Thade has been working very hard, and he was focused on moving up a belt in Tae Kwon Do. On Thursday, he was ready to test.
He passed his form,
and did a great job on his one steps too.
He was so thrilled when he earned his yellow-tip.
We are so very proud of our big kid Thade.
I’m on month #2 of my couponing vs. frugal shopping, and so far I’m really surprised by my findings. I’ll bring you up to speed on my little project… Over the Summer I got really into couponing. I tracked every paper purchased, shopping trip, coupon used, and of course the total. For the next three months I’m backing off of the coupons, shopping less, making more from scratch, and still keeping track of it all. I’m trying to see which method of shopping really saves my family the most.
So far I’ve had a lot of these…
But I’ve spent a lot less time here…
And to be perfectly honest I was really surprised when June’s month of mega shopping trips and multitude of papers purchased, beat September’s frugal numbers. I’m still looking over the spreadsheets just to make sure I’ve got my math right, but so far in this little battle Coupons are winning.
We’ll see what October brings. It is a long month, with a holiday and two birthdays too. My budget is whimpering in the corner…
I know I’ve said it before, and I know I’ll say it again, I dream of one day having all of my clutter tackled and my house in order. Oh yeah and fully painted, decorated, and the list could go on and on. I’m not there yet, but the house is an ongoing project.
I’ve been keeping up with my habit of filling a contractor bag every week or so, and this week I couldn’t take the mess in the boys room one more moment longer. With Dylan and Thade in school, that gives me just enough time to tackle the mess, but with Agnes’ short naps, I really only have about an half an hour a day.
I decided to go in contractor bags a blazing, and I was completely ruthless on day 1 with the de-cluttering. I gave myself 15 minutes (that was all I had after the morning’s chores) and I filled 2 bags. The boys didn’t even notice, and the room was much improved.
Today I gave myself a little more time (hey, those dishes can wait till later) and I was focused on organizing all of the toys. I didn’t toss as much, but everything is in a bin and it’s own place.
The shelves are still filled to the brim, but it is organized.
I would like to invest in some cool organizational bins that will fit their items, and look a little better,
but for today I’m calling it good.
Gotta go make lunch, and get to those dishes.
September went by way too fast. Both of the boys are busy in school, and Agnes is busy being an almost two year old. We seemed to have run the entire month, there were soccer games, and Tae Kwon Do to go to too, I’m still tired. I did get a few favorite photos though…
This pretty little moth visited our side door one sunny afternoon.
I was so excited when the Halloween candy arrived on the shelves! I love Halloween, it’s my very favorite holiday.
I try to get at least one photo of all three kids together at least once a month, and this one well they were looking out the window, and waiting for Dad to come home. I thought they looked really cute.
I was even more excited when the little pumpkins arrived at the store. I love pumpkins, but I can’t ever carve them.
I love this photo of Agnes, and she really loves her Panda Pillow Pet.
The boys are busy playing soccer, and they are having a great time too.
We visited the Pioneer Harvest Fiesta, and Dylan loved it. That little guy loves tractors, just look at that smile.
I enjoyed the Pioneer Harvest Fiesta too, the autumn weather was just beautiful.
We also visited the Fort, we are keeping an eye on the changing leaves, and are planning another trip there soon.
And last but not least, just because there aren’t enough photos of adorable kitties on the internet.
I just love that cat!
I think I spent the entire month of September in the kitchen. I ended up with two birthday cakes to make and one cookie catering gig too. I also had to make some tasty treats for home. Get ready for a lot of pictures, my kitchen was swamped.
Homemade pizza buffet oh yeah! I know it looks crazy, and yes that is four large pizzas, but everybody likes something different, and well, we have lunch for a week. Thade likes Pepperoni, Dylan just likes Cheese, and so does Agnes, James likes the BBQ Chicken with Bacon, and I like the triple meat pizza. I should probably change mine to just veggies, but it is so good.
I had two birthdays to make goodies for. The first was for my gardening buddy (and a dear friend of the family) who was turning 80. I made him a big batch of Chocolate Chunk Candy Bar cookies, and a Chocolate Bundt cake too.
I made a Cherry Jell-O cake too. The kiddos aren’t too fond of this one, but James and I like it. It is just so darn good.
For the cookie catering gig I made 21 dozen cookies in two days. It was crazy, but oh so tasty. There were:
Chocolate Oatmeal No Bake Cookies
Candy Bar Cookies
Cakerdoodles
Homemade Oatmeal Cream Pies
and Whoopie Pies
It was a crazy two days, and then I was in trouble with my family because there were no leftover cookies, and I didn’t bake them a special batch.
Later in the month, I found out it was Clifford’s birthday. I won’t tell you which birthday it is, but he gave me a recipe to make that was one of his favorites when he was a child. It was a simple recipe, and I tried my best to replicate his very favorite cake.
He loved it, and I might just have to make Clifford’s cake for James. I think he would like it too.
When the first day of Fall arrived, I thought it was time to make an Dutch Apple Pie to celebrate. I let Dylan help out too, and I taught him all about the Apple Pie magic.
I like to use Gala Apples for the homemade filling.
It is almost too pretty to cover up with delicious crumb topping.
Out of the oven, and ready for some Vanilla Ice Cream.
Honestly, this was too good for words. The kids loved it, James loved it, and yeah I loved it too.
September was one tasty month. I can’t wait to make some more autumn favorites this month too.