I have decided to go back to the original title of this blog. I love teaching, but that is not my only focus so I am just going to use my blog for all of my interests. I hope this has not caused anyone a problem, but this should be last change I make for a while!
Peace,
Southern Ladye
Saturday, November 23, 2013
Monday, October 21, 2013
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
My New Name....
I have decided to change the name of my blog to Down First Grade Lane simply because I am very focused on teaching right now. I may add a personal blog later on, but that is not really why I want to blog. I have been devouring teaching blogs all summer and have gleaned a LOT of useful information from them that I can use in my classroom and so I decided to jump on the teaching blog bandwagon. Granted, I have no idea what I am doing, but hopefully that will change with time. Too bad the blog fairy can't just wave a magic wand and make me the best blogger in the world, but if that happened then I probably would not appreciate all of the work that goes into making a great blog. Anyway, my blog will now focus on what I am doing in my classroom to help my kiddos. Welcome to any who wish to join me on this crazy adventure.
Peace,
Southern Ladye
Peace,
Southern Ladye
Monday, September 30, 2013
Sorry it's been a while...
I have not blogged in quite some time because it has been super busy! I have spent a lot of time looking at other blogs and I realize I have a lot of work to do to get my blog even halfway decent! My current craze is teaching blogs because, well, I am a teacher and I am always looking for new ideas. The only problem I run into is when I am looking at all of these cute, creative, artsy blogs with all of these cute, creative, artsy activities, then I get depressed because I am not cute, creative, or artsy. *Sigh*. On the flip side, I have gotten a TON of ideas that I can use in my classroom. When I was getting ready for the school year, I got all of my decorating ideas from pinterest and teaching blogs. Want to see a pic? I will post a couple.
These are pictures of my calendar time bulletin board and my classroom library. We have a jungle theme this year. Don't you just love the zebra bean bag and rug? I do and the kids do, too! Well, that is all I have time for now. Have a great week!
Peace,
Southern Ladye
Friday, May 31, 2013
Becoming a Nonni
On Sunday, I became a Nonni. (That is my 'grandmother' name.) I have a lot of mixed emotions, because I don't feel old enough to be a grandmother, but as my husband pointed out to my brother-in-law this weekend, I am young enough to enjoy my grandchildren so I guess that is a plus.
Living simply has taken on a whole new meaning. It's not just about getting rid of the clutter and not buying stuff, it's about taking each day as it comes and deciding if you want to that day to be full of the business of life or if you want to be able to step back, take a breath, and enjoying the moment. It's about slowing down our pace of life and enjoying the time that we have on this earth. When my time on earth is at the end, can I say that I truly had a life I enjoyed or will it just be a life filled with the "business of life"? I know some things we must deal with but honestly, don't we just sometimes make more work for ourselves with things we "must" do? I really have been evaluating what my "must do's" are and reorganizing my "bucket list".
Anyway, have a blessed and wonderful weekend. I know I will. I have a new grandbaby to enjoy.
Peace,
Southern Ladye
Living simply has taken on a whole new meaning. It's not just about getting rid of the clutter and not buying stuff, it's about taking each day as it comes and deciding if you want to that day to be full of the business of life or if you want to be able to step back, take a breath, and enjoying the moment. It's about slowing down our pace of life and enjoying the time that we have on this earth. When my time on earth is at the end, can I say that I truly had a life I enjoyed or will it just be a life filled with the "business of life"? I know some things we must deal with but honestly, don't we just sometimes make more work for ourselves with things we "must" do? I really have been evaluating what my "must do's" are and reorganizing my "bucket list".
Anyway, have a blessed and wonderful weekend. I know I will. I have a new grandbaby to enjoy.
