Natural Mom on a Shoestring

Simplifying Life

2012-01-11T20:41:00.000-08:00

I am learning more about myself being a wife and a mother of three. So many times in my life, I have said "yes," even though on the inside I wanted to say "no." I am by nature a pleaser. I want people to feel comfortable and happy, so sometimes I have a hard time saying "no" when I need to. Which (only sort of) worked for me when I was single. It doesn't work well for me now. There is so much to keep me busy at home with my family that I could feel stretched thin just taking care of things here. In fact, some days I do!

The truth is, I have been longing for a simpler life lately. Stick me in the middle of the country with a little homestead where I can entertain friends and family in my home on a regular basis, and I'd be a happy girl. So, realizing how tired I've been feeling, it's no wonder when I look at my life that I need to make some changes. Here's where it gets difficult.

You see, I love the Lord. I love people. But I don't enjoy packing the kids around. My typical week is full of getting in and out of the car numerous times. Now that Dorothy is in school, I am getting the little ones in and out of the car 4 times a day. It's a fight, and physically tiring, being that William is no small baby at 27 pounds ;-). Tuesday morning is in and out of the car again for Bible study. Tuesday evening is in and out of the car again for small group. I've really enjoyed getting to know people in group, but it's meltdown city when we get home with the kids and put them down an hour and a half past their bed time. Wednesday evening Dorothy has kids' club at church and we have parenting class. By the time we get the kids home, it's already 2 hours past bed time. Dorothy doesn't cope well with 2 late nights and getting up for school. Every other Wednesday morning I volunteer for gleaner's as well as shopping every Wednesday afternoon. Throw in well-child exams, random Dr. Appointments, WIC appointments, and life gets crazy fast. Even without any "me" time.

I'm tired and something needs to give. Not to mention the fact that William still doesn't sleep through the night. And my kids (who get frequent colds from all the places we go) refuse to give in and sleep when they get sniffles. Every cold turns into many sleepless nights in a row for mommy, such that I dread the next cycle of colds.

You see, most of the things we're doing are good things. I know we need to cut back, but I don't know what I need to cut. I long for simplicity. To just be at home and keep things running. To learn to love God as a family. To keep a welcoming home to whoever might come to visit with their kids. To live without all the to and fro.

So, friends and readers, I have some questions.
What are your challenges? How have you simplified your own life? Do you even feel like you need to simplify? How do you balance fellowship with other believers and home life?

So, that's where I'm at right now. Praying for some wisdom. And God will give it if I listen. The new year is always a good time to sit down and think about what changes we can make in our lives. And that's what I'm wanting to do.

Boosting Immunity with Homemade Elderberry Syrup

2012-01-09T08:21:00.000-08:00

I'm always looking for ways to combat the onslaught of colds during the fall and winter. I've recently learned about elderberries and how amazing they are for you. However, the store-bought elderberry syrup is really spendy, so I decided to make my own. We've been taking it daily for a couple of months now, along with multivitamins, omega-3's, vitamin d, and probiotics. I can't say we've not been sick at all, but the kids seem to bounce back more quickly than before, and we even had an entire month of the kids being healthy. That's now come to an end, so we're upping their dose of elderberry syrup.

Homemade Elderberry Syrup

1 cup dried elderberries (mountain rose herbs has a great price on them)
1/4-1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4-1/2 tsp ground cloves
2 cinnamon sticks
4 cups water
1 1/2-2 cups honey (raw is best, but certainly any honey is better than sugar)

Simmer all ingredients except honey in a saucepan until liquid is reduced by half. Put a large bowl under a strainer, then pour mixture through and press out as much liquid as you can. Add honey to mixture and stir well. Pour into quart-sized mason jar. Store in the fridge for up to a year. Daily maintenance dose is 1 tsp 1-2 times a day for kids and 1 tbsp 1-2 times a day for adults. It is especially known for kicking influenza really fast. If you feel something coming on, you can take a dose every few hours throughout the day.

Christmas Stockings

2011-12-15T10:45:00.000-08:00

In addition to the cloth paper dolls, which the kids will be opening on Christmas morning, I made them new stockings. Since I had bought my felt for 50% off on Black Friday, I stocked up (maybe $20 worth) for other projects, including these.

This project was relatively fast, not to mention very affordable.I laid out some red felt and folded it over so that it was 2 layers thick. Since I loved the size and shape of my stocking, I traced around it, leaving about 1/2" for the seams. I also measured and traced the white part for the top, also in two layers. Less cutting! I sewed the tops on the red portions, then turned them face to face (as if it were inside out), sewing around the whole stocking. After that was done, I flipped it inside out, folded in the top of the white, and sewed that down for a clean edge. I made hooks by cutting a strip of red felt about 1 1/2" wide, folding it in half, and then sewing it on the inside of the back part of the stocking, right under the top seam. They are decorated with a $1 pack of sparkly foam stickers (which I adhered with hot glue) and a multi-pack of puff paint (also used to decorate the doll clothes).

Here is how they turned out:

I am planning on wrapping these up for them to open on Christmas eve so we can hang them up before bed. I can't wait to see their eyes when the stockings are filled with treats and gum on Christmas morning!

Cloth "Paper" Dolls

2011-12-12T19:55:00.000-08:00

One of the gifts I am making for the girls this Christmas is cloth "paper" dolls. I love the idea and remember seeing some a few years ago in an online shop, but there aren't many to be found right now. So, why not make them myself? I think they turned out quite cute!

I made matching sets so they won't get jealous ;). Each set has a doll, 2 dresses, 2 boy hairdo's, 2 girl hairdo's, 1 pair of shoes, 1 hat, and several mix-and-match outfits.

I still need to add some velcro attachments to the back of the clothing and the front of the dolls, but here is what one looks like dressed:

I'm even making sparkly carrying cases for doll sets. The cases will hold plenty more, so I can make them extra outfits for future gifts.

I think they'll really like them, don't you?

Creating a Frugal and Beautiful Christmas

2011-12-10T21:44:00.001-08:00

Photo Credit

I was going to write this post up yesterday, but I spent the evening listening to a group of singers I discovered called Il Divo. Their Christmas album is positively heavenly. Music has a way of touching me, such that I can hardly focus on anything else.

But I digress.

Since we are sticking to a tight budget, we don't spend much on non-essentials, even during the holidays. But that doesn't mean we go without beauty and memorable moments. Here are some of the gifts and traditions I have run across in the past few years. Some of them I have incorporated already. Some of them I would love to begin at some point in the future.

Traditions:
-One of my high school friends had a wonderful tradition during the advent season. They would turn the lights down in the evening, light the candles (another each day), and read scripture pertaining to the season. Sitting in the candlelight sipping peppermint cocoa is one of my favorite memories.
-Driving to look at Christmas lights. My grandparents did this with us a lot and it became something I looked forward to.
-Make a popcorn string for the tree with a needle and thread. Make sure to save some for eating, too!
-Build a fire in the fireplace (if you have one), turn the lights off (and the tree lights on), and listen to your favorite Christmas music.
-Bake your favorite Christmas goodies and eat them with some hot apple cider.
-Put on your favorite Christmas movie while decorating the tree.
-Read a Christmas-themed story to the kids each night in December.
-Make a simple advent calendar, putting a different activity for each day (use some of the above and add your own).
-Attend a Christmas eve church service with the whole family. This has really served to get us in the mindset to be thankful for the gift of Christ.
-Invite someone to spend Christmas with your family that might otherwise end up alone for the holidays.
-My favorite tradition that we do with the kids now is that I spend the time right before bed on Christmas eve blowing up a large package of balloons and cover the living room floor with them. When the kids wake up, it's play time. This is a frugal, yet magical way to bring lots of joy to little ones. They love this!

Gifts:
-Make a fleece blanket or scarf.
-Knit or crochet a simple blanket, scarf, or kitchen rag.
-Sew some flannel pajama pants or pillowcases, both of which are simple patterns, even if you're a beginning sewer.
-Design paper dolls and clothes for a little girl. I'm going a more time-consuming route with these and making girls paper doll sets out of felt so they will last.
-Sew and decorate new stockings.
-Make drink mixes for flavored coffees, hot cocoas, or teas.
-Make candies, cookies, or breads and put them in holiday gift bags/tins.
-Put together simple themed gift baskets (spa, movie, gardening, arts & crafts, etc.) The sky is really the limit here. You can come up with lots of frugal, fun items that anyone would love to receive.
-Give framed family pictures.
-Make ornaments. You can get really creative with things you already have on hand. Or head to the local craft store.
-Make gift certificates for things your loved one would appreciate, such as babysitting, housecleaning, a massage, etc. Let them arrange to cash them in throughout the year.
-Stuff stockings with small, fun items. Examples include candy (homemade or otherwise), trail mix, gum, lotion, nail polish, socks, ornaments, small games, toys, books, puzzles, crayons, gloves, stickers, etc. My grandparents always put an orange in the toe of our stockings, so now we do the same. We loved coming down and opening our stockings on Christmas morning. Everything was wrapped and packaged, even the small packs of gum. So fun!
-On Christmas eve, we give each of the kids a new book and new pair of jammies. They need not even be brand new. Consignment shops, garage sales, and thrift stores can all be a wealth of great items that are more than gift-worthy.

These are just a few ideas. Just do a web search for homemade or frugal Christmas gifts and you'll have more ideas than you know what to do with.

A Salad for your Sweet Tooth

2011-12-07T18:12:00.001-08:00

Photo Credit

I remember the first time I tasted a strawberry spinach salad. I thought I had died and gone to salad heaven. Well, at Gleaner's tonight, I happened to pick up some block romano cheese, strawberries, and spinach. I always have a mason jar of slivered almonds on hand, since I buy them in the bulk section at Winco. I decided to make my own dressing from what I had on hand, too. Here's what I came up with. Enjoy!

Superb Strawberry Spinach Salad
4 C. fresh spinach, washed
1 C. sliced strawberries
1/4 C. slivered almonds
2 Tbsp. grated romano cheese

dressing:
3-4 oz. each of olive oil and balsamic vinegar
2 Tbsp. cooking sherry or sweet wine
1/8-1/4 C. strawberry preserves (I used strawberry peach jam that I made last summer)

Shake dressing. Pour desired amount over salad and toss until coated. Put the leftover dressing in the fridge, since you know you'll want to make it again :).

Catching Up

2011-12-05T16:05:00.001-08:00

Photo Credit

It seems like life just goes at full-speed sometimes. It's all we can do to keep up, isn't it?

But in the midst of all the crazy schedules, dishes, laundry, church, friends, cooking, diapers, marriage, and anything else you can think of, I find myself wondering something. Why don't I just take time for me once in a while? Mommy is much more happy and at peace when she takes a spare moment to do something that she loves to do. It doesn't have to be something big. Simply sitting to read my Bible for a few minutes, drawing or painting a picture once in a while, blogging a few times a week, or practicing my instruments. I get to sing on the worship team at church once a month, and I would do it more if they needed me to. Something about taking those times to focus on the One who loves me right where I am at helps me to be a better person. Or, at least desire to be a better person.

So, that's where I'm at. As much as I want to serve my family and friends, I also need to take time to do the things that I love. And you know what, most of the time when I do those things, I inadvertently bless others in the process! In short, expect to hear more from me in the coming days.

Pears, Anyone??

2011-09-27T10:15:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, we got down to business and processed our numerous pears that came off the tree in our wonderful new back yard. Have I said how much I love our home? The yard has been a work in progress.

It went from this:

To this:

I've been cutting up the wood the previous owners left in piles around the yard, as well as moving wood to the shed. Phew!

There was quite a bit of salvageable wood as well, which we used to build the chicken coop (pictures of that process will be coming tomorrow). I've even still got a pile of wood we can use for future projects.

I even stained/painted the deck last week to get it ready for the winter rains:

But, about those pears....

My hubby and mom even got in on the fun of this all-day project for part of it. I peeled, cored, and sliced pears for hours.

Packed them into sterilized quart jars with hot syrup that I prepared on the stove.

And processed them in the water-bath canner for 25 minutes.

The result? 13 lovely quarts of pears!

I didn't quite get all the pears canned in one day, so I decided to take my friend Meg's suggestion and dehydrated some. But these aren't just sliced and dried. They are dredged through red-hots. At Meg's instruction, I melted a package of the cinnamon candy on the stove with some water, stirring to keep it from burning.

Once it was a nice syrup, I stirred a few pears at a time into the syrup:

Then placed them in the dehydrator, where they still are (and smelling quite tasty, I might add):

I think they'll take about 24 hours, but I just might have sneaked one off the bottom rack this morning and it tasted wonderful already. What a treat! Thanks, Meg!

My Recent Endeavors!

2011-09-16T17:05:00.000-07:00

I'm really enjoying our new little home. Here are just a few of the things I've been busy with lately. Canning has been big on my to-do list. I've made a few jars of pickles and plenty of jam, including strawberry, strawberry-peach, and strawberry-rhubarb. I even tried my hand at some plum jam from all the plums off our tree and I must say that it turned out quite tasty! I also made a large jar of cranberry sauce for the holidays, and oh, did the house smell heavenly after that one. In addition to canning, I've processed and frozen several batches of zucchini and rhubarb for breads and pies this winter. Tomorrow I'll be peeling, slicing, and canning the numerous bags of pears that came off our tree. Whee!!

As for the rest of the garden, our cool summer hasn't been the best for production (of course, neither was transplanting). I've gotten a grand total of 4 pumpkins, a handful of cucumbers, and a few tomatoes. There should be a good 8 or so small cantaloupe to harvest here in a bit. But when we moved, I had to leave behind my snap peas, pole beans, corn, and two gigantic tomato plants. I am sure that whoever rented that house is loving them. As for my green peppers and jalapenos? I got two small ones from each plant. Ah, well, there is always next year. Oh, and see that shed back there behind the garden? I've been moving wood from the fence to that shed. I've still got a bit to do, but I'd guess that we have almost enough wood to last us through the season. That should really help us cut down on heating costs... and cooking costs, since I can throw pots of soup/stew on the top of the stove as well.

I've been loving our outdoor clothes-drying rack. But, given our apparent lack of summer and early arrival of fall, I decided to string up some lines in the basement. Here's hoping that they'll dry quickly enough when the weather is cool and damp.

My next project? Building a chicken coop with all the scraps of lumber that were strewn all over the yard. That's right, we'll be getting chickens. Not only will we not have to run to the store for eggs, but we'll save on waste since chickens love table scraps.

Hmmmm, and should we add a puppy to the mix? I don't know, but one of my longest and dearest friends just announced that her dog had 8 puppies. It's tempting....

Our Summer

2011-09-07T21:15:00.000-07:00

It's been a whirlwind couple of months. Between buying the house, packing, moving, unpacking, kitchen construction, gardening, church, and family, it's been hard to keep up with even the normal chore routine... let alone doing anything extra. But, I think things are (sort of) calming down now. We celebrated William's first birthday in August. Dorothy's birthday was just a couple of days ago. She just turned 5 and we decided to put her into a Kindergarten program at one of our neighborhood churches, as they were fine with her birthday being a bit past the cutoff. Today was her first day and since her birthday was recently, they celebrated it today. Her first day of school and she got to wear a crown all day! Here she is in her crown, her Dora backpack, and her princess shoes. My little girl is growing up.

Speaking of growing up, sweet Charlotte is potty training now. She just decided one day last week that she wanted panties, and that was that! Of course, when she wants something "just so", she tends to do it herself....

Checking in!

2011-08-29T08:40:00.000-07:00

My plan is to get back on a regular blogging schedule after next weekend. We're still getting settled in the house and we're loving it. Our neighbors are really nice, plus two of them have girls Dorothy's age. She's happy as a clam playing with them. Speaking of Dorothy, she's turning 5 next week! She missed the cutoff for public school Kindergarten, but I may try out the home school thing this year, anyhow. We'll do some pre-K/K stuff and see how she does.

By the way, plum jam is awesome! I'll be sure to share with you all about it when I get back to writing more next week.

Back to Blogging Soon...

2011-08-03T12:49:00.000-07:00

Between house preparations, packing, and taking care of two homes (rental and new house), I am too busy to sit and write much at the moment. I have lots of blog posts rolling around in my head, and they will make it on here.... when things calm down a bit. But for now, know that we're doing ok. Just busy! The move is planned for Saturday, then David will be on vacation next week. We'll unpack, have William's 1st birthday party/housewarming BBQ, then hopefully go camping or to the beach next weekend. In addition, I now have a plum tree that is bursting with plums, which I'll be pitting and freezing for use later in fruit leather and jam. The pear tree is not too far behind. The zucchini, peas, beans, and tomatoes will also be coming up on their most productive few weeks pretty soon. I see a lot of canning in my future!

Mmmmmmmango Salsa

2011-07-20T22:39:00.000-07:00

(Photo Credit)
Anyone who knows me at all, knows that I love me some salsa. In fact, when I was extremely morning sick with all of my pregnancies, one of the only things that made my stomach feel somewhat normal was a big ol' plate of tortilla chips with melted cheddar and some nice, fresh salsa. Well, since I had gone to Costco and bought a box of 9 large mangoes (for about 75 cents each), I thought it might be time to make some salsa! I snooped around for recipes and didn't find one that really struck me. So I kind of picked things that I liked about various recipes and did my own thing. I like doing that. My friend Jessi calls this "Amelia Bedelia-ing". Remember Amelia Bedelia?

Anyway, as I was saying, I made some salsa. I went out to my garden and picked some parsley, some green onions, and a purple torpedo onion. I also had an avocado and some tomatoes from Gleaner's, as well as some lime juice in the fridge. I jazzed it up with some salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper from the spice cabinet and... ta-da! Mango salsa was born. Following this recipe should give you a nice, big bowl to share with those you love. Or, you can put it in the fridge and hide it all for yourself. Your call. Either way, it's a winner.

Mmmmmmmango Salsa
2 large tomatoes, diced
2 large mangoes, peeled and diced
1 small onion, diced
1 avocado, diced
1 bunch green onions, sliced (What? Not diced?)
1 handful fresh parsley or cilantro, finely chopped
1-2 Tbsp. lime juice
salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper to taste

Throw it all in the bowl, stir it up, and eat it. And yes, I do tend to make things that I can just dump together and stir, don't you?

Gratituesday

2011-07-12T08:51:00.000-07:00

Today (and every day) I am so thankful for my kids. With all that we had to go through to get them here safely, they are such a miracle.

I am also grateful for my garden, for Gleaner's, and for David's job, through which God gives us all that we need. Here is yesterday's garden harvest!

And I am always thankful for good food. Yum!

This post has been linked to Gratituesday at Heavenly Homemakers. What are you thankful for today?

Gardening Update (and a bit on the house)

2011-07-09T15:13:00.000-07:00

I'm really enjoying my garden these days, especially as things begin bearing fruit. There is something very satisfying about preparing dinner with veggies from your own back yard. We made some simple boxes with untreated boards and filled them with a trailer load of fill dirt. Too bad we are moving now, because that was a lot of work! I haven't quite decided if/how I am going to transfer all of my plants, but I'll do my best to keep them alive and productive. Meanwhile, I'll be tending the garden as well as I can. I've started using some organic pesticides, such as sluggo and some insect killer, which seems to have helped. Although, some little bugs (aphids?) are still getting at my broccoli and brussel sprouts. The slugs are completely gone now, so that makes me really happy!

Out front is the main garden:

In the pots are two tomato plants and my herbs.

The first box has chard, purple onions, and green onions.

The second box has carrots, beets, and 4 cucumber plants.

To the side of those boxes are 3 pots of lettuce and 3 pots of spinach.

In the second row, I planted two broccoli plants and two cauliflower plants.

Next to that are two jalapenos, two green peppers, chard, kohlrabi, brussel sprouts, and cabbage.

On the bottom row is another tomato plant.

And next to that is my corn, some of which has been eaten by critters, but is looking quite a bit healthier now.

And next to the corn, I planted cantaloupe, strawberries, and yet another tomato plant.

The back yard plants are doing really well, too:

Here is my corner area with zucchini, pumpkin, kale, and (more) beets.

Along the fence are my fava beans, which are now taller than the fence with a good crop of beans maturing on them.

Here are my snap peas, which are also quite a bit taller and making nice little peas for us to munch on.

And lastly, the green beans, which are about twice this size now!

