Shopping & Planning Meals - Part 6

A Week in the Life (Of a Couponer)

As I was preparing for my weekly shopping trip earlier today, I thought it would be helpful to write a post explaining what a week in the life of a couponer looks like, or at least the way I coupon.

If you haven't read my blog from the beginning, I wrote several posts about shopping smart in the beginning (click each to read previous posts):

• Shopping & Planning Meals - What's For Supper?
• Shopping & Planning Meals - Making a Meal Rotation
• Shopping & Planning Meals - Making a "Check Off" Grocery List
• Shopping & Planning Meals - Monthly Menus
• Shopping & Planning Meals - Shopping Smart!

I thought it would be helpful to explain how my week looks for those of you wanting to begin couponing or just feeling unmotivated.

Please keep in mind that this is what works for me.  You may have to practice to find out what works for you.  Yes, couponing takes practice.  I am still practicing!  Once you get the hang of couponing, you may develop your own system.

So...I start by printing my "check-off" grocery list.

Once I have this printed, I refer to my monthly meal menu (which has been previously written, see link above for help).  I use this to remind me what I will be cooking on the following week.  Remember, on my monthly menu, I go ahead and plan for breakfast, lunch, and supper for every day of the month.

Now that I know what I'm cooking the next week (I say 'next week' because I will be shopping for the following week), I need to find out what ingredients are needed, so I can check it off on my grocery list.  To do this, I refer to my meal rotation.  This is also included in the links above.

Since this is a constant rotation, only changing when I add new meals, I keep this in sheet protectors in my binder.  Since I have set this up in the beginning, it TOTALLY minimizes my planning time!  Without getting out recipes, I can easily look and see what items are needed for next week.  Keep in mind that my meal rotation is only for supper.  For breakfast and lunch, I keep it the same month to month, so my menu calendar stays the same for those meals.

I look over each of these ingredients.  I check to see if I have them on hand, or if I need to check it off on my list.  

Once I have completed my grocery list, I feel confident that I can go into the grocery store and stay focused without straying for my list.

But...I'm not done yet.  Next, I will flip through my coupon binder looking for any coupons that I may use with my list.

Once I have pulled any necessary coupons, I check my ads.  I ALWAYS keep my newspaper ads.  I even get out on Wednesday and drive out to get any that weren't in my paper.  The reason I do this is I shop at Wal-Mart.  And we all know that Wal-Mart ad matches competitors ads. 

I am looking through my ads for any needed items that I can ad match prices. I make note of these ads on my grocery list and stick my ads back in my binder for proof.  Even though you technically don't have to have the ads to ad match, I always do.  

You'd be surprised at how much you can actually save by watching the weekly ads!  

Lastly, I rely on Facebook.

Yes, Facebook.

I follow two main couponing pages, ones that I have mentioned in previous posts.  These two are constantly posting deals throughout the day.  Even if it's an item not on my list, but I need it in the future, will use it, and can get it free...why not??

If you 'like' them on Facebook, you will also see these deals and know what I am talking about.  They are The Krazy Coupon Lady and Grocery Coupon Divas.  If the deal has a printable coupon, they will also provide the link for you.  If not, they will tell you which date it was in the newspaper.

I really enjoy finding a deal where the coupon is more than the price of the item.  By shopping at Wal-Mart, that means the extra money goes to the rest of my bill.  Pretty awesome!

I check these pages on Facebook throughout the week, printing any coupons and writing down deals whenever I see them.  I buy most of my groceries at Wal-Mart, but I usually make weekly stops at The Dollar Tree and Walgreens, too. 

So, to sum it up:

1. Use Monthly Meal Menu AND Meal Rotation to check off needed items on Grocery List
2. Flip through coupons to check for any coupons that can be used
3. Study those weekly ads for any ad-matching 
4. Throughout the week, check for any additional deals on Facebook

That's it!  I am doing my weekly shopping tomorrow and I am expecting to be under budget!  

I pray that this has helped you to understand another way to save money.  It takes time and practice, but once you get the hang of it, you will be amazed at how fun it is!

