Easter Ramblings

Let me start off by saying, I am not a religious person- never have been and I don't think I ever will be- BUT, I do think everyone has the right to their own religious beliefs and never should be criticized because of them.

Up until the last couple of years, I never thought about WHY we celebrated holidays- we just always "did" when I was a kid so I continued to do so as an adult with my own to kids. The main holidays in my house as a kid and as an adult with my own kids are Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter - Halloween was always about Trick or Treating- getting a good costume, parties, etc. - Christmas was about family together time and love - and of course presents - Easter was filled with eggs hunts, coloring eggs, baskets, gifts, Easter ham dinner- a really FUN day - so other than Thanksgiving which was about being thankful- the holidays were/are really just commercialized for us - they are not about the true meanings behind each holiday- again, because we are not religious- but I wonder how many families celebrate 'just because' - well today is Easter, were having a family dinner-- Well, today is Christmas we have to get together- well, today is this day so we have to do that- I guess it boils down to what about the other 360 some days of the year-- do family and friends not matter on those days? Why don't we take more time out for family and friends on a regular basis?

I am fortunate enough to live across the driveway from my parents - and they live in the house I lived in from the time I was four years old. My parents have gotten to see my two kids (now 17 and 14 1/2) on every holiday of their lives- we've always celebrated together, always had meals together, everything - knowing they have got to experience that with my kids and with me, makes me happy and content to no end- they are the only two grandchildren they have in the area and they have been the joys of their lives- and I'm so happy for that.

As my kids are now older- they could care less about getting an Easter Basket- I stopped that a couple of years ago- they never have been one for the Candy- we find Halloween Candy at Christmas not ate, and we find Easter Candy in July that's not ate lol - but I do miss them being little- we would always boil and decorate the eggs with dyes, stickers, markers, etc. - we'd use the colored Easter eggs and hide them outside for an Easter Hunt ( and even inside a few times when it was bad weather) - as they got older, we'd do one color for one kid and another color for another kid- one year we made the eggs into clues - each clue taking them to another spot and when they got to the end finally they had new bikes waiting for them- we made trails out of silly string one year to all the different eggs when they were really little- such sweet wonderful memories of the holiday we celebrate for all the wrong reasons - lol - but is that completely true? Just because you may not be religious- does it mean you can't celebrate traditions that have gone on for generations? After all, millions of people celebrate in these same ways, and it truly has nothing to do with the meaning of the holiday.

This year, my mom asked me if I wanted her to cook a big meal and I said no-- I don't think you should bother ( my mom ALWAYS cooks the holiday meals- it's her tradition and not one she wants to give up yet) - as the kids are older, today is 'just another day for them' - no more Easter Hunts, no more coloring eggs, no more excited faces running around etc. - it's sleep till noon, get up and get on the computer, play their video games, play basketball, etc. lol - completely different than ten years ago - so I told mom not to bother making the meal for us- I just didn't see 'why' - well, my kids heard about it and were like-- but it's TRADITION - we ALWAYS go to Gramma's for Ham Dinner!!! So, it was funny to me, that even though they are to old to participate in the 'traditions' of all the other Easter festivities- they are NOT to old to have dinner with my parents - THAT made me very happy- that made me thankful - that made me blessed- regardless of what day it is- Easter, Christmas, a Monday or Saturday- I'm happy the kids have the love for their grandparents to want to spend the time with them for dinner- I'm happy they do have the sense of tradition to pass down to their own children someday - in the end- I'm just happy to look back at all the memories knowing my kids had wonderful times growing up and hope that they have and create many many more in the years to come.

Now--this is a really long winded post isn't it-- and I'm NOT a writer or English major so if there are mistakes in it- I don't care lol - I'm just sharing wonderful memories and thoughts today!

I hope everyone has a wonderful day- whether you do or don't celebrate Easter - and for whatever reason you do celebrate it- it's gorgeous here in upstate NY today and I'm looking forward to sunshine and 50 degree weather all week long!!

Free Printables At Karen's Party Wraps

~**Here is a list of the links with the FREEBIES~**

Beauty Shop and Orthodontist Sets

Pirates

Police Police and Sheriff

Doctor and Nurses

Fireman, EMT's

Pool Table, Darts

Etch Sketch

Checkers,Chess

Cowboy

Soldiers

Skate Board

Race Car

Cars

Blue Dog

Transformers

Denim Girl Power

Flower Doll

Gable Boxes

Clock Faces

Braces

Finally Got The Prom Dress

Well we finally ventured out today even though the weather wasn't the nicest and picked up a prom dress for Megan. I can't believe we found one she liked in the very first place we went! Megan is a no frills type of girl though- she doesn't like lace, she doesn't like poofy, she doesn't like netting, etc. etc. lol - so she was looking for something simple, yet elegant enough for prom - I think she found it-- I really love it on her and think she will look beautiful comes prom next month! We were even lucky enough to find a pair of earrings and necklace at the dress shop so all we need now is a pair of shoes and a clutch purse -- ohh and some of those little things to put in her hair once it's done up.

