Homeschooling Pics

Enjoying some new birthday paints we bought for Jeremiah to replenish our waning stash. Their paintings will end up as wrapping paper for Christmas gifts!
A reading treasure hunt game I made for Ali since she enjoys reading words, but gets frustrated with the length of books at this point in time.

Her exuberance upon reading the clues!

Looking under the rug. The last clue led her to some Hershey's kisses in our pink library bag.

Ali showing Justus how to color

Homeschooling is a lot of fun! I must admit I was surprised that Ali learned to read in mid-October, just by playing with some alphabet blocks. Learning the letters at age 2 from Leap frog toys and songs and books, taking pre-school from Miss Jenny last year, and doing lots of letter worksheets and phonics practice so far this year was the foundation for quickly learning to read! She doesn't enjoy reading books very much although I've started her on the Bob books and some easy readers some friends gave us. She prefers to make words with blocks or magnetic letters, spell out words on her own as she hears them, read words in games or on reading flashcards, etc. I was stunned that she started reading so quickly, almost without any help on my part! Here I had been saving the book How To Teach Your Child To Read in 100 Easy Lessons for January, thinking that we would review letters and sounds until then! I didn't want to rush her or push her into it too soon. I guess I may not even need the book, at least until Jer is ready for it!

Because Ali is reading now our schooling day now includes more reading activities and 5 spelling words per week, including an informal spelling test at the end of the week. We're still doing hands-on activities, lots of art and crafts, and reading lots of books. I've discovered that I love the Explode the Code books a veteran homeschooling mom recommended to us. Ali finished the first book in just 6 weeks. She begged to do more and more pages each day even though I would have been happy with 2 or 3. We ordered the next 4 workbooks in the series so those should keep her busy for a while.

I've found that as we push towards the end of this "semester" it is definitely hard to be self-disciplined every single day. We've taken some break days just to break up the routine and so that I could do bulk cooking or so that they could rest more to prevent colds. At the beginning I was more formal and stern about hours, but now I feel that as long as we have covered about 1-2 hours a week for 4 days out of the week we're totally good. Following the recommendation of the excellent book "A Well-Trained Mind" I am letting the kids listen to books on CD at night in bed and also during nap/quiet time in the afternoon. The kids are delighted with this and now I'm kicking myself that I didn't do it a few years ago when I was having major naptime struggles wtih Ali. It keeps them quiet and gives me a little break in the afternoons even though Jer is joining his sister these days in the I've-Outgrown-Naps-Club. Instead of being pestered by the kids for endless requests at bedtime, after we do their prayer/snuggle/Bible story bedtime routine, they are excited to listen to their audio books while drifting off. So far, they've listened to these books from the local libary, several times each: Pippi Longstocking, Mrs. Piggle Wiggle, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Boxcar Children, Hank the Cowdog (a few different books in this series), and the Bible (we own this one).

Adding Beauty

Pretty candle holder from the thrift store (5 cents), candles, $2
Bouquet from hubby, "just because."



I've been making a more concentrated effort to add beauty to my kid's lives, especially around the table. While I love simplicity, I want our home to reflect warmth, personality, art, and beauty, in appreciation for and reflection on our great God.

Yummy Meal--Mexican Casserole

8 oz ground beef
1 can (12 oz) whole kernel corn, drained
1 jar ( 12 oz) chunky salsa
1 can (2 1/4 oz) sliced olives drained
1 cup of cottage cheese
1 carton ( 8 oz) sour cream
5 cups tortilla chips
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup chopped tomato

Brown ground beef in large skillet; drain. Add corn and salsa. Cook until heated. Reserve 2 tablespoons of olives. Put remaining olives in beef mixture. In a separate bowl combine cottage cheese and sour cream in bowl. In a 2 quart casserole, layer 2 cups chips, half of meat mixture, 3/4 c. cheese and half of cottage cheese mixture . Repeat layers, cover. Bake in preheated 350 for 35 minutes. Line edge of casserole with remaining 1 cup of chips and top with tomatoes, olives, and cheese. Bake for 10 more minutes or until cheese is melted and chips are hot.

I've found that substituting black beans for hamburger works great too! If you don't like olives, try a different item, like green chilis, or onions, etc. My friend made this for me (pictured above) when we were going through our rough time with getting ready to move and house hunting and it was such a tasty meal!



I had trouble layering the cottage cheese mix so when I make this again I plan to just mix everything together, except the chips, and just skip the layering steps.

Sister Swap!

I was so excited to participate in the Noel Sister Swap this year hosted by sister bloggers, Carrie of With All That I've Been Given and Monica of Homespun Heart. It was my first swap and I ended up being paired with Carrie! I enjoyed making a new friend in her and found out we have lots of things in common, including a love for stationary, hot cocoa and chocolate, and simple living! A lovely card with a handwritten note on the back was the first thing I saw!
A lovely green crock to hold Christmas cards or even Christmas goodies.

Vanilla Bean Noel hand soap from Bath n' Body Works!

A wonderful holiday scent!

Look at how cute the homemade hot cocoa was packaged! We both sent each other some hot cocoa and a chocolate bar! You can't go wrong with those! Yum!

A yummy-smelling candle

Martha Steward Christmas cards and fun stickers to decorate them with!

Christmasy paper hankies and even a little gift for the kids: an advent devotional!

Also included but not pictured here was a chocolate candy bar from Germany (fair trade item--not sure what that means but I'm guessing it's buying international goods without exploiting the workers--offering them a fair compensation).

