Tristan River

He's a mess.

He's one cool dude...he can save the world.

He's my third little ... he's a best friend....he's a knight in an elf's hat. 

He's a cuddle monkey, a quilt lover, a daddy's treasure. 

He's addicted to ice. He's a strawberry blond wonder. He's magical. 

He's a scientist, a discoverer. He's curious about the world around him.

He's learning to read and doing wonderfully. He sings beautifully even though he is challenged in speech. He is a miracle. 

He is crafty...he's in love with shapes and colors. Sound effects amaze him and he can reproduce most of them with his two little lips and his pink tongue. 

He's learning to use scissors and tries really hard even though fine motor skills are challenging. He doesn't quit. He is a hard worker. 

He is scared of loud noises...of unsmiling faces. He loves the words "I love you" and at night time says "a hug an a kiss fo twisty?" (a hug and a kiss for Tristy?) He is endearing. 

He is a big helper, he is brave...he's the apple of my eye. He is the essence of beauty. Tristan River is an angel and has captured my heart and everyone else's who is willing to spend a little extra time getting to know him. He is going to rock this world.

Finances on Friday

Here We Go Again...

 How I saved and spent our money this week...

For just the pure heck of it. 

- The kids and I made our big batch of laundry soap. This time around I had to buy the borax and washing soda which cost about 10 dollars total...I was able to make a five gallon bucket of laundry soap and I still will have enough washing soda and borax to make another 10 gallons. So...you do the math - cheap cheap cheap!!! That should be enough for the entire year... depending on how dirty my kids get. 

- I slaved away at couponing this week and found several good deals on things we use. At check out I saved $32.00 bucks in coupons making our weekly groceries $80.00. Considering the fact that I don't have a garden or chickens that lay eggs or cows to slaughter (which I wouldn't anyways) I think that's a respectable total for a family of 6.

- I found sprouted organic bread on closeout for $2.19 a loaf so bought 5 loaves to shove in the freezer

- I found Applegate Farms (no preservatives, fillers, vegetarian grain fed, no antibiotic, gluten and casein free) hot dogs marked down to $2.20 a package so bought two for the freezer. I would like to interject here since many of my readers are new to  me blog.. my husband and I have two boys with autism so we are very selective in what we feed them ... mostly we live a preservative, food dye free life and I try to avoid gluten whenever possible. I'm vegetarian (I usually eat at least 75% raw ) and also can't eat legumes so meals can be challenging but we are managing just fine...especially when God give us little surprises like fun hot dogs for kids and sprouted bread and huge bags of Costco carrots ! I have given up some of my personal preferences ...mainly the amount of produce I eat...for the sake of the family budget. So far I'm still living.  

- I found a deal where I could buy 4 boxes of puff kleenexs and then there was a digital store coupon for them PLUS when I checked out they printed me off a $2.00 off my next shopping trip - bringing them down to .44 a box. 

- I found coffee creamer for my husband super duper cheap. Coffee cream is one thing I buy every week that is a pure luxury and full of high fructose corn syrup. The man has tried half and half with stevia, honey...lots of options and he still prefers his International Delight Hazelnut creamer - as hard as he works I think he deserves it. His high fructose consumption might shave a year off his life, but in the end...we will know he started his morning off comfortably and tastily. It's all good. (I may even indulge from time to time...shhhhhhh)

- we received our federal tax return this week and were able to pay off our smaller credit card completely and put a rather hefty chunk on our larger credit card.

- Zac called Comcast and tried to bring down our bill to no avail. So he canceled them and was able to get Century Link for half the price then what we usually pay a month AND they are sending us a prepaid Visa card for the same amount as the "hook up" fees.

- Found out that at the fire department there MIGHT be a test Zac can take where he can get a little extra every month because he speaks Spanish. We won't know about this until next month.

Now...for how we SPLURGED. 
Yes...I have to be honest so people actually know we are human.

