The Gals Out Back

The chickens have made themselves at home in the backyard. We've gotten at least 3 eggs per days since they arrived which we find very impressive. They seem to have settled in quite quickly. Let me just say...the lay some pretty tasty eggs.

There hasn't been much Chicken Chasing PE happening since last week. So, I guess they've decided to stay. Really truly, they are living in a coop in our backyard. They run out of their coop and around the swing set. If I think about this too much is gets me a bit nervous. The line between red neck and urban farmer (smile) seems so thin at times...

The photos only show a tiny bit of the yard because, well, it is a mess right now. Rather embarrassing. We haven't done the after-winter-clean-up yet. The chickens and the young'uns don't mind however. Can you see the littlest farm hand's boots in the background near the sandbox?

This weekend the gals and their coop will be moved to the garden for a while from what Farmer Ron tells me. They can scratch around in there for a bit and eat all the little weeds and weed seeds. We're lazy gardeners!

Ah yes, I need your help because I know you are much smarter than I... I want an egg counter widget! It would be such fun to put some sort of a little counter widget thingy on my blog so that I can keep track of all the eggs we get. However, after spending more than I had to waste, looking for one online, I have come up empty. Any suggestions? The person who can find one will get a free Little Farm in the City omelet! Transportation is NOT included if you live a ways away.

Foamy Soap - My Love

I love foamy hand soap! Ellie, my 6 year old, loves foamy hand soap, too. We seriously get excited when we are in public restrooms and we push the button on the soap container and foamy soap comes squirting out. It makes us smile and giggle. There is just something fun and soothing about it. Maybe we're just a bit odd that way...

"Could we get foamy hand soap for home?", Elle Belle asked me one day. I told her I'd start looking. I found some...it seemed a bit pricey, especially when I usually got our hand soap for free or pennies at Walgreens or CVS. I bought some lemon foamy soap at Bath and Body Works with a gift card I received. We were in heaven.

Then it ran out.

I tried filling the lemony foamy soap container with regular antibacterial soap from the big jug we had under the sink. The soap came out...sort-of, but it wasn't foamy at all. That was a dud idea.

I got to thinking about what the lemony foamy soap liquid looked like before we used it all. It was pretty watery.

Eureka!

I poured some of the regular soap I had put in out of the foamy soap container (about 3/4 of it) and filled it up with water. Shook it gently. Put the lid on and then...the moment of truth...foamy hand soap came squirting out. I called Ellie. She tried it. We laughed and giggled.

Here's the bonus - doing it this way will make the big jug of antibacterial soap that I got for about 50 cents from Walgreens last MUCH longer.

Foamy hand soap in our home and it will save some money. Oh my stars!

(The photo isn't foamy hand soap, but it sure is pretty. It is actually a shot of the Essential Lavendar Bar from Bug Stuff - a great little company that sells handmade soaps and such. Bug Stuff is run by one of the sweetest homeschooled gals you'll ever meet! I like using it in the shower.)

Only Five

Let me set the scene:

Sam's Club. Weekday afternoon. One Mom (or maybe a good looking teenage boy) pushing a big blue cart in which sits a bubbly little 2 year old blondie and a HUGE box of paper towels, 3 gallons of milk, 10 lbs of carrots and more. Walking along side the cart are two other handsome boys darting off this way and that for items their Mother requests. Skipping along the other side of the cart is a gal of about 6 who is singing and getting into other shopper's paths from time to time. The Mom would REALLY like to be sipping a cherry Coke, but she has given those up for Lent and, Lord willing longer, so she isn't.

Can you see it?

Here's what happens next.

The happy family will be waiting by the milk cooler for another fellow Sam's shopper to make her decision...skim or 1%? Hmmmm... As the shopper turns around, she notices the waiting family. "Wow!" she says, "You have your hands full! How many kids do you have?"

The Mom replies, "Only five." At this point the shopper opens her mouth to respond and then closes it and smiles. She might say, "Oh, that is great!" or something like that, but usually not.

Another scene.

A tall lithe woman, who might be nearing 40, but looks like she is only pushing 35, is waiting in a chair at the Dr. office. In the seats next to her, two little gals are quietly looking at magazines. (OK, let's be real. The 2 year is really walking around and talking to EVERYONE in the waiting area.) After having a long conversation with the 2 year old, a man a few seats over says to the woman, "She must keep you pretty busy, but I see that you have some help," and he points to the older girl.

Before the woman responds, the older sister pipes up, "We've got some more help at home!" The man looks at the woman and inquires how many children she has. "Only five," the woman replies. "Oh," he replies, "you do have help," and smiles. What else could he say?

This is how people respond to me (did you get that I was the tall, thin young looking Mom?) now when I tell them how many kids with which we've been blessed. It was not always this way. I've learned a few things over the years. The word ONLY is very powerful.

In the above scenes, if I would have responded to the questions by simply saying, "We have five children." Those people asking the questions would say something like, "Oh my goodness! How do you handle all of that? I could never have that many kids! Do you ever have any time to do anything for you? Did you mean to have that many? etc. etc. etc" These are all reactions I've gotten over the years. I love the last one especially - I had to hold my tongue because several rather racy retorts flashed through my brain when I heard it.

