Bonding With Books~

Once upon a time there was a little girl who wanted her brother to read her a story.
Brother lovingly said, yes! Thou brother is only 10 he knows the importance of reading and enjoys sharing time with his sister making memories with her that will last a lifetime~

Do you remember books and stories from your childhood?

Can you still see the pictures in your mind even though you may not have seen the book in years?

What was your favorite story or book as a child?

My mom was hard of hearing so she really never read to us much.....but I remember my first grade teacher Mrs.Pen, she wore her hair in a cone shaped bee hive. It looked like the top of a ink pen. LOL

She read Eric Carls "The Very Hungry Caterpiller" to me for the first time and it became my favorite childhhood book. I loved all the holes on the pages, there was something magical about them.

My favorite page is Saturday!....and of course the end were the caterpiller becomes a butterfly!

I was so thrilled a few years back when Carters came out with baby clothes with the Hungry Caterpiller theme! I bought a few things from the collection....some new and some from the thrift store....I do my best to keep them in good shape as they are family heirlooms~ LOL giggle giggle!

Have a great Friday and a safe weekend!

Blessings,

Georgiann

Confessions Of A Embarrassed Housewife~

OK here goes......

I have a hard time staying on track or budget when it comes to the grocery store!
My goal this month was to stop hordeing  start empting the freezers of all the stuff I managed to stuff in there!
For instance the 2 large turkeys I got on sale at Thanksgiving......the Ham and Prime Rib that was on sale at Christmas. I wanted to use up all the 1/2 bags of nuts and  frozen veggies I stored up for the winter.....kind of like a squirrel~LOL

Am I the only one out there that does that?

I was striveing to eat up all the food from my freezers. Like the lone burrito and hot pocket that made its way to the back of the cooler making way for the Costco lot~
At my house the last few snack foods get striped of there box and tucked into the nooks and crannies. I vow not to forget them but some how months pass and well you know......

Now for my confession. I only made it 6 days into my goal and then blew it BIG time!

I did not feel the need to go to the store but, was needing a few ingredients to make Cheesey Chicken Enchilladas Verde and all the trimmings of a Mexican style dinner, for 2 families, I told I would bring dinner this week.
One of my church friends just had her 7th baby and another friend (from MOPS) was grieving a miscarrage and I wanted to honor both by bringing them dinner.

So on Sunday March 7, 2010 I set out for Winco (I rearly shop there because you must bag your own stuff.)
My hubby says, Winco has the best prices and prefers I shop there! I prayed as I entered the store....knowing I would have to report back if I blew it......and even that was not enough to keep me from blowing it BIG time!

Did I tell you that I'm a book hound? and that Winco has a really sweet Christian book rack?
Did I tell you that they have a really large bulk food area.....with whole grains and herbs?
Did I tell you that they have herb seed packets I never saw any place else? And they even had the starter mix I was needing to start my lettuce up on my pot rack in my kitchen?

Here is the break down (pun intended)

Winco Total   $274.15

Of that I only needed to spend  $49.06 on the things needed for the dinners I planed to make.
Money I spent on non-food wants was $56.60.
That leaves $168.49 spent on food that I will eat but did not need right now.

It gets worse.....I forgot to buy kitchen trash bags and I wanted to use up some nuts and unsweetened coconut....I planned to make some magic bars....but I needed some sweetened condenced milk, so off I went to Safeway! I ended up spending a total of  $39.57 at Safeway.

Yesterday since I was already across town to take dinner to my church friend, I decided to stop in at Costco! The plan was to get some more of my Organic Vanilla Soy Silk,a large jug of salsa and some lunch at the snack bar for the kiddos.

I ended up spending $91.37 at Costco.
Of which $43.96 was on non-food want items.
$15.80 was spent on food I needed and some jugs of milk.
So that leaves $31.61 spent on food we will eat but did not need!

I do just fine if I don't set foot in the store. I'm always temped by the non-food wants the grocery stores carry.
Though it seems I blew my goal BIG time I will still give my no shopping for food goal a go!

It is only March 9 and I have enough food to last me for quit a while.....I will use what I have.
I will not give up just because I blew it.

It did feel good to use up all the 1/2 bags of this and that in the first week...before I went on my willy nilly spending spree!

Well, keep me in your prayers as I continue on my journey this month!
I will dig in my freezer to see if I have a cornbeef for St. Patrick's Day coming up.

I know I have cabbage.......Well have a fun filled day and remember to never give up......there is always hope, with the Lords help!

Peace and Love,

Georgiann                                            

Painting The Stations of The Cross~

My kiddos love to paint ~ In our home the paints are on the kitchen table more often than any food!
I printed the color sheets of the stations of the cross over at The Cathiloc Icing.
I pray everyone is have a safe and healthy weekend.

Well I'm off to bed with my book and a bit of hot tea!

Blessings,
Georgiann

PS I have not shopped for any food this week....hubby did pick up 3 loaves of bread and a carton of eggs....my chickens have not been laying yet this spring (I don't have a light in the coop).
I have also been doing some deep spring cleaning.....and a bit of purging (9 large bags total so far). We dropped the bags off tonight after church! Boy it feels so good! I even found a few pair of shoes I forgot I had! God is good....I was praying for some "new" shoes. LOL
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Signs Of Spring and The Victory Garden!

Well with the cherry blossoms in bloom out here in the great Northwest most of us can taste spring....

Spring for many of us means plantting time.

.

The smell of freshly dug dirt and the sweet smell of a freshly mowed lawn is only a few short weeks away!

So with gardening on most of our minds..... it couldn't have been a better day to have

ED HUME the famous garden goo-roo from our area speak at our MOPS group on the topic!

It was funny to see all us ladies get so excited to talk with and ask questions to the famous local gardener!

It was heart warming to hear and learn the years of wisdom gently spoken from this sweet old man!

Mister ED HUME brought a car load of his new book

{signed by him}

Northwest Gardening Made Easy.

Lately he has been filming for his TV show

 Gardening In America. 

See here for local air times in your area!

Mister Hume told me that he dicovered his love for gardening when he was only 10 years old!

It was during the second world war....when his family grew a Victory Garden!

A child is never to young to be included and involved in a family garden!

My girls love to be out in our garden....you can read my post from last summer....here!

{Please remember to silience my play list before starting the video!}

Ed Hume was and is such a blessing to many folks...thanks for stopping to talk with us!

Peace and Love,

Georgiann

Balance....One Step At A Time~

As a Christian wife and mother I am always trying to improve myself and find balance.

I challenge myself to try new things. Over the past few years I have started baking bread almost daily.

I try to eat vegitarian a few meals a week...even started raising chickens for eggs.

I got my kiddos invloved in  growing a large organic garden!

In January, I gave up coffee and high sugar French vanilla creamer.

In February, I started going blanket time with my youngest 3 kiddos...I have not posted about it yet....

I have joined  the blog "which name?" and other blogs in a monthy challenge to find balance in our lives.

Each person posts at the begining of the month what their personal challenge will be.

Everyone will be working to simplify and find balance in their own way!

Every person will post something different....join us if you will?

Read what others are doing....get inspired~

Make this a year of change....one baby step at a time!

I will report how my month goes as I go along!

For me the willy-nilly spending party is over!

For the Month of March

I challenge myself~

 I want to see how long I can go with out spending money at the grocery store.

I want to live out of the pantry and only cook what I already have!

I want to keep track of my food budget better than I have in the past!

I will keep you all updated~

Peace and Love,

Georgiann