Want to see more pics of Noel Swap Gifts, including what I put together for Carrie? Visit her blog today!

How To Make a Monster Truck Cake

My little boy loves monster trucks and apparently he's not alone! When looking for cake ideas I noticed that almost all of the cakes had a THREE candle on top of them. Must be a 3-year-old boy thing! I combined several of the ideas I liked from cakes I found online and got some tips from a friend who made a monster truck cake last year.

Large glazed donuts covered in black frosting, make the wheels. Every mama of boys should have a jar of black food coloring around so she can make racecar/tractor/truck wheels, soccer balls, etc. I put Hershey's Kisses in the wheels for hubcabs.

One gal online had built a wooden platform for her cake. I decided to do something similar. I have a little wooden cutting board that is the size of a loaf pan. I covered it with foil and "glued" four baby food jars to the bottom with honey.

One person had made no-bake cookies for mud. I liked this idea, but knew that with all of the cake and ice-cream, we'd have enough sweets, and Mommy especially doesn't need the temptation of no-bake cookies around! So, I just took a few cups of oats out of my 50# bag and colored them with a couple of Tablespoons of cocoa and about 1/2 C. of water. They look lighter in this pic but they are actually darker and looked just like dirt.

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I didn't get pics of the body of the cake. Oops! I used one white cake mix and baked it in two glass loaf pans. I discovered that I could have used two cake mixes because the loaf pans were deeper than I had realized. Be sure to grease and flour the pans well so the cakes come out nicely. Cool completely in the fridge or freezer for a few hours. I dumped out the loaf pans and since one loaf of cake wasn't thick enough I put them together on top of the base board and then took a knife and made a diagonal cut down the front to make the windshield. The piece I cut off was then placed in the middle of the cake body to form the cab of the truck. Then I covered the whole thing in frosting. If I did this again I would probably use a whole cake mix in one loaf pan for the body and then a rectangular chunk of cake added on top from another loaf pan for the cab.

Reese's candies for tail-lights

I used homemade cream cheese frosting. One batch was more than enough for the whole cake. If you purchase your frosting, buy at least two containers of it. Jer wanted a green truck but you could make any color you choose. Laffy Taffy ropes make a nice roll-bar in the back. You can also use sour straws. Foil makes nice windows on the truck. If I ever make another (and no doubt I will with two little boys in the house!) I will add the child's name on the side of the vehicle.

If you want to get more dramatic you can even smash the little cars with a hammer before putting them in the dirt.

There are numerous monster truck cake photos online if you want more inspiration! Just google Monster Truck Cakes

Pretty Table Decorations

My sister-in-law Anna had a lovely autumn display on her table when we visited them a couple of weeks ago. I had to share it here!

When Mom, Ali, and I visited my brother and Anna we hit Sam's and the mall. Shopped till we DROPPED!

Jeremiah Turns Three!

Our sweet little boy turned three the other day! It's hard to believe how fast the time with him has gone. He had a delightful day and especially enjoyed his monster truck cake, his new monster truck toys, semi, and wooden train, and we went swimming in the evening at his request. My brother and his wife were in town for the weekend and were able to join us and my folks for homemade pizza and cake and ice-cream. We are so thankful God blessed us with our tenderhearted little man!

Baking/Cooking Day!

The results of my two day cook-a-rama!

Multi-grain roll mixes. I just need to throw a bag in the bread machine, add water, and 2 T. butter. I find that as a homeschooling mom, I have less motivation to bake so making mixes will get the ball rolling and could also be used for holiday dinners and/or church potlucks.

Results of Day #2, minus a couple of the pizza ingredients for my son's upcoming birthday (still in the fridge). I'm doing 4 homemade pizzas for a family birthday party.

Results of Day #1, not including 4 bags of tortillas (already in the freezer), and 2 batches of Chicken Tetrazzini (we ate one for supper and gave one to my mom as a fun surprise when she dropped by after work for a minute.)

Lots of food!

Did tortillas for a couple of hours while chatting with

a dear friend on the phone (kids were asleep in bed.)

40-ish wheat tortillas ready to go! My family will have these eaten in no time!

Healthier and cheaper!

Homemade cream of chicken soup. Used wheat flour instead of white. Using natural chicken broth (no MSG) and milk and spices makes a much healthier cream soup than store-bought.

Froze it in baby food jars and when I ran out I used plastic cups and when they are frozen I plan to pop the soup out and put in a ziploc.

Cramming it all in the freezer was no easy task!

Making pumpkin pancakes (triple batch) for breakfast

Cream butter imported from Denmark was on an amazing markdown deal this week so I snatched up a few. It is delicious butter!

Super yummy granola using this recipe. I substituted butter for the oil and did a double batch.

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Written Results of Baking Day:

4.5 cooked, shredded chicken breasts

1 dozen hardboiled eggs (kid snacks)

3 # elk hamburger cooked as taco meat

4 bags of brown rice

4 bags of chicken tetrazzini

5 C. zesty hummus

40 large whole wheat tortillas

2 dozen pumpkin pancakes

Pizza dough for 8 pizzas

Bagged 10# of mozzarella from Sam's Club divided into 2-pizza portions to freeze

4 multi-grain rolls mixes

4 cornbread mixes

4 large bags freezer potatoes

2 gallons honey/raisin granola

10 C. of homemade cream of chicken soup

All in all, I think it took about 10 hours of work in two days. We still did a park playdate, went to the grocery store, went to the post office, and did schooling one of those days (the other day my daughter wanted to nap, and since she NEVER wants to nap, I felt her body must really need the sleep!)

