In Which We Have a Forced Time Off

Honestly, if it were up to me, we would  have started school already. Or at least we would be starting this coming Monday like everyone else around here. But perhaps the Lord knew we needed some time off because we simply can't start right now.

Normally we have laid aside some money for school expenses by now. I've always been able to order what I need by this point in the year. Perhaps because Dad was in the hospital the majority of the summer, perhaps because we've had some unexpected expenses (had to buy a new car), perhaps because our electric bill has been ridiculous.....but for whatever reason we can't order everything right now. Oh, and high school curriculum is expensive!

I did sell some old curriculum on eBay. It hadn't sold on any of the homeschool sites or groups I'm a part of so I was really glad it sold. However, after eBay and Paypal take their bite out--it won't be nearly as much as I could have earned selling straight to another homeschool mom! Oh well. I'm thankful for that money, which I should be getting soon. That will enable us to get started with some subjects.

Our fine arts co-op starts back in a week. Little Bit can't wait to get back to art class!

I'm stressed about it and not really all at the same time. I would like to have everything all ready to go and not stagger the subjects in one at a time throughout the fall, but at the same time I know we just can only handle so much.

Bee has been so sad about Grandpa. Little Bit has been too. But Little Bit is also getting bored now and asking what she can do. The cousins can't come anymore because my sister is back at work. (She's a teacher). So we just wander around here cleaning, organizing, rearranging, and taking it a little bit easy.

I admit I have laid in bed and thought about all the things that need to be bought: clothes for the girls, curriculum, a new lunch cooler, a backpack for Little Bit, new beds for Little Bit and Bee, some stuff for Sweetheart's room, etc. But I am also so thankful that we have paid our bills, had groceries, and are all here together. Sure, it would be really fun to just hop in the car and go get whatever we need without giving it a second thought, but relying on the Lord is a good place to be also. We need Him. We cannot do it all ourselves.

It forces you to think about what's important. And one thing that has been bouncing around in my head is how to make our school focus different. These are not new thoughts, but refined ones? Yes. I was really struggling to find a science curriculum for Sweetheart. Also geography. When it all came together I chose a Christian based biology curriculum and a geography curriculum that focuses on the geography in the Bible. Is there something more important I could focus on? No. I'm still dwelling on how we can study more Bible and worry less about "academics". Not that academics aren't important....it's just that I don't want grades and transcripts and credits to be all that we focus on. We only have 3 years of high school left with Sweetheart--and there is so much I want her to know about God's Word.

Book club starts next week too. Here is Little Bit last spring trying turkish delight at our Narnia book club meeting.
(She didn't care for it!)

So perhaps this forced time off is a good thing. It's giving us time to heal, de-stress from the summer, mull around important thoughts about how our homeschool year is going to look, and yes, get organized. Which is what I'm off to do now. We've rearranged our homeschool so many times that our "stuff" is everywhere. Time to get all the math stuff in one place, all the history stuff, etc.

Because all too soon, life is going to get really busy again.

In Which the Lord Comes Through for Us

Let me just go ahead and tell you: today was a very successful potty training day. That is all you need to know. And maybe that's why I felt like getting on here and blowing the dust off of the old blog. Oh, I've had SO much to say. 

So. Much.

But....3 year olds, and potty training, and ADD, and high school, and Tourette Syndrome, and vision problems and deaths in the family and lots of other things I'll catch you up on later....have prevented me from feeling like I had the time or brain cells necessary for blogging. Not like I used to. 

I really like writing here. 

It's good to be writing tonight. 

Tonight S is fishing. All three girls are asleep and the house is quiet. I've been despairing for weeks of how we will ever have the money we need for this school year to happen. Deep down I know the answer is just "trust God", but my very practical side wonders how? How will God work this out?

All day I've been writing down recent blessings that have come our way. I can't believe how long the list is. God is truly amazing. Some people might say we have just been lucky, or things have just worked out by coincidence, but I know better. I know that "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning." 

I'll just share a few things God has done for this broke family in the last week:
*a small refund
*a free shirt for Sweetheart (back to school clothes!)
*a box of large sheets of paper was given to us that we will be using for a future venture
*some folks from our homeschool group decided to bless our family by giving us, not selling us, their microscope they were finished with
*my used curriculum sold 
*some other unexpected money 

Crazy, right? We will make it to next payday and we will even be able to buy some of our curriculum. Why should I even concern myself with HOW we will buy the rest? Obviously the Lord knows our needs. 

Which makes me even more committed to well....committing this school year, this homeschool of ours, to Him. Last year, to quote Annie, was "just plain awful." Sweetheart and I especially had a really bad  year in 9th grade. This high school thing kicked our butt and won. But we learned a lot and we are not giving up! School is not easy for my children. I have finally come to terms with that. I see other people studying things far above our capabilities and I wonder why we can't even seem to get the "normal" stuff done. But as S pointed out to me recently, "Our homeschool will never look like other people's. We have a lot going on here." He's right, you know. I don't consider Little Bit to be "special needs" but actually she is.  Add to that Sweetheart's failed ADD meds attempt, and various other challenges and school can be just plain hard. 

But I know that we are the best ones to educate our children. I think my focus just got all skewed worrying about transcripts and college and credits and what the world says we are "supposed to" be doing with our girls' schooling. 

Forget all that. I'm changing our focus. I can't totally throw out the high school graduation requirements, but they don't have to be at the center of our decisions. The Lord should be there. I'll fill you in later how I'm making sure that happens this year. 

Ah...it's good to be back here. A new background, some updated pics of the girls and their correct ages....now...who is going to read this thing? :) Oh well. It feels good to write anyway!! 