The morning we went to get our groceries our car battery was dead...in the -7 degree weather. My poor Zac had to scrape ice and jump the car...we all loaded up and drove straight to Wal Mart (my least favorite store on earth) and was able to get us a new battery, then trade in the old for some cash back. So, unexpected expense. 

Next, I found a set of frames that I LOVED for our wedding pictures. It has been ten years and I still have no pictures for my walls, I have tried contacting our photographer at least 5 times to get prints to no avail. So, I made the choice to take out a few of our pictures from our, ahem...professional rather costly albumn, so I could have a couple pictures for my walls. All in all, I'm pleased with decision because I can actually enjoy seeing my pictures instead of them all being tucked away in a box under my bed. Back to the frames. I found exactly what I wanted...for full price. I'm generally a thrift store frame shopper...or at least a highly discounted frame shopper - but this time I threw caution to the wind and got exactly what I wanted. They are simple, rustic...and the mat looks like tweed or something. I love them. 

I took Trinity to Hobby Lobby for "girl time" and she found this adorable giraffe that she has been wanting for a couple of months. I had looked them up at Toys r Us and on Amazon and the going price was about $7.95. At Hobby Lobby they are $5.99 PLUS you can use your 40% off coupon. She was rather smiley all the way home...I mean, Binky Boos are all the rage now...or didn't you know?

For this week coming up...I'm afraid a toaster purchase will be in the near future as ours is now down to only one side working (makes a simple meal like ,toast, for a family of 6 ...a huge ordeal.) I think this time I'm going to do some wheelin' and dealin' and may invest in a nice 4 slot toaster. Tis a dream...we will see if it comes to fruition. 

ALSO, our coffee maker is blinking on and off. We have had it about 4 years and it's also just a simple brand (I think it cost about $20 dollars.) We will see if we can repair it, if not...more wheelin' and dealin'. 

How we saved and gave...

- we have a portion of Zac's pay check deposited into a savings account automatically

- gave to World Vision

- tithed to our church

- Zac was in a check out line at the thrift store and the lady in front of him was trying to pay for her total and came up short. Zac took over the bill and according to him all of the women looked at him with awe and said things like "now that's a nice man" and "wow...just wow." The total? It was $6.00. I have done this at the dollar tree from time to time...covered someone's measly $1.00 and people have looked absolutely shocked. I think it's just a teeny bit sad that giving little bits to help out another person or make them smile is kind of...not as common as it should be? We live in a world where no one blinks at buying a $3.00 cup of coffee but to give a buck to a lady needing a pregnancy test....or a pack of gum...or a pair of shoes at the thrift store...now THAT'S a big deal. I am happy to know that I'm with a man who loves to make another's load lighter when he can. 

That's it folks....My open book financial status for the week.

linked up with Rebecca 

That Kind of Day

... It's an apple and peanut butter kind of day

... it's a Saturday morning cartoon kind of day

... it's a "catch up on workbooks" day

... it's a "watch your big sister" kind of day

... it's a "can't go out to play " day

... it's a "the snow is 4 inches deep" day

... it's a winter wonderland day

... it's a "the sun is shining and all's right with the world" day

... it's a homey day

...it's a "everyone is welcome" but nobody comes day

... it's a good day to stay home

... it's a hot cup of tea day

... it's a 30 degrees day

... it's a "have to learn by myself that snow is cold day"

... it's a Keens and a diaper and shirt day - nothing else

... it's a good day to make a movie

... it's a good day to dress up and pretend you own the world

... it's a good day to have an imagination or you would be bored stiff

... it's a play day

... a story day

...it's a first day of potty training day

... it's a "i love my new undies" kind of day

... it's a "decorate the bathroom with potty decor" day

... it's a "big sister shows me the ropes " kind of day

... it's a learning day

... not a drop of make up day

... a wearing your sweatpants day

... not a hairbrush in sight kind of day

... it's a marker day

... it's an art day

... it's a colorful world on the inside day, a white world on the outside

... it's a blue eye day

... a rosy cheek day

... a "be still my heart" day

... it's a day for making laundry soap

... it's a day to be big

... it's a day to tackle projects

... it's a "I can do anything" day

... it's a "six year olds can do more than people think" day

... it's a "watch my big sister day" (again and again and again over...)