As for the house, closing is set to happen on the 15th, barring any complications with the appraisal. Lots of work is getting done on the house this week and next, so things are moving along nicely. We've decided to wait on finishing the basement so we can save our money and avoid paying interest on that project. We will, however, be hiring someone to help us paint the interior, mostly because I am not going to have the time to do it with all the packing, unpacking, and caring for 3 kiddos. As soon as everything is painted and cleaned, I'll be posting more pics. I'm really excited about our first home!

Strawberries and Cream Oatmeal

2011-06-27T12:17:00.000-07:00

My girls and I love to eat oatmeal in the mornings, and we love to try lots of different flavors in it. One of our go-to additions is peanut butter, but this week we went for something fruity. This is a great use for the quick oats and somewhat soft strawberries that we pick up from Gleaner's. It's creamy and tasty, with much more flavor and much less sugar than instant strawberry flavored oatmeal packets.

Want to make some? It's really quick and simple :)

Strawberries and Cream Oatmeal
1 1/2 C. quick oats
1 1/2 C. milk
1 1/2 C. water
3 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 tsp. butter
1-2 C. chopped strawberries
dash of salt

Throw all the ingredients in a pot over med-high, stirring frequently until creamy and bubbly. You can add any sort of fruit, such as peaches, blueberries, raspberries, etc. Apples or raisins are great with some cinnamon and vanilla, although the apples may need to be sauteed in a little butter first to soften them up. That's it! Amazing oatmeal on a budget. My kids always ask for more, even my picky little 2-year old.

Oh, and I just had to tell you about the amazing deal I got on Spray n' Wash last week. I stopped by Safeway for some drain cleaner and saw that Spray n' Wash was buy 1, get 1 free. In addition to the sale, each bottle had an attached manufacturer's coupon for 50 cents off. I got all these for $1 each, which is great since we get a lot of stains on our clothes with 3 small kiddos in the house.

Expect the Unexpected

2011-06-20T10:12:00.000-07:00

I really shouldn't be surprised when God brings things into my life that I've dreamed of. For as long as I can remember, I've dreamed of owning a home of my own. That dream might be finally coming true! Last week started as any other week. David was on vacation, but we had no big plans. That is, until his dad called us early in the week. He knew a couple that was getting ready to list their home and said if we liked it, they would sell it to us instead of listing it. And the great part? David's parents are gifting us the money needed for the down payment as an advance on our inheritance, which helps us to get a better interest rate on our loan.

Well, we went to look at it and liked a lot of things about it, so we're working on the buying process right now. We've already signed a sales agreement, and barring anything major on the inspection, it looks like things will go through just fine. The inspection should happen sometime this week, and I'm trying to be patient :).

So, here are some great things about the home:
*It's only about 5 minutes from our current rental home.
*The price is right in our budget. In fact, it's looking like we'll come out $100 a month less than we're paying now, with our money going into our equity instead of somebody else's.
*It's a good size for our family at around 1200 square feet with 3 bedrooms, plus a large, partially finished basement (that we hope to finish in the future).
*Raised flower beds in the front and a huge fenced back yard with 2 small storage sheds, 3 fruit trees, and a great clothesline setup.
*Wood floors that look to be in fairly good shape.
*The bathroom has been updated with tile and a jet tub.
*A wood stove that heats the home well (plus a whole season's worth of wood that they're leaving here). Not only should this save us money on heating, but also on electricity during the cold months since I can easily cook in a dutch oven over the stove.

There are a few things we'll need to work on, but most of them are cosmetic. The kitchen is a bit rough, but we're going to try to do things ourselves. Such as new hardware for the cupboards, replacing the counter top (with something attractive, but not super fancy), and replacing the dishwasher (we saw some good deals on Craigslist). We'll also need to paint throughout the home, as the walls were painted over wallpaper. I'm thinking I'll learn how to apply some texture and then paint over that so we won't be able to see the wallpaper marks any more. I definitely see a lot of potential for a great home.

Also, being that we're going to need a bit of cash for home improvements, I'll be waiting on my hair for a bit. I hope to do it later, but right now we're investing in our family's future. So exciting!

Many Blessings

2011-06-13T07:20:00.000-07:00

We really have so much to be thankful for. We may not be rich by earthly standards, but we always have more than we need. One thing I am so very grateful for is our gleaning program, Birch Community Services. Because of this wonderful program, we have been able to pay off some of our debt, learn to budget more effectively, and feed our family much more abundantly. Thanks to Gleaner's and the affordable bulk section at Winco, we always have a fully-stocked fridge, freezer, and baking cupboard. As such, we can extend hospitality to our friends and family on a regular basis. We've always got family and friends stopping by for a snack or a meal.

Like a barbecue, spaghetti, stir fry....

banana muffins...

coffee cake...

and smiles:

I am so blessed to be in this wonderful rental home, where I can finally garden for the first time. I feel so at home here, and so ready to welcome those I love. Even if my house isn't always clean, it's always open. And the thing I am most thankful for? The people in my life that make it so rich! You're all I could ask for and more, and you love me just the way I am no matter what. Thanks for being a part of our lives.

Preparing for July 3rd

2011-06-09T14:36:00.000-07:00

July 3rd is the day I set an appointment at Akemi Salon to get my hair put in dreadlocks. I suppose I could do it on my own, but I prefer neat and manicured locks, which is much more quickly achieved when you have someone do them for you. The great thing about this salon is that they don't use any product in the hair, so it's completely natural. I'm all for that!

I do realize that getting dreadlocks may not be the most popular decision, so I'd like to talk about a few reasons that I have chosen to get them.

First of all, I really embrace who I am as God has made me... with my likes, dislikes, talents, and quirks. As different as dreadlocks might be, I think they will really fit my personality. I've been drawn to them for a long time now and keep coming back to them. When I was in the hospital during my pregnancy with William, I constructed a Dream Board with pictures and words of all the things I wanted to do and be, as well as places I wanted to go. As silly as it sounds, getting dreadlocks was one of the things on that board. My goal is to fulfill as many of those things as I can, and I feel like this will be an important step for me as a person.

Secondly, they will symbolize my walk with Christ. Being a busy wife and mother can be difficult, and faith can fall out of view so easily. Many people who get dreads see them as a picture of their spiritual journey. In keeping with that, I will incorporate a few things I've discovered as I've read about them.
*They will remind me that I am imperfect, but still beautiful in the eyes of God. The first few months of dreadlocks will be challenging as they form. There will be some loose hairs and some bad days, just as I have bad days in my walk with God, but that there is always beauty in spite of the imperfections.
*They will remind me that Christ encountered opposition and hardship, just as I will in this life. People might judge me incorrectly, but God knows my heart. And surely many men judged Jesus incorrectly when He walked this earth. If they hadn't, He would not have been crucified. But how thankful I am that He was... because His resurrection gives me hope and a future.
*They will remind me to pray for others. I love one idea I read about a while back. Putting beads on some dreadlocks can be a reminder to pray for certain people. My first bead will be for my grandma. She's my last living grandparent who is battling with the progression of dementia. It's so difficult for her and my mom. They both need peace. I will also be adding beads for my children so that I remember to pray for them daily.

The third reason would be their simplicity. As I aim to simplify my life, dreadlocks just fit. Although they can take a bit of maintenance as they lock up, in the long run, I'll have to spend very little time on my hair. The care will consist of:
* Washing with residue-free shampoo and towel/air drying them. Contrary to what many people think, you can (and should) wash dreads on a regular basis. Clean hair actually locks up better.
*Using some essential oil as needed (peppermint or tea tree).
*Occasional palm-rolling to keep things under control.
That's it! No more frequent haircuts (mine grows fast), highlights, hair dryers, flat-irons, sprays, conditioners, gels, or pomades.

Last but not least, I think they are pretty :). I love how colorful, unique, and expressive they are. I can't wait to have fun with them as they grow and mature (like I hope to do along with them).

(photo credit)

You can also see some photos of a couple gorgeous dready mamas here and here. This should be another interesting journey. Thanks for joining me!

A Must Try Cake Recipe

2011-06-06T08:27:00.001-07:00

(photo credit)
I was in the market for a good chocolate cake recipe a couple of weeks ago. I looked around online and found this one and it was really good. I've made a few changes to it, but it's still great. One of the changes I made was switching the icing from vanilla to peanut butter. It's amazing. I've made this twice now, and both times the consensus was the same... you can't eat just one! Everyone went back for a second slice.

Best Moist Chocolate Cake Recipe
1 C unbleached flour
1 C whole wheat flour
2 C raw sugar
3/4 C cocoa powder
2 tsp baking soda
2 eggs
1 C buttermilk (or 1 Tbsp lemon juice w/ 1 C milk. Let sit for 10 min)
1 C coconut oil, melted
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 C hot brewed coffee

Preheat oven to 300*. Grease and flour a 9 x 13 baking dish. Stir together dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and mix until smooth. Pour into prepared baking dish. Bake for 1 hour, or until knife comes out clean. Allow to cool.

While it's cooling, you can work on the icing.

Peanut Butter Icing
2 1/4-2 1/2 C powdered sugar
1/4 lb stick of butter, softened
1/4 C creamy peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt
2 Tbsp milk

Cream together all ingredients except sugar. Add powdered sugar a bit at a time on high speed. I used about 2 1/3 C to get to spreading consistency. Spread on cooled cake.

The "Dread"-ed Compromise

2011-06-05T09:20:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting some pretty little dreadlocks for a long time now. Really, for years. However, there has always been one thing or another stopping me from getting them. I've played around with my hair quite a bit over the years. I've done cornrows and tiny braids and even small little pigtails all over my head. I admit that the latter didn't work out so well... but, hey! I was 18 and having fun! I did like the braids, though, even though I think it was a little more out there than my conservative social circle was used to, as I always got a lot of comments on my hair. One time in my early 20's, I was even asked not to braid my hair before I sang a solo in church, in order that people would focus on God and not my hair. So I stopped braiding it other than once in a while. After all, I didn't want to be distracting people from worship.

Things have gradually changed for me over the years. One thing I've learned about myself is that I'm a people-pleaser. I don't like saying no and if I'm not careful, I tend to care too much about what people think of me. I can see my own heart, but if someone starts questioning my motives, I've always been likely to re-think what I'm doing. But the simple fact is that I'm an artistic girl. Some things people might see as rebellious, I just think are pretty (such as artful tattoos, belly rings, nose rings, big jewelry, bright hair colors, and cute dreads). I always thought it was something I would "grow out of", but here I am at 30, so I guess that's just who I am. And I'm good with that. I realize this might make me a bit different from a lot of people in the church, but it doesn't mean I love God any less or have a rebellious heart. God loves me! He made me to see beauty in everything and gave me a creative gift. When I express that, it makes Him happy because He loves that about me. He wants me to have fun and enjoy life as long as I'm living for Him the best that I can.

That being said, the hubs doesn't really like the look (or the permanence) of dreadlocks. So, we made a compromise. I'll wear braids, which I can take out easily enough, but still have a similar flair to them. This will also help me to grow my hair out more easily, since the length is driving me batty and tickling my face right now. I think they're fun and cute, and they only took me about 3 hrs to do (not all in one sitting, mind you).

So, here's me in my braids:

I'm still considering the possibility of locking them at some point, but for now, they feel fun and summer-y. That's a word, right? Yeah, I thought so. Happy almost summer!

Homemade Butter

2011-06-01T08:13:00.000-07:00

I've always wanted to make butter myself, but never really tried. Well, a friend posted her butter-making adventures on Facebook, so I thought I would finally give it a try. It's actually really easy, and it turned out nice and creamy, too :).

Start with some heavy cream. Organic is nice, but a bit too rich for our frugal blood. I'll be checking into the price of Costco's organic cream really soon.

Put it in your stand mixer (you can add a bit of salt if you like salted butter), then turn that puppy on and just let it mix... and mix... and mix. Let it go until the buttermilk separates out and starts sloshing around in the bowl. Squeeze the remaining liquid out of the butter and place it in the desired container.

You'll have some nice buttermilk left over for pancakes or biscuits, which you can spread your creamy butter on when they're nice and hot.

Here are the final products of my butter-making adventure. I'm quite pleased, and definitely plan on making more! Thanks, Sarah :).

A Peek Into My Kitchen

2011-05-31T08:18:00.000-07:00

So, I thought I would show you all a bit of how I organize my kitchen. I always like seeing how other people do things. Now, this is all still a work in progress, as I have a few ideas for how to rearrange our food storage, but this is how I'm doing things right now.

Here is our coffee station. Right below this cabinet is the coffee maker and a large thermos. On the top shelf, I keep the coffee grinder, filters, and a couple extra glass jars. The middle shelf contains the regular and decaf coffee, powdered creamer (which is mostly for guests), and hot cocoa (I fill it with a homemade mix of powdered milk, cocoa powder, and powdered sugar). The teas and sugar shaker are on the bottom shelf.

The next cabinet over is above the stove. I keep mostly hot cereal in there, such as oatmeal, grits, and other host cereals. Sometimes there are crackers, although we don't eat a lot of those. I have a couple of coffee syrups and our wine glasses in there as well, since it's the tallest cabinet, therefore the only place they'll fit.

The corner cabinet is my favorite! I keep most of the baking stuff and all of the spices in this one. I've been slowly switching to glass containers, which has been a slow process, since I'm doing things the frugal way. As we use up foods that come in glass jars (like baby food, pickles, jams, sauerkraut, etc), I wash them out and re-purpose them. All of my spices are in baby food jars. I'm still needing to make official labels for everything, but right now masking tape suffices. Oh, and I'm purchasing all of our spices at Winco in the bulk section, since they're much more affordable that way.

Above the sink is another cabinet that contains the rest of the baking supplies, as well as oils, syrups, molasses, and honey (we're going to be switching to bulk raw honey soon). We use coconut oil and olive oil almost exclusively now.

On the top of the fridge is where I keep our opened cold cereals and chips. The box you see is where I keep all our vitamins, supplements, and daily prescriptions.

And here's the fridge. In the door, I keep our cheese, butter (no more margarine!), opened milk, filtered water, dressings, and condiments.

We almost always have more milk than we need, so we often share our extra. The top drawer there is used for yogurt and other individual items. The bottom two drawers are for fruits and veggies, and the rest of the fridge is normally leftovers and other refrigerated items like sour cream and cottage cheese.
Since we have a small kitchen and no pantry, we've improvised and moved quite a bit of our food in the garage. Here is a bookshelf I'm using right now, which has a bit of everything, mostly canned and dry goods. I'd eventually like to get a couple more bookshelves or some stacked milk crates since they're a bit deeper. Until then, this is what we're working with. My plan is to get some food-grade storage buckets from some local store bakeries for each kind of bean, pasta, rice, etc, so they won't get stale and the pests won't get into them. So far we haven't had any pest, but you never know. I'd also like to get buckets for our powdered milk and grains/flours so they will stay fresh longer. To the right of the bookshelf are some boxes of empty containers I use to freeze or store things. The bag there with the red handles is where I keep all of my reusable grocery bags. In front of that is our recycling box.

Along the wall of the garage is a large shelving unit, which holds a lot of things besides food, but about half of it is used for food/drink storage. The cooler is full of diet and regular soda that we pick up at Gleaner's. We're always ready for a barbecue! Next to that is the bottled water. I've been buying a flat a month to keep in case of emergency. So far I have 3, but I'd love to have quite a bit more just to be on the safe side.

To the right of the water is my favorite part of the shelving unit. This is the left hand side, which has our extra paper towels, napkins, cups, and trash bags. A couple of those cubbies have some small tools, cleaning supplies, and paints. There are also some larger canned goods, extra peanut butter, and bottled drinks.

The right side of the unit is mostly used for baby foods, but there is also some toilet paper and supplies for making laundry soap and stain remover.

Below that is where we keep the rest of the drinks we get from WIC and Gleaner's. On the top is sports drinks, which we use a lot when people are sick. On the bottom shelf is mostly juices, such as vegetable, tomato, grape, apple, etc. There is our jug of extra syrup in the front. We just use that to refill our small bottle inside.

And just to keep it real, here is my pile of dishes ;)

I didn't show you my freezers, but they're full of frozen fruit for smoothies, lots of frozen veggies, frozen apple and orange juice, some meat (both cooked and uncooked), containers of leftovers that have been frozen for lunches, chicken stock, ice cream, and bread sticks. They don't look particularly organized, but I usually know where everything is :).

So, there you have it! I'm always trying to rearrange or make things better, but that's my system for now. What ideas do you use in your kitchen? Do you have a favorite way to organize? Tell me about it!

Project Overload!

2011-05-24T08:25:00.000-07:00

The past few days have been ultra-busy with all sorts of projects and outings.

Thursday we headed out for a play-date with a good friend. And Charlotte drew on the table with a sharpie... what an artist!

Friday we went to OMSI (our local science museum) with my dad. We had a picnic on the grass and then the girls enjoyed playing in the children's area. They have a big sand box with lots of toys, a woodland animal dress-up area with logs, trees, tunnels, and costumes, a wooden block play area, buckets with pulleys that are filled with beanbags... and more. They had a blast.

Saturday we did some work around the house, some grocery shopping, and in the evening we fired up our new charcoal grill and made burgers for ourselves, my parents, and David's brother.

Sunday we had church, then Dorothy went to a Mary Kay party and then to Home Depot to scope out some wood for our planter boxes. We had a nice mommy-daughter date :).

Yesterday I made some cookies and took them over to my friend who is about to have a baby. We've been friends for as long as I can remember, and she'll be my first client as a Doula-in-training! My doula bag is all packed and ready to go.

We also made some puppets yesterday morning! Are you ever frustrated with all the kids' stuffed animals and how much space they take up? Well, simply cut a hole in the behind of the animal and pull out the stuffing (the kids LOVE helping with that part).

The animal will look rather flat...

But it will be perfect for little imaginations and some really fun puppet shows. We made about 8 puppets yesterday and the kids were thrilled.

When we got home yesterday, David ran over to Home Depot to get our raised garden bed supplies. We're in a rental, so we didn't drop the money for the cedar, which would have been about 3 times the cost. We just got some untreated 2 x 8's cut up... enough to make 6 beds that are about 3 ft. by 5 ft. Along with the screws, it was maybe $60 tops, which I think is pretty good for 6 large beds! We put them together last night after the kids were asleep. Today I'll be digging out the area where they'll be resting as well as transplanting most of the veggies that are currently in pots. I'll get pics as soon as it's all set up! We're also going to be planting pumpkin, corn, strawberries, basil, and mint in addition to what we've got already.

As for this morning, I'm working on cleaning the house and getting our roast in the crockpot for tonight.

If I'm lucky, I'll sneak in a 5-minute shower. Happy Tuesday!

My Garden is Growing!

2011-05-19T07:51:00.000-07:00

As promised, I spent part of the afternoon taking pictures of my garden yesterday. So, here's the scoop on how things are growing.

In the garage I still have one tomato plant, two green peppers, and three jalapenos.

Out front is the bulk of the garden. I've lined everything up along the side of the driveway in various pots, buckets, and boxes.

First I have two tomato plants. Although I am sad to say that shortly after I took this picture, the poor tomatoes wilted! I don't know what happened, as the transplant was so gentle, but I think I may have to re-plant these outside if they don't perk up. A lot of my other veggies took second tries outside, too.

Next is the herb box, which currently has parsley and rosemary (purchased at church). I'm also planning on planting some basil and cilantro in there. Beside that is a green pepper, which was also a starter I bought at church.

After that I have 4 broccoli plants (from church)...

and 4 cauliflower plants (from church).

In pots next to that are spinach and cabbage...

lettuce and kohlrabi...

brussel sprouts and green onions...

and torpedo onions and chard.

I also planted some carrots and cucumbers at the end, but those still need to germinate.

In the back yard I planted pole beans along one portion of the fence...

snap peas in two smaller sections...

and the fava beans are sprouting quite nicely along the fence, too!

Finally, I have planted some things in the corner of the yard where the grass isn't growing. Here are the beets...

and the kale.

To the left of the kale will be my zucchini and winter squash. And here is my little helper!

First Harvest of 2011

2011-05-18T10:07:00.000-07:00

Yesterday afternoon was bright and sunny, so I decided to check on my garden and work on some things. I transplanted my tomatoes and pepper plants, as well as planting some carrots and cucumbers in pots. The gardening is going well so far for my first time.

I was also able to harvest my first bunch of spinach!

Which we used in our green smoothies (to go with our buttermilk whole wheat pancakes-yeah, we like breakfast for dinner).

Did you notice the new blog title?

