Happy Monday! Hard to believe today is the last day of Christmas vacation. Tomorrow is back to the daily grind and crazy schedule that is our life. As is tradition, today was a day of cleaning and decluttering in our household. Thankfully, this year it wasn't a huge process. While we did put together a few bags of things to take to consignment, we are finding we are "collecting" less and less junk. This is a good thing!
After decluttering my bedroom closet it was time to tackle some frugal activities. I am really wanting to make sure to use things up and have little to no waste this year. Food can be one of the biggest wastes in our house which is expensive. Tonight's dinner consisted of Chicken Pot Pie, Salad and apple pie with whip cream. 98% of what I used to make tonight's dinner was free to us and the rest was reaching its expiration date in our fridge. The next project to tackle was a stack of ripped/torn jeans. These were not jeans to be mended but rather to be taken apart. I had planned to make a denim quilt for Christmas 2011. I had collected free to me ripped jeans all year, and they were still sitting on a shelf collecting dust. Today I cut them apart and now have a box full of denim fabric strips ready to cut into quilt squares.
Now we are ready for the week, I think. The new quarter brings a new schedule and a new routine for us to get used to. Ready or not, here we go!
Monday, January 2, 2012
Sunday, January 1, 2012
HAPPY NEW YEAR Bring on 2012
Happy New Year! I am so excited for 2012 and what it will bring. Last year was such a roller coaster full of changes for our family. I sat down this past week and wrote out my resolutions for the year and really thought about what I want to focus on. What changes do I want to make to better things for our family as well as help our budget. I think I have come up with some great ideas that I can follow through with and stay on top of.
Here are my resolutions for 2012. I decided to make a list of 12 :).
1. Prayer and devotion time daily.
2. Gym 3 x per week.
3. Eat healthier as a family.
4. Stick to our budget and reduce extra spending.
5. Working on handmade Christmas 2 items per month.
6. Implement a regular family game night each week.
7. Dinner at the table as a family 3 times per week.
8. Keep my blog up to date.
9. Learn one new skill per month.
10. Be more positive and thankful in the way I think, speak and act.
11. Keep in better touch with friends and family via phone and letters NOT FB or email.
12. 2 Random acts of kindness per month.
I have decided to take on several challenges through various websites that I follow as well such as the Photo a Day Challenge and I am joining a Biggest Loser Challenge that a friend is putting together.
So we are off and running! I look forward to posting regularly to this blog to hold myself accountable and hopefully share some great tips, ideas and projects along the way. Speaking of projects....have you discovered Pinterest yet? If not, check it out! I have saved a lot of recipes and craft projects already that I look forward to trying and sharing my successes (and failures) with you all here (I know you are thrilled right LOL).
Here are my resolutions for 2012. I decided to make a list of 12 :).
1. Prayer and devotion time daily.
2. Gym 3 x per week.
3. Eat healthier as a family.
4. Stick to our budget and reduce extra spending.
5. Working on handmade Christmas 2 items per month.
6. Implement a regular family game night each week.
7. Dinner at the table as a family 3 times per week.
8. Keep my blog up to date.
9. Learn one new skill per month.
10. Be more positive and thankful in the way I think, speak and act.
11. Keep in better touch with friends and family via phone and letters NOT FB or email.
12. 2 Random acts of kindness per month.
I have decided to take on several challenges through various websites that I follow as well such as the Photo a Day Challenge and I am joining a Biggest Loser Challenge that a friend is putting together.
So we are off and running! I look forward to posting regularly to this blog to hold myself accountable and hopefully share some great tips, ideas and projects along the way. Speaking of projects....have you discovered Pinterest yet? If not, check it out! I have saved a lot of recipes and craft projects already that I look forward to trying and sharing my successes (and failures) with you all here (I know you are thrilled right LOL).
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
December 27th- Christmas Recap
This Christmas has been a bit out of the ordinary for our family. Our Christmas vacation started off with both feet running. My youngest sons birthday party, my daughters Christmas dance performance and my ex husband coming to visit the kids all fell on the same day. That was day 1 of vacation. Day 2 brought another dance performance and kids spending more time reconnecting with their dad, and day 3 again more reconnecting time. Day 4 (Tuesday) brought the kids leaving with their dad at 3:30am to head to Idaho for Christmas. I was so excited for them to spend time with him and his family.
I had 5 whole days to myself. I was bored by the afternoon of day 1 LOL it was way too quiet! I wasn't sure what I was going to do with myself over those 5 days. However, the week before I had found out that we had lost a good high school friend and classmate. In a class with only 29 students this hits very hard. I decided that I needed to spend those 5 days reconnecting with friends and just visiting. Wednesday many of us made the 4-5 hour drive to attend Daves service. It really didn't seem real until we were all there together in the same room saying goodbye to one of the funniest people I have ever met. We all spent that afternoon crying, laughing and sharing great memories. We reconnected with each other over beer and pizza, something Dave would have loved.
