Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

Real Tree…or Fake? Question #75

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16 years.  The tree lasted for 16 years.

And then, without any warning whatsoever, the base busted and the tree fell over with a smack, spreading it’s hundreds of fake pine needles all over the living room.

Don’t worry, no one was hurt…and in fact some were even excited enough about the Christmas tree floor smacking drama to take a moment to pose behind the busted tree.

I had bought that tree the day after our first Christmas together as a married couple 16 years ago. I was so proud of that purchase…our first Christmas tree. For half price.   So as silly as it is, I was a little bit sad and sentimental about throwing the tree away and thought instead of trying to rig the base up with some duct tape. You give a mama some duct tape and she can fix anything right? I figured though that it would only hold up for a few hours, or until a nerf soccer ball went sailing through the room…whichever came first. (Yeah, it would be the soccer ball.) 

We made do with a smaller fake tree this year and will see what we find for half price after Christmas this year.

But that leads me to the question of the day. Are you a fake tree family…or a real tree family?

We’ve always done fake. It seems easier to me. But it doesn’t smell  nearly as good.

They should start making scented fake trees.

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Do You Regift?

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I’ve done it. I’ve regifted. It’s rare, but yes…I have given away a gift someone else has given me.

For instance, when I received baby gifts for all of my boy babies, there would sometimes be a little outfit that my chubby babies outgrew before I could even take the tags off. I saved the outfit for someone else’s baby. And regifted it.

There’s a little controversy out there about whether or not regifting is okay. Is it rude? Mean? Thoughtless? Cheap?

I suppose it can be. But it doesn’t have to be. Right? 

I just read a helpful article in Daily Worth, a daily (free) email newsletter I’ve been receiving for several months regarding saving money and investing money, written just for women. I don’t always agree with all of the Daily Worth articles, but usually I can find at least a nugget of financial encouragement and advice. Today, they talked about Regifting. Is it a way to gift someone without spending? Or is it best avoided because of the potential hurt feelings it could cause?

What are your thoughts about regifting?

Daily Worth

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you can sign up for it by clicking here.

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Black Friday Shopping? Question #74

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The time has almost arrived in which people who actually have a rare day off from work will intentionally set their alarms to wake them up after just a few hours of sleep so that they can get frost bite while waiting for a person with a key to open the door and let them into a place that will take a large portion of their money. They will then willingly allow themselves to be pushed around by crowds of hundreds in order to take advantage of a near impossible chance at an item in which there are only a dozen in stock. 

Can I pause a moment to say that I would never want to be the person with the key? Actually, maybe it would be just a little bit fun. I could go stand for a few minutes before opening time and dangle the key at the crowd and wave innocently (while I stood there holding my steaming mug of hot cocoa) and act like I have no idea why they are standing there. Yes…that would be just a tiny bit fun. 

I’ve actually participated in the Black Friday event…once. It was back when my kids were all little bitty and I didn’t have a chance to get out much all by myself. The only  possibility seemed to be shopping in the wee hours of the morning on the Friday after Thanksgiving and so I planned it…I even looked forward to the outing. When I got to the store and saw that there were hundreds of people in line out in the cold, I just sat in my van (with my heater on) watching them shiver. Already I was questioning my sanity. At just before opening time I decided to join the party at the door, which basically means that they stood in the cold for an hour and I stood there for two minutes and we all got  let in at the same time.

I headed directly to the kitchen department for the items I was planning to pick up at their amazing $5 price and realized right away that these items were not even worth $5 as they seemed to be made of tissue paper and rubber bands. I did enjoy shopping all by myself without my kids…but could I have done that after a few more hours of sleep? Yeah, I’m pretty sure I could have.

Since then I’ve been a Black Friday shopping rebel. I stay home and sleep. I shop online later in the day in my slippers (with my steaming cup of hot cocoa). I like it.

And yet this year I feel myself being pulled over to the dark side (literally…because it’s dark at 4 am you know?). Some friends of mine are making the idea of shopping early on Friday morning awfully appealing and fun. We could all go together and shucks, I could almost be home and cooking breakfast before my family even knew I was gone.

What’s a girl to do? 

I may actually join the crowds this year.

Do you think I could just bring my hot cocoa with me?

What do you do? Are you a early morning Black Friday shopper? Or do you stay home and sleep in your warm bed?

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Favorite Blender?

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If I had to pick a kitchen appliance that I can’t do without, a blender might be at the top of my list. (Right up there with my Nutrimill Grain Mill, my Electric Skillet, my Food Processor…)  I use a blender every day. And in the summer and fall while I’m making tomato sauce and applesauce and tomato soup…I use it constantly.

