It's Fugal Friday!

My first frugal friday post!! How exciting!! Thanks for taking the time to visit my little place on the web...

This is a picture of my ceiling fan that my dad installed for me yesterday and I helped!(like shake n bake without the promise of good food to eat later!!)
Since Sunday just happens to be father's day I thought I would share with you a project with a dad theme to it...I should've took pictures of my dad in the process of putting it up.
How I acquired it is like this...My mom and dad were in the process of packing up all their stuff in Florida and moving it to Arkansas to live with family here. My dad was talking about how he didn't know what they would do with some of the stuff they had in their house...I batted my big brown eyes and said..."Do you have any ceiling fans? I need one for my dining room!" He told me that he could get me one....

Fast forward to yesterday...my dad calls me and says he's in town(the rest of the family lives out in the country...I live "in town" because I am close to the stores and stuff...it's a small town) and asks if I would be okay with him coming over and installing the fan(which I had completely forgotten about) I told him to come on over...but ignore the piles of piles...and he did...he said that it doesn't matter to him how the house looks...which made me feel good...I helped him install the fan(like 10%) and he left with toolbox in hand.

My Frugal Friday tip is this: Ask around if you have a need. Someone is bound to have it or can point you in the direction of someone who does.

I can't tell you how many things that I have gotten just because I asked...a fridge, a bath bench(when hubby was in the accident), potty seat(accident) and the list goes on and on....

clothes on the line....

Is there anything that feels and smells better than clothes on the line?? I don't think so...

See the yellow shirts on the line?? Those are our VBS shirts--it's kinda sad that today is the last day...but it's kinda good too...we can rest!!

thrifty thursday

This was all found in the free bin at my local church run thrift store...some great old books, an awesome thermos, a cute little basket, some red velvet ribbon, some play silver medals, a soap dish holder, a metal tin, a crock, an old avon perfume bottle shaped like a football helmet, some gold fabric, a ribbon curler with some ribbon--a book about reaching your child's heart, and a glass votive and two jello molds...which might make cool molds for sand.


Close up of the books...a couple of Dale Carnegie books along with a book of Abraham Lincoln's writings...book 5 of I think ten? But don't quote me on that!

Isn't this picture just awesome?? I love it! I have already looked at some of his writings...and the whole set of books is available to download...but there is just something about holding them in your hand.


The same store had this on their free bin! I love these kind of plates for my kiddos!
I already have some of the large rectangular divided plates...and another cutting board? It just needed a trip through my dishwasher and it was as good as new!

I also scored three of those pink flat plates! They are always good to put a lunch for sissy on...but bubba will not eat on pink plates...something about masculinity!!

I also got this from the free bin! I have no idea what you are supposed to do with it...I joked that it's a friendly kung fu practice thingy....but really think that I will canabalize and do something FAB-U-LUSSSS!(Or just throw it in the trash...)


I bought this at a yard sale for $1 for sissy's room...she has a pink and black thing going on in her room...I think it looks like a funeral parlor decoration but she told me DO NOT TOUCH IT ANYMORE MOMMA!! So I obliged...even though I think the inside needs more black...

I bought this little beauty for 50 cents at my favorite thrift store. I think that a coat of paint might help it...I am almost tempted to paint it white...I wonder what it would look like?

Life took a different turn!

Reading the last post I wrote on here really makes me sad. Not because I don't like what I said, but because of what direction my life took at the end of September. What could have been easily the WORST chapter of my life has turned out to be one of the best. My husband was driving home on Saturday September 27 when a motorist didn't see him and ran out in front of him. The motorcycle he was driving t-boned the passenger side of the truck so hard that his glasses ended up in the cab of the guys truck. The guy didn't know what had happened...and I guess he thought he killed my husband because the ambulance didn't run it's sirens...
I was busy trying to get supper on the table, so the call that he had gotten into an accident didn't make me feel fuzzy inside. I could hear him in the background, so I wasn't too alarmed. I called my brother-in-law to take care of my kids....and I went to the hospital. Tommy had gauze over his eyes and I knew if he didn't have his glasses he couldn't see. He complained about his knee hurting him(the dr. said that was deferred pain from his hip.) and he said his head was hurting him and he kept putting his hand behind his head...which scared me! There was blood everywhere on his face and his front teeth were black with blood. There were pieces of glass in his hair and he had a gash over his right eye and bridge of his nose. He was stitched up and awaiting transport to UAMS...to be continued!!
****EDITED TO ADD****
We spent a couple of weeks at UAMS and came home with Tommy in crutches. I am so glad that we were able to come home!! Tommy went back to work Jan 4 and then we got pregnant in February with a due date of Nov 4. Now November will come and go without a baby in our household...in late April we found out our sweet babies(it was twins!) were no longer viable. They stopped growing at about 10 and1/2 weeks, and I was 12 weeks along. We had such high hopes for this birth, but it just wasn't meant to be...
I know everyone tells you that it was for the best and blah, blah, blah...but I know that doesn't make me sleep any better at night. But I have to be still and know that God is God no matter what I am doing he is still concerned about me.
I think about Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare, and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope." NASB
I know that no matter what I can't change what has happened and I can't stop time or speed it up no matter how hard I try. Trust me...I have tried!!

