Tulsa Local Cereal Promotion

If you live in the Tulsa area, there is a good deal on Kellogg's cereals right now at Reasor's. You can get all Kellogg's cereals half off their regular retail price. Then if you go here, you can print Kellogg's cereal coupons for use on top of the half off savings.

The big one for us is on Crispix cereal. It's Rick's favorite! I can get it half off THEN an additional $1.00 off two boxes. There is also a coupon for $1.00 off any three boxes of Kellogg's cereal.

I am not the best coupon user in the world. But this is one even I can screw up!

Tips for Sanity on a LOOOOONNNNGGG Car Ride

On Saturday we are leaving for Pensacola, Florida, for a week vacation at my parents' new vacation home. Well, four of us are going. Rick and Dawson are staying home.

With stops to eat the trip will probably take us about 14-15 hours. We are leaving at 5:00 a.m., so should arrive no later than 8:00 p.m.

Two summers ago we took our kids on a 9 state, 60 hour trip to Yellowstone. The kids were awesome! What tactics do I use to make a long car trip bearable?

Many, many years ago I bought a book called Sanity in the Summertime by Linda Dillow and Claudia Arp. It is an excellent book! It has a chapter about surviving vacations, with a section on car trips. It is a very outdated book, but the concepts are still usable. Here are some tips, both from the book and from experience, and a few new things that I have recently come upon:

1.  Have a Schedule. Set up a general schedule for watching dvd's, playing handheld video games, listening to books on cd, resting, stopping to eat, playing games, etc. Instead of just doing whatever, have specific times when you will do things. It gives the kid something to look toward.

2.  Pack a Snack Bag. I have a specific bag with snacks in it. I give snacks according to the schedule, instead of just eating all day long. Each kid has their own water bottle in their cupholder. It has to last for four hours so we aren't stopping to potty every couple of miles. I read on a blog to choose snacks that take a while to eat: cheese packs that you dip sticks into, fruit roll-ups, candy necklaces. I also pack each child a mini-can of pringles and a regular bag of M&M's for special treats.

3.  Pack an Activity Bag. In the bag have items for making on-the-road crafts and creations. A sheet of aluminum foil is fun for them to make a creation of their choice. Add some pipe cleaners. Paper sacks and markers are fun for making puppets. Then they have something to play with for a while. Dig through your drawers and pull out any activity pads, coloring books, etc., that have made their way to the bottom of the drawer and been forgotten. I read a cute idea of packing a lunch sack with a new dollar store toy, some stickers, paper, and a snack in the bottom .. a 'grab bag' of sorts. When boredom hits, give them a bag to play with the contents inside. I think this is what will contain the M&M's.

4.  A Map. Give each child a map of your route, with a highlighter attached to it with string and tape, so that they can highight as they go.

5.  Money. Give each child $10 in $1 bills. Each time they ask "how much longer?" they lose a dollar. Whatever money they have when you arrive at the destination is theirs to spend on souveniers.

6.  Tried-and-True. Of course bring dvds. We go to the library and check out some videos we haven't seen yet. We have an inverter that allows us to plug things into it for power. So we take our Wii. The kids have got to where they don't play their DS games much at home, so they are always excited to play with them in the car. My kids are really into reading right now, so we checked out some books on cd. Each of my kids gets to fill a small Sterlite tub with a lid with small toys. They love little action figures and things and they will keep them busy for hours, especially Eli. And Kyndal burns us some cds of our favorite music to listen to.

7.  The Travel Fairy. This is my favorite thing to do! Each time we stop to eat, I sneak a wrapped gift onto their carseat. When we get back in the car they see that the Travel Fairy has left them something special. It's usually something fun to do on the trip. One of my favorite things is a disposable camera. On this trip I will also give them some sand toys for their last gift, since we will be playing on the beach.

8.  Organization. On our Yellowstone trip I bought each of the kids a back-of-the-seat organizer. It holds their handheld electronics, a pad of paper and some markers, their maps, their dollars and anything else they will need within reach. I carry Wal-mart plastic bags for trash, with one attached to the bottom of each organizer. The middle console has a travel container of baby wipes. Brynne has tummy aches that come on pretty fast, so I keep Maalox and a medicine dispenser in my driver's door in case she starts feeling poor.

