I Am Who I Am In GOD.....and I AM OK With That!

The other day while I was on Facebook I came across a link for this blog post: http://powerofmoms.com/2012/04/your-children-want-you/ which is a VERY good post and definitely something I needed to read. The irony of it is that just reading it made me do some of the things she talks about that we as moms shouldn't do! I immediately began to think about the fact that I am NOT that mom/woman who blogs about things daily, weekly, or even monthly for that fact. I do learn important spiritual lessons regularly, but I do not write them down for other women/moms to learn from. I always have good intentions to write them down, but it doesn't happen. I spend a lot of time during my day praying silently for my children and cleaning up messes. I am a very organized person and it is very difficult for me to find this when I walk into my boys' room:

                                           

  Instead of this: 

I have come to understand that not everyone in my house thinks neatness and organization are as important as I do. The fact that I even allow them to keep their things after I find them where they don't belong is a blessing for them in my mind! Even if I spent the money on all of those bins, the boys (Jacob) wouldn't use them! I hear the voice in my head asking, "What have I done wrong? Where did I fail in teaching them these basic skills? Why can't I impart to them the importance of neatness?"  In actuality I have done nothing wrong. I HAVE taught them these things. It is their choice to implement what I have taught them. So then I ask, "Why won't they make good choices? Is that my fault too?" Oh, it is a never ending cycle for moms! We beat ourselves up over every little thing. 

I used to watch 19 Kids and Counting randomly. I had to stop because I was constantly comparing myself to the ever-calm Michelle. I wondered why I couldn't stay as calm as she did--and I only have 4 kids!!

I kept telling myself I wasn't spiritual enough. I wasn't praying enough. I must not love my kids as much as she loves hers if mine irritate me so quickly. I was quick to tell myself I was a failure as a parent for not being more like her. Then I realized......GOD didn't make me like her for a reason. HE wanted me to be Caci--not Michelle. I have other strengths that she may wish she had. My personality is not like hers....that is for sure! And that is OK!  My desire is the same....to raise GODLY children in this ungodly world. To teach my kids morals and spiritual truths. To walk with GOD every day. To teach others about GOD and HIS love for them.  I just do it in a different manner. I Corinthians 12:14 tells us "For the body is not one member, but many." And verses 17-18 tell us "If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But now GOD has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as HE desired." We are all different, and we are all used in different ways--not just in the church (building), but in our homes as well. After all, WE are still the church when we go home. We are not the same for a reason! What we, as Christians, need to understand and believe is that GOD has placed us just as HE desired. That makes us perfectly placed!

I do NOT separate whites 

 and colored laundry. If it comes to the washing machine, it gets washed! I have never heard my kids complain that I didn't wash their clothes correctly! They are just happy they get washed! 

I recently overheard a mom say, "When my youngest son graduates high school I will have fixed breakfast every morning for 32 years." I immediately started beating myself up. Why? I DON'T FIX BREAKFAST! Well, that's not true. I fix breakfast on Saturdays. And SOME weekday mornings. I am just NOT that mom! Do my kids lack nutrition because I don't cook bacon, eggs, waffles, pancakes or such every morning? Nope. They do just fine on cereal, a bagel or toast. They don't even complain. So why was I beating myself up over it? I always think that I could or should be better than I am.

While it is ok to strive to be better in what we do or who we are, it is also ok to accept that there are some things about ourselves that just aren't going to change. When I get to heaven, GOD isn't going to ask me why I didn't cook breakfast for my kids every day of their childhood! Seriously, HE isn't! In the broad scheme of things, the battles that we choose to fight within ourselves aren't the ones that really matter. What matters is what we do to advance the kingdom of GOD. 

I know that I fail GOD every day. I know that GOD never fails me!!!! I need to take the time to focus more on how I can be closer to HIM than how I can be more like some woman on Pinterest or TV that I don't even know!! I need to want to know GOD more! I need to teach my kids about GOD more. I want them to know that HE is ever faithful, never failing, full of love, compassion and grace. I want HIS love for them to reflect off of me so that when they look at me they see HIM. Those are the things I strive for on a daily basis while the clothes pile up on the floors in the rooms and the laundry baskets remain empty. 