May the Lord bless you and your family!

Psalm 65

Good morning, everyone!  

I wanted to share a Bible reading with you today that the Lord showed me.  It can stand alone without any stories from me, it is that wonderful.  However, I do have a little something to share : )

My father-in-law begins each morning reading Psalm and Proverbs.  He speaks of this frequently, letting us know what a wonderful time it is.  He reads it aloud to my mother-in-law as well.  He explained that there are 31 Psalms, so you could read through it every month.  He also reads through Psalm each month.  When we are visiting, he reads to us as well.  

I love hearing it, so we decided a while back when I began staying home, to do the same with our children.  Each morning we read a Proverb and a Psalm.  Only reading one Psalm a morning means we do not finish it in a month, being that there are 150 Psalms, and with little ones it's hard to fit much more than one in.  

So, this morning, our Psalm was Psalm 65, and I thought it was completely beautiful.

Psalm 65

To the Chief Musician.  A Psalm of David.  A song.

Praise is awaiting You, O God, in Zion;

And to You the vow shall be performed.

O You who hear prayer,

To You all flesh will come.

Iniquities prevail against me;

As for our transgressions,

You will provide atonement for them.

Blessed is the man You choose,

And cause to approach You,

That he may dwell in Your courts.

We shall be satisfied with the goodness of Your house,

Of Your holy temple.

By awesome deeds in righteousness You will answer us,

O God of our salvation.

You who are the confidence of all the ends of the earth,

And of the far-off seas;

Who established the mountains by His strength,

Being clothed with power;

You who still the noise of the seas,

The noise of their waves,

And the tumult of the peoples.

They also who dwell in the farthest parts are afraid of Your signs; 

You make the outgoings of the morning and evening rejoice.

You visit the earth and water it,

You greatly enrich it;

The river of God is full of water; 

You provide their grain,

For so You have prepared it.

You water its ridges abundantly,

You settle its furrows;

You make it soft with showers,

You bless its growth.

You crown the year with Your goodness,

And Your paths drip with abundance.

They drop on the pastures of the wilderness,

And the little hills rejoice on every side.

The pastures are clothed with flocks;

The valleys also are covered with grain;

They shout for joy, they also sing.

May the Lord bless you by His words as He did me.

Faith Of a Child

"Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it."  Luke 18:17

My husband has been out of state this week on a business trip.  We have missed him dearly, and are so excited to welcome him back with open arms today.  Last night, the older two girls and I had a camp-out in the living room.  

Little baby wasn't invited.  I love her, but I didn't imagine little baby would sleep well piled up on the living room floor : )  Nor would I...

The girls wanted to watch a movie and eat popcorn.  So, that's what we did.  After the movie, I turned out the lights and soaked up the sight of seeing them through the dimness of the nightlight laying there in the same room with me.  It's really a joy to all sleep in the same room (every now and then!!)  They had their Pillow Pets, fleece blankets, and night time dolls.  What a sweet sight!

It didn't take either of them long to fall asleep.  Within a couple of minutes, I could hear heavy breathing.

Somewhere between 4:15 and 4:30, my four year old woke up moaning and complaining of a tummy-ache.  I asked her if she needed to use the potty, and she said no.  My motherly-instincts told me to put a bucket beside her. She quickly fell back to sleep.

At 5:30, she woke up vomiting.  I cleaned her up afterwards and she went back to sleep again. 

Again, at 6:00, she woke up vomiting.  Again, I cleaned her up and settled her back down, so thankful that I was sleeping in the same room with her.  As I tucked her back in, she looked at me and said, "Momma, will you pray and ask God to not let me throw up again?"

In my foolishness, I told her that I would pray that God would heal her, but she may still continue to throw up a little more.  I doubted that she would completely stop vomiting then, but knew she would eventually get better.

So, I prayed.  I asked God to heal her and cause her to feel better.

I climbed back on the couch and the verse above came to my mind.

"Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it."  Luke 18:17

She had faith.  She completely believed that if we asked God to not let her throw up again, He would answer that prayer.  