We use our blender daily to make milkshakes, slushies, smoothies…and shucks…now we even use a blender to make powdered sugar!

Which brings me to a sad, sad story (okay, it’s not that sad). Last week, my blender broke. It was made of glass and out of nowhere, there was suddenly a great big crack running through it. I’m sure it wasn’t really out of nowhere, but I’m not really sure out of where it came. Regardless, unless you want glass shards as a main ingredient in your smoothie, I don’t recommend using a cracked blender.

Normally, Matt and I give some thought to a purchase like this one. We’d consider our options and look around for the best deal. We might look into using some of our Swagbuck earned Amazon cards to purchase one online. We might put it on our Christmas list.

But this was a blender. With this lovely fall weather, I was still making tomato sauce last week with the last of our late tomato crop. I needed a blender in five minutes and I did not have time to wait or consider my options. My only option was:  Go to the store RIGHT NOW and buy a blender.

Before I headed out, Matt and I did take the time (like an entire two minutes) to talk about whether or not we should invest in a  higher dollar blender, or just settle once again for a cheap one. He left it up to me, depending on what I might find in the blender aisle.

I know you’re all on pins and needles (like you normally are when I tell these really exciting stories about my broken blenders, which is never). 

I ended up buying a cheap one.  I couldn’t help it. I think one day I’d like to save for a high quality VitaMix. But at that very moment, I couldn’t bring myself to spend much. I instead went for a much cheaper blender:  a Hamilton Beach Wavestation Express Dispensing Blender. Everyone at home was thrilled when they saw it and begged me to make milkshakes right away…

Is that FUN or what!??!? With all the milkshakes and slushies we make around here…it does not get any easier (or more fun) than our cool Hamilton Beach Wavestation Express Dispensing Blender. For a cool $20.

It doesn’t have much in the way of fancy settings or buttons. All I truly need is a lid  and an on/off switch and I’m good. But wow, isn’t that little dispenser something else? It doesn’t take much around here to make us excited.

So there you go…that’s my little review of my new Hamilton Beach Wavestation Express Dispensing Blender. For $20. With a dispenser. That is so cool.

I often get emails asking which blender I prefer and if I recommend a VitaMix. I’d love to here all of you offer a little review on which blender you have and like. And if you have a VitaMix, can you tell us whether you’re pleased with your investment?

Oh, and if you want to come over for a milkshake, I would love to dispense one for you.

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Favorite Field Trip? Question #72

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It has been one big week of field trips! No one should ever worry that homeschoolers don’t get out enough or get enough social interaction. (That is totally another post for another time.)  I can guarantee you that no homeschooler in my house is deprived of cool activities. I can also guarantee you that the mother of said homeschoolers is very much whipped from all the comings and goings of the week.

Yesterday, we spent the whole day at The Scarecrow Patch. (Okay, not the whole day. We left home a little earlier to get those basketball shoes I mentioned that he needed. I am happy to report that we were able to get a great deal on Niki High Tops at the FIRST store we went to, and we got the FIRST pair he tried on. Thank you God!)  Anyway, after we found the shoes, then we went to the The Scarecrow Patch. And you’d think that I’d have some great pictures, but indeed, right as I went to snap the first picture I found that our camera battery was dead. :(

Maybe you can just look at these pumpkin Patch pictures from two years ago and just imagine them all happening yesterday with my boys each being several inches taller and with Asa’s teenager hair being several inches longer. Oh my, look how little Malachi was. Aw, now I’m getting all weepy. My sweet babies.

I didn’t join my kids on the zip line this year like I have in years past. Not sure why. I guess I was having too much fun visiting with the other moms this year.

Oh yeah, there I am two years ago. It’s an awful shame you can’t see me very well in this picture.

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After spending the entire day at the The Scarecrow Patch yesterday, today we got to go to Wessels Farm, a local living history museum, where the younger boys were able to experience a school day in the 1920’s. It was SO cool. They even got to pack a lunch and carry it in a tin bucket. (Again, camera battery dead. This time because under all my dust and rubble I couldn’t find the charger.  sigh )  (I finally found it by the way, AFTER both field trips.)

Our older boys were taught all kinds of facts and information about Western Expansion and the Lousianna Territory and wow, Wessels Farm is a cool place!

Most weeks we don’t even have one field trip, much less two. But, since this was a heavy field trip week and field trips are on my mind, I thought I’d throw out a field trippy question:

What’s your favorite field trip memory, either with your kids…or from when you were a kid and went on a field trip?

