Pinterest inspired....

So yeah, once a week I suppose will be the best I can do.  I want to be an all-star blogger, but honestly, I've been stepping back more and more from being "plugged" in.....and secretly, I'm really loving it.  I took a "media fast" last week and what it revealed to me was startling.  I need to unplug more.  Engage with my children & husband more.  pray more.  read stellar non-fiction books more. dig deep in God's word more. 

That being said, blogging...well, if I have a free moment....you'll find me knee deep in this book at the moment.

But, I had wanted to share these recipes....both pinterest inspired!

First: Homemade Dishwasher Detergent.  I used an assortment of recipes to create our own.  Having had a terrible experience with liquid homemade dishwasher detergent, I have been thrilled with this powder recipe!  I used both lemi-shine powder and the lemonade packets (it's the citric acid)---but our rinse aid compartment is broken, so I added the lemi-shine for good measure.  But, if you need a rinse aid---try vinegar.  You'll need to mix it occassionally to break up clumps from the citric acid. We re-purposed a formula container

I used:
1 C Borax
1c Washing Soda
1/2 c salt
2 packets non-sugar Lemon Kool-aid
1/3 c lemi-shine (powder)


The second: Homemade Bodywash.  I followed this recipe off pinterest---there are many to choose from, but I chose one that did not use vegetable glycerin.  We re-purposed an old ketchup bottle :)


A few notes:
-It took about a week to thicken up and lather just like commercial bodywash.  Worked fine before, but it does thicken a bit overtime.
-If I were to make handsoap, I would probably add glycerin to help thicken it up.
-I tend to use a bit more of the homemade than I do of the commercial.  Even still, if I went through a full bottle each month (not likely) I could make 12 bottles for the price of one store-bought bottle...
-I LOVE this stuff!  Tried Irish Spring and it did not work well.  Dove worked awesome and I'm hopeful I can find a good soap to make bodywash for the kids

I never pay more than .50/bar of soap after sales and coupons...and often less than that.  We figured that one bar of soap produced around 26oz of bodywash.  24oz of Dove Bodywash is nearly $6 at Wal-Mart.....that's over a $5 savings!

An update on that one little challenge....

(There are a number of posts “in the works”…things I want to blog about that I’m wrestling with…stories I want to share….but while those all sit in “editing” mode, here’s a mini update)


Remember when I said I was putting our family on a strict $50 a week budget and we would NOT be eating out the entire month of June?

Well, here’s a little check-in on how we’re doing. As a reminder, we have bought groceries on $40 a week in the past. This ONLY included things we could actually eat, and at the time we had a freezer full of meals   & we were eating out at least once a week.  This month, I set out to determine whether or not we could live on a $50 a week budget for all groceries, household items, paper products, personal care items & any disposable diapers/wipes we might need. And as of right now, we are successful at this goal!

We started on May 29th—and will run for 5 solid weeks. This gives me an overall budget of $250. When it’s all said and done, I do believe we will go slightly over budget, and that’s really ok. The fact is, we’re most concerned with continuing to cultivate discipline and good stewardship in our lives. It is the desire of our hearts for God to mold us into financially responsible individuals. While we have made many financial mistakes in the past (mainly credit cards) we are working hard to be responsible in every other area.

When we entered this challenge, our stockpile was quite low. Jonathan and I were both on our last stick of deodorant, there was no “extra” toothpaste or men’s body wash & our pantry was also looking pretty bare. We had no extra chicken or beef in our freezer & little in our cleaning supplies stockpile. I’m delighted to say we have been more than able to take care of all these areas.

As for the eating out…we have failed in this area. But---only twice! Two meals out in five weeks time is a record for us…especially with a freezer empty & Jonathan working an extra 20 hours a week in the evenings.

What I’ve learned:

-While our family could survive on $50 a week (or less) just by buying what we need that week, we are better stewards of our resources when we put the time in to stretch that $50 further (and we get FAR more for our money!)

-in order to make this happen, I need to plan ahead and always keep an eye on where our stockpiles are---to make sure that we are buying items we need as cheaply as possible (or free)

-I will need to shop at least three stores a week/or price match items at Wal-Mart & I need to utilize coupon deals even more so than I was in order to get the best deals and stretch our money.

-It takes a LOT of planning & organization….but the result for our family is worth it

-even if I only make it to Wal-Mart, I can still save lots of money.

-some weeks our shopping trips will look strange (like the week I bought 8 lbs of cheese, several boxes of pasta, and multiple packs of toilet paper) That’s ok.

--by exercising such careful planning, I can purchase little indulgences (example, my husband loves tic tacs & we never purchase them. After a doubled coupon, I was able to pick up 8 packages of them for free.---a small treat, but fun for him! I love smoothies, but make them from scratch, with a sale and a coupon, I was able to pick up four packages of Yoplait smoothie mix ready to be blended for free!)

--I LOVE being able to share with family/friends. I’m not buying 100 bottles of mustard like you might see on TV, but when I find a great deal for free items…I certainly will stock up. It’s been nice this month to be able to share some of our free purchases with family.

--MOST importantly….We are doing what we feel is right for our family. We like saving money and stretching our dollars. We believe we are being good stewards of our money by living this way. Not everyone is going to understand why we do what we do, people will inevitably not understand or agree with how we use our resources & some will think we’re crazy and not really be interested in adapting a similar lifestyle…. that’s ok. It’s worth our time.

