Today was one of my fun little saving while shopping trips. 🙂 I know there are other great drug stores for savings. The truth is that, with two munchkins to take shopping with me, I usually choose one place for non-grocery couponing and one for groceries each trip. CVS is my primary non-grocery couponing spot. Ingles is my usual choice for groceries in our fairly small town area, since they double coupons up to 50 cents, give treats to the kiddos and are pleasant to shop with.
To prepare for this trip, I spent about half an hour this morning making my grocery list, browsing the sales ads and looking at the CVS coupons I had from my last trip. Next, I glanced over the coupons on a coupon site (one of the ones I use to print coupons from coupons.com while earning points toward gift cards) to see what was on there to go with the items I needed, the sales bargains this week, my 30% off coupon for non-sale items at CVS, and the CVS coupons I already had. I threw the coupons I intended to use at each store into their respective folded store fliers, stuck them both in my purse with my shopping lists, and off we went.
CVS was decent today. I had to get diapers, “needed” some sodas, and have been wanting some new serving spoons and such. The first two things were on my automatic list. The rest were dictated by good prices on things we do use, but didn’t absolutely have to have today. We got diapers, facial wipes, nail polish, makeup, sodas, kitchen serving utensils, and protein bars. Princess Peach was excited about the super sparkly nail polish. 🙂 I keep her little fingers and toes painted pretty colors all the time with the nail polish I get for pennies on the dollar or even free.
Total Spent? $17.50
Total Saved? $53.84
Percentage Saved: 75.4%
We also did our grocery shopping at Ingles, which wasn’t so much a couponing trip, but getting what we needed while using coupons on whatever we could. In other words, there were things we needed that I got even though there wasn’t a sale or a coupon on them. Ohhhhh, the pain! 😉 Seriously, though, I’ve made it clear I’m not extreme.
Total Spent? $27.10
Total Saved? $11.82
Percentage Saved: 30.3%
I’m also going to get 40 cents back on my SavingStar account for buying yogurt.
Like I said, this wasn’t my best saving trip, but it only took me about 30 minutes this morning with two munchkins crawling all over me to get everything together and head out. It took two hours to do the actual shopping trip, but that had alot to do with Baby pulling Princess’ hair, throwing stuff out of the cart and feeding them their snacks to survive the shopping time. 🙂
A couple of weeks ago I was scouring the internet, looking for yummy recipes to try out, when I saw an inviting recipe a friend had shared. It had two ingredients, sounded delicious and was even low fat! Color me intrigued! I saved the recipe for when I needed a dessert to share that was quick to prepare and easy on the thighs, and dug into the preparation. I must say, Princess Peach and I enjoyed making this one, and everyone enjoyed eating it. If you’re looking for a simple, quick and fun recipe to whip up with a small child, this one would work even for a child with a short attention span (or a big person short on time).
Now, on to the “whatcha need” and “how to” part of things! 🙂
Two Ingredient Cake!
Here’s a picture of Princess Peach with the “whatcha needs”. Can you handle all those ingredients?? This is for real, folks! No water, no eggs, no anything other than angel food cake mix and a 20 ounce can of crushed pineapple. Easy peasy!! 🙂
“How To”…
Preheat the oven to 350 F.
Next- wait for it– you dump them both in a big mixing bowl and stir them together with this high tech stirramajigger gadget otherwise known as a spoon. I don’t know how well you can tell in this picture, but the batter does this neato fizzy and fluffy texture that Princess Peach and I thought was pretty fun.
*Penny Pinching Peach is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
Easy peasy cake batter!
Pour this fluffy fizzy concoction into a greased Wilton 9×13 Pan
, pop it into the oven for about 25 minutes or until the top is lightly brown and a toothpick poked into the center comes out clean.
