Memorial Day: A Time to Remember

Most people see Memorial Day as the official start of summer and I guess that is pretty much true, even if it was only 43 degrees here this morning (sure didn't feel like summer).  I am reminded that Monday is a special day for another reason all together, a reason I feel is often overlooked.  Memorial Day is a day to honor and remember those service men and women who have been killed serving our country.  I should point out it is sometimes confused with Veterans Day, which is for our Armed Forces Veterans, living and dead.  Just to give you a little history on this day, it was first called Decoration Day and originated after the Civil War as a way to honor and remember the Confederate and Union soldiers who died during the war.  It would later become associated with all soldiers who were killed serving our country.  I think many people don't really take the time to remember what this day is really about. Most people consider it a time to be with family, go to the pool, cook out, go on vacation, etc. and all that is fine and dandy. I'm not saying you shouldn't take the opportunity to spend as much time with your family as possible, but I do think that sometime during the day we all, each one of us, should take a moment to remember those who have fought and died for our freedom.  I did some research and at first I used Wikipedia which gave me faulty numbers, so I had to go back and do more research and according to what I found from the years 1775-present day there have been 1,264,000 American soldiers killed during war time.  The highest number being during the American Civil War when 620,000 soldiers gave their lives from 1861-1865.  When you take the time to really consider how high those numbers are it can be mind blowing, it almost seems impossible to wrap your head around the thought.  I'm asking each of you to take a simple moment sometime on Monday to reflect and remember. Take a moment to consider that our nation and it's people are what we are due to those who gave their all on the field of battle.  


God Bless you all this Memorial Day and God Bless America!! 



"That's my "two cents worth", what's yours?"

Messy Kids: They drive me crazy

My kids have a chore list for the week, certain things that have to be done on certain days. These chores consist of: cleaning the bathroom, feeding the dog, washing the dishes, etc.  They have one chore that is to be done everyday, cleaning their rooms.  I want you to understand that I don't mean a complete cleaning.  I have tried to explain to them if they just pick up after themselves each day, they won't have as much to do for the full cleaning on Saturday.  This seems to be a concept they can not understand!  I have always wondered why even though they said their rooms were clean, it never seemed to be true. I have come to the following conclusions on that: 

1.  Mine and their ideas of clean are completely different! 
    To me clean is a good cleaning, to them clean is lets just push it under the bed 
and hide it, Mama will never know the difference. 

2.  They have way to much stuff!!
      Honestly they have more stuff right now than I think I had my whole childhood. These kids are spoiled rotten! 

3.  They "forget" what they are supposing to be doing. 
     They always use the same excuse, I forgot.  I get so tired of hearing that, maybe I need to buy them so Ginkgo to help their memories. 

4.  They start to play and lose track of the job! 
     This happens all the time, they start to play or read and book and get so into what they are doing they don't realize how much time has passed and that the work is not done. 

The problem with cleaning is it just doesn't apply to their rooms, it affects other areas of our home: the play area (inside and out), the bathroom and our van.  I have decided that something must be done if I am to keep my sanity.  What do I plan to do?  I'm going to try a few things over the summer break.  

1.  They have got to clean out and get rid of some of their stuff and donate it.  We always do this before Christmas, but this year we are doing it early.

2.  They are going to have to do "spring cleaning", I mean from top to bottom, to get everything done. 

3.  Organization!!  "Everything has a place and everything in it's place!" is going to be our new motto. 

I know with hard work and a lot of prayer this job will get done.  I just wonder how long it will stay clean? 

"That's my "two cents worth", what's yours?"

Honor Thy Mother

As I sat here this afternoon listening to the sounds of my six year old daughter and our dog looking for lizards, I begin to think about the word mother and what it means.  I looked it up and according to my Webster's Dictionary it means, "1. female parent; 2. source".  That was all that it said and to me that seemed pretty slack.  That simple definition doesn't even begin to define what a mother is. In my opinion the word mother means the following, "unselfish, kind, unconditional love, adviser, giver, hard-worker, listener, doctor, teacher, cook, maid, someone who will tell you that your wrong, etc.", the list can go on and on.

When I think about my definition, I can't help but think about my own mother.  When we were growing up she worked a full time job (outside the home) then had to work full time in the home.  She would often work overtime just to save extra money for vacations, Christmas and to send my brothers to Boy Scout Camp.   When my oldest brother was disabled in a car accident in September of 1988, our mother took on the full time responsibility of caring for him.  The years have taking their toll on her physically, but she has never quit or giving up.  She has fought for him relentlessly, to make sure he has everything he needs to live a full, happy and healthy life.  She is a shining example to me and my daughters of what being a mother/grandmother truly is.

Tomorrow is the second Sunday of May, the day set aside to celebrate and honor our mothers and all they do for us.  A young woman by the name of Anna Jarvis worked tirelessly until she was able to convince people that mother's should have a special day.  In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson declared this day an official national holiday.  There were several attempts to create this special day, including one by Julia Ward Howe in the 1870's, before the workings of Miss Jarvis proved fruitful. 
 
