My Dilemma

So I'm totally addicted to a few Facebook selling groups. Like, swap n shop type groups, you know? I have bought and sold more stuff on these sites in the past 2 months than you can possibly imagine.

I love it.
It's a high.
Now there's a problem.
I don't have much else to sell.
I have literally WIPED OUT my daughter's closet, and my "other closet".

I mean, actually it's really awesome. I have managed to sell enough of her old clothes, that I have replenished her wardrobe for the spring and summer virtually without spending any money. THAT is quite an accomplishment, if I say so myself! See, my personal goal is to make sure I do not spend more than I make. Sounds easy, right? We all have "crap" that's a "treasure" to someone else, right?

I'm out of crap.
Literally.
I've gotten rid of everything I can think of.
Now I can't buy any of the great deals I see unless I want to sell more stuff.
Ohhh, the dilemma.
I will lose sleep over this.
Oh man...

Motherly Monday

 Last week Savanna and I had fun with a couple of little summertime projects. I, by no means, have a green thumb, but oh, I hope her flowers will bloom soon! She LOVES flowers, and she is so excited to grow her own! We planted Four o'clocks, Allysum, and Viola. So, let's hope I remember the basics: water & sunshine. :)



Secondly, we made bird feeders. One for our place, and two to hang at Mimi's house. So far, the birds don't seem the slightest bit interested, but let's hope they catch on and eat my baby's bird seed! She had so much fun making her bird feeders (and eating the peanut butter!), but she's a little confused as to why the birds aren't eating. They'll catch on, right? I hope so!

Here's how we made ours:
1-Punched 2 holes at the top of some emptied toilet paper rolls
2-Spread peanut butter on the rolls
3-Rolled the covered roll in bird seed
4-Strung twine through the holes & tied at the top
Voila!

I really need some more fun projects for my little nature-loving kiddo to do. Any ideas?




 

Wordless Wednesday

Motherly Monday

(I have no idea why none of my scheduled posts are showing up. Hopefully it's fixed now. See here's Motherly Monday coming to you on Tuesday!)

If you're my FB friend, you probably see lots and lots of posts about my 3-year old and her funny/grown up little remarks and conversations that we have. It's never a dull moment with her around! Here are a few of the most recent things she has entertained me with...

She's obsessed with bugs, and everything is a spider:

Savanna: Mom, come here, I want to tell you something.
Me: You need to tell me something? Or show me something?
Savanna: I need to show you something.
(walking over to where she's stooped over.)
Savanna: I see lots of spiders.
Me: Those are ants, not spiders, and they won't hurt you, I promise.
Savanna: I think I need a flyswatter.
Me: Okay, go get it. Or just use your shoe...
(a few minutes later.)
Savanna: I got LOTS of ants on my shoe!
(Showing me the bottom of her shoe, where she's killed 3 ants)
Me: You go, girl.

She's incredibly curious about the moon and she's a true Mouseketeer:

Savanna: Mom! I found the moon!

Me: Oh, you sure did. There it is!

Savanna: I can't reach it, it's too high.

Me: Yep, the moon is wayy up there!

Savanna: Hmm, I think we need a mouseketool. Ohhh TOODLES!!

The concept of Big/Little is still mind-blowing right now. But she loves to remind me of how "big" I am (And apparently Crystal too!):

Me: Savanna, how would you feel about a brother or sister?

Savanna: Hmm, I want a big brother.

Me: Well, that's not exactly how it works. How about a baby brother or baby sister?

Savanna: No, I want a big brother like daddy.

Me: Oh, okay.

Savanna: Is daddy your big brother, momma?

Me: No, I don't have a brother. I have a sister, Aunt Crystal. She's my baby sister.

Savanna: Aunt Crystal's not a baby. She's big, mom, like you.

Me: Awesome. We'll talk about this later. ;) 

5-1-5-0

Does anyone, besides me, sit around on Friday nights, listening to the police scanner? Anyone?
It's usually triggered when I hear the helicopter flying somewhere around this part of town. Sometimes it's paranoia, and sometimes it's just plain ol' curiosity. Sometimes it's just nice to have a little noise in the silence.

Here are 2 of the interesting things I heard last night:

Dispatcher: I have a Crown Victoria with 2 black  females. Caller said they got out of the car at the McDonald's, started fighting, got back inside and drove off with a child inside.
Response: The females are fighting with each other, or someone else?
Dispatcher: With each other
Response: 10-4 copy that.


