Care to play along?

I'd love it if you would.  The more players, the more fun.

Click on the box to enter your guesses.

Thrifty Thursday: Recipe Week

Notice the new Thrifty Thursday button this week?  A big thank you goes to my friend Allyson who donated her precious time to design it for me.  Feel free to add it to your post or blog by copying and pasting the html code (found under the Thrifty Thursday button in my sidebar). 

As a mentioned last week, this week is an opportunity to share thrifty recipes.  Bananas are a hot commodity in our house.  We like them slightly green but since they only stay that way a short time, when a bunch is on the counter, you've got to be quick to get one!  It usually works so that every banana is eaten except one and then there is a battle over who gets to partake.  Or occasionally, a lone banana passes its peak and no one wants it anymore.  One banana is not enough to make banana bread or banana muffins so I came up with an idea so that everyone gets to share in the goodness of that last banana. 

Banana Drinks

Slice one banana and place the chunks in the freezer for 3-4 hours or overnight.  (It works without freezing, too.  The drinks are just less icy.) 

Place frozen bananas in the blender.  Pour milk over the bananas until contents of the blender reach the 2 cup mark.  Sprinkle 1/8 cup sugar over milk.  (Or as an alternative, leave out the sugar and drizzle 1 tablespoon of chocolate syrup over milk.)  Add one tray of ice cubes (approx. 16 cubes or 2 cups) to the blender.  Blend on high until smooth and the ice no longer rattles against the sides.  Pour into glasses and enjoy!

Don't forget...

Get your recipes together to share for Thrifty Thursday's Recipe Week-- this Thursday, July 29!

(I should have the link up by 10 o'clock Wednesday night. And starting this week, you can use the Thrifty Thursday button, designed by Allyson and found in my sidebar!) 

Piles (portraits of late afternoon)

Pile of books already read...

Pile of laundry waiting to be folded...

Pile of pancakes for dinner...

Thrifty Thursday

It is possible to be thrifty without feeling deprived and I'm sharing ideas in this summer series. If you have an money-saving idea, consider sharing it on your blog and leaving your link at the bottom of this post. The only rule? Share what you know. If I've never personally tried an idea, I won't write about it. The same goes for you, but don't assume an idea is too simplistic. It could be new to someone or it could re-inspire someone else! 

(Next week is thrifty recipe week.  Do you have a recipe that is cheap to prepare or that is thrifty in that it uses up leftovers from the fridge?  Be ready to share next Thursday!)

I have a photo frame in my living room where I keep current photos of my children.  I also have a frame in my upstairs hallway where I keep a photo of the four of them together.  I long ago ran out of incentive to spend the time and money taking the kids to a portrait studio to get great framable shots.  My tip for this week is to be your own "professional" photographer.

When I am in need of a new set of shots or when I realize it has been too long since I've captured a non-candid moment, we head outside for a photo shoot.  I've taken inside formal photos inside, too, but found that the outdoors offers better lighting and more interesting backgrounds.  Not only does this plan save money, but it also saves time and frustration since a couple of my kids are too shy to smile for strangers! 

Occasionally, we desire a family shot.  Then we just trade services with another photographer.  Our go-to person is my sister whom the kids love enough to smile for! 

And those fun Christmas cards you can have printed with your family picture?  A few years ago, I designed my own and had it printed at Walmart.  Instead of paying the fancy card price, I had it printed through their photo department just like any other 4x6 print at the 4x6 price! 

Thrifty Thursday

It is possible to be thrifty without feeling deprived and I'm sharing ideas in this summer series. If you have an money-saving idea, consider sharing it on your blog and leaving your link at the bottom of this post. The only rule? Share what you know. If I've never personally tried an idea, I won't write about it. The same goes for you, but don't assume an idea is too simplistic. It could be new to someone or it could re-inspire someone else!

I am always amazed at the published statistics that show how much money it takes to raise a child from birth to adulthood.  Actually, I'm more unbelieving than anything because I know there are so many ways to save money that these figures are not taking into account.  One major way to save money is to feed your baby real food.  Notice I didn't say make your own babyfood.   Being thrifty also means being thrifty with my time and I've found that the process of cooking and pureeing and freezing and thawing special meals for the baby are not the best use of my time.  Instead, we wait to introduce solids until the baby is sitting up alone, unassisted.  He also has to be interested in food, not simply interested in putting things in his mouth.  (Our children have reached this stage anywhere between seven and eleven months.)  Once we realize Baby is ready, we give  him food straight from the table.  With Benjamin we took it a step further and offered him food exactly as we were eating it, spices and seasonings included.  We found that this eliminated the sometimes difficult transition from bland mushed meals to the regularly flavored meals the rest of us eat.  As a result, not only did we save loads of money from not buying baby cereal or baby food, we also had the benefit of a child who was willing to try and like an array of foods, from onions to lettuce to blueberries to chicken!  Saves money, saves time, saves sanity!

The Thirties

The thirties was the era when my grandparents were born.

My thirties is the decade I'll be entering on my birthday next month.

