Decorating for Valentine's Day

Today I spent some time decorating for Valentine's Day! The picture above is kind of dark, but it's my mirror in the living room ...it has a berry garland, but I added a garland of hearts for a little bit of a "lovely" touch :) I stuck a window cling to the mirror as well.

This is a candle and roses I threw together

I quickly sewed up these cute hearts and stuck them in a basket with some fillers....it sits on my buffet in the dining room.

This jar with Valentine Candy Corn sits on my kitchen table for the little ones to enjoy!

and heart gummies....also for little ones...and ME! I LOVE these!!! I really enjoy decorating for the holidays and seasons, but can't seem to make myself spend much money on something like this. So, all of my "decorations" are either sale items, I like to shop for Valentine's Day things after Christmas as red is a main color for Christmas, I shop after Valentine's day for the following year, and some things are handmade....I have a few more things to put up, and have a few things up I didn't take pictures of. Our house is full of Valentine's cheer! I think that is MUCH needed....winter has been long and cold here! I'm ready for some color and cheer! Have a great night! Enjoy the Lord's Day tomorrow!

Frugal Doing for Saturday

My frugal posting today will be about the school books I bought, some new, some used, but we are all stocked up for next year! I have not paid full price for any of these books.

I could actually get by until 6th grade if I needed to...(my oldest is in 3rd)...I did not post all the books I have as some were stored away in a closet upstairs. So, I am pleased as I didn't spend much money at all, and will put the savings to good use! We will be able to do more filed trips and things like that!

Have a blessed day!

Frugal doing for Friday

Today's frugal doing is about "juice"...we go through a lot of drinks, and we do drink plain water, but we also like something else too. DS has ADHD (so they tell me...lol...he is unmedicated and fine if you ask me :0)....anyways, we don't use regular "kool-aide" because of the sugar and we don't drink a lot of fruit juice (we do at breakfast)...so we use the generic brand of Crystal Lite drink mix. What I do is mix the little packet that makes 2 qts with 4 qts of water. We get double for our buck :) We really like it this way! We think the drink mix made properly tastes too thick...we only do this with grape and cranberry flavors, as the others taste a little watered down. I do mix the other flavors with 3 qts of water, so it's still frugal! :)

Here's a picture of the little man who "made" this jug of drink :)

And for good measure I am including a picture of the curtain I got at the thrift store yesterday. I love it and think it makes my kitchen cheery during this LONG and COLD winter! And it was only $1! I took the curtains off the other window in the kitchen as I only had one "new" curtain...and it lets in SOOOO much more sunlight...we we desperately need! so, I'm happy :)
Have a blessed day!

Thrift Store Fun!

Today the kids and I went to a thrift store to donate some unwanted items from the baby's room...we went in afterward and came out with....

• 3 pairs of jeans for me
• 3 long denim skirts for me
• 4 shirts for me
• 2 pairs of pants for DD
• a shirt for DD
• a camo hunting bag for DH
• a curtain for my kitchen window
• and each child got to pick two toys each

We got all of this for $40!! I was thrilled!!! All the clothing was on my list of "needs"..."needs" meaning we wouldn't have died without them, but if I found them cheap I would buy them...and the others were nice cheap thrills!

Frugal Recipe: Meatroll

First of all, as I am "re-inspired" to be frugal, I thought I would post for a week about a few frugal things I already do! This first post is about my husbands favorite meal. Most of the kids like it too, I think there was one who didn't like it. It is called "meatroll"...there's no "real" recipe...so here goes. First you make your favorite biscuit recipe (above)...I make a double batch.

Then, you roll it into a big rectangle, spread a little cream of mushroom (condensed still) on the biscuit and sprinkle cooked, ground meat (I use venison) on...

roll it up like a jelly roll

slice and put on a greased cookie sheet

bake at 450 for about 20 mins and serve with cream of mushroom soup on top! EASY! and very yummy! Hope you enjoy!

A few frugal things I made

The other day I needed to make some homemade dishwasher soap (above) and some homemade laundry soap (below)

I like making these things for a few reasons....you buy the big boxes of ingredients to make them, so you have them on hand ....when I run out I can just make more...both things take almost the same ingredients...so I'm killing two birds with one stone, so to speak!

