Family Fun
Book: “Pirate Latitudes” by Michael Crichton
On our recent 40 plus hour road trip with the family listened to the audio book “Pirate Latitudes” by Michael Crichton. It is not my normal type of book but it did keep Jake and I engaged in the story during the wee hours of the morning on our trip. There are some parts of the book I would not recommend for the kids but for the most part it was fine. We listened to it while the girls were sleeping through the night or had their headphones on for their movie. The 17th century pirate story is based in Port Royal, Jamaica. It is a story of pirates in search for a treasure and the adventures that accompanied their journey. Like many of Crichton’s stories it is based on historical fiction which I feel adds to the depth of the book.
Living on a Budget: Groceries $40 for 4
This week was a little different doing our Groceries $40 for 4 because we were on the road for part of the week. It was a great road trip with the family, we traveled over 40 hours in a week and were able to spend time with family during our trip. Thankfully the girls travel well and slept well in the van. I packed a lot of fun activities and snack food for the trip. We came home to a house that was 90 degrees inside, clean, and had an empty fridge since we had eaten or packed pretty much all our perishables. This week I spent most of the grocery budget on restocking items in our fridge and pantry.
Groceries from Walgreens, Ingles, and BiLo Walgreen Groceries:
- $4.07 at Walgreen’s for A & W Root Beer (2 liter), Domino Sugar, Betty Crocker Yellow Cake Mix, Betty Crocker Brownie Mix, Frito Lay Stax BBQ, Frito Lay Stax Original, Frito Lay Stax Sour Cream & Onion, Daisy Sour Cream, Cream Cheese, 4 packs of Ranch Flavored Sunflower Seeds (on clearance for $0.89 each, usually the best price I can get is $1.00 so stocked up on a these for upcoming road trips). I used $10 in Register Rewards that were expiring this week to bring this total down to $4.
Ingles Groceries:
- $4.13 at Ingles for 1 bag Laura Lynn Bread (on sale for $0.98), 30 packs Wylers Cherry Drink, 5 packs of Strawberry Cheesecake Yogurts (on clearance for $1.00 each), 1 package of Pork (reduced for quick sale), 1 box of Pretzel Lean Pockets (free with coupon), 6.5 pound bag of banana’s (clearance for $1.49), 4 packs of Raspberry Yogurt Covered Pretzel (on clearance for $0.99 each, normally $6.83 per pound), 1 package of Strawberries (on clearance), 1 package of sliced Mushrooms (on clearance), 1 package of whole Mushrooms (on clearance. I used a gift card I had been given a few months ago for part of the amount and paid for the rest. All of the items were on sale or clearance so it really was a great shopping trip to Ingles.
BiLo Groceries:
- $12.92 at BiLo for 1 gallon of Skim Milk, 1 gallon of 2% Milk, 1 bag of splenda Sugar (store brand and on sale), 1 bottle International Delight Coffee Creamer (free after coupon), 2 boxes of Banquet Pasta Carbonara (on closeout for $0.50 each).
I am excited to be back doing our Groceries $40 for 4 budget again after our big road trip for the summer. I was surprised to see the milk prices spike even more since I bought it last, however, I was pleased to get some great clearance items this week in my shopping trips, (especially at Ingles). This week I spent $21.12 on groceries. Even though I was under budget on my amount for the week I was still able to stock up on several items. Thankfully I was able to keep the amount within reason so I had little extra left over for those weeks when I find a really good deal or go a little over. We were out of town for a part of this grocery week so it was a little different from our usual events.
It is my goal to give you regular updates on this budget section so you can celebrate the good weeks with me and thump me on the bad weeks! As always you are welcomed to join the journey with me. I would love to hear your story and how you are doing too. The purpose of our family doing this it to watch our grocery spending while allowing us to feed our family, enjoy life, share with others, and yet stay on track with our budget.
Living on a Budget is a series of ways our family uses a budget to help keep us accountable with our finances. Life doesn’t always go as planned. We have used some of the ideas I will be sharing for years while others are ones we are just starting to implement as we continue finding ways to be creative and have fun with what we have been given. Having a plan in place allows us the freedom to be smart with what we have been given, get more creative when it is a tight (week, month, year or a season) and when necessary live a much more simplified life. A budget helps us stay on track so we have more opportunities to enjoy the many blessings we have been given as well as share what we have with others. There is so much more to life than having all the stuff. We may not have the newest or greatest items in our house, we drive used cars, and wear hand-me-down clothing…..however, if our family is taken care of and have love for each other and others we have more than all the riches in the world.