We really try to drive for about four hours, then stop for a meal and time to stretch. Then go another four hours, then stop again for a meal and time to stretch. And so on. The trip to my parents' in Missouri is 4 hours. So, this gives them a reference.

These tips have worked for us on numerous vacations. If you have any other ideas you have used that I don't have listed, feel free to share!

Nicole's Daybook

Outside my window... It is rainy, dreary and cold.

I am thinking... that I wish I was snuggled in bed on this rainy day!

I am thankful ... that I get to do what I enjoy every day.

I am wearing... black and red running pants, red Baltimore Maryland t-shirt, white zip up hoodie and Nike's.

I am planning... my post with long car ride travel tips.

I am creating... compartments in my head of all I need to do and pack and plan and prepare for our vacation this next week, and a special Mother's Day gift for my mom.

I am going... to not have to leave the house today at all except to take Eli to school this morning. This is one of the benefits of having a teenager who drives!

I am reading...  A Distant Melody by Sarah Sundin, Stepping Heavenward by Mrs. E. Prentiss and the Book of Psalms (daily devotional). Adam of the Road by Elizabeth Janet Gray (Dawson's read-aloud).

I am hoping... that Kyndal continues to enjoy her new job, and her new freedom driving, and works hard for the next few months so that she can have the pleasure of buying her own car.

From the learning rooms... We are sticking to the basics this week, mostly. We are getting weary and ready for a break! Dawson is working on an essay about stewardship that he is not enjoying. I have another tactic for helping him this morning. Brynne is learning about homelessness by reading the book Fly Away Home by Eve Bunting and Great Joy by Kate DiCamillo. She is also enjoying doing computer math games this week. Kyndal and Eli are counting the days to their Spring Break. It is certainly more exciting for my public school kids to be away from school. Dawson and Brynne get "breaks" all the time.

Noticing that ... grocery prices are already going up, and that we have been "grabbing something to eat while we are out" more often than I usually allow. Being more organized in meals is necessary.

From the kitchen... I am doing some of the last of my "indoor" grilling this week before I start using my early Mother's Day gift from Rick. Tonight it's italian chicken kabobs and Thursday night it's grilled chicken wraps.

Around the house... is tons of laundry that needs to be put away and an upstairs that desperately needs cleaned!

One of my favorite things... is my new little greenhouse I bought with a giftcard from CSN I won from Murry Mayhem.

A few plans for the rest of the week... Today is what I call "It's Tuesday!" We get baths done early and I get in my pjs extra early and we watch T.V. from then until bedtime. Kyndal works tonight, tomorrow night and Thursday night so she will have my car. I couldn't leave if I wanted to, which I don't. On Thursday Brynne and I are going on a field trip to the airport. I've heard it's tons of fun! On Friday she has her Coop music and P.E. classes, always a highlight of her week. Then at 5 a.m. on Saturday morning me and three of the kids are heading to Pensacola!

From my picture journal.

A girl and her license. Kyndal took her driver's test yesterday and passed! You can read about it here.

Lots of women Daybook. See what they have to say at The Simple Woman's Daybook.

Menu Plan Monday

I made the yummiest spinach artichoke pasta last night. I just kind of made it up, using cream of chicken soup and sour cream as the sauce, with added browned chicken, steamed spinach and a jar of marinated artichokes, served over penne pasta. I seasoned the chicken with two cloves of diced garlic and some onion powder. Next time I'll add some shredded parmesan cheese. It was so good! Even my kids ate it, spinach and all!

Now on to this week's menu ...

Monday ~ Asian chicken stir fry

Tuesday ~ Italian chicken kabobs with grilled veggies on linquine

Wednesday ~ FFY

Thursday ~ Grilled chicken wraps

Friday ~ Goulash

Saturday ~ Pizza for the fellas because me and the other kids will be in Florida!

Sunday ~ Men's choice because me and the other kids will be in Florida!

Have a great week!

Preparing for a Financial Apocolypse

Okay, so I exaggerate a tad! I have never been one to panic about a predicted national disaster.

But let's face it. Prices are on the rise again, and they are going to get higher! As I mentioned in a previous post, this hits me personally in the area of groceries.  Rick and I had some discussions this week and made a decision to invest in an upright freezer to put in our garage. And I am going to purchase a little extra food every two weeks when I go to the store, just to be prepared for a spike in grocery prices.

