Christmas Past

It was over before I knew it. It seems as though this Christmas season was faster than any others I can recall. Perhaps it is because I am pregnant and spend a lot of my spare time sleeping or practicing my birth preparations. Perhaps it is because I spent my days busily preparing for Christmas and it all just went by in a blur.

We had a lovely Thanksgiving at Ken's parents house. A couple of days before that Ken and I got the bulk of the shopping done and then we reevaluated some of the gifts and had two more trips back to stores to get thing just right. We had a nice Family Home Evening at home on the 30th when we decorated the tree. We had the missionaries to dinner twice and we attended a couple of parties. We enjoyed the company of friends and family. On the 24th we spent the evening with Ken's parents and siblings. We enjoyed a nice Christmas dinner and a reading of the Christmas story complete with dressed up grandkids and presents and lots of singing. It was perfect.

We came home to bed and awoke to a house full of presents and excited children. I think in the future we will not recall the presents (there were many) but we will think of the fun and the chaos. We did sing in the ward choir this year (Ken, Kayla and me) I will remember that. We sang Oh, Holy Night and I was to emotional to sing during part of it. It really made me think of how special this time of year is. The line in the song says "Behold your King, before him lowly bend" and "He knows your needs". I felt at that moment that he truly does know me.

Today things are getting back to normal. I bought some storage tubs for the new toys that need to be put away. The tree was taken down and the decorations carefully wrapped up for next year. I vacuumed the whole house and moved all the leftover treats to one spot where I have since been pushing them on my kids to eat before they are inedible.

I feel the need (probably pregnancy-related) to clean and put away everything. I have just a few things left to get ready before it is time for the baby. Today marks one calendar month left till my due date. I spoke to a good friend at church that will loan me her bassinet for the few months I will need it (woo hoo! Something else I don't have to buy). I am borrowing a (new) car seat from my sister in law and that should be over here soon too. That marks the end of my physical preparations. I don't know if we are ready emotionally yet.

Much of this week will revolve around the kids. They are out of school this week and while Ken is at work we have many things planned. I have many candy canes that need to be made into cookies. I thought we should make at least one batch :) We also plan to attend the children's museum before our pass expires. Brady's actual birthday is on Friday so I have a cake to make.

I have no doubt that this week will pass as quickly as the last and it will be the past soon. I plan to try to savor as much of this time as possible. This is my last few nights of decent sleep and my last week with my kids home before the new baby. This is the last few days of the year and the last few days of the decade. I will have to give some thought to my resolutions.

Today we learned about reverence in class at church. I have some ideas to make a more reverent house and more reverent children. I am not sure why but Sunday mornings are hard for our family. We have lots of conflict and strife some Sundays. Today was also a change day for the kids and that is hard too. Today was the last day on 11 o'clock schedule. Next year we meet at 1:00. I think I will prefer church from 1-4 with a new baby.

In the picture above (taken on 12/20) I am wearing my Christmas outfit and my hair that needs a cut. It is the most recent of my belly pictures. It probably won't get much more dramatic from here on out - I am unable to eat much due to a tiny stomach space and horrid heartburn. The upside is less gained weight on my part. Kinda takes the fun out of holiday eating when I dread the after-effects.

I hope that all of you had wonderful Christmas-times. How bright the new year appears from here :)

My Tee-Bee

Today is my sister Tracy's birthday. She is still a twenty-something (lucky!). Tracy was born last in our family and I remember when she came home. I recall how tiny she seemed. I remember thinking that she was too perfect to belong to our family. She was a very tender hearted child. Often she would empathize so much with others she would cry on their behalf. Mom always made us cut her slack on that. Tracy had to grow up early. With our mom's illnesses, someone had to be caretaker. Most of the older ones were out of the house and off living our own lives and Tracy got to be the one to help out the most in her teen years.

Tracy lived with me 4 times other than when we were growing up. She has always been rock solid in her testimony and her devotion. She is so loving and caring of others. Tracy made choices in her life that have made me look up to her. She has shown me the way to be instead of the other way around. Most of the times I lived with Tracy after I was an adult was when I was going through great personal trauma. She always had a listening ear and had great insights into my dilemmas. We have been roommates through thick and thin.

