Teenage Birthday Happenings

OK, It's official! We now have a teenager in our home, and we are so BLESSED!

We spent all weekend celebrating his 13th birthday. We really wanted it to be special.
On friday evening we had a small family party. We had his favorite meal of Lasagna, french bread and Granny's fruit salad

Next we opened a few gifts. He really, really, wanted an NXT robot for his birthday. We had so much fun with this present as he was so anxious for days before as to whether we had gotten this for him. We kept saying, I don't know, that is such an expensive gift! He wanted it so bad that he even offered to use his own money to buy half of it, if we would pay for the other half for his birthday. He was very surpised. Let us just say that there were tears of joy!

Earlier in the year, he had also requested a 'special' ring, do dh and I decided to do a True Love Waits ceremony, just with our family. It really turned out to be more of a devotional but he now has his ring as a constant visual reminder of his committment to God in so many ways. Our little ceremony included the following five elements:


Your Committment to God
Matthew 22:37
"Jesus replied, Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind"

Your Commitment to Yourself
Matthew 22:39
"And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself "

Your Committment to your family
Phillippians 4:5
"Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near"

Your Committment to your friends
John 15:13
"Greater Love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends"

Your Committment to your future mate and children
II Timothy 2:22
"Flee the evil desire of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith , love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart"

It was beautiful. I cried. I remeber so fondly bringing him home from the hospital, he was less than 6 pounds and now he towers over me saying "I love you, mom" in the manliest, deep voice you ever heard. It brings me so much joy to know that he will grow up to make a difference in the kingdom of God.

On Sunday afternoon, he had a friend birthday party at the bowling alley.

The birthday cake was a surprise and he really liked it, of course what techie kid wouldn't!

Overall, we had a wonderful birthday weekend, full of many, many blessings.

Suzie

What A Successful Grocery Trip Looks Like

For many months, I have been visiting several blogs on frugal living and have tried to start saving a bit of my own cash, rather than just sitting around watching everyone else do it:)
One of the ways I have been doing this is through forming my menu plans from coupons and grocery sale adds that come in the newspaper on Wednesdays. The children and I currently spend about 2 hours a week clipping, printing, folding and organizing coupons. Today, all the work seemed to have paid off. It was a great day at the grocery store. Here is what I purchased, all at the same store, I might add:

Special K blueberry flavor - 2 boxes
Oscar Meyer Lunchables with drinks - 4 items
Ritz Whole Wheat Crackers - 2 boxes
Kraft Lowfat Cheddar Cheese - 2 7oz bags
Kraft Velveeta Shells and Cheese - 2 boxes
Wholly Guacamole - 2 containers
Pillsbury ready to bake cookies - 4 rolls
EZ Mac cups - 4 of them
Kellogs Rice Krispies - 2 boxes
Kellogs Raisin Bran - 2 boxes
Yoplait Yogurt - 12 containers
Kraft BBQ sauce - 2 bottles
Hunts Ketchup - 2 bottles
Kellogs Apple Jacks - 1 box
Ziplock Freezer Bags - 2 boxes
Kraft fat free cheese - 2 7oz. bags
Peter Pan Low Fat Crunchy Peanut Butter - 1 jar
Capri Sunrise Tropical Fruit Drinks - 1 box
Pillsbury Crescent Rolls - 2 rolls, 8 count each
Lean Cusine Meals - 4 of them
2 whole chickens
Kellogs Frosted Flakes - 1 box
Kellogs Fruit Loops - 1 box
Country Crock Macaroni and Cheese - 1 container
Reisers Potato Salad - 1 3# container

All this for $65.94 and a savings (according to the register receipt) of 108.08. I also got back a register printed coupon for $1.25 off my next puchase and several dollars to go towards my Supercenter Mail in Coupon form which means when I spend $20.00 purchasing items I would purchase anyway, I will get $35.00 more dollars in coupons. Some of the great deals included Kellogs cereals for $.50 cents a box and Kraft BBQ sauce for free as well as Ez Mac cups for free and Velveeta Shells and Cheese for free.
I was able to do this with using coupons I currently had and matching them with only items that were on sale. I made a rule to only purchase items that were both on sale and that I had a coupon for. The only exception this visit was the 2 chickens which were marked down for quick sale (ie: they expire tomorrow). I have been learning how to do this over the past several months. If you would like more information about couponing (is this a word??) and especially internet coupons, visit www. couponmom.com. She has links on her home page to where you can download internet coupons. Most coupons have a limit of 2 coupons per computer. She is teaching me a lot about saving money.


Blessings for a frugal day, Suzie

Music Contest With Surprises

Last weekend, oldest son competed in a state music competition. We travelled to a nearby large city for the competition. He did very well, taking an honorable mention position. For a state competition, this is quite a feat. He is becoming very accomplished in piano. He has taken lessons from Ms. Hickman for five years now. She is very sweet and so talented musically.

As we were finished and congratulating oldest son, we were walking around on campus and found some very interesting surprises.

From a distance this tree is very beautiful....

However, upon closer inspection you find....

...shoes....hanging from it...what?
I don't know the tradition of this but it might be fun to know...or then maybe not, this is a university...although being a Christian University it might be a Godly tradition, maybe a visual on Romans 10:15? Whatever the reason, it was very interesting and eclectic, to say the least!