Since she asked, we have had no more sickness.  She went back to sleep, slept until 8:30, ate breakfast, and is playing excitedly down the hall.

I was convicted this morning.  How much faith do I have in the Lord our God?  When I pray, do I really believe He will answer those prayers?  Or even worse, do I really believe He has the power to?  My four-year-old does.  All she knew was, she was sick and had a tummy-ache, and if she prayed and asked God to take it away, He would and could immediately.

"But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.  For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways."  James 1:6-8

I pray the Lord increases my faith.  I pray He has mercy on my unbelief.  I have to have faith that He will answer that prayer (Ironic, huh?)

A man brought his son to the disciples.  His son was an epileptic and suffered severely (Matthew 17:15).  He asked the disciples to heal him, but they could not.  So the man brought his son to Jesus.  Jesus' response?

"O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you?  How long shall I bear with you?  Bring him here to Me."  Matthew 17:17

Immediately, of course, Jesus rebuked the demon and the child was cured. (Matthew 17:18)

The disciples wanted to know why they couldn't cast the demon out.  

"So Jesus said to them, 'Because of your unbelief: for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ' "Move from here to there' ", and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.  However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.'"  

Matthew 17:20-21

I have to have faith in my prayers.  I pray the Lord will give me faith, and I pray I receive the kingdom of God as a child.

What would I do without my thumb-sucking 4 year old??

Tell of His Excellent Greatness!

"It is good to give thanks to the Lord,

And to sing praises to Your Name,

O Most High;

To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning,

And Your faithfulness every night"

Psalm 92:1-2

It is good to give thanks to the Lord.  I wanted to share with all my readers that the Lord blessed us YET again.  Our house sold!  We closed a couple of weeks ago, and we have continued to thank Him for the relief of that burden.

Once again, the Father has shown us lovingkindness and faithfulness and we will declare it! 

He has continually blessed us, and we have no choice but to follow Him and seek Him.  He takes care of His children.  He promises to.  

"Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not of more value than they?"  Matthew 6:26

I'm so thankful that I am one of His children.  I am commanded to give glory to Him!  He has been so faithful and I must declare it!

"The name of the Lord is a strong tower;

The righteous run to it and are safe."

Proverbs 18:10

My Best Friend

"Therefore shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave unto his wife; and they shall be one flesh." Genesis 2:24

My husband and I before children : )

Since moving here approximately 7 weeks ago, I have yet to meet many friends.  I have met many women through church, and I greatly enjoy these women.  A couple of weeks ago, I found myself desiring a "best friend" like I have back home.  Someone who shares my interest, someone who has children, and who shares the same family values.  

Growing up, I made many best friends that I still keep in touch with to this day.  In 4th grade I made a best friend at G.A. camp.  We remained close through junior high.  In high school, we sang in Choir together and cheered together.  

Again in 5th grade, I made another best friend.  She was one of those friends that you could laugh with at EVERYTHING!  She moved away several years ago, and since we have moved, I now live less than an hour from her.

Also in 5th grade, I met a wonderful friend who played softball with me.  We had many sleepovers and fun times, including getting lost in the woods and wondering if we would ever get out.  (We can laugh now!)

In 6th grade, unexpectedly, I became friends with a girl I really didn't intend to.  She was with me through many, many trials of my life.  We have grown apart, but recently we begin communicating again.  She was greatly missed and greatly welcomed back!

When I think of a best friend, these are the ladies that come to mind.  Girls that know everything about me and yet still love me.  Girls that text or call me when something is wrong.  Girls that know no matter how long it's been, we will pick up where we left off.  

So, since moving here, I wanted a best friend that I could talk to just like those relationships.  One day I was praying, and I asked God to please send me a best friend like those friends.  I don't know about you, but when God speaks and you know beyond a shadow of a doubt it's Him...I tend to smile and get happy inside.

What God said to me that day brought tears to my eyes.  But I am so thankful He reminded me of this.  

The Lord reminded me that He has already blessed me with a best friend. Nearly 8 years ago, God blessed me with a husband.  Not only did He give him to me, but He gave him the instruction to 'cleave unto me'.

