Furniture From Home - Review

I know I am not on the market for upscale furniture right now, but I do so love "Windows" shopping!

I was asked to review a home furniture website. The website is user friendly, they even put their toll free number at the top of the screen, I do so dislike having to click 10 times to get it. They even have a catalog to request for browsing on the go.

I am looking for a nice dresser for my bedroom. It is the one piece of furniture we need in there. I'd like it to be smaller than the one we have now. The one we own is really too long for the room. It doesn't fit on any available walls. Must be the problem of having a half round room! I had considered a storage bed instead. Probably a little more pricey an option but we don't have a "real" bed either, just a mattress on the frame. I think $1399 is a little on the expensive side, but then there is that 100% free delivery & set up. Especially since my parents just dropped a regular mattress into their water bed (bookcase headboard & under storage). Bet I could find a used king frame for less if I'm patient!

We are planning on re-using our old dresser somewhere else in the house, possibly the princess's room. So it won't go to waste!

I also checked out the web site's leather sectional living room furniture. Nice pictures of their home theater furniture, if you have such a thing. We don't need a sectional, but my Mom is looking so checked just for fun. I did find a nice leather reclining wing chair for $649. That I have a place for.

After browsing the site I did find a Cherry/Leather dining room set that would be perfect for my house. The table and 6 chairs, just gorgeous for a mere $1799.99. I think the leather would be good for cleanups, but not sure how it would handle the abuse of a 3 & 7 year old!

They even have home office furniture. From a plain Secretary to Executive suites and computer hutches this store seems to have it all!

Almost on the road again...

Well sort of how the song goes! My mini van has been resurrected! It lives! Hallelujah! We bought a new battery for it & some new spark plugs & other piddly stuff that will only crack the surface of it's needed repairs, but it RAN! After sitting for over a year it needs far more work before I will drive it to the Post Office, let alone the grocery store, but it is a start!!! Still needs a visit to my trusty mechanic for new everything underneath (break lines, transmission fluid lines, leak of anti-freeze somewhere, etc.). I am wondering if it was undercoated? Guess we should have asked. I figured it would be since it came from a Buffalo NY dealer, but who knows where it was before that. Our roads are harsh on vehicles & the Chipmunks weren't kind either.

I am estimating $400 for the repairs, but who knows. Maybe my repair guy will take pity on me, he usually does! Might take more than a bourbon pecan pie this time...

We spent Saturday wandering Wal-mart, always fun with 2 kids & the hubby. I stick by my theory that I should have gone alone I would have spent a FRACTION of what we did as a family & still gotten everything on MY list!
Breakdown:
School/Office supplies : $24.48
Household/Food (trash bags, bread,toothbrushes,snack food): $28.39
ME (clothing, socks, undies, etc): $49
Hubby (clothing): $61.25
Boy (clothing, shoes, socks): $48.82
Girl (Shoes & socks): $26.10
Car (battery, spark plugs, oil filter, misc fluids): $96.10

One paycheck bites the dust (mine that is). I'm not sure how DH managed to sneak $61.25, he didn't even get the much needed socks that were on the list. I picked up a pair of swim trunks & a shirt, that's it...sneaky bugger. I have been putting off buying summer shirts for me until the sales started so I managed to get 4 tank/shirts, pair of mesh shorts, 3 pack of sports bras, 4 pack of undies, 10 pack of socks, a night shirt for my money! Hubby picked up 5 shirts for the boy, I picked out 1 & a pair of clearance mesh shorts. At least all the shirts were clearance, but still. I didn't realize there were 6 shirts in the cart until we got to the check out (and the one I picked up was a 2 piece button up over t-shirt, so really 7 shirts!) They are at least a size bigger than he wears now, so if he hits a growth spurt we are covered!

The girl only got 2 pair of shoes & some ankle socks. One pair is school sneakers, the other was a pair of clearance flip flops, she is a shoe freak what can I say! Of course she doesn't need anything, that's why she didn't get anything else. Still benefiting from my major yard sale score.

We are canceling our weekend trip. Hubby says we'll be able to go later in the month but i doubt it. Finances are looking up, but we are still playing catch-up with bills & debts.