This next step is optional, unless you are my little princess, then it is mandatory. While your cake is baking, lick the mixing spoon to taste test your latest creation. Go ahead! You know you wanna! 😉
This would be really good with some Cool Whip on top of it and maybe even some pineapple topping
, but it is also delicious plain. It was a definite hit with our family! It is moist and can even be eaten with your hands, which is a big plus for toddlers. Did I mention it is also low fat? Uh-huh, I said it! You can thank me later. 😉
What’s your favorite dessert? We love alot of different kinds at our house. My husband loves all things peanut butter, my daughter’s a strawberry fiend, and I love chocolate. Honestly, we just enjoy all things sweet just a little too much, I’ve gotta admit. This is a new one to add to our ever growing arsenal of delectability, for sure!
Why are you still sitting here??? Get to baking!! 🙂
Yesterday was my beautiful little miracle baby boy’s first birthday.
It’s a day we weren’t sure we would have the joy of celebrating, and feel so blessed that he and I are both here for it.
When my water broke long before my due date, I had to have an emergency C-section and emergency surgery. It was necessary, complicated and utterly terrifying.
When they took me into the recovery room after surgery, my husband was waiting there for me. My blood pressure was dangerously low, and it wouldn’t rise. They were close to having to get the doctors in there to do something about it, because it was taking too long. Even still, I tried to send my husband to our son, until he assured me that his sister was there watching him and keeping him updated on how he was doing. I knew the baby was needing extra monitoring. What I didn’t know was how dire things were for my little boy, and how close we came to losing him.
I didn’t find out how many times we almost lost our son until after we were both home from the hospital. I couldn’t have handled it.
The First Time I Held Him
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When I was finally taken to a regular room and stabilized enough for my husband to be comfortable leaving me in the room with my sister-in-law (who stayed with us at the hospital those first nightmarish couple of days), he was gone for what seemed like forever. When he came back, he brought a doctor to tell me that our son had went into respiratory arrest, was in serious condition and had to stay in the NICU.
I wanted nothing more than to see, touch, and hold my little boy, but we were both fighting our separate battles
It was seven hours before I even got to see him by being pushed in a wheelchair, along with my IVs, to the NICU. It was a couple of days before I could hold him. Until then, and even most of the time after, I would just sit holding his hand and singing You Are My Sunshine to him. He is still eerily soothed by that particular song.
Happy Birthday to ME!!
Anyway, fast forward a week, including my being discharged for two days before our son was, sleeping at the Ronald McDonald House at night and spending all day at the hospital, pumping every few hours to try to get milk, finally getting it in, insisting that I would be able to breastfeed him (and being scared he wouldn’t by the time he could try at 5 days old), amazed when he took to breastfeeding like a champ, being sad about being away from my daughter and glad that at least she was with grandparents who brought her to see me a couple times, appreciation for the outpouring of love from friends, family & church family, rejoicing at going home, being scared because I couldn’t even stand up by myself and being relieved to find out my nana was coming to stay with us until I could function…excuse the run-on sentence, but it’s overwhelming to even think about now.
We finally were able to bring our baby boy home to meet his big sister!
First Day Home & Meeting
I could hardly let my little angel out of my arms for months. I was scared he’d stop breathing.
I was also so far beyond grateful to be able to hold him- and even our daughter- that I think I spoiled them both rotten for awhile. If my nana hadn’t come to stay with us for the first several weeks after we came home, I couldn’t have taken care of them, though. I couldn’t even walk more than a few steps without assistance for weeks, much less wrestle a toddler or safely walk carrying a new baby.
Family
A year later, I can’t even share all of the emotions I feel as I look in my lap right now at my healthy, happy, strong, chubby cheeked, mischievious little blessing of a boy! When we had his first birthday party a couple of days ago, it was not just celebrating a milestone of turning a year old. It was celebrating life, health and family!
We are so amazingly blessed, and the trauma of our little man’s beginning has just made us appreciate it that much more. It’s even easier to cope with being exhausted, frustrated and never caught up with anything when you are just insanely grateful to be here to experience all of it.
I cherish life so much more now than I did before my pregnancy with our son turned complicated.
I hope that anyone else who has nearly lost a child or had a near death experience themselves can take that gift with them through life. It’s not an experience I would wish on anyone, but it gives an appreciation for something so many of us take for granted.