...it's a "ahhhh...what's up doc?" kind of day

... it's a sandwich and fruit day

... it's a "no fuss" day

... it's a thankful day

... it's a occupational therapy day

... it's a real life lesson kind of day

... it's a "we may not know the root of all numbers " but we can make a sandwich and clean our bathroom" kind of day

... it's a Link day (Zelda character or so I'm told)

... it's a day full of hugs, full of laughing, full of quiet life

... It's that kind of day

Finances On Friday...A Day Early

Rebecca over at Renaissance (her lovely blog is in my sidebar)  has inspired me to link up to her Financial Fridays. The whole idea of writing, thinking, and being accountable with one's finances can be rather daunting. I mean...it's personal. Most of us don't like to be "out there" with our money for fear that people will either think we have too much or too little...they may judge how we use it or think that we are "holier than thou" because of extreme couponing or what have you. I never suffer from any of these worries...(no, just ALL of them and then some.)
 Let me start at the beginning.
 Zac and I use to be completely debt free. Neither of us think that people are "less than" or not wise with their money IF they are in debt - but we have always wanted to be even if that meant being really super duper uber frugal. We just wanted the freedom of not owing - of not losing money in interest on credit cards.
 Then life happened...poverty happened...kids happened (DIAPERS)...medical bills happened...bed bugs happened...autism happened...moving happened. Lots happened - and we got into debt without a way to get out. I guess compared to the national average of debt we are at the bottom...or so they say - but it's still too much for my brain. I can't STAND making credit card payments - it makes me feel like I'm not doing what I could be doing...like sponsoring more children or giving my kids piano lessons or saving for a down payment on a house or supporting more missionaries. I just feel restrained by debt.
 This year our goal is to pay of the last half of our credit card. We have no car payments at present, we are renting....so that just leaves the last bit on our card from moving cross country and paying for Tristan's evaluation last year. We have all or our medical bills paid of finally (knock on wood.)
 In order to pay off our debt...this year we are going to try our best to tighten our belts and never lay down the Credit card - just use our debit cards. Along with this, we are going to try to not spend. When we do, we are going to attempt to get the best deal possible on whatever it is we need. We want to be thrifty buying gifts, enjoying eating out when we have a coupon or an excellent deal - but basically...no splurging.

For us, what use to be our way of life has now become a novelty. What?! Not use our card when we get such excellent rewards?!!!! Yes. This is why. Sometimes I buy things intending to pay them off with the next pay check, and it doesn't happen because unexpected things come up and we aren't able to pay the $40 bucks or the $100.00 bucks or whatever amount it is. If we can't pay for it, we shouldn't have it.
 But Alyssa, you are just putting guilt on yourselves. There is nothing wrong with a little bit of debt. God understands that we live in a world of needing good credit and you can't have good credit if you don't have a credit score...and you need credit cards and loans to get a good credit score. God doesn't care about your money. Christians don't need to be THAT serious about the whole money issue...it's such a small issue.
 Well, actually .... I'm not sure how many people are aware of this...but in the Bible there are 500 verses on prayer, 500 on faith, and....wait for it....

 2,000

verses on money.

That tells me this is real...this is important...how we handle our money (no matter how little or how much we have) is important. Handling money WELL...is wise.