It doesn't help my outlook to realize that what took me 24 1/2 hours to make minus taxes was spent in 2 hours at WAL-Mart. Maybe I should buy some stock, it'll make me feel better!!! I can say on a happy note that it was only about 10% on highly consumable goods (food & household) the rest won't have to be replaced in a month. And we accomplished 90% of our back to school shopping. Now I don't have to worry about not finding the right stuff at the right price in a few weeks. Think I am going to have the Grandparents help out this year. They somehow got out of last year. After 3 years of the same backpack it is time to replace. I will keep it to use for other stuff (overnights, picnics etc) since it is only a little worn out. The Boy wants a pair of Heelys, my Mom offered him a pair last year, but I think he might be ready now. Bonus the wheels come out & he'll have a nice pair of school shoes.

Other stuff:

5 minutes for Mom is giving a 37" flat panel away, ends August 17th. So jump on over, link up & leave a comment!

Back to School Savings Already

It is hard to imagine that "Back to School" could even be creeping into our vocabulary, but August is almost here & even though we don't start until after Labor Day, the shopping will begin in just a week or two. I am sure for those who go back earlier or are off to college it has already begun.

I have started scouring the web for the best
online shopping coupons. Coupon Chief is a favorite stop.

I know a big part of my list is shoes. I think that it ranks somewhere above underwear & below pencils. Shoe Buy is a store I have grown fond of. I haven't yet bought kids shoes from there but I noticed they have the IT shoe my son has been BEGGING for. The prices are already great & add to that discounts from Coupon Chief... Woohoo. Bargains!

Straight Edge, Inc. - Review

I was asked to review some products for my readers from this awesome company Straight Edge, Inc. They sent me a sampling of their products & my kids have been bugging me ever since their Fed-Ex arrival to get off my behind & review them!


The biggest draw to my 3 year old has been the Old MacDonald Rub a Dub book. She pressed the button to play the music at least 50 times before I took it out of the plastic. It is supposed to be waterproof so it can go in the tub. It hasn't made it that far yet, but I'm sure it will at bath time.

My 7 year old has had his eye on the Ambulance Inside/Outside puzzle. He loves anything with wheels & this puzzle has it all!

The kids wanted to take it apart as soon as the wrapper came off.


I haven't had them use the "I can set the table" Write A Mat yet. We are still eating casually outside most nights, but next time we eat at the table inside it will get used.


The Beach Read a Mat is nifty & timely! We haven't been to the beach that often yet this summer but we have been a few times. Our beach is a lake beach and not VERY sandy but they've seen all the stuff on there!

The website has a huge variety of products & is well worth the stop. There are products for most of the grade levels (I'd say the periodic table mat would have come in handy during Chemistry 101...). My favorite is probably the "Quote on a Mat" with quotes on laminated mats from Thomas Edison, Gandhi, Churchill, how do you choose just one?

Busy Weekend.

Just a quick Hi ! some pics of what we hope is a positive home improvement project... We finally got around to installing the window we bought in June. Once we started pulling off the trim we realized just how wrong this window was installed. It had to come out. After we started there were only a few sets of nails holding it in, no caulk, just mouse visited insulation & rotten siding. EEEWWW!

Sorry the first two pictures are so dark, it was almost 9PM before I realized I hadn't taken any pictures yet. You can see the OSB boards we installed over the side of the house. We had to pull off 2 layers of siding & paper. The reason we took off so much is because it was rotten to that point. The Masonite siding was wet under the window & most of it folded like cardboard. The wood clapboard siding that wasn't soft was brittle. Both sets of backing paper were marked with water from some point in time.


This is us hanging the wrap. I didn't get pics of us taking out the window because I was underneath it hauling it out one pane at a time!



This is the finished window. It is not clean yet, but I will be working on that later today. We still need to find screens to fit, but I'd say that the $60 window + the $175 in other materials we bought (OSB, insulation, wrap, staples) and the 6" of lumber my Dad gave us was worth it in the end! Bonus: We only used about 20 feet of the 150' roll of wrap. Now we'll have plenty on hand for the next repair project!

Swap package!

Well I have pictures of one swap so here they are:




I received this bundle of joy from Mique of Adventures with the Provosts

The kids LOVED the soap popsicle, it says to remove the stick before using but I didn't get a chance!!! I haven't made any of the recipes yet, but when I do I will share!

If anyone has a chance to find fur cuffed oven mitts I highly recommend them, so Glamorous!!!!

Auction Saturday

I do so love a good auction. It is always sad to attend an "estate settling" auction, but it is a necessary evil.

