Meet Charlie

The guy in white is Andrew's new best friend, Charlie. We had a great time yesterday building him, and an even better time this morning laughing at Andrew's horror, when Discover (one of our dogs) removed Charlie's arm. They should both get over it with a little therapy!

All that and a Kitchen Sink

If I could find an Award for my hubby, I would give it to him in style. I now have a new kitchen faucet. It really is a good story (now that it's over)!
Last week Thursday, I got ambitious (ok not really) and decided to clean my kitchen sink. Like really clean. So I pulled out the spray nozzle and turned on the really hot water and began to scrub. Next thing I know, I've been sprayed with said really hot water and the sprayer is no longer attached to the hose. Not good. When your hose becomes detatched, be sure to clean the water up under your sink.....because it will be there....especially when it takes you a few moments to collect your self and turn off the water.
Since our faucet had started to show signs of a looming replacement, we had already taken our time and chosen a new faucet. So on Sunday (as my fantastic hard working husband was at work late on Friday and being Mr. Mom on Saturday while I was sick) Paul started the replacement. Because of a silly error on the part of whoever installed the old faucet, it took over four hours to remove said broken faucet. Once it was removed, the installation of new went rather quickly. Water hookup goes well....turn on new faucet....no water. Ugh. Yes, new faucet had faulty pieces. Removal of the new faucet went much faster as did the re-packaging into the box.
Back to Lowe's we go where they refund our purchase (even with no receipt). Back to the faucet isle we go. In case you are wondering, there are roughly 64,000 choices for kitchen sink faucets. I choose one that I like and put it in the cart for Paul to look at, go retrieve my son from his aunt, come back to the isle and have this conversation:
Me-Which one did I like?
Paul-I don't know.
Me-It's in your hand.
Paul-The $98 one.
Me-Pretty sure I didn't like any that cheap.
Paul-That's what the box says.
Me-Let me see....sure enough, now which one is it?...Oh, yes the "Lexie". That one says it's more on the wall.
Paul-Looks like we're getting this one then.
Me-Sounds good, lets get out of here.

So at the check out, they honor the price marked on the box. A slight amount of gratification comes when we realize the amount saved would have paid for Paul's time the day before. So home we go. Paul plays with the kids, we put them too bed and under the sink he goes. The new-new faucet installs quickly and easily.....until he tries to connect the flex hose that supplies the water. Yep....it's 6" too short.
The next day (Tuesday) Paul stops at Menard's and purchases new flex hose, comes home, eats the wonderful dinner I have prepared for him and retreats under the sink again. This time....SUCCESS!!!!

Thanks, Honey! I love my new faucet!

Little Ways

In the month of January, Paul and I decided that the months of February, March, and April would be serious cost cutting months. We have a few major purchases and home improvements we would like to do this year. As a family we have determined we will have no debt other than our house, so in order to do these projects and purchase some new things (like a second vehicle) we are going pretty close to bare bones. A few things we are doing:
Coupons!!!!!! My grocery budget for the next three months is $75/week, which includes diapers, cleaning supplies, food, and anything else we buy at the grocery store and Costco. (Not clothing and toys, just the grocery store stuff.) One tool we use and love is Savings Angel. Serious time saver!
Spending freeze!!!! No clothing, no toys, no books, no movie rentals, no FABRIC (gasp), nothing that isn't necessary. Now to stay realistic, we have agreed that anything not already deemed necessary that we feel the "need" to purchase, must be agreed upon by both of us.
Selling stuff!!! We are going through our "stuff" in the basement to see what we can and will get rid of. In this we have given ourselves a bit of encouragement by that things that we sell that belong to "one" of us, or that we (I) make and sell, a portion goes into our very own personal pockets. Hmmm...I wonder what all is down there!

In lieu of all of this, I have been doing some research to see where else I can cut costs. I have made my own laundry soap and dishwasher soap. I use a powder laundry soap and dish soap made from a few simple things that make each load cost approximately 3 cents.
Here are the recipes that I have tried and found very good.

Dishwasher Soap
1 Cup Borax
1Cup Washing soda
1/2 cup salt (coarse or table)
5 packets lemonade Koolaid (or 1-2 oz citric acid....which is hard to find)

Mix all together and store in close-able container. Use only 1 Tablespoon per load. I also use a distilled vinegar rinse instead of a store bought rinse aid.

Laundry Soap
1 bar Fels-Naptha soap (turned to poweder by using my food processor)
2 Cups Borax
2 Cups Washing soda

Mix together and store in close-able container. Use 2 tablespoons per load.

I'd love to hear you little ways of saving around the house!