"Therefore shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave unto his wife; and they shall be one flesh." Genesis 2:24

I looked up the word cleave.  The definition used in this verse means 'to cling or adhere' (Dictionary.com); cling or adhere...When I think about clinging to something, I think about hanging onto a rope off of a cliff.  I would cling for dear life!  I would not let go!  

The word adhere reminds me of super glue.  When I was pregnant with my middle child, I called my husband at work one morning in panic-mode.  I had spilled super glue all over my hands and my fingers were stuck together.  We laugh now, but I was terrified at the time.  He had to use a remover to get the glue off.  My fingers were adhered.  Just like my husband is instructed to do.

After I had prayed this prayer, God began to remind me of all the ways my husband is my best friend.  

My husband knows my faults (and many are they!)  Yet, he loves me and desires me.

My husband makes me laugh...hysterically.  We share the same weird sense of humor, which makes for extremely fun times!

My husband cares for me.  He knows when I am down, and you can bet that he will cheer me up!

My husband directs me.  He knows when I need to choose another path.  He is very kind in guiding me toward a more Godly decision.

My husband shares the same interests and values as I do.  Together, we believe that me staying home is what's best for our family.  Together, we believe that homeschooling is what God has for our children.  Together, we desire to serve the Lord and have our hearts molded to be more like Jesus. Together, we enjoy watching our children grow.

I am so thankful that the Lord saw fit for me to have this man as my husband and best friend.  Having the Lord remind me of this makes me want to support him, be submissive to him, and honor him all of our days.  I'm so glad that I have a best friend in my husband.  What a blessing he is!

What Have We Been Up To??

We are here!  We are moved in!

I thought by now I would have all the boxes unpacked.  That's not the case, but we have a home that's livable!  Most of the unpacked boxes are contained in the garage, so we feel at home.  I unpacked two boxes today, went to flatten the second box, found a spider, and stopped...decided that's enough for today.  

The girls have stopped almost quit telling me they miss the old house.  Upon the first week here, we put the girls in bed.  My oldest daughter was in the top bunk and got a little teary-eyed.  She told me she missed our old house and asked if we would be building a house one day.  I told her that we would love to.  She then asked if we could build it just like the house we used to live in.  They are growing to love our new home, however, and only once have I heard in the past 2-3 weeks that they miss it.  

We have figured out FaceTime and Tango and have been able to see our family back home which has been a huge blessing.  It almost feels like we are there!

So, just what have I been up to??  Well, we have been enjoying our new location!  Where we moved from, we had...a Wal-Mart.  We are now enjoying all the new amenities (There is a Target!)

We make weekly trips to the public library, which is AMAZING I may say!  

The girls have been enjoying living near their cousins!

They have also been to bible school (with the cousins, of course!).

We spent a wonderful day with Daddy on Father's Day (ate at a great Italian restaurant!!)

And we have been playing!  Making things, doing crafts, reading books, and making things out of boxes!  We have plenty of those by the way...

The Lord continues to bless our family.  He has led us to a church that we enjoy and is like-minded.  We miss our old church family terribly, and I mean terribly...but, we enjoy where He is placing us.  

My husband and I are like newly-weds again.  We haven't laughed and had this much fun in a while.  The Lord is also blessing our marriage, and I am very grateful!

We continue to pray about our home that we own back home.  I ask that you pray for us as well.  I know God will relieve us of this burden, but at the same time we have to wait on Him!

Wait on the Lord;

Be of good courage,

And He shall strengthen your heart;

Wait, I say, on the Lord!

I think if David could pray this when 'false witnesses have risen against me, and such as breathe out violence', surely I can pray this about our home.

Wherever He Leads I'll Go

"As a beast goes down into the valley, And the Spirit of the Lord causes him to rest,

So You lead Your people, To make Yourself a glorious name." Isaiah 63:14

What a journey it has been!  If someone would have told me at the beginning of 2013 where we would end up at the end of May, I wouldn't have believed them.  The Lord has called us to leave our life of comfort and venture out to something completely new.  We have lived quite comfortably in our big house with a big yard in a wonderful quiet neighborood for the past 5 years.  But for some reason, He is leading us to a brand new place without our family and friends that we love dearly.  My husand's brother and his family are the only ones we know in our new location.

