Grace Receiver

Socialization

2011-11-28T10:57:00.004-06:00

One of the things that keeps being stated concerning homeschooling is, "What about your child's social skills?" I do understand this in some ways. In other ways I do not. I think that people may picture Lars and I home alone all day everyday. I never pictured this at all so this question, and really often a form of judgement, surprises me. I know that from some people this is an honest concern. Others just use it in their armory as a list of reasons why they are against homeschooling.

I was talking to a friend who also decided to homeschool this year. During this conversation I think I was able to firm up some of my feelings on this. There are really more than one aspect of socialization. The first is what it sounds like social skills. The time spent in the company of others and in this case peers. How does Lars social time stack up against when he was in school? Well in middle school the actual social time was very limited. They had only a 15 minute recess and a half hour lunch. Then there was the time waiting for the bus. Seeing that the crazy bus took forever to get him home after the time change he had very little time to interact with the kids in the neighborhood. Between getting home between 4:30 and 4:45 and home work it left little to no time to play after school. This means for true social time Lars was getting just over 3 hours a week. That is if they actually got recess and were able to talk and socialize at lunch.

With our homeschool schedule Lars is now done when the other kids are getting off the bus. If the weather is nice they are able to play for a good period of time before dinner. Lars also has much more time to play on the weekends since our projects and work are all done during the week. We also do most of our work on a 4 day schedule and we spend about 4 hours at a local park with many other homeschoolers. There are many boys there and they have very well organized games and activities that they put together and play. This is an extended time to really be with, work with, and interact with children of various ages. We are working on plans for something inside for the colder times and times with nasty weather. When I have looked at this Lars actually gets much more social time with his peers now than he did at school.

The second part of socialization comes down to learning how to get along in society's parameters. In this is involved working with others, learning to take leadership, learning to accept leadership, and learning to get your needs met while following society's written and unwritten laws. Children in school work on these a lot; raise your hand to talk, wait in line for the bathroom, wait for a drink, don't interrupt, contribute to a project, don't goof off too much. These are all things that children are exposed to in school.

This is where I as a homeschooling mom must purposely put in items in place. Having Lars accompany me to stores often shows him how to follow many social norms. Norms such as, wait your turn, don't run in the store, don't hit others with your cart, politely ask for what you need, try your best but seek help when needed and so on. However, children learn very well when put with others. Lars is in a Lego Robotics group this year. They are working on programing a robot to solve every day problems. He works in a group of about 10 boys to do this. He is also taking homeschool classes at the zoo and COSI (a local science center). He is also in a homeschool band. When we get back from Florida he will be taking a homeschool PE class. All of these classes give him the opportunity to work in groups with others to accomplish tasks. He can emerge as a leader, a follower, or something in between. If he chooses not to carry his load he will hear about it from his peers.

He is gaining much practice with his social skills with these experiences. One of the parts I really like is that since he is not always with the same groups his role can change as he grows and changes. This allows him the freedom to try being the leader and try being the follower and feel out what each role is like. He does not get pigeon-holed into a role and feel as if he must stay in that because that is what his group of peers expects.

These are my thoughts on socialization. They will probably grow and change as we continue down out homeschool experience. We will also have to figure out what to do for the several weeks we are in Florida. I have found a group of homeschoolers there and several places that offer classes. I hope to be able to participate in these while we are there.

One Child

2011-10-28T13:09:00.002-05:00

I always pictured myself the mother to quite a few children. As a young teen I imagined the family I would have one day. I wanted 12 children. As I got older and helped care for other people's children I realized that 12 was a lot. I thought perhaps 2 to 3 children would be ideal, maybe even 4. Never did I picture myself with just one. Yet that is the place the Lord has me.

It was surprising to me to end up divorced shortly after the birth of my son. It was a whole new journey for me. Those first years went so fast, I went to school to get my teaching degree and had a packed schedule between working and mothering and being a student. I met the man that is now my husband when Lars was 4. They took to each other right off. That was so comforting. We married just 2 days after his 6th birthday. I had finished my degree and was looking for teaching work. We were open to more children but I thought that my feelings had changed and I would be fine with or without more children. That year we found out we were expecting. We were thrilled. When we lost that baby it was then that I realised how much I wanted more children. Lars is like a walking advertisement for having children he brings so much joy to our lives.

We have been though over 5 years of heartbreak with secondary infertility. I had never dreamed that if I wanted children that I could not have them. This journey has not been for the faint of heart. I trust that God in his wisdom will do what is really best for our family. I know that. I am also so very thankful for the child we do have and our daughter who I will meet in heaven. I just wish we could add to our family now. Then there are the times that I realise how easy we have it. You know I actually get to sleep through the night, and I do not have to take are car seat and diaper bag with me everywhere. we are very portable and can be very flexible. Those are very good things. I also try hard not to pine aways about not having more and try to really enjoy the one I have.

I love being a mom even if things have not turned out the way I had planned them I still love being a mom.

Best and Worst

2011-10-26T10:44:00.004-05:00

Over at Bakers Dozen she is doing a Best and Worst Wednesday. I thought I would try my hand at it. Here is the link I tried to link but cannot do it http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d8341d7c8453ef0154366c8d95970c

Best Part(s) of Homeschool

Watching my son be very interested in science and bible when he said that his favorite subject is Bible I was thrilled. Here he is with one of his science experiments

Worst part
Listening to his frustration mount as he was working on the next project and he was not understanding the confusing directions and when he followed them it did not work the way it was supposed to. I must learn not to take on his frustration.

Best part of this week so far

Tonight hubby and I will have a date night!

Worst Part

I feel like I am doing a lot each day, but at the end of the day I feel that very little.

Best part of having a 12 year old boy
He is interested in so many things and his thinking skills are really developing. He is challenging ideas and thinking through the whys of things.

The Worst part
I no longer have all the answer for all of his questions

Today

2011-10-24T14:30:00.003-05:00

Well today for the first time I think parts of homeschool got to be a challange for Lars. I am pretty sick but I have this week planned out. He also had some things to finish up for last week. So for the most part he was able to work things out with very little input on my part. I made an appointment at the doctor office this morning. When it got time for me to leave he was still asleep. This was okay with me I knew he would be sleeping late because he took his medicine last night. He had not had it in a few days and it can make him pretty tired. So I woke him a little and told him I had to go. When I returned he still had not gotten to work. He continued to putter around for a long time. I did not get mad I just kept my mouth shut and did not push him. Later in the day at the time we normally finish up he asked if he should finish up tomorrow. He was surprised when I told him that he needed to keep working since he had not started till later. He was not too happy but did not really get mad at me about it. He was more upset that he had to finish up in his room instead of the living room since it was our quitting time and the TV would be on. I am anxious to see if this motivates him to begin earlier. We shall see.

I am half thining about having him work on the book I am. It is called 30 Days to Understanding the Bible. I am finding it pretty good it has some real meat to it. It gives a basic understanding of the whole bible. Some of it is basic but it also has some very good points that it brings out. I like some parts of the bible program we chose but I hate the way it just leaps through the bible here, there, and everwhere. I do not like that part. I love the time line and the maps it has. I just do not know why you would study Joeseph before Adam, creation, or Noah or even Abraham.? I will probably use it this year and then just keep the maps. In the mean time I may have him read the book above to give him a basic overview then we can go deeper into each era of the bible. We will have to see about that.

Family Time

2011-10-19T08:52:00.005-05:00

We have been focusing on doing something fun together as a family on the weekends. We were in a rut of just kind of hanging out on the weekend. This was great the first few weeks of school as my husband was very tired one the weekends. However, I really wanted to do things that we would remember and create a bond in our family.

