Let's Go for a Drive....

I am a mom of 6 children who grew up in a family of 5 children. One thing you never saw in our car was our mother sitting in the backseat while one of the children sat in the front passenger seat with our dad. When we were out as a family, we took our places in the backseat while our parents took their respected seats in the front. I can't stand to see families out on the road with some spoiled brat child in the front seat while his mother sits in the back like she is inferior to this child. Where has the respect gone these days?! I remember seeing this when I was a child myself and actually being appalled at only 6 years of age. When did the child become the parent taking his place above his mother? When did the parent lose all of her power to this child? Take a stand parents of 2010...don't let your children walk all over you!

Now that I have gotten this rant out of the way, don't get me started on the car I saw at the market with the husband up front, wife in the back.......... and their poodle in the front passenger seat.

What a Find!! Weekly Bargain Finds from Thrifty Places :)

I was so psyched this week to come across some awesome bargains! If anyone knows me, you know that I can never pass up a good bargain :) I made a trip to Goodwill in Peters Twp, Bon Ton at Uniontown Mall and also went to yard sales over the weekend. Check out my finds:

For the Home:







Fall Berry Wreath (Peters Twp Goodwill) $1.99








Tall Contemporary Candle Holder (yard sale) $2






Set of 2 Rust Metal Potted Vines Wall Art (yard sale) $2







Black square in square large metal wall art (yard sale) $2








Wood and metal squares large wall art (Bon Ton clearance sale-Retail $100) $4.95





Live and Wish Birds (Bon Ton clearance sale-Retail $16 each) $1 each





For Me:






Charcoal Pea Coat (yard sale) $1









For the Kids:


Skateboard/Scooter Ramp Set; 2 large ramps, 2 flat platforms w/stands, small skinny scooter ramp, (yard sale) all for $10







Miscellaneous:





2 Old Porcelain Water Bowls (yard sale) $1 each

A Hidden Agenda?

I absolutely love going to Kings for dinner in Bentleyville. Why do you ask? Is it the daily specials? (They are yummy!) The frownies (Mmm, chocolate!) The dinner rolls (So soft!) The red-wine vinaigrette (Tasty!) The free kids meals once a month? (Oh yes, I have to say) Now that I have named off everything I love about Kings Family Restaurant, what is it particularly that I love about the one in Bentleyville? Is there a hidden agenda in my plot to go to dinner there? There most certainly is...The Pilot Truck Stop across the street. Seriously!!



When I was a kid, I was always one of those who sat on the school bus watching out the window for one of those big trucks to pull alongside. I would then raise up in the seat, put my arm up in the air beside my head and pull down twice like a trucker would their horn. I would giggle so much when one would see me and honk. How tickled was I that I could show my kids this little trick and get so much laughter and joy out of it?! After dinner, we walk out to the car while my husband is paying the bill and wait for each truck to pull up so we can get in our stance. It is so exciting! To some it may just fall under the funny category, but to me there is more...the waiting gives me the same delight that I used to have watching my dad's airplanes slowly roll down the runway to turn around and then come flying down for the amazing takeoff. My kids seem to be in that same frame of mind when they see the trucks. Very quiet, hold your breath, two pulls, honk-honk!!

This is one memory that will always stand out among the rest, a memory of all of my babies smiling at once with their mommy :)

Tried Something New...

I have been following a blog of a lady who does what she calls a "Shopping Cart Challenge" Her blog is entitled: Feeding a family of 6 for under $60. Now, from what I can tell by reading her blog, she tries to stay under $60 per week for her family of 6. Everyone knows that I go grocery shopping every 3 months to save money and I do it very well spending no more than $250 for 3 months of groceries for a family of 8. When I calculated this woman's $60 a week for 3 months, it came to around $720! I put her to shame!! I did decide, however, that maybe before I speak I should experiment and just see if I could make that much of a savings going to the grocery store outside of my every 3 months trip. Here is what I ended up with, did I do a good job?





Cheerios $1.50
Cheerios $1.40
Cinnamon Toast Crunch $1.30
Cocoa Puffs $1.50
Cocoa Puffs $1.50
Fruit Rollups $1.50
Gushers $1.50
Act II Microwave Popcorn .60
Hamburger Helper .50
Hamburger Helper .50
Hamburger Helper .50
Hamburger Helper .50
Hamburger Helper .50
Hamburger Helper .50
Hamburger Helper .50
Hamburger Helper .50
Hamburger Helper .50
Hamburger Helper .50
Hamburger Helper .50
Hamburger Helper .50 (my husband/kids love these on Thursday fend for yourself night, I rarely use prepackaged meals)
Good Seasons 4 Pack-$1.50
Totinos Pizza .92
Totinos Pizza .92
Totinos Pizza .92
Totinos Pizza .92
Totinos Pizza .92
Totinos Pizza .92
Wacky Mac Pasta .00
Wacky Mac Pasta .00
Wacky Mac Pasta .00 (that's right! All three were free!)
Yoplait Yogurt .28 each x 20 $5.60
Cascade Action Packs $3.50
Cascade Action Packs $3.50
Head and Shoulders $2.00
Head and Shoulders $2.00
Suave Kids $1.00
Suave Kids $1.00
Suave Mens $1.00
Suave Mens $1.00
Dawn Dish Detergent .75
4 Cup Plastic Measuring Cup $1.00
Daisy Cottage Cheese $1.60
Suave Deodorant .50
Colgate Total Advantage Toothpaste .00 (Another free one!)
Colgate Total .50
Sliced mushrooms $1.00
6 Pack Scrubber Sponges $1.00
Vegetable Egg Timer $1.00
Giant Eagle Shredded Mozzerella Cheese $1.50
Giant Eagle Shredded Mozzerella Cheese $1.50
Green Onions .50
Xtra Large Cucumbers 3/$1.00
Baby Carrots $1.00
Baby Carrots $1.00
Hilighter .09
Hilighter .09
Hilighter .09
Hilighter .09
Hilighter .09
Penway 2 pk Erasers .29
Penway 2 pk Erasers .29
Penway 2 pk Erasers .29
15 ct Erasers .39
15 ct Erasers .39

