Post #300: Dedicated to homemaking and the internet

Wow, 300 posts. In less than a year. The only conclusion I can draw from these figures is that I need to get a life.
Anyway, onto the main body of my post:
Being a wife/mother/homemaker is a wonderful career. It is a life full of beauty, blessings, and rewards.
But it's hard.
Everybody has unique gifts and talents, including me. However, organization, time management, and creativity (especially creativity!) are not among them. Seeing as these skills (among many others) are a must for being a successful wife/mother/homemaker, I am constantly looking for help, guidance, and motivation whenever and wherever I can find it. I am lucky to have such wonderful women in my life (mom, mom-in-law, sisters, sisters-in-law, cousins, friends, etc) who set an example for me and provide me with new ideas to improve my home and family life. I also take advantage of another wonderful resource at my disposal.... the internet.
There are so many wonderful websites and blogs created by people who possess the very talents and skills that I lack, and they are willing to share those talents with us. I have compiled a large collection of websites and links that I have found helpful at some time or another, and I want to share them with you. Some are for Utah only, some are for Arizona only, others are for everybody. Some of them I found through tips from family and friends, others I found by following various links from other sites, and a few of them I happened upon entirely by chance. Please feel free to check these out; maybe they will prove to be helpful and inspiring to some of you, maybe not. Warning: This is a very long post, but it is full of good stuff. If you need to, read it in different time segments. Also, if you know of any wonderful websites that are not on the list below, please share!

Family Home Evening Ideas: Ideas for fun and spiritual FHE's for kids of all ages.

• http://fheinasnap.blogspot.com/ (includes clipart and handouts


• http://bornofgoodlyparents.blogspot.com/


• http://www.ldssplash.com/fhe_ideas.htm (also contains ideas for various callings in the church)


• http://chocolateonmycranium.blogspot.com/ (this also has a great link for flannel board stories)


• http://morefheideas.blogspot.com/


• http://myfhelessons.blogspot.com/


• http://primarymamma.blogspot.com/ (also contains ideas for sharing time in primary)


• http://nataliesfhespot.blogspot.com/ (specifically geared for children age 0-5)


• http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/ (basically just a site filled with crafts and activities for young children, many of which can be incorporated into FHE)
  
  Food Storage: Ideas for collecting, storing, and - equally important - using food storage, as our prophets have counseled us to do.



• http://myfoodstoragedeals.blogspot.com/ - the blog is free (one of the most useful posts is on Oct 27, 2008 - check it out), but she also has a website (for UTAH only) called www.myfoodstoragedeals.com. This site offers different services for different prices. For $4.95/mo, you can access the deals page. She compares all the sales each week at Maceys, Smiths, Albertsons, Harmons, and Reams. She separates the sale items into 3 categories. The most important category, and the one you should compile your shopping list from, is colored in red. These prices are cheaper than Walmart, Costco, and the LDS Cannery, and the price is only this low once or twice a year--- so stock up. Or, for $7.95/mo, you can access this information, plus she creates a scrumptious 7-day dinner menu out of the items found mainly in the red category. She's very thorough and imaginative, and it is well worth the money, in my opinion. To see an example of one of her price comparison sheets for an old week, click HERE. She also includes a sheet for the Best of the Best deals, and an example can be found HERE. To get these great prices ($4.95/7.95), simply enter the coupon code SHANDRA when signing up for the website.


• http://www.preparetodaynewsletter.blogspot.com/ (I think she only shows 1 post at a time on her main screen, so just click 'Older Posts' to view past posts.)


• http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net/ -- a fantastic and free site that give helpful hints and food storage collection and usage, include 10 baby steps to building your food storage step-by-step, plus recipes.


• http://simplylivingsmart.com/ -- great advice and ideas


• http://theprudenthomemaker.com -- includes recipes/menus, shopping tips, gardening tips, sewing tips, and homeschooling info


• http://www.houseoforder.blogspot.com -- a great blog about cooking, cleaning, organizing, collecting food storage... everything that promotes a house of order. Also connected to the website www.houseoforder.com


• http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com -- promotes low-cost home cooking from scratch. Also associated with her blog www.hillbillyhousewife.com/blog/, which provides frugal gift ideas, plus...