Peace,
Southern Ladye
Thursday, May 2, 2013
It has been awhile
Not much to say other than I have been extremely busy. I just got a new I phone and downloaded the mobile app for blogger so I am trying it out today for the first time. So far it has been ok but I have a lot to get use to so we will see how this adventure goes. Peace. Southern ladye
Sunday, March 3, 2013
Simply Saving Money
This has been a hard week for frugality! My car quit Tuesday night as my son and daughter in law were coming home from church so that was a 40 minute ride one way that was not planned in my husband's truck that uses a lot of gas to go get them and then go back the next day to get the car. Then, of course, we had to figure out what was wrong with the car and I was biting my nails and hoping it was not going to be a huge repair bill. It all ended well, so here is my list of what I did this week to save money.
1. We borrowed a truck and trailer to go get my car instead of paying for a tow truck. That saved us at least a couple of hundred dollars.
2. The part that had to be replaced has a life time warranty on it and a brother in the church did the repair for free so it did not cost me anything out of pocket. (Thank you, Bro. D.!)
3. Found some vintage style metal lunch boxes in the shape of a barn at a farm supply store on Saturday that were regularly $7.00. I got them for .99 each. I am going to the Dollar Tree and buy some plastic farm animals and put in the boxes and give them as birthday gifts.
4. My sister gave me 4 jars of peanut butter, 4 loaves of wheat bread, and 6 cans of apple juice. I add a little more water than what it calls for on the apple juice to make it go a little further and it does not seem to affect the taste any.
5. Repaired a pair of pants for my son and one of my skirts that I had just gotten at the thrift store. I did not realize there was a seam that had come undone on the top layer of the skirt.
6. Got pork chops for .99 per pound.
7. Downloaded 5 free ebooks to read.
8. Enjoyed a magazine that my husband's aunt gave me when she finished with it. She has two subscriptions and brings both to me each month when she finishes so I can read them.
What have you done to save money?
Peace,
Southern Ladye
1. We borrowed a truck and trailer to go get my car instead of paying for a tow truck. That saved us at least a couple of hundred dollars.
2. The part that had to be replaced has a life time warranty on it and a brother in the church did the repair for free so it did not cost me anything out of pocket. (Thank you, Bro. D.!)
3. Found some vintage style metal lunch boxes in the shape of a barn at a farm supply store on Saturday that were regularly $7.00. I got them for .99 each. I am going to the Dollar Tree and buy some plastic farm animals and put in the boxes and give them as birthday gifts.
4. My sister gave me 4 jars of peanut butter, 4 loaves of wheat bread, and 6 cans of apple juice. I add a little more water than what it calls for on the apple juice to make it go a little further and it does not seem to affect the taste any.
5. Repaired a pair of pants for my son and one of my skirts that I had just gotten at the thrift store. I did not realize there was a seam that had come undone on the top layer of the skirt.
6. Got pork chops for .99 per pound.
7. Downloaded 5 free ebooks to read.
8. Enjoyed a magazine that my husband's aunt gave me when she finished with it. She has two subscriptions and brings both to me each month when she finishes so I can read them.
What have you done to save money?
Peace,
Southern Ladye
Monday, February 25, 2013
Simply Saving Money
This week has not been the best week for saving money. The stores had very few sales of things that I needed and then we had a super busy weekend which always gets me trouble because it's easier to hit the fast food place than cook something at home. If I had planned ahead, I could have had something ready at home instead of running through the drive thru.
1. I did take my lunch to work last week for four days. I had to stop at a gas station one day but I only spent four dollars.
2. My dear hubby did pick up a few sale items for me on Friday and spent about forty dollars but they were good buys so I did not complain.
3. Used my car instead of the truck to take a trip on Friday night about eighty miles away which saved a ton of gas. My husband complained a little about being scrunched up in my little car but it would have cost us around seventy dollars in gas if we had taken his truck whereas it only cost about thirty in my car.
4. Our church had old fashioned Sunday yesterday where everyone dressed up from a different era and we had "dinner on the ground". I used clothes I already had to put together a costume rather than buying something that I would only wear one time.
It may have not been my best money saving week but I did a few things to help toward the budget.
Peace,
Southern Ladye
1. I did take my lunch to work last week for four days. I had to stop at a gas station one day but I only spent four dollars.
