BUNK BED SOLUTION??!

I know, it's a picture of a crib, but I promise--this is about bunk beds!


Okay first, for us bunk beds are a necessity--not a first choice. Any parent who has struggled to make the top bunk would gladly trade them in if the space was there for two twin beds. I can honestly say that Addison's mattress cover/sheets get changed every month....or less. I just DREAD it! Yesterday, as I lay on the bottom bunk holding the top mattress up with my feet so Addison could help me change the sheet I racked my brain on how to make this an easier task. Then I remembered--a couple of months ago I did some research on safer and easier crib sheets for Lucy. The best solution I found were these sheets called Zip Sheets®. 


As you can see from the picture, the sheet set includes a mattress cover and waterproof "piddle pads" to protect the mattress. All you have to do is put the mattress cover on and change the velcro pad. No more lifting the mattress up every time you have to change the sheets! You would rarely have to wash the mattress cover. At the time, the sheets weren't in our budget, so I bookmarked it and forgot about it. But I went to their site again yesterday to see if they came in twin...and they do!! They even have e-layaway now, so after Christmas, this is definitely going to be in our budget for that dreaded top bunk! And Lucy, of course, needs some for her crib so I'll quit having this panicky feeling that she's going to wrap herself up in the sheets in the middle of the night. (Not to mention, I won't have to completely strip the bed every night while we are trying to perfect our nighttime cloth diaper system!)


I just wanted to share this because I know several of our fellow seminary friends who have very limited space and have to live with bunk beds for the time being. We've all talked about what a pain it is to change that top bunk. The sheet system is a bit more expensive to start out with, but the twin set should last for several years, and I know that it is NOT going to be a problem finding someone to pass the crib set to when Lucy is finished with it. 


I never thought the idea of sheets would get me so excited!

Christian Children's Books Ideas for Christmas

Shane working at Lifeway Christian Bookstore has truly been a blessing to us in many ways, but I am especially grateful for the exposure to so many wonderful Christian children's books. While I'm not anti-Veggie Tales, I wanted to expose our young children to Biblical truths in a way that they would both take seriously and enjoy. I think the controversy with any Christian children's book is that it is "watered down" scripture. And I think you definitely have to be careful. Our children hear scripture straight from the Bible, but also these stories to support what they have heard. Nothing takes the place of straight Bible reading, but these books have been a great tool to reinforce what they have read. 

These are a few of our books in our collection that have succeeded. 

1) Jesus Storybook Bible

This is by far our favorite children's Bible. It is a summary, greatly paraphrased, and does not take the place of a Bible. But what it does is remind us that the Bible is one story. That God had one plan from the very beginning, and has never had a "Plan B." This book is wonderful to teach children that every book in the Bible whispers Jesus' name, and tells the "Love Story" of God with His children. In my opinion, it doesn't underemphasize judgement or wrath of God. And thankfully, this isn't a book about how God loves everyone unconditionally, and everyone is good. This book has led so some amazing discussions with our girls at bedtime and I can't recommend it enough! There's even a deluxe version available now that includes the audio so children can follow along. 

2) The Princess and the Kiss: A Story of God's Gift of Purity 

by Jennie Bishop. I LOVE this book. It introduces young girls to the value of purity and the amazing gift from God purity is. AND it relays it in a royal tale! It begins with a king and queen showing their daughter the gift she got from God when she was born--her "first kiss". In the story, it is symbolized by a golden, glowing orb. She understands the value of her gift, and doesn't want to part with it. When she meets potential suiters, she is sad to discover that they all offer her wealth, vanity, and adventure, but nothing that equals the gift that she is to part with. The one who finally does win her heart is a penniless, humble man who offers her his most precious gift--HIS first kiss!! The girls and I have had some invaluable discussions on purity and their true value each time we have read this. Needless to say, we drag this one out quite often!  The boy version of this book is The Squire and the Scroll, which I have not read, but I'm sure is just as good! Also, I've just noticed a devotional based on this book called Life Lessons from the Princess and the Kiss, which is now on my wish list. 

