What were they thinking?

I don't always enjoy grocery shopping, but I am fairly good at getting a good deal, and I just ADORE getting a good deal :) Thanks to The Grocery Game, some great sales at the stores, and especially that Super Doubles Coupon event that Kroger had a few weeks ago (spent $30 on $130 worth of groceries....gotta love it!), I've gotten a really good supply of back-to-school lunch items (as well as a good stock-pile of other things). But, during my shopping trip this morning, I ran across this:





OK.....I think I'll pass. I mean, who thinks to themselves, "Yum....Buttered Popcorn flavored Jelly Belly flavored PUDDING. People will love it! We need to get that on the grocery store shelves!"? Could you possibly dream up a less appetizing flavor of pudding?!?!

So, anyone want to try it and give a review? Sorry, I just couldn't bring myself to pay even $1.59 for something so weirdly disgusting sounding.

I have decided though that my new form of entertainment at the grocery store will be finding all the weird stuff and getting pictures of it. I know, I'm easily entertained :) I'll let you know what I find.....

My Favorite Sites

I love the Internet....I can find all sorts of information, and as you may know, I'm kind of an information junkie. I thought I would share some of my favorite websites. This list is by no means complete, and I'm sure I will forget something, but here goes:

1) Facebook - OK...this is my only daily site. I may not check it daily, but it's pretty close. I've gotten back in touch with several people from my past, and keep up with all that's going on in the life and times of family and friends, even ones on the other side of the world.

2) Kingwood Underground - This is a local message board I joined several years back. It has been very helpful with local news and happenings, as well as product/service reviews, general advice, and just plain goofing off. It's gotten pretty political lately and some really rude people have joined up in the last year, so I don't visit it as frequently as I used to, but I still go check it out every once in a while.

3) Slickdeals - This is a site that compiles all the best deals on the web. I check it pretty often, and it's a great tool around the holiday season for finding some awesome deals on gifts. If you are looking for a coupon code, this is a great place to look!

4) Allrecipes - This is my standby for finding a recipe. You can find multiple versions of pretty much any recipe you are looking for. I especially love the reviews of each recipe by users. It really helps seeing what others have said about a recipe that you've never used before :)

5) Plugged In Online - I use this site for checking out the family-friendliness of movies, but it has Christian reviews of movies, TV shows, music, and games.

6) Biblios.com - This is a great site for looking up all things related to Scripture. There are all sorts of translations, as well as commentaries, atlases, and all sorts of Bible study tools!

Of course, for shopping I LOVE Amazon and Ebay, but those are ones that don't need much explanation :)

So, what are your favorite sites? I'd love to hear!!!!!!!

Tribute to my friend :)

I just got back from a day at the pool, but it wasn't just any old trip to the pool......we met my friend Tracy and her girls there. Tracy moved to Iowa just a little over a year ago, and this is the first time we've gotten to see each other since. Of course my girls were excited as her daughters were some of their best friends, but secretly, I think I was more excited!

Tracy and I have known each other for a little over 8 years. She was one of the first to really make me feel welcome here in Houston, and of all people, it was probably hardest for her to do. But she did, and I love her for it. I won't go into all the details, but she was best friends with my husband's first wife who passed away shortly before I met him. She was only beginning the grieving process when I pop into the scene, and so you can only imagine what COULD have happened. But she is an amazing person and I'm so glad that I have had the chance to know her too. I miss her a ton, but I know that she is where God wants her. I was just so glad that I got to see her today (and tonight, and tomorrow, and Saturday, and Sunday, and Monday) :D

Thanks for letting me share....I doubt she'll ever read this, but at least you all got to hear a little about a cool chick named Tracy :)

Review by Request

My dear cousin Melissa requested that I try and review the new Tide Stain Release, so while at the store this morning I picked up a bottle. I decided to go with the liquid as opposed to the drop in "Duo Pacs" because I wanted to have the option of using it directly on clothes as a pre-treater as well. It also comes in a powder, but my Kroger did not carry the powder version. The regular price is $5.88 for a 32 oz bottle or 10 ct "duo pac" bag. I did get it for $3.63 after a store sale, .75 paper coupon, and a .50 electronic coupon.

The liquid comes in a 32 oz bottle this an interesting shaped lid that (like many laundry products), you use as the measuring cup. First off, it has kind of a small opening and it wouldn't be really conducive to kids using it (esp boys, if they are like mine) or you would waste a lot due to spilling. Also, the amount needed is deceivingly a large amount. I actually poured it into a measuring cup, and it was right at 4 oz. Now the bottle is only 32 oz, so basically you get 9 loads out of it if you don't use any as pre-treater (or you don't spill any). It seems REALLY expensive for 9 loads of laundry, especially since we go through that many loads in just a few days at our house. Not that I would use it in every load, but still, it's a bit pricey. I was hoping that it would be the laundry miracle product, in which case, worth the expense.

