The Frugal Family Manager

Menu Plan Monday - October 24th

2011-10-23T23:58:00.000-07:00

I tried a new cookie recipe tonight & they were soooo good. I noticed they had actually won a cookie recipe contest, so I just had to try them. Lemon Crinkle Cookies. They taste like lemon bars, only in a cookie. I think they'd be perfect for a brunch or a tea.

I'm starting to include breakfast on my menu as well as dinner since I'm not a morning person & it's so much easier to just look on the menu to remember what we're having for breakfast.

Since I have a baby to nurse in the mornings, my husband has been cooking breakfast every morning for almost a year, but recently we changed things around, so as of the beginning of October, I am now doing breakfast (except for the weekends).

I'm still getting used to it (we've had cereal far too many times this month, I'm afraid), but I'm actually enjoying cooking breakfast again. As long as I've planned out what we're having, that is. lol

Here's our menu for the week:

Monday
Breakfast: Overnight Egg Brunch Casserole
Dinner: Meatloaf, Oven Fries, Broccoli (never made this last week)

Tuesday
Breakfast: Waffles, Green Juice
Dinner: Crockpot BBQ Chicken, Crockpot Acorn Squash

Wednesday
Breakfast: Oatmeal, Yogurt, Fruit
Dinner: Crockpot Beef Stew, Homemade Bread

Thursday
Breakfast: Crepes, Smoothies
Dinner: Shepherd's Pie

Friday
Breakfast: Potatoes, Sausage & Eggs, Fruit
Dinner: Spaghetti Pie

Saturday
Dinner: Crockpot Chicken Enchilada Soup

Sunday
Dinner: Bacon, Potatoes & Eggs

For more meal plans, visit Organizing Junkie.

Fall Seasonal Activities

2011-10-18T22:34:00.000-07:00

As I strive to be more intentional with the time I have with my children, I recently decided to make a list of fall seasonal activities that I am wanting to do with my family. My 10yr old gave me his input, and then I found more recipes and craft ideas on Pinterest.

Here is the list we came up with:

Nature walk (weekly)- collect fun things for crafts & enjoy the outdoors
Visit the pumpkin patch
Make crockpot applesauce
Make bean mosaics (pumpkin & leaf shapes)
Make construction paper pumpkin faces
Check out fall-themed books from the library
Make roasted pumpkin seeds
Make pumpkin spice cake
Carve pumpkins
Make pumpkin seed mosaics
Make pumpkin pie play dough
Attend a fall harvest party
Go trick-or-treating in our neighborhood
Paint pumpkins
Play in the leaves
Make pumpkin scones
Make fall leaf coasters
Make fall leaf paintings in baggies
Decorate mini pumpkins with craft supplies
Fall paper plate wreaths
Make hot apple cider
Make streusel-topped pumpkin custards
Cinnamon apple spice play dough
Popsicle stick scarecrows
Make spiced yogurt pound cake
Tissue paper turkeys
Celebrate Thanksgiving
Make pumpkin pie
Paint pine cones
Play Apples to Apples game

After making the list, I divided everything up between the next six weeks (thru the end of November). Then during naptime yesterday, I got out some scrapbooking paper & made a 12x12 chart to hang on the wall so the whole family can see what is planned for each of the weeks.

I really need accountability if I'm going to keep up with something like this, so hopefully this chart (& putting it on my blog here) will help me with the follow-through. I'm only breaking things down by week, that way I still have some flexibility as to which day we actually do them. And I'm sure I'll still move things around a bit, but for the most part, I think it should work well.

I also left a few blank spots since I couldn't come up with anything else, but wanted to get going on it rather than wait till I have it perfect. lol I can always fill it in as I come across more fun ideas.

Here's a closer look:

I'll post pictures as we complete some of these. And if it works well for us, I plan to do one for Christmas time too.

In fact, today, we did our first nature walk & we couldn't have asked for a more gorgeous fall day. My 10yr old doesn't really enjoy collecting leaves & things anymore (he says he's too old for that...sigh). Yeah, he was sort of embarrassed carrying a bag around the park (lol), so he just went along for the walk. I was just happy to have him there with us.

Menu Plan Monday - October 17th

2011-10-17T13:08:00.000-07:00

I've been trying so many new recipes lately since it's such a fun time of the year to be in the kitchen. But this week I've decided to just do a week of our basic, easy meals. Mainly because I'm getting some new things added into our schedule and doing some other planning, so I'm wanting to spend more time on that than in the kitchen this week.

Here is what we're having for dinner:

Monday: Burritos

Tuesday: BBQ Steak, Mashed Potatoes, Veggies

Wednesday: Spaghetti & Salad

Thursday: Crockpot Chicken & Rice, Carrots

Friday: Meatloaf & Baked Fries, Broccoli

Saturday: Crockpot Enchiladas, Corn

Sunday: Leftover, Sandwiches

To see what others are having, visit Organizing Junkie.

Tot School: Magnets, Sorting and Lacing Activities

2011-10-13T23:58:00.000-07:00

Jordan was 34 months in these pics.

These are a few of the activities we did last year during Tot School.

We have a magnetic alphabet set that we got through Rainbow Resource when my oldest was in kindergarten. When I first got it, I had to punch out all the letters & so I ended up with all these interesting little shapes leftover. I kept them, not knowing yet what to do with them... until now. Jordan had fun sticking them onto the magnetic board and also sorting them into cups.

He also liked to sort his army men into cups. He calls them "my guys".

Then his big brother came along & wanted to play too. This is the scene I found set up in the living room. lol

It's the rainbow guys against the camouflaged guys.

Another thing he enjoyed was lacing with different types of buttons and beads. It was good practice for him.

Also linking up with:

Our Favorite Board Books

2011-10-13T07:00:00.000-07:00

My 10-year old has been a big reader since he was in kindergarten. He enjoys staying up an extra hour each night, reading in bed. I'm hoping my other children follow in his footsteps with their enjoyment of books. So far, they've been pretty into books too, which has been great! Except sometimes maybe a little too into them... lol

Up until the past few months, most of the books my toddlers have read were ones that we owned. I had checked out a few board books from the library when Jordan (3yrs) was 18 months old, but one day, we found him sitting in a corner eating it! And he had already chewed the entire corner off!

I was hoping we wouldn't have to pay for it, I mean it was just a corner, the book was still readable, right?? Ummm sure. Well, I decided to just turn it into the library hoping they wouldn't notice, and well, they did. We got a postcard in the mail saying we owed $15.00 for "chew damage". Yikes! Needless to say, that was the last of the library for toddler books.

Well, it's been almost 2 years now, and my 3yr old was starting to get "bored" of his "board" books (actually I think it was more that I was getting bored reading the same books over and over for 2 years!), so I decided to finally start checking out some picture books from the library for him. He's been doing pretty good with them, although I still have to make sure that the 1 yr old doesn't rip them & that the 10-mo old doesn't eat them. So we're trying to keep them on a shelf up higher.

Today I'm actually taking the little ones to their first Library Story Time.

These are some of the board books we own that my boys have seemed to enjoy the most over the past few years... the ones they have brought me most often to read to them. Although, I'm sure there were a few other good ones that got eaten along the way... :)

Busy Doggies

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?

Have You Seen My Cat?

I See You, You See Me

The Wheels on the Bus

Five Silly Monkeys

Goodnight Moon

Linking Up With:

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

Pinterest: My New Addiction

2011-10-11T06:18:00.000-07:00

As much as I enjoy organizing, I certainly don't always feel organized. I'm always on a quest to find ways of doing things differently that will make life easier. I'm all about making life easier. It's exciting when you discover something that helps your day go more smoothly, whether it's in your menu planning, routines, organization, whatever it is.

my garage organizational system- love it!

The internet is so full of great ideas that it can sometimes become overwhelming. You have to pick & choose just which things might be a good choice for your family, and then narrow that down by which things you might actually do. That can be the hard part. So many choices!

But I've found that a big part of the battle is keeping all those great ideas organized so that you can find them again when you are ready to implement them. Things like new recipes, arts/crafts ideas, curriculum choices to look into, even decorating ideas. The list can be endless.

Until now, my ideas have been scattered all over the place. I have ideas filed in binders. In email folders. I bookmark things into folders on my computer. I tag things in my google reader, which is where I usually read a few of my favorite blogs as well as all of my friends blogs. I also have tried tumblr.com as a way of bookmarking, but never really found it very user-friendly. From there, I tried delicious.com, and I've liked it okay, but again, not as user-friendly as I'd like.

Well, about a month ago, my friend introduced me to Pinterest, an online pinboard, and I have to say, I am hooked! It's So. Much. Fun! It's incredibly user-friendly, you can just login with your facebook account (we all use that, right?), and you can organize all your bookmarks by whatever categories you want. If you come across a photo, website, or blog post that you want to save, you just click "pin it". So easy.

But I think the best thing about it is that there are pictures! Every bookmark you "pin" has a picture to go with it, and it makes it so much easier to scan through your bookmarks when you're looking for something later. Or when you just need some inspiration.

So the past few weeks, I've been slowly transferring all of my bookmarks to Pinterest. It's been nice to have them all in one place. Another great thing is if my computer ever crashes, I won't lose all of my bookmarks because now everything is online. Also, you can share all of your bookmarks with others & also see what things they've bookmarked. It's another great way to discover some new ideas.

So if you haven't tried Pinterest, I'd highly recommend trying it out. Although, you just might become addicted to it like me! Which wouldn't be a bad thing necessarily. Like anything else, it all depends on how you use it & what your purpose for it is. I can see how it could become a big time-snatcher if you're not careful. I thought this quote was funny:

But Pinterest has really been helping me feel more organized, as well as helping me be more intentional in actually implementing things I've wanted to do because I'm not so overwhelmed with trying to keep track of all those ideas! Besides, I have these guys to keep track of & they're a whole lot more fun...

Linking Up With:

Works-For-Me Wednesday

Finer Things Friday

A Pause on the Path

Gratituesday at Heavenly Homemakers

Tot School: Combining the Boys

2011-10-06T10:10:00.000-07:00

Jordan is 39 months old & Jaron is 23 months old

Last January, I began doing Tot School with my 2 1/2 yr old. It isn't really school, actually it's just focused time with my toddler each day. Rather than just letting him find something to play with on his own, I provide activities for him to choose from. I keep most of our homeschooling supplies as well as all of our puzzles, games, and some other activities in cupboards in my dining room. That way, everything is easily accessible.

Floor Puzzle

My 1yr-old was usually napping then, so a lot of times it was things that the 1yr-old wasn't ready to do yet, like play doh and painting, messy stuff like that. Sometimes he would do the activities on his own, and sometimes I would do them with him.

Water Color Painting

Well, now that they are 3yrs & almost 2 yrs, they are both doing Tot School this year. At least that's the goal. I'm still trying to incorporate the (almost) 2yr old into the mix, but sometimes it's his naptime (around 11am) by the time I get through all the morning chores, breakfast, and diaper changes. Whew! I could do it in the afternoon, but then that's when the 3yr old takes his nap. I just can't seem to get them to take their naps at the same time. {sigh}

Big brother helps make dinner (transferring chopped veggies to the big bowl) while little brother watches.

My oldest (10yrs) is in 5th grade, and the little girlie (10 months) spends most of her day just hanging out with me or napping. So it's a lot of juggling, but we'll just keep working on figuring out a good rhythm for everyone. I'm thinking about maybe incorporating a half-hour with everyone together doing their own age-appropriate activities then another half-hour with just the 3yr old once the 2yr old goes down for his nap. We'll see.

Jordan puts together an alphabet puzzle while Joshua does his math.

Here are more of their Tot School activities they did last week:

Jaron playing with army men

All sorts of fun stuff going on here. You can see the supplies cupboards in back.

We have lots of these 24-piece puzzles that he can put together all by himself now.

First time coloring with colored pencils

This boy can spend hours doing play doh. Love that!

Linking Up With:

Link & Learn

Finer Things Friday

Fall Family Photos

2011-10-04T22:38:00.000-07:00

I am very thankful for the part of the country that I live in- the Pacific Northwest. We have SEASONS! I enjoy them all. And this year, I am especially enjoying this fall season. I just feel more into it, I guess. Maybe it's because, for once, I'm not pregnant. lol

In fact, while my husband was hunting on Saturday, I spent most of the day in the kitchen... baking bread, granola, cobbler, and well, even making popsicles. Yes, my kids eat those year-round. lol Anyway, I love doing cozy things inside like that while it's cold and rainy outside.

About two weeks ago, we had family pictures done at the park on one of our last summer-like days. It's been SO long since we've gotten any done. I was pretty happy with how they turned out. My kids are growing way too fast, though!

Joshua~ 10 yrs

Jordan~ 3 yrs

Jaron~ 23 Months

Ashley~ 10 Months

Linking up with:

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

Movie: Courageous

2011-09-27T07:05:00.000-07:00

There's a new movie, Courageous, coming out this weekend from the creators of Fireproof. Some friends of ours were able to go to an early screening of the movie, and they've said it is wonderful. You can go here to learn more about it and see the trailer.

Movie: Letters To God

2011-09-21T06:15:00.000-07:00

Last month, some of the families in our church had a movie-on-the-barn night out in the country. It was so much fun! The movie we watched was "Letters To God". I had never even heard of it before, but it was very good. If you'd like to see the trailer for it, you can go here.