I could sit here and drown myself in self-pity thinking of not having my parents closer, or my only sister, or my in-laws, or our wonderful friends.  However, knowing that the Lord is leading us to a new place makes me a little curious to find out why He's taking us there.

So, just to let you know...everything I have blogged about since I started writing has been out the window the past several weeks!  (My laundry system, my smart shopping, my organization!)  It's hard to do those things when you are packing up a home.  I can't begin to tell you how much I desire to be back to those things by the way!



Clothes, clothes, clothes, taking over the hallway!



I used to have a dining room...now it's filled with boxes!



Where do I start??

Let me begin by helping you to remember how the Lord laid it on our hearts that I needed to be home.  How much less stressful life has been since we followed His guidance in that.  Before, I would have moved all right...but with kicking and screaming!  I wouldn't have wanted to pack up my teaching things and find a new job in a new place while learning how to teach in a new state.  Our kids would be moving to new schools???  I would not have been a happy camper.  But my, my, God has done a work in our family.  He has changed hearts, and He has changed the desires of the heart!

The job search began with lots and lots of prayer.  We wanted to be totally guided by the Lord.  Boy, have we been!  The process of applying and actually finding out my husband had the job actually wasn't that long of a time frame...but it sure felt like it!  After finding out he had the job, we knew we had to put our house up for sale and find a place in not only a brand-new city, but also a brand-new state. 

We prayed continually again.  We looked for rental houses on Craigslist daily.  We were making a trip to our new location and wanted to have some leads on homes when we got there.  When we arrived we stayed with my husband's brother, who also had a lead for us.  After looking at three houses, we knew that the one that my brother-in-law found for us fit our family perfectly.  We paid our deposit and headed home a day early knowing that the Lord had provided for us again!  On the way home I told my husband, "You know...we spent so much time searching for a home daily before we left.  Do you realize we didn't even have to look at one house...the Lord had provided one for us?  We could have come up here without any leads and this house would have still been there for us."  Now, let me add, our new home is not as big or as new as our home now.  But, how can we complain when He has been so gracious??  I'm actually rather excited about our new home!

So, job - check!  House - check!  He has also provided friends and family that are willing to pack us up and drive the 7-8 hours to help us unload.  What a blessing these people are! 

The only thing that is left uncertain is our current home.  Our home is still for sale.  I could again drown in self-pity about paying both a mortgage and rent.  But how can I not trust the Lord?  He has provided over and over again for our family and I know He will provide for us yet again.  It may not be how I would like it or when I like it.  But He will provide.  We may be living a little extremely frugal and tight and not at all how we have been living.  But I rest assured that we will be provided for.  Dry beans may be the main meal at our house through hard times and family outings may now mean staying in and being creative, but what wondeful memories to look back and see that He still provided!

We are loading up the moving trucks (plural) tomorrow and Friday and heading out this weekend, beginning our new journey.  Pray for us, I ask.  We don't know what the Lord has in store for us.  I pray we are faithful to Him and remember the reason we are here, and that is to honor and glorify the Heavenly Father. 

"As a beast goes down into the valley, And the Spirit of the Lord causes him to rest,

So You lead Your people, To make Yourself a glorious name." Isaiah 63:14

Happy Birthday to my First Born!

Oh my, where to start??  For those of you that know her, you know exactly what I mean.

I have so many stories about this little sassy momma.  This child is extremely intelligent.  So smart, that she didn't start walking until 15 months.  Why is that so smart, you might ask?  She had a little Radio Flyer wooden horse on wheels.  She figured out that she didn't have to start walking, she could just get on this horse and manuever her way around the house.  It took her parents a few months to catch on.  After we realized and took away the horse, that little girl was on her feet. 

She has always been extremely feminine.  She loves princesses, jewelry, bows, dresses, and stickers:

My goodness, she has always put a smile on our faces. 

