Thursday, October 28, 2010

Pumpkin Patch Love!

This past weekend we went and spent some time at the pumpkin patch. Baby Boy was perfect! He did so good and had a blast! The place we went to has a real pumpkin patch & sunflower fields for picking, along with wagon & train rides, animals and a fresh veggie market.


It's so much fun to pick your own pumpkin. We picked a big one for Daddy, a medium one for Momma and a tiny one for Baby.


My child loved the animals so much, he would have been happy bringing his blankey and parking it there for the night! {Notice the hot hubby reference...hey I can't lie!}


The sunflowers were breathtaking, as always. They let you pick them for free - it's great! We all know how much I adore FREE!


No pumpkin patch is complete without a wagon ride to & from the fields. Of course the youngin' loved this too!

It was a great family day. Nothing beats times like these....memories we'll have forever!

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

My coming out party!

This is my coming out party- what ever do you mean, one may ask?

Well, when I started this blog I wanted to connect with other stay at home moms and share my long transition from working mommy to stay at home mommy. Well it's just that - a looooong, annoying, sucking the life outta me transition. Realistically I'm looking at 1 year before I can stay home. Is that good? - yes & no. No because it's ONE YEAR! Yes because I realized this is what I want to do now and I can actually make the changes necessary that will enable me to stay at home. Otherwise we would still be going and spending out the wazoo like we always have.

So, it's good and bad. Now on the the coming out party part. What exactly am I going to share with my readers over this 1 year period. I've cut back the bills and shared that. I cut out frivolous spending and shared that. I came up with great ideas of cheap things to do with the fam and shared that. Cheap crafts, coupons, meals -- there's only so much a girl can share.

I wrote a post last week on the real me. It was cute & fun - but it was just the tip of the iceberg. I've decided to come out and give you guys all {most} of me. I'm going to start opening up a little bit more. Each and every post won't be directly about just now much closer I am to staying home, because there's only so many ways you can say it.

So where is all of this coming from you ask? Blame it on Blair. She's my cup o' coffee in the morning. She's the blog I go to each and every day to see what she, Nate & Harry have been up to. She's my, dare I say...Dooce. {I don't even read Dooce's blog because I have The Heir to Blair, yo!}.

Anywho, so I've been having troubles trying to keep up with telling you guys just how I'm switching to stay at home mommy from 100 different angles. I thought, okay what would Blair do?! It came to me - be me!

I have a muffin top too {that I'm working on eliminating} - I'll tell 'em about that. I have a glass of wine with my chicken pot pie too - they'll want to hear about that!

It all ties back into who I am and my life - which is right now focused on being a stay at home mommy, but currently I am a full time working mommy, who starts a new diet every Monday, has a 20 month old {who I've refer to as Baby Boy} who is currently in the full swing of the terrible two's {it's gonna be a loooooong time til 3!!} that I drag to work with me everyday, and a musician husband who is busy all the freakin' time, a little white dog {named Nala, after the Lion King}, a tiny home that we've been remodeling for 4 years {almost to a stopping point} that stays messy no matter how much I try and keep it clean.

I want to come out and share the real me, so that I may connect with others and maybe even inspire them at the same time.



Wednesday, October 13, 2010

The Real Me

The point of my blog was to share my transition from working mommy to stay at home mommy. So yea, it still is, but I want my stalkers followers to get to know me a little bit. I almost feel like I've short changed you. I'm more than just a coupon for diapers or a $5 meal - I'm pretty freakin' complex {if you ask my husband}.

You can kinda think of it this as that whole random things about me game, you know the one.

like loooove lists so we'll go with a list format {kinda}.....

-I'm uptight & kind of a control freak. Yea I said it, I'm super uptight! I can't help it, I like for things to be right and I like to know every facet of everything. I'm not nosey, nor am I annoying {or at least I like to think not} I'm just a girl who knows what she wants and I like to be in control of it. {I have a feeling Hubs is gonna print this off for proof that I actually admitted to it.}

-Some say I'm crafty. Yea my brother-in-law jokes that if you give me a sharpie and a paper clip I can make anything. It's kinda my thing.

-I got married when I was 19 {ahhhhhhh!}............but waited 7 years to have my husband's mini me. Again, I knew what I wanted and I went for it. It's been the best ride ever, wouldn't change a thing.

-I love to paint. Walls, paper, canvases......anything. Before we bought our home, I used to paint every wall in every apartment we ever lived in. {I actually got away with never having to repaint it white and we still always got our deposits back...don't ask me how!}.

-I always wanted to be a career woman, always. Once I graduated from college, I thought I had it all figured out. Even after I had my baby boy it was still in the back of my mind. It wasn't until probably 5 or 6 months ago I finally stopped kidding myself.