Field Trip to the Zoo!

2011-09-20T06:15:00.000-07:00

Reason #143 why I love homeschooling my children? We can take off on an all-day field trip to the zoo in the middle of the week! That's exactly what we did last week. And what great educational fun we had!

Linking up with:
Link and Learn

My August Freebies

2011-09-10T06:30:00.000-07:00

Not much for freebies this month, but I guess with it being August, I had better things to do. :) Other than the 3 Crayola products & the yogurt, all of my freebies this month came right to my door in the mail! How cool is that?!

Pictured Above:
6 Diapers - With 3 in diapers, it's nice to get a few of these for free. Although, we're working on getting that down to just 2 in diapers. {sigh}
2 packs Crayola crayons
1 pack Crayola washable markers
1 chip clip
4 magazines (Actually 2 were from July, but I forgot to add them to July's picture)

Pictured Above:
1 Mott's for Tots apple juice sample
1 Oikos greek yogurt
1 Quaker Oatmeal Squares sample
1 Honey Nut Cheerios sample
1 TLC granola bar

Oh, I almost forgot, I did get 9 free Walgreens collages as well. I think I'm addicted! lol

A Brand New Year

2011-09-05T23:57:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow we start back with homeschooling after a super fun yet relaxing summer. We really didn't do anything big other than a couple of camping trips. Mostly, we just spent time with our kids doing some fun things around town or here at home, which was perfect, considering the little ones are 3, almost 2, and 9 months.

My oldest son will be a 5th-grader this year. Is it weird that I'm almost giddy about starting school tomorrow? Mostly, I'm excited about what we'll be studying this year (the 50 states) & I've been having way too much fun the past few weeks getting it all put together. Hope he feels the same way. lol

I remember learning about the 50 states when I was in 5th grade, and especially memorizing the names of all 50 states. In alphabetical order. And I can still say it today! In less than 22 seconds. Yep, I just timed myself. LOL

Not only that, but I've enjoyed getting all the books & supplies organized. The other day, I actually had 96 books on hold at the library! Whew! I think that's a record for us. No, we're not reading all of those this month. I was actually just previewing books for the year. My 10-yr old does like to read a lot, but not that much!

We rounded up all the supplies from every corner of the house. Tried out all the pens. Threw out the duds. Sharpened all the pencils. Everything is labeled. Yep, we're ready to go!

I COULD tell you about our curriculum we're using this year & all the fun ideas I have planned. Or show you what our school area looks like for the coming year, but I think I'll save those posts for another time. I'd better get to bed, we've got a big day tomorrow!

I WILL leave you with a few more pictures from our summer, though.

Our Financial Journey - Part 3

2011-09-04T16:00:00.000-07:00

It's been a while but this week, I am continuing on with Part 3 of my family's financial journey. To read Part 1 of our journey, click here. To read Part 2, click here.

So here we were... living in an old 2-bedroom, 1000 sq ft fixer-upper. Once we started trying to remodel it, we realized just how bad of shape it was in (mostly on the inside of the house). We couldn't even sell it without doing extensive work on it. It hardly seemed worth it.

So then, nine years after we got married... (this is what our family looked like at that time)

... we decided to tear down our old fixer-upper of a house, took out a loan, and my husband began building a new 3,000 sq ft house. He planned to do a lot of the work himself and just contract out certain parts of it. This was back when the economy & the housing market were still going strong. Our plan wasn't to live in the new house very long, but to sell it & use the profit to build a second house (our house was on 1/2 acre). Then to sell that & build a 3rd & final home (our dream home) somewhere out in the country, on a few acres of land.

Actually, instead of demolishing the house, we had the fire dept come out and use it as a practice burn.

Our son thought that was very cool.

Our building plan sounded like a good plan at the time. Looking back, I realize we should have looked into it further, and seek wise counsel from those we trust. But, at the time, I just decided to trust my husband since he sounded like he had everything figured out & it seemed to make sense. One BIG red flag... we still owed a mortgage (actually two) on our house. A house that was. No. Longer. There!

Well, after we started building, we had several setbacks- the housing market crashed, my husband lost his job, and his health declined, along with a few poor decisions (and purchases) on our part. We struggled to finish the house. It actually looked like this for over 6 months...

We couldn't even afford to work on it any longer. With friends' help, we were able to get the roof on before winter hit. What a huge blessing! Thankfully, we did finish the house (by going into tremendous debt). It ended up taking two years instead of one, and we took out more credit cards to keep everything going until we could get it finished & refinance the loan.

The house after it was finished...

I LOVED the kitchen!

Once we did finish, we were over $200,000 in debt, and that's not even including our mortgage & second loan (for construction) that we still owed on the house we tore down. Who has that much debt?? This was insane! With our debt-to-income ratio, refinancing (our original plan) was out of the question. Ugh!

These are a few pictures of our family in November/December 2009, just after we moved in. When we first started building, we only had one child. Just after we moved into the house, our third son was born. Yes, it was a busy two years in more ways than one! lol

Although, we were enjoying the snuggly newborn days of our son, things were really out of control, and we were starting to panic. We needed to figure out what to do and fast, because we knew we didn't have much time before everything would come crashing down.

I wonder now if, say we would have built a more simple one-story house that was only 1800 sq ft, if things would have worked out alright in the end. But what's done is done, I guess.

With over $200,000 in debt, (Plus a double mortgage. Remember, the $200,000 is in addition to both mortgages!), we were sure we were headed towards bankruptcy. Well, duh! It wasn't what we wanted, but we didn't see any way of getting around it. The reality of that was pretty depressing. I felt like a failure. After all, my college degree is in Accounting! LOL

Bankruptcy seemed like a for sure thing. But thankfully, God had other plans...

Be sure to check back to read part 4 in our financial journey!

This post is linking up to Gratituesday.

My July Freebies

2011-08-10T06:30:00.000-07:00

It's hard to see some of the things in this picture, but if you click on it, you should be able to make it bigger.

Pictured Above:
2 packs Crayola washable markers
3 packs of pens
1 pack erasers
8 Sharpie black pens
3 Crest Pro Health toothpaste
1 Gum floss
1 teething gel
1 Crest toothpaste sample
1 garbage bag sample
2 packs Goody hair clips
1 floss sample
1 mouthwash sample
1 Shout Color Catcher sample

Also Received:
2 free Blockbuster Express videos
Zebra Pen Pal Kit (pictured below)

The best freebie of all is this pen pal kit from ZebraPen.com. I was shocked that they sent us all of this for FREE! Included in the kit are 20 pens, 6 mechanical pencils, 10 postcards, and even 10 stamps!

My June Freebies

2011-07-10T06:30:00.000-07:00

Here are my June freebies! Is it just me or are the number of items in these pictures growing?!

Pictured Above:
2 boxes Ronzoni Garden Delight Pasta
1 Parents magazine
3 small spiral notebooks
2 packs colored paper clips
2 Colgate toothpaste
1 Nexcare Strawberry Shortcake bandages (My little girlie is all set for her very first boo boo)
1 Yoplait yogurt
1 Zone Perfect Bar (really good!)
1 80-pack of tissues
1 Purex Complete sample
2 packs Rayovac batteries
1 Lipton natural iced tea
2 bottles hydrogen peroxide (You don't want to know what my husband does with this stuff!)

Also Received:
7 free Blockbuster Express videos
3 free Walgreens collages (these make such great gifts!)
2 free Father's Day cards from TinyPrints (+ free shipping!)

My May Freebies

2011-06-10T06:30:00.000-07:00

I am amazed at all the things I am able to get for free. It's so much fun! Okay, so here's what I got in May. All for free!

Pictured Above:
1 Parents magazine
2 packs of GUM flossers (my hubby loves these)
1 Crest Pro Health toothpaste
3 rolls Scotch tape (I was able to donate 5 of these to VBS at church)
1 tub Cottonelle flushable wipes
1 Icy Hot Naturals
1 pack Scunci hair ties
2 free Redbox videos
1 mini box of Legos (Borders was giving these out)

Also Received:
2 free Blockbuster Express videos
8 free Walgreens collages (I posted pics of some of these here)
1 free Mother's Day card from TinyPrints (+ free shipping!)

Spring Portraits

2011-05-23T23:50:00.000-07:00

I recently got a new camera, so I spent an afternoon testing it out on my children in the backyard. This is what I ended up with.

BabyGirl (5 Months)

Baby J (18 Months)

Little J (2 1/2 Years)

Big J (10 Years)

My April Freebies

2011-05-04T00:20:00.000-07:00

I've been having way too much fun lately with my household/grocery shopping. I love getting a good deal & my favorite site for locating store deals & coupon match-ups is The Krazy Coupon Lady.

I've been getting most of our household supplies like diapers, wipes, toilet paper, etc for really great prices, which has been helping so much with our monthly budget. I've also been picking up quite a few free items along the way, so I thought I'd post what I got for free in April.

Everything in this picture was completely free. Maybe not good for you (haha), but free. But hey, there's toothpaste & floss to go with the candy, so there you go. Not going for it, are you? I didn't think so. Well then I probably shouldn't mention that we also went to Ben & Jerry's free cone day and Cinnabon's free mini-cinnabon days. Ben & Jerry's free cone day has been a family tradition of ours for like 8 years.

Anyway, back to the picture. The slips of paper were for 8 free Redbox rentals. Yes, we've been on a movie kick around here too. Saw some really good ones. I might even post about them.

Everything in the picture was from stores I normally shop at all the time... Walgreens & Wal-Mart... so I didn't have to go out of my way to get them. And both are pretty close to my house. I love where we live... we're so centrally located to everything! The M&M's were from Rite-aid, which is next door to our library branch, so it only took a few extra minutes.

A few things were great for my son's Easter basket, and I even put a couple of the Redbox codes in his basket. And the batteries were the right size for our baby swing. I can't wait to see what I get for free in May. I'll post another picture next month, so check back! Until then, go check out The Krazy Coupon Lady's blog so you can find some good deals too!

Saturday Confessions: Life's a Blurr

2011-05-02T06:30:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite blogs, A Familiar Path, has started a new link-up each week called Saturday Confessions, & I thought I'd join in. A few days late, but oh well...... Life's been a bit of a blurr lately...

Literally. In a good way, though.

My confession? I haven't been blogging as much as I'd like to. I've been chasing after little guys. They just love to run from me.

And it's hard to fit everything in, you know? Regular things like Eating. Sleeping. Sometimes we just have to combine them into one. It all works out.

We've also been up to some fun things like sleepovers, church potlucks, Easter celebrations.

And horse riding lessons. They were a birthday present for a certain 10-year-old. He's having a blast.

But he still has to get his school work done. I think that guitar is starting to become an extra limb. He never puts it down. This picture was of him a few minutes after I asked him to go read from his book basket about Germany. Next thing I know, he's sitting there strumming his guitar, singing "I'm readin' about Germany, I'm readin' about Germany..." Goofball. What can I say. At least he loves to read AND play his guitar... Homeschooling at it's finest.

And sometimes we do exciting things like watch for the garbage truck.

Well, at least for a while anyway. I guess it's not THAT exciting after all...

Don't worry, though. We'll figure things out.

Actually, I've got some things lined up. Ideas floating around. Posts I'd like to do. I'm sure I'll get to them. But if not, you'll forgive me, right? (All five of you, haha)

It's a good thing I've got some good helpers around here...

Spring Cleaning

2011-04-01T06:00:00.000-07:00

As I was reading my cleaning/organizing books the past couple of months, I slowly went through my house & decluttered a lot of things. My hallway looked like this for weeks, with all the stuff I was getting rid of!

I also switched out my children's clothing to the next sizes as well as their spring/summer clothing. This took a lot of time since all the little ones seemed to move into the next sizes all at once. That's probably what most of that stuff in the hallway was from.

It was perfect timing, though, because earlier this month, our city had a children's consignment sale that happens twice a year. I figured out which clothing they still needed for spring/summer as well as prepared my items to sell, which included all my 0-12 month baby boy clothes and my maternity clothes. It was kind of sad to see those go. The little boy clothes, not the maternity.

(It's hard to believe Little J was ever this small!)
But my sales were almost exactly what I needed in order to buy their next sizes, so that was great! I then took the rest of the items that didn't sell to the resale shops for trade and gave some away to friends. I have to say, I'm glad to have that project behind me, as well as all the extra space.

After decluttering, I moved on to cleaning. Just an hour or so each day. Mostly just vacuuming & dusting. My husband helped me move just about every piece of furniture, so we could vacuum behind/under it. He even took the computer apart & vacuumed inside of it. It had been running really loudly because of all the dust, and now it's sooo quiet. It's nice. I never knew you had to do that. Or maybe our house is just dustier than normal. Who knows.

We also did a little rearranging of furniture, mainly in the bedrooms. After 10 years, we are finally done with our bassinet. We've used it with all four kids. My baby girl is 4 months old now & she has upgraded to the pack'n play.

She's still sleeping in our room, though. I don't know where else to put her. The boys wake up early in the mornings & talk to each other and sing for like an hour. It's funny to listen to, but if I put her in there, her 10-12 hour stretch would most likely decrease to much less. No thank you! So for now, she stays in our bedroom.

It feels good to have all that done in time for Spring. I think I might do a little bit of decorating next. I have some pictures I'd like to get in frames.

My Tot is a Cute Tot!