Aside from being very imaginitive and intelligent, she loves, and I mean loves, to hear the Word of God.  This child soaks it up and can remember facts that she heard better than me or her daddy.  This is my favorite charaterisitic about her.  I love when we finish reading the bible and she says, "Aw, man, I want you to read some more.  Please?  Don't stop."

She loves homeschooling.  She loves having mommy as her teacher.  Mommy loves having her for a student ; )  She just "gets it".  In all of my eight years of teaching, I never had a student like her.  She gets everything on the first time.  I will plan these detailed lessons and before I even get deep into it, she has mastered it, and I'm like, "Ok...next..."

My Sadee Bug is also VERY honest.  This is a wonderful quality about her.  I make sure to point this out to her regularly.  There is a sibling of hers who would rather try it anyway, and ask for forgiveness later.  Sadee couldn't live with herself if she did something without us knowing.  She will come out of her room, find me wherever I am in the house, and tell me that she did something wrong.  I LOVE THIS KID!  (I hope I am not painting the picture that she is perfect, because she is not.  She just has some great characterisitics!)

I often ask the girls to "stay with me forever".  I jokingly ask them to not get married and just live with me forever.  I had a conversation with her a few days before her birthday that went something like this:

Me: Sadee, you're turning six soon.  Six is getting close to ten. Can you just stay five, please?

Sadee: I can't stay five.

Me: Aw, why not?

Sadee: (Very matter-of-factly I may add) Don't you want grandchildren?

So, I can't stop her from turning six, as bad as I would like to.  I think of her getting older and it's almost too much to bare.  Time is flying.  All I can do is pray for her.  Pray that God will change and soften her heart.  Pray that He will give her a deeper desire for His Word.  Pray that He will give her a godly husband who loves her like Christ loves the church.  As tears form in my eyes, I can hear her silly voice down the hall from her room as I type this.  I know I can't keep her little, but oh that I may teach her the ways of the Lord, and when she is old that she will not depart from it. (Paraphrased, Proverbs 22:6)

I thank God for the six years I have had with this bundle of joy.  We have learned so much through raising this first born.  Happy birthday, Sadee bug!

Love these silly faces!



My hard worker!



Organizing for a More Sane Momma

In posting this, I do not want to leave you with the impression that my whole house is organized and uncluttered.  That would be completely, completely untrue.  My purpose in writing this post is to share with you some ways I have found to make the upkeep of our house a little easier.

Words cannot describe how cluttered horribly messy my house was when I worked.  I could not keep up with the housework, cooking, and family.  Maybe some wives are able to.  I could not.  If I would have had time then, I would have organized better and maybe, just maybe, it would have helped out a little.

I have heard it said that in order to be more organized, everything should have it's own place.  That way, everyone knows where everything is placed, therefore, helping to put all that "stuff" where it goes.  I have found that this is MOSTLY true in our home.  My children are still young, so I am hoping it gets better as they get older.  My children know where everything goes.  However, they are still not motivated to put it there without being told.  But, in all actuality, ha ha, neither am I!

I don't know about you, but I am a visual learner.  I have to see pictures to completely understand. 

Here are some ways I have organized:

This is in the baby's closet.  Fortunately, her closet is large enough to hold this shelf.  I got this shelf for $15 at Wal-Mart.  I found the white dish pans at the Dollar Tree (My fave for organizing "equipment" as you will see).  I made the labels on my computer and then laminated them with my Scotch laminator.  Now when I ask the girls to get me more diapers, they know exactly where to get them from.  Or if I ask them to take the diapers out of the box and put them up, they've got it!!

These are two of the drawers I have organized in the girls' bathroom.  I got all of these little "buckets" at the Dollar Tree.  What was great is the small ones came in a 4 pack, so they were a quarter a piece!!  Some of them came in a 2 pack.  On the left is the drawer for their hair things.  In the front is a bucket for ponytail holders.  The two small ones hold earrings and the other holds baby bows.  In the back, they place their brushes and combs.  The other drawer holds miscellaneous things.  I have a bucket for their "jewelry", one for bathtub crayons, one for broken bows or hair things, one for lip gloss, etc. 

