blogs…

I read and read and read all these fabulous blogs.  Some have great crafts, some great writing, and some have both.  I often wonder how these women (all of the blogs I read are written by woman… hummm I wonder why?) find time.  Most of them have beautiful children and handsome hubbies, and homes and etc etc etc but still manage to write awesome blogs and do beautiful and creative crafts. 

oh how oh how I wish that was me…

here, I run around trying to get everything done.  Most days, between my there beautiful children, my husband, my home, and my self, I have list upon list of things to do.  Recently I have started getting serious about my health and weight.  So I have been exercising each morning which seems to have filtered out some of the chaos but still… most days, I have no time to craft.  No time to even cook.  The crock pot has become my new best friend! 

but still… how do I get the blog life? :)

I have yet to make any progress towards that life but I have begun to convince myself that they really don’t have that life… and that it is all just an illusion.  That in realty, they just take great pictures and know how to clean up their houses in a way that makes us see what we see.  I am trying to convince myself of this… it will be a long road I am sure but… we’ll see where this takes me :)

today I am thankful for…

Today I am thankful for alone time.  A husband that knows and loves me and children that I adore.  My best of best friends who also loves me unconditionally and who I can’t live without and laundry…. I know I know… Laundry, but yes.  It gave me time today to sit… sit and fold and think.  It was relaxing believe it or not and so today, I am thankful for LAUNDRY ;)

The smell of Christmas

A loves oranges.  Do you?  Well, he can't get enough of them.  So, while at the grocery store I bought some and as soon as we got home he had to eat it.  While I was cutting it with our awesome orange peeler by Pampered Chief, he says... "WOW, Mom, that smells great!  I love that smell!"  So I mixed this up

I know it doesn't look good but BOY does it smell good.  It is just orange peels, cinnamon, nutmeg and clove with a little water.  You let it on your stove at a very low temperature (warm if you have it) and PRESTO your house smells delicious!  It lasted all day (until I accidentally let it boil dry-- woops :)).  A loved it and kept saying, "<<sniff, sniff>> Mom, it smells so great!"  And it cost me nothing!

MDA necklaces and service

Every year, my in-laws and I raise money for the MDA (Muscular Dystrophy Association).  I am proud to report that last year we tried something new and we were able to raise just shy of $1000.00 with our fudge sale.  This year we decided to add something else and after a lot of hard work, we are ready to start selling our product.  

They are hand made and I think the turned out great! 

$5.00 a piece and a GREAT last minute Christmas gift for your self or a loved one :) 

We have 100 to sell by Christmas.  Please help us reach our goal!  Pass the word around and help us raise $500 for MD research!

Merry Christmas to you and thank you in advance for your continued support of our family and the MDA!

COUPONS :)

So, I have been wanting to post, I have so much stuff to share, but I don't want to 'vomit' on you and then have nothing to post later.... Soooo I will try to do this in moderation and keep you interested.  

Awhile back, one of the members of Relief Society presidency in Carlisle held a class on coupon-ing.  It has changed my life, literally.  I was always on the look out for a good sale and prided myself on saving money but NEVER did I think I could get quality things for FREE over and over again... and things that my family needed, things that we use every day. So I am going to pass on some of her tips.  It will be fairly difficult to cover everything now so I will break this in to a couple posts.  

Here are some pictures to get you interested!

This was my first adventure at coupon-ing....

16 cans of Ravioli, 15 pads of sticky notes, a shower curtain, shower curtain hooks, towel rack, and deodorant.

Minus the gas and time, EVERYTHING IN THIS PICTURE COST ME $0.90!  No joke.  So it got me hooked!  And I had to try again.  

Huggies jumbo pack of diapers, two packs of pads, 7 Mt. Dew's (for my hubby), and two boxes of hair dye.

