Menu Plan Monday

I hope you had a safe and blessed Thanksgiving. It is hard to believe that we are entering the month of December!!

Here is what's cooking this week...

Breakfasts-
Doughnut Muffins
Baked Peanut Butter Oatmeal
Waffles
Coffee Cake
Toast/bacon/hash browns
biscuits/gravy
Waffles/bacon

Lunch-
Leftovers or
Mac and cheese
pizza balls
homemade hot pockets
bread sticks with sauce

Dinner-
BBQ pork sandwiches/fries
Turkey and Rice soup/bread
beef and noodles/mashed potatoes
Taco Thursday
Homemade Pizza
Philly Cheese Steaks/ fries

For more menu ideas check out I'm an Organizing Junkie

A Different Kind of Black Friday Shopping

Black Friday used to be one of my favorite days of the year. I loved getting up at 2 am to be one of the first in line outside the stores. I loved being with my mom, aunts, and cousins. I love that tradition. However, as my family has grown it's gotten harder for me to go each year so I've had to think of other ways to get those black Friday deals.

My first option is to order online but sometimes you can't get the item online and that's where my mom comes in. I send her with money and a list and she does my shopping for me. My final option is to rush through the store and be home by 8 am so my husband can get to work.

This year we're going to do something different. I did send my mom with a list of about 5 items but we're going to do some "shopping at home". We're going to spend the day making gifts for each other.

Here is a list of what I'd like to get done:

* felt food for the little girls
* felt dolls
* gifts in a jar
* Christmas ornaments
* gift tags

For more frugal Friday ideas check out Life as Mom

What I'm Thankful For

Sometimes I catch myself complaining about all that I've been given. I whine about the messes my family leaves for me to clean up. I complain about "how hard I work" teaching these kids all day and how no one appreciates how much I do! Today in the midst of the craziness of the day I saw some moments that brought tears to my eyes...

My four girls playing ring-a-round the rosie and giggling.

My almost 11 year old playing ball with our 18 month old.

Hugs and giggles between my oldest and youngest.

Our four year old taking the time to play with her baby sister.

My almost 11 year old sitting down beside me and putting his head on my shoulder just because he needed a snuggle.

The thankfulness of my children over homemade kettle corn...I burnt it but they loved that I tried to make it.

And my son is thankful for flushing toilets...and I must admit I am too!!

Christmas at our Homestead

The weather was nice again today so the kids and I cleaned up the yard for the last time till Spring. We covered the strawberry patches with straw and put away all the garden stuff. We also brought up our Christmas lights.

My husband isn't as into Christmas as the rest of us so he leaves the decorating to me and the kids. Today I realized why I usually hang up the lights by myself!! However, in the spirit of the season all five of the kids helped hang up the lights and now the outside of our home says Welcome Christmas!

We've been listing to Christmas music and I've been baking every day. I'm going to start burning my Christmas candles tomorrow.

I've looked through the gift closet and made my shopping list. We are planning on four gifts per child focusing on one main gift and three smaller ones. I've made my list of homemade presents and what I need to make. I am stocked on Christmas wrapping paper. I also sat down today and made our December meal plan and tomorrow I'll work on my grocery list. The kids and I are watching our first Christmas special of the year.

How are your Christmas preparations going?

Question...

I have been changing my families diet slowly and one of the things I am most proud of is that instead of asking for cookies or candy at the grocery store my girls always ask for strawberries or other fruit. I am always happy to buy them some but now the price is creeping higher and higher for any type of berries. They love apples and grapes as well but the berries are where their real loves lies.

The major problem is that the four of them can eat 4 lbs of berries at one time. I know that the obvious answer is to not let them have them all at once but reality is that is hard to do. We don't keep junk food in the house. Our snacks are popcorn or fruit/veggies. I do usually have some type of homemade cookies available as well. So what to do??

I was only grocery shopping once a month and picking up raw milk and eggs from my farmer but I find myself needing to do a produce run weekly and it's adding up quickly! I'm thinking that I need to re-evaluate how my shopping should work and I also need to realize that $20 for produce a week won't cut it at my house.

Do you have a set amount of money you spend on just produce? If you do would you mind sharing it?

Menu Plan Monday

I can't believe that it's time for Thanksgiving already. This year has flown by so quickly!!

