I was just hiding in the bathroom. That is the only place that I can (usually) get a few minutes of respite.

For some reason today has been a rough day. There is really not one reason, but a culmination of things that have been hovering in the back of my mind. I know that they are there, but they are not always pressing issues, just things that have to be dealt with from time to time.

They felt especially heavy today. I felt especially especially heavy, as if the weight of the world rested on my shoulders.

I am not good at carrying the weight of the world. I don't do it with much grace. Instead, small issues with my children feel huge. My words are short and snappy when my children need patient teaching. I am quick to be irritated instead of quick to love and see the best in people.

So I decided to hide for a minute and catch my breath and that's when it happened.

Thankfulness washed over me.

I took a minute and thought about what today is. I took a minute To think about the sacrifice my Father willingly made to watch His son be bruised and broken and murdered. I thought about Jesus and the love that He proved when He took the weight of the world, sin and death, upon His shoulders.

And I cried. Hard.

And just that quickly the weight I felt was replaced with that light yoke and easy burden that He promised when we let Him bear the load.

I still feel a little weepy because the thankfulness is so full and overwhelming, and well all of this just happened a few minutes ago... I feel like a new lighter woman than i was when I got up this morning. That is a very good thing.

Weekly Wrap-Up - The Half Week

Do you know what a great way to get back into a full schedule is after Christmas without burning out? Plan a vacation for the 2nd week of January!!  Since some of our family wasn't able to come home at all during the Holiday's, we decided that we would plan a trip to see all of them when Jeremy was able to take vacation time.

We left last Wednesday and had a wonderful time!  I would love to show you pictures of the glorious time we had, but true to form I left my camera at home.  Seriously!  I couldn't believe it!  I remember packing it into the case and I thought from there I put it neatly into my purse.  I even looked for it while we were there because I was so convinced  I brought it.  Nope.  It remained on the microwave where I left it.  Ugh.

I digress.

We got home late this past Tuesday night so we took Wednesday off to conquer Mt. Washmore, and stretch our travel worn bones. So I didn't really plan much in the way of schoolwork...

Thursday- The girls practiced some Math Facts on coolmath.  I had never actually used this site and although it wasn't really my favorite, it served the purpose.  We are studying the digestive system in science so we worked on some of that, did some read alouds and called it a day.

Friday- We did read alouds, read some of our science chapter and did a few experiments for that.  (Have you ever put bread in a baggie and poured water over it, then smooshed it up?  Of course we were mimicking the stomach but the looks of it actually made Lauren and I a bit nauseous.)

We also finished our chapter in History and talked about Joshua, Rahab and the battle of Jericho. We acted out the 7 days of marching around the city.

Our city wasn't quite as fortified considering it was made of couch cushions...  but it got the idea across.

We also shouted to get the walls to crumble.  They loved that.  How often does your mom say. "Shout as loud as you can."  Not often.  It was loud and it was worth it, although the walls didn't crumble.



Isn't that story amazing though?  Obedience to God made way for a miracle.  I was overwhelmed again by the power of God's Word and the power of hearts that trust Him.  We talked about that quite a bit... and then we plundered the city.

Judah got to go first.












Then everyone joined in the plundering.  Most fun of the day by far.  Along with not telling my kids to yell their loudest all that often, we also don't jump on the couch cushions that often.  Notice the cracks in the back of the leather.  Now you know why.

Lauren had a few writing assignments to go along with this, but I think the jumping stuck the story in our memories.


It was a good day in a good week.  Now onto making lesson plans for the next few weeks, when we are REALLY back to our schedule.

This post is linked to Weekly Wrap Up over at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers.  To find out how other homeschoolers spent their weeks, click over there!

Happy Birthday Tatum Grace!!

I feel like I've known you forever and yet it's hard to believe it's already been 5 years since I first held you!  By the time you arrived, my 3rd daughter, I was pretty sure I knew how to "do" little girls.  But you, Tatum Grace, surprised me and convinced me even more that our Papa God makes no cookie cutter little ones. 