How did I get it done with kiddoes? About 6 of the cooking hours were when they were napping or in bed for the night (and my daughter colored pictures while the boys napped) and when they were awake I allowed them to watch one movie each day while I cooked. If Justus was awake he sat in his high chair and snacked or ran around in the kitchen or re-arranged my pantry (one of his favorite pasttimes.)

Sweet!

Sometimes the deepest love is seen in the little things. This post really warmed my heart today. I wanted to link to it, not to make you jealous of my friend Natalie's hubby, but to inspire you to likewise do the little things for your spouse to ease their burden and bless them abundantly. I know I often forget to do little things to show love to my spouse and often take his many thoughtful gestures and kindnesses to me for granted! I need to be more proactive, like Steve, about letting my spouse know he is one of my top priorities!

A Couple More Notes on Sam's Club

I forgot to mention in my post on what I bought at Sam's Club that I got a YEAR or more's supply of Oxiclean at an excellent price! For half of what it would cost to buy it on sale in our area. I realize it's not a necessity but nothing works quite like it when you have little children, especially little boys with a fondness for mud! I've tried the generic brands but Oxiclean Versatile works the best. So, I was happy to grab a box of it. Should last a long time and help keep our smelly dishrags fresher and keep our kiddoes' clothing looking better so we can pass it on to some of YOU! My friend who is a cleaning maniac (runs the toys through the dishwasher once a week, etc.) and who has the best-dressed little girls on earth turned me on Oxiclean! She knows what she's talkin' about!

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Something else I forgot to mention is that contact solution is a BAD deal at Sam's! For the brand I use, I discovered it's MORE EXPENSIVE to buy it in bulk there than to buy it at Wal-Mart. This is why it's important to pay attention to price per ounce of things.

Bulk Cooking/Baking Day

I'm excited to be joining the Bulk Cooking Days today and tomorrow with Money Saving Mom, Life as Mom, and about 200 other women. Though we don't have a deep freeze here in our small home (it's in storage right now since it won't fit in here), I do plan to make up some dry mixes and tortillas that will help me save time making meals. Stay tuned for pics of my results!

Sam's Club--What Was Worth It

My mom, daughter and I drove to one of the largest cities in Wyoming this weekend to visit my brother and his wife (who are working for missionaries there until they are allowed to go back to Honduras) and to hit Sam's Club. It was a quick, but fun trip and I got to experience shopping at Sam's for the first time ever. I'm grateful to my brother and Anna for taking us and letting us use their member card.

Whipping out my little calculator, I did price comparisons per ounce on everything I wanted to buy. I had heard that some things are cheaper than stores and other things are NOT so I was careful. I was disappointed to discover that diapers and wipes (two things I needed) weren't an especially great deal since I can often get them on super coupon deals. So, I skipped those. I was also hoping chocolate chips would be a great price with holiday baking coming up, but discovered that the autumn and Christmas sales at our local stores on that item are better.

Here are the things that were an EXCELLENT deal for me:

Kid's socks (Two older kids hardly have any socks that fit anymore and can never find any when we're in a hurry.) $10 for 8 pair of high-quality and adorable socks (Yes, the thrift store is cheaper but they don't have good socks there right now and this is the best deal I've seen on socks in our area)

Men's work socks--$11.50 for 8 pairs

Honey (unrefined)--$1o for 5# is a super deal for our area

Garlic--Got about 15 bulbs for $1

Brown sugar--7# for $4.40

Olive Oil--Came in at half of the local sale price at $15 for 101 ounces

Vinegar--$1.50 a gallon in a 2-gallon pack. This is 50 cents cheaper than Wal-Mart's price per gallon

Salsa--Pace Picante--Came in $1 cheaper than the Wal-Mart by-the-gallon price and we can use up a gallon in 2-3 months! $8.93 per gallon

Chicken Broth (no MSG or artificial ingredients) --$6 for 12 cans (Walgreens often has this on sale for 50 cents but never any in stock when I go so this was a great deal)

Pure Vanilla--$6 for 16 oz. In our area you would pay about $7 for 5 oz. of this stuff.

Smart Balance--I calculated that it was about 60% less to buy it at Sam's then to buy it on the best sale in our town.

Yeast--2# for $4.26 This is a year's supply for us to cover all of our baking needs. In the past I've purchased it for $6 for 1# and that was still an INCREDIBLE deal because otherwise you find yourself paying $1-2 depending on the sales for 3 packets of yeast that will make 3 batches of bread.

Mozzarella Cheese--5# for $10 isn't bad and we make a lot of homemade pizza! This price beats the very best sales on shredded cheese we've seen around.

Genesis Today Acai Juice--called "magical juice" by some for it's assistance in dropping weight, this stuff is $7 a bottle at the nearest Wal-Mart, but a little under $6 at Sam's Club. I bought some for my dad, my friend, and myself upon their requests.

Dill Pickles--$4 for a gallon and once they are gone I will have a nice glass jar to store flour or sugar in.

Things that were CLOSE to a good deal:

Refried beans

Diced Tomatoes

Classico or Ragu Spaghetti Sauce

Honey Bunches of Oats

Parmesan Cheese

Chocolate Chips

Chocolate Truffles and Cocoas for Christmas Gift Baskets

Foil--half the price per foot of the cheap foil I usually buy but who can afford to blow $15 of their grocery money on foil at one time?

Ziplocs--a great deal but I didn't want to spend $14 on Ziplocs even if they would have lasted me a year!

