HAPPY HALLOWEEN

For all of you who I did not have an email address for, or by some chance I had a brain cramp and forgot to send this, here is our Halloween greeting to all of you. We love halloween around our house (if any of you have been to our house in the past you will know we go crazy!!). My crazy idea designing hubs came up with this idea so we all happily complied. HOPE YOU ALL HAD A FUN DAY!!!!

My life...

I have been so terribly busy this past week that I have not had time to sit and catch my breath. Between school, kids, hubs, and the daily business it it hard sometimes to find myself. So I have sat here pondering tonight (while doing more homework) about myself. I had an interesting question appear on a mental health quiz today about marriage. It read something along the lines of studies show marriage is beneficial to men and detrimental to women. I so wanted to press the false button, but my two friends beside me said it was absolutely true. They were living examples. How sad that made me. Do I want to view life as a detriment because I chose (keyword chose) to change my life. I may not be the same person I was before I met my hubs. I know I am not the same person he married (in a good way). And I am certain that I am no where near the person I was before I have Lima or even Pinto. I have not lost my identity or myself. I have grown!! I never could have imagined that being married and having two giggly, singing, dancing girls in my life would be heaven sent. There are days when I wish I could be more carefree, but then I think to myself, Carefree to do what? Look to what my future my hold. I now hold my future. Every night I hold them as we read a story and sing our Jesus song before bed. Every night I sleep next to my future, my eternity. I would not be the person I am without those people. I don't need to sit and try and find myself. They are what make me, me. Who would I color with if Lima wasn't there? Who would I dance with if Pinto were not here? Who's shoulder would I cry on if Bean were not there? There are to many people in the world that think there is always something better. The sad thing is, there is usually something much worse. I am very grateful that I have the very best!!! I know that those little blonde girls I see everyday were meant for me. God wrapped them up and trusted me with them. I know that my path crossed Beans for a reason. He was the one person who could understand my life, my situation, me. Though life may be stressful with another test every Monday or more homework to do, studying. These are so minute compared to forever. I never thought I would get to this point with Beans being done with school (my heart still says WE DID IT!!). Somedays it feels like I will never get that degree, but yesterday someone said six months. THAT'S IT!!! It takes longer to have a baby. I can do it. We all can do it. Time is relative. Life is forever. I love you family!!

Finding deals...and sharing!

So, I like to look for deals while shopping. My hubs always says I take the stores to the cleaners. (MY GOAL!!) So I thought, if I come upon such great deals, why not pass it along. Sorry to all y'all that live far away, but I want to help those that I can. First of all, you must be a coupon clipper. And by this I mean sunday paper, ads, deals on packages(yes I take them off, if I don't need the product now but will later. Am I a coupon stealer? YIKES) anywhere!! Then I go hunting for sales. My hits this past few weeks, cereal and soup. We go through a box of cereal a day, literally. SO, ex. of shopping sales, Macey's has GM cereal(select kinds, YEAH for honey nut cheerios, they are never on sale) on 10 for $25 with $10 off if you purchase 10 boxes. Well then I had 2 $1 off coupons and voila. It was just that easy! 10 boxes of cereal for 13 bucks. That is a steal. So run out with ad in hand(that is where the $1 coupon is) and stock up. AND never never be afraid to ask for rain-checks. Then you can keep coupon hunting and you don;t miss the sale if the goods are gone for good. Another steal-pancake mix. Maceys had Honeyville (the only kind I like now, pancake snob what can I say.) mix on sale on a sat morning deal for .99 a 2 lb box. Well the 7 pound back will put you out for $7. So I bought 15 boxes (people this is how food storage comes about, buy when on sale, and lots) for just under $15. The total regular price would have been over $45. HOLY COW!!! SO, as I come across my amazing steals, be ready with cash in hand and sprint to the nearest deal finding store and get some good deals for you buck. Besides, I now do not have to purchase cereal, mac & cheese, soup, or pancake mix for a year. Steal of a deal!!!

So pretty!!