This weekend we went on an adventure that was very awesome. we went canoeing on the Little Miami River. This was right up our son's alley. We have been saying for several years that we should do this. Since it was a beautiful weekend and I was afraid it would be one of the last nice ones we jumped on it. We had a great time. Lars even commented that this is what life is about. Enjoying nature and family not just electronics. He later said that he thinks that God is trying to teach him something from that experience. For Steve and I that was wonderful.

After we did that Steve surprised us and we went to a local antique place and toured a graveyard that is over a hundred years old! When we get to Ohio history Lars and I will go back and do some rubbings with chalk after I make sure we will not be doing any harm to the gravestones. When we finished there he took us to a local fruit farm that he grew up going to.

It was very fun and very crowded. I was thrilled though that we got to go and that Lars still wanted to go pick out his pumpkin. Lars and I went on the hay ride and Steve waited through the massive line to buy some cider (it was the best I have ever tasted) and some apples. It was a great day and our family had a good time. I had told Lars that he had to be able to carry his pumpkin. He picked a very big one that weighed 16lbs and carried it the whole way. We are going to try to carve it today. I have never done this so I hope that it goes well.

On a side not I am feeling much better! My low iron had made it that I was dragging myself through each day. Today I woke up feeling energized I feel good and I am so happy about that!

What a good time

2011-10-17T12:39:00.004-05:00

On Friday we visited an aquarium. It is actually a few hours away but so worth the drive. Last post I talked about how I am trying not to add in too many things. I feel that what we have put in our schedule is quiet enough and though some things have great value I am trying not to just do something because of the opportunity but instead choose wisely what we pursue. So I did not know about this trip to the aquarium we are doing science but not animal science right now. However they were having a homeschool day and the price was right. I love this aquarium and had been twice but not yet with Lars. We decided to go with some friends (she was kind enough to drive) I was a little afraid he would want play around. I was also not sure it was the right time to take a day out of our current curriculum.

Boy was I wrong. He was completely interested, engaged, and excited about everything there. He especially loved the sharks. I had rented a movie on Amazon that was about sharks and downloaded it for him to watch before we went. That gave him some background knowledge and he went to town with it. There was no tuning out or quickly running from one display to another. No he enjoyed each thing examined them and digested so much of what we did. He is now very interested sharks and penguins. We are going to go to the library tomorrow and get some books on them. He was so interested that when we had walked through the whole thing he wanted to do it all again. Over and over he would come get me and tell me a fact that he learned. "Mom, mom did you know that the (insert the name of the fish) actually is born a female and later becomes a male?!" That was also a huge difference from past visits to places such as this. He wanted to know more and more about what he was seeing. He read each information plaque on what he was looking at. If there was someone who worked there he would ask very intelligent questions. I do not know if this is a result of homeschooling or just an age thing.

I am so glad that I grabbed this event and we went. Lars is not a lover of non-fiction now he is wanting to read anything about sharks. I am going to jump on this and tweak our lessons to accommodate this new interest. I am not sure what that will look like or how it fits into the middle school science curriculum but we will put it in there. I think that it will at least fall into the categories of research, non-fiction writing, and general science. In general perhaps I do need to seriously consider add ins and how they can spark interest in learning. We will definitely be returning to this spot. We may even look at the year long pass. I am unable to drive after dark so I will have to find a way around that, but now that I know his love for it I think we can arrange something.

specific challenges

2011-10-11T10:21:00.003-05:00

We really are enjoying homeschool. However there are some things that present specific challenges. One is scheduling. I really somehow thought we would have a good portion of free time.

I could not have been more wrong. There are so many things to fill up our time, good things, worthwhile things, things that contribute to his overall education. However, if I just full up our time with added in items I think he would have a very scattered education. So instead we are trying to really focus on our curriculum and only add in relevant or needed activities. This does not always work. He is taking band and to me that is part of our curriculum not just an add in, but that is our music for now. I will not be adding more for the time being.

We are taking one trip this week that is worthwhile , but does not fit into what we are learning right now. This will take one day away from our focus but it is worth it, and it will fit in nicely with General Science that we will be learning this year. We are going to a very nice aquarium.

For right now we do not have a PE class. Instead we meet a group at the park and the kids play. Yes the really play. I love that. They also play with sticks. He is developing so well and playing is still part of that. When the weather changes and it is too cold to just play outside he will be taking a homeschool PE class. This will give him some social time and he will learn the basics of many sports.

He also participates in a Lego Robotics team. This happens in the evenings and is an extra it is one night a week. Steve usually takes him and this gives me a little down time. On Fridays my parents have him in the afternoon my dad works on photography with him and my mom does Spanish. These are the things we have added to the normal curriculum that we do. Since we have these add ins we have to be careful not to fill up our daytime schedule any more than this. That means sometimes saying no to even great opportunities.

Another challenge that we have is me. I really want him to be back on grade level as far as Math goes. I yet I know that at this time he does not have the foundation he needs to move on. So we are building that foundation. I want to move faster so that I can have him in Algebra for next year. That is not going to happen. There are 4 more books before we even get to PreAlgebra. He is breezing through all the lessons now but there is no way we will get all the way through the 4 books then do PreAlgebra to be ready for Algebra next fall. I have to overcome myself and know that it is okay. He should be able to start PreAlgebra at some point next school year. My hope is then that he can do Algebra his Freshman year.

This is hard to accept. I want to get things done now. I want him to catch up right off the bat. But that would not be good for him. I need to build the foundation so that when new skills are added they do not topple him. At school they just kept adding new skills even if the understanding was not there. Things will not be that way at home. I am going to put his needs first and take the time to build the strong math foundation he needs. We will move on as he is ready. I just need to swallow my pride and say where we are is okay. Where we are going is okay. It is all okay.

I think that the way I always question myself like am I a good mom and how can I be better has carried over into homeschooling. This can be okay if I remember that success is not just what other kids are doing or where they are, instead success is helping my son reach his potential. We can take our time getting there but my goals and the questions I ask myself should be relevant to that.

Why Are We Homeschooling?

2011-10-07T09:00:00.003-05:00

Since Steve and I are both teachers and are/were working in public schools, we just assumed that the public school option would continue to work for us. It did work for K-5. Lars was pretty much happy and functioned well. He has always gotten good grades and there were very few issues. Yes, there were some issues but they were handled well by the staff at the school. Each teacher worked well with him and any needs that he had. It did not take much for him to comply with whatever standards were put in place. One teacher had a great system, she kept a chart of all the things due this was out where the kids could see it. If, at the end of the month they had less than two missing or late assignments then they would get to walk to McDonald's with the class. This was great! I think he missed like 2 of them and it was a great incentive for him!

This really changed for him beginning last year. His grades stayed on par. However he spent much of the year in a very stressed state. He loved certain aspects of the day but for the most part of the day he was stressed. He struggled with some of the things and this had a great affect on our family life. We really liked his teacher on a personal level. However, the class was not working for Lars. He was not getting home till a quarter till 5. This made homework and family time very hard. He does have ADHD. After controlling his body and mind all day to follow the structure of school, (He got on the bus at 8) it was very hard for him to put his attention on more school work. This left little to no time for family or for him to still play.

He got along well with many at the school but he still liked to play. He is a late birthday but some of the students really had interest in thing that were more like teenagers not the same things Lars was into. There was also a good amount of bullying going on. He did not deal with this so much in the classroom as he was very well liked in there. But in the halls there was a ton of this. The issue was trying to be addressed and specific matters were dealt with but in general there was a lot of it going on.