And if this sounds like I’m bragging…I’m sorry!  I am incredibly proud of the hard work my husband and I have put into continually breaking our budget down more and more. For the last two years, we have tracked every penny in and out of our account…we have drastically cut our spending over these two years, and yet made our money go further at the same time. There is not a day that goes by that we aren’t trying to think up a new way to save or make more money. I am thankful that he works hard outside the home and he is grateful that I work so hard to save us money and make $50 go far. I am blown away by the discipline God is cultivating in both of us & excited to see how we can be stretched farther! 

toilet tips?

When I departed for college nine years ago, my mind was made up with what I wanted to be when I “grew up.” Over the course of four years, my mind (and major) changed about a dozen times. (At one point I was seeking a Women’s Studies minor, true story.)


My diploma will tell you that I paid a whole lot of money to become an expert in “Family Studies & Human Services.” What does that expertise get you in the real world? Not a whole lot. In my home, however, it has given me valuable insight into marriage, pregnancy, childbirth & raising children. I took courses labeled “Human Development”, “Intro to Human Sexuality”, “Choices in Childbirth”, “Early Childhood”, “Family Relationships & Gender Roles”, etc…

Now, my husband has a diploma that indicates he’s an expert in “Criminal Justice,” however, his real life job has put him into lots of trainings that correspond with what I learned as a college student…so, often we are on the same page when it comes to parenting topics. We are both always searching out additional resources to challenge us, make us question, give advice, etc when it comes to marriage and parenting

Bottom line, becoming a wife & mother has brought to my mind several things I learned during my time at college. The most recent topic of conversation in our home has centered on potty training. With our daughter nearing the age of 2…and subsequently developing a fascination with taking her diaper off, we have been talking through when/how/what when it comes to our approach to potty training.

Drawing from my time at college, I can remember developmental cues to look for…what DOESN’T work & when NOT to potty train (forcing a child before they are ready, training during a transition at home, etc…) I’ve refreshed my memory on some things from the Sears & Sears “The Baby Book.” And while we are in NO rush to even attempt the process, we are starting to see a few signs that encourage us that maybe potty training can begin in the next few months. (side note, in our opinion…when we actually start to train…we want to be very serious and intentional about it…as in, not potty training for months on end. If it doesn’t take quickly, we’ll be stopping and trying again a few months later)

We came home a few weeks ago with a stack of big girl panties passed on from an older cousin….the same cousin is donating her princess potty chair to the cause! We have started talking about the potty, where we go when we need to do those things & giving names to what she is doing. Lucy already has a LOT of naked time at our house…usually before and after baths when she runs off quickly…so we’re still doing that to help her recognize what’s happening to her body….even if it means sometimes getting a little pee on the floor….and we let her be naked in the backyard last week while we were playing with the pool. And we’re playing dress up with the big girl panties, even adorning her elephant with a pair.

I’m looking into other resources, but mostly…we’re just hoping to take a very laid back approach & not get too stressed out over the whole process. When she’s ready, she’ll train. I’m convinced of that. We’re just trying to start talking about things & get REALLY excited about the “big girl potty”


I know every family is different, but we’re always eager to hear what works for others. So, what helped you move your little one from diapers to underwear???

I'm here....somewhere

The last few weeks have been crazy busy...and crazy emotional.

We held another garage sale in conjuction with my sister's family last week, my husband started a second job & Lucy is battling her second ear infection in the last month.  There's been a lot of other "things" that have taken place---and I have a whole host of topics/successes/struggles/soapboxes that I'll be writing about soon.

But for now, I wanted to let you in on a little challenge I've set up for myself for the month of June.  If you've read for any length of time--you know that I will work my hardest to find a deal on ANYTHING (in fact, I'll let you know how I landed free teeth whitening for my husband and myself in a few days).  After Jack was born, my couponing became survival mode instead of stock-up mode.  We recently purchased a subscription to our paper (more on that later) & with coupons coming to my door---I have jumped feet first back into stock up mode. 

Because last month was the first month since my daughter was born that we've had to rely solely on my husband's income, we struggled a lot.  He has since started a second job in which he brings home cash from tips each evening.  I've set a $50 a week budget for us the month of June to cover ALL groceries & ALL household expenses.  For us this includes any disposable diapers, wipes, soaps, paper products, laundry soap, food or misc. items that need to be purchased.  We've managed on a $40 a week grocery budget before---but that did not include household expenses, and at that time our freezer was quite full of food.  Oh, and did I mention I'm also determined to keep us from eating out ALL month?  For us that means no eating out, gas station sodas or shaved ice treats.

So, yeah...it's going to be interesting to see how I can transform $200 to cover all of our food & household expenses for the month.  I'll be using cash my husband brings home to fill the envelope up at the beginning of each week.

Last week was our first week.  We went over by about $3....which was because I really wanted a cheap sprinkler for my daughter to cool off in.  All in all, we've been successful thus far.

I'm looking forward to sharing with you how well we do!

Our cloth diaper "stash"....

The Laundry supplies...