Until tomorrow, 

Brenda

If We Make It Through December

I took dance for P.E. in high school. Much better than having to play volleyball or run. We stretched every morning to music. That was a really nice part of my day. The teacher played things like Bread and Prince and yes, even Merle Haggard. Those lyrics came to me this morning, sadly.

Whew. Finances are kicking my tail. I'd like to see us as poor, put-upon, hard-working Brenda and S who give so much and have such hardships come their way. But I'm more inclined (always) to see us as stupid, irresponsible Brenda and S who cannot get their act together financially. In truth, I don't think either one are correct views of the situation. And probably its a combination of the two plus some other view I don't even have.

All I know is that I'm glad God loves us. When I quit my job 9 1/2 years ago to come home (part time at first) there wasn't any possible, feasible way it was going to work on paper. And yet here we are. The Lord ALWAYS amazes me with the way things work out. He has an open stage to amaze me this month because from where I stand, things aren't good.

As if a year and a half of medical bills (still paying for Bee and that other little trip I took to the hospital) weren't enough, we've had a doozy of a spending spree on the medical front lately. Nothing like Carrie. She's the queen of the copay this fall. Still, we've spent nearly $400 on medical and medical related stuff since the week before Thanksgiving. Ouch.

On a happier note, we have our homeschool group's Christmas party today. The girls are each going to play a song on the piano. Little Bit has worked SO HARD to learn hers. It was so difficult for her and I'm so proud of her effort. I had to enlarge the sheet music and copy it onto 2 different colors of paper so the lines are alternating colors. I pasted all that inside a file folder so she can see the song better. Seeing double is a bummer. The girls are also going to do a little comedy act together. They've had so much fun practicing for it. And of course we have a book exchange. Our used book store here in town is going out of business and we got 3 books for the names we drew, plus a book Sweetheart wanted, for $7. I was very happy about that!

We are finished with piano and choir until the new year. That's a relief. I like being "off" for a while. Today we are knocking off of school because we have the Christmas party all afternoon and I need to drive to the big city to pick up a form for Sweetheart's physical therapy. Having some trouble with all that which I'll update you on later. So we're going to spend our remaining few hours cleaning the house. Whenever finances are bad, I ALWAYS have a desire to clean the house.

Is it because I feel out of control and want order? Does it make me feel more responsible? Do I think "Well, the least we can do is have a clean house?" I don't know, but it always happens. Psychoanalyze that.

And now I will count my blessings. Some of them.

1. Salvation from my Lord.
2. My husband and daughters.
3. A roof over our heads.
4. Cars to drive.
5. Food in the kitchen.
6. Heat.
7. Clothes to wear.
8. God's love.

The House o' Therapy

S and I thought it might be fun to drop a bunch of dough on doctor's visits in 2 days' time last week. Whee!!! We know how to party.

So, Bee had an ear infection--$25 copay
Sweetheart needed her back looked at as we were concerned about the curve of it--$25 copay.
Sweetheart was sent to have x-rays of back--can't actually remember but I think we spent money there too.
Little Bit went to an opthamologist because we found out she has double vision--$50 copay.
Sweetheart went to an orthopedic surgeon to look at back--$50 copay.

So the bottom line is this:

Bee got some antiobiotics. It's only her 2nd ear infection of her life so I wasn't upset about that. Problem solved. $10.00

Little Bit has convergence insufficiency. That means her eyes are not playing nice and working as a team. So when she does any "near work" her eyes take turns wandering outside of where they should be. You can't really see it happening, but it is. This explains the headaches, the crying, the frustration, the rubbing eyes, and all the trauma we've had in school this year.

I went back and looked at her last year's work and I could not believe the difference in font size between the two math books, the two phonics books, etc. Her reading books obviously are smaller as she's reading chapter books now. No wonder this problem has come up this year. (Alhtough she's always struggled in school. I can't imagine double vision + tics were helping.)

She says she's always seen double as long as she can remember. We found all this out during a conversation with my dad. We had Little Bit screened for Irlen Syndrome, we took her to the optometrist and her gave her reading glasses----nothing was helping. Then my dad told the story of when he used to get headaches and got some reading glasses as a young man in the Air Force. He descirbed how he sees double--Little Bit pipes up from the backseat, "That's how I see too!"

Um...what??? Good to know! So we dropped $64.00 on a computer program we can use here at home. She's to do the program, which will be her vision therapy, for 7 minutes a day, 5 days a week. It will take her a few months to complete the program and hopefully, this will fix her eyes. Oh I certainly hope so!! I could really go for school being easier. I was losing my mind before Thanksgiving break.

We are also using a homemade slant board for school for now. There is a really nice one for $30 online, but that can wait until after Christmas.

As for Sweetheart, she has a diagnosis of scoliosis and kyphosis. If you haven't heard of it, kyphosis is when the spine curves too much from the side view, causing a "humpback" look. We've been concerned about her back for about a year. We tried doing some different stretches, because I noticed her hamstrings are incredibly tight. She literally can not sit up straight on the floor with her legs out in front. She also could not do the stretches. We've nagged her about her posture for a really long time, and her walking posture has improved. But then we'll see a photograph of her sitting or bending over and it looks just awful. A friend of hers was diagnosed with kyphosis recently and when I found that out, I hit the internet. Oh....NOW I knew what exactly our concern was. It can be caused from poor posture, or a progressive disease called Scheurmann's disease. She has the latter. Some of the vertebrae in her back are wedge-shaped. So, she was relieved to find out it wasn't her fault. The good news is no surgery or brace neeeded. She's to do physical therapy for 6 months and come back for an x-ray. Physical therapy 2x a week for 4 weeks (or until she learns the exercises). I was going to take her to all eight sessions because I figure she'll do better with a professional watching her than she will at home, but at $25 a pop, we'll see...