A Eugene Bag

I have seen the movie Tangled no less than 300 times in the last 4 months. Seriously. Benjamin would wake up and the first sweet words out of his mouth were, "Good morning, Mommy. I love you!"  Wait, no....I dreamt that! They were, "I want to watch Tangled". Every. Day. For 4 months. Now I know you are saying, "But, Caci that doesn't equal 300 times."  And you are right...it doesn't. You have to add the 3 more times that he said those same words EVERY day for the past 4 months, and the fact that I am a concerned lazy mom who just wants her kids to be happy....so I let him watch it. 3-4 times-- every day. I can quote it without even looking at the screen. Most of the reason I let him watch it so many times is because I was busy sewing, and it was a good babysitter. I know that is horrible of me, but hey at least I could afford to buy groceries while he sang "Mother Knows Best" to the cashiers. One bad thing that has come from him watching Tangled is that he took a couple of my pans and threw them around pretending to fight the bad guys like Eugene does. This left dents in my pans. Not good, but they still cook the same.
Last night as he was running through the house calling Rapunzel he said he needed a "Eugene bag". I, of course, immediately knew what he wanted....because I have seen the movie so many times.  So today I sewed a Eugene bag for my little man. 

Here he is with his bag

Can you see how proud he is of it?

Do you want me to open it???

It even has a crown inside!!!

Let's take the crown out.....

And try to wear it.....backwards....

I even lined it with Toy Story fabric!

 I had fun sewing the bag and it was great to see how happy he was to have it. I love it that he still thinks I am the greatest and the fact that I can make him smile with something as simple as a cut up pair of jeans turned into a bag!

Shopping At Walgreens

Today I thought I would try another shopping trip to Walgreens using coupons. I did a little more "ahead prepping", but still it wasn't enough! I was not aware that RR (register rewards) are treated like coupons, therefore the rules for coupons apply for them as well. This means that if you are only buying 1 item but have 2 different RR's you can't use them both--well sometimes it means this--I had a couple of transactions that let me use more coupons than I had items!  That messed up my whole shopping trip!! That and the fact that 3 of my children were crying about being hungry and asking me a million questions while I was checking out! I thought I was only going to do 3 separate transactions, but that turned into 6, and I ended up spending more OOP (out of pocket) than I originally thought I would. I am sure there are probably 100 people who could have done this better than me, but here is what I did!

1st Transaction:

2 Nivea body soaps which were on sale 2/$7.00 with $2.00 RR (I also had a $1.00 coupon for this)

1 Bic Soleil Disposable Razors--$5.99 with $2.00 RR (I had a $3.00 coupon for this)  Of course I could be wrong and my $1.00 coupon could have been for the razors and my $3.00 coupon could have been for the Nivea---either way, I had $4.00 in coupons! 

Total: $9.73 with $4.00 RR (total savings $9.98)

2nd Transaction:

3 Super Stack cans of Pringles --the kids were screaming for food!--3/$4.00 (I had a $1.00 coupon)

Ban deodorant--$1.99 (I had a $1.49 coupon AND a $0.40 coupon for this but she only took the $0.40 coupon and I didn't realize it until it was too late.  She kept telling me that she used the other one but I just knew she didn't. The kids talking didn't help me either! So I didn't get as good of a deal on this as I should have)

I used $2.00 in RR from 1st transaction and paid $2.59 for this transaction. (total savings $7.40)

3rd Transaction: This was my favorite transaction!

Omega Smart Super Critical Ultimate Fish Oils--$10.00 with $10.00 RR (I also had a $2.00 coupon)

Total: $8.00 and received $10.00 in RR  (total savings $16.99)

4th Transaction:

Pantene--2/$7.00 with $1.00 RR (I also had a $1.00 coupon)

Coppertone Sunblock--$9.99 with $4.00 RR (I had a $2.00 coupon which the computer didn't want to take for some reason, but after calling a manager they took it)

I used my $10.00 RR from transaction 3 & $2.00 RR from transaction 1 & paid $2.15 for this transaction. (total savings $18.28) I received $5.00 in RR. I used 4 coupons and only got 3 items in this transaction. Weird.

5th Transaction:

Colgate toothpaste--2/$5.00 with $2.00 RR (I had a $0.75 coupon)

Colgate toothbrushes--2/$5.00 with $2.00 RR (I had a $0.75 coupon)

Total $8.50 and received $4.00 RR (total savings $7.46) I don't think I did this transaction very well. But, oh well!

