Pets In The Family And How Your Children Can Benefit

We had a dog before my oldest was born and I grew up on a farm with many pets.  It has been interesting to see since my children were babies, to my oldest now being almost 12 years old, what having a dog to us now having 3 dogs has affected them.  It has meant that from the time they were old enough as babies to start moving around, that they have been taught the right way to treat animals.  They were taught from the beginning that they couldn't "pull" on the dog and that they had to be gentle, they couldn't "ride" the dog, or treat them in any other malicious way.  I believe this has helped them learn how to treat animals with respect and compassion.  Our dogs have become their "best friends".  

When my oldest was almost 6, we had gotten a new puppy, when I learned from a coworker about dog 4-H.  I grew up involved with 4-H for 9 years in the Home Ec. branch and know what a wonderful program it is.  Let me tell you that if I had had the opportunity to be in dog 4-H, I would have been right in my element!  When I called the leader to find out more, I was surprised that she encouraged my almost 6 year old to start with a 9 week old puppy!  Now, all 3 of my boys are involved, thus why we have 3 dogs.  My youngest, who turns 6 next month, is now a Cloverbud.

With being in 4-H, it has meant that my boys have learned/are learning how to be responsible and compassionate pet owners.  They learn how to take care of their dogs and I can proudly say, that my oldest son has fed our dogs EVERY day for over 4 years!  He will be turning 12 in October.  In July each summer, their 4-H group goes to our local Animal Shelter every Tuesday for 2 hours and help walk and groom the dogs at the shelter.  In fact this is how we adopted Teddy 5 years ago as a senior dog, that unfortunately passed away last October.  He was my oldest son's 4-H dog for 3 years and it was heartbreaking for the boys when he passed away last fall.  However, this experience has also helped them learn a valuable life lesson on dying and losing someone/something and how to cope.

We also adopted Herman the pug from the animal shelter 3 years ago and he automatically became my oldest son's best friend.  He has slept with him every night since coming home with us.  My oldest even reads out loud to him every night before going to sleep and has become his new 4-H dog since Teddy passed away last fall.

Every Thursday evening from April, until after the fair at the end of August, their 4-H group practices Obedience training and Fitting & Showing.  What is funny, is that the dogs love going just as much as the boys!

If you ask my youngest son, he will tell you that there are 8 "people" in our family - Mom, Dad, 3 boys and 3 dogs!  I truly believe that my boys growing up with pets, is helping them grow into compassionate, respectful and responsible young men.

Why I Am In Love With Tria's Age-Defying Laser

Running A Household On A Budget - Stocking Up On Laundry Detergent

In a household of 3 little boys, my husband, and myself, you can imagine that I have a little bit of laundry to do each week!  One of the things I learned about when I learned how to coupon 4 1/2 years ago, was to stock up when you find an excellent deal on something.  In my first year of couponing, I was able to build up a stockpile of laundry detergent that I am just coming to the end of.  Yes, you heard me right,  I was able to stock up on enough laundry detergent that I haven't had to buy laundry detergent for about 3 1/2 years!  A little over a month ago I noticed that I only had a couple of bottles left.  That meant it was time to start watching for the right sale to combine with the right coupons.  However, I almost broke down and spent more than I am accustomed too a couple of weeks ago, as I was afraid that the right deal wasn't showing up.  However, this week I found that deal.

This week, Walgreens put a sale on Purex where you buy 1 bottle at $5.99 and then get one free.  When it is a store sale where you get one free, you can still use a manufacturer's coupon on the free item.  This Sunday's paper came out with Purex coupons for $1.50 for one bottle, as well as coupons for $3 off of 2.  I purchase a "coupon clipper" subscription to our local paper for $20 a month.  This means that I get a daily paper and 5 copies of the Sunday paper to get all of the coupon inserts.  As well, I have a few friends that pass along their coupon inserts to me.  Usually I have 8 or 9 sets of coupons from the Sunday paper.  So guess how I spend my Sunday nights?  Clipping coupons and putting them into my coupon binder. It has become my weekly routine. Organizing them into a binder by categories was something I learned in the couponing class I attended when I started.

You can see that my binder is two sided.  On the right side I have all of my household and personal item coupons, and on the left side are all of my grocery coupons.

So with the buy one get one for free sale at Walgreens this week, I was able to get 16 bottles of Purex (33 loads per bottle approximately) using 8 coupons for $3.00 off of 2 bottles for $26.80 with sales tax.  With spending $26.80, I saved $71.92 for a total savings value of $75%!  

Finding An Amazing Swim Suit - Divinita Sole

How many of you just LOVE to swim suit shop?  That's what I thought.  After possibly having had a few children and being in our 30's, 40's and beyond....... let just say that sometimes it is not the most fun shopping?   Some of us may not even want to put one on, as A Thrifty Mom talks about.  Last year I read this review on  A Thrifty Mom where she raved about Diviine Modestee's swim suits.  She talked about how Costco had a great deal on them, but my local Costco did not carry them at that time.  They can be ordered online where you can design your own combination , but they cost slightly more online than the deal she had posted about at Costco.  Also, I wanted to see and feel one for myself  and check out the sizing before buying one.  How many of you when you do psych yourself up to go swim suit shopping find it a miserable experience?  Finding the right style, fit, cut and size can be quite discouraging.  Not to mention the whole fitting room and trying them on experience.   I usually find after one or two stores and fitting rooms, I am pretty much done and totally frustrated for at least another year before I will even try again.  Also, for those  of you that  have tried ordering swim suits online and found the quality of the suit to be poor and the sizing to be completely off?

I will tell you that the review of these swim suits on A Thrifty Mom obviously stuck with me, because this morning when I walked into Costco and saw them I was so excited!  This is why I am posting.  I want everyone to know that I am not being solicited to write this review and am not being compensated in any way.  As I took them off the rack to look at them, I could quickly tell that it was obvious that they were true quality, and as I looked at the sizes, they appeared true to size.  Because they are a special item in store, there was a representative/sales lady right with them to explain the suits and show me the size chart.  She assured me that if I tried it on at home and did not like it or needed a different size, that it would be absolutely no problem to bring it back and either return it or get a different size.  I have always found Costco to be excellent about returns and so I did not doubt this.  Looking at these suits, they are so cute, trendy, modern and have good coverage!  I just couldn't resist, so  I called my husband and asked if I could get one for Mother's Day and he said yes!  I was excited to get home and try it on.  Guess what?  I tried it on, it fit true to size, it is totally cute, and I think I am going to love it!  Plus it was a great deal.  I quickly got online and priced it.  I saved at least $75 by getting it at Costco vs buying it online.  Having said that though,  I would say that if you aren't able to get one at a Costco wherever you are, that you can order them online at  Divinita Sole Swimwear .   For many, a great swim suit is worth the money and with these being quality swim suits, it may be well worth it for you.