And the main reason is that is saves us money :)

I have been "re-inspired"the last few days....I am always frugal, but not always excited about it and not always looking for new ideas. So, this new "re-inspiration" has been great! I found a cool blog that has great ideas..http://blog.boreingfamily.com

I love it...she also has videos about being frugal and simple :) My loving sister and my good friends have also been talking about being frugal as of late...and of course my favorite fru-glas!

I want to thank each of these wonderful sisters in Christ, as we need to uplift and encourage each other to be good stewards of what the Lord has blessed us with!

Have a blessed day!

Wise words

Well, things have been pretty laid back around here...not much going on.
With 5 kids living here...things tend to get a little out of hand (speaking of toys), so DH decided it was time for some rearranging. that was really fun! We sent DD up to CLEAN her room and take out any trash and dirty clothes and such. She is 8, and a pack rat, so you do the math...her room was not tidy, even though she is required to clean it up daily! She had dirty socks in toy totes, scraps of paper everywhere...etc... So, after a few hours of "cleaning" she's done! She comes down to the kitchen and was BEAMING....like she had done he BEST job ever! She told us she not only cleaned her room, but decorated it too by rearranging her Nick knacks, music boxes and things like that. Earlier in the day we talked about what her "dream room" would look like, she told me, but still I had my "own", adult, picture in mind. As we are walking up the stairs she said "Mommy, it is just like my dream room!". I almost expected to walk into the room I envisioned as my "dream room"...FOR HER....but was let down as I walked in...how AWFUL of me! She worked her little heart out...and I am SO proud of her! Of course I NEVER let on for a second that it was not my "dream room" for her...and DH and I went back to the kitchen and left her to lay on her bed and enjoy her "new" room. When we got down there, I was asking him what he thought....he said to me..."that room is beautiful in her eyes"...WOW! Why didn't I see it that way, am I that critical? DH gently told me that we often expect our kids to live up to our adult standards and that they can't as they are just kids. Is my home somone elses "dream home"? Probably not....but it is beautiful in my eyes!
Now I want to back up a bit....my hubby is so smart and seems to always have an answer to my questions (he IS my "dream man"! )....so one day on the way home from town I was just thanking God for such a smart hubby who could always answer my questions. After I got home I asked him something...and he said " I don't know"...well, I laughed so hard I thought I would die...he didn't understand what was so funny...so I told him my praise, and then he got it! Well, I was sharing my husbands wise words with a friend, and I shared with him later that night how appreciative I am of him and how he so gently corrects me, and he was then worried what would come next...as the last time I praised him for knowing the answers to questions, he had no answer....! LOL I couldn't explain this nearly as funny as it was....sorry :) Trust me ....it was funny!
That leads me to my last thought for this post....we as wives should really be listening to our husbands and allowing them to gently correct us...this is submission, and it is biblical. I'm so grateful to have a leader for a husband, I trust him with ALL things and would never doubt him. If more wives would put that faith in their own husbands, I think more marriages would last. There seems to be a huge power struggle going on in marriages today. We each have our place, a place that God gave us, and we are to honor and LOVE our husbands....not just when we agree or it is easy to do, bu ALL day, EVERYDAY! So ladies, start today and LOVE your man as the Bible tells us we should!
Have a blessed day!