So, here's how we do finances on Fridays. Basically it's just a blog post of different ways we have saved during the week...goals...whatever we want to say but it's about us and our money and our habits.
You may wonder what the fruit pictures have to do with this. It's simply, my habit. My expensive habit - I'm a juicer. My first goal for the month of February is to cut our grocery bill by 20 dollars a week. This may seem small...but it's a good starting place for me. I already don't spend very much for a family of 6 - I could do a little better I think if I would start planning our all of my week's menu again - and if I would just stick with carrot/apples/kale for the juicer. I have gotten back into couponing but I'm not compromising my personal convictions on what it is that I want to feed my family. I could have bought 5 frozen pizzas for my family for under 10 bucks today with coupons...I didn't buy any. We are not going to eat crap. I would rather give up something else then to give up healthy foods.
 So....with all that said...here we go: Our Finances on Friday (well...Thursday)

- I have been wanting to decorate the boys room FINALLY after living here for a year and a half. I found some cute stuff on etsy and was rather tempted to purchase some prints - but then realized that would be spending MONEY so I drew and painted the pictures myself with paper, pencils, paints, and a canvas I already had on hand. They aren't perfect and not what my perfectionist brain would LIKE to have in the boy's room...but they are cute and they work and they were basically free.

- found a green frame at Ikea for $2.50 .... that was the total cost out of pocket for 3 pieces of art.

 - We have also been wanting to make Trin's room a little more "big girlish" - I just switched stuff around in the house to meet the need. I let her have my black and white pillow, our old white duvet, I painted her an aspen tree painting for her wall...and we bought a set of pillowcases with fairies on them at the thrift store for .79 . We are looking for a desk...I think I've been to every thrift store around, searched Craigslist and the clearance sections of ALL stores - no luck. We will keep looking - my budget for the desk is $20.00 so when I find it...I find it. When I don't, she goes without. No biggie.
- I printed and used at least $30.00 bucks in coupons this week (all of the coupons I used were for things on my list.)
- I did an online survey that I found on my grocery receipt and it entered me into a sweepstakes and I got extra fuel points credited to my rewards card
- bought two loaves of organic bread in the close out section
- free redbox rental
- made the kids snacks this week instead of buying boxed items
- had our kids eat what we were eating (a novelty idea for a family with sensory issues and autism but somehow it worked and there were no tears
- skipped the weekly trip to the dollar tree

 - filed our tax return and was rather shocked how much less we get this year now that we don't have food stamps or any type of medicaid. Let me tell you, Zac makes more then he ever has but since we don't actually get any government assistance anymore and he pays union dues...the only difference in our standard of living is that we pay all of our bills with our own income. There isn't more "spending" money ...and we get less back in our tax return even though we pay more taxes. Hmmmm....one wonders....
 I'm thankful for the help we had when we couldn't make ends meet...but I also am not a fan of the middle class being almost, ummmm, punished or something for paying more taxes.
- thankful we can pay our own bills

- found an awesome CLEAN and firm chair that SPINS (great for the boys sensory/stimulation needs) at the thrift store for 12 dollars (it was half off Saturday at goodwill)
- saved $50.00 this week in our savings account (every bit helps)
- gave to our sponsored children and pulled out ones to have in our car for the many homeless people
- went to target to get one last little gift for Zac's birthday and found two other cute items on clearance...put them back last minute realizing they weren't life and death.
- got my ingredients to make another batch of homemade laundry detergent

- drank the teas we had on hand instead of picking up a new flavor....shopped at one store instead of driving 10 miles to save .50 on something...made sesame tofu instead of ordering take out.

 That's about it. I'm not sure if I feel relieved or dumb writing all of this out but either way...I'm linked up now so I gotta do it. Bear with me. :)

oops...forgot to add that we canceled Netflix since we found out with my Amazon prime account we can already access a TON of shows and movies through our Xbox

Boxcars

Tonight was Boxcar Movie Night ...and , no, not at my house. I could never come up with something as creative as that (well...maybe not.) The Awanas program at our church has pretty much saved my proverbial "motherhood bacon" this year. Every week I have to become creative in a way that I just, generally, would not. In the past I have used a lot of excuses to not do certain projects with my kids. You know..."I don't have the time" and "that would be messy" or my personal favorite... "we don't have the money." Well, I have no more excuses anymore. I mean, I could decide not do the projects, or do them half way...but only about 50 people would know. That's about 50 too many for my liking. Oh yes, bring accountability into the picture and I'm all over it...like "white on rice" as they say. 

