I have a confession to make. I was a real grump today. I was not a good Mommy today. I was not even a good wife today. And I was certainly not a good follower of Christ today.
I don't know what my problem was.
It could have been the mouse I saw scurry through the living room last night.
It could have been that I am frustrated lately that everything costs so much and I constantly feel the pressure of trying to save money for the family.
It could be that I'm tired of my house always looking like a crazy mess because we homeschool and we 'live' in our house every day - day in and day out.
It could be that I sometimes put too much pressure on myself as the girls teacher - and that I'm so afraid of screwing things up and what if J never learns to read and they both fall behind their peers?
It could be that even though I adore my kids and don't mind being with them ALL the time, sometimes I really do just need a few moments to myself.
It could be that I always feel busy, like there's never enough time to get it all done and I always feel like I'm running, running, running. (And wasting time writing on my blog doesn't help with prioritizing my time!)
It could be that I'm human and sometimes I lose my patience and put too much pressure on myself and expect too much of my kids and need to face the reality of life which is - no one is perfect! No one has it all together all the time.
So where does that leave me? Well thankfully my kids will forgive me, my hubby will forgive me (not that I did anything mean to him today but he knew I was grumpy), and my heavenly Father will forgive me. Thank you God that you love me still. Even through the grumpy days.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
This CVS thing
I am slowly getting the hang of this CVS thing. I have been scoping the flyers each week, cutting coupons out like a crazy woman, and taking my time browsing the aisles while I add up my totals over and over again - trying to make sure I'm getting the best deal.
I'm still not as good as some other CVSers that I know of who are getting things almost free (still haven't quite figured out how to do that!) but I am happy about the savings I'm getting.
I have been in desperate need of a new swiffer mop since mine has been broken for awhile ... so this was a great week - I got the starter kit which included the mop, a HUGE pack of wet refills and a FREE duster starter kit. ( I already have a duster but the kids like to help!) All of this was $15 and I got $5 in extra care bucks!!!
Here was my cereal deal (my kids go through cereal SO fast)... 2 big boxes for $4 - the boxes are normally $4.39 each! (I probably should have scoped the net for some cereal coupons which would have made this even cheaper but I forgot.)
And even though we never get trick or treaters here and won't even be home I thought I'd pick up some candy just for those special times when I have a major craving or the kids have been really good ... I got both big bags for $2
If you do the CVS thing and have some hints you'd like to share with me so I can get even better steals (I mean deals) ... please feel free to leave me a comment and let me know! Thanks!
I'm still not as good as some other CVSers that I know of who are getting things almost free (still haven't quite figured out how to do that!) but I am happy about the savings I'm getting.
I have been in desperate need of a new swiffer mop since mine has been broken for awhile ... so this was a great week - I got the starter kit which included the mop, a HUGE pack of wet refills and a FREE duster starter kit. ( I already have a duster but the kids like to help!) All of this was $15 and I got $5 in extra care bucks!!!
Here was my cereal deal (my kids go through cereal SO fast)... 2 big boxes for $4 - the boxes are normally $4.39 each! (I probably should have scoped the net for some cereal coupons which would have made this even cheaper but I forgot.)
And even though we never get trick or treaters here and won't even be home I thought I'd pick up some candy just for those special times when I have a major craving or the kids have been really good ... I got both big bags for $2
If you do the CVS thing and have some hints you'd like to share with me so I can get even better steals (I mean deals) ... please feel free to leave me a comment and let me know! Thanks!
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Why I love consignment shops
Reason #1 ... winter coat for oldest daughter $4.80!!!! 
Reason #2 ... winter sweaters for both daughters $2 - $5 each!
Reason #3 ... cute shirt for oldest $5
Reason #4 ... cute shirt for youngest $4!!!
Reason #2 ... winter sweaters for both daughters $2 - $5 each!
Reason #3 ... cute shirt for oldest $5
Reason #4 ... cute shirt for youngest $4!!!
My new 'do'
Now that I'm a Mom I find it funny to see which things I consider a true indulgence. I mean, I remember prior to having kids when I thought going on a cruise or going to a fancy dinner was an indulgence ... but these days, it doesn't take much to make me happy.
Today I got to indulge. For one full hour I sat at the salon having my hair washed, cut and styled. It was awesome. So awesome in fact that I almost fell asleep in the chair because I was so relaxed!
