Inbox Dollars

I have added a button on the side for Inbox dollars, I have been told by several online friends that they have done this and also gotten paid from it. I decided that I would try and see how it goes and how easy (or hard) it will be to make money from Inbox Dollars. I decided for a free $5 sign up bonus it was worth the try. So if your up for it go check out Inbox Dollars on the sidebar.

Women's Day Kitchen Confidential

I previously read Kitchen Confidential out of Woman's Day magazine and found the freezing part of the article particularly interesting and felt silly that I hadn't thought about writing about it before, while reading Macomb Money Savers Blog it occurred to me maybe I should share with others lol. Jolyn wrote:

Woman's Day Article: Kitchen Confidential

Top money-saving tips at the grocery store, in the kitchen and in the pantry
From the April 1, 2009 issue of Woman's Day Magazine
Kitchen Confidential

This chart was omitted from the online article, but I wanted to share from the print edition...

WHAT to FREEZE?
Bulk up on these items when they're on sale and freeze them for future use.

• Butter
• Frozen veggies
• Bread
• Nuts & seeds
• Whole-wheat Flour
• Whole grains (brown rice, buckwheat, quinoa)
• Wheat germ
• Coffee
• Lower-fat milk (remove 1 cup before freezing; the package will expand)

Macomb Money Saver would add to that list:

• Cheese, block and shredded
• Meats
• Bananas (peel and bag for baking)
• Zucchini, shredded (for baking)
• Berries (pick in summer, wash & flash-freeze on baking sheets, then package)
• Bagels and buns (double-wrap by adding a freezer bag or foil)

Did she miss anything? What do you stockpile in your freezer?

I would simply like to say THANK GOD FOR FREEZERS!!!!

My Husband Rocks Friday!!

Today I would like to say that my husband rocks because he works so very hard to support our family. He works his normal everyday 8-5 job, he also runs a side business fixing computers, and now he has bought a rental house and is busting his behind to get it all fixed up so it can be rented out (we already have a renter) by the 1st of April. My husband Rocks because he is an awesome Man that works as hard as he can at providing for our family. I would just like to thank God for bringing us together.

BTW, yes I do know that it is a day late... but better late then never!!!

Cleaning up the mess...

Well so far I found the bed that was under that giant pile of clothing in the guest bedroom, which is wonderful and my brother in law is very happy to have that space to sleep in while he is staying with us, I have caught up the laundry to a point that just doing one load a day would keep me in the clear as to keeping me from becoming flooded with laundry again. Man I would love a laundry fairy, a fairy that took away all the dirty and replaced it with nice and clean stuff lol. My daughter's bedroom has nothing on the floor, except the giant stain that needs to be cleaned with a carpet cleaner which i need some help with from DH. The kitchen dish's have been almost caught up, currently I do need to go swap out loads once that is done dish's will be caught up. My floors and table are clear and clean. Only major thing left in the kitchen is to get rid of the whole mess of things cluttering up my counters, most of which will go into my office to be officially cleaned and declutterd after the rest of the house is caught up. The play room was cleaned up a few days ago, the guest room is useable, the bathrooms are clean and tidy. So now I need to finsih up the kitchen, laundry, DS and my bedrooms, and then the office's. I think we are about half way through the mess and after afterthing is done I will start "spring" cleaning everything.

What to send to a new Nephew far away??

One of my little sister in law's is having a baby and she is due in may I want to send her some stuff but can't decide what since shipping cost's are so outrageous. But she is having a sweet little baby boy, so we will have our first nephew. We are very excited about another baby getting to join our family. So far I know it's a boy, and his room will be decorated in "cars" attire so I have bought him a "cars" christmas stocking this past year, and some other little filler things for the stocking. I can/could easily fill a giant box full of stuff for them so does anyone have any ideas on how to give/get them the most I can (because I want to) without spending a fortune on postage??

My Confession!!

I have a confession to make and it's a BIG one, I have been keeping this a big secret. Deep down in me I am a messy, unorganized, pack-rat, and I am a lazy housekeeper. I love the idea of cooking dinner for my family but I hate cleaning up the mess so usually I just leave the mess in the sink, wipe down the table and call it a night. When my kid's make a mess in the play room I usually just shut off the light to the play room and forget about the mess for the night. I just forget about cleaning up the kid's rooms because they spend so little time in them, same with my room. I have a scrap booking area/room that I have never used for scrap booking in the six months I have lived here because it is a mess. I have even moved onto my DH's office and that too is now a mess. I hate doing laundry because I hate putting it away so usually I just use the guest bedroom and toss the laundry on the bed hang what needs to be hung and leave the rest there. Well I am tired of having a dirty house, and so it the rest of my family. My poor husband takes care of our family financially and works his butt off so that I can stay home with our children. He hates things being a mess and has a hard time relaxing in a messy environment becuase it drives him nuts. I am even tired of the mess, I know how much better I feel in the morning when I get up and my house looks nice. Currently I don't want to invite people over without advance notice, so I can hide my mess. Recently I heard on the radio that when you ask God for something you should be taking care of what you already have, the example given was if you ask God for a new car becuase your old one is wearing out then your old car better have been well maintained and cleaned up. Because if you can't show God you appriciate what you have by taking care of it, why should he grant you something else for you to not take care of or appriciate. Well this really hit home, how can my husband possible think that I appriciate all that he does if I can't take care of all he has given us. So last week I cleaned out my mini van, I took 2 grocery bags of garbage out and 1 grocery bag full of toys and whatnots in the house, then I took the van to the car wash vacumed out the entire van and then took it through the car wash. Now I need to get the house in order by cleaning everything up, simplifiing what we have, and eliminating clutter and other usless things. My goal is to make my husband happy and making him proud enough of our home to want to have people over and be able to relax after work.