We worked together at my last job and she grew that little job into the career that she now flourishes in. One of the things I have always admired about her is her persistence. Many times I would have quit on things had I been in her shoes. She keeps on going and stays positive about the future. Somehow she balances a huge workload and service with church and time with friends and family.

Tracy is the best auntie on the planet. She remembers birthdays and Christmas for her many nieces and nephews. She attends all the events that she can from soccer games to dance recitals.

Tracy is also supportive of me when secretly she thinks I am making a crazy choice. She loves me unconditionally and never says "I told you so".

We don't live close anymore but I am confident that someday we will again. We share a love of rodeo and purses, shoes and fashion and people watching. We also share a sense of humor and a love of Jane Austin and book reading.

It is amazing the sisterhood that we share. We all (4 of us) came into the world so different yet there are not any 3 other women I would want to be with forever. May we all live on the same block in heaven!

I love you Tee Bee and I hope your day is awesome. I know you have many goals for the new year and I want you to know that this is the year that you conquer your foes and have one of the best years of your life. Cool having a birthday at the end of the year, you can set all of your resolutions at the same time! Last year at the end of the year we talked about our goals for 2009. I remember our conversation. Aim high for 2010. It is a new decade and you deserve the very best.

Love, Cindy

Getting Ready for Baby

On November 14th, my good friends Katie and Emily threw a baby shower for me. Emily is on the left in the picture, Katie is on the right.

There were plenty of gifts from my good friends.

Emily made this cool baby carriage cake from scratch. So cute!

L-R: Jennica, Carolyn, Olivia

Sheila, Cristeen

Rachel, Carmen

Catrina and me

We had a light lunch that was delicious.

Kathleen, Anna, Laura

We played Candy Bar Memory.

I opened aforementioned gifts. They are so cute and I can't wait to put her into them.

Cristeen is due one day after me and we compared bellies. She is having #5 and mine is #2. We look great!

I put the crib together and a few days later my new mattress came from my dear sisters (Thanks Collective!). I made the bed with the new crib bedding that I got shortly after I found out I was having a girl. I love it. I prefer simple and clean to characters and loud colors. This set was made for me.

I still need to find a bassinet and I have been looking on Craigslist for just the right one. I haven't found it yet. I have the dresser/ changing table refinished and ready to go:

This piece had a former life as a china hutch. Someday I will use it for that again. For now it works perfectly as my changing table and the cupboards underneath have baskets for her clothes. I am a little superstitious so I have not washed anything except a few items that are newborn size. I keep thinking that I will find out she isn't really a girl after all.

I would love to find a recliner or glider of some kind to go in that room. They are all really expensive and so I don't think we will get one for now. The room that we have the crib in will have a divider of some sort to shield the baby room part from the office part but I have not yet found the right screen or divider. I keep looking and hope that we can put something together before she actually sleeps down there.

I toured the hospital on Thursday evening to see how things are there. The nursery had a new arrival just as we were looking in the window. The nurse was efficient but not loving as she diapered and wrapped him and washed his hair. Poor thing cried the whole time. Who knows where his mom or dad was. I have requested to have the baby kept with me for the first hour (on my chest) and then Ken or I will bathe her. We are not planning to be separated from her unless there is some urgent medical need on her part. I pray that things will go as I am hoping.

Well I should have posted this a month ago...

I had Ken take this when I was 6 months pregnant (10/28) when I was 27 weeks pregnant. I am now 31 weeks pregnant and I should have him take another picture. My belly had fully popped out and others (who live far away) were curious how I looked.

I am really looking forward to this little one's arrival. I have tormented Ken with my endless nesting and preparing. I think I have it all together now. I don't have a nursing chair yet but they are so expensive I may just use the couch.

Ken got a job with a neighboring county and we have loved the stability of the employment. It is less money that he made before and that has been a real challenge for us to adjust to. We are still trying to make it work. Through it all our Heavenly Father has shown us what to do. It seems that we gained the stability of having a job but lost the stability I felt in paying for all the things we need. I just traded one tight rope for another. We felt like this was the job for him so we took a leap of faith. We have yet to see how it will all work out. For now, I pray and wait.