The rest of the week was quiet and I had a lot of time to think, reflect and just be still. Something I never do. I had a movie night with a friend, dinner with former co-workers, sushi with a couple of other friends and got some craft projects finished. Christmas Ever I volunteered at church and attended a beautiful Christmas service. Sunday, Christmas Day, I went to the city and spent the day with my best friend and her family. I was able to see her beautiful new home and precious time with her that we don't often get with our busy schedules. Monday morning I was up early and making the drive to pick up the kids. They had such a fabulous time and had many stories to tell. We drove to my parents house and did Christmas with my family. My oldest son met us there, he had been at his dads all week having a blast jamming on his guitar and writing music, along with working for my parents and earning money.
Now we are back home. Its 7am and everyone is sleeping, except for me. My oldest son should be home in a couple of hours and we will do Christmas here at home. I am so very thankful and feel so very blessed this holiday season. Thankful for our many family and friends, the opportunities the kids got last week to be with family and experience new things. And for myself, the opportunity to reconnect with old friends and just be still for a few days.
We hope you all had a fabulous holiday weekend full of laughter, love and great memories!
I had 5 whole days to myself. I was bored by the afternoon of day 1 LOL it was way too quiet! I wasn't sure what I was going to do with myself over those 5 days. However, the week before I had found out that we had lost a good high school friend and classmate. In a class with only 29 students this hits very hard. I decided that I needed to spend those 5 days reconnecting with friends and just visiting. Wednesday many of us made the 4-5 hour drive to attend Daves service. It really didn't seem real until we were all there together in the same room saying goodbye to one of the funniest people I have ever met. We all spent that afternoon crying, laughing and sharing great memories. We reconnected with each other over beer and pizza, something Dave would have loved.
The rest of the week was quiet and I had a lot of time to think, reflect and just be still. Something I never do. I had a movie night with a friend, dinner with former co-workers, sushi with a couple of other friends and got some craft projects finished. Christmas Ever I volunteered at church and attended a beautiful Christmas service. Sunday, Christmas Day, I went to the city and spent the day with my best friend and her family. I was able to see her beautiful new home and precious time with her that we don't often get with our busy schedules. Monday morning I was up early and making the drive to pick up the kids. They had such a fabulous time and had many stories to tell. We drove to my parents house and did Christmas with my family. My oldest son met us there, he had been at his dads all week having a blast jamming on his guitar and writing music, along with working for my parents and earning money.
Now we are back home. Its 7am and everyone is sleeping, except for me. My oldest son should be home in a couple of hours and we will do Christmas here at home. I am so very thankful and feel so very blessed this holiday season. Thankful for our many family and friends, the opportunities the kids got last week to be with family and experience new things. And for myself, the opportunity to reconnect with old friends and just be still for a few days.
We hope you all had a fabulous holiday weekend full of laughter, love and great memories!
Monday, December 19, 2011
December 19th-Long Update-
**sigh** I really never intended to stay away from this blog for so long. I have missed blogging, and being organized, and sleep.....the list could go on and on. I took a condensed A&P course Fall Quarter. Full A&P 1 and Full A&P 2 condensed into one quarter. If you are ever considering doing that....don't do it. The last couple of months have been extremely difficult. The amount of hours spent on school and studying has been overwhelming, BUT I am so glad that the class is done, I earned a solid grade in the class and can now move onto my very last pre requisite in winter quarter (along with a couple of other classes).
Now we are onto Christmas vacation. This year, ours is a bit different. The kids are going to be spending the first half of the vacation with their dad! He has been here all weekend spending time with them, reconnecting and celebrating our youngest sons birthday as well as getting to watch our youngest daughter dance. He and the kids will head out bright and early tomorrow morning for Idaho.
That leaves me with 6 days of no children!! This is the first time in 4 years I have gone more than 48 hours without the kids here. However, I am ready for a little break and so excited for the fun they are going to have!!
I am going to spend this time deep cleaning my house, finishing up some projects, visiting with friends I have not spent time with lately and just RELAXING. I am also focusing on getting back on track with meal planning, organization and budgeting as these have gone out the window lately.
The kids are all doing great and enjoying school. We have had performances for each of them this week for either music or dance and they have all done fabulously! I am one proud mama!!
Now we are onto Christmas vacation. This year, ours is a bit different. The kids are going to be spending the first half of the vacation with their dad! He has been here all weekend spending time with them, reconnecting and celebrating our youngest sons birthday as well as getting to watch our youngest daughter dance. He and the kids will head out bright and early tomorrow morning for Idaho.
That leaves me with 6 days of no children!! This is the first time in 4 years I have gone more than 48 hours without the kids here. However, I am ready for a little break and so excited for the fun they are going to have!!
