About Us

My name is Heather and I have been the help meet to my wonderful husband, Len, for 20 years. Our children are Hope (17), Lenny (14), Lily (9), Wren (Born to heaven, 10/02), Mary (Born to heaven, 9/03), Lucy (Born to heaven, Early '04), and Peter (5). Five doggies round out our happy brood.

ClustrMap

Morning Basket

Image of The Wheel on the School

Image of Saints for Young Readers for Every Day, Vol. 1: January-June

Image of The New Saint Joseph First Communion Catechism

Image of A Child's Garden of Verses

Image of Romeo and Juliet

On the Nightstand

Image of The Power of Less: The Fine Art of Limiting Yourself to the Essential...in Business and in Life

Image of The Magic of Ordinary Days

Image of Simplify Your Life: Get Organized and Stay That Way

What Do You Do With Your Old Snapple Bottles?

This idea would come under the categories of both “frugal” and “green”.  I am not a big fan of plastic water bottles (both disposable and reusable).  I tried a stainless steel bottle and the water always tasted bad to me.  So when a friend recommended using empty Snapple bottles as water bottles, I gave it [...]

Book Recommendation: The Power of Less by Leo Babauta

This is the time of year when I look to simplify and streamline my life.  Of course I got a stack of this type of book out from our local library.  Yes, that’s my personality… if one is good then twelve is better… at least when it comes to books. 

Well this one was definitely [...]

Small Successes – Jan. 22, 2009 edition

I saw this over at Ten kids and a dog and thought that it would be great for lifting my spirits during these dark, cold days of winter. Thanks Joann!!!  You can check out more over at Faith & Family Live!

Here’s my list:

1-  Getting back on track with formal school work this week [...]

My Five Most Important Priorities

In my continuing journey through How Did I Get So Busy?: The 28-day Plan to Free Your Time, Reclaim Your Schedule, and Reconnect with What Matters Most , I was asked to write down my 5 most important priorities.  These priorities are meant to guide me as I evaluate my activities as well as the items [...]

Frugal Fridays: My Inexpensive All-Purpose Cleaner

White vinegar mixed with water is my favorite all-purpose cleaner.  I keep a spray bottle of it under my kitchen sink and in each of my bathrooms.  We use it to spray and wipe the counters and tabletop in the kitchen.  It is used daily by the children during chores to wiped down the bathroom counters, sinks and [...]

Our First Experience With Restaurant.com

I happened upon Restaurant.com as I was browsing the internet just before Christmas.  The site offers gift certificates for local restaurants at significantly reduced prices.  As my husband and I usually go out to dinner once a week for “date night”, I decided to give it a try.  I bought a $25 gift certificate for $10 [...]

Raising the Bar: Improving Our Finances in 2008

Today at Money Saving Mom, Crystal Paine encouraged us to get our finances in shape in 2008.  Well we are blessed with an income that meets our needs and many of our wants.  We have worked hard on being fiscally responsible, have very little outstanding debt (only our mortgage), and generally live below our means.  However, as Len [...]

Frugal Fridays: Warm Feet, Warm Body

With the price of fuel oil being so out of sight this winter, I have been keeping the thermostat set pretty low: 60 at night and 64-65 during the day.  I have found several strategies for keeping warm – a hot cup of tea, keeping busy (not sitting [...]

Frugal Friday: My Trusty Friend for Preserving Your Clothes

My perhaps most important laundry secret for saving your clothing from the garbage can is Spray and Wash stain stick.  I leave a stain stick in my top dresser drawer.  Every night, I “evaluate” the shirt I wore that day to see if it needs to be “stain sticked”.  It usually does because I always [...]

Frugal Friday: Children and Broken Dishes

Around here, someone under the age of 18 always seems to be breaking a dish.  And we had gotten down to an insufficient number despite using Corelle (which are breakable in our home!!!).  I personally hate to eat off of plastic dishes.  Well I was lamenting to a friend recently about the my dish situation and wondering [...]