• http://allingoodhealth.blogspot.com/ -- healthy, fun, and frugal living with a lower impact on our planet


• http://allaboutfoodstorage.com/ -- just great food storage ideas in general


• http://familyfoodstorage.net/site/ -- ditto


• http://cookmyfoodstorage.blogspot.com/ -- great recipes and menus from food storage


• http://adventuresinbloggingtoo.blogspot.com/ -- preparedness blog


• http://iprepared.blogspot.com/ -- great preparedness blog


• http://mamasfoodstorage.blogspot.com/ -- another great preparedness blog


• http://preparedldsfamily.blogspot.com/ -- another great preparedness blog


• http://preparednessmatters.blogspot.com/ -- ditto


• http://safelygatheredin.blogspot.com/ -- terrific step-by-step guide to becoming prepared


• http://thelittleredhenfoodsite.blogspot.com/ -- storing, preparing, and enjoying food


• http://thepotager.blogspot.com/ -- general preparedness and gardening blog


• http://threemonthsupply.blogspot.com/ -- ideas for building a 3-month supply (obviously)


• http://blog.totallyready.com/ -- general preparedness blog


• http://everdayfoodstorage.net -- fantastic food storage blog


• http://mormonfoodstorage.blogspot.com/ -- ditto


• http://foodstoragelady.blogspot.com/ -- great food storage/ grocery deals for my friends/family in ARIZONA

Economy/Frugality/Grocery Deals: Other people out there get to do all the research and find what all the great deals are and where... so we can save money while still building food storage.

• www.azdealsbyallison.blogspot.com --weekly grocery deals for friends/family in ARIZONA


• http://bargainmoms.blogspot.com/ --weekly grocery deals for friends/family in ARIZONA


• http://megansrecipesandmore.blogspot.com/ --weekly grocery deals for friends/family in ARIZONA


• http://www.sistersavings.net/ --weekly grocery deals for friends/family in ARIZONA and UTAH


• www.myfoodstoragedeals.com --see how this works as described above, in the Food Storage section


• www.mysquarefootgarden.net -- gardening and being self-sufficient


• http://sharingdeals.blogspot.com/ --deals of the week for UTAH


• http://www.utahcityguide.com/new/guru/index.asp -- the UTAH Grocery Guru highlights one store a week, lists the best deals found there, then compiles a 7-day dinner menu from those items, include one Super Meal Deal (complete dinner & dessert) for $10 or less


• www.grocerysmarts.com --an absolutely marvelous and free site that lists all items on sale at most UTAH grocery stores, then categorizes according to how good a deal they are. She also matches sale items up with coupons found either in the Sunday newspapers or online. Even though it is free, it requires a 'passport'. The UTAH passport is g84cso. If you live in UTAH, you must check this out and give it a try. I used this site last week to make my menu and shopping list. I spent $87, but saved $83, plus got a $15 coupon off my next purchase, plus $.10 per gallon of gas coupon. LOVE IT!


• http://www.utahshoppingsecrets.com/ --local deals (not just grocery) and other money-saving tips for UTAH
  

Miscellaneous Websites/Blogs for Wives/Mothers

• http://blog.superhealthykids.com/ -- associated with the site http://www.superhealthykids.com/ -- both geared towards helping kids eat healthier


• http://www.mormonshare.com/ -- LDS clipart, Sharing Time ideas, Primary talks, YW ideas, object lessons, seminary, Relief Society stuff, etc...


• http://allrecipes.com/ -- the most extensive online recipe collection I've found. It's terrific.


• http://familyfun.go.com/ -- if you've ever looked through a Family Fun magazine (fabulous), this is the website that shows a lot of the childrens' crafts, activities, recipes, etc that are found in the magazine. My favorite section is the Creative Solutions section. It was on this website that I found the pattern for Tayson's choo choo birthday cake, displayed HERE.


• http://foreverfamilies.byu.edu/xml/home.aspx? -- adresses the issues that challenge marriage, families, parenthood, etc.


• http://www.handipoints.com/ -- you can create custom and attractive chore charts for your children... for free!


• http://www.lilieslane.com/ --ideas and creations to strengthen women and families


• http://organizedhome.com/ -- provides strategies for keeping a home clean, organized, and budgeted. Has a fabulous link for creating a Household Notebook


• http://education.byu.edu/youcandothis/ -- one of the most helpful and motivating parenting sites for parenting with a gospel perspective -- must check it out


• http://www.ywconnection.com/ -- if any of you serve in the Young Women, or have daughters serving in a class presidency, then this is the site for you. Full of ideas for activities, In Excellence, New Beginnings, Personal Progress, Road Shows, Camp, etc


• http://www.cozi.com -- a free online family scheduling/organizing site that you can also access from your phone... you would just have to check it out to see how it works

Wow, this post took me about 2 weeks to organize and create, so I'm glad I'm done. Sorry it's so long, but I hope you found something useful...