2011-03-31T22:55:00.000-07:00

My little guy was featured on Cute Tots at TotallyTots.com

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Books I've Read Recently

2011-03-29T06:30:00.000-07:00

The past few months, I've been reading a couple of books that have helped so much with getting my family out of "survival mode" after having a baby. I can only take "survival mode" for so long and so I can't tell you how happy I've been to have found these books.

Although I love to organize, I have a hard time coming up with ideas on my own. Maybe if I wasn't so sleep-deprived. Oh wait, my baby is sleeping 10-12 hours at night now (yay!!), so I guess I can't blame anything on that anymore. Oh well, I still needed inspiration, and these books gave me just what I was looking for.

The first book is Large Family Logistics: The Art and Science of Managing the Large Family by Kim Brenneman. I was able to purchase it on Amazon.com with a $10 off coupon from LivingSocial (a great daily deal site that's a lot like Groupon), and I was so excited when the book came in the mail! So many great ideas of ways to do things that make the household run smoother that I had just never thought of. Things that would even be helpful for a small family.

I still haven't read the whole thing... It's huge, like a textbook! But I've skimmed through & read the parts I needed to read the most & am just taking baby steps. And already, it has made a huge difference, mostly in giving me the motivation I needed to have a better routine.

The other book is called The House That Cleans Itself: Creative Solutions for a Clean and Orderly House in Less Time Than You Can Imagine by Mindy Starns Clark. A friend told me about it & it's been great too. This book has helped me organize my house better. Like putting things in places that make better sense. I don't know why, but I just have a hard time figuring out that stuff on my own.

I'll read a little bit, then get up & go clean out a closet. Or the filing cabinet. Or hang up a chart of some sort. I still have a long ways to go in getting my house where I want it, but at least I won't run out of things to organize any time soon!

One other thing that I really enjoyed reading was the free Time Management 101 e-book from Crystal of Money Saving Mom. It reinforced a lot of what I had read in both of these two books & it was also very encouraging to see what Crystal's routines look like. As well as the things she doesn't do. And I thought she did it all! No, not really. But it is always encouraging for me to hear how other people manage their time & what things they choose to let go of. Because she's right, nobody can do it all. And we just don't need to, either!

Besides, I'd rather play with these little ones any day...

One can never have too many hugs...

Trailblazer Books

2011-03-07T16:20:00.000-08:00

I mentioned that my 10-year-old son loves to read. Well, this past week, he began reading a new book series, and he's hooked! They're called the "Trailblazer Books" and the back of the book says they're "thrilling adventure stories introducing young readers (ages 8-12) to Christian heroes of the past" such as William Tyndale, George Muller, & Dwight L. Moody.

There are 40 books in all, and you can go to the Trailblazer Books website to read the first chapter of each book. There's lots more on the site... you can also read the true facts about each of the Christian heroes... or read about the authors, Dave and Neta Jackson... and more! I'm glad to see that our public library has most of them available.

Our Curriculum

2011-02-17T23:55:00.000-08:00

I’ve decided to write a little about the curriculum we are currently using as well as some of the things we have tried in the past. I only have one child that I have been teaching so far (he’s in 4^th grade). The other three are 2 and under. Yes, I did say 2 and under. Life is busy.

Math: This is our main focus right now since we are somewhat behind. We are doubling up on lessons, but we are on track to finish up 4^th grade math by the end of June, if not before. We’ve switched math curriculums several times, trying to find a good fit for my son. We tried A Beka & Math U See, but we weren’t very happy with either one.

I have several friends who love Math U See, so I thought I’d try it, but my son hated it. Funny thing, though… the morning we decided we would stop using it & try something else, a friend of mine posted on our local homeschool yahoo group that they were looking to buy the Math U See curriculum. So I was able to sell it that day. Was that God or what?!

So the past 2 years, we have been using Christian Light (CLE). It’s been working pretty well for us. The only reason we’ve gotten behind is because I keep having babies, plus all the hubbub with building a house & moving. But we are done with both of those, so I’m looking forward to being caught up on this subject. It’s a workbook style & my son is able to do it pretty independently. He also checks his own work when he is done, which is a HUGE help for me because I’m terrible at getting around to that sometimes.

Language/Arts: My son loves, loves, loves to read so this subject is a pretty easy one for him. I plan to post his book list sometime that he’s read over the past few years. His bedtime is 8:00, but since he was in first grade, he has been allowed to read in bed until 9:30 each night. He also reads off and on throughout the day.

(Below is something I came across in the living room a couple of years ago... haha... isn't he creative?)

For kindergarten, he learned to read with A Beka phonics. It was so easy & I really enjoyed teaching him how to read so I’ve kept all my flashcards, etc to use with my other children.

In first grade, we began using My Father’s World (MFW). It’s a unit study & the first grade curriculum includes language/arts. But I have to say, although I really like MFW, I didn’t really care for their first grade language/arts. It just didn’t seem like it had enough to it, I guess.

The past few years, we’ve been using Learning Language Arts Through Literature (LLATL). It’s been pretty good, although I’m still looking for something better. I’m also getting ready to add in Spelling Power. I bought it awhile back but haven’t had a chance to start using it yet.

Science: We spent a couple of years just checking out the Magic School Bus series from the library. It was a fun way to learn science for that age. We also have looked through a lot of the DK/ Eyewitness books. The visuals on those books are excellent & it’s so easy to learn things when you’re not even really trying. Videos/Documentaries have been good for that too.

Although I’m sure my son would enjoy doing science experiments more, we’ve really only done maybe a few of them. It’s just not my thing & trying to coordinate stuff like that makes my head hurt. Maybe when he’s in middle school, we’ll do more of that.

History/Geography/Bible: Our main curriculum is My Father’s World (MFW). It's the "fun" part of school. This is our 4^th year using it, and we’ve been really happy with it. We’re taking it at our own pace, working around our busy family life. In 1^st grade, the focus was on Bible stories (Creation to Moses).

For 2^nd grade, we did MFW Adventures, which was American History (The Vikings to the American Revolution). That was a really fun year… I was learning many things for the first time, right along with my son. To finish off the year, he watched the entire series of the Liberty’s Kids videos. I highly recommend this. It really added a great visual to what he had learned.

For 3^rd & 4^th grade, we have been doing MFW Exploring Countries and Cultures (ECC). This is what the MFW website says about ECC: "Take a trip around the world and explore diverse countries while learning geography and being challenged by true stories of missionaries."

Since I had two babies during the past year & a half, we have spread this curriculum out to two years, which has worked just fine for us. It’s allowed us to take breaks when we need to. So the past few months, we’ve taken a break from it (since my baby was born in November) & just focused on math & language/arts, but on Monday, we’ll be adding it back in. My son has been asking & asking if we can do it again (a good sign that he really likes it), and I’m finally feeling ready to add it back in.

So there you go. That is our curriculum. Of course, so much of life can be considered part of homeschooling too. We do the occasional read-aloud, audio books, guitar/piano lessons, arts/crafts projects, cooking, outside activities, etc.

Snapfish: 100 photo prints for $5 shipped

2011-02-17T20:25:00.000-08:00

I'm getting ready to do another round of printing photos. So I was excited to find this great deal from Snapfish. Through 2/20/11, you can order 100 prints from Snapfish for just $5 shipped. Just upload your prints to Snapfish, choose to order 100 copies and use coupon code CUPIDPICS at checkout. Your total should only be $5, including shipping. That's only 5 cents per photo! And if you've never ordered from Snapfish before, new customers can also get 50 prints free (plus shipping).

Thanks, Money Saving Mom!

Wonderzone.com

2011-02-13T16:34:00.000-08:00

We've never really done the video game thing at our house (Wii, Playstation, etc). We don't have anything against it, really. We just would rather our kids do other things, and haven't wanted to spend the money on it.

We have friends who own a Wii, so we're pretty used to playing that, but just not at home. I'm sure that since my 9-yr old (almost 10) is getting older, though, it won't be long before we get some type of game system since he's been asking for one lately & has been saving up his money.

This past week, though, we came across the Wonderzone.com website, and he's been enjoying that. It's the children's website for Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF) and is full of games, activities, Bible stories (even Bible trivia), etc. He loves it!

10 Days of Homeschooling Blog Hop - Starts TODAY

2011-02-07T22:55:00.000-08:00

I'm excited to read some of these great homeschooling posts. So many interesting topics! Visit any of these blogs in this 10 day adventure to be encouraged, inspired and recharged. February 7th-18th!

10 days of socialization for mom | The Homeschool Chick
10 days of classical education | Milk & Cookies
10 days of large families | Chocolate on My Cranium
10 days of special needs | Special Needs Homeschooling
10 days of struggling learners | Homeschooling the Chaotic Family
10 days of homeschooling girls | Homegrown Mom
10 days of homeschool enrichment | Confessions of a Homeschooler
10 days of building a spiritual legacy | Mommy Missions
10 days of frugal homeschooling |The Happy Housewife
10 days of Charlotte Mason | Our Journey Westward
10 days of unschooling | Homeschooling Belle
10 days of organization | Confessions of an Organized Homeschool Mom
10 days of getting started | Blog, She Wrote
10 days of homeschooling boys | The Tie That Binds Us
10 days of homeschooling Montessori | Fruit in Season
10 days of preschool | Delightful Learning

Before I Was A Mom

2011-02-04T00:10:00.000-08:00

I came across this poem (below) recently & it just has so much truth to it... at least for me. Having children makes you feel ways in which you never knew were possible. Ever since I had my baby girl two months ago, I have been so emotional (starting the day I came home from the hospital). It really caught me off-guard because I'm not usually like that & I kept wondering what was wrong with me... Why can't I just snap out of it?. I never cried this much after the birth of any of my other children, what is up?!... I thought. At first, I was thinking it was just because I was having a hard time adjusting to the extra workload of now having four children, ages 9, 2, 1 and a newborn. That's definitely been the case, but I don't think that's what's been the hardest for me.

I've now come to realize it's because I know this is my last baby (& my only girl) & I just feel like life is speeding by too fast. I just want to freeze time. Soak it all in. A couple of weeks ago, I packed up all the newborn baby girl clothes that my little one had outgrown. That was hard for me. With each milestone she reaches, I know that I will never have a child go through that stage again. Will I remember it? Did I take enough pictures? Or videos? I should be happy because she's smiling & cooing now, but instead, a lot of times I have felt sad over the past few months. She's already 12 pounds. Slow down, baby girl!

But what do I have to be sad about?! This is the life I've always wanted. The Lord has blessed me immensely with 4 children that I just adore... that make my heart feel so full. That make me laugh everyday. That give the best hugs & cuddles. That long for my attention & say, "Mama, watch!" before showing me something new & silly they can do.

Each stage with them has been fun. And Lord willing, we'll have many more stages ahead. My heart goes out to Dana at Roscommon Acres, who suddenly lost their sweet 22-month-old little boy in December. It's such a sad story but is a reminder to me that our children really belong to the Lord anyway. I also have 4 friends who have miscarried this past year. I feel so bad for them. We were pregnant together. I don't understand why my babies lived and theirs didn't. We never know what the future will hold. Or why. But we can trust God that He has a purpose for everything He does.

No, I don't have to remember every detail. But I don't have to just watch helplessly as life flies by either. I can be more deliberate at recording some of the things I do want to remember. So I've started carving out a few minutes each day to take pictures, write things down, back up my computer, etc. It doesn't really take much time. And it's been helping. I feel better now. I haven't been as emotional. Okay, I'm crying a little right now, but that doesn't count. I love my kids!

I also hadn't been getting out much. Going anywhere just seemed too hard. Too much stuff to pack up. Diaper bag, stroller, blankets, snacks, etc. Made me tired just thinking about it. It had been a long time since we had gone anywhere fun as a family. But my brother & sister were here visiting last week & so we spent a lot of quality time doing things together like going to the coast, the park, even just walking around the mall.

That helped a lot. Just getting out of the house. I needed that. Helped lift my spirits. Okay, I did forget to pack diapers when we went out the first day they were here, but still, it helped me realize 'I can do this!'. No, my children are not going to stop growing. Yes, they are going to continue to reach milestones, ones they will never repeat. All the more reason I need to spend my time enjoying them rather than feeling sad.

Okay, so here's the poem...

Before I Was A Mom

Before I was a Mom, I made and ate hot meals. I had unstained clothing. I had quiet conversations on the phone.

Before I was a Mom, I slept as late as I wanted and never worried about how late I got into bed. I brushed my hair and my teeth everyday.

Before I was a Mom, I cleaned my house each day. I never tripped over toys or forgot words to lullabies. I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous. I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom, I had never been puked on... pooped on... spit on... chewed on... peed on... or pinched by tiny fingers.

Before I was a Mom, I had complete control of my mind... my thoughts... my body... and my money. I slept all night before I was a Mom. I never held down a screaming child so that doctors could do tests or give shots. I never looked into teary eyes and cried. I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin. I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom, I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put it down. I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn't stop the hurt. I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much. I never knew that I could love someone so much. I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom, I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body. I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby. I didn't know the bond between a Mother and her child. I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so important.

Before I was a Mom, I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay. I had never known the warmth... the joy... the heartache... the wonderment... or the satisfaction of being a Mom. I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much before I was a Mom.

This post is linking up with: Gratituesday.

Hosted by Krystyn at Really, Are You Serious?

