Ok, i think its high time we started a frugal friday thread!! Ok, so today i'm focusing on crockpotting!
Ok, so i bought an ebook on crockpotting and it was ok, but what i liked the best was the links! check these out!!!!
http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/
http://www.familycorner.blogspot.com/
CHECK this out... its using a crockpot as a foot bath! how clever
http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/08/crockpot-as-foot-bath.html
anyone have any cool crockpot ideas to share??
Friday, August 15, 2008
Thursday, August 14, 2008
today...
Wow... today is the pay the piper day!!! after being sick as a dog yesterday, having a sick 9yo and sick baby, today i'm back to my normal perky self and wow, trying to make up for ONE SINGLE day of sick! its crazy! even with a super helpful 13 yo, it reminds me how necessary i am in the whole grand scheme of things!!! Today i have a ton to do, starting with my disaster of a house! we are getting things semi- ok, then i hope to put in a couple of requisitions for school stuff, and i'm REALLY hoping to scrap today! i am just craving sitting down at my desk and playing with everything, then maybe making something, LOL. Tonight, i'm hoping to talk dh into us going to costco and getting dinner there, since friday is payday and we could write a check :-) not getting many groceries there though, i'm going to try to use coupons more and shop sale fliers.. i HATE shopping and costco is so appealingly EASY but i'm finding we really need to make some financial adjustments and this is probably the best way to do that. have you all seen money saving mom blog? i'm hoping to figure out how to get all our toiletries and stuff free at Walgreens, which happens to be CLOSE, like within walking distance of our house. Sadly we do NOT have a CVS which seems awesome too. Anyone have any good tips, resources, links to share regarding frugality, homemaking etc? i've gotten a lot of good ebooks being on an ebook binge at Currclick annd the The Old Schoolhouse store which btw, has a TON of good stuff on sale! Anyway, i should run! time for lunch! I hope you all have a wonderfully blessed day!!
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Another Review!
As I mentioned in an earlier post. I was given the amazing opportunity to test 2 new products introduced by The Old Schoolhouse Magazine. I reviewed the digital magazine subscription a couple of posts ago, and saving the best for last, i will share with you the Peice de resistance: the end all, be all of homeschool planners, The Schoolhouse planner Now, if you are like me, when you saw the price tag of $39 you may have resembled the Aflac duck when encountering sticker shock pumping gas (QUUUUAAAAAACCCCCCCCCHH???) However what i didn't realize when considering that was how complex and integrated the whole thing is. The planner is 247 pages long. It includes pretty much any planning page you'd want, and cool double page monthly calendar pages for each month from July 2008 Through June 2009. BUT on top of that, there's EXCELLENT articles from a variety of celebs in the homeschool world, including Amanda Bennett, Amy Pak, Janice Campbell, and others, All experts in their fields. There's also cool fact sheets on topics such as presidents of the US, Periodic table of elements, and at the end of the first section, a comprehensive segment filled with historical documents, such as the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, etc. Then each month also has recipes, good, simple recipes that i'm convinced we will actually MAKE. And it also has activities for the themes of the month that are listed there and a list of other resources that would go well with the monthly topic. Now, please do review the contents listed on the link above, becuase I didn't even come close to listing them all, just what jumped out at ME personally.
So overall, would I reccommend this product to purchase at full price? YES! I absolutely would, and here's why: As a frugal one income family kind of lady, i would normally balk at spending so much on an EBOOK. HOWEVER, in this case, i feel that really, this product is like several ebooks in one. You have basic planning pages, calendar pages, recipes, articles, fact sheets and more. Each could have been its own ebook, but instead it was combined, which is FAR better, in my opinion because all the work has been done for you. I know its pretty easy to find free forms and resources online, but if you are like me, you will save and save and save and never actually put anything together to acutally USE and then consequently, have a scattered, disorganized year, and vow that the NEXT year you will get organized! How about making THIS that year and save yourself some stress and in the long run, some money in the process? Again, here's the link for the SCHOOLHOUSE PLANNER
So overall, would I reccommend this product to purchase at full price? YES! I absolutely would, and here's why: As a frugal one income family kind of lady, i would normally balk at spending so much on an EBOOK. HOWEVER, in this case, i feel that really, this product is like several ebooks in one. You have basic planning pages, calendar pages, recipes, articles, fact sheets and more. Each could have been its own ebook, but instead it was combined, which is FAR better, in my opinion because all the work has been done for you. I know its pretty easy to find free forms and resources online, but if you are like me, you will save and save and save and never actually put anything together to acutally USE and then consequently, have a scattered, disorganized year, and vow that the NEXT year you will get organized! How about making THIS that year and save yourself some stress and in the long run, some money in the process? Again, here's the link for the SCHOOLHOUSE PLANNER
So Tell me your story
Have I mentioned a time or two how important it is to record your life for posterity?? Do you ever feel like you WANT to do that but just don't have many ideas? Then check out Lucy Chesna's blog "So Tell Me Your Story."
