Wednesday, August 1, 2007

Aug. 2007

Aug. 27, 2007 - Great Weekend, New Week...
Where has the time gone? Here we are with a new week! We had a very good weekend. James was off all weekend which was a treat in itself. He needed it as he was so tired at the end of each day as there was so much work to do and it was very hot. So besides minor things here and there he was able to just relax on Saturday.
Sunday was very busy. We went to Sunday School and worship service. Then we went by a friend's house as she had made us a pie. Once we were home I heated up leftovers for us and we ate. A long time friend called wanting us to come for a visit so we loaded up and went on over. It was so good to see them and they showed us some of the neatest things. First, we were able to see pictures of their new home they are building in Kentucky. It's a beaut! Then we got to see some cool fossils that had been excavated from their land. Our friend said we could take a few home but I forgot. They had seashells found in the earth on their land.....in the hills of Kentucky.....cool! So, just yesterday in the SS class I teach we went over the flood. What a way to tie in the lesson! After the visit it was time to come home and get ready to go back to church. After church we had our monthly fellowship. That was very nice as well.
I need to catch up on my menu for the past few days! I'll have to think back.....
Saturday:
Bfast- canned fruit and yogurt ($4.13)
Lunch- leftover hamburgers and hot dogs that were frozen from earlier in the week(Free except for a few buns $.25)
Supper: Lasagna made with spaghetti noodles, complete with cottage cheese.....($11.50)
Beverages: soda, tea, juice, coffee($1.00)
Total: $16.88
Sunday:
Bfast- cereal ($1.25)
lunch- leftover lasagna(I had made two 9by13 pans Saturday, FREE) lemon meringe pie(free from friend)
Supper- ate at church fellowship, bought cookies and cheddar pretzels from store ($5.80)
Beverages: tea, soda ($.50)
Total: $7.55
As far as today. We have a lot of chores and school to get underway. I need to run out and deposit James check as well. I have not worked on lesson plans for this week so I will fill them in as we go. I would like to accelerate our work in school as if we are able to add on we will be doing a lot of sweat equity. That will take our time out of being able to be in the "classroom". So it's good to get that work in now. I will have to learn how to manage it all if the addition did become a reality.
As far as the addition goes, James is going to be talking with a few builders, go to Oswald lumber for a price list and talk with the bank again. We might be going in to see the banker one morning this week to hear details of what would take place with the loan. I am still trying to keep my hopes low as this could come to a halt and not become a reality. .....okay, honesty here.......God knows my heart and you might as well too....my hopes are high and I am trying to tone them down.....confession is good for the soul. LOL We have talked about this for years....knocking the idea around. We are now at peace with this and the timing seems right. Only the Lord knows what will come and He is in control. I do know that I am praying about it daily. The Lord DOES meet our needs and a lot of wants and I am thankful. I feel strange praying for something materialistic....but yet is it a need? Should I focus prayer only on the souls of man....no I think it's okay to pray for this.
I will have to put in today's menu a little later. I will have to add up the ingredients' cost for supper tonight. I can go ahead and give a grand total of this months groceries. This is for food, paper products...everything for our family.......adding........adding...... We came in right at $445. That's not too bad. I bought a bucket of wheat berries and so that was $22. Also, we ate at McDonalds twice this month.....once for bfast and once for lunch. We bought a few things that I won't have to buy this coming month such as paper towels and diapers(I will use a lot of cloth and disposable mainly when we go somewhere). I will hopefully have enough cleaner to last the month of September. We have a dry season of birthdays until December so no big meal requests till then.
Have a great day in the LORD!

[Comments - 1]



Aug. 23, 2007 - Featured Blogger on Community Front Porch!
I am a featured Blogger on Community Front Porch! That really made my day, to see that. Thank you so much! I even get a much valued prize. I plan on using it with the boys' next year. You can go to the front porch HERE . What a sweet surprise!
Today has been another good day. This week has been such a good week. No, nothing earth moving has happened but I just feel the Lord's joy. And that means much to me. I will make a short run down of what happened today.
I got up right at six so it was better than yesterday. I really enjoy getting up sooner and getting the day started. I always feel bad if I stay in bed past seven. So, I go ahead and read my Bible and study out of the Bible encyclopedia and Wycliffe commentary. After that I heated up leftover biscuits and gravy for James and myself for breakfast. The children eat cereal per their choice. We go ahead and get school going. That goes so very well. Brittany was stumped on her math lesson so I worked with her on that. She is now finished with all review from last year. Now she's in the harder stuff. The same goes for the rest of the crew. I feel like we are pioneers, treading on new ground! Cool! We eat a lunch of quesidilias. They were very yummy! While fixing lunch, Brittany lets me know that I am a featured blogger and so I turn over lunch prep to her so I could come see. Yeah! We eat and then I get the wee ones down for a nap. I lie down for a brief 10-15 minutes, half out of it. Then it's time to get ready to take Samuel to the dentist AGAIN. While there we have good news. He only needed one filling and got another sealant. Hopefully the bill won't be too bad. I think we are done with that place until I go in November for my checkup. I will be taking my mom for a checkup next week at another office. She's not good in heavy traffic so I agreed to take her. After that, we stop by Big K and get Joy-Anna's late birthday present. You can get away with that with a one year old. I eyeball the clearance racks and pick up three skirts, two for me and one for Brittany. Two were $3.50 and the other was $11.00. I pick up a total of 10-12 nice shirts for $1 each! They are colored cotton shirts and are very comfy. They were orgionally $10.99. I was glad to find these deals.
Once back home I began supper.....beef and lentil tacos, both hard and soft shell. They were very tasty. After we eat James goes over to Pastor's house to help install a new hot water heater. I play cards with the children and talk of our day. We work with Joy-Anna on her new toy. It's a push toy but she doesn't want to push it just yet. So she just plays with it while sitting and standing. She cannot walk yet but I thought this toy would aid in that. Give baths to the ones getting them, brush teeth, tuck them in and wish them sweet dreams. So now we are here! I am waiting for James to come in so I can go to bed.
Here's our menu for the day:
Breakfast: leftover biscuits and gravy(FREE) and cereal ($1.25)
Lunch: quesadilias ($4.50)
Supper: Tacos made with lentils and ground beef ($6.05)
Beverages: tea, coffee, water (.75)
Total: $12.55
We have enough taco ingredients leftover for tomorrow's lunch. I made salsa from a can of tomatoes and added a teaspoon of green chilis from another can. By teaspoonfuls I added the rest of the canned chilis to an ice tray. I will pop them out tomorrow and put them in a freezer bag. Then I will have chilis in one teaspoon increments to add to dishes. I also froze some extra lentils that I cooked to add to another batch of tacos later. I hope you all have had a great day in the LORD.