I am trying hypnosis for my birth preparation. I have a home study class that I am taking and I listen to a CD track every day for a half an hour and another one at night when I am going to bed. I want a different experience than I had with my first child's birth. I would rather be in control of how things go at the hospital and I am learning that some of the things I did not like last time could have been avoided. I come more prepared this time - watch out nurse, if we don't see eye to eye, I will fire you.

Thanksgiving is over now and I just have a few last minute gifts to get from the store. One of our children has proclaimed hate for things that we thought they would love. We have to return and re-buy for that one. We found our tree on the 27th and it is in the garage soaking in a bucket. We plan to put it up for Family Night on Monday.

We had several family things this week and have something almost every night next week. The weeks really pass quickly when we are so busy. I have some holiday baking and candy making planned. I usually make dresses for the girls for Christmas but I don't know if I can do that this year. I have a few sewing projects between the baby and Christmas presents so the dresses might not happen. They do not need them anyway, we have well stocked closets.

We were the recipients of others generosity this week and Kayla (who needed new clothes) got just what she needed. We are grateful of others kindness that heed the promptings of the spirit to help is in ways we did not know to ask.

To the best big sister in the world

This is my older sister Julie. Today is her birthday and I meant to post this earlier in the day but my life has been in the way all day.

Julie has always been the best example of a sister. I remember when I was very young and I knew that she would never lie. She used to babysit us and (sure enough) we would do something wrong. We would beg her not to tell on us when the parents got home but she always said "I won't lie if they ask me." She has lived her life in a way that I wanted to emulate.

She wasn't the most popular girl in school but she had her group and always did well in her studies. She went on to college and the served a mission. She married in the temple and got her degree. Her doors have always been open to the children of her heart. She would take them however they came. Many came, only one has been able to stay, but I am sure many of them will be hers in the end.

She has always had the best advice for me, even when it is not what I want to hear. She knows the answers to things I haven't thought of yet. She is really smart. Julie doesn't get intimidated with little things like homeschooling and tons of children. I think she thrives on a challenge. Even in the midst of the trials of Job she has found the way, staying strong and choosing the right. She is happy for me when I get to have things that I know she would cut off her own arm to get to have. She is patient and kind and loving. If she doesn't know the answer she will look it up or mine her very rich field of friends for someone who has been there.

Julie lives far away from me and we don't get to see each other very often. She works during the day when I have the most time to talk on the phone and we have tried to make the most of time that we have to keep up on each others lives. She is a treasure and I love her so much. I hope that someday she gets all of her dreams to come true. She deserves it.

I don't have the money to buy her the presents that I would like to for her birthday. So this is what I have for her. A note to tell all of you (and her) how great she is and thank her for being my sister.

Love,

2 of 4

It a Girl!

Shortly after my last post I had the "big" ultrasound that told us our baby was doing great and that she is a she. We are thrilled!

Now if we only had a name :) I have been making a few girly purchases and I found these cute newborn socks. I stuffed them with cotton balls so Ken could take the picture and it only took 3 cotton balls per sock. They are SO tiny.


Another big purchase was the crib bedding set. I chose this one that has tiny pink daisy embroidery on it. It has white eyelet lace and pink satin bows. The contrast fabric is pink and white candy stripe.

This last photo is her profile. She appears to have all the right parts (two sided brain, 4 chambered heart, stomach, kidneys, bladder...) All of these things were visible to us. Very important too: all of her vertebrae were covered with skin. No Spina Bifida.

Lately, she has been moving a lot. She kicks and squirms and wiggles enough for me to feel comfortable that she is still there and doing well.

I am currently working on refinishing a china hutch that I purchased second hand a few years ago. I will place baskets in the bottom cupboards to hold her clothes. The top portion is perfectly sized to hold a changing pad and the upper hutch shelves will hold diapers and wipes and hair things and nail clippers and all the little things she will use. I will post a picture when the piece is finished.

I have hit a few sales lately and found a few things here and there. I have a large stack of things for the nursery when the space is cleared out. I feel some urgency to get that spot ready for her. Perhaps this is all "nesting" instinct. I prefer to think I am being smart to get it done now before the holidays and business eat up the last part of the pregnancy.