I have been talking about wanting to cut my hair for weeks now and it always seemed like something would come up or I couldn't see spending the money ... but today was my chance! I'm so glad I did, I love my new cut and I'm so happy to have the change. No more ponytails for me - I'm going to fix my hair - every day! {Added bonus ... I think the cut got rid of most of all the residual yucky color that was still clinging to my ends!!}
The back has the stacked look - each layer is a bit shorter - I love having all the bulk gone!
Today I got to indulge. For one full hour I sat at the salon having my hair washed, cut and styled. It was awesome. So awesome in fact that I almost fell asleep in the chair because I was so relaxed!
I have been talking about wanting to cut my hair for weeks now and it always seemed like something would come up or I couldn't see spending the money ... but today was my chance! I'm so glad I did, I love my new cut and I'm so happy to have the change. No more ponytails for me - I'm going to fix my hair - every day! {Added bonus ... I think the cut got rid of most of all the residual yucky color that was still clinging to my ends!!}
The back has the stacked look - each layer is a bit shorter - I love having all the bulk gone!
CKC!
A couple weekends ago I went to my first Creating Keepsakes Convention. It was so much fun! I can't wait to go again! We took classes about different scrapbooking techniques, shopped to our hearts galore, had LOTS of yummy Starbucks lattes, stayed in the gorgeous Marriott hotel, went out for awesome Mexican food one night and just had a really great time!
I went with two alumni from the Bible college I attended. One was Carol (aka Mrs. Potato Head or MPH) and the other was Susie (aka Shoesie). I had met Carol last summer, but it was my first time meeting Susie, she came all the way from Washington state to go to CKC with us! Wow!
Here are some photos of our fun weekend ....
Vendor fair ... a scrapbookers paradise!!!!!
This was my favorite!!! I texted the photo to Bob but I don't think he thought it was all that funny! (I was a good little girl and stuck to my budget!)
Marriott Hotel (we were on the 12th floor)
Can you tell how giddy with excitement I am? This was just as we sat down at our first class ...
um hum, I love me some pumpkin spice lattes ...
Back at my house ... the girls stayed overnight, then attended church with us the next morning before heading for home ... we are each holding up our nicknames (Shoesie, KitKat and Mrs. Potato Head)
What a blessing to share this experience with these wonderful sisters in Christ! 
I went with two alumni from the Bible college I attended. One was Carol (aka Mrs. Potato Head or MPH) and the other was Susie (aka Shoesie). I had met Carol last summer, but it was my first time meeting Susie, she came all the way from Washington state to go to CKC with us! Wow!
Here are some photos of our fun weekend ....
Vendor fair ... a scrapbookers paradise!!!!!
This was my favorite!!! I texted the photo to Bob but I don't think he thought it was all that funny! (I was a good little girl and stuck to my budget!)
Marriott Hotel (we were on the 12th floor)
Can you tell how giddy with excitement I am? This was just as we sat down at our first class ...
um hum, I love me some pumpkin spice lattes ...
Back at my house ... the girls stayed overnight, then attended church with us the next morning before heading for home ... we are each holding up our nicknames (Shoesie, KitKat and Mrs. Potato Head)
What a blessing to share this experience with these wonderful sisters in Christ! 
Friday, October 10, 2008
One cool dog
This week I'm doing a little project, so I've been carrying my camera with me everywhere (actually that's not so abnormal, I do that a lot anyway!) ... you'll have to wait for details on the project, but anyway, back to the story ...
So today we stopped at the gas station so Bob could get his cup of DD coffee and
as we were pulling into the parking lot I said to the girls "look at that neat old motorcycle with the side car!" ... and just as I said it this cute little dog popped his head up out of the side car!
He had the goggles around his neck and was so adorable that I couldn't resist asking the owner if I could take a picture! She said no problem and even offered to put the goggles back on for the photo. I couldn't stop giggling ... he was so cute! I could just imagine him zooming down the highway, riding in his own little sidecar with those goggles protecting his eyes!!
So today we stopped at the gas station so Bob could get his cup of DD coffee and
as we were pulling into the parking lot I said to the girls "look at that neat old motorcycle with the side car!" ... and just as I said it this cute little dog popped his head up out of the side car!
He had the goggles around his neck and was so adorable that I couldn't resist asking the owner if I could take a picture! She said no problem and even offered to put the goggles back on for the photo. I couldn't stop giggling ... he was so cute! I could just imagine him zooming down the highway, riding in his own little sidecar with those goggles protecting his eyes!!