[Comments - 5]


Aug. 23, 2007 - Homeschool Funny
This morning as I was doing math with Samuel, we were studying fourths. Here was the math problem.
Sarah had eight markers to color a tree with. She decided to use 1/4 of the markers. How many markers does she use?
Samuel: She uses two markers.
Mom: Right! How did you come up with the correct answer?
Samuel: People usually color their trees just green and brown. You know, brown for the trunk and green for the leaves. So, she used two markers.
[Comments - 10]


Aug. 22, 2007 - Our Day, Part II
~1:25 Well, like I said, this day isn't ideal but is usual. LOL I had not had a shower as of yet till just now. I hit the floor running and immediately put on yesterday's clothes. So a shower makes me feel alive again at least. Straight out of the bathroom I face the hill of laundry right in front of the dryer. So I sit down right in the floor and fold the wash, which takes almost thirty minutes.
~2:00 That movie is finally over! The movie was longer than expected. I come into the livingroom after folding the wash and find out that Boo-Boo(Joy-Anna) had broke loose from the booster seat and had reached her rubbermaid container full of diapers. She had fun spreading those all around. So after picking those up I escort four of the children to the bathroom to brush their teeth. They had a bit of candy during the movie and I don't want the sugar setting on their teeth. Samuel was helpful in eating blue candy as I could see where his teeth needed brushing the most. LOL I have Jesse and Beth to get in bed for quiet time. Dalton sweeps around the dining table as I load the DW with lunch dishes and start it.
2:30 Brittany is trying to take pics of Joy-Anna since it's her birthday. I finished up cleaning the kitchen. That should be all the dishes for today messed up except for cups as tonight we are using paper plates for our sandwiches. Yeah! Since I didn't get to read my Bible this morning, I do this now. I read Proverb 22 and start Hosea.
3:15 I start the older three on their science.
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Cathy and Whoever is interested in our home addition plans, we are hoping to add on an addition that would give us about 1000 more sq. ft. It would include a new bedroom each for the girls and the boys just bigger than what they have now. The girls' current room is really a dining room. This house was meant to have two bedrooms and a dining room....typical of older farmhouses. Anyway, so the girls' current bedroom would be our dining room. That would mean that the livingroom would have a lot more room as that's where the dining table is now. Also, the boys' current bedroom would be the school room. We would also add on a bigger washroom complete with a family closet. All clothes, dirty and clean would be contained in this one room. I hope to have a changing area as well.....maybe even stalls? Dare I dream? LOL The current washroom would be changed into a pantry as it's right off from the kitchen. The stand alone pantry that's currently in the kitchen would go into the schoolroom or playroom for storage. Also, the HUGE hot water heater would go into the new washroom instead of the kitchen so it would give more room in the kitchen as well. We'd also have another bathroom that is planned to have a double vanity. So there will be no standing in a long line to brush teeth, etc! There could be a girls/ sink and a boys' sink. This would be used by the children a lot but also by guests. It would be right off from the livingroom and so guests wouldn't have to treck through our kitchen and current washroom to go to the restroom. The new addition would have an upstairs and that's where the playroom would be. Believe it or not the boys' little bedroom has a gametable in it. It is JAM packed in there! We NEED a playroom. LOL As a matter of fact if we cannot afford an upstairs the boys' current bedroom will be a playroom instead of a schoolroom. Where would we put all our books? Remember, we have a family closet....there's no clothes in our bedroom closets anymore. This is where the books go. Where would we do school? Either in the playroom at a table, in our bedrooms or the dining area. So with the addition if we get the upstairs playroom, we'd have about 2400 sq. ft. total. If it's not in the budget to add the playroom upstairs, then we would have about 2208 sq. ft. total. Right now we have about 1395. I hope this makes sense. All I know is that it's a dream for us to have this room! We are in hopes of putting in a lot of sweat equity. We are the DIY type and so plan on this being no different. We have NO idea how much this will cost. We are REALLY hoping for good news on it not being so much. If it's in our budget... we hope this coming year will be the year to take the plunge. I am ready to put some feet to our talk. LOL
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~3:30 I lie down with Joy-Anna for a nap while the smaller ones are resting. I wake up a little after four as the phone is ringing. It's James calling to tell me of his conversation with a builder and banker. This could lean either way really. Get off the phone with him and then phone rings again. It's Mama. She's doing alright with her surgery and it turns out that Daddy will have the rest of the week off. I am so glad. I make plans to drive Mama for a checkup next Wed. afternoon. As I am on the phone I switch the wash around to dry.
~4:45 I check the mail and pack away the curry ingredients to hand off to a family at church tonight. I talk over Brittany's Science with her. She goes off to play her mandolin. Dalton has permission to play the video games for 20 minutes. I should have made him practice piano first but it's too late now. Ugh!
~ 5:00 I pull out the ironing board and clothes to iron for tonight. Jesse's in the shower and Bethany's in the tub, washing up after their naps and for church tonight. After ironing tonight's clothes I tidy the livingroom once more before church. I straighten our bed as well before James gets home.
~ 6:00 We decide that we really aren't that hungry to eat before church so decide to wait till after. So we go ahead and get ready and leave here a little after 6:30.
~After church we took some friends home whose car wouldn't start and James boosts the car for them. I am glad that it was just the battery! We get home a little before 10:00 and eat a VERY late, quick supper of sandwiches and chips. We brush teeth, change into night clothes and say our goodnights. We fall asleep to thunder. What a good sound off in the distance. The promise of rain?