We are also considering a gym membership for her so she can just generally strengthen her muscles, which will be needed to combat this disease. She doesn't have any gym clothes to wear to physical therapy or a gym.

Are you sensing a theme of concern by me? I KNOW I shouldn't be worried about money when my children's health is at stake. And really, the most important thing to me is that they are OK. I was relieved to have both diagnoses and a plan of action for both girls. BIG load off my mind. I've had enough time now to consider the cost of everything though. Ouch.

So, I'm hoping Bee doesn't feel left out, being the only child with no therapy going on at the moment. We're good, Bee. No, really.

In Which Brenda Gets You Caught Up On Her Riveting Life

I just had leftovers for lunch and now I'm eating cake. The big girls are outside playing and, as usual in the spring, I don't have the heart to call them inside to get to work on school. (We already got some done this morning.) And since Bee is sleeping, I thought I'd blog.

I was looking back at our calendar this morning and looked at all the reasons we've taken off of school or missed school this year: my uncle's funeral, a camping trip, a trip out of town to see friends, helping friends move, a few days off here and there to just get caught up on things around the house, etc.

Visiting with friends is > school!

I guess considering it all, we aren't too behind this year. We're still on track to finish in the first half of June, which was the plan all along.

I "attended" my first webinar last week or maybe it was the week before. It was by Lee Binz, The Home Scholar and the topic was high school. I feel much more prepared and glad that I have Sweetheart's 8th grade year to really wrap my head around it all. I cannot believe I will soon have a high school student!

Enough about school--who wants to think about that all the time? I'm working really hard on our finances/budget/bills right now. That's exciting, right?

Little Bit watching a movie.

And when I say "working hard", you do understand that I mean "15 minutes here and there", right? It's challenging to sit down and focus on a pile of paperwork and numbers and think clear, coherent thoughts with 3 kiddos home. It'll get done. Eventually.

We've also been working on the house a lot. S and I have really big plans, but no time or money to actually implement them. So, the LEAST I can do is declutter and clean up. The girls and I took the day off of school 2 weeks ago just to spend the whole day cleaning. And we did. They worked SO hard. We got every room done. Not everything, mind you....like the bill paying desk. Ug. But every room got attention and we threw out 3-4 bags of trash. It felt good!

Mrs. Holiday fixed Sweetheart's hair. Curly hair takes work!!!
 

Bee got her first ear infection this weekend. She's feeling much better now but we've had a line of days of whiny--only want mama to hold me--time. And even through that, I cleaned out 2 boxes of paperwork and filed stuff from the desk.

Bee contemplating which room to mess up next.

 

My life is nothing but glamor, all the time. School, finances, housework....but you know what?

(I actually love it.)
(Because I'm home with my children.)
(I wouldn't trade lives with anyone.)

What glamorous things have you been up to lately friends?

Do WHAT While the Baby Sleeps???

Sleep, you say? HA!

Not me. I call collection agencies and insurance companies and pay bills.

I would really like to have a blood pressure cuff on my arm right now.

Do you work in a billing office? HOW HARD IS IT????

(cleansing breaths)

OK. In good news, I got the vacuum cleaner back from the repair shop. We're $80 poorer, but its a good vacuum and now Baby Bee won't be eating so much off the floor. we won't have to constantly be grabbing things out of her hands.

Babies have excellent fine motor skills when it comes to fuzz and strings and stuff.

School did not get completed today because of my hobby taking too much time.

In other news, I am never, not ever going to W*lm*rt again. There I said it. I KNOW you can save money but it is not worth it. I've been grocery shopping elsewhere and loving it. You just have to be careful because elsewhere has many more choices and you can spend too much if you get carried away. But elsewhere is do-able on our budget if I'm careful.

But today both girls needed new pants. Pants without holes. So we went. And we needed other things like diapers and printer ink, etc. Then the check-out lady proceeded to catch up with her good friends in front of us in line. Like seriously, it was a family reunion or something. They were all having a FINE time talking while I wrestled a crying baby. I finally got all my stuff off the conveyor belt and moved over a lane.

And yes, I was walking out while they were still talking. I have never seen people at a job who are in less of a hurry than checkers at W*lm*rt.

I bet they don't need a blood pressure cuff.

And I bet when they leave there, they start working in a billing office.

I think I need to go play with a puppy or something.

The Hobby I Didn't Ask For

Wanna know what I do in my spare time?

I talk to insurance companies, doctor's offices, and pharmacies on the phone. It's a load of fun.

You remember, I'm sure, that I was in the hospital twice last year? (Once to have Baby Bee, and 2 weeks later again.) Well. We owe a LOT of people money. Doctors, anesthesiologists, labs, etc. And of course many of them have, how shall we say, issues with the billing process.

So I call.

And now S has been put on insulin. That's a good thing! But since he works full time, it's up to me to make appointments, call in re-fills, ask questions, schedule things, etc.

So I call.

No, Important Lab Company, we do not, in fact, owe you $400 for blood work for my husband. We have insurance. Oh, it was denied? Interesting.

Hello? Insurance Company? Why were we denied? Oh, you never received a claim? Interesting.

Then we proceed to have a conference call between me, Important Lab Company, and Insurance Company. They have the wrong billing code. They didn't know that this one big insurance company bought the other insurance company. OK-we'll try again.