I’m not sure if anyone noticed that I missed my normal “Cooking With Coupons” blog of the week or posting anything else for a few days. I apologize for the silence. What should have been my mom’s 51st birthday was a few days ago. My brain just hasn’t been able to churn out any creative thinking in the little time I’ve had to attempt to use it, and nothing I have written was inspiring me to post it.
My mom was one of the most kind and caring folks I have ever known.
She was radiant, and I only wish she were here now to continue to share that radiant sweetness she had with the next generation. She isn’t, but I am, so I’m doing my best to pass it along. Today, I’m going to just share a few thoughts and issue a challenge in her honor.
First, I’ll share my daughter’s reaction to my mom’s birthday:
Princess Peach was upset that I didn’t make a cake for my mommy’s birthday, and was quick to let me know about it. She said I needed to make a cake right now so she could put a candle in it and make a wish for her grandma. When I asked her what she would wish for Grandma, she replied “I’d wish for her to be able to come down from Heaven to visit so she could meet her beeeeauuuuutiful grandbaby!” as she patted her own little chest. Her mommy wishes her wish could come true.
Moving on…
All of us know someone who needs encouragement in one way or another.
Take a few minutes out of your day and just do it. Some ideas?
Send a card to a widow whose husband passed a couple of months ago, sharing a fond memory you have of him (if you knew him). By that point, most folks have forgotten she is still alone and needing something to help fill the void, but she hasn’t and the loneliness is probably kicking in at a new depth.
For the teenager who struggles with school, but got a great report card, send an email or a note on social media letting him know how proud you are of his efforts. It helps teens to know others notice when they are doing well, and not just when they screw up. (We all know they get in enough trouble! 🙂
If you know a child who is painfully shy, take a minute to speak to her and let her feel heard and noticed, whether commenting on her drawngs or complimenting her outfit. Don’t push her too much and scare her, just pay attention. Your acknowledgement could help her come out of her shell, and will at least help her to know she isn’t invisible. (Spoken as a former social phobic young girl. 🙂 )
If you see a mommy struggling to get into the grocery store juggling little ones, cuppies, purse and diaper bag, open the door and compliment her on her cutiepies. You’ll help her feel better about the tough job of being a parent.
Encourage your children to be kind. Have them color pictures for grandparents, do thank you notes for those who do nice things for them, hug the elderly woman who always sits on the pew in front of you at church, or other little things that can brighten lives.
If you know someone is going through something you’ve been through already, share with them how you got through. Not in a judgmental way, just in a manner to let them know they aren’t alone and someone else has been there and survived.
Smile. Just smile at people. It takes less effort than scowling, and the trickle effect of your sunny mood can brighten someone’s sour face. 🙂
I could go on all day, but I won’t. The point I’m trying to make here is that you don’t have to do anything huge. Just do something small every day you’re blessed with the precious gift of life to spread kindness in the world. It makes a much bigger difference than you may ever know.
Now for the challenge:
I want to ask anyone who reads this to share at least one “small” kindness someone did for you that made a difference for you. Maybe it will inspire others to do the same for someone else, continuing the kindness bestowed on you. Please, please share!
Remember…
“You can change the world one act of random kindness at a time.”
To see the beginning of this series, head on over to Acts of Kindness.
My 3 1/2 year old, Princess Peach, loves to do anything cute, creative and crafty. I love anything that will keep her content, busy and not destroying anything for an entire hour at a time. I went on a quick internet browse for some things to fit the bill the other day when I felt a migraine coming on and needed her quietly occupied. I saw something kinda similar to this, and did my own thing from there with the materials I had on hand and the age of my munchkin. This little egg carton upcycled caterpillar project made us both happy! 🙂
First, I took an egg carton and cut the bottom off of it, then cut the two egg holder rows apart.
Curliques
Next, I poked a hole in each side of the end I designated the head of each caterpillar. I had a green pipe cleaner that I cut in half, threaded one half through the head of each little critter’s head and twirled the ends into cutsie curliques.
