Lots of thoughts

Over the past few weeks I have learned so much and my mind is rumbling with all sorts of thoughts. One of the thoughts that I have is about my Aunt Sharon. She is dying of cancer. Although I did not talk to her everyday my thoughts were always with her. She is to young to leave us. Her place in my life has been such a special place. I cannot imagine how big of a void she will leave in my heart. She is a sweet, funny, caring person, mother, aunt and friend.

My thoughts also take me to my past anniversary, trip to Ga, children, and daily tasks.

My anniversary was April 15 and my husband and I were married for 11 years. This year for some reason I did not expect all the bells and whistles to be pulled out. Is it because I am learning that my marriage is about the little things and not just the big things? I don't know. But I am learning to appreciate the little things more. We ate at Red Lobster, visited with my sister and her family and came home to watch Harry Potter. I cannot remember enjoying a past anniversary so much. As far as our trip to Ga. I got to visit with my dad who has changed alot since the last time I was home. I am not the best at staying in conctact with people over the phone. I do much better through e-mail since I have two young children. But I am learning that I need to make time. Time for everyone. Beacuse you never know what will happen.

I will write about the other two topics later.

Sewing Classes

I am so excited right now. I just got back from my first sewing class. I learned so much. It was a small class of 6 and a ton of different style personalities. We made a pillow case. My pattern was very simple, but alot of the ladies had very intriqute cotton fabrics. Until my next class my family may be getting pillow cases in the mail. They were so simple and it came out very beautiful. I could not believe that I made one.
I can make pillow cases for pennies.........They taught me tricks to buying fabrics too. I cannot wait until my next class. But to save money I will wait until the classes go 50% off. I should have bought my next class when I signed up for this one but I didn't know I would enjoy it this much.

I know the pics are upside down, that is what I get for taking them with my iphone. But the first set of pillows were the ones that I made before the class and now I know what I did wrong, the second is the pillow case that I made tonight. I just love it and so did Jimmy. He asked me to make another. I just used some fabric that I had here laying around. I know some of the things I will probably do wrong on my own but that is what practing is for. I made my top pillows for $3.40 each and that included stuffing. and the only thing I had to buy for my pillow case was the blue fabric and that was $1.69.
Sewing is going to save me money. I am going to have to invest a little bit at first but in the long run it will pay off.

Simple Pleasures

Well today my guilty pleasure was my son Russell. He has come such a long way. He has come from being defiant, and speech delayed with emotional issues to a happy three year old who is respectful, caring and a really big helper who is wanting to soak up and learn all he can. I am so proud of him.

Today was just an average day. He doesn't go back to preschool until tomorrow after a very long break. He comes up to me today and says in his own little way " I wuv you,nose. Well nose from him means he wants to rub noses. That is something his daddy started doing with him when he came to live with us. That is the only way he would show affection. Now he will just walk up to you and ask for a hug. Along way for our little fellow.

Well I can tell you that we are eating beef stew again for the third night in a row. While I hate eating left overs more than twice, I despise waste. We can't afford to be wasteful in our house. So tonight we will have our stew with rice and parmesan garlic popovers. I have learned to try and mix our left overs up so it will be like having a different meal each time. I enjoy having left overs cause I do not have to cook and focus my attention on other things besides cooking and cleanin up.

Sorry for the delay of this post, This was my last nights post.

What did I learn today?

I don't think that I learned anything new today. I was able to clean up for the most part. Mopped the floor on my hands and knees, and it looks so much better than when I actually use a mop or swiffer. It is hard work and hard on my knees.
While cleaning up today in a 2 1/2 time frame my children actually managed to put apple scented hand soap in their hair, Russell got my butt doughnut stuck around his neck, and they managed to play in the toilet. So I decided then that cleaning time was over. It would need to continue another day.
I was however able to find a sitter. Now the nerve to just call. I know that sounds silly but asking someone to watch my children even though they are going to get paid is hard for me to do. I worry because I am not sure how my children will react. But we all have to do things we don't want to do. Who knows maybe I can have a lunch date with my husband every now and then. We will just have to see.  Just a couple pics I took over the last two days.

