Outside my window … Cold and snowy. Can you believe it? It’s not unheard of for late April in Western New York, but it sure is annoying. I’m thinking … About lesson plans and laundry. I’m going to get back to “looping” our lessons, like Sarah does over at one of my favorite homeschooling blogs. I did this a bit in the beginning of the year when I was struggling with morning sickness, then got away from it when we got back to a season in life where I could schedule things. Now we’re in the throws of newborn life, and I know that looping will help us stay on “track” without leaving me feeling pressured and overwhelmed. As for the laundry …. well. Yeah. I am thankful … That we live near most of our family. Sure, there are times when we want to run for the hills. But for the most part, we are surrounded with support. We may not always see eye to eye on things (I think we mostly don’t, actually), and we might just totally drive each other nuts, but I’d still rather be with all of them than away from them. I can’t imagine living in an area where we have no support system. Would we survive it? Yes. But I’m glad that (for now) God hasn’t called us to that. In the school room … We are LOVING (loving, loving, loving) The Green Ember by S.D. Smith. Yowzers. If you’re in a read-aloud lull and looking for something that kids and adults can enjoy, I can’t recommend this book enough. Seriously! It’s a story with depth, moral significance, and […]
Archives for April 2015
Frugal Fridays #22
I missed last week’s Frugal Fridays because I fell sick with food poisoning on Wednesday … it was horrible! I’ll spare you the details, but it took until Monday until I was able to really eat again. Add to that 3 out of 5 kids getting sick (thankfully not the baby!), and we had a rough week. We’re all healthy now though. Hopefully it stays that way for a while! Successes/Blessings: Last Friday I took the children to Eucharistic Adoration which our awesome priest holds on the 3rd Friday of each month. On the way home we pass by my grandparents’ house and I try to stop by when we can and when they are feeling well enough to be invaded by a van full of little kids! This time Grandpa offered to cook lunch for the kids, and sent me home with a 21 pound turkey. I asked him why he bought a 21 lbs turkey since it’s just the 2 of them, and he told me that he saw a great deal and couldn’t pass it up. I guess the frugal apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Actually, I knew that already. I also inherited the gardening bug from Grandpa, and the couponing and canning comes from Grandma. I cooked a ham for dinner that was purchased last month when they were on sale at Aldi’s. We’ll get at least 3 meals out of this one ham. I got back to monthly meal planning and shopping this month, and came in $10 under my $400 monthly budget. I made seed starting tape for my carrot seeds using materials I already […]
A Baptism!
I just wanted to share some pictures from when we had our littlest one baptized on Divine Mercy Sunday (the Sunday after Easter Sunday). He was baptized along with his cousin, our newest God Child, who was born about 2 weeks after him! It was a very special day for our family, and yet another reminder of God’s amazing grace in our lives. FacebookPinterestE-mail
Frugal Fridays #21
Successes and Blessings: I cooked a turkey that I purchased on sale in November. This was for an early Easter dinner last Saturday with my mom and sister. We used the leftover turkey for 2 lunches. I ordered a blender/food processor set for free from my husband’s work’s rewards site. We had some really nice weather this week in the 50’s and 60’s, so we were able to turn off the heat/pellet stove and open up the windows. The sunshine and fresh air was very much enjoyed! Our filing cabinet was destroyed in one of our moves, so we haven’t had a system for organizing or important paperwork for quite some time. We had a large wooden credenza style cabinet, but I was using that for cloth diaper storage. I found alternative storage for the diapers so that the cabinet could be used for its intended purpose…and therefore we do not need to spend any extra money on a filing cabinet! We received a few meals from our homeschool group this week. This is the last week that we’ll be receiving meals, and then it’s back to the grind. I’m reading two eBooks right now that I got for free. I saw a post that The Prudent Homemaker had on her Facebook page a while back for a free download of The Green Ember that I’m reading aloud to the kids (we are LOVING this story!!), and I’m reading through He is My All: Living in the Truth of God’s Love for Me that was also listed for free at the time I got it. My main sources for finding free Kindle books are One Hundred Dollars […]
Frugal Fridays #20
Spring is slowly gracing us with its presence, although we’re still getting the occasional snow flurry. I’m getting the gardening itch, although I’m not sure I have the energy yet to accomplish half of what I’d like to…or what I’m pinning on Pinterest. We’re still receiving meals from our homeschool group three days a week, which I am eternally grateful for. I feel like I could probably manage getting back to cooking dinners at this point, but not having to do it every night is helping me recover from the cesarean a lot faster. I am so thankful for a community that is so eager to help. I know many mamas are on their own after having a baby. If you know a mom who is very pregnant, just had a baby, dealing with sickness, or just generally stressed out…offer to bring her a meal. Dinnertime can be the hardest part of the day for a busy mom, and something as simple as not having to do the cooking for a night can make a world of difference. Successes/Blessings: I mentioned last week that we were hunting down deals for my husband who was in desperate need of clothes. His wardrobe consisted of exactly 1 pair of jeans, 2 polo shirts (1 of which had a stain), and various t-shirts (most of which had a stain). He has a couple of pairs of shorts, too. We typically shop at thrift stores for our clothes, but since he is tall and lean, he struggles to find his size. We were able to hunt down some great deals and got him a pair of jeans, a […]