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Aug. 22, 2007 - Happy Birthday, Joy-Anna!

My baby turns one today! I cannot believe it. My how she has grown. I love you, Boo-Boo!
I am chronicling my day just as Candy is doing. So far this day would not be the day that I'd choose to chronicle but I didn't think it'd be fair to just chronicle a great day, ay? So here's the scoop so far.
~Woke up at 7:05am, LATE!!! I was up late last night with James going over possible plans for an addition to our home next year. :D I talk with James before he showers for work. HE requests for me not to cook till he's gone as he didn't want to eat this morning. So I don't start breakfast till 8:00. I clean up the cookware as I go(that's an extra point for me! LOL).
~8:30 we are eating breakfast of biscuits and gravy...dishes sit in the sink from breakfast although Jesse and I do get the dishwasher unloaded from last night's run.
~9:00 We finally begin our studies! Dalton read his book (Charlotte's Web) and Bible ( two chapters of I Samuel). Brittany reads her Bible and current events out of today's newspaper. Jesse and Beth played together while I read with Samuel at the table. Joy-Anna is with us in her booster seat still eating and drinking her juice. Britt went for a shower.
~9:30 Samuel and I are still working on reading in his workbook now. Dalton's on language arts. I notice that somehow Bethany has not been dressed for the day and so I hurry and pick out something for her to change into.
~9:45 Brittany begins her math as she can't find her New Testament Survey PACE right now. I give a short speech on placing things where they belong so that we won't waste time searching. She will have to do that later once she finds it.
~10:00 Dalt and Sam take a 15 minute break . I load the washer and do a quick pickup of the LR. I notice the floor needs sweeping under the dining table.....no time now to do that as it should have been done last night....making sure it's done after lunch. I also think of my mom and her oral surgery that's today. Also, I think of getting clothes ready for tonight's church....much to think of! My focus moves on to getting things prepared for Samuel's math lesson.
~10:15 I do addition and subtraction flashcards with Samuel and then review place value with practice using a church hymnal. Joy-Anna plays in her playpen. Jesse and Beth play in the girls' room, quietly. Then Beth comes to color as Jesse has alone play time.Dalton works on Bible 503.
~11:00 After switching wash I go and nurse Joy-Anna. Brittany is now on Social Studies. After Joy-Anna falls to sleep I lay her down and read the computer some. The boys play while Beth cuts up a paper with scissors. I remind her to clean up after herself when she's done.
11:15 I think of what's for supper....something easy as it's Wednesday and church night. Sandwiches it is! So today's menu is:
Bfast: biscuits and gravy ($2)
lunch: leftover soup from last night(FREE)
Supper: sandwiches and chips left over from Dalton's birthday meal($3.75)
snack: popsicles (free from BIL, he works for Mayfield)
Bev: tea, juice, and coffee ($1)
Total: $6.75
I come here to type this up as the boys look at a Highlights magazine. Beth is in between looking at that and finishing up cleaning those paper clippings. Britt is still doing school and Joy-Anna is still asleep. I am off to heat lunch.
~ 12:00 James calls and tells me he talked to our insurance company for a rough quote of how our insurance would go up with an addition. They quoted $12 more a month. That's doable and we are pleased with this rough quote. James is going to talk to some contractors and get some quotes in writing of how much an addition will be. We have NO idea at all....we are praying for the Lord's will in this. I know what we want..... we will see what the Lord wants. I switch the wash again. As I get the clothes out of the dryer, I hang up the clothes that will wrinkle easy and the rest goes in a pile in front of the dryer to fold after while. I load the DW with the breakfast dishes as I heat individual bowls of leftover soup. I finally get to heat mine and eat~! The leftover soup will make another supper later. I put that in the freezer for another easy meal. It filled a gallon freezer bag 2/3 of the way full. As we eat lunch we watch Pride of the Yankees( Lou Gehrig). What a movie! We watched it a few days ago but the children wanted to see something today at break. So this is it.
I am still waiting for my dad to call about my mom's oral surgery . I don't have his cell phone # so I can't call him. I should have gotten it but didn't think to. Hopefully we will hear soon from them.
~1:10 I finally called Mom and Dad's house. They just got in and the surgery went well. Leave it to a man not to call! LOL She is still loopy right now but is doing fine.
This is the first half of our day. I will post the rest later. Lord willing.