2011-05-17T08:49:00.000-07:00

(Photo Credit)
I've decided to change my blog title from Bedrest and Beyond to Natural Mom on a Shoestring. I feel like this new title really fits where I'm at now. I'll still have my same blogger web address, but the pregnancy and bed rest is now behind me. Therefore, I wanted to go with something that encompasses what I'm all about, as well as what I'm aspiring to be. I'm striving to be as natural as I can be within our budget. Although I still have a long way to go, I've started the journey of becoming more mindful of how we treat our bodies and the world around us. As far as we're able, I've been making small changes. After all, I believe that many small changes equal big change.

One of my recent experiments was making my own laundry detergent. Several of my friends have had success doing so, so I decided to take the plunge as well.

You will need:
5-gallon bucket (I used one from our powdered Kirkland laundry soap)
1 bar Fels Naptha soap
1 C Washing Soda (not baking soda- found in laundry aisle)
1 C Borax
fragrance or essential oil, if desired
water

Grate the bar of soap into a large saucepan. Add 4 C water. Heat and stir with a wisk until soap is dissolved. Add washing soda and borax, stirring until dissolved. Pour mixture into bucket and fill with warm/hot tap water. I filled it until about the 4 gallon level, maybe a bit higher. Stir well and cover with lid. Let sit overnight. The mixture will become slightly jelly-like. Once gelled, you can add some of your favorite essential oil or fragrance oil. I added some cinnamon & nutmeg fragrance oil and it smells oh-so-good. Detergent should be shaken or stirred before each use, so putting it into an old fabric softener bottle or laundry soap bottle is a good idea. Use around 1/4 C for each load. You may need a bit more or less depending on your water or how soiled your load is.

Here is my first batch:

I just finished using up my previous laundry soap today, so I'll let you know how well this cleans our clothes. If it cleans well, it's quite the bargain at around $2 per batch. Now, that's frugal!

Oh, May.... Oh, My!

2011-05-16T07:57:00.000-07:00

(Photo Credit)
Spring seems to be our rough time of year for illness, that's for sure. We haven't been healthy since a few days before Easter. I suppose I should be thankful since our last rough patch with illness was way back in November. We've had sniffles, coughs, teething (even our 4-year-old is getting her 6-year molars), cold/flu bugs, and on Friday night I came down with a stomach bug that knocked me down all weekend. I'm still recovering, so I don't feel too guilty for the lack of blogging, piles of laundry, and all-day movie marathons. I'm definitely in mommy survival mode. Luckily for me, I don't get bugs like that very often and so far nobody else has gotten it. I'm sure hoping it stays that way!

I was planning on taking pictures of my garden, which is doing really well, but I think I'll wait a couple of days until my energy has fully returned. In the meantime, we'll be taking it easy. So, here's hoping that the second half of May is much happier and healthier than the first half.

Busy Day in the Kitchen!

2011-05-11T14:43:00.000-07:00

(Photo Credit)
I went grocery shopping the other day, mostly for cleaning supplies, canned goods, and meat. I got 5 lbs of ground beef and a large pack of chicken thighs. Yesterday I simmered the chicken and made some broth for the freezer. Today I de-boned and shredded the chicken, separating it into meal-sized portions. At the same time I did that, I was browning the ground beef on the stove. I put most of it in the fridge to cool off for packaging later, but I reserved the fat and about 1/2 lb of browned beef to make some hamburger gravy. We'll put that over our mashed potatoes for dinner. We're having some tasty green smoothies on the side. I picked up 3 decent papayas at Gleaner's last week, which I peeled, chopped, and froze overnight on a cookie sheet. This afternoon, I filled a quart sized freezer bag with the fruit for smoothies.

So, what's going in our smoothies tonight?
2 lg handfuls fresh spinach
2 C. milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp honey
1 med banana
2 C. frozen fruit, such as papaya, blueberries, strawberries, peaches, etc.
Echinacea/goldenseal tincture
Vitamin D drops

Yummy!

The "Blitz Clean"

2011-05-09T10:19:00.000-07:00

(Photo Credit)
With all the sickness over the past couple of weeks, along with me being gone all day Friday and Saturday, the house needs a bit of attention. Days like this are blitz cleaning days. I'm trying to recover the house and prepare for another possible round of yuckies (since Dorothy had picked up something else last week and everyone at David's work has been sick recently). I always like having a clean home in times like this.

My blitz-cleaning regime:
*Catch up on laundry and dishes. At the very least get everything washed. Laundry gets folded in the evening if there is still time, then put away the next morning.
*Go through the house with a bottle of cleaner and some rags and surface clean everything. If a surface is cluttered, I remove the clutter and put things back in their place.
*All shoes, jackets, and toys in the living room and kids' rooms get put away.
*Wash/dry/put away diapers.
*Make our bed.
*Wipe down kitchen counters and sweep/spot mop the floor.
*Clean the bathroom.
*Empty trash if needed.

It's going to be a busy day!!

On the Road Again...

2011-05-06T10:56:00.000-07:00

(Photo Credit)
William and I are getting away again! This time, we're heading up to the Seattle area to visit with some dear friends of mine that helped me through a rough patch in my life. About a year before I met David, I spent 6 months at The Father's Ranch. It was an amazing experience and I wouldn't trade it for anything. This weekend, they'll be in Seattle filming a promo DVD in which they're interviewing previous students. I'll be giving a brief testimony of how my life has changed and what God has done for me. I'm praying that I'll have the right words!

Speaking of William, the boy is crawling now. It's more of a scoot, but he's definitely getting around the house these days. *sniff* My baby is growing up so fast! He'll be 9 months on the 11th. I love my "Bubba" so much.

Have a great weekend!

Natural Cold Care

2011-05-04T08:59:00.000-07:00

(Photo Credit)
The kids and I have been battling these awful colds/flu for the past couple of weeks. After a relatively healthy Winter, it's frustrating to have everyone feeling so poorly when the weather is finally getting nicer. I am determined to find some natural ways to rid us of these colds more quickly. Especially since this morning Dorothy started coming down with another cold/fever. I'm pretty sure she got it at the park the other day. It was a nice day, so everyone was out enjoying the weather, including all the kids that were hacking up a lung. We don't need another round of illness for everyone just when we're trying to recover from the first bout. So, here's my plan:

*Regular multivitamin supplements.
*Additional vitamin D supplements.
*Liquid drops with echinacea and goldenseal to put in the girls' apple juice in the morning.
*Hot and/or iced green tea with a bit of honey.
*Sinus rinses with a neti pot and saline rinse.
*Green smoothies (smoothies with fresh spinach, OJ, plain yogurt, honey, and a variety of frozen fruits & berries).
*Cooking with lots of veggies and garlic, including my Kickin' Chicken Soup.
*Garlic drops for clogged and painful ears.
*Honey/herbal cough syrup for the kids at night.
*Lots of water.
*Lots of rest.
*Time outside when it's sunny.
*Extra cuddles any time, including our bed in the middle of the night. The comfort of knowing Mommy is right there helps them sleep so much better.

What's your favorite cold remedy for children or adults?

Playing the Catch-Up Game

2011-05-02T13:55:00.000-07:00

(Photo Credit)
You know, the one where you've been sick for a week and the laundry and dishes (and kids) are out of control? Yeah. That one. I spent the better part of last week in bed or on the couch. I've still got a terrible cough and somewhat of a sore throat/congestion, but the body aches, headache, and lightheaded feeling are gone. Phew. And aren't those things supposed to go around in the winter?! So far all the kids have gotten it as well. Dorothy first, then William and I, now Charlotte. The kids have all been well enough to play and run around like normal, which is always nice. They didn't seem to get hit as hard. I'm just hoping Daddy stays well so that William and I can go to Seattle this weekend. I'll be driving up to see some friends I haven't seen in a long time, so I'm really looking forward to the trip. Just me and my boy!

So today is catching up on things around the house... I literally have a mountain of laundry in my bedroom to fold. There's also a load waiting to go into the dryer with our bed sheets. I always like to wash all the bedding as we start to get better, so the kids' sheets and blankets will get washed, too. Add to that 2 loads of diapers to fold and I'll probably be folding laundry all night.

This morning I got the kitchen under control. It still needs to be swept, but the counters are cleaned and all the dishes are washed, put away, or in the dishwasher. I'll be grocery shopping this afternoon and throwing together a quick dinner when I get home from Gleaner's and the store. Lately I've been working on our food storage, which is mostly in the garage. I'll post some photos pretty soon to show you what I've done.

In spite of still feeling a bit under the weather, we did make it to church yesterday. I'm really glad we did because they were having a plant sale in the parking lot. I ended up with 4 broccoli plants, 4 cauliflower plants, some rosemary, a green pepper (one of mine had a mishap off of the windowsill), and some parsley. Since it was sunny outside, I thought the vitamin D would do me some good. I went out and got my hands dirty and soaked in some rays! I also transplanted a small potted rose plant my mom brought over for Easter. It was starting to wilt, so I'm hoping it does better in the ground outdoors.

Sick Week

2011-04-29T06:57:00.000-07:00

I've caught a bad cold/flu bug this week, but I'll be back to blogging soon!

Easter Weekend

2011-04-25T08:04:00.001-07:00

Dying eggs.

Easter egg hunt.

Sweet babies in their Sunday best.

Easter baskets.

Ham dinner.

Bunny cake.

Hope you had a fabulous weekend!

Hooray!

2011-04-22T12:53:00.000-07:00

(Photo Credit)
Today is Good Friday. We're having a church service tonight, and I'll be singing on the worship team for that. For me, there is practically nothing I love to do more than sing. But more than anything, today I am praising the Lord for His willingness to die for me. I am so thankful for Him in my life.

Tomorrow morning we'll dress the girls up and take them to an Easter egg hunt at the church. This will be their first egg hunt, so I'm excited to see their little faces. We'll also try do dye some eggs tomorrow afternoon at home.

Something else to "hooray" about is that we got our federal tax return. As a result, in the last week we have:

1) Paid off the credit card
2) Paid off the car loan
3) Put $700 into savings toward an emergency fund

Now if we can keep the debt snowball going, we should have both of our school loans paid off in about 2 years. If I begin working as a doula, it could get done much faster than that. What a great feeling!

How Does My Garden Grow?

2011-04-20T08:01:00.000-07:00

(Photo Credit)
Well, it's hit and miss so far. Some of the plants I started indoors aren't doing so well outside in their pots. As those break or wither, I am planting new seeds in hopes that they'll do better being outside from the start. A few of them are still alive, but many of them aren't/ My onions still look good, though. Also, my tomatoes, green peppers, and jalepenos are transferred to bigger containers, but are still indoors. They'll probably go outside in about a month or so depending on the weather. They're still doing good.

Over the weekend I got down to business outside. I filled and planted several pots with spinach, lettuce, green onions, and one other thing I am blanking on at the moment. I'll blame that on mommy brain. I also tended to the plants that aren't doing as well, which are my kohlrabi, cabbage, and brussel sprouts. In the back yard, I tilled some ground up and planted fava beans, beets, and kale. Now I'll just be watering and waiting for them to grow!

Something About Breakfast

2011-04-18T08:26:00.001-07:00

For me, there's just something about a nice breakfast. It's comforting and puts me in a good frame of mind for the day. The girls love breakfast foods, too, and there's nothing better than breakfast for dinner.

Friday morning we had waffles with oranges.

Saturday we went all out and had a ham, spinach, egg, cheese, and tomato scramble with mashed potato pancakes.

After our wonderful breakfast, I went to worship practice at church and then headed out with a friend to get manicures and pedicures at a local beauty school. They're much more affordable that way and I was pleased with the results. My nails have held up quite well, even after working in the garden yesterday afternoon (I'll be posting more about my efforts later this week).

It was really nice having a quiet break after a long week with my crazy, energetic kiddos.

My movie star...

my dancer...

and my solo artist!

Why I Love Cloth Diapers

2011-04-15T08:28:00.000-07:00

1.) I never have to run out and buy diapers or wipes because they're always on hand.
2.) Rashes are few and far between.
3.) Blowouts are also rare. When we've taken a break from cloth in the past, I've always been glad to get back to it because of all the poo-plosions we've had in disposables.
4.) They reduce waste in landfills.
5.) They can save a lot of money.
6.) I like knowing that my baby's skin is soft, comfy, and free of chemicals.
7.) It makes me happy to pull a load out of the dryer, fold them with the girls, and see the pretty, folded stacks of colorful diapers.
8.) Last but not least, they are just so stinkin' cute, as evidenced by William sporting one of his dipes for you.

The Lord Provides

2011-04-13T13:53:00.001-07:00

It's amazing to see how our needs are met in spite of having a limited budget. In our effort to pay off debt and live within our means, we cut out our clothing and diaper budget. Well, God provides more than we need! When I was pregnant with Charlotte, I got to know a wonderful group of ladies on an online cloth diapering forum. We were all due in January 2009, and we chatted throughout our pregnancies.We connected with each other so well that we've kept in touch almost daily ever since. We do gift exchanges each Christmas and often send diapers and clothing to each other when we're done using them. Well, today we got a giant box of clothing in the mail from one of these sweet, generous friends.

Dorothy was ecstatic...

She found and tried on her new tutu right away.

Charlotte helped to unload everything, too, dancing around in excitement.

First, we pulled out an entire stash of medium and large all-in-ones that will work well for both Charlotte and William.

Next, we found everything William could wear for 18-24 months, including jammies, pants, shirts, hoodies, swim trunks, socks, shorts, and hats.

Last but not least, Dorothy got a 5T wardrobe as well, including jammies, shirt & legging sets, a couple of dresses with leggings, and some hoodies. As she pulled out the ballerina jammies, she said, "oh, mommy, wow! I wished for these!"

So, although we're not rich, we are richly blessed. I'm so thankful for God's provision, but even more thankful for the friendships I have been given... a group of women that are in the same walk of life who I can be real with on my worst days without fear of rejection. What more could I ask for? And we are more than happy to pass along our things to those who would be blessed by them, too. In fact, our newborn diapers are going out to a couple of these lovely ladies this week. We joke about the "traveling pants" that one of our group members knitted for William that are now being passed along to each new baby boy. But it's really traveling pants... diapers... shirts... dresses...

Thanks for everything!

The Recipe Post

2011-04-13T09:23:00.000-07:00

Rather than writing a post today, I will be compiling links to all of my posted recipes into one post for easy access. I will be editing and adding each new recipe along the way from now on. So, if there was a recipe that you wanted to try, it will be much easier to find. Happy cooking :)

Sweet Corn Salsa

Black Bean Soup

Butternut Squash Soup

Holy Guacamole

Spanish Rice

Whole Wheat Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Chicken and Cabbage Soup

Chewy Brownies

Crock Pot Chili

Granola

Fried Plantains

Becci's Kickin' Chicken Soup

Budget Update and Count the Value Month

2011-04-11T13:26:00.000-07:00

(Image Credit)
Over the weekend I enjoyed my time at my women's retreat. I have to admit that I wasn't ready to come back to daily life just yet, but I never am after these retreats. They're so uplifting.

Nevertheless, today it's life as usual. I volunteered at Gleaner's this morning in the child care area and ended up taking the kids with me this time. William screamed half the time, as did Charlotte. At least my kids were the only ones in there for most of the time so they weren't really bothering anyone. I'll be heading back there this afternoon to do my shopping, as well as stopping by the bank to get this month's cash out for our envelopes.

Although I haven't turned it in yet, I finished the "Count the Value" sheet that Gleaner's handed out for the month of March. Once a year we count 4 weeks' worth of what we get at Gleaner's and calculate the value. We also add up what we spent on groceries outside of Gleaner's. It's always amazing to see how God provides for us through this program. We got about $200 worth of used clothing and boots and $395 worth of food and household items. We spent $50 out of pocket for our dues, then an additional $115.27 at the grocery store. We actually used up the surplus from the previous month as well due to buying seeds and soil for our container garden, which I'm still hoping gives us a good crop later in the summer, but since that was something other than groceries, I didn't count it in our total. So far, the plants aren't huge, but they're still alive. That's a plus!

Our budget still seems to be going well. Aside from our budgeted cash envelopes, we've only done a few dollars here and there for some dollar burgers on the run, but we've been good at sticking to our plan. The great news is that we're looking to get enough back from taxes to pay off the credit card and the car, plus put some into savings! The only remaining debt we should have are our school loans. If we're able to stick to the current plan, it shouldn't take more than 2.5 years to pay those off, and then we'll be completely debt-free. Oh, and since David and I don't have a "fun" budget, we're also getting some spending money from our tax return, so I'm hoping to get my grain mill after all. I've got a few other ideas, but that's the one I am really excited about. Not only will it be more healthy, it will also save us money on flour since bulk whole grains are much cheaper than bags of flour at the grocery store.

So, that's where we're at on our budget right now. Plugging along and feeling blessed in the process.

Preparing for Disaster

2011-04-08T07:08:00.001-07:00

(image credit)
Natural disasters are a part of life in this world. The recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan are a good reminder that life can change in an instant, and it's got me thinking (and taking some inventory).

How prepared are we in the face of something similar?

*We have some basic first aid supplies, but probably not as much as we should have.
*We only have, at most, a one month supply of all our prescription medications at any given time.
*We have quite a bit of dry goods like beans and rice, as well as some canned food, but not a lot.
*We only have one case of bottled water. Normally I don't even buy bottled water, but I picked one up just so we'd have some on hand. If our water was shut off for any reason, we would be ill-prepared.
*Likewise, how would we cook all those beans and rice if the power were out for a significant amount of time? The fact is, we couldn't. We have a little propane stove, but no more than a couple of small fuel cans for it. And we'd also need a good amount of water to cook dry goods.
*We use cloth for pretty much everything, but how in the world would we wash it? Perhaps collect rainwater? After all, we do have a lot of it around here!

So, how prepared are you? Do you have a few days' worth of food and water? A month or two? Or, like some people, even a year? What do you keep on hand? How do you store it? I'd love to hear more thoughts on this.

Crock Pot Chili

2011-04-07T07:52:00.001-07:00

I always love using the crock pot and having dinner ready when David comes home with relatively little effort. Since I was still feeling a bit under the weather yesterday morning, I set up the crock pot and put in a batch of chili. It simmered all day, and we came home to a comforting smell in our home. We served it with grated cheese and some warm cheddar jalepeno focaccia bread.
Here is what I put in the pot:

1 1/2 lbs dried red beans, sorted and rinsed
29 oz. can of tomato sauce
15 oz can of diced tomatoes, undrained
1/2-1 lb ground beef, browned
1 c. frozen corn
1 lg onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
Chili powder, crushed red pepper, cumin, and salt to taste
Enough water to fill the rest of the pot & allow the beans to expand
(I normally add a chopped green pepper, too, but we didn't have one)

I stirred all the ingredients together and set the pot to the 8 hr. setting. I took the lid off once to stir it later in the cooking time, but that's it. So quick and easy, and really yummy!
This post has been linked to The Grocery Cart Challenge.

Is it Wednesday already?

2011-04-06T07:04:00.000-07:00

This week is already flying by! My uncle has been in town from the east coast since Friday afternoon. We celebrated his birthday and my Grandma's 80th birthday on Saturday afternoon as a family. On Sunday I subbed for someone on worship team and the worship, communion, and sermon were just what I needed. Monday we spent the day at my parents' house to visit some more with my uncle. By Monday evening I was pretty sure I was getting mastitis. Yesterday morning I went in to get some antibiotics and painkillers, so David stayed home from work to help out with the kids. It's been a busy few days. This weekend will be busy, too, since William and I are headed up to Washington for a women's retreat with a church I have attended on and off since my early 20's. I'm looking forward to a good time with some dear friends, as well as a time of prayer and reflection that is hard to come by as a mother of small children.

Today we'll just spend a laid back day so I can rest a bit more. We'll probably head over to my sister-in-law's house so the kids can spend some much-needed time playing with their cousins while I get some girl time in. Maybe I'll throw together some chili for the crockpot before we go. Chili and cornbread is great comfort food!

Basking in the glow of Friday.

2011-04-01T12:06:00.000-07:00

All of us have had colds this week, so we've been trying to take it easy and hang around the house. Today I am thankful that it's Friday and that we're headed into the weekend. Other than the colds and resulting lack of sleep, this week has been generally good. David and I started our marriage coaching on Wednesday evening and I'm really hopeful that it will help us communicate better. There is going to be a lot of focus on making statements that are non-accusatory, but rather convey how each of us feels. We'll also be focusing on active listening and trying to really understand where each of us is coming from as issues arise.