I will say that I have very fond memories of my mom packing a Twinkie and a Grape Pop for me to drink with my field trip lunch. We NEVER got Twinkies except for field trips. Aw, too bad I know what Twinkies are made of now or I’d carry on the tradition. I guess I’ll just carry that memory forever in my heart. :)

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Clean Car? Question #71

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I don’t think about it very much…until someone else rides in our van with us. THAT is when I realize that there are muffin crumbs, little rocks, a few papers from the boys’ Bible classes, a fruit leather wrapperand a little lego head on my van floor.  And that’s on a good day.

I WISH I were better at managing the messiness inside our vehicles. On the other hand, I have so many other things to do that cleaning the inside (or outside for that matter) of our van is really a low priority for me. Therefore, I don’t think about it very much until someone hops in for a ride. Suddenly my van interior gets a whole lot filthier in my eyes. 

Aah, and the other day I got into Matt’s truck because we had traded vehicles for some reason. Once I adjusted the seat so that I could reach the pedals, I looked up and was shocked to see that a bunch of birds seemed to have recently had a big poop fest all over his windshield. Yowza!

Anyhoo…I know that others are much more concerned than we are about the cleanliness inside (and outside) of their vehicles. While ours aren’t trash cans…neither are they what anyone would consider clean. I NEED to send our boys out there with our very powerful vacuum…and yet I never seem to remember. I guess as long as we can see out of our windshields, we really don’t care that much about taking time to clean our vehicles. (Which means, of course, that we did remove the evidence of the bird splatter competition.)

My question for you today is….

Are you good at keeping the insides of your vehicles clean? Do you have them detailed? Or are you like us and have vehicles that allow you to write notes to each other in the dust on the dashboard?

Okay…it’s really not that bad. 

ehem

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Favorite Apples (Question #70)

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It’s apple season and I LOVE it. I’d been holding back on buying apples both because there were no organic apples available and the regular ones at the store were a crazy high price. I was feeling quite apple deprived, especially since I had bought the wonderful treat of Gjetost cheese and I NEEDED apples to go with it.

Finally a friend of mine called to say that the apples in her orchard were ready to be picked! I grabbed my bags and ran to her house (okay, I drove) and started picking. She sliced some samples for me to try and I’m pretty sure there were tears of apple joy running down my face. Mmm, they were so good. I was most excited because Gala apples are my favorite, and her Gala tree was the tree ready to be picked! I brought home loads (for only $0.75/pound!!!!). We’ve been eating apples to our hearts content. LOVE GALA APPLES!!!

A few days later, I was able to go pick more apples (red delicious, I believe) from another friend’s tree. She didn’t charge me a thing…in fact she gave us TWO jars of jelly as a THANK YOU for taking the apples off her hands. Um, you’re welcome?

THEN, we got another phone call and went and picked apples for free again. There are so many apples in my house, we are tripping over them. 

I love tripping over apples. Seriously. Apple season is awesome!!

I’ve shared some bags with others…and I’ve used my dehydrator to make apple rings…

I am now in the process of working through all the bags and making applesauce. I’m hoping this weekend to can a bunch of apple pie filling. If I get that done, I’ll be sure to share pictures and a recipe!!

My question for you today is…what is your favorite variety of apple? My favorite is by far Gala…but Pink Lady and Honey Crisp are also nice. Then of course there’s Yellow Delicious and Empire…

It’s a little hard to decide! What’s your pick?

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Saver or Spender? Question #69

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I am by nature a saver. I don’t like to spend money if I can help it. I like learning about saving and investing (which is why I highly recommend this free financial newsletter for women by Daily Worth) and I like learning about keeping a nice budget (which is why I also highly recommend Craig Ford’s ebook The Secret to a Successful Budget).

As far as I can remember, I’ve always had a hard time parting with my money. I remember saving my hard earned babysitting money all summer long, then going school shopping with my mom. We always had a blast, but I do remember my mom actually getting a little frustrated with me because I was hesitant to buy a new shirt for $10. I didn’t want to spend ten of my dollars on just one shirt…I wanted to keep looking until I found a cute shirt on sale for $4! I wanted the best deal possible. I had changed many a diaper to earn that money, after all!

Being a saver is mostly and almost always good. But sometimes it causes stress because good grief…(and I know this is shocking) sometimes we need to spend money. Sometimes things break and have to be replaced. Sometimes there’s no choice but to stay in a hotel. Sometimes I must buy paper plates that get used once and then are thrown away (gasp!!).

I’ve come a long way through the years in regard to saving and spending…learning that it’s okay to spend money on good food and other things that are important. I’ve learned that giving money (and time and food and whatever) to others is an awesome and right thing to do.

I’ve even come to the point that, if I have to, I can spend $10 on a shirt. :)  My mom would be so proud.