A day of listening

Today has been a strangs day. Not too much has gone as I would have hoped, and I know why! I really need to make some heart changes. I am not practicing as much slef control as I should in many areas. The first area is with my kids, they are getting into trouble (minor infractions, they have been cooped up so long...our temps have been beow 0) Well, I am falling into sin here...the kids are doing dumb little things, and they should be corrected, but I seem to take it too far. As always, I am like the energizer bunny when it comes to lecturing...I seem to go on and on and on as I feel like nobody hears me! I tell one to not dilly dally while doing her chores and no sooner do I get done "lecturing" her, than she turns right around and does what I just told her not to do! Then , she acts suprised when she gets sent to the corner! The kids are not "hearing" me...as they tune me out when I "lecture" them. So, this needs to stop. The Bible says we are not to provoke our children! "....provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord" Ephesians 6:4 Am I living out that piece of scripture? NO! I am provoking them to wrath beacuse I am not training them...I am PUNISHING them...and yes, they do need punishment....I do not spare the rod on my kids. But, if all they get is punished and not TRAINED, then they will surely do the same things again and again...and it will be MY fault as I am not following through with what God is telling me to do! and the sad thing about that is, that I KNOW what I am supposed to be doing! So, my goal and prayers are going to be that I can TRAIN them in the ways of the Lord...but FIRST...I need to have some training...as I am not where I should be in my walk with the Lord.
The second area that needs to have a little more of "me" is my house. I know things are in "ok" shape around here...but it could be better. As I told a friend of mine the other day, I would like to light a match to my upstairs! LOL...this needs more of "our" attention. "our" meaning the children too! LOL...
The third area that I could practice more self control is in my weight loss journey! I was doing really well, but since DH has been only working a few days a week, things have gone down hill....in a BIG way! This should not have happened! I am NOT going to be a slave to my body, and really want to get healthy so I can live a long long time ( Lord willing) :)
These days where you can sit back and really listen to what God is telling you are precious and I am thankful for them even though those days are really full of conviction. If we never felt this conviction there would never be any spirtual growth. I know that God is good and God is God, so what He says is what we should strive for. Afterall, we were made in His perfect image...we have to try to be Christ like! This is really hard as we all live in a fallen world and are born sinners! But without my personal realationship to Christ as my saviour, I would have nothing to look up to! What a wonderful example we have in Christ! I pray for each lost person to find the Lord and trust Him! That's the only way!!!
Have a blessed day!

~ Kim

Law & Order...

I must confess something to you... I am not an organized person! I have lots of good ideas and do a lot of organizing....lots of times! LOL...but it never stays that way! I have no ORDER in my homekeeping and that should be against the LAW...lol...it seems as if my life feels like a mess when things look like this! Ok...so, this is a little tour of our "family laundry room"....but only part of the family clothes are in here...there's mine, 3 kids, and DH's....so 2 of the other kids clothes are put elsewhere. DH built me this room so I could have a place to easily take care of our wash as at the time he was working 3rd shift and someone was always napping upstairs and our laundry was never getting done. This pic is of our dresser where the underwear and socks are kept for some of us.

this is the floor where I keep extra diapers and you can see a bit of our shelves...SCARY!!!

This is DH's shelves and my pj's and sweatshirts are in there too. We also keep the scales on a shelf because some kids like to weight themselves every 5 minutes and we were going through scale batteries like mad!

After about 15 minutes I got it all cleaned up! 15 minutes!! that blew me away! This room has bothered me for months and it only took 15 mins! all the kids were either working on school or taking a nap....easy! I think this has shown me that if I schedule time a little better I could get more done and that I also need to stay on top of these small things better! I need ORDER!!!

this pic is of DH's shelves, and yes, I did re-fold all the clothes behind the curtain :)

And here I cleaned off the dresser and re-folded the clothes. I got rid of two garbage bags of clothes and a bag of trash. I also cleaned up the floor so all that is on it now is DIAPERS and WIPES!!! That's all that is supposed to be there as I need to be able to get to them quickly!!! sometimes things get pretty messy! LOL :)

Doing this has inspired me to keep moving and organizing things! As I do this I will share pics so you can see how I am going to TRY to gain some LAW & ORDER!

Have a blessed day!

Trying to be creative

Well, not too much is new here. We are really trying to keep to a schedule which will prove to be hard this week as DH only works 2 days! He has some extra work on farm tractors, but he will be around more. The last day he was home he cut a trap door in the wall for the kids to play with! LOL....how will I keep them focused if Daddy is home cutting holes in the wall! LOL
DS is really struggling right now and can barley focus on anything for more than a minute (literally)... I wish I knew of more to do for him...I will not put him on meds again...but he needs something!
As for the trying to be creative part....I am making homemade decorations for Valentine's Day. As I said before, I LOVE decorating for the seasons! I wen to some country prim decor sites and got some ideas to make on my own...so we shall see. I got to use my new sewing table to sew little heart pillows that will go in baskets with roses and greenery....maybe a few white lites too....not sure yet. I want to make a garland and paint red hearts on cream colored pillar candles and make candle rings....and some felt hearts with buttons sewn on to hang over knobs on the canning cupboard and a few kitchen cupboards...and I printed some scripture about love and am trying to figure out what to do with that. So if any of you have any ideas, please feel free to share!
Hope you all have a blessed day!