Last week I shared a lot of the "why" we chose to make the leap into cloth diapering.  Today I present the "what" & the "how" of the equation....via photos.  For the most part, we wanted to be as economical as possible.  Now, I had found tutorials on how to make my own diapers & had even been offered tutorials.  But I didn't have the material necessary...nor the skill, really.  Additionally, even I had those two things--I didn't have time & patience to make enough diapers to put two kiddos into cloth.  After a LOT of research and talking with other cloth-diapering families, we decided on trying out prefolds & covers for the bulk of our stash.

diaper rite prefolds: NB, Small, Medium, & Large

Econobum One-size covers.  Lucy wears hers unsapped,
Jack's gets snapped all the way down

Other covers: Rumparooz one-size, Thirsties Duo-Wrap,
Bummis super lite

NB flip insert, one size insert, FLIP cover

In the midst of purchasing prefolds, I also decided to try some of the Flip inserts out.  These just lay inside of a diaper cover--and they're probably the easiest way we have of cloth diapering.  I love them for Lucy, but they are too huge for Jack.  I ended up purchasing some newborn Flip inserts for Jack--and aside from the occasional poop leak, these have been a really trim way to have him in cloth.

I also really wanted to give flats a shot after hearing so much about them.  Having no money to spare, I ended up purchasing flour sack towels from Wal-Mart & Target for $1 a pi

ece.  I can fold these nicely for a good fit on Jack and I can pad fold them and line a diaper cover on Lucy.  I love these!  They are super economical & easy to wash. 

These are my fleece liners & homeade flannel wipes.  The wipes are still a work in progress.  The fleece liners are sometimes inserted into a prefold or flat in order to wick away moisture from Jack or Lucy's bottom.

We ended up adding a few pockets to our stash as free "gifts with purchase" when I purchased X amount of dollars in diapers & when I purchased two separate nursing bras.  A HUGE bonus for us.  Later I purchased two Bum Genius pockets in a "seconds" sale for half off & two Kawaii brand pockets (they're good for the price!).  I also added a Bum Genius AIO for Lucy that I also found half off.  These pocket diapers are all still very huge on Jack, but have worked wonderfully on Lucy.  I am a huge fan of the Bum Genius pockets...and hope one day I'll be able to add to that collection.

The laundry...ugh.  I've tried a few different soaps & Rockin' Green was the clear winner (so far..)  I do laundry every other day.  Dirty diapers for Lucy get dunked & sprayed with Bac-Out..while Jack's just usually get a quick spray with Bac-out.  All diapers go into one of our Rumparooz wetbags until laundry day.  I do a cold soak/rinse with a small amount of Rockin' Green....followed with a hot wash & double rinse with Rockin' Green.  On nice days, everything gets hung out on the line to dry & everything but the covers get tossed in the dryer to fluff afterwards.



How we organize: Lucy's on top, pockets & flips in the middle
Jack's on bottom.  Drawer has fleece liners, and extras



My favorites?  I LOVE my Thirsties duo wrap cover for Jack...perfect for his little waist.  I also love the NB diaper rite prefolds on him.  For Lucy I love the Bum Genius pockets & pad folded flour sack towels.

So yeah...this is what we're using for now...and what works for us now.  I'm hoping to add to the stash to get us in FULL time cloth diapers (right now we're using disposables a few times a day still)

Go Green or Go Broke...

...this title is a little deceptive, as I'm not really a "green" person.  But before you judge me, do know that I make most of my own homeade cleaners & laundry soap, I use cloth napkins, and I never waste foods that can be labeled "dessert"...

I have two children in diapers. While we have tried EVERY brand under the sun…even the store brands, Pampers are the only ones that seem to work well on our kiddos (though we’ve been known to stick a Huggies or Luvs on them as well.) And, while we’re on the subject of brand loyalty, we’re also suckers for Huggies wipes.


If you’ve been around here long enough, you know that I have never paid full price for a package of disposable diapers & while pregnant with Jack, we stocked up using Amazon sales & Amazon gift cards earned through Swagbucks. Shortly before Jack was born, Amazon stopped putting out the wonderful 20% off coupons we had become accustomed to---and while their prices were still cheaper than Wal-Mart, the price of having two in diapers was going to weigh heavy on our bank account.

Knowing that we had a decent stockpile of disposables & wipes to last us a few months, we started seriously considering cloth diapers. We had wanted to start when Lucy was a baby, but had always gotten such great deals on disposables that the initial investment in cloth never made sense. With Pampers averaging .25 a piece, and considering we were changing 16 diapers a day on average, we were looking at spending $132 approximately per month to diaper our kids. Even with Amazon’s Subscribe & Save prices, we were looking at $85 a month….an amount we didn’t have (and still don’t) to spare each month.

We decided we needed to make the most of our current stockpile by stretching them out as much as possible, meaning adding cloth diapers to our life & using disposables only at night, naps, & church activities. We made the commitment together to “give it a shot” and hope for the best. We knew we’d have to get over the “gross” factor pretty quickly & my husband was TOTALLY on board with learning right alongside me!

So, we took the plunge, and a little over a month ago we received our first “fluff” mail…and we haven’t looked back! We have tried almost every kind of cloth diaper out there, including, pockets, all-in-ones (AIO), pre folds, flats, stay-dry inserts inside a cover & more! This past month has been a learning process…and we still have a lot to learn!