Bacon Water Chestnut Rolls

2011-01-23T14:25:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago when the Oregon Ducks played in the national championships, I made these for my husband to bring to his football party. They were a big hit, so I thought I'd share the recipe. I found it on allrecipes.com but made a few changes. I also like to make my own chili sauce rather than buying it, so the recipe for that is below too. Enjoy!

Bacon Water Chestnut Rolls

Ingredients:
2 (8 oz) can water chestnuts, whole
1 pound sliced bacon, cut in half
1/2 cup mayo
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup tomato-based chili sauce (recipe below)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Wrap each water chestnut with a piece of bacon. Poke with a toothpick to hold together & place the rolls seam-side down in a 9x13 inch baking dish.

3. Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, or until bacon is crisp & cooked through. Drain off the grease.

4. In a small bowl, stir together the mayo, brown sugar, & chili sauce; pour over the bacon-chestnut rolls. Return to the oven & bake for another 25-30 minutes.

To make homemade chili sauce:
Stir 1/2 cup tomato sauce, 2 tbs brown sugar, 1 tbs vinegar, and 1/8 tsp allspice together in a mixing bowl until thoroughly blended.

This post is linked up to: Tuesdays At The Table

What Every Mom Needs

2011-01-19T14:55:00.000-08:00

I really enjoy reading. I wish I had more time for it, but I fit it in as best I can. Lately, usually it's been while snuggling with my precious baby girl. She's a great cuddler.

Last week, I started reading the book, What Every Mom Needs: Meet Your Nine Basic Needs (and Be a Better Mom). It's written by Elisa Morgan & Carol Kuykendall, of MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers). What an encouragement it's been to me. I've read it before (when I had just one child), but it's even more relevant to me now, I think.

Here's what it says on the inside cover:

"Being the mother of a young child is a tough job, but now you can find help and understanding. Elisa Morgan & Carol Kuykendall of MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) International point the way to relief & fulfillment in the midst of motherhood's hectic pace. After more than 20 years of research & experience with moms, MOPS has identified your nine basic needs as a mother: significance, identity, growth, intimacy, instruction, help, recreation, perspective, and hope. The authors show how meeting those needs will not only make you more content - it'll make you a better mom. "

I've found myself agreeing with so many of the examples of daily life mentioned in the book, saying "Yep, that's me... that describes our day". And it's great when a book puts into words exactly how you feel. It's comforting. It's validating. It reminds you that you're human, along with everyone else. That you're not out there on your own planet somewhere. It's so easy to forget that you're not alone when you spend your day taking care of little ones, with little adult interaction.

Although I couldn't be happier with how God has blessed our family with 4 wonderful children... I mean, this is the life I've always wanted, right?... I have to say it's tough just getting through each day. Having 3 under 2 years old is hard work! Trying to be there for each one of my children is difficult. I feel like there's not enough of me to go around. When 2 kids are crying (for completely different reasons) & you're right in the middle of making dinner or something, you just can't physically be there for everyone. And that's something that's hard for me. I want to be there for my children.

Time seems to be just flying by & I just want to slow it down so I can really enjoy my children. I mean REALLY enjoy them. Some days are better than others, but there are times that I'm so exhausted that I wish I could just take the rest of the day off & sleep (or read)... (or finish my cold breakfast that's still sitting on the table). Yet there are precious children to feed, diapers to change, bills to pay, library books due (yesterday), a phone call to make, & laundry taking over the laundry room. None of those things can be ignored.

No, taking the day off just isn't an option. This is a season of my life where I have a lot of little ones depending on me each day. I just pray God will help me to have a good attitude & give me the strength I need each day to be the kind of mom He wants me to be & that I will have the energy to do some fun things with them too each day rather than "just get through the day". I'm sure when I look back on this time, it'll mostly be a blurr, but I hope there are some sweet memories that stand out as well.

A New Year

2011-01-05T12:00:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I've written anything on my blog. And you know, I'm starting to miss it. So you might hear more from me in the days to come. Or you might not. We're running on a day-by-day basis around here, so anything could happen! lol

I love a fresh new year. So many possibilities. New ways of doing things. A chance to recommit to what matters most & re-prioritize. Of course, this can be done any time of year. But a new year makes me want to organize. declutter. simplify.

Although, this new year, I'm not doing a whole lot of that right now. My baby girl was born just one month ago, and my days right now are filled with caring for her while trying to keep up with her 3 big brothers. So we've been enjoying lots of family time at home... well, at least it's enjoyable when someone's not crying.

With 3 little ones that are 2 & under, there is lots of crying, I'm afraid. They seem to take turns, although sometimes they don't wait to take turns & everyone's crying at once! That's the hardest thing for this mama. Bring on the diapers, the extra mess, toys everywhere... I can handle that. It's the crying that wears me out. But I am trying to enjoy the season we're in as best I can as I know they won't be little forever. I'm so thankful for my family.

So most things for us have been very simplified. Simple routines. Simple meals. We rarely go anywhere, except for church. It's hard to pack up all the kids & their stuff... it's easier to just stay home! But I'm slowly feeling up to adding more things back in. Like this blog. And we started back up with school this week for my 9-yr old. Oh, and I'm missing my friends!

I have to say it felt good to pack up all the maternity clothes. I'm soooo done with those, ready to pass them on. But my closet is seeming awfully bare as I've been in maternity clothes for pretty much 3 years straight. So I think I'll be venturing out soon to see what I can find. By myself. Well, just me and the baby girl.

Oh, and here are some pictures of my little sweetie. Can you tell I'm enjoying PINK for a change?

Homemade Ice Cream

2010-08-18T13:05:00.000-07:00

My son has been having a friend over a few nights this week for a sleepover, so I decided to make some homemade ice cream & let them make sundaes. I tried a new recipe & it was really good. It was one I had cut out of the newspaper long ago. Here it is!

Ingredients:
3 tbs cornstarch
6 cups whole milk
2 2/3 cups sugar
4 eggs
3/4 tsp salt
1 12-oz can evaporated milk
1 pint whipping cream
3 1/2 tbs pure vanilla extract

Directions:
Mix cornstarch with 1/2 cup milk. Add 1 1/2 cups milk and cook in double boiler or large pot until thick and smooth, beating constantly to avoid lumps.

Blend sugar, eggs, salt and evaporated milk with electric mixer. Add whipping cream, remaining milk and vanilla extract. Pour into freezer and crank.

I like to make my ice cream either early in the morning or the day before, that way it's not as soft. Enjoy!

This post is linking up with:
Tempt My Tummy Tuesday
Tuesdays At the Table

Soaking Up the Summer- Pictures From Our Week

2010-08-15T23:45:00.000-07:00

Well, last week started out pretty rough, but things did get better, thankfully. I appreciated everyone's encouragement in the comments. It's nice to know that others struggle with the same things & that I'm not the only one.

Before we know it, the summer will be gone, so we've been trying to enjoy it while we can. Here are some pictures of my boys last week, soaking up what's left of the summer:

Big J cools off in the pool with friends... the temps have been pretty high here lately.

Little J enjoys the sand almost as much as he enjoys the water. Good thing our local pool has a sand area.

My mom gave us her playground this weekend, and the boys are loving it.

Little J got a big coloring book for his birthday, so we've been doing lots of coloring around here lately.

This post is linking up with:
A Lot of Loves
5 Minutes For Mom
Wordless Wednesday
Wordful Wednesday
Two of a Kind
Gratituesday
Chatting at the Sky

Just Not My Week

2010-08-11T05:40:00.000-07:00

This just hasn't been my week. After a really productive weekend getting most of my school preparations done, I just can't seem to accomplish anything this week. Add to that the fact that it seems there's always someone crying or complaining, along with me having a headache for several days, my energy level has been running low, and I've been feeling overwhelmed.

The hardest thing is we've been dealing with a lot of attitude from my 9-yr old & it's really been getting me down. Constantly arguing with him about his chores, about following directions, about being nice to his brother, about watching how he talks to us, and even about lying is sapping my energy. I think being a parent is so much easier when they're babies & toddlers! It's hard when your child acts unthankful about everything no matter what you do, especially when you're already feeling pulled in so many directions, trying to keep everything going.

Now that August is here, I'm feeling the added pressure of trying to fit in the rest of the fun activities we wanted to do this summer, while still trying to finish up some projects on our list before the busy-ness of school starts up, as well as getting all the school preparations, chore schedules, & routines in place. Whew! No wonder I'm overwhelmed!

I actually really love this time of year, getting organized, the fresh start of a new school year, thinking about new ways of doing things... I think January & August just might be my favorite months of the year! But right now, it's not feeling so fun. I'm just feeling overwhelmed. And impatient. And grumpy. Maybe I should just let some of that stuff on my to-do list go.

I had so much fun yesterday afternoon, spending 3 hours of one-on-one time with my 2-yr old at the pool & sand area. But the entire rest of the day was literally spent arguing with my 9-yr old. The. entire. rest. of. the. day!

So last night, I talked with my hubby about how something needs to change. It seems like we're just not getting through to our son, and we're talking to him about the same things over & over again. Then we remembered that we bought a couple of books at the curriculum fair a few years ago:

For Instruction in Righteousness (A Topical Reference Guide for Biblical Child-Training)

Plants Grown Up (Projects for Sons on the Road to Manhood)

We still haven't even used them yet! So we got them out & looked through them & they seem perfect for what we're dealing with right now. Both are written by Pam Forster & published by Doorposts. You can look up a certain character topic like disobedience, laziness, arguing, theft, etc and it points you to a list of verses as well as ideas of things you can have your children do to help them to grow in a Godly manner in that area. I don't know why we haven't been using them all along!

So after realizing that, I've been feeling a lot better. More than anything, I want my son to have a heart that's tender towards the Lord and have the desire to do what's right. We plan to add these books as part of our curriculum for the coming year. I'm excited to get started!

This post is linking up to:
5 Minutes For Mom,
Wordful Wednesday,
Works For Me Wednesday,
Two Of a Kind,
Word-Filled Wednesday,
Tuesday Unwrapped,
Tidy Mom,
Gratituesday

Our Financial Journey - Part 2

2010-08-05T23:50:00.000-07:00

This week, I am continuing on with Part 2 of my family's financial journey. To read Part 1 of our journey, click here.

(Hubby & I with Little J in 2008)

When my oldest son was born, we were debt-free, other than our house payment. It felt really good to know that we had reached our goal of paying off our debt of $20,000. We remained debt-free for over 3 years. I was a stay-at-home mom & we were living on one income. We didn't have a lot, but we had enough. God was providing.

(Big J @ 4 months)

In 2003, we owned 2 vehicles that were paid off, a 30-yr old pickup and a 9-yr old Dodge Neon (which was slowly dying). The Neon was becoming extremely unreliable & constantly breaking down, leaving us stranded (with a toddler in tow). Not a good situation. My hubby spent a lot of time working on the car, fixing each thing as it went wrong. It was costing us a lot of his time, as well as money.

We had been putting up with this for about 3 1/2 years, never knowing when & where we were going to get stranded. It was so frustrating! So we finally decided to trade in the Dodge Neon for something more reliable, and we bought a used mini-van, adding a vehicle payment to the mix. It has never left us stranded, and we still own it today. I love it!

(Big J @ 5 years with van in background)

Then the following year, my hubby decided to sell his 30-year-old pickup for a newer model. I can't say that I blamed him... I sure wouldn't want to drive that thing... it was as old as I was! Add in vehicle payment #2.

(Hubby with his old truck)

(Big J @ 4 years in new truck)

Somewhere in there, we also added in a credit card & began using it occasionally to live beyond our means. Not really the vision we had when we first got married. We were still doing okay, but things were tight. Having debt was really starting to become a burden. Something needed to change...

Check back next week to read Part 3...

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

You Know You're Probably Nesting When...

2010-08-03T07:30:00.000-07:00

... you realize at 2am on a Saturday morning that you just can't live with your stove being dirty for one more minute. So you decide to clean it. At 2am on a Saturday morning. Then you continue on with the rest of the kitchen.

Yep, that's how I started my weekend. Pulled the burners out, lifted the top, and started scrubbing away. I had been needing to do some deep-cleaning around here. This rental just wasn't up to our standards when we moved in, and although I did do some deep-cleaning at the time, I just didn't have the energy during my first trimester to do it all. So this weekend, I decided to not put it off any longer, and I got quite a lot done, actually. Yeah, I know I'm weird. But when you hate cleaning, and all of a sudden, you actually feel up to it, you just go with it.

I'm starting to think about the school year, and there are some things that I'd like to get behind me so we can have a successful year and I can focus better. One is cleaning, the other is decorating. I don't really enjoy either one. But I'd like to be able to feel comfortable having people over & having those two things done would certainly help. Plus it's really helping this place feel more like home. My mom said it would.

The past few weeks, she's been helping me decorate & we're getting close to being done. Most of the rooms have picture frames up now. Do you know just how long it takes to hang a series of 3 pictures on the wall & have it turn out right? Good thing I have my mom to come help me since I'm clueless in that department, otherwise this place might have always looked like we just moved in (& we've been here 3 months already!). Now I just need to get some pictures printed up to put in those frames. So that is my project this week. I'm also planning to get portraits done of the boys, since it's about time for that too.