Anyone who wants to share idea's as per anything they think will help me (no fly lady just doesn't do it for me) please do share.

My Confession, the pictures

Starting with the top picture we have my DS's room he sleeps in a crib and there is my DD's old toddler bed for him when he is older or if a cousin sleeps over. What you don't see is all the clothing stacked on top of his dresser, the toddler bed is loaded with more of his laundry and a few of my old dress's. Second picture down is my DD's room this is "clean" she is terrible at cleaning but considering her role modle I can't be upset with her, she has clothin all over her floor/closet/dresser and toys are all over the floor/bed/closet. Third there is the kitchin which has things stacked all over the counters from dish's to breakfast items that were left out. My smiling DD is actually sick today but I bet you couldn't tell. As for the fourth picture this is the terrible laundry pile that I avoid daily, but that end's today. Last but not least is my side of the closet I have clothing all over the place some of it doesn't even fit me anymore but I just leave it in there also I have items stacked up on the floor as you can see these items are flowing out of the closet.

Free Bread Recipe Book

Another thing I've added to my "to-do list" for this year is making bread. On Money Saving Mom she was sharing that you can go to this website and get a free recipe book when your enter your information!!

Menu Plan Monday

Monday: Spaghetti, Salad, and rolls
Tuesday: Grilled Cheese and Soup
Wednesday: Baked Chicken with mashed potatoes
Thursday:Meatballs in BBQ with leftover rolls
Friday: Crock pot Pizza
Saturday: Taco's (that we did not have last week)
Sunday: Chicken Alfredo with salad and fresh made bread

Erin at $5 Dinners is hosting Menu Plan Monday today, where you can find hundereds of meal ideas.

Giving Thanks for the Future

I was told by a friend of mine that had a terrible thing happen to her and went and spoke to her pastor about this. He told her to pray to God and when she does so that she should thank him for what he will be giving her in the future. So today I am going to Thank God for his help with my depression to be happier all the time with out medication, and to be a wonderful wife and mother.

Book Nook

Over at Literacy Launchpad Amy has asked to see our Book Nook (our meaning everyone willing to share lol) the place that you read to your little ones and cuddle up with a good book and enjoy. So here it is,
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I know it's not very original but it works great for us, we love having special time in my bed (or daddy's bed as our daughter calls it.) This is when the kids are very cuddly and want lots of hugs kisses and enjoy story time, then it's off to bed. To all that are concerned this is an older picture so no my 3 year old does not use a pacy anymore.

Try me Tuesday

Try-me tuesday will be every tuesday and it will be about something new that myself and/or my family will be trying. This week we are going to try to not eat out, for us this is a lot. It will mean planning ahead better and even packing some food for car rides to church, grocery store, friends house's, etc. We as a family eat out to much and DH and I have thought about this and decided that it is not healthy for our family and not teaching our children good eating habits. So this week no eating out, GOD WILLING, and if we do well we might just turn this try-me into a month try-me. That sounds very scary right now though, so this week we are simply going to try to not eat out and I guess also plan our schedule's better so that we don't have to eat out.

Pray for us!!

Fire Proof

I just finished watching the movie fire proof with my husband and I am so glad that we did this is an awesome movie, even more so if you and your DH are having problems. DH and I found it very inspirational and even thought of a few people that we would like to give "the love dare" too. I wish I had a giveaway for this but I do not. However if you use a redbox code you could rent this movie for free to watch with your DH and decide if you want to take "the love dare" one or both of you.

http://www.fireproofmymarriage.com/index.php

Don't forget anything worth having, is worth fighting for!!

God Bless

Menu Planning Monday

A long while ago I found a great website Orgjunkie.com she has everything you need to know (maybe more lol) about organization. She has helped me get myself and my home better organized one great thing she has shown is the value to menu planning. So Menu Plan Monday is on my blog menu every monday.

