The obligitory Nascar post ---

Nothing natural or frugal about it but Nascar is insanely popular as I'm sure everyone knows. I've never been a huge fan .. in fact the only thing I really enjoy about a Nascar race, other than the wreaks, is the nice nap it always provides .. In fact, we refer to the sport as NAPcar! The good news is that Dale Jr. is now the driver of the National Guard #88 car!! Dale Jr. has to be the biggest dreamboat in Nascar and the one most likely to grace the cover of TeenBeat and the one I'd like to hang out with the most! It's been a while since we've had a good driver to root for .. back in the day when Mr. M was the Pepsi guy we half-heartedly cheered Jeff Gordon on, but the times have changed! The sisters-in-law are huge Nascar fans and one is a Jimmy Johnson fan whist the other is a long time Dale Jr. fan .. should make for some interesting family dinners!

So .. there it is, most likely, the only post I'll ever write about Nascar .. unless Mr. M wins some pit passes or something .. damn war and poor defense budgets, recruiters' incentive packs have really dropped off ;)

Cars, Citizen Soldiers, Kids and Babies .. oh my!

Boy, it's been a while (again) .. since I've sat to "blog" and a lot has been going on! The van is fixed for now and hopefully until next spring, Mr. M is happily rid of the Escort and driving a new to us Mercury Sable, which is so wonderfully luxurious in comparison. It was bitter sweet to see the Escort go since it was the first car I bought and paid for myself and then drove it until it was on the brink of falling apart .. literally .. we were worried about it not making it to the dealership in our old town 60 miles away! I know some would call us crazy for buying used cars from a dealership but we've had great experiences and have built up a relationship with our favorite dealer and will continue to buy there in the future. Perhaps a post for another time.

Mr. M is loving the job and is really succeeding beyond what was expected of him. We were nervous moving here because the results from this area have been so dismal and the last few recruiters didn't last very long. Thankfully, things are working out rather well and we're all very proud of what he's been able to provide not just to our family but to kids that really don't have a lot of options available to them here. Community support in this area is phenomenal as well .. instead of sneers when Mr. M is around town in uniform, older women are hugging him and thanking him and people are anonymously paying for lunches .. In our old town, you could feel the disdain others had for the military, and there would be comments about how horrible it was that Mr. M had to "con these poor kids into being sent to war". I don't know if it's because this is a smaller community or the fact that there is a National Guard unit here or its just a less "left-leaning" community, but this area is far more supportive of it's men and women in uniform!

As for the kiddos .. M1 just celebrated her 4th birthday with a record 3 parties (all small!) and enjoyed Barbie Mariposa as her favorite gift .. as a note I have to give credit to my grandparents who called to ask what she'd like, normally not newsworthy, however, it's taken them almost 28 years, 13 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren to CALL AND ASK WHAT THE KID LIKES .. rather than getting an insanely expensive gift not at all fitting a child .. case in point the table set of Royal Daulton BunnyKins that M2 received for her 2nd birthday last fall! It was a great gift for me since I receive a set around the same age and still have it .. wrapped carefully and stored away somewhere for some unknown purpose ..

And the biggest surprise of all .. we found out we'll be adding M3 to the mix in late August! Not a huge shocker but still a surprise after all the baby/little kids stuff went to Children's Orchard last winter ... lets say we're not totally prepared (at least stuff wise) for a new bundle of joy! It's been fun though finding things at resale shops and the girls like to look at baby clothes and toys and the like. At 19 weeks we're debating on if we want to find out the sex of the baby or be surprised. With the first 2 we (meaning me!) didn't know until the delivery room .. I love the idea of not knowing but planning and getting stuff would be so much easier if we knew. With the girls, it didn't really matter one way or the other .. but I can't imagine being able to hit up the resale stores with a 4 year old, a 2 year old and an infant! Plus there's only one good resale store in town, Goodwill, who seems to be a bit overpriced since they've all but cornered the market in the area! Maybe if we end up staying in the area I'll open my own Children's Orchard!

Wow! I can't believe it's been over a month since I've sat down to "blog". Its been a super busy time (as it is for most of us I'm sure)! The girls are loving all the early winter snow and I lucked out at a thrift store and found M2 a new to us LL Bean jacket and snowpants for $4 (the best thing about little kid sizes is that they're hardly used at all)! I really like that we all have at least 2 full sets (jacket, pants, boots) of snow gear .. We're outside pretty much every day (the windy days I can't handle!) and the dryer would have been sure to get a workout .. with more than one set everything is sure to dry out before the next outing!