As part of our homework for the marriage coaching, we're reading a book called Love and Respect by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs. I'm definitely finding some of the principles to be useful. The main premise of the book is that men need respect and women need love. God commands men to love their wives as Christ loved the church as it commands women to respect their husbands. That's something we don't hear very much, so I think that, in general, it is good to keep in mind. I can easily see how important it is to use a respectful tone when I am bringing issues up to my husband, and to tell him what I appreciate about him on a regular basis. I know I don't do either of those things very well when I get in my "mommy needs to get things done" mode. It's too easy to let things slide. So, although there are things I do not like about the book (I feel that so far it's too focused on everything being the wife's fault), there are still some things I'll take from it and work on in myself. I do feel that the marriage team material has a much more balanced approach to helping both partners work towards a better relationship, so it should be really beneficial.

Are there any books you have found useful in your own relationships? I'd love to hear more.

Big huggies and a brownie recipe!

2011-03-30T08:58:00.000-07:00

"Huggies, Mommy," said Dorothy and Charlotte with outstretched arms.

My sweet, cuddly girls settling down before bed. As much as they fight, they certainly love each other very much.

"Wait, Mommy, Teddy wants to be in the picture, too!"

Of course, brother William can't be left out, either. Dorothy covered his exersaucer with blankets and exclaimed, "It's so nice and warm for him. He likes it, cuz that's what babies want!"

As for the promised brownie recipe, I found this one at Food.com. I altered it a bit to suit my taste, and it is my new favorite. Here's how I make them:

12 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
4 Tbsp vegetable oil (you could also use coconut oil or shortening)
1 cup butter
2 cups sugar (I use 1/2 white and 1/2 raw in mine)
1/2 tsp salt
4 lg eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour (I use 1/2 white and 1/2 whole wheat)
1/2-3/4 cup chocolate chips

1 In a saucepan over low heat, stir and melt the unsweetened cocoa powder, vegetable oil, and butter. Let cool.
2 In a mixing bowl, beat the 4 eggs until light and frothy, add the salt and sugar; beat well.
3 Fold the melted chocolate and butter into the egg mixture. Stir in the vanilla.
4 Add the flour and chocolate chips.
5 Bake for 25-30 minutes at 350° in a greased 9x13 inch pan (my pan is smaller, maybe 8 x 12 or so. A smaller pan makes for thicker, chewier brownies).
6 When cool, you may frost with chocolate frosting (I like cream cheese frosting-or just skip the frosting and eat them warm and gooey with a glass of milk. Perfection!).

Enjoy!!

My amazing finds at Gleaner's yesterday

2011-03-29T09:52:00.000-07:00

I came home with quite a bit of produce after my shopping yesterday, including strawberries, pears, oranges, avocados, grapes, and peas. I also picked up a lot of frozen items, such as edamame, cooked wild rice, cooked wheat berries, and kale. Soups, here I come! I was also able to get plenty of chips and soda for David to take to work in his lunches. David's mom also sent us over some strawberries, blueberries, pears, oranges, pistachios, nutragrain bars, and an avocado from Costco. But my favorite finds yesterday were in the clothing area upstairs. I couldn't believe how many type 1 tops I was able to find. Normally I don't find much for myself at Gleaner's. Most of the time I can only find things for the kids, so I was really happy with my finds yesterday!

First I found a button up shirt with the perfect colors and shapes and a brown zip-up sweater to go over it.

I found another button-up shirt and the perfect jacket. This is by far my favorite of the bunch, right down to the flower-shaped buttons. So cute!

Here is another button-up shirt from Old Navy, with chocolate brown and pink stripes.

I also picked up this gold-looking sweater to go over some things.

And a very type 1 scarf.

Not to mention the pants that were perfect other than the length. They were longs, so I cut off the bottom and embellished them with some paint I got at the craft store.

Lastly, I found a green sweater with an asymmetrical collar.

These should all go great with the earrings I got with the remaining money on my Target gift card.

Here is the look I went for today with a new pair of earrings and some shirts and necklaces that were already in my closet. This Dressing Your Truth stuff is so much fun!

I'll try to post later today with our menu plan and that wonderfully delicious brownie recipe. Mmm, my mouth is still watering. I've made them twice in the last 2 weeks :)

Dressing Your Truth Type 1

2011-03-28T14:14:00.000-07:00

Since I took the Dressing Your Truth course with the $1 trial, I've been experimenting with some Type 1 looks. It hasn't been difficult, since a lot of my clothing is type 1 already and I just didn't know it. The jewelry I am wearing in this picture I purchased just a week or so before I took the course. I had actually picked out a different set of earrings and a necklace, but decided at the last minute to switch it out for these. I was simply drawn to them. Aside from the silver accent, they are perfectly type 1, so I'm going to utilize them. The earrings, necklace, and tee were all on clearance at Kohl's at different times. The shirt is type 1 as well with the shiny hearts. I've layered it with a long-sleeve type 1 orange shirt that I got on clearance at Old Navy. I go to this shirt a lot for layering under short-sleeve shirts. I am also wearing some Gap jeans my sister-in-law gave me and a pair of chocolate brown rounded-toe flats I got for $6 at a consignment store. I'd say this outfit was less than $30 for everything I'm wearing. How's that for frugal fashion? Gotta love it!

So, do you think the type 1 style suits me?

Transplanting is fun!

2011-03-28T10:36:00.000-07:00

Over the past few days, I've been working on transplanting some of my veggies to larger containers outside. I am putting them out in the sun during the day and moving them back into the garage at night, or if it's too rainy. Here are the brussel sprouts, kohlrabi, cabbage, and onions.

And here are the tomatoes. If they do well, I'll be giving a couple away since we only have room for 2.

These will be kept under the window in the garage with the peppers, which need to stay warm in their mini greenhouse for now. In here I have green bell peppers and jalapenos, both of which are just beginning to sprout.

I've been using mostly Black Gold organic potting soil in my containers.

But when I transplant, I'm adding a layer of organic compost close to the top as my fertilizer, then I am mixing it in with some more of the soil.

The girls had fun running around in the driveway this morning while I worked on getting the onions and tomatoes transplanted. It feels amazing to dig my hands in the dirt and start getting this done. Hopefully all the veggies yield a good crop for us. Even though it's my first year gardening, I'm hopeful that it will go well.

Later today I am going shopping at Gleaner's and then stopping by the grocery store on the way home. We've spent all but about $40 of the grocery and household money for the month. I'm hoping to have a bit left over, but it will depend on what's available today. We've been going through a lot of eggs and fruit lately, so we'll likely be buying more of those in the next week. I'm hoping to place an order with Azure Standard soon, too. That will likely use a lot of April's budget, but you get a lot for your money.

Monday's Munchies
B: Cream of Wheat, fried eggs, and sliced pears.
L: Vegetable, beef, and wheat berry soup with cornbread.
D: Mini flatbread pizzas.

Fashion on the Cheap

2011-03-25T14:11:00.001-07:00

Being an artist by nature, I've always been interested in fun clothes, shoes, and accessories. I must admit, I went over the top at times when I was younger, so due to the criticism of others, I toned things down and became much more subdued. For a lot of years after that, I was a jeans and t-shirt girl since it was the easy way to go and it was unlikely to receive criticism. But I still had a lot of items with that Becci "flair" to them, such as my crazy sock collection or purple leopard print belt with studs on it. I've struggled to find the right look for myself and feel like in the past few years I have slowly been able to find a lot of things that really suit me. Sometimes, though, I have trouble narrowing things down to what I really love. I'm sure a lot of people can relate to that feeling.

So, I was really excited when a friend posted on Facebook last weekend that Dressing Your Truth was having a 5-day trial for $1 (it's over now-I signed up just before the deadline). Carol Tuttle, the creator of Dressing Your Truth, has divided people into 4 types based on personality traits and physical characteristics (mostly, since personality can be influenced a lot more by our upbringing & surroundings). She corresponds these four types to 4 of the major elements and their type of movement. I went through whole course and discovered that I am a type 1, which is a bright, animated woman. I had almost all of the traits she listed for a type 1, such as a heart-shaped hairline, rounded face, apple cheeks that tend to get rosy easily, dimples, a youthful face, and shorter, chubbier fingers with round nail beds. Although I had a lot of personality traits of a type 3 and I organize like a type 4 (with a place for everything and my closet in rainbow order), I am strongly a type 1. As such, I went through the course for the type 1 woman. While I don't agree with some of her philosophies or beliefs, I really enjoyed learning more about who I naturally am and that it is ok to use that flair even more than I have been. On the other types, it might look silly, but on a type 1, it is natural. How refreshing!

So, what I learned about how I "should" dress as a type 1 was really helpful, and I'll definitely be taking many things to heart. Light, crisp fabrics, fun prints, brighter/lighter colors, and lots of variety and pizazz. My best shapes in design line and jewelry will be circles, hearts, stars, and curlycues. I also found out that gold is actually a better choice for metal, which I'm finding I like on myself. However, most of my pieces are silver in appearance even though many of them fall within the other descriptions she was using. For each type, there is a chroma, or color scheme to follow as well. For type 1, it is hues, which are colors with white added. Black is out, but in its place we can use cream/tan, dark navy, and chocolate brown. If I had chosen to purchase the course, I would have gotten a style guide, which is a card with various hues on it. On the back side are all the tips for design line, fabrication, textures, etc. The idea is that you hold the colored side of the card up to you garments when you're shopping and see if the colors harmonize with the colors in the items. The tips are there to help you pick things that will look the best on you. Well, being the frugal mama that I am, I didn't shell out the money for lifetime access just yet, but I did dive into all of the information I could get my hands on. I watched all the video clips of club nights, viewed the entire course while taking notes, looked at all the pictures and examples of type 1 clothing, and then copied and pasted them into a Word document. Also, being resourceful, I found a downloadable color wheel with nothing but hues and made my own style guide card!
I even put the most important tips on the back.

I have to say, it looks pretty good even though it's not the real thing! Then I went through my wardrobe to see how things matched up. With the exception of a few items and some black things, most of my clothing fits pretty well into the guidelines as far as colors, lines, and prints. I already had what Carol describes as a "beauty sixth-sense" and I didn't even know it.

The best part? Most of my wardrobe has been bought on extreme clearance or at thrift stores. And now that we're using Gleaner's, we can browse the donated clothing area, too. The rest of my clothes I have purchased with gift cards or birthday money, with the occasional full-price purchase if it's something that is worth the cost that I really need, such as good running shoes. My things that don't fit within the type 1 description can easily be altered with a bit of creativity and a can of gold spray paint, some buttons, headbands, hair clips, and a bit of fabric. I'll be posting pictures of my wardrobe refashioning because it's fun and I think you'll enjoy seeing the transformation, especially if you're the artistic like me. I kicked off my type 1 wardrobe with the rest of my birthday money at Old Navy. I got the pictured shoes (clearance) and jewelry with a 30% off coupon for just over $30.

They look and feel great on me, and they're really fun, too :). I love seeing how good I can look on a small budget.

So, even though the link over on my sidebar is not the most frugal thing, I still think it's worth having there for those that might be interested. If you have the $279 for the course, I'm sure it would be worth it, as it can be really helpful in other areas as well.While I'm hoping to be able to join at some point in the future, the short trial I did was totally worth it, and actually very eye-opening. When you're learning to dress for your type, you're also learning about yourself as a person, which is a fun process. Just feel free to disregard some of her spiritual viewpoints, as they're not for everyone.

*For full disclosure, I do get a percentage of the purchase price if someone enters through my link*

Fun With Gardening

2011-03-24T10:00:00.000-07:00

I'm really getting into planning my container garden now that Spring is finally here. I'm starting quite a few seeds inside right now, and this morning I even went outside and transplanted my kohlrabi, cabbage, and brussel sprouts to their pots. In addition to these, I'm planning on growing spinach, lettuce, bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, tomatoes, onions, green onions, fava beans, pole beans, zucchini, beets, kale, chard, and cucumbers. In the next week or two I will be planting several more things directly outside in the ground and in pots. It's really exciting to see the little sprouts coming up. I can't wait to see how they do over the summer.

Our recent happenings!

2011-03-21T09:34:00.000-07:00

Well, we had a good (but busy) weekend. I'm having a hard time keeping up with things around the house what with William teething and being generally fussy. All three kids have been sleeping poorly, so everyone in the house has been dragging a bit with less sleep. Coffee has been my friend lately!

Last week I got a package in the mail from Mountain Rose Herbs. As a (late) Christmas gift, I got to order some stuff for making toiletries and such. Dorothy was really excited when the box came and wanted to make sure that her special "Lambie" got in the picture, too.

I ordered 3 ox beeswax, 1 lb cocoa butter, 1 lb shea butter, 1 gal refined coconut oil, and 16 oz liquid castille soap.

Dorothy liked the wax :)

I already experimented with making some body butter, but I added a bit more cornstarch than I preferred. Nevertheless, it is already helping my cracked, bleeding knuckles. With all the diaper changes, laundry, cleaning, hand washing, and cooking, my hands see a lot of water and soap. They were in dire need of help. I'm using the cream on William's cradle cap as well as redness at diaper changes. The girls love using it on their hands because the cocoa butter has such a sweet smell. I think next time I will try making some lotion bars in ice cube trays. If they turn out well, I will post the recipe. I am also planning on making a homemade shampoo with the castille soap and some other ingredients, as my scalp has been really itchy trying to find the right shampoo and conditioner. I'll be experimenting with using a bit of plain coconut oil in my hair after I shower and see if that moisturizes enough without being too greasy. The great thing about coconut oil is that it's really healthy to cook with, too. Most people recommend cooking with unrefined oil, but it costs a lot more. I feel that the refined is still much better than vegetable oils, so I've made the switch. And it's hard at room temp, so it can also be used as a substitute for butter or shortening in cooking. I still use butter for a lot of my baking, but the coconut oil is working well, too.

Some of our recent food:

A big pot of baked potato soup. Yum!

Two loaves of strawberry blueberry bread. Double yum!

Last night's dinner of muffin tin meat loaf, stuffing, and sauteed spinach. Triple yum!

I also made some to die for brownies on Saturday. I'll post the recipe really soon. They were thick and chewy!

Finals are Finally Finished

2011-03-17T19:45:00.000-07:00

Feels fantastic!

But really, I am excited to be done with my classes and delving into some of the projects I've been looking forward to. I went to the store the other night and got all the seeds for my container garden. I also went shopping with my mom for some clothes last night as a celebration for finishing my associate's degree. That was some hard work with pregnancies and illnesses and kids and life, so I didn't hesitate to celebrate. I also made some homemade lotion/body butter/diaper cream the other day. I'll be writing more in detail about these things in the next few days, but I just wanted to write and say that I am still here. And now that finals are over, I will have a bit more time to blog when (if) the kids are all quiet and/or sleeping at the same time.

Yesterday's shopping trip with Dorothy

2011-03-10T13:05:00.000-08:00

We switched dinner plans up yesterday since we needed to use up the rest of the sauerkraut on some hot dogs and I was already going to the store for some other things. Dorothy was really excited to come to the grocery store with me after David got home from work yesterday. Most of what we got was from WIC checks, but I did pay cash for a few items.

WIC items
2 doz eggs
3 gal 1% milk
1 frozen grape juice
1 frozen apple juice
1 frozen orange juice
1 lb dried lima beans
1 lb cheddar cheese
1 box Kix
1 box rice krispies
3 cans tuna fish
1 can pink salmon
1 jar crunchy peanut butter
1 loaf whole wheat bread
2 bunches bananas
1 head green leaf lettuce
1 lb spinach
8 jars baby food veggies
8 jars baby food fruits
16 jars baby food meats

Cash items
5 lb bag apples and oranges $4.99
1 jar salsa $1.61
2 boxes butter $4.50
1 pkg beef franks $2.96
total $14.06

Since I paid our $50 dues to Gleaner's this week, our total grocery/household out of pocket for this month so far is $64.06. That's amazing for 10 days into the month! We will need to buy some ground beef and turkey ham pretty soon, so that will eat up a chunk of cash. We'd love to start paying up front for some locally raised meats one of these days, such as buying a 1/4 of a cow for the year. You can get decent prices on meat that you know is going to be healthier for your family when you buy it this way. Plus we'll be supporting local businesses, which is awesome.

Thursday's Tidbits
B: Kix and bananas.
L: The girls had hot dogs and apples with peanut butter. I froze the rest of the soup from the other day, but left out a portion for my lunch. As it already had a bunch of cabbage in it, I added some sauerkraut before I warmed it up. It tasted a lot like borscht that way, so I added a scoop of sour cream to it and ate it with a toasted, buttery whole wheat english muffin. I love me some good soup and bread! Mmmmm....
D: Since we had hot dogs and kraut with green beans last night, we'll be having the potato soup tonight. I'm going to use 1/2 the large bag of mashed potatoes for my base, plus some water to thin it a bit. I'll throw in a diced onion, a couple of sliced carrots and stalks of celery, some diced turkey ham from the freezer, and some chopped red potatoes and simmer it until the veggies are tender. We'll top it with sour cream and cheddar.

Coming up on finals week!

2011-03-09T08:50:00.000-08:00

My posting might be a little less frequent in the next week and a half or so as I get ready for finals week. When I'm finished with this term, I will have a lot more time for household things and hopefully more time to take breaks for myself. If I don't take care of me, my whole family suffers for it. I'm learning that as wonderful as it is to be selfless and to serve my family, if I am doing too much, I don't have the energy or good attitude to give them what they need. I'm getting really excited for this break from classes. There are a lot of things I'm looking forward to doing this Spring, especially delving into gardening, which I'll be blogging about along the way.

As for this week, I went to Gleaner's on Monday as planned. March is Count the Value month at Gleaner's. For 4 weeks, we've been asked to write down everything we get and estimate the value for each item, as well as note what we spent on groceries outside of the program. This should be a breeze for me since I'm already writing everything down. David and I were having fun the other night figuring out how much each item was worth since he has a bar code scanner app on his smartphone. We were able to scan and get prices for about half of the items we picked up. I had picked up a pair of Danner boots for David for work (they donate returned boots to Gleaner's) and they were brand new! They were perfect for work, all-black, and even still had the paper stuffed inside them from the shoe store. David looked them up online and they were $160 boots. What a blessing! In the past, we've had to put his work shoes on the credit card and pay interest on them for several months. I'm so thankful that we have been given the opportunity to use this amazing program. It is really changing our way of life. Here's what else we got this week:

Gleaner's trip
18 month jammies for William (still looking for a couple more 12 month jammies)
16 oz sour cream
1 block margarine
16 oz cottage cheese
1 veggie pizza from Pizza Hut
3 pieces of sidewalk chalk for the girls
1 banana cake for the freezer
1 pkg frozen mixed veggies
1 box beef taquitos
9 pieces of whole wheat flatbread
1 box cajun stew mix (just add meat)
1 bag green leaf lettuce
4 artichokes!
1 lg papaya
1 box fruit snacks (for potty training treats)
21 oz. grape tomatoes
1 box snack crackers
30 oz tropical trail mix (special helper item for the month)
1 bag natural veggie stix snacks
1 bag Fritos
1 pkg whole wheat english muffins
6 sesame hoagie rolls
26 oz strained tomatoes
6 sodas
10 doughnuts
1 box Tuxedo crackers
plum pudding
1 can organic cream of celery soup
1 carton Second Nature eggs (mostly whites)

I'll be going to Safeway tonight for WIC things and a few other items. One thing I was really pleased about is that our natural gas bill was about $10 lower this month just from using the new water faucet attachments and taking 5-minute showers. Our electric bill was still up there higher than I would like, but once I figure out the line-drying situation, it should go down by quite a bit.

Tuesday's Tasties
B: Cinnamon Raisin Oatmeal
L: Veggies with ranch dip, crackers, grapes, and cottage cheese.
D: Chicken vegetable soup with cheese breadsticks from the freezer. The soup turned out really good.

Chicken & Cabbage Soup
1/2 lb cooked, shredded chicken (from freezer)
1 small head purple cabbage, chopped
4 small summer squash, sliced
2 cups frozen carrot & green bean mix
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1 med onion, diced
1 can organic diced tomatoes, undrained
3 red potatoes, diced
5-6 tsp better than bouillon chicken base
7 cups water
1/2 tsp celery salt
1/2 tsp dill weed
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp dried parsley

I threw it all in the pot together and simmered it for about 45 minutes to an hour.

Wolf-it-Down Wednesday
B: Scrambled eggs, sliced oranges, and whole wheat english muffins with butter and honey. When the girls finished their food, we shared some maple bars.
L: Leftover soup with buttered whole wheat flatbread.
D: Ham and baked potato soup topped with cheese and sour cream.

