Busy Busy Busy

Well since my last post I am on the journey of planning yet another birthday party.  This time for my soon to be 6 year old daughter.  She is at that age where she can ask for what she wants for a party.  But I am so blessed with her because she is NOT high maintenance at all! She would be so happy if everything was completely home made and low key.  Her party of choice?  A Princess bowling party.  I know I know, what on earth do the two have to do with each other?  I have no clue but I want to make my baby girl happy. Ever since her 3rd birthday she has been obsessed with bowling for every birthday.  She was tickled pink when we took her there on her 3rd birthday and its really the only time we go bowling.  It's become some what of a tradition for her now.  Along with a mani/pedi.  Her first of those was last year for her big 5th birthday.  She looks forward to this once a year tradition now.

On another note, I have also started another blog over here for my church group.  It's such a blessing to be able to provide something so simple.  I prayed for a way to serve in our new church and the Lord flung open the doors to make that happen.  I'm more grateful that the Lord is hearing my prayers. =)  Anyway, go on over and check it out if you like.  We are going through a study on Charles Stanley's 30 Life Principles and it is amazing so far.  There are plenty of resources on the blog if you want to follow along.  You will be blessed.

There are just so many things going on right now and coming up.  We registered for our annual homeschool convention.  We LOVE going to the convention every year and hearing wonderful speakers.  This year will be special because Voddie Baucham and Ray Comfort are the key note speakers. Click on their names to check out their website.  And here's a link for more info on the conference. That's pretty much it in a nutshell.

Blessings,

Jeneva

Countdown to birthday party

We are a whole lot closer to the birthday party and I'm getting so excited.  We have about a week to go and I'm finishing up all of the major purchases like the bouncer and the balloons and tables and chairs.  I have a short to do list left.  Mostly with the food parts of the party.  You can't buy fruit too far in advance. LOL.  I'm so happy and I have a cool vision in my head of the goody table.  A lot of other things have been going on around here too.  I finished up a really cute crochet project.  I will post pics in a sec.  We've been trying to spend more family time together when the hubby is home.  The weather is staying quite nice and we are really enjoying it.  I will definitely have to get out to the hot tub soon. I will be posting our plans for the summer soon. My hope is to have my oldest in some sort of sport and to go on at least one field trip per month with the hubby and the kids.  

We will be homeschooling through the summer it looks like but my big girl LOVES school so she doesn't mind. 

CHEA is coming!!!!  I'm so super excited.  It is the most amazing home school conference.  This year will be even better because Voddie Baucham and Ray Comfort will be there this year!!  I'm so stinking excited. I have so much to talk about but I will do a separate post for CHEA with links so you guys can see why I'm so excited. 

Some pics to come soon. 

Only 2 weeks of planning left

We are exactly two weeks away from my son's 1st birthday party and I'm still planning.  Getting things done little by little as the finances allow.  God is so good.  I know a first birthday party isn't a need but the Lord is providing a way every step of the way for me to do this for my little man.  I am a stay at home mom, so we aren't rolling in money.  I'm grateful that the Lord is allowing me to use my savings techniques to get me through this birthday party planning.  My goal is to not buy a single thing unless I have a coupon and I must say I am sticking to that.  I got a free birthday banner made and only had to pay shipping which was around $12.  And if you've had a banner made somewhere else, you know they can be pricey.  I priced a banner at OfficeMax out of curiosity and they wanted $12 per square foot!!!  My banner would have cost me over $60 if I got it made there so I am praising God right now for that.  I have been getting little odds and ends at Michael's and if you are into saving you know Michael's has great printable coupons on their website.  It's been driving me nuts getting things in little bits and pieces but I don't really have a choice, I have to save money.  I'm getting everything done and sticking to a budget.  Praise God.  Anyway, I was looking on pinterest today to review my ideas for my little man's bday party and I found another printable sesame street invitation I wanted to share with you all in case you're thinking of doing a sesame street party as well.  Here it is:

I already took out the wording so all you have to do is right click the image and save it to your computer.  Once on your computer right click and edit it to say exactly what you want. The green banner area is great for your child's name. You can either print it at home or take it to your favorite printing place and get it printed.  Either way this invitation is soooo cute.  I wish I would have found it sooner.  

Thanks for stopping by.  Blessings!

Still planning

Yesterday was a super busy day filled with deal hunting and cupcake test runs. But still super fun. I headed over to Albertsons with coupons in hand to hopefully pick up some goodies for the birthday party. I think I was pretty successful. Here's what I bought.

2 liter sunkist soda .99
Bought 4
Used 4 .55/1 coupons
.44 cents each

2 liter Pepsi Next soda .99
Bought 4
Used 4 .55/1 coupons
.44 cents each

20 pack frito lay chips $5.49 wyb 6 participating items
Bought 3 
Used 3 $1/1 coupons
$4.49 each

Duncan Hines cake mix .99 cents wyb 6 participating items
Bought 3
.99 cents each

Starbuck's refreshers drinks .99cents each
Bought 6
Used 6 $1/1 coupons
FREE

40 count capri sun big pack $8.49
Used $1.50/1 in ad coupon
$6.99 for 40 (10 count is usually $1.97 to $2.99)

So I think I did pretty well on snagging some goodies. I was especially pleased with the 2 liter sodas. That's an amazing price for 2 liters especially name brand soda. I'm going to be heading back for more cake mix because I will be doing cake pops as well as cupcakes. And probably other cake related goodies. Can't wait for the party.

Planning a 1st Birthday

I am in the midst of planning a first birthday party for my sweet little man.  I am going with an Elmo/Sesame Street theme.  I think I'm going to pull my hair out before this is over.  I realized that I absolutely hate planning birthday parties.  I mean I enjoy them, I just don't like planning my own. I would love to ask for some help but I don't like burdening people so I always take everything on myself which leads to a lot of stress for me.  But hey, it doesn't have to be perfect.  It just has to be a few hours of fun, right?  We will see.  I will post pics after the party but until then, here are some pics I've used to get me started with the theme.  Feel free to snag them for yourself.  Just right click the pic and save it to your computer.  Then you can edit it to say whatever you'd like it to say.  Wish me luck with the party!

I love this image!  I'm using it on plain yellow paper sack bags to jazz them up for goody bags.

This is my invitation.  I edited all of the existing word out on paint!  AH.  That was awful.  So here is a nice clean image to insert your text on.

A fun elmo face. 

I printed a thank you message on this little square that I'm going to throw inside the goody bags. 

Again, if you wish to use any of the images feel free.  Just right click and save it to your computer.  After that find the image on your computer (I save my to the desktop so it's easy to find) and right click it again.  Then click "edit" and there you go!

End of the month coupon clean up!

Well, it's the 30th. That means cleaning out my coupon binder. I must say this is the least exciting part of couponing but the more organized you are the more money you will save. So go look through you coupons and get rid of the expired ones. Don't fret over unused coupons either because I can guarantee you will see the exact same coupons or better ones come through the paper or online. First of the month means most coupons reset online. So get ready to fire up that printer. I know I'm excited. Happy couponing!

Current project

So I am super excited to have crochet projects to give away. This blankie is for a dear friend who is having a baby girl. It matches a cute little dress I already finished. I am so loving this yarn. I had been eyeing it for a month but the price wasn't quite right until a couple of weeks ago. I was so excited. I have a baby hat in mind as well after I finish the blanket. I will post the finished project when everything is done.