3) The Garden Wall: A Story of Love Based on I Corinthians 13 
Also by Jennie Bishop. This is a great story for girls or younger boys. The two main characters are friends Petra and Seth. One day Petra announces to Seth that she wants to grow a garden for her husband. She asks Seth to help her build a wall around it to protect it. Seth laughs at her, but agrees to help his friend. It turns out to be hard work, but as their garden grows, so does their love for each other. Each page takes you through another attribute of love mentioned in 1 Corinthians: Kind, patient, etc. After we read this, we talk about how we show love to each other (especially when they want to clobber each other over something!)  The pictures are beautiful also.

4) The Book of Virtues by William Bennett. This is a great book to read for fun as a family. It's a collection of short stories, poems, and fables that have practical and moral lessons. Some are fun. Some are more serious. Some we just didn't get?! There's a few we disagreed with the lesson taught, so I recommend reading a few ahead of time before reading them out load as a family so you can decide what you want to read. However, it's still overall a great book.

5) The Priest With Dirty Clothes: A Timeless Story Of God's Love And Forgiveness by Dr. R.C. Sproul. Can I admit that this one made me tear up? It's a beautiful story within a story about the love of Christ, told through a priest who dirties his only clothes, and cannot preach before the king in this state. He is told to go see the prince who exchanges clothes with him so that he is now clean and can present himself before the king. This book is a great way to introduce young children to the heavy topic of redemption and leads to discussions of sin, holiness, and forgiveness. 




I know there's going to be a Part II to this after I go upstairs and go through the bookshelf again!

Butter Pecan Cake Recipe

I took this to church today at our fellowship luncheon and had several people ask for the recipe. I can't take credit for it though--I got the recipe from Ms. Barbara Boucher back home in Tennessee. This is a really good, moist cake that's just sweet enough. I'd take a picture of it, but it's pretty much all gone at this point!

1 box Betty Crocker butter pecan cake mix

(mix as directed on package)

Add to mix: 1 can Betty Crocker coconut-pecan frosting

1 cup chopped pecans

1 T. flour

Pour batter in bundt pan that has been greased and floured and bake at 350° for 55 minutes. **Reserve enough batter to fill a small loaf pan or 6 cupcakes or cake will bake over**

That's it! Enjoy.

Diaper Deals

I was chatting with some friends about diapering our kids on a budget. I'm going to share what I do, but I would LOVE to have input from people about how you get your best deals.

First of all, I use cloth diapers during the day. This saves me from using approximately 5-6 disposables a day. I use disposables at night, if we are away from home, or when baby is having diarrhea. I have my limits! This being said, I only need about 1 to 2 packs of diapers a month, depending on how much we go out/travel. So it's easy for me to stock up on diapers when they are sale--I don't have to buy that many. My favorite is Pampers Swaddlers, but since they are the Cadillac of diapers, I reserve them for nighttime. The best deal I have gotten so far was at Rite Aid. I can't remember the numbers, but they were Huggies diapers and I had $2 off coupons for them. I did 2 different transactions so that I could use 2 different $5 off $20 purchase coupons I had. Then I got rebates for the Huggies using Rite Aid's Single Check Rebates. Then I got a $25 Rite Aid gift certificate in the mail for spending $100 (before coupons).

I've also gotten Kroger Comforts brand for around $3 a package. There are often printable coupons for these for $3 off, and they go on sale for around $6. That makes for some cheap diapers also. I've signed to be a member on every major diaper site (Huggies, Pampers, Luvs) and have gotten some good coupons. Also, don't forget that you can buy diaper coupons on ebay. But I guess the moral of the story is to check your grocery store, Wal-greens, Rite Aid and CVS to see who has the best deals. Then find as many coupons for that brand of diaper that you can and buy up several!

I am interested in how other people get their diaper deals! Sam's, Costco, Amazon?