This post is linking up to:

Menu Plan Monday - Aug 2nd

2010-08-02T08:19:00.000-07:00

The best thing about my menu this week is that I don't have to cook until Wednesday! We're having pizza with my college roommate & her family tonight. Then tomorrow, our new friends from church have invited us over for dinner.

The rest of the week, all of my meals will be in the crockpot by noon, giving me the rest of the day to be anywhere but my kitchen. That's right, I'm doing all slow cooker meals this week, mostly soups.

I'm in a weird mood for soups. And my husband said he's getting tired of chicken so no chicken this week. Haha, after this week, he'll be telling me he's tired of soup! I'm trying some new recipes out of my Fix-It & Forget-It Cookbook, so I'm putting page numbers after the titles.

Here's what we're having for dinner this week:

Monday: Pizza with friends

Tuesday: Dinner with friends

Wednesday: Meatloaf Casserole (P. 107)

Thursday: Texican Chili (P. 31) & Cornbread

Friday: Manhattan Clam Chowder (P. 44)

Saturday: Taco Soup with Pizza Sauce (P. 38)

Sunday: Spicy Potato Soup (P. 52)

To see more menu plans, visit OrgJunkie.

Our Financial Journey - Part 1

2010-07-28T07:30:00.000-07:00

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.

I'm starting a series of posts about my family's financial journey over the past 12 years that we've been married. We're not perfect, but I believe God is faithful, even when we make mistakes and get off-course. He's there to pick us back up, dust us off, and help us get back on the right path, even if we don't know exactly where that path is headed. Our job is to trust Him and to follow Him. I know He's not done with us, as we are still on the journey. Check back to read future posts about our financial journey and what God has done in our lives. And maybe it will help you in some way as you travel along on your own path.

Here is our story...

When my husband & I first got married, we had over $20,000 in debt (mostly his, but I'll take credit for a little of it too, I guess)- student loans, a car payment, credit cards... it all added up. Our goal was for me to be able to stay at home once we began having children. This is something that was important to us, even from the beginning of our marriage.

So for the next 2 1/2 years, I worked full time in the accounting dept at an adoption agency, & every penny of my paycheck went towards reducing the debt. I enjoyed my job and the people I worked with, but I really wanted to be a full-time mom. God knew our hearts, and it's amazing how He worked things out for us in the way that He did.

Eventually, 2 1/2 years after we got married, the day arrived that we became debt free. And the blessings kept pouring in. During that same month, the house that we had been trying to buy (it was a bank repo, so the process was slower) finally went through & we became first-time homeowners as well. Then, a few weeks after we moved in, we became pregnant, after trying for 3-4 months (We always seem to get pregnant when we move! lol).

So, we paid off our debt, bought a home, and got pregnant, all in the same month, and in that order. I believe it was all God because it was beyond our power to make all those things happen the way they did, even if we had tried.

One month before my oldest son was born, I was able to quit my job & I have never looked back. I love being a stay-at-home mom and having the chance to homeschool my children. And I know I am right where God wants me to be.

But things didn't always go the way we planned, financially. That nasty debt has a way of creeping back in...

Click here to read part 2 of our financial journey.

Hosted by Cecily and Caitlin

The Dog Ate My Homework

2010-07-28T07:00:00.000-07:00

We've all heard the line, "The dog ate my homework" and, well, it doesn't usually work, of course, especially if you don't even own a dog. Well, yesterday my 9-yr old son came up with his own unique version of that & I just had to laugh. He was working at the table on his language arts paper, then got up & said he had to go to the bathroom. During this time, I am sitting on the couch, feeding Baby J.

A few minutes later, I look up & where is my 9-yr old? At the table, finishing his paper? Nope. He's sitting on the couch reading one of his library books. I ask him why he's not working on his language arts & he tells me, "I can't find my paper!". Really? LOL Nice try. We quickly found his paper sitting on the shelf, where he set it when he was headed into the bathroom. Never a dull moment with that boy.

A Few Movies We've Enjoyed Lately

2010-07-27T07:00:00.000-07:00

It seems harder & harder to find good movies that we enjoy. So I thought I'd post a few of the good ones we've seen this summer. You can click on the titles to see a trailer for each movie.

Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story- "A frustrated young boy with problems in school overcomes the obstacles in his life to become a world-renowned neurosurgeon. Based on a true story."

Taken- "A former spy relies on his old skills to save his estranged daughter, who has been forced into the slave trade."

Holes- "Always in the wrong place at the wrong time, Stanley is unfairly sentenced to months of detention at Camp Green Lake. There, he and his campmates are forced by the warden and her right-hand men to dig holes in order to build character. Nobody knows the real reason they're digging these holes, but Stanley soon begins to question why the Warden is so interested in anything special the boys find." (This was a great family movie)

Cheesy Beef & Potato Bake

2010-07-26T23:55:00.000-07:00

My family really enjoys these potatoes. It was a Taste of Home recipe that I used to serve with meatloaf. Eventually, we ditched the meatloaf & now just add ground beef right on top, and my family likes it better that way. I like to use the Yukon gold or yellow potatoes.

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
4 large unpeeled potatoes
1/4 cup butter
1-2 tbs diced onion
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/8 tsp pepper
1 cup (4 oz) shredded cheddar cheese
1 tsp dried parsley

Directions:
Cook ground beef & drain. Thinly slice the potatoes & place in a greased shallow 2-qt baking dish. Add ground beef on top. In a small saucepan, heat butter, onion, salt, thyme & pepper until the butter is melted. Drizzle over potatoes. Cover & bake at 425 degrees for 45 minutes or until tender. Sprinkler with cheese & parsley. Bake, uncovered, 15 minutes longer or until the cheese melts. Yield: 4-6 servings.

This recipe is linking up with: 5 Dollar Dinners, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, Two For Tuesdays, New Nostalgia, Tuesdays @ the Table, Delicious Dishes, Grocery Cart Challenge, Foodie Friday, and Slightly Indulgent Tuesday.

Menu Plan Monday - July 26th

2010-07-26T07:30:00.000-07:00

Okay, so last week, I think I only made half of the meals on my menu. It's so easy to get busy in the summer doing spontaneous things that come along, that sometimes your menu just has to change to keep up. My life certainly doesn't revolve around my menu! lol I love spontaneity sometimes.

My mom & I have also been really busy with tackling some projects around here (have I mentioned that I have an awesome mom?)... lots of yard stuff- cutting back trees & bushes, weeding, hauling off a truck-load of yard debris, getting ready to rototill, then will put down some bark. Cleaned off the back patio. Finally put up the curtains. Went through my mom's glassware, getting ready to fill the curio cabinet. Need to do some deep cleaning, although not sure when I'll get to that. I'm bored with cleaning right now. lol

We are picking so much zucchini, green beans & lettuce right now in our garden, that many of the veggies in our meals are revolving around that. I've never made green bean casserole from scratch, only using the cans or frozen, so I'm excited to try that this week. And I found a healthier version of the french fried onions for the topping at Trader Joe's.

I think I'll also post a recipe for my zucchini & onions later this week that I make (so easy!). It's a great way to use up some up that zucchini, as one can only make so much zucchini bread.

Here's what we're having this week:

Monday: Roasted Chicken & Potatoes, Green Bean Casserole

Tuesday: Salmon Cakes, Rice, Zucchini, Salad

Wednesday: Tacos

Thursday: Chicken Salad

Friday: Beef Stir Fry

Saturday: Tuna Casserole, Salad

Sunday: Slow Cooker Chicken Enchilada Casserole (never made last week)

For desserts this week, I'm planning to make zucchini bread (you knew this was coming, lol), homemade ice cream, chocolate pudding, and smoothies.

To check out more menu plans, visit Organizing Junkie.

Free Game of Bowling on August 7th

2010-07-26T07:00:00.000-07:00

GoBowling.com has a coupon you can print for a free game of bowling on August 7th. You can even print a coupon for everyone in your group. There's a link above the coupon to see which locations near you are participating. We have three near us. I don't really care for bowling, but my oldest son does, so we might try to go. And my two-year old just got a new bowling set for his birthday, so I bet he'd love it too!

Head over to Blog Party for more great deals

I Have a Daughter!

2010-07-22T22:00:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning, I had my ultrasound. It was a very emotional morning for me. With 3 boys already, we had decided this would be our last baby. This also meant it was our last chance for a girl. I was prepared for either outcome since, although I would have loved to have a girl, boys are what I know & what I'm comfortable with. And besides, I can't seem to get enough of that cute, smiley, kissable baby boy that I already have. So I knew, of course, that I would be happy either way.

However, until that point, I really thought it was going to be another boy, so when I heard it was a girl, the tears just started streaming. I was surprised by the emotion that came over me. I never realized just how much I wanted a girl until the ultrasound tech said those words. No longer was it just "a girl", it was my daughter. We have a daughter! WOW. I think it's going to take a while before that one sinks in.

I even asked her if she could please be VERY sure because I have 3 boys... lol... so she checked several times... Yep, it's a GIRL! And everything looked great... the baby is healthy. Praise God! My due date is December 5th, but will most likely be a little early with a c-section.

This post is linked to Finer Things Friday, Gratituesday, I'm Lovin' It Fridays, & Chatting At The Sky.

Friday Blog Hops

2010-07-22T21:45:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday Everyone!! I am happy to participate in the following Follow Me Fridays. It's a great way to discover some wonderful new blogs.

Broccoli Salad

2010-07-21T21:45:00.000-07:00

I've brought this broccoli salad to lots of potlucks. I usually mix up the main ingredients the night before, then add the dressing the next morning, and chill for at least 4 hours. But you could probably just make it all the same day with good results too, if you were short on time. The amounts can also be adjusted according to your own tastes or whatever you have on hand.

Salad Ingredients:
8 slices bacon
4 cups broccoli, cut into bite size pieces
1/2 cup sweet red onion, chopped
1 cup raisins
1 cup sunflower seeds

Dressing Ingredients:
3 tbs apple cider vinegar
2 tbs sugar
1 cup mayo

1. Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble and set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, combine the broccoli, bacon, onion, raisins & sunflower seeds. Refrigerate overnight.

3. In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, sugar & mayo. Pour over broccoli mixture, and toss until well mixed. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

This post is linking up to:
Grocery Cart Challenge Recipe Swap
Foodie Friday
The Ultimate Recipe Swap.

Menu Plan Monday - July 19th

2010-07-19T11:45:00.000-07:00

Last week I tried several new summer salad recipes, but wasn't really happy with any of them. Anyone know of any good ones?

Here is our menu for this week. We don't really have a lot going on this week, mostly planning to stay home & decorate (finally), and catch up on a few things. Next week is the Tour of Homes in our area, so we will be busy busy busy, as we like to go almost every day. Yeah, we're addicted! So this week, I'm looking forward to a quiet week.

Monday: Slow Cooker Roast, Zucchini & Onions, Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Tuesday: Chicken Pot Pie

Wednesday: Salmon, Rice, Green Beans (from our garden!)

Thursday: Slow Cooker Chicken & Vegetable Soup

Friday: Potluck dinner @ the park with homeschooling friends- bringing Deviled Eggs & probably a dessert

Saturday: Slow Cooker Chicken Enchilada Casserole

Sunday: Potluck lunch @ church- bringing Broccoli Salad
Leftovers for dinner

For desserts this week, I'm planning to make banana crumb muffins, cheesecake, and smoothies.

To see what everyone else is having for dinner, visit Organizing Junkie.

Here and There and This and That

2010-07-19T08:00:00.000-07:00

Just a little bit of what we've been up to the past few months...

:: The biggest news is that we're expecting baby #4, due in November. I'm halfway there & we hope to find out whether we're having a boy or a girl on Wednesday! So the two littlest ones will be a year apart. What fun this shall be!
:: We sold our house and moved across town. We're mostly settled and I'm getting ready to decorate.

:: It's been four years since we've had a yard & could do a garden. So as soon as we were unpacked, that was the first thing on my list! It's been so nice to spend time outside, digging in the dirt, as well as watching everything take off.

:: Enjoying my boys. They are now 9, 2, and 8 months. And just yesterday, baby J got his very first tooth!

:: We've been enjoying the slower pace of summer, with some busy-ness added in there too. Sprinkler. Friends. Sunshine. Vacation Bible School. Park Days. Smoothies. Potlucks. Camp. Swimming. Movies. Sand. Bubbles. Playdates. 4th of July festivities. Birthday Parties. Summer Reading. Forts. Dress-Up. Family Garage Sale. Crafts. BBQ's.

Ah yes, we just love summer around here...

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

Worth Passing Along

2010-07-19T07:55:00.000-07:00

A few posts I enjoyed reading this week:

How to Make Things Harder & Do Nothing (Small Notebook for a Simple Home)- This is pretty funny, yet I have to admit is so true sometimes. If you ever tend to procrastinate, you will probably relate to this too.

Craigslist Photo Tip: How to Show Big, Clear Photos So Your Stuff Sells (Small Notebook for a Simple Home)- This was a really helpful tip for me, as we've been selling quite a few things on Craigslist over the past few months. It feels great to get rid of things you don't need that have just been taking up space.

Creating and Preserving Life Margins (Simple Homeschool)- A great reminder to have some family down time and to not fill up every hour of our days with busyness and too many activities. We've really been enjoying a slower pace this summer.