Our son was unhappy not just a little but very much so. Others may or may not have seen it but we did. The assignments were coming hard and fast, and by spring break it was clear that he could not handle a whole lot more. We got to the point that we were just trying to push through to the end of the year. As much as we liked the teacher we could no longer be on the same page with her. This is not okay with me. We wanted a united front to get the best education for him. There was so much chaos in the classroom, that Lars could not function. He was on the max amount of medicine and it was no longer helping the way it always had. Steve and I knew he could not go back to that but we were at a loss for what to do. We just all had to get through the year.

We decided to pray over the summer and figure something out for the next year. One huge moment was in June. We were laying in bed reading and Lars was on the X-box with one of his friends. We heard him laughing. We looked at each other and smiled it was a good thing to hear. We realized though that we had not heard that all of the last school year. Don't get me wrong he would chuckle at something, but not that deep belly laugh that he had always had the one that can and should accompany childhood. As the summer progressed we saw more and more of our son emerge. He no longer looked like he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. Sometime in July it happened. We had our child back! At the same time, both of Steve's and my apprehension for sending him back grew and we did not know what to do.

At the 4Th of July we ran into one of his classmates and the parents who had been pulled out around Christmas to be homeschooled. They spoke of how much the stress had decreased in their home. When they asked how the rest of our school had gone, I cried. At that point point I knew we could not return. Not only for Lars sake, though that was primary, but for the sake of our whole family.

Steve and I were on a lunch date and we were talking about our options for the new school year which was fast approaching. We could meet with the teacher and explain how somethings just needed to change, (we had tried this) we could put as much as we could into the 504 we had in place and insist it be abide by, we could look at having him in the other classroom, (there are many reasons this would not have been a good option) we could look at private schools, we could homeschool. I remember telling Steve "I don't think we are steering our ship to the right harbor." Lars was hating education we also saw that his environment was not just non-christian it was becoming anti-christian. Our goal is to raise a child who first anformost loves God and walks with Him. Secon, that he gets the education he needs to go to college. There was a point that Steve just looked at me we knew this to be true. Within days we made the call and decided to homeschool. So we took the leap we closed our eyes and jumped into the unknown!

So far we are loving it. We still have our son. The other day we were at home group and he was playing with some friends His laughter carried down the steps to us. It is the school year, he is learning a lot, and he is laughing.

2011-10-06T13:43:00.002-05:00

So far I am loving homeschooling. Things do not always go as planned and I am still a little overwhelmed with the full responsibility for providing my son's complete curriculum. Really though it was always my responsibility and for so long we were just able to let the school provide it. That worked it was my responsibility but it was being handled by someone else. When it was no longer working for him it was my responsibility to do something about that as well.
We are all very happy with the changes that have been made. Steve and I both love that we are able to do bible and that he shows such an interest in it. We also love that all the extras that we thought he would miss out on he is able to participate in. He is in band, he hangs out with other kids, he is doing robotics. We also have the time and energy to implement things that he is interested in. One day he built this car and learned about it. He loved it and I loved that we could put this into our day.
Lars is happier this way and he is learning a ton. He is more content and shows much more interest in the learning process. I hear the words I wonder many times from him, then he sets out to figure out what he wondered about. That is a winning combination in my book.

Beautiful Day

2011-02-27T19:40:00.003-06:00

Lars had a friend stay over last night. It is so nice to see how they play. They are 11 and 12 years old both of them are in middle school. What I love about it is that they actually still play. We have a field near our home with a small wooded area they and other boys from the area play all through there. They both take their Nerf weapons out and have many battles all through the woods and field. I was happy that they were able to take the battles outside and out of my living room. :) It hit about 60 today but now it is pouring rain and it seems I also hear hail. So I am glad that they were able to play outside while the nice weather lasted.
I think that at the middle school level can be a real challenge for kids so I am thrilled that there are times when Lars can step away from all that and just have fun. We are truly blessed to live where we do, that there are boys to play with, and that Lars is still interested in playing the way they do. I hope to preserve his childhood as long as possible.

Still Healing

2011-02-26T21:30:00.003-06:00

So it has been sometime but that is what I am doing, healing. It is a long and ongoing process. One of the things I am really struggling with now is having a church home. There are things that I just do not like about my church right now. Thing that I am so uncomfortable with that I cannot continue to go. This is hard for me since I met my husband there. He is committed there and although he sees the issues I do they do not seem to bother him.
It is only because of my background that the things bother me. I can smell control and issues with it a mile away. I do not want to subject myself to that. I would like to check out different types of churches but my husband would like to go to one that kind of split off the church we go to now.
I do like that church and I am willing to try that, but I really wanted to look at what Orthodox Christianity looks like. Steve has blessed me to look at churches with or without him. Even if this means we end up in different churches. I do not see that happening. But I am really excited to see what God does in this journey he has me on. I know he has something in store for me. I just do not know what it is.

Winter

2011-02-26T21:07:00.004-06:00

Well it is clear that I do not choose to write very often on this blog. However, it is something that I would like to do more of.
We have had a rough time around here since Christmas. Christmas was great and all but it was the times after that that things got a little rough. We all got sick one right after the other Lars being the one that was really sick. Mostly the normal things but he got croup again and the Drs think that since this was the third time since October and that he is older now that they want him to see a specialist. This is a bummer. I do hope though they can find out why he is still getting it and perhaps get something to stop it.
In the midst of all of these things our dog got sick. He had been sick for a while but he ended up having advanced cancer and we had to put him down. He was handsome, wonderful, and highly loyal dog. We miss him to a great degree and we were very sad to make such a choice.
Most of this happened during a particularly bad period of weather. The night ranger died there was a huge ice storm and we could barely walk on it. This has been a hard period of weeks.
Now things are starting to look up and we are glad of that I am so ready for winter to be over. I am ready for spring and then summer. I am also looking forward to the kids being able to get out and have Nerf wars outside instead of in my living room. :)

Healing

2010-07-31T12:52:00.006-05:00

Sometimes it seems healing can be very hard. It has been close to 12 years since I made the decision to leave the Jehovah's Witnesses (JWs). Leaving has been one of the best decisions I have ever made. It really has been such a huge change to live in the "real" world. I love the freedom I have on a daily basis. I can make choices and do things because I want to do them. I love that the things I decide to do or not to do are based on what I think, not on what I think will happen by an organization if I do something. That may be hard to understand for someone who has not been a part of a cult, but when you have spent your life trying essentially to please others it is odd to really make choices from your own perspective.

This is not to say that I only make selfish choices or that God is not involved in the decisions I make. God is certainly involved in all of the things I do or do not do. However, it is God I consider and what I know of Him not what an organization tells me he does or does not want.

I also love that I am free to worship God the way I want to not in this one way that is prescribed by the org. I believe that Jesus Christ died for my sins and on the third day he rose again. Inside of that I have much freedom to worship the way God calls me to. I love that. I can go to a great many churches and find something in it that leads me to God. The best part is that if I don't agree with it or if I think they may be teaching something false I can walk away. I do not have to stay! These freedoms are incredible and I love and cherish them.

However, it is not all easy. It is still hard when I run into people that are still in the JWs. Not if I just barely knew them but if they are people I grew up with and knew for so long it can be very hard. Most of them just pretend they don't know me some of them want to try to get me to come back. I used to have close to a panic attack when I would see someone. Now my heart beats a little faster and I make a choice as to how I will handle the situation.

Since if I were to voice my thoughts and opinions they would be view as if coming from the devil I usually just avoid speaking to them if at all possible. This works for the most part. However, if I am really confronted I will speak and I do speak about the personal relationship I have with God. I remember how surprised one gentleman was that I claimed that and said I would pray for his wife. It really befuddled him.