Lazy Dazy Day

As I sit here looking out the window it is snowing in Colorado Springs. It is one of the moments where you can sit quietly and reflect on life while the heavens cover the ground in a white blanket.Pure calmness even in the midst of everyday life.
So today as we are nearing payday and the last bit of our food stock I decided that I would cook a turkey that we had in the freezer. Keep in mind this is my first raw turkey ever. I caught it on sale for $.89cents a pound. It was a 13lb turkey that I put in my freezer saving it for a rainy day. Well today is that day.
It has been in the oven now for about 2 hours and has my house smelling so good. We are eating some crowder peas that a friend had dried and given me along with fresh bread and maybe dressing if I have all the ingredients.

I sit hear wishing that funds were available for me to run out and buy groceries because I think that we need the. Even though we do, I am glad payday isn't until later in the week. It has given me the chance to do some research as what other thrifty women do and given me a chance to really think about the groceries that we need and don't need. For Example: I don't need 12 boxes of cake mix. My family doesn't eat that many sweets, but I do however need about 10lbs of cheese. Now while that seems like alot it isn't for my family of four. My boys love cheese toast. That is the one thing they request for breakfast more often than not. (Southern boys at heart) We also use alot of cheese for grits, cheese toast, macaronni and cheese, sandwiches etc.....Keep in mind we do not eat pre-fabbed meals like Mac-n-cheese in a box.

I have been able to make an accurate list (to the best of my ability) and I plan to only shop off that list. Now I must admit that I am not sure how acurate it is for this month because I have or am running out of alot of your basic staples like butter, flour, grits, pancake mix, flour, oil etc........ But I can say that whatever my budget is I will shop for the basics first. Now that might mean we want have alot of extravagant meals but we will have full bellies and that is what matters.

Today in alot of my research I have noticed that alot of ladies are buying like 50lbs of popcorn and a popcorn popper. They say that it lasts along time and all the kernals pop. What a way to save money because me family eats alot of popcorn. Maybe a little up front for the popper around $30.00 but @ 17.00 for 50 lbs of popcorn that is a bargin and a cheap snack.

Even though I only have one follower it still keeps me on track by relaying what I have learned and what I am doing.

Goodnight All,
Virginia

Comparison Shopping

Well let me first say that I am wore slap out today. My kids slept in until 9:00am so I was not about to get up before them today. Needless to say I should have. Russell's therapy apt was today @ 10:30 I only had an hour to feed the boys, get all three of us dressed, make Russell's favorite teacher a b-day present and drive to therapy.
I hurried up and made a peach cake to put in the bread machine, threw on some lounge about clothes asked Jimmy to get the boys dressed, cleaned up the kitchen laid out the rest of my ingredients for peach cream cheese, gathered my stuff and ran out the door. We made it at 10:25 am. Not to shabby.  His whole appointment did not run but about 25 minutes. He told her he was done and wanted his mama. So she asked him three times. And each time he told her go, treat and mama. So she let him out early. I got rave reviews from school too about how good he was. That made me feel good like therapy might be working.
Anyways sent Russell to school, and Daniel and I go to Wal-Mart. Now you would think that at 1:00 it wouldn't be too bad. But I swear there were like 1000 people in there. I found out that even though wal-mart and Sam's sells the exact same things even some things in the same quantity you will get more for your money at Sam's. I even found the new cleaning products Mrs Myers Clean Day there. So after an exhausting hour of Daniel sit down, Daniel turn around, Daniel keep your hands in the buggy I finally finished. We walked out the door and I was more satisfied that I am trying to save my family money. Eager to share my results I come home and call Jimmy only to interrupt him and his First Sgt. So he does not even know how I did.
For some reason as tired as I am I could not sit still. So I went and finished taking down the candy canes (as they were froze in the ground previously) cleaned up the back yard from the dogs, cooked supper, and literally ran down the road until my pants fell down. (Yep, you read that right). I was outside planting some daffodil bulbs that were sprouting. (I know it is not the right time, but I got them on clearance and thought what the heck) I only have $2.00 lost if they don't come up. But back to the story. Ariel was outside laying next to where I was working. She saw a dog and his owner walking down the street, so she got up and walked over to my car. I saw all of this thinking no she is not going that way it is to much effort for her. But gimp had bigger plans. She gained alot of pep in her step. She practically galloped after them. I was running and running leaving poor Daniel on the sidewalk asking "What happened". I kept feeling my pants fall and kept trying to grab them but I had gardeners gloves on and could not seem to get my hands on my pants. WHEW, finally I caught up with her and there goes my pants down to my knees. Good thing, there was only a bunch of kids playing outside. So I guess the morale of my story today is, no matter how simple you want to live, you still have to have pants that fit..........Something for me to figure out. How to buy pants frugally.....:) That all for tonight folks.