Dispatcher: I have a call coming from Arlington street, regarding the vacant house across the street from the caller. The caller said a vehicle pulled up and dropped somebody off at the vacant house. Now they are backing down the street with no headlights.
Response: Was their a description of  the vehicle?
Dispatcher: She just said it was a small car...
Response: 10-4.

Usually Friday or Saturday are some of the more interesting nights, obviously. This Friday was kind of slow, which I'm not complaining of course, but I'll keep taking notes and maybe do a whole post of the best ones I hear. Oh, and if police scanner mumbo jumbo baffles you like it used to me, click here for a website that breaks it all down for you...

Back with Books

It's been...18 months...I think. Wow, long time. I don't know if I just captured the "blog fever" again, or I have missed my online writing outlet. Either way, here we go...

I'm not going to try to catch everyone up on what's gone on with us the past 18 months, or try to post a year and a half worth of boring pictures. If you're reading this, we're probably already Facebook friends or family! ;) So, here's what's been on my mind. It's like this...

*My 2012 new year's resolution of READING.

Sound goofy? It has truly been the only new year's resolution that I've stuck with past February. Ever. It wasn't easy. Actually, truthfully, I didn't even crack open a book until the last week January. And that's because part of my resolution/goal was to read at least one book a month. For a yearly total of 12 books. Considering I haven't read a book since my semesters in college, I knew this was going to be a huge task! As January started creeping by, my resolution was screaming loud and clear in the back of my mind every day.

See, this is the weird part...I love going to bookstores and looking at books, reading the synopsis, and even buying books! Then I bring them home, and they sit on my bookshelf, unread, collecting dust. Stupid, right?! Why do I keep doing this?! I had good intentions. My intent was always to actually read the book. I just never did.

So, as January is coming to an end, I notice lots of my friends posting on FB about The Hunger Games. Never heard of it, but man, these people love it! And it's a trilogy. Even better. Something good, that will make me want to read more. Perfect. So, I go to the local Walmart and buy the paperback copy for a whopping $6+. Bring it home, and start reading. 48 hours later, I'm hooked. I love reading. I want to go out and buy the next book.

As the weeks and months have crept on, I find myself researching more and more books to read. One thing I just can't help but do...read a book that I KNOW is getting ready to be a movie! I just get so excited to be one of "those people" that watch a movie after they've read the book. I always thought that was so cool, I just never did it. Now I'm one of them. Yay! But as many of "those people" always say.."The books are SO much better than the movies!"

So, as it stands...on April 26, 2012...I have a read a grand total of 11 books so far. And I am not stopping anytime soon. It has become my new passion. And I'm really excited about it!

Any book recommendations out there? I love recommendations!

Frugal Friday

Man, I love saving money. I absolutely love raiding the clearance rack at Kroger to find cheap markdowns. And then I love having coupons for those products and getting them for dirt-cheap or free! How do I get them free, you may ask? Like this:


You check the dairy section of your local Kroger for their "Manager's Special" markdowns on yogurt that's only a couple of days from expiring. (For me, this means checking before I clock in, on my lunch break, and before I leave for the day. But I'm obsessed, so...) Then you combine these cheap yogurt specials with your handy-dandy coupons you cut from your Sunday paper, and if you shop at Kroger, they double up to 55 cents, so...your total is $0 + tax! :)


Here's another fabulous Manager special I snagged a couple of weeks ago:

(4) Softsoap refills at $1.49 each

(2) Softsoap Hand Soaps at $0.49 each

-minus-

(2) $0.75/2 Refill Coupons

(2) $0.30/1 Hand Soap Coupons (doubled, which made these FREE)

=equals=

$4.50 +tax for LOTS of handsoap!

And the last deal for today.Who likes cheap laundry detergent?! Better yet, who likes cheap TIDE?!...
48-load bottles of Tide Clean Breeze marked down to $3.99 each! Add (4) $1 coupons, and that's some fabulously-priced detergent!

I've decided that our money is, well, hard-earned, so it's worth my time and effort to cut coupons and bargain-shop. I also LOVE sharing my coupons! It's so much fun to dig through my mom's shopping cart when I see her at the store, and say "Hey, I have a coupon for that! Here!" I may not have an extra $2 in my pocket to just hand her, but when I give her my coupons, it's kind of like I'm doing just that. :)