Coupon Workshop

Our coupon workshop was awesome! Becky Konemann did a fantastic job explaining things that I could not. For those of you who couldn't make it, I thought I'd post some of the major ideas on here. Also, I'll put some of the links to coupons/freebies on here as well.

Step 1: check out this blog at swaggrabber.com. It's a coupon crash course, and she does it with a great sense of humor. It's done really well. Just get a cup of coffee, and give yourself some time to start reading and you will learn so much!

Step 2: Check out the Grocery Game. It's a web site you subscribe to that tells you what to buy that week, where to buy it, and which coupons to buy. But it does cost $10 every 8 weeks for one store. It's done by zip code, and helps you get rock bottom prices, saves time by doing all the work for us, eliminates mistakes by letting you know which coupon to use, and follows the 12 week sales trends. In other words, the same items usually go on sale every 12 weeks. You will learn how to stockpile certain items to last you for 12 weeks. In other words, you will only buy most of your items when they are on sale every 12 weeks, and you can get most of these things for pennies on the dollar or for FREE! You can stockpile on shelves, under sinks, under beds, in closets, in totes in your basement or garage, etc.

Step 3: Where to get your coupons.

The Sunday paper is the best place. However, you really reap the benefits if you can get several copies of the inserts in the paper. To do this, Becky suggested asking friends and neighbors, checking with nursing homes, schools, and finally newspaper delivery people or gas stations to get the leftover papers on Monday morning. To buy several of one coupon, you can enlist the services of a coupon clipper. (Buying and selling coupons is illegal, so when you "purchase" a coupon, you are actually paying for the service of someone clipping the coupon for you.) You can do this THECOUPONCLIPPERS.COM, or EBAY. You can also print coupons at home using the websites listed here on SouthernSavers.com. Also, if you are a Kroger shopper (which is where I do all my grocery shopping) go here. At the bottom of the page, you will see where you can print coupons. Which brings me to another source of coupons: the kind you load on your shoppers card. On the Kroger link, it will bring you to the coupon page, and you have three different links to load coupons onto your shoppers card (it's more than just Kroger). These coupons are great because you can use these IN ADDITION to your paper coupons. Therefore, you can get maximum savings on this one item! For more on how these work, check out the coupon crash course mentioned at the beginning of this post. Also, when you are in the grocery store, look for items that have "SAVE NOW" coupons on them that you can peel off (only on the ones you buy, of course), and displays like batteries, or on freezer doors that have coupons for you to tear off. And don't forget those blinkies in the little boxes on the shelves. Always be on the lookout! Oh, and you can print the printables 2X each, and load your card with the new coupons I think every couple of weeks.

Step 4: Find out the individual store coupon policies. For example: Kroger will double coupons up to .50. Most of the time, even the manufacturer' s coupons that say "DO NOT DOUBLE" do double at Kroger. Meijer double only the first 2 identical coupons, and then accepts the rest at face value. Go to the store's website or contact their corporate office for more details.

Step 5: Check websites like MONEYSAVINGMOM.COM or SWAGGRABBER.COM daily to find great deals.

Some final tips Becky shared with us about being considerate: When you are finally ready to go to the grocery store...organize all your coupons before leaving home, and have a printed list of the ones you have loaded to your card. Don't clean out the shelves--don't be greedy! Go to several stores if you have a really great deal so other people can still get the items at the store. Use self checkout if possible--especially if you are doing more than one transaction. Give extra free items to charity. Put expired coupons to good use. You can send your expired coupons to the military. To find out how go here.

INFORMATION OVERLOAD???!!

If you are feeling overwhelmed and just want the bare basics--start small (which is recommended):

Get a Sunday paper. Don't clip the coupons, but instead file the inserts by date. Only clip what you will need for your next grocery trip. If you want to start free, check out Southern Savers or Mrs. Penny Pincher. These ladies have done the work for us by matching up store deals with coupons. Thanks ladies!!!