It is just hard because I do like it when people like me. I also like human approval. I know I have God's but it is nice to have peoples think well of you as well. Knowing that the people I run into do see me and that they think I have committed some type of terrible grievance is hard for me. This is getting easier to deal with and I am glad of it. The healing is coming but it is not the easiest thing in the world. Yet I know that with the healing comes growth and that growth is wonderful.

My Testimony

2008-11-22T16:08:00.004-06:00

Well this is a link to the testimony I gave at a conference in 2007. Just scroll down to the bottom and my name is Elizabeth T you will see the rest of it there. The picture on my sidebar is when I was giving the testimony. I was very nervous but I am glad I shared it. I spent so may years trapped in a false religion coming out was not an easy transition but with the help of our God and Savior I was able to. So if you would like the story just listen.

I have learned to link!

2008-11-22T12:36:00.004-06:00

After I have struggled with adapting to this no oven for the holiday's I found this great site. This person is using the crock pot everyday for a year! now that's adapting.

Crock Pot Cookies

2008-11-21T22:19:00.004-06:00

We I can't believe it worked. I made some cookies in the slow cooker today. They are actually bars but close enough. I am just thrilled I adapted the recipe from my grandmother's and now a similar one is on the sweetened condensed milk can but my version is pretty different.
I call them The you don't want to know who bad they are for you cookies. The are so easy to make to.
1bag ch chips I like milk ch
1 bag Reese peanut butter chips
1 box of vanilla wafers crunched up to crumbs
1 can eagle sweetened condensed milk
1 stick butter

Melt the butter in the crock pot turn on hi or low which ever will get it done. When the butter is all melted pour the wafer crumbs over and pat them in place. *this is where one difference come in I sprinkle the to kings of chips over the crumbs. Then I open the can of milk and drizzle it over everything. Other recipes have the milk going on the crumbs 1st You then turn on the crock pot on low and let it cook till the center sets up about 2-2 1/2 hours.
These turned out great
My next adventure will be my half-way healthy oatmeal cookies They will be more like oatmeal bars.

EAT

The second child is just as wanted

2008-11-21T07:43:00.004-06:00

I think it would be easy for others to think that if you have one child you cannot be infertile. I mean you have a child and that proves it right? However, the instinct to have children is a God given one and that instinct does not go away after you have one. In fact I really want another child more than I wanted my first one. I know what is involved in having a child. The sleepless nights the crazy trips to the ER at very odd hours. The worry about am I doing this right is he growing. I also know the joys that first smile, first words, the million times they say I love you mom. I am amazed that my heart still swells with love when I see my child first thing in the morning. I love being his mother. I would love to do it all again. There are things I would do different and things I like how they turned out. My love pours into my child and my heart breaks as he begs us to have another child. He wants a little brother, but says he wants a sibling so bad he will take a girl.
I think that is one of the hard things. It is not just me who wants this child, but the whole family who would welcome a wonderful new addition.

The Slow Cooker in a Pinch

2008-11-20T08:11:00.003-06:00

Several weeks ago I went to clean my oven. It was a chilly day and I was happy to have the heat in the house without turning on the furnace. I blithely turned the oven to clean and went about my work. Later that evening I went to open the oven and it would not open. Well I thought it just need to cool down more I will wait till tomorrow, well low and behold it would not open the next evening. We have tried everything and it still will not budge. We have know the range would have to be replaced sometime soon and so we have decided it will be now. We are researching ranges and will have to make a choice soon and hopefully by the new year we will have a new range.

However of course I have been craving baking. I love to bake and this is the best time of year. So I feel my wings have been slightly clipped. So when I made chill a few weeks ago I really wanted corn something to go with it. As they say necessity (or really wanting something) is the mother of invention. So I went to allrecipes.com and I found this great recipe

INGREDIENTS

* 1 (15.25 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
* 1 (15 ounce) can cream style corn
* 1/2 cup margarine, softened
* 1 cup sour cream
* 1 (8.5 ounce) package dry cornbread mix

* add to recipe box Add to Recipe Box
My folders:
* add to shopping list Add to Shopping List
* add a personal note Add a Personal Note

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 2 quart casserole dish.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together the whole kernel corn, cream style corn, margarine, sour cream, and corn bread mix. Pour into the prepared casserole dish.
3. Bake for 45 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

I just threw it in the crock pot and turned it on low. I also used real butter and homemade cream corn. A few hours later we had corn bread. I loved the result so I just decided to see how much my little slow cooker can do. I looked up apple crisp on allrecipes.com and deserts for the slow cooker I found lots of things. The apple crisp was great. I set the lid off of the slow cooker when it was done for a while and the top crisped right up. Dh loved this and tonight I am going to try this. Ministers Delight It is a cherry desert he love cherry!

I can't wait to see how it turns out.

The Cycle of A Cycle

2008-11-20T07:43:00.002-06:00

When you are ttc or trying to conceive there is a process that you seem to go through each month. At least that is the way it is for me. You see each month when my cycle begins I am very sad that I have started and that it means I am not pregnant. Then within a few days the sadness begins to turn to hope. I can count the days and know that this is a new month and there is hope that this will be the month. The next week is spent in anticipation taking and herb to help hoping and praying. Then the stress kinda kicks in is this too early? Is this too late? Will it be exhausted before it is the perfect time. Then there is the other side. How do we keep the romance in it. Should I get a sitter or just wait till bed-time? Then for the next two weeks there is this hope mixed with an odd sense of responsibility. Should I have that glass of wine, I mean it has been three years we have been trying what really are the chances? But then what if and then if there are problems it will all be because I was selfish and drank a glass of wine. Then I begin to look for all the little signs "yes I am a little tired, is it that tired I get when pregnant?" Oh I think the girls are a little swollen is this just a PMS thing or are they really swollen. Then I tell myself Stop playing with your mind you know that it will not happen just like it has not happened in the last 34 months why would this be the month. But I want to hold on to that hope at least for a little while. The thought that maybe just maybe this is the month. The I start. And it all starts again.
We are going on vacation next month perhaps I can try to get off this roller coaster for the month as well and just enjoy the season.

She will always live in my heart

2008-11-17T18:15:00.003-06:00

It happens gradually, I get kind of cranky then I get down right moody. I start to snap at those around me and think oh it is just PMS. I will start then get over it. It happens each month. But this time it just hangs on and I get crabbier and crabbier. What is wrong with me? All at once it hits me three years ago this week our baby went to the arms of Jesus with out me. All I have left are the ultra sound pictures that prove that yes my baby did exist. She was here and I will see her again. I cry then pull out my small box of memories and cry some more. I call my mom and cry with her, then I curl up in bed and get cozy. As I begin to understand the pain and get in touch with the pain the moodiness and crankiness disappear sadness is left the pain as well but after a few days it begins to clear to and I know I will go on. My daughter will always have a huge place in my heart sometimes I feel her with pain and sometimes with longing for the day I will see her again, but she is always there. I miss you my little one your mommy loves you.

2008-11-07T16:49:00.000-06:00

We like the electric company

2008-09-27T09:04:00.002-05:00

Well last week was quite interesting without the power for 5 days. I was so glad that hubby was smart enough to get a generator so quickly and we did have it set up before we lost our food, however it was odd to walk in a room and turn on the lights and wait then nothing happens. All this week I have marvelled at just how dependent we are on electric.
Before this happened I would have said we would be okay. And, we were it was just hard and if I have my preference I would not go through it again. I have decided we are going to keep emergency cash in the house now. I realised when the electric goes so does the banking system. We also now try to keep our cars filled with gas so that if there is a crisis we at least have that.