Keys to a Clean & Orderly Kitchen

2011-03-07T07:09:00.000-08:00

I'm guest-posting about keeping an orderly kitchen today over at Michele's blog, Frugal Granola. Hop on over there and check it out. And you might try browsing some of her posts while you're at it :0). Thanks, Michele!

Gleaner's trip and William's room

2011-03-04T08:20:00.000-08:00

I ended up going to Gleaner's on Wednesday this week since I was just wiped out on Monday. I've just been really tired, so hopefully I can get through my one-credit class this weekend. I'll be volunteering at Gleaner's this afternoon from 3-5, then heading right to class from 6-8:50. Then tomorrow I'll have class again from 9-5. Next week looks to be quite busy as well, so I'm hoping to get at least a bit of rest in there this weekend.

Gleaner's Trip
banana cake for the freezer
1 pkg oatmeal raisin cookies
1 pkg raspberry milano cookies
2 individual bags Doritos
8 sodas
1 bag pirate's booty snack
1 box herb Wheat Thins flatbread crackers
1 lb grape tomatoes
1 lb strawberries
2 lbs red grapes
2 green peppers
3 kohlrabi
1 bag mashed potatoes
2 romaine hearts
1/2 lb sugar snap peas
4 ripe bananas for making bread
6 cheese breadsticks
1 loaf sesame french bread
1 pkg whole wheat bagels
a few frozen chicken breasts
1 pkg tortillas
16 oz sour cream
1 pkg mashed sweet potatoes
1 jar duck sauce
26 oz strained tomatoes
1 asian noodle bowl
1 pkg honey butter cornbread mix
1 can mandarin oranges
1 pair pants for William

My mom came over the other day and brought some things to decorate the kids' rooms. I had a few jungle themed items for William's room, including his crib set, a mobile, a throw pillow (also from mom), and a fleece blanket. Mom brought over some things to hang on the walls and another throw pillow, so I finished decorating. I think it turned out really cute, and the only thing I paid for was the crib set that I bought when I was pregnant!

Here is the view looking directly into his room. I put some of his jungle animals on the shelf mom brought. Under the shelf is a monkey picture frame that I'll put a baby picture in. On the dresser are two baskets-one for his bibs and one for his burp cloths-and a soft book that was made in Africa.

On the right hand wall is his toy chest along with two of the pictures that mom found at a local thrift store. They still had the tags from Target on the back. What a find!

Here is his crib. I had the bedding set custom made by a work-at-home mom I found online. I love it! The quilt is double-sided with a different design on either side. His name is embroidered on the front. The mobile I got on clearance at Babies R Us when I returned a duplicate set of onesies after my baby shower. Mom got William the green pillow for Christmas and found the lion pillow at the thrift store where she got the shelf and the pictures.

Here is his crib from the side, with the other two pictures mom brought.

The fleece blanket on the glider was one that my sister-in-law had for her son and the funny thing is that it is the same exact print that is on his bedding set. It couldn't have been more perfect. The boppy cover I got from my sister, and it just so happens that it matches the blue in the blanket quite well. Don't mind that corner over there ;). There are still a few boxes to sort through from the move. Those are mostly things we need to sell or donate.
Finally, here is the inside of his closet. In the bins are clothes and shoes he is waiting to grow into and on the top shelf are extra blankets and sheets. Our luggage is on the far side of the closet, along with a few more things I'm planning on selling. One of my upcoming projects will be to make actual labels for all the bins that we have. Right now I'm just writing the contents on some duct tape.

So, that is William's room. I'll post some pictures of the girls' room soon, too

Longing for Spring!

2011-03-02T10:01:00.000-08:00

March is here and Spring is so close I can't stand it. Spring means Summer is on the way, which means sun and playing outside! The rain and gray skies around here can get to me after a while. I think the kids and I are all ready for some days outside. In thinking about Spring and Summer, there are some things I need (and/or want) to do to get ready.

First of all, I want to get some yard toys for the kids to play with. Dorothy was quick to notice the empty yard when we moved in, so I told her we'd bring over some toys from Grandma's house and maybe try to find some things at a yard sale as the weather gets nicer.

Secondly, I'd like to get an affordable BBQ or grill and some patio furniture. I'm thinking chicken and veggie kabobs on the grill are sounding really good! I'd love to be able to sit outside and enjoy our little back yard this summer.

Third, I want to set up a good sized clothes line to dry on, especially since my indoor rack is broken now. I'm thinking that as long as it's not raining, I can hang the clothes and diapers outside and they'll dry faster. I might just have to read the weather reports more often so I can plan for the (few) dry days we get. I'm still planning on doing some drying indoors once I find a good, durable solution.

Lastly, I am really excited to start reading up on gardening. I want to grow as many veggies as I can, but I've never done it on my own before. I'll be using some containers and possibly a raised bed if the landlords will allow one out front. I'm hoping to start the seeds indoors and transfer them when the time is right. Which, of course, I don't know when that is, so I'll have to learn about that, too. This is something that I want to get the kids involved in, too. They'll really enjoy watching the sprouts grow and change, and I'm sure getting dirty in the mud will be right up Charlotte's alley.

March is our third month using a budget. We should be getting our taxes done soon, with which we hope to get the credit card paid off so we can start working on the car loan. With the rest of it, we are pitching in for a much-needed weekend beach trip in Sept/Oct with David's entire immediate family... his parents, his two brothers, his sister and her husband, their two kids, plus David and I and our three kids. It will be a full house! If there is anything left to work with, I'm wanting to get some stuff to start the garden as well as a grain mill for grinding our own grain for baking. Yum!

For today, I am working on housework. I'm also finishing up decorating the kids' rooms. My mom found some really cute pictures and shelves for both rooms and I can't wait to get them up. William's room will be a real jungle scene when it's done. When David gets home, I'm going to Gleaner's since I was too wiped out to go on Monday. As soon as I get home from that, we're heading out to small group at church. Long, busy day for sure.

Tuesday's Tasties
B: Cereal and peanut butter toast.
L: Chinese noodle stir fry.
D: My mom brought over some rye bread yesterday, so David ran to the store to get some fixins for reuben sandwiches. He even fixed them up for us. What a guy! They tasted great.

Wolf-it-Down Wednesday
B: Cereal, oranges, and peaches.
L: Reuben sandwiches again!
D: I pulled some spanish rice out of the freezer and I'll make some guacamole to go with chips on the side.

It sure is Monday around here.

2011-02-28T12:45:00.000-08:00

I think we all have a case of the "Mondays" today. William is cutting his first teeth, Dorothy is in fine form with fit-throwing, my indoor drying rack broke, and I've just been having an emotional few days. Church was good this weekend, though, and it was my week for singing on the worship team, which is always a good way to bring things back into focus. In fact, in the sermon yesterday, I was really struck when he spoke about the serenity prayer at one point. We can't waste our energy trying to change things we cannot, and we need the wisdom to see what those things are. All we can do is what we know to be right... what others choose to do is beyond our control. I do my best to be a loving, open, and supportive person, but how others respond to that is not my responsibility. I've also been really convicted lately about how I speak to my husband and children when I get stressed out. It's too easy to fall into being irritable, but it only serves to make things more stressful. This is something I really need to work on. I find that when I try to use a calm, soft voice with my children, they calm in return. Imagine that!

Speaking of children, David was watching all 3 of them while I was singing yesterday morning, and at one point he couldn't find the girls. Where were they?

Silly girls in their laundry hamper :)

I guess that was worth some hugs and giggles.

When we got home from church yesterday, we ate lunch and relaxed a bit before David cleaned the kitchen. I love him so much! And it was a great motivation to make him some chocolate chip cookies. Of course, we all enjoyed them.

Sunday's Sustenance
B: Cereal & leftover oven pancakes.
L: Spaghetti & green beans.
D: Hummus platters
Monday's Munchies
B: Multigrain Cheerios & apple juice.
L: Spaghetti
D: Stir fry (or perhaps something else, since I'm planning on going to Gleaner's this afternoon).

Play Dough Success!

2011-02-26T08:35:00.000-08:00

Instead of tackling the laundry right away when Charlotte laid down for her nap yesterday, Dorothy and I decided to make some play dough together. Their play dough from more than a year ago was finally too stiff to play with, so I wanted to take a crack at making my own. I remember my mom making it when I was little, and I always thought it was great fun.

~~~
I got this particular recipe from The Complete Tightwad Gazette.

Play Dough
3 C flour
1 1/2 C salt
6 tsp cream of tartar
3 C cool water
3 Tbsp oil
food coloring

Mix dry ingredients in a big cooking pot. Blend liquids in a bowl. Combine with dry ingredients and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly. Remove from heat when dough pulls away from the sides of the pot and can be pinched without sticking (usually about 5 minutes). Turn onto board or counter & knead until smooth and play dough consistency. Store in an airtight container.
~~~

Dorothy got a chair and stood by the stove playing with the old play dough as I stirred the new batch. Man, that took some elbow grease to stir at the end of the 5 minute cooking time! I was not expecting such a workout!! In all, it only took about 20 minutes to cook the dough and knead in all the different colors. I separated it out into 5 sections and dropped the food coloring onto the top of each flattened dough-ball before kneading it in. I was able to fill up all 5 containers...

...and then some! Dorothy is still happily playing with the extra dough that wouldn't fit in the containers we have. One batch will easily fill 6-7 regular-sized play dough containers.

She wanted to make sure I showed you her pretty designs, too :)

Here is the small tote we keep it all in.

5 containers and plenty of accessories fit in there. It's simple, and the kids will play happily for long periods of time.

I just have to watch Charlotte, as she likes to eat things...

Saturday's Spreads
B: Oven "Puff Pancake" and smoothies.
L: Leftovers from last night's dinner.
D: Chinese stir fry with chinese-style noodles and stir fry mix from freezer.

First snow day of 2011!

2011-02-25T10:09:00.000-08:00

We finally got some snow yesterday. It was only an inch or two, but for us snow-deprived Portlanders, it was nice to see even a little bit. The girls went outside to play twice. They both thought it was Christmas when they looked out the window in the morning.

Charlotte was so excited that she suited up before she even ate her breakfast!

Even William got bundled up and enjoyed his first snow. He seemed a bit confused about those little white things that were falling from the sky.

After a nice afternoon of playing in the snow, my evening spanish class was canceled, so the girls and I had time to play with potato heads before their bath. It was fun listening to them giggle when I put silly parts on the potato head, and they were happy to help me create our masterpiece.

On the agenda for today:
*File some of the papers I sorted the other day.
*Make some playdough for the girls.
*Sort through another box of books.
*Fold and put away a huge pile of laundry. It takes a bit more planning with line drying to keep a good rotation going, but so far it's working alright. I moved the drying rack into William's room, which is the warmest room in the house. Things dry within a day, which isn't too bad.
*Make a big ol' pan of lasagna.
*Relax with David tonight, and maybe try to play some games together.

Thursday's Tidbits
B: Granola with honey greek yogurt.
L: Bean & turkey burritos with sour cream & guacamole. Applesauce.
D: Clam chowder with cheese toast. Brownies for dessert.

Friday's Feasts
B: Oatmeal and apple juice
L: Grilled cheese sandwiches, mixed veggies, and mango.
D: Beef & veggie lasagna (I'm going to use spinach and summer squash, plus the rest of the mushrooms) and garlic toast.

My attempt at indoor line-drying...

2011-02-23T14:56:00.000-08:00

Today has been a pretty low-key day here at home. Since my homework is done for the week, I've been able to focus more on things around the house. Yesterday I tackled the filing cabinet, and while I still have a box of papers to file and a box of papers to shred, I made HUGE progress in a few hours. A couple more hours and it should be completely done, aside from putting our medical insurance info. in order. What with the pregnancy, I had two surgeries, a 7-week hospital stay, weekly appointments, childbirth, another surgery, and multiple doctor visits for the kids (since they were in day care throughout the fall, we were sick all the time!). That will be a longer project to get organized, but it's at least all in the same folder in the filing cabinet now. Today's project has been figuring out how to effectively line-dry inside.

I actually started with a load of diapers on the drying rack by a heater vent in the living room night before last. After a day and a half, the all-in-ones were still not dry, whereas the flats were dry within a few hours. I have been using flats as inserts in our Flip covers since yesterday, so our all-in-ones will be saved for daddy or outing use. That way they will last longer and diapers will be dry faster, too :).

So, here is what I figured out for the rest of the laundry. I am utilizing the collapsible drying rack I have, plus the shower curtain rod with plastic hangers and wooden clothespins. I'm curious to see how fast things will get dry, especially since the heater vent doesn't really work in the bathroom.

Here's what the setup looks like in our small bathroom (the toilet and the sink are to the left of the laundry, and the washer and dryer are in alcoves on either side of where I am standing):
To save on space, I decided to pin one corner of each napkin, washcloth, and burp cloth, lining them up along a hanger (I also pinned some of the kids' clothes up like this as well).

The bibs I just fastened along the bottom of one hanger (yes~William goes through a lot of bibs since he's a big spitter).
I think this setup will work for a while, but I'd like to figure something else out eventually. It's going to have to remain indoors due to the amount of rain we get around here, but still be relatively out of our way.

Wolf-it-down Wednesday
B: Homemade granola and chocolate chip banana muffins.
L: Organic tortilla chips with salsa and "rockamole," as Dorothy calls it. The kids had shepherd's pie and David had the rest of the BBQ chicken pizza.
D: Clam chowder, toast, and veggies.

Last shopping trip for February

2011-02-22T09:58:00.000-08:00

Yesterday morning I got to take a nice, hot bath while David watched the kids. I was able to lay in the tub sipping coffee. I had time to shave my legs, use some shea body butter, and clip and paint my nails. It was really relaxing with the lights off and candles lit, too.

Yesterday was also my last money-spending shopping trip for February (still have a couple of WIC checks), and I am happy to say that there is $89 left in our grocery/household envelope!
Here's what we got yesterday:

Gleaner's
1 bag caesar salad
1 cheese pizza
1 jar beef baby food
2 lbs grape tomatoes
1/2 lb brussel sprouts
1 bag avocados
4 small summer squash
1 mango
lots of bananas!
1 pan freezer brownies
1 lg bag clam chowder
12 individual plain yogurts (I want to use some to make our own yogurt with WIC milk)
3 individual vanilla yogurts (going to the freezer for frozen yogurt)
2 6-packs unsweetened applesauce
1 box natural hummus mix
1 pkg sourdough english muffins
1 pkg whole wheat sandwich flatbread
16 oz organic cottage cheese
32 oz Tillamook sour cream
5 oz shaved asiago cheese
5 oz shredded romano cheese
1 container artichoke & jalepeno dip
16 oz dairy creamer
1 ziplock of cooked, shredded pork (going to the freezer for later use)
1 bag frozen cooked wheat berries
10 whole grain tortillas
1 can organic soy beans
4 oz contact solution
1 bag shredded coconut
1 box Triscuit thins
1 box chinese style noodles
1 jar Better Than Bouillon veg. base
5 cans soda
3 individual bags Pirate's Booty snack
1 bag all natural ginger snaps
reusable lunch bag for hubby
some clothes for William and Charlotte

WIC
3 gal. 1% milk
1 bag frozen cherries
1 bag frozen peaches
1 lb cheddar cheese

Safeway Purchase
cilantro $0.69
brown sugar $1.79
1 canister oats $3.32
1 bag yellow cornmeal $5.12
1 bag raisins $4.49
Total $15.41

I forgot to factor in David's store trip for Valentine's Day when I was adding up totals the other day. That trip was $21.74 in addition to the $121.55 total I originally posted. So, all things combined, we spent an out of pocket total of $158.70 on groceries and household items in February. I also cashed in $2 worth of soda cans to add to the piggy bank. I am planning on starting a separate money market account that I'll deposit the can money and change from cash purchases into. That will sure beat the piggy bank since it will accumulate interest :). Even though it's only a few dollars, it should add up to more that I'm expecting over time. Every bit counts!

When I was on my way to Gleaner's, I decided to stop by Target for some meduim sized glass jars. They were out of the large canisters (I'll be needing at least 5 of those), but I got 4 medium ones with my gift card $ and I still have just over $16 left in gift card $, with which I hope to get some larger containers for my grains and flours. It may not cover all of the cost, but my mom gave me $10 extra for the phone bill this month (she's on our plan) and I'm adding that to my misc. fund that I'll purchase some household items with. I also found another advantage to using cash envelopes... you can save on gas! Several gas stations have a lower price for gas when you purchase with cash. I got gas at the cheapest station I passed for $3.25/gal instead of $3.33. Even the Space Age station I passed before that (they're usually one of the lowest price-wise) was $3.35/gal. You can bet I was happy to be using cash when I bought that gas. I tend to buy in $20 increments and try to drive as little as possible. Any gas money that rolls over into the next month(s) will be used for vacation gas or as additional car maintenance $. So far, this has been working well. One thing we need to change is our electricity use. Our bill was $11 more than I budgeted for this time. I plan on trying to use more natural light during the day and line dry more clothing/diapers whenever possible.

Monday's Munchies
B: Leftover egg scramble and some cornmeal pancakes with molasses.

The girls ate them right down!

L: Shepherd's pie from the freezer.
D: Caesar salad and cheese pizza with the last of the BBQ chicken and some mushrooms, tomatoes, and english cheddar.

Tuesday's Tasties
B: Leftover cornmeal pancakes and bananas.
L: Caesar salad and cheese-toast.
D: Homemade salsa and guacamole to go with black bean and turkey (from freezer) soft tacos on whole grain tortillas. I'll be using grape tomatoes for everything :).

Winco Trip and the Weekend

2011-02-20T17:44:00.001-08:00

I've been studying and doing homework all day today since we got home from church. David took the kids so I could have a quiet house. I was able to get all of my homework for the week done today so we can spend the day relaxing and having fun tomorrow (he's off for President's Day!). I need a day to relax, too, so tomorrow should be really nice. I may even get to go to Gleaner's early in the day so dinner won't end up being a rush tomorrow night. Who knows, maybe I'll even take a bath and paint my toenails.

So, on Friday afternoon, I took a quick trip to our local Winco. Their prices are really good and they have a huge bulk section, too. Although I didn't get anything out of their bulk section other than some chocolate chips this time, I now have a much better idea of what I'll be stocking up on when I go there... flours, grains, spices, raisins, nuts, and dried cranberries being some of them.

Here was my tally for Friday's trip:
1 bunch celery $2.07
5 lbs red potatoes $1.98
1 pks sliced mushrooms $1.48
3 lbs onions $1.48
2 lbs carrots $0.88
1.12 lbs chocolate chips $2.32
1 box Tillamook butter $2.28
18 ct. eggs $2.13
1 tub Honey Greek Yogurt $2.50
1 pkg C batteries $3.68
1 pkg. AA batteries $3.68
12 1-pint canning jars for storing baking goods $8.72
Total $33.20

Adding this up with the totals from earlier in the month, our total out of pocket so far for February is $121.55. There is $106 remaining in my envelope (some of that was leftover from last month's budget), but we're coming closer to the end of the month, so we're doing good! I still need some larger canning jars and glass cannisters for the rest of my baking goods and dried beans/peas, but I'm not sure if I'll get those this month or not.

Saturday's Spreads
B: Oatmeal
Snack: I made some ranger cookies just because.

L: BBQ chicken salad pitas (BBQ chicken, onion, celery, and mayo) and butternut squash soup.

D: Not fancy! We had some triscuits with soft blue cheese, leftover whole wheat cornbread, and Top Ramen (I know! So not healthy!). The girls jumped up and down when we told them they could eat pb&j sandwiches (on whole grain bread).

Sunday's Sustenance
B: Homemade granola (Oats, almonds, sunflower seeds, coconut, raisins, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Sweetened with honey and brown sugar) with honey greek yogurt.

L: Egg scramble with onions, potatoes, spinach, tomatoes, and mushrooms. Topped with some hot sauce and sour cream. Yummo!

D: It's fend for yourself night again, much like last night :). David and the kids are eating at the in-laws' house and I'm making myself a BBQ chicken salad... a spinach salad with tomatoes, mushrooms, and sunflower seeds.