I am going to spend this time deep cleaning my house, finishing up some projects, visiting with friends I have not spent time with lately and just RELAXING. I am also focusing on getting back on track with meal planning, organization and budgeting as these have gone out the window lately.
The kids are all doing great and enjoying school. We have had performances for each of them this week for either music or dance and they have all done fabulously! I am one proud mama!!
Monday, October 31, 2011
Menu Plan and Grocery Shopping Week of Oct 30th
I have been horrible about menu planning and actually cooking the past few weeks. This week I am determined to get back on track. Here is our menu plan and the grocery shopping the kids and I did yesterday.
Dinner menu:
Sunday: Tacos
Monday: Chicken pot pie
Tuesday: Zuppa Toscana Soup and french bread
Wednesday: At sons soccer party
Thursday: Spaghetti, french bread and salad
Friday: Hamburgers and french fries
Saturday: Subway after church
Groceries purchased:
2-2 liters of soda $1.58
3 boxs ceral $8.97
hot sauce $1.49
Shredded cheese $2.50
Hot pocket $2.50
Taco shells $1.99
spanish rice 1.59
2 boxes eggos $2.98
fajita seasoning .89
chicken broth 2.99
milk 2.59
tortilla shells 3.89
seasoned ground turkey 1.99
ground beef 7.33
kale 2.49
bananas 1.92
apples 1.89
Total: $50.61
We had alot of leftovers from last week and the weekend that will be incorporated for lunches as well as parts of the meals planned for the week. I will also end up picking up a couple more gallons of milk later in the week.
Dinner menu:
Sunday: Tacos
Monday: Chicken pot pie
Tuesday: Zuppa Toscana Soup and french bread
Wednesday: At sons soccer party
Thursday: Spaghetti, french bread and salad
Friday: Hamburgers and french fries
Saturday: Subway after church
Groceries purchased:
2-2 liters of soda $1.58
3 boxs ceral $8.97
hot sauce $1.49
Shredded cheese $2.50
Hot pocket $2.50
Taco shells $1.99
spanish rice 1.59
2 boxes eggos $2.98
fajita seasoning .89
chicken broth 2.99
milk 2.59
tortilla shells 3.89
seasoned ground turkey 1.99
ground beef 7.33
kale 2.49
bananas 1.92
apples 1.89
Total: $50.61
We had alot of leftovers from last week and the weekend that will be incorporated for lunches as well as parts of the meals planned for the week. I will also end up picking up a couple more gallons of milk later in the week.
Struggling to find Balance
The past 6 weeks have proven to be some of the busiest and most challenging weeks I have ever faced. With an heavy class load and 4 very active children I have barely found time to breath, and I have been getting by on very little sleep and large amounts of caffeine. However, I found that I was slowly drowning on the to do lists and places to be. I found myself in tears more often than I have in the past few years. I wasn't quite sure what to do, how to fix it or make it better. For the first time in a very long time, I felt out of control, unable to keep up and actually started forgetting things that needed to be done.
I feel very strongly that going back to school is Gods plan for my future. I feel in my heart and soul that this is the right path not only for me but for my family at this time. However, I had lost sight of the fact that I needed to put my worries, stress and fears in Gods hands and let Him guide me down this path. I had let go of the sight that God will provide!!
Last weekend our Pastor gave a sermon titled Beautiful Day (the link is a recorded video of the sermon). The sermon was about Sabbath, taking a day of rest. During that entire sermon I felt as if he was talking directly to me, it was such a smack up side the head. I have been so go, go, go, do, do, do that I haven't taken any time to rest. I had THOUGHT about it, but then felt I couldn't because I would fall further behind. Our pastor challenged us to implement a Sabbath at least thru Thanksgiving. Even during the sermon I kept thinking to myself, how will I do this? How will I find the time and not fall further behind? He shared the scripture in Mark 6:31 which says: "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.". I realized, how could I NOT do this. It is what God wants for us, what he has instructed us to do in the bible. Even God did this as we were shown in Exodus 20:11, "For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy". If God felt it important enough to take a day of rest, why would we ignore that in our lives?
So I accepted this challenge to implement a day of Sabbath. We attend church on Saturday night. That next day, we went to my parents house for the afternoon to celebrate my moms birthday. Nothing fancy, no prepared meal just sandwiches so that we could all rest and visit. There was no fuss over cooking a big meal or the clean up. The kids took their pumpkins with them and spent time carving pumpkins with their cousins. For those few hours, everyone was relaxing, resting and feeding our minds and hearts with fellowship. I discovered that by taking that day away from the hustle and bustle of our schedule things were OK! I put my trust in God that He would provide. This weekend, we did the same thing. Sundays seem to be the best day for our family to set aside but your Sabbath can be any day of the week. Yesterday we went and had family pictures done (our appointment had been scheduled months ago). We had a fun time with the pictures and then came home and spent a relaxing/lazy day at home. It was perfect. No running around, no to do list just time with each other and REST.