Repeat process the next month. Call also to get them to stop collections.

Oh its fun.

You should get a hobby like mine!

The Security of Things

Obviously with my TWO hospital stays within two weeks of each other earlier this year, we have some debt. Even with insurance.

Debt stresses me out. I don't like to be in debt. (Car note and mortgage, even though they are also debt, don't stress me out. EXTRA debt stresses me out.) And here at Christmas it gets even harder.

The thing is, we have what we need. There are 6 days until payday and we still have meals we can make from last week's grocery trip. I don't even have to go on a big trip this week! That's amazing. So I'm making a list of what we really have to have.

It's just that I see what's waiting in the wings for us, and I fear for what might happen. What if someone needed dental work? What if the car or van broke down? Any one thing could cause us to be in a bad situation because we have so much going OUT right now and not enough padding for me to be comfortable.

But do I need to be comfortable? Do I need the assurance of a large bank account? Do I need "financial security"? Let's see what scripture has to say about it.

• We are told not to store up earthly treasure, but heavenly treasure. (Matt. 6:19-21)
• We are told not to store up riches, but rather good works. (1 Tim. 6:17-19)
• We are told to store up as we have prospered, to help the church. (1 Cor. 16:2)
• We are told not to worry about what we will eat or wear. (Matt. 6:25-34)

There. A little eternal perspective does wonders. I will try to be a good steward of what we have been given. I will try to be frugal with my husband's paycheck.

But I will not worry.

I will trust in the Lord, Who is our Provider. And is able to do immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine. (Eph. 3:20)

Have a good weekend!

While I Have Time to Type

No one is in my arms right now so I'm going to jump on here and spew out an update in random fashion. You with me?

Baby Bee is what...11 or 12 days old? She is adorable and I am so in love. Things are already getting easier. She sleeps for longer stretches at night (if she hadn't done that "every 2 hours" thing for so many days, I probably wouldn't be appreciating things right now!), she's content in between, and she is just really easy. She doesn't cry that much or that hard.

Saturday we go for her 2 week appointment and I'm curious to see how much she weighs. Certainly seems she is eating enough to me! And she does seem to be plumping up. :)

*We made our big decision and S quit his second job. Oh dear. Kind of scary to lose that extra income, but we decided that having him home more was more important. As things were, for the last few years, he would walk in the door around 5:30, change clothes, and walk out the door to go mow. He would get home around 8:30 at night, eat supper, and the girls would go to bed. We didn't see much of him. Also, he mowed on Saturdays. We took lunch to him so we got to see him then, but still. I cannot even conceive of having him home every evening and getting to spend the weekends as family. I am so grateful. Now we just have to figure out how to live on less. Again. We've done it before and the Lord has always provided.

Reasons why it will be good:

1. Sweetheart will be 13 this summer. (!) We don't have that many more years with her. She's growing up fast.
2. Daddy needs to be home to instruct the girls in God's Word. Now he'll have more time for that.
3. Mama is grateful to be able to hand the baby to someone else for a bit in the evenings. You know you've been holding the baby a lot when you are excited to get up and go sweep or wash the dishes!
4. We don't want him to miss their childhoods. Poor or not--THIS is important.

I was making a pro/con list before we made the decision and S walked by and said, "The ONLY con is "less money." Hmm. He was right.

*I've taken meals to families over the years but I had truly forgotten how WONDERFUL it is to know someone is bringing you a meal. Wow. Next week there are no meals planned but S is able to go grocery shopping with me now, and the girls are VERY helpful both with cooking and with baby, so I know we can do it. Oh, and I wasn't a blubbery, crying mess the day S went back to work! THAT is a first for me. The day actually went quite well.

*We're taking a few more weeks off before we start back to school to wrap up last year, but we already started our summer reading. I know I already told you our plan on that, but may I just say that I am really enjoying the books I'm pre-reading for Sweetheart? Man. Maybe I just haven't read for pleasure in so many years, but I'm loving these books!

*I don't know how much weight I've lost, but I feel really skinny. Until I pull out "regular" clothes to try on. I think we'll just avoid those for a while longer and thus revel in my perceived skinniness. Sound like a plan?

*Still need to tell you about my summer plan for fun....maybe later today? Who knows?

You may now return to your regularly scheduled, orderly day---there's enough random here to last a lifetime.

Revisions, Revisions

When you pray for the Lord to transform your family to the way He wants you to be....

...you get a lot of revisions. That's what this whole blog was about when I started. How we went from being a "Christian" family (who looked just like any family in the world) of 2 working parents and some drop-'em-off-at-daycare kiddos, to a one income, stay at home mom, homeschooling, faith-filled family of four.

Now make that five. *smile*

And if that last one isn't revision enough for you, today we are making a decision that will affect our finances, our family, and the future of our kiddos in a very real way. I'm not being dramatic--if feels that far-reaching to me. Such a small decision, really. But with big consequences. And absolutely requiring faith.

So I picked up my Daily Bible and flipped to May 23. It's a section where the Proverbs are listed in categories such as "quarreling" or "truthfulness" and all the Proverbs on those topics are listed together.

Today's category? In the Bible I have not looked at in months?

"Economic Well-Being: Wealth and Poverty."

God is so amazing.

The Goodness of God

He never ceases to amaze me. I get a little stressed out every season thinking about Sweetheart's clothes. She is just growing so quickly. She's the biggest and oldest girl in our family so there are no hand-me-downs waiting for her. This year when we pulled out the tubs of spring and summer clothes we had stored away, Sweetheart had about 4 things that fit her. Four.

