What have we been up to?

Oh a little of this, a little of that :-)
Here's some recent pictures of Faith. Enjoy!
Waiting for the school bus her first day of school :)

Her first day of school outfit, how did she get so BIG?

Halloween Costume. She wanted to be "Princess Dora" from one of her books, i think we did a great job on the costume, good thing mama knows how to sew :-)

She is ALWAYS helping me around the house, I bet when she's 13 or so she won't want to mop anymore?

Faith got a new hat, was supposed to be for mama but i didn't bother to check my knitting gauge and the band was way too small for my big head, she sure looks cute though!

Grocery Shopping Savings

Total regular price of all the stuff = $175.00
Total paid - $74.36 + i got 2 - $10 coupons off my next purchase so total for all these groceries is only $54.36!!!
PLUS i earned another 10 cents off per gallon of gas for my next fill up!

Break down -
Ragu Pasta Sauce - 1.08 per jar
Wish Bone Salad Dressings - .88 cents each
Skippy Low Fat Peanut Butter - $1.50 each
Bic Pens - 10 packs - FREE
Keebler Snack Crackers - $1.50 each package
Kelloggs Cereals - $1.67 per box
Gillette Deodorant - $1.21 each
Crest Toothpaste - $1.50 each
Always Pads - $2.00 each
Snack Pack Pudding - .75 cents each
Oust spray - .54 cents each
Herbel Essense Shampoo/Conditioner - $1.25 each
Aussie Styling Products - $1.25 each
Degree Deodorant - $1.50 each
Bic Soleil Disposible Razors - $2.15 each

Homemade Strawberry Jam

First we started out with locally grown strawberries -

Then you smash them up -

Squeeze the lemons for the lemon juice -

Bring berries, lemon juice and pectin to a boil -

Add the sugar and boil -

Put it in the jars and in the processor & process -

Cool the jars for 24 hours -



We had so much fun making this jam. Honestly by the time you buy the berries (i don't berry pick, maybe next year), the jars and the other ingredients it probably is cheaper to just buy it....BUT....I know exactly what's in it and it will taste WAY better anyway!

So i had a surprise visitor...

My uncle popped in today in the midst of me getting ready to go camping. I wonder why i never realized how much he looks like my Dad until today? It really took me by surprise. Probably looks more like him because he's growing out a beard and Dad always had a beard. I actually got a little teary and when i gave him a big ole hug my heart hurt for a little bit missing Dad. But i don't want to sound like i wasn't thrilled to see him, i sure was. Even more thrilled to hear he will be in the area a lot more very soon, I promised to make sure he had some good meals whenever he wants to stop in :-)

Gorgeous weather...

This past week the weather has been fantastic and we've enjoyed quite a bit of time outside, here's a couple favorite pictures of Faith.




Next weekend we are heading up to Cranberry Lake for a long weekend, YEAH!

Some recent stuff....

Let's see, my new obsession is knitting. Love it! I have tried many many many times in the past to learn to knit with absolutely no luck. BUT i finally got it...this is my latest creation a ruffle summer top for Faith.
Oh and did you notice she is quite the model, my yes, she just loves to model for the camera. Daddy says she's the next "maggie rizer", God, i hope not!



What else is new...camping season has begun -
Here's a new tire cover i made for the camper -


Busy as always sewing up a storm. Also busy getting ready for surgery, hope to have approval soon. I think that's about it. Memorial Day is fast approaching, we'll be heading to Cranberry Lake w/ friends to stay for 4 nights, that will be great fun!
I can't believe my little baby will be turning 4 soon, where did the time go?

Letting out my skinny girl

I've opened up my blog to readers, i struggled with keeping it private or not. Since i'm just not a super "private" person i feel like i should just let it out there for all to read, it will help me be even more motivated.
Please feel free to take a look.
Letting Out My Skinny Girl Blog

Letting the cat out of the bag...

I guess it's time to let out something i've been holding back for a few months. Yes i know me, holding back, so unheard of right :-)

Anyway NO I AM NOT PREGNANT! (yes that would be great but no that's not it).

I decided last fall to take a huge step in my life. I decided that no matter what I need to be healthy. I NEED to lose weight. I NEED to be the best mom I can be, and at my weight that just doesn't happen. SO....i began researching options and made the huge decision to get weight loss surgery. I found a fantastic doctor and facility and am currently working my way toward approval from my insurance. I have to do a lot of "hoop jumping" that includes 6 months of supervised "weight loss" with the doctors office. I also have had a full battery of testing. But i'm almost there. I am hoping for approval sometime in late May and surgery sometime in June if all goes well.