At this point, I would’ve put some googly eyes on the caterpillars for best results, but I didn’t have any. I thought about gluing small black buttons on for the eyes, but did I mention I started this whole project ’cause I had a migraine coming on? Yeah. So, I wound up just doodling eyes and a little cartoon mouth on each with markers and calling it good.
Princess Peach’s Project
From here, Princess Peach took the reins. I laid out her markers and a few different types of stickers for her to choose from to decorate and left her at the kitchen table while I laid on the living room couch trying to keep the migraine from coming on while being able to keep an eye on her and my little Bam-Bam baby boy. (Didn’t work, by the way. Worst migraine in forever!) For older kiddos or when you’re in a more hands-on mood, you could definitely add some glitter glue, buttons to be glued on as spots, macaroni art designs or anything else your little hearts desire.
My little artist had a great time creating her little critters, and when she was done she had just as much fun playing with them. She dubbed them brother and sister, and had them going on adventures together all over the house. It was pretty stinkin’ cute, even though part of her adventures took place making them fly around the bathroom telling me to feel better while I was throwing up from the migraine pain & pressure.
Want a rating on a scale of “zero” to “you’ve gotta do this”? Honey, if you’ve got preschoolers who need a rainy day or busy time activity that costs you nothing you don’t already have on hand and could even be considered “green”, I’d call egg carton caterpillars a “gotta do this” kinda activity. 😉
Diapered dude and discount diva proving frugal is cool!
Lately life has been moving right along at a busy pace, and I don’t always have time to prepare alot of dishes, desserts or anything special at all. This one dish meal is very simple to throw together, though, along with having some great coupons to go with it this week. You mix it up in the casserole dish, too, so clean-up is quick and easy, as well. It covers all of the food groups in that one dish, too, so…woohoo for health! On the days when my kiddos are more-than-usually underfoot and thinking my every moment revolves around their every sneeze and whim, one dish dinners are almost literally lifesavers. 🙂 What more could a busy person want from a hearty family dinner?
Throw-Together Casserole
1/2 pound sausage, fried and drained
1/4 cup sliced black olives
1/4 cup sliced green olives
1 cup whole kernel corn
1 cup chopped canned tomatoes
1/2 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
1 cup cubed Cheddar cheese
1 cup cooked white rice
~Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
~In a 2 quart casserole dish, combine all ingredients. Mix together well.
~Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 minutes.
Today I combined two $3 off Bic coupons from the Sunday paper with a Buy One, Get One 50% Off sale going on through Saturday at CVS. I paid 40 cents (just the sales tax) for two packs of Bic razors! That’s 2 cents per razor!! 🙂 These coupons will probably add up to very cheap deals on Bic at other stores, also, but that’s the one I had time to go to and it worked well.
Also, if you need anything that isn’t on sale this week, my Sunday paper had a circular with a 20% off coupon that is also good through Saturday. I’m not sure if that’s a local CVS circular or if it is nationwide. You can combine this with store coupons and manufacturer’s coupons, so that can add up to a good deal. I used it on nursing pads, wipes, diapers and Gillette products for my hubby. He will only use Gillette razors and shave gel. (Are all men stuck on certain brands???) They have a deal this week where you spend $30 and get $10 Extra Care Bucks back. I had several coupons to combine with it, including a BOGO, so it worked out to some super savings on expensive products. 🙂
What would you use the 20% off coupon for? 🙂 Are you or a family member stuck on one particular type or brand of a product, and won’t use anything else regardless of price?
I was given the Liebster Award by two of my fellow bloggers- My 3 Monsters http://my3monsters.wordpress.com/ and WAHMs Live Green http://www.wahfamilieslivegreen.com/. Both ladies have blogs that run pretty true to what their titles hint at, and I’d encourage everyone to check them out. I’m truly flattered to be thought of for this award, and am nominating some wonderful and different bloggers myself this time around. I tried to make this fresh, but some of the facts about me are just the same. 🙂
These are the Liebster Award rules; “When nominated, the blogger must list eleven facts about his/herself, answers questions given by the nominator, and come up with eleven questions for the bloggers he/she nominates.” The bloggers are also supposed to have under 300 followers.