There’s the “why” we made the official switch…stay tuned for the “how” & “what” of how this is all working out, which diapers are our favorites, how much extra laundry there REALLY is & how I have grown to love cloth diapers & the subsequent clothesline that they now dry on.

$20 Bill Challenge...

I mentioned the other day when writing about my minimal goals for 2011, that my husband and I were going to attempt the $20 challenge.

I read about this unique venture about a year ago over on this blog. We had grand ideas of attempting this challenge then, but somehow decided to buy a house...and well all good intentions went out the window. (And I fully recognize that I'm seven months pregnant & this challenge might be an epic fail with Baby #2 set to arrive this Spring...)

My husband and I thrive off of challenges, goals & just a general direction for where we're headed and where we want to end up. Our biggest obstacle in life for the last several months was a knowledge of knowing we needed more money coming in--and how to get there. I've spent the last few months feeling quite down about finances, jobs & even about having to work from home. But lately? We're feeling good--we're feeling excited---we're feeling thankful.

And that attitude just begs for a challenge to sharpen our creativity to think outside of the box, stretch a buck, try something new & learn some lessons along the way.

We'll each start out with $20. The goal is to turn that original $20 into more money. We've set our own rules--here's the basic rundown.

Our rules:
-You cannot "borrow" money if your funds are all tied up elsewhere
-We'll track any money coming in or out
-We're giving ourselves one year
-You can use items on hand (ie: fabric for crafts)--but anything purchased must come from your $20 (ie: additional thread)
-You can sell items to add to your $20 investment, but they must be agreed upon! Furthermore, we've decided to split the money with savings for anything we sell--& any large items (example an old bed we have) the money will be split three ways: Jon, Rachel, Savings. It's our hope that "sharing" with our savings will help grow that area!

...and that's it!

We're hoping for fresh ideas to get us excited about earning and saving money again & we're hopeful this will inspire us to de-junk and sell all those items we keep saying "we need to sell_____"

Please join in if you want! We're hoping to update monthly with how our challenge is going. My personal goal is to turn the original $20 into $200. Ambitious goal, but I have a few ideas that I'm pretty excited about.

Oh it's here...somewhere....

I've mentioned on a few occasions about my love for our household schedule. Now I'm going to mention (go into great detail) about my new love for our household folder.

Apparently household notebooks are all the rage. I suppose I should know this since I've tried my hand at various attempts of this for the past year. My first household notebook contained beautiful print-outs from an organizational website. I had every document you could imagine...even ones that made no sense for our family.

My second attempt contained more items that I created myself. This still failed because I once again overdid it.

Enter attempt #3...a folder. No binder, no clipboard, no "home central" corkboard......

A folder. And right now, it's working quite well for us.

A few months again I devised a household schedule. I have since adapted this even further--but this schedule is doing wonders for our days, our home, & our sanity.

Upon opening our household folder you'll find:

our household schedule (in two pages). This was created by making a list of everything I felt needed to be done each week and how often. I plotted cleaning tasks on our "less busy" days. Each day has a list of five things that need to get done everyday (make bed, bible study, clean dishes, check trash, pick-up toys), any activities for the day, daily chores, and paper pushing tasks for the day. Please know that there has yet to be a day where EVERYTHING has gotten accomplished!!!!

a monthly/semi-monthly checklist to fill in & personalize with tasks to complete (downloaded here).

6 months worth of calendars (from here.)

A Master to-do list (you know, for all those things that need to be done...someday)

A Master to-do list before baby (this is a room by room checklist of things to clean/organize/sell & a Misc area for items like "install car seat." I had a similar checklist during my first pregnancy & it was awesome for the nesting instinct)

A "need before baby arrives" list

A list of craft project ideas

Birthdays/Anniversaries for the year

An Inventory Checklist (Freezer, Panty, Fridge, Cleaning, Paper products, diapers, and Linen closet lists---this has the top items we need to have on hand. I do a quick check through these areas with my checklist and will use that to make shopping lists---or lists for items to look for a good coupon sale)

2011 Goals (more on this later)

Freezer Cooking Plan for the month (I make notes of recipes to try, meals to cook, etc)

The pockets contain post-it's with blogging and writing ideas, information for my work at home job, & library events.

And for now, that's it!

There are potentially a few things I want to add/tweak, but right now this is working great for us! I am working on a cleaning checklist that details what cleaners to use where, along with a guide to doing laundry. Because my husband will be taking over some of this when baby arrives & because we'll potentially have family here helping--he agreed (no really, he did!) that a cleaning/laundry guide might be helpful...along with where certain cleaners are stored.

Like anything, if it's going to work for you...you have to figure out what your family needs...even if that means customizing some of your own forms!

I'm makin' a list....

Several, in fact. Every Saturday or Sunday I sit down and compose a weekly to-do list on my trusty yellow legal pad. These items are in addition to our weekly household checklist. So far this system has worked wonders in place of my very random notes that were stuck around the house and seemingly always forgotten.

When I was pregnant with Lucy I put together a two-page spreadsheet of things that needed to get done before Lucy arrived and I hung it in our kitchen. My husband and I worked on this list and accomplished almost everything (even items like "organize the Laundry room" made the cut on this particular list.)