A New Direction

2011-02-18T10:12:00.000-08:00

I'm looking forward to the weekend and getting a bit of a break. You know, I've been thinking and praying a lot about what the right direction is regarding school--for both myself and my children. I've felt stretched really thin between classes and housework and family. To be honest, I was completely burned out before this term started. The past year has been really tough. I was right in the middle of my anatomy and physiology sequence when I found out I was pregnant with William. Last winter term is when things got really crazy. I was pregnant, morning sick, and going to classes full time. David was working out of town for weeks at a time and as a result of not being able to take it easy, I had to get my cerclage re-done. That made two surgeries in one term of full-time classes! Two weeks into spring term, the girls were in the middle of a bout of pneumonia when David had to leave for yet another week out of town. I was in the hospital with a second failed cerclage by the end of that week, where I remained for 7 1/2 weeks. While I was in the hospital, David and the kids moved into my parents' home, but most of the unpacking waited for me due to the fact that David was still working full time, visiting me at the hospital, and caring for the kids. Thank God for my parents. We would not have made it without them. After that, I came home on bedrest for a few more weeks and then unpacked the house, finishing right before William came. When he was born, I got my tubes tied since it was advised that I not try for another baby; it would be too difficult to make it full term again. Right around the time I was starting to feel physically better from that, I started classes again. It was just too soon with him being only 6 weeks old and just recovered from childbirth and surgery. I'm thankful that I made it through that term, but it was too much on my family and my sanity. Something had to give.

At the end of Winter term, we moved into our new rental home and now we're settled into our own place again. It definitely feels like home now. To cut down on the stress level and help out our finances, this term I have cut way back on my course load, taking only a Spanish class (that is mostly online) and two one-credit weekend classes. But it still feels like it's too much to keep up with. Weekends should be spent with my family, not trying to get homework done and studying for the next test. I want to keep serving on the worship team at church as well, but I am only one person doing too many things. I need to take care of myself if I am going to be a good mommy... and our marriage needs to be a priority as well. We've decided to be coached by a couple at church using the Marriage Team materials. We'll meet once a week for 8-10 weeks and the church is helping out by paying half of the $160 course fee. I think it will be a really good tool to get us back on track after all the stress. We're also feeling like it's a good idea for me to stay home with the kids from now on. It's not worth being away from my family and going into debt with daycare costs. I'll try to make some money from home as I can get freelance writing experience. But for the most part, I will hopefully use my doula training to get that business built up when William is a bit older and we're able to find a reliable on-call babysitter. Staying home should be a good move that will help me get a much needed break. I say "break" loosely, simply because we all know that staying home with 3 small children is no easy task! In addition, I am considering homeschooling the kids, so any advice in that area is always welcome.

So, that's where we're at as a family. In a month, I will (most likely) not be taking classes any more as I focus on my God, my home, and my family. This will also give me more time to figure out ways to be more frugal and natural so we can pay off debt and live a more healthy lifestyle. I'll talk more about some of my goals with that as things progress.

Thursday's Tidbits
B: Eggs and toast.
L: Broiled whole wheat bread topped with spinach dip and swiss cheese. Sliced oranges on the side.
D: Whole wheat buttermilk chocolate chip banana pancakes and spinach/fruit smoothies.

Friday's Feasts
B: Yay for leftover pancakes and milk!
L: Chili with cheese, sour cream, and organic blue corn tortilla chips. Applesauce on the side.
D: Butternut squash soup, chicken, spinach salad, and whole wheat honey cornbread muffins.

I've fallen in love with this whole wheat pancake recipe and have played around with it some (making additions, adjusting amounts) to make it even more tasty. I'm currently trying to figure out how to tweak it to add cornmeal since I love me some cornmeal pancakes with molasses. Anyway, we made these for dinner last night and the kids were still asking for them this morning. Dorothy actually giggled when she saw the chocolate chips in them. I don't have to tell her that they're healthy other than the sprinkle of chocolate chips ;). This makes a lot of pancakes, so you will have leftovers unless you have a large family.

Whole Wheat Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes
3 c. whole wheat flour
3 tbsp honey
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
3 c. buttermilk or plain yogurt (I make my own buttermilk with 1 tbsp lemon juice per 1 c. milk and letting it sit for 10 min)
2 tbsp oil or melted butter
3 lg eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 c. chocolate chips
1 lg banana, chopped

Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, mix buttermilk, eggs, and oil. Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients with a wire whisk until smooth. Add vanilla, chocolate chips, and banana and mix until combined. Spoon 1/4-1/3 c. batter onto greased or nonstick griddle (about 365 degrees). Pancakes are ready to turn when bubbles form on the top and edges appear cooked. Serve with butter and maple syrup. (I put honey on mine and it was really good that way, too).
This has been linked to The Grocery Cart Challenge

It's Laundry Time

2011-02-16T15:23:00.000-08:00

I generally get around to folding laundry about once a week here. I have good intentions of folding each load as it comes out, but that doesn't often happen with life being so busy. So, when it fills the laundry baskets and then some, I know we need to get down to business. When Charlotte laid down for nap today, Dorothy was excited to help me with folding. I brought it all out to the middle of the living room, took the pillows and blankets off the couch, and started in. Well, right after we jumped on the laundry a few times....

William supervised quite well.

It took all of Charlotte's nap time between sorting, folding, and stopping to change and feed William, but we did it! Here is the big pile all folded and ready to be put away:

"Good job, mama! Now can I have some more milk? Can you see me wasting away? I need to maintain my figure."

Wolf it Down Wednesday
B: Cinnamon raisin english muffins with peanut butter and raspberry jam.
L: David took the leftover flatbread pizza, the girls had grilled cheese on whole wheat and fruit salad, and I had french bread with spinach dip and swiss cheese.
D: Leftover beef fajitas. Yum!

This week's Gleaner's trip and some tasty fajitas

2011-02-15T10:15:00.000-08:00

I made it to Gleaner's yesterday and went to Safeway for WIC items on the way home. Here is what we're working with for this week:

Gleaner's
1 loaf whole wheat bread
1 loaf sweet dark whole grain bread
6 diet sodas
4 natural sierra mist
2 lemonades
1 jar chicken baby food
1 deodorant
4 rolls TP
3 rolls paper towels
6 glazed doughnuts
1 pkg cinnamon raisin english muffins
1 red bell pepper
1 lb strawberries
1 lg purple onions
1 can water chestnuts
1 box melba toast
2 6-packs unsweetened applesauce
1 box fruit snacks (treats for potty training)
4 small bags fritos
1 bottle almond coffee syrup
1 box breaded chicken pieces
1 box blueberry waffles
3 chicken breasts
1 box bread sticks
1 mango
1 handful mushrooms
1 sandwich ziplock of beef
10 oz whole milk cheese
7 oz english cheddar
1 lg bag butternut squash soup
1 lg bag tapioca pudding
16 oz spinach dip
1 pkg whole wheat flatbread

WIC
2 gal 1% milk
1 lb cheddar
1 doz eggs
1 jar pb
16 oz corn tortillas
3 boxes instant regular oatmeal
1 frozen apple juice
1 frozen grape juice
1 can pink salmon
3 cans tuna fish
1 lb cooking/salad spinach
3 lg naval oranges
3 avocados
2.5 lbs bananas

Tuesday's Tasties
B: Blueberry waffles, eggs, and apple juice.
L: Flatbread pizza topped with tomato paste, herbed mozzarella, swiss cheese, spinach, and tomatoes.
D: Fajitas (with the bag of cooked beef, the corn tortillas, and some sour cream left from last week's trip), fruit salad, and tapioca pudding.
For some tasty fajitas, chop and cook your choice of beef or chicken (about 1/2 lb should be enough). Slice and saute 1 red onion, 2 bell peppers (any color), and a handful of mushrooms (I did 6 good sized ones) in some olive oil. I also decided to throw in the remainder of my fresh green beans and it did not disappoint. Add the meat to the veggies once tender and season to taste with taco seasoning. Spoon into warmed corn or flour tortillas and top with sour cream.

The fruit salad turned out good, too. I sliced up a bunch of strawberries, a mango, and a banana. For the dressing, I tossed the fruit with just under a tablespoon of mayo and about a teaspoon or so of honey. I didn't really measure it, but it tasted awesome. My grandmother used to make a fruit/jello salad on holidays that we all loved and the dressing was made with mayo, milk, and honey. I figured it was worth a try with any fruit salad and it worked great!

Happy Valentine's Day

2011-02-14T12:48:00.001-08:00

The girls and I worked on a Valentine's Day card for Grandma this morning. Dorothy was drawing her initials on some hearts for her and Grandma. She was really excited to pick out the pretty striped paper, and loved signing her name on the card.

Charlotte was even learning how to use her scissors!

Even William helped by holding somewhat still while I traced his hand on the back.

See, Mama, aren't I helpful?

I sure do love my babies <3

As for plans later today, if we have the time, I want to make some heart-shaped sugar cookies with the kids. I also need to go to Gleaner's and Safeway after David gets home from work. After the kids go to bed tonight, I have a few loads of laundry to fold and some spanish homework to get done online.

Monday's Munchies
B: Cold cereal and juice.
L: David and I had leftovers from last night and the girls had mozzarella bread sticks, peas, and applesauce.
D: Leftover Chicken soup and french bread.

An Early Valentine's Day Dinner

2011-02-13T20:06:00.000-08:00

We've had a good weekend. Friday evening and Saturday during the day I took a one credit stress management class and I loved it. It really forced me to relax and look at how I have so not been taking care of myself correctly. It's not that I haven't been wanting to relax for quite some time, but when it's homework, it's easier to make things happen. Sometimes life just gets in the way, but I really need to take care of myself better so that I have more to give the people around me (especially my family). So, for my "self-care" assignment on Saturday morning, I went to Target (which was practically empty at 9 am) and got a coffee at Starbucks with a gift card from my birthday. I also had some Target gift cards, so I shopped around and picked up some scrapbook paper to put on the walls of the girls' dollhouse, as well as some stickers for them for Valentine's day and some cups for the bathroom. When I was done shopping I went to school. I found a lonely armchair in a corner looking out a window and read my book while I drank coffee and ate my blueberry scone. Class was good, too. We even did a progressive relaxation exercise and some deep breathing (shhh, don't tell, but I may have even started falling asleep).

We ended up going to the later church service this morning since I was exhausted and David let me sleep in a little bit (yeah for some more "self-care"). I needed that, and it felt amazing what with William being sir fuss-n-nurse-lot at night (not to mention the 4-yr-old that still wakes up repeatedly). In fact, it was so amazing that I felt enough energy to whip up the Valentine's Day dinner I was planning for this afternoon. We got a babysitter for the girls and William hung out in the kitchen with me and watched me cook. He was impressed. David went to the store for a quick trip and a couple of things for the meal while I started on dinner. He spent just under $22 for:
1 lg. container coffee
1 small jug white vinegar
1 lb swiss cheese
1 loaf french bread
1 bottle merlot
a smoochy Valentine's Day card for me (aww!)
Of course, not everything was for dinner, so it was definitely not too bad of a total for a date night, and we have enough left over for both of us to have lunch tomorrow, plus almost a whole loaf of french bread and more than half a block of swiss cheese!

So, with the stuff we had on hand plus what he picked up, I created a romantic date at home:
Our favorite part of the meal had to be the french onion soup (topped with french bread and swiss cheese) that was finished off under the broiler. The cheese was toasted brown on the top and the onions just melted in our mouths....
For the main meal, I prepared fried chicken, sauteed veggies, and home fries...
Then came dessert: whole wheat chocolate chip pan cookies drizzled with chocolate syrup, which required a nice, cold glass of milk...
After dinner, we watched a romantic comedy while we cuddled on the couch. It was perfect.

Oh, and our menu for the rest of the weekend was tasty, too:

Saturday's Spreads
B: Eggs, toast, and apple juice.
L: Leftover wheat bread and chicken soup.
D: Baked potato soup, wheat toast, and sauteed spinach.

Sunday's Sustenance
B: Peanut butter oatmeal and milk.
L: Leftover potato soup and wheat toast.
D: See above!

Easy chicken broth, chicken soup, and fried plantains.

2011-02-11T12:32:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I threw that package of chicken thighs in my stock pot and let them boil/simmer for an hour or two. Prior to boiling, I filled it to the top with water and added 1/2 an onion, salt, pepper, garlic powder, two stalks of celery, and 1/2 a large carrot, leaving them whole. When it was done simmering, I lifted out the handy straining pot with the chicken in it and let it drain before putting the thighs in a container for the fridge. I also put the broth through a colander and put it in containers in the fridge (to let the fat rise to the top). I used 3 thighs for last night's stir fry, but the rest of them I de-boned today and portioned out into meal-sized packages. I ended up with enough for 5 more meals. After packaging the chicken, I got out the broth, skimmed the fat off the top, and put it in some containers for the freezer, leaving out enough for a good batch of soup tonight (for which I will also be using one package of the chicken). For less than $6, you can't beat 6 meals of meat and a good supply of tasty chicken broth.

Friday's Feasts
B: Peanut butter and honey on wheat toast, fried eggs, and apple juice.
L: Chicken and brown rice stir fry leftovers.
D: Chicken, veggie, and brown rice soup with homemade wheat bread.... chicken soup recipe to follow, but baby is needing attention and I've got to put the bread in the breadmaker :).
The chicken soup turned out lovely.

Here's the recipe:

Becci's Kickin' Chicken Soup
1 med onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 med carrots, peeled and sliced
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 lg potato, peeled and cubed
1 can diced tomatoes, undrained
1-2 C. cooked, chopped chicken
1/2 C. brown rice
1.5 quarts (6 C) chicken broth
1 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp lemon pepper
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp curry powder
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
sprinkle of ginger
sprinkle of chili powder
A lotta love

Sautee veggies in pan with olive oil until onions are tender. Add remaining ingredients and bring to boil, then turn to low and simmer for a good hour or so until carrots and brown rice are cooked through. Serve with buttered rolls or bread. The chili powder and ginger are to taste.

*I forgot to mention that there were some plantains at Gleaner's. The skins were dark, and the instructions on the sticker said to cook them green (which I have done in the past). I found that I liked them even better dark since they had a sweeter flavor. They cooked up just as well.

Fried Plantains
Heat oil in a skillet. Slice plantains into pieces about 1/4-1/2 inch thick and fry for 3 minutes per side. Remove plantains and blot with paper towels, then flatten with a plate. Return slices to hot oil and fry until golden brown. Dry on paper towels and sprinkle with salt. I sprinkled them with cinnamon sugar in addition to the salt and I have to say it was the perfect addition. I am totally doing this again! They were soft on the inside and crunchy, sweet, and salty on the outside.

This post has been linked to The Grocery Cart Challenge

This week's grocery total

2011-02-10T09:42:00.000-08:00

Today has been rather successful in spite of my kids having a cry-fest for much of the morning. They're all needing extra love and cuddles today. But I am dressed, the bed is made, my kitchen is clean, 2 loads of laundry are ready to fold, a load of diapers is washed and in the dryer, and I'm getting ready to start lunch. Now, where did I put my patience, Lord?

So far, our grocery & household total spent for the month is $38.35 plus the $50 monthly dues to Gleaner's yesterday. We're 1/3 of the way through the month and have only spent $88.35 of the $200 maximum, but the $38.35 was actually from last month's budget, so we've really only spent just under $50 out of this month's budget.

Weekly Gleaner's Trip
1 loaf wheat bread
1 small container contact solution
16 oz sour cream
8 oz cottage cheese
1 pkg cheese-filled breadsticks
2 med/lg pkgs frozen veggies
1 frozen chicken burger (for David's lunch today)
small pkg herbed mozzarella cheese
small pkg spreadable cheese
2 bagels
1 box gingerbread mix
1 lg can chicken & hominy soup
1 cucumber
1 red bell pepper
1 bunch red chard
3 lg potatoes
8 cans diet Pepsi & 8 cans regular Pepsi (lunch drinks for David and I)
1 jar strawberry preserves
2 pkgs chicken/tomato bouillon
2 6-packs unsweetened applesauce
1 box soda crackers
2 bags tortilla strips
2 bags organic blue corn tortilla chips
6 bags tea
1 bag chili powder
1 box instant strawberry oatmeal
6 glazed doughnuts (treat with our coffee in the morning)
6 lg sheets paper (using for art to cover the mirror closet doors in the girls' room)
3 small bags Pirate's Booty & 2 small bags Fritos (David's snacks for work)
1 bag shredded coconut
4 rolls toilet paper
from the clothing area: 3 shirts and a jacket for myself! They're all really cute, too :)

Thursday's Tidbits
B: Eggs, toast, and frozen grapes (yum!)
L: I'll have another burger and some spinach and the girls will have the chicken & hominy soup with sour cream and organic blue tortilla chips with a side of applesauce.
D: Chicken & veggie stir fry with brown rice.

Oh how I love a clean kitchen...

2011-02-09T13:30:00.000-08:00

The past couple of days I have been trying to keep my kitchen and dining area spotless (inspired by the Flylady). It requires some effort, but I find that if I clean up while I cook and clear the table right after a meal, it gets less overwhelming. Even 5 minutes speed-cleaning in the kitchen can go really far. My kitchen is so clean right now! Which is good because this afternoon I am heading to Gleaner's since I didn't get to go on Monday. I would also like to put all the chicken thighs in my big stock pot and make some chicken stock. I love doing that because then I can take the chicken and separate it into meal-sized portions for the freezer. Then it's ready for when I need to fix something with chicken and don't want it to take extra cooking time.

Today I also tackled my sewing and crocheting bins. I threw away the stuff that was trashed or that nobody would want and then organized everything. Now there are only a few more things to do in our closet before it's completely organized. One of my next projects will be staining the bookshelf in our room. It's still unfinished and I would like it to be the dark color of the rest of our bedroom set. I think it will really finish off the look. I would also like to figure out something to do with my school textbooks/notebooks. It seems a shame to get rid of some of the stuff after I put so much work into it, but I know that most of it will never be used again. That shelf should be for the books that we decide to keep around. So, what have you done with school stuff?

Wolf it Down Wednesday
B: "Spotted Pup" as my mom affectionately called it when we were growing up. I made rice to go with the tacos last night and had a bunch left over. So, I threw some in a pot with milk, butter, vanilla, sugar, cinnamon, and raisins, simmering until the rice and raisins were nice and soft.

L: David took a couple of tacos I put together after dinner last night. The girls had the rest of the top ramen stir fry and some sliced oranges. I fixed up a taco salad from the rest of the taco fillings and some crumbled tortilla chips. I make a habit of taking the tail end of each bag of chips and putting it into a container for taco salad or taco soup, that way they're already crumbled and we don't waste any chips.
D: Tonight we cooked up the burgers that were in the freezer from gleaner's a couple weeks ago. They were goooood. Topped with cheese, mayo, spicy mustard, avocado dip, tomato, spinach, pickles, and sauteed mushrooms (the other 1/2 of the can from Saturday) and onions on a toasted bun. Dorothy liked them so much she had seconds and told me I made the best dinner in the whole world. She also scarfed down the veggies. I had picked up a bunch of red chard at Gleaner's this afternoon and sauteed the chopped stems with some onions in olive oil. When those were tender, I added salt, garlic powder and some water, then steamed them until tender. My taste buds are still happy.

I'll update on my shopping trip tomorrow.

Who says you can't be productive in your jammies?

2011-02-08T10:24:00.000-08:00

Today might seem like a lazy day, since we're all still in jammies, but I'm actually getting some stuff done. The kitchen has been cleaned, dishwasher loaded, a load of diapers washed, breakfast made, several diapers changed, and I am currently working on browning some ground turkey for tonight's dinner. Later I will try to get the bulk of my Spanish homework done and maybe sort a box or two that still needs to be unpacked. Oh, and getting dressed might be good, too ;).

Tuesday's Tasties
B: David had oatmeal. The girls had the remaining pancakes as well as some bananas and applesauce. I ate two eggs, some toast, and a banana.
L: David took a dollar to get a sandwich, plus he'll have fruit (they keep fruit at the office for people to snack on). The girls and I will have tuna melts. I'm also going to steam some peas.

D: Soft Tacos. We're using our whole grain tortillas. In the crockpot, I'll cook some black beans with the ground turkey I browned up this morning. This evening, I'll quickly simmer the meat/bean mix with some costco taco seasoning. That stuff is tasty, and a big container of it lasts us a long time! I'll use some salsa fresco I got free with a coupon from Safeway, plus some cheese, tomato, and spinach. We'll top them with sour cream. Yummo!

Budget wise, David's family ended up helping out with dinner last night so we didn't have to dip into our grocery money. I am also only 7 Swagbucks away from another $5 Amazon gift card toward Christmas, which I should be able to get today (plus a bit). Yeah!