Here goes something!
♥ Eleven Facts About Penny Pinching Peach♥
Hubby Training
•I probably have one of the hardest working husbands in the world. He’s a firefighter/paramedic, and I’m very proud of the fact my husband is willing to save lives and help others for a living.
•My dream growing up was to be a mommy and…..whatever else. The only unchanging part was that I wanted to be a mommy. My two munchkins? Crazy little dreams come true! 🙂
•I come from a long & proud line of penny pinching peaches.
•I was peeling taters in the kitchen with my mom when I was 7. I’m passing on the helping-in-the-kitchen-early-on tradition to my little girl, who already puts up freshly washed silverware and crushes cans for recycling at the ripe ol’ age of 3 1/2.
•I was homeschooled, graduating at age 15 in the top 1% of graduating seniors nationwide.
•I lost my mom in 2006, and I miss her every day, but she lives on in the hearts of all who loved her.
•I love doing crafts, but haven’t been able to do as many crafts since having babies.
•I am a lifelong bookworm, but that is yet another neglected hobby of mine since having little ones.
Chicks and Chica
•I love cooking and baking. Feeding folks the vittles I stir up is just the icing on the cake!
•I taught myself calligraphy when I was in middle school. That seems like an obscure and useless skill, but it has come in handy to add a bit of pizzazz to the lettering when making cards.
♥Questions From My 3 Monsters♥
1.Why did you start blogging? Several reasons, one being that friends & family encouraged me to officially share what I’d been sharing unofficially forever. 2.What inspires your blog? My family, frugality and random things. 3.What is your favourite holiday and why? Christmas, because it brings my little ones so much joy. 4.What is an important tradition in your family? Right now? My daughter “trick or treats” for prizes when she goes potty. We’re still forming our lifelong traditions, though. 🙂 5.How many children do you think is the ideal number to have? I think it varies according to the family, honestly. For some, that number is none or one. For others, it is 5 or 10. I’m not sure what it is for us yet, but I hope it’s at least one more than we have. 🙂 6.What is your family’s favourite meal? Hmm… that’s a toughie! My family loves my chicken and dumplings. Ritz cracker chicken and chicken livers with mashed taters & green beans. A creamy chicken concoction I tried recently that the hubby called the “best chicken ever”. Chicken, apparently?? lol
I Cook Good, Mommy!
7.Any suggestions for picky eaters? (This question is purely for selfish reasons!) My little ones generally eat well, but when my daughter goes through a picky patch, I get her input on meals. I’ll say “Shell noodles or curly?” or let her help mix things, dump ingredients in a bowl….pretty much anything to be involved with the meal. When kids help make something, they usually eat it. 🙂 8.What is your dream vacation? Happy, peaceful, warm, and without some weird agenda? lol 9.What kinds of music do you listen to? Country, rock, Christian worship/contemporary. 10.Coffee or tea? Sweet iced tea. 11.If you could offer kids one piece of advice for the future what would it be? ONE?!? Don’t let what the rest of society is doing or thinking dictate your morals and ideas.♥Penny Pinching Peach’s Liebster Award Nominees♥
•You obviously enjoy blogging, but what’s a hobby you’re known for?
•What is your favorite way to save?
•If you could spend your weekend any way you wanted, what would you do?
•Do you have any pets?
•Which beauty item can you not live without?
•What is your favorite place to shop, online or offline?
•What two words best describes your personality?
•What is your favorite snack?
•Do you have any hidden talents?
•What would you like to be remembered for?
Congratulations to all of these fantastic bloggers!
I look forward to reading your replies and to continue keeping up with all of your fantastic blogs! Please visit and follow all of these interesting bloggers. I know you’ll enjoy them as much as I do!
My daughter two years ago with a different cold sweet treat.