Children Make Liars Out of Us

2008-09-21T19:33:00.004-05:00

Just over one week ago my ds was watching some of the devastation of hurricane Ike. His beautiful blue eyes turn to me and he says "Mom will we ever have a hurricane here?" "of course not dear we live way to far inland for that to happen." I spoke these words very firmly and sure of myself. I mean we live in central Ohio. Please! What a difference 24 hours makes. My husband and I decided to take a little Sunday afternoon nap. We were awakened by ds coming into the room saying he thought we were going to have a tornado. I chuckled and said that we would be hearing the sirens if that were true. Wow how sure I can be of my self, and how terribly close to the truth my son was. I got up and walked to the living room window. for the next several hours we watched the wind whip up and down the street. Many times I told my son to quickly get away from the window. We prayed for our safety and for that of others. The trees whipped through and tore down trees and power lines. Our lights went out along with all of the neighbors and about 1/3 of our city. I found out the winds reached hurricane strength. We had a rough time but we were so thankful that were are safe and though we had no power for 5 days we know it could have been much worse and that in fact it was many many times worse for those in Texas. It did give us compassion for them.
The next time I start to tell my son that something could not happen here I will think more about it.

I hate being sick

2008-09-06T10:01:00.002-05:00

Well, with the return to school comes the return of "The Invasion of the Germs." With that I started with a slight sore throat last week. I though perhaps it was just some drainage and did a few home remidies. It did not work On Thursday I woke up with a head cold and it just got worse throuout the day. I woke up early Friday morning and felt like I was hit with a Mack truck in the head. My Doctor was not in so I went to the "little clinic inside Kroger" and got started on an antibiotic. I don't like to do that but it is so much better than it hitting my lungs and getting a full blown asthma attack or worse.
Last night ds started to cough and today he is very sick. I gave him his medicine and hopefully we will get through this. He is happy because he gets to drink 7 up. We usally don't do pop around here but when we are sick I get it for us.
I am really hoping this post make sense as in order to be able to see straigh I have been taking Nyquil. The day time stuff just doesn't do it. So I am sleepy while I type.
My wondeful dh skippied going to the game to stay home with us today. Poor guy.
I can't wait till I feel better there are so many projects around here I want to finish up. I just can't tackle them until I am better. I am working in ds room and I am excited to get his bedspread and new curtains for his room. He wants to go with Start Wars and I am happy with this. He is 9 and I hope it will last a few years. I think I will get some of those peel on and off stickers for his wall. He should have a great time with those.
Thats what is going on this weekend here. On Monday I will hopefully be able to post about the new weeks deals.
Have a great weekend

Target Saving

2008-09-02T19:34:00.002-05:00

Wow I read over at Money Saving Mom about a Target deal. I was running out to the store and decided to work it into my trip. I was able to get $57.00 worth of items for $32.00 I had picked up a few things that were free after coupons as well.
Specific Kellogg items were 4 for $9.00 Plus when you buy four you get a $5.00 Gift card
I ended up with 12 of the special item. Meaning I got 3 five dollar Gift Cards
I now have:
4 boxes of Pop-tarts
4 packs of Keebler cookies
2 boxes of Rice Crispy Treats
2 boxes of Kellogg's Bars
I had coupons for everything but 2 of the cookies and the Kellogg bars. I actually had target coupons and manufactures coupons for the pop-tarts they were $2.25 then .50 cents of for each coupon so after the Gift card These ended up to more than free! I will eat them and I can keep them at work for some of my kids who get hungry.
I also have a certificate to send off 10 Proofs of Purchase and get a check for $10.00 That was one great trip to Target!

Today is the Lord's day

2008-08-31T08:54:00.002-05:00

We will have a pretty relaxed day around here today. However, it will be a fun one. I am going to move some boxes for my mom, and hopefully go to the second service at our church. The this evening we have a baptism this will be nice to go to as it is at a friends house and we will be grilling.

I wanted to write about our back to school preperations. Dh was in bad need of clothes this year. He falls into an odd category of clothes, he can fit in some clothes from the regular store, but he really needs ones from the big and tall shop. The shop around her that carries those is not a cheap shop and I have a rough time paying full price for his clothes there. This year God really blessed us with his clothes. At Costco's they carry the size of jeans he needs. They are only 13.00-15.00 dollars. This is a great deal. We went ahead and bought 5 pairs so that he will have all he needs and more. We then went to the big and tall shop. With dh long torrso he really needs the t clothes he only wears a 2XL but at the big and tall shop they sell the 2xlt. I love these shirts. They are all cotton just as dh wants. They are long enought that they stay tucked in and he looks nice in them. I was so happy that they had a little sale. If you bought more than one they were 16.99 instead of 24.99. It kills me to even pay the 16.99 when I am the queen of 5 and less clothes but dh really needed these and they do not go on sales they may my clothes and ds clothes do.
So my dh is ready for his students this year. All he needs now is a good pair of shoes and he will be set.
God bless may every one have a peaceful Lord's Day

I have not updated in so long

2008-08-30T09:14:00.002-05:00

Well I have not posted anything to this blog for many months. I have decided to become active with it now.

We are in a busy season here and you know what they say, if you have something you want to get done give it to a busy person. I am not sure why but activitiy seems to breed activity. The opposite also seems true.

We are in the midist of preserving the food we grew this summer. Last night we canned up the lateset batch of tomatoes. Two of the jars did not seal right so I will use them up today.

I have done 2 dozen peach quarts, around 35 quarts total of tomatoes, and 45 quarts of green beans. We also froze about 150 ears of corn. I did not think the corn would be such pain but it really was. Then we only had about 25 meal size bags. Then it clogged the sink and we had to have pumbers out. What a nightmare! I am not sure the corn was worth it. We may give it another try, but I am not sure.

I forgot I have done about 10 quarts of pickles as well.

I love to can. It is very labor intinsive, but along about December when you open a fresh jar of tomatoes and that wonderful aroma hits you it is so worth it. One of the challanges about canning is that the bussiest time for it is hit at the same time as back to school hits. So I was actually happy to find out that my offical return date for work is Sept. 15. This will allow much of the canning to be done before I return.

So this canning is what we have been up to lately. I will post more about the summer and the back to school season soon. It is always interesting when you don't just have a child going back to school but 2 grown ups as well.

Gracereceiver

2008-08-28T11:58:00.002-05:00

One Great CVS visit!

2008-01-12T17:57:00.000-06:00

I have not been feeling well this week so I got through work and that was about all. That is why I have not posted. Today I was feeling better and got to CVS. This is so much fun. It is like winning a small lottery!!! I thought I would post about my trip.
I picked up
4 Reese Whips
1 Tin of York mints (not pictured)
2 Reese's Snack packs
1 Pez type toy
1 floam
3 Palmolive
2 Colgate Max Fresh
1 Fructis Shampoo
1 Excedrin
1 Johnson Buddies
1 Bag York Peppermint patties

Total $45.32 after sales 32.00 (give or take)

I used 5/30 4/20 3/15
I had coupons as follows

2 Colgate coupons 0.75
3 Palmolive coupons .25
1 Johnson Buddie $ .99 (reduced from 1.00 Making this free!)
2 Reese Snack coupon .75
2 Reese Whip coupons Buy 1 get 1 (making these free)
1 Fructis Shampoo Coupon 1.00
1 Excedrin Coupon 2.00
2 york Coupons .55 (I should have only been able to use 1 I am not sure what happened I am only realising it as I type this up.)
My total after all the coupons was 7.90
I used a $7.50 ECB and it took it down to 0.00
I was so excited!
Then I got 10.00 in ECBs (3 from the Palmolive, 4 from Colgate, 1 from Fructis, 1 from Reese's Whips and 1 from Excedrin. I will also get a $5.00 Gift card from the Hershey stuff! I can't believe this it is so great. the toys are for my little treasure box for the kids at work. They were 90% off.
check out http://www.moneysavingmom.com/ for other great deals.