Tablecloths and restaurant style pitchers, salt shakers, cups, etc.

Sour Cream and Cottage Cheese (I wish I had brought a cooler--these were EXCELLENT deals! If you do bulk cooking these would be great buys for making lasagnas to freeze!)

Almost bought these things but realized that by paying attention to deals and utelizing coupons, I can probably find some of these things for the same price or even a little cheaper and then I wouldn't have to store them in our small home, not to mention that I could buy them a little at a time and spend less at Sam's.

If we hadn't of had more shopping around the town to do and a 2.5 hour drive home, I would have loved to buy a Cheesecake Factory cheesecake (Pumkin or Chocolate Truffle) to enjoy with my hubby. My brother ordered his wedding cheesecakes here and they were the yummiest cheesecakes many people had ever tasted. However, I knew one would spoil before I got it home and also knew that I didn't need the 500 calories-per-slice!

*Note: If you do have a membership and easy access to Sam's, they have great photo card deals for Christmas photos.


Because I don't get to the city where Sam's is more than once or twice a year, I'm not sure if it would be worth getting a membership for myself. One of my good friends recently moved there so I may just go with her when I'm there from now on. When I consider the gas money and time it takes, it probably wouldn't save me a bit if I was making that drive only to shop at Sam's.



However, if you're on vacation, have sports events in the area, go to concerts, have friends to visit, or a specialty doctor appointment it would definitely make sense to go there. Our pastor's wife buys a lot of the church supplies there (foam cups, paper towels for bathrooms, etc.) and shops there for food supplies for the annual Family Camp where she plans meals for over 100 people. She also has 4 kids (3 of whom were teens AND athletes) and she goes often simply because in the long run it saves her tons of money with the amount her kids eat. If Sam's was within 45 miles of where I lived I would definitely buy a membership and shop there often! It is very likely that when the kids are older and eating even more we'll get a membership to Sam's and make trips there every few months.

Not-So-Great Prices at Sam's:

Produce
A couple of examples:
3# of grapes for $5 (grocery stores often run sales on these for $1 per pound)
10# of potatoes for $3.89 (Safeway recently sold 10# bags for 99 cents)

Cereals

Crackers and Snack Products (not only loaded with junk and fat, but some things were more expensive per ounce than buying the item at a local store.)

Breaking it Down for Moms #3

Pantry Label Decoder

Organic Junk Food:

Kraft Organic Mac and Cheese

Claims to be USDA organic but the truth is that for an extra 60 cents a box, consumers save 20 calories and 1 gram of fat. They also gain 2 grams of sugar, 1 gram of fiber, 50 mg of sodium and lose 6% of daily iron. The point is, even organic junk food is still junk food. Your body processes organic refined flour and powdered cheese the same way it does conventional, so at the end of the day it's still a high-cal, low-nutrient letdown.

If you must have mac, go for Annie's line of Mac n' Cheese, which cuts the fat by 72% over Kraft Organic

The Vitamin Vacuum:

Kellogg's Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Pop-Tarts

Claims to be a source of 7 vitamins and minerals. 5 of those 7 vitamins come from the enriched flour that is this product's first ingredient. That's the code word for "refined flour that's had nutrients added to it after it's been stripped of fiber."

The Cereal Conundrum:

Kellogg's Smart Start Cereal

It claims to be "lightly sweetened." Unregulated by the USDA, the word "lightly" gets tossed around like a Frisbee in the food packaging world. Always take it with a grain of salt. Lightly in this cereal means 14 g of sugar from 5 different sources, all of which adds up to a cereal with more added sugars per serving than Froot Loops, Frosted Flakes or Apple Jacks.

What you really want is a cereal with less than 10 g of sugar per serving (ideally less than 5), with at least 3 grams of fiber per serving.

The Fat Fake-Out:

Smucker's Reduced Fat Creamy Peanut Butter

Claims to be 25% less fat than regular PB. It's true that Smucker's has removed some of the fat, but they've replaced it with maltodextrin, a carb used as a cheap filler in many processed foods. You're trading the healthy fat from peanuts for empty carbs, to double the sugar, and only saving 10 calories.

What you really want: The real stuff, no fillers, oils, or added sugars. Just peanuts and salt.

Bogus Bread:

Home Pride Wheat Bread

Claims 1 gram of fat per slice. Claims to be wheat bread.

This bread tries to distract you from the fact that each slice has 3x more sugar than fiber. Whatever wheat went into this bread was stripped of all meaningful nutrients. Tere are more than a dozen ingredients listed, many unpronounceable, chemicals, and additives.

What you really want: Ignore fat when it comes to bread. There's rarely enough in a slice to make a big difference. More important, seek out bread with more fiber per slice than sugar and with as few ingredients as possible.

Taken from pages 99-101 in Eat This, Not That, by David Zinczenko

Breaking it Down for Moms #2

Here are some statements I found in the book that made me chuckle:

Croutons-Think of these oil-soaked, enriched flour cubes as salad bar grenades-they'll blow your healthy salad away!

16 pieces of Sour Patch Kids--You would have to run a mile to burn off a small handful of these!

Starbursts--One Starburst serving per day for a year will add 21.5 pounds of body fat

If you must frost your cake, go with whipped frosting

Salsa--the planet's finest condiment

Ragu wins over Prego in nearly every matchup

Bertolli Alfredo Sauce-The fat and calorie glut comes from the heavy mix of cream, cheese, butter, and soybean oil (Choose Classico Roasted Red Pepper Alfredo instead)

Any bread (including Pita bread) that says "white" on it is bound to do a number on your blood sugar.