Saying No (A Familiar Path)- Melissa wrote a great post about setting boundaries for her children. We all have our own way of doing things in our own families, but she puts into words something I've been struggling lately to explain. We haven't let my 9-yr old son go to overnight camp yet (only day camp), even though several of his friends have been able to go. He's probably ready, and I think we're getting closer to letting him go, but at least until now, we've chosen against it. It's hard to explain to him (and to others) why we set some of the boundaries that we do, especially when "everyone else is doing it".

Melissa is referring to watching the Twilight movies, but I think it can apply to other situations as well. She said, "I just am for guarding them against some things until they are older.

Kids are bombarded with teenage sexuality so early in seemingly innocent shows like Hannah Montana and iCarly. Sometimes I can’t even put my finger on exactly why I don’t like them watching, I just know I don’t.

I don’t want their young minds on thoughts of boyfriends, love or any other adult situations right now. Right now I want them to be children."

Pictures From Our Week

2010-07-05T14:50:00.000-07:00

This post is linked to:

Worth Passing Along

2010-03-27T07:00:00.000-07:00

A few links I enjoyed reading this week:

The Beauty of Living... Slowly (Simple Mom)- some great ideas of ways to ditch the busyness of life and have a fun, spontaneous day of fun with your family.

Your Expectations of You: Something's Got to Give (Life As Mom)- great encouragement and reminder that we as moms don't have to do it all & that "to everything, there is a season". Some of the things I did when I only had one child just aren't as easy to do (or necessary) now that I have three kids. There are lots of "good things" we can be doing, but we don't need to burden ourselves with trying to do them all.

My Top Five Cleaning "Ah-Ha" Moments (Small Notebook For a Simple Home)- ideas to help develop a system that works for you to keep your home clean on a regular basis.

A New Adventure

2010-03-25T16:25:00.000-07:00

A couple of years ago, my hubby set out to accomplish his dream of building a house. Soon after we began the building process, the housing market crashed, along with a list of other setbacks. Once we started, though, we had no choice but to continue. What was supposed to take a year, ended up taking 2 years to complete.

Thankfully, though, we were able to finish the house & we moved in last October, just before baby J was born. It's a beautiful home & we've enjoyed living here the past 6 months. But because it took so long to complete, we racked up a lot of debt from building it & so the refinancing didn't go through like we had hoped.

So a couple of months ago, we realized the best thing to do would be to put the house on the market. After a month of trying to keep the house spotless for potential showings (which by the way, is really fun with three boys), yesterday we accepted an offer. If everything goes through, we will be moving at the end of April.

Although the past few years have been tough, with all the work we went through, it was certainly an adventure & we learned so much. We are ready to move on, though, & are looking forward to seeing what new adventures God has in store for us next.

What a blessing it was to find out that the buyer is a pastor's family with 6 kids. God knew all along who we were building this house for even though we oftentimes couldn't see past the day-to-day. But I am learning that we don't need to know all of God's plans... we just need to trust Him and follow Him, one day at a time. He is always faithful & we are resting in His promises.

I Feel This Way Sometimes...

2010-03-16T07:00:00.000-07:00

If You Give a Mom a Muffin

If you give a mom a muffin,
She'll want a cup of coffee to go with it.
So she'll pour herself some.
The coffee will get spilled by her three year old.
She'll wipe it up.

Wiping the floor, she will find some dirty socks.
She'll remember she has to do some laundry.
When she puts the laundry in the washer,
She'll trip over some snow boots and bump into the freezer.
Bumping into the freezer will remind her she has to plan supper for tonight.

She will get out a pound of hamburger.
She'll look for her cookbook. (101 Things To Make With a Pound of
Hamburger.)
The cookbook is sitting under a pile of mail.
She will see the phone bill which is due tomorrow.
She will look for the checkbook.

The checkbook is in her purse that is being dumped out by her two year old.
She'll smell something funny.
She'll change the two year old.
While she is changing the two year old the phone will ring. (Of course!)
Her five year old will answer it and hang up.

She remembers that she wants to phone a friend to come over for coffee on
Friday.
Thinking of coffee will remind her that she was going to have a cup.
She will pour herself some.
And chances are,
If she has a cup of coffee,
Her kids will have eaten the muffin that went with it.

Written by Kathy Fictorie
Based on If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff

I Oughtta Count

2010-03-15T07:00:00.000-07:00

..... how many times a day I kiss this face.

Proper English Cottage Pie

2010-03-15T06:30:00.000-07:00

I found this recipe last week on allrecipes.com and it was fabulous. It's a lot like a shepherd's pie. The only thing I did differently was I used chicken broth instead of beef because I had some I needed to use up. This is a recipe I will make again and again. And it made great leftovers too. Sorry, I forgot to take a picture!

Ingredients

1 pound lean ground beef
1 onion, diced
3 carrots, diced
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 1/2 cups beef broth (I used chicken)
1 tablespoon tomato paste
salt and pepper to taste
4 potatoes, peeled and diced
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup milk
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 pound shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
To Make Meat Filling: Place a large skillet over medium heat. Crumble in ground beef and saute 1 minute. Add onion and carrot, then continue to saute until meat is no longer pink and onion begins to brown, about 5 minutes. Mix in flour, cinnamon, mixed herbs, and parsley.
In a small bowl, combine beef broth and tomato paste. Mix together, then add to beef mixture. Add salt and pepper to taste. Lower heat and simmer mixture for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until almost all of liquid has been absorbed. Spoon mixture into a 9 inch pie plate.
To Make Potato Topping: Place diced potatoes in a medium saucepan. Cover with water and place over high heat. Allow to come to a boil. Boil for 15 minutes, or until potatoes are tender. Drain.
Mash potatoes until smooth, then add butter or margarine, followed by milk. Whip until fluffy. Add salt and pepper to taste. Spread potatoes over beef filling. Sprinkle with grated Cheddar cheese.
Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes, until top is browned and cheese is bubbly.

Serves 6.

For more great recipes, visit:

Bookin' It in 2010: The March Update

2010-03-13T23:10:00.000-08:00

I only read one book this past month. Here it is:

Refreshing Hope in God (A Mother's Journey of Joy and Pain) by Judy Dippel..... I'm glad I read this book, but it was a hard one to get through. The author's two kids are grown now, but she talks about some of the difficult things her kids went through during their teen years, and how it affected her as a mother.

It made me appreciate my mom so much more because of some of the things I put her through as a teenager. It also made me think about what things might be like in a few years if my son doesn't stay close to the Lord. Judy's kids grew up in a Christian home and ended up turning their backs on God for a number of years before eventually coming back to Him.

It reminded me that this can happen to good kids sometimes, regardless of how they're brought up, and we really need to be in prayer over our children's futures, that their hearts will stay close to the Lord and that they will make good choices as they grow older and become more independent.

Like I said, I'm glad I read this book-- it was good for me to think about these things-- but I think I'll read something a little more lighthearted next.

To see what others have been reading, visit Life As Mom.

Where We Do School

2010-03-13T20:45:00.000-08:00

This is where we do school. It's part of our family/bonus room. Next to my desk is my son's desk. It's nice to have him right there if he has a question. Sometimes he likes to sit on the couch, though. We also do all of our read-alouds together on the couch.

This little area is the dormer. It's where we keep all the school supplies and books, and whatever else we need. It's sort of a room within a room. The bookshelf isn't as organized as I would like it to be, but it's working for now. I only keep books on it that we're using this year. We have several bookshelves in another room full of all our other books. It helps me to keep them separate so I don't get overwhelmed or sidetracked.

There's also a world map and lots of storage containers. I love storage containers. I've been reading about using workboxes for homeschooling lately & am still getting mine set up & figuring it out. I really like the idea & am hoping it will work out for us. We also keep all the arts & crafts supplies in the drawers so that everything we need is right there.....

..... so that Big J can get busy creating his next masterpiece.

For glimpses into other blogger's homes, check out Chatting at the Sky's linky post here.

This post is also linking up to:

25 Random Facts About Me

2010-03-09T11:15:00.000-08:00

1. I am a night owl. I rarely go to bed before 1:00am.

2. I was a first chair violinist for two years in high school.

3. I worked at a Christian camp for six summers when I was a teenager and only came home on the weekends. It was a blast and those are some of my best memories growing up.

4. I've never had alcohol before in my life.... ever. I don't care to either.

5. I love roller coasters and water slides.

6. I grew up out in the country on 28 acres. We had sheep, goats, chickens, ducks, geese, rabbits, cats, dogs, fish, gerbils, and even a couple of peacocks who hung around our property for a while. It was a great experience.

7. I was a long-distance runner in high school. I loved it, and we had a really great coach. We made it to state my senior year, but unfortunately, we didn't win.

8. I like to organize everything I get my hands on, and I love storage containers, oh and labels, too.

9. My husband showed up on our first date in a brand new car. We had that car for nine years.

10. I had never been camping until I met my husband, and our first camping trip was a week long. His family had a boat, so we went tubing and water-skiing all week!

11. When my first son was between 3-6 months, we went on six different camping trips that summer. And all of them were tent-camping.

12. I love all-you-can-eat buffets.

13. I enjoy listening to others talk and learning from their experiences, but I don't generally have as much to say, myself.

14. In high school, my family went on a month-long trip, driving through 19 states in our station wagon. I still like where I live the best. My least favorite state was Idaho.

15. It took me forever to learn how to drive a stick-shift, and I failed my driving test on my first try.

16. My poor husband had to propose to me twice. I actually said no the first time (well, I said yes, then a week later, I decided I wasn't ready)!! I'm so glad he waited for me. We just celebrated our 12th anniversary, and he is a wonderful man.

17. I don't like to iron. When we first got married, my hubby did all the ironing... now we don't even bother.

18. I love my digital camera and take like a gazillion pictures. Especially of my boys.

19. I enjoy reading People magazine and get excited when there's a new issue at the library.

20. I got braces in 4th grade and had never met anyone with braces before that.

21. My husband and I have zero interest in watching sports. We rarely even know who's playing. I love that about him.

22. I love my Sunday afternoon naps.

23. I am thankful for my wonderful group of homeschooling friends. They are such a blessing to me.

24. I miss my sister and wish she lived closer. And I wish she would hurry up and have children so my boys can have cousins!

25. I used to be addicted to scrapbooking... then it was gardening... now I'm addicted to facebook and blogging!

Oven Parmesan Chicken Breasts

2010-03-08T18:50:00.000-08:00

I try not to use packaged mixes very often. I'd rather make up my own instead. It not only saves money, but is also healthier since I know exactly what's going into it and there are no unnecessary ingredients. This is my family's favorite recipe for breaded chicken breasts. I like to serve it with brown rice and a fresh salad.

Ingredients:
2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (I use chicken tenders)
2 tbs melted butter
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup dry bread crumbs
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp parsley flakes
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper

Directions:
Spray 9x13 pan with cooking spray. Dip chicken in butter. Coat with combined remaining ingredients. Place in prepared pan. Bake at 400 for 20-25 minutes or until tender. Makes 6 servings.

For more great recipes, visit:

Worth Passing Along

2010-03-07T15:40:00.000-08:00

A few links I enjoyed reading this week:

The House That Two Incomes Built- Part 1 (Smockity Frocks)- this post was an encouragement to me as we are getting ready to downsize to a smaller home as well. Another great post about what is important in life. (You can go here to read about why we are selling our home)

The House That Two Incomes Built- Part 2 (Smockity Frocks)

Couponing & How I'm Learning the Whole Process of Being Frugal (Lipstick to Crayons)- great information for someone trying to get the hang of using coupons, or anyone trying to save money

I Can't Do It All (A Familiar Path)- Melissa is one of my favorite writers. She's so down-to-earth. This post was another great reminder that I'm not the only one who doesn't have it all together. With our house on the market, it's been tough trying to keep the house extra super clean with three boys. And everyone's been sick the past couple weeks, which makes everything harder.

Computer Back-ups & Free Photo Books

2010-03-07T13:40:00.000-08:00

Today I backed up my computer. Every time I back it up, I write the date on my log sheet so I can keep track. Although my goal is to do this at least monthly, I only tend to back up my computer about every 3 months. I need to get better at this, especially with a newborn who changes so quickly. I would be devastated if I lost 3 months of photos of this little guy.

We have an external hard drive, so I just copy the newer folders over to that drive. It's so easy, really. I don't know why I don't stay more on top of that. But I am going to try harder this year.

Another thing I'm doing this month is taking advantage of some of the free photo book offers online. I made one a few years ago & was really happy with the results. Since there are so many offers, I'm going to make one for each of my boys, plus a family album. I think it's important to have that hard copy of my favorite photos.

Here are a couple of links to the free photo books that I've come across lately from Money Saving Mom's website:

A free photo book from Hotprints each month for free (plus free shipping).

A free 30-page 5x7 photo book from ArtsCow for free (plus $3.99 shipping). You can print up to 8 photo books. Offer expires 3-24-10.

MoneySavingMethods tells how you can get a free 20-page photo book from Picaboo for free (plus $3.99 shipping). Offer expires 3-31-10.

Big J has also been wanting to do some scrapbooking lately, so I'm going to take advantage of Kodak's 100 free prints (+ $1.99 shipping) offer to give him a nice stash of photos for his scrapbook. Hurry, this one expires 3-11-10.

For more free offers, Money Saving Methods has lots of links to other websites you can get prints for free (plus shipping). Have you backed up your computer recently?