Here's what's cooking this week at our house-

Breakfast
peanut butter baked oatmeal
chocolate chip muffins/fruit
waffles/hash browns
overnight cinnamon rolls ( Thanksgiving Morning!!)
pancakes
snicker doodle coffee cake/bacon
biscuits and gravy

Lunch-
leftovers or
mac and cheese
hamburgers/fries
sloppy joe/fries

Dinner-
chicken and noodles over mashed potatoes
Carolina pork roast/Parmesan oven fries/Cole slaw
tacos/Spanish rice
homemade pizza rolls/bread sticks
Stromboli or fend for yourself!!
chili

For more menu ideas check out I'm an Organizing Junkie

Frugal Friday

After having a couple of bad home school days this week I decided I needed to evaluate our current curriculum choices. I needed to decide if they were working for me or if I was working for them!! I also decided to list some of the things that are causing high stress in our home.

My first step was to evaluate our curriculum and see it was meeting our goals for our school. I tend to follow the Charlotte Mason method for most of our school work and I get easily frustrated if I try to do "school at home". I looked at the main subjects first... Bible, math, phonics/English, and handwriting. I am happy with our math and phonics/English. I do need a spelling curriculum for my oldest but I haven't found one that I like yet. I have recently started reading the Bible at breakfast with the kids and then I have them copy Bible verses in their Bible notebook for handwriting.

After evaluating our major subjects I decided to focus on what is causing the burnout. Of course the most obvious one is lack of sleep!! I haven't slept through the night in five years!! Lack of direction and self discipline are two more. In a moment of frustration I made up a school schedule yesterday and we followed it today. All the kids decided it was much nicer to see what needed to get done.

Usually when burn out hits I just buy my way out of it. I buy all the "cool" curriculum that promises me that my kids will love it and it's easy on mom!! This time I sat down and really looked at what was lacking and saved us some money!!

For more frugal ideas check out Life as Mom

I Remember...

In July of 2005 I was 16 weeks pregnant with our fourth child when I told my ob/gyn I had found a lump. His exact words were "if it's cancer it'll be too late, by the size alone it will have spread everywhere...but I'm sure it's not cancer" one week later I got the call... I'm sorry but you have breast cancer. It's one of those moments you'll never forget. I know exactly what I was doing and where I was when I received that call. Life changed in the span of a 2 minute phone call. I was no longer an average pregnant woman, I was at war. A war that I had to win.

Cancer changes everything. It makes you stop and really look around you. Life will never be the same. It is an ugly battle to fight. People see you differently and many will walk away, being there for you is a risk that some aren't willing to take. Cancer is an evil mountain to climb...it eats away at you even when the disease has been defeated. It leaves fear in it's place. You will always wonder how long till the next battle. Waiting on the other shoe to drop.

Within the last year two very prominent young women in our local community have lost their fight, each time I felt the cold breath of the disease on my neck. It makes me stop and look around wondering when it will come for me.

I weep for those who have lost the battle. The families they leave behind. There was never a fear of cancer for me but for my family... I never wanted to hurt them and the thought of leaving them is just unbearable. I weep for their families and the victor who had no choice in leaving.

Please take all lumps you find very seriously no matter your age. No matter if you have no family history of the disease. Even if you think it could never happen to you. Cancer doesn't play favorites...

A Letter From the Trenches

To whom it may concern,

Homeschooling five children and keeping a house clean is not doable. A dog in heat is not fun and makes for a crabby mommy who is chasing a dog and a four year old who wants to take off the dogs diaper. Fractions should be made illegal. I hate spelling.

Hi I'm Autumn and I have home school burn out. Life gets in the way of my perfect home school day and when we get behind I start worrying that I'm failing my kids. And then that big yellow bus pulls up and picks up the neighbors children and I wonder, am I doing the right thing?

Many days I see the fruit of my labor, kids that help each other and help their momma because I can't do it all. School goes well, my struggling reader finishes a book all by herself, the four year old plays quietly, and we make memories. But then there are days like this...

It's rainy, chilly, dog's in heat, kids can't focus, mom can't focus, the house is a wreck, and I can't do sixth grade math let alone explain it to my child!!! I want to throw in the towel. I want to give up. But then I remember God never calls us to do things that He won't help us through. He called me to teach my children. He will gently lead us if I will let him. His yoke is easy and burden light.

So, I give up, I give up my life to my Lord and follow His call.

The Christmas Season has Begun

Christmas carols are playing in our home. Candles are burning and if you look closely around our house you'll see some snowmen and Santa's hiding.

We're planning our homemade gifts and starting the Christmas countdown.
God bless you this holiday season!