I say evil, because they are addicting! My parents next door neighbor passed away a few months ago & Saturday was the auction. We went with a list of items we were interested in & left with none of them!!! Apparently, the antique dealers were there in full force. Good for the family, bad for those of us looking for a bargain. I was interested in a dresser for my bedroom. Well, the first one I wanted went for over $300, the second almost $150. I was hoping to go about $100 or less. I did get a lovely porcelain top table for our porch, night stand for my bedroom, a box of baking pans (8 pie plate, 4 cake pans, 9x13 with cover, smaller dish with cover, saucepan, tons of loaf pans), an old canvas flag that is HUGE, set of 3 roasting pans, Fisher price playhouse with people (the old style), cars & a container of tinker toys, a wheelbarrow, a bed, sheets for the bed (I will have a guest room shortly, cool!), 4 umbrellas (I sold one for the cost of all 4 once it started to rain!!!), a PILE of knitting needles/yarn & misc stuff ($2 odd lots score!), floor lamp for the living room, box of gag stuff (Halloween will rock this year), electric chainsaw, loping shears, crow bar, large scoop shovel (for the coal stove), metal plant stand (needs spray paint).

The toys was a major score for our collection. I have too look up & see what we are missing from the set. I know there was a castle that we don't have...

I was outbid on lots of stuff like the old wagon with the croquette set, buffet table, workbench (although that was hubby & I would have gone higher than he did).

It was a very long day, started at 8:30 when we got there & ended at 5 something when we started hauling everything home.

Bonus, afterwards we scavenged through what was left in the box lots & scored a push sweeper (no motor kind), wood shutters (hopefully will fit the weird space above my hall closet that was left unfinished), wood cutting board, pitcher set, sweatshirts for the kids, folding clothes rack, coffee pitcher, my Grandma took two vacuums.

I'm not sure how the family made out but it was fascinating to watch & see how things you thought were "junk" would bring huge money & something that was nice & useful wouldn't even sell.

I am still pooped so once I get pics I'll add them tot he post. but for now I need to grab another cup of coffee & go toss the new sheets in the dryer!

Goodness, where have I been...

I guess I have been more wrapped up in life than I thought. Didn't realize that I had abandoned my blog for this long. Time flies when you are outside!

I have also been busy working almost every day, watering plants, cleaning the house, etc, etc, etc. We did get delayed on the computer because I lost 2 days battling a computer virus. Ewwwww.

My driveway has become the Dayton 500 for the neighborhood. On any given day I can have up to 12 kids riding their bikes around my paved & circular driveway. They have even gone so far as to have qualifying times...

I have several reviews I'm working on. One is my new toy the Neat Receipts Scannilizer. This thing is so awesome. Now that I have it happy with my computer & vice versa things are running smoothly & I should be able to give a detailed report in a week.

I have also been looking over some products from Straight Edge, Inc. They have some great educational "Mom approved" type of stuff. Including this adorable bath tub book that plays Old MacDonald... LOVE IT!

So as soon as all is ready I'll have those out to you!

I'm also over due for a June Goals assessment... procrastination. Starting to feel that overwhelmed feeling again, deep breath & lists, lots of lists! All will come together!

DS has started the summer recreation program. We have started on an allowance (believe I mentioned it last post). So far so good, he keeps asking me about the "other $2" he is supposed to be getting. I had to remind him that as soon as he has enough we'll take it down to the bank & put it in his account. I probably should do it weekly, but once a month will do, then he'll have $8 to put in. He has been doing good at keeping his room straight

DD has been floating around visiting Granny & busily trashing the house when she is here! I have made her start picking up after herself. She has done a fantastic job of keeping he bedroom floor clean & putting the dirty laundry in the hamper, not too bad for 3 1/2!

I'll update more tomorrow, goals, goals, goals!!!

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All caught up in summer

With the Prince back to school today (reading camp) I am finally feeling like normal! Haven't had a chance to post in for EVER!!! I spend most of computer time working & I don't seem to get back to it once hubby comes home, we've been too busy enjoying the out of doors.

My gardens are in, we might even have our first grape tomatoes this week. The pumpkins are planted & I even got in 2 strawberry plants. I don't know what to expect from them this year, but they were already producing fruit in the pots I bought them in.

Still need to finish clean up from the garage sale, amazing how everything just gets put off to enjoy the nice weather of get something else done!

Our weekend was interesting to say the least! We helped the neighbor in her yard a little. Her son mows our yard with their rider & we lend her our push mower, well between her & me mowing Sat we managed to kill the push mower DEAD!!! I'm sure I helped I was hacking some really large weeds with it out by our woods & then she took on a really large rock to finish it off... So we will be buying a new mower. Hubby doesn't think he can save it. Just another unnecessary expense! Of course the neighbor feels responsible, but she isn't & there is no way we'll let her pay to replace it (single mom of 3...no pity party we just like them!)


