GO GET YOUR FUEL PERKS!

If you shop at Bi-Lo, then you probably already know about the fuel perks program. For every $50.00 you spend, they give you 5 cents off each gallon of gas you buy at participating gas stations. Check it out here if you want more details. There's lots of sales this week, so it would be a great time to shave a little off your gas bill also.

Here's a few items worth mentioning that I have already taken advantage of some of these deals

Turkey $.49 lb
Split chicken breast $.99 lb
Green Giant boxed veggies $1.00 each (but you can go here here or here to get $.50 coupon off 2 AND it doubles, so you will get each box for $.50 don't forget you can print each coupon TWICE)
Aunt Jemima frozen pancakes go here for $1.00/2 coupon you will pay $.50 per box
X-14 stain remover $1.00 coupon smartsource 9/27 and it will be FREE
Endust dusting spray $2.00 coupon RedPlum 11/8 it will be FREE

A great site I use now for Bi-Lo is southernsavers I can check what I want and print the list from the site. This site lists what coupons to use and also has links to print some coupons for the items listed. So for the whole list of savings check out southernsavers!

It's Over

Fall sports is officially over tonight. Madison had her soccer banquet today and Michael had his last football game. Last Monday was Melanie's last game. It was a great whirlwind of about 3 months. This year was the first year the girls played soccer. They seemed to have enjoyed it, but they still like gymnastics better. Michael's heart is still in football. He told me tonight with a huge smile on his face that he wanted to play again next year. It really has been great, but we are one tired family. You know we really won't get much of a break with the holidays coming up. I am going to find a few good movies for us to watch at night and I have already bought a couple of new games to play. Friends will be over and I'm steady researching fun stuff to do for Thanksgiving and Christmas (crafts and recipes). I hope to post very soon what we will be doing the next few weeks. After this week, we will probably put our regular unit study aside (My Father's World) and pick it back up in Jan. Oh, we will still be schooling, but Jesus' birth and the Pilgrims will take the place of the Roman Empire for a time. So, let me go take a DEEEEP breath and get started on the next round!

Happy Halloween

This is what we worked on today. The kids did a FANTASTIC job!

Our Halloween Decorations

The kids got lucky this year. We are studying the human body and one of the activities was to put together this skeleton. Even though we don't "do" Halloween decorations, the kids like them for some reason. I let them put the skeletons anywhere they wanted in the house hoping they would remember some of the bones we discussed. Happy Halloween :-)

FREE UNIT STUDY

I really do enjoy this time of year. It seems I can find all kinds of things to do with the kids. You also know that I love FREE things to use and do. So check out the free e-book on Autumn by Amanda Bennett. Just click here to check it out and download.

A New Way of Doing Things

I can really tell people have stopped spending so much on extra items. My personal opinion is that people are still spending, but they are more conscious of how they are going to spend the money that they do have. I've been thinking (AGAIN) about how we need to spend our money. We always need to be good stewards of everything God provides us. I tend to ask myself things like,"Do I really need a new pair of black shoes for this winter when I already have a perfectly good pair that I bought a couple of years ago?" (even though I can get them at Goodwill for about $4.00). :-) Another example is buying things while on sale with a coupon and I we REALLY don't need the item. I tend to go back and forth on this issue and the main reason is that I usually can find SOMEONE that can use the item that I have bought. I have decided (for the moment) that if the item it's junk food I probably won't buy it. The main reason for this decision is that I have found some healthier recipes that I can make on the cheap. I enjoy being in the kitchen when I have time and it seems that our lives are calming down a bit. The kids enjoy cooking and baking right along with me so I have decided that this is a very good thing. I will be posting some recipes that we are trying and today is a great tasting granola recipe. I have always wanted to try to make my own granola because I really like it but don't like the price in the stores. So I finally tried it, liked it, and now I'm going to share this EASY and CHEAP recipe with you.

GRANOLA

1/2 cup brown sugar (2 pounds at Aldi for around $1.00)

1/2 cup oil (48 oz bottle of Canola oil at Aldi for about ($2.79)

1/2 cup honey (Bargains food store $2.19 12 oz bottle)

1 tsp cinnamon (already had)

2 tsp vanilla (already had)

7 cups oats (Aldi for about $1.79 serving size-15 cups)

If I figured this correctly, I made 7 cups of granola for around $2.10

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix brown sugar, oil, and honey in a pot and bring to a boil. Remove from heat, add vanilla and cinnamon and stir. Mix in the oats well. Spread on to a 9 x 13 pan. Cook for 10 minutes, take out of oven and stir well. Place granola back in to the oven, turn it off and leave over night.

Sometimes Free isn't Worth it!

I think this is the nastiest stuff!! YUCK! I was able to get it free and thought I was getting a bargain....WRONG! Some of you might like it, but I will stick to Splenda. :-)