Snow Day!!

Today is so much fun!! We are getting so much snow :) Some of the kids we have now are public school kids and they have the day off. I was planning on doing school with my bigger crew and just giving all the 5 & under's the day off...but hubby called from work and told me ALL the kids have the day off to play in the snow! So, off I went to bake chocolate chip cookies for cookies & milk later...am going to make a yummy fruit salad for dinner along with homemade bread...YUM! And hot cocoa and toast for dessert :) I love thinking that my kiddos will remember all the fun snow days and yummy treats...that's what makes childhood fun, right??
I am in "use it up week"...it is so much fun! That may sound nutty...but it is! So far today I have used up the ends of 3 boxes of crackers...we are using up the last bag of flour and the last bag of sugar ( I buy many at a time, so it's time to get them used up)...I am using up fruit that's getting too ripe for the fruit salad..oh yeah...I used up the last of the chocolate chips for the cookies...I didn't even have enough chips, so I got creative and threw in the last few mini Reese's pieces...so they are neat cookies! I am even stretching my "use it up" thinking to Ashley's B-day party...and am thinking of things to make to decorate without spending and cleaning out. I have a few ideas so I am excited. Her party is Sat....she is having a sleepover and is having 5 girls! There will be 17 kids here...LOL...crazy huh!
Well, I have to go as lunch is over and some kids are making beaded jewelery and some are wanting to play play dough and Ty wants to create something from twist ties (from garbage bags)...lol..when they are left to their own devices they get really creative!
Have a blessed day!!

Kim

Been gone a long time!!!

Well, it sure has been a long time since I wrote! Life has been REALLY busy! We have been blessed with 4 more kids we are planing to adopt :) That makes 8 kids total for now. God is so good to us! I am homeschooling them all plus the little girl I watch on weekdays. We are doing school a bit different this year. We are schooling 4 days a week, year round. I like this much better, and think the children will benefit greatly. DH has been hunting with no luck yet...we have been busy with church and on and off with being sick. All in all, life is great! Just thought I would drop in and say hello....not sure if anyone will even read this....it's been so long since I have been in "blog land"...lol...

Blessings,
Kim

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!

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

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