Life Simplified

  • Summer Activities – A Hammock Full of Memories

    Swinging and relaxing for a few minutes in the Hammock!

    A few months ago for Mother’s Day Jake gave me a hammock!  It wasn’t until this Summer that I realized how much the gift meant to me.  As a family we have spent some wonderful time together talking, laughing, reading, and just relaxing together in the hammock.  Jake hung the hammock in the shady part of our yard near the jungle gym, swimming pool, and where I can see the majority of the yard, house and driveway.

    Karlie hanging out with us on the hammock!

    Once Karlie was done swimming she ran inside the house to change so she could have some relaxing time on the hammock with Mom and Dad.  I cannot count the number of times she has fallen asleep on the hammock as we enjoy time together.

    Brina loving the extra time talking and relaxing with Mom, Dad and Karlie.

    The girls love getting a chance to swing on the hammock with Mom and Dad.  They have a blast talking about anything and everything.  It is a great location to have some heart to heart as well as reminisce about all the fun memories we have together as a family.

    Skipper, our faithful guard dog while the family enjoys time on the hammock.

    After Skipper has made a complete loop around the entire property she will settle down at a spot right next to the hammock.  She occasionally will look at us but for the most part she is checking out all the activity in the woods and creek area.  Although she has never been on the hammock she seems to enjoy it when the entire family is outside nearby.

    A moment of rest.

    Every once in awhile when we are on the hammock the girls will fall asleep.  It is such a great place to spend a few moments together.  Life has a way of getting so busy that we need some time to stop, focus on each family member, enjoy being outside and relax.

    A peaceful view of nature!

    This is the view looking up from the hammock.  You can enjoy the beautiful trees, baby blue sky, and white puffy clouds floating by.  Just looking up and watching the leaves rustle in the breeze and the clouds drifting by makes the time relaxing even better.

    I have gone out many times over the last few months to relax, read, think, pray, do my devotions, write, brain storm, or hang out with Jake and / or the girls.  I am thankful for a thoughtful husband who gave me a gift that not only helps me relax but to slow down and enjoy a few precious moments with him and the girls.  Our hammock is so much more then just a hammock it is full of relaxing moments sharing memories together as a family.  Sometimes it is the simple things in life that make the most treasured memories for our children.  I am already looking forward to watching the leaves change colors as we move closer to the Fall season.

  • Living on a Budget: Groceries $40 for 4

    We were back to traveling again for part of the week so it was more of a challenge getting the grocery shopping trip into the schedule.  It was our last family trip before the kids go back to school which included some work, exploring the area and going to the beach.  Here is my weekly update on our Groceries $40 for 4.

    Groceries from Ingles and BiLo

    Ingles Groceries:

    • $13.37 at Ingles for 4 boxes Fiber One Strawberry Yogurt (4 count each), 4 boxes Danimals Yogurt Strawberry / Vanilla / Peach (6 count each), 1 Broccoflower (part Broccoli and part Cauliflower), 2 bags of Sugar Snow Peas, 1 container of Grapefruit Juice, 2 bags Broccoli Coleslaw and 2 chunky mild Guacamole Dips.  (all the items were marked down on clearance for $0.50 to $0.99 or on sale plus I used a couple coupons from the yogurt boxes)

    BiLo Groceries:

    • $3.52 at BiLo for 1 gallon of Milk.  (BiLo has the best prices in our area for milk, plus if you bring your own bag they will give you 5 cents off per bag you use, of course I forgot my bag in the van when I ran into get the milk real quick).

    This week I spent $16.89 on groceries.  Even though I was under my budgeted amount for the week I was able to stock up on several items on clearance plus I will have a little extra left over for upcoming weeks.    I hope that next week is an even better week and we can come under budget for the week even though we will have out of town guests staying with us for a few days.

    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.

  • Craft Activities: Silly Yard Animals

    During the summer I came up with a variety of fun activities for the girls to enjoy.  As I was going through the craft cabinet I pulled out google eyes, fuzzy sticks, pom poms, and glue!  A lot of fun crafty ideas can happen with all these great items but I had a specific purpose in mind – Rock Animals!  Rock Animals are always a huge hit and can occupy the girls for hours.  Here is how to much Rock and other Nature Animals!

    Step 1

    Items for the craft – Google Eyes, Fuzzy Sticks, Pom Poms, Scissors and Glue

    We are ready to get creative with Fuzzy Sticks, Glue, Google Eyes, and Pom Poms!

    Step 2

    Have each child gather a pile of rocks, sticks, leaves, sea shells and other items from the yard.  The kids are usually so excited to get started this step only takes a few minutes!