Still, every year we recieve hand-me-downs. I mean it. Every single year. I really and truly thought that at some point they would dry up. I mean, she's 12! Now the Lord provides in other ways too. My husband works so hard and we had money to go buy her some clothes this spring. Here is an outfit we found at Goodwill for $6. Not everything was gotten so cheap, but I'm always glad for cheap!

I got some ribbon from Hobby Lobby to make a belt and she was good to go. The skirt is from Justice. That may not matter to you or me, but it matters to a 12 year old. She's shopped at Justice exactly once--on her birthday last year. And yet she's had a lot of Justice clothes in her closet--all found at Goodwill or consignment sales.

I get that. I really do. I remember when we were in junior high, and "designer jeans" were all the rage, sister and I had exactly ONE pair of Gloria Vanderbilt jeans to share. (They were given to us.) It was traumatic to have to wear other pants to school. Seriously. I only got teased once or twice that I can remember, but it was rough not feeling confident about what I was wearing.

Do "designer labels" matter? Well, they shouldn't I suppose...but if it makes my 12 year old feel happy about her clothes, then I'm fine with it. It's an age thing. When you're older you don't care where your clothes come from. And honestly, she doesn't turn her nose up at anything. I could outfit her completely from Wal-Mart and as long as she liked the clothes, she would wear them. Ah, homeschool.

I only bring up the "designer labels" to make a point. We have more of a Wal-Mart budget, but my daughter has designer clothes in her closet. Why? Only the goodness of God.

What, Brenda? Are you saying that God cares about labels? No. Just that He loves us so much, He not only supplies hand-me-downs for our daughter, but GOOD ones. And from the craziest sources.

Yesterday we recieved 2 small bags of clothes---5 shirts, 5 bottoms, and a jacket--from a mom of a 10 year old boy. Pretty much the last person I would consider a viable hand-me-down source, you know? Seems their neighbor had sent her son home with all sorts of "treasures" from their garage, including 2 bags of girls clothes. The mom looked at the clothes, thought about Sweetheart, and brought them to us. They are GOOD brand names. Brand names we would not otherwise own. They are clothes that will LAST. (And her size, exactly.)

Along with what we were able to buy for her last week...I'd say she's pretty set for this summer. Praise God from whom ALL blessings flow!!

"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."  Matthew 6:28-34

Our Pinterest Christmas and Progress

I actually did several of the things I pinned this year! I also used my Pinterest board at Little Bit's birthday party so that means my time on Pinterest has not been a waste of time! 


We had these for breakfast Christmas eve morning (via Pinterest):

And I made these gifts from ideas found on Pinterest or pinned by me from other places:

The frames just contain scrapbook paper and made nice erasable boards for my sisters. The red and white ornaments were hand-stitched and we used them as gift tags on every one's gifts.

These canvases were covered in buttons in my sister-in-laws' last initials and hung from ribbon. The inexplicable piece of bacon ornament was to fulfill the "ugly ornament" we get for my oldest sister each year. This one was kinda cute, but very weird!!

Decided to make one for my parents too. And the cans with flowers in them are cans covered in craft sticks and painted. They were already wrapped at this point. The flowers are those flower pens you can make. Those were from the girls to their aunts and grandma.

So that was my Pinterest Christmas.

Yesterday I worked on the "office" area of our house. If you recall, it's a tiny area where we stack things pay bills. Here's what it's supposed to look like.  And oh look! The whole room used to be clean!  Right now, I'm boxing up all the 2011 paperwork (and OK--2010 too. Apparently I didn't do it last year.) I will feel very relieved when I get all this done today. I've already filled 2 bags with trash from the sewing room and laundry room and office area. TWO BAGS!

I also plan to take down Christmas decorations today. We'll see how that goes.

And look! We got a water cooler!

All the cool people hang out by the water cooler around here.

 All part of our plan to be healthier. We don't really drink anything but water, S drinks coffee some, and Little Bit likes juice. Sweetheart is all water, all the time. It came with a hot water spout, which I know from my sister's house is the perfect temperature for instant oatmeal or hot chocolate. But, really, we don't eat/drink that stuff all that often. So I was really doubting if the hot water spout had any merit and then I discovered this morning it was the perfect temperature for making Little Bit's magical drink! So, right there? Totally worth it.

Tomorrow I will be starting to think about school. But for today, I'll just focus on the house. That still sounds better to me.

Affording Homeschooling

I'll tell ya. This year we are really spending a lot more than we usually do. I've been thinking about how much it's going to hurt to drop that much money all at once on curriculum. I know I could homeschool cheaper. I know I could. A person can do a really great job of educating their children with no budget at all. But something happened today that made me realize what a bargain I'm offering my husband with our curriculum costs this year!

While searching for something online, I happened to stumble on a site for a private Christian school. It's not in daily driving distance from our house, but it's in our general area. Anyway, I was interested in how much it would cost to send the girls to private school next year at this place. (A thing I am in NO way considering.) Are you ready??

For both girls: $16,824.00

That does not include uniforms.

Are you kidding me? $8,000something for Sweetheart +$7,000something for Little Bit (after a 10% discount for sibling) + $75 testing fee for Sweetheart + $50 testing fee for Little Bit + $500 enrollment fee + $250 enrollment fee + $400 in some other fee........SIXTEEN THOUSAND EIGHT HUNDRED TWENTY FOUR DOLLARS.

I will be spending $600.

See? It's not looking so bad now, is it? Yes, there will be other fees for field trips but honestly....that won't even total $100. Not even close.

But we don't live in quite that nice of an area. So how do tuition rates look closer to home?