I encourage you, if you have time, listen to the sermon that I linked to. Then find a day each week to be your Sabbath if you don't already. We all need time to rest our mind, body and spirit!
I feel very strongly that going back to school is Gods plan for my future. I feel in my heart and soul that this is the right path not only for me but for my family at this time. However, I had lost sight of the fact that I needed to put my worries, stress and fears in Gods hands and let Him guide me down this path. I had let go of the sight that God will provide!!
Last weekend our Pastor gave a sermon titled Beautiful Day (the link is a recorded video of the sermon). The sermon was about Sabbath, taking a day of rest. During that entire sermon I felt as if he was talking directly to me, it was such a smack up side the head. I have been so go, go, go, do, do, do that I haven't taken any time to rest. I had THOUGHT about it, but then felt I couldn't because I would fall further behind. Our pastor challenged us to implement a Sabbath at least thru Thanksgiving. Even during the sermon I kept thinking to myself, how will I do this? How will I find the time and not fall further behind? He shared the scripture in Mark 6:31 which says: "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.". I realized, how could I NOT do this. It is what God wants for us, what he has instructed us to do in the bible. Even God did this as we were shown in Exodus 20:11, "For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy". If God felt it important enough to take a day of rest, why would we ignore that in our lives?
So I accepted this challenge to implement a day of Sabbath. We attend church on Saturday night. That next day, we went to my parents house for the afternoon to celebrate my moms birthday. Nothing fancy, no prepared meal just sandwiches so that we could all rest and visit. There was no fuss over cooking a big meal or the clean up. The kids took their pumpkins with them and spent time carving pumpkins with their cousins. For those few hours, everyone was relaxing, resting and feeding our minds and hearts with fellowship. I discovered that by taking that day away from the hustle and bustle of our schedule things were OK! I put my trust in God that He would provide. This weekend, we did the same thing. Sundays seem to be the best day for our family to set aside but your Sabbath can be any day of the week. Yesterday we went and had family pictures done (our appointment had been scheduled months ago). We had a fun time with the pictures and then came home and spent a relaxing/lazy day at home. It was perfect. No running around, no to do list just time with each other and REST.
I encourage you, if you have time, listen to the sermon that I linked to. Then find a day each week to be your Sabbath if you don't already. We all need time to rest our mind, body and spirit!
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Quick Catch Up
I had originally hoped (as usual) to keep up with this blog, posting regularly. BUT, I have not found a way to fit it in with our new insane schedule. So here is a little "recap" of the past few weeks.
School is going very well for the kids. My oldest daughter has found that high school is much more overwhelming than middle school. With sports, band and school work she has been on the go much more than she has been used to. That said, she is adjusting and handling it very well (most of the time). My oldest son is attending high school classes and Running Start classes at the college. He is having to prioritize, manage his time and really focus on staying on top of things. He has been doing very well with this so far!
The younger 2 kiddos are really enjoying school this year. They both have great teachers and a fun group of classmates.
My classes have been much more intense that I had originally anticipated. The Condensed A&P class is extremely fast paced and alot to learn in a short amount of time. I have been functioning on very little sleep for the past few weeks. My day time hours are packed with school/homework/studying and then evenings are packed full of kids activities, more homework and studying. I thank God daily that coffee was created!!
I have been doing very well with taking my lunch with me daily and not purchasing lunches. While we haven't had "fancy" dinners, we have been cooking dinner at home and not eating out. My menu's have been simple, with one to two crockpot meals per week. I am excited we are getting into "soup" season, as soup and sandwiches are a quick and easy dinner for those busy nights!
School is going very well for the kids. My oldest daughter has found that high school is much more overwhelming than middle school. With sports, band and school work she has been on the go much more than she has been used to. That said, she is adjusting and handling it very well (most of the time). My oldest son is attending high school classes and Running Start classes at the college. He is having to prioritize, manage his time and really focus on staying on top of things. He has been doing very well with this so far!
The younger 2 kiddos are really enjoying school this year. They both have great teachers and a fun group of classmates.
My classes have been much more intense that I had originally anticipated. The Condensed A&P class is extremely fast paced and alot to learn in a short amount of time. I have been functioning on very little sleep for the past few weeks. My day time hours are packed with school/homework/studying and then evenings are packed full of kids activities, more homework and studying. I thank God daily that coffee was created!!
I have been doing very well with taking my lunch with me daily and not purchasing lunches. While we haven't had "fancy" dinners, we have been cooking dinner at home and not eating out. My menu's have been simple, with one to two crockpot meals per week. I am excited we are getting into "soup" season, as soup and sandwiches are a quick and easy dinner for those busy nights!
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