homeschooling

We have started homeschooling and while it's not as easy as I thought it would be, it's still kinda fun. Alex has got to get used to the way that I teach and go into teacher/student mode with me...it seems that we are always in some sort of power struggle. argh!! but it will get better or I will just stop caring so much...either way I win!

look mom I can clean up after myself!!

this is what my scraproom looked like when I had started...








this is what my room looked like after I had finished...tommy was so impressed that he said he would buy me some paper storage I have been eyeing--I have also detailed some plans for the room on the photo.

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I just love the way that these ribbons look....

house tour contined, continued, continued....

this is a light up candy cane that a certain young girl wanted one year from him...she's nver been a real picky kid, but the light up candy cane and the penguin were particularly hard items for santa to find, but he found them and thus started the tradition of telling mom and dad that it's okay, santa knows exactly what to get me...he always does!! I don't have to write it down because he knows!

I leave you with the most beautiful angel I have ever seen...not that I am prejudice against other angels..LOL

My gold trees...I really like them...I would have bought many more, but alas sprits were high, and funds were low...so I have to be happy with my trio of trees...

My snowman I got for 50 cents at the Dollar General after Christmas sale...I racked up!!


My most ornate santa I got from a great family friend....


My homemade snowman made with 4x4 psts and an old robe of my mom's I have got to do something about a nose for him....you can see my blue santa staring disapprovingly at his lack of a nose, but the snowman doesn't mind, he's just happy to be put out and loved from afar...

house tour continued, continued

this is where he is broken at...not too noticeable...

I made the moma and daddy with their baby with alex last year. She made the baby's face....

A Santa Convention...they were glad the little guy could join in...


and a snowman convention....the blue one's a real troublemaker....see the way he wouldn't look forward for the picture?(and umm...someone needs to take the price stickers off the bottom....)

house tour continued

the shelf above the tv...all decorated

our daughter's penguin....cleverly hiding our lamp, and our stockings hung on the window....I bought these for 30 cents a piece at the after christmas sale at the dollar general.

My Nativity I bought from the thrift store for 50 cents. Gavin just told me "Tats piture of Marey and Yosef....tats piture tv."

my most expensive nativity....this one was bought at the dollar tree for one dollar a figurine. 7.00--yep it's HIGH DOLLAR. And yep...my son broke my wiseman that is kneeling...poor guy no wonder he had to kneel!!

Welcome to the Nussey's!

We would go through the front door and I would show you the outside of my house, but I just don't feel like sharing that right now, so we will pretend that you teleported in like star trek and arrived on the otherside of my front door and have tunnelvision so you only see what I want you to see! Please feel free to grab a candy off our wreath...it was made to be eaten! I have a boy and girl snowpeople for my two kids..

this is our tree....I hope to make some homemade paper ornaments with the kids so this will look different here in a few days!


This is santa with my sunglasses on--Gavin thought it was funny!!


my nativities...and like the other houses in the tour, my son has broken one of my wisemen...

a little nostalgic

okay, so most people wouldn't look at this guy and think that he is something to get misty-eyed over, but he really reminds me of the drawings my grandpa used to draw just to tease us grandkids...he would draw people with these runny faucet noses--and I would get very upset. "That's not the way to draw people!" and I would erase the nose he just drew and drew my own. I would just think these people were soooooo ugly....oh man if I could just have one more chance to draw with Papaw!

It kinda made me sad and I have to express that I just wanted to sit with this guy and feel close to Papaw if only for a moment...
This is one of those things only I would get upset about--everyone else would just see a stinkin' faucet head guy...

yellow cake with chocolate icing

What's up with the doopey look on Gavin's face?? It could be the cake he's been sneaking! I was trying to have a heart to heart with his big sis about how she should be acting and she was crying and wailing and had to stand in the corner until I GOT tired of it(her attitude was thatBAD), and while we were talking Gavin decided to sneak into the kitchen and grab some cake since it was just sitting on the counter and hey with no one telling him no...there was no stopping him! It's almost like he couldn't resist since there was a barstool right there too....





the best way to eat cake? One pinch at a time!! mmm....and it's better if you can just barely put your fingers in between the saran wrap....that's the best part! of course you only want the pieces with frosting, a technique Gavin is demonstrating.

The fingers responsible for the deed....