CVS This week

2008-01-05T09:06:00.000-06:00

I did the CVS thing yesterday. I stopped quickly with my son. I was able to get the following.

1 Spiderman Paddle ball set
1 spiderman yo-yo
1 package Christmas colored Hershey kisses
1 Breeze 2 monitor

My total was $11.00
I used only the coupon for the Breeze 2 in the diabetic book
and a $1.00 ECB
My Total was $0.35 That was it.
I received $14.99 In ECB's $5.00 For spending and $9.99 for the Breeze 2 Meter which was free.

I also had gone to Target
I bought some after Christmas things to put away for next year. I still past on a ton of things as I am trying to do a "thing" fast (it is hard to pass up 75% off though) But even when I decided to do the stuff fast I knew I had to get a few things for ds I was waiting for coats to go on sale. Well I could not find a great deal so I settled for an okay deal and got him a coat. I was looking at the sale rack for specific things for him. I found a set of 3 piece PJ set (pj's seem to be expensive new) There was a gentleman going along the rack marking items down. I could not find a price on the PJs so I asked him. He ran it through his machine and said they were four dollars. Thats not bad I thought. He then said or I can push the button and they will be $2.14 "oooohhhhh," I said "let's push the button" So he did and I grabbed them while I could. I was very happy with that deal. So I have bought a few things but being conscious of what I am buying is very helpful.
I am saving a ton of money by just staying out of stores. I go if I must and then do my best to go in just what I intended to get. SO those were my deals this week.

Making a budget

2008-01-03T10:58:00.000-06:00

We do not have an official budget. We really need one. We have been working at paying off our debt and should be very close to doing this next month. The problem is we spend what we make. Not more than we just spend what we have. Then on months we get our high bills it kills us. We pay all our insurances and our home taxes 2x a year. I want to find a way to set up a budget that allows us to save for these things and put some money in savings.
I am going to make this the year we have a budget. I do not want it to be complicated. I love the envelope idea but I am afraid of keeping all that cash in the house. Yet I feel as if using the debit card all the time just begs for trouble.
Crystal over at Money Saving Mom is doing a challenge and going to walk through making a budget. I am going to take her up on this one and see what I can do. Dh would love to have it all in order if I present it to him it would make his day. I am excited to be able to serve my family in this way. Let's get financially responsible.

The most frugal thing I have done

2008-01-02T10:21:00.000-06:00

I have found a really huge frugal thing in my home. I can't believe how much it is saving us. It is so simple. I am keeping my kitchen clean. I mean it was never terrible, but it was so easy to eat out instead of cooking if there are dishes in my sink. I have been home the last couple of weeks and I have really gotten it in shape. It is so easy now to go in and cook a meal. The best thing is breakfast. When we are all home it is so easy to go out and grab breakfast. Well now I have been keeping the sink cleared out dishes washed and put away. So breakfast takes just a few minutes to prepare. I am not overwhelmed try to get it on. We have fixed, eaten, and leaned up in just about the time it would take to get ready to go out. I just run in and do it then quickly clean it up. We are saving a ton of money because the kitchen is ready to go.
I had no idea my delaying cleaning up the kitchen cost us so much. I am so excited about making this small change. Instead of cleaning it once a day and being frustrated and overwhelmed with it I just keep it done. Most people would say DUH you should have figured that one out by now. I just guess it takes a while for me. Now I am going to lay out dinner. I think I am going to make Ritzy Chicken I found on Biblical Womanhood. My Dh loves it and it is so easy.
Does anyone have any tips on cleaning the kitchen quickly?

Some Great Ebooks

2007-12-31T20:59:00.000-06:00

Crystal at her site money saving mom is having a great sale check it out! I loved the Supermarket Savings 101. It was a great way to learn about savings. I was surprised at how easy she makes it. I was really able to save after listing to the first few lessons. I also like many of the ebook cookbooks, so did my husband. Who knew you could do so much with so little. Click Here! to find out more!

New Years Resolutions

2007-12-31T15:47:00.000-06:00

I am one of those people that always has the big ideas and I get a great start, but I lack the follow through I should have. Now when I really set my mind to something I do it, don't get me wrong. Its just that I have many ideas that I don't get around to. I know that if I set down with a long list of resolutions I will not make it on them. So instead I know there are things in my life God is working on with me. I want to go along with these. God is teaching me to be a better steward of time and money. I have some general areas I am working towards. Spending less around the house, loving my husband and son more and showing it more, and building a quality relationship with my Savior. So instead of resolutions I have prayed and refined these general goals down to 2 actions things that I can right now actually work toward and do. These are the two things I am going to work towards for right now.

1. I will spend time each day with God and seek His face. I do pray to God in my head often, but I have found if I quiet myself he speaks to me. I want to draw on this strength to make me a better wife and mother. The one issue I have is that if you speak to most people they recommend doing this 1st thing in the morning. I would love this but when I have tried in the past to implement this it does not work out for me. What has worked out in the past is doing this right before bed. I am relaxed and do not have a hundred things on my mind. I all ready read the bible each night now I will add some listing and journaling (sp?) time to this. This worked quite well for me in the past till I let comments from others make me feel guilty for doing this in the morning. So I will do what works for me.

2. I am going to do my best in getting the grocery bill down to $65 a week. This should be plenty for our family of three. I know some who do it for a lot less but I am going to start there and see what happens. This would be a big boost for our budget. It may take some time to get to this goal but I think it will be doable for us.
These are the specifics I will work on. I have other goals but these are the ones God is putting on my heart. I can't wait to see what he does.

Savings Now

2007-12-29T20:40:00.000-06:00

I am pretty much trying to stay home so I do not have any new saving tips since I am not going out much. We have gone a few places but we are mostly spending time with family and just hanging out at home.
I am reading the book "How to become the woman of his dreams." I have to say this is a great book. What wonderful ideas and outlooks on the way we can be better wives. I am trying to do some of the things I read all ready and I love it and dh seems to as well.
There are many things I like about this book. One is that many men were interviewed for this book. The results are sprinkled through the book. This gives the male perspective in a true way.
Second, she breaks it down into seven different areas. I can handle that. It does not have tons and tons of things to memorize or vague ideas. 7 aspects that will help you become the woman of your man's dreams.
Third, there are many places she gives great lists of tips on implementing these ideas. They are practical and doeable.
The last one for now is the most important it is biblical. It starts with prayer. I love this book and I think that it will help our marriage become even better.
I am excited about this book. I got it from the library but I may have to buy it because I want to mark so many things in it.
Have a blessed New Year
Elizabeth

Ways to save

2007-12-28T09:00:00.000-06:00

Today I just thought I would share some of the ways I like to save around the house. Many people may already know these but I thought I would share for any that are interested. I like these and they stretch my $

1.) I buy the foamable soap at like Aldi for very cheap around $1. I have found a great way to refill them and get that great foam. I use some Avon bath soap I have had forever. In the bath it makes me itch, no such problem as hand soap though. It has a great berry smell. I fill my empty foam soap container about one inch or so of the bubble bath then fill the rest with warm water and dissolve it as I am filling. Experiment with the ratio of soap to water for what works for you.

2.) I shop in bulk when it is cheap. I hate wimpy trash bags so I do not buy them. Yet I hate the price for the name brand. I have found that Costco's bags are great! They are just as heavy duty as the name brand and at a great cost savings. $12 or so for a box of 250. This works for us. As I improve on combining coupons and sales I may find better deals on name brand but for now I am happy with this.