Monday: Baked Ziti with Salad and chessy garlic bread
Tuesday: Cheesy Chicken and Rice with biscuits
Wednesday: Taco's with mexican rice
Thursday: **MUSTGOES**
Friday: Make our own pizza
Saturday: Meat loaf Volcanoes with mashed potatoes (recipee below)
Sunday: Checken Alfredo, salad, and garlic bread

**mustgoes** is a family word that was made up by a cousin of mine a long time ago, he loved going to a certain aunt's hosue because she always had plenty of mustgoes... well I never knew what in the world they were when I ask him he said "mustgoes? mustgoes are everything leftover from other meals in the fridge that need to get atten before they go bad, i love leftovers" so it's still leftovers but we think it sounds better lol.

Meat Loaf Volcanoes

• 1lb ground meat
• 1/2 cup quick oatmeal
• 1 package meatloaf spices
• 1 egg
  
• 2tbs. velveeta cheese

Mix first 4 ingrediants together well, then put balls of mix into cupcake pan cups and once this is done go through and put your finger in the top to create a small hole and drop a small cube of velveeta cheese into the hole (the cheese creates the volcanoe look) Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 mins.

Coolest Diapers EVER!!!

Ok I think I just found the coolest diapers ever Gdiapers!! These diapers are earth friendly similar to cloth diapers without the washing, there is a disposable sleeve inside the diaper that you can toss into your compost pile or flush down the toilet. In a landfill or your own compost these diapers will completely composted or disappeared. I am loving these because I have a very shy happy tree hugger side to me, but any product that is earth friendly and doesn't require much work I LOVE!!
Did you know that if you potty train your child by the time they are 2 1/2 you will have put well over 10,000 diapers into the trash which in turn will go to a landfill which in turn sit there for 500 years, that is simply crazy. I wish huggies and pampers were flushable like this but I am glad that I found a wonderful alternative to "normal" diapers and the best part I don't have to scrub poop out of cloth diapers!!! Please check out Gdiapers for more information.


This right here is why, if you potty train your child by the age of 2 you have put about 10,000 diapers into a landfill that won't disappear until your great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great.... grandchild, ok about five hundred until these diapers compost themself's. I love these diapers instead of cloth becuase I am grossed out by cleaning poop out of diapers and don't like to wash those ones (EWWW!!!) so I think these are the next best thing. I don't have to clean the poop out of the diaper and the diaper doesn't have to sit in the landfill for the next 10-15 generations of my family to enjoy. So please head on over to Gdiapers and check them out!!

Keeping it all together!!

I simply don't think there are enough paperclips here to help me hold it (life) together and keep myself organized. I have given myself many task's that I want to do and accomplish, but more then accomplish I want to accomplish these things with flying colors. lol No I don't think I am crazy.... well either way that is another day and another blog lol. I am writing this blog, Mrs. Lata's Christmas Blog, and Frugal Michigan Blog. Mama's Got Wing's is intended to include most of what happends in our life's and share all of my great, yet random thoughts. Mrs. Lata's Christmas Blog will be about my year long devotion to creating a beautiful, stress free, and frugal Christmas. Frugal Michigan is going to be a blog based site advertising my being frugal and some classes that I intend to teach this year.

Also things that will be on my blog this year (God willing) will be the Camp Cousin camp I will be hosting at my house for all my little cousins (and my kids), any fun volunteer things our family comes across, our frugal family entertainment find's, begining homeschooling with our 3 year old, my gardening for the first year, and all the other fun things that come along with my learning to be a great homemaker (please note I am not calling myself great but stating that I am striving for great.) Then there will be the planned posting of blogs such as menu plan monday, try-me tuesday, and my husband rocks friday. Thanks for reading!!

Thank God for the weather, today!!

Thank God the cold finally broke enough that I got the chance to take the kids, and myself, outside for some fresh air and relaxing play time. Playtime for them I picked up the sticks that the storms from this winter knocked all over my yard. It was adorable to see my son experience everything this spring for the first time. He is 14 months old so last spring he got to be outside but he did not get to play with the toys or fall in the mud (which he did about 15 times, and cried each time) he enjoyed getting to run free outdoors. So today there is so much I wanted to (but didn't) get done but at least I did get to enjoy God's glory with my children.

Mama's Wings

Once upon a time a long, long, long time ago I dreamed up this beautiful wonderful picture of what life would be like being all grown up and having babies to take care of and tell what to do. It was a wonderful world in which money did not matter, my kids always listened, and my husband always said "yes, dear" and the house came with a maid. Well the little girl that had that dream grew up and made a complete mess of her life with very little outside help I was slowly partying myself to death. I did things that I can tell you I would yell at any other person for doing because of how stupied and dangerous and thoughtful they were, well that was me. I was a parent's worse nightmare. Three years later I am a happily married stay at home mother of two wonderful little angels. I call my children Angels because I trully bleave they were not just any gift from God, but my saving grace. For had my ways of life not changed, I think that I would have lost my life to my own foolishness. So to me my children are angel's sent from heaven to save me, THANK GOD, and therefore my children are this mama's wing's.