I heart Aldi's...

YEARS ago (before the 'joys' of shopping with kids) when Jake and I bought our first house in OKC we lived very close to this grocery store called Aldi's...I had heard it was super cheap so I thought I would give it a try one shopping trip...it didn't go so well...no one had explained to me how it all worked.  I walked up to the store and tried to pull a cart out, but I couldn't because they were chained together! WHAT!? how the heck was i going to get a cart!  Finally someone walked up with a cart, let me have theirs and explained to me about how you needed a quarter to get a cart but as soon as your done, if you hook the cart back up then you get the quarter back....ooooooooo K...whatever. So I continued on with the shopping trip.  I was very confused, I wondered why the there was NO one there, why the aisles were so wide, and why the store was so simple that there was only 3 aisles to the whole store!? (did i mention this was before having kids...since then I have learned how AMAZING those facts are about Aldi's is).  I had a huge list of all sort of items, food, toiletries, cleaning products, etc ..and sure I found most of them there(all 'off' brands I had never heard of)...but I was frustrated by the fact that I still had to run to walmart across the street afterward for the items that were not available at Aldi's...and kinda had decided that the trip was a waste and that I would not be coming back...and that was even before I got to check out and realized that they ONLY took cash (that was before our 'cash only' days...and they actually now DO take debit cards) AND that I had to BUY my own bags! (that was also pre environmental days when the only people bringing their own shopping bags were the crazy hippies;) Lets just say I didn't go back to do my shopping there...and in turn became a Target-obsessed grocery shopper, and have been buying my 'archer farms' brand food (and an occasional cute tank top or shoes) for years.  Well, a few months ago Jake and I decided that it was time to re-work our budget and the two places we agreed needed cut back was grocery and eating out.  I had never been a couponer (although I am getting into it now!!) so my only thought was to try out Aldis again...I remembered all the 'rules' so I was prepared and ready!!  The first thing I noticed was the double seats in the shopping carts!!!  You can not find those anywhere! I also noticed that my fairly large shopping trip was done in a matter of minutes and hardly any stress (which is a normal thing shopping in a LARGE super market with a 1 and 3 year old).  I was super impressed that the milk was hormone free and they had a number of select certified organic products!  The produce selection was AMAZING (although no organic) and although everything is 'off brand' we have found everything (but their yogurt...we were NOT fans)  is very comparable!  Even after such a great experience ..I still had to run to target for a few things (I just cant bring myself to step away from our Target organic meats, yo-baby yogurt, etc)...so i really wanted to know if I actually was saving any money and if it was worth going to 2 places.....SOOOOO for everyone's convenience (and of course for my reference) I made up a pretend grocery list (with normal things we buy) and went up and down the aisles of both stores and wrote down all the prices! I was so pleased to see that I WAS saving money at Aldis!  So, with no further adeu...

Item                               Aldi's/Target(all target 'off brand' items)
wheat thins                    1.29/2.54
veggie straws                 1.69/2.99
graham crackers            1.49/2.99
4-pack orange cups       1.59/1.84
cinnamon crunch          1.99/2.99
gallon of milk               2.39/2.69
dozen eggs                    1.39/1.69
24-pack water bottles   2.29/2.99
carton of strawberries    1.79/2.59
bananas                        .44 a lb/.52 a lb
bag of red potatoes        2.99/4.49
carton of red grapes     2.79(0.99per lb)/4.99
box of eggos                1.29/2.99
popcorn(6 bags)          1.49/2.99
sugar                           2.29/2.69
brown sugar                1.39/1.49
baking soda                .49/.69
baking powder           .99/1.59
cream cheese(8oz block) .99/1.99
butter                           1.99(on sale)/2.49
bag of baby carrots      1.19/1.79
iceburg lettuce              .99/1.24
loaf of wheat bread     1.39/1.99
laughing cow babybell 2.99/3.49
'    ' spreadable cheese  2.49/3.59
frozen peas (16oz)      .99/1.14
ice cream                    2.69/3.29
apple juice                 1.49/2.44

Total bill difference    47.27/69.20
(without taxes)

and we're back in the game!!!!

cloth diapers...ohhhh how I've missed thee! since within 10 weeks we were adding a 4 person to our family and moving to another state we decided that once Violet was born we would take a "cloth diaper vacation" until we got settled in Texas...then we would get Violet in cloth and Piper potty trained! well Friday we pulled out our diaper tub and put Violet in her first cloth:) they look so cute on her ;) I am so glad to be starting them! I was getting SUPER tired of buying diapers!!!!

next....the potty training adventure begins!!!! ANY ADVICE??!!

hand-me-down's from friends=

one happy momma!!!!....

wanting to do EVERYTHING all by herself....not so much ;)

home-made laundry soap...

thats right...you heard me...home-made laundry soap....we totally did it!...
this is what you need...
-Ivory bar soap
-Arm&hammer washing soda
-Borax
-essential oils (optional)
-bucket with air tight lid (lots of options at Lowes)

the goods...