At 5 years old you:
 - Live up to your name: Tatum- cheerful, bringer of joy.  We partake in your joy of life every day.  There are not too many moments that you're not laughing or trying to make someone else laugh.   From the time you were a baby and still today, many people tell me how much they enjoy you and your personality and how fun you are to be around.  Grace- well, Grace.  You exhibit grace as well as any 5 year old can.  You are very quick to love people.  God has used you in many ways to teach me about grace and how He has all that we need for every moment.  You are very determined in your views and I have really learned to rely on God's grace to give me wisdom on how to reach you and teach you and hold your heart.

- You are full of antics. Still.  When you were one we nick-named you "Tatum the Tornado" until it hit me I really didn't want to profess that over you and told everyone we weren't allowed to say that anymore.  My oh my though, the things you come up with baffle me!  Just in this past year you have cut your hair THREE times and cut your eyebrows almost completely off with manicure scissors. You take risks. (Here's a story to enjoy from when you were smaller)

- You love to "collect" things.  Every bag, basket and bucket that you can get your hands on you fill with stuff; books, toys, cards, anything.  We have spent many hours searching for things only to find it was in one of your collections.  Some people would call it hoarding, but I'm putting it in a positive light and teaching you about moderation (and cleaning up after yourself).

- You love to learn and are learning to read very quickly.

- You love Jesus and love to talk about Him.  You have understanding for things that blow my mind.  Your faith is simple, just like it should be.  You trust God because you really seem to know His love for you.

- You still suck your fingers.  Daddy said no more, I am backing him.  I would never tell you this now, but it's hard for me because, you know, I sucked my fingers happily until I was six. Although not every waking moment like you do, but still atleast to go to sleep.  Hopefully we can get this habit broken and rescue your teeth and minimize the amount of germs you put directly into your mouth. Obviously when I talked about this issue here and here... it was not resolved.

You are a joy to us Tatum!  You help make our hearts full and we anticipate the amazing things that God has in store for one like you!

Happy birthday sweet girl!!

Where did all this time come from?!

What a fantabulous day!  It was our first day back to school and it was great!  I said yesterday, that we are getting back to the basics, and the basics felt wonderful. 

I started with a pretty long to do list for the day and I am amazed to say that it's all crossed off.  Crossing off lists is one of my great satisfactions in life.  I used to think I was the only person that would actually add things to my list that I had already done just so I could cross them off.  But after talking to a few other list obsessed people, I know I'm not the only crazy one. :)

School and list crossing off isn't the only thing that happened today though:  Laughs happened, tickles happened, cuddles happened, happiness happened.  I will share with you my secret to getting all of this accomplished, it's a time tested secret that I'm sure will work for anyone:

Get those buns outta bed on time!!   That's right.  That's all it takes.  Now if I can just convince my snooze finger of the wonderfulness of this day so it won't be tempted to steer me down the wrong sleepy path, I'll be good to go.

Today was also the first day of the Bible in 90 days and I got off to a good start with the 16 chapters that were on the schedule for today.  I am excited to begin the year in such an awesome way, filling my mind and my time with the Word of God.  This will be an great challenge for my spirit and my flesh.

So if it was your first day back to normal life after the holidays, how was it?  And if you're participating in B90, did you get off to a good start?

Back to the Basics

If you know me very well, you know that I love the holidays and everything that comes with them.   I relish every moment, every party, every -ahem- unscheduled day.  By the time January 1st rolls around I am ready to get back to a basic way of life, and so are my children I must say.

We weren't able to go to church this morning because neither Jeremy or I were feeling well, so I have have taken this day to rest and get ready to jump back into routine tomorrow.  I'm just finishing up the next two weeks of lesson plans so I will be all ready in the morning! :)

A couple of things on my agenda for the week:

• Back to 5am wake up and workouts.
• Get the children used to school routine again.
• Christmas decor taken down and put away. NEATLY.
• Continue gathering stuff for Goodwill and the general declutter.
• Implement the new chore responsibilities.  (This will take more than a week I'm sure.)

The title of my post really sums it up, we're just getting back to it this week. :)

Also, I'm really excited to be participating the The Bible in 90 Days Challenge hosted by Mom's Toolbox!  We start tomorrow and I am really looking forward to the challenge and the awesome way to start the new year. If you would like to participate, click the link to read what it's all about.  There are reading guides there to help you see where to read each day.

