My toilet paper stockpile

Okay, truth be told, I stockpile toilet paper. Now I'm not talking coupon-related (though give me a minute, I'm getting to that). I'm simply 'fessing up that I have a bit of a paper fetish and, yes, it includes good old twa'lette paper as well.

But in the past 9 months, I have taken on couponing as a way to carve out some pretty significant savings in my family's food and household budget. Today, I was able to hit a "stockpile price" on toilet paper. Here's the deal.

CVS has Angel Soft double-roll 12 packs on sale for $5.00 They also have a deal going where you spend $30 on certain products (Angel Soft included) and you earn a $10 gift card (note: this is even better than their Extra Care Bucks program because those rewards expire within a month and the gift card does not.)

So, I purchased 6 of the Angel Soft 12-packs, used six 50¢ Angel Soft coupons plus a $1.50 cash back reward I had earned from my last quarter of CVS purchases. Price was now $25.50. Keeping the $10 gift card in mind, th actual cost of the toilet paper was $15.50. This breaks down to $2.58 per 12pack (or, if you think in terms of 4 packs, then 86¢ per double roll 4 pack.)

But for me, it gets better. I also had another $11 in Extra Care Bucks so my out-of-pocket expense was $14.50 plus tax AND I got the $10 gift card.
Ladies and gentlemen, that is what we call a stockpile price. :)

If you would like to learn about couponing, I suggest checking out the following blogs and websites.
Coupon Mom.com
Money Saving Mom.com
The Krazy Coupon Lady.com

Live wise in Him!

~Toni~

Are you willing to challenge yourself?

It's that time of year. The time when we make all kinds of failed promises new year resolutions to ourselves in hopes of improving various areas of our lives.

In the past, I have either ignored the whole resolution thing altogether, or set a few poorly defined goals with no real plan for how to achieve them.

This year, I want it to be different.
This year, I am truly motivated to set goals and to work toward achieving them.
This year, I dreamed big and I'm reaching high.
This year is going to be different.

Okay sure, those last few sentences sounded like a self pep-talk, destined for failure (been there, done that).
But in setting my goals for this coming year the question I earnestly asked was, "Are you willing to challenge yourself?"

Challenge, in part, can be defined as, "to arouse or stimulate, especially by presenting with difficulties."
This is what I'm digging deep for.
At the top of my list, I have come up with a personal goal based on dreaming big and I'll need to dig deep (deep!) if I intend to achieve it. This goal will most definitely present me with difficulties, but they are the kind that will force me to tap into my creativity, my will, and my passion for learning new things. I can't reveal that specific goal (at least not at this time), but I definitely hope to share it some time in the coming year.
(Summer? Ish.)

In the meantime, here are a few of the goals I can share for now.

CRAFTY/HANDS-ON GOALS:

• finish Ohio State lapghan
• learn to knit
• master bedroom makeover
• homemade strawberry jam
• give Etsy a try
• teach oldest daughter to plan a week's meal menu, shop, and cook the meals for that week

FINANCIAL GOALS:

• create a consistently worked family budget
• increase the amount of our mortgage payoff
• look into paying cash for a replacement van
• build our food/household stockpile

TRAVEL GOALS:

• take at least two "flash" trips this year for educational purposes

SPIRITUAL GOALS:

• complete daily quiet time (scripture reading)
• Read at least one book quarterly that challenges me spiritually
• increase our family's food bank ministry
• continue Sunday night bible study with my husband
• log family devotional time for accountability

PERSONAL/MOTHERING GOALS:

• New year motto: "Grace first."
• Practice words of affirmation daily basis
• "date" one child per week
• create a schedule/blocks of time to work on "the big goal and follow through."

