Friday, August 29, 2008

8/29/08

Frugal Tip Friday

Save a few dried beans each time you make dried beans in a glass jar. After awhile you'll have enough different dried beans to make your own 16 bean soup without the cost of buying the bag of 16 bean soup mix at the store. The bag at the store places a flavoring packet that's full of chemicals and preservatives, you can replic that flavor by using a ham hock. Get your ham hock by saving the bones from your ham or buy ham hocks at the butcher for cheap.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

08/26/08

Nathan's first day of school. I thought I was already for today and yet I totally missed the ball on a few things. Overall once all of our materials get here I think we are really going to love it. I am dreading the teaching of phonics but I figure it won't hurt me to learn at the same time Nathan is. I have a feeling the twins are going to want to learn at the same time. Already today Noah did the same lessons as Nathan. We did math, handwriting, language arts, and science today. The science is something I'm doing extra with the kids as its not require through the UVA. Tomorrow should be easier and a little more prepared. I learned, today, how to get through the lessons and I think within a week or two Nathan, the twins, and I will be old pros at this. I can't wait for his Spanish lessons to open up so we can do those. We do history tomorrow too.

Monday, August 25, 2008

8/25/08

Well tomorrow is the first official day of school for Nathan. I know I said I was going to homeschool him but in the Don and I decided to apply for a charter school and he was accepted. Nathan is enrolled in the Utah Virtual Academy which is an online based public school. They use the K12 curriculm which is a pretty good program. We won't have the flexibilty we would have had with an actual homeschooled child but we get education materials for free.

Today we received about 1/2 of our materials for the courses. I've been going crazy because everything has been so late coming. I'm not one to bounce into something until I feel comfortable and the delay has been making me very uncomfortable. But as I said we did receive about 1/2 of our materials today. And the OLS (online school) is finally working so I was able to go in and see what all we will be doing. I was able to organize some of what I had for the classwork for tomorrow. I'm really excited to get started and watch my child learn.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

I.....Norah

Mt friends Sherri posted this on her blog. I've loved learning more about her and so I hope she wants to learn more about me.


I AM ...a researcher by nature. I have researched so many topics to death its scary.

I WANT... a vacation. I don't care anymore where I go I just want to get away from the daily life things for a few days.

I HAVE ... read every book ever written on the Donner Party and visited the Donner Party campsite twice, once on my honeymoon.

I WISH I COULD ... spell or sing or have any type of artistic or musical talent.

I HATE ... not knowing what's in store for the future.

I FEAR ... losing one of my kids. It took so much for us to get them here and I worry about everything. Somedays more than others.

I HEAR .... silence and random snores.

I SEARCH ... for library books daily it seems.

I DON'T THINK ... that I'll ever be comfortable talking in front of a crowd.

I REGRET ... that I didn't try IVF sooner. All the money we wasted doing other options and if I had just done it from the beginning I would have the money to try for one more child.

I LOVE ... My husband and my kids.

I ACHE FOR ... Couples that are struggling to become parents. I've been down that road and I know how hard it is on a daily basis.

I ALWAYS CRY ... at sad endings. Books, movies, or music it doesn't matter.

I AM NOT ... A great housekeeper.

I DANCE ... never. Although every once in awhile the kids talk me into dancing to the wiggles.

I SING ... along with music while doing laundry.

I NEVER ... skip my daily shower. My kids know that mom has to have her shower or she will be grumpy all day.

I RARELY ... leave my kids at home with anyone. I usually am with my kids all the time.

I CRY WHEN I WATCH ... sad endings of movies or television shows.

I AM NOT ALWAYS ... caring towards others. I have my faults and this is one of them.

I HATE THAT ... I may never have another child.

I'M CONFUSED ABOUT ... the world. So many things that confuse me when it comes to others in this world.

I NEED ... not spend so much time on the computer.

I SHOULD ... go to bed. Why is it after the kids go to sleep I want to stay up?

Monday, August 18, 2008

08/18/08
















Last week was the Davis County Fair. I have to say I think I like the Davis county fair better than the Utah state fair for the kids. There is just so much more fun things for the little kids at the county fair. I didn't enter anything in any event this year, mainly because I messed up the entry date for the photo and I totally blew off the date for the bread entry.

The kids loved looking at all the animals and of course Noah as usual really got into seeing the animals. But the highlight part of the fair for the twins was the pony rides. Noah kept saying, while waiting in line, I'm going to be a cowboy. Nathan, as usual, was too scared to ride the ponies. We let the kids ride the big yellow slide by themselves and they enjoyed it.

Sunday, August 17, 2008

8/16/08

I totally spaced the frugal tip Friday that my friend Sherri does so I am doing it today.

Frugal Tip Friday
Save the little bit of rice, vegetables, gravy, meat, the liquid from canned vegetables (if you use canned) and such and add them to bags or bowls in the freezer. When you have enough saved you can make a stew or soup. I recommend keeping chicken, beef, and pork in different bags/bowls. The first time I tried this I thought it won't taste good but I swear they make the best stews and soups.

http://kaysvillemomma.blogspot.com/2008/08/frugal-tip-friday-81508.html

Friday, August 8, 2008

08/08/08

I just realized the date. I love when it works out that way.

Frugal tip Friday:
Use vinegar and baking soda as cheap, green alternatives to expensive chemical cleaning supplies. If you like a little scent add some essential oils, tea tree oil is a good one or orange.

Friday, August 1, 2008

Frugal Tip Friday

http://kaysvillemomma.blogspot.com/2008/08/frugal-tip-friday-8108.html

Here's my tip:
Budget friendly ways to buy organic for your family.
Stick to what is in season and available locally for produce. That will be the cheapest. Look for co-ops, farmer's markets or local stands and see what you find. Buy daily to capitalize on the very ripe items that get marked down. -Reduce the amount of meat and cheese you eat. Cheaper to toss a small package of organic beef in with a lot of pasta sauce than it is to make a meatloaf. Cheaper to make turkey soup using a breast rather than roasting up a whole breast and getting 1-2 meals vs. 4-5 soup meals. Cheaper to buy a tiny bit of wild Alaskan smoked salmon as a side to rice and veggies than a whole filet of wild salmon. Eating less meat is healthier anyways so it is an added bonus. -Replace one type of conventionally grown food with an organic variety at a time. Switching to all organic in 1 week is going to strain the budget drastically but gradually getting used to the increased costs a little by little gives you time to adjust in other areas. NOW I don't feel like I am spending extra on many things because I am used to that price point. But when I started, the extra $$ on meat etc was really noticable. We are just now switching to organic cheese, which was the last thing I committed to getting organic. -Use information like this: http://www.foodnews.org/pdf/EWG_pesticide.pdf to decide what is worth it to you to buy organic and what you can skip. For example, I never bother with organic onions, avocado, bananas or cabbage- I just buy whatever is cheapest. I find that organic grapes and berries are mostly too $$ to bother getting so I eat them less often as a treat rather than daily in season. But I have found that if I shop carefully organic apples, peppers, pears, spinach, lettuce and potatoes are not very much more than the conventionally grown counterparts. -Look at buying near organic products. Things that are grown without the use of pesticides but that are not yet certified organic. Or milk and eggs that are hormone free but not certified organic.