School #2  $11,342.04 for both girls. Glad they got that .04 in there.
School #3  $8,620.00 for both girls.

Again, I will be spending $600.

Homeschooling rocks.

Have you ever looked at private school tuition rates by your house?

Bit By the Frugal Bug

This was my second week attempting frugal grocery shopping and I am very pleased again. I only used 1 coupon and price matched 18 items at W-mart.

The problem with all the couponing this week was the match-ups I found on websites called for coupons that came out in the May inserts. I don't have those inserts as I wasn't saving coupons at the time. So, it will take a few more weeks before I'm all set on the coupon front.

This mama killdeer laid eggs in the flowerbeds at church. We've been watching her every week.
They hatched this week. I sure hope we get to see them! 

But I can still price match! I don't know exactly how much I saved this week as I forgot to write down the prices from W-mart. Last week I saved about $13, which doesn't sound like a lot. So why are my grocery bills so much lower than they have been?

I think it's because I'm spending the time going through all the grocery ads for all the stores in our area so I KNOW a good deal when I see it. There are many times when W-mart's price is better than the one I have written down. It's good to know that I'm getting a good price.

And of course, I'm not buying organic anymore. I would like to go back to organic one day...but not right now.

I love that I'm saving money on our grocery bill each week. Since I don't actually have an income....saving money where I can makes me feel like I'm contributing to our family's budget in a very real way.

My grocery store helpers. They are very patient and good shoppers.

Now, I need a better deal on my Internet and phone service! Our Internet has been flaky lately and to get a faster service it will end up costing only about $8-$10 a month more BUT $100 more for a new modem. That's not helping me save money. The only reason we even have a land line is for the Internet service. I wish i could get rid of the whole bill!

I'm all about getting a better deal. Once you start saving money, you feel really offended if you can't save on something. We went to Chili's last week with a "kids eat free" coupon. Bought books at the bookstore "buy 2 get 1 free" and used a Starbucks gift card.

It's official. I've been bit by the frugal bug. I LOVE saving money.

Affording Your Curriculum Choices

The eternal question. First of all, let me state for the record that I firmly believe you can homeschool your children with nothing but a Bible, pencil, paper, a library card, the internet, and a printer.Or some combination of those. And do a good job of it! But thankfully, we can afford to buy some curriculum.

But I can't afford to buy everything I want. Everyone's situation is different and guess what else? Every YEAR is different! But I thought I'd share how one family, who doesn't make a ton of money (and what homeschooling family does?) but can afford to buy some stuff this year....is going to do it.

Think of it as a behind the scenes tour to that last post!

The first year we homeschooled, I still worked part-time when we ordered our curriculum. I stuck with ABeka, as Sweetheart had been using that in private school. I knew exactly 0 homeschoolers.  I drove to a local hotel where they had the curriculum set up, picked out my wares, and wrote a check for $210.00.

It has never been that simple since!

For next year, here is what we are doing:

1. Borrowing
Once you get some contacts, like a homeschool group or co-op or some friends....this one is an awesome deal! I loan, and I borrow. Homeschoolers are good like that. Here is what I'm borrowing next year:

from our old church

from a friend

from a lady in our homeschool group who has used her copy to teach 8 children to read. i feel honored to be using it.

from a friend in Georgia--the DVD and teacher book.

Plus, the Instructor's Guide for Core A of Sonlight. A friend is giving that to me. It's an old one.

2. Buying Used
Oh my word there are so many different places to do this! From local stores, to online, to curriculum sales. Ask folks in your area. There are TONS of places to find used homeschool curriculum. Even friends. The best thing I did this year was mention curriculum on Facebook! Within hours I had leads on several things I needed. I also put a request on our homeschool group's website and got some offers like that. And if a homeschooler or teacher has a garage sale---GO! Here is what I'm buying used for next year:

Actually, I already bought this, but I bought it used.

I'll look for this one used too. 

• Plus a LOT of the books from Core A for Sonlight. 

3. Make Your Own
I think this is a frugal thing, but sometimes I just cannot fork over money for something I KNOW I could do cheaper myself! Now granted, sometimes it's better to just fork over the money if your life situation means you will not have time to make the items. Here is what I'm making for next year:

We've made our own timelines for 3 years so I'm not going to purchase one from Sonlight for next year. The girls love making their own pieces so we're going to stick with that. It's the cost of a sketch book from Hobby Lobby and some die cut people.

4. Use the Library
We'd all love to own every book. It would make life so wonderful. But let's face it, it's cheaper to go to the library. Notice I did not say free. The library is never free for me. Did I tell you about the time 3 year old Little Bit set up to play "library" with me? She had books, a card, and her cash register. Hmm. Anyway, here are some things I'm planning to use the library for next year:

• A lot of the books for Sonlight Core A. 
• Supplemental books and movies to go with whatever we're studying. 

5. Get it Free
www.paperbackswap.com is a great way to get free books. Many e-books are free and the Kindle app is free. Currclick has free downloads each week. Also visit www.homeschoolfreebie.com Any others I missed?

6. Re-Use
Who doesn't love non-consumable materials? Here are some things I used with Sweetheart that I will now be using with Little Bit next year:

7. Buy New--however reluctantly
Look for sales, look for "free shipping days", look around....there are usually multiple places that sell curriculum. If you have to buy new, find the cheapest place. Consider shipping costs too. I have an awesome app on my phone where you scan a barcode and it shows you all the places you can buy an item online and compares the prices. Sometimes you want to buy new. Especially if it will be used with multiple children. Here are some things I am buying new for next year:

These are less than $6 a piece + shipping. Consumable, but very affordable. 