2. My dear hubby did pick up a few sale items for me on Friday and spent about forty dollars but they were good buys so I did not complain.
3. Used my car instead of the truck to take a trip on Friday night about eighty miles away which saved a ton of gas. My husband complained a little about being scrunched up in my little car but it would have cost us around seventy dollars in gas if we had taken his truck whereas it only cost about thirty in my car.
4. Our church had old fashioned Sunday yesterday where everyone dressed up from a different era and we had "dinner on the ground". I used clothes I already had to put together a costume rather than buying something that I would only wear one time.
It may have not been my best money saving week but I did a few things to help toward the budget.
Peace,
Southern Ladye
Sunday, February 17, 2013
My Simple Savings
This week I have been introduced to the world of coupons! I went in the grocery store to pick up a few items that were on sale and one of those items was flavored coffee creamer. I usually pay $3.00 for one 16 oz. bottle of flavored creamer at my local grocery store but this store had them 3 for $5.00. I just got one because that will last me a week. When I checked out, a coupon printed out for $1.00 off two of the creamers. I went back in the store and got two more. Total spent was $1.33 each for flavored creamer and that will last me all month. This also keeps me from making coffee stops each day which saves me over a dollar a day.
Other simple savings:
Thursday was Valentine's Day and I usually buy my class some type of snack/treat for that day. This time I made 1-2-3-4 cupcakes and homemade cream cheese frosting. The cake is SO simple to make and my kids got a good treat for a fraction of the cost.
I also used that same recipe to make a cake for the house on Friday instead of buying something sweet so that probably saved us ten dollars at the gas station.
I got chicken leg quarters for .79 cents a pound on Friday. I also got cabbage for .39 a pound. I was going to get four bottles of laundry detergent because it was BOGO but the price of one at that particular store was double what I pay for the same laundry detergent at the dollar store so I did not see where it was saving me any money so I just bought my regular detergent for $3.50. (I can only use two kinds of detergent because of my youngest son's allergies. Thank goodness they are both the cheap kind. I tried homemade detergent about a year ago but his skin was too sensitive to something in it. I am thinking it was the borax. So I buy detergent.)
We only went out to eat once this weekend. (We normally go out about three times on a weekend. We are trying to do better but this is taking some time because we love to go out to eat.) When I paid the bill, I thought about how many groceries that one meal would have bought us. Goes to show how my thinking is changing!
Someone in our church gave us a bag of greens for free. That bag will make at least two very frugal meals this week and next!
We checked out some other insurance companies for our car insurance and I think we can switch and get a better rate. I am doing some calling around this week.
We are also canceling our satellite radio service. I have it in my car and online but I never listen to it in the car and we now download free podcasts to my computer to listen to so we don't use it and it costs us about twenty a month. Altogether we are looking at saving a hundred dollars a month just on these two changes.
What are you doing to save money?
Peace,
Southern Ladye
Other simple savings:
Thursday was Valentine's Day and I usually buy my class some type of snack/treat for that day. This time I made 1-2-3-4 cupcakes and homemade cream cheese frosting. The cake is SO simple to make and my kids got a good treat for a fraction of the cost.
I also used that same recipe to make a cake for the house on Friday instead of buying something sweet so that probably saved us ten dollars at the gas station.
I got chicken leg quarters for .79 cents a pound on Friday. I also got cabbage for .39 a pound. I was going to get four bottles of laundry detergent because it was BOGO but the price of one at that particular store was double what I pay for the same laundry detergent at the dollar store so I did not see where it was saving me any money so I just bought my regular detergent for $3.50. (I can only use two kinds of detergent because of my youngest son's allergies. Thank goodness they are both the cheap kind. I tried homemade detergent about a year ago but his skin was too sensitive to something in it. I am thinking it was the borax. So I buy detergent.)
We only went out to eat once this weekend. (We normally go out about three times on a weekend. We are trying to do better but this is taking some time because we love to go out to eat.) When I paid the bill, I thought about how many groceries that one meal would have bought us. Goes to show how my thinking is changing!