Grand Total $58.58!!

Well, I definitely did better than the lady whos blog I follow. Again, her challenge is to spend only $60 per week on a family of 6 and I spent less than $60 in 1 week for a family of 8!! Will I start doing this instead of my shopping...no. If I spent this way weekly, I would be up around $700 for 3 months...I much prefer my $250 every 3 months. Should I still scout out the greatest deals in the world? I will say that if I find an item that is regularly $2 and can get it for .50 or less...look out!

Even older than my 12 year old!

I have a lot of cleaning supplies I use for random cleaning in my home. The most trusty item I have is my container of Comet. I could not live without it! I have wiped many walls down in 3 different houses...which came to make me realize something. Though I love my Comet with the passion...I have only ever bought 1 can. Now, I mentioned before that I have used it in 3 different houses and anyone who knows me, knows that I have only lived in 3 different houses since I got married 15 years ago. So what does this mean? My canister of Comet is 15 years old!!

Melissa and Joey Rock!!

I don't know about anyone else, but I am just tickled to death about the new upcoming comedy series "Melissa & Joey" that premieres Aug 17 on ABC Family. Call it obsession with my past, but I just absolutely love a good comedy with people I watched on TV when I was growing up. Joey Lawrence on Gimmie a Break & of course, Blossom :)



Melissa Joan Hart on Clarissa Explains it All



I didn't get into Sabrina the Teenage Witch much because I didn't like the rest of the cast. I am hoping that this series takes off..there are not many good comedies left out there considering that the majority of tv is nothing but reality shows.

A glimpse into the future (Aug 17 at 8pm) takes me way back, except this time we are out of the teen topics and Joey Lawrence has lost all of his gorgeous hair!

Tune in :)

Thomas the Train

My kids have many toys in our house. Actually we have a load of toys on all 3 floors of our humble abode. Blocks, dolls, you name it, we probably have it. What has always seemed to excite me about the toys in our house are the ones that my kids have a special attachment to. I never know what initially draws my kids to these items, but they won't go a day without them! Brandis loves these 2 little Thomas trains:



These were a gift from Mommy and Daddy to Brandis and Reiner this past Christmas. Reiner gets use of his train on his track during the day, but at night, Brandis takes it over. You absolutely cannot get him down for a nap or his nighttime sleep without these trains and it has to be both of them! If you lose or misplace one, you will have one grumpy kid on your hands. I don't know if it is some kind of "Obsessive Compulsive" reaction, but he just has to have them laying down next to his face on the bed. By nap or night's end, they always end up falling down between his crib and the wall with how much he rolls around the bed. So, everyday, I have to pull the crib away from the wall and squeeze myself in between to grab these 2 little trains that will become my son's nighttime pals. Head down, lights out, choo-choo....

A Bit of Nostalgia and How it Effects my Life Today: Grease

32 years ago, Grease hit theaters and ever since, has become one of the most watched movies of all time (at least by me anyway). Being only 33 this year, I obviously did not see the original viewing at the theaters, but quite a few years later on tv. I grew up listening to my mom and dad's record album when they played it and then when I was old enough to have my own record player (I never thought saying the words record player would ever sound as old as my parents saying 8 track player, but it does), snatched it up so I could listen to it again and again until every last word to the soundtrack was memorized. I could have done this musical on stage a million times playing any part! The movie is played so much now that it is hard to turn on the tv and not see it, but just as easy to plop down and watch it for the 786th time!

The cartoon beginning is always a laugh leading into the suaveness (is that a word?) of Danny and the T-Birds and of course Rizzo and The Pink Ladies. You can't help but feel bad for Sandy, the goody two shoes of the crew considering that she actually is truly a nice person.

My favorite lines in the movie are:

Rizzo to Kenickie: "To you from me Pinky-Lee!!"

Danny: Oh, bite the weenie Riz.
Rizzo: With relish :)

As you can see by my fav quotes, Stockard Channing has stuck in my mind.

So, how does this movie effect my life today?