Even in the flavored varieties you just can't trust Mission's flour tortillas. They're just massive vehicles for refined carbs.

Sara Lee Deluxe Bagels, plain--This giant wad of bleached flour will send a sugar load into your blood-stream so fast that the button might fly right off your jeans!

Breaking it Down for Moms #1

I've been reviewing my library book, Eat This, Not That, an excellent resource on swapping healthier alternatives for foods that are terribly unhealthy. If these posts have interested you, please get the book! It is WELL worth the cost! I'm going to mention some of the swaps that I see, when flipping through the book, that would be most applicable for moms like me. I'll begin with snack foods:



Don't Buy:

Pop-Secret Popcorn
Jolly Time Blast O Butter
Pop-Secret KettleCorn
Newman's Own Pop's Corn, light butter
Kellog's Special K Bliss
Honey Nut Cheerio Bars
Kudos
NutriGrain Cereal Bars, Raspberry
Oreos
Nilla Wafers
E.L. Fudge Original
Chips Ahoy Big & Soft
Hunts Snack Pack Pudding
Little Debbies' Fudge Brownies
Starbursts
Skittles
Laffy Taffy
Hershy's Chocolate Bar
Snickers
M&Ms Peanuts
Butterfinger
Twix PB
Crunch n Munch Caramel Corn
Famous Amos
Ruffles Cheddar & Sour Cream Chips
Nutter Butter
Famous Amos cookies
Rold Gold Sourdough pretzels
Chex Mix Traditional
Munchies
Combos
Quaker's Quakes Rice Snacks, Cheddar Cheese
Ritz Toasted Chips
Pringles
Natural Cheetos, White cheddar
Wheat Thins, Reduced Fat
Chicken in a Biskit Crackers
Town House Flip Sides
Ritz
Cheez-Its
David Sunflower Kernels




Instead, Buy:

Sun chips, original
Baked Doritos
Baked Tostitos Scoops
Funyuns
Garden harvest Toasted Chips
New York Style Pretzel Flatz
TrueNorth Almond Cripsies
Snyders of hanover Sourdough Pretzels
RoldGold Sticks
Cheez-It Party Mix
Cheerio Snack Mix
Goldfish Crackers, original
Ak-Mak 100% Whole of the wheat
TLC 7-Grain crackers
Triscuit original
All-Bran crackers, multi-grain
Carr's Table Water crackers
Newton's Fruit Crips
Mini Chips Ahoy!
Craisins
David Pumpkin Seeds
Stretch Island Fruit Co. Fruit Leather, Apricot
Orville Redenbacher's Kettle Korn
Orville Redenbacher's Simply Salted
The Original Cracker Jack
Good Health Half Naked with Olive Oil popcorn
Nutri-Grain Fruit and Nut bars
TLC Strawberry Cereal Bars
Quaker Chewy Chocolate Chip granola bars
Fiber One bars
Chips Ahoy Chewy
Ginger Snaps
Oreo Fudgees
Pepperidge Farm Soft Baked Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Kraft Handi-Snacks Pudding (make them your default pudding cup)
Twizzlers Pull n' Peel
Jujubes
LifeSaver Gummies
Red Hots
Jelly Bellies
Reese's PB cups
Hershey's 60 calorie sticks
Lindt 85% cocoa Extra Dark Chocolate
Hershey's Take 5
100 Grand
Raisinets

The Trans-Fattiest Foods in the Supermarket

10. Pillsbury White Chunk Macademia Nut Big Deluxe Classics

9. Pasta Roni Fettuccine Alfredo

8. Jimmy Dean Sausage, Egg, and Cheese Croissant Sandwich

7. Kraft Macaroni & Cheese (when made with margarine)

6. Pillsbury Perfect Portions Buttermilk Biscuits

5. Austin Cheese Crackers with Cheddar Jack Cheese

4. Pillsbury Grands! Flaky Supreme Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls with Icing

3. Celeste Original Pizza for One

2. Pop-Secret Kettle Corn

1. Drake's Cherry Fruit--The transfattiest food in the supermarket! 8 grams!

Taken from Eat This, Not That!

Eat This Not That--Continued

Worst Cereal: Quaker 100% Natural Granola, Oats, Honey & Raisins. (For the same amount of sugar you could have a bowl of Cocoa Pebbles more than twice the size and you'd get more fiber and save 60 calories in fat. It's the calorie equiv of eating 8 chicken wings)

Eat Instead:
Kashi GO LEAN

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Worst Packaged Side: Pasta Roni Fettuccine Alfredo (sodium equiv of 4 medium orders of McD's french fries. Eaten as a meal, expect this to top 1,000 calories, as a side dish, it still has enough calories to be a whole meal!)

Eat Instead: Pasta Roni Nature's Way Olive Oil and Italian Herb

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Worst Baked Good:
Otis Spunkmeyer Banana Nut Muffins

Eat Instead: Vitalicious Apple Berry Muffin

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Worst Frozen Treat: Toll House Ice Cream Chocolate Chip Cookie Sandwich (If you're going to take in this much fat and calories in one sitting, it better be for dinner! Calorie equiv of two slices of pepperoni pizza at Pizza Hut.)