We also had to get the van into the shop to get the brakes done and a general "checkup" since we hit 150,000. Being in a new area where we didn't know of any reliable mechanics, we were relieved when it was discovered that the father of one of the young men Mr. M works with own a very nice looking repair shop that always busy (my thinking being he must be good to be so busy!) we'd driven by numerous times and we dropped off the van. It turns out that there's a grocery list of issues that need to be addresses .. some minor that we knew about like the front passenger window motor was bad and some major like the lower intake manifold gasket is leaking and need to be fixed before coolant leaks into the engine! I read through the estimate to figure out what we can afford to do next (other than the engine destroying gasket being replaced) and I'm thinking that all of these prices seem insanely high .. not that I'm a mechanic of course but I can change my own oil and spent lots of time in shops helping my dad repair his "classic" cars and I know it shouldn't cost $175 to replace a fuel filter .. Mr. M and I did one last summer on the Escort and the filter was about $10 and took less than an hour .. so $175? I don't think so! And don't get me started on the tires! $400 to install 4 basic all season tires that are less than $50 per tire retail? You can take tires to Walmart and have them mounted and balanced for $7.50 a tire!

Anyway! I started calling around to local mechanics and happened to talk to the service manager at our local Chevy Dealer and was surprised to find that the estimate we have is ridiculously marked up over the price that the dealership is charging! Over 150% on some items and on the "big, must do now or your engine will blow up" we're talking $200 more than the dealership! Amazing what an hour on the internet looking prices of parts and tires and calling a few "second opinions" can save you! So Mr. M is dropping off the van at the dealership on Monday, picking up the courtesy car and a GM certified mechanic is going to keep our grocery getter/kid hauler in fine running condition! I certainly never would have thought that the dealership would be the least expensive for repairs!

Moral of the story? Just like life you can't take anything at face value and must trust your instincts .. if something seems fishy, or over priced, it just might be!

FIRST SNOW!!!! (kinda mixed with rain, but still...)

Whew .. don't you like it when the bills are LESS than you thought!

Whew .. just got our electric bill for October and it was less than I'd expected! I was concerned having electric heat that our bill would be huge but it was actually about the same as we'd been paying this summer before we moved!

I was also concerned since when we set up the service I looked in to the Budget Plan, where you pay the same amount each month, and since the amount you pay is an average of the usage from the year before and our payment would have been around $200!!! So our bill is $70 and of course we won't be signing up for the budget plan this year!

The interesting thing is when I log on to my account online it tells me the kilowatts we used compared to the usage from the same month last year and we used 51 fewer than the previous owners .. how can that be? What did these people do all day sit in an 85 degree house with every light plugged in?? Perhaps it was colder last October or maybe it's just that we're out of the house more than I realize .. oh well .. now to bring it up to Mr. M and try to explain that just because we can doesn't mean we should set the heat to 75 degrees in every room!

Inexpensive Organics

I've just discovered Now Foods line of organics .. and I'm not sure why I hadn't seen them before but while at my local organic market I bought a bag of Quinoa, which we like way better than brown rice, and golden flax seed meal which we add to just about everything to get an extra boost of omega 3, protein and fiber .. plus you can sub for oils or eggs in baked goods (with a little extra water) .. Both the quinoa and flax were about $3 for one pound package which in this area where these items are usually available at the supermarkets is a good price! I don't know what the difference is between the Now brand and others but I'd bet its like the store brand at the supermarket .. no advertising or fancy packaging costs to get added into the retail price!

Plus the owner of the market is on a mission to find organic dried whole milk for me .. which I don't even know if it exists, we've been giving the kids NIDO powdered milk mixed with warm water at bedtime (M1 calls it "cozy milk") but I'd like to find an organic powder that doesn't require me to buy 10 lbs of it at a time! I've found some on Amazon but I'd rather buy it at a local shop even if its something that comes on a truck since most likely it would be coming with other items rather than just itself if I were to order it .. save a bit of trucking that way!

I'd like to make this a series .. posting info about different organics that we use on a regular basis .. I know when we started to make the shift to organics and natural foods it was really confusing to find "cheap" organics. I'm hopeful, however, that since people are becoming educated about the benefits of natural foods, the supplies for inexpensive products will become available!

Chef's Catalog has some great deals on kitcheny stuff .. and free shipping on any order through Nov. 5 ..

Christmas Cookie Cutters $1.99

Good for kids sandwiches .. the girls love the Lunchables but I don't like the processed food in them so we make our own .. I think it would be fun to have star shaped cheese and turkey!
They're plastic so it would be safe for them to use when we make cookies too!

Twist and Chop Onion Chopper $2.99

The big bag of organic onions I got from one of the local farms here is full of onions that like to make me cry :( .. I love onions so this might just be worth the $3

Ice Cream Sandwich Maker $2.99

Includes recipes to make heart shaped Ice Cream Sandwiches! .. or frozen yogurt when we make that with our new yogurt maker as soon as it arrives .. we ordered one from amazon
last Friday when it was marked to $10 and I can't wait to try it out!

Here's my order .. with the sale price and the regular price!

Christmas Cookie Cutter - Star $1.99 $10
Christmas Cookie Cutter - Round $1.99 $10
Twist and Chop $2.99 $20
Ice Cream Sandwich Maker $2.99 $20

TOTAL: $9.96 $60

So I saved around $50! .. Not that I would have bought this stuff at regular price but it's stuff that will be used .. the cookie cutters on an almost daily basis for sandwiches and pancakes and the like, the twist and chop just as much if not more, and for $3 the sandwich maker will be fun for special treats!