Consumable--and affordable. Less than $8.00

The Junior version of this will be out in July. Yay!  Consumable and not  cheap, but worth it. I'm going to compare prices a lot of places. 

Again...offered many places. I'll have to shop around. IF I can't find it used!

These are less than $3.00 each. 

Ug. Bite the bullet. It will be used again by Little Bit. 

Already got this on sale + free shipping. Great deal!

Will be used again for Little Bit. 

It's work, I'm telling you. Lots of time spent on the computer and hoofing it around to different sales and stores. But it's worth it. Any other ways to get your homeschool curriculum? I mean...legally?

The First Grocery Report

Well, I went on my very first "saving grocery trip" this morning. I'd like to tell you about it. Here is a report from a complete coupon novice.

This week my only goal was to learn to price match at W-mart. I didn't use any coupons. Here is W-mart's price match policy. I'll add in other couponing techniques later. One thing at a time.

So I sat down with all the store ads yesterday and wrote down what was on sale that I might need. I fought the urge to stock up buying things that were a good bargain but we didn't specifically need this week. I wrote down, for example:

Ground Beef 93% lean (Kroger $2.99)

on a separate sheet of paper. Then I put a * next to "meat" on my grocery list so when I got to the meat section, I would remember to check my price match page.

Sometimes, W-mart had the better deal so I didn't use the price match. I ended up price matching 14 items. I put those at the back of the conveyor belt. I lucked out and got a cashier who knew what she was doing. In fact, she was training two new cashiers so I provided a good lesson for them.

It was so easy. I just read off what I had on my list (I had hi-lighted what I was buying on my price match list while I shopped) and she did a price override, typing in the price I told her. I didn't even say the store names. No questions asked. No proof needed. It was weird.

I ended up saving (I think my math is correct) 16% on my grocery bill. But here's the thing! When I am being really cheap, meaning I don't buy a lot of meat that week, I spend a certain amount. I spent a few dollars LESS than that amount today AND got 5 pounds of lean ground beef and a big family pack of chicken breast. AND STILL CAME OUT CHEAPER than my cheap weeks!!! And also got some name brand things that I normally would say "no" to.

I am very pleased with my first saving trip. Thank you Karly!

One more point. I went early while the cashiers were fresh and the store wasn't crowded. I think that really helped.

This saving thing is going to be a breeze!

Frugal Day at the House Revised

So, I updated the checkbook yesterday and paid bills.

Aaaannnnddd....today you get a FRUGAL POST!!!

We talked about this a few weeks ago and it's still on my mind. Especially after helping pay for the eye doctor's vacation. It's time to put our summer frugal plan into action.

By the way, before I start in on this, I read an article on yahoo yesterday that irritated me to no end. I wasn't the only one. The commenters were all irritated too. We're going to have ground beef at our barbecues instead of steak...and, we're going to work in our own flowerbeds and we're going to forego our $5,000 vacation so we can save money. WHAT?

I promise my tips will not be that ridiculous.

First of all, Kim over at Life in a Shoe hosted a linky for the best bean/lentil recipes the other day so I saved some of those for future use. I am not afraid to admit to you, my dear readers, that I am not entirely sure what a lentil is. I googled it. I know what they look like, but I have never bought one or cooked a lentil to my knowledge.

However, I plan to make meatless meals a regular thing around here. I know that's one way I can cut way back on our grocery bill. Sweetheart said she is moving to China because she does not want to eat beans and lentils. I told her that was fine. One less mouth to feed. (Just kidding.)

Also, while looking over those recipes, I was reminded how important the crock pot will be this summer. Turning on the oven seems to heat our whole house up for several hours after I am finished cooking. Our electric bill cannot afford that.

Next, I am going to jump OFF the organic bandwagon for the rest of this month. I'll go back to my former ways of buying what is cheapest. Then, when things are a bit better, I'll seriously consider what items we can afford to go organic on and which we cannot. At this point, organic is a luxury.

The last thing that will help is to eat from our garden. We don't have much out there, but I need to hunt up some new ways to use what we are growing so we can make the most of our "free" food!

So, for my kitchen, my plan is:

1. Cook a meatless meal at least once a week.
2. Use the crock pot to save on the electric bill.
3. Stop buying, then seriously scale back, the organic purchases.
4. Eat from our garden.

I realized that third goal might make me seem a bit like the annoying family in the yahoo article. I am so sorry if it does. We have only been buying organic for less than a year and I do believe that it is good for our health and therefore worth the money. But it's only worth the money when you have the money. A month or so of non-organic foods will not decrease our life expectancy by that much. What I can't afford in organic, maybe I can make up for by buying local produce. That would be healthy and cost-effective.

So....that's my frugal kitchen plan. Now it's your turn. I know I gave no notice of this link up, so don't feel badly if you can't participate. But honestly, do you really have that much to blog about on a Friday? I would love to hear some more frugal tips for the kitchen. Food is a major money sucker and I need all the help I can get!!

So hop on and share how you plan to, or ARE, saving money in the kitchen!

You Get Cereal Today

That's what I'm telling my kids. And sorry blog readers....that's probably what you are going to get too. A Monday post. With bullets.