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Aug. 21, 2007 - Happy Tuesday
We had a very good day celebrating Dalton's birthday! We did not do any school at all so that's celebration in itself. James didn't get home till a little after seven and so it was a while before Dalton saw his Dad, who was also the present bearer. That boy is so good. He did not ask the first time for any presents. We didn't mention it either. James brought them home from work. We got him a baseball glove and his first pocket knife. James stressed knife safety and also responsibility of keeping it in his pocket and away from the wee ones. He's done good so far. He also got some Transformers from some money from grandparents.
This morning we had cleaning and piano lesson time. We've now had lunch and about to have quiet time. Once that's over we will have some courses for school. Supper will be easy and not take long at all.
I have found that if I take just 2-5 minutes to do a quick pickup before lying down that it helps to keep things better in order. I mentioned the older two doing this to help and so we are going to give it a go. Hopefully we can put this into practice and it'll reap benefits.
Today's Menu:
Bfast: cereal, yes again! (1.75)
lunch: leftover hamburgers, hot dogs and sausage dogs from last night(FREE!) I froze enough for another lunch for later! So even though the meal cost over $20, it will feed us a supper and two lunches!
Supper: homemade vegetable beef soup $8.02
beverages: tea, coffee, milk ($1)
snacks: leftover cake
Total: $10.77


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Aug. 20, 2007 - Happy Birthday, Dalton.....and a tag.
My oldest son turns 10 today! He's my little "runt" of the batch. LOL He weighed a tiny 7# 14oz. at birth. He's still a little skinny dude but he's a sweetheart. Happy birthday, my "Bubba-roo"!!!! I love you much!
Brittany tagged me and wanted me to tell 8 things about myself. So, I will try to think of some.
1. I am a tee total, natural, out right, messy person. I have to conciously tell myself what to do to straighten up. It's not a natural thing to me. So, even after all this time my mind hasn't switched over.
2. I used to watch a lot of football. I was a USC Gamecocks fan, through and through. I still like football but it's not my god anymore. Jesus is my God. I don't even keep up with football anymore.
3. I like to fish but I haven't been fishing since our oldest was born. I used to go 1-3 times a week with James. What a drastic change! I don't see being about to cast a rod until the last child is past toddlerhood.
4. Each month for the past year I have said that I will lose weight. I probably have only lost 7 the whole year.
5. I am allergic to dust.
6. I hate flattery. If it's a genuine complement, then it's fine but don't lie to me!
7. I am getting gray hair. I don't care either. I don't plan on covering it up but plan on aging gracefully....with James' blessing. I used to dye my hair all the time and he never wanted me to. So, I finally gave it up and he's glad.
8. I like to cook but get tired of cooking three meals a day. I try to stay joyfull with it by reading cookbook, magazines and recorded cookshows. It's good to stay in the "know". I like to try different foods and learn the science of cooking. If I could chose to have a career, being a chef sounds cool. I like making people smile with food and to hear them say, "mmmmmm, that's good!"......only if they really mean it though. Remember, I hate flattery. I like genuine compliments.
Okay, Brittany....there you go!

Today we took off from school but I have been making the children work anyway. LOL I have been getting rid of a little more clutter, scrubbed the trash can and the wall behing. The edge of the kitchen floor, got a mountain of newspaper out to be hauled away today with the trash, rearranged diapers into a rubbermaid container, got a box of old clothes out to the road too, washed two loads of wash, fixed lunch. and here we are at 1:23 and counting. I still have to work on Dalton and Joy-Anna's cake. They are sharing a cake as she turns 1 on Wednesday! Dalton wants a Candyland Cake and it calls for two boxes of cake mix. That's a lot of cake and candy! So this cake will be for them both.
Here's today's menu:
Bfast: cereal(1.75)
Lunch: pizza rolls, ramen noodles and peanut butter crackers($3.75)
Supper: grilled hamburgers, hot dogs and sausage dogs, chips($13.75)
beverages: tea, soda, milk and juice ($2.50)
cake(taken out of the birthday budget)
Total: $21.25 (YIKES!) We will have leftovers for tomorrow.