Halfway - 20 Weeks! 140 down 140 to go

Today is the halfway point in my pregnancy. I am officially 20 weeks. Usually at this time we find out what we are having. My appointment isn't until next Monday. Here is what my belly is looking like now. I feel some kicks but they are pretty light. What I think is funny is when the kicks happen: laying down, eating M&M's, when I first put my tummy in the spray of the shower and after drinking cold water. The little one in there is aware :) This week the baby is about 9 oz and almost 8 inches long. I know (from a dear friend that delivered her stillborn baby at 19 weeks) that my baby looks every bit like a tiny human. It has eyebrows and fingernails and maybe even some hair. The remaining part of the pregnancy (for the baby) focused on weight gain and maturity of several organs. My niece Ryelee was born at 26 weeks and was perfect but very tiny. I can't even imagine having this one in 6 weeks.

I will post again next week with the results of the ultrasound. I did get the results of the quad screen and the baby is negative for Downs and neural tube defects. Being that I am 34, I am statistically more likely to have a child with genetic defects.

OSMR - 2nd Post of the day (go me!)

In my family we have an inside joke about two duck hunters deciding whether or not they see ducks.

I think it goes like this:

Look Ducks.

M R Not

O S M R

C M Wangs?

O! M R.

M R Ducks

Anyway, for my birthday a couple of years ago Ken got me a subscription to a cooking magazine (cause I like to cook not cause I can't). That magazine went under so they sent me a replacement magazine to fulfill my subscription. The magazine is called Looking Back and it is for the 65 + folks out there. They do have a small recipe section and I look at it. There was an article with a new joke in it. I was excited to share it:

Waiter: What will you have, sir?
Barney: FUNEX?
Waiter: SVFX.
Barney: FUNEM?
Waiter: SVFM.
Barney: OKMNX.

It was a comic called Barney Google that I have never heard of before that was reprinted in this magazine. All credit to whomever wrote that comic strip. Enjoy!

Miracles

This year it seems that many miracles have occurred in my life. We are having a surprise baby, the timing is great! This year Ken has been furloughed for many weeks. Our income has been more unsteady than ever.

The first furlough was in April and we had some income from our tax return that we were able to use to get by while we had no income. The second furlough was in July and we were better prepared for it. We had planned and we were ready. It was then that the miracle of couponing came in so wonderfully. We were able to cut our budget to bare minimums and get by just fine. It was also with this furlough that we found out I was pregnant and we had no insurance. A HUGE miracle occurred when we qualified for Medicaid. We have coverage for me and the baby. About this time we also qualified for some other programs due to unemployment. Those have been miracles!

During early July we were able to go visit family and stay at a beach house- miracles made possible by generous family members. We had a man out to look at our noisy air conditioner and while he was here he checked out the furnace. Miraculously both are doing great and are mechanically sound enough to keep on going. Both are so old that they should have been replaced years ago.

I applied to get Brady into the school where the older kids go. I didn't find out until about the last minute but he was accepted to attend that school.

We had a problem with our bank and it was clear we needed to find a new bank immediately. I worked hard to find a new bank and we wanted to move our credit card too. With Ken's reduced income this year we didn't qualify through the new bank for more credit (even though we just wanted to transfer an existing balance). I didn't know what to do. The answer to my prayer came in the mail the next day. Everything worked out perfectly.

I needed some new parts to my wardrobe to fit my growing body. I had been looking at thrift stores but there are somethings that are best purchased new. I also needed a maternity winter coat (re: expensive). My angel of a mother in law gave me enough money for my birthday to purchase all the needed items :)

We have survived MANY weeks of no income yet somehow there is enough money to pay for the things that we need. I have kept a spreadsheet showing income and expenses. Most of the time to total has looked red in the future. Somehow by the time that day comes, we are not negative. Something always works out.

We have even had bonus things that have allowed us to pay for things we had not expected. Ken scored some over time that will allow us to take care of a couple of old bills that had been lingering due to our limited means. We have been so blessed! Every time I have asked for something it has been answered. Many times the answer is more than I asked for. We have been afforded luxury in our times of unemployment instead of hardship.

We were given a pass to attend the YMCA through the end of October. Not a need but a really nice blessing. I had a major test done on my blood because I am an older mom. The test was for abnormalities in our baby. The results were negative for all the things they were testing for. Our baby appears in perfect health despite it's "elderly" mother.

More times than I can count I have gone to a store looking for something and miraculously it is there (thrift shopping can be hit or miss sometimes) or on sale (at a regular store).

