Thankful Thursday

What could make a mother happy with her living room looking like this? Well, let's see...there is obviously an abundance of toys. There is new, comfy furniture to rest upon. The walls are sturdy, insulated and intact. There are STILL Christmas trees in the corner (hey, I like 'em, okay?) indicating a joyful celebration. The floors are not dirt but, instead, covered and there is a healthy, happy, well-fed little boy sitting in the mist of it all. Sure, I could be furious about the mess - I often am. I get tired of picking up day after day. Heck, hour after hour, for that matter!

But, it's hard to be upset about the little things when the reality is I will never have to face the struggles, fears and dangers this mother does:
This is a Zimbabwean woman and her child fleeing across the border at Beitbridge Border post in South Africa. Can you imagine? I found this picture while going through Yahoo's Week In Photos last week.

I remember as a child, thinking how lucky I was that God could have put me anywhere but He chose to allow me to be born in the U.S.A. As an adult, I came to realize there are many great and wonderful and FREE countries in this world but I still considered myself lucky to be an American citizen by birth.

But seeing the world through a mother's eyes is what will really bring you to your knees in total and complete gratitude thanking the Lord Almighty for the wondrous and generous gifts He pours onto you. That He could have chosen to put me on this earth anywhere and yet He chose to put me here - in the lap of luxury and freedom.

The woman in the above picture has nothing but the baby on her back and no idea what will become of their futures. I have a plethora of possessions that I often complain about. Now, I ask you, what's wrong with that picture?

Thank you, Heavenly Father, for all your continuous gifts and grace upon me. May I know everyday what it is that I could be suffering. I pray for the safety, health and welfare of this mother, her child, and all who are suffering like her. Amen.

Of Course I Blame My Mother! You Can Too!

I mentioned in My 100 Things that I did not play Barbies like other little girls did. I did not dress the up to go to parties or the mall or out on dates with Ken. My Barbies did not work as noble school teachers by day and supermodels at night. They did not live in dream houses or drive hot pink convertibles or own poopfree horses in their artificially turfed backyards. Nope, my Barbies kept it real. Well, as real as it gets on your standard soap opera, that is.

You'll need a little backstory to help you understand:

You see, I was the youngest of four growing up in the quaint, little town of Rockford, Michigan. My father being a mechanic and a welder went wherever the work was and was sometimes gone days, weeks, or even months at a time. My mother stayed at home to raise the kids. Except that she really didn't do that. Now, please understand, I'm not writing what I'm about to write to mom-bash. With lots of self-therapy, deep breathing exercises and the Stuart Smalley "I'm Good Enough" series on audio, I got well past mom-bashing in 1997.

My mom was, well, rather relaxed in her parenting style and probably never put the words "parental" and "interaction" together in a sentence her entire life. She did, however, watch a heck of a lot of TV.

Like all day.

All.the.dang.day.long.

Everyday.

So much so that regardless of the fact that there was not a clock in the room, she knew exactly what time it was by what show was on. Or if Bob was spinning the wheel for the first time or second. Or if Erica Kane was in lingerie or daywear. You get the picture.

As the youngest child and not yet old enough for kindergarten, I often sat with my mother while she watched her soap operas. I can still remember avidly watching "All My Children", "General Hospital", "Days of Our Lives" and, especially, "The Edge of Night" (which is the show where I learned how babies were made - another post altogether) sitting in front of our bunny-eared, turn-dial, slightly green-tinted color TV on our burnt-red, commercial-grade carpeting with my mom laying on the couch behind me.

I won't comment on the fact that she used to call me out of my bedroom to change the channel for her. Nope, I'll just leave that little tidbit out and continue with my every intriguing story. No mom-bashing here, I tell you!

Okay, so how do the Barbies fit in? Well, if you pay attention to your kids at all, and I know you do, you know that whatever they see or experience in real life they reenact in play. So it was with me and my Barbies. Like I said, no trips to the mall, convertibles or colon-free horses for my dolls. Nope. But my Barbies did have unhappy marriages, affairs, divorces, unplanned pregnancies, alcohol addictions, drama, tragedies, murder mysteries, back-stabbing friends and the occasional sexual indiscretion.

Keep in mind - I WAS FIVE!

But the worst of it came years later when my dad decided one day that I was too old for dolls and put everything Barbie into a garage sale while I was at school. He missed, however, one Barbie, a dining table, a small Asian child doll and a few accessories. With what few items I had left, I did what any successful soap opera does - I spun-off!

