Busy times

I am slowly learning that I can't do it all. I'm not sure how most home school mothers do it. I want to write here so bad, but with homeschooling and trying to keep up with the house, there doesn't seem to be enough time to do it all. I'm trying to keep my focus on God and my children and it seems like that is all we have time for sometimes.

To add another kink in things, Jonathan and I have decided that we are going to open our home up to adopting again. We have no clue how long this will take or when the Lord will move on it, but we clearly heard the Lord telling us that we need to get things rolling again. People have told me I'm crazy, but we don't care. We have room for more. There is always love to share, why not!

Thank you, thank you, whoever you are!

I have a bit of a funny story to tell you about something which I thought was trash. Nicole was cleaning out the mail today and asked me if everything she had was trash. I said yes, as I was flipping though it and then stuck to the bottom of my Ready Made magazine which I was keeping was an envelope from the Home Shopping Network, I thought it was junk and was about to throw it away, when something told me to open it, I'm pretty sure it was God.

I opened it and their was a credit card sized card in it, I handed to Jonathan and said what on Earth is this. He looked it over, it was a $100 gift card with no strings attached.

I decided that I would check out hsn.com and I thought I would maybe be able to get one nice item to spoil or family, but I was truly blessed to find several really nice clearance items which we will use.

Here is what I did:

Hamilton Beach Gelato Ice Cream Maker Price: $45.95
Wolfgang Puck Bistro Panini Duet with Grill Bags Clearance Price: $29.90
Wolfgang Puck Bistro Panini Maker Plate Set (has flat grill surface and waffle iron) Clearance Price: $9.90
Cameron's 17" Cedar Baking Plank Clearance Price: $19.90

Total was $105.65
Shipping was $27.80
For a total of 133.45

Now if you are not totally impressed that I was able to get all of this for $33.45 then you must be a thrifty queen just like me. I got on swagbucks and searched for hsn promotional codes and was able to find $15 off $45 for new customers which I was able to use. So I ended up paying $18.45 for all 4 items. I tried to use a $25 off $100 kitchen item purchase, but for some reason none of the items applied to that code, but hey I am so excited about my new items which will help me around the kitchen. I can't wait to make homemade waffles!

I have no clue who sent the gift card and I'm pretty sure that it wasn't just a promotion for hsn because usually those are $100 of X amount. Thank you, thank you so much if you are reading this, thank you! And thank you Jesus for telling me to open the envelope, this was such a surprise and blessing.

For now I will leave you with what Miss Nicole says: "I'm excited for some ice cream and waffles and maybe even some grill cheese sandwiches"

What I've written lately

I've been busy finishing up some post over at Frugal WAHM's Talk Radio and Mommies With Cents. You can find an awesome recipe for hazel nut scones and tips on organizing your freezer over at Frugal WAHM's Talk Radio. You can find the conclusion to my series on buying in bulk over at Mommies With Cents.

I hope you find something in them that is helpful. I know I'm terrible at updating here and I keep promising that I will update. I'm trying to figure out exactly what I want to do. I don't know what my readers would think, but I toying with the idea of just using this blog for telling stories about our journey to being frugal and living for Christ, and then directing you guys to my actual informational post which I will share on the other two blogs I write for. Do you have any preferences?

A blessing to my heart!

This came from my 2 year old Mercy while she was pretending to have a phone conversation: - "Hello Jesus. How are you Jesus? I love you Jesus. Have a good day Jesus. I love you Jesus. Good-bye Jesus."

I don't even have words to express how happy this makes me feel.

I also walked in on my 3 toddlers the other day (while we where on vacation). I heard Jaquale say - "Angel give me your hand, Angel give Mercy other hand." Then at the same moment all 3 of them started singing, "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus... Jesus, Jesus, Jesus..."

I not sure what else to think, other than we must be doing something right!

Long and enjoyed trip!

After a long trip from Kansas to Ohio I think I am actually ready to start doing some writing again. The trip went well and we didn't have any major problems.... well except for diapers.

I bought a box of diapers from Toys R Us the day after Thanksgiving sale. Evidently, they are not actually good diapers! Every single diaper we used from Toys R Us they either pooped or peed out. I kid you not, I am not exaggerating. I have never had such a problem with diapers before. Our three year old was in a different type of diapers because he is in a larger size and not once did he have issues.

We stopped on the way up in St. Louis and went to the Science Museum and the Magic house, both of which I would highly recommend to anyone who is going though St. Louis. We then made our way to Ohio where we went to cousin Kate's wedding and got to spend time with family.

On the way home we stopped at the St. Louis arch and Westward expansion museum. They are actually in the same place. The children enjoyed them greatly!

We did eat out at Bob Evans and it is a restaurant that I would highly recommend. I had never eaten there before the trip, because the closest one to us is a hour away, but let me tell you a little about our experience. We arrived after visiting the Arch, but before the arch we had been in the car for 6 hours. We came in with 4 fussy little ones with dirty diapers, the first thing after we checked in, we ran to the bath room and changed all the diapers. They had our seats ready before we were even done. The manager came out and greeted us and asked us if we would like some crackers, she could see that the babies were all tired and fussy.

Once our waiter made it to the table, she talked to all the children, took our drink order (which where all waters) and then told us she would be back with rolls and some banana bread. I was totally amazed by this and it was wonderful. She then took our order. While we were waiting for our food we had several other staff members come out and talk with us.

The food was wonderful. I decided at the end of the meal that I would buy a pie, something I don't usually do, but it looked good and for the most part the children had been really well behaved thought out the trip. The total bill including dinner, dessert for 8 and an $11.50 tip was $66. When I check out they asked me how many children I had. I told them 6 plus a 13 year old and they gave me 7 free kids meal tickets and told me I could use them all at once. It looks like we will be making a trip to KC to eat at Bob Evens in the near future.

Just a quick hello

Now that the holidays are coming to an end I have one more commitment and then it is my hopes that I can start blogging again. I'll be leaving for a wedding later this week and once we get back I'm hoping things will slow down and I'll be able to get back to writing. Behaviors have settled with my daughter which is a good thing.

Christmas was good, but my children got entirely too much stuff thanks to grandmothers who love them so much. I've been working on cleaning the house so that when I get home I'll be coming home to a clean house rather than coming home to a mess.

Make it at home Monday - Christmas decorations.

The first year we had a Christmas tree I went out an bought a bunch of cheap Christmas decorations and they didn't last. This is not the way to be frugal. This year I decided that we are going to start from scratch and make our own and hopefully in a couple years we will have a nice stash of decorations.

This year we started with paper chains and popcorn chains. I had garland and bought 3 boxes of candy canes. This is what we have decorated our Christmas tree with. I honestly believe this is one of the most beautiful Christmas trees we have had.



What are you doing to decorate your house this year for Christmas? Any frugal tips for fun crafts for the children?