I just spent a good part of the afternoon putting plants out in our little yard garden. It’s warm outside, and the pollen count is at an ungodly high level. I would love to eat icecream right now, since I got quite warm & dusty and my throat is pretty itchy from that pesky yellow haze covering everything outside. I’m being a good girl and resisting temptation for the moment, but I’m sharing a tempting recipe that might make it difficult for y’all to keep from indulging. 🙂 What I’m sharing today is a frugal tip for fancifying that delectably cool warm weather treat: Homemade cookie cups filled with icecream. Mmm, mmmmmmm!!! 🙂 I’ve got savings to go along with it, which certainly sweetens the deal for me! 🙂
What you need: Cookie dough and a muffin tin, plus whatever you want to fill them with. I have always seen chocolate chip cookie dough used, but I’m sure other types would work and would like to try some other varieties this warm season.
What to do: Flip the muffin tin over, form the cookie dough around the cups instead of inside, then bake the pan upside down like that. Let the cookies cool, then pop them off of there and fill them with icecream or frozen yogurt of your choice, or even fresh chopped fruit with whipped cream on top, if you prefer.
Some flavor combinations that I think would be good to try: The classic chocolate chip cookies with vanilla, chocolate or peanut butter icecream. Chocolate chocolate chip cookies with peanut butter or strawberry icecream. Peanut butter cookies with chocolate icecream. Sugar cookies with strawberry icecream or fresh fruit & whipped cream. Your imagination is your limit! 🙂
Which coupons to print: Pillsbury refrigerated cookie dough and Yoplait frozen yogurt.
Bonus savings: Saving Star has an additional $1 on Pillsbury refrigerated cookie dough that will go to your account there if you purchase at one of your registered stores using your store card! If you aren’t signed up for saving star, you can read up on it and then sign up by going to my post on Saving Star here:
What flavor combination can you come up with? Which do you think would taste the best? 🙂
“You can change the world one act of random kindness at a time.”
When my mom was diagnosed with cancer in October of 2006, we had no idea how quickly it would take her away from us. She had always been so strong, healthy and active that it was hard to imagine something so seemingly intangible & mysterious as cancer could beat her. To our shock and horror, it stole her life, and rapidly. In a short two months, my vibrant mom was gone.
I won’t go too deeply into the details of her sickness and our loss right now, since that isn’t the point of sharing this. The point of sharing is the legacy of kindness that my mom left behind and the ripples of kindness others showed when she was taken from us so quickly.
When I lost my mom, I also lost my best friend.
The hole left in my life and heart is something indescribable, and nothing anyone could understand without having been there. There were those who probably didn’t know what to do to help me, so they did nothing. There were many more who probably knew they couldn’t make my pain go away, but they still reached out to let me know that I was not alone. Most of the latter were probably unaware of the difference they made for me and my family, but every little thing someone did for us made a huge impact. Without the kindness of those around us, I don’t know that we could have made it through our loss as well as I have.
Do you want to know some of the many acts of kindness I was blessed with during the loss of my mom?
When my mom was diagnosed with cancer, I had just started getting really involved with a new church community. I didn’t expect much support or love from them, since I’d had alot of negative & unkind experiences with church people in my life previously, but they were there for me every step of the way. They didn’t just pray for me, which is always appreciated, but they actively let me know they cared. They’d come to me and ask how my mom was and how I was handling things and if I needed anything. They also reached out to my brother, and were a strong support for him during his grieving process. I would never have asked for help, even with the offer, but the offers still mattered and the concern made it’s impact.
Mom & Brother At a Family Reunion, 2005
Family and friends alike called and emailed regularly to check on us and let us know they were thinking of us. Some offered help. Most just let us know they cared. All were an important part of our family’s survival of my mom not surviving.