The new story centered around Barbie and her adopted Asian child doll, Kim as they rebuilt their lives as the sole survivors of a devastating fire that destroyed their entire town. It was an instant hit and had a successful two or three year run. I can't really remember. And I will happily tell you that Barbie did pull herself up by her high-heel, leatherette Gloria Vanderbilt bootstraps and made a good life for her and Asian child doll Kim and eventually did get that poopfree horse in the artificially turfed backyard afterall!

But what I really want to know is:

Did Alexis make top fashion designer/model/shopping mall owner or did her past as a exotic dancer finally catch up with her?

Was Stormy able to quit her ADD medication addiction and get off the street to, once and for all, provide a stable home environment for her daughter Rainy?

Did business rivals Jade and Colt come to terms with their love for one another while in the mist of a hostile takeover? Or did their flames of passion cause their business deals to burn out?

Did Mariah-Rose ever hear back from the Maury Povich show and will she be able to let her Baby Daddy back in her life despite not really remembering who he is anyway?

And will Star be able to escape her captors and make it back in time for her own wedding before her fiance marries her backstabbing maid of honor sister?

Stay tuned!

Mommy Tip Tuesday

Welcome to the inaugural post of Mommy Tip Tuesday! Here's my tip for the week:

Cookie cutters aren't just for cookies! My daughter is a picky-picky eater. She will adamantly proclaim she does not like a certain food before ever trying it. She was the only child I knew who didn't like PB&J sandwiches. As one who considers a good PB&J a food staple, this was something I just could not abide!

I remember reading once that children not only want their food to taste appealing but to look appealing as well. So one day, I cut out the center of a PB&J with a bunny shaped cookie cutter and presented it to her that way. It was an instant hit and she's been eating them ever since. We have a variety of cutter shapes and I very wisely allow her to decide the shape each time.

Sometimes it's flower PB&J. Sometimes it's butterfly PB&J. Sometimes it's a house and sometimes it's a sheep. Heck, she's even gotten radical and chosen the CIRCLE cutter, of all things but, hey, as long as she's eating I don't care!

We've used the cookie cutters with pancakes, cheese crisps and pizza, too!

Got a Mommy Tip you'd like to share? Please blog about it and add your name and website to the Mr. Linky below. Please link back to me in your post so others know where to find me and add their own tips. Be sure to come back next week and share another Mommy Tip with everyone!

Simple Sunday

Super Savings Saturday

This is how we CVS, we CVS, we CVS

This is how we CVS so early in the morning!

Happy Super Savings Saturday, everyone! I hope you all enjoyed the CVS deals this week like I did and came home fat & happy with ECB's to burn! After a few weeks of, "eh" deals at CVS I was just thrilled with this weeks semi-annual beauty sale, plus many other good deals. Here's what I got:

Trip #1

Okay, whatcha see there is $133.35 worth of stuff. Hard to believe, huh? But there's some expensive stuff in that pile. For example, that little red box right up front is lip plumper by 24.7, priced $19.99! Ouch! Keep an eye out for my Product Review on that little tart. Anyway, with my coupons ($21.53), and ECB's ($29.97) and in-store savings ($28.05) and CVS gift card ($14.36), my total came down to $39.44 OOP.

I left with $39.00 in ECB's. So, all in all, I got everything you see above for .44 cents!

Also, one thing I try to do is walk out of the store with more ECB's than I walked in with. So far, I've been able to do this with every CVS trip! *happy dance*

Trip #2

Since my first trip did not yield me any of the Spa Radiant Body Wash, I made a second trip the next day to a different CVS. In this picture is $43. 78 worth of stuff. After coupons ($1.75) and ECB's ($31.00) and in-store savings ($2.00), my total came to $9.03 OOP.

I left with $38.00 in ECB's. Thereby coming out ahead $28.97. And, again, walked out with more ECB's than I walked in with! *BIG happy dance*

Stuff that makes me giddy.

Two of my favorite things were deals at CVS this week. Neither of these, btw, netted me ECB's but this is just an example of the other great stuff CVS does for their customers. The foundation I prefer is L'Oreal Bare Naturale. Normally, this stuff is $14.99 for one. This week CVS had them B1G1 free, plus I had a $2 off coupon knocking the price for both down to $12.99. Gotta love it! Ultimately, as they were part of Trip #1, I got them for FREE, anyway!

Also, the Colgate ($2.99 ea.) was B1G1 and I had a manufacturer's coupon for $1.50 plus a CVS coupon for $1.00. Yes, that's right, for those of you who didn't know - CVS will let you stack coupons! So, really, I paid .49 cents for two tubes of toothpaste. But, again, not really as they were also part of Trip #1.