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Art Lessons
This is the second year that my Father in law has been teaching the girls art lessons. He's an amazing artist and has such natural talent ... so of course he was the perfect person to teach the girls!Already they have learned about shadows, horizon, perspective and have used various mediums like pastels, pencils, charcoal, watercolors and oil painting with a fan brush. (The above painting was made by H)
I have been amazed at the things they have learned and the art work they have produced. Remember, when they started these lessons a year ago J was only 4 years old and H just turning 6 ... pretty nice art for two little girls!
(This is one of my faves ... this one is by J)
Turtle painted on deer skin ...
Gourd bowl filled with feathers - this was an item in my in laws house that they looked at and then created the art to look like the item ...
Christmas candlestick ... the photo in the top of the picture is the actual item ...
Another Christmas-y centerpiece that they did ...
Here is an actual painting and below is what the girls painted to look like this one ...
H's ...
J's ... (I can't believe how well they did on the mountains and trees!)
And these are the most recent paintings they did on slate for Daddy's birthday ...
Oh and just to show you a very small fraction of my Father in Law's talent ... these are just a couple of his Native American paintings that he did ... He has amazing, God-given talent ... and I'm so thankful that he shares it with the girls! What a blessing!
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Story Teller's Club
OK, by now you've had the chance to check out my recent scrapbook layouts on the previous post. Well all except the first one were made by products from a company called Story Teller's club. Now, before I go any further I just want to say that this is going to start to sound like an infomercial, and for that I apologize ... but I get nothing for telling you about this company - I'm just really super excited about it and want to share the news!
So I saw the ST booth at the CKC (Creating Keepsakes Convention) that I went to this weekend in Hartford. I loved their layouts and the colors they use ... in fact my friend Carol said "that looks like a total Kathy layout!" BUT I found out that they were a monthly club and said no way, I'm not joining a club!
THEN I took a class that was put together by the ST company. The class was AMAZING! I loved it, I loved the products and I was totally hooked. The class was called "Who says Easy needs to look Easy?" That totally embraces what they're all about ... their layouts are gorgeous and everything matches and co-ordinates, and it's SO easy and simple but the finished pages look so gorgeous that people think you've spent hours working on them! (Those 4 I showed below took less than an hour.)
After the class (and asking TONS of questions about the details) I did end up signing up for the club. What happens is every month they send you a new kit which includes papers and beautiful punch outs (like stickers but without the adhesive) that will help you complete 4 layouts ... actually being the cheapskate that I am I KNOW I can stretch those products to make TWICE as many layouts!
This company also impressed me because you're completely in control of your shipments ... example: if you get behind or just don't think you need a shipment this month - you can put your account on HOLD for up to 3 months! Still behind after the 3 months is up? Put in on hold again! You can also cancel the club at any time - there is no minimum and you have no commitment to them.
PLUS, this is a biggie ... if they send you a piece of paper that you don't like - say for October they send something spooky and Halloweenish and you just know there is NO way you will ever use it ... you SEND IT BACK and they will let you choose something else to replace it! This applies to everything they send you ... and you don't have to send the whole kit back, just whatever you don't like! You are in total control.
Now, this is the part I love the most. I love cute little fancy embellishments ... ribbons, brads, metals, etc ... but they are expensive and they are so time consuming!! So here I have zoomed in on a couple of the pages from below ... notice that these pages APPEAR to have all sorts of fancy extras like ribbon, string, flowers, brads, buttons, multiple layers of papers .... well guess what? They don't! That is the way the punch outs are printed! They look all fancy and all you have to do is punch them out, add adhesive to the back and stick it on the paper! I love it!
So yes I did sign up for the club ... and because I did that I'm going to be a good little girl and try to not buy other scrapbook supplies because I know I'll have a shipment coming each month from ST club ... and really, it's not very expensive. It's very reasonable. And I won't post the details here simply because I don't like to talk finances unless I need to ... but if you really have a serious interest in it let me know and I'd be glad to tell you more - like I said before, there's nothing in it for me - I'm just in love with the products!
My thought is that this could help me get caught up! I'm still 2 years behind with my scrap booking and would someday like to get caught up - so with these quick and simple layouts I'm hoping I can do that. AND for signing up I got 7 FREE page kits ... plus I got 4 page kits in class and 2 in a giveaway ... so I came home with 13 page kits just to get me started!! (without spending a dime yet!)
