Daddy Dates

Since my kids were about 18 mos old Eric has taken them on "Daddy Dates"...they love them! He has done so many different things over the years. Each child gets to spend $5.00 and they get a few hours of alone time with their hero. He and Emily went a few days ago to the tractor supply store...Emily likes to dream about owning her own horse farm so they walked around and Eric listened to her stories about horses and all the fun things at the store. Then they went to get a sweet tea and a chicken sandwich. I love that he has consistently done this with the kids for the past 15 years! The night is all about the child not about himself....some of the outings have been interesting some have been quite boring for him but he NEVER lets them know...he makes them feel important and special! I love him for it!

Buying $100 of groceries for $2.00?????

I am asked all the time about getting a ton of groceries for almost nothing. Let me first say that there are many things that I get every month and I pay 0 or almost 0: hair care, shaving products, dental products, body washes, deodorant, all cleaning products, condiments, frozen veggies, rice and rice mixes, pasta, spaghetti sauces, salad dressings, over the counter medication, feminine products, make-up

Other things I routinely get for 50 - 75% off: soups, canned veggies and fruit, yogurt, cereal, oatmeal, protein bars, peanut butter, jelly, salsa, taco dinner kits, cheese, sour cream, cream cheese, butter, brownie and cake mixes,

Now back to the original question....could I buy groceries for my family and spend 10 a week......yep I sure could but I do not because to do so I would not buy fresh fruit and veggies or any meat. Above is a picture that I found on a popular web site showing how this person didn't pay anything at the register for those things. Now PLEASE hear my heart...I am not legalistic about food and if we didn't have any money to budget for food for whatever reason.....my standards would be different. BUT....I would not feed most of those things to my family on a regular basis. Have I ever given them boxed mac and cheese...you betcha....but I do not routinely buy it. I do buy processed foods sometimes but I really try to limit the amount I feed my family. You notice that I have cake and brownie mix on my "routinely get" list......I always have those things on hand for a special treat or to take to parties and get togethers.

I do not buy coke, candy, chips, sugar cereals or sugar filled bars and I never buy pop tarts :) I have not found that it is very realistic to think I could feed my family a healthy, balanced diet on 10 a week. My family gets enough junk in their diets from other sources so I try to feed them good stuff at home. What couponing does for me ....it cuts my overall bill by 50% or more even buying the healthy stuff.

Blessings keep coming!

This picture makes me laugh! My boys wanted to take a photo to make it look like they were not wearing a suit! Boys are so funny and different! Love my boys!

I have so many blessings! My amazing family is such a blessing! Salvation...beyond amazing!

I wanted to give you guys an update on the ministry. We have been so very overwhelmed lately. There are still many things that I just do not understand! We still have many needs especially stuff here at the house....things that have been put on hold year after year because we have not been paid. It seems like so many times the Lord allows us to get right to the edge...and then He swoops in....it is a VERY exhilarating place to be to see God work is is at the same time a frightening place to be....sort of like six flags....the scarier the better! :)

We have continued to get paid every week albeit late most weeks...still I have paid all of our personal bills on time. Well on the 29th of July I told Eric that we needed $2000 before the 31st to pay our salary, payroll taxes, health insurance, cell phone bill and another small bill for the ministry. That was at 9:00 am....at 11:00 am a man called Eric and asked Eric to forgive him....he said that God had laid us o his heart months ago and that he just kept forgetting to bring by a check. The check was for MORE than we needed by the 31st. It was so neat to see how the Lord had already started the process of the provision months before we actually needed it!

Eric is asking the Lord for 50 schools to speak in on top of the other commitments that he has. He is already getting many calls and we are so excited about that! I am speaking more this year as well. I LOVE to speak to women of any age but especially to women who are just starting off with their families...it is so awesome to encourage them as they are raising their babies!

I love ya'll! Please keep us in your prayers.....I know that the enemy loves to discourage and frustrate us and I want to be all that the Lord wants us to be!

contact me

If you were at the galleria and emailed me about a coupon box and you live in Alabama......Please Please contact me again! I accidentally erased your email before responding!! :(

Lots and Lots of Chicken

I bought 6 packages of Tyson Chicken Breast on the bone for .99 cents a pound. My total bill was $15.39. I brought it home...rinsed it all and put it in 2 large pots, fill with water to cover..add 1 stalk of celery to each pot. Bring to a boil...reduce to simmer..cover and cook for 1 hour.

I have 18 huge pieces of chicken from this batch. I personally prefer to have boned chicken when I am boiling it but I use boneless sometimes as well. I always use boneless to grill.

I pulled all the chicken and cut it into chunks.....Skimmed the fat off of the broth. I used 3 breasts tonight for our dinner. Chicken and rice...YUM a family favorite! I put about 1 cup in a small baggie and spooned a few teaspoons of broth over it so it wouldn't dry out and stuck it into the fridge for quesadillas tomorrow night. I made homemade chicken salad with part for lunch over the next few days. The rest I divided into family size portions for Chicken Soup, and Chicken Pot Pie for later. This saves me money and time!

Blog fixed!

I am so excited....Cosbie came to my house and brought the adorable girl he is dating and she fixed my computer blog issues with one click.....seriously! I love her!

Mama....teach your children basic table manners! This is an ongoing process...it doesn't just happen because you pointed it out to them once! There are LOTS of lessons to be learned at the table! It is just plain gross to watch an adult eat like a messy child! You can even make this fun.....almost any lesson can be fun and entertaining. Sometimes at our house we even have..how not to eat...and we all join in on bad table manners....even I show everyone at the table the food in my mouth and we have burping contests...there really are times and places for that! So have fun and work on a skill that will follow them forever!