6th Transaction:

Pullups--$10.99 (I had a $2.00 coupon) I wanted to get the Pampers Easy-Ups because they were on sale for $8.99 with $1.00 RR and I had a $1.50 coupon, but they did not have size 2T in boys! :(

Orajel kids--$4.99 (I had a $1.00 coupon)

Caress body soap--$2.99 (I had a coupon but was unable to use it because the number of coupons exceeded the number of items I was buying when I used my RR. I had wanted to get a SoBe Lifewater for $0.99 and receive $0.99 in RR, but I couldn't find a SoBe (or a place for one) anywhere in our Walgreens!)

I used $4.00 RR from transaction 4 and $2.00 RR from transaction 5--and paid $10.46 for this transaction. (total savings $11.00) This transaction allowed me to use 4 coupons and I only had 3 items. I don't fully understand the "you have to have as many items as you have coupons" rule.

I left with $1.00 in RR, but now that I think about it I should have another $2.00 in RR from transaction 5 that I never used, but she was taking coupons left and right and not scanning them. I think she took my last $2.00 RR and never gave it back....or maybe I fed it to one of my kids!

All in all I spent $41.72 and saved $71.11.  I don't think that is too bad, but I can't wait until I get better!

"5 For $5@5" and More Couponing

You can clearly see the "5 For $5@5" words on the receipt.
Too bad that isn't really what they mean!

I am a huge fan of Sonic---usually. I love the fact that they have Happy Hour when you can get 1/2 price drinks! My favorite is the Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper!!! I love the $1.00 menu where you can get a Jr. Burger (that is fully loaded) for just $1.00 ($1.19 in some places, but still!). Jacob loves the breakfast burrito on the $1.00 menu and everyone loves getting a $1.00 slush.  On Tuesday nights, they advertise "5 for $5@5".  That means (to me, and apparently ONLY me) that you get 5 burgers for $5 @ 5 (and after 5 too).  Since I believed this to be true, we recently went to Sonic on a Tuesday night after baseball to pick up some burgers.  I was only planning to order burgers because we prefer to take the burgers home and get our drinks there thus spending less money on dinner.  So, Ben ordered 5 burgers.  The total came to $6.44.  Ben swiped our bank card without thinking twice and then I asked, "What was the total?"  

The typical response, "I don't know, 6 something." 

 I asked him, "Doesn't that seem like a lot of tax for $5.00?" 

 After he thought about it he said, "Yeah, I guess.  Do you want me to ask when they bring our food out?"  "YES! I do!" I responded.  So, when our carhop brought out our burgers we questioned her about the total. She seemed confused so I simply asked, "Don't you advertise '5 for $5@5'?" 

 "Yes," she replied.

 I said, "Well, then why does my receipt say that the total for 5 burgers is $5.95 [+tax]?"  

"Hmm.....I never noticed that. I don't really know. Want me to ask my manager?" At this point I am thinking, "Seriously, no one has ever noticed this?"

 "Yes, I do," I told her. 

 So, the manager came out and I asked her the same question, "If you advertise 5 for $5@5, then why does my total for 5 burgers come up to be $5.95?"

"Well," she said, "we do advertise 5 for $5@5, but it isn't REALLY 5 burgers for $5.  They are really 1/2 price burgers. We just didn't think that 5 for $5.95 sounded catchy so we call it 5 for $5." 

"Wow! Don't you think that is pretty misleading?" I asked.  (And really how difficult would it be to just say "1/2 price burgers after 5?"  Not difficult, and also not misleading!!!)

 "Yeah, I guess it is," she nonchalantly said, "but that is how it is."

I was NOT a fan of Sonic on that particular Tuesday evening!

SOOOO, don't go to Sonic on Tuesday after 5 expecting to get 5 burgers for $5!