Creating Family Memories

I grew up in the best family ever. Really and truly I had a very awesome childhood. Holidays and birthdays were big events. We celebrated every extended cousin's birthday until the magical 18th came, Thanksgiving and even more important day After Thanksgiving shopping with all the moms, grandmas, and daughters, and Christmas! I was surrounded by aunts, uncles, grandparents, and many cousins at all the major holidays and some non major holidays. I never realized until I grew up just how much those memories meant to me. I want my babies to feel the same cozy feelings I do when I think of all the holidays past. One of the reasons I wanted a large family was for the celebrating of holidays!!!

Unfortunately life changes, grandparents pass away and families grow apart and we must create new memories. My children don't know what they're missing but I do and I grieve for what they don't have. I also have realized that it's my turn to create the warm fuzzy feelings and memories for my kids. One of the things we started doing is going to our town's Christmas parade. It is the Saturday after Thanksgiving and we try to meet friends at the parade early and set up camp. We bring blankets, hot chocolate, footballs, and snacks and hunker down to watch the parade.

We also try to have a small Christmas party for friends each year. Another family tradition is called a "traveling Christmas Tree party" we go to each family member's home and enjoy their decorations and snacks. I think this year we might do a little caroling as well.

Creating memories works for me

Something I never thought I'd hear...

"Mom! Daisy took her underwear off again!"

I woke up today to find out that our puppy Daisy is in heat...poor thing spent about an hour in her kennel while we made the trip to the Pet store only to discover that cloth diapers for babies are cheaper than diapers for dogs!! I asked an employee about a cheaper solution and she recommended using an old pair of underwear and pads from the dollar store.

Once we got home I quickly cut a whole for her tail and stuck a pad in the underwear ( during which time my almost 11 year old son said...Mom, why do you have a puppy pad??I was not prepared for this conversation this morning!!!) and wrestled the dog into submission. I think Daisy is beyond embarrassed with her current look. Poor girl, I have to say though that it does make me laugh every time she walks through the living room!

How was your day today?

Girls Night Out

Our local radio station was hosting a Veggie Tale Movie Premiere tonight. The cost was a shoe box filled with goodies for Operation Christmas Child and a $7 donation to cover shipping costs. My girls really wanted to go see the movie and give a box of goodies so at the last minute we hit my stockpile of gifts and other goodies to see what we could come up with.

Two Walmart bags later I told them that we had indeed filled a shoe box for some lucky little girl and off to the movie we went. I was a little disappointed in the movie, I thought many kids wouldn't get the message of the movie and even my oldest said it wasn't very good. I used to love the Veggie Tale movies but this one really left me feeling like it's best for our family if we just leave Veggie Tales in the past.

Even with the movie issues it was fun to just take my girls out for a movie. I'm looking forward to the day when they're all "grown up" and we can do more things like this together.

Menu Plan Monday

Last week was a very busy week filled with play dates, field trips, schooling, and sick kiddos, I'm planning on a slow week so we can rest up for Thanksgiving. Here's what is cooking this week at our homestead...

Breakfast-
hashbrowns, biscuits, eggs
overnight cinnamon rolls
waffle Wednesday
peanut butter chocolate chip baked oatmeal
snickerdoodle coffee cake
pancakes, eggs, hashbrowns
waffles, bacon

Lunch-
Leftovers or
baked potato bar
grilled cheese/soup
snack lunch ( cheese/popcorn/fruit)

Dinner-
oven baked fried chicken/ oven fried potatoes/ Italian green beans
bbq shredded pork sandwich/fries
meatloaf/mashed potatoes/rolls/steamed veggies
taco Thursday
homemade pizza
chili/finger foods for football Saturday
roast chicken

For more menu ideas check out I'm an Organizing Junkie

Homemade Pancake Syrup

Here's the recipe that I found and we love...
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup water
1 tsp vanilla

Bring to a boil and then simmer 10 minutes. Syrup will thicken as it stands.

I know it's not healthy to have all the sugar and I'm wondering if there is a more natural sugar I could use instead. My family does not like real Maple syrup so that is not an option and not eating pancakes or waffles again is NOT an option either. If you have a healthier recipe please let me know!!

Reducing Our Grocery List

One of the ways I make our grocery money stretch is by cooking from scratch. However, I was still buying convenience foods like egg noodles, manwich, pancake syrup, and chocolate syrup. I just assumed that making those items were too hard and that it was easier to just open a package or bottle. I finally ran out of my stock pile of almost free Manwich and pancake syrup and decided that I wasn't going to buy them from the store anymore. I searched the web and found some great recipes that my family loves even more than the store bought.