I was lucky enough to get asked to be on the DT, and the new layouts will be up anytime, come check it out!! Also the last two challenges are up and the last one features an AWESOME prize. You have till tomorrow so hop to it!!!
I was lucky enough to get asked to be on the DT, and the new layouts will be up anytime, come check it out!! Also the last two challenges are up and the last one features an AWESOME prize. You have till tomorrow so hop to it!!!
Monday, August 11, 2008
Homeschool product reviews.
Hey all! You might be surprised to see this post, since this is, after all, my scrappy blog, not my homeschool blog. However, knowing how many scrappers are homeschoolers, i figured i'd go ahead and post my homeschool content here along with my scrappy stuff until i get around to updating my actual homeschool blog. I know that many of you who homeschool or are considering it will find this useful.
The Old Schoolhouse Magazine is easily the most comprehensive homeschool specific magazine on the market. I've been recieving it for a couple of years and greatly enjoy having a subscription. Its totally worth WELL over what they charge for it, and you get all kinds of amazing bonuses for joining. I spend hours perusing the pages, earmarking pages that have links i want to check out on the computer, and often refer back to back issues for something i remember reading way back when. My issues are VERY well loved. That's actually probably a diplomatic way of saying it. My magazines tend to look like the Tasmanian devil ate some cheesecake off of them. That's fine! i'm glad they are getting use!
But i was definately intriqued when TOS introduced a new digital version of their awesome magazine. I wondered whether it would be beneficial to order a digital version of the same magazine. When i was given the opportunity to test and review the new digital magazine, i jumped at the opportunity. And WOW, i'm entirely sold now!! The digital version is a DREAM to browse. When you open up the download you can see the magazine as if you were holding it in your hands. you can turn the pages, you can do a search for particular words, to help you find a topic you'd normally be shuffling through magazines for in the past. You can archive past issues, click on a link in the magazine and be brought DIRECLY to the link's web location, email a friend an article, and on and on! Its so very cool!
And if that was not enough, you get all the bonus goodies just for joining. And i have to tell you, after doing several of these deals, i was excited to see several that were NEW and i had not already used!! Very cool. i got at least triple the value of my subscription in freebies alone, and that's considering i've subscribed before and gotten a lot of the freebies. If you have not ever subbed, or at least not taken advantage of as many subscriptiion freebies as me, you will have the most amazing wealth of goodies on your hands. SO COOL! Also, they are now digital, so NO CARDS TO SEND IN! Woohoo!!!
Anyway, don't take my word for it. Right now the summer issue is available for FREE on their website. Acquaint yourself with the format and browse away! If you decide to subscribe, you will get another back issue of your choice, in addition you will receive the 25 free gifts, valued at over $550 and of course a year's subscription! You will receive all this for only $16.95. So, give it a shot!! And stay tuned to my blog, because soon i'll be reviewing the amazing Schoolhouse planner.. I wanted to have it reviewed and posted by now but its so overwhelmingly substantial, i've barely scratched the surface!
The Old Schoolhouse Magazine is easily the most comprehensive homeschool specific magazine on the market. I've been recieving it for a couple of years and greatly enjoy having a subscription. Its totally worth WELL over what they charge for it, and you get all kinds of amazing bonuses for joining. I spend hours perusing the pages, earmarking pages that have links i want to check out on the computer, and often refer back to back issues for something i remember reading way back when. My issues are VERY well loved. That's actually probably a diplomatic way of saying it. My magazines tend to look like the Tasmanian devil ate some cheesecake off of them. That's fine! i'm glad they are getting use!