Yesterday's menu was:
Bfast: cereal ($1.75)
Dinner: crockpot chicken and tortillas served over spanish rice($8.00)
Supper: leftovers
snack: fig bars (.50)
beverages: coffee, tea, soda, milk ($1.00)
Total: $11.75
Keeping track of the things this way helps me to see where we need to tighten up the budget. We have been having costly meals lately. Later in the week we will be having more frugal meals.
I need to rest a bit, do more cleaning and get onto fixing that cake! Have a great day!
[Comments - 4]

Aug. 18, 2007 - Saturday
We had such fun fellowshipping together with our missionary friends. Please continue to pray for Bro. Stephen as it will take him a while to heal. We had a great meal at CC's. What a glorious treat!
After departing we headed over to Sam's before they closed. I had to pick up some cheese, flour and meat. I picked up a great pack of chops from there~! Then we went into Walmart to look at replacement watches for Dalton and Samuel. They did so well with their first ones so we needed to get them replacements. Afterwards we headed back to home sweet home!
This morning after fixing breakfast I headed out with the boys to go do our biweekly grocery shopping and catch any yardsales we may pass along the way. We did pass one....a very good one at that. I picked up a beautiful fall pie plate that has pumpkins on it and the matching lid. I can't wait to fill it with a pumpkin pie! I eyeballed a pretty crystal bowl that had a silver rim but passed it up. On the way to the grocery store I had regrets. Anyone that knows me well knows that I think something to death before I buy much of anything. So I purposed in my heart to stop back by on the way home. When I returned the bowl was GONE! Oh the dispair(okay, let me have my drama)~!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I asked the lady how much it went for..... it was sold for ONE DOLLAR. It still had the crystal sticker on the bottom. I could just picture a pea or pasta salad in that sweet bowl. UGH! So anyway, I did get a set of three silver candlesticks for free, a potpourri pot and roll of clear contact paper( for Sunday School) for $1.50. They would have given that away too but I can't take advantage like that. They were just wanting to get rid of the "junk". LOL Now, I just have to get over not having that bowl. : /
Today menu is:
b-fast: cheese grits and eggs (.50)
lunch: hot dogs and sandwiches($1.25)
supper: fried pork chops, stuffing and gravy, salad, bean salad( that would have looked great in that bowl) (15.00)
Beverages: soda, milk, juice($1.75)
Snack: fig bars $1.00
Total: $19.50
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Aug. 17, 2007 -
Sitting in the waiting room after having a long hot ride through town, I had time to observe the workers at the dentist office. There was a mixture of hygentists and receptionists in there. It was a slow day for them yesterday. After picking out one of the few nice outfits to wear to the dentist I thought of how many nice clothes these women probably have. They always look so put together, with each hair in place. I was thankful to have brushed mine and have it pulled back, not being to a salon in months....no years??? I sighed as I thumbed through a magazine only to find today's latest fashions. They all looked tacky and strange....from my perspective. The women talked of pooling money together to enter the lottery. I groaned within myself thinking of how they were wasting their money. One was fingering through a Home Interiors magazine. Another talked of what restuarant to eat at that night. Another talked of not having a life with children and having to play second, third or fourth fiddle with children. I almost began to feel sorry for myself as I thought of what fiddle I must be playing with SIX children. Wouldn't it be nice to eat out like that and wear nice clothes.....hair in place. I looked down at the menu that i was planning for the next two weeks....again. I wondered if in their world if they had ever made a menu? I heard plans of the vacation homes and football games to see in the fall. For a moment I felt sorry for myself. Then a cute little boy enters the waiting room with his cute glasses and snaggletoothed grin. He says, " I did good, Mama!". Hey, that boy's talking to me! That's my boy. Then another child comes and the dentist right behind him with a hygenist. The hygenist talks of how they should send all of the children to our house to be trained to sit so still and politely. The dentist remarks about how our family is always so good at the office. Yes, I am blessed. So I gladly leave with the children in tow in my older clothes and shoes...same old hairstyle in the same old van but in a lighter step. I GET to go home to my family and feed them, enjoy them, and in a way feel sorry for those women. They don't get to go home to their children and breath them in. They don't get to share funnies with them throughout the day. And as my husband sweetly reminds me and I remind myself oftentimes......my reward awaits in heaven. My work is eternal......how more satifying should it be?
[Comments - 3]