Someone in our church gave us a bag of greens for free. That bag will make at least two very frugal meals this week and next!
We checked out some other insurance companies for our car insurance and I think we can switch and get a better rate. I am doing some calling around this week.
We are also canceling our satellite radio service. I have it in my car and online but I never listen to it in the car and we now download free podcasts to my computer to listen to so we don't use it and it costs us about twenty a month. Altogether we are looking at saving a hundred dollars a month just on these two changes.
What are you doing to save money?
Peace,
Southern Ladye
Saturday, February 9, 2013
Stocking Up
I have spent several days reading on ways to stock up the pantry. I really want to do this because with six people in the house and one on the way, we need all the help we can get in the grocery budget area and I really hate looking in the cabinets at the end of the month and wondering how I am going to make it. So. here is what I purchased this week to stock my pantry.
1. 20 lbs. of sugar. It was on sale for $1.99 a 4 lb. bag. I bought 5 bags.
2. Ground beef. It was 1.88 per pound.
3. Whole chickens. They were .89 per pound.
4. 10 pounds of potatoes for $3.00. They were marked down. I would have bought twenty pounds if I had had more money.
5. Pork chops that were .99 per pound.
6. Bread. It was .65 a loaf. I want to make my own, but I am going to wait until I can get to the wholesale club to buy the supplies in bulk because it is more expensive to make it if I have to buy all of the stuff at the grocery or big box stores. (We eat 4-5 loaves of bread per week, plus cornbread, biscuits, and pancakes.)
7. Shredded and sliced Velveeta cheese. It was 3 for $5.00. It makes yummy homemade macaroni and cheese.
It might not seem like a lot but I bought what I could. I smiled at the bags of sugar and the well stocked freezer. Next week, I will carefully search the sales papers and buy what I can to stock up. Eventually I will have a well stocked pantry.
Do you have a well stocked pantry? What's in yours?
Peace,
Southern Ladye
1. 20 lbs. of sugar. It was on sale for $1.99 a 4 lb. bag. I bought 5 bags.
2. Ground beef. It was 1.88 per pound.
3. Whole chickens. They were .89 per pound.
4. 10 pounds of potatoes for $3.00. They were marked down. I would have bought twenty pounds if I had had more money.
5. Pork chops that were .99 per pound.
6. Bread. It was .65 a loaf. I want to make my own, but I am going to wait until I can get to the wholesale club to buy the supplies in bulk because it is more expensive to make it if I have to buy all of the stuff at the grocery or big box stores. (We eat 4-5 loaves of bread per week, plus cornbread, biscuits, and pancakes.)
7. Shredded and sliced Velveeta cheese. It was 3 for $5.00. It makes yummy homemade macaroni and cheese.
It might not seem like a lot but I bought what I could. I smiled at the bags of sugar and the well stocked freezer. Next week, I will carefully search the sales papers and buy what I can to stock up. Eventually I will have a well stocked pantry.
Do you have a well stocked pantry? What's in yours?
Peace,
Southern Ladye
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Saving Money
I did not realize how many people are trying to save money and writing about it. Not to mention the many creative ways they are doing it. I have spent the past two days reading about ways people have been saving money. I am trying hard to cut corners as much as possible but it seems like it is getting increasingly difficult to do so but this is my contribution of the week.
1. I went shopping. Now, before you think how did that save money, let me explain. I have a grandchild coming in May and we finally found out what it was so now I can start shopping. My DIL found a crib set she wanted that was $189.99 plus shipping. That is a lot of money to me. So, we went to the thrift store. There are two huge thrift stores about two hours from us. I usually visit them twice a year. Not only did I find a ton of clothes for the baby, I found a bumper pad and dust ruffle for the crib for $2.10. A solid sheet and comforter will round it out perfectly. I also found a beautiful purple jacket for $.74 and a skirt that matched it for $3.99. Both articles of clothing can be worn with other items in my closet.