    Karlie gathered some rocks, sticks and leaves to make into fun animals!

    Step 3

    Once they have a pile of goodies from the yard help get them started on making their “animals”.  I make sure the glue is ready to go, the craft is going smoothly, and answer any last minute questions before giving them the freedom to be creative!

    Brina creating her leaf animal.

     Step 4

    Let the kids imaginations go wild creating their own animals!  Here are a few of the creations our girls came up with during their craft time!

    Karlie made a rock replica of Daddy (love the green glasses)!

     I was thrilled to see them come up with “glasses” for their animals especially since our entire family (including the kids) wear glasses!

    Brina's silly stick animal.

    Brina found several sticks and had a blast creating animals out of them!

    Karlie's "scary" shark animal.

    She started out making the three eyed alien from “Toy Story” but decided it looked more like a shark, one of her favorite animals (she has been fascinated by sharks since she was 3 years old).

    Brina found a brick in the rock garden and made a happy brick animal out of it (with glasses as well).

    I was excited to see them find and create a variety of different yard objects.

    Cute rock with pretty purple hair.

    They found the various objects and were able to create the animals on their own.  Although we went through A LOT of glue, so make sure to have plenty on hand!   The rock animal craft kept our girls entertained for hours!  It was so much fun checking out all their neat animals and hearing their stories behind each one.  They left several of their treasures on the front porch to show their friends, family and neighbors.   Skipper decided the pom poms were too irresistible and managed to remove a few from their animals so the girls spent the next day patching a few of their rock animals.  The girls had a blast and it only cost me a couple dollars for all the supplies!

  • Blockbuster Express: Coupon Codes for FREE DVD Rentals

    Are you looking for a fun way to relax with your family over the weekend?  Blockbuster Express has three free rental codes available right now:

    • 29BRAB6
    • 22JEAH4
    • 58PPLA7

    Coupon Codes are good through midnight Monday, August 22, 2011.

    More coupon codes:

    • 27TGAF6 – Expires August 19
    • 34BCRD4 – Expires August 19
    • 62BRAB4 – Expires August 19
    • 98ARDQ2 – Expires August 19
    • 92JEAH8 – Expires August 19
    • 29SGJC3 – Expires August 19
    • 65PPLA8 – Expires August 19
    • 68HLG3W – Expires August 20

    The coupon codes can be used to get DVDs from your nearest Blockbuster Express kiosk.  Some codes may only work online so make sure to reserve your rental before picking it up.  A credit card required to rent.  The codes are not valid on Blu-rays or new releases.

  • Recipe: Creamy Cucumbers

    The fresh Green & Yellow cucumbers from our garden are now Creamy Cucumbers.

    Growing up my Mom and Grandma made this delicious creamy cucumber recipe from the fresh garden cucumbers.  I always looked forward to eating it every summer.  Now that we have a garden of our own we enjoy making this for our family and sharing it with others. If you need to use up some of those garden cucumbers and are looking to try a sweet, creamy and refreshing recipe try this one!

    Creamy Cucumbers:

    • 1 cup Mayonnaise
    • 1/4 cup Sugar
    • 1/4 cup Vinegar (white or apple)
    • 1/4 teaspoon Salt
    • 4 cups sliced Cucumbers

    In a bowl combine mayonnaise, sugar, vinegar, and salt.  Add cucumbers and stir to coat.  Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours.

    I will often make a half of recipe and it is still plenty for our family.  It is a great cool side dish for summer meals!

  • Travel & Vacation: 40 Plus Hour Road Trip Together

    Our family recently went on a forty plus hour road trip together.  A lot of fun memories were created on our road trip up to New England including time spent with several extended family members.  Here are a few pictures of our journey in the van:

    Sleeping beauties in the van!

    Thankful to have girls who enjoy a long road trip.  I had to smile when I looked back and saw them fast asleep with their toys on their laps.

    Seriously, who needs a pillow when you have your sisters head to sleep against!

    This was a popular sight on our 40+ hour road trip.  The girls would be quiet so we would look back and see them sleeping soundly with their heads together.  A sister comes in handy for a pillow in a pinch!

    Look out Boston here we come!!!

    We had a blast staying with family in the Boston area.  Thankful for our time together with extended family!

    Going through the "Big Dig" in Boston

    The girls thought it was neat going through the long tunnel under the city!

    The girls enjoying one of their DVDs with head phones.