• I just remembered the "bug man" is coming this afternoon. (pest control) That means things have to be picked up and somewhat orderly. Yikes. Wish I had remembered yesterday!
• I need to pay bills.
• I'm helping administer a standardized test this week for our homeschool group so we actually have to be up, dressed, and coherent at a decent hour some this week. Yikes.
• That means we need to pick out all our clothes for the week today. Including finding shoes.
• Little Bit fell asleep in just 30 minutes last night!! We had a friend over for dinner Saturday night and she mentioned Natural Calm. I had read about Kid's Calm in all my research lately so I was interested. Anyway, she brought some over last night and we had Little Bit drink it before bed. Boom! Asleep in 30 minutes. Thank you Lord!!
• I hope to sell some curriculum this week. I need to get some money back for all the curriculum I need to buy for next year and all the money I gave to the eye doctor last week.

I hope you and your family enjoy that Caribbean vacation, Mr. Eye Doctor.

I'm just saying it would be nice to get some money coming in for all the stuff I have in that homeschool room. And clean out a bit!

And of course, there is school, laundry, the ever-lasting picking up, and even one errand. Monday.

But I'm thankful to be healthy, home with my children, taking care of my house, and the beautiful weather outside.

Also, Carrie mentioned she had started reading my blog from the beginning. Like...in 2007 when I wrote deep posts about everything on my mind and had zero comments. She said it was "funny." Still waiting for her to clarify that. Hmm.

Worrying in the Middle of the Night

Does anyone else do this? I know the Bible says not to worry, and I try really hard to not. But sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and absolutely every single thing I've been concerned about comes to the front of my brain and they all seem like completely insurmountable problems at 2:00am.

For example, last night I woke up and worried about money. We blew through some cash this weekend on various things (almost all of it necessary) and for some reason I started tallying up the amount we had spent and freaking out. FOR SURE we were out of money and would have NO MONEY to pay our bills in the morning. I very nearly got up to balance the checkbook just to assure myself but that seemed silly. I really did want to sleep.

This morning, of course, it wasn't nearly as bad as it had seemed in the night. The bills are paid.

I worried about other things in the night. The Tourette's around here is bad right now (the worst its ever been) and it is stressful. I thought about getting up to research more but again, I wanted sleep. Little Bit was sleeping on a mattress in our room last night and every time she moved she banged into our world's loudest drawer pulls. That wasn't really helping the sleep.

I can't even remember all the things I was keyed up about last night but none of it seemed important this morning at 7:00. Why? Why do I do this? I feel totally wide awake but I must not be in my right mind because otherwise things wouldn't seem like such big problems. I almost need someone to shake me and say, "What are you doing? Go to sleep!"

I bet I ground my teeth down several centimeters last night. Hate that.

All that wasted worrying when today I have actually accomplished a lot! I don't have to cook supper tonight as we are celebrating  my husband's and dad's birthdays tonight. That gives me like, an extra hour and a half to my day!

So, does anyone else wake up freaking out sometimes? And yes, I prayed. A lot. And I did fall back asleep. Several times. Sigh. I decided after S left for work the best move I could possibly make was to go back to bed.

It's like that Robert Frost poem:

Two choices stood before me in the morning
And I---I chose the one less vertical.
And that has made all the difference.

The Frugal Bug

Has bit me again! I know, frugal is not something you DO, it's something you ARE. But, there are times when more frugality is called for and times when you can let up a little. Actually, I guess anyone who is homeschooling could be considered frugal since no matter what, you are sacrificing to have one parent at home. (AND pay taxes for your local schools AND purchase all your own school stuff as well. Ahem.)

Financially we've been in upheaval for about 6 months. It's been good--we payed off a lot of debt. And things have changed--we've added a car payment. The end result is I never really know how much we're going to end up with or how much I should set aside. For six months each month has been entirely different from the previous month. I'm not complaining....just saying that things have been different.

Frugal Tip #1: Have whole family help with side business for extra money! :)
(Little Bit helping Daddy with his mowing job.)

This morning I read Connie's news over at Smockity Frocks about her husband being laid off. I know they are not the first family, or the first homeschooling family to undergo such a trial. Far from it. But their plan of action was wonderful and very inspiring. Reading it made me start thinking about frugal again.

It also started me thinking about getting a clothes line and putting ads in my sidebar. I know some people are very opposed to ads on blogs, but when you read her post you'll understand why I'm willing to try it for a time! (would anyone stop reading if I did?)

Frugal Tip #2: Don't waste paper! Do spelling on the closet doors.

Summer is definitely the time for frugality. We just invested in a backyard pool. The kind they sell at Walmart and Target. We had the money to do it. We are very blessed. (So we don't have groceries this week? Big deal. We have a pool. Just kidding.) (Kind of.) Anyway, one reason we decided to do it is because to not have a pool (like last year when we were trying to save money) means driving to public pools. And swimming is really the only outdoor thing you can do where I live in the summer. Without dying of heat stroke. And driving when gas is this high is not smart. Especially when getting in the car to go swimming is invariably going to end up in "well, let's just stop in here or there" to shop or run through the drive through to get a drink, etc. Staying home is the best frugal move to make in the summer for us.

And since we'll need to save money this summer to buy the curriculum I want next year, we don't need to run around to this fun spot and that fun spot all summer. And with our pool, maybe we won't need to.

Spending money to save money. Not sure it makes sense.

Frugal Tip #3: Homemade play dough! Cheap, better, and lasts forever.
(Little Bit acting out the Bible story with play dough.)

But I can be more frugal than that! Oh yes I can! And since summer is the perfect time for us to all buckle down (hello electric bill and gas prices!), maybe we can encourage each other? Share our frugal tips? Should we linky? What do you think?

Sweetheart not doing a blessed thing to help our family save money, but I had to include her cute self in the post anyway. Wait! She's wearing a shirt Carrie got her from the thrift store! Way to go Sweetheart!