2. It has been rather warm for this time of year in my area. In order to keep from turning the air on, I have been drying clothes at night when the temperatures have been much cooler. This keeps us from having to turn on the air during the afternoon and evening hours.
3. My chickens have finally started laying eggs! We got four yesterday and I used them to make egg sandwiches for breakfast this morning. We are having to use a light in the evenings for a bit to give them enough light to produce and it is working! Yea! I do not have to buy eggs this week at the store.
4. I made a potato and ham soup last night. I had bought the potatoes on sale two weeks ago and the ham was leftover from New Year's that I had frozen. I boiled the ham bone for a bit to get some meat off of it and added it to my potato soup. It was very good and very cheap! I then boiled the ham bone some more to use the broth and the bone in a pot of great northern beans later this week.
5. Today, I saw an advertisement at the local butcher shoppe for ground beef for $1.49 per pound. That might not be cheap to some but here it has been running $2.99 a pound or higher. I am getting about 10 pounds or more this evening on my way home from work, which will also knock out an extra trip to town this weekend! Yippee, two for one! :)
6. I bring my own lunches everyday to eliminate buying from the cafeteria. I have my own coffee mug that I use in the morning and therefore save on coffee stops. I have a double walled glass with a straw that I drink my water from. This is a major accomplishment for me because I drink a LOT of soda each day and I am now down to one a day. Drinks from a vending machine here run about $.75 a can. I usually drink 3 cans of soda at work each day. That's about $1.50 per day I am saving and even more if I bring the soda from home.
Sometimes it does not seem like I am doing much to save money but when I write down what I have done, I realize it is much more than I thought. What are you doing to save money?
Peace,
Southern Ladye
1. I went shopping. Now, before you think how did that save money, let me explain. I have a grandchild coming in May and we finally found out what it was so now I can start shopping. My DIL found a crib set she wanted that was $189.99 plus shipping. That is a lot of money to me. So, we went to the thrift store. There are two huge thrift stores about two hours from us. I usually visit them twice a year. Not only did I find a ton of clothes for the baby, I found a bumper pad and dust ruffle for the crib for $2.10. A solid sheet and comforter will round it out perfectly. I also found a beautiful purple jacket for $.74 and a skirt that matched it for $3.99. Both articles of clothing can be worn with other items in my closet.
2. It has been rather warm for this time of year in my area. In order to keep from turning the air on, I have been drying clothes at night when the temperatures have been much cooler. This keeps us from having to turn on the air during the afternoon and evening hours.
3. My chickens have finally started laying eggs! We got four yesterday and I used them to make egg sandwiches for breakfast this morning. We are having to use a light in the evenings for a bit to give them enough light to produce and it is working! Yea! I do not have to buy eggs this week at the store.
4. I made a potato and ham soup last night. I had bought the potatoes on sale two weeks ago and the ham was leftover from New Year's that I had frozen. I boiled the ham bone for a bit to get some meat off of it and added it to my potato soup. It was very good and very cheap! I then boiled the ham bone some more to use the broth and the bone in a pot of great northern beans later this week.
5. Today, I saw an advertisement at the local butcher shoppe for ground beef for $1.49 per pound. That might not be cheap to some but here it has been running $2.99 a pound or higher. I am getting about 10 pounds or more this evening on my way home from work, which will also knock out an extra trip to town this weekend! Yippee, two for one! :)
6. I bring my own lunches everyday to eliminate buying from the cafeteria. I have my own coffee mug that I use in the morning and therefore save on coffee stops. I have a double walled glass with a straw that I drink my water from. This is a major accomplishment for me because I drink a LOT of soda each day and I am now down to one a day. Drinks from a vending machine here run about $.75 a can. I usually drink 3 cans of soda at work each day. That's about $1.50 per day I am saving and even more if I bring the soda from home.
Sometimes it does not seem like I am doing much to save money but when I write down what I have done, I realize it is much more than I thought. What are you doing to save money?
Peace,
Southern Ladye
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