Worth Passing Along

2010-02-28T20:40:00.000-08:00

A few links I enjoyed reading this week:

History May Be History (A Familiar Path)
Tonight I Ponder (The Joyful Chaos)
Redeeming The Days (Life As Mom)
Forgive My Rambling Heart (Eclectic Whatnot)

Last week, my oldest son turned nine years old, and I realized he is halfway there to becoming an adult. Yikes! How did this happen?? This made me sad. I don't want him to grow up. I want to cherish every millisecond of their childhood.

So, most of these links summed up almost exactly how I have been feeling lately about making the most of every day with my children before they are grown. May they be an inspiration to you as well, to cherish each moment of these quickly passing days.

Coupon Database

2010-02-23T07:00:00.000-08:00

I came across a pretty cool coupon tool recently. It's a listing of all the current coupons that are available. If I need something in particular, I can enter it into the database & do a search to see if there's a coupon I can use. So cool. Here's a link to the database.

Thanks, Deal Seeking Mom!

Free Magazine Subscriptions

2010-02-22T19:45:00.000-08:00

Thriving Family Magazine (from Focus On the Family)--- free 6 month subscription

American Baby--- free 6 month subscription

Baby Talk--- free one year subscription

Worth Passing Along

2010-02-22T19:15:00.000-08:00

A few links I enjoyed reading this week:

Letting Go of Unrealistic Expectations in marriage (Passionate Homemaking)

Slowing Down (Simple Kids)

The Organizing Tip That Won't Help You (Small Notebook)

Natural Homemade Cleaners (Simple Organic)

50 Household Uses For Baking Soda (Tipnut)

JC Penney - $10 off a $25 Purchase

2010-02-16T14:20:00.000-08:00

JC Penney did mark-downs this morning on their clearance racks to 80% off. If you go here, you can print a coupon for $10 off a $25 purchase. It's good until 2/27. I just came from there and bought 10 really nice long-sleeve shirts for my son for $18. That's less than $2 per shirt. Those will come in handy since his 9th birthday is only a week away!

Thanks Christina!

Excuse This House

2010-02-16T09:00:00.000-08:00

"Some houses try to hide the fact
That children shelter there;
Ours boasts of it quite openly,
The signs are everywhere.
For smears are on the windows,
Little smudges on the doors;
I should apologize, I guess
For toys strewn on the floor.
But I sat down with the children
And we played and laughed and read,
And if the doorbell doesn't shine,
Their eyes will shine instead.
For when I have to choose between
The one job or the other,
Though I need to cook and clean,
First I'll be a Mother."

~Author Unknown

From the book, Who Got Peanut Butter on My Daily Planner?, by Cindy Sigler Dagnan

Birthday Freebies

2010-02-15T08:45:00.000-08:00

Here is an extensive list of birthday freebies put together by Hey It's Free. Enjoy!

Food & Restaurants

Abuelo’s Mexican Food Embassy – Get a coupon for a free dinner entree with the purchase of an equally priced entree.
Acapulco – You’ll get a 100% free entree plus a free Guacamole right when you sign up.
Amato’s Sandwich Shop – Join the Tamatos Club and get a free birthday sandwich.
Applebees – Free dessert. They also have a newsletter, but no word if it sends out a birthday coupon or not.
Arby’s – As of 02/10, they’re offering coupons for a free Swirl Shake with any Roastburger purchase.
Atlanta Bread Company – They have a VIP eClub that you can sign up for, gaining you a free cookie on your birthday.
Auntie Anne’s Pretzels – They’ll send you monthly coupons all year long if you sign up for their newsletter, so it’s pretty safe to guess you’ll get a birthday treat.
Austin Grill – Sign up and get a free meal.
Bakers Square – Sign up for the eClub and get a free pie.
Baskin Robbins – Get a free ice cream treat if you sign up for their Birthday Club.
Beef ‘O’ Brady’s – They’ll send you a coupon for a free appetizer.
Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream – Become a Chunk Spelunker and you can get some free ice cream!
Benihana’s Japanese Restaurant – They’ll send you a $30 gift certificate valid during the month of your birthday.
BD’s – Join Club Mongo and get a little something something on your birthday!
BJ’s Restaurants – Free Pazookie!! (otherwise known as a delicious dessert.)
Black Angus Steakhouse – Receive a complimentary dessert for joining the BA Prime Club and a free steak dinner for your birthday!
Bob Evans – Free kids meal for anybody under the age of 12.
Boston Market – Free kids B-Day meal coupon for kids under 12 and coupons online for their various entrees.
Bonanza Steakhouse – Yet another free birthday surprise that I can’t figure out what exactly is! Oh well, just join their club and find out when they e-mail you.
Bruegger’s – Get a free cookie and an e-mail with a goofy looking mascot.
Bruster’s – Free waffle cone when you buy a waffle cone of of equal or greater value.
Buca di Beppo – Sign up for their eClub and get a free dessert.
Buffalo Wild Wings – You either get a Free dessert with a $5 purchase.
Burger King – Free kids meal to all kids club members.
California Pizza Kitchen – Free kids meal during the month of their birthday if you register first.
Captain D’s – Join their D’s Club and get a coupon for $3 off any meal, among other freebies.
Caribou Coffee – They’ll send you a coupon for a free drink on your birthday.
Carrows – Free cake plus a free dessert now just for signing up.
Cattlemen’s – Free dessert and cowboy hat (I’d go just for the cowboy hat!)
Charlie Brown’s Steakhouse – Sign up and get a free dessert plus points for every dollar spent.
Chevy’s – Free dessert and sombrero (First a cowboy hat, then a sombrero…heck yeah!)
Chicken of the Sea – Join their Mermaid Club and they’ll send you a free birthday gift. I’m just hoping it’s not a tuna-flavored cake or anything…
Chili’s – Free dessert if you join their club.
Claim Jumper – Free dessert if you join now.
Coldstone Creamery – Join now and get a free creation on your birthday. (My…God…Is…This…Delicious…)
Country Buffet – Join the Mega Bar Meal club and get not only a free meal on your birthday, but a free meal just for signing up!
Country Kitchen – As long as you have valid ID, you get a free dinner entree up to $8 in value.
Culvers – Free sundae as well as a few printable coupons when you first sign up.
Dairy Queen – Free ice cream coupon via e-mail for kids 16 and under. They also have a Blizzard Club for adults with the same offer.
Damon’s Steakhouse – Here’s a little trick. All you have to do is make a new email address, sign up, and within 24 hours they will send you 10 bucks off your meal, with the purchase of another comparably priced meal. So every time you and a friend go, you can get $10 off no matter what. Plus, they send you a few coupons for your birthday!
Daphne’s Greek Cafe – Free entree on your birthday when you join their ePita club.
Del Taco – Get two free soft tacos now and a free premium milkshake on your birthday.
Denny’s – Free original Grand Slam breakfast, but only on your birthday!
Don Pablos – Free $10 gift certificate after joining the Don Pablo Habanero Club.
Einstein Bros Bagels – Not sure what their eClub will send you, but it’s probably a coupon for a free bagel.
El Chicos – I’m told you get a free dessert, but I haven’t been able to confirm this.
El Torito – Have a coupon for a free meal e-mailed to you during your bday week.
Famous Dave’s Barbeque – Free meal with advance signup.
Fazoli’s – Join their eFamily and get a coupon for a free desert.
Fire Mountain – Join the Mega Bar Meal club and get a free meal on your birthday.
Firehouse Subs – Sign up and get an email for a free sub.
Flat Top Grill – Join their E-mail Club and get a coupon for a free stir fry on your birthday.
Friendly’s – Free ice cream cone if you join their birthday club.
Fuddruckers – They have a Fudd Club which will w-mail you a coupon for a free 1/3 pound burger.
Glory Days Grill – Free sundae on your birthday if you sign up in advance.
Gold Star Chili – Get a free dessert on your birthday, plus a free treat on your anniversary of joining up AND a free appetizer just for joining.
Gordon Biersch – They say you get a special “e-gift” on your birthday, which is a Buy One Get One coupon for an entree.
Hard Rock Cafe – Free dessert
Hometown Buffet – Join the Mega Bar Meal club and get not only a free meal on your birthday, but a free meal just for signing up!
Hooters – Free song & T-shirt (Pretty soon here I’m going to have an entire outfit!) If you live on the west coast, there’s even a Hooters Club for you to join up with.
Houlihan’s – Free coupon for an entree during your next visit up to a week after b-day (Kinda complicated…but free!)
Jack in the Box – They have a printable coupon for a free dessert valid only on your birthday.
Joe’s Crab Shack – Free cake if you join their club.
Juice It Up – They promise to give you a “birthday gift” but their website doesn’t say what it is. Might be worth signing up for though.
Keg Steakhouse and Bar – They’ll give you a 10oz. prime rib dinner with Caesar salad during your birthday month, Sun-Thurs only. You might want to call ahead to confirm this though.
Keva Juice – Their Keva Klub sent me a free 24oz regular blend smoothie coupon.
Krispy Kreme – Free half dozen glazed donuts and a coffee mug with either coffee or soda in it! You might want to sign up ahead of time.
Logan’s Roadhouse – Join their Nut Club and get a coupon for a free slice of cheesecake. Sometimes they’ll sing for you as well.
Macaroni Grill – Free dessert plus an OPERA-style “Happy Birthday” song, which is always…fun?
la Madeleine – Yet another on-line birthday club that will send you coupons for free food around your birthday.
Maggianos – $10 off purchase of $20 if you sign up in advance.
Mainstreet Ventures (Large chain of different restaurants, click to see if any are near you.) – Up to 50% off your meal. It’s based on the number of people in your party. For example, 2 people dining = 50% off. 3 People dining = 33% off, 4 people dining = 25%, etc.
Marble Slab Creamery – Kids can join the Marble Slab Kids Club and get a free ice cream cone on their birthday up to age 12.
Marie Calenders – Join their eClub and get free offers not only on your birthday, but anniversary as well!
Memphis BBQ – Coupon good for a free Rack of Ribs & strawberry shortcake, but you must sign up on their website 24 hours in advance.
Mimis Cafe – A coupon for $10 off your next purchase of $20 or more.
Moe’s Southwest Grill – Signup for their newsletter and get a coupon for a free burrito. They also have a birthday club for kids under 10.
Mongolian’s B.B.Q. – Signup for their Club Mongo and you’ll get a coupon for a free birthday meal.
Noodles & Company – Signup for their newsletter and they’ll send ya a coupon for a free meal right around our birthday!
Not Your Average Joe’s – Sign up for their e-mail club and get a coupon sent to you for a free entree on your birthday!
O’Charley’s – Get $5 off any $20 food purchase.
Old Country Buffet – Join the Mega Bar Meal club and get not only a free meal on your birthday, but a free meal just for signing up!
Olive Garden – Free dessert if you sign up?
On The Border – Free appetizer if you sign up.
P.B. Loco – Sign up for their newsletters and you’ll receive coupons periodically for free stuff, as well as coupons for free stuff when your B-day rolls around.
P.F. Chang’s – Free cake or cheesecake via their e-mail list.
Papa Murphy’s – Sign up for their e-club and get a coupon for a free cookie dough on your birthday.
Perkin’s – Free bakery goodie on birthdays for kids under 12.
Ponderosa – No idea what the birthday freebie is, but they promise to send you something.
Qdoba Mexican Grill – Join their eClub and get a free burrito on your birthday, as well as free chips n’ salsa just for joining up..
Quizno’s – Join their mailing list and get a free cookie. You’ll also get a coupon for a free Sammie when you sign up.
Red Lobster – Their Overboard Club will send you a coupon for $5 off two adult entrees.
Red Robin – Free Gourmet Burger if you sign up for Eclub. You have to bring in the e-mail coupon they send you.
Rock Bottom – Free appetizer for Mug Club members.
Round Table Pizza – Register with your local restaurant and get a coupon for a free personal pizza.
Ruby Tuesday – Free handcrafted burger of your choice.
Ryan’s – Join the Mega Bar Meal club and get not only a free meal on your birthday, but a free meal just for signing up!
San Francisco Over – Sign up in advance and you’ll get a coupon for a free birthday treat.
Schlotzsky’s – Get a free sandwich if you sign up ahead of time.
Smoky Bones – Members of the Bones Club get a free meal or appetizer, not sure which.
Spaghetti Warehouse – Signup for a free meal & possibly free appetizer?
Spicy Pickle – One free entree via their pickle club.
Sonic – An advertising company for Sonic, they’ll send you coupons for free Sonic goodies if you sign up. Also, get a free Wacky Pack Kid’s Meal on children’s birthdays if you register here.
Souper Salad – Join their Souper Salad Club and they’ll e-mail you a coupon for one free birthday meal which can be used within a week or your birthday.
Starbucks – If you have a giftcard to their store, register it and receive a free coffee on your birthday. If you shop there often, it might be worth simply buying a card for yourself just to get the free coffee!
Swiss Chalet – Get a free appetizer just for joining the Rotisserie-mail plus a free birthday surprise.
Taco Del Mar – They sent me a coupon for a free Grilled Chicken Taco Salad that was valid for the month of my birthday.
Taco John’s – Get a free order of Cini-Sopapilla Bites. I’ve never had these before, but if they’re as delicious as they are hard to spell, I’m excited.
Texas De Brazil – Sign up for their e-club and they’ll send you a $40 gift certificate! This place can be pricey, but it’s so worth it.
Texas Roadhouse – They send a coupon for one free appetizer or sidekick of ribs.
TGI Friday’s – Free birthday dessert plus free appetizer just for signing up!
The Fox and Hound – Free appetizer just for joining plus free entree on your birthday.
The Old Spaghetti Factory – Kids 12 and under get a free meal.
The Palm – 3lb lobster, but you must be a member first and follow a few rules.
Tony Roma’s – Free dessert if you sign up for Romo Rib Expert Club first.
Tropical Smoothie Cafe – They’ll e-mail you a coupon for a free smoothie.
Uno’s Pizza – Sign up and get a free personal pizza on your birthday.
Waffle House – Join their Regulars Club and get a special coupon.
Wendy’s – Free kids meal for the little ones and a free frosty for us adults.
Wingstop – Get 5 free buffalo wings on your birthday.
Zaxby’s – Join their Z-Mail club and you’ll get a coupon for a free meal, whether or not it’s your birthday! Kids can sign up here for their Kid Club and get not only a free meal, but a free cookie on their birthday!
Z’ Tejas – $15 coupon for the month of your birthday if you register first.