But what I really love is - THAT'S PLAIN OL' TOOTHPASTE, PEOPLE! Not that fancy-schmancy whitening/baking soda/peroxide/magic dust toothpaste you see everywhere. I have a booger of a time finding PLAIN toothpaste. Thank you, CVS for keeping us PLAIN folk in mind!

Stuff that makes her giddy.

CVS's quarterly bonus ECBs came out this week and I earned an extra $6.50! Okay, so I'm not going to be taking a cruise with this amount, but still, it's FREE MONEY. Since I had to lug the little people in my life to two CVS's this week and since the pretty blond one was on her bestest behavior and since every.single.time we go to CVS she begs to look at the sunglasses only to leave empty handed, I decided to splurge my quarterly earnings on her. Whatcha think? That's one cute kid, huh? I think so!

Head of over to Crystal's place at MoneySavingMom.com to see the other great deals that have been had this week. And then next week - post yours!

My 100 Things

It seems the thing to do. I see this on several blogs I peruse - 100 things about that person. Well, just like in 7th grade, I want to be in the "In" crowd, one of the popular kids and sit at the cool table. And, as it happens, just like in 7th grade, my hair right now is a fright!

So...here we go! The first ten:

100. I have a secret crush on Topher Grace from "That 70's Show".

99. I did not have one speck of morning sickness with either of my pregnancies. As a matter of fact, my pregnancies were a breeze!

98. I did not play Barbies like other little girls did. My Barbies did not dress up in bridal gowns, hop on their sparkly pink horses and ride to the mall to meet Ken. Hmm...maybe I'll write a post on this next week and tell you what my Barbies did. Dum-dum-dummm!

97. According to my husband, I'm an enigma. So some of these "100 things" will probably contradict each other. Don't bring it up as I will have no explanation for it. Roll with it.

96. I will go absolutely freaking nuts if I see a cockroach or a spider that is bigger than a nickel but I'm perfectly fine with rats and snakes.

95. It still freaks me out to stand next to the bed after I've turned out the lights. I hop in almost immediately.

94. When I was six years old I told my dad I wanted to grow up to be a Playboy Bunny. He said I could be anything I wanted to be. Really the perfect answer when you think about it.

93. I will choose strawberry ice cream over any other flavor 10 - 1.

92. I once started reading the dictionary and got as far as K. Though I did read ahead to Q because it was a really short segment. Not X though, I don't know why. Hmm...

91. I once got so scared while watching "Nightmare On Elm Street" in the theater that I accidentally kicked the person seated in front of me in the head.

90. Number 91 still cracks me up to this day. *snort*

Well, that's it for now. That was harder than it looks. It may take me awhile to come up with a full list. Stay tuned.

Oh, and for the record - I DID sit at the cool table in 7th grade. See, my friend Tami was friends with this girl Regina and Regina was THE popular girl in school so I got to sit at her table by association. And she was all, "That's cool" and I was all, like, "Thanks" and then she was all, "No pro-blem-o" and I was all, like, "Wow! Popular and bilingual!"

Yep. The cool table - where I belong.

Thankful Thursday

It's a wonderful and beautiful Thankful Thursday again over at Sting My Heart. Won't you join us?

I'm giving this particular post the alternative title:

2,874,395 Second Chances.

Here's why:

My daughter has been particularly difficult this last week. Heck, she's been driving me downright bonkers! I don't know what it is, but I do know I just don't have the patience for her typical not-quite-four year old stuff. I won't go into details because if you currently have a four year old, or once had a four year old, or know of a four year old or have ever seen a picture of a four year old in a book then you know what I'm talking about.

This week, as I was tried and tested repeatedly, I was reminded of something a friend of mine (also the owner of a not-quite-four year old) once said about disciplining his child. One night, his daughter was particularly disobedient and he became angry, scolded her and put her in her room. He was at a loss of how to deal with her as she had been acting up recently. He reflected on how the Lord deals with him when he is disobedient to His Word. He realized that, in his life, God had always shown patience and understanding and corrected firmly yet with love and that God always gave him another chance. He realized that he was to do the same with his daughter.

Remembering my friend's experience and insight throughout this week has helped me greatly in dealing with my daughter. I remind myself that I, too, am a child here on this earth and that my Father in Heaven is trying repeatedly to get me to "grow up right". I'm ever thankful of His patience, grace, understanding and loving correction but most of all, I'm thankful for His

2,874,395 - oops! Make that 2,874,396 (and counting) second chances.