Homemade Syrup

This is the syrup recipe I make.  I am not sure where I got the recipe, but I have seen it posted several times on many blogs.  Or at least something similar.



4 cups white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 cups water

2 tsp maple flavoring or butter flavoring or vanilla ( most of the time I use vanilla because that is usually what I have on hand)

Mix water and sugars in a pot and simmer for 15 minutes

Remove from heat and stir in flavoring

Let cool completely and then pour into a container. 

This does not have to be refrigerated.  I do find that after awhile it starts to crystallize at the bottom of the jar. But this only tends to happen if it sits for awhile.  This is all my family uses now for pancakes, waffles and french toast :)

Today is....

Prom night for Kid # 3.  We did a pretty good job of doing her prom as frugally as possible.  Her dress was bought from my BFF's daughter who never wore it for $50.  Her shoes she already had from a previous dance.  She bought her own jewelry with money she made from her after school job.   I am making her flowers for less then $10. All the items for that we bought at Hobby Lobby using 40% off coupons.  She also paid to have a spray tan done but yet again she used her own money.  She had her nails done but we gave her a gift certificate for her birthday and she used that to pay for it. One of the most expensive parts of  Prom was the tickets which were $100 for a couple, but at least this included dinner also.  Hopefully, next year we can continue with this trend!

5 Things I Did That Were Frugal This Week

1. Packed Kid # 5's cold school lunch with all reusable containers.

2.  Used a travel mug and thermos to take my coffee to work.

3. Planned a menu and ate at home

4. Didn't do much grocery shopping because we didn't really need much.

5. Kid # 3 broke the zipper in her prom dress.  Took it t the alteration shop to see if they could fix it instead of rushing to buy her a new dress. Cost of repair $8, = $100's in savings!

It has been a long month!

I have been at my job a little over a month now.  It has definitely been an adjustment for everyone!  The days are long but I do love my job!  The people I work for are great and always appreciative of everything I do.  The extra money has been wonderful also!

At the end of March, I made a decision to send Kid # 4 to live with his Father ( we are a blend family remember??).  I have second guessed this decision several times in the last month and I am still struggling with it.  Kid # 4 has always been a difficult kid but the last couple of years have really been bad.  I feel alot of guilt for enjoying the peace we now have in our house.  Kid # 4 was causing alot of conflict that I don't really think we even realized or maybe had become so accustom to it that we didn't think about it much anymore.  I don't know honestly that living with his Father will help Kid # 4 or even is the best or wisest choice but I do think maybe it was the best choice for the rest of the relationships in our house, including my marriage.  Being the Mom to teenagers is sometime not for the faint at heart :(  I do hope as Kid # 4 grows older he will realize that I only wanted what was best for him...........

My husband is finally done with tax season for the most part.  He will still work 1 day a week for a while at the tax office.  But for the most part he is done.  The extra money he made is sitting in our savings account.  There are few things that will be coming up that I want to take care of then I will use the rest to pay off the car.  I think we are going to be really close to it being paid off.  I will post about that soon!

Kid # 1 has moved up his wedding to June 15 which is fast approaching.  Luckily the wedding itself will be small with just family there.  There will be a large reception following the wedding though.  We have been very lucky and the table center pieces have been loaned to us by a friend.  The rest of the decorations we will be working on in the next couple of months.

Well that is what is happening around here..........I really hope to be posting on a more regular bases now.  I have some great projects to post about very soon!

5 Things I Did That Were Frugal This Week - LATE AGAIN!

1. Followed the meal plan and ate at home

2. My washer was having issues and my hubby looked at first and fixed it.  Saving us the expense of having a repair man come :)

3. Logged on to my libraries website to request some books instead of buying them.  They called me when they were in and ready for pick up

4. Worked on a few projects using items I already had!  I will have a big project reveal coming up soon!

5. Had a yard sale with my future daughter in law and her Mother and Sister! 

5 Things I Did That Were Frugal This Week - LATE!

1. Hung some clothes on my clothes line on the warm sunny days

2.  Did not go grocery shopping since we were not in need of much

3.  Left my heat turned off even though we had a few chilly days here

4. Solved a decorating problem using items already had!  Love when that happens!

5. Used up as many leftovers has possible in order to reduce our food waste!