Aug. 17, 2007 - Friday Facts
Well, the children are either eating breakfast or starting school this very moment! We are running 30 minutes behind, not myself though. Usually we will hit the snooze button quite a few times before getting out of bed. Not this morning. The announcer was telling of the horrible mine accident. This is of the rescuers trying to get to the miners of who we hope is still alive. Now, three are dead. I feel so bad for those families....and any miners that may very well still be alive in the mine. All we can do is pray. It's so easy to remove ourselves from situations like this as that's so far away. Yet, these are people with real families and real souls. I guess saying, "all we can do is pray" belittles prayer. Prayers of sincere children of God is a mighty tool.
Yesterday we had very good news at the dentist office! We were told that Samuel would need four fillings last week by the "newer" dentist. Our "older", regular dentist looked at Samuel and said that he thought we could get away with sealants as the decay was so small. Yeah! So that was on two of them. The dentist is going to look at the other two at our next visit this coming week. I am hoping for the very same thing. We'll see. Dalton got a cavity filled but thankfully didn't need any numbing medicine. The dentist joked of sending home some novacaine for when I brush their teeth. He said to just make sure that I don't use Borax! He was joking of how I go to great extremes to prevent decay. LOL On the bad side, the receptionist says that the insurance company may not be wanting to pay for the visit but not to panic. They were going to file the charges and see what comes back. I think they will but she did get me concerned. There's no reason that they shouldn't pay their share. I think it's just the dentist's computers that's off. I will pray for this as yesterday's charges was $347! I have budgetted to pay $200 for yesterday and next week's visit! Yes.....prayer.......
James got a call last night from our missionary friends that their van is ready to use. They have had our van since arriving in the country three or so weeks ago. So he said first we must eat and fellowship with them before getting it back tonight. So we are going to CC's pizza!!!!!! We are all so excited. We get to spend time with them, eat pizza and I don't have to cook. How good is that?
Okay, here's my menu and then I have to get on with the day.
Breakfast: scrambled eggs, biscuits and bacon($2.25)
Lunch: sandwiches from leftover chicken salad and ham($.75)
Supper: FREE CC's pizza
Snacks: sugar and choc. chip cookies and canned fruit($1.50)
Beverages: juice, tea, coffee, milk ($2.00)
Total: $6.50
Have a great day!
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Aug. 16, 2007 - Thursday
Yesterday we played catch up in school. So today we will start fresh. We will have a curve ball in our day as we will be hitting the dentist off this afternoon. Dalton and Samuel will be getting some fillings. Then we will have to go back for Samuel to get two more fillings later! I hope that's it in that dept. I am back to scrubbing their teeth myself about every third night.....just sort of spot checking. My answer to everything now is, "go brush your teeth"! It's a never ending battle for us. Some families just have good teeth and have it "easy". We don't.
Last night was midweek worship services. The sermon was very good... about KNOWING Jesus. There's a difference between simply knowing him and KNOWING him. I hope to go over the verses covered today. Then I think I'll keep trudging through the minor prophets. I am glad to be there instead of with the major prophets. The books are shorter....although still I have a hard time getting something out of the passages. Yes....Jesus is on every page, but more obvious on some than others. LOL We also had Bible drill last night. The whole church participates. This is something that I missed the children doing from the church we used to attend. I kicked around the idea of the children doing it here but am so glad we are doing it at church. It keeps me on my toes too!
Yesterday I didn't get the bread made so we had hot dogs and ramen for a total of $1.90 for lunch. I also made potato candy. Have you ever heard of it? You actually make it with a potato, sugar and peanut butter. I think if I make it again that I'll add a little salt and maybe dip it in some chocolate. We aren't big candy eaters and only save it for vacations(which we haven't had one this year) and so it was time for candy.....despite cavities. So after the candy, I scrubbed their teeth. LOL
Today's menu is:
Breakfast: waffles ($1.75)
Lunch: chicken salad sandwiches, complete with grapes($5.50)
Supper: choice of chicken salad(leftover) or tuna salad sandwiches ($2.25)
beverages: milk, tea, coffee $1.50
snacks: bananas(.25 per banana) $1.75
Total: $12.75
Shopping day is sometimes between Friday and Saturday....whenever I am able to go. I hope to do really well. Stay tuned.

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Aug. 15, 2007 - Whimsical Wednesday
Wednsedays always seem so whimsical. I guess because of having evening worship things go haywire beginning between 4:30- 5:00. If your plans aren't completed by that time then it's too late!
Things are going pretty good thus far today. We had our oatmeal and the children are into school now. I am hoping for a nice, full day of school. I am to catch up on the lesson book as well today. Yes, I am behind in that! Saturday is my planning day and we weren't here on Saturday. So we have been winging it without plans and now to catch up. Even so, school is going well. We are into day 12 today and only 168 more days to go or until our books/ studies are done.
Here's our budgetted menu for today:
Breakfast: Oatmeal ($. 50)
Lunch: tuna salad on homemade bread ($3.00)
Supper: meatballs in brown gravy over egg noodles, green beans and salad ($8.50)
Snack: homemade peanut butter and sugar cookies($1)
Beverages: milk and sweet tea($2.25)
Total: $15.25
Yesterday's total was up to about $9.00. So that will make up for today. LOL I thought that maybe if I list my menus more often it'd help those inquisitive minds with how we spend "so little". Please share any tips if you'd like as I am always looking for new info in this area.
A snack some of my children had yesterday was to crumble leftover cornbread into a cup of milk and eat it with a spoon. I told them that was what I did when I was a girl. They looked at me like I was nuts until they tried. Okay, so I am still nuts but I was right in this incident anyway. LOL
I have to go and get ready to read with Samuel. I am so happy as the boy is doing wonderfully in reading! I think it was his glasses that he needed all this time to help. If I only had known! By the end of this school year I am in hopes he will be completely up to where he should be...if not, then he will get there eventually!