This time it was a little more, it cost me $3 and some change.  AHHHH!!!!  The pack of diapers alone is $11.00 (on diapers.com).  So just considering them, I saved $8.00! wow!  So of course I was hooked now... big time... and I haven't stopped :)

You can't see everything in the picture but there is two big boxes of diapers, 4 packages of Tylonal brand icy hot, two packs of Scott's toilet paper, 16 boxers of Playtex tampons, two bottles of Mt. Dew, 10 bottles of Suave lotion, 15 tooth paste, 20 tooth brushes, 20 packs of cookies, 15 mascara's, 15 packs of razors, 20 Aussie shampoo/conditioner, 2 panteen, 2 herbal essence, 4 L'oreal, 20 packs of gum, 20 Johnson and Johnson, 3 desiten, 5 bottles of hair gel (L'Loreal and Aussie) 10 suave deoderant, 20 lotion tins, 4 bottles of Veet, and one fruit cup :)

 

$30.00... yes, I said Thirty Dollars!  

11 boxes of hair dye, 8 bottles of shampoo, 2 deodorant, 8 skittles, 5 Mabalene foundation, 5 toothbrushes and 5 toothpastes!!!!

 

 

$11.00 and some change... PLUS I ended up having $20 in reward points for Rite Aid that I used on my next purchase which was......

Six packs of Huggies diapers, two packs of Huggies Pull-ups, 5 bottles of Aussie Shampoo/Conditioner, three boxes of Cottonelle wipes, a bottle of Gain, and an Andies mint

Drum roll please.... $10.00.... TEN BUCKS!!!! YIPPY :)  Again, one pack of diapers cost $11.  

So, in case you didn't figure it out yet....

COUPONS ARE AWESOME!

Introductions

mmacphotography

So I guess I should have done this first, huh.... but here we go....

mmacphotography

I am Holly.  I am 24 and will be 24 for the rest of my life :) I am a full-time Mom, student, and crafter.  I love creating whether that be cooking, sewing, crafting, or scrapping.  AND I love to SAVE MONEY!

My Hubby is AMAZING.... I may have said this before... He is awesome and totally cool ALL the time, even when I am less then happy with him.  He is completely supportive and always has something helpful to say.  He is my wood cutter, my measure-r, and my baby-sitter.

mmacphotography

A is 5 years old.  He is in preschool two days a week and loves it.  He loves to do crafts with his mom and teacher and always has something interesting to add to our adventures.  He is a whip with words and knows how to pull his mom's heart strings.

mmacphotograph

B is 2 and boy is she ever a two year old.  She is into everything and loves to explore.  She can make a mess out of anything but one look from those big eyes and rosy cheeks, you can't be mad. 

mmacphotography

C is seven month old. She is just starting to crawl and has inspired many a projects in her short life. :) I am sure she will be for many more.

All of these pictures were taken by mmacphotography.  She is a truly amazing photographer based out of Utah.  Check out her blog.  She is amazing!

Pumpkin Puree

I am a HUGE pumpkin lover.  I love pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie, pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin flavored drinks, the list could go on and on.  Most of us had some pumpkins left over from our Halloween decorations... I didn't... haha. But I was able to collect a few from some friends who were not going to be doing anything but throwing theirs away.  I cooked them down into a puree and froze the results :) If you have never done it before, it is a bit time consuming but it is well worth the effort.  In my area, the grocery stores have been out of canned pumpkin puree for weeks before Thanksgiving and, heck, home-made ALWAYS tastes better than canned, right?? 

Here is how it is done:

1. Pre-heat oven to 400 F.  Cut the pumpkin (you can also use squash, you will never taste the difference) in half and scoop out the seeds.  Cut into large chunks.  Place on a cookie sheet and pour about one cup of water into the pan.  Bake for about 30 minutes or until the 'meat' of the pumpkin is soft. 

2. When the pumpkin is done, you should be able to peal the skin right off the 'meat'.  You may need to scoop some of the meat away from the skin.

Sorry my picture quality is so poor.  I promise to work on that :)

3.  Put the cooked 'meat' in a blender or squoosh by hand using a fork.  You may need to add some water.  Try about one tbs at a time to avoid making it too runny. 

4.  Because canned puree normally comes in 8 or 15 oz cans, I froze mine in two cup increments....we made delicious pumpkin bread and pie. 

You would never guess that it wasn't from a can.  It was so scrumptious!  and it cost me nothing except the time and electricity to run my oven and blender!!! 

I started with 4 pumpkins and two long-neck squash.  As you can see, it made A LOT! The equivalent to something like 32 cans of puree.