Brady wanted an airplane and thanks to Zac and his awesome duct tape abilities...the dream became a reality. The cost? Two dollars for the green shiny paper (dollar tree) and about 4 hours of grinding grueling cardboard cutting and tape sticking and feeling like the project would last forever. Zac did swell and Brady was pleased. 

The best part...room for more passengers. :) That's pretty important around here. 

On the side of his plane we wrote the verse :

"You lift me up to the wind and cause me to ride; 

 And You dissolve me in a storm 

Job 30:22 (NASB) 

Rather fitting 

I took on Trinity's project ... I'm sure it isn't obvious in the least that I was involved... 

Well, maybe a little bit. The fact that it exudes "lets run through the woods barefoot and eat only berries for four months" or "heal the land with herbs and roots" and "let love fly" ... nope, not one bit of earth mama influence here. 

Isn't the dream catcher smashing?! Once again...the cost was minimum. A roll of brown paper from the dollar tree and I found the dream catcher at a thrift store for 3 bucks. I guess my "it's too expensive to create things" excuse is gonna have be thrown in the bag, and smashed up and then burned....and then buried...and then have a seed planted and a flower grow. 

Trinity wanted to add the "God is Love" and the art work is purely hers. We did add a verse banner to the canoe and some multicolored ribbons last minute. The verse she picked out for the banner is lovely...one of my very favorites...

'For behold, the winter is past, 

The rain is over and gone. 

 'The flowers have already appeared in the land; 

The time has arrived for pruning the vines, 

And the voice of the turtledove has been heard in our land. 

Song of Solomon 2:11-12

I was thinking she might like something more along the "still waters" line but she liked this one...I'm sure the words "flowers" and "turtledoves" had nothing to do with it. 

As for this little Trinity Sky girl, she won. 

Beatrix

A few years back, when Trinity was about 3 or 4, her Great Aunt Robin sent her a lovely sky blue book The Complete Works of Beatrix Potter. It was so gorgeous and heavy and "real" that I put it aside for when the kids were a bit older for fear they would rip the pages or not completely "appreciate" the works of a true artist and author. Then, a couple days ago I saw that my Amazon Prime account had added the new (well, "newish") movie Miss Potter , and I thought of Trinity and the lovely book and how far she has come in her reading and knew she would love the film.
 So we sat , tea in hand, snuggled under my great grandmother's quilt,  and laughed and cried our way through the story together. Trinity was completely delighted with the movie and loved how talented Beatrix was with her watercolors...

 Then , when she found out we HAVE the book with many of the prints and ALL of the stories from Miss Potter herself...squirrel almost came unglued (in a very, very good way.) She held the book so carefully and would flip the pages and recognize the pictures from the movie and "ooh" and "ah" and giggle over the funny names of the characters.

  What surprised me most is that for the rest of the day I would find her alone, sitting...READING out loud, and she could make out almost all of the words in the book. I loved the fact that she could understand the stories even though the style of writing is quite strange in comparison to more modern children's tales.
 As for me, I was quite inspired to try watercolors. I love the softness of the painting...almost as if each picture is covered with a cloud.

 Trinity has a lot in common with Beatrix Potter. She loves life and sees life in everything...she talks to trees, makes dolls out of clothespins, is constantly writing and drawing...she loves being outside even if by herself - fairies are real to her and flowers have lives...she is full of wonder and light. She is full of stories of her own...she is an artist in her own way.

“Believe there is a great power silently working all things for good, behave yourself and never mind the rest.” 
― Beatrix Potter

“Thank goodness I was never sent to school; it would have rubbed off some of the originality.” 
― Beatrix Potter