    We have a DVD player we can set up in the van which we use for long road trips.  Our policy is if the road trip is longer than 5 hours we will put in the DVD player.  The girls were VERY excited to go on a long road trip because they got to watch a couple movies.

    Beautiful day and amazing scenery.

    We enjoyed the beautiful landscape on our drive up north.  The green trees, puffy white clouds and Vermont Mountains in the distance.  One of these years we need to head up to New England during the Fall, I bet it is breathtaking when all the trees are turning.

    Little goodies and toys kept the girls entertained throughout the trip.

    Karlie watching a video while Brina plays with her remote control car.  They had a blast playing in the car and exploring when we stopped.

    Connecticul Welcomes Us! Yay!

    Even though we went through a lot of different states on our journey I was only able to capture a few state “Welcome” signs.  It was hard to time the pictures and at night none of them turned out well.  We made a brief stop in CT after trying three exits to find gas and a working restroom for the kiddos (I didn’t realize how many Mom/Pop gas stations didn’t have working restrooms).

    Downtown Hartford

    We only spent a few hours in Hartford, CT on our trip.  The girls said next trip they want to explore it more!

    Welcome to Pennsylvania!

    The traffic in Pennsylvania was less but the roads were much rougher.  We saw some beautiful scenery throughout the mountains of Pennsylvania!

    So busy painting they completely ignored my request for a picture!

    These books were a big hit, obviously!   The girls are always game for crafts and had been begging to “paint”.  I found the solution at Big Lots in their clearance section, paint books that use water pens to paint.  Less of a mess for us and more fun for the girls.  All we had to do was fill up their pens a couple times along the way.

    Beautiful river at sunset

     We were blessed to see a lot of wonderful scenery on the way.

    Our girls resting in the van!

    Despite the many hours on the road the girls were such troopers.  They did not complain at all even though they spent a lot of hours in the van.  It was neat to see them have fun, entertain themselves, and get excited about exploring the different areas we stopped.  Thankful for their sweet adventuresome spirit.  They even slept a good 5 to 7 hours as we were driving through the night!  Needless to say they were rested when we got home (Mommy and Daddy were exhausted).  For tips on flying with the kids check out Tips on Flying with Kids.

    “A Vacation To Remember” series is a reflection on our recent trip and ways we relaxed.  Life is short and we were thrilled to have the opportunity to build memories with family and explore of of the most amazing places during our time away.  Go with a good attitude and looking for fun and it will be an awesome trip jammed packed with positive memories.  It is refreshing having some time away from the regular routine.  Make it a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet new people and learn.  You just might see or try something new that takes your breath away!

  • Family Recipe: Grandma’s Crunchy Coleslaw

    The red and green cabbage fresh from our garden is now ready to be turned into coleslaw!

     

    During the summers when I was a kid I always enjoyed going to visit my Grandparents.  Many summers I would spend a couple weeks helping Grandma Willa make meals while the guys were harvesting wheat.  Grandma made the BEST coleslaw.  It was one of my favorite side dishes she would make throughout the summer.  I recently harvested a couple cabbages out of our garden so I had the opportunity to make Grandma’s Crunchy Coleslaw for guests.

    Grandma’s Crunchy Coleslaw:

    • 1 package Coleslaw Mix or 1/2 medium head of Cabbage, shredded (or part of a green cabbage and part of a red)
    • 1 small Green Onion (yellow onion will work too)
    • 1/2 cup Sunflower Seeds
    • 1/2 cup Almond Slivers
    • 1 package Ramon Chicken Flavored Noodles (uncooked), noodles broken in pieces (beef flavor will work as well)

    Dressing:

    • 1/2 teaspoon Pepper
    • 1 teaspoon Salt
    • 1/3 cup Vinegar (white or apple vinegar)
    • 1/2 cup Sugar
    • 1/2 cup Oil

    Mix the coleslaw (or cabbage) and onion together.  Measure and place in a separate bowl the Sunflower Seeds, Almonds, and Ramon Noodles.  Mix the dressing and add chicken ramon flavor packets to the dressing.  Pour the dressing over salad and mix well.  Before serving add the mixture of Sunflower Seeds, Almonds and Noodles (adding before serving makes sure they are crunchy when you eat the salad).  Serve and enjoy!

    You can also add a lot of other great items to make the coleslaw more colorful and tasty:

    • 1/2 cup Raisins
    • 1/2 cup sliced Apples
    • 1/2 cup shredded Carrots
    • 1/2 cup shredded Broccoli Steams

    I always add the raisins to the coleslaw and sometimes the carrots & apples depending on what I have in the kitchen.