Ken started a new monthlong job today. We do not know what he will be doing as of Oct. 1st. He has hated what he does since I have known him. Today he was actually excited about the stuff he will be doing for this month. He has also had many people tell him how amazing he is at work. It is hard for him because the contract work he has been doing keeps ending and he keeps getting laid off. It is hard to endure such lows. The praise of his superiors is really nice to hear. We are hoping that something opens up for us in the coming weeks.

Ken has also been watching his weight since the first part of August. In his family heart disease and high blood pressure are sure killers. He has been walking and watching his diet and is down 21 lbs so far. Miracle.

I am sure that I am forgetting at least a few miracles that have happened. I am so grateful to a loving Heavenly Father who knows my needs and answers my prayers. He has worked so many miracles in my life (not just recently either).

New Baby

On June 3, 2009 Ken and I found out that we are expecting! I have had my share of morning sickness but I am feeling much better now. About 2 weeks ago I had my first ultrasound visit. Here are some pictures:
Our baby will be born the end of January.


This picture is of the tiny feet, crossed at the ankles

We may be able to find out if we are having a boy or girl in about 5 more weeks. I am feeling fine now except I am extremely tired, I sleep at night but sometimes it is not enough and I have to nap during the day. I do not crave anything in particular but I eat plenty. One surprise: I do not want chocolate. I love chocolate but it appears this baby is not a fan.

I have another appointment on the 20th and I hope to hear the heartbeat again. I think I feel some flutters but nothing strong yet.

Some have wondered why I wanted another baby when I have 4 children to raise. The thing to remember is that I have only gotten to have one baby so far. Every other week when the three older kids are with their mom I have one lonely child. That, and I can't shake the feeling that there is someone missing at our home. We are excited to meet our tiny stranger :)

May 28th 5th Grade Program

MaKayla plays in the orchestra at her school.  She has for the past 2 years.  She is really good and loves to play.  Last week she had a performance at school.  Her teacher insisted on standing in the way of great pictures but we managed this one:

After the orchestra played the 5th grade sang songs and the last one was a goodbye to the school.  They all move up to middle school next year.  It was a little sad :(

Every time Kayla has a performance I bring her something.  This time I made this:  

I put two chocolates together and wrapped them with gold wire.  I attached that to a floral stem and added the leaves.  I bought the pot/foam/moss for a few bucks and I had the ribbon already.  She loved it.

There is not room enough to receive it...

In January Ken and I discussed getting more food storage.  We only knew of traditional ways of doing this like buying extra at the store and going to the church cannery and storing basic ingredients for survival.  We felt like we needed to be better prepared in these economic times so we tried.  

When I came upon the idea of couponing I thought it could help save us money every month.  Now that I have been at it for a few months I have been astounded at how much I save. I have enough household items to last our family a year.  I have so much in the freezers (we have a huge one in the garage too) that I recently had to eat the last of the ice cream to fit in the purchases that I had just brought home.  My cupboards run over.  I have things everywhere.  My kids rooms are the only place left for the stuff to go.  I feel so blessed.  I find things at such a cheap price on sale and then save more with coupons/rebates/promos.  When I find something at a really good price I stock up.  

This has saved us.  Ken was furloughed for 3 weeks in April.  Unpaid.  Fortunately we had tax refund money to make up the difference.  I was still perfecting my couponing skills then so we had normal spending then.  Ken was told 2 weeks ago that he has to take another furlough by July 17.  21 more days off without pay.  He has had such a reduction of hours that he doesn't qualify for paid holidays anymore so there goes Memorial Day, Independence Day and Labor Day too.

In preparation for the next furlough I have been able to cut our grocery spending and we are living off of what we have here, some great deals at the store, and a few dollars worth of produce.  We have to be very careful but we will make it due to couponing and stocking up.  I am so grateful for the Law of Tithing.  We have paid our tithing faithfully and we have been so blessed.  I feel like I have been given a new skill.  Here are some pictures of my shopping trips lately.  It may seem like a strange assortment of items but I shop differently now.  I have enough of most items that I do not need to shop for them weekly like I did before.  I only get things that are a great deal and add them to my stash.  