As a side note, the first Sunday in May is International Bereaved Mothers Day. This day is not officially a holiday, but it is a day of remembrance  for those of us (like me) who have lost a child to death. 

So remember, if your mother is still living, take the time to celebrate and honor her.  There will come a time when she will no longer be with you and your chance will be gone.



"That's my "two cents worth", what's your?"

Senior Saints Banquet: Celebrating our Senior Citizens

One of the things that we do each year at our church is hold our annual Senior Saints Banquet. It is that one time each year that we sat aside to celebrate and honor all of the Senior Citizens of our church. We think it is very important to give them a special thing each year. They have worked hard and deserve to be honored for all they have done. 

Each year the celebration is all fixed around one basic theme and all the food, decorations, entertainment, etc. is based on that theme. This year we decided to do a theme we had never attempted before, Fiesta.  My friend Kristen and I are the ones who came up with the idea and at first there was some skepticism in our ladies group. The main question was, "What will we eat?" I guess when ever anyone hears the word fiesta, they automatically think of hot, spicy food. After some reassuring of our ladies that we not serve anything hot and spicy, we got the go ahead to plan the celebration.

We decided to have a taco salad buffet and also some pintos and potatoes for those who didn't want salad. We spent many weeks planning and purchasing items for the banquet.  We sent out specially made invites to all our Senior Saints giving them the details of our banquet.  At first, we had many we thought would not come, because they thought the food would not be good, but we assured them there would be something for everyone. Before we knew it the week arrived to start putting everything together, we had so much fun decorating our fellowship building and getting everything set up. 

Finally, the day arrived for our banquet and I have to admit I was somewhat nervous about how things would go. I have learned in this life that you can't please everyone and I've been around older people enough to know they can be the hardest ones to make happy. I had no idea how they would react or what they would say, but I knew one thing for sure, if this banquet didn't go well, it would be all my fault. I am happy to report that the banquet was a huge hit!!  It makes me very happy to know that all the planning, running and hard work paid off.  I was very thrilled to see that some of them were even brave enough to try some new foods.  I always enjoy entertaining our Senior Saints, they always know that I will do or say something to make them laugh. I do it for that purpose, because as it states in the Bible in Proverbs 17:22, ^"A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones." I wish I had some photos to share with you of the good time that we had, but as always I was busy cutting up and making them laugh. I have some photos of the tissue paper flowers I made and the back drop that I came up with. I also made the fake cactus in the basket. It took me a couple of days of thinking on it how to do it without have to paper mache.  I also made a pinata cake, it was very good. 

                


I count it a joy and honor to be able to celebrate our Senior Citizens.  I am reminded every day when it look in the mirror that it won't be to awful long before I will be one of them and I certainly hope that someone will be willing to take the time to celebrate and honor me. 


"That's my "two cents worth", what's yours?"

Good-bye Winter, Hello Summer!

Growing up in the south has been an interesting part of my life. I love everything about it from tractors on the main road to the hot summer nights sitting on the porch swing. I have always considered it to be a blessing to be “Southern” and also a North Carolinian. By far one of my favorite/not so favorite things about living here is our good “ole” North Carolina weather. (It is what I would call a love/hate relationship.) Having never lived in any other place I can't speak for other areas, but here in NC it often feels as if we skip some of our seasons all together or at times it seems we even repeat them. For instance, we often go straight from winter into summer and sometimes we will go from fall to summer then back to fall again. People around these parts often complain about our weather, when they do we just respond with, “Welcome to North Carolina!”. As I sat here drinking my coffee and eating one of my southern favorites, a Krispy Kreme doughnut, I have been thinking about how our weather has been lately. I bet your saying, “Please not a blog about the weather!”, well I hate to disappoint, but it is. When our resident groundhog predicted six more weeks of winter, we were hoping he was wrong, but it turns out, he was right. You see, it's not unusual around here to have some warm, pretty days during the winter, but this year that just didn't happen. That being said, it seemed as if winter would never come to an end, but about two weeks ago it did and we jumped straight into 80 degree days. We hit a hot spell like you wouldn't believe. The days and nights were so warm, you could hardly think and we were using our A/C like crazy. We stayed that way for about a 10 days and then something happened, it turned cold again. In fact it felt as if we had gone to fall and the mornings were brisk and cool. Since then we have turned off our air and turned on the heat (again). Now we are having to use our heat in the mornings and at night and our air during the day.

I'm sure this coming July when the temps. reach 98 degrees and the humidity is 100%, I will be longing for these nice “cool” 60 degree temperatures, but for now, I'm happy to report that it finally feels like spring here in North Carolina.

Remember, I told you it was a love/hate relationship.

That's my “two cents worth”, what's yours?   

My Frugal Lifestyle

I have always considered myself to be a frugal person, in fact over the years members of my own family have described me in some of the following ways: cheap, penny pincher and tight wad.  My own mother has even told me that I "squeeze George Washington so hard that a booger would come out of his nose."  I can only imagine how funny or strange that might sound to some.  You see I was once a single mother, raising a toddler all by myself  while going to college full time and working part time.  I had to make my money go as far as possible and count as much as I could.  During that time I developed some habits that helped me to become a frugal person. 

