New Sewing Projects for Leah!

I finally discovered something to keep me busy this week, and get some summer sewing done for Leah in the process! So, I dug out my patterns, cut out and sewed (in 3 days);

2 Flannel Nightgowns and 2 Summer Dresses, (one with Matching Bonnet) .

The Strawberry-patterned dress and bonnet I did just today! :)

How cute are they? I just love them!

It's been so fun to start to sew again, it keeps me busy, and gets some much-needed clothing done for Leah for summer. The dresses are still a little big, but she will probably be into them by then anyway! I just won't hem them until then! :) It's crazy how fast she is growing now.. :)

I'm going to be sad when all my sewing is finally done, I like having projects to do.. it keeps this wintery cold at bay!!! What are you all doing to keep Cabin fever away?

My Great Garden Deals!

I just discovered a great ad in the Bemidji Buy Line for Jungleland Greenhouse in Blackduck, which is advertising some amazing sales!!! I had to take advantage of these.. :)

I am getting ...
75 Honeyoye Strawberry Plants (June-Bearing) for only $18.95!!!
50 2-year grade Jersey Knight Asparagus Roots for only $27.95!!!

Then they have an additional "buy anything from their sale" and get 25 FREE Honeyoye Strawberry Plants and 25 FREE Gladiolis Bulbs!!

So Total, I am getting 100 Strawberry Plants (enough to fill 2 more new planters like the one I already have) and 50 Asparagus Plants, (enough for a giant family-sized row) and 25 FREE Gladiolis Bulbs, for a nice gift or for my flower bed!

What a great deal! This means next year, I will be seeing triple the amount of strawberries I'll see this year, and I will have our first cut of MUCH Asparagus in 2009! :)

Now if only I can start expanding my orchard... :) Hopefully soon for these prices!!!

Day in the Life of a Homemaker

Here is how a typical day for me will go:

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7:30 wake up, realize Leah has been up for a while in her crib singing happily! (cute)

8:00 Breakfast with Leah, cold cereal is her favorite!
(While she is eating cereal I grind some fresh whole wheat flour and then mix up a triple batch of pancakes and cook them all up, freezing most for later in the week! Nice treat!)

I then give Leah three pancakes in addition to her cereal, which she eats all up! (Amazing!)
(While she is eating, I am cleaning up the kitchen, eating breakfast myself, and putting away dishes.)

9:00 Time for Leah's "Bob and Larry" time! Leah watches a Veggie Tales DVD in playroom, while I get dressesd, straighten/tidy up our room, Leah's room and the bathroom. I also get 2 loads of laundry ready to be taken downstairs to get done.

9:30 Leah's movie is done, time to play together! We read books, listen to our bible song cds, play with blocks, work on learning to count to 10 (she can do it, she just gets stuck on 4!) and lots of other fun stuff.

10:30 Snack time! Leah gets crackers, raisins and milk for snack, while I get my chicken/rice dish all set up and in the fridge for dinner, tonight and cut up some steak pieces and marinate them for dinner tomorrow. I also start my loads of laundry. Plus maybe sneak in a snack too! :)

11:00 Back to playing.. Leah is content to just play alone, so I get to catch up on some other things.. (phone calls, etc) Leah cleans up playroom right before we go down for..

12:00 Lunch! Leah gets leftover chicken and "green bombs" (Peas) for lunch, while I make a sandwich and have leftovers. Chat with my Mom about plans for today. Clean up lunch mess.

12:30 Leah's nap time.. during which I finish my laundry, fold it and put it away. I also get to organize my desk, which feels so good! Honestly, I throw half of the papers that have been accumulating away! Do some computer stuff, then realize I feel tired, so I sneak in a short movie while resting on the couch!

4:00 Leah gets up, (late sleeper today) and we play upstairs and/or downstairs. Trying to keep her happy until Daddy gets home.. (she can never be patient!)

5:00 Put dinner in oven, have crabby kid on my hands, so I put in another Veggie Tales to tide her over until Dad gets home!

5:30 We play in the kitchen while I set the table and dinner cooks, Leah colors and plays with playdough at the table, I get ready for dinner.

6:00 Dad and Grandpa are home and ready for dinner!!! Leah is exstatic, and starving!!
spend evening with family.
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Just one of many typical days for me.. :) Thought it'd be fun to give you a peek into my life.

Maternity Swimsuit Anyone?

Anyone have a One-Piece Maternity Swimsuit I could borrow?

My families and I are going to a Water Park in Thief River Falls on Feb. 9th for a fun vacation!
I have a two-piece maternity swimsuit at home, but for the water slides, this will not be too practical! :) I will only need it for the one day, and I can return it back you!