HEALTH/FITNESS GOALS:

• drink 8 glasses water per day (predictable, I know, but I don't do it.)
• use cross trainer for 30 minutes, every other day
• take 2 mile family walks 3x or more per week (doing Pilates instead during inclement weather)
• one hike per month
• try at least one new vegetarian recipe per month

So there you have it, some of the goals I'm tackling for the coming year. I intend to visit my list weekly and then "scrutinize" it monthly to guage where I'm at and how I need to change course to succeed (the ultimate goal). This is a much more pro-active approach than I've taken in the past and I'm both excited and challenged by the very thought of going for it.
And I am.
(Going for it, that is.)

How about you?
Are you willing to dig deep and challenge yourself?
I hope you have been inspired to be challenged as well; to enter this brand new year with purposeful intent.
I'd love to hear what's on your resolutional plate for 2012.

Live wise in Him!

~Toni~

Christmas in Heaven; When we yearn for loved ones

Believers, if you are missing a loved one at Christmas, consider this; Mary pondered what the shepherds told her concerning the Savior.

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. Luke 2:16-19

The world would have us swept up in the commercialism and "merry" of Christmas. But Mary modeled something deeper; quiet reflection about the true meaning. As your heart yearns for your loved one at Christmas time, may you also give yourself the blessing of simple, quiet reflection, the blessing of peace. A blessed Christmas to all.

Live wise in Him!

~Toni~

What a chore!

As we are a homeschooling family, our house gets an average of 13,500 hours more wear and tear on it over a "school years" lifetime than the home of a non-homeschooling family. Trust me, when I tell you that can show quickly, I mean it.

All families must address the challenge of how to approach chores with their children. In our home, the ability to assign, check, and reassign daily chores is crucial if we want a standing house over time (said with a bit of drama to match the haggered defeat I feel when failed chore time gets the best of me.) So, what to do? It's the question we all ask occasionally.

We started a new chore system this year. It's one that has made its way around the internet and thankfully landed in my home. I believe it may have its roots in Managers of Their Chores by Teri Maxwell. I believe the Duggars use a form of it as well (if it works for their home, I'm thinking it's got to be good). And I was introduced to it by Courtney at Women Living well blog. Here's my take on it.

The children have a chore "pack" which they can wear like a necklace after school to complete their round of chores ("on your person" is a great tool for reducing, "I forgot," syndrome). I used a simple clear plastic I.D holder and simply hole punched it for tie-on strings. Then,...

• I used patterned stock paper to make a fitted card that reads, "DONE" on the patterned (front) side and has the child's name written on the plain white (back) side.
• I then cut multiple blank fitted cards on which I could write a single chore. Our list includes: unload dishwasher, transfer wet clothes to dryer and start, change cat litter, feed guinea pig, sweep out guinea pig's case, wipe bathroom sinks and mirrors, collect bathroom garbage, clean out van and put away non-garbage items found, sweep kitchen floor, vaccum upstairs, vaccum downstairs, put away all toys in playroom, dust furniture, wipe down railings, wipe down light switches and door knobs (assigned daily during times of illness), straighten bookshelf and book pile, straighten shoe rack. There is also a "morning chore" card that each child must complete, which includes brushing teeth and hair, make bed, get dressed, bring laundry baskets/dirty clothes down to laundry room.
• Assigned chore cards are slid into the plastic sleeve front.
  As each chore is completed, the child takes that card and slides it behind the "DONE" side, to the back of the card, which has their name written on it.) This way, when all chores are completed, the child sees "DONE" and may bring his chore pack to me so I can verify that all work was completed.
• Each day, I assign 2-3 cards (in addition to the morning chore card) to each child.
• For Brandon, who is not yet reading, I sketched images of chores which he is able to complete on the back of a written chore card. That way, he can look at the picture and know what to do (ie. a shoe for the shoerack chore, a feather duster for the dusting chore)
• Each day, I rotate cards, adding the chores that were not sent out the day before to complete, and rotating which chores each child receives.
• For each day that chores are completed correctly, without complaint, and in a timely manner (which means right after schoolwork is completed), a dime is earned. Earn all 7 dimes for the week and chore reward is rounded up to $1. Complain, delay, or do chore hastily (and thus incorrectly) and that day's dime and the weekly $1 round-up is lost. Our goal is NOT to pay our children for chores, as they also receive a consequence if we determine their attitude toward serving one another is sinful (consequences might be something like no Wii for the weekend, or serving by doing extra chores).
• Those who succeed in earning all four dollars in a given month will earn a bonus dollar for the month. They are setting goals for using their chore money toward a particular purchase and are using part of it to learn about ministry as well.