This isn't all that I have shopped for but it does give an idea of how I am doing things now.  The first amount under every picture is what the store said I should have paid before their sale and my coupons.  HOWEVER, this is at Albertson's and Walgreens and we all know they jack up the prices there.  I prefer not to look at how much they say I am saving but rather how much these same items would have cost me at Wal-Mart or Winco.

$14.79 / I paid $0.55 / I think that this would have been around $6.00 at Wal-Mart.

I had to buy the banana on the one transaction because the receipt showed that the store owed me money.

$28.15 / I paid $0.91 / Maybe $15.00 at Wal-Mart

Had to buy that candy - another coupon "overage"

$24.87 / I paid $2.25

This stuff was all free except the frozen meals and those were less than $1.00 each

$80.26 / I paid $10.09

That is 10 pkgs of hot dogs there

$90.39 / I paid $18.16

$9.03 / I paid $2.03

$172.59 / I paid $38.65 / ?? at Wal-Mart?

Chex Mix Turtle Bars ROCK!

 $84.51 / I paid $25.47 / maybe $50.00 at Winco

$14.07 / I paid $2.57

Couponing Deals of the Day - Third Post Today

I am getting good at this coupon thing:

I went today to use my double coupons (they double any coupon) because they expired today.  I read up on the websites I use and discovered the deals that were to be had.  We needed toilet paper (I had previously bought Scott one-ply and we have discovered that that brand of TP ought to be reserved for people in prison).  Today I made up for it by getting 2 -12 packs of Cottonelle.  The Scott package you see in the picture is paper towels.  The soup, deodorant, granola bars, mustard, gatorade and juice were all free except tax.  The lotion was $1.74 and I had $1.00 off coupons making that .74 cents plus tax.  The TP and paper towels were on sale if you spend $20.00 on them you get a $5.00 coupon to used on your next shopping trip.

I spent a grand total of $20.92 ($2.13 tax)  for all my loot, plus I still have a $5.00 coupon for next time.

Shoshone Falls - Second post of the day

Last Sunday was Stake Conference and we had church from 10:00-12:00 we were done with lunch by 1:00 and had the whole day ahead of us.  Ken had heard that Shoshone falls was supposed to be at it's highest that day so we hopped in the van with snack and cameras to go look.  When we got to the beginning of the road that leads to the road that goes down to the falls we realized that many other Idahoans had a similar plan.  We waited in line for about an hour to get all the way to a parking space.  It was bumper to bumper the whole time.  Eventually we got to walk around and enjoy the falls.  It was stunning!

I love the rainbow!

The kids all in a line were looking over the rail at a lizard and a ground rodent.

Brady and Lisa posed for me.

Ken was in heaven taking pictures.

Brady Loves Soccer

Last Friday Ken and I took Brady to the park.  As we were walking home Brady spotted some cones and ran around them.  Then a soccer ball bounced out to him and he kicked it back to the kids that were playing with it.  He kicked really well and seemed to have fun kicking the ball over.  A guy walked up to Ken and I and asked if Brady wanted to join a soccer team.  We had just been discussing that when he mentioned it.  We stayed at the park another hour while Brady practiced with the team.  The first game was the next morning.  I got some cleats, shin guards and socks before the game and Brady is now on the team.  

Brady was wearing jersey number 8 but he will get his own jersey soon.  He loved it.  Brady is not shy of the ball and seemed able and willing to kick it anytime it came his way.  

Brady practicing with the coach, learning to kick into the goal.

Couponing

I found a new hobby recently. I read a blog called The Consumerist.  I love the things they have to say about my rights as a consumer and the stories they tell of the consumer triumphing over store/company.  I find links to other blogs there and I usually follow links that tell about money saving ideas / frugality.  I found two great sites a few weeks ago and began to follow their advice about collecting coupons and then using then in combination with the store's sale price and /or store coupon.  Many times this ends up with the product being free or really cheap.  The problem I have had in the past was that I never new how to match things up the right way to make all the effort pay off.   I found a site by a lady that lives around here.  She told me exactly what I needed to do and where I needed to go to get the deals.  Through that first site I found others like this one , this one and this one.  I now read several blogs and I usually know about a sale before it is going to happen.  I also learned how to get those coupons that the register seems to spit out randomly.  In my research I have found blogs that talk about stores that I do not have locally.  Apparently a store in the midwest called Aldi's is amazing.  There are also stores throughout the country that double and triple coupons.  

