made in advance and frozen. Happy breakfast!

When your kids are quiet ...

Just so you know:

When you kids are TOO quiet they are painting each others faces with diaper cream.

Town Hall For Hope

Tired of hearing the fear, doom and gloom that’s filling the airwaves? Join Dave Ramsey for a nationwide town hall meeting and discover what’s happening with the economy, how we got here, and where we’re going. Plus, Dave will answer your questions live throughout the event!

Join this free event April 23 at 8:00 p.m. EDT in one of the thousands of venues across the country as we stand together to reignite the fire of hope!

(From the Town Hall for Hope website)

Click the picture on the left for more details.

Dave Ramsey Quotes:

“The average millionaire can't tell you who got thrown off the island last night.”

"If broke people are making fun of your financial plan, you’re on track."

"If you live like no one else, later you get to live like no one else."

"We buy things we don't need with money we don't have to impress people we don't like."

Tea Shirts

We are going to attend the Fort Myers Tax Day Tea Party on Wednesday, April 15th. We encourage everyone who loves their country to attend a Tea Party near you.

We had a pre-Party with our friends The Bests and made our "Tea Shirts" for the big event. Here is what we will be wearing:

The front of Scott's shirt

The back of Scott's shirt

Courtney's shirt

Kid's Shirts

Hiram colored this one himself!

Olivia's shirt

Proving two children are always better than one!

Bailey's shirt
Doesn't this just say it all?

He Has Risen!

I don't know where he comes up with these songs! They sure do make my day.

Diaper Deal!

It is finally back! The last time Walgreens ran this sale I only bought 900 diapers. Because I don't know when they will do this again I plan on buying about 5,000 this time. I figure that would be enough for a year's supply!
The Centsible Sawyer

Last night I went out for the first round.

Result: 1,362 diapers for $116.84

Translation: $0.08 per diaper

Comparison:

Pampers - $0.22 per diaper

Huggies - $0.19 per diaper

Luv's - $0.17 per diaper

Parent's Choice - $0.14 per diaper

Go to the pharmacy and ask for the tri-fold coupon booklet. It will look like this. One store had a similar tri-fold except it had no picture of the store on the front and no diaper coupon! If you don't find it at first, try a different store. And no you do not have to sign up for any programs to get this flyer.

This is what it looks like on the inside. There are lots of other good coupons but the one you want is...

... in the bottom right hand corner. Some things to know about this coupon: 1) yes, it says limit one, ignore that. 2) have the checker scan all of your diapers (I clean out the store and get about 12 packages at a time). 3) after diapers are scanned (@ 4.50 each) the coupon will be scanned taking off $2 for every package you have (ie. 12 packs x 4.50 = $54.00 - coupon $24.00, total = $30.00) 4) you get to keep your coupon! (this is not a manufacture coupon so you get it back to use again and again)

I hope this helps. Happy diaper buying!