~ Kim

Staying Warm

Today was a pretty lazy day. We mostly tried to stay warm! This morning our water was frozen so DH had to brave the below 0 temps and climb down the well box with a torch to defrost our pipes! then he had to brave the weather to work on tractors...while we stayed home and hunkered down to stay warm! I did a little bit of cleaning and whole lot of "dreaming" of what my house could be with a little TLC from me! I worked on a spring table runner and thought of some more things to make to decorate for Spring. I LOVE decorating for the seasons, but don't have much to work with. I also don't have a lot of money to spend on that as it is not a necessity. Any ideas are VERY welcome! hope you all are staying warm and cozy! Have a great day tomorrow as it is the Lord's day! It is our first 8:00 am service at church...(we always went at 10:30)....so that should be interesting!

~Kim

Gifts from Husband!

My husband bought me this sewing table, I can't wait to use it! The sewing machine folds down and you can close that part that flips out so it is just a small "desk"

It looks like this folded up

I have always wanted a corner cupboard...isn't it pretty!!

And finally this is my new canning cupboard! Rob built me the green one next to it during the summer as we never have enough room for our canned stuff from the garden. Now I have more than enough room!

We were at some furniture stores and I mentioned I liked these things...then later hubby took off to go see his dad...and came home with all of this! I have a wonderful husband!!

~ Kim

Life's Sweetest Moments

Here is a picture of my son enjoying ice cream last night

These are our two foster sons...aren't they cute??

The reason for the title of this post is the fact that I so often miss life's sweetest moments! Yesterday was a really rough day for me.... I'm not usually grumpy...but man, I was yesterday! It seemed as if NOTHING was going my way. My husband made some decisions about Church that were hard to get used to, the computer wouldn't work, the house needed cleaning and on and on and on,,,,the baby is sick...and on and on and on....Then by chance the kids were asking what could they have for dessert?? I pulled out the ice cream treats as that was what was easy for me :) (my daughter wasn't here and we have a teen girl too...but she wouldn't want her pic posted..lol..) Well, it just turned my night around to see how much fun that little bit of a treat caused! The kids were all giggles and laughs, and they were all a mess! Hubby and I got a kick out the baby eating his ice cream by himself for the first time! Which leads me to another point...the Bible days life is but a vapor...it goes by so quickly! Why did I waste all that time being grumpy yesterday?? Why didn't I see the Lord's blessings? Those grumpy moments are going to be etched into my kids' memories....do I really want them to think of me as that mom?? NO! What legacy do I want to leave with them?? Not that one! So, from this day on I am going to devote more time to my kiddos and REALLY look for the "sweet moments" in life! I hope you will do so too! Have a blessed day!!

~ Kim

Frugal homeschooling

Hello! Well, I spent the day trying to figure out how to cut and paste html so I can't put pictures where I want them on this blog and for some odd reason my cut and paste will not work! So, this post will not be all that I wish it could :(

Anyways, I will share another passion that I have....FRUGALITY! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE being frugal and finding new ways to save money! DH works so hard for the little bit of money we have...don't get me wrong...the Lord has blessed us more than we could ever hop for, but I like to be a good steward of what He has blessed us with!

One of the ways I like to be frugal in is creating atmosphere for our school "area"....which happens to be my dining room! LOL....The picture posted above is of the current bulletin board that we have up. It is simply coloring sheets cut out and some of those punch out letters that you can get for a dollar and use forever! I like to do this for our bulletin board as it is basically free and easy! When we want to change it (monthly) I can just throw it all away. It is a pain to store bulletin board stuff and have it not get damaged!

We also like to hang things from our ceiling...above the table where we work...like for Christmas I had snowflakes hanging...again these were coloring sheets cut out.

Like I said before...since I couldn't post the pics I wanted I can't really go on much more...although there is much more I would like to share,,,,but I kinda need to show you pics to get the "point" across....so I will save that for another day I guess....

Kim

Shortcomings and a plan!