Small Grocery Trip Tally

2011-02-07T14:27:00.000-08:00

This morning my mom came over to watch the kids while I took a quick trip to Safeway. Thanks, mom! In addition to my WIC checks, I had a few things on my list that we're running low on. Since my husband works for Safeway, we get an additional 10% off of the store brand products, which makes it a bit more affordable to shop there. I also think it's good to support my husband's business whenever I can. Generally, I try to stick to sale items and/or Safeway brand products. Here's what I picked up (linked to The Grocery Cart Challenge):

WIC Checks
2 Gallons 1% milk
1 lb cheddar cheese
1 lb great northern beans
2 dozen eggs
3 cans frozen apple juice
1 bunch bananas
3 roma tomatoes
1 bag yellow onions
36 oz brown rice
1 box quaker oat squares
1 box honey bunches of oats
1 jar peanut butter

Safeway purchases w/grocery budget cash
1 jug Safeway canola oil 2.69 (reg. 4.19)
1 40 oz jug Safeway honey 8.54 (reg. 9.49)
1 box Safeway facial tissue 1.43 (reg. 1.59)
1 jug Safeway dish gel 3.14 (reg. 3.49)
Safeway oxygen pro ("oxyclean") 3.14 (reg. 3.49)
Shout stain remover economy refill jug 6.99
1 lg bag Safeway frozen corn 1.79 (reg. 1.99)
1 lg bag Safeway frozen broccoli 1.79 (reg. 1.99)
1 box Lucerne butter 3.14 (reg. 3.49)
1 value package Safeway chicken thighs 5.60 (reg. 7.30)
total spent: $38.25

The cash I spent today was from last month's grocery/household budget due to the fact that I haven't been able to make it to the bank to make my cash withdrawal for the month. I had $52 remaining from my original $150. I always put our coins in a piggy bank along with pop can money, with which I'd like to start another savings account. The cash goes back in the envelope, so now I have $13 remaining. I will let additional cash build up for larger items like laundry soap or stocking up on good sale meats. So far, I feel like our budget is going really well!

Monday's Munchies
B: Pancakes from the rest of the mix that was in the cupboard. The girls also wanted some sliced oranges.
L: Top Ramen stir fry. I used about 1 C. of a huge bag of frozen stir fry veggies I got at Grocery Outlet for only a few dollars. I added 1/2 c. water and the oriental seasoning packet and simmered the veggies until they were pretty well cooked. Then I crushed the noodles and added them to the mix, stirring and cooking until tender. Lastly, I cracked two eggs into the pan and stirred until the egg was cooked thoroughly. It was enough to feed the girls and I with a bit left over and hardly cost anything to make!
D: David's aunt and uncle are in town for a few days and it looks like the family will be going out to eat tonight. I believe we're going to a Mexican restaurant, so it should be easy enough to keep things affordable. I don't know yet whether his parents will help out with the cost or if we'll pull it from the grocery budget. We'll likely bring snacks and water for the kids so their dinner will be light. Normally going out to eat will not be a part of our budget, but we want to be able to spend time with everyone, so we'll work it out somehow. Family first :).

Sleepy Sunday

2011-02-06T16:02:00.000-08:00

I've been trying to keep my eyes open all day yesterday and today because Sir William doesn't sleep well when he has a cold. Poor little bub...

Yesterday was really busy for me. We all spent the morning cleaning the house and then at noon Dorothy, William, and I headed to their cousin's 6th birthday party. When we got home from that, some of David's aunts and uncles stopped by to visit and meet William for a couple of hours. After dinner I headed back out to my sister-in-law's house with William so we could visit some more. It ended up being pretty late by the time I got home, but I arrived to a clean house and candles lit in the bedroom. Of course, then the smoke alarm went off and the girls woke up crying and saying "it's too loud!" David got it to stop, but it was still beeping intermittently, so he took it off the ceiling...

and put it in the garage...

But we could still hear it...

so we put it in the van.

Church was nice this morning, then we had a couple from church over for lunch. It was really fun, and we hope to start having more people over for meals. Here's what was on the menu for the weekend:

Saturday's Spreads
B: Peanut butter oatmeal and milk.
L: David made a cheese pizza for himself and Charlotte. He topped it with half a can of mushrooms and some sliced tomatoes. Dorothy and I had lunch at the birthday party.
D: David warmed up some baked potato soup I had in the freezer from a couple months ago. The girls ate the rest of the pizza and some applesauce. I had a sliced avocado, Triscuits, cheese, and sauteed snap peas with tomatoes.

Sunday's Sustenance
B: Oatmeal again :)
L: Since we were having company over, I wanted to make a nice meal. Before we left for church I threw some chicken breasts in the crock pot on the 4 hour setting with a homemade smoky barbecue sauce. When we got home, I made a spinach salad with tomatoes, avocado, and sunflower seeds. I also heated up a side of mashed sweet potatoes from Gleaner's and baked some drop biscuits from some Bisquick I still have on hand. When that runs out I will be making my own mixes (biscuit, cornbread, etc).
D: I think I'll defrost some sloppy lentils (like sloppy joes, only meatless) I made last month. I'll use buns and corn on the cob that I have in the freezer from Gleaner's.

Now, off to have some home popped popcorn and Pepsi for Superbowl Sunday....

Thankful for Friday!

2011-02-04T08:41:00.000-08:00

I didn't get around to writing yesterday since I was feeling under the weather and William cried most of the day. Both he and Charlotte seem to be getting a bit of a croupy cough. Such is life during the winter. It's definitely better since they've stopped going to day care, but being in the church nursery still gets them sometimes. Now that I'm home, though, it's not as stressful (other than less sleep for everyone). I'm thankful to be able to just be with them. William and Charlotte both ended up in our bed for the second part of the night... and to be honest, I love it. It's so sweet to wake up to Charlotte stroking my face saying "nose" or William snuffling around in search of milk. I feed him and kiss his soft little head often when he sleeps next to me, and I find that having him nurse frequently when he's getting croupy keeps him calm and his airways more relaxed, so we avoid the breathing treatments he had to get when he was 3 months old. They seem to be feeling pretty good this morning other than some stuffiness. I plan on doing basic housekeeping things today... wash a load of diapers, wash and fold some clothes, do dishes, and try to clean the bathroom. This afternoon I will be putting in my volunteer hours at Gleaner's for the month. I'm signed up to work the first Friday of each month from 3-5/5:15 in the child care area. David will keep our kids today, so there will be 3 fewer children ;).

On the topic of our budget, I have begun selling some books on cash4books.net. I sold some textbooks for $118 and am also selling 2 more to Powell's for $10, which is better than the $0 the college bookstore was offering me! I'm not quite sure where I will apply the cash we make from books yet. We're trying to pay off debt and build an emergency savings, so perhaps we should split the money between those two things so we can be closer to both our goals. We have very limited shelf space for books, and many boxes of books in the garage. We'll only be keeping the ones we know we'll be wanting around long-term (ones we'll be likely to use often). And those that we can't sell will likely be donated to Gleaner's. This is going to be quite a long process, but my goal is to get through one box of books a week until they've all been gone through.

I did manage to go through the art supplies yesterday. It didn't take long at all since most of it was in bins already. I just needed to add a couple of medium totes; one each for beads & string and magazines & clippings. In addition, I put the excess crayons & watercolors in a small tote. I moved all of the arts supplies to the coat closet shelf, but my painting things, canvases, and larger drawing pads are in under-the-bed totes in our room. I think it will work well that way. Soon I need to make a batch of homemade playdough for the girls since their playdough is pretty dry and hard to work with now. Once that is done, our craft area will be completed. I also need to organize our office supplies, which are going to go in a stand-alone shelf unit that is in the kitchen/dining area. It has a child-locked door and doubles as a counter for our toater and breadmaker. The art supplies used to live there, but I find them easier to access in their new location. I love getting things done!

Thursday's Tidbits
For our meals yesterday...
B: English muffins with peanut butter and honey, plus some kiwi fruit and grape juice from WIC.
L: Spanish rice with sour cream and plain yogurt with blueberries and a sprinkle of sugar for the girls. David took spanih rice as well. I had the rest of the au gratin potatoes and sauteed half of the snap peas with olive oil and garlic.
D: Shepherd's pie.

Friday's Feasts
B: Oatmeal with brown sugar and raisins for the girls. I had eggs and the last blueberry bagel.
L: Shepherd's pie
D: Fish fillets I have in the freezer still. They're tilapia, and I think I will bake them with some lemon pepper and dill. We'll also have the tomato, veggie, and orzo side dish.

Today is Birthday Book Day!

2011-02-02T14:06:00.001-08:00

I got my birthday gift from David in the mail yesterday. He got me two books I have been wanting: one is A Sane Woman's Guide to Raising a Large Family and the other one is The Complete Tightwad Gazette. I've already read almost half of the first book since last night, and it's a good read. You don't have to have a huge family to apply the principles, as we only have 3 kids and I'm finding it really helpful. A friend recommended the book to me, and I'm definitely glad I got it. There are some really good tips on organizing and running a household, some of which I am already doing and some of which I would like to start implementing as the kids get older. The second one is a hefty book that addresses any topic you can think of related to living frugally. It's a must-read if you're working on a tight budget.

In the next couple of days, I am tackling the arts and crafts supplies. They need to be sorted, organized, and stored to my satisfaction. Well, they are already in bins of varying sizes, but I'm wanting to pare down and re-sort some things. They will need to be easy enough to get to for regular projects with the kids, but up and away from Charlotte, who loves to destroy and/or eat anything she gets her little hands on. She keeps me on my toes and forces me to be creative with how I organize and store things.

Wolf it Down Wednesday
On the menu for today....
B: Blueberry bagels again, plus some milk and juice.
L: The girls ate toasted cheese sandwiches, applesauce, and green beans. I ate half of the au gratin potatoes and half of the remaining salad. The other half of those will be used tomorrow for my lunch again.
D: We may be eating dinner at church if we go to small group, but if not, I made a batch of this amazing shepherd's pie from some veggies and mashed potatoes I got at gleaner's in the past few weeks. The ground beef was from my mother-in-law, who is super kind and generous. When I go to Costco with her, she always helps us out and shares some of her groceries :). Last time she gave us 5 lbs of ground beef and a huge jug of olive oil, among other things. Anyhow, I put it into two 8x8 pans and froze one for a rainy day. Perfect and sooo yummy!
I forgot that yesterday and today we have eaten those brownies for dessert. It's sure a mood-lifter, especially since I didn't sleep well last night. Chocolate always helps.

Birthday Bedding Set

2011-02-01T12:27:00.000-08:00

I celebrated my 30th birthday just over a week ago, and was lucky enough to get a bit of cash and some gift cards as well. I got $50 from my mom, which I used to buy a gorgeous bedding set that came with 2 shams, 3 decorative pillows, a dust ruffle, and a comforter. My Grandma gave me $20, so with that I got a queen sized sheet set. The silver in it looks like it was part of the bedding set even though they weren't the same brand. They look great together, and it feels like our room decor is really coming together.

With the rest of my money and gift cards, there are a few more household items I would like to get that we wouldn't ordinarily have money for: decorative shelves and frames for the kids' rooms, new bathroom cup/toothbrush holder/etc, coconut oil for making lotions and other body products, and a new belt for myself, since my current one has just about bit the dust.

Our budget is going well. February will be our first full month using the cash envelope system. We're also coming up a bit ahead from what I estimated our natural gas bill would be. January's bill was $81 instead of $90, although electricity was $63 instead of $60. But we're still coming out slightly ahead overall. We ordered a free water conservation kit from the Portland Water Bureau. It turns out that any customer of the water bureau can order this kit. So far, we have installed the water saver shower head, kitchen sink faucet head, and the 5-minute shower timer. We're also going to use a bag they sent that you can fill with water and attach to the inside of the toilet tank, which cuts down on how much water the toilet uses with each flush. These things should not only help lower our water bill and help the environment, but the faucet heads will also help with the gas bill since our water heater runs on gas. I've also started rinsing dishes in cold water instead of hot because our dishwasher seems to clean the dishes really well so far. Next on the list is to invest in some compact florescent light bulbs in our high-use areas. I can't wait to see those pennies and dollars start falling off the bills!

On the home front with the kids, life is busy! William is Mr. Fussy Pants lately. He cries a lot unless he is nursing or being held (mostly the nursing). I have a feeling he might be teething, but it's hard to tell. His fussiness makes getting even small things done around the house a huge challenge. As organized and clean as I like to keep my house, it's hard to sit there with a fussy baby, but I am trying to soak in all the cuddles I can while he still likes them. It's so sweet when he nestles his little head into my shoulder. I can't believe he's almost 6 months already.

Charlotte just turned two in January, and she seems to be interested in potty training. She's gone a couple of times, but mostly she just likes to run around nakie and sit on her potty a lot. Today she wore panties for a while, but promptly peed in them and came to tell me it was messy. But we're on the way, which I am thrilled about.

Dorothy is really seeming to need some structure, so I am going to be looking at preschool curriculum. I have a feeling she is going to love it.

Tuesday's Tasties
B: The girls each had 3 of the mini cups of yogurt with some cheerios. I had a toasted blueberry bagel with peanut butter and honey. We all had milk to drink.
morning snack was some more chips and guac, which both girls loved. I also sent hubs to work with some guac and a bag of chips to share.
L: Spanish rice from last night, topped with sour cream. The girls and I shared the strawberries (about 1/2 lb ended up being really good).
D: I am going to bake the breaded chicken breasts. On the side we'll have the bagged salad mix and mashed potatoes and gravy. I may also saute a few brussel sprouts that I picked up at Gleaner's last week. They're really good with olive oil, garlic, and salt. But then, so are most things!

What's on the agenda

2011-01-31T13:17:00.000-08:00

As I have been organizing and decorating our new place, it always helps me to think a bit about what I would like to get done. I have somewhat of a running list that I add things to and cross things off as I get them done. Some of them might be smaller things like doing some laundry or paying some bills. Some of them might be more time-consuming projects like organizing and sorting through specific things.

Some of the bigger projects I have coming up:
*Sorting through and organizing old photos
*Printing some pictures for the walls
*Sorting through my arts and crafts supplies
*Sorting through my sewing and crocheting bins
*Taking pictures of and selling the cloth diapers and covers we're not using any more
*Taking pictures of and selling some baby things/clothes
*Sorting through boxes of books and selling them to cash4books.net, Powell's Bookstore, or Swagbucks
*Putting the finishing touches on decorating the kids' rooms. I'm wanting to get a decorative shelf for the girls' room and William's room, plus a couple of frames for each room to put some art into.
*Finding a good storage solution/shelving unit for the books we decide to keep

Monday is also shopping and menu planning day around here. Since my sister-in-law also uses the Gleaner's program we go to, she asked me to post what I was going to cook for dinner with the food I picked up. So, I thought perhaps at the beginning of the week I will start posting about what I pick up there, plus what I need to get at the grocery store each week between WIC checks and budgeted cash. My menu will mainly be based on what I pick up at Gleaner's. I like to try to buy as little as possible now that we're back on the program. The good news? We were able to pay $120 this month toward our credit card instead of the minimum payment! I'll try to post our menu every weekday, plus any recipes I think are worth sharing (this will be in addition to whatever else I happen to be rambling about on any particular day).

So, here's a brief summary of what I got this week at Gleaner's:

Household items
deodorant for David
3 rolls toilet paper
2 rolls paper towels
1 pkg liquid hand soap

Food items
1 pkg blueberry bagels
1 pkg sourdough english muffins
1 loaf white bread with whole grain
1 can mushrooms
1 pkg whole grain tortillas
32 oz sour cream
16 oz cottage cheese
homestyle gravy
mashed potatoes
tomato, herb, and veggie orzo pasta side dish
1 side of au gratin potatoes
8 yogurt cups
gluten free brownies
1 lb strawberries, a few might be moldy, but most are ok
1 bunch very green bananas for later this week
1/2 lb grape tomatoes
1 lg bag mixed greens salad mix (w/dressing, nuts, dried cranberries, and feta cheese)
1/2 lb sugar snap peas
2 small peppers
sandwich bag of chopped, cooked, seasoned chicken
1 jar blackberry preserves
1 bottle pancake syrup
6 applesauce cups
1 jar grey poupon
1 bottle coconut coffee syrup (Yay for coffee at home! Add a bit of hot cocoa for a "mounds" mocha :))
1 pkg decaf coffee
3 bags nacho cheese tortilla chips
1 bag avocados (need to be used now)
1 large box frozen breaded chicken breasts
1 canister table salt

The motherload of snacks for lunches
2 bags organic cheese curls
6 cans diet pepsi
8 cans regular pepsi
6 mini cherry pies
1 box gingerbread cookies
1 box chocolate mini cakes
1 box triscuit thins

I'll update later on my Grocery store purchases.

Monday's Munchies
B: Whole wheat blueberry pancakes from scratch. We also had bananas and apple juice.
L: Grilled cheese, grapes, oranges, carrots, and ranch
D: Spanish rice (recipe below) with the baggie of chopped chicken, 2 small peppers, onion, frozen corn/pepper mix, and 1 can each of organic tomato sauce and organic diced tomatoes (bought in boxes of 12 at Costco when I go with my mother-in-law and use her card ;)). I'll be serving guacamole, sour cream, and tortilla chips on the side.

coming back later to finish the plan.... gotta go cook up some grub!

OK! Now that said grub has been cooked, consumed, and approved of, here are the recipes (courtesy of the mad cooking skillz of none other than yours truly). You will not be disappointed:

Spanish Rice
2 c uncooked rice
1 c. chopped, cooked, & seasoned chicken (or ground beef!)
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 29 oz can tomato sauce
12 oz. frozen corn
1 diced onion
2 cloves minced garlic
1 green pepper, seeded and chopped
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tbsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin

I threw the 2 c rice along with 4 c water in my rice cooker and let 'er steam. While that was going, I chopped the veggies and sauteed them in some olive oil in a big ol' pot (I went ahead and threw in the corn when the rest of the veggies were tender). Yum! Then I added the tomatoes and tomato sauce and heated it through, adding the spices. You could add salt and pepper to taste, if desired. By the time that was all bubbly, the rice was done, so I plopped it all in the big pot and mixed it well, turning it to low, and then stirring it occasionally while I made my to die for guacamole. That way all the juices had time to soak into the rice. We ate it with a dollop of sour cream on top.

Holy Guacamole
2 roma tomatoes, chopped
3 med-lg avocados, mashed
1/2 c cottage cheese (yes, really!)
2 tbsp sour cream
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 tsp lime juice (I just keep a bottle of it on hand so I don't have to run out and buy fresh limes)
1 tsp garlic powder

Dump it in a bowl and go to town with a potato masher. That's it! And it is soooo good with Doritos.

This post has been linked to The Grocery Cart Challenge.

Growing and Changing

2011-01-27T10:50:00.000-08:00

As I've been reading through my past posts, I am finding that I was such a different person when I began writing than I am now. Some of my older posts I would like to delete, simply because there is no point in keeping them up. I'll still keep the ones that chronicle my pregnancy or sweet things the kids have done. But becoming a mother has changed me. Marriage has changed me. College has changed me as well. I see ways that I have grown and would like to continue to grow, and keeping some of those posts up won't serve that purpose. I don't want to be the same person I was and I suppose that's the way life is supposed to be. So I have been going through and editing/deleting some things. It feels good!

And dinner smells good, too :).
On the menu for tonight is black bean soup topped with sour cream and homemade salsa. These recipes have been linked to The Grocery Cart Challenge.

Black Bean Soup (by Marlene Sorosky Gray):
1 lb dried black beans, rinsed and sorted
1/2 lb bacon, diced & cooked (or 1/2 lb diced & cooked turkey ham is economical!)
2 cups diced carrots
2 cups diced celery
2 cups diced onions
3 cloves minced garlic
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried oregano
1 bay leaf
1 tsp ground black pepper
64 oz vegetable broth
2 Tbsp tomato paste
2 Tbsp lime juice (add this right before serving)

I rinsed & soaked the beans for the afternoon, then I just threw everything in the pot and let it simmer for 2-3 hours. To me, it's less complicated that way. I also threw in a dash or two of taco seasoning and chili powder to liven it up a bit, but not a lot of either. Add salt and pepper to taste. It smells great!

The recipe says to top the soup with sour cream, tomato, and cilantro, but I am topping it with sour cream and my favorite salsa recipe, as well as some sliced up corn tortillas.