I guess this is a part of my personal nesting instinct because I've already begun brainstorming different checklists that need to be made for Baby #2. Our due date is still 15 weeks away, but the last 25 have breezed by...and if it weren't for my ever-expanding belly and persistent kicks from the inside, I'm not sure I'd believe I was really this far along.

So the lists I'm preparing this time around?
-Items needed for Baby #2
-Craft projects to complete for Baby
-Household tasks to complete before baby arrives (clean-out/de-cluttering that I won't have time to do after baby arrive, etc...)
-Freezer food to prepare for us. We've been doing lots of freezer cooking and compiling a list of things we feel freeze exceptionally well
-Items to stock up on before baby (making sure that linen closet is full, diapers are ready, etc..)

I'm hoping to get the lists accomplished this week during one of my bursts of energy & then the husband & I will begin tackling them. He does this because he loves me & knows that feeling prepared is the best way to soothe his wife :)

My freezer is full, my Kitchen is clean, and I am satisfied...

We filled our freezer once again this weekend with meals, sides, and odds and ends. If you recall, we did this a few months back....and let me tell you, we were quite delighted with the results then. We've made mental notes about our last freezer cooking session..what worked, what didn't, meals that didn't turn out quite right (fries and breakfast sandwiches), meals we wanted to try this time (pancakes, BBQ Beef, Pizza Pockets) and I made a plan.

Throughout the month I've been mindful of what we have on hand and stocked up on staple items needed to cook with. And while we will end up about $100 over our typical grocery budget of $180 a month ($45/week), I'm still satisfied. The extra $100 came as a result of having no meat in our freezers. So, armed with several packages of chicken, a roast, hamburger meat, a turkey, and a ham...we went a bit over :) Granted, the turkey was free with the purchase of a Ham...but I digress.

So what's filling our freezers right now?

Dinners:
Chicken & Bacon Sub Sandwiches (ready to be grilled) x 3 meals worth
Taco Kits (Shells in the pantry, cooked meat/cheese in freezer) x 3 meals worth
Lasagna x1
Enchiladas (sauce in pantry, meal in freezer) x2
Shredded BBQ Beef (meat and buns in freezer, sides in pantry) x1 (Should have been x2, but we had this for dinner one night while cooking :)
Bacon-Cheeseburger Roll-up kit (Cooked bacon/meat/cheese in freezer, pizza crust in fridge) x1
Pizza Pockets x 3 meals worth
Bean and Chicken burritos x 6 meals worth

Breakfasts:
Pumpkin Pancakes x33
Blueberry Pancakes x13
Pop-Tarts x 8

Odds and Ends:
Cooked and Shredded Chicken for Lucy x 8 bags
Hashbrowns x 13 bags
Smoothies x7


That gives us 20 full meal options (granted, some of the pizza pockets and burritos will go with Jonathan to work, but still), plenty of quick breakfast items for Lucy, and Smoothies for me in the afternoon :)

Now I'll be the first to admit that we eat very simply around here...or are right now. I could prepare more elaborate dinner items--and likely will in the future, but life demands simplicity in regards to everything right now...so if taco kits help simplify life a little more, count me in.

We also have the makings of 6 additional dinners in our pantry/fridge...So we'll be eating well for a good month or more (with left-overs in between)

The process seemed so stress-free this time..and dare I say, easy? Even with a sick baby who wasn't sleeping, a potential concussion from a head bang I endured while grocery shopping, and my husband I both having work responsibilities...the whole process was very smooth!

Three things I liked best this time:
1.) Jonathan cooked up all the meat and seasoned appropriately at the very start which helped me put together meals much more quickly than cooking meat as we needed it.
2.) We took our time...in fact I just made and put the lasagna in the freezer yesterday
3.) We tried some new things! The pizza pockets were awesome...as were the pancakes! I'm excited to keep trying new things each time so we have a great list of things to cook before the baby arrives!

Thriving in Survival Mode.

Life has been....busy? hectic? stressful? hmmm...I just can't choose one word to describe it.

Between growing a baby in my belly, dealing with a fussy toddler, working from home, keeping our home running, outside activities, and spending time with my sweet husband, life has felt like survival mode....at best.

And yet, in the midst of this pretty rough week, I have felt like we are actually thriving. After some thought as to how I could arrive at such a conclusion after the lack of sleep we've been through and the incredible frustration of this never-ending balancing act, I realized the reason I've felt like we're actually thriving is because of some of the elements we've worked so hard to put into place the last few months.


Let's face it, when you're exhausted and you've spent the entire day trying to work and wrestle an exhausted and sick child, the last thing you want to do is cook a nice dinner. Enter meals from our freezer! A while back we spent a weekend filling our freezer and we have thoroughly enjoyed the reward--in fact, we've emptied almost everything we cooked and are planning another cooking session.


The second is our household routine schedule. I'm still tweaking this to get it the way I feel most benefits our family---but at the end of a crazy week, our house is clean, laundry is done, and I haven't felt stressed about it one bit. By having a schedule like this, I was able to look at the chores and decide what needed the most attention and what could be ignored a while longer...and, since we've stayed on top of things, picking up messes or dusting furniture is a fairly quick process.