I brought it home and started the laundry. I washed kids clothes and also James' Tae Kwon Do uniform (because it gets kind of nasty, and I usually use color safe bleach or Oxy Clean to wash it). I also pretreated a stain on a shirt, but for the rest of the clothes I just added it to the wash. It kind of foamed up like a few other pre-treaters that I have used. It also has a pleasant, but not overwhelming scent. The key things I was looking for were improvement in 1) the stain on the shirt, 2) James' uniform, and 3) the bottoms of the boys' socks. I am disappointed to say that I couldn't see much of a difference at all in any of them. I get FAR superior results from color-safe bleach or Oxy Clean. So, my final conclusion would be that even if it wasn't as expensive as it is, I still wouln't repurchase this.

A second endorsement

OK....I know that I blogged about e-mealz just a few days ago, but I hadn't actually tested it yet. I had just subscribed and printed off the first weeks of meal plans. Now I've actually test driven it, and I'm a HUGE fan!

I printed off the copy of the week's menu, sat down and, in about 15 minutes, decided the order that I wanted for the meals, any changes I wanted to make, and crossed off everything on the shopping list that I already had on hand. I went shopping on Sunday afternoon for all the ingredients for the week's recipes, and I only spent $36 and about 20 minutes! That's for 6 complete dinner meals! I figured that it would have been around $55-60 if you included everything I already had, but that's STILL a great total, and WAY cheaper than eating out like we've been doing.

So, Monday I made the first meal in the plan...Chicken Tortilla Casserole and a Salad. It was good, the kids enjoyed it, and there were plenty of leftovers for our "leftover night" that I added in (instead of making one of the meals one night). I wasn't so sure about the recipe for Tuesday night....Christi's Wild Rice Soup because I don't really like wild rice. BUT, it was SO SO good! James even ate twice (once at meal time and once later in the evening) and he is not big on soups. It was coupled with homemade pita chips and sliced cantaloupe. Another family-pleasing meal! The recipes were easy too, and prep time took no longer than 30 mins (for the soup....the casserole's prep was more like 10 minutes)

So, all this to say that I think I've quickly become the biggest fan of e-mealz! Not since The Grocery Game have I endorsed and shared a website/business this strongly. I truly believe this is a great tool for helping families save money, moms (or dads or even singles) save time and frustration, and families to spend more time together over a home-cooked meal.

Youth camp: a blast from the past

Well, I just sent my oldest two off to youth camp this morning (however, I am in denial that I have two kids old enough for youth camp). I'm not so worried about my daughter, who's going into 6th grade, because she is pretty organized and doesn't really "go crazy" without the parents around. Now my son, who's going into 7th grade is a different story. Not that he really "goes crazy" without us around. He will pretty much act the same, but without us there to guide him along. :) I don't mean to say that he's a bad kid....he really is a GOOD kid. And it's not really any major behavior problems that I am concerned about. It's things like taking a shower, combing the hair, brushing his teeth, wearing clean underwear, eating the vegetables (or at least not living on candy and soda all week), ect that I am concerned about. He's also very ADHD, and I would really like him to return home with at least half of what he left with :) I did try and make it a little easier for him. Each day's clothes were put into a separate gallon Ziploc bag and labeled. That way he'll at least know if something in his suitcase is dirty or not, but I'm sure that it won't make much difference. Oh, well......it's just one week. AND, I have complete confidence in our youth ministers and leaders, and I know that the kids will have a lot of spiritual growth this week. And that's what it's all about, right?

Getting them ready made me start thinking about all my youth camp memories from my junior high (yes, that's what they called it back then) and high school days. I'm sure any PPBC youth will have plenty of memories too. Here's some of mine:

• Pep rally, talent show, and the coveted spirit stick......and all the hours of prep work that was put into them. I was always relegated to the "no dance/easy dance" group for talent show and it always used to bug me....but I really wasn't a good dancer :)
• How one missed hair could ruin your chances of getting the clean cabin award....I find it odd that I never once did that level of cleaning of my own room or bathroom, but I found it highly important that I did it at camp.
• Mail call at dinner.....Clifton was always sure to embarrass us with the goofy poems, but we all loved to get them :)
• Sadie Hawkins.....don't remember a single person that I tagged, but I remember what a big deal it was. And then there was Kangaroo Court that evening with Wally Banks :)
• Anyone remember "Ghostbusters"? I think it was my first year at camp, when all the 11th/12th grade boys kept saying "Beware of Ghostbusters" the whole week, and then the last night we were woken up and taken to the field. There were big bags of flour and barrels of water and everyone was handed a cup. I distinctly remember hiding out with Salena Johnson in the cafeteria because we didn't want to get all messy :)
• I have fond memories of the year my cousin Melissa got to come to camp for the first time and surprised me :) And my senior year when 4 of my high school friends got to come with me!
• I'll never forget the year that my brother David came to camp for the first time. I don't remember the theme that year (I think it was TV shows and they were the Beverly Hillbillies), but they wore those stupid overalls around every day all week. David was so little that there weren't any to fit him, so he had these huge ones on. Everyone talked about cute he was, and I though he just looked stupid :)

Gosh, there are tons more memories.....anyone else want to share some of their faves?