I love knowing that my grocery list is shrinking every time I make more foods from scratch. I can't wait until I reach the stage of only needing rice, flour, Sucanat, cocoa, yeast, spices, and just a few other items from the store. Cooking from scratch saves us money and our health!

Homestead Update

Wow what a week it's been! Two of the five children are fighting a cold and the rest of us have been taking so many vitamins and washing our hands in hopes of not catching it! Even with the youngest two being sick we've been on the go ( not to stores though!!) We went on one of our first field trips of the year yesterday. We went to the farm of a homeschooling mom and "met" her cow Honey, about a million chickens, and her beautiful steer. My Riley was all about "petting a chicken" and got her wish and she was also able to help collect some eggs. It totally made her day. Riley especially loved being able to pet the cow that we will be getting some milk from. Reagan ( our youngest) was also impressed with the cooooowwwww. She would yell Ten- Ten ( my oldest Trenton) COOOOWWWW! I just love these days. All my kids getting along and my baby just loves her brother and the feeling goes both ways.

I also spent some time in the kitchen trying out some new recipes. I made homemade noodles for chicken and noodles and they were a huge hit. I couldn't believe how easy it is to make them and now I have one more thing to cross off of my list of things I rely on the grocery store for. I also found a recipe for homemade sloppy Joe and it is awesome. All the family loved it and it is also easy and cheap to make.

My kids don't like real Maple syrup ( weird huh?) and I just refuse to allow them to eat the store brand due to the chemicals and high fructose corn syrup. I finally decided to find a recipe for homemade syrup and tried it this morning. WOW! It was so wonderful on top of homemade waffles.

How was your week?

Waiting....

We have decided to pass on moving. My husband and I didn't have a peace about moving at this time. We want to wait until we can buy a home but it is so hard! It can get very frustrating at times. It can seem like an uphill battle trying to save money and be patient. We are very blessed to live where we do, we're close to our church, family, friends, our home school classes, and my husband can walk to work! I need to focus on the blessings of being here.

I can still learn how to be self sufficient while being here. I can focus on adding more items to our garden and simplifying our lifestyle. I can work on cutting our utility bills down and cooking from scratch. I can teach our children how to wait on the Lord and His perfect timing. I can cut our grocery bill and learn to quilt and sew. I can continue to find local sources of raw milk, grass fed beef, eggs, and chicken. I can be content at home and with what I have.

House Update

Last week I told you about an opportunity to move into a new house. We went to look at it yesterday. I was almost hoping the inside would be horrible and I wouldn't want to move. Here's what I thought...
The living room is awesome...it has fireplace with a wood burner insert, all hardwood floors and is just huge. It is definitely a dream living room.
The kitchen is just a kitchen. It's not very big and does not have a dishwasher. It's hard to compare our current kitchen and that one because our kitchen is a dream kitchen.
There is a dining room which we currently don't have.
A full basement..partially finished. We could put a play room there and a study. Also would give the kids a place to run in the Winter.
Washing machine is in the basement...currently our home has a laundry room.
There is a two car attached garage...currently we have a shed.
A cement driveway...currently we share a driveway with our neighbors.
The new house has 3 wonderful acres that we can use however we want. I have to admit this is what I really like. My dream of having chickens and a huge garden would come true.

The downside is that my husband would have to drive to work and we're worried that if his current job slows down he might get laid off since we currently rent from his boss.

I look at it and see the space for the kids and dog to run around. Our current home is smaller and we've outgrown it. I see possibilities. Dreams coming true. My husband sees three acres that he would need to do something with and the possibility of losing his job. I see space...glorious space.

Again I ask what would you do?

Menu Plan Monday

We're starting the week of with two sick kiddos...it looks to be just a cold but they are really fussy. I am planning a week of easy meals so I can focus on the sick ones.

Breakfast-
banana muffins/eggs
bacon/biscuit sandwiches
waffles
snickerdoodle coffee cake
pancakes
waffles/bacon
overnight cinnamon rolls

Lunch-
leftovers or
pizza casserole
tacos
chicken patty/fries

Dinner-
sloppy joe/fries
chicken pasta/bread stick/salad
breaded pork tenderloin/mashed potato/peas/homemade rolls
potato soup/grilled cheese
homemade pizza
chili/finger foods

For more menu ideas check out I'm an Organizing Junkie

Have you Seen Food Inc?