The third is a three-part plus. I've started making some of our own household cleaners and laundry soap. Earlier this week, when I ran out of kitchen counter cleaner I just mixed up another batch instead of having to make a trip to the store.

Similarly, I keep a well-stocked linen closet with personal care products (though it's looking a bit sparse lately--more on that later.) Instead of having to make a weekly wal-mart run or an impromptu trip whenever we run out of toothpaste, I just shop in my closet and save us a trip, time, and money. Oh, and it helps that most of those products were free or nearly free. Also, we've been buying diapers on amazon lately as part of the free Amazon mom program and Parenting magazine coupons. When my husband pulled the last diaper out of a box this week, there was already a reserve box waiting to be used.


Now, before you think that I must have it all together or that I'm showing off--you should know I haven't put on make-up all week, I've only left the house once, and I'm currently wearing my husband's sweats and a bleach-stained t-shirt. Oh, and I also wore the same yoga pants/shirt combo three times in a row this week. But, looking awesome wasn't high on my priority list this week.

I'm excited to feel like we're making some head way in home management techniques that actually work in our home---the trick has been tweaking every suggestion I've come across to match OUR home and OUR unique needs. I'm thankful that we're seeing progress in this area and feeling like we can actually thrive, even in survival mode....because in five months we're going to have a newborn in this house demanding attention....and it's going to be survival mode for quite some time :)

Frugal Fun...

When we returned home for our vacation last month, I was on the hunt for more age appropriate toys and activities for my active toddler. Toy keys and teething rings were just not entertaining the little girl the way they used to! :)

So, I pulled her inflatable baby pool out of the garage from this summer and skipped on over to Target to purchase a $15 bag of balls.

The results of our "homeade" ball pit have been very favorable...both with our little one and her four cousins that came to play this afternoon. The best part? It was WAY cheaper to make our own ball pit than spill the money towards a store bought one.

He IS my Shepherd

Our chuch is teaching from Psalm 23 for the next several weeks and after one message, I'm feeling challenged...and based on conversations with my husband and others, I'm not the only one.

Oh to talk about true rest...not just a movie night, a long nap, or a day spent shopping alone....but that elusive "true rest." Well, let's just say there's a lot I'm wrestling with lately and this message couldn't have been more timely. I'm looking forward to the next few weeks as well.

To be honest, I've felt overwhelmed lately. I felt overwhelmed before our vacation and I felt overwhelmed upon returning. I have felt rushed, busy, overcommitted, exhausted, and just plain cranky. I feel it in my relationships with other...and I have felt it spiritually. I feel a sense of frustration that I can't keep up, pull it all off, or have it all together...whatever those things actually mean (because if we were all to be honest, none of us keeps up, pulls it all off, or has it all together...)

I'm sick of putting myself in competition with other moms..either in real life or via the blog world...because I have a feeling if I peeked inside their real life, I'd see just how rushed and unrested they felt as well.

And let's face it...I'm 5 months pregnant and chasing a toddler all day...that alone is a full time job! Toss in chuch commitments, outside activities, Lucy's social agenda, working 20+ hours a week from home, trying to keep house, maintain a budget, buy things at rock-bottom prices, grow my marriage, play with my daughter, plan a menu, bring snacks to various activities, keep up with friendships....etc, etc, etc....and eventually? SOMETHING HAS TO GIVE.

I'm not playing a comparison game. We all feel busy. We are all way too busy. We all pile too much on our plate. We all long for true rest.

So this week, I'm going to work on time management...and not as in "I got everything done I wanted to do so I'm good at time management!" Rather, I'm going to think about what needs to get done each week, what I want to get done each week, and realistically what my time looks like....because I'm guessing something has to go....even if just for a short while.

In the meantime, I'm going to continue to reflect on Psalm 23, focus on quality time with my husband, and get down on the floor and play as much as I can with my crazy little toddler.

Crafts, cleaning, and deal shopping can wait.

He IS my Shepherd.

wrapping up October and diving into November

I promised a lot of great posts and photos upon returning from vacation and I haven't quite delivered..because, well, I came down with a case of exteme exhaustion..(Um, where exactly is that second trimester energy burst?!?!) Lucy ended up sick towards the end of the week and I also had to dive right back into my work from home routine. Finding 20 + hours a week to work from home is becomingly increasingly difficult. I'm hoping to wrap up some loose ends this afternoon---and then it's time to tackle some household chores.

I was thrilled to come home to a super clean house. My husband and I worked hard the last few days before leaving for vacation to ensure that cleaning would be the last thing we'd need to worry about. Right now remnants of our vacation are strewn from one side of the home to the other, but we'll get back into a routine.

Speaking of which, our goal for October was to put together a household schedule of chores, activities, priorities, and fun tasks. With prep for vacation and the actual vacation itself, it's hard to judge how much this actually helped--but I'm continuing on with the schedule through November to see what needs to be tweaked.

Also in November, my husband and I are doing some brainstorming (again) about cost-cutting and savings. We enjoyed our vacation so much...we've been inspired to start saving for another! Now, we have NO wiggle room in our budget--so saving might only be a couple of bucks a month, but we're determined to start somewhere!

