The Eco-Cheap Mom is doing an Event!

Hello all! So, we all love events. I love cloth diapering events so much. You find great products, read some awesome reviews AND you might get to win some even. Who doesn't love winning stuff?! So, Here is the button:

You can also find the button in my sidebar. It will stay there until the event is over, or whenever I remember to empty out the events section or past event buttons. :) Did you see how many giveaways she is going to do? 22! All in one month. That is almost a review and giveaway each day. I love this kind of stuff.
Oh, and if you check out her post about the event, you can learn how to get extra entries in to her giveaways. Gotta love the diapering love. :)
Enjoy!

Share the Love

So, I love coupons and want to share some of my coupon love. So, you may buy the Sunday paper for the coupons, but have you looked online or in your area for those who hold coupon trains? There are, I'm sure, tons of mom communities with groups dedicated to couponing. One such site is Cafemom.com. One this site there are multiple coupon groups and even one (that I know of) that is almost solely for conducting coupon trains. These are a great option to get multiples or coupons that your paper may not have, but you could still use. If you are not familiar with coupon trains, most trains have a list of participants. Each week the conductor sends out an envelope or two with a set amount of coupons inside. It goes to the first person on the list (think of chain letters of old) who gets to go through the coupons and keep what they want. They then make sure that they put the set amount of coupons into an envelope and sends it to the second person who keeps this all  moving. I have seen trains that may only pass on 20 or so coupons and others that have you include up to 50 coupons per envelope. 
I love the idea of coupon trains, but I wanted to tweak it a little when I found myself in the position of receiving stacks of inserts each week. A wonderful woman in my area had been posting on Freecycle.org that she had left over coupons and inserts a few times and I asked for them as they were for formula or inserts that I could really use. After picking up two or three sets of coupons, she asked if I would be interested in joining her coupon group. Each week her sister drops off stacks of the insert that holds the flyers and coupon inserts. This woman gets stacks totally probably at least three foot tall piles of inserts. She chose to share the coupon love and pass them on as she couldn't use all those coupons herself. I joined her group and now pick up anywhere from 40-70+ coupon inserts every time there will be coupons in the Sunday paper. How awesome, right?! Of course I can't use all those coupons either. I have started not a train but a "tree" of sorts. I now have myself and about 13-15 other people who I pass the coupon love on to. Each family I pass coupons to get 2-5 inserts each week depending on how many inserts I get and how many people are in the family.
A good rule of thumb I have found is one insert per family member. This can give you maximum savings for savvy shoppers.
So, do you know of coupon trains or groups in your area? Have you checked out sites like freecycle to help your family save and keep things out of landfills?
I love trains and my "tree" and thought I would write about it all, so that maybe those who had not thought of seeking out something similar in their area, might now know and seek. Not only are coupon trains great for getting coupons, but you can build some great relationships with other coupon savvy moms. :) Who doesn't love that?
Happy Couponing!

Wordless Wednesday #6

I know that right now it is Thursday, but my Wednesday was stinky so I am going to act like it didn't happen :)

 

play till mommy tries to show off the dipe

Then he has to lift his shirt to show off the belly

and be over all silly. :)

a Million Miles a Minute

So, I really want to write more posts. Here's the thing, I have so much going on in my head that when I try to think of something, nothing comes up. Well, at least not enough of something to write and make a full post. So, what are some things that you as readers are interested in reading about? If you are looking for tips, what kind of tips? Do you like the personal posts where I just talk about what is going on in my life? Do you want more cloth diapering posts? I know I haven't done any giveaways yet, but I hope they are coming soon. Should I do more reviews? I want to hear from you. Oh, and then there are the more faith based posts that I have done on occasion. What are your thoughts of those? See, my brain is all over. I have so much going on right now it isn't even funny. Well, okay at times it sort of is because well, I bring it all on myself. :) Anyway, there is why I haven't done tons of posts lately, and why I need your help, again....

Friday Follow

Have you heard of Friday Follow yet? It's a fun way to find new blogs and gain new followers. Here is how it works:

Welcome to the Friday Follow celebration hosted by One 2 Try, Hearts Make Families and Midday Escapades! We invite you to join us every Friday to get more blog followers and to follow other interesting blogs. It is all about sharing and having fun.

Here's how YOU can join the celebration:

--Link up your blog name and URL using the MckLinky below. Only need to add on one blog to be seen on all the blog hops.

--Follow the Friday Follow hostesses listed in the first 3 slots.

--Follow as many blogs as you'd like.

--Take a moment to comment on the blogs telling them you're from Friday Follow.

--Follow back when you get a new follower through Friday Follow.


Come join in on the fun! Be sure if you are leaving a comment about following me for Friday Follow that you do not leave it on a giveaway post as I may not notice it. Thanks!