Well then the interesting part is after that, hubby was digging holes to set a couple posts in by our garage & he took out the underground power line to the garage! We aren't sure why it is there, if you could see the yard it doesn't make any sense so he didn't think twice about it... So that was 2...

I managed to make it 3 & insignificant at the same time...I broke a scrub brush handle! Woohoo! I just barely stepped on it so aggravating none the less!

Gotta go water my tons o'plants now!!!

Take a quiz, see how you score.

***Link Fixed *** Srooy I didn't get a chance to double check it after posting (used the software not online..)

Give the Household Energy Use Money Saving Quiz a try. I scored $825. I only disagreed with one answer that I got wrong because I'm not sure what the correct answer was, all of them were in the range given in the answer??? 5 - 25 %, so 15% would be in the middle right??? It got it's point across at least.

I took the grocery savings quiz too & scored a $975! Not bad, guess I a as thrifty as I think I am!!!

New Budget

I've estimated my income, & hubby's income for the upcoming insurance deductions but I think I've got it worked out!  At least I know what I have to work & why!

I am not going to put in amounts, but I'll use % instead

Income 100%

Housing = 20.5%

Utilities = 9.7%

Heat = 2%

Car = 19% (includes savings for new car, fees, gas, maintenance)

Food/Household =  27.5% (includes food, household, allowance, yard maintenance, & entertainment)

Savings EF/house = 7.5%

529= 1.5% (total for both kids, so individually 0.75%)

Debts= 7.5%

Flex = 4.8% (can go to building cushion balance on accounts, paying debts, or other misc purchases)

I have the actual amounts figured for my own use.  Now that we are looking at paying off the last "catch up" bill we should be okay. 

I am also heading into the other room to get the apartment appliances ready to sell this weekend.  We are putting them out front for a Saturday Sale.  I am going to put out a bunch of the kids stuff too, just to see what I can get rid of.  Hopefully all will go & we won't have anything left, but if we do it'll go to rural ministries or the Salvation Army.

I added it up...

The new with tags items I purchased from yard sales totaled $63. Most of those were clearance sale prices. But I think the nwt stuff was maybe 1/3 of the stuff I bought & I didn't spend $60 the whole day (at least not at yard sales!). Felt good to put a bunch of things in storage for the Princess, I hadn't done it in a while so there is this "prepared" thing I feel! Now if she has another growth spurt (she's grown almost 2 inches since April) I should be able to still dress her!!! Shoes is another problem! I just can't seem to find good CHEAP kids shoes. I'd just love a pair of sneakers not to fall apart before they are outgrown, but then I don't think they need to be in perfect condition for 3 children either...Anyone found a good compromise? I usually just pick through whatever Walmart or Payless has to offer. And hope I don't have to go back in 3 months because they outgrew them, or worse, fell apart after 2 weeks...

I have to check the paper & see if any good sales are happening this weekend. I still need to look for clothes for the Prince & sports equipment is the best to find at yard sales!

My wild strawberries are looking good! We have several with fruit on them, hopefully we will get to them before the animals do! I may put in a few plants once we get the garden going. Still waiting for my Dad to come till. He hasn't done his own garden yet. I have gotten the plots cleaned up a little so the big rocks are gone & I rescued a couple of locust trees that were sprouting. If we don't plant them here I'm sure my Dad or Brother will take them for down at the farm. Locust is good for firewood & fence posts! I thin if we go to the store I'm gonna buy some soil & get the pumpkin seeds started. I probably should have already, but last year we had pumpkins so early we weren't sure they'd be around for Halloween!

Yummy Smoothie & theological quiz

I have apparently decided to start my health kick! I made myself a smoothie for lunch. It isn't bad, I probably should have strained the "oat milk" it's a tad gritty.

Oat milk - 1 cup water, 1 cup oats (rolled) or oat bran blended in a blender. You can strain or not (more fiber). I used rolled oats because that is what I have

I finished my first glass, not bad, pretty filling so I'll share!

1 snack sized container of vanilla yogurt
1 frozen banana
4 large frozen strawberries
3/4 C oat milk
1/4 C water
1 T flax seed - milled
1 tsp ginger
1 T honey
dash of cinnamon
Blended smooth.

Next time I will probably blend the flax with the oats to make the milk & then strain it. Of course the point is to increase my fiber & healthy stuff. I added the water because it was too thick & the honey because my strawberries weren't the sweetest.

