Memorial Day 2014

I absolutely LOVE patriotic holidays!! 

 <3 Jo, Dan, Ben & Gen <3 

Frugal Friday: Quick Tip

In today's post I'm going to share with you something I did years ago that helps keep a few more bucks in our wallet.

It's nothing major, but it's one of those "little things" that really adds up.

My 14mo old got to the rags before I could snap the photo. Little stinker. 

Cool Whip Frosting

About a year or so ago, my kids decided they no longer liked butter cream frosting. 

This is an accurate portrayal of my reaction to the statement: "Mom, I don't like this frosting." 

Being a die-hard buttercream fan, this came as quite a shock to me! I tried to convince them with tweaking the recipe a bit here & there, but nope. They have officially crossed over to the dark side.

I guess the Filipino half of them is starting to take over their taste buds! lol!

Buttercream has always been my go-to frosting for cakes and I'm not a fan of the whipping cream frosting you get at the bakery, so I had no idea what I was going to do.

Frugal Friday III: DIY Frozen Hashed Browns

Welcome back to my Frugal Friday Series!

The last two posts have been about saving money in the laundry room. Today, we're moving into the kitchen!

Frugal Friday Episode II: Wool Dryer Balls

Welcome back to Frugal Friday!

Last week we took time to figure out how to save a bit of money by making your own laundry detergent. I was blown away by all the comments, messages and emails about the post. Thank you!

Today, we are going to stay in the same general area and talk about how to save even more money when doing the laundry.

Quilting 101: Washing and Ironing Fabric

Thank you so much for coming back for my latest Quilting post! It's been a long time since the last one, so in case you need a refresher, you can go back and read all about what to do "Before You Get Started" and also learn "The Tools of the Trade".

Oh, and this post is a bit longer than I'd intended. It's hard to cram 2 topics into one! I'm sure you'll forgive me.

If you're ready to go, then let's move on to part 3!

Frugal Friday Episode I: Laundry Bombs

Welcome to the first Frugal Friday post! I am so excited to share this series with you!

If you've not read my previous post, then I'll quickly share that I am on a mission to cut every extra expense possible. Cable is already gone, as are the frequent trips to Starbucks and few other minor frivolities. With the addition of the skyrocketing price of gas (it's over $4 here in CA!), this mission to find ways to save every penny becomes even more pressing.

So, what's my first frugal finding?!

Back in the Habit: Six Simple Adjustments to Get Back on Track

Well, it happened.

I knew I'd gained a bunch of weight, but the reality of it hit me when I went to get dressed for our mid week church service and none of my casual skirts fit me. Yup, not even the "fat" ones.

Yikes! Talk about a wake up call!

I had done really well through Gen's pregnancy. I actually LOST weight by the time she was born, and then lost even more by the Summer! We're not talking a massive amount of weight, but right around the 30lb ballpark. It felt amazing!

But, what did I do? I got cocky and figured I could go back to my old ways and somehow maintain the weight. Idiot.

Now, here I am at my heaviest non-pregnant weight - again.

I'm not gonna sit in my fat pants (which I had to go buy because I couldn't fit the other ones. #truestory) and cry about it. I was the one that stopped exercising. I was the one who over ate...and ate...and ate. I cannot blame anyone but myself, so why bother?

It's time to just suck it up and get back in the habit.

No diet. No weighing. No measuring. No short-term or long term goals.

All of those seem to hurt me in the long run.

Here's my simple plan and new favorite phrase.

Getting healthy can happen in any income level. It doesn't require a gym membership, fancy menu or pricey fitness guru. When it comes right down to it, for the majority of us (without thyroid/metabolism/etc issues) it's all about being more active and eating less.

So then, why is it so hard?!

Penny Pinching

While the vast majority of the US is just now coming out of the worst/longest winter - ever - CA has seemingly avoided the season all together. Okay, so we had this random couple weeks of SUPER cold weather, but then it was right back into the 50's & 60's.  It was like Ca got all of Winter in 2 weeks!

Now, here we are in mid April and we're already in the 80s! Crazy, right?! Even for us!

The Perfect Summer Cookie

I teach Sunday School at our church, and I do my best to bring some sort of treat with me each Sunday. I have tried several different cookie & brownie recipes but now that weather is warming up, I thought I'd try something a bit different.

After searching through Pinterest I found something that looked like the perfect fit.

We Now Return to Our Regularly Scheduled Programming

I wanted to take a minute and thank all of you for your patience over the last couple months as I stepped away from the blogosphere. You greatly encouraged me by your continued support via facebook, private messages & emails.

From seemingly out of the blue, I fell into some sort of funk. I guess it all started early February.

 Genevieve's birthday was coming & so was a move! I started planning, packing, dreaming, measuring, ordering, etc, and put everything on hold.

I stopped doing schoolwork.

I stopped doing chores around the house - seriously, why put it away if I'm just gonna box it?!

I stopped blogging.

My brain was so focused on what I wanted to do, I couldn't do what I needed to do. 

All of my efforts could not have changed the fact that the Lord had other plans.

2 weeks before the move date - it fell through. Ugh. It was a kick in the gut. I had cleaned out closets, packed boxes, planned each room, measured for furniture, dreamed of parties and family gatherings, and POOF! It was all gone with one phone call.

Not gonna lie: It totally thew me for a loop. I was beyond disappointed. But, after a little cry & some talking/praying with the Hubbs, I was okay. I realized that God has a plan for us, and if it doesn't include a new-to-us house, then so be it! Who knows what He could be saving us from, or what He may have in store for us further down the road!? Who am I to question His plan? I decided to take on the challenge of streamlining the house and am looking forward to buying new furniture and some decorations to make it feel a bit more like "me".  (Can't wait to share what I've done so far!!)