This was not an original idea.  I saw this on Pinterest, as many of you have. 

My girls love, love, love headbands.  Probably because they are very tender-headed, and they would much rather me to simply brush their hair and stick a headband in it than to pull it into a ponytail.

So, this is an oatmeal container.  It is wrapped in scrapbook paper and then I glued it to a candle holder I already had.  If you pull the top off, I have stretchy headbands inside.

I have mentioned these before in a previous post regarding children's chore charts.  I had these drawers for another purpose.  I had used paint pens and labeled them.  When I emptied them out, I decided to use them to store their kitchen set food/dishes and their dollhouse dolls/furniture.  I covered the drawers with fabric (excuse the stripes are not straight).  Then I took a picture of exactly what goes in the drawers.  I took the picture and made a label on my computer with it.  I then laminated and hot glued that sucker to the drawer.  This has really helped a ton!!

This is a toy organizer we got at Target (I think) several years ago.  Before I organized the organizer (what irony, huh?), toys just got thrown in whichever bucket.  This drove me crazy.  Plus, the girls couldn't find specific toys when they were looking for them.  So, just like I did with the plastic drawers, I took pictures of what goes in which bucket, made a label, laminated them, and taped them onto the rod that holds the buckets.  This also has been a huge help!

Growing up I was a little spoiled.  My dad built houses.  So, when he built their house, he made a pantry with pull-out drawers.  I did not realize just how wonderful those things were!  When we bought our house, I did not have those wonderful creations.  For over 4 years in our new house, food was crammed in our pantry.  Most of the time, I didn't know what was on the shelves and most of it was expired.  So...I got to work.  I completely cleaned it out, chunking all of the expired food.  I bought these plastic tubs and separated our food.  Of course, I also made the laminated labels and stuck those babies on there, too!  Now I have my own pull-out system!

This is the drawer in the master bathroom.  If only you could have seen it before...wow-wee!  Can you say disgusting!  On the right is a kitchen utensil organizer and on the left are more containers from the Dollar Tree.  These hold makeup, brushes, creams, bobby pins, clips, ponytail holders, nail polish, Q-tips, etc.  My husband really enjoyed this!!

Lastly, this is in our homeschool room.  Again, these are Dollar Tree buckets.  I took all of the girls' math manipulatives and sorted them.  They each have their own bucket and they are extremely easy to access!

Again, I do not want to leave you with the impression that my house is uncluttered.  It is not!!  However, these little things have simplified the clutter.  Instead of lying on a countertop or thrown somewhere chaotic, it has a place now. 

There are a few things I need help with.  One of those things is developing a kitchen command center.  I just love those!  I would love to hear about any ideas you have for organization in your kitchen!

I hope you enjoyed reading today!  I pray that this will help you to have a little less craziness in your life while you tend to your lovely families!  There is a little warning though:  It can become addictive...beware ; )  Please share any ideas you have as well!!

Sweet Baby Siblee, A Year Already

When my 4 year old saw me post this picture to my blog she said, "Whoa, that looks really cuge on you," Cuge is her word for huge, "That kinda doesn't fit you..."

Yes, I became quite "cuge" and quite miserable in the end of the pregnancy.  Nevertheless, I carried a sweet baby girl who we would meet the next day.

Looking at this picture I think: 

"For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb." 

The next day was almost a blur.  It was the most painful pregnancy yet.  Thankfully, it came quickly and we were blessed with sweet Siblee, born April 17, 2012.

It's amazing to me how you can be completely in love with someone that you just met, just touched, just held.  It's also amazing to me how you can love the children that God has already blessed you with so very much and wonder how you could ever love another child.  Then when you have another child, you wonder how you ever went without them.  

Siblee Mae, weighed 8 lbs. 2 oz. and was so very sweet.

There were two excited big sisters awaiting her arrival!  They kissed and kissed on her.  To this day, they are still enthralled with that little girl.

Time has flown by...

 

And today, my sweet baby girl turns one year old!  I can't wait to find out what God has in store for her!