Otherwise, not bad, nothing the kids would enjoy though!

Found this quiz at Mama Says... Pretty much confirmed what I already know, I don't really fit into any existing Christian Religion! I was Lutheran for a while & that seemed to fit me much better than the Catholic I had to be until I was confirmed. Of course when I was younger we used to enjoy torturing our Religious Ed teachers. We questioned everything & we never had a teacher be prepared for it, so if you are teaching Sunday school classes, be prepared with answers. "Because the Pope says so" is not going to win over a room full of curious teens!

You scored as Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan, You are an evangelical in the Wesleyan tradition. You believe that God's grace enables you to choose to believe in him, even though you yourself are totally depraved. The gift of the Holy Spirit gives you assurance of your salvation, and he also enables you to live the life of obedience to which God has called us. You are influenced heavly by John Wesley and the Methodists. Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan 75% Emergent/Postmodern 71% Neo orthodox 64% Classical Liberal 61% Modern Liberal 50% Charismatic/Pentecostal 50% Roman Catholic 39% Reformed Evangelical 36% Fundamentalist 29% What's your theological worldview? created with QuizFarm.com

Coloring Pages for girls

I just was introduced to the Doll Place's Coloring Pages. The website description says it specializes in stuff to interest teen girls but I was able to find some simple lined Princess, bear, and other cartoon images for my 3 year old to scribble on. I was able to save the image & print it out for her to use. She isn't totally computer savvy yet. But she loves to color.

The neat thing I found was the "paint" color feature! Just click on the image you want to color & the pallet pops up & you can color away. For some reason I really like lazy coloring. Just fill in the space with the paint feature, I find it relaxing! It would be more girly if you were able to add glitter! Girls like glittery stuff.

This is definitely for older girls or to be visited with supervision. Some of the artwork is uploaded by members & if you stray into the doll creation they are naked, eek!

You can upload your own pen & ink picture to "color." To save your work you only have to register for a free account, then you can share your work with friends & have them color your pictures or others.

It was worth the visit & is now a permanent resident in my bookmarks!

Anti-Procrastination Wednesday

Another trip to the grocery store... Goodness! I'm not sure how anyone can keep up with 2 constantly hungry children! I'd love to say that I keep them in homemade goodies, but if I did I'd never leave my kitchen. So, I went to Aldi & stocked up on some MORE snack type stuff. Granola Bars, fruit snacks, brownie mix, corn chips, yogurt, and other misc food stuff. I spent about $80. My 2 splurges 100 ct box of splenda packets & a bag of frozen raspberries. I bought a smoothie recipe book when we were yard sale-ing (just for kicks & additive ideas more than recipes) & I can't wait to get blending. I found one that is going to require a trip to the vitamin isle but it sounds so yummy. I'll share it if I like it!

Hubby is bringing home another order of food from work Friday that will cover our much used basics coffee, bread flour, steak, burgers, ground beef... If all goes well, we should be in food for the rest of the month. I am going to give a white bread recipe I found a try & see if I can get away from the store bought stuff. It may only cost $0.58, but what is it doing to my kiddo's insides? It's not like I pack lunches for the Prince & I probably won't this year, with only a couple of weeks left, I doubt they'd get our change of income in time to make any changes to our lunch plan. So maybe we'll replace the store bought white nasty stuff with some homemade white nasty stuff! I really should get them into the whole wheat thing.

I have decided that I live in a useless state & village. I have been informed that before I set up my "Intex" pool that I have had for almost 4 years I will need to pay for a building permit, 48" fence & a surface alarm. We figure it will cost us around $250 to set up our $200 temporary pool, that is 4 years old. I even have to have an electrical inspection. We plug it in with an extension cord, not like it's hard wired... The worst part is ANY POOL over 24" needs this. I'm not sure who was promised what when they let this idiotic piece of legislation through but I hope it was worthwhile. We aren't sure if we are going to comply, set it up anyways & figure the chances of discovery are slim to none, or go out & buy a 23" pool! The Prince will get swim lessons during summer rec (finally, I used to attened swim lessons every summer & I worked them when I was old enough, we've been arguing for them to come back ever since). I was really looking forward to enjoying our pool this year. Now I'm not sure what we'll do. Maybe go buy a 12 foot inflatable water slide...

So what am I anti-procrastinating at today... Not sure I haven't gotten that far yet! I think I am going to go put away my laundry pile. Not sure why my stuff always gets put away last??? But it does!