This system is working very well so far in our family (we're about 6 weeks into it.) A quick word on laundry too while I'm on the topic of chores. If you struggle to keep up with laundry like I used to (oh, the mountains of laundry that doubled as a "play hill" for my toddler many years back), then you might give these successfully applied tips a try as well.

I purchased small baskets from Dollar General (and other such stores) that could double as mini laundry baskets. It may take a bit of effort to find just the right ones (most are either too small or too big for this purpose), but it's worth the effort of finding them. They should be large enough to hold a full-sized basketball. I prefer the soft, pliable ones so a child can gather both hand grasps in a single hand for going up and down the stairs, but have also used hard plastic baskets as well.

Each day, my children are responsible for bringing these baskets down to the laundry room with any dirty clothes removed from the night before. They must also take these baskets up as they head off to bed each night, often full with clothes they must put away. If I am particularly busy in the laundry room on any given day, they must also put way clean clothes mid-day and return the basket to the laundry room until they again retrieve it at the end of the day.

I began this chore with each of my children at 3 years old (keeping the basket's weight light enough for my 3year old to carry so he/she could practice the chore with older siblings). I do not fuss over how neatly (or not, uh hem) the clothing is placed in the drawers for younger children. I consider wrinkles a minor inconvenience for me not having to trek up and down the stairs with umpteen loads of laundry each day myself. But older children (from about 8 years old and up) are expected to neatly put their clothes away. So, there you have it. And for the record, I am a daily laundry washer. I try to do at least one load every day for our family of 6. With the children helping me so much, it's not bad at all.

I would love to hear how chores "work" in your home.

Live wise in Him!

~Toni~

Delicious comfort food!

It's been getting quite chilly (if not downright cold!) here in central Indiana the past week or so. I'm not one for cold weather. In fact, the only thing I enjoy about it is the built-in requisite slow down; one is basically forced to pause for a season.

So yesterday, I found myself thinking, "Comfort," as I planned dinner. And what came to mind was a good tuna casserole (good being the key word).

Creamy, comfy, YUMMY tuna casserole.

The recipe I use really is both simple and good, if I do say so myself.
I happen to get all 12 thumbs up here (two per body count).
Just sayin'.

Tuna Noodle Casserole
*************************
16 oz elbow macaroni, cooked and drained.
2 hard boiled eggs, peeled and finely chopped.
2 cans tuna in water, drained.
1 cup mayonaise.
1 Tbsp. lemon juice (I use concentrate)
At least 6 green onions (I choose to lightly sautee mine first)
8 oz cheddar cheese, shredded
2 sticks celery, chopped (optional; I usually leave this out)
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper

Mix all ingredients in large bowl and pour into greased casserole dish.
Bake in preheated oven at 350º for 15-20 minutes, just until heated through.
serves 8.

Enjoy!

Live wise in Him!

~Toni~

Bringing home the gold.

My Olivia had her first swim meet today. She has been training on the developmental team for a year and finally moved up with "the big dogs" so it was an exciting day for her. Though she likely didn't place, she established her entry times, learned the ropes of knowing when her heat was up, and so on. All in all, a fun day.


I competed in gymnastics when I was her age and it was such a fun time in my childhood. The coach would pick us up in the YMCA van and off we'd go, sometimes a half hour away, sometimes 2 hours away. We'd be gone all day and our parents never knew how we did until we returned home late in the evening (I only placed on 2 events my entire first year, so you can imagine how encouraged I was after the first meet of my second year, when I came home to report that I had placed in every single event and had placed 2nd all-around as well.)