Eat Instead: Skinny Cow Low Fat Vanilla Ice Cream Sandwich

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Worst Individual Snack: Hostess Chocolate Pudding Pie (In additon to the nasty ingredient list that should invoke your gag reflex, this has the saturated fat content of 2 McDonald's Quarter Pounders)

Eat Instead: Chocolately Drizzle Rice Krispies Treat

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Worst Stir Fry: Bertolli Grilled Chicken Alfredo & Fettuccine Complete Skillet Meal for Two (saturated fat content, per serving, equal to 22 strips of bacon)

Eat Instead: Birds Eye Steamfresh Meals for Two Grilled Chicken in Roasted Garlic Sauce


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Worst Frozen Pizza: DiGiorno for One GArlic Bread Crust Supreme Pizza (calorie equiv of 6 slices of Dominos Thin N Crispy Cheese Pizza

Eat Instead: South Beach Diet Deluxe Pizza

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Worst Frozen Entree: Hungry-Man Classic Fried Chicken (calorie equiv of 5 Krispy Kreme Glazed Donuts)

Eat Instead: Banquet Select Chicken Parmesan

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Worst Packaged Food in America: Marie Callender's Creamy Parmesan Chicken Pot Pie
(sodium equiv of 8 small bags of potato chips, fat equiv of 23 strips of bacon, calorie equiv of 7 Taco Bell Fresco Beef Tacos)

Eat Instead: Marie Callender's Oven Baked Chicken

Eat This Not That

I have been greatly enjoying my library book called Eat This, Not That by David Zinczenko. I enjoy reading about nutrition and was very suprised by this book! Many of the foods I buy were reviewed here. It's not only a book that compares the pricey or unhealthy stuff, but also gives a review of veggies, organic foods, meats, dairy, frozen foods, etc.

I highly recommend you get it through inter-library loan or purchase it if possible! It's a handy tool to have around when it comes to losing weight, maintaining weight, or just plain being healthy!

For the sake of brevity, I'm not going to type out all the explanations of each item. But I will list them and you can look at more of the whys in the book. The book lists other nutritional info on the foods, and also on the foods they recommend you eat instead.

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Worst Crunch Snack:
Gardetto's Special Request Roasted Garlic Rye Chips (fat equivalent of 3 strips of bacon per serving) Exceeds the amount of trans fat safe to consume daily by the American heart Association

Eat Instead: Snyder's of Hanover Sourdough Nibblers

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Worst Cookie:
Pillsbury Big Deluxe Classics White Chunk Macadamian Nut

Eat Instead: Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

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Worst Yogurt: Stonyfield Farm Whole Milk Chocolate Underground
Stonyfield is notorious for being a little too generous with the sugar, but the nearly 3 T. in this is bad even by their standards. Not even Ben & Jerry's makes a flavor of ice cream with this much sugar.

Eat Instead: Breyer's Cookies n' Cream YoCrunch Lowfat with Oreo Pieces

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Worst Candy:
Twix (Has the same amount of saturated fat as 11 strips of bacon!!!!!!!!!!)

Eat Instead: 100 Grand

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Worst Ice-Cream: Haagen-Dazs Chocolate Peanut Butter (fat equivalent of a McDonald's Double Cheeseburger)

Eat Instead: Edy's Slow Churned Peanut Butter Cup

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Worst Condiment: Eggo Original Syrup (sugar equivalent of 2 Haagen Dazs ice cream bars. First 3 ingredients after water are various forms of sugar).

Eat Instead: 100% maple syrup or Smucker's Sugar Free Breakfast Syrup

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Worst Drink:
AriZona Kiwi Strawberry
(Only 5% is actually any sort of real-fruit derivative. 95% high fructose corn syrup and water with the sugar equiv of 4 original fudgsicle bars)

Drink Instead:
Tropicana Lime Raspberry Fruit Squeeze

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Worst "Healthy" Pantry Item: Pop-Tarts Whole Grain Brown Sugar Cinnamon
A glut of vegetable oil and 7 types of sugar stuffed inside
Sugar equiv of a snicker's bar in 2 pastries.

Eat Instead: Sun-Maid Rasisin English Muffins with cinnamon

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Worst Frozen "Healthy" Entree: Healthy Choice Complete Selections Sweet & Sour Chicken (sugar equiv of 2 scoops of Breyers Reese's PB ice-cream)

Eat Instead: Kashi Southwest Style Chicken

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Continued tomorrow........

Centerpiece for Fall

GirlTalk recently had a post reminding us of the beauty of centerpieces and encouraging us to vary them to add beauty to our homes. It was a good reminder for me, as I can get so busy just keeping food on the table that I forget to add beauty to my family's life. These little pumpkins and gourds from the pumpkin patch were around 25 cents each and add some fall color to our table. I've also been using bowls of pears and apples (which have been on excellent sales) to add some natural beauty to our kitchen. I hunted at the thrift store and found a glass carafe that is perfect for both serving drinks and holding leaves or flowers.

Cooking/Baking Night!

As I mentioned in my last post, my kiddoes seem to eat non-stop! It can be a MAJOR challenge to keep food in the house, even though I feel like I shop a few times a week. What's a mom to do? Fight the hunger war by bulk cooking and baking! I've been interested in bulk cooking since I read all of my mom's books on the subject when I was a young teen, and have often done it, but have never NEEDED to do it so much as now. We're on a budget, have 3 kids who eat a LOT, and homeschool. Because of these things, I have to get creative about keeping my kids fed while staying frugal and having limited time to get it all done. I decided to spend a few hours on Monday night doing some bulk cooking. So glad I got this huge bowl (that came with a lid) at a yard sale this summer for a quarter. It was the only thing big enough to hold 12 C. of flour as well as many other ingredients when I made a double batch of cinnamon graham squares!
We always seem to be out of bread! I'm looking to buy some double-size loaf pans so I can make two HUGE loaves at a time. I would estimate that our family could go through 4-5 loaves a week.

