Which is where you come in.

I am making my Works For Me Wednesday post a backwards WFMW, because I need to know what works for you.

We have a full, finished basement, and while it is big and a wonderful space for the kids to play, 99% of the time it is a complete disaster. There are toys everywhere. (BTW, I swear we do not buy our kids lots of toys. I think they are like gremlins and multiply at night). I would show you pictures but I’m too embarrassed. And really, the kids have no idea what toys are down there and they can’t even enjoy the space, seeing as how they can’t walk through it.

So, my goal is to purge the basement of all the outgrown, broken, or generally unused toys before the influx that is bound to happen at Christmas. What I’d like to do is buy one of these for the basement (and one for my dining room, while I’m at it), so that everything has a home and can be nicely organized.

The Ikea Expedit. Isn’t it lovely?

So here’s what I need to know from all of you smart readers:
1) How ruthless should I be in the toy purge? Or, I guess, how do I decide what to keep? (I have the “well we may need that someday” syndrome)
2) What should I do with the toys I decide to get rid of?
3) What’s your toy organization secret?

Basically, what works for you?

Because what we’ve got going on now… it doesn’t work for anyone.

I can’t wait to read your tips!

*****
For more Works for Me Wednesday (this week is a holiday edition!), visit We are THAT Family.

Since once a month is about my cooking limit anyway, I decided to give it a shot. However, cooking one meal and doing “Once a Month Mom” cooking are two entirely different things! Last weekend, though, I decided I was up for the challenge.

To make OAMM cooking day a success, it’s best to have a partner. My partner was my good friend Emilie, who is usually game for whatever crazy scheme I concoct. Emilie and I work together, and we both have really limited time to get dinner on the table at night, so we were excited to give it a shot. We printed out Tricia’s handy grocery list, figured out what we already had between the two of us, and split up the rest of the items.

As I mentioned yesterday, in order to do all this cooking, I decided to buy a food processor and a can opener. Yes, I did own a can opener (Campbell’s chicken noodle is a staple at our house) but after seeing the mass quantity of can goods that were going to require opening, I thought an electric one would be a good idea. And the food processor just seemed like a lot of fun.

Because of my genius, Tricia has appended her cooking tips to include “The food processor is NOT FOR EVERYTHING.”

So my tomato and green peppers were a little soupy. How was I supposed to know that?

In any case, after about six hours and a few minor mishaps (I put all bazillion ounces of cooked pasta into one dish that called for 16oz – oops!), Emilie and I had made:
–Breakfast Burritos
–Banana Sour Cream Muffins (my personal favorite thing of the day)
–Taco Soup
–Vegetable Soup
–Chicken and Corn Quesadillas
–Spaghetti Sauce
–Lasagna
–Chicken Parmigiana
–Baked Spaghetti
–Chicken Macaroni Bake
–Chicken Ziti
–Chicken Enchiladas

My freezer is FULL. And guess what?? Emilie and I each only spent about $100 on the groceries! Do you realize how CHEAP that is for a month of meals? It is amazing. I would have never, ever, ever had enough time in the evening to make meals like this. And I would have never undertaken it on my own – the grocery list (in a spreadsheet, which made my dorky heart sing), recipes and instructions provided by Once a Month Mom did all the thinking for me.

It was a long day (Note: Take Tricia’s advice about getting the kids out of the house. Our three kids running around made it much more complicated!), but it was fun and it was so worth it.

Healthy, homemade meals all month long? That works for me!

For more WFMW tips, click over to We are THAT Family, the new home of WFMW!

Here are the details:

Yummie Tummie has been featured in Cookie Magazine, People Magazine, and it was one of Oprah’s “Top Picks” last summer. Need I say more?

Probably not, but I will anyway.

Yummie Tummie is PERFECT for the post-holiday haze we’re all in right now. But they’re not jumping on the New Year’s resolution bandwagon. Oh no. Their motto is eat, drink and be yummie. I’m in favor of that!

Here’s a little more about their current promotion:
Heather Thomson, the celebrity stylist who has dressed Beyoncé, Jennifer Lopez and P. Diddy, and the founder and designer of Yummie Tummie recognizes that we need to overindulge now more than ever. And who better than Yummie Tummie to bring it to you, because when you’ve had your fill – and then you’ve had some more – Yummie Tummie has you covered! Yummie Tummie, the new leader in shapewear, will visibly slim, shape and smooth you. It’s the first shapewear on the market that is actually comfortable enough to wear all day and evening. Visit www.EatDrinkandBeYummie.com for a full list of all your favorite overindulgences, rate your favorites, and upload new indulgences, and find recipes to all your favorite treats.