If you are interested in reading the New Testament in 90 days, that's what Lauren will be reading, as well as what I will be reading to the other girls.

Little Girls Being Little Girls

 

Chloe asked to help me with dinner the other night.   I let her chop the vegetables for the salad. (And I let her use the sharp knife, that's a privilege she's recently graduated to.)

She spent the whole time telling me things that she's been thinking about, her words so excited and coming so quickly that sometimes I had a hard time understanding the whole story.  But I didn't say "what?", because that frustrates her and sometimes she gives up telling the story.

Instead, I just listened very intently.  I could gather the gist of the story and have the correct responses that way.  Sometimes I'm not very good at that.  Sometimes I only halfway listen and miss something that is very important to my girl at that moment.

I'm working very hard to not just be here, but to always be present.

I turned around from the sink to respond to something she said, and I couldn't help but enjoy the combination of roller skates and chopping cucumbers with a sharp knife.  She's a big girl and a little girl.  She's growing and learning important things, but she's doing it with her roller skates on.








(****For those of you who may be concerned:  No little girls were harmed in the making of this blog post. I, being the smart Mommy that I am, would never let a little girl on roller skates carry around a sharp knife. ****)

A Week In Review- The S-L-O-W Week

It's barely 7:00am, and normally this should be a crazy time of day; everyone awaking and the morning things being done.  Normally I would not be on the computer already.  But there is something so peaceful this morning about the little bit of sunshine, the little bit of dark clouds on the other side of the sky, and the loud chorus of birds that have been in hiding the last few days keeping out of the rain. I just had to take some time to sit in the quiet.

Really though, who am I kidding?  This is the first morning this week that I've seen the day before 7:00.  It's been one of those weeks. Everyone has been staying up too late, which makes for very s-l-o-w moving mornings.  But really, if I was going to choose a week to be slow, this was the perfect one.  Since it's been so rainy there hasn't been any garden or yard work happening, and there was very few things on the schedule.  So yes, now that I think about it, I'm not going to feel bad about this being a slow week because we just need those sometimes.

This week.
Lauren:

• mostly finished her Human Body Lapbook.  She has a few review activities and some vocabulary words to add to it, but it's just about ready to put together.  She really did enjoy this lapbook and it kept her interested.  We've done a few lapbooks before, but this is the first one that I purchased as a whole study set and I did like it.  I think the next time I will make sure to have some more supplemental things on hand though.
• kept working on mastering her multiplication tables.  She is almost finished with her math book, but I stopped all new lessons while she just works on the mastery.  This year I used Rod and Staff Math, and while I think the repetition and drill was what she needed and helped her with the math facts this year, I am looking forward to switching to Math U See for the next year.  She sometimes gets confused in the how and why of math, and has a little bit of trouble visualizing how to solve a problem. 
• kept working to complete her US Geography study.  She's a little over half way through and those States and Capitals are getting in her brain.
• finished reading Anne of Greene Gables and is working on a book review.
• continued with her final Bible Reader and workbook.  She has loved this Bible study and she has learned SO much of Bible history and geography this year.

Chloe:

• continued practicing her letters and copywork. 
• is getting better at reading.  She is very diligent at sounding out words she doesn't know, and she told me this week "Mommy, I can read now!"  I thought it was funny considering she's been reading for many months, but she doesn't consider it reading when she's sounding out words.
• is working to recognize numbers up to 100 and be able to write them.  She is also learning the concept of subtraction and she's doing well with it.

Tatum:

• surprises me with her abstract thinking skills.  Daily she amazes me when she can answer questions after our read alouds about cause and effect, "why do you think this happened", and other questions that take mature thought process.  Originally, I intended these questions for Lauren and Chloe, but Tatum likes to get the discussion going (a girl after her Mama's heart), so I definitely don't stop her.
• she is also learning to recognize and write numbers to 100.
• she is practicing all the letter sounds and putting some blends together too.
• would be on the computer all day if I let her.  Especially PBS Kids, and Nick Jr Boost.  I don't let her.  Not all day anyway.