We also came upon this beautiful fountain. I took pictures of the children to celebrate the occasion. They turned out so wonderful!

Our musical scholar!

Our princess, or SMILES as her daddy calls her (fits her well, don't ya think)

And, youngest son, in a pose for me.

We finished the day with a cheap dinner from Taco Bell and then on to home. I love days like this when we spend time having fun with family and the camera.

In all you do together, have fun!

Blessings, Suzie

Book Review: The Preacher Had 10 Kids - Frances Bradsher

Several weeks ago, we attended a large library book sale. I was mostly looking for childrens' books, however, this one caught my eye. It was the only one that I picked up for myself and I am glad I did. I really liked this book. It is a warm, delightful, but easy read. It documents a time very different than our own. It chronicles the life of young Frances who is the youngest of 10 children of Jeremiah Taylor Cherry, a Methodist Minister in Kentucky and his wife. They moved every year of this childs' young life. That was they way they did with preacher in those days. It was a new city, parsonage, and school. Everything about her life was turned upside down every year. Despite all this, she seemed so contented. The story reflects many of the people, places and friends she made. It chronicles the difficulty in leaving all this behind and the adventure of a newness. One place they lived, you could only get there by boat, imagine that! Some of the parsonages were inhabitable and others, not so much. Her mother made sure that it was clean, at least. It chronicles a time when folks took care of one another as there was no government help. Churches took care of their own and everyone belonged to a church. One chapter is called 'And Turnips filled the barn' and she discusses the many ways that her mother made turnips edible during this drought year when turnips was all folks had to pay the preacher with. In my own mothers' life, I recall her telling of her father, who was a curcuit preacher in Kansas, who would be paid by jars of green beans, maybe a pair of shoes if there happen to be a shoe man in the congreagation and whatever pennies were in the collection plate. Maybe that is why I liked this book so much is that it reminded me of some of the things that my dear mother may have gone through as a child. Anyway, it is a delightful read.
Blessings, Suzie

Ham and Broccoli Casserole

I have recently begun heavy coupon use in a challenge to myself to feed my family of 5 (including a teen boy and 2 tweens) on $100.00 per week, inlcuding toiletries and cleaning products. It has truly been a challenge and I have done about $120.00 per week.

This week, the local sale paper was a bit slim on the great deals so I had to find recipes that I could use with the things I had on hand. Along with all this, I am now a Weight Watcher and am counting points:)

So for dinner last night, I made this recipe. I got the original recipe from here and modified it to decrease the fat and points. This recipe made 8 HUGE servings at 7 points each.

Ham and Broccoli Casserole

20 oz. chopped frozen broccoli (I think I used more than that)
2 cups cooked brown rice
6 Tbsp Smart Balance Light Spread
2 cups whole wheat bread crumbs
1 large onion, chopped
3 Tbsp whole wheat flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
3 cups 2% milk
8 oz chopped ham (frozen, leftover from Easter ham)
1/2 cup Sargento Chipolte cheese(from my cheese deal this week, $2.50/pound)

Cook rice and set aside. Cook broccoli and drain. Spoon rice into sprayed 9x13 pan and then put broccoli on top. Melt butter in skillet. Measure bread crumbs and sprinkle a bit of melted butter spread onto crumbs and mix well. To skillet add onions and cook til soft. Add flour, salt and pepper, stirring constantly til bubbly. Add milk and stir til slightly thickened. Add ham and then pour it all over the broccoli/rice mixture. Sprinkle cheese then bread crumbs on top. Bake 350 for 30 minutes or til warm all the way through. Let set for 5 minutes before serving.

Simple but relatively easy meal, using things I had on hand. Everyone liked it. That is a Blessings, Suzie

Birthday Pictures for Our Young Lady

Because the children are home schooled, we don't get school pictures. Instead, we get birthday pictures. We go to Sears because the same lady has been taking my childrens' pictures since they were babies. She is very good and all the children are comfortable with her. They typically also have really good coupons in the springtime, meaning less $$. That is ALWAYS good!

I cannot believe how grown up Dear Daughter looks. She is growing into a beautiful young lady.

Enjoy, Suzie

Leadership Training for Christ

In our congregation of Christians, we have a program called Leadership Training for Christ. In fact, many congregations of the Lord's people all over the United States participate in this event on Easter weekend each year. There are several locations across the country, but we traveled to Rogers, Arkansas. All of the children in our congregation participated in Bible Bowl or Bible Quiz and did service challenge. They have been studying several hours a week since September for these events. It was a lot of fun and the children learned a tremendous amount. This years' theme was Life, Light and the Word and the Bible bowl/quiz questions were all take from the gospel of John.

Dear daughter received a gold medal in signing for the deaf. It is a beautiful hymn! She is becoming very proficient in ASL and seeks to teach the gospel to a hearing impaired person some day.

Oldest son recieved a gold medal in song leading. See it here.

And here is youngest son also doing song leading. He earned a gold medal also.

We arrived home in time for services sunday morning, however very tired.

My prayer is that the boys will grow up to be strong leaders in the Lord's Church and that dd will be grow up to be a wonderful help meet to a man who will be a church leader.

If you want to learn more about Leadership Training for Christ you can go here.

Blessings to you and your family as you find creative ways to train your children in church leadership,
Suzie