And here’s the best part – we’re giving away a $100 gift certificate to YummieTummie.com!!! All you have to do to enter is to leave a comment telling us about your favorite indulgence.

The contest will end at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, January 13, and the winner will be chosen using Random.org. Good luck!

Eat, drink, and look good doing it – works for me! For more WFMW tips, head over to Rocks in my Dryer!

Ingredients:
1.5 lbs sweet potatoes
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk
1 beaten egg
3 tbsp butter, cubed
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 tbsp butter
1/2 cup pecan pieces
pecan halves for decoration

Scrub and peel sweet potatoes. Cut off and discard woody portions and ends. Cut potatoes into cubes. Cook, covered in a small amount of boiling water for 25-35 minutes until tender. Drain. Combine hot sweet potatoes, 1/2 cup sugar, milk, egg, 3tbsp butter, and vanilla. With a wooden spoon, stir to break up potatoes, but not completely mash. Pour mixture into greased 2 qt. square baking dish. Combine brown sugar and flour. Cut in 2 tbsp butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbles. Stir in pecan pieces. Sprinkle mixture over potatoes. Bake uncovered in 350 degree oven about 25 minutes or until heated through.

Sorry I didn’t post this before Thanksgiving, but consider it an early Christmas present! You are going to want to make this – it is amazing! And if I could do it (since I am functionally retarded) anyone can!

For more great Wednesday epiphanies, check out Rocks in My Dryer.

And while you’re HERE, don’t forget to enter our GINORMOUS giveaway here and click on the banner above to win a Dirt Devil Kwik! One Mommin’ It Up reader wins a Kwik every day!

Anyway, when I posted the plea for help last year, our in-real-life friend Krista left a comment saying that she finds shopping at Trader Joe’s really helpful. I stuck that in the back of my mind and always meant to go there, but never got around to it… until about three weeks ago. And now I am hooked!

They have a great selection of frozen food, dairy, wine and beer. And really, what more do you need? Oh, fresh produce, you say? Yes, they have that too. Bread, pasta, salsa, vitamins – they have it all. And none of it has any preservatives or high fructose corn syrup.

The only problem I have is that I like to plan my shopping trips ahead by looking online and getting an idea of what to buy, but as far as I can tell, the Trader Joe’s website doesn’t list their products (not very helpful, Trader Joe people!). So if you’re a TJ fan, help the rest of us out by leaving a comment with some of your faves (mine include salsa-flavored tortilla chips, mini tacos and Two Buck Chuck). Thanks!

Easy weeknight dinners – that works for me! For more WFMW tips, head over to Rocks in My Dryer!

(P.S. Don’t forget to enter our fabulous Itzy Ritzy giveaway!)

Almost exactly one year ago, I began couponing. It was the week before Thanksgiving 2007. Can you believe it has only been a year? Now I can’t imagine my life without the wonderful world of coupons! Putting my grocery and CVS plans together each week takes time, but it would take me waaaay longer if I didn’t have some help from some great coupon bloggers. So, I want to give all the “regulars” I visit a big shout-out! These ladies find the deals and coupon match-ups and basically do the hard part for all of us! I appreciate them all so much! Go visit them and give them some love!

Thrifty Mama
Stretching a Buck
Being Frugal is Fabulous
Coupon Cravings
and, the original blog that got me started: Money Saving Mom.

Reading coupon blogs works for me when I’m planning my money-saving strategy! For more Works for Me Wednesday ideas, check out Rocks in My Dryer.

So anyway, I thought I’d tell you about Kate’s new favorite toy – the Caring, Sharing Home, or Mrs. Goodbee Talking Dollhouse. Kate’s generally not too into toys, but she LOVES this dollhouse. Seriously, it’s amazing how much time she’s spent playing with it. Quietly. By herself. A LOT.

It’s a great toy, and was recognized as a “2008 Outstanding Product Winner” from iParenting Media and it’s the first
dollhouse that comes to life to encourage caring and sharing through play. It’s interactive and Kate is constantly discovering more and more things the dollhouse does.