We both are also committing to one another to be in the Word everyday. I'm in an incredible study at church that works through one book of the bible a week, so this isn't a hard challenge for me--but the hope is to keep me focused and going. Jonathan's also been doing a lot of reading as well, but we'd still love the added encouragement from one another!

Those are our goals for November--and I'm also working on some home projects as well...more on that later!

for everything there is a list...

Armed with the first glass of warm apple cider of this season I set out to complete a major project this afternoon.

I wrote 7 lists....well 6 new ones and updated my ongoing to-do list :)

1. I made a "crafts I'd like to work on" list.

2. A "focus area" list---as in, whenever there's a spare afternoon---I can refer to this list for large projects I can work on (ie: going through our massive bookshelf, DVD collection, etc..)

3. A home inventory list. I stockpile personal care items, paper products, pantry staples, and cleaning items when I get great deals--but sometimes there will be less than desirable sales and we'll find ourselves out of a particular item--which ultimately leads to a trip to wal-mart....which typically leads to finding 2-3 more things we need. So, I have an inventory list to check once a week and see if we're in need of (or will be needing soon) a particular item that can be added to the shopping list.

4 & 5. A BF and AF list, as in "before Florida" and "after Florida". We're headed out of town for ten days in the next couple of weeks and there is a LOT do do before the trip---and I'm assuming there will be many things that need to be on the "after" list as well, I'd just like to be prepared

6. And finally, a cleaning/activity schedule for the home. I had a cleaning schedule in the apartment that worked fairly well. The concept is assign tasks to each day---if they don't get done, it doesn't get done. Now, I have 5 things that are on EVERY DAY with the hopes that if the dishes don't get finished on Monday, they will on Tuesday. I made a list of every chore that needs to be completed and how many times a week I'd ideally love to have it done (ie: mop kitchen floors 3 times, pick-up bedroom 2 times, etc) I added to this schedule what activities we have on each day and I added a "paper pushing/etc" section which includes items like bill paying, coupon clipping, bank account updating, set aside reading time, craft time, and focus area time. This list has been a work in progress for a few weeks and I'm finally happy with how it looks.

Now, I need to rewind a bit---I love lists. I crave organization. I appreciate a nice clean home...BUT it is NOT and (never will be) my top...or even close to the top of my priorities list. I am a realistic gal who is quite aware that I don't have it all together and never will---and I'm certainly not going to pretend that I do :) I have a very active lil' gal who sleeps less than I would like her to and a husband who works a very varied schedule---those relatioships get my whole attention first...and if that means nothing gets checked off that week, it's quite ok with my husband and I.

The second reason for this list is that I have a very hands-on husband. Yes, I "stay home" (which is quite deceptive--because I actually work 20 hours from home a week, but I digress...) Anyways, Mr. B and I share just about every responsibility in the home...though I am solely in charge of updating our bank account (I have a special system for that) and he's solely responsible for taking the trash out :) I'd say that's pretty fair...

Anyways, my sweet husband often asks what he can help me with and some days I'm so frazzled that I have a really hard time thinking about what I need help with--our hope is if he can see a visible list and what is checked off, he'll be able to help and bypass talking to a crazy woman :)

So that's our October goal---which is probably the worst possible timing given the aforementioned trip....so it'll probably just be a "fall" goal. Having a schedule and seeing if that helps maintain order and actually make "keeping house" easier...

so, how'd we do?

At the beginning of September we set out with the goal of spending less than $160 on groceries for the whole month ($40 a week)

We've continued to cut spending in all areas, but our grocery budget has always been a struggle to really cut significantly.

Well, the total is in and we spent $164.72 for the entire month. Now I'll admit we ate out more than normal this month, but honestly I don't think that affected our grocery spending. We still have many items in the freezer ready to be eaten and many items in the pantry for the making of more meals.

We're hoping to continue cutting the budget in the next few months--but this month we are headed on vacation and will be buying groceries for the trip and in Florida--so I expect some higher spending.

All in all, we're pleased. We attribute a lot of our "success" to having a handful of freezer meals ready to go, adding to our stockpile of pantry staples throughout the month, and shopping for the best prices.

out of control discipline

(hmm...I thought I had this scheduled to post early this morning...I'll figure out the automatic post times sometime!)

What do you get when you put together a Family Studies major with a Criminal Justice major-turned social service worker? Two people with LOTS of ideas, thoughts and concerns about human behavior and discipline.


My husband and I talk about parenting....a LOT. Before we were married we began talking about how we saw our family. What we liked growing up, what we felt could have been different, how we'd like to raise our kids, our thoughts on homeschooling, whether or not spanking is effective, etc....We have a variety of books on our bookshelf about parenting, discipline, and even homeschooling. We take each book not as a reference guide, but merely as a discussion starter---and the homeschooling book? We just want to be educated should we ever decide that one or more of our children would benefit more from being educated at home.


With both of us having backgrounds in the foster care world we've seen "discipline" go horribly wrong. We watch what others around us do and talk about what methods we feel are or are not effective....but mostly, we just talk about what we'd like to try.