  • Summer Recipe: Cucumber Water

    Fresh Garden Cucumber in a Pitcher of Water

    You probably have had a glass of water with a lemon wedge in it for extra zest, but have you tried Cucumber Water?  Instead of adding a lemon to your glass of water today try adding a couple slices of cucumbers.  During the summer months when we have fresh garden cucumbers we like to slice them up and add them to a pitcher of water for extra flavor.  It is a great drink variation you can  bring to the dinner table.  It’s especially fun to serve when you have guests.  If your family enjoys cucumbers this is a refreshing drink to try.  Add a few slices to your pitcher of water today.

    • 1 sliced Cucumber
    • Water

    Slice up the cucumber and add it to a pitcher of water.  Allow the cucumber to remain the water about an hour before serving for extra flavor.

  • Pampers Gifts to Grow – 5 Free Points

    Receive another 5 free points from Pampers with the a new Gifts to Grow code!

    This code is different from the previous codes I have given.

    Use Code:  BABYISDUEANYDAY

    The code didn’t have an expiration date but they usually expire in a few days so be sure to add it to your account soon!

    You can save up the rewards to purchase gifts!

    For more information about the Pampers Gift to Grow Program and how you can start earning Pampers “Gifts to Grow” Rewards for your family go to Pampers Gifts to Grow!

  • Living on a Budget: Creative Cash (July Update)

    July is my sixth month tracking my Creative Cash.  What is Creative Cash?  Creative Cash is finding ways to come up with extra cash to share with others as well as work on our current goal.  I am working part time, a stay at home Mom, and wear many other hats from day to day, however, I feel that it is important to save money for our family by using coupons and buying items on sale but to earn a little money to help with the extra expenses and to share with others.  The extra amount I bring in on top of the work is what I call “Creative Cash” which means finding ways to make money creatively or with items and talents I have already.  I have tested this goal over the last couple months as I am challenging myself to make my life more simplified.   I plan to continue this goal for the remaining months of the year.  Despite the many financial obstacles that we have faced as a family we have been blessed with so much.  We believe it is important to be accountable with our finances and give to others.

    Explanation: The creative cash will be made throughout the entire month through various endeavors.  As it comes in the money is placed into our savings account and withdrawn at the end of the month so it can be split.  It is my goal to make at least $100 extra a month to help with our goals as well as share with others.  At the end of the month the money will be split 50 / 50 with half going towards our current goal we are working on (which at the moment is paying down debt) and the other half going to charity.

    To be honest July was not a great month, our family was extremely active in many other areas.  I have only been home one weekend the past couple of months so it has been difficult squeezing in the extra activities to generate the creative cash.  I am thankful that we have had the opportunity to travel together as a family and create many great new memories, however, the creative cash has been effected by it.  I anticipate August being another busy month but hopefully once the girls get back in school life will once again return our new “normal” and I can come closer to meeting this goal.  Thankfully I was able to save some extra cash even though I did not reach my my goal of $100.  I want to share with you the ways we did it so if you are looking for ways to make a little extra creative cash for your family hopefully we can be an inspiration in getting your creative juices flowing:

    • $18.98 – Other miscellaneous amounts earned  (rebates, returns, cash back,  extra money, etc…) that was added to my stash for the month.  Most of the cash this month was from rebate checks I received from prior purchases.

    It was a harder month to set the extra aside because it was very busy and I was not able to participate in as many extra creative cash activities.  The good news is despite the crazy schedule I was able to get a few dollars of creative cash.   July’s “Creative Cash” total was $18.98 which means $9.49 extra that goes towards our current goal (paying down debt) and $9.49 goes towards charity.  I didn’t hit my $100 goal this month.  It has been really busy with school being out and traveling with the family.  I am happy that I was able to something this month and every little bit helps us get a little closer to our goals as well as helps others along the way.  I have plan of action on ways to earn creative cash in August so stayed tuned, hopefully, it will be another month where we can get closer to our goal and share with others.  Each month I do a variety activities to accomplish this goal, the items above are just the ones I did specifically in July.  I look forward to sharing more of the things that work well for our family as I do them in the upcoming months.

    I will share with you the challenges, successes, and updates as I go through this journey so you can keep me accountable or even go through it with me by participating  and sharing your story. Taking the extra time to find ways to help our family as well as invest in the lives of others is important to us.  I hope that we have been able to encourage you to find ways to come up with some creative cash for your household as well.  Obviously, each situation and family is unique so decide what works for you and go for it!  Do you know of another way to earn creative cash?   I would love to hear your idea!

    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.

    Photo by StopNLook