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Aug. 14, 2007 - Tuesday Morning
Okay, so I should be waking the children up. It's way to quiet right now and I'm a' liking it too much.
School: After taking yesterday off we are beginning school again today. Between the house being unpleasant to live in and Samuel having broken glasses, school didn't seem so appealing. Now the house is more up to par and Samuel has his glasses again. This will be day #11 of 180 for the new school year. We also got in the boys' social studies and science book and this will be our second day of adding this in. I am glad to have their curriculum complete and in order.
Kitchen: For breakfast I made bacon(with bacon bits) and cheese grits. You can take imitation bacon bits and put them in liquid and they rehydrate. They are yummy in a pinch in certain things. I have put them on baked beans, in green beans and now in grits. For lunch we'll do easy canned soup and for supper we're having pinto bean casserole and kraut salad. Last night we had pintos, corn bread, fried breakfast sausage, hash brown patties and sour kraut. So tonight I am utilizing the leftovers into new dishes.
Chores: I have the usual 15 minutes' cleanup in my bedroom, the boys' room and would like to work in our bathroom....... there's always laundry as well. I just get done what I can in the alloted time.
Okay, time to wake up the children....Have a great day in the LORD!
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Aug. 13, 2007 - Monday's Joy and Five Letter Words
The Lord never fails despite our many failings. He is good ALL the time~ ! James was not able to use the part that we were in hopes of him using. So, $123 and two more hours later we have a new part on the van and it is now running again. I am SO thankful the Lord gave me a man who can fix almost anything! I am not kidding you either. He is "Mr. Fix-it". I don't know what we would have done if we had to have put it in the shop. We'd be walking! So long story short, the van is running again.
Today has been a sort of day off. This past weekend seemed very busy and so we needed some time to take a breath and catch up on some chores. I seem to lose my vision when things get too loud and busy. I need quiet to have time to focus. Today has helped with that. I always appreciate time to soak into God's fellowship and just talk with Jesus. You know...just talk about everything and anything. Things that are bothersome whether they should be or not. Things that the world wouldn't take care in but it is important to me. So, it gives me time to tune in to character traits to work on......with the children but more importantly with myself. I won't talk about the children's right now.....
As for me I have a real issue with stress. I shouldn't be so uptight. Stress can over-ride joy and that's not good. Also sometimes I get really down with how this world treats one another. Even in the church. People in church are still really rotten and fleshly. Thank God for grace! I think of where the sense of worldliness is. Where's the sense of true hospitality and fellowship toward others outside of the local church? People are too much into bling-bling. You know.... hottest up to date fashions.....shop, shop, shop.... gotta have this and that. And then there's the, "do you see me? " attitude and the judgmental attitude of if you aren't in the "spiritual group" then you aren't on my favorite list. It's so far into the world....even the church that it's stomach churning. The difference between the ones in the family of God and ones not is but one thing.....G-R-A-C-E. One thing that's come a'missing in the church is another five letter word. s-h-a-m-e No one has shame and remorse. It's all in p-r-i-d-e and self. Lord, help me to have shame where called and focus on your plan. Help me to be of broken spirit and not of proud mind. Help me not to worry and realize you are in control. For not for YOUR grace there go I.

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Aug. 10, 2007 - Hey Thatta' Work
Okay so I 've got money saving on my mind. I have two children that have five cavities between them that has to be filled this month. The other two faired well at their check-ups (good children!). Also, our Astro needed a new alternator. We are thankfully blessed with a free one from a friend who has a junker. James is putting it in as we speak. Prayers that it works are welcome!
I was visiting a fellow blogger today and saw the coolest "menu"! Hey, I might print it out....never know when it'll come in handy. I say it's always good to be full of ideas in time of need....or for entertainment purposes. LOL
Well, we survived this week of school although it was mighty rocky. How ironic to post a schedule that we followed for only one day this week. I am psyched for next week to be better! As for tomorrow....we will be going on a trip to some church services a few hours off. It's some kind of jubilee.....type youth meeting something or other. I'm sure it'll be fun and the older two children are really looking forward to it. Well....that's if James gets the van running well.
With James going with us tomorrow on our little trip he will be off the whole weekend. Yeah! With these wicked temps he's had a very busy week. He's busier during the hottest and coolest temps now. We topped out at 105 according to the newspaper but James rode by a few places whose thermostats read 108. He's had to go into attics and be out in this heat....no fun! I do know we've had some record temps and real feel temps of 110 or so. Our garden has pretty much burned up but that's okay...I didn't have time for it anyway.
Have a great weekend!
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Aug. 9, 2007 - Another Boring Story on Food Budgetting
You know, I find it so hard to believe sometimes how uninformed some people are to food budgetting and money spending. Maybe it's just my thing to know. But really, for anyone on a budget shouldn't that they this kind of thing? Shouldn't it be their business?
For instance, not too long ago my husband and I were having a conversation with a man who we will call "Fred". I used that name because I don't know anyone called by that name and to protect the innocent. Fred got on the subject of grocery budgets. Oh goody! One of my favorite subjects. Even before having to know about saving money I wanted to learn in hopes of fulfilling the dream of being home with our future children one day. Anyway, Fred mentioned needing to make more money and said that he really didn't want them back on food stamps. He said that $567 doesn't go too far. GULP! GASP! ^*&%&^$*&%???? How much? I explained that we'd be eating mighty good on that much a month. He looked at me in a bewildered state and I explained that the maximum for our family is a budget of $425 per month for food and nonfood. Period. If we eat out it either comes from surplus from the utilities account or from that maximum grocery budget of $425/month. Our budget has been as low as $240 per month although not often. Praise God! Fred asks how that can be. I explain that I shop at Aldi and James explains how I sometimes match coupons to sales. Fred says that he's amazed as he does the shopping for their family and spends more than that for sure. Then he proceeds to say each evening after work he stops at the store to pick up their needs. Can we say, "big no, no!". I do wish that I had told him that. The more you go in the store, the more you spend. Usually I shop every two weeks and usually hit the store once in between for more milk or an occasional missing, needed item. Another big "no, no" is blowing money at specialty stores that sell the gourmet, high classed and overly rated foods. I say simplify, simplify, simplify. The kicker is that Fred's wife cooks a lot from scratch but splurges sometimes on $4/loaf breads and other such luxuries. It's all in where you shop and how often and allowing those splurges to not take over. Can we take this a bit farther? Another food budget buster is overeating. I am as guilty as anyone in occasionally overeating. Wrong is wrong and I have been wrong. But some find it amusing to overeat. As if to show off and make it sport. This is SO wrong even aside from it being a budget buster. So long, story short; watch what you spend and how you spend it and do it in bigger trips. Categorize the needs from the wants. Do we really need soda? No. Do we need tea? No. We need water. That's just a simple example.
End of Story.
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Aug. 8, 2007 - Question about Joy-Anna's Time