Adding a new title to myself

As moms we all have many titles that we can go by. Of course there is mom (for some stay-at-home mom), housekeeper, cook, wife. It seems that I enjoy adding titles to my name. There is of course two I am so thrilled to have and that is wife and mother (stay-at-home). I can be considered a WAHM as I have started my own little business, Lynifer (shameless plug, I know ;) ).  Then of course I have blogger added. This one I am really enjoying as it gives me so many opportunities to chat with other like minded moms out there, and enter some really great giveaways (added perk). Last month I had the title of Baby Shower hostess, but that shower has since happened and the baby has even been born. Now I have added the title of Director of Summer Children's Ministry at my church. I had thought that maybe I was being lead in to some position of helping this ministry since last summer when a new route was taken, but it did not work out quite like the ministry had in the past. Our church had long loved its outreach to the many children in the area who did not attend church, but loved our VBS.  Now, it looks as thought He has lead me in to the position of leading this ministry. I am excited yet apprehensive. I didn't even grow up through the children's ministry in church. I started at this church in the junior high youth group, and before that I didn't go to church. I have no experience, but I love working with kids and planning great events. I look forward to this new title that I have been given, but also look forward to the ample help I hope to get from those with more experience. :)
I know this post wasn't much on the lines of what I normally write about, but I needed to write this all out, as I just got news of this last night through email. I know I have a lot of work ahead of me, on top of all the work I currently have going. I am blessed, and I wouldn't be put in this position if I wasn't ready for it, but, AHHH!
:)

Wordless Wednesday #4

Welcome to another edition of Wordless Wednesday!

 

  

 

I love how he can fit completely within the confines of a regular shelf.

I love mail!

I love getting diapers or cloth stuff in the mail. Today I got my very first order of PUL in the mail along with two different sample packs. A big "Thank You!" to Kids in the Garden and Diapercuts.com. These two sites offer different kinds of sample packs. The first pack was part of my order from Kids in the garden. She offers a sample of her different PUL materials. I received a great plastic baggie with squares of her solid PUL colors. Most of the PUL that this site offers is 2MIL not 1MIL. I like this. There were a lot of squares in this bag. I think it was totally worth the $5.00. Now I know how the material is going to look before I order.
The second sample pack is a great thing for any mom who cloth diapers, even if you aren't planning on making your own. Diapercuts.com offers a sampler of the different materials diapers can be made out of. When you go to order the $1.00 sampler, you tell her the materials (from a list provided) that you would like her to fit in a regular mailing envelope. I asked for basically everything that she had on her list and it all came. It costs $1.00 which includes shipping! I now have a sample of sherpa, micro fleece, lastin, FOE, PUL, knit PUL, burley terry, different kinds of hemp, and much more. Now, I know I said that this is great even if you aren't sewing your own diapers. That is because, if you are like me, when you hear people throwing around all these terms and materials, you sit there wondering what the material feels like, what it looks like. Now I know! Below are pictures of what I received with each sample package.

PUL samples from Kids In the Garden 

Sample pack from Diapercuts.com

 And of course I just have to say it one more time.... I Love Fluff Mail! :)

Happy Valentine's Day.

Hello all! I hope everyone is enjoying a nice weekend. Happy Valentine's Day. Although I do tend to feel that this day is basically just a hallmark holiday, I do like to celebrate love. There are so many great verses about love found in the Bible. I thought that today might be a great day to have a Scripture Sunday of sorts. Who knows, maybe this will become a regular thing for me.
Tonight I would like to share 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 as read from the NIV.

1If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. 

4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. 

13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Fabulously Friday

Well, I don't have any freebies today. This week was so hectic that I never even had time to check out and see if I could find any good freebies available. If you are interested in seeing what fellow blogger Bargain Briana has found, feel free. I check out her site often. There are times that you will find cross references on here that I found from her. She really keep things coming as well.
Anyway, today is Friday. Today is a fabulous Friday. We are finally getting life a little back to normal after record breaking snowfall in the area. My town got 12-18 inches last Saturday and then another 23-24 inches this Wednesday. We have now passed the record winter snowfall totals that were set back in 95-96. Big D went back to work today and LJ and I were able to get to our weekly breakfast with Pop-pop (who was accompanied by Grandma and Aunt K). Aunt K had no school again today which gives her now a 6 day weekend as they do not have school Monday for President's day. I am so happy to have life getting back to normal around here. Now I just hope that we can get a full night's sleep. LJ was sick Wednesday night, and then was up a lot last night as well. I love the PJs that Grandma got LJ for Christmas that say "All Mommy wants for Christmas is a Silent Night." I am still hoping for that sometimes. :-) I hope everyone has a good weekend and I hope to back to fully functioning bloggy mommy come Monday.
Happy Friday!

Wordless Wednesday!