My husband is also a saver, which has helped us to avoid money arguments in our home. I’m so thankful that we are on the same page when it comes to finances. I know it is a struggle for those who aren’t.

My question for you today is…are you a spender or a saver? Is it hard for you to part with money, or does it burn a hole in your pocket? 

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Wedding Memories – Question #68

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This weekend, we are attending the wedding of a girl near and dear to our hearts. She is marrying a wonderful young man and we couldn’t be happier for both of them.

As I’ve been putting together our wedding clothes (Yikes! Do my boys have ANY nice pants without holes in them?!), my own wedding has been on my mind. Matt and I are going on 16 years (awwwww). All those wedding details were so important to me 16 years ago when I was planning my wedding and I knew I would never forget any of them. 

Yeah, I forgot. 

I can not remember the song playing when our grandparents walked down to the aisle. I can barely remember who was in attendance (um, if you happened to be one of the people that came, of course I remember that you were there). I can barely even remember who all was in our wedding party until I carefully look at the pictures. Good grief. 

What I do remember is the look on Matt’s face as I started walking down the aisle. And how my dad could hardly perform the ceremony because he was crying too much. And how Matt and I were also crying the entire time and we only had one sorry little kleenex to share between the two of us. 

I remember how beautiful my mom looked. And how beautiful her voice sounded when she sang (our family had pre-recorded many of the songs played during the ceremony). 

I remember that the best man seemed to have “misplaced” my ring in an effort to freak out the bride. I’ve mostly forgiven him. ;)

I remember how happy and excited I was when we were pronounced “Mr. and Mrs. Matt Coppinger”!!!!! 

I remember that our colors were navy blue and rose. I still love those colors.

So, I have a very simple question for you if you care to share:  What were the colors you used in your wedding? (Or if you aren’t married yet, what are the colors you might like to use someday?)  And…if you remember any other details about your wedding, we’d love to hear them!

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How Much Does Your Tooth Fairy Leave? Question #67

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We’ve had an extra little boy staying with us off and on all summer. He’s great to have around, he fits right in with our sons, he eats whatever I put in front of him and he says “Yum, Laura – that was good”. Yes, he can stay anytime.

The other night as I was reading to the boys as they were winding down for bed (The Great Turkey Walk…ever read it? EXCELLENT book!!)…anyway…the other night while I was reading to the boys suddenly our young house guest sat straight up in bed and presented us all with his freshly lost tooth! The book was quickly set aside, Kleenexes were fetched, and the gaping hole in the mouth was proudly displayed. There was much tooth loss celebration all around. 

Everyone finally settled back down and I picked the book back up again to start reading. Our house guest, however, sort of just sat there holding his tooth in his hand with a puzzled look on his face as if to say, “Um, what am I supposed to do with this now?” I’m sure if he was at his own house, he would have put it right under his pillow and laid down to dream of the soon-t0-be monetary exchange for his hard earned tooth pulling endeavors. But what’s a kid to do at someone else’s house? Would the tooth fairy even know where to find him since he was in a completely different house in a completely different town? 

I stopped reading and suggested that he go ahead and put the tooth under his pillow. He shrugged, nodded and stuck it under the pillow, then lay down to listen to the book.

I continued to read, but suddenly in the back of my mind I began to contemplate what should be done. We were happy to be the tooth fairy for him…but um…when the tooth fairy comes to our house, she is incredibly, totally and absolutely stingy. A tight wad. Barely leaves a thing. Guessing that we may be the cheapest tooth fairy on the planet, I began to grow a little concerned that our friend may be less than excited in the morning when he stuck his hand under the pillow and in exchange for his tooth, he found…a quarter?! Is that IT? After he’d gone through so many years of wearing that tooth and brushing it and chewing with it and smiling with it? Seriously, a quarter? 

It was too late to call his mom to ask what she would have done. Plus, I didn’t really want our kids to have any idea that the tooth fairy could actually bring more than a quarter for a lost tooth. As far as they know, the tooth fairy only owns quarters. 

We have four kids, which is a total of 80 lost teeth. We’re happy to give them more money for things such as mowing a lawn, but just for losing a tooth? We (um, the tooth fairy part of we) plan to be boring and cheap and continue to always and forever leave a quarter. Our kids never complain. Money is money.

I had no need for worry. Our guest happily presented his quarter the next morning (either he was just being polite, or he was truly happy to have it). But it did cause me to wonder:

How much does the tooth fairy leave for lost teeth at your house? Are we the cheapest tooth fairy people on the planet? 

Um, my kids may need to avoid talking to your kids about this subject for obvious reasons.

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