Tilamook cheese was recently on sale for only $2 a pound! That's the best deal on cheese of any brand in our town! I really stocked up on it! I used the older model food processor a lady at church gave me to shred this 2 # loaf and bag it up to use in meals this week.

The results!

1 bowl and 2 jars of fresh salsa from garden tomatoes given to me by my mom

4 loaves of Money Saving Mom's wheat bread (Been making this recipe for 3 years and love it! Didn't use the bread machine this night because of doing the recipe x4, but I often do use it with this recipe!)

4 pans of Tammy's Whole Wheat Cinnamon Graham Squares for snacks (If they look darker it's because I couldn't resist tweaking the recipe to make them a chocolate version of her recipe! Added some cocoa, a little extra sugar, and some chocolate chips! Yummy!)

2# of dried black beans got cooked up to freeze and use in Black Bean soup this week

2 # of brown rice got cooked up to freeze and use in Plowman's Share.

The bowl of macaroni and cheese and the bowl of veggies were part of our supper. I doubled the batches so that we would have lunch for the following day and also vegetables to add with rice, cheese, and elk roast for Plowman's Share, one of our family's favorite meals.

-------------------------------------------------

I started soaking the beans in the morning and left them all day. My cooking "night" began at 5 pm as I was making supper. I got the bread dough made and put it on the stovetop to rise, began cooking the beans and made a double batch of supper. I took my finish pic at 8:30 pm. Granted, I had to bag up the bread and squares after taking this pic, but during the 3.5 hours of doing this baking night I also dealt with kid's needs, served and ate supper, and cleaned up. So, it really didn't take longer than a few hours, even with bagging it all up and sticking things in the freezer. This was my first bulk-cooking event where I had a dishwasher and it made all the difference in the world! I merely had to run an extra load the morning after and clean-up was a snap!

Since we already had lots of roast elk leftovers (thanks to my super sweet brother Colter who got an elk and gave half of it to us) in the fridge, I used the rice and shredded cheese and veggies to throw together two pans of Plowman's Share the next morning and we took one to a family dinner and used the other pan for a couple of meals this week. Having the shredded cheese on hand sure has been handy for several meals this week.

My brother enjoyed the homemade bread I took to a family dinner so I ended up giving him a loaf. That's one of the joys of bulk cooking, you have things on hand to share! I also had a Ladies Craft Night to attend on Tuesday night so I was able to bring some of the graham squares as my contribution. Getting it all done at once sure made this week a lot easier for me. Though my house looked like a tornado for a while (dirty dishes, kids running around tearing up the place while Daddy watched them as I cooked), it has been much easier to maintain this week as I have less prep time for meals.

Bulk cooking is a tool I plan to continue to use often in my attempt to combat the hunger war here at home!

How Much Do Your Kids Eat?

Sometimes I wonder if other people's kids eat as much as mine do. Mine seem to be eating all the time (3 meals, 2 regularly scheduled snacks). My experiment with shopping every two weeks flopped. I seem to be in the stores more than ever and I'm getting tired of it but the fridge still seems perpetually empty! I realize that moms of teens out there are probably chuckling at me and thinking, "Just wait 10 years and then you'll really feel like your kids are eating you out of house and home!" But, even though my kids are little, they sure do keep me constantly busy buying, preparing, and serving food! I suppose it doesn't help that my hubby has the world's fastest metabolism either and works a very physically strenuous job!

Would you leave a comment and tell me what your kids eat in an average day? Just so I can see if my kids are normal or extra-big-eaters?

In an average day, here's what my kiddoes put away (the 3 of them combined)

Breakfast:

3 Cups of cereal topped with milk

3 C. of milk

10 a.m. Snack:

6 boiled eggs
3 slices of cheese
1 C. raisins
2 C. juice


Lunch:

4 whole PB and J sandwiches
2 Peaches
Water
1/2 C. yogurt


3 p.m. Snack:

Justus loves to eat a whole, large garden tomato for snack in addition to other things! The other kids won't eat tomatoes!

2.5 C. goldfish crackers
1-2 Apples, sliced up
3 C. milk


Supper:

2 baked potatoes
4 oz. chicken
1 c. brocolli
1 C. milk
3 C. juice + 3 C. water mixed together
3 brownies (although they'd eat more if I allowed them to!)

Whaddya think? Can our kids out-eat yours?

A Glimpse of Jesus in Today's World

There are some incredible men in our town who are being Jesus to the kids around them. Two of my dad's good friends formed a ministry that reaches out to boys without dads. It's called Fathers in the Field.

One guy involved in this ministry in our town is a hard-working local businessman and volunteers his time to mentor a young boy each week. The boy he mentors is very poor, doesn't have a dad, and has a difficult life. However, thanks to this businessman, he has a wise "father figure" in his life who regularly takes time to go on adventures with him, a new camoflauge coat to keep him warm this winter, and a Christian education (that's right, his Father in the Field guy pays his tuition so he can go to the Christian school.) This guy doesn't broadcast his good deeds, but I found out about his generosity quietly (it's a small town) and was so touched. With all the bad news out there these days, here is some good news! There are many men in our town involved with this ministry and it is growing into a national ministry. At the website there is even a video of one guy from our town, the main founder, being interviewed on TBN about Fathers in the Field.