Entertainment / Services / Other

Academy Sports & Outdoors – Sign up in advance and you’ll get a $5 gift card on your bday.
Aveda – Sign up at least 28 days before your bday and get a free Personal Blends Pure-Fume
Boz, the Green Bear – You can join Boz’s Birthday Club in advance and your child will receive a personalized postcard in the mail as well as links to download special birthday coloring pages and other random stuff that small kids seem to enjoy.
Brunswick Bowling – Join the Bonus Zone and get a free game of bowling on your birthday.
Chuck E. Cheese’s – Their website promises a birthday special as well, which many people have said is 20 free tokens.
Dave & Buster’s – $10 game card credit when you sign up and $5 credit on your bday.
Disney Theme Parks – Free admission to either Disney Land or Disney World on your birthday in 2009.
Frosty Paws – Ok, so what if this freebie is for dogs. Pets like free stuff on their birthday too! Sign up for their Birthday Club and Fido will get a tasty frozen treat come his special time of the year.
Hallmark – 20% off coupon for one item.
Harkins – Free movie (Some say they got free movie, others only got free popcorn)
Hollywood Video – Free video rental if you sign up in advance.
Hot Topic – $10 off coupon on a minimum purchase of $20.
Medieval Times – Sign up in advance and they’ll send you a free ticket (worth $53!) to one of their feast and tournaments.
Movie Gallery – Get a free movie rental.
Proctor & Gamble – They’ll send you a batch of BOGO coupons for various products.
Ringling Brothers Circus – Sign your newborn up for a free ticket to the circus that never expires. Then just save it until your little one has a birthday later on and give it to them!
Ten Ren – Hiffer Bethany sent in a tip that her local Ten Ren has a sign offering a free Bubble Tea on your birthday with photo identification.
The Children’s Place – Register for their Birthday Club and receive 15% off on yours and your child’s birthday.
Toys R Us – Sign up ahead of time and once your child’s birthday rolls around, they’ll get a personalized letter in the mail. Plus, bring your child into any Toys R Us and they’ll get a hat & balloon before having their birthday announced over the loudspeaker. You’ll also get a $3 gift card in mail.

The Family Manager's Creed

2010-02-15T08:30:00.000-08:00

"I oversee a small organization---
Where hundreds of decisions are made daily,
Where property and resources are managed,
Where health and nutritional needs are determined,
Where finances and futures are discussed and debated,
Where projects are planned and events are arranged,
Where transportation and scheduling are critical,
Where team-building is a priority,
Where careers begin and end.

... I am a Family Manager."

From the book, The Family Manager, by Kathy Peel

Encouraging Words

2010-02-14T17:30:00.000-08:00

Encouraging Quotes from A Cup of Hope by Emilie Barnes...

"I learned a long time ago that we as God's children have no guarantee that we will not experience trouble. God never promised we would never have to walk through the pain of this life alone. He has promised He will never leave us or forsake us, and we can depend on that." --Marilyn Heavilin

"God is like a chair always there to hold you. God is like a pair of arms always ready to wrap you in a hug. God is like anything you can think of, only much better and sweeter." --Suzie Godrew

"Hope is the feeling we have that the feeling we have is not permanent." --Mignon McLaughlin

"When you give up all hope, you're probably only giving up the hope of getting your own outcome to happen." --Anne Lamott

"Sometimes what you get turns out to be better than what you wanted in the first place." --Eve Bunting

"God is already working on Plan B even as Plan A lies in shambles around our feet." --John Claypool

"The past is history, the future is a mystery and the moment is a gift. That is why it is called, the present." --Author Unkown

Where Have I Been??

2010-02-11T10:45:00.000-08:00

Good question. The last six months, I haven't posted a single thing on this blog, have I? What have I been doing? Well, for one, I've been busy enjoying this little guy...

Except now he looks more like this...

Isn't he a cutie? He just turned three months old and I can hardly believe it. I've also been trying to keep up with these two as well...
This boy is like the energizer bunny that just keeps on going.

And this one never runs out of things to say. But they are all a joy in my life, and I am enjoying being their mom.

We've also had some struggles, the scariest being that when my little guy was two weeks old, he was life-flighted to a children's hospital with a bacterial infection. We had very little warning that he was sick and several times, he stopped breathing. I cried almost that entire day... it was definitely the worst day of my life. He spent six days there over Thanksgiving weekend & we are so thankful the Lord healed him and he has made a full recovery.

I have a few friends who have lost their unborn babies recently, & my heart goes out to them, making me even more thankful for my family. Things certainly could have turned out much differently that day.

The other thing we've been dealing with is that my husband has spent the past three years building an amazing 3000 square foot home, doing a lot of the work himself. He finished in October, a month before the baby came, so we've been living in the house for about four months now. In the next few weeks, though, we will be putting this house on the market.

When we first started building, we thought we would live here for a few years before selling it & then build again, but that was before the wonderful housing market crashed in 2008. With this economy, my husband's ongoing health issues, and his current unemployment, we have decided to sell our home and move on.

It is a bittersweet time, but we are looking forward to what God has in store for our family. We only want His best and it has been made quite obvious that it isn't for us to stay in this house. Hopefully, our house will sell quickly and we will be able to find a new place to call home for these busy boys.

Booking It...

2010-02-10T10:00:00.000-08:00

Since reading books is something I really enjoy doing, I decided to join Life As Mom in her quest to read more in 2010. I'm more into the non-fiction books and rarely read anything fiction. The categories I like to read have to do with my relationship with God & others, family life, home management, money management, and probably a million other topics. I guess it just depends on what I'm interested in at the moment.

I have a good supply of books at home that have been given to me, and I also check out books from the public library as well as our church library. I rarely ever buy any books, but I am hoping to buy a few Dave Ramsey books this year.

On the sidebar is a list with links to all the books I've read so far this year. I'll hopefully be adding lots more to that list. Here are the books that I've read so far. All three were really great books, by the way.

A Cup of Hope (Resting in the Promise of God's Faithfulness) by Emilie Barnes..... This was a really encouraging book by one of my favorite authors, packed with scripture and quotes. Great for when you have anything heavy weighing on your heart and you just need to be reminded of God's promises and faithfulness. It can help lighten your load and get your focus back on where it should be, trusting the Lord, instead of spending your time worrying about things that are beyond your control & feeling like things are hopeless. God does keep His promises. We can rest in that.

Who Got Peanut Butter on My Daily Planner? (Organizing and LOVING Your Days as a Mom) by Cindy Sigler Dagnan..... I love to organize things, but sometimes organizing my day can be a bit overwhelming to me. It can be hard to figure out what to do first when you're being pulled in so many directions. This book is filled with ideas on ways to organize your home & maximize your day in order to get the most out of your time with your family, but was also a good reminder of why I have chosen to stay home with my children in the first place.

Living Well on One Income (In a Two-Income World) by Cynthia Yates..... Yet another book on organizing your life, but also packed with tips on money management, ideas to save money, using up what you have, and taking care of what you plan to keep. I enjoy the author's humor sprinkled throughout the book.

At this point, I'm not planning out what I'm reading in advance. I usually just pick out a book that deals with a topic that's on my mind at the time.

What about you? What good books have you read lately?

Saving Money by Buying Less

2010-02-09T07:55:00.000-08:00

This month, I am focusing on buying less and using up what I already have. Here are a few articles from Money Saving Mom with some great ideas and inspiration:

How Buying Less Can Set You Free

The Pantry Challenge

Using What You Have

I'm looking forward to the challenge of coming up with creative ways to use up what I already have!

The Family Manager's Creed

2010-02-05T17:45:00.001-08:00

"I don't want to be a tightwad or a spendthrift.
I want to be smart.
I want to celebrate life,
to surround myself with beauty,
and to be content in whatever state I am in.
I want to manage my finances,
to organize my routine,
and to use my possessions wisely.
I want to budget resources and time,
to help others,
and to bring glory to God."

From the book, Living Well on One Income in a Two-Income World, by Cynthia Yates

Pregnancy Update

2009-06-30T17:17:00.000-07:00

I really can't believe how far along I am already. 20 weeks!! We're halfway there already! This has been by far my easiest pregnancy I've had. Most of the time, I don't even feel pregnant. (Maybe I'm just too busy to notice...lol) I've had no morning sickness whatsoever, just a few headaches here and there. I've been taking a lot of vitamins and I think that has been helping a lot with my energy level. All of this has been such a blessing.

Just in the past couple of weeks, I've started to feel the baby move. The movements have really gotten a lot stronger just this past week, though.

Today I had an ultrasound and we found out who that little person is in there. Not that I was surprised at all... it's another boy! That must be all we make around here. lol After a 20-minute ultrasound, measuring everything you can think of, they finally get around to checking if it's a boy or a girl. I think they should do that first! But we were also very glad to find out that everything looked good and the baby is healthy.

It will be nice to have two boys right close together (16 months apart)... they can share a room until they're grown... and hopefully will be very good friends. I have to admit, I was hoping for a girl, but the Lord knows what is best for our family, and we are thankful and blessed with what He has for us. We are happy that our family is growing and that we have this new little one to love. And my oldest is really glad, too-- he was hoping for another brother... of course.

Me and the Boys

2009-06-20T20:05:00.000-07:00

My Baby Is 11 Months Old

2009-06-19T07:00:00.000-07:00

My New Favorite Blog

2009-06-18T23:57:00.000-07:00

I have a new favorite blog. I came across it a few weeks ago. Heidi's blog, Mt. Hope Chronicles, is wonderful! I love her style, all the beautiful photography, lots of stuff about homeschooling and life in general... go check it out! I also added a list of links on the sidebar for some other photography blogs I've come across lately that I've enjoyed.

Free Beverage at Borders

2009-06-12T20:30:00.000-07:00

Go here to print a coupon for a free 12-oz beverage from Seattle's Best, located inside Borders Bookstores. Coupon good until June 18th. Enjoy!

Thanks, Money Saving Mom!

Works For Me: Free Spending Money

2009-06-03T09:18:00.000-07:00

With the weather getting nicer and us getting busier, I haven't spent much time in the stores, taking advantage of any good deals and free offers lately. We've even canceled our newspaper subscription for a while. Instead, I have signed up with several free trial offers that I've received with my credit card statements. I've done these free offers several times over the years, and it is an easy way to make some spending money.

Just in the past two months, I've made $140 by doing only four free trials. They are:

Traveler's Advantage
Buyer's Advantage
AutoVantage
Complete Home

These offers are really easy to do. The main thing is you have to make sure you are diligent about canceling in time. Otherwise, you will be charged. Then it's not such a good deal anymore. So at the same time I am filling out the form, I write the info on my calendar. If it's a 30-day trial, your trial usually begins when you receive your membership packet in the mail. I write the info on my calendar for 30 days from the day I mail it in. Then I know I will for sure be canceling it in time.

I write: the name of the program, the phone number to cancel, what the free promotion is, and how much I will be charged if I forget to cancel. I'm really good at looking at my calendar each day, and especially on Sundays when I am planning out my week. But if you tend to forget to look at it, this probably isn't the way to go for you. But if you are good at remembering to cancel, I recommend you try these out if you come across them. I'm not sure if you can go to their websites to sign up or if you have to actually receive a sign-up form in the mail, but it would be worth looking into.

It's been nice to have a little extra spending money for things we otherwise wouldn't have been able to afford right now. I've gotten portraits done of my boys, printed regular 4x6 pictures, gotten occasional ice cream/espresso treats, bought myself a few summer clothes and this weekend, I am going to garage sales to look for summer clothes for the boys. None of these things are in our budget right now, so I am thankful that those free offers came my way.

Have a Works For Me Wednesday tip you'd like to share? Visit We Are That Family for more great links.

Menu Plan Monday

2009-05-18T18:34:00.000-07:00

This week, I am trying out several recipes that my friends have posted. I've included the links. At the end of the week, we're having a garage sale at a friend's house, so it will be nice to have a little break from cooking.

Monday: Hawaiian Chicken and Rice

Tuesday: Dee-Licious Soup

Wednesday: Swedish Meat Pies

Thursday: Ordering Pizza with friends after our garage sale

Friday: BBQ with friends after our garage sale

Saturday: Spaghetti & Meatballs, Salad, French Bread

For more meal plans and recipes, head over to OrgJunkie.