We're still here...

Whew, it's been a busy few weeks. There's a big church here in town that has a children's consignment sale twice a year. It's a huge event and I was fortunate enough to get to be able to be one of the sellers in it. Katelyn has grown so much that there isn't ANYTHING she wore last summer that she can wear this spring/summer. But getting everything organized and tagged for this sale was a big ordeal...well worth it for the extra cash though!!

So, here was my trip to Kroger last night...I spent $23.00...Pretty good for three boxes of cereal, milk, shampoo, toothpaste, three boxes of Fiber One bars, ice cream, salmon and 6 pounds of fresh ground turkey (along with some other odds and ends.) !!! Some of you have asked where I get my online coupons and what websites I like to look at. I get most of the coupons at www.coupons.com and I like the following "frugal" sites: www.mommysavingabuck.blogspot.com, www.freebies4mom.blogspot.com, www.couponcravings.com, www.dealseekingmom.com, and www.centsiblesavings.com

I have gotten tons of valuable info off of these sites...(Beware, it's addicting.) I haven't paid to rent a movie from RedBox in a couple of months, I've eaten out multiple times for free and I've gotten a heads up on great coupon deals from retailer sites...lots of free samples and coupons have come my way. My grocery budget for this month is $100 (food, paper goods, health/beauty/diapers) and I think I'm gonna make it! (Of course I do try to stockpile stuff when it's on sale and I have coupons so I'm never paying full price for anything unless it's a staple item that I absolutely have to have.)

And it is possible to eat healthy (I even buy a good amount of organic items) on a budget. Last night I ate salmon, broccoli and couscous with curry, feta and tomatoes. Yummy!

And then there's Katelyn. Have I mentioned lately what a fabulous child she is? She's happy and fun and talking more and more. She can count to 10 and recognizes most of her letters by sight. We're working on colors. She knows a few...but mostly when you ask her what color something is she says, "Purple." Grammy and PaPa are coming in a few weeks and will be out here for the next 6-7 months at their new lakehouse (35 miles northeast of Lexington). We can't wait for lots of time to play with them. Katelyn says her prayers at night and gives me the list of all the people in her life...Grammy and PaPa always get the mention! Katelyn just started using the big girl cup with no lid at meal times. She's really good at it. I just put a little water in the cup, but she loves drinking out of it. I was looking at pictures of her in China earlier and I just can't believe how much she's changed in the last 11 months. It's amazing. She's such a big girl...but she still likes to cuddle with mama so I guess it's okay. :)

There are two families from our area that are in China right now adopting little girls from the same little orphanage Katelyn is from. I'm so excited that she'll have the opportunity to have others nearby that have come from the same place. From rural China to the bluegrass...three little girls. The world is smaller than we think.