My favorite part (besides the playing quietly alone thing) is that it is designed to teach caring and empathy, and it comes with stickers that parents can give their kids when the kids do something nice for someone else. We are big fans of the sticker chart theory at our house, and this is even more exciting to Kate because she can put the stickers on her dollhouse.

You can read all about what it does and how it was developed here, but if you want to see it in action, Kate is happy to give you at tour!

For more great toy ideas, check out Rocks in my Dryer!

Here are some other ways Kroger.com can save you money!

Printable Coupons –Forget to pick up the Sunday paper? No worries. Now you can print coupons directly from the Kroger.com site.

Fuel Rewards – Customers throughout The Kroger Co.’s family of stores can accumulate and redeem fuel discounts they earn by shopping at Kroger-owned stores at participating gas stations the retailer operates across the country. Most of the fuel discount programs offered by Kroger and its family of stores reward customers with a minimum of 10 cents off per gallon of gas for every $100 they spend in a store.

Kroger Pharmacy – Kroger Pharmacies offer a 30-day supply of more than 300 prescriptions for only $4, or 90-day supplies for only $10. That means you can save on generic drugs used to treat a wide range of medical conditions. At Kroger.com you can download a complete list of eligible medications and check to see if your local pharmacy participates.

1-2-3 Rewards MasterCard –Sign up for a 1-2-3 Rewards MasterCard and earn free groceries when you shop. Each time you use your card you’ll earn points – 1 point for every dollar spent outside the store, 2 points for every dollar spent inside the store and 3 points for every dollar spent on any of the Kroger family brands. For every 1,000 points you earn you’ll receive $5 in FREE groceries.

eCoupons from Kroger.com are what work for me when I am headed to Kroger. For more great Works for Me Wednesday ideas, check out Rocks in My Dryer. BUT before you do – leave a comment on this post and you will be entered to win one of TWO, COUNT ‘EM TWO $25 gift cards from Kroger!! Yay! Thanks Kroger! Comments will close and Random.org will pick the winner on Saturday at 8 a.m. Happy entering!

10 Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. 11 So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? (New International Version)

When I was reading those verses in preparation for my talk, it was like a lightning bolt hit me. Most of the time I think that God has put me in the “very little” category, but the reality is, I have so much. Compared to most citizens of this world, I am a millionaire. My three-bedroom 1917 urban home probably seems like a palace to so many who live in just one or two rooms, or worse yet, have no home at all. It has clean, warm running water and beds with soft mattresses. I drive a car that offers the highest luxury of its class (*cough*in 1994*cough*). My children are well-fed, happy, healthy, and bright. My sweet husband is gainfully employed. He works long hours, and we wish he was home more. But when he’s not with us, he’s working hard. He’s not out at the bar, or anyplace worse, he’s working hard using the talents God gave him to provide for us.

I have so much, and I am so thankful.

Having a little perspective is what’s working for me today. For more helpful insights, go visit Rocks in My Dryer.

My mom is a genius and has a Master’s in Early Childhood Development and was a kindergarten and preschool teacher for years, so she dug this up for me from the recesses of her basement, which holds enough learning paraphernalia to stock about 12 classrooms.

It’s the coolest thing ever and so simple! It would be really easy to make, if my mom hadn’t already had one. We put a picture of where we go or what we do on each day. As you can see, Sunday has a picture of a church because we go to church on Sunday. Saturday has a picture of my husband’s face since Joshua always looks forward to him being home with us instead of at work on Saturdays. Wednesday has a picture of Cubbie Bear since Joshua goes to Awana on Wednesdays, Thursday has a school since we go to our homeschool co-op on Thursdays, and Monday and Tuesday have a picture of a house since we generally hang around home those days. In the picture, you can see that there is a little sunshine (attached with velcro) on Monday. Joshua moves the sunshine every morning to whatever the current day is. He loves doing it and then we talk about what day it is and what we are going to do and where we are going to be. It is really helping him get those days of the week down, as well as cementing what “today”, “yesterday”, and “tomorrow” mean.

Well, that’s what’s workin’ for me and my family! For more great ideas, check out Rocks in My Dryer.

P.S. Now that you’ve glimpsed my brilliance, will you go to Blissfully Domestic and read the article I’ve posted today on how you can save big money buying a used car instead of new? Thanks! You’re the best!!)