Trying to be something I'm not.....

I have been on a life-long (or at least as long as I've had kids) quest to be organized. Sometimes I'm better than other times, but I have never really gotten the hang of it. I have tried numerous things to keep my world orderly, but I usually wind up with a rather chaotic environment a lot of the time. Now, I know your thinking, "She's got 5 kids...she MUST be organized.", but those who know me best know that I do a reasonably good job of faking it, and neat and orderly would never be words to describe me. I also have good friends like Karen G who is very organized and always knows when and where things are happening and she keeps me informed :)

There are a few things (and only a few) that I am a little OCD about, like the clothes in my closet. Granted, there is no order at all to anything else in my closet except my hanging clothes, but there is definitely a specific way I like my clothes hung. I've got all my tops separated by sleeve length and fabric type (knit or woven). All my capris and jeans are in one spot, my skirts in another, and then my dresses in another. And I have a separate spot for sweatshirts and jackets. And ALL of the clothes MUST be on the hanger with the little hook to the left. Yes, James thinks I'm strange, but he gave up trying to break me of it a long time ago. :) You see, it's one very small area of my life that I have organized, and I think I just over-emphasize it :)

For life outside the closet, I've tried all sorts of tools to stay neat and organized. I once tried flylady.com and was quickly overwhelmed! The lady that runs the site sends out countless emails during the day, so all you end up doing is reading emails instead of cleaning and organizing! I've done Once-a-Month freezer cooking, and while I really like the idea of it, I never seemed to get the things thawed out in time to bake them for dinner. It is probably something I will do again, but in smaller quantities (I haven't totally abandoned this one). I've tried lists, charts, ect of all types, but I have decided that I always get caught up in the process and never get things done. So, my tools need to be simple, and I have actually found a few that help (but I've resigned myself to be who I am and work around my disorganized nature).

The first tool that I have been using with some success it the Mom's Plan-It calendar. It has 5 lines that you can write a name on on the left side, so for each day, my kids have a line for their own activities. It also has a pocket on the bottom for invitations, notes, ect, and a strong magnet on the top so it will hang on the refrigerator. It even has cute little stickers with things like "first day of school", "party", "meeting", ect. I also have the smaller spiral-bound Mom's Plan-It agenda for my purse. I wish it were a tiny bit smaller, but I love the weekly format. I have tried getting everything in my phone, but I am a very kinetic person and I just need to actually write things in a calendar I think.



I also use a few websites, one that I've used for years and one that is new to me. The first is The Grocery Game. I've been a subscriber to this for over 4 years now and it is something that I just love. It basically helps you use coupons efficiently and save tons of money doing it. Before The Grocery Game, I was a big store brand shopper, and while I still buy some occasionally, my pantry is full of all sorts of name brand products that I got at a fraction of the cost of the store brands. And it's not only food.....I get toiletries, paper goods, cleaners, medicines, ect at rock-bottom prices and many times for free after the coupons. I will dedicate another post strictly to The Grocery Game later, but suffice it to say that it saves me a lot of time and money and keeps my home stocked with all the necessities.

The next website that I've discovered is E-MEALZ for Busy and Frugal Families. It is a meal planning website that is endorsed by Dave Ramsey. It has a small subscription fee (like the Grocery Game), but in the long run I do believe it will save us far more than the price. You basically get a one page weekly meal plan/recipe sheet and a one page shopping list each week. The recipes are fairly normal stuff too and have serving sizes that will fit my family (although you can get meal plans that feed 2 as well if you don't need as much). They have several options for meal plans based around the sale items at a few grocery stores in Tennessee and Alabama, a list based on Wal-mart sales, and one for any store (which I chose because I don't shop at Wal-mart for groceries). They also have a low-fat plan, a vegetarian plan, a low-carb plan, and a plan based on the WW point system for each of those store options too. It seems to be very complete. I've gotten two meal plans already and I really think that this will work for me....it's simple and everything is laid out, but there is room for flexibility too (which is good for me). BONUS: if you use the coupon code: DAVE you will get a 3 month subscription for only $12.50. Not too bad, and especially if it keeps us from eating out so much! I'll keep you updated with how things are going after I've used it a little longer.

So, if you have any tips or advice for the organizationally challenged like myself, I'd love to hear them!