Family Recipe: Easy Blackberry Cobbler
A good friend made a delicious cobbler earlier this week which inspired me look up my Aunt Pat’s recipe. I have made for years. The recipe calls for blackberries but you can really use any type of berries. It is a great dessert to make for the family or share with others.Easy Blackberry Cobbler:
- 1 cup Sugar
- 1 1/2 tablespoon Cornstarch
- 1 cup Water
- 2 pints drained Blackberries (fresh or frozen and thawed)
- 1 teaspoon Almond Extract
- 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon Nutmeg
Crust:
- 3 tablespoons Vegetable Oil
- 1 cup self rising Flour
- 1/2 to 3/4 cup Milk
- 1/2 cup Sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon Lemon Extract
- 1 teaspoon Nutmeg
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. For filling put 1 cup sugar and cornstarch in a sauce pan. Whisk in water. Boil for 1 minute or until mixture is clear. Stir in blackberries and remaining filling ingredients. Pour into 1 1/2 quart greased baking dish. For crust mix all crust ingredients and pour over filling. Bake for 24 to 30 minutes. Serves 4 to 6.
Photo by JeffreyW
Summer Activities: The Children’s Museum of the Upstate
A few weeks ago we purchased a local Playcation Package which included four tickets to The Children’s Museum of the Upstate. Our family spent several hours one Saturday exploring our local Children’s Museum. We had a lot of fun learning, playing, building, and spending a relaxing Saturday together. If you have not been to the Greenville Children’s Museum you should check it out. It has a lot of neat activities for kids of all ages.
Karlie and Brina taking Daddy for a ride! After putting items in the recycling truck the girls and Daddy decided to drive the truck, so much fun!
Daddy explaining how glasses work. This was a neat room filled with light waves and all kinds of fun stuff to learn!
Brina and Karlie looking through the lenses! They had a variety of lenses of various colors and distances that you could look through. Very fascinating!
Love their facial expressions, the amazement of how everything works! Karlie and Brina working the color spectrum. They were thrilled at all the colors they were able to create.
Daddy, Karlie and Brina enjoying the giant "Light Brite"! Neat idea! I think we noticed several different creations during our time in the museum. This piece captured the attention of kids and adults! Daddy did an outline of Karlie while Brina made her own creation. It was a lot of fun!
Karlie creating her own stain glass master piece! I was surprised at how long she worked on making a pretty stain glass window. She actually got quite a big section finished.
Brina carrying a large load of bricks! Brina working hard making bricks! The girls loved filling the wheel barrow with bricks and putting them back on the belt.
My three construction workers. This one was harder then it looked. The girls had Daddy help on this activity.
Built a house. The girls thought this house was so funny because it had one wall!
The seat cushions quickly become a number rainbow, simply amazing to a six year old! They were quite proud of putting this together!
Daddy helping Brina put together a memory box. They had a workshop where you could sign up and build something. Today was working on a memory box.
Daddy helping Karlie build a memory box. I was originally helping Karlie but since Daddy and Brina finished first Daddy volunteered to help out.
Karlie and Brina looking down at Mommy from the top of the jungle gym. The girls had a lot of fun on the jungle gym in the middle of the Children’s Museum.
It was a great summer activity going with the family to the Children’s Museum. Thankful for the opportunity to spend a day together exploring. Thrilled that Greenville has such a wonderful place for families to go.
Fresh & Healthy: Our Garden – Green Beans, Summer Squash, Lettuce, Cucumbers, Purple Beans, and a variety of Tomatoes!
We are loving the fresh vegetables from our garden! This week I only have one picture from the garden because we were traveling for part of the week. The good news is we were able to take some of our goodies from the garden to share with family along the way and we came back to some more fresh ones ready to be picked. Also, while we are gone my brother and his family get to pick any of the produce that is ready for themselves or to give away so I didn’t get pictures of the items they picked while we were out of town.
Here are some of the fresh veggies we were able to eat and share this week:
Fresh Garden Vegetables! We were able to pick this all in one day fresh from the garden. Fresh Summer Squash, Green Beans, Cucumbers, Cherry Tomatoes, Roma Tomatoes, Whole Size Tomatoes, Big Yellow / Orange Tomatoes, Fresh Leafy Green Lettuce, Purple Beans, Banana Peppers, Green Pepper, (some are not pictured because they were given away prior to the picture being taken). We were able to share some of the veggies this week with family and friends! Thankful for a garden that we can share!
What are you eating out of your garden this week?
Summer Activities: Swimming with Friends
Brina carrying the Noodles! Our family is blessed with amazing extended family and friends in our lives. Many of our long time friends have become like family to us. One of the activities I enjoy during the summer is a chance to catch up with family and friends. The girls and I had an opportunity to hang out with some friends and go swimming not too long ago. It was a fun day full of swimming, giggling, and a picnic lunch.
Karlie had a blast swimming and playing! The pool was huge and very few people who were using it while we were there so we had most of it to ourselves. The girls had fun splashing and playing while the Moms enjoyed the cool water and catching up. I am thankful for great times to spend with friends. Both of my girls crashed on the way home after swimming and having a picnic lunch. If you are looking for a new subdivision with a really nice pool I have one I can recommend. Thanks Christina for a great day!
Walgreens: 30 Books for $2
Walgreens Deals (books on clearance) I went to Walgreens to stock up on some of their deals this week. The best deal I got was in their clearance aisle where they had a bunch of their books, coloring books, and activities books on clearance. Since I went a little later in the week not all the advertised products were available and I had several Register Rewards that were expiring this week so it worked out well. I spent $2.27 including tax at Walgreens for this transaction. I picked up a couple other items (including food which you will see in a later post this week) but this was my best deal at Walgreens this week. The books will be great for upcoming road trips and other fun activities with the family.