-I lived in the big NYC. It was a dream my husband and I always shared. We're were both born and bred in the south, but always, always wanted to make the big move. A couple of years ago we finally did it. After a few months there, we knew it wasn't meant to be, so we packed it up and hauled tail back home, 3 months later I was pregnant - truly the best decision we ever made, but you know I'm so glad we conquered that, otherwise we would have always wondered - what if.

-I don't read books. Haha, yea sorry, I don't. I can't read fiction. I've tried without success. Every time I do it, I'm sitting there thinking of all the things I could be up doing. I can however plant it with a Parenting mag or pregnancy book. I think it's the whole fiction thing that gets me. Sorry to disappoint but, no Twilight lover here. {I could only get through like the 2nd chapter, then it collected dust on my nightstand for months before I finally returned it to my friend.}

-I could {and often times do} eat cereal for every meal of the day. I like it all - the sugar-y kind, the fiber-y kind, the puffy kind. It's all cereal goodness.

-I work in a family business....with my family, that is. Yep it's me, the 'rents, little sissy, and our youngins together all day, everyday. It's alot, but most days it's pretty good. Most days.

-I'm a musician's wife. Yea, yea we have instruments & sheet music galore at our house, but it's so much fun. It's his passion and that makes me smile.

-My car stays messy. At any moment you can probably find enough stuff in my car to survive on for a good week or so - hey you never know when you might get in a tight.

-I want to be a hippie. I haven't quite figured out why, but I do. The hubs don't think I could pull it off. I've always had this thing about hippies. I want the van/camper, the El Camino and the whole enchilada. I have this hippie dance I do....ok we might be getting a little too personal now. Anywho, I heart hippies!

Well that's a little about me - I'm a uptight, messy hippie wannabe who doesn't read books but loves to paint. Haha! If the shoe fits, wear it.

Monday, October 11, 2010

Seasonal Consignments? Yes, please!

If you haven't heard about kids seasonal clothing consignments yet, you are missing out! It's a great way to make tons of money honey and get all of they clothes your babydolls will need for the season. In my town we have two that both hold sales twice a year.

Here's the deal:

-You get your clothes ready for the sale - ironed, priced and hung.

-You take them to the sale and you'll probably be the one to put them on the racks.

-You normally will make around 70% of the selling price for your items.

-Once the sale is over you'll go pick up your items that didn't sale, which will probably be grouped and ready to go.

Now let me paint this picture a little clearer for you. This is not like a garage sale. These are like new clothes and toys, priced about 1/3 of the original price. So if you sale $400 worth of clothes then you'll bring home nearly $300! Believe me, even with the 30% going to the organizer - you'll still make a lot more than if you had a yard sale. I can't remember clearing much more than $200 at any yard sale I've ever had! These consignment sales are a great place to pick up boutique clothes. I always get Baby Boy's smocked outfits from there. (I just CANNOT bring myself to pay $80 for 1 outfit! - There I normally pay between $10-$20.)


Kids Consignment Sales is a great website where you can look up sales by state. I've used this website to see what's going on in my state although I've not yet made it to any sales other than the ones in my town.

Hope everyone checks it out. It's something I always, always  do and it's too good not to pass on!

Oh and don't get me wrong I'm super sentimental and I normally keep everything, but do I really need 25 swaddling blankets, of which we only used 5 sitting in my attic until we have the next one? Probably not, so I sold those suckers! I kept the ones that meant something and sold the ones that I didn't like or we never used - it's a win, win for everyone!




Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Fall Wreath Makeover

In keeping with this wonderful thing they call fall, I've been on a decorating rampage! Fall smelling candles, candy apples, mums on the front porch, chili on the stove - it's all been running my life lately and I love it!

I've been loving me some projects lately too so what better project to do then a wreath remake.

I broke out the old drab wreath out of the attic that was sad and in serious need of a makeover. I went to Michaels and spent $7 on new fall duds for the wreath and I think it was a win!

Before


After


Yay for hot glue and Michaels 60% off sales! New wreath = $7...woo!

Monday, October 4, 2010

Candy Apple Madness!

This weekend was glorious, the weather was cool and crisp - fall finally arrived! I wanted to celebrate in a festive way but still stay true to being the Frugal Franny that I am. So what better way to celebrate fall in an inexpensive way then to make candy apples! I got the idea while breezing through Walmart Friday afternoon - while trying to beat the afternoon Walmart craziness rush! Since making candy apples consists of 2 ingredients, I was golden! I snapped up caramel candies and honeycrisp apples (the absolute best apples) and Baby Boy and I were on our way.

Ingredients:

Apples


Caramel


You simply melt the caramel with 2 teaspoons of water and dip your apples.


I had skewers and the ribbon so that was free! I love free.


There you have it, candy (or candied whatever you prefer) apples. I only spent $5.00 on everything. It was such a simple activity but it was great time spent together as a family - Daddy even got in on the fun!

Oh and Daddy had a fab idea for the leftover caramel -


I think I might be turning the whole family into Frugal Frannies!