Judah:

• is along for the ride and does whatever we are doing.  Although he is quickly learning that if we get wrapped up in something, he can sometimes swiftly and quietly sneak away to get into things.  He always goes for the same things too; guinea pig cage, entertainment center, shoes in the hallway, art closet, and stairs if the gate is not up.  He'll be walking soon and the girls can't wait!  I can though.  He's the baby ya know.

It's been a pretty basic week.  I also taught the girls how to finger crochet and add beads to it, and we may have a jewelry store in our house soon.  They're working on their inventory right now, it's like, all over the house.

We will be schooling all year, but we will transition to the summer schedule soon and I'm looking forward to it.  More gardening, more swimming, more picnics, more nature, more fun.

His Power Made Perfect

And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness".  Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.

-2 Corinthians 12:9

Many, many, many times God has used this verse to teach me and encourage me. And the things that He has taught me, have taken deep roots and grown inside of me. I believe what He says about grace.

I have learned that His grace is sufficient. I've learned that for each day, each moment, He gives the grace that I need. In situations where I've wondered how we'd make it through, I can testify that each day I trusted Him for grace I was flooded with it.  Any time I wondered just how I would put one foot in front of the other, by some miracle, I would feel myself moving forward.

It's the other part that gets me.  You know, the part about boasting about my weaknesses.  I shudder about my weaknesses, they look so very... weak.  That's the detestable side of me that people just have to put up with until I can finally get it together. It's very certainly nothing to boast about.

Another version says "revel in my weaknesses".  Take joy, great pleasure, delight in my weaknesses?!  I cannot wrap my mind around that!! 

And that is exactly what my Father has been so gently revealing to me.  No, I cannot wrap my mind around that, because it's another element of faith.  When I am weak, then I am strong.   I could have said the words before, but faith believes the words.  Faith has a heartbeat that beats with the truth of who God says He is.

And so now, I believe what He says about weaknesses.  I believe that He can take something fragile,  frail, and broken, and make it strong, healthy, perfect.

So I will be practicing daily, you know, reveling in my weaknesses...
         

Menu Plan Monday.. Finally

Long time, no see my friends. Some things had to go to the wayside while Jeremy was off work, through the Christmas season, and finally getting everything back in order. (well that's not really done, but it's on it's way.) Anywho, I've missed blogging!! So I decided that I would start back this week and what better place to start than Menu Plan Monday!!

Monday-
B- Yogurt/ Homemade Granola
L- Mac & Cheese, Carrot Sticks, Apples
D- Tilapia, Wild Rice, Steamed Broccoli

Tuesday-
B- Cheese Omelets
L- Leftovers
D- Rigatoni, Salad, Garlic Bread

Wednesday-
B- Homemade Waffles, fruit smoothies
L- Oven toasted Turkey Sandwiches, Chips, Veggies
D- Ox Roast, Oven Fries, Green Beans (or since it's by 30TH!! birthday, we may be going out to dinner)

Thursday-
B- Yogurt/ Homemade Granola
L- Homemade Lunchables
D- Chef Salad, Homemade Bread Sticks

Friday-
B- Scrambled Eggs, Toast
L- Peanut Butter and Jelly, Pretzles, Veggies
D- Pizza

Saturday-
B- Cereal (soccer morning)
L- Leftovers
D- Crockpot Chicken, Potatoes, Steamed Veggies

If you want to be inspired by hundreds of menu ideas and recipes, be sure to visit Menu Plan Monday!

Awe

I'm inspired. In awe of our glorious Father. I don't know why more at this moment than the moment before this. I sat down, thought of my Papa, and was overwhelmed with gratefulness.

I know that's the key. To set my thoughts on things above. To tell my soul, my busy, wandering thoughts; remember His goodness. It's not that I forget, or doubt His goodness.. it's that I forget to remember.

But, praise Him, the thoughts of Him have begun to be the consuming thoughts. All of the other things that I need to think about are starting to be filtered by His love, grace, mercy, patience, faithfulness.... His goodness.

"Give thanks to the Lord for He is good. His mercy and loving-kindness endures forever.."

Starting Over

I have been pondering for the past two weeks what I should post for Works for Me Wednesday, and coming up with nothing. "Come on Amanda, this isn't that hard!" , I chastised myself, "What works for you?"