Wow. I just watched the dvd Food Inc. If you have never seen it, go right now and rent it. It will change you whole outlook on food. If you have doubts about switching to a real food diet...watch this...you will no longer doubt your choice. I am shocked. I am disgusted with what I saw and learned. I never want to set foot in a grocery store again.

This movie made me want to buy a dairy cow, have some chickens, and so much more. I can't say enough about this movie. It is powerful and painful to find out just how little we know about how our food is produced.

The only down side of this movie? I want to throw out about half of my freezer full of meat and toss everything that is in a package out of my house.

Have you seen the movie? What did you think? Were you as shocked and upset as I am?
One very awesome quote I loved from the movie..." you vote with every dollar you spend." Now every time I'm in the store I will ask myself that before I buy anything!

Once a Month Shopping

Our family has recently switched to a more real foods diet, unfortunately we live in a small town with not a lot of great food options. One of the ways I have found to make the switch to a more nourishing diet is to shop once a month in a large city that has better food options. I plan out a month of meals and write down every ingredient that I'll need. I always shop our pantry first and then make my final list of what we need. I might spend $300 in one day but then the rest of the month I only buy produce and milk.

For more frugal tips check out Life as Mom

What to Do?

I have always dreamed of having my very own farm. It doesn't need to be a huge farm but big enough to have a large garden, some chickens, rabbits, and a small milk cow. Recently, I've been checking the rental homes section in the paper...you know...just in case something would come available to meet "my" needs. Well guess what...something might have. It looks good on paper...3 bedrooms, wood floors, 3 acres, full partially finished basement, wood burner, and we can have all the animals we want. Makes me want to pack up and move in!!!

However, right now we live right next door to where my husband works. We are currently renting from his boss. We loved it here when we first moved but then they expanded the building directly behind our home. The fans run 24 hours a day. There have been other issues but the biggest is the noise. The benefit is that we have no work expenses at all...and job security...who will fire somebody who pays you rent??

So what would you do? We're going to look at the house on Saturday. I almost hope that it is really ugly inside. It looks nice from the outside though. Would you take a chance to live your dream or stay here?

Christmas Planning

This week the theme is Holiday tips and I can't wait to read them all. Here what works for my family...

I make most of our gifts for extended family so I begin planning in June. I keep a notebook that I fill with ideas I find online, books, or magazines. I jot down my list of people I need to get gifts for and then look through my notebook to find what would be the best match for that family.

Here is one of my gift baskets that I'm making...
* lap quilt
* coffee/cups
* gluten free peanut butter cookies
* gluten free fudge

My girls are making air fresheners to put on each basket. We will be making gift baskets for our neighbor, a few friends, my parents, my brother, and small gifts for our coop teachers. I think we'll make a five minute cake mix and include mugs for the coop teachers.

Keeping a holiday notebook of gift ideas works for me

Our at Home Day

Wednesdays are our only day of the week that we are home the whole day, and it has turned into a baking/cleaning day at our home. Here is a list of what we're working on today...

* Complete our homeschool day- finished
* Bake bread- finished
* Make chocolate chip cookies- finished
* Make chocolate graham crackers- finished
* Make vegetable soup for dinner- finished

Our cleaning list-
*Deep clean all bedrooms- finished
* Clean bathrooms- finished
* Laundry- finished
* Hand wash dishes

Tuesday has turned into our milk day and yesterday we picked up two gallons of fresh milk.
I'm looking forward to the day I can afford more milk shares so we can have four or five gallons per week!!

Ohio Voters Vote No on Issue 2

If you live in Ohio then you need to read the following post on why you should vote NO on issue 2 please read and make an informed decision... Here is the link

Do you know someone who lives in Ohio? Make sure they read this before they vote.

Menu Plan Monday

I can't believe it's the first week of November already! Where is the time going? The weather is getting chilly again so we'll be eating some more soups and heavy foods to help us stay warm! Here's what's cooking at our house this week...

Breakfast-
bacon/biscuits
waffles/fruit
hashbrowns/pancakes
homemade doughnuts
cereal...Friday is our homeschool coop day!
pancakes/eggs/toast/bacon
overnight cinnamon rolls

Lunch-
leftovers or soup/baked potato

Dinner-
roast/mashed potatoes/rolls/peas
chicken stir fry/rice
beef and noodles over mashed potatoes
bbq pork sandwiches/fries
stromboli or pizza
chili and other finger foods
shredded chicken sandwiches/snack food

For more menu plans check out I'm an Organizing Junkie