My dad owns his own business, Cue Man Billiards and Hightower Cues http://www.hightowercues.com, and my parents had no health insurance. Other business owners and individuals in the billiard industry organized a fundraiser to assist with the mounting medical bills. The money helped. The fact that all of those people cared enough about our family and had that much respect & concern for my dad to reach into their pockets and open their hearts to help us in our time of need meant even more than the cash, though. I saw my dad- who is not a very emotional person- with tears in his eyes because of what the gestures of so many people in his business world meant to him. The billiard industry doesn’t have the best reputation in some circles, but I can say from experience that there are some amazing and good hearted folks who love pool. 🙂
Speaking of my dad’s business… even his customers showed kindness to us. I was working with my dad at the time, and we would have customers who were aware of our circumstances ask on a regular basis about how my mom and our family was doing when they called or emailed to order . They probably didn’t know, but the moment it took to show care and kindness made a lasting impact.
I was involved in an online community who consistently kept up a thread just for prayers and encouragement for me through this time, and each post reminded me that our family was not alone on an island of sickness. Friends who were distant would send e-cards and messages of well wishes, prayer and just reminders that they cared. I didn’t realize how many true friends that I had until I was going through something I could never have handled alone.
The women at the gym my mom & I once frequented together now saw me coming in alone, and kept up with her sickness and sent well wishes to her on a regular basis.
When my mom passed away, I was shocked at how many people from near and far came to pay respects to her and show support to those of us grieving this loss of this amazing woman. Each and every member of my Bible study group showed up either at the funeral home for visitation or the funeral. Women from the gym my mom had once loved to go to came to show their final respects. Most of our relatives, both close and remote, seemed to have shown up. Old friends even came from states away to be there for us. I was amazed at all of the names in the sign-in book.
(On the topic of that sign-in book… please, please, please always sign that book when you go to a visitation, viewing or funeral! It is so important to the grieving family, because they may be in such a daze that they can’t recall or even notice everyone who is there. That book will tell them you were there for them.)
Brother at his daughter’s 1st birthday in 2008, passing on the love mom left with us.
There were tons of flowers and cards and even a beautiful painting from people whose lives had been touched by the radiant & loving life my mom had led.
People from my church, my dad’s church and my uncle’s church provided us with food for meals we would never have bothered to cook for the first couple of weeks. Our next door neighbor even brought us a hot breakfast the morning of my mom’s funeral. In our grief, we would most likely have forgotten about eating anything significant, but these people literally gave us comfort food.
A couple of people donated to the cancer society in my mom name. Some told me stories of ways that she had touched their lives. Others simply said they were sorry for our loss or said nothing and gave me a hug. All of them touched my heart deeply, because the feeling behind the act is the most important thing of all.
Noone made anyone do anything for us. They just cared, and showed it through their acts of kindness.
There were many more that I’m not mentioning, but it would fill pages upon pages. The point of sharing all of this is to encourage everyone who reads this that no kindness is too small, no word too insignificant, no action too simple to make a difference.
For my fellow penny pinchers out there, kindness costs you nothing and gives so much. Just telling someone who is grieving or having a difficult time in life “I care” or “I am here for you” goes a long ways, if you truly mean that from your heart. All of those tiny acts of kindness, along with the legacy of my mama’s love that I have kept in my heart, helped carry me through the murky mire of overwhelming and debilitating grief that eventually threatened to drown me.
In my everyday life, I’ve also experienced many acts of random kindness, but… well, that’s another story of kindness for another day. 🙂
Mom in Joyful Times. She taught me so much about what it means to be kind! Help me pass that on!
Is there some small kindness someone did for you during a low point in your life that helped you to struggle on another day? Please share!
Remember…
“You can change the world one act of random kindness at a time.”
A couple of weeks ago I was scouring the internet, looking for yummy recipes to try out, when I saw an inviting recipe a friend had shared. It had two ingredients, sounded delicious and was even low fat! Color me intrigued! I saved the recipe for when I needed a dessert to share that was quick to prepare and easy on the thighs, and dug into the preparation. I must say, Princess Peach and I enjoyed making this one, and everyone enjoyed eating it. If you’re looking for a simple, quick and fun recipe to whip up with a small child, this one would work even for a child with a short attention span (or a big person short on time).
to him. He is still eerily soothed by that particular song.
and this 
Penny Pinching Peach 