Knight in Shining Armor

Savannah knows she is her Daddy's princess. As evidenced by this dream she had recently:
"Mommy, wanna know what my dream was?" Me- *thinking* "um, not really, but I reckon you're going to tell me anyway." Me- *out loud* "Sure, what was it?"
Savannah takes a big breath...
"Well, I dreamed that I was kidnapped by a different family. And I had to do all the kids' chores. They made me do all the chores in the house. And then I was jumping on the trampoline in the back yard after I did all the chores and Daddy rode up on a horse, and I jumped from the trampoline onto the horse right in Daddy's lap and he rescued me."

While the majority of Savannah's dreams are extremely long and rambling, this one was very sweet. I couldn't dream up a better ending myself!

Grocery Shopping

CouponMom told me that reading this article was some good, free entertainment. And since I'm all about some free entertainment, I read the article. I was definitely entertained, but mostly I felt confused. If someone gave me that much money to spend at the grocery store weekly, I don't know how in the world I could possibly spend it all. Even if I shopped at Whole Foods and Harris Teeter (2 of the more expensive grocery stores). Although maybe if food prices continue to go up, I could get close to spending all of it. The big difference is the lady in the article was shopping for 3 people, and we have 6 almost 7 people in our family. Now I'm not going to tell you what our weekly food budget is, but I can assure you that you probably spend more than us! And our food budget is supposed to cover household items as well. Sure, I wish we had more moolah in the budget; it would be fun to eat ice cream, chips, and soda more often. It would be fun to eat different types and cuts of meat. But I work with what I've got, and most of the time it's an exhilerating feeling to score "free" stuff at the grocery store. I've become a coupon freak. I'm also able to shop at multiple grocery stores since they are all on the same road within a few blocks from each other. Armed with my coupons and sales ads, I'm able to purchase fruits, vegetables, staples, meats, diapers, milk (and soy milk), bread, cereal, toiletries and a few extras and stay within my budget (most of the time) even with the rising prices. I sign up for free samples which allows me to put off buying certain items (like shampoo or deodorant) for an extra week. I make most everything from scratch (because it's cheaper that way usually and because then Eli can eat it). I read blogs that help me know when and where the really good deals are. And when friends give me produce from their gardens, I learn how to preserve it. I figure if God gave it to us, it's my responsibility to use it wisely. I don't consider myself to be a natural born "Susie Homemaker" or "Martha Stewart". I am very thankful I have friends and family that I can ask how to do things (like making pickles - eek!). And one day, when we have a bigger food budget, I will still compare prices and use coupons, because I've found out it's FUN!

I read a lot of money saving blogs, but if I could pick the top two, I would choose MoneySavingMom and Freebies 4 Mom.

Caddywumpus

I am feeling so down home country right about now. It's a good feeling to have. Have ya'll ever ate some fried green tomatoes? Well, I have now, and they were pretty yummy. And they were easy to cook as well. Them fried green maters were so scrumptious that Seth (1 1/2 yrs. old) couldn't stop eating them till the serving plate was empty.
After our southern summer supper of tuna salad, cottage cheese, fried yellow squash, and fried green tomatoes, we headed out for a cub scout outing at the local race track. Now let me just say, my family loves some racing. Some kids might be into video games, or Barney, or Hannah Montana, but nothing gets my kids excited like playing pit crew or seeing a good wreck on the track (unless it's time to watch Mr. Rogers).
Of special interest to Jacob (age 7) was the Bandelero Bandits division which is kids aged 8 to 11 racing their hearts out. He can hardly wait till he turns 8 now. The Crash Cars were fun to watch too. The third car to cross the black and white checkers was the winner. It's only in the good ole South where you have cars boasting names like Vigilante, White Boy, Road Hawg Rebel, Redneck Medic, No Insurance, and Trouble out on the track duking it out to come in third place so they can be in first place! And where you can watch "the old men" (ages 40 and up) race and see 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and last place cross the finish line all at the same time! Whew, that was pure exciting!! And hear the announcer on the loudspeaker using such language as holy guacamole, and caddywumpus. Our hearts grew proud as we heard the announcement that it is our local track that won the right to have the world Chicken Dance finals in August.
Eli (3 1/2) got his shirt signed by LugNut, the track mascot. All four kids got autographs from two of the kid drivers. And Jacob caught a shirt that was being thrown into the audience. When Jake unrolled the shirt, it turned out to be a Jeff Gordon wifebeater (haha! - for us, Jeff Gordon is right up there with Kyle Busch and Juan Pablo Montoya - the drivers we love to hate!). But Jacob was thrilled and wore it to sleep in last night even though the arm holes come down to his waist and the bottom of the shirt hits his calves. And Savannah faithfully cheered for the pink or purple race cars, even when they came in dead last.
The only thing that would've made the experience more down home country would have been a brown paper bag full of boiled peanuts (if you ain't never had them, you sure are missing out on some good eating), but since Eli's allergic to peanuts, we settled for our individual packs of Lorna Doone shortbread cookies.

IT'S A TIME FOR SERIOUS CHANGE!

Don't Mess with the Nest...

...ing Instinct! Yesterday, I was inspired to change the furniture around in the living room. Maybe it was the Starbucks. Maybe it was the fact that in 2 days we are having company, so this is not a good time to start a major project. Or maybe it is the nebulous "nesting instinct" that I have often heard that pregnant women get - that I have never experienced. Throughout my last 4 pregnancies, I awaited this instinct with anticipation thinking of all the household improvements that could be made, but alas, all I was ever hit with was exhaustion and no inspiration. So don't stop me now - I've had to get to the FIFTH pregnancy to finally feel up to changing things around, and dadgummit, I'm going to do it, and you're going to help me! Because of the major project I started, Chris had to help finish it (by moving all the big, clunky, heavy furniture - that man sure does love me!). Now all 3 boys are sharing a room, and Jacob's old room is now the classroom/playroom. And we are also in the market for a set of bunkbeds! Yeah, 2 single beds and a toddler bed plus 3 dressers make for a crowded room, even if it is a big bedroom. And the living room has been changed a little bit, although there's more to come in there. When we put the boys to bed last night, they were all giggling to be together. Chris looked at me and commented, "There's all your testosterone in one room!" All I could say was "If this room doesn't explode, we'll be doing okay!"