Now I am happily married and have four children (two here on earth with me and two angels in Heaven waiting for me), but those habits have held strong and I'm still using them today.  I thought  I would share with you the top six habits that I have developed in the hopes that they will help you (my readers) to begin living a frugal lifestyle as well. 

1.  Always look for sales!!
     It is very important to keep your eyes open for sales. Very rarely do I ever buy anything that is not on          
    sale.  By using this habit it will help you to stay focused on what you want and also teach patience as your 
    waiting for the sale to happen. 

2.  Shop Around!!
     Always get a competitors price when buying an item.  It is never wise to be impulsive in shopping, always 
     give yourself time to think about your purchase and time to check the price with another store. 
      
3.  Price Match!!
     Not all stores will do this for you, but for the stores that do, take advantage of the policy.  It will be worth 
     your time to price match an item at a store closer to you than to waste your time and gas driving to a 
     store across town.  Also, there are many apps out there that will help you to do this, that keeps you from
     having to go through all the weekly sales papers (which I still do).  

4.  Remember, the clearance rack is your friend!!
     Whenever I go shopping I always head straight for the clearance section of the store.  There will always 
     be racks in each clothing section and if you look on the "end caps" (the ends of  the aisle) you can always 
     find good clearance deals. 

5.  Always, I mean always use coupons!!
     Coupons are like cash money, if you are not using them, your losing money. I will be going into more 
     detail on couponing in a later blog. 

6. Don't be afraid of thrift stores!! 
    I have heard people put down shopping at thrift stores, but I can tell you some of the best deals I have 
    ever gotten have been in these types of stores.  Not every one will be great to shop in, but there are some 
    fantastic finds to be found. Just to give you and example: my cousin found a Kate Spade handbag at our 
    local Goodwill for just a few dollars, so shop thrift and get those deals. 

In the last year I have started following two very good blogs,Couponing to Disney and Moola Saving Mom. 
Both of these blogs not only give great couponing advice, but they also give you a heads up on good deals they find online and on special sales they find out about.  I have pasted a link to these blogs at the bottom of this post. 

In this day and age getting a good deal and saving money is very important to me.  I try to live as frugal a lifestyle as possible, by doing this I am able to not only save money, but to also have the extra to do special things with my family.  

That's my "two cent's worth", what's yours?


 http://www.couponingtodisney.com/ and http://www.moolasavingmom.com/

Kids Birthday Parties: Just right or too much?

Over the last several months our family, mainly our children, have been invited to several birthday parties. In fact one of our own children has celebrated a birthday within that time.  Over the weekend we attended our grandson's birthday party, there were so many kids and I have to say everyone got along fantastically, even the adults. While I was sitting there watching everyone talking and the kids playing I got to thinking about birthdays, parties, and all the things that happen on this special day.  As I began writing this before bed that same night, I had a stunning thought, "When did the concept of birthday parties start?".  I mean at what point in our earthly culture did people really start celebrating their birthdays?  

So I grabbed my laptop and begin my research at my favorite search engine, Google. After reading several articles, it became clear to me that people just weren't sure about it.  They had all kinds of theories on the subject, but nothing definite on when people began celebrating the "anniversary of their births".  

I mentioned this to my husband and his take on the subject was that years ago poor people did not celebrate birthdays, it was something that only the rich were able to do.   At this point I was reminded of my grandfather who passed away in 2011 at the age of 91.  I remembered that he never even knew when his birthday was, all his mother could remember was that it was in the month of January and it was very cold.  I personally can't imagine growing up without knowing or celebrating my birthday, but I guess if I had been in a family of twenty-four children like him it wouldn't have mattered to me either.  

After all that thinking on birthday parties I have come to three main conclusions: 

1.  They are way to much work and effort!!  It's almost like planning a wedding or some other major event.  You put all that time, effort and energy into giving your kids this over the top, fantastic birthday party and before you know its all over and your completely exhausted.  I always try to get my children involved in the planning of the party,  in helping with the decorations, and getting everything set up. I think this makes them more appreciative of all the work I do. 

2.  Kids get way to much these days!! In fact they get way to much everyday of the year, not just on birthdays.  I'm just as guilty as the next parent, but we do try to limit the amount of new stuff that comes into our house.  For instance, the children get nothing new from October to Christmas, it helps to cut down on the clutter and teaches them to be grateful for what they have. 

3.  This point is for you grandparents.  Why do you buy for the child not celebrating the birthday?  I mean what happened to the concept of birthdays being special?  My grandparents never did this for us and we never felt left out when I siblings got gifts. I for one am glad that I have not falling into that trap (yet). 

Please don't take all this the wrong way, I mean we love celebrating our kids birthdays. Yet, when I am in the mist of planning a big party there are times when I long for the simple.  Perhaps just inviting a bunch of kids to the park for cake and ice cream. We could just let them run and play without having to constantly entertain them. Then I realize that would never happen, we as parents just have to keep out doing ourselves to make each party bigger and better. 


        That's my "two cents worth", what's yours?