Plan your grocery list by looking at the sales ad. If you only ever go to one store, then you can easily just do this by going to their web site and looking at their sales ad to see what meats are on sale, etc. and do your meal planning accordingly.

Load your store card, print off coupons for items that are on your shopping list, and bring your coupons you have clipped for the items on your list. On your grocery list, if you have coupons for that item, write it on the list. For example, I write next to my Pilsbury Crescent rolls (.50/2, .50e) That means I have a paper coupon for .50 if I buy 2 things of crescent rolls that I know will double, and I also have an electronic coupon for one crescent roll loaded on my shopping card that will not double. That means if they are $1 each, I will get 2 of them ($2) and then will get one free, and one for .50. ($2-the .50 coupon which is doubled, -.50 e coupon loaded on my card). Cool, huh? The e-coupon can only be used one time, and will show up on your receipt as "mc-cfire" or something similar.

This is a good place to start. I haven't even mentioned the drug stores (Wal-greens, Rite-Aid, CVS, etc.)That could be a whole post by itself! But I believe the crash course on swaggrabbers.com explains that also. Probably moneysavingmom.com also.

Hope this helps. As you can see, there is a lot of information out there, and I can't take credit for any of it!! These women whose sites I have linked spend a lot of time doing the work so that we don't have to, and I for one am extremely grateful! This is a great way to honor God and our homes by being better stewards of our money, and it is a great thing to share with others.

Clifton Kroger Rocked!!

I am SOO excited over this coupon experience! I have been to the Clifton Kroger twice this week and got some major deals. I came home and told Shane, but he didn't squeal with enough excitement, so I had to blog about it. I got 2 backpacks and a lunch bag for Harper for 75% off, and some great deals on groceries, like a $3.47 Digiorno Pizza and .75 Healthy Choice meals. However, these deals are my favorite:

2 Clean and Clear face washes--normally $4.19. On sale for $1.99.

Used two coupons for $2 off one Clean and Clear product

Final Cost: FREE!! Savings: $8.38

2 large cans of Nestle Good Start formula powder--normally $13.12. In clearance for $6.59

Had one coupon for $5 off one can. The cans had peelies coupons for $2 off one can. So I got one can for $1.59 and the other for $4.59,

Final Cost:$6.18

Savings: $20.06

6 large canisters of Lysol wipes--normally $5.99 each. They were on sale $2.99 each AND they were bundled bogo free.

I used 2 coupons: $2 off of 2, and $1 off of one

Final Cost: $5.97 Savings: $35.94

Total savings for above: $64.38!!

I messed up b/c Kroger Comfort diapers are on sale for around $6, and I have a coupon for $3 for one, so I could have gotten those for $3! I might have to go back for those :)

Also, there were a ton of medications and Kroger brand formula in the manager's special shelves by the restrooms. If you need Motrin Infant drops or any cold medicine, there were still a ton on clearance--like 50% off or more. There are 4 other Krogers closer to my house, but Clifton's is by Harper's preschool, so I can justify it in that way. I always found way better deals here, and the employees have always been so nice. Not to mention that it doesn't take all day to walk across the store if you forget something!

Baby Tips: 1. Diaper Rash

These are things I learned over the past 8 years with 3 girls. I decided that diaper rash needed a post all to itself! I don't know much about baby boys, but most of the tips work for both. Thankfully, I wrote these down as I went, and then changed/added over the years. I give this to all my new friends who are having their first babies. That way they can either listen to my unsolicited advise, or can throw it away if they want! haha

First of all: Always follow your doctor's advice before mine, your mom's, grandmothers, etc. If something sounds crazy, it probably is. Don't put dangerous concoctions on your baby in order to be holistic or natural. Be reasonable. You are going to be very emotional because this is your precious baby, but use reason to guide the care you give your baby, not emotions.