1.grate one bar of ivory soap...

2.add soap to sauce pan...

3.add 6 cups of water, heat until soap melts...

1/2 cup of Borax

1/2 cup of washing soda

4.add borex and washing soda...let it dissolve...

5.Pour 4 cups of hot water into the bucket...
6.Add soap mixture to the bucket and stir...
7.Add 1 gallon plus 6 cups more water to the bucket...
8.Stir
9 add essential oils (optional)...we used lavender and tea tree oil...

10.Let soap sit for 24 hours before using it...it turn to a gel.

you only have to use 1/2 cup per load....this cost an average of $.71 for 2 gallons (64 loads)....thats right you heard me.... $.71!! boo-yah!

my friends and their thoughs....

i admit it...im not much of a writer...i have so many views, thoughts, feelings that i just am not good at getting them to "paper"....but i have very talented friends that are great writers... so when i read something that i really connect to...i just steal from them... :)

my awesome friend Katie wrote this....

"Judgment~
I've been wanting to blog about this for awhile and have been trying to decide which angle to address it from because let's face it...as soon as I throw out a belief I have or a parenting choice I've made, people reading this have an opinion of me and they will judge me based on that opinion. It's really hard not to, and I get it because I do it too. Usually I don't mind when I feel judged by others because I'm pretty confident in my choices...but still. Mothers judge other mothers. Maybe not out loud, but they do in their head every day. And how can you not? Obviously the choices you make for your family are the ones you feel are right, so if someone else does it differently, it seems wrong.

For the most part I truly believe that you have to do whatever works for you and your family (different strokes for different folks right?) and I try not to give unsolicited advice or opinions UNLESS someone asks me and then I will be more than happy to ramble on. I am blessed to know many moms and babies and we don't all do things the same. In fact, by getting to know them, I have come to respect many of the differences that we have and the choices we have made. I've also learned that you can find solid research to back up whatever choice you want to support, you just have to decide which side to listen to!

I am truly blessed to know people who......
had planned pregnancies, unplanned pregnancies
had natural births, medicated births, c-sections, home births
circumcise their boys, didn't circumcise, vaccinate, don't vaccinate
co-sleep, use a crib, use a floor bed
breastfeed infants, breastfeed toddlers, use formula,
use doctors, use chiropractors, use acupuncturists
cloth diaper, use disposables, use elimination communication (you're googling aren't you)
are working moms, are stay at home moms, etc.

Becoming a mother has made me feel more judged by others and also made me more judgmental. At the same time though being a mom has helped me see that there aren't always black and white decisions...some things are gray...and some things that I think are black and white, I'm learning to shrug and say "agree to disagree"! Some days I can celebrate the differences, but some days I do find myself thinking that I know best.

I don't know if I have a point to this post other than rambling my thoughts (and hey it's something deeper than a cute pic of my kid with a fun title), but I guess I'm wondering do all moms feel this way? What do you do when you start to feel judgmental towards others? What do you do when people say judgmental things to you? Inquiring minds want to know!"

i strive for family organazation....

and saving money!!! Since July when my job title changed to mommy/home economist i have tried to find as many ways possible to organize the running of our house hold and to save money. Our motto is..."Jake makes the money and Christy saves it" :) One of those things we did was subscribe to e-mealz for 3 months. E-mealz has truly saved us tons of money and more then anything it has actually organized our meal system...its amazing. But to add to that (and i totally stole this idea from my friend lauren...who stole it from her cousin liz:)...i put together a list of all our staple items that we need at the store frequently...i walked around target and walked from room to room in our home to make sure i listed everything :) i then laminated the list and we have it on our fridge...so anytime we run out of an item...want an item...or need an item...we just take our dry erase marker and check the box...so when its time to do our shopping everything is all ready to go and organized so i don't forget things or spend too much on impulse purchases;) pretty cool huh?!


I know its probablly totally old school and everyone reading this has some application on their iphone to accomplish the exact same thing...but a)i dont have and iphone:) and b)i am old school!