Then the inevitable happened: Gen's birthday came. It was a very emotional day for me, but I was more thrilled than sad. Even tho' we're saying goodbye to our "baby", we are excited to experience the next phase in her life! Bring on the toddler phase!

On the actual day, we enjoyed some family time! We went to the mall to get her ears pierced and treated the family to dinner out & a sweet.

She was such a brave girl! She only cried for a minute and then was back to her normal happy self. 

A couple of days later we had her party! It was a BLAST!

Isn't she the CUTEST?!?! 

Everything went exactly how I wanted! The guests, the food, the cake, the decorations, the atmosphere - it was all perfect!

It should have been like a shot of B12 to get me going again.

But, for some reason, I was still stuck on pause.

Schoolwork was neglected, boxes were still packed and gathering dust and although I had several topics to post, I just couldn't find the energy to blog.  I wish I could give some sort of explanation, but the honest truth is, I just didn't want to.

Maybe it was hormonal? Maybe it was a tiny bit of depression? All I know is I just didn't care.

Well, fast forward to mid-March and I was FINALLY coming out of the funk.

I hit the the house with a vengeance. I started un-packing, purging, cleaning, sorting & organizing and we got back into the schoolwork.

Now, I'm back in the full swing of things. We're getting on task with our school work, the house is under control and my head is clear.

So, guess what?!

We can now return to our regularly scheduled programming!

There is so much coming to the blog! I have more of the Quilting 101 series, a few fun recipes and a series of money saving DIYs that I think you'll really love.

And the BIG NEWS!!!

June first will be the GRAND OPENING of a Lissiegirl Blogs! Planner Store!!! I am SO EXCITED! Currently up to my nose in fonts, images, tables. It's a bit overwhelming, but I'm having a ton of fun designing.  Over the next few weeks, I'll be taking polls, sharing sneak peaks and even doing a give-a-way! Make sure you "like' my fb page & comment every once in a while so you can keep up with the latest news!

Again, thank you for your continued love and support as I plug away.

Quilting 101 Part 2: Tools of The Trade

Thank you all for your positive and encouraging responses to the first post of this series! 

I'm so excited to share this part with you, but it will be a bit of a long & meaty post, so let's not waste any time! 

DIY Hair Accessory Storage

Not gonna lie. This whole baby girl thing is A M A Z I N G!

But there are SO many little things that were totally unexpected. Today, we're gonna tackle one. 

What on earth do you do with all the hair accessories?!?!?!

As adorable as this is, I do not recommend trying to get your infant to wear every head wrap in the house.
Oh, and no babies were harmed in the making of this most excellent collage. 

After asking all of you Mammas of daughters on the Lissiegirl Blogs! fb page, and searching through Pinterest boards,  I finally have a solution! 

Easy Peasy Mac n Cheesy

I will never buy packaged mac n cheese again!

Seriously, this is the easiest, yummiest, mac n cheese I've ever made.

Yeah, it will cost a bit more than boxed, but it's made with ingredients I can control, and adding the meat, makes a real meal, so it's totally worth it.

Quilting 101: Before You Get Started

Welcome to my first tutorial for the blog!

Christmas Carnival & a $300 Amazon Gift Card!

{Enter at bottom of post}

Perfectly Simple Salt Dough Ornaments

Call me tardy to the party, but I have to share this with you!

Yes, Christmas Day has come and gone, but I'll bet 9 out of 10 of you are still sitting in a house completely decked out & you're all probably munching on lingering treats & sweets, so it's really not that much of a stretch.

Believe me, when you're freaking out next year on what to do for the kids in your Sunday School class, or for the kid's school Christmas party, this is the one tutorial you'll be glad you pinned.

It's a bit of a long post, so grab a mug of something warm, put your feet up & enjoy!

Life and Stuff.

So, balancing a family with church and homeschooling and holidays and flu season is a bit more time consuming than I'd originally anticipated and I'm having a hard time keeping up with the blog.

It isn't for lack of topic - I've got partial posts and un-edited photos all over the place!

It's really just a lack of time, or rather lack of me organizing my time.

This week I am DETERMINED to come up with a schedule that works for us & stick to it!

Please bear with me as I get into a groove.

Thanks so much for all the support on the fb page! Keep it up by following me on Instagram & Pinterest!

As always, much love!

Oh, and here are some random photos of the kids, just for fun. =D

Gen loves orsing around with brothers. 

We recently had a "daycation" in SF & our room was on the top floor - the 14th story! They were super excited!! 

Splitting a YUMMY Sundae at Ghirardelli in SF. Mmmmm....

Seriously. Adorbs.

I hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving holiday!

Come back soon! 

Meal Planning Basics

Recently, a couple different ladies have asked me about how I make our single income stretch. Goodness...what a question! I could fill a book with tips on that one. lol! But, I do have a few ways that I talk about frequently. Today I'll share my biggest help!

Meal Planning.

Yup! It might sound simple, but meal planning saves us at least $200 a month, probably more!

($200 might not sound like a lot to some of you, but that's our water/trash bill, my cell phone bill, a jumbo box of diapers & a box of wipes. The savings for us, is huge.)

How can something so simple, save us so much?

Getting Connected - My First Blog Hop

I've signed up for a blog party! I am very new to this, so I hope I'm doing this right. 

 Click the photo & check out all these other great blogs!