This week I purchased these extra items:

• 3 lbs. frozen chicken breasts
• 5 lbs. ground beef
• large jar of peanut butter
• bag of shredded cheddar cheese
• bag of shredded mozzarella cheese
• (2) cans of cream of chicken soup
• Can of spaghetti sauce

These are all things we use often in our meals. Most of it will freeze nicely. Non-perishable items will be stored in our storage room.

I am going to concentrate on buying extra of the things we most often eat, and am going to be stocking up on meats to freeze like chicken, roasts, ground beef and pork chops. I am planning to pare down our menus to allow me to spend about an extra $30 every two weeks on groceries to stock.

It just never hurts to be prepared.

Teaching the Lessons of Life

It has been difficult to take on the job of teaching Kyndal the valuable lesson of working for your privileges.

Several months before her own 16th birthday she attended a birthday dinner for one of her friends where she was presented with a car. It wasn't a new car, but it was a new car to her. Since then she has watched friend after friend turn 16 and receive cars. One of her friends even got a 2011 Camaro! (Ridiculous!) Her best friend will be getting her mom's Lexus SUV. Her boyfriend will be getting a pretty darned new Ford pickup.

I felt strongly, early on, that it was important for Kyndal to work for the privilege of having her own car. We told her two years ago that we would match dollar-for-dollar any money she could save towards a car. When she turned 16 she didn't have any money. And she didn't get that surprise car. And it was so difficult for her. In fact, I even made the decision that she would not be able to get her license (she has her permit) until she had secured a job.

I remember my friends growing up, who got cars given to them, wrecked them without a second thought and got those cars replaced with different cars. One of Kyndal's friends in our neighborhood did the same thing about a month after he got his license. I had to work yucky, miserable jobs to get the money for my car, and the paint job, and the new tires. It wasn't fun. But, I took care of my car and appreciated it because I had worked for it!

Well Kyndal finally took the initiative and got a job. She worked her first shift at Sonic two nights ago, worked again last night and works tonight and tomorrow night. This week she will make about $140. That's 6 months worth of insurance in just one week. At that rate she will be able to save enough money to get a really nice car by the end of the summer.

And it will be hers! All hers!

How do we plan to handle insurance and gas? She has to pay for them both. Her insurance right now is cheap, but once she gets her own car it will be higher. And for gas until she gets her own car? I figure it costs between $2 and $3 for her to drive to town and back. So I plan to have a jar where she puts in an index card each time she drives one of our vehicles to town, for work or otherwise, and at the end of the week she will pay us for her gas.

Driving places costs money. And we are all getting ready to feel the true affects of that soon. I want her to weigh the pros and cons of making a trip somewhere based on how it affects her pocketbook. Because if it doesn't affect her pocketbook, it won't affect her.

These are such hard lessons. But, she will know the value of a dollar earned (and how quickly it goes away.) She has many, many friends that will have no idea what that means and will suffer because of it. Sadly mommy and daddy will probably always bail them out.

She might not be thanking me now. But what gets me through is knowing that someday she will.

And on a side note ... she looked so stinkin' cute in her Sonic uniform! I couldn't get over it! She should apply to be the Sonic poster girl. She is so all-American adorable! **Smile** !!!!

Pensacola ... Here We Come!!!

It's official ... my parents now own a 3-bedroom vacation home in Pensacola, Florida, that is walking distance to this little beach on the bay. They got the keys last night and are busy furnishing it and painting it today.

And we are now packing for our Spring Break trip! The kids are so, so excited! (And I might be looking forward to it, too!)

It's a long drive, one that we plan to do overnight on the way down there so the kids can sleep. But on the way home we will make the trip during the day. I have a tried-and-true system for surviving long car trips, using tips from the book Sanity in the Summertime by Linda Dillow and Claudia Arp (two of my favorite Christian women). I will be posting about my tips for surviving a long car trip soon.

When Trump Speaks ...

I very infrequently watch any daytime television. But this morning I had the t.v. on and caught Donald Trump on Regis and Kelly. For me, when Trump speaks, I typically listen. He's kind of a smart guy when it comes to finances.

He was talking about his consideration of running for President, because the country is just in such financial dire straights. He said that very soon we will be paying between $5.00 and $6.00 per gallon for gas! And that means the cost of everything is going to go up! For me that hits home mostly in the area of groceries.