3.) I refill my water bottles. We love bottled water around here. We also have one of those under the sink filters I am so happy with it. The water taste very good and I am a water snob. My son and I drink considerably more water though, when we keep it very cold. We have an old water cooler that chills the water and holds the 5 gallon jugs. I refill these 5 gallon jugs from my filtered water. I do this a few times and then we exchange them for cleanliness sake.

4.) I make some of my own cleaners. Soon I would like to try more natural ones but for the present this is what I do. I realised that the bottles of spray that is safe around everything is just the same old stuff we mixed up at all the day cares I worked at. About 2 tablespoons of bleach and fill the bottle with water. I bought one spray bottle of it and now I just refill my own and it works great. I also make my own Cleaner with bleach. I just used my old name brand bottle. I had found an all natural laundry detergent at Costco's (GREAT price) Econ or something. I just used about an 8th to quarter cup of that half that amount of bleach and fill with water. It is working wonderful. This one does bleach things so be careful and it is not safe around kids. I like to use the old name brand bottles this way I know how to store them and I don't have to mess with labeling them myself.

5.) The detergent I mentioned above I got on sale at Costco's for like $12 for about 120 loads for me this goes even further since we have a front loader. I have always used Tide I was afraid to try anything else, but when I started to have to buy the Free and Clear for my skin I just could not do that anymore. This detergent works and it also saves because you do not need an extra fabric softener with it.

These are some of the ideas we save around here. How about at your house?

Staying In

2007-12-24T15:24:00.000-06:00

First I wanted to let explain that I picked up the free print from Walgreen's. I had picked my favorite shot of my son at his Christian summer camp last summer. It happened to be on of my husband's favorite as well and he loved it to. When I got in the car he said "Now you can get a frame cheap at CVS and you'll be all set." He is really behind me on my frugalness. (Is that a word?)

Second, as a family we are going to see how much we can stay home after Christmas. My husband and I both work in the schools (he teaches and I tutor part time) So we have off for the next while. This means we could do lots of things and end up going into debt. So we are going to try stay in as much as possible over week and a half. I hope this saves us big time. Since we got some really great Christmas gifts that we will open tomorrow it will not be too hard. In fact we should really enjoy some together time as well as finish a few projects.

I am going to do a challenge for myself. I am going on a "thing" fast. I found this idea at The Christian Woman's Page I am not going to buy any"thing" for myself even for the kitchen or house for a month. Now I will do my CVS because I can do that without spending money. I also have to buy my son a new coat. He needs one and I have been waiting for them to go on sale. If I really need something I will look for it around the house or make do. We shall see how it goes.
I hope you and your's have a very Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year.

Free Socks at Kroger

2007-12-23T18:06:00.001-06:00

I live in the Central Ohio area so I have no idea if this is the same way at other Krogers. I did my shopping today and as I was heading out of the store a cart was filled with No Nonsense socks marked $1. I had a coupon from a few weeks ago in an insert and it was for $1 off of a No Nonsense product so they were free. It scanned just fine I just wish I had a few more coupons.

Free 8x10 at Walgreens

2007-12-21T15:39:00.000-06:00

I just ordered mine I found this one on Biblical Homemaking She tells you how to do it and I found it very easy. When I checked out I put in that code and at the end I did not owe a thing. I will let you know what happens when I pick it up. I just thought I would pass it on.

Getting that tree up

2007-12-20T06:44:00.000-06:00

Just thought I would get a few pics posted I will write about them later. The dog's name is Baxter and he was in the mood to pose so my son took his picture

Rantings from a frustrated infertile woman

2007-12-18T16:14:00.000-06:00

I am going to post about my feelings today rather than bargains. It is very hard to understand why I can't get pregnant I mean I have one child. I also got pregnant with another one. I was not trying to even get pregnant with the child we lost so why now when we want it so bad am I unable to get pregnant?
I have read about so many women who are not even able to have one child. Should I just be happy that I have the one and go on with life? I mean he is 81/2 they would be so far apart in age. Yet this desire is still there. I wake up with it, I go to sleep with it, I tell it to go away, and it does not leave. It is almost like a hunger that eats you up inside. I really wanted a child before I had my son. I never imagined that I would still want another so badly. Secondary infertility is more common than many people think. The thing is that the feeling to have another child is not less when you actually have one.
Perhaps that is why I want another so bad. I adore my son I never thought parenthood would be so wonderful. He is an interesting, intelligent, and all around great kid. Who would not want another one? I also know that my husband is such a great father. He love our son, who is actually his stepson, my husband adores him and they do all the father and son things together. One of the things I know is that we could have 5,6,7,8 of our own kids and it would never change the love he has for Lars. That means so much to me.
This is going to be a hard week because I am in the two weeks wait they call it. The between ovulation and when you would find out if you were pregnant. So of course I will find out Christmas Eve if I am. The hard thing is that I am not going to be. I don't have the symptoms I have had before. If I think hard enough my body starts to feel them though. Oh yes I am a little tired. Oh my stomach is a little upset. I think that is what hard those whole two weeks I am constantly searching my body for hidden signs I may actually be pregnant.
I will not allow my disappointment to keep from having a great Christmas with my family or to take away from the true meaning of Christmas.
So now you have the rantings from a frustrated, infertile woman.
On a side note we got the tree put up last night and it looks great. I will try to post pictures of it tomorrow.

One great way to save

2007-12-17T18:31:00.000-06:00

One of the ways I save a ton of money is this great method I started when my son was quite small. He was always in the same size as his age. If he was 4 he was in 4t. That is at least after the 1st year, he was smaller than his size then and it took a while to catch up. But after that it was pretty predicatable. This was especially the case with his shirts. So I do not normally buy for the current size or season. As soon as it hits Feburary I will begin to shop for his clothes for next winter. I will buy a size 9 or 10 since he is currently wearing an 8. I am able to buy many of his clothes that way. I do not normally shop at thirft stores for him because I am able to get his clothes even cheaper brand new. Last year I found Rebox Addidas and Nike hoddies for $4-6. I ask the sales person to leave the hanger on and I stick them in the back of the closet till it is time for him to wear them. I like this way of doing it. The only problem is that I cannot find jeans this way. I look but very rarley find them on sale. The other problem is that if I buy them used the knees are gone in like a week. I hate to see him wear them after that. So this works mainly for the shirts and when he was younger it worked for outfits. I have no idea if this will work for you but I love it and it has suited us well.
I also often update my clothes this way, but I just don't need as many. I wish it worked for my husband and to some degree it does, but with his job he wears t-shirts all year around so I am always buying them. I just thought I would share one of our frugal ideas.
I hope you are having a Merry CHRISTmas

Today's Bargain

2007-12-16T18:49:00.000-06:00

I am so happy about the great deal I got to day. I love Flylady's calendar, but we are trying to use the money we have for Christmas so I had not gotten mine. Today I popped into Half Price books and there was a great similar calendar for less than $6. It has the big spaces to write daily appointments, and the stickers that give you a visual reminder of what is going on that day. Now, I still like Flylady's a bit better, but this is going to suit our needs quite well and a great bargain. I love that place.