Lucy is nearing the age where she can recognize a few things that are not acceptable behaviors---but we get that she still needs a lot of reminding that we don't play with DVD's. :)


Now my husband and I have both been guilty of being the parents that literally say "NO" all day long...and often at increasing volumes. But last week (after one of those days) I felt really convicted about my attitude. Sure, I'm exhausted, sore and growing a baby--but Lucy doesn't get that. She's just exploring her world and I was trying to stop that explorative spirit. The next day at MOPS--our speaker further tugged at my heart about nurturing my daughter's creativity and changing my focus from worrying about the "minor" things.


That night (and into this weekend) my husband and I talked at great lengths about how can we teach our daughter to obey us as parents while also not creating an environment so controlled that we kill her curious spirit? We don't have many answers yet---but we're on the same page and enjoying the discussion. We know there are certain things that she must learn she can't touch---and the other things? Well, it's merely an annoyance for us to have to put all the towels back in the drawer for example--but for her, it's a good 15 minutes of fun finding the towels, unfolding them, lining them up on the floor and then sitting on each one. It takes us two minutes to clean up---and soon she'll be at the age when she can start helping.

It's easy for me to forget sometimes that my daughter is only 14 months old...and developmentally she can't possibly remember or even predict what things are off limits...especially in new environments. My husband's job and my education have continually reminded us of that fact and the fact that discipline can (and often should) look differently for each of our children. We're learning, talking and adjusting our ideas and expectations---which honestly, I feel like is the best part of all of this. We know we're going to have days when we fail miserably---but we'd like to be able to get it "right" most of the time! :)

I love that my daughter is curious. I love that she doesn't show much fear and will willingly go play with other children and hug family members she hasn't seen in a while. I love the excitement in her eyes when she figures something out or discovers where all of her shoes are "hidden". I don't want to kill this curiousity by saying "NO" to every minor thing and losing my cool daily.



....and for that, I'm going to need a LOT of grace :)

13 weeks and odds and ends

I think I'm going to do the survey every 4 weeks...maybe up until things are really different each week :) And no photo (as of yet) because, well, I look like I feel...which has not been great this week.

Nausea has mostly been replaced with headaches---though the vicious head cold that invaded Lucy and I this week has been the least fun. Lucy and I got some sun on Monday with a quick trip to the library and the grocery store---and again yesterday with a quick drive around town. I'm hoping we can both get out for a few hours this afternoon

Since most of my time has been spent on the couch or in bed when Lucy is sleeping, I managed to read a library book in about three days and get some work done on a new excel budget we are going to try out. We've been using a nifty excel sheet I designed for well over a year now and are ready to try out some more in-depth planning. We work with a pretty limited income and want to be diligent to account for every penny spent. Not to mention, it's kind of encouraging to see areas we've continued to lower our budget...I think it encourages us to keep cutting costs!

Speaking of which, we're working on lowering our grocery budget each month and were hoping to try and get by with $160/month for groceries. We're right at $100 spent right now, which is a little over where I'd like to be at this point in the month, but that's included two last minute runs to the gas station for milk---which is arguably more expensive & snacks for various events we've been to lately. Also, we did some stock up on some lean meat last week--which drove up our spending.

We're loving the food from our freezer. Between the homeade smoothies ready to go for an afternoon snack--all the way to the pan on enchiladas that just needed to be put in the oven last night for a great dinner....it's nice, especially this month. We've done well eating through a lot of our items and are working on a list for what we want to try/keep next month.

fill the freezer....errr...make room in the freezer?

When my husband and I made the decision that I would stay at home with my daughter once she was born, we realized there would have to be some huge changes to our budget.

A few months before my daughter was born I started researching, studying and investing time into learning how to use coupons to my advantage, stockpile successfully and stretch every last penny out of our very meager budget.

I learned the "drugstore game" quickly and filled up our linen closets with personal care products for pennies. I branched out and started using coupons everywhere (and yes, when I say everywhere...I mean it! I once used lightbulb coupons at a hardware store and got energy efficient lightbulbs for 25 cents a piece.) Anyways, the one area we still were having a hard time seeing significant savings was at the grocery store. We eat fresh produce, buy only fresh boneless/skinless chicken, and eat whole grain products.

Coupons for these items don't come along frequently, but when they do (or when there is a great sale) we stock up! We have continued to cut costs in this area, but with groceries still costing us over $200 a month on average--we decided to try out some freezer cooking this month. Only time will tell how we'll benefit, but having a variety of dinners, breakfast items, and meal components in the freezer is definitely exciting! I'm pretty confident that some of the items (making and freezing our own hashbrowns and fries) is bound to save us a little bit here or there---but again, we'll have to see this month just how much it pays off!

(Mr. B shredding potatoes to flash freeze for hashbrowns)

I lost a total count, but with a great deal of effort on my husband's part (I was busy working for my part-time job a lot of last weekend) we managed to stuff these items into our freezer:

2 pans of enchiladas

2 pans of lasagna

6 chicken/bacon/cheese subs ready to be pressed for grilled sandwiches!

homeade breakfast pastries

homeade breakfast sandwiches

taco meat

plain hamburger meat

bacon

shredded cheese

hashbrowns

fries

16 chicken/bean/cheese burritos

shredded chicken

All in all...we didn't accomplish everything on our list, but this gave us a nice start! Plus, cooking in bulk will save us time in preparation, clean-up, and the cost of ingredients!

(Lucy trying out the breakfast pastry--she loved it, but was also sick last weekend and looks so sad in this photo!)