Today I learned what simple meant!

After two weeks my oldest little man went back to school and Daniel and I went back to our routine with the exception of having an appointment he could not attend. While I was so grateful that I could go into this appointment and wait on the doctor reading a magazine quietly to myself, I had a little one missing his mama (even though I did not know it).
I waited quietly soaking in my magazine called All You. I did not have a care in the world because I knew my babies were safe. This magazine today was teaching women ways to save money on groceries. It was showing them how to utilize consumer reward cards such as Safeway and to buy locally. Needless to say it had me hooked. I was determined to read that book from front to back cause you know that a doctor is never on time to see you. Except wait; today he was on time . The one day I wanted to read.....How Ironic!
Well the interesting part is I was following up at the front desk not realizing I still had the magazine in my hands. Walked out of the hospital reached in my purse to grab my keys and realized that I had stolen the November 2010 magazine of all you. Now while I don't think that it is a felony that I accidentally took the magazine, I am thinking that there is something else in there that will help me continue on my journey. We will see and I will let you know.
Now back to the lesson I learned today. Jimmy kept Daniel for me to go to this appointment today, so he took him to work with him. I met Jimmy and Daniel at the shopette on post while Jimmy and I exchanged words on what the last two hours held for us. I quickly took a look inside his truck and saw my little man looking out the window and tearing up. So Jimmy took him out of the truck because we were going to go get a snack.(More like mama a water) His shoes had been taken off because they had gotten muddy. He did not even want me to leave his side while his daddy put his shoes back on. He carefully got down and wrapped his little hand around mine and walked into the store talking about the tractor and dog he has saw. While in that store I never had to tell him to stay with me or hold my hand. Not once did he let go. I couldn't even get him to let go so we could pay for our things. Once we left the store we went by AT&T to lower our cell phone bill as we were thinking there was no need for extravagances in that area. Well needless to say because we have i-phones nothing could be taken off. So that went my money saving tip there for us at least. We come home and I lay him down for a nap. I am thinking about what I need to do in order for the rest of the even to run smooth. So I start supper, go check my e-mail, read my favorite blogs and loose track of time. (That's right folks) I didn't realize that Russell's bus was outside waiting on me. I learned that simplicity doesn't come from what you own, what you plan to own or even what you think you need. Simplicity is being there for my son when he gets off the bus half asleep. Laying my other son down for a nap know that when I tell him "I will see you when you get up" I truly mean it. Now I know I am getting a little sappy. And it is something that every mother feels. But I have had to learn to love my children in different ways. They did not grow in my belly as most do so I did not gradually grow to love them. (Yes I loved them from the moment I saw them. But I had to learn to love when loving was difficult. When I did not feel I had an ounce left in me to keep giving. We have had to figure out how to live with each other. Don't ask me why it just clicked today because I don't know. I am still learning how to be a mom, a stay at home mom, a military wife, just a wife and most of all I am still learning who Virginia is.
I can tell you in this process of being broke, moving, and struggling I am finding out who I am again. Because at the end of the day after being all of the above I am still just me.
Tomorrow I will tell you about my comparison shopping. Till then, Goodnight.