Saturday 2-6-10

 

Monday 2-8-10

He still wanted to play on the playset at Grandma's

Wednesday 2-10-10 (Today)

  

Take note of the height the snow comes up on my tire. And that is not the highest snow point either... :)

Sorry for the Silence

Sorry that I have been seemingly absent lately. Last Friday into Saturday we were hit by a snow storm leaving at least 12 inches on the ground, but more like 18-24 in most places in my area. LJ loved playing in the snow while Big D shoveled us out and I kept watch over LJ. The snow ended up perfect for making a play pen of sorts. It was high enough that he couldn't venture where we didn't level out the ground for him to walk. It was all very cute. Anyway, things have been working on getting back to normal after that storm and we were hit again. The snow started last night and it is still going (we are approaching 24 hours of solid snowing). It is not showing signs of stopping really. We have even more snow this time around too. The forecasters were saying 18-24 inches in my area, and they were not off the mark. So, now we have one snow day under our belt and at least one more for Big D tomorrow, the way things are looking now. We haven't left our house to shovel yet as we don't want to  have to do it more than once. We find it sort of pointless, you know? Anyway, so that is why I have not been very vocal on here the last couple days. I will try to get us back to normal and me back to posting. I will be doing Wordless Wednesday in my next post; and of course it will be snowy pics.

Help a Momma out

Okay ladies. I need your help. So, I don't make this very well known, but we have yet to try cloth at night. We still use sposies on LJ at night. He is a bit of a heavy wetter. I need your help with what I can do for overnight. What do you do for overnight? If you have a heavy wetter all the better. I will take all the comments I get and maybe try out some of the suggestions and then let you all know my progress.So anyway, HELP!

Freebie Fridays! #3

It seems that some weeks the deals just don't seem to do anything... This week I have actually combined what I found last week PLUS this week's freebies, since I was out of town last week.

This first is a BOGO.
Build your Subway sandwich here and you will get a coupon for BOGO 6 inch subs.

(Thanks Mindi)

Playtex Gentle Glide Sample

http://www.playtexgentleglide.com/Gentle_Glide_Sample.html

Stayfree with Thermo Control Sample
http://www.stayfree.com/   - (Thanks Mindi)

Who am I?

I have had this blog now for a couple months. Although blogspot has a small section for "About Me," it is like I said...small. As so many people out there, how can you sum up who you are in a small section? I can't. I always have trouble thinking of what to write in those boxes. I looked back through my posts and realized that I never really set out to say who I am. I wanted to take this time to do just that. This may get long, but something is just compelling me to write this.
It seems that I have been going through a bit of a metamorphosis lately; but I will get to that in a little bit.
My Background: I was born to two loving parents with one older sister. When I was very young (6) my father died of lung cancer. He was a smoker. After a couple years my mom remarried and we moved from more of a city setting to the country. In junior high I got in to color guard (flags) with the marching band. That took me all through junior and senior high. Many times I have said that pretty much the only reason for me going to school was for color guard. I am so glad that I was associated with band, as that is where I met my future husband in my junior year. D was a senior and we started dating in November of '99. I didn't know it at the time, but by Christmas D was already thinking of marriage and even approached his mom about wanting to buy a ring for me (she was quite upset and said no to helping him with that). We both graduated and went to Penn State a year apart from each other. About two years in to dating we took a family vacation with D's family (as we did many times) and it was on this trip to Canandaigua, NY that we were officially engaged. We used a ring that my father had given my mother and she had passed down to me. We both knew we wanted to wait until we graduated college before getting married. That meant at least 4 years of being engaged before marriage. I went on to get my degree in Secondary English Education.
My Faith: I was baptized as an infant at Wayne Presbyterian. We would go to church maybe once a year (Easter). Once we moved, we really didn't go to church much at all as we had moved over an hour from the church we had attended. I believed that God existed, but that was about it. I didn't care how I lived my life before I met D. I credit D with saving me. He brought me back to God before I graduated high school. My faith has been growing since. I started going to church with D and his family and I truly don't think that I could have been a new believer at a better church. The church was truly a family that sought to bring me in and build me up. I have met so many wonderful people through our church. I have now been at this church for over ten years. I could not be happier. As I have grown as a believer I have been able to work through depression and social anxiety and my church family has been there every step to help me in any way they could. I am now active in so many facets of our church and that has made me grow in my faith even more. I am proud to be a Christian woman!
My Family: D and I got married on our six year anniversary of when we started dating. November 4th 2005 was such a long awaited day for us. We were completely ready to become husband and wife. Nervousness was nowhere within either of us. We knew that we were soul mates that God brought together. After a year or so of being married we decided that the five years we thought we wanted to wait before having kids, was just not going to work for us and we began to try for our first child. I became pregnant a few months later and we couldn't have been happier. April 17, 2008, I became a mother to such a wonderful happy little boy. LJ was tiny, but so very happy. When I was about 7 months along, I stopped working and prepared to become the stay at home mom I am now.
I live for my family. I live for my God. I do my best to make sure that D and LJ are happy and that is what makes me happy in life. God shows us His will as He chooses and I walk the path He has laid out for me.
I used to pray and ask God for specific outcomes. Lately, I haven't been able to. All I can ask now is for His will to be done. It may not be what I (my worldly heart) may want, but it is His will and that is all I truly want in life. To have His will be done. I have found myself reflecting on all that is really in the Lord's Prayer. It holds all you will ever need. He provides. He will save. He will be all you ever need. As you read, try to reflect on all that these few words are really saying:

Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy Kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,

the power and the glory,

for ever and ever.

Amen    

Wordless Wednesday #3

Way to throw a tantrum. Gotta love the Terrible Twos.