1. Diaper rash: All 3 girls experienced diaper rash. Lucy (my 3rd) had it the worst. It usually starts with bright red spots--sometimes in patches, sometimes bumps, either raised or unraised. When it gets bad, it can look like burns or blisters on their butt cheeks, almost like you set them on a stove. It spreads VERY quickly, so you have to take action immediately. This will make baby irritable, and you miserable and full of guilt. I actually cried when I pulled off Lucy's diaper and it had BLOOD spots in it from her rash! But it's not your fault! It just happens, and act quickly and be relentless. It's going to take a lot of time day and night to get rid of it, and it's going to take several days before you see a perfect little baby bottom again. The red spots that look like scars do fade away. It just takes time.

There are many types of diaper rash, and in my experience, the doctors don't want you to come in unless it is to the point of bleeding. Since all diaper rash is aggravated by moisture, the main rules are keep it clean, keep it dry, keep it sealed!

CLEAN: If bright red raw spots (shiny, wet) are on bottom, STOP using baby wipes. Use a wash cloth with plain warm water OR keep a roll of higher end toilet paper and a spray bottle of plain water at the changing table.Wipe gently, but make sure you get all the poop and pee off. Wipe from front to back (especially for girls). To help the sores dry up and heal, soak baby in a baking soda bath. This worked wonders! I just put her in her baby bath tub (or a dishwashing tub would work) and dumped a couple tablespoons of baking soda in the warm water where it touched her bottom. Then we would play for a few minutes--she was only about a month old, so I was the one playing. She would stay in for about 5 minutes or so.

DRY: Dry bottom with hair dryer on low (keep your hand where the air is blowing to make sure it’s not too hot) This dries the spots. As they start drying and sealing themselves, they will become less shiny. The sores will also be dry to the touch when they are fully dry. Sometimes this takes a couple of minutes. Again, make sure you use the low heat setting and keep your hand on the bottom the whole time to keep from burning the baby!

SEAL: Unfortunately, this area is a little experimental. Different ointments/creams work with different rashes on different babies. At the FIRST sign of a rash (if no blood yet), my suggestion is to start cheap and use Original Desitin in the purple tube. Yes it stinks like old fish because of the castor oil, but it coats better than anything else I found. And it will make your cloth diapers stink like fish. Use a Q-tip to keep it out of your fingernails. Blech. If the rash isn't getting better by the next day, or starts bleeding (it almost looks like acid burns), then you probably need a prescription cream. What worked for us is a prescription cream called Silvadene Cream, or silver sulfadiazine. The generic is significantly cheaper than the brand name. We also used a couple of different anti-fungal creams, because the rash looked a little yeasty (bright red, spreading outward, bumpy, hot). These creams are also inexpensive, and your doctor can tell you which over-the-counter ones work also. Neosporin is also helpful for the sores, as long as they are not yeast. If the rash is yeast, the Neosporin will aggrevate it, and you will have to change your game plan. We tried SO many creams and combinations. Once you find what works, stick with it!!

PREVENTION: I used cloth diapers and disposable. The thinking was chemicals in the disposables could be aggrevating the rash. But, cloth diapers are not as absorbant and wicking. For us, cloth/disposable or even brand of diaper didn't make a difference, but I know some moms whose babies were sensitive to one. I think the key is to dry out the rash and seal it with Desitin every diaper change for the next few weeks. And make your diaper changes very very frequent. When Lucy's was really bad, I was changing her diaper about every 2 hours--even through the night. And that was doing all the cleaning, drying, and sealing steps EVERY time. Thankfully, all 3 girls grew out of this by about 3 months. Also, try using a diaper that’s slightly too big for baby to give some air circulation. Do this until sores dry up and are no longer bright red and seeping. Also check to see if the baby has thrush (white sores in mouth). Baby may also have a low fever from the rash or being sick could case them to have a rash. When baby has diarrhea for any reason, keep bottom very clean and dry or the rash will start. Unfortunately, sometimes they will just get it no matter what you do!