That's when I realized, it ain't working.

For the past month I've felt like a dog chasing my tail, running, running, running in circles and never catching it. The days have not been going smoothly, the house is cluttered and it feels like things are somewhat out of control. Jeremy had surgery so he is not able to be up and around much and he is now off of work until January! Usually we hardly see him during the holidays because work is soo busy then, we are blessed to have this time with him.

Typically, when he has a day off of work, we just "hang out" for the day and then I catch up on things the next day. Well I can't just "hang out" for 3 months and think things will still run well around here. So I finally realized instead of beating myself up everyday about 4:00pm for not getting my whole schedule done, why don't I reevaluate and make a new schedule for the time he is off work? *ding* LIGHTBULB! We want to make the most of this time and still get things done that need to be done..

Since this literally hit me about an hour ago, tomorrow I will go over our schedule and see where changes need to be made, and also get Jeremy's input for how he would like the day to run. (It's not all about me ya' know. ;) )

This oughta be good. :)

I've been at this place before: starting over. Life changes all of the time and we have to be flexible enough to change with it. What about you? Are your routines and schedules working for you or are you working for them? Maybe it's time to start over!

For more ideas to make life work visit: We Are That Family.

Menu Plan Monday

Let me just first say, "I heart having a menu"! Seriously, I don't know what I would do if I just had to come up with meals at the spur of the moment, my brain doesn't work that way. We have been so very busy with life and I love knowing I have a plan to be able to feed my family healthy and satisfying in the midst of busyness.

.

Here is the plan for this week:

Breakfasts-

Waffles/fruit

Granola/ yogurt x2

Scrambled Eggs/ Toast

Muffins/ Smoothies x2

Banana Bread/ Smoothies

.

Lunches-

Leftovers x2

Lunch Meat Sandwiches/ Pretzles/ Fresh Veggies x2

Tuna Melts/ Salad

Grilled Cheese/ Tomato Soup

.

Dinners-

Broc. Cheese Soup/ Pumpkin Muffins

Chili/ Cornbread

Chicken Fajitas/ Salad

Bean and Rice Burritos/ Nachos/ Salad

Meatball Subs/ Cheesey Potatoes/ Green Beans

Homemade Pizza

Chicken Fettucini Alfredo/ Steamed Broc./ Garlic Bread

.

For the inspiration of hundreds of menus and awesome recipe links visit Menu Plan Monday.

Planning for the Week.

The house is quiet, I'm feeding Judah and wanting to get to bed soon, but I have all these things running through my brain that I really need to accomplish this week. So I'm sitting in my recliner, blogging from my new Blackberry. :).
I feel.like I'm skidding into the new week at full speed and just trying to put the brakes on a little bit so I can gather my thoughts..

1.Seriously, go to bed on time and get up on time. I'm already starting badly due to things outside of my control. We have been terrible at getting to bed on time since Jeremy has been off of work, but it's essential so I have to be a stickler.

2. Lesson planning. I would like to get always be two weeks ahead, right now I'm not ahead at all.

3. Zone work. This week I'm in zone 3 which is the kids rooms and it could not have come at a better time. We will organize closets, clean out dressers and do some general decluttering.

4. Have a baking day. Make tortillas, waffles, banana bread, granola, pumpkin muffins, and zucchini muffins.
Those are my major goals for this week. Tomorrow I am going to have a planning session to work it out legistically. I am expecting a good week!

Quick and Easy

One of my favorite things about fall is pulling out all of the recipes that we only get this time of year; casseroles, soups, stews, all those warm things that nobody would want to touch in the summer heat. My favorite way to make soup is to let it simmer on the stove all day so we can smell it's yummy goodness. Sometimes though, simmering all day doesn't fit into my schedule and I want something to warm up with quick! This is my favorite go to soup for that. It is relatively cheap, quick and easy, and most importantly, delicious!

.

Broccoli Cheese Soup (from Jeremy's Aunt Jill)

3 T. Butter

3/4c. chopped onion

-saute in pan for about 3 minutes, then add:

6 c. water

6 chicken boullion cubes

8 oz. very fine noodles

1 t. salt

-cook for 5 minutes, add:

6 c. milk

1 1/2 lbs. Velveeta

-stir until smooth

1 bag frozen broccoli

1/4 t. garlic powder

-cook until broccoli is heated through and noodles are done

.