Having 6 kids, I know how stressful life can be. Wouldn't it be wonderful to be able sing your stress away like the cast of Grease? Having some stress now? Want to really irritate someone? The next time you have a squabble, break into a rendition of "We go Together" and watch the crazy looks everyone gives you. You may lose your entire friend pool, but the stress will flow out like a stream....chang chang changity-chang shoo bop!!

Crazy Noun Day!!

So, every 4th of July weekend we pick a day that is all about the kids. We don't get too many 3 day weekends and when we do, we like to take advantage of it. I was running out of ideas off the top of my head (can you believe that...me run out of ideas?!) so I came up with crazy noun day. The object is for each child to come up with any random noun and then I had to base an entire day around all of nouns! This is such a great idea because there are so many nouns in the world that you could just do this again and again when you get a day and never repeat anything! Here are the nouns my kids chose:

Cameron: Computer monitor
Genin: Soccer ball
Kaplyn: Outlet mall
Reiner: Football
Brandis: Restaurant
Matlyn (can't talk yet ;)

The interesting things about this is that just because Genin picked "soccer ball" does not necessarily mean we go out and kick around a soccer ball. The whole day is planned by me and can be anything associated with those words. Everyone participates with everyone's nouns too..not just the person who had that noun. Thank goodness for the Internet! You can come up with a million ideas!! How did we ever live without the Internet?! Here is what I came up with:

Cameron's noun was by far the hardest...what do you do with a computer monitor? I ended up using his noun at the beginning of the day. I handed the kids an envelope and inside it said to go and find his E "mail"



All of the clues for the day were attached to the computer monitor in envelopes like real mail (get it? E "mail")

The next envelope opened was Genin's...his noun: Soccer ball. We went out to the backyard and played a neat game...it was a mix of soccer and mini-golf. You set up 4 cones in the yard and then hit a soccer ball with a golf club. The ball had to come to a rest on one of the cones to score. Score the same way as mini golf.



Genin was tickled to death with this game :)

Next came Brandis' noun: Restaurant. Guess what? We had 5 birthday meal cards sitting around waiting to be redeemed at Bob Evens. So guess where we went ;)



They love the curly cue straws at Bob Evans!

Next we headed to Kaplyn's noun: The Outlet Mall. Each child got $5 to spend how they wanted. Being the kids of a bargain hunter, I had no kids spend all of the $5 at once...they spread it out among stores. Most were able to get a few things and a drink while browsing through the outlets.



The kids love to go into Le Gourmet Chef...always lots of samples :)




Reiner shows off his silly bands he bought with part of his $5 spending money :)

Last was Reiner's noun: football. Since I knew by this point we would all be hungry again, his noun led to the making of a football tailgating dish...Velveeta Spicy Dip!



It was just as delicious as it looks and very quick to make! I'll be putting the recipe up on my other blog: Knead a Recipe?!

The kids had a wonderful fun filled day and are already asking when the next one will be!

I got this phone call...

I got a phone call today which started out normal, but then began to turn strange. Into the conversation, I started to wonder if the phone call was real or a prank. The man on the other end of the line was calling about a tv set that I had for sale. I currently have ads running for "Handyman Special" 2 tv's for sale...1 has spots on the picture and 1 does not power up-$5 each. The call started out with the man telling me to hold on while he turned up his hearing aid. As we are talking, my husband told me that if the guy was that interested in the tv's, then just give them to him for free. He just wants to make a dent in cleaning out our 4 car garage. When I let the guy know that we would just give him the tv's, he asked what kind of cars we owned. This struck me odd...wasn't sure what our cars had to do with the tv conversation. I told him what we had and he said he could bring us car parts to trade for the free tv's. I let him know that our cars were new and that was nice, but we didn't need any parts. He was fine with that and told me he would have to come in 15 minutes because he had a polka-dance to go to....seriously?! This was just a wacky phone call!

He did show up in 15 minutes. It was all legit! He was a little 75 year old man who likes to tinker in tv's...told us at one point he had about 50 of them. He was tickled to death to get those 2 free 27 inch tv's...but the story doesn't stop there. He still insisted on giving us something! After loading the tv's into the car, one he had to lift the back seat to fit it in and there was a smashed bagel with cream cheese stuck to the underside of seat, he handed Greg a bag...a swap bag I would call it. When Greg took a look in side, he saw what the man had given us as payment:



Can of potatoes
Can of peas
Can of corn
Can of chicken
Bag of elbow macaroni
"Welcome to Fayette County" brochure
Pair of pliers
2 bank pens

How cute...he just needed to pay....

Just Plain Crazy!

I absolutely love thrift stores! We have many Goodwill stores in our area and it can be quite the comedy walking down an aisle. Consignment shops are very different as they turn quite a bit of tackiness away before displaying only the best items. I have found so many awesome things, but some things on the strange end as well, which I love! It takes all kinds to make a world and it is very interesting to take a look at an item and imagine what kind of person owned it, why they owned it and the most important question: What is it?! For instance...what the heck is this?!



Is it a seashell that ate a bouquet of flowers? Kind of reminds me of a Venus Flytrap in beach mode... Give me your thoughts!