Thanks, and I will also keep checking at Thrift stores to see if by chance, I can find one!

Christmas 07 Pics

It's been a while since I've posted pics of Leah, so here are some I was waiting to post!! Now that we're finally starting to be over our colds this week I can post some! Enjoy!

"Helping" Mom with C-mas baking.. more like hiding from helping!!

I love this little grin.. discovering the presents on C-mas morning!

Favorite C-mas present.. a popping ball toy!

Auntie Anna with Leah's new Animal set!

Joshy and I with my new Canner!

Reading to my goddaughter Bekka, and Leah! Yes, my lap was running out of room!!

Fabulous Cereal Deal!

I just found the most incredible deal on cereal for our family!! At Wal-Mart they have this new variety of Honey Bunches of Oats on sale for $2.24 a box, which in itself is a good deal! However I used this $2 off coupon and each box came down to 24 cents each!!!!!

What a great deal on cereal!!! I am going to be stocking up on this one!!

Helweg Family Christmas!

Here are some pics of our Christmas this past weekend with Josh's family in Warroad!

Complete Helweg Family Pic 2007

Us "Bemidji Helwegs"

Grandma passing out C-mas presents!

The 5 Helweg "Boys" going Ice Fishing

Josh's brother Michael, now a PFC Marine!!!

He graduated Boot Camp right before our family Christmas! We are so proud of him!

Finally winning at Coupon-ing!!

I think I finally figured out how to win with coupons.. having never used them before, it took quite a while to figure out how I can save like a lot fo you (my friends) are on great deals!

(The trick is to combine coupons with sale prices!) :) Here are a few of my great deals this week!

Target:

I picked up 5 Boxes of Kashi cookies (reg. 2.50 a box) for 50 cents each with $2 off coupon!

2 Boxes of Huggies Baby Wipes (reg. 2.39 a box) with $3 and a 75 cents off coupon only $1 each

3 Shoebox size containers regularly priced at 1.00 each.. no coupon here, but I needed them!

Complete sale total on items was $6.62, I used a $5 Target gift card and brough the total down to only $1.62 for all of this!!! I was amazed!!!!!

Target again:

2 Huggies Diapers Sm packs (reg 9.44) with 2 $1.50 off coupons and a $3 off coupon brought the total to $13.88 for two packs!

2 Huggies Pull-Ups small packs (In prep for potty-training Leah) (reg 9.29) with 2 $2 off coupons and a $3 off coupon brought the total to $11.58 for two packs!!!

Almost like buy-one-get-one free! :)

I am pretty amazed at what deal-shopping can do for a tight budget!!! :) So fun!

Great Kashi Product Deal!

Kashi Products has a $2.00 off coupon for any of their snack products right now. Good through February, this is a GREAT deal on wholesome snack food for you and your kids!

I went to Target to pick some up, being they had it on a 2/$5.00 sale, thus making each box only 50 cents!!!! They had great choices for granola bars and cookies.. making it very fun to pick out my choices! However I did discover Wal-Mart carries Kashi crackers/granola bars/cookies for $2.50 regularly priced.. so until February I plan on getting a steal on organic snacks!!!

Here is a link to get your own 50 cent snacks, and good luck with your coupon shopping!

Apples of Gold Group!

Our Church Women's Group is starting up another Apples of Gold Mentoring Class! I missed signing up for the 1st one last year, and was so excited to hear about another one!

I hear they are still looking for more "learners" (as in us younger women) so I will post this info on my blog in hopes some of you might want to join!

Apples of Gold is a women-mentoring-women bible study. It will be a a church lady's home and we will be cooking dinner (or learning how to :) eating it, and then studying the bible together. The classes start this next Monday night, and plan to go for 8 weeks.

I am very excited about this because it gives us younger women a chance to learn from the "older" wiser women at church, who have raised kids, cooked great meals, etc. :) Reminds me of the Titus 2 Chapter in the Bible. :)

I know quite a few of my blogging friends have already signed up, which is very exciting! But they are still looking for more! If you are interested in being a "learner"... please call me! I am looking forward to next Monday night!

My Dream Christmas Present!!!

This Christmas I truly got my dream gift, and it was a total surprise! (That doesn't happen too often!) My wonderful husband Josh bought me a 23 qt Stainless Steel Pressure Canner!!

I was Sooooooooo excited when I opened it, especially since we weren't supposed to be exchanging gifts between us.. what a great surprise!! Josh knows I have been drooling over this model for quite a few years now, but never actually saved enough money for it. What a blessing this will be next summer for canning season! I was just sooo amazed to get this for Christmas!

Anyone have any advice for a first-timer on Pressure Canning? :) I can't wait to try it out!!!!