Coupon Craze!
Here are the deals I found today:
Walgreens
1 pack Pampers Diapers @ $8.99
1 tub Pampers Wipes @ $2.50
- $2 coupon
= $6.49
- $2 Register Rewards
= $4.49 for both

1 Dial Lotion @ $4.99
- $1 Walgreens coupon (in-store booklet)
- $2 Sunday coupon
= $1.99

I also spotted Dove and Degree deodorant on sale at Walgreens, with a $1.99 coupon in the Sunday paper insert and a $.75 coupon from the paper a few weeks ago. Could add up to a sweet stock-up deal!

One word can sum this week up for the kids and Dave: Vomit

I put some things on the card the past few days, due to poor planning on my part. I went grocery shopping too late in the day on Monday, which means I didn't have time to make dinner. Cost: $20. I took the kids yesterday to Veggie Tales Live, which means we ate lunch out. Cost: $20.

So, our balance is up to $6120. Better planning is in my future.

I was considering just skipping this accountability thing, and passing it off and unnecessary. But if I do that once, I'll end up doing it regularly. Which will eventually lead to silence from this blog world.

Cooking dinner at home tonight.

The next year is going to be challenging. A real step in the right direction. I have my scissors out for two reasons.

I cut up my credit card and
I am cutting more coupons.

It is going to take a year. It's not that our balance is terribly high-by today's standards-just that it's going to take that long based on what we can pay each month.

We've decided to be honest and take some real steps to "attack" it, as someone advised me.

So what we've done this week:

Invested in a great coffeemaker that will take the place of all those Starbucks
trips (there is a reason I am a gold card member, after all)

Eaten at home much more often

Planned out a menu for this week

Looked into a few web-based grocery saving sites-www.thegrocerygame.com,
printable coupon sites, and the blog Live-Laugh-Save.

I feel like it's a new beginning, and though I'm sure no one reads this, I will use it to keep myself accountable. After all, if I can see each month how small the balance on our card is getting, I will be encouraged.

So, here goes-we currently have a Discover card with a balance of $5916.00.

And it begins.

I am amazed over and over how God provides for us. I wonder why that is, since He proves faithfulness over and over. And yet every time, I think, "Wow, that was unexpected." Maybe if I came to expect it the awe-ness would be lost.

Hard to believe Cameron is five today. I can go back in my mind and remember wanting a baby so badly, getting pregnant, getting fat, his birth and bringing him home. So much has changed since then (baby weight, not so much...still working on that one). He is maturing, yet still a baby. He formulates his thoughts so clearly, yet still can't pronounce his r's. He is a huge help, but some days....I am just grateful that God is allowing me to enjoy this journey called parenthood. Some say it's all about balance, but I believe with faith and chocolate, anything can be accomplished.

Summer camps completed: Check

Mission trip to Moldova completed: Check

Cameron ready for school: Check

Mini vacations to various friends and family: Check

Cadet settled into the Training College: Check

It's easy for me to make lists. It keeps me on track and helps me focus on what I've accomplished. It's also easy to make everything something else to be completed, instead of enjoying where I am, where we are as a family, as a congregation, as an Army.

Cameron (almost 5) has picked up on this habit of planning, and often plans days, weeks, months ahead. I will admit that it's all my fault and that he was probably planning the minute he was born. It can be helpful or annoying, a blessing or a curse. I like itineraries. I enjoy Post-It notes. I like making spreadsheets because everything can fit into a column. I love buying things at the Container Store and when fall comes, I'm all over the back-to-school sales because they have dorm stuff...which means new organizing materials galore!

The problem, at least according to my husband, is that the more "organizing stuff" I buy, the more stuff I need to fill it, which becomes a vicious cycle for our household. If I have some cute bins, I need stuff to put it in. If I get too much of that stuff, I need some more cute bins. And so on.

I want to live simpler. I even have a magazine subscription to "Real Simple" (which my mother-in-law pointed out had 235 pages last month...not too simple), given to me as a gift. I have a friend who lives very simply, and as a Salvation Army officer (pastor) has very few boxes to pack as they move every few years. I want that. I want to be able to let go of my "stuff", including hurt feelings and old regrets. Do I need it (whatever "it" is)? Can I use it? Can someone else benefit from it? If not, let's get rid of it. Recycle it. Donate it. Sell it. And those old regrets and hurt feelings...."But even there you can look for the Lord your God, and you will find him if you look for him with your whole being. It will be hard when all these things happen to you. But after that you will come back to the Lord your God and obey him, because the Lord your God is a merciful God. He will not leave you or destroy you." Deuteronomy 4:29-31 (NCV)

We are never short of laughter in our house, and here are some examples of why:

Avery loves his stuffed dog and carries it around in his mouth as if he's a dog, growling and leaving it a sopping wet mess. Also, he is a great dancer. He bends at the waist and shakes it like a rock star.

Jack also has a dance, and this week he is imitating the blow-up tube-like man who "dances" in front of the fireworks stand. Jack throws his hands in the air and waves them around, all the while swaying back and forth with his tongue out.

Cameron said today that he understands the difference between an ant and an aunt. An ant, he tells us, is an animal. An aunt, on the other hand, is a person who loves kids.

One of the reasons I know God loves me is that he has filled my days with so much joy, and those are the moments I am grateful for.