A few of my recent deals was getting four bags of Hershey's Kisses for free, 62 boxes of Post cereal for .67 cents a box (yeah we like cereal), four containers of body wash for free, and just today two full size Kraft salad dressings for .08 cents each.  I also have had the total of the receipt be less than the amount of coupons used.  

There is a little work involved.  I spend about an hour clipping the coupons each week.  I organize them into a binder and I print out blog posts of where I need to go and how exactly I need to work the deal.  In the past month I have gotten our years supply of mayo, pasta sauce, shampoo/conditioner, body wash, bar soap, peanut butter and air freshener.  I probably have at least a year's worth or cereal too.  

This pastime may not be for everyone but I have time at this point in my life and I enjoy finding the bargain.  I know many other are searching for ways to live on less.  The economy is terrible and everyone is suffering.  Some of the frugality blogs make me laugh.  They recommend shopping at second had stores and consignment shops and clipping coupons.  Many tout the benefits of doing things that you once paid someone else to do (i.e.: yard work, housekeeping, cutting your kids hair).  I think I have done all of these things for years.  The couponing thing is new, I used to look at all the ads and then go to Wal-Mart and make them match the lowest advertised price.  I must say that getting things practically free/free is better.

 

Halfway (Multi-Post Day)

The weekend of March 20th I knew we would be kid free so I planned a little get away for Ken and myself. I packed up a bag and surprised Ken when he got home from work that Friday evening. I had planned to get away that night to Ontario, Oregon and stay that night in a bed and breakfast. We had a computer problem and couldn't leave right away and the Inn in Ontario never called me back about my reservation. We ended up leaving early Saturday morning. We drove out to Baker (2 hours away) and ate brunch and the Sumpter Cafe. I love that place because of the miniature train that goes by every table. If you are ever traveling through there stop, you won't regret it. After that we shopped a little (tax free) at the Bi-Mart nearby. We drove north after that to the town of Halfway, Oregon. The town was so tiny that I think the cows outnumbered the people 10 to 1. Everyone waves to everyone else. It was a very nice little town. We stayed at the Inn at Halfway. This is a picture of the outside of the place. We were the only guests. The inn has about 10 rooms and all were lovely. We chose a room on the second floor that would face out to the left of the above picture. We toured the whole property.

This thing was attached to the barn and it appears to be some kind of phone.

This is a cast iron cow and just behind it is a pond that is stocked with fish for the guests to fish for. In the winter the pond can be skated on. We arrived at a time that the pond was available for neither.

The house on the property is over 100 years old. It has been completely renovated to at least the year 2000 standards. The inside is 100% modern in every way. In the rear of the home is an outdoor kitchen used to keep the house cool in the summer months and was used for all the canning and cooking. They still use it some today. Inside the home is a huge professional kitchen that they make their own preserves/jams/jellies out of. They also cook meals on demand for guests. These pictures are of the barn just behind the house. It has really rugged rooms that the owners are fixing up for people who want to rough it. They would be more camp style.

Dad- What are those?


This picture is what you see out the west side of the house. It really is out in the middle of nowhere. They have their own fruit trees and berries that can be picked in the summer. They also had a room that would fit our whole family for $150.00 a night. We want to go back in the summer with the kids.

After checking in we drove up to the Hells Canyon Recreational Area.


It was beautiful there. I had never been there so I was awed by the depth of the canyon.

That evening we had dinner at a small cafe and went back to the inn for cookies and hot chocolate. There is no television there so Ken and I read and sat in front of the fire before heading off to bed early.

The next day we enjoyed a yummy breakfast of bagel and yogurt then left the inn. We tried to drive north to Joseph and Enterprise but the road isn't maintained in the spring and it was snowy. We turned around and went back to Baker. We toured historic downtown Baker and the Geiser Grand hotel. (I want to stay there next time). We then drove south to Sumpter and scouted out some things we want to do in the summer. They have a railroad we want to take the kids on and in the summer they have a flea market that is cool (we heard). We tried to drive beyond Sumpter (further south) but it began to snow again so we headed back to Baker. After that we drove home. It was a really nice getaway. We celebrated (early) for our anniversary (April 14).