I did not post this here for debate purposes. I to, never in a million years would have thought this was something i would even consider. I always held the attitude that if you can't be commited to weight loss in the "traditional" sense then how could you with surgery. But, the more i researched the more i realized that the surgery is just a tool, like any other tool you have to use it and make it work. I am 100% committed to this surgery. Sure, i'm nervous about many things, the greatest of those being risking my life by having surgery. However, I am also scared of what being this overweight means - high blood pressure, diabetes, lifelong physical restraints and those things are WAY scarier. I need to be here for Faith, John and my entire family and the way I am headed i won't be for as long as I could be. Before Dad died, he expressed deep heartfelt concern for me to get this weight off and Dad, I'm gonna do you proud.

Stay tuned for more details to come.

Happenings at the Graham household...

Faith continues to be hilarious! She's not very lady like though i must say, some of her favorite things to do are farting and burping, she thinks it's hilarious. She even called me into the living room the other night saying "mom do you smell that?"...I was thinking "what is it the stove?" I get in there and say "smell what" and she says (laughing) "my fart, it smells, can you smell it?"...ugh!
Not too much playing outside lately as it's been super cold and i've been sick on/off for what seems like the entire winter. Dance classes are going well for her and she really enjoys it. This week is school break so we are going to take a shopping trip w/ Grandma, Cheyanne and her friend probably tomorrow.

John's work has had it's usual issues, trucks breaking down, snow storms, etc. So he's stressed but we seem to find time to relax on the weekends which is good. He did work an extra day this past weekend because of all the freight back ups due to the big DC area storms.

I am sewing a lot. Be sure to check out my sewing blog for pictures of some of my recent creations. Also visit my store to see what's offered for sale there - http://www.SEWsationalsarah.com

Saving money means....

Loving the dryer that was gifted to us FREE, instead of going out and buying one. However it's a hard lesson to learn for me. I'm trying to adjust to this dryer i really am. But it's old and supposidly a "high capacity" but it takes FOREVER to dry stuff and i just can't seem to get used to it. So now i'm doing smaller loads and drying them an insane amount of time. The biggest problem is that the timer only goes for like a maximum of 30 minutes? What's up with that....
BUT I am going to stick it out and try to not be tempted to say "to heck with it" and go buy a new one.

Money Savings

So if you havn't heard i am quitting my job (again, i know why did i go back right?). John continues to think it's a bad idea because despite me showing him the many many many places we waste money and could save, he just doesn't think we (i should say he doesn't think I) can do it.
I had already implemented a few changes like using cloth napkins, wipes etc instead of paper towels. I sewed up a bunch of fabric i had on hand into "Unpaper towels", basically they are just a 10-12" square of cotton woven fabric backed w/ terry cloth, some with flannel. I have a basket on my counter stacked full of them and anytime i would grab a paper towel i grab one of these instead. I have a cloth bag that hangs on my stove so they go in there when they are done. About once a week i throw them all in the wash with my other towels. Works great and when you consider the cost of paper towels, it really is quite a savings.
I also have really made a concentrated effort to not purchase items without thinking first if it's something we really "need" vs. something i just want or "think" we "need". Faith has way more than enough clothes so i have forced myself to stop buying her more stuff just because it's cute or a good deal. Same goes for me, no more clothes for me, especially given that I am going to be staying home, i dont' need a "wardrobe" of stuff, knowing me i'll still wear the same 3 outfits anyway LOL.
I am trying to cook from our pantry more, and stop making trips to the store for certain items just because i want to make something. I'm doing my best to plan my meals around what we already have here on hand.
I have just started being more concious of the electricity usage as well. We are terrible about leaving lights on when we don't really need them on. I've also started using the timer on my dishwasher to run during the night when electricity is cheaper instead of during the day. I'd like to wait and do more laundry later at night but first i gotta get myself in more of a groove of staying up later instead of heading to bed shortly after Faith.
I've also set a goal of not purchasing any fabric unless i need it for a specific project that i am working on and will use it right away. I'd like to only purchase fabric and sewing items with money i make from sewing. So if i get busy and sew up items from my huge stash of fabric and get them listed in my store i can self fund my sewing addiction.
I would like to start making an organized meal plan for the month and shopping ahead more but first i want to clean out and organize our pantry/fridge/freezer and start fresh.
Stay tuned as I will try and update this blog occassional with tips and savings ideas i have come up with :-)