I could only dream of this talent. You need to check out this girls blog!! And you can enter to win her quilt also.

http://pigtailsandsnails.blogspot.com/2008/10/quilt-giveaway.html

The end of summer happening...

Lima finished up soccer last week. I think she was quite glad to be done. Soccer was not her thing for sure, and she will be the first to admit it. You know that kid that is crawling across the field or pretending to be stuck in the net....that is my pride and joy!! At least i got a good laugh at it, some of the other parents, not so much. She is four, what more can I say? Here are a few picks of her season.

We also took a drive up to the canyons as the leaves started to change. It is a good thing because that snow was sure eager to come, way before it was welcomed!! We had fun, and the girls enjoyed picking leaves and finding caterpillars. It is rare that we get to do much because I have school during the day, and Big Bean works at night. So I thoroughly enjoy these family outings when we can take them. Especially when it is somewhere outdoors, like the mountains. Beauty and family time, can't beat that.

Becoming Prepared...

It is not often that I brag about something other then my family. We have been asked repeatedly over the years to prepare ourselves and our family's for times of trial or disaster. We had tried our best to obtain and store what we could while living in student housing, but now that we are free from there and actually have room, we have dove right in. The first thing that we do every year is get down to botteling some good ol' fashion peaches. (We did four boxes like the one in the picture.) Nothing is better then those. We did pears last year and I will never do that again. They are a pain. Dave was a trooper and helped me out. We did 40 quarts in about 3 hours. WE ROCKED!! It did help to have to canners going at the same time, but hey I like to think I am awesome once in a while. Though to clean up the mess I think took a lot longer. We will be enjoying those tasty treats all winter long yumm!!! We also froze some to make delicious smoothies. mmmmmmm


And if anyone wasn't my friend before, maybe I could convince you all now to be. Take a look at that food storage!!
Okay, it may not look like a lot but it really is. A great friend of mine, Heather, so willingly helped me can tons on a Friday night and Big Bean finished up on Sat morning. In total we canned 175 lbs of sugar, 125 lbs of flour, and 175 lbs of rice. Wew, that was a lot, but we actually did all but the flour in less then two hours. THANKS HEATHER!!!

So this is my encouragement to all of you. YOU CAN DO IT!! Just start out a little at a time and shop those sales, and before you know it, there is really a ton that you have bought. But plan. Make sure you buy logical things! And in case anyone is wondering, we are not open for business.

About me Tag...

It's who I am...

I am.... Mama bean (you all know me!)
I Want.... to just sit and do nothing for a whole week, well maybe just a few days.
I Have.... Way to much on my plate all the time.
I Wish.... That I could own my own house,that I can paint the walls any color I want.
I Hate.... Dumb questions (like Ina's) when my baby is due, and being late!
I Fear.... Losing a member of my family.
I Hear.... Some good tunes, oh and my bed calling.
I Search.... For what I really am supposed to do with my life almost daily.
I Always.... have to have a clean house.
I Usually.... freak myself out at night, with dumb sounds.
I Am Not.... so good about always thinking before speaking.
I miss.... being skinny and living the carefree life sometimes.
I love.... my family!!
I Never.... feel organized enough.
I Rarely.... tell my friends how great they really are.
I Cry.... When I get embarrassed.
I am Not Always.... Open
I Lose....My keys-All the time!!
I'm Confused.... about whether to go to Vietnam in March or not.
I Need.... to get to the temple!
I Should.... go to bed, or keep doing homework...ugh, needed a break.
I Dream.... Of not being poor anymore.

I now tag EVERYONE!!! I don't want anyone to feel bad for their name not being listed.

Yet another new name for sandwiches...

So Pinto being the adorable thing that she is, except last night for no apparent reason she screamed her head off for 1 1/2 hrs at 1:30 am grrr, has her own name of what she thinks turkey sandwiches are. They are offically monkey sandwiches. And the bread was hopping bunny bread. How she thinks that is what they are called is beyond me, but hey, it is SO CUTE!!! So if you are hungry, you should try eating a monkey sandwich with hopping bunny bread. She seemed to enjoy hers, I bet yours would be tasty also.