Sweet Corn Salsa (From Farmer John's Cookbook: The Real Dirt on Vegetables):
3 ears sweet corn (you can do 2-3 c frozen corn and it's still great)
3 medium tomatoes, diced (I use 4 romas)
1 jalepeno pepper, seeded and chopped (when I don't have one, I use a bit of cayenne pepper)
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4-1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 red onion or one large scallion, chopped (I use a whole yellow onion sometimes)
1/2 cup loosely packed chopped cilantro
freshly squeezed juice of 2 limes (or ~1/4 c lime juice)

Cut corn kernels off cobs. Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat, then add corn and saute for 3 minutes. Combine corn and all remaining ingredients in a medium bowl and mix well. Serve warm or chilled. It's amazingly good and makes a large bowl of salsa.

This meal is perfect! And not only because of the flavor. It was really frugal, too :)
The following items I picked up at Gleaner's:
corn
tomatoes
carrots
vegetable broth
sour cream

The following items I got with my WIC checks:
onions
garlic
cilantro
celery
black beans
corn tortillas

Everything else I had on hand, so the only thing I had to buy for tonight's dinner was the cilantro, which was $1 (and I have 2/3 of the bunch left!). The turkey ham is something I always keep around. I buy the Jennie-O kind and dice it up, separating it into 3 portions (for 3 separate meals). Can I just say that I love meal planning?

She sings them to Him

2011-01-26T07:57:00.000-08:00

(photo credit: Life Candids Photography, 2010)
Yesterday morning, my precious Dorothy was wandering around the house making up little songs as she often does. As she walked by, I told her that her singing was very beautiful and that I loved to hear it. Her response was priceless to me. "I'm so happy because everybody likes my singing! My other songs are true because they're about God. I sing them to Him," she said excitedly. It melted my heart, and it also got me thinking about what I am doing on a daily basis to teach my children about the things that are most important in life. Do they know who God is? Do I show them His love, or am I short with them? What more can I do to make sure that they see God's love through me? Am I teaching them responsibility and creativity? These are all sobering questions that will require daily thought, purpose, planning, and action.

I have been thinking more lately about how I want our days to look. Now that I am home with the kids every day, I feel like we need more of a routine to keep things running smoothly. It's too easy to fall back on cartoons to keep the kids entertained while I get things done, but my desire is for them to learn and grow as individuals. They have many options for creative play. We have been blessed with many toys and art supplies, most of which have been given to us as hand-me-downs or holiday gifts. If I am purposeful, it should be relatively easy to fit in all the things I want to do with them.

*Since the toys are organized into bins, "center" time is something I'd like to incorporate into their day. They can each pick a bin to play with and use their imaginations. The antique dollhouse/furniture we gave them for Christmas has already been a great addition to their play time. (And can I admit that it's fun for me, too?).

*I also want to make sure that they get art time every day with drawing, painting, or play dough. They both really enjoy art time. I just have to make sure Charlotte doesn't eat the crayons ;).

*I'd like to get some good Christ-centered preschool curriculum that is age-appropriate for both girls. They are both showing signs of being ready to learn more about letters, numbers, and how things work. We also need to set aside a regular book reading time, as well as a time to read their children's Bible.

*Baking/cooking time is another thing that I would like to do with them at least on a weekly basis. One of my favorite memories is punching down the bread dough for my mom in the kitchen. I remember the feel and the smell so fondly. Because my mom let me help her in the kitchen from such a young age, I was cooking very early on, and I love cooking to this day. It has blessed not only me and my family, but others as well. In fact, I'd like to add meal ministry to my tithing of time and resources. We may not have much money to work with, but I can use what God has given us to bless others. And I know first-hand after all of the high-risk pregnancies how wonderful it is to get a home-cooked meal when you are unable to prepare one. Allowing my children to take part in this will teach them how important it is to give of our time and resources to help others.

Scheduling my time will be a bit more challenging, as I still have some coursework. Household and school is always hard to balance, but it can be done! I'll let you know when I have a more solidified schedule worked out. What works for you?

Goal Setting

2011-01-23T13:30:00.000-08:00

I earned another $5 Amazon card from Swagbucks yesterday. That combined with my previous $5 gift card and the deal they had the other day to pay $10 for a $20 gift card means that I now have $30 towards Christmas shopping already! And it's not even a month into the year yet. To be honest, I never thought ahead to plan for Christmas. Which is funny because I am always making lists and plans. In the past, I have had good intentions of getting started early, but it just never happened. Well, this year it's happening and it feels great. And empowering.

In fact, I have many hopes and plans for this year.

*Make more things from scratch. For instance, why buy pancake mix when I can make killer, fluffy, whole-grain pancakes for a lot less? Why buy boxed mac and cheese when I can bake a savory homestyle mac and cheese with simple ingredients that I almost always have on hand?

*Start using more healthful and natural options for cleaning our home and our bodies. If I have to hold my breath while I'm cleaning to avoid coughing, then is it really something I should be spraying into the air to begin with? Probably not! I'm finding that for most things, wiping it down with water does the trick. I've also heard that vinegar is great for disinfecting, so I may use a combo of that and baking soda for the dirtier jobs (like the bathroom). I still haven't found a natural option for our cloth diapers that keeps them stink free... I keep going back to the Tide. Any suggestions?

*Stick to our budget and get out of debt. I am really liking the cash envelope for our budgeting system. It's working awesome for me so far, although I think that David might be having a bit of a hard time adjusting to it. It's hard to remember to grab a $20 for gas when we're so used to waiting until the last minute and then pulling out a card. The plus side is that I have cut out all impulse shopping. Like that quick trip to the coffee shop has been replaced with brewing coffee every morning and adding a scoop of hot chocolate. I got a huge can of cocoa for $5 at Costco, and if I want it creamier, I just add some milk or creamer. That can should last me a long time and it tastes just as good to me as buying a mocha. Only it feels even better because I have a goal to look forward to.

*Seek God's direction on where to go with my schooling, doula business, and/or finding ways to make money from home. This is one area I where I just don't know how to proceed. I finished my associate's degree last month with a 4.0, which I am extremely proud of. I am taking a bit of a break right now, as it was just getting to be too much with the cost of day care. Not to mention the stress of too much homework and having to scramble for backup care when the kids were sick. Which, when they were in day care happened quite a bit. As in, every week one of them had something. I am really enjoying being home with the kids and I would love to find something that I could do from home to bring in some income.

Going through the archives

2011-01-20T10:46:00.000-08:00

Today I am trying to go through some of my archives to label posts, which should make it easier to find what I am looking for later. Although, I am finding that there are just so many categories that I could almost do a few different blogs pertaining to things I am interested in. At some point in the near future, I will be starting a blog for my doula business, so I'll be doing most of my writing about childbirth and breastfeeding on that one. I'll let you know when I launch it, but for now I will be working on getting this one more organized.

Speaking of organized, some of you may know that I'm quite a perfectionist when it comes to being organized. I don't know for certain when this evolved, since I didn't really keep a clean room when I was growing up, but I think it started to take shape when I got my first apartment in my early twenties. And I find now that I have a family of my own, being organized is the key to a peaceful home. As peaceful as it can be with small children, anyhow. Being organized has helped me get though my toughest terms at school as well, because cooking and cleaning is so much easier when there is a plan and a place for everything. I like it that way. It works for me.

Some things that make my life easier:

*Storage bins of all sizes. Large ones for all the kids clothes are a lifesaver. I keep a bin for each size of clothing in both girl and boy. These stack in the kids' closet. Having them clearly labeled makes for easy storage and easy sorting as they grown out of things. I also try to keep the girls' clothes in their drawers folded together into outfits. This helps especially if we are packing or dressing in a hurry, since nobody has to ask if this shirt goes with those pants. It's a breeze!

*My 3-bin laundry sorter that I got from Target. It has removable bags that are just perfect for a load so that when one gets full, I just take it to the washer and dump it in. Easy peasy! I use one for darks, one for mediums, and one for whites. All of my kitchen towels, cleaning rags, cloth wipes for hands/faces, and bath towels, etc. are white so that I can throw in a capful of bleach with each load to keep them white. This assures me that everything is clean, too, since a lot of the whites are used for germy jobs.

*A home organization notebook. I have a wide 3-ring binder that I keep everything in. It has tabs for menu planning, grocery lists, packing lists (for camping, outings, etc), schedules, and budgeting. I also have a notebook for recipes, although I am needing a bigger one. When I find a recipe that I love, I print it out and put it in my book. Lists are my friend. I puffy heart love them. I have a master grocery list of every item I like to keep on hand, including all over-the-counter medicines and vitamins. It's always a work in progress, but it's so helpful!

*Toys are the tough one, especially since we now have a boy in the house, too, so we're adding more to the mix. We now have baby toys, big girl toys, books, and art supplies. All these things are in bins as well, although most are in medium ones instead of large ones. We have a bin each for blocks, ponies, barbies/other small dolls, baby dolls/clothes, dress up, legos/mega blocks, dishes/food, and our most recent addition is potato head sets from Christmas. The dollhouse furniture/dolls was going to go in a box as well, but I decided to keep them in the house to save on space. We also have medium bins for art supplies like paints, paper, coloring books, and crayons, as well as a small bin with play dough containers and accessories. When a bin is at capacity, I sort through to get rid of some things so the kids (or I) don't get frustrated trying to cram a bunch of toys into a box that they won't fit into. The bins also keep things easy to pick up. I'm going to be working on labeling them with pictures so the kids know what goes into the bins when they're cleaning up. Most of the bins get stored under the futon in the living room. Their books and kitchen are in the girls' room and William's toys are all sorted into something similar to this.

There's so much more, but I'll save it for another time. Those are my biggest sanity savers around the house. What do you do that makes life easier?

Budget Overhaul

2011-01-19T09:59:00.000-08:00

We normally stick to a pretty tight budget. To help us make it on one income, we recently joined Gleaner's again when we moved into our new place. One of the requirements when a couple rejoins is that they are required to take a Good Sense budgeting class. The program is based on biblical principles, but if that's not your thing, you can still use the steps to overhaul your budget. Here are some of the basic steps ....

First, we must admit that our culture's view on money and possessions is contrary to what the Lord wants for our lives. Our money is God's. He simply gives it to us so that we can bless others. We need to be responsible with every decision we make, even if it is an *insignificant* purchase in our eyes.

Then, we look at the five areas when it comes to finances. A wise spending plan will help us do well in all of these areas.

1. Earning: Serve the Lord in your work. Be diligent, faithful, and grateful for what He has given you through your job. Then calculate how much you (and/or your partner) earn per month in Net (take-home) pay when starting your budget.

2. Giving: God wants us to generously give! This has been a difficult one for us, since we live on such a tight budget. One thing that helped me is that during our first session, the speaker told us not to get hung up on the 10% tithe at this point. Since most of the people in the class were in tough situations, the goal is to get to where we CAN tithe, and even give beyond that. But that is the eventual goal, not the short-term one. Just start with what you CAN give. For us, this is $40 a month. $20 goes toward a missionary couple and $20 goes toward our church. I know it's not a lot yet, but God will still take that money and use it. Above all, don't get bogged down by guilt!

3. Saving: This is money we keep, not money we give up! Compounding interest works for us if we set money aside each month. First, we need to focus on emergency savings. This should be equal to 3-6 months of basic living expenses, such as housing, food, and transportation. The second type of savings s for replacement. Think of larger purchases that are upcoming (such as a car, a roof, an appliance, etc) and save for them over time instead of putting them on a credit card at the time. The third type of savings is long-term savings for retirement. In all these areas, start with what you CAN do right now. The amount will increase as debts get paid off or as your income increases.

4. Debt: Try the debt snowball! List your debts in order from smallest to largest. Make minimum payments on all the debts except the smallest one. Put as much extra into that payment as you possibly can. As soon as you pay off the smallest debt, roll that payment on top of the minimum payment for the next debt. Do the same thing for the next debt when the second one is paid off. Your payment will keep snowballing until all of your debts are paid off. Do not take on any new debt! Instead, allow interest to work for you. If putting extra money toward paying off debt means eating rice and beans and cutting out movies, going out, and gifts, then so be it. Being debt free is worth it :). We've cut back all expenses that we can. Gifts are down to $15/month, plus the gift cards I earn from Swagbucks. Our entertainment is Netflix at the $10/month plan. This allows for streaming and one mailed disk at a time. I have cut out the data plan on my phone. We use cloth diapers on the two younger kids (which I actually love, for the record. I think they're convenient and adorable). We're going to get creative for dates and family time, including tent camping for vacations.

5. Spending: Make a plan and stick to it. For all variable expenses, consider using an envelope system with cash. We have envelopes for the following: groceries, household, gas, oil/maintenance, gifts, and medical/dental/prescription. As debt is paid off, we will try to add envelopes for things like clothing, vacation, hobbies, etc. Right now, we're bare bones as far as budget goes. And we're still extremely blessed! We really don't need anything beyond what we have now. Be thrifty! If you need something, God provides a way.

Those are just some of the basics of budgeting that we've learned in our class. I'm really excited to put this into practice. If nothing in our budget changes, we'll have all our debt (including student loans) paid off within just under four years! In actuality, it should be even sooner than that. Our tax return is going to likely pay off our first two debts, leaving only the student loans for us to pay. My hope is to earn a bit through becoming a doula. I will likely only do two births a month or so, but any little bit puts us that much closer to being out of debt and saving for the future. And that much closer to being where God wants us to be as a family. I hope you'll be just as excited as I am!

A Time to Write

2011-01-18T07:15:00.000-08:00

I've been ignoring my blog for far too long. With the craziness of life and adding yet another baby to our family, blogging has fallen by the wayside. That's right! William David came to join us in August after a long, hard pregnancy. 7.5 weeks of which were spent in the hospital. Now our little family is complete, so my blog will be more focused on the "beyond" rather than the "bedrest". I'm thinking of re-naming my blog, but for now it will stay as it is.

The good news is that I am writing again!

However, I am thinking of what my focus should be on...

I am still in school, although it is very part-time right now. I am taking a bit of a break after everything I've been through this year. Last December, I found out I was pregnant with William while I was taking full-time classes. I ended up having to get the cerclage done TWICE. Both times it slipped out, which is why I ended up in the hospital with him. It was a really difficult time, but God really kept His hand on the whole situation, and William came a full-term, healthy baby. When he was 6 weeks old, I started classes up after my break during summer term. In October, I also took a doula training class. I need to get 5 births under my belt for certification, but I am really excited about the possibility of being able to stay home with the kids most of the time and still earn some money doing something that I believe I will love. I'm still thinking of and praying about what my future looks like with school, work, and family. I'm not quite sure where God is leading at this point. I finished my associate's degree and my nursing prerequisites in December. This term I am only taking Spanish, which I will likely continue with for a while, since I am really enjoying it.

Some things I might be blogging about as I begin to write again:

*Faith
*Family
*Natural living
*Living on a budget
*Childbirth

Oh, and speaking of living on a budget, I recently joined Swagbucks! I am hoping to pay for Christmas gifts this year with my Amazon gift cards I earn there. If you want to swag, follow this link. It's easy! You search, watch videos, and enter codes to get points. The points add up and you can cash them in for all sorts of prizes. I'm saving mine for Amazon gift cards, but there are tons of other options as well. I'll be updating as I earn each gift card, and we'll see how much I can save up by the end of the year. The great thing is that once you sign up, anybody you refer will get you some swag bucks as well. It's worth a try! I've already earned one $5 gift card and am about 100 Swagbucks away from another one. Not too shabby.

Yeah. so....

2009-03-05T12:30:00.000-08:00

I have been a slacker. So sorry! I just want to let you know that everything is great... just busy with kids and life. And I have been spending more time on non-online things. Charlotte is still cute as a button and is starting to smile more. She has her 2 month checkup tomorrow and I'm guessing she's about 12 lbs!! School starts back up for me on the 30th of the month, so then it will definitely me life in fast forward. I can't believe she's almost 2 months already. I'm so sentimental about it all...

Here are some semi-recent pics:

She's here!

2009-01-09T12:26:00.000-08:00

Charlotte Noelle came on her own terms! Contractions started around noon on Tuesday, and my water broke around 3 pm. Labor went well and she was born at 12:28 am on Wednesday, January 7th. At birth she was 7lbs 7oz and 19.5 inches long. We're home now and doing well.

Baby Time!

2009-01-06T07:19:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is the big day. Wednesday, January 7th at 7 am we will check in to the hospital for an induction so my Perinatologist can be the one to deliver again. By the afternoon, baby Charlotte should be here! I can't believe it's here already and I cannot wait to meet our little girl. I am getting nervous about getting my tubes tied, though. Hoping that won't add too much pain to my recovery. Today is just getting a few last-minute things done around the house... you know, like staring at and reorganizing all the cloth diapers and looking at all the baby clothes imagining what they will look like on her. All the important stuff. Wish us a quick, painless (ha!) labor and delivery!

Christmas Snow!

2008-12-29T09:22:00.000-08:00

We had the whitest Christmas on record here in NW Oregon. Portland got between 14-15 inches total by the time the whole storm was over... and it was terrible to get around in. Garbage service has not come in a couple of weeks, so our apartment's garbage area is completely overflowing. Like a full dumpster plus 2 dumpsters worth of garbage piled up around it. Mail has not come in about a week because the side streets were not plowed. We're just not used to that kind of weather. As pretty as it was, we're all glad the snow is melted (aside from the big piles on the side of the road and in parking lots). I'm also glad to be at home again. With all the bad weather we stayed in town to be closer to the hospital in case I went into labor.... which.... I'm still waiting;)

Christmas was fun this year because Dorothy was so much more into it. She still asks to open presents every now and then and loves to sing Jingle Bells. With all the snow and ice we had to carry her every time we went outside. We told her it was too icy! So she thinks now that it's too "spicy" outside. Evidently spice, ice, and now dice are all the same thing. Think that's confusing? Try explaining the whole little sister idea... I don't think she knows what's coming. Send me some labor vibes!!

Still Pregnant!

2008-12-19T09:13:00.000-08:00

Imagine that... but I didn't really expect to go right into labor or anything. We're just braving the weather here and getting ready for Christmas. I have a few things to wrap for Dorothy and some baking to do for others. For Christmas morning I am going to start making a tradition of having the living room filled up with balloons for kiddos to play with. I can't wait to see Dorothy's face when she get up in the morning. She has been so cute with the tree, she talks about all the ornaments and the first thing she asks for in the morning is lights. Christmas is even more fun now that she's starting to understand it more. We've been watching Polar Express a lot lately and she loves the part where Santa comes out. She's so cute about it. Other than waiting for baby, not much is going on. I'm just anxious for the big day to arrive and trying to decide if I have the guts to go natural or not.

Stitch....

2008-12-16T08:42:00.000-08:00

My cerclage is coming out today instead of Thursday due to the snow/ice they are predicting for Wed/Thurs. We are also expecting a snow storm on Sun/Mon. We're headed into town tonight to stay with the in-laws and most likely staying until the snows pass so we can be closer to the hospital and have someone right there to take care of Dorothy if I go into labor. I'm not really expecting labor right away since Dorothy took her sweet time after my stitch was out, but you never know. I've had a feeling that Charlotte is going to be a bit earlier, although that could just be wishful thinking. I'd like her to be here before New Year's, but I'm sure she'll come when she's ready. Better for her to bake as long as possible! I'll update if anything exciting starts happening:)

Finally

2008-12-08T07:37:00.000-08:00

It's finals week! I am almost done with my final writing paper. Now all I have to do is take my finals for History and Philosophy, and make a few additional comments on my group project in History. It will be a relief to get it all done, so hopefully the professors put those tests up early in the week.

Dorothy is on antibiotics again, this time it's a different one and so far no hives. She's also on antibiotic eye drops now just in case the goopyness in her eye is more than just discharge from the cold. She's still coughing a lot at night and in the morning, but during the day she seems a bit better. I feel like I'm going to have a full-blown cold here in a few days...... I say bring it on now so I can have it over by the time labor starts (which could be any time, really). I get my last progesterone shot this Wednesday. Then a week from Thursday I get my cerclage removed and David starts a week of vacation. It would be nice if Charlotte just came within that week so he doesn't have to go back to work before his paternity leave. It's all coming so fast!!

Christmas Tree

2008-12-05T07:48:00.001-08:00

We got our tree last night, and Dorothy wanted to tell us a little bit about it when she got up this morning....

Cooking

2008-12-01T07:44:00.000-08:00

I was in the mood for cooking since I didn't get to do it for so long. So on Saturday I made a full-on turkey dinner and it turned out great! The stuffing was perfect, although next time I think I'll use a turkey bag so the breast stays moist. The AuGratin Potatoes were to die for, really. I think everyone went back for seconds on those!

Oh, yeah. And baby is still cooking, too.