But i was definately intriqued when TOS introduced a new digital version of their awesome magazine. I wondered whether it would be beneficial to order a digital version of the same magazine. When i was given the opportunity to test and review the new digital magazine, i jumped at the opportunity. And WOW, i'm entirely sold now!! The digital version is a DREAM to browse. When you open up the download you can see the magazine as if you were holding it in your hands. you can turn the pages, you can do a search for particular words, to help you find a topic you'd normally be shuffling through magazines for in the past. You can archive past issues, click on a link in the magazine and be brought DIRECLY to the link's web location, email a friend an article, and on and on! Its so very cool!
And if that was not enough, you get all the bonus goodies just for joining. And i have to tell you, after doing several of these deals, i was excited to see several that were NEW and i had not already used!! Very cool. i got at least triple the value of my subscription in freebies alone, and that's considering i've subscribed before and gotten a lot of the freebies. If you have not ever subbed, or at least not taken advantage of as many subscriptiion freebies as me, you will have the most amazing wealth of goodies on your hands. SO COOL! Also, they are now digital, so NO CARDS TO SEND IN! Woohoo!!!
Anyway, don't take my word for it. Right now the summer issue is available for FREE on their website. Acquaint yourself with the format and browse away! If you decide to subscribe, you will get another back issue of your choice, in addition you will receive the 25 free gifts, valued at over $550 and of course a year's subscription! You will receive all this for only $16.95. So, give it a shot!! And stay tuned to my blog, because soon i'll be reviewing the amazing Schoolhouse planner.. I wanted to have it reviewed and posted by now but its so overwhelmingly substantial, i've barely scratched the surface!
Friday, August 1, 2008
My funny day/my amazing children
ok, so i'll start with the funny parts. My 4yo learned not too long ago to use the potty but today she waited too long and it all came out right before she reached the toilet. Standing in the flood of her own urine she screamed bloody murder, and loudly declared, "OH NO! I PEED ON THE FLOOR! I'M NOT A DOG!!!! I'M A HUMAN!!!" She later explained to me that the Matz' dogs pee on the floor but not people. Too bad she didn't think of that a year ago! i'll have to remember that one for Leif :p
Ok, so then i was trying to find the address for the math company Math-u-see. I looked ALL over the website and finally did a search for "mailing address" and the search responded "no results for your search. Did you mean SMILING ADDRESS? Sure enough, there were hits on their website for smiling address but not mailing address, whoda thunk?? LOL!! definately got a smile out of me.
Ok so then we went out to dinner. In our area there's a church that puts on free bbq's all summer on friday nights and i always drag my family there in hopes of reducing our ever dwindling grocery budget by one meal a week. Dh does NOT enjoy it... bad vibes... anyway, so we were waiting in line and i noticed my 13 yo talking to some local kids who were laughing and pointing at him... crap... i wondered was was going on. He explained to me that they were telling him that his face was deformed and his hair was deformed and on and on... grrrr.... made me want to rip their snotty little heads off, but clearly that is not the Christian response. Thankfully my 13 yo is more of a mature Christian than me because when i expressed to him how sad i was that they were making fun of him, he said "Oh its ok mom, i'm not sad they are making fun of me, i'm just sad that they don't know any better than to do stuff like that. " Can you believe that? oh my sweet son, totally melted my heart!!!
Just had to share...
Ok, so then i was trying to find the address for the math company Math-u-see. I looked ALL over the website and finally did a search for "mailing address" and the search responded "no results for your search. Did you mean SMILING ADDRESS? Sure enough, there were hits on their website for smiling address but not mailing address, whoda thunk?? LOL!! definately got a smile out of me.
Ok so then we went out to dinner. In our area there's a church that puts on free bbq's all summer on friday nights and i always drag my family there in hopes of reducing our ever dwindling grocery budget by one meal a week. Dh does NOT enjoy it... bad vibes... anyway, so we were waiting in line and i noticed my 13 yo talking to some local kids who were laughing and pointing at him... crap... i wondered was was going on. He explained to me that they were telling him that his face was deformed and his hair was deformed and on and on... grrrr.... made me want to rip their snotty little heads off, but clearly that is not the Christian response. Thankfully my 13 yo is more of a mature Christian than me because when i expressed to him how sad i was that they were making fun of him, he said "Oh its ok mom, i'm not sad they are making fun of me, i'm just sad that they don't know any better than to do stuff like that. " Can you believe that? oh my sweet son, totally melted my heart!!!
Just had to share...
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