There ya' have it! This makes a HUGE pot of soup, I usually make half of the recipe for our family. They all love it and that, works for me!

.

For more clever tips and tricks visit We Are That Family for Works for Me Wednesday.

Menu Plan Monday

We have another crazy, busy week ahead of us! I am so thankful for menu plans during weeks like this, it gives me one less thing to think about, and that is a good thing!

.

Breakfasts-

Homemade Granola Cereal/ Fruit

Snickerdoodle Coffee Cake/ Smoothies

Pancakes/ Fruit

Homemade Granola/ Yogurt x2

Peanut Butter Toast/ Smoothies x2

.

Lunches-

Lunch Meat and Cheese Sandwiches/ Carrot Sticks/ Apples x2

Leftovers x2

Tuna Melts/ Fruit

Grilled Cheese/ Tomato Soup

.

Dinners-

Lasagna/ Green Beans/ Garlic Bread

Taco Soup/ Tortilla Chips

Crockpot Chicken/ Twice Baked Potatoes/ Salad - (Never ate this last week)

Honey Mustard Chicken Wraps/ Roasted Potatoes

Chicken Pot Pie

Chili Cornbread Casserole

Homemade Pizza

.

To be inspired by over 400 more menus, AND to enter a drawing for an awesome giveaway, head over and visit orgjunkie!

Joy

I've committed myself to joy.

"These are the things I've spoken to you

so that My joy may be in you,

and that your joy may be full."

-John 15:11

Not every moment, of every day are there circumstances surrounding me that make feel joyful. That's ok. It's not just a feeling, it's a decision. It's an instruction. Sometimes I'm tired, or stressed or overwhelmed or attacked. I could walk around complaining of my tiredness, or I could remember that the joy of the Lord is my strength. I could remember that He gave me His joy, and it's complete. I could allow thankfulness to arise to bring forth joy. That's what I'm committed to. I'm gonna notice the little things and remember the big things..

..his chubby toes

..the way his little hands move to try to touch my face while I'm feeding him

..all of those little girls that laugh so often and sound so much like me

..the silly songs that are constantly being composed and performed

..the curls that will never stay back in her pony tail, and insist on surling daintily around her face

..the insanity of bedtime and the constant "one more kiss mommy"

..the way she holds her little brother and talks to him so tenderly, just like a momma would

..those round, brown eyes that watch me so intently to do just what I'm doing

..home from work kisses and the way he smells when he comes in from a long day

..tickle fights

..innocent questions and innocent answers when I hear them talking about God late at night

..early mornings

..late nights

..text messages

..whispered I love you's

..shed blood

..resurrected life

..the most precious gift

.... and I am gonna say, Thank you God. You have given me joy complete.

Helpers for Homeschooling

Since I homeschool my children in 3rd, K, and Pre-K and I have a 2 month old baby, I have to be able to have some things each one can do independantly during the day. They all love to be on the computer so... these websites have been a great help to me because the girls are learning, they are having fun and their attention is being kept for the half hour or so that I need it to be. Yay!

Spelling City is awesome! Each week I input Lauren's spelling list and she can learn and practice her words, play a bunch of different games, and take practice tests. The site will say the word, then a sentence and then the word again just like I would do for the practice tests. When you sign up for the site it keeps track of all your lists, so all she has to do is click on the correct one. All for free! If you pay a membership fee, it will also keep track of test and game scores too. This would be awesome even for kids in public school to have fun with practicing their words.

Starfall is a fun website for prek and k or any little ones learning to read. They have phonics practice with different songs, stories that the child can "read" along with, and a number of different games to practice sound blends. It is very easy to navigate, my 5 and 3 year olds have no problem playing by themselves.

For more ideas that make life work, visit We are That Family for Works for Me Wednesday.

Menu Plan Monday

So this week I was working to keep the budget REALLY low. There are a few things from last week that we didn't eat because we had a whole bunch of leftovers to finish up for dinners. I'm not sure how much I will end up spending because I haven't actually gone to the store yet because of the busy weekend, should be around $40-$50.

-

Breakfasts-

Overnight Blueberry Coffeecake (a hit with the fam)

Pancakes/ Fruit

Eggs/Toast

Breakfast Burritos

Homemade Granola/ Yogurt x2

-

Lunches-

Grilled Cheese/ Tomato Soup

Turkey Rollups/ Carrot Sticks/ Homemade Apple Chips

PB&J/ Carrot Sticks/ Homemade Apple Chips

Leftovers x2

Tuna Melts/ Green Peppers/ Homemade Apple Chips

-

Dinners-

Barbecue Chicken Pizza

Sweet and Sour Pork Stirfry over Rice

Burrito Casserole

Cheesey Meatball Soup

Herbed Crockpot Chicken/ Baked Potatoes/ Green Beans

Cheesey Broccoli and Rice w/ Chicken (also a hit with the fam. Yummy and cheap.)

Pizza

-

For some recipes and menu inspiration visit Menu Plan Monday hosted by Orgjunkie.

Planning for the Week

I've had all these things bouncing around in my head that I would like to accomplish this week, so I'm gonna join with my friend Lindsey and blog my plan for the week. Maybe I'll even update it to let ya'll know where I'm at with it. We'll see. :)

First Goal: Begin the habit of getting up at 5:00am. I was doing 5:30am but that really is not quite early enough (and truth be told, it hasn't even really become a habit) for me to get a good workout in, have ample quiet time and be ready to wake the girls at 7:00am. They say it takes 28 days to make a habit, so here's to day 1!

Zone for the week: Master Bedroom
Declutter the closet and bureau, make a clothing inventory, wash the windows, detail vacuum.

Start reorganizing the kitchen a little at a time. I've been trying to come up with a new plan for the kitchen to make it make more sense as to where everything is and I think I finally have some good ideas. It will take a little time, so I'm just going to do this as time allows the next few weeks and if it's not done by the time I'm in the Kitchen Zone, I will finish it then.

Maybe "fallify" the house, on a budget of zero dollars. This should be fun. :)

This is of course besides all my other "normal" stuff. I'm expecting a good week. :)

Frugal Friday

There are so many things that I have learned in the past two years, during our quest to get out of debt, about being frugal. Menu planning, couponing, baking from scratch, making my own detergents and cleaning products, gardening, canning, freezing, budgeting, snowballing. Some of these things I was already doing and some things were completely new to me. There are so many ways to save a few bucks, and they all add up to a whole bunch of bucks over time. You know what they all have in common though?

Hard work.

Clipping and organizing coupons takes time and work. Gardening takes work (which this year my Father in Law did most of, bless him), canning takes work, hanging clothes on the line to save a little electricity takes a small extra effort. Not everything is "easy", but it's so rewarding. My favorite books to read when I was growing up were books like Little House on the Prarie, and anything from back in that time period. I learned something from them. I learned that the essence of their survival was the willingness to work and that each person in the family contributed to the household for it to operate successfully. I am thankful for every modern convenience that we have, but I also don't want to sacrifice what is best for my family so I can take it a little easier, and I don't want to raise children with a lazy mindset. What's best for my family's finances is to be debt free and stay that way, so if that takes some extra work on my part, I'm willing to put that in.

My frugal tips for today:

1. Be ready to put forth the time and effort that it will take to make changes in how you live.

2. Schedule and plan. If you read my last post you know that I believe nothing is more important than your family and relationships. Your family doesn't have to be sacrificed in order to be frugal. It's just finding the balance.

3. Start with one thing. When we first started this journey, I jumped in with both feet.. and burned out quickly. Make a list of some things you can change and begin with one thing, master that, then add something else. It takes time to learn how to do some of these things and it will help you fit things into your schedule when you're adding only one thing at a time.

4. Get everyone involved. Children love to help and they can learn amazing lessons right now. I am excited to raise children that have wisdom about finances and the heart to be good stewards of the things that God has given to us. Also to have the "know how" to do many things on their own.

Being Frugal: It's all in a days work.

For more amazing frugal tips visit Life as Mom.