Anyway, enough of my rambling, enough of my cheesy infomercial voice ... the next post you see from me will be plain ol' Kathy again ... =D
So I saw the ST booth at the CKC (Creating Keepsakes Convention) that I went to this weekend in Hartford. I loved their layouts and the colors they use ... in fact my friend Carol said "that looks like a total Kathy layout!" BUT I found out that they were a monthly club and said no way, I'm not joining a club!
THEN I took a class that was put together by the ST company. The class was AMAZING! I loved it, I loved the products and I was totally hooked. The class was called "Who says Easy needs to look Easy?" That totally embraces what they're all about ... their layouts are gorgeous and everything matches and co-ordinates, and it's SO easy and simple but the finished pages look so gorgeous that people think you've spent hours working on them! (Those 4 I showed below took less than an hour.)
After the class (and asking TONS of questions about the details) I did end up signing up for the club. What happens is every month they send you a new kit which includes papers and beautiful punch outs (like stickers but without the adhesive) that will help you complete 4 layouts ... actually being the cheapskate that I am I KNOW I can stretch those products to make TWICE as many layouts!
This company also impressed me because you're completely in control of your shipments ... example: if you get behind or just don't think you need a shipment this month - you can put your account on HOLD for up to 3 months! Still behind after the 3 months is up? Put in on hold again! You can also cancel the club at any time - there is no minimum and you have no commitment to them.
PLUS, this is a biggie ... if they send you a piece of paper that you don't like - say for October they send something spooky and Halloweenish and you just know there is NO way you will ever use it ... you SEND IT BACK and they will let you choose something else to replace it! This applies to everything they send you ... and you don't have to send the whole kit back, just whatever you don't like! You are in total control.
Now, this is the part I love the most. I love cute little fancy embellishments ... ribbons, brads, metals, etc ... but they are expensive and they are so time consuming!! So here I have zoomed in on a couple of the pages from below ... notice that these pages APPEAR to have all sorts of fancy extras like ribbon, string, flowers, brads, buttons, multiple layers of papers .... well guess what? They don't! That is the way the punch outs are printed! They look all fancy and all you have to do is punch them out, add adhesive to the back and stick it on the paper! I love it!
So yes I did sign up for the club ... and because I did that I'm going to be a good little girl and try to not buy other scrapbook supplies because I know I'll have a shipment coming each month from ST club ... and really, it's not very expensive. It's very reasonable. And I won't post the details here simply because I don't like to talk finances unless I need to ... but if you really have a serious interest in it let me know and I'd be glad to tell you more - like I said before, there's nothing in it for me - I'm just in love with the products!My thought is that this could help me get caught up! I'm still 2 years behind with my scrap booking and would someday like to get caught up - so with these quick and simple layouts I'm hoping I can do that. AND for signing up I got 7 FREE page kits ... plus I got 4 page kits in class and 2 in a giveaway ... so I came home with 13 page kits just to get me started!! (without spending a dime yet!)
Anyway, enough of my rambling, enough of my cheesy infomercial voice ... the next post you see from me will be plain ol' Kathy again ... =D
Monday, October 6, 2008
Look what I've been up to!
Scrapbooking! Yay ... one of my favorite addictions! Last weekend I went to the Creating Keepsakes Convention here in my area with two very special ladies. We had so much fun going to classes and SHOPPING for lots of amazing scrapbook stuff. I will post those pictures soon, as well as talk about my new favorite scrappin' company in another post ... but for now enjoy some pages that I've been working on.
Victory is mine!
I slept last night ... all night ... for the first time in a week!
For some odd reason I've had insomnia for a whole week and it's been days of walking through life with blurry, bloodshot eyes and a barely functioning brain ... but finally, finally I got sleep, precious sleep last night! YAY!
So thank you all for all your wonderful suggestions ... warm bath, melatonin, lavender, tea, etc .... and hopefully I won't need them and hope that I will be back on track now!
For some odd reason I've had insomnia for a whole week and it's been days of walking through life with blurry, bloodshot eyes and a barely functioning brain ... but finally, finally I got sleep, precious sleep last night! YAY!
So thank you all for all your wonderful suggestions ... warm bath, melatonin, lavender, tea, etc .... and hopefully I won't need them and hope that I will be back on track now!
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