(this is what is on my buffet in my diningroom)

So, lately the Lord has been putting on my heart some of my shortcomings...there are many! But today I want to talk about the fact that I am not able to get done all that I should in a day. The Bible tells us many thigns that we are supposed to be and be able to do. I know God would have not had them written if they were not important and should be done. SOME being...helpmeets to our husbands, loving our husbands, loving our children and not provoking them, teaching them, being keepers at home, being slow to anger, being quiet and meek, having a gentle tounge, and being the wonderful Proverbs:31 woman!!! How do we do it all???? This is where I am at!
But I can only take one "bite" at a time...lol...I am a simple creature. So, for now, I am wondering why am I living is such chaos and why is my house not under conrol! Ok... I KNOW I homeschool, and do foster care and babysit...but SO WHAT! That is not an excuse to be in such disorder...God says things should be done in a perfect order....and that's not here! LOL
It seems everywhere I look there are books, papers, toys, dirty dishes in the sink...etc... and that's all ok, but I need a plan!
What should my plan be??? I don't know!!!
Here's a goal: 4:00 am...wake up with hubby for coffee and fellowship :)
5:00 am....devotion and Bible reading
5:45 am.....shower and dress, see the ones who are up
Ok...this I do daily right now,,,so I can handle this part...lol... from here on out, it will be tricky!
6:15-6:45...my computer time, and email
6:45-7:00...start waking the ones who are big and need to be up
7:00-7:30...feed them all!
7:30-8:00...get baby up and around...and sometime in there my babysitting has started with a 2 yr old!
8:00-8:45..preschool with those who are that age, others do chores and dress
8:45-9:00..morning corner (devotions and pray, stories, before school)
9:00-11:00...school with older kids...need to do something different with little ones
11:00-12:00 lunch, break, little ones take naps
12:00-2:00 finish school
2:00-2:30 clean up house and grade papers
2:30~ Rob gets home...we ALL stop what we are doing to greet him
2:30-3:00 this time is ALWAYS devoted to Rob, I get his coffee and listen to his day
3:00-8:00~ kids, dinner, clean up....family time!
SO...that sounds like a full day, right??? Did you notice there is NO time left for chores, or other people..???? I could so this in the evening, but Rob does not want me to take family time to clean and do any chores that I don't have to. We also have foster kids in public school, so I need to spend time with her too..... and this is all that the Lord has sent my way, so I know it is all what I need to do, so I can't really cut any of that out... This will take some tweaking! Wish me luck!


In His Service,
Kim

Manic Monday...and creepy crawlies!!

Well, Today is "Manic Monday"!!! there is SOO much to do today! I already feel as if my head is spinning! LOL...

The baby is sick (foster child) and he needs to see a Dr. ASAP! His breathing is very labored and congested, so we need that checked out. Also, my 16 yr old (foster child) has a dentist apt.....so we will have to do that along with house chores and homeschool and babysitting. We shall see how it goes!

Today DD is starting a lapbook about the Underground Railroad. She has shown a great interest in the book she read, which is a great encouragement as she has not shown much interest in reading... getting to do a lapbook after reading a whole book really helps it be more fun! We have already done a few lapbooks and I think they will really enjoy them as they get older, it will be fun to look back and see what they did.

As for the creepy crawlies part....last night as I was sleeping I got woke up to DH hitting me on the rear end! It shocked me and I sat up like a bolt! come to find out, DH was killing a SPIDER that was crawling on me! The thought of a spider crawling on you when you are sleeping was too much for me! I was grossed out!!! Needless to say... I didn't sleep well the rest of the night! LOL

In His Service,

Kim

I know this is late, but here is a pic of our tree!!! We had a great Christmas!!!

First time!!

Hello to you all!! This is my very first time in "Blog Land" :) So, we shall see how it goes!
I guess in this blog I would like to share things about my life...homeschooling, foster care, my family, hobbies, my hubby...and anything else that might come up. I would love to hear what you all think..so feel free to comment!!

I am a homeschooling mom of 2 of my own kids and foster mom to 3 others. We are a christian family who loves and grows in the Lord. I am married to a great guy and have been for almost 10 years....we have been through a lot of hard times, but as of the last 6 or 7 years, things have been GREAT!
My kiddos and the cousins are all out sledding, but I hear some of them coming...so that it's for now!

In His Service,
Kim