- 10 – Disney Books (on clearance for $0.49 each)
- 10 – Disney Activity Books (on clearance for $0.29 each)
- 10 – Disney Coloring Books (on clearance for $0.29 each)
The total was over $11 with tax before using discounts & coupons. Here are the coupons I used on the thirty items.
- Used $9 Walgreens Register Rewards
Walgreen’s Register Rewards will expire two weeks from the date they are printed so you will need to make sure to use them before their expiration date. I always keep the ones that are expiring the soonest on top of the stack to make sure to use them first.
Another important fact regarding Walgreen’s Register Rewards you will need to know if you haven’t used them before is you can only use 1 coupon per item. If you use a manufacturer’s coupon for every item you are purchasing you will not be able to use any Register Reward for that transaction. If you do have a coupon for each item then check Walgreen’s weekly ad because they will have items on sale each week for pennies up to $1 that you can use as “filler” items but they won’t raise your total too much. Once you get started using coupons and rewards you may discover, like I did, how to purchase many of your health and beauty items for nothing or very little. Since using coupons and reward programs I rarely pay full price for any of our health and beauty items plus I usually have extra to share with guests visiting us or to give away.
For those of you who shop regularly at Walgreens I encourage you to share how you were able to save this week! Although the weekly ad sales are similar every family and situation is different so you may have found items better suited to your household. In your comment please feel free to share a link to your blog article showing us how you were able to save at Walgreens.
Skipper’s New Dog House
Skipper's New Dog House! See the black furry spot in the middle, she's sleeping! As we were cleaning up from dinner a couple weeks ago we looked out at the jungle gym and noticed Skipper all curled up and sleeping on the floor. She had found a nice place to go to sleep. The jungle gym has an area that is dry in the rain and you can see into the house (Jake made sure I had a good view of the jungle gym from the house) as well as the driveway and a good chunk of the yard.
Skipper learned how to climb up the ladder to the jungle gym and can often be seen up there playing (or sleeping) while the girls are playing in that area. A couple times Skipper was convinced she couldn’t get down from the jungle gym, I think after a “fun” ride down the slide, so we had to re-train her to climb down the ladder.
It wouldn’t be the best place to get stuck during a 100 degree summer day, but you have to admit it is a pretty cool dog house! She enjoys her time with the girls and loves the jungle gym almost as much as the kids. Skipper is a great dog for the girls, even if she tries taking over the jungle gym!
Book: “A Dog’s Life: Autobiography of a Stray” by Ann Martin
Since we have been traveling a good bit this summer we have been able to check out a few audiobooks for the family to listen to on the road trips. One of the recent audio books we listened to was “A Dog’s Life: Autobiography of a Stray” by Ann Martin. The book follows a young dog named, by her mother in the traditional way of naming a pup, after the most important things in her life. Her name is “Squirrel” and her brother’s name is “Bone”. It is full of touching stories as well as the adventures and perils of being a stray. The book is simple enough for children to follow yet engaging for the adults to enjoy as well.
Family Recipe: Grandma’s Six in One Oatmeal Cookies
Grandma Willa makes a delicious oatmeal cookie. She calls it her Six in One Oatmeal Cookies because they are loaded with amazing ingredients and you can make 6 different types of cookies (or more) with the base cookie mix. It has been nice having cookies to take with us on our various road trips. The girls have enjoyed the sweet snack and it has been neat sharing the recipes with others along the way (although not all of the cookies made it to each destination).Six in One Oatmeal Cookie Recipe:
- 1 cup Shortening
- 1 cup Brown Sugar
- 1 cup Granulated Sugar
- 2 Eggs
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- 1 1/2 cup sifted Flour
- 3 cups Quick Cooking Oats
Add in 1 or more of the Following Ingredient Options to the Cookies
- 1/2 cup chopped Nuts
- 1 package Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
- 2 tablespoons grated Orange Peel
- 1 cup Raisins
- 1 cup cut up Gum Drops
- 1 cup cut up Dates
Cream shortening and sugar thoroughly, add eggs and vanilla, beat well. Sift together flour salt and soda. Add to creamed mixture and blend well. Add oats and one or two of the choices above. If desired divide dough into several portions adding something different to each one. Form dough into small and drop from teaspoon onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 35o for 15 minutes or until lightly brown. Remove from cookie sheet and place on wire rack to cool. For a special treat, try adding both nuts and chocolate pieces. Or combine dates and orange peel. For a crackly glaze dip balls of dough first into milk then in sugar prior to baking on cookie sheet, bake sugar side up.
More Ingredient Options you can add to the Cookies (these are variations we have tried in our family):
- 1 cup M&M’s
- 1 cup Cranberries
- 1 cup Butterscotch Chips
- 1 cup White Chocolate Chips
- Add another one of your favorite cookie ingredients!
Makes 6 dozen.
Photo by Lara604