Using the word "only" in front of my reply ends all such comments. If I, the Mom, don't think five kids too many and can use the word "only" in describing their number, how could anyone else think differently? And we don't think five is too many, we can't imagine it any other way! Five children, five huge blessings from God.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

Doing Our Job

The Triumphal Entry

Luke 19:28-40

After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, "Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, 'Why are you untying it? tell him, 'The Lord needs it.'

Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them "Why are you untying the colt?"

They replied, "The Lord needs it."

They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road.

When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for the miracles they had seen:

"Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!"
"Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!"
Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples!"

"I tell you," he replied, "if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out."

We can't let the rocks do our job!

Something for Nothing

This past Tuesday a package from Amazon arrived on our front porch. Always an exciting event! The particular package contained a CLEP study book for our oldest, Nathan. Not as exciting for him, but we're hoping he'll see the benefit in the future.

I've always loved getting deliveries from Amazon (or anywhere else for that matter). What fun to see the man in the blue (or brown) uniform drive up and deposit a brown cardboard parcel on our porch. Half of the time, he doesn't make it to the porch. Someone always runs out to meet him.

However, in the last two years getting packages from Amazon has become so much better. Why? Because most of the items arriving haven't cost us a cent! They've been free!

Have I found some magic Amazon fairy that grants me all my wishes? Nope. If that were the case, the gigantic 6 qt Kitchen Aid 600 Professional Mixer in kitchen pearl color would be sitting on my counter as I type. Not that I've looked at them...much.

No, I didn't find some magical wish granter. I found Swagbucks which is almost at good.

Swagbucks is a site, a toolbar, a miracle. I earn Swagbucks by doing my usual internet searching via Swagbucks. I don't earn Swagbucks on every search, but at least a couple times each day, I'll enter a search word like "dog puke upholstery cleaning" and up pops a box that says I've won 10 or 20 or even 50 Swagbucks.

These little beauties are kept in my Swagbucks account until I reach 450 Swagbucks. Then I go to the Swagstore and claim my $5.00 Amazon.com gift card. I save those babies up until I get at least $25.00 and then go shopping at Amazon.com. I could go shopping before I get $25.00, but then I'd have to pay shipping. Who wants to do that?

I've also "bought" a few other things from the Swagstore - Starbucks gift cards, Barnes and Noble gift cards. The Big Guy and I have had a few cheap dates this way.

If you click on this link or on the Swagbucks icon on my sidebar, I'll get some extra Swagbucks in my account. Just so you know, I'd tell you about all of this even if I didn't though. I love helping people get free things!

You might want to give Swagbucks a try...I mean you don't have to but wouldn't you love to get something for nothing?

To Clip or Not to Clip

This is a photo of my coupon box...yes, you read that correctly. I have a coupon BOX, not an envelope or a small accordion file thing. It's a box. The couponing all started innocently enough and look what it has come to...

I cannot tell you how geeky this makes me feel, but there it is. I'm actually a bit surprised that I posted it. I've been debating how much you all really need to know about me...all these dark secrets.

In previous posts, I mentioned that I've only been "seriously" couponing for about 18 months. Prior to that, I'd always been frugal - we've pretty much had a grocery budget since we were married (Thanks, Dad!). The budget wasn't huge, but it was always enough.

These days we have more mouths to feed or, to use a good farm analogy, we've got more mouths lining up at the trough. The budget is pretty much the same, maybe even a bit smaller than its been at times. Praise God - it is still always enough.

Couponing really helps. I've just had to learn how to do it and, let me say, it is a learned skill.

If you cut out the coupons from your newspaper this Sunday, grab the stack and head to the store on Monday and buy the food you have coupons for, you will NOT save money. You will more than likely spend lots more than you usually do and you will end up with a large majority of your cart full of junk.

If you make out a grocery list, after deciding what you'll eat that week, what you have on hand, what is listed on sale in the store ads and match those sales to coupons, you WILL save lots of money. It's more work, especially at the start, but personally I think it is worth it.

I don't use every coupon I come across because lots them are for items we'll never eat or use. It is NEVER a good deal to use a coupon on something that you don't need. Saving $1.00 off of a box of Super Sweetie Sticky Snacks that cost $4.00 will save you a buck, yes. But if you would never buy those things anyway, you just spent $3.00 to bring home a trip to the dentist.

I also don't use coupons to buy some items, even if I know they are cheaper with a coupon. There have been times when I could have purchased instant oatmeal for less than it costs me to make it from scratch. However, I like the list of ingredients on the back of the canister of whole oats (it reads--Ingredients: oats) much more than the long list on the back of the instant packets.

Last month, I came across an interesting article about couponing in the Wall Street Journal online. The author breaks down couponing into an hourly wage which is something I've thought about but never took the time to actually compute. Check out the link below.

I have to admit - reading it makes my big ole' oddball coupon box seem more like a treasure chest.

Doing the Math on Coupons by Brent Arends

By the way, my kids are cringing right now. The whole world has seen the box.

This Little Plot

The Big Guy has another great post at This Little Plot.

It's a good life, but sometimes it is a bit tiring to live with a man who thinks so deeply all the time. My brain is usually stuck in more of the addition, multiplication, "Go Dog Go," and wondering what is for dinner mode.

I'm thankful for the challenging thoughts he and He provides.