I honestly felt a panic in the pit of my stomach because groceries are already expensive. I already cook about as cheaply as one can cook. But it looks as if I am going to have to do better to make my current budget stretch in the coming months.

Stocking up, while the prices are low(er), seems like an important thing to do right now. It's got my mind whirling.

I am thinking of making a list of the commonly purchased food items in our home, and making a commitment to buy an extra one of each for the next several weeks in anticipation of what is to come. We don't have a big freezer, but we do have a small one that could hold some extra frozen foods and meat. I think I will buy an extra whole chicken, or a bag of frozen chicken breasts, and some ground beef each week to add to our stockpile.

I plan to start making a list of our most frugal meals, to eat this summer.

I think it's going to get crazy, folks.

And with gas prices rising as it is predicted, our running around will be practically halted come summer. I want to start thinking of some at-home things for us to do to keep us entertained. Because, we will be at home a lot. When I say that I mean only making a maximum of two trips to town each week ... once to go to Big Splash (and do everything in Tulsa we need to do that day) and once to go into Owasso to run our errands, go to the library, etc. That's all we will be able to afford to do.

It's going to get tough.

What are your suggestions for surviving what is sure to be a monumental financial crisis?

SHE. HAS. A. JOB.

Kyndal will be going from looking like this ...

to this ...

Yeah, this isn't really her ... yet!

She is very excited about her new job at Sonic! She gets to start tonight. She'll start on the crew, fixing drinks, then will move up to taking orders and then will move to carhop. She can skate if she wants to. That's undecided at this point. She figures she should learn to carry a tray on shoes before she moves to skates.

We are very proud of her for seeking out this job on her own. She had me take her to apply on Friday and they called her on Sunday. She had her orientation yesterday afternoon.

And now she gets to go get her driver's license.

It's been difficult for her to wait (since November, when she turned 16) to get her license. But we felt it was very important for her to have a job and show that level of responsibility before she was allowed to get her license and start driving. She will be responsible for all of her own gas and her insurance, so having a job was crucial. And now she has one and is very excited about all that it means.

Way to go Kyndal!

Nicole's Daybook

** Update: The closing on the Pensacola house is not happening today after all because of a hold up with the deed. Urgghhhhh! Now we are just hoping the closing happens before Spring Break so we can go!

Outside my window... It's a beautiful, sunny day and is supposed to be 70 degrees this afternoon. My doggies are loving it!

I am thinking... about beaches.

I am thankful ... that my parents are closing on their Pensacola house today so we get to go on our vacation in a couple of weeks!

I am wearing... black sweats and a t-shirt. I'm going to take Crusoe for a run in a bit and then I'll shower and get dressed.

I am planning... travel plans for Pensacola IN TWO WEEKS!!

I am creating... lists in my head of things we are going to need to take to Florida with us, clothes and such.

I am going... to take Kyndal to an orientation for her new job at Sonic this afternoon.

I am reading...  Little Earthquakes by Jennifer Weiner, (almost done). I am still reading Stepping Heavenward by Mrs. E. Prentiss and the Book of Psalms (daily devotional). Adam of the Road by Elizabeth Janet Gray (Dawson's read-aloud).

I am hoping... that Kyndal gives her all to her new job, even when it's not fun.

From the learning rooms... Trying to hang in there and keep working hard, but Spring Break's right around the corner! My public school kids have an extra 30 minutes added to their days until the end of the year to make up their snow days.

Noticing that ... how immediately defensive I get about my kids.

From the kitchen... We were going to go to IHOP's free short stack pancake day for dinner tonight, but with Kyndal's orientation we aren't going to make that. So, I'm going to pick up some pizza instead.

Around the house... are empty flower pots and garden boxes just begging for some life!

One of my favorite things... is getting a lot done on the weekends so that I have less stressful weekdays.

A few plans for the rest of the week... Taking Kyndal to her job orientation tonight and going to the library, taking a meal to our Coop music teacher tomorrow night, taking Eli to a birthday party on Thursday night, possibly going to Bingo Night at our elementary school Friday night (while Dawson goes to an all-nighter) and nothing the rest of the weekend.

From my picture journal.

The cute t-shirt scarf I made on Saturday. Go here to see how to make your own. The t-shirt I used had seams down the side. I'm going to make another one without them.

Lots of women Daybook. See what they have to say at The Simple Woman's Daybook.