The thirties is the group of weeks I'm entering today with this pregnancy. 

The thirties.

The Wordless Post in Which Bob and Larry Mingle With the Produce at the Farmers Market

A Good Name is Better Than Great Riches

Back in February when Michelle said, "I love to hear how and why parents pick their kids' names!" I was in the throes of morning sickness and barely mustering enough energy to make it through a day.  So I put off a response...and I put it off some more...and I am just now being inspired to type out a few words on the topic! 

When I was pregnant with my first, we had a whole pool of names available to us.  We chose a boy name and a girl name well before the much-anticipated ultrasound.  When we found out he was a boy, we already knew he was to be Gavin, a name my mom had liked when naming my brother 20 years earlier (!) but my dad had vetoed.   We paired it with the middle name Christopher because Brian's middle name is also Christopher. 

When I was pregnant for the second time, name-choosing was again an easy process.  We decided to wait until after the ultrasound to choose names and when we found out she was a girl, we went back to the name we had chosen if Gavin had been a girl: Madelyn.  We tossed out many middle names before settling on Leah, which is my middle name. 

The name game took a new turn with the third pregnancy.  We decided not to find out what we were having ahead of time so we had to choose two names.  However, the names I like, Brian did not like...and the names he liked, I wasn't so crazy about.  The only thing we were sure about was that if the baby was a boy, he would have my dad's middle name (and my dad's dad's middle name): Baxter.  In the weeks before the birth, we made our decisions and when he was born and I saw that he was indeed a boy, we gave him the name Owen. 

Pregnancy number four presented another naming challenge.  We decided to find out the gender again and we also decided not to talk about names until after we knew therefore eliminating half of the difficult process.  When the tech announced we were expecting our third boy, the wheels began to turn...and turn...and turn.  We soon realized that there was only one name we both agreed on so rather than prolong the process, we settled on it right away: Benjamin.  The middle name was easy again.  We chose to give him my mom's dad's middle name: Cooper. 

The ironic thing is that though each child was given the middle name of a family member, we didn't realize until recently that they also have birthdays close to their namesakes.  Gavin Christopher (named after Brian Christopher) has a birthday the month before his daddy.  Madelyn Leah (named after me, Kristin Leah) has a birthday exactly three weeks before mine).  Owen Baxter (named after my dad, Ronald Baxter) has a birthday five days after my dad.  And Benjamin Cooper (named after my grandfather, Richard Cooper) was born just three days before his great-grandfather's birthday! 

How did you name your children?

Thrifty Thursday

It is possible to be thrifty without feeling deprived and I'm sharing ideas in this summer series. If you have an money-saving idea, consider sharing it on your blog and leaving your link at the bottom of this post. The only rule? Share what you know. If I've never personally tried an idea, I won't write about it. The same goes for you, but don't assume an idea is too simplistic. It could be new to someone or it could re-inspire someone else!

In my family, we celebrate a lot of summer birthdays.  And being the type of person that I am (obsessive compulsive, over-organized, etc.), I begin thinking of Christmas gift-giving months before the actual holiday.  I love choosing gifts, but all  this buying and giving can put a strain on the pocketbook so this week's frugal tip is: Be creative with gift-giving. 

I like to sew in the evening after the kids are in bed so I've often used those hours in crafting gifts.  I've appliqued many, many baby onesies to give at baby showers.  I've embroidered T-shirts for older children, too.  For Brian's birthday last year, I had Gavin draw a picture of his daddy and them I embroiderd the artwork onto a piece of fabric and made it into a bookmark that will be a forever heirloom. 

You don't have to be crafty to be creative either.  In the spring, I picked up a dainty ramekin at Target and filled it with a bit of potting soil and a sprig of mint from my backyard.  It held such a cheerful place on my kitchen windowsill while we waited for it to grow that Maddie and I hated to see it go when the time came to give it away! 

In our own house, we've discovered a delightful money-saving idea for Christmas morning.  Once a baby or toddler outgrows a toys, we squirrel it away in the spare bedroom.  As the child gets older, we allow them to give the toy to a sibling.  Gavin had a special affection for his corn popper toy when he first learned to walk so last Christmas when Benjamin was the same age, we let Gavin give the toy to his little brother.  Both boys were delighted and the toys now has special meaning to two little people! 

You don't have to stop with the actual gift either.  Be creative with the wrapping and the cards.  For Father's Day, my children wrapped their gifts for Brian in brown bags that they had colored and decorated themselves.  And all the beautiful paper and stamps and stickers that I collected when I still had time for scrapbooking?  Instead I use them to make easy cards and gift tags. 

Because

Because I love to bake.

Because my sister, the Sunday afternoon dessert baker, is out of state for the entire summer.

Because I am pregnant and shamelessly craving sweets.

Because it is our break from school and I have extra time during the day.

Just because.


 

Chocolate Chip Muffins, Slow Cooker Rice Pudding (with brown rice and raisins) , Blueberry Pie with a basic pastry crust,
Lemon Layer Cake with Lemony Buttercream Frosting