Super Savings Saturday

2007-12-15T11:31:00.000-06:00

Well I got all of the above deals for a grand total of $ .11 Yes that is right 11 cents is what I paid for these things. Even better I did not even have to use and ECB's This is what I did:
I bought one pack of Energizer Max batteries on sale for $ 5.99
One canister of cookies for $2.50
One special marked bottle of Johnson Baby Wash $4.29
One bottle Garnier Conditioner $3.33
Total was 14.90
My total was off because the baby wash had a different price on the bottle. The cashier rang it up for the price on the bottle.
These are the coupons I used
One $5 off $15
One $5 off one package Batteries
One $2 off Johnson Baby product
One $1 off Johnson Wash product (Sunday insert)
One $1 off batteries (on the package)
Many of the coupons were emailed to me by CVS the others I found on http://forums.slickdeals.net/ and http://www.moneysavingmom.com/
This brought my total down to $0.11 I was thrilled about this because I went in to make a photo album but I had not saved the pictures right. So I just picked the good deals. The conditioner I just needed and the cookies brought my total up I could have searched for something to give me some more ECB's but DH was waiting in the car. I was very surprised when it did print out a $1 ECB since I had not gotten that one on purpose. CVS is so fun!

More of Getting it Done

2007-12-11T15:14:00.000-06:00

Well today was pretty good with working on making my home a haven. especially since I still have plenty of time, but I have all ready got one load of laundry done, did my routine, and then worked very hard in the kitchen. Just since 2 P.M. All I have left in the kitchen is the table and all the things on it are sorted just to be put where they go. We have such a small house and so much stuff. While we are all on Christmas break I plan to sort and get rid of a ton of things. I can't wait. Until then I will focus on small parts of the house I can put in order. How fun I love it when the results are starting to show.
While I was working in the kitchen today I was trying to fit a few more food items into the cabinet. I was struggling to get it all in there in a decent order. While I was doing this i remembered what my son had to say this morning. He was telling me that there was a food drive a his school. I said "Yes, I saw the paper on it. Would you like to send something in?" He said "Well, do we have enough food to send and still have some?" I had to chuckle I then asked him if it ever felt as if we did not have enough food. He said "Well sometimes just before dinner I am so hungry I feel like we do not." I had to laugh I reminded him that there is always plenty of fresh fruit on the counter and that right now there are at least three different kinds to choose from and he can always have them.
I know that we have tons of food. I realise that this is just him expressing that he would like to have a junky snack before dinner. What I wonder though is how does this come across at school. "We just don't have enough food for us so we can't give any away." I think his teacher knows us well enough to know different I just wonder at times.
We are in the crazy search for a Wii but alas it seems there are none to be had. I should have thought about this earlier in the year. It is funny that Christmas comes each year and yet it seems to sneak up on me as if it was a new thing. I hope I learn soon. :)

My home a haven?

2007-12-10T16:33:00.000-06:00

After some time of trying to figure out exactly what to blog about I have decided on somewhat of a focus. At this time I am trying to really make our house a home. We are also trying to live a more simple and frugal life style. To motivate myself I will share my progress and struggles here. But let me tell you a little about my situation.
I work each weekday morning at a school. I love my job. I am able to be done a noon each day so my main focus is still our home, this is really what I want to do I want to be a homemaker. I love my job though and want to find a way that these two things can be complementary.
One of the great things about my job is that I am able to take my son to his school each day and drop him off. We get to spend that focused time together each day and I don't miss any out of school time with him. I am also home by the time my husband gets home at 3. So in ways I have the best of both worlds.

Now I am focusing on making our home a very pleasant place to be in. One of the blogs I read is www.biblicalwomanhoodonline.com/blog.htm. There Crystal is challenging people to create a haven in their own home. This is what I am going to work on. Today I created a routine for when I first get home. I then attacked my kitchen and worked on picking up around the house. I also was able to spend sometime in prayer and plan dinner. I hope that tomorrow I am able to get a little more done. Today my husband was home sick and I had to run errands. Also things were slightly crazy around here since we had gone to relatives yesterday and had kind of dropped things when we came in. So today was a lot of picking up after the weekend. I hope that tomorrow I can really tear into things.
I also stopped and did some of the CVS deals for this week. I love it when I can go in and buy things we need spend only $1 out of pocket and get $10 back to spend later! :)

The sworn enemy

2007-11-06T05:21:00.000-06:00

Last time I shared how we are trying for a baby. This has been a very painful issue for me. Each month it is like going through a mini grief and loss cycle. It is something I try to take to God each day. However I try not to completely dwell on this all the time. As I have shared I am so blessed. I have a fantastic husband and one wonderful boy. I also am blessed (most of the time I think of it as blessed) with two dogs.

These two dogs are very interesting. One is a full blooded beagle the other is a mutt of some sort. They are so funny to watch. Ranger is the mutt he is a rather big dog he is about 50 lbs. He is also my sworn protector. He follows me all over and when I sit he sits right beside me. He will stand between me and any danger. When a person comes to the house to work or read a meter ranger keeps himself between me and this assumed threat. He also barks to alert us when anyone even attempts to pass in front of our house. He seems to bark the second they cross in front of our property line until they get to the other side. Most do not dare approach. We feel safe with him around.

However, I have found one area he seems to be at a total loss. This is when we run the vacuum sweeper. He thinks it is some mortal sworn enemy. The problem is he us such a protector that he seems to have the need to save me from it as well. So when I pull out the vacuum he is torn you can see the look on his face. "Do I run for my life, or save my human?" The result is that he dances in front of the vacuum barking at it and looking at me imploring me to go to safety. After a few minutes of this he gives up and runs into the other room. If I am not going to run for my life he will run for his. What really gets me is that we have used a vacuum most every day for 5 years now (Did I mention he sheds?) and it never changes. I can only imagine what goes through his head when he passes the closet the vacuum is stored in.

Trying

2007-11-04T14:48:00.000-06:00

Well I really do want to get this blogging thing down. I am going to shoot for writing several times each week. I shared last time that I was going to do my testimony. That went really well and as soon as I can figure it out I will put a link to it.
So what is God doing in my life? Well my husband and I have been married for about 2 1/2 years. I have a great husband by the way :) I have a son from a previous marriage and he and my husband get along great my son thrives with my husband around. When we were first married we were not trying to get pregnant but we did withing a few months. We were happy about this it had happened sooner than we thought but we were glad. However at 10 weeks I miscarried. After that we decided to try for another one. Now here we are 2 years later and we have not been able to get pregnant. I had one child and got pregnant again. How could infertility hit me?
This has really been a struggle for me. God has blessed me so much and yet there is this one thing I want. Sometimes I wonder if I am like the Israelites who were never happy with what God gave them. Yet I am happy I am blessed and I praise God for all He has done. If I never have another child then I am still blessed and I will still follow Him. It is just one thing I long for. Is this a sin?
Well, today it just hit me like a ton of bricks. We are all, male and female, made in God's image. And guess what? He wanted the same thing in a way. He was complete whole God Son and Holy Spirit. He did not NEED anything. Yet, he said let us make man in our image. He did not need us He wanted us. That desire to have this goes back further than we do. I take comfort in that. I am created in God's image and he wanted to create us. It is natural that we as humans have this want and drive.

Here I am

2007-10-14T11:36:00.000-05:00

Hello, I am brand new to blogging. I am a born again christian who is thankful everyday for the grace I receive. I am married to a fantastic husband and have one beautiful boy who is 8, and would kill me if he realised I called him beautiful.
I am not sure exactly what I will share in this blog, but God has me on a plan just as He does each of us, sometimes it helps when we as Christians share this journey with others.
I am learning how to be the christian, wife, and mother that He wants me to become. This may not be an easy journey, but feel free to share it with me. I will share with you what God is doing currently in my life. I hope to share at some point all he has done in the past.
I am going over my testimony to give next week. I am surprised by how much emotion can come up when we take and honest look at our past. I am learning that God does not want us to remain in pain. He wants to pour out His grace on our past hurts as well as give us the grace to get through each day. I found a great person at my church and we are praying about the things as they come up. God has healed things I did not know I was keeping inside. What a wonderful freedom this brings. What a great God we have who loves us enough to heal us not just save us.