The Sensible Mom

Food, DIY, Chicago Mom Blogger

Make It Happen Monday

by 1 Comment


to do
Do you make lists? I’m a list girl, myself. They help me to plan ahead and stay organized so I thought I’d join Domestically Obsessed in making a list for a few things I’m hoping to get done this week.

:: Monday-cook chicken breasts to use in salads for the rest of the week

:: Tuesday-get RSS feed going for this blog! It’s taking me a while….

:: Wednesday-Fill out BookIt! Program forms for Nathan and Breanna. They’ve been reading the Bible for 30 minutes each day. I’m so impressed! They’re reading Genesis, and I think they are close to Genesis chapter 30. They have needed help with the hard to pronounce names, and even though they had to read the words “sexual relations” several times, they’ve never once asked me what that means, and they have no idea (they’re 10 & 8 years old). I say, “Sssshhhhhhh.” Let’s keep it that way. πŸ™‚ I want their minds and hearts to be young for some time to come.

:: Thursday-Work on big hand-coded web project.

:: Friday-Get David’s pictures taken….that is if he doesn’t do anything wild and crazy that would result in a visible battle wound to the face and cause us to have to reschedule.

This lists looks doable to me. πŸ˜‰ What about you? Are you a list maker?


Halloween Update

by Leave a Comment


frugal halloween tract

We shared God’s Word with about 50 children yesterday! And we got several comments on the “good candy.” But most of all we are greatful to have been able to give God’s Word to the children and families that came to our home to trick or treat.

Trick or treating in our area went from 4-8pm, and I was surprised by the amount of children who came to our home. We don’t really see a lot of kids playing outside in our neighborhood (you can’t miss our kids, they’re outside almost every day), but they were out yesterday afternoon!

Breanna and Isaac handed out most of the bags of candy and had a blast doing it. I can see this becoming a tradition that we’ll continue on for a long time. This was our first year being able to do this in our own home. We’ve previously lived in apartments, and you don’t get trick or treaters in apartment complexes. It isn’t allowed.


Design and The Designer

by Leave a Comment


I’m taking a week off of doing our Proverbs 31 Bible study and instead posting on something that has been on my mind for the last few months.

As many of you know, I’m studying to become a web designer and in doing so, I’m learning just how much hard work it takes to put a web site together that is both user friendly and visually appealing. A good web site doesn’t just “happen.” It takes a lot of time of time, skill, effort, and an eye for design to get the job done. We’ve all been to good and bad web sites, and because of this we can appreciate when a site has a great design. It makes the content more attractive and more likely to be read.

Well, I have often found myself leaving school and driving home in awe of God as I look at the the design He has created around me. The sun, sky, clouds, trees, fields, people…..all so wonderfully and masterfully designed for His pleasure and our benefit. Seeing all of the design around me which the Lord has so powerfully spoken forth is amazing. He is the Great Designer indeed.

All of this (earth, space, time, plants, animals, stars, you, me….) didn’t just “happen.” No. There is a Creator and a masterful Designer in it all.

I’ve found a song that makes my heart worship the Lord and reminds me of how awesome a designer He is, too. Take a listen…..

Thank you, Jesus, for speaking this world in existence and sustaining it with Your powerful hand. Studying design has made me see with fresh eyes the design You have brought forth around me.


Super Savings Saturday: Jewel Trip!

by Leave a Comment


bpa free dishes

I’m very excited to share this week’s Super Savings Saturday with you guys! As you can tell from the (colorful) picture, we bought quite a lot of plastic dishes this week.

I actually wouldn’t have stumbled upon this great deal if I had not recently read an article on bisphenol A (aka BPA-which is a chemical used to produce hard plastics). I had heard of BPA before and there was a huge concern over it a few years ago because of it being used to make baby bottles (hence the reason you can now find many BPA FREE bottles on the shelves), but I hadn’t given hard thought about it being in our every day plasticware….in the plastic bowls, plates, and cups that we use for our children every day.

The article (which can be found in All You Magazine) really made me think because it states that many studies have “linked BPA to reproductive abnormalities, breast and prostate cancers, diabetes, asthma, heart disease, and learning and behavioral disorders in children.” Wow. That’ll cause concern in a mother’s heart.

The article goes on to state that in order to minimize consumption of BPA, avoid using plastics with the number 7 on them and from my own research, you should also avoid plastics with the number 3. You can usually find out which number is on your plastics by taking a look at bottom of the plasticware.

We did and while most of our dishes had a 5 on them, we did have a few bowls with a 7 on them. We decided to stop using them all because even some with a 5 on them weren’t in the best shape anymore.

Over the next few days, we quickly realized how inconvenient it was not to use these plastic dishes for the kids anymore so we decided to make a quick trip to Jewel to try to find some BPA free dishes. Why Jewel? Because I didn’t want to pay alot for a whole new set of dishes, and I had catalinas left over from the sales they were running a few weeks ago. Those would help to keep the cost low.

But I wasn’t expecting that we would hit the jackpot! We found a ton of platic plates, bowls, and cups made by Crayola that are BPA FREE, microwaveable, and dishwasher safe. On clearance! For only $0.37 each! Thank the Lord.

bpa free dishes

We ended up paying $1.31 out of pocket for all the dishes and some Imodium (which was on clearance as well, but not pictured) . I used $15 in catalina coupons and a $5.00 Jewel gift card that I had.

We are now set with plastic dishes for awhile. I’m giving some away at Christmas time, and I put about half away for when we need them later on down the line. And there were still plenty left on the shelves at Jewel. You may want to see if your local Jewel carries these, too.

Did you grab any great deals this week?