For those of you who are local in the area- I highly suggest you check out Dress For Less in Canton - it's located at 64 1/2 Minor street and it's where we got the dress from- she is EXTREMELY nice, was very helpful and even gave up 30% of her LOW LOW PRICE-- I was expecting to pay a MIN. of $200 for the dress and we got this for-- get ready-- $70!!! That's it!! I spent more for last years winter ball dress than I did for this - extremely good deal and she has a variety of prom dresses, wedding gowns, tuxes, etc. and even has a tanning bed and I did hear her telling someone that they offer a layaway plan too! I will keep this place in mind for the future- that is for sure!

Ohhh and that's her Kitty Artemus in the pic with Meg- he wasn't to sure what she was wearing and was going around and around her trying to figure it out-- it was to cute!

Free Mother's Day Greeting Card Kit

In honor of Mother's Day Coming soon - I'm offering a free set of pre-designed templates for you to make your mother a Greeting Card Organizer!

These are so fast and fun to put together- and something that is unique and lasting as well- once you have it put together, head on over to the $ store and pick up several cards that are $2 for $1 or even the boxes sets that come 10 for $1 or 10 for $2 - fill up the binder with the cards and you've created a terrific Mother's Day Gift that will be used for the entire year and probably longer!

To download the free pre-designed template, just go to my website at Valley View Market and click on printables on the left side and go to Greeting Card Organizer Link - enjoy!

P.S. - The instruction for making the greeting card organizer are also there on the site - just scroll down and you will find the link in the left column as well - enjoy!

I need a better Budget!!

So yesterday, hubby and I made a trip over to the SUPER Walmart which is about 35-40 minutes from me - I don't mind the drive though because the store usually has a few items I can't get at my local grocery stores/regular Walmart store- including the cooked boneless BBQ chuncks from the deli-- YUM-O - I am addicted to those things (prolly a good thing I only go to that store a few times a month LOL) - we spent a little over $200 but that included two gallons of paint for our living room and hallways, painting supplies, some chizzel tools for hubby, laundry soap, and some groceries of course - overall- NOT a bad trip. Then we stopped at another grocery store on the way home and I got bonesless chicken breasts that were on sale along with a variety of Ice cream the kids had been asking for, and a few other items- this totalled about $60 - again, not to bad since the chicken will last me the whole month and the ice cream a few weeks, etc. - not like all this stuff is going to be used up in a day!

Anyways - as every month always starts off, I say we need to budget better - my husband gets paid twice a month from two different sources, but both come within the first week of the month- now, while I like that big chunk of money at the beginning of each month, we both find it hard to balance it out to last the entire month-

The first thing I do is pay all of our bills- and we don't have anything extreme - we were lucky enough to build our own home and don't have a mortgage on it- but we have the light bill, TV bill, Phone bill, Car payment, Insurances, etc. - but with that all said and done, it takes less than half the money hubby gets in a month - and we are not mentioning how much I get from my websites as well- not even factoring that into the picture- so, when you look at it from a big picture- we have more than enough money to sustain us each month- we should be able to be saving - we should be able to take as many family vacations as we want- we should be able to do lots of things- but, I always find towards the end of the month, I'm wishing for the beginning of the month to roll around again just to start the routine all over again!!

Now, I have to say, while I don't personally by myself a lot of things like makeup, clothes, magazines, etc. - we do buy a lot for our two teens - nothing over the top, but if they want a book- or two they get it - if they want a few new shirts, they get it- a new video game, they get it - BUT- they are also given an allowance each month and when that started, they were told if they wanted any of the above things, they had to purchase it with their money- well, that's just NOT working out- they spend that money, then want me to still buy all the above stuff and I'm a sucker and give in and they know it!

AND we eat take out food WAY to much- so, I know that is the one area we could really cut back on - but it's HARD for us! They say you can buy a take out pizza from the store for $8 and save money- but we like different things - so I'd have to buy two- so that is $16 - well for a little less than $20 we can go to the local pizza place, get two pizzas and breadsticks made fresh to our liking for just a few more $$'s - to me, it's worth those few extra $'s - and the taste is better! And I always thought Beef Stew was supposed to be something 'cheap' to make- my family LOVES it- but by the time I buy the meat (and I always buy it on sale), the potatos, carrots, onions, etc. - I end up spending at least $25-$30 making the stew - grant it I make a big crock pot of it and we get a couple days out of it plus I normally give some to my parents next door as well- but for me, it's not really a 'cheap' meal lol - it makes me wonder if I'm missing the point of a stew!

So, taking all of this into consideration- I still need a better budget that I can stick to- I know a lot of it is will power- saying I'm going to do something VS actually doing it- so, this month, I'm really going to TRY to budget better - try to make less frequent trips to the stores - because going for Milk and bread always leads to a $50-$100 shopping trip instead of $10 (this goes for when hubby goes too, not just me) - so, I've paid all of our bills, got the basics for groceries, and lots of snacks- paint for our house, etc. - I'm going to try not to spend anything more until next week-- think I'll make it? LOL

I'll keep you posted on how I'm doing - wish me luck and if you have any tips, let me know!!

What a Beautiful sunrise this morning!

March Give-a-way Winner

Is Sarah -- thanks for following my blog- please contact me though to receive your prize- I don't see your information for me to contact you-- thanks everyone- I hope to get more followers of the blog and will be holding more contests as well - it's just something FUN to do!