How things have changed. In my day, it was a personal commitment, but not so much a financial commitment. Sure, there was a YMCA junior membership to purchase, and the expense of practice suits (team suits and warm ups were provided).
The coach drove, and we stopped for fast food on the way home. There were very few expenses involved.

Today?

Parents have to volunteer 4 times/year (per family). We had to sign up to bring food items. $5 per person to attend the meet. $5 for a program (A program? We never had programs before). A fully stocked snack bar was open for business (including Subway sandwiches for sale). Really? Because back in the day, I had to hit the candy machine for M&Ms, banging on the glass when the Archimedian screw failed to plop out my chosen treats. But today, apparently it's "all out". They were even selling meet tee shirts for $10. We did have shirts made for our regional meets back in the day, but regular season meets? No way. The whole experience, from a worldly perspective, felt a bit over the top to me.

But not from the perspective of watching my sweet girl compete. She has worked so hard to have her own lane. And she was so very proud of her efforts. A few of the kids came off their events crying because they were unhappy with their times or because they finished last in the heat. And who knows, maybe those days are yet to come for my kids too. But for today, it was simply a wonderful moment in my daughter's childhood; a moment where she gave her all and smiled ear to ear over her efforts. In that regard, I'm happy to say we brought home the gold.

Live wise in Him!

~Toni~

MOMMY GUILT

Mommy guilt!
Been there, done that?
I thought so.
Me too.

So I was thinking about it yesterday as dh and I worked on our third batch of cinnamon apple butter together.
(Yes, we make bodaciously marvelous apple butter together; gals, this is what happens when you convince them the stove is a "grill".)

There our four kids were, watching The Wilderness Family on DVD, while we spent about 2½ hours busying ourselves in the kitchen.
[Begin lament]
I should be with them.
They need me.
Why am I sitting here stirring apple butter?
This is lame.
[end lament]

Wait,...just why am I sitting here making apple butter? The obvious answer was that my family likes cinnamon apple butter and I was making it to please them.
So why do us moms have to complicate the issue?
I mean, hubby wasn't having "daddy guilt" (at least not that I could see; has that been invented yet?) And the kids did seem perfectly fine without me.

So I got to thinking. It wasn't so much that I was busy making apple butter that gave me a small dose of mommy guilt. It's just that I was busy.

Busyness.
Time sucked away from the precious moments of our days.
Time is limited and must be stewarded wisely.

So, I slathered a little apple butter on a bite of english muffin (to help me think, of course) and thought some more.

Mommy guilt when I'm washing and folding the bed linens. Sure, we do need clean bed linens, but if one (or all) of my children is feeling particularly mommy-needy that week, why can't I delay that chore and invest in my children instead?
When they are gone, will they recall those clean sheets?
Or the time spent (or not spent) with me?
Which one do I want them to recall with fondness?

Mommy guilt when they want me to go outside to play with them, but I decline because it's "too hot" (seriously, do we ever outgrow that whine?) and I'm feeling right comfy in the air conditioned house.

But,...

Would I melt?

Actually, yes I would.
I have naturally curly hair and it totally frizzles to the max after too much heat and humidity (seriously, I do).
But just because I'll come back inside looking like an English sheepdog doesn't mean I should take my dose of mommy guilt lying down on the sofa.
Time is what they want and it's mine to give.

Or not (gulp!)

Cautious note to self: I cannot buy it back when the fleeting moments of childhood are gone.

As I recently read (and agreed with) elsewhere on the net, I'm certain when my children are grown and gone, I will yearn for these days I'm in midst of now.
I will wish I could do it all over again.
I just don't want to wish I had done it differently.

Throw mommy guilt out the window at some point this week, won't you?
When your child comes and asks you to get stuck in the Molasses Swamp for 47 turns (again), indulge him.
No matter how well intentioned your busyness may be regarding the serving your family, your children will be well served indeed by your willingness to simply be with them.

Ecclesiastes 3:1 "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven..."

Live wise in Him!

~Toni~