Check out this website to find out more about Fathers in the Field. If you are an empty-nester man who wants to make a difference for the Lord and you enjoy the great outdoors, this may be a ministry God is calling you to work with. If you want to get your congregation turned on to this incredible ministry, find out on the site how you can get someone to come to your church and train your men to mentor fatherless boys.

I wasn't asked by anyone to post this, but I feel compelled to do so because it is such a God-glorifying thing that is taking place for hurting kids!

Vacation Pics #1

Since I didn't get around to posting a lot of vacation photos this summer, I thought I would share them now. These are pics from a little camping trip the kids and I did with my mom, brother Colter, and his wife Anna in July.

Facebook Friend

For any of you whom are not yet a friend on facebook, but would like to, e-mail me your info at heyalethia (at) hotmail

Thanks!

Tackling Emotional Debt

Today I'm tackling my emotional debt hardcore after a busy couple of weeks where it got mostly ignored. What is emotional debt? Well, I'm sure there are different ideas of what it is, but when I refer to it, I'm simply talking about the obligations that are hanging over my head that I need to get done, which aren't neccessarily high-pressure things. When you have financial debt, there is a lot of pressure from bill collectors to pay up....or else! My emotional debt doesn't involve a lot of external pressure (except for getting bills paid on time) but rather internal pressure from myself.

What is on my emotional debt list? I'll give you a recent glimpse from my list:

Thank-You Notes (I had 6 people listed)

Packages to mail

Need to send gifts to 4 couples we know who recently got married

Get some paperwork filled out and mailed

Pray for Samaritan Ministries folks from the Sep. booklet (Samaritan Ministries is a health-insurance alternative we belong to)

Prayer for people we promised to pray for

Get a tape of my Bible verse song made for my Aunt Joanie

Invite a new friend to a playdate

Give books back to gal I borrowed them from months ago

Send photos of our kids to my sis-in-law (she makes a calendar each year for the grandparents)

Send Hannah (in prison--see sidebar) a card of encouragement

Make a sick friend a meal

Some months there are more things than others. Sometimes I'm caught up, but not for long! There is always plenty to do!

Why do I have an emotional debt list vs. just putting these items on a daily to-do list? Because for me, having one master list for the month makes it simpler and I can look it over, check off the item when it's done, and get to the others as I am able throughout the month. Lately, I have been so busy following a homeschooling schedule and routine that I don't usually use my home management binder daily to write homemaking to-do lists in. My previous practices of the daily index cards or the daily checklist have helped me to get into good habits so I no longer find a to-do list really necessary unless it is a very big day with lots of extra chores to do, or a party to plan or big shopping trip, etc. We write Church events or medical appointments on our wall calendar. Find out what works for you and use it!

While obligations hanging over our heads can weigh us down, I want to emphasize that many of the things on the list are blessings. It is a blessing to send cards of encouragement to others and pray for Christians who are sick or suffering. If God lays someone on my heart, jotting it down on this list is preferrable to having niggling thoughts in the back of my head ("I should do this..." or "I need to encourage that person..."). It is a blessing to make or purchase gifts for others. It is a blessing to serve and minister to others on behalf of the Lord. However, as moms, with lots on our plates, it can feel overwhelming if we let it all pile up or try to remember it without writing it down. This is where the handy list comes in. If you aren't comfortable calling your list "An Emotional Debt" list you could find another creative name.

1. Make your list. Write down everything that is cluttering up your brain that you need to do outside of home chores and child-rearing.

2. Prayerfully go over it and consider your daily priorities. How can you take care of your emotional debt bit by bit without sacrificing those priorities?

3. Think about how you can tackle it. Could some of your thank-yous be done more quickly through a heartfelt e-mail? Is there a great book on marriage you could order in bulk and give to the 4 couples you know getting married? Can you save time on the meal you are taking someone by buying french bread and ice-cream instead of making bread and brownies?

Financially, you can get out of debt little by little or tackle it all at once, or do some of both. I try to tackle my emotional debt a little each day, but if it builds up because life hasn't allowed me to work on it, then I do a "debt-snowball" and spend a few hours hitting it hard!

4. Tackle the time-sensitive stuff first. Back when I was dealing with all of the paperwork for my husband's broken wrist, there were all kinds of things on my emotional debt lists regarding forms to fill out, phone calls to hospital billing agencies, etc. Obviously, this kind of stuff is more important than sending thank-you notes promptly. Due to the volume of weddings we were invited to this year we post-poned giving gifts to some of the couples and I plan to surprise the happy couples later on with a card and a small, but sweet, gift. Better late than never, right? =)

5. Be proactive about avoiding too many obligations. This point hits home for me! As a firstborn whose parents were very strict and required a ton out of me (and still do) I have to continually remind myself to utelize these phrases, "Let me pray about it," "No." and "I need to discuss it with my husband." Many times, I have to step back and tell myself no concerning things that I would love to do. I love to sew and want to sew a pretty apron for every one of my friends, my internet and blogging buddies, and all the ladies at church going through a rough time. But can I physically do this when I have only 3-4 kid-free hours in a day? No! These unrealistic ideas must be forgotten. I often expect more out of myself than I should . I have mentioned before that as a stay-at-home mom everyone wants a piece of your time, so you have to fight tooth and nail, sometimes fighting yourself hardest of all, to save time for your main priorities, God, husband, and kids. Thinking before you speak and weighing your options carefully and prayerfully will go a long way towards helping you avoid emotional debt that you could have avoided in the first place. Some examples of this: telling church committees that you only wish to serve in one ministