Monday, December 31, 2007

New Year's Resolutions

Nope! Not gonna do it.

However, since this is the last day of the year, and we start school back up on Wednesday I'm going to spend the next two days decluttering and filing paperwork.

Hubby and I started on a cupboard last night. We sorted, bagged, labeled, and boxed all the cords. (Phone chargers, battery chargers and walky talkies and their chargers.) We then tackled the papers in the same cupboard that were stuffed in the with bill organizer. Most got thrown away, and some went in a pile to put in my home management binder today. The bill organizer also got cleaned out an organized.

I used some Christmas money from dear Mother-in-law to buy a new purse. Finally big enough to fit my coupon orgnanizer. Actually I can fit the coupons, my wallet thingy, JoAnn's and Hancock fabric ads, and a full-sized Bible in there, along with all the other odds and ends a lady is supposed to carry! I also bought a wallet style contraption. It has several slots for bills, all my store club cards (and one credit card) insurance cards, a place for pictures, checkbook, and paper pad! I finally was able to get rid of all the money envelopes I carry around since we use an envelope system for our budget.

Here's my to do list for the next few days.

Call about the numbers that go on the back of the generic dental cards they sent us. X
Look up Delta Dental and find out which dentists we can go to. X
Pay some bills X
Clean and reorganize the Home Management Binder and add papers found yesterday X
Type up some of my papers for HMB
Figure sales tax for my business and file my paperwork to make room for 2008 X
Clean/organize top shelf of school cupboard X
Go through box under bed of bills, receipts, etc from 2007
File those and get rid of the file from 2006

That should keep me busy along with the regular daily and Monday and Tuesday chores. No school or sewing until this is done, or Wednesday.

Hope you all have a productive day!
~Stella

Friday, December 28, 2007

GNATS

When I was cleaning my basement I had to find a solution for gnats. Anyone who gardens and brings produce into the house for the winter will understand. A few stragglers come in on the food (onions, potatoes, squash, etc.) and then they multiply. No matter how often you pick out any food that is starting to go bad; you still cannot get rid of them.

Well, I had hundreds of gnats to get rid of before our get together. Not willing to fumigate, I got to thinking about something that works for apple trees to keep the worms out. I put one cup of vinegar in a jar, with a cup of sugar. Worked like a charm. Within a couple of days I had a jar full of drowned gnats. ( I had a picture too- but the computer... Ah well, it was pretty gross anyhow!)

I'm Back

I really didn't leave. We had a big get-together here on the 22nd. Then my computer crashed. I had a virus that I deleted many times, yet it kept coming back. I also caught a real virus, as did the entire family.

We are not healed, cleaned, and restored. Well, almost. I am having problems with internet explorer on some sites, but Foxfire works fine on them???? Anyone have any ideas?

I had planned to post some more before and after photos of my basement, but all my before shots were lost with the system restore. I am not willing to mess it back up just for a good photo. LOL.

I hope everyone had a nice Christmas, holiday, vacation, or whatever.

Saturday, December 15, 2007

Super Saving Saturday Payoff!!!!

This was our super saving for the week! We paid off our loan. We had been paying little bits extra on it here or there, but in the last few months we have paid several hundred dollars extra, mostly from cutting our grocery budget ( and this right before Christmas! It is so neat to have extra money at Christmas time!



Our savings is now from having NO interest bearing loans besides the mortgage! We still have 2 interest free loans to pay. One will be paid off in February, and we hope to have the other paid off by Feb. of 2009. LORD willing!



Need to know how to get huge savings on groceries. Check out http://www.moneysavingmom.com/ You can see our recent savings, and grocery budget goals here: http://happyinthehome.blogspot.com/search/label/Frugal%20Living

Thursday, December 13, 2007

A Time For Everything: Should Women Discuss Doctrinal Issues Amongst Each Other?

A Time For Everything: Should Women Discuss Doctrinal Issues Amongst Each Other?

Decluttering the Basement

Part of my to-do list to get ready for Christmas was to declutter the downstair/basement. I've been working at it for 2 days now. These are just a few of my before and after pics. Here is the toy area under the stairs.
Basically it just didn't all fit. So while everyone else was busy. I cleaned up. This area alone required 1 1/2 lawn size garbage bags. The tubs on the top shelf still need going through, but much better.
This is what will eventually be a family room. I didn't have much to work with here, as there is as yet no better place to store the box spring. We are keeping it in case the girls decide to ditch the bunks.
Much better. It really is hard because this is all yet unfinished. The only actual room down here is the girls' bedroom which is on the other side of that wall. Hubby did a beautiful job. We have lots of plans for down here, but we need to wait until we can afford to do the work.
This wall is almost entirely filled with shelves and storage items. Baby clothes, decorations, and school books. For some reason I didn't get all of the shelves in the before pic, but they were just as bad. Lots of garbage bags here.

This area is still not finished. The desk is not being used and needs to find a new home, though I don't think that will happen before Christmas.



I wonder what the trash collecter thought when he stopped. Lots of extra bags, an old car seat, and a rolled up matteress.



There are still a lot of areas down here that need to be decluttered. The good news is I got rid of a lot and didn't just shuffle it to another part of the basement. Maybe I'll update as I go.



Oh, and just for comparison sake, our upstairs is NOTHING like the down stairs. We actually have peaceful looking living areas.








Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Our Family Portrait

Two of our daughters are paper doll nuts. They have made paper dolls for every person they know. This is our family. Amy definately does not have red hair, but other than that and the REALLY long legs. It's not bad.

My Tubal Reversal

By 1996 we had been married 4 years and had two children and one on the way. This was going to give us 3 children 3 and under. I was stressed emotionally and we were both stressed financially. I knew nothing about budgeting, child raising, or managing a home. It was a good day if I did the dishes and the kids ate more than mac-n-cheese, hot dogs, and canned fruit for lunch. They always had cold cereal for breakfast. I cleaned house sporadically, and spent a lot of time in front of the TV.

I was not a horrible mom, I stayed home, breastfed, took my children outside and walked with them a lot! I just didn't have my priorities straight. (Boy, have we come a long way)

Anyway, we had been having trouble with our finances. We were using WIC, and the state was paying for our health insurance. We were trying really hard to get off the assistance when I found out I was expecting. The lady at the state office said they would tie my tubes for free. What a relief. (Never, never, never make a decision when you are stressed, and/or pregnant.) It was all too easy, and everyone was so supportive.

Hubby never let on that he was having second thoughts even on the day of the surgery (the day after Amy's birth) when I asked, "Are you sure". I was having second thoughts but I chalked them up to pre-surgery jitters. Boy was I grumpy when I came to. I blamed that on the anesthetic.

Amy was the perfect baby! (as far as the world is concerned). She rarely cried, she slept for long hours and would fall back to sleep very quickly and easily. It wasn't long before I was pining for another baby.

Six months later I was saved! My prospective slowly started to change. I started learning these crazy ideas of how to be a good wife, and to train my children.

I prayed for God to heal my womb. In 2000, I was on a Christian woman's homekeeping board, and say the signature of a woman there. She listed her children and then added and our tubal reversal babies... I actually thought she had had a tubal pregnancy moved. When I did a search on tubal reversals, I realized what she had done. Then we were pointed to Psalm 127. We also read the book "A Full Quiver". Our eyes were opened, we had not trusted God. We had leaned on our own understanding. What were we to do. We talked and prayed for God to heal my womb. We knew that we couldn't afford to get a reversal as they cost $12,000-15,000.

Praise be to God, we found that there are doctors scattered around the country that did this surgery at a very reduced cost. We found a doctor a few states away that charged $4375 all inclusive. This was still a HUGE amount of money for us, as we had never saved any money. The next paycheck we were able to put $200 in a savings account. We figured at that rate it would take.....

Well, God had other plans in mind. Apparently we needed to learn to trust. Every paycheck we put money in the bank we had to take it back out for an unexpected expense. For months and months we never accumulated more than that original $200. I really felt that God wanted us to do this, but if we could only save $200 in six months it would take....... Ahhh. One day I re-read Psalm 127:1 "Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it". Now I understood, that I was trying so hard to build my house, but if the LORD wanted this surgery, He would provide for it.

I then quit worrying about it. Then in January I was figuring our taxes and about went through the roof. Some of the tax had changed and we were a lot of money back. $4175 to be exact. $200 shy of the amount we needed for the surgery. Then I remembered the $200 still sitting in the bank! We couldn't believe the money was the exact amount! (Actually, when I refigured I had made a mistake, we actually ended up with $7 more. Hmmm) Praise God! He did it all!

Hubby told me to go ahead and make the appointment. I could get in March 21, which just happened to coincide with the month that Hubby gets an extra paycheck because of how the weeks fall. That money would pay for our travel.

Dr. Curlin was great! He had pictures of his sons and grandsons (he didn't have any girls) on the wall with Bible verses underneath them in his office. He was retired as an OB-GYN and did these surgeries as a ministry. The surgery went well, and I went home early the next morning.

The next four years were a huge test of faith, and I constantly had to go back to the beginning of Psalm 127. I had since found out that one tube had scarred closed, and it was the side my body favored for ovulation. That made it very hard to conceive, and when I did I kept miscarrying. I had to keep giving this back to God. I had done what I could to fix my body, and the rest was up to God. At one point during a Bible study, I realized that my worth was not wrapped up in whether I could have more children, how many I had, or good a wife and mother I was. My worth was because God created me for His purpose-not mine. I was finally able to rest in the Lord.

August 14, 2004 Hubby's dad went to be with the LORD. Now we know that God knew Hubby would need something to look forward to in the dark days of depression when he was missing his dad so terribly. Two weeks later we found out I was expecting. We conceived the night after Dad's passing. This was our first (and so far only) son, named after his grandpa. God is so good, he knows all things. If we could only look into the future and see what God had planned for us, we would always say, "Yes, LORD, your ways are always right".

Monday, December 10, 2007

I've Got the Blues!

Okay, not really. I'm not depressed or anything. It's just that the desire to have another baby gets really strong at times. It seems like the last few weeks it's been getting stronger. At first I couldn't figure out what it was. Then I started to count. I know 9 women expecting 11 babies, and that is not counting my cyberfriends.

That is truly incredible. I can usually at any given time count 2 or 3 pregnant women that I know. I really do get excited when someone tells me they are expecting, whether it's their first, or tenth, or they just had one ten months ago. Okay, there are a few that give me thought for example the unwed mom expecting twins..... That seems to be when I get a little jealous, but God is sovereign and He knows what He is doing.

It took 4 years to get Little Boy, and I am still prone to miscarriages. I'm also 35, and while I know that it's not ancient by any means, fertility rates do go down and when your not very fertile anyway... well. Yes, I have written about contentment, but sometimes it is hard, especially when these are good gifts that I desire. I will praise the Lord no matter what!

Oh, something truly amazing I read yesterday. A sweet blogger had a miscarriage last month, and just found out she is STILL expecting. The doctor has her theory's, I say it's a miracle! Anyone who miscarries knows this is what we hope for after we've gotten the bad news, even though we know it is irrational. Praise God, this is what happened in her case!

I truly am blessed to raise 4 lovely, interesting, unique children for the Lord. I also know I have a brood in Heaven! I don't normally tell people about wanting another child. I hear so many times, that I should be happy for what I have ( as though I'm not), There are people who have no children (yes, and that is so sad). One person even told Hubby while I was pregnant with Little Boy, "Some people can't have children and you breed like rabbits", said the nice Christian lady. It is just so foreign to people in today's world that someone would desire many children.

If you are expecting, praise God for that little one. It truly is a miracle to be able to conceive and carry such a precious little bundle! I know, I've gotten to do it 4 times!

Psalm 127 was one of the verses instrumental in us deciding to have a tubal reversal 6 years ago. I have many times had to go back to the first 2 verses. I also think it is interesting that He put these verses together.

1Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.
2It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep.
3 Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD and the fruit of the womb is his reward.
4 As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.
5 Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them; they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.

Okay, now that that is out, I can concentrate on the things I can do something about!

Saturday, December 8, 2007

A Few Good Deals

I didn't keep track of my shopping this week, but I did get a couple of good deals from our local grocer.

*Crispix cereal was on sale for $1.88. I had a $1 off coupon. Total 88cents.
*Hamburger Helper on sale for 99cents. I had a 75 cent off three coupon.
*Store coupon buy 4 Hamburger Helper get $1 off hamburger. Bought 1# hamburger on sale for $1.99. Paid 99cents.
*Store coupon $2.00 off any Sundown Vitamin. Bought the 100 ct. 500mg Vit C at $2.59 paid 59cents.

Saving my coupons and watching for store sales has really helped me to get some good deals. Before moneysavingmom I would not have thought to use both the Hamburger Helper coupon and the hamburger coupon together. Actually I probably wouldn't have thought to clip the coupons at all.

Check it out: http://www.moneysavingmom.com/



Print FREE Grocery Coupons at Home

Friday, December 7, 2007

Let's Cheer Each Other On!

Hadias has said she will play the tagging game next week. She decided to take a break from blogging so if she doesn't get to it, we'll assume she was busy getting caught up!

I had thought about leaving the questions till next week also, so I had lots to write. Going ahead and writing it down made me decide I better do something, so I got on the horn and called all the relatives and got a date put on the calendar for our Christmas party.

I was just thinking that it was not just Hadias and I that are a bit behind this season, and it would be fun to have a little accountability while cheering each other on. So if anyone else is game, why don't we make a list of the things we REALLY want or need to get done this month. You can either leave a comment with your list, or a link to your blog entry with your to do list!

Lord bless you and may you have a productive week.
~Stella

My To Do List

Take a picture of the kids
Turn the picture into a Christmas Card and get them sent out
Catch up one day on school so we can start the new year right on time
Finish planning the Christmas party
Finish shopping for My family, Secret Santa, and Stockings
Declutter the downstairs for the Christmas party


Wednesday, December 5, 2007

I've Been Tagged!

I've been tagged by http://www.keepersofthehomejm.blogspot.com/ to play a question and answer game.

1. What did you accomplish this past week? Oh dear, you expect me to remember a WHOLE week? I can't think of anything out of the ordinary. The house is mostly clean, every one is clothed and well fed. Business has picked up and I did a huge amount of sewing.


Maybe I should list the things I should have gotten accomplished: Picture of the kids for a Christmas card. Organize Hubby's family Christmas. Any volunteers to take these over??? I dread them both! Organizing the family Christmas is my life long job. Everyone else has a family with 2 full time jobs, which means trying to find a weekend day and time when no one has to work. Ugh! Okay nuff complaining, it really is fun when such a big family gets together!


2. Did anything not go as expected? Yes. We didn't get to go to Church Sunday. We had some weather problems, which caused vehicle problems. Meg was supposed to play piano for the special music portion of the service. We had to call and they told her they could fit her in at the end of February. I think I was more disappointed than she was!


3. What was the highlight of your week? Goodness I sound so whiney in my last two responses. Really the week was rather quite and busy as usual! I love being home with my family! I love having days that others would consider boring! The highlight was probably realizing we have less than two more weeks for school on this years calendar!

4. Did anything exciting happen that you did not expect? An Amish buggy hit our mailbox. I'm not sure what happened, but the girls said the top of the mailbox was leaning. On inspecition there are horse prints and wheel marks right up to it. I hope they are all right!

Well, I get to tag someone.... How about http://proverbswife.blogspot.com/ and http://bellamamasprairielife.blogspot.com/

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Dad made it out okay.

We don't know if the procedure will take care of his pain or not. The doctor said it may feel worse before it feels better. No complications, but he still needs to watch for side effects for a couple of days.

Glad that is over.

We're taking my Dad to an appointment at the hospital this morning. He injured his back a LONG time ago and they have been doing various pain management routines. Today they are going into the nerves by his spinal cord. The doctor thinks this will give him some real relief, however it is not without risks. If there is any bleeding during the proceedure it is emergency surgery. Also there is the risk of paralysis anytime they get close to the spinal cord.


We'll all be glad when this proceedure is over. My mom is so nervous she won't even go. She volunteered to take the kids at her house (this is really unnecessary). It will keep her busy, so they are packing up the school books and heading to Grandmas.


There is also a chance of bad weather today, which doesn't easy Mom's nerves any; another reason she doesn't want to go.


Any prayers today, would be greatly appreciated.


I'll update later.

Monday, December 3, 2007

Sing Jesus Mommy

After his naptime story, Little Boy curled up on my lap to snuggle and whispered, "Sing Jesus, Mommy". I've sang to him since he was newborn, anything from "Jesus Loves Me" to "You Are My Sunshine". I thought it was so sweet that he wanted a "Jesus" song!

Saturday, December 1, 2007

Super Saving Saturday (CVS Long Distance)


Hubby used his card and an ECB he had.

3 Puffs 2.97
2 Candy Cane 1.76
-Puffs coupon - .50
-ECB -3.99
Total oop .29



My Transaction
CVS Shave gel 1.99
CVS transparent tape .99
CVS Chewable Vit C 100ct 5.39
CVS Chewable Vit C 100ct 2.69 bogo 50%
2 Sprint Prepaid 143 min 9.99 bogo
-$3 off $10 CVS purchase -3.00
- ECBs -16.36

Total oop $1.81

I had not intended to use ecbs for the phone cards. We use them for long distance anyway. However I didn't get the Benefiber and Gax-ex I had intended to which put my total lower. After they gave me my total they told me I wasn't supposed to use ecbs for the cards. I feel somewhat guilty now. I don't want to abuse the system. I could have thrown in some batteries or something, but I don't think well on my feet. kwim


Anyway, my transaction did not generate any ecbs, but I am still pleased to have lots of things that we can use. Next weeks deals include Tide and cough drops. The sale price on each is what I would normally spend on sale and will generate ecbs. So I will be back in the game.

On another note: When we got home when had a gift package with goodies for the kids, including unsweetened applesauce, juice boxes, canned ham, barbequed pork, and fruit snacks, and peanut butter! Praise the Lord!

Want to participate in Super Saving Saturday? Visit Crystal at http://www.moneysavingmom.com/


Print FREE Grocery Coupons at Home

Super Saving Saturday! Black Friday


Super Saving 1: Black Friday


Our main goal on Black Friday was to score big at the Fabric Stores. We hit JoAnns and Hancock. Both places have quality flannel on sale for 99cents a yard! Hancock even allowed another 10 % coupon on top of that. I made one mistake though. I didn't check the name on the bolt and ended up paying $8 a yard for one print. Got 5 yards of that one. I ended up with 156 yards of flannel averaged at $1.17 a yard. I also picked up some fleece at a great price, and a couple of presents at these stores!


We also stopped at Walgreens and CVS as you can see in the picture. 3 rolls of wrapping paper and 2 boxes of Hersheys Pot of Gold boxed chocolates are missing from the picture.


Walgreens:

3 Rolls wrapping paper

Latex free bandaids

Polident Cleaner (for my dad)
Blistix

Total oop after gift card for last months FAR: 1.26


CVS Transaction 1

Hersheys Xtra Dark 2.99

CVS Freezer Bags 1.79

Johnson's Soft Lotion 5.69

Soft Soap Body Wash 3.99 (This will go in the hand pumps for company)


-$1 Johnsons coupon

-$1 Soft soap coupon

-$2 off $10 purchase

- 9.98 ECB

=total oop 65 cents

Recieved 14.46 back in ECBs

CVS Transaction 2

Excederin 3.79

2 CVS Freezer Bags 3.58

2 Candy Canes (bogo) .99

Bic Soleil Razor 6.99

2 Hersheys Pot of Gold 9.00

-Excederin Q 2.00

-Bic Q 2.00

-ECB from Transaction1 14.46

Total oop $ 6.58 Which is slightly less than I was going to pay for the 2 Pot of Golds at another store. We were in a hurry to get to another sale, which is why I didn't do a 3 rd transaction and get these for free.

Got back 16.36 in ECBs

We were also given a pasture fed turkey, and 2 1/2 dozen eggs. Praise the Lord for all his provisions!

You can see other great deals at http://www.moneysavingmom.com/





Print FREE Grocery Coupons at Home

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

How Many Beds?

We have 5 beds for 6 people, but I think we could get by with 3.

Only Meg appreciates having her own bed. Anyone but Meg would sleep with us if we'd let them. Little Boy sometimes does for naps, or early in the morning on Sundays when we sleep a little later.

We sleep in two beds when we stay in a motel. Our camper sleeps 5; usually the girls sleep in a tent, but during a storm once they all piled in along with my parents and we managed to sleep!

When we moved into this house Hubby built a room for Jo and Amy. Up until this point they had bunk beds but slept together in one of them. They decided they each wanted their own beds. So we bought them. Well now all three girls are in the one room, and guess where Jo and Amy can be found. Sleeping together in one bunk! 12 and 10 and they still prefer to snuggle up together. We always have at least one empty bed.

Meg moved into their room with them about 6 months ago because she said she wanted to develop a better relationship with her sisters. I love that these girls like each other so well. Don't get me wrong, they have their squabbles, but they really to get along quite well.

We don't have a 'family bed'. I think we all need some privacy, but I think it's great that we are all able to share our 'space' once in a while.

Monday, November 26, 2007

Having Time for Everything

Ahh, I feel like my head is spinning. I asked God for guidance this morning. I need to figure out what to put my energy into, and what to cut back on.

The money saving with coupons and store ads, especially CVS, is really helping our budget; as is the menu planning. I really need to find a way to spend less time at it. I asked the girls if they wanted to take over the menu planning, but no takers. The person doing this job needs to have some interest in it.

Business is booming, which is also helping with the finances. I need to let one of my girls practice on these projects. Meg already has enough sewing for her own job.

Blogging also takes some time, not sure if I'm willing to give this up. I've always wanted to keep a journal. I did when I was younger, but it needed to be destroyed, I didn't need a record of all my sins and how I relished in them.

Of course there is school, housekeeping, bill paying, and all the family stuff to keep a mom busy all the day long!

Hubby says I need to focus on one thing at a time. I really think that is a man thing. How can a mom with 4 children, soup on the stove, laundry in the washer, and the phone ringing, concentrate on one thing at a time. I'm thinking crayon on the walls, stinky laundry and burnt soup.

God bless you (and me too) as you go about our day!

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Remaining Anonymous

Under my husband's protection and recommendation, I have chosen not to give our real names, location, or pictures of our family. Though, I would be willing to bet all of my readers are 'good' people, we still need to be under protection.

I'm sure I don't need to mention all the bad things that have happened, for you all to understand why.

Anyway, I think it is confusing to always say, the youngest girl, oldest girl etc. So I will reintroduce us as...

Stella-that's me. Mom. A Nickname.

Daddy, or Hubby depending on the context

Meg- 14

Jo- 12

Amy- 10

Little Boy- 2

The girl's names are close so I don't forget and Little Boy, well, we sometimes call him Little Brother anyway.

I really would love to show you all pictures. I really have a beautiful family, but you'll just have to use your imagination.

It is nice to meet all of you, especially if you've commented! I always stop by to visit the blogs of those that have commented to me. (Unless your profile is not public.)

Running in the House

I had this topic on my list of blog ideas. I was going to write about how I don't mind running in the house. As a matter of fact, this family seems to like to chase each other around the house. Daddy chases Mommy, Girls chase Daddy, Everyone chases Little Boy! The kids chase each other. I actually like the sound of the kids running around playing together, especially the sound of a toddler running; they really do pat-ter!

Except yesterday. Amy wanted to get the mail. I told her it was cold and she needed her jacket. Now running to get things is usually frowned upon, however, she went sprinting through the house. Her feet slipped out from under her and she smacked her head on the island counter on the way down.

She ended up with a gaping wound right behind her ear. It was good that MIL had just walked out our door and was easy to catch. She drove us to the hospital for stitches. They ended up gluing it. Since it was a head injury we had to wake her up every couple of hours last night. She seems fine though, and didn't even want to go to be early.

We actually would have glued the wound ourselves, but decided against it because it was a head injury. I was glad she didn't tell them that when they were asking if she'd ever had stitches before. I can just hear it now, "No, but Daddy glued my chin shut!" UH-OH!

Actually we've done pretty good for injuries in this house. 4 kids and only 2 dislocations (She was a seal being pulled to shore by one arm by her sister) (He tipped his chair backward and caught his arm between it and the wall) One broken hand (fell off bike) a broken toe (trying to walk gracefully-oh, my!) A split chin (tipping a chair back) And now a split head. Not to bad I'd say and only one kid has had 2 injuries.

So anyway, maybe we'll have to have a 'rule' about running in the house. It is only allowed if you are playing!

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

I Almost Threw My Walgreens Card Away


Alright, the couponing thing is driving me crazy. I don't like paperwork. I've made a decision, if coupons are not filed by Monday, they are going in the trash. Not only do we get a paper on Sunday for filling up with gas, but my MIL gives us hers from 2 papers. I appreciate the coupons, but I don't like clutter. Ahhh.

Walgreens gives a gift card with 10% extra for mail in rebates. For the first time they send the card, there after they just recharge it. It was supposed to be sent out on the 2nd. Well, amonst all the coupons, store adds, and junk mail I almost missed it. It came early last week. There was nothing on the envelope to suggest Walgreens, so I put in the open and shred pile. When I was opening the junk mail today, I got quite a surprise. There was my card. I could have gotton my free after rebate items yesterday since we were in the area. Oh, well, I will have it for Black Friday.

Yesterday, I went to CVS and they chuckled that my coupon book was 'so small'. I can hardly shut my purse, but apparently another lady comes in with a coupon book the size of a real photo album!

Later, I have a sick boy who will wake up soon. Thanks Bellamama for the suggestions for cough, I'll have to try those today!

Monday, November 19, 2007

Sick Little Boy

Little Boy woke up with a dry cough and chest congestion. We are giving him echinacea and Vit. C., and a little Robitussin while he sleeps.

So far this little one has never been on an antibiotic and we would like to keep it that way. Any prayers will be appreciated.

Later,
Stella

Saturday, November 17, 2007

Only spent $62.44 in Groceries for the Week for 6 People!!!




Check out these pictures! I am so pleased to have a full pantry again! I was feeling a little "thin" in the food department these last few weeks. I like to have so easy foods to make for those days I'm really busy; to keep us from eating out!


Everything in both pictures..... Drumroll please.... $33.75!!!

My Best Deals are in the picture. Apparently I hit the salvage store right after they got a new truckful. My new strategy is to pick through all the items and get the best prices. They usually have tuna marked 40cents, but I noticed one marked 30 cents. I picked through and found all the 30cent cans. (There was no difference and nothing was even close to expiring!)




I also found one can marked free because it didn't have a label. Hubby laughed and said it was probably cat food. (we have a cat, so no problem there) It was tuna!




I found the same price difference with the cereal. The six boxes of cereal I bought were marked $1.00 and $1.25 each. Some of the same brand, size, expir. were marked $1.50 and $1.75.


The noodles are organic; 40cents each one pound bags. 3 bags macadamia nuts 25cents each. 2 bags walnuts 25cents each.


My favorite find..... Coconut oil $1.00! We use this instead of shortening and sometimes butter. It is usually $2.89 at Walmart.
Not pictured oranges, lettuce, mayo, milk, eggs, peanut butter, catfood, and a 16# Turkey!
Oh, yeah; Hubby bought 2 bags of Doritos.
I'm very pleased with this week. We also traded sewing for organic hamburger and were given almost 2 quarts of goat milk! All total we spent $62.44. $57.56 left for next week.
Want to see our goal and previous weeks shopping? http://happyinthehome.blogspot.com/search/label/Frugal%20Living
Want to know more about shopping for Super Saving Saturday? Visit Crystal at www.moneysavingmom.com
Thanks for stopping by!


Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Of a Sensitive Nature-Need to Pray for These Kids.

I understand this is a very sensitive nature, however I feel a need to talk about it.

This has been on my heart lately. We have heard a lot lately about pred*tors. I often think, "My daughter is the same age as the 'target' was supposed to have been."


My SIL opened my eyes about this. She is a principal and had to take a course on this subject. The police did a sting operation on the internet right there during the course. They 'caught' a 19 year old (He was later apprehended). My SIL said everyone in the room was so disgusted, yet all she could think is, "I have a son close to that age."


What an eye opener. And we are all correct, it is disgusting, it is frightening, it could be our daughter, or it could be our son.


A similar situation has been brought to prayer a lot at church lately. A teen girl (relative of a church member) had gotten a ride from an older boy. He took her to the woods and shot her three times when he was finished with her. Then he left. We have spent the last month praying for her recovery. The boy has been apprehended. Lately the church has been praying for justice to be done.


Out of sensitivity for church members I just want to ask everyone anonymously to pray for this boy. What awful thing has been done to him in the past? Should we not pray for this boy as well as the girl he hurt and left to die? This was a horrendous thing he has done, but Jesus did not come for the righteous man. Cannot this boy also be saved? Yes, he should be punished, but shouldn't someone take the gospel to him also.


Please pray for this girl's continued healing both physically and emotionally. That is the easy one, but also take the harder road and pray for the boy.

And while your at it let's praise God that we don't get the just punishment for our sin.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Home Management Binder-Weekly Routines

This is on the right hand column next to Daily Routines. I mark these off as we finish them, so when we get to Friday's Catch up we can see what didn't get finished for the week.


Weekly Routines

Daily Routines
Monday: Bedding
Dusting
Quick Vacuum
Unload Dishwasher

Tuesday: Water Plants
Declutter 15 min.
Garbages

Wednesday: Mirrors/2 windows
Clean out Fridge
Menu/Grocery list

Thursday: Pay Bills
Errands
Correspondence

Friday: Vacuum
Bathrooms
Mop Floors
Zone Clean
Catch up


Yes, we only unload the dishwasher on Monday! We use it only to hide the dishes we didn't wash on Sunday. So we wash that one load, and the rest of the time we wash by hand.

Information on Decluttering and Zone Cleaning can be found here: http://flylady.com/pages/FlightPlan_Detail.asp I copied and pasted them onto a Word Document and changed them to fit our home.

We also have a Master Schedule that has time slots on it, that we sometimes follow loosely. We have a School Schedule in a different binder as there was not room in this binder.

You can see more of my posts about my Home Management Binder Here Home Management Binder

Monday, November 12, 2007

Home Management - Daily Routines


I came back from a FUN weekend with my family feeling refreshed. I decided to get back to the schedule in my Home Management Binder We got so much accomplished! What an awesome feeling.

You can see my schedule in the picture. I didn't realize how bad it looks. It is in a plastic sheet protector so we can mark what we have done with a dry erase marker. There are 2 columns. In the right hand column is my schedule for the week, and the left is the daily list. I'll list my daily routines tonight and get to my weekly tomorrow.


Daily Routines

Early Morning-Mom
Teeth
Shower/Dress
Hair
Make Bed
Prayer/Bible
Wash Clothes
Meal Prep

Morning-Children
Dress
Hair
Teeth
Bible
Clean Bedroom
Animal Chores

After Breakfast-All
Clean Kitchen
Weekly Chores
Dry Clothes
Wash 2nd Load


Afternoon
Clean Kitchen
Finish Laundry
Check School

Bedtime-Girls
Shower (Tues, Thurs, Sat)
Teeth
PJ’s
Tidy House/Room
Bathroom

Bedtime-Me
Teeth
Tomorrow’s To-do List
Tidy House

The girls also have a list that explains in detail what a clean kitchen, bathroom, or bedroom means, so that I don't constantly have to tell them what to do next. They can just look at the list and mark it off as we go.
We start school at 8:30 most mornings, so whatever is left on After Breakfast is left for me when I get a chance.
If I get up with Hubby, I have extra time to blog and work on my business. My business also fits in in the afternoon when Little Boy is napping and the girls are finished with school.
Hubby gets home at 2:30, so we don't schedule anything else until bedtime.
I really like this schedule for a couple of reasons. It is not a time schedule, so I don't ever feel behind! Also, if I am ever not able to follow it, I am sure my girls can take care of the home!

Family Fun!

We went away for the weekend. My husband has some financial blessings this last week. We bought 2 tires for the van, took $100 for a fun weekend and the rest will pay on a loan!

Friday evening we loaded up the kids and rented a motel room for the night; with a pool of course. We spent the whole evening in the pool. It was super warm! Perfect! The kids had a blast. The big kids raced across the pool with Daddy! They jumped in the water and caught the ball in the air, that Daddy threw! Little boy caught fish, that none of us could see ;) We played volley ball! Did I mention we had the pool all to ourselves.

We had a continental breakfast and headed straight back into the pool!

We spent the afternoon shopping! I got some items for my business and a new coat for Biggest Girl. We hit CVS and Aldi's. I don't know just what I spent on groceries because I haven't found all my receipts for the week yet. I don't know if we stayed within budget or not, but we have to be pretty close.

I have a lot of catching up to do this morning. I have some orders to fill and some emails to catch up on. I want to get back on schedule and will probably post about my schedule later! May you all have a blessed day!

Super Saving Saturday


Yes, I know it's Monday! Read my next entry to find out why I didn't get this done on Saturday.


Here is my best deal this week. I got all this for $1.06 at CVS.


500 ct. Cotton Swabs $3.19

80 ct. Baby Wipes 2.79

- ecb - 4.99


Total with tax $1.09


Printed off 2 ecb and a coupon worth $2.50 off a pain reliever.


My husband thought it was a good idea to use the coupon. So I went back in and got:


24ct. ibuprofen $ 2.89
40ct. envelopes 1.59
minus coupon -2.50
minus ecb -2.00
Total 0.00 Free WHOO-HOO
Aldi had butter on sale for $1.69 each! As we don't use shortening or margarine, this was a great deal. We bought 7 of them!

Friday, November 9, 2007

Comment me.

If you would like to leave a comment that will not be published on my blog; go ahead, just say so in the first line. Also, please leave me a way to respond to you that is also not public! I love to hear from my readers.

God bless

~Stella

Thursday, November 8, 2007

Pastor Wants to Read my Blog

At Awana last night I was talking to a gal, who had written up her testimony to share with the kids. I said that I just wrote mine up yesterday on my blog. Well, our pastor heard me and wanted the address.

I'm not sure I want to share this with many people I actually know. My husband has not even seen it, even though he has permission. He (Pastor) said that if it was private I shouldn't be sharing on the internet. I'm not sure there is anything I would consider private, however, there are things on here that are definitely 'womanly'. For instance, I wouldn't share that much information about my miscarriage with him. Also, I want to write from my heart, and not worry about who is reading.

I am going to print off my testimony. Pastor has already heard this anyway, however I am considering sending him some of my articles for review. Hmmm, we shall see what I decide.

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

My Testimony of Salvation

But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear. -1Peter 3:15

A couple of months back I was asked at the church potluck to give my testimony. Right then, right there, no time to think. I couldn't do it. I froze and said, "It's a long story." I have given my testimony many times before in a small group or one on one. But never to a hundred people at once or with a microphone. Well, it's time I shortened my story, memorized my verses and made friends with the microphone. So I decided to start here.

I didn't grow up attending church, or reading the scriptures, so I had no preconceived notions about Jesus, or salvation, or baptism, or God. I knew that Jesus died (I actually thought they killed him), that God decided who went to heaven, and that if you lied you'd go to hell.

When we were married we went to church for awhile, and were even baptised. I said that I believed, but I still didn't understand that Jesus death was on purpose. Jesus dying for my sin didn't really mean anything to me. I tried reading my Bible, but didn't stick to it because I didn't understand much of it. Even the eunuch said"How can I (understand), except some man should guide me?"

Well, eventually someone did guide me. He showed me scriptures that showed that Jesus's death was planned by God, that it was a sacrifice for me, that there was no other way to Heaven, that I was a sinner (I already new that), that my good works were as 'filthy rags', and that Jesus loved me anyway.

When I asked how to be saved I was left with Scripture and told that I would just know it when I was saved. I spent the next several days or weeks, I have no concept of time here, reading through the list of verses he left me with. I also went to several gospel presentations during this time. Again, I cannot remember if these were given daily or weekly.

Finally I just started to cry, why wasn't something happening so I would 'know' I was saved. What was I waiting for? Lightening, angels, a whisper in my ear, a feeling? Then there were 2 verses I read that finally caused me to just take God at his Word.

1John 5:10 He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made Him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son.

Whoa, I did not want to be calling God a liar.

1John 5:13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.

At that point I shut my Bible deciding that I was not going to wait for a 'sign'; I would just have to believe what God said. Of course, that is when I felt a tremendous peace, and I KNEW I belonged to God. Praise God!

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Gluttony/Weight Loss Update

The good news..... I lost 9 pounds! The scale said 10 Sunday morning but says 9 today, so I will go with 9.


The bad news.... SLACKER


I've been getting slack about memorizing Romans 6. At first I was reciting it in my head several times a day, and falling asleep memorizing the next section of the verse. When I was doing that, the verse would pop into my head the second I would think about a snack. Obviously there is something really important about that, because once I started to slack off some, the verses wouldn't come until after I had put something in my mouth.


I also want to make it very clear, mostly to myself, that I am not so pleased with the weight loss as I am disappointed in the sin of gluttony. I want to deal with sin.


Here is something really interesting that happened that reminded me about having 2 or 3 witnesses: On Friday a lady from church called to see how this was going for me. We chatted for a while and talked about how much help Romans 6 has been. This person does not usually call me. Then, on Saturday I got my new Rod and Staff catalog. There is always a tract or something tucked inside, so I shook it to see what I would find. You will not believe what fell out. A credit card sized calendar with this verse: What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid. How can we, that are dead to sin, live anylonger therein. Romans 6 1-2


Definately God is watching all that we do, and cares even about an extra brownie. I stand in awe of Him!

Monday, November 5, 2007

AND THE WINNER IS.....

The winner of the bar of TRUE VINE SOAP is....... Romie from Romie's Rants! Congratulations! I will be contacting you shortly!

Thanks to everyone who participated! It was so much fun to see my inbox full of comments!

LORD bless you and have a wonderful day!

Saturday, November 3, 2007

Super Saving Saturday-LOTS OF TP















Last Saturday I posted my goals for shopping: $60 per week averaged over the two week pay period for Hubby (This is for 6 people). I did it last week with $2 to spare. Here's how we are faring this time. We are just finishing the first week of the payperiod.
Here are some of the great deals from this week:

Trip to Kmart: This sale is still going on.
Toilet paper, toilet paper, toilet paper. Flyer came out for Charmin Basic 12 Big Rolls (325 sheets per roll-double rolls) $3.99 limit 5. I got my limit of 5 and used 3-25 cent off coupons. 7up was 79cents. Spent $22.39 My bedroom closet is now full of toilet paper (and papertowels from a shopping trip several weeks ago!
At the salvage store I found Herb Ox boullion (no msg) for 50 cents a box-I bought 5! They also had one can of goat milk-30cents, brown rice-45cents. 2 boxes of Organic cereal $1 each. Everything in the picture on the right $12.65!!!!

Great use of an instore coupon for vitamins: Our local grocery store had a coupon for $2 off any one Sundown vitamin. I found the smallest bottle of Vit. C-100 tables for $2.59- 59cents!!!! I also bought organic bananas for 19cents/#.

Walmart had Silk soymilk for $2.89. I used a $2.25 coupon 64 cents!!!

We also bought 2 gallons of milk, 2 bags of softener salt, liquid hand soap, 2 bags of Doritos (at full price-Hubby went shopping) Shredded cheese, chocolate chips, Tangerines, Cough drops (BOGO) , Peanut butter, chicken strips, sour cream, and romaine lettuce.

Total spent $76.42; Left for next week $43.58 I think we did pretty good!

Thursday, November 1, 2007

Teenagers

Where do we get the idea that the teenage years are years of rebellion? Is rebellion then necessarily any worse than any other time in our lives? Can we really blame rebellion on hormones?

I had many "warnings" from family and acquaintances when my girls were small. "You just wait until they are teenagers", "Whoa, you're going to have three teen girls at once, look out", "Oh, you just wait you'll have to deal with all this ________(insert some kind of rebellion) too", "They all go through it, you just grit your teeth till its over".

Now, I know I have many teen years to go through yet with my girls, but I have seen none of this yet. My girls are 14, 12, and 10, and the only thing I have noticed with hormones is some weepiness that lasted about a year. (The 10 year old has not done this yet.) We have not seen any increase in sassiness, or disobedience.

I definitely had a problem when I was a teen, but I cannot say that it started then. I remember being angry a lot when I was a kid. Maybe I just got more bold about it at that age. I was also rebellious against my husband during the first several years of marriage. So is it the teens, or is the rebellion always there in us, and it just comes out physically usually during the teen years.

I'm just wondering if the difference isn't that my children know that sassiness and disobedience is just not tolerated? They are able to take the things that are bothering them to the Lord for help? Or maybe its from being homeschooled (read sheltered :) ) and without television?

A quick note about television..... When the youngest girl was 8 she started to be "mouthy" and would bob her head funny when she did it. I got the idea to ask about the tv; as they had been allowed to watch it on weekends at that time. Apparently a girl on tv (Raven) talked that way. Problem was easily solved when we took away the program.

Here's to praying that all of our teenagers are able to deal with their "feelings" by taking them to the Lord and their parents. God bless them all! I'll let you all know if rebellion becomes an issue in our family all of a sudden. Comment me and let me know what your thoughts on teens are.

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Praise God - Finances

We have been blessed three times this week when it comes to finances! Opportunities have all of a sudden come Hubby's way! He agreed to do some interior work for a lawyer in town as trade for him making a will for us. Well, yesterday Hubby stopped to give back the building key, and he handed Hubby a check for $300. He said that Hubby's work was worth more than the will and he will still do the will also!!!

Also, an elderly lady friend of ours drove out by her country property and realized all the junk that had been left there. She asked Hubby to load it all up and take it to the landfill. Well, he found someone to take the metal, someone else to take the pallettes, and someone else to take the broken landscaping blocks. He had a little garbage to pick up, but not enough to take to the landfill. She had someone drive by and saw how nice it looked. She gave him a check on Sunday for $200.

Two checks this week that we didn't expect! And payday is this Thursday with overtime of around $160. He usually is not allowed overtime unless there is an emergency on Saturday, well a watermain broke and he had to stay at work to make sure the chillers kept running until the city got it fixed.

God is so good, this will be a huge help in getting us out of debt.

Monday, October 29, 2007

Free Bar of Soap By True Vine Soap

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at PhotobucketFall Ya’ll Bloggy Giveaway
Free Give Away: A bar of my favorite soap from True Vine Soap

You chose between Fragrance-Free Calendula or Baby Oatmeal & Lavendar

How to enter: Just leave a comment under this post with your choice of soap. Contest is open until 6pm Pacific Time Saturday November 4. A random drawing will chose the winner and I will post the winner Monday Nov. 5!!! I will order the soap and have it shipped directly to you!

Important: Contest is open to US and Canada only.

Good luck!

Saturday, October 27, 2007

Super Saving Saturday-My Shopping-My Goal

To see what Super Saving Saturday is all about visit Crystal at http://www.moneysavingmom.com/ .

My goal: To spend $60 a week on groceries for my family of 6 (2 adults, 3 big kids, 1 toddler). This is going to have to be an average of 2 weeks as that is how my hubby gets paid. Our budget up until this last 2 weeks was $60 per week for food plus $30 per week for paper, soaps, cleaners, etc. None of this includes our meat as we buy that in bulk twice a year. I intend to fit all of this into our new goal of $60 per week (all groceries plus some left over for the meat purchase)

Yeah! Goal met this two weeks. Spend $75.40 last week and $41.89 this week. Total $117.29. Left for meat $2.71-have to do better here.

Here are some of my great deals for this week:



This picture shows $11.34 shopping from 2 stores both of them Amish. At the bulk store I bought 7 # of oatmeal for $2.89 and 1# Aluminum-free baking powder $1.78. The other is a salvage store. The best deals here were 5# flour 50 cents, Organic rice milk 40 cents, Organic sauce 65 cents.




This picture $8.89 shows Walgreens and one grocery store.

Best deals: Free bread (coupon), Eggs 1 doz at 77 cents from one store (limit 1 with coupon) 3/$3 for the others (raincheck Walgreens) Chili Beans 3/&1 (coupon limit 1 offer). VO5 conditioner buy 2 at 99c get 1 free.

The rest of the groceries I bought included 7# bananas, apples, lettuce, crackers, applesauce peanut butter, tortillas, cheese, juice. I also bought a couple of things that we needed for our snack duty at 4H that I normally would not buy paper plates, cups and the pretzels.

My God bless your shopping in the coming week (and mine too)


Thursday, October 25, 2007

Kissing and Hugging Our Kids

I was reading a blog yesterday, Enjoy the Journey, and she was listing important things. One of them was Tell Your Kids You Love Them Every Single Day. That got me thinking about how great it is that my kids still allow me to love on them; even the fourteen year old.

When our second daughter, Jodie, was eleven she went to an Awana sleepover. As I was very pregnant I decided not to chaparone all night long, as I had done in the past. As I was leaving, I gave Jodie a hug and a kiss. When I left another girl whispered in her ear, "It's okay, I still kiss my mom too". What a shame that kids need to be ashamed to be loved by their parents.

When I was in 5th grade I told my parents that I was now too old for hugs and kisses. They must have been heartbroken; I know I would be. What brought this on: A conversation at school.

Maybe we have skipped this because we homeschool, I don't know. The only thing close to this that happened with me, wast about 2 years ago with my now 14-year-old. She started pulling away when I would hold her hand in the parking lot. I don't know if she was embarrassed, or just thought I was holding her hand so she wouldn't get hit by a car, like a toddler. It lasted about a year and now she holds my hand if she is with me by herself.

BTW, I've got it really good now, I can hug and kiss my kids, hubby, mom and dad, mother-in-law, and grandparents!!!!

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

How We Came to Homeschool When My husband Was Against it

It seems like God often speaks to the wife first about some matter and then uses that to teach her to submit to her husband and to wait on the Lord for the matter to come about. This is the way homeschooling came about for our family.

I don’t even know when I first got the notion to homeschool. I believe it was even before I was a Christian. After I was saved it became very strong and though I didn’t know much about it, I was convinced that this was what God wanted for our family.

The only holdout to homeschooling was my husband. He thought it was very interesting, but was not for our family. It took me a while to figure out what he wanted because I didn’t take the time to ask him. I would listen to his conversation when it was brought up in public. I thought he was very interested until we had a conversation with some friends and he said that we would never do that. HUH. I thought he was in on this for sure. I spoke to him later and he said that it was an interesting concept, but not for our family.

I begged and pleaded, and tried to reason with him. I was so sure that this was God’s will for us. This was when our daughter was 3. As time went on I learned about submission. Oh, this was hard. And why would God let me desire something so much and not let my husband in on it. At this point Meg was 5 and had missed the cut off date for school by a week, and Dh wanted me to put the girls in preschool. I gave my desire to the Lord and said, “God, I was convinced that it was Your will for us to homeschool, but I know you want me to submit. If it is your will you will have to change Chad’s heart.” I decided then that I would not say another word about it to Chad. And I didn’t mention it to the Lord either.

I took the girls to preschool 10 minutes away for a two months. Then my car broke down and we couldn’t afford to get it fixed until January. It was the 1st of November. During this time I actually had put away the idea of homeschooling and had resigned myself to public school for the kids.

One day, before the car was fixed, Chad came home from work. He announced, “If you still want to homeschool, I think we should.” I had to ask what brought this on and he said he didn’t know but he felt very strongly that we needed to do this; that it was the right thing for our family! He was already to convince me if I hadn’t wanted to. He didn’t know I still did because I hadn’t said anymore about it. Praise God. My husband has been totally commited to it ever since.

We’ve been homeschooling for 9 years now and have no intention to stop!

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

My Breakfast Menu


This is my weekly breakfast menu. The picture shows the page in my Home Management Binder under the section labeled menus/recipies. The Breakfast Menu and the recipie for Baked French Toast are both on this page.


Monday - Scrambled eggs, Fruit, Milk


Tuesday - Whole Wheat Pancakes, Fruit, Milk


Wednesday - Muffins, Fruit, Milk


Thursday - Baked Oatmeal, Fruit, Milk


Friday - Leftovers, Fruit, Milk


Saturday - Whole Wheat Pancakes, Fruit, Milk


Sunday - Baked Oatmeal, Fruit Sauce, Milk


We have milk only with our breakfast meal, as we rarely eat meat with breakfast. Not mixing milk and meat was an Old Testament law. Apparently meat eaten with milk will make it hard for your body to absorb calcium. (Juice is saved for another meal with meat because vitamin C and Iron go very well together.)

Monday, October 22, 2007

Gluttony is a Sin/Weight Loss

Anyone who sees me in my home and how I eat should be amazed that I don't weigh 300 pounds. I am actually one of the fortunate ones who don't gain a lot of weight except when I am pregnant. (I gained 90 pounds with my last baby, but lost 40 in the first two weeks postpartum-water). I have lost 20 pounds by trying in the past, and it is HARD! I often fluctuate about 10 pounds. My problem is not being terribly over weight, but binging is very unhealthy. I get down to a certain weight and then think the sky is the limit.

Two weeks ago at the seminar at church, they were talking about conquering sin. We often are tempted and give in already thinking that we will do better next time. This has been my case for sometime. I would tell myself that if I just finish off the pan of brownies they will no longer be there to tempt me. It does not work that way as I have 3 daughters who love to bake. It dawned on me after the seminar that trying to lose weight is trying to fight off the consequences of the sin of gluttony. WOW, God is amazing for giving revelations. I have been praying to conquer this sin for a long time.

Anyway, I have set aside my study of Psalm 25 for the time being and have taken up meditating on Romans 6 with the intention of getting through to Romans 8. Every time I am tempted to sin (in any way). I have take to reciting in the first person and it is working! What shall I say then? Shall I continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid! That is about as far as I need to go at this point, but I am reciting to verse five at other times just as a reminder that we are dead to sin.

My dh has never taken me seriously about trying to eat better, however this time I explained that I needed accountability and mentioned that gluttony is a sin. Now he is being helpful as well. I have had to ask him on occasion what a serving of something should be.

Because I am not pregnant, nursing, or growing taller I don't need to each between meals. So I have given that up. However, I don't see a need to give up an occasional dessert as long as I only have one helping.

One of the amazing things that is happening is that I am HUNGRY at meal times!!!!! It is very satisfying to come to the table hungry for the good things that are on your plate. Now I know what it means to be truly grateful for your food. I can honestly thank God for my food with a grateful heart!

Monday, October 15, 2007

Why I Wear Dresses

I have gone back and forth on this one for years. I’ve had a church tell me I had to… that God commands it. The Bible does say that men and women should not wear each others garments, of course I don’t see any men wearing capris. So technically anything that most men would not wear would work. But there are other reasons.

When I did begin to wear dresses I wore them because of modesty. Pants form to your body and everyone can see your shape… a skirt or dress leaves much more to the imagination. I immediately noticed that I was treated differently when I wore a dress. Men held doors open for me and people were for the most part more polite.

My husband actually likes jeans on me: Surprise! He likes to look at me. Well, he noticed one day when we were in the store that he, evidently is not the only one. A man followed us through every isle and guess where that man was looking every time my hubby looked back. I had jeans on.

One Sunday one of the elders had read a newspaper article and talked about what was going on in the world. Then he mentioned what he saw coming. One of the things he mentioned stood out to me something fierce. He saw as some people would lead us to believe is true that there is no difference between the genders: No man, no woman, just persons. EEK! I don’t want to be a man. God made me woman. I am different, and not just physically. If it was just physical, God could have made men with all the parts needed. No, women are physically, emotional, mentally different than men. We complement each other. One thinks one way and the other thinks another. We need each other for balance.

In all, I don’t want to bridge the gender gap, I want to keep it as wide as possible. I don’t want to get close to the line, I want to steer far from it. I want to be the feminine woman God chose to make me. I want to look and act the part. God said that His people would be a peculiar people; set apart. So if wearing dresses makes me odd (peculiar) so be it.

As a side note, I act more feminine in a dress (not on purpose), am mostly treated more like a lady, and I like the way I look.

Monday, October 1, 2007

On Being Content

Heb 13:5, Phil 4:11 Jos 7:7

The Lord has been contending with me with contentment for a couple of months now. It actually started with my daughter learning about purity and being content where God has her now. God speaks to us when were are listening, but not always about what we are listening for.

Before I had believed to "Be content with such things as ye have..." (Heb 13:5) meant material things and I mostly don't have a problem there. However, God has shown me that he means all sorts of "things" material, physical, emotional, spiritual. Now we should not be content to not be growing spiritually, however my discontentment was showing in what I perceived my husbands spiritual growth to be. I mean I was basing my spiritual staleness on my husbands leadership. I had ideas of how my husband should be leading our family spiritually. Wow, I had not seen this coming, but I had to admit it was so true. God knows our hearts. I confessed my sin to God and to my hubby. I made a commitment to not compare my hubby to other men, to not read things that would cause me to be discontent, to pray for his (dh's) spiritual growth for his (dh's) sake and to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.

I knew that when we make new commitments to God that satan usually attacks, so I was prepared for praying and reading scripture, and resisting the devil so he will flee from me. Wow, was I knocked for a loop when satan attacked my hubby instead of me. Satan twisted my words in my hubby's mind and told him "She is only settling for you". Well we had some very late night talks for the next several nights with much confession and prayer, and as a result became closer as a couple and closer to God.

God has done some amazing things in our life through this. Anyway, the contentment issue came up again last night at The Basic Seminar. This time I started thinking about my desire to have another baby. Could I be content to never have another child. Well the message was that God desires the best for us, and can we see the best in our situation and thank God for where we are. The suggestion was to make a 2 lists of the advantages of both sides, so that we can be content and see God's blessing/purpose in His will. So here is mine. It is not exhaustive, and some of my reasons are selfish, but honest.

Advantages of No More Children/Advantages of Having Another Child
More time to spend with the Lord (Reading, Praying, Studying, Serving) / Adding to the "Christian" population

More time to sew, keep home,be a helpmeet. / Raising more Godly seed to impact the world

More able to concentrate on homeschooling and training the children I already have. /A younger sibling for a companion for the next youngest. And to teach him compassion and selflessness, and so he won't be spoiled.

Save money (medical bills, extra car seat, another chair, etc) /Psalm 127

Sleep / A new baby to love, cuddle, nurse.

Not having to worry about pregnancy complications, birth defects / A purpose for the next 18 years.

Okay, so my list is even though somewhat flawed. I know that I have responsibilities past 18 years, I know that we can have other expenses come up and that God is in control of that. I know I may not get to sleep anyway. I know that I cannot guarantee that my children will be saved. And for anyone with a special baby: I know that they are huge blessings and that God gives generous helpings of the fruits of the spirit for them.

May God bless all who read this with a spirit of contentment.

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Funny Chicken Story

This happened earlier this month. We were loading up our chickens to take to a farm to be prepared for the freezer. (Isn't that a nice way to put it.) We got up at 6 am to get them loaded in the crates the family loaned us. If we had been smart we would have gotton up an hour earlier and just picked them up while they were sleeping, but then I wouldn't have a funny story to tell.

Anyway these fat lazy chickens usually just come to the door when you open it, however this morning they were apparently on edge and ran into the outside pen, where we can't get to them. My dh had to remove some chicken wire and get a ladder to climb in the pen and chase them into the chicken house, then climb out and run around and help me load them. In the meantime several of them got to the "real" outside. By now my mom, dad and the children are trying to help chase chickens. We managed to get the "outside" ones back in; all but one. The lone rooster decided to wait for us under the truck. We saved him for last and proceeded to load the rest. We got them all loaded and looked for the lone rooster, but alas he was not under the truck and no where to be found. Could he have gotton back into the chicken house and loaded? Well, that was the only reasonable explanation, so out to the farm we went.

I explained to the lady what had happened and, that we may have 28 or 29 chickens. Then we went home to return at noon to package our birds.

My parents were camping at our place and so we sat by the campfire for a bit before making breakfast, when our daughter said, "Look!" Lo and behold our lone rooster was back underneath the truck. My dh peeked underneath and the axil was full of chicken poo. That crazy rooster road about 12 miles to the farm and back underneath the truck. Can you imagine him sitting there riding his harley with the wind in his feathers, holding on with dear life. Chickens don't have hands, just feet. I wonder that he didn't spin round and round. Of course he somehow avoided being smooshed on the highway.

At this point in the story many people asked if we kept him as a pet. Ahhh, were not that nice. We loaded him in a cardboard box and he road in style in the front seat of the truck. The little gal that butchers the birds thought that was incredibly funny.

I have another funny story about a rooster trapping a VERY pregnant woman in a shed, but I'll save that for another day.

Saturday, September 22, 2007

Miscarriage and general update

Numbers went down considerably. I was so numb I didn't hear what the nurse said. 400 something. Anyway, the good news is the doctor didn't think it was tubal. Praise the Lord. Well, we may not be filling the earth with our multiplying, however we're putting a little dent in Heaven! I am very grateful that we can still conceive, so I'm not completely dysfunctional-just a little. God be praised for all things.

For accountability's sake. I am still working on memorizing Psalm 25. I've made it through verse 5, but need to look it again, because when I tried to go through it in my mind last night at bedtime, some of the words didn't sound quite right.

Interesting tidbit. The minds of people who didn't memorize Scripture as a child start slowing down at age 20, but children who did still have high recall at age 35. I wonder if it's just spending time memorizing, or if the key is in memorizing Scripture. Of course, I can't think of anything more important to spend great deals of time memorizing than Scripture. Well, I've definitely missed the boat; my mind definitely has been going down hill for many years. My children have been memorizing Scripture for years. I'll have to ask them at 30 how there brains are. I've always claimed it was them stealing brain cells during pregnancy. Funny I started having babies at 20. hmmmmmm

DM- If you've been emailing me, I'm not getting them. You can try the old one again, it is still good till the end of the month.

Fare thee well.

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Pregnancy Update

Monday night I started having sharp pains on my left side (the side with my only functioning tube). I called the dr. and explained the situation. They could not help me that night, which seemed crazy since I know you can die from an ectopic rupture. Anyway since I was not "doubled over" in pain it could wait until morning.

Tuesday morning the pain had moved somewhat which led me to believe it was intestinal pain. I went to the clinic anyway for a beta hcg. The number was 662. I was hoping for a "1" in front of that. I would be 22 dpo at that time. They were happy that the pain had moved. They could not do an ultrasound because nothing will show with that low of a number. I go back in tomorrow morning for a repeat beta. Any number above 1000 will be okay, but 1324 would be much more promising.

According to charts, my number is within the range for 22 dpo, however I was going by my son's numbers and I expected 1600 at least. Anyway I did some figuring and based on my first + hpt it is still a workable number. Of course God shows Himself best in impossible situations.

I am still so grateful to have stayed pregnant this long. Only by God's grace since I have only had one successful pregnancy in 9 years, 6 of those with an open tube.

God bless.

Jack and the Beanstalk

Evidently there are many versions of this story and maybe reading the shortened one to my son was not a good idea. Maybe the original has a moral????

Jack and his mom are very poor. Jack disobeys his mother when told to sell the cow. He instead trades her for 5 magic beans. Mother throws them out the window and they proceed to grow into an ENORMOUS bean stalk which Jack climbs clear into the clouds. He discovers a giant, enters his home and steals his hen that lays golden eggs and his golden harp. Since the giant is about to catch up with Jack, he (Jack) heroicly chops down the beanstalk killing the giant. He and his mother get rich off the spoil aka the golden eggs.

Okay, I don't see any morals here. Jack disobeys, steals and kills and is rewarded. Nothing here I want to teach my chilren. Eek. Therefore, the book was purged last night. I cannot believe I read that to my 2yo.

Monday, September 17, 2007

Still Pregnant

I took another test yesterday and it is still positive. Praise the Lord. The bleeding has lightenend considerably.

Meditating on Scripture

Our Basic Life Principles seminar last night was about meditating on Scripture. I've started with Psalm 25 as per suggestion. Unfortunately I am not very quick on memorizing. I was able to memorize only the first verse. I fell asleep visualizing myself lifting my soul up to the LORD; handing it over actually. This morning I was able to add the 2nd verse, and hope to meditate on it while I "walk by the way", or anytime I am able to do chores that don't require thinking.

Psalm 25

1 Unto thee, O LORD, I do lift up my soul.

2 O my God, I trust in thee: let me not be ashamed, let not mine enemies triumph over me.

Saturday, September 15, 2007

Book Review "Before You Meet Prince Charming" by Sarah Mally

I highly recommended this book for teenage girls and their parents. Sarah Mally does a beautiful job of teaching girls how to stay physically and emotionally pure for their future husbands; all the while keeping the book itself pure from topics that need not be discussed.

She teaches the girl how to spend her time while she waits. Rather than daydreaming, or fretting, or being idle, she should take the time to get to know the Lord, memorize scripture, serve her family and others, because what other time in her life will she have time to dedicate her all to the Lord.

Mixed in with real life stories, practical advice, and much scripture is a beautiful fairy tale of a princess (daughter of the King!!!). The story tells of how her parents protect her and guide her, how the alligator continuously temps her, and how finally with no aggression on her part she is courted by her prince charming.

Beautiful and a must read!