On another note, I recently went to CVS because they have Oak Farms milk on sale for $3.19/gallon and you get $1.00 in RR when you purchase one, so it is like getting the milk for $2.19/gallon which is a really good price around here right now.  There were some other things I wanted as well, so I did my shopping. Herbal Essences products were on sale 2/$5.97 with $2.00 in RR and I had a $.050 coupon, so I got a shampoo and conditioner. They also had a deal where if you spent $15.00 on Nivea products you would get $5.00 in RR. The cream I have been wanting for a while was $15.99 and I had a $3.00 off coupon, plus I got $5.00 in RR. So, the total for my first bill was $19.98 and I got $7.00 in RR. I then went and got my 2 gallons of milk. The total came to $6.48, so I just used my $5.00 RR and paid $1.48 for the milk. I still got $2 more in RR for getting the milk, so when I left I still had $4.00 in RR!   All in all I think it was pretty good! The only bad thing is I tried to use my $0.50 off coupon for Oak Farms milk, but the cashier wouldn't even scan it! She said it was in the manufacturer's limitations that it couldn't be used on milk that was on sale. I am not sure where these limitations are found because they are NOT on the coupon itself.  Anyway, since she wouldn't even TRY to scan it I still have 2 $0.50 coupons for milk that are good until December. I am excited about learning to coupon and I hope to get really good at it!!

Couponing!

$82.55 worth of merchandise for only $29.91!!

I am one of those people who has only ever used a coupon to get $1.50 off a package of diapers or $0.50 off of baby wipes. I have never been to the store in order to actually SAVE money on my grocery or shopping bill. I don't know why.....I have just never been interested in coupons. Mostly, I never really understood how much they can help you or how to use them properly. I have heard so many people say throughout my life that it isn't a good deal if   you weren't going to buy it in the first place, and while I still agree with this (on say cat food--I don't even own a cat--or Prilosec--never used it and don't plan to start!), I have found that even if I wasn't going to buy toothpaste TODAY, I would still need to buy it SOME DAY, so why not get it while it's on sale and I have a coupon for it?  Now that I have been faced with starving or applying for food stamps (ok, I wouldn't starve, but I can barely afford groceries AND gas these days!) I thought I would give couponing a try! I should be a couponer by nature simply because my Maw-Maw (my mom's mom) was an extreme couponer before extreme couponing was popular!  I can remember sitting on the floor of her house cutting coupons and organizing them for her. I remember her going to the store with her coupon organizer full and only buying things she had coupons for. I think in a way this is what turned me off to it. As I grew older I just felt like there was too much to do and not enough return.  Well, last night was my 1st "couponing" trip to the store and I really enjoyed it!!  After doing some research from The Krazy Coupon Lady, clipping coupons from my in-law's newspaper inserts, and buying a coupon organizer I felt like I was ready for the challenge! My trip was to Walgreens which is not a store I would normally shop in in the first place, so that was also new to me. I went up and down the aisles checking to see what was on sale and what I had a coupon for....yes I know it would have been better for me to do this step at home, but like I said it was my 1st time!!  I did 2 separate transactions (this was something I read about) so I could get my register rewards on the first transaction and then use them on my 2nd transaction! That was a really neat thing!  

This was my favorite buy of my trip!

Here's what I did......the Gillette Fusion Power Razor (normally $12.99) was on sale for $9.89. I had a $4.00 off coupon--bringing the total down to $5.89 (plus tax), and I received $5.00 in RR for the purchase!  So, it was like getting the razor (a $12.99 value) for $0.89!!!  WOO--HOO! Even if that's all I did I would be super excited!!  I then turned around and gave her the rest of my items--all but one was on sale, and I had a coupon for most everything else!!--and did my 2nd transaction using the $5.00 in RR at the end with all of my coupons. The only items I did not have coupons for were the Revlon make-up products, but they were on clearance for $3.59 and $2.79 each (regularly $10.99 each), so I felt like that was a good deal. Also, when I got the concealer I made sure to pick up one that had a BONUS lip gloss attached, so that made the deal even sweeter!  One of the great things is that it is all stuff we already use anyway. Ben and I use the Crest toothpaste, the kids use Colgate, Annalisa uses Pantene shampoo and conditioner, and Ben was very excited the Old Spice body wash was on sale (and I had a coupon) because that is what he uses! All in all I got $82.55 worth of merchandise for $29.91!! That is an over 50% savings which makes it worth it to me!!! I also got to walk away for 3 $1.00 coupons to add to other coupons on my next visit....so I walked away with $3.00 in savings to use later!  I am so excited about my trip and the money I saved! I will be doing this again, hopefully with groceries next time!