A friend asked about what Joy-Anna is doing during those empty slots. Most of the time she is usually in my lap or at my feet during that time. She is very spoiled! It's easy for her to sit with me or play at my feet while sitting down and doing school. When I am working in the kitchen she can play in the girls' room with the baby gate up at the door so I can see her. The girls' room is right off from the kitchen. So she can play in there and I can see her easily. It is hard to fill in a schedule for younger ones. I am also working on training for blanket time. That's where she has a special blanket that she has to sit on and not move off of. I did have a playpen set up in the LR but it was taking up too much space. So now I am training her with blanket time. I set her on it for a few minutes a day and teach her to stay on it while playing. I hope to extend this to 30 minutes per day. This comes in very handy as a blanket is more portable than a playpen. It also teaches discipline on her behalf as she has to control her desire to do her will instead of mine. I guess with babies they sort of go with the flow more than the older children. They sort of float more as they aren't developed enough to do many organized activities. Although I do think they learn faster than I know as Joy-Anna was doing a grand job with a crayon the other day. Albeit, it was on the coffeetable! What I had to do was figure out when was the most important times to have her moreso occupied. For us that was when I was teaching the youngest in school, reading with Samuel and during my much needed quiet time. Those are when distractions aren't welcome, even from a sweet baby.
Cathy E., I don't have your email address and have been wondering how you are! Email me sometime when you have a chance.

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Aug. 7, 2007 -

Well, we are in our second week of school. It seems we are right on schedule! We are getting satisfaction in knowing that we are ahead and moving along. I don't know why I gain anxiety whenever interruptions happen in our life...this is to be because it is a PART of life. I am going to have to be more easy going with it.
I believe it's Emilie Barnes that has a book out about 15 minutes at a time. I think of that a lot. It seems that my way of getting through the days are 15 minutes at a time. If I tell myself to just work at something for that much time things don't seem so tedious. So with the schedule and that 15 minutes here and there we are staying afloat.
Thank you to each that has been so gracious to pray for my back. Little background info, I have had back problems ever since I was 23. I think mainly from misuse while stocking groceries in a store and possibly from a case of the shingles. I have arthritis in my back. So of course there's good days where I feel totally normal and then there have been times when I ran the house from the couch. The really bad days are when it's hard to even lift a foot to walk. That only comes a time or two a year. Then sometimes it's just a nuisance. So for a few weeks it's just been that....a nuisance. The Lord has always provided grace to allow me to get done what is needed. With a lot of grace from Him and some determination from me I will live my life and not let this get me down! So that's that. Thank you again for your concern and prayers.
Today is once again piano lesson day for Dalton. We are debating on ending this. He really shows little interest in it. When we talk of stopping lessons he says he'll practice more....then he doesn't. So, we will give it a go this month and if things aren't improving then we'll have to stop. The lessons are quite costly so that money could be utilized somewhere else if he isn't interested. Then if he's REALLY interested then he could always learn from big sis.
Well, must run and get things a' moving. I would have had more pics up but I really don't know how to put them on. Brittany does that for me. I still need to learn. Do you guys know of a quicker way instead of having to put it on photo bucket and then transfer to here? It's very time consuming.


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Aug. 1, 2007 - Happy Wednesday!

With getting school underway, I haven't had a chance to take many pictures! I will try for tomorrow and take some pictures of the children during school. We are now on our third day and despite many hurdles and challenges, we are getting things done. We are still running ahead of schedule for the older two. That's the wonderful thing about being older.....not having to wait on Mama! One thing about Joy-Anna is that she wants to be held a lot. It's hard to keep things quiet when you are trying to teach her to sit and play on her own. Also, I am really looking forward to our weekly house blessing on Friday! That felt so good last week to have much done. I need to be doing some decluttering before the big day though. With school going, the decluttering has came to a snail's crawl.
My mom is coming by in a few hours to pick something up and give us some goodies. She's a shopper and so picks up things for the children...and sometimes me too. Then this evening we will be going to midweek worship. It takes a while to get everyone ready so this consumes our whole evening. I enjoy the worship part...but not the getting ready part. LOL
Yesterday I got the Astro vacuumed and cleaned. I washed the outside...didn't make much difference as the paint or lack of paint is so bad that it still looks bad. But anyway it is clean! I tried working on the a/c in it but to no success. Oh well, that's fine as we don't go many places anyway. I am just thankful to be able to helps others in need and still get what we need done. As I was cleaning yesterday I put my back out a little more than I should have. So last night I was not so good and today I am still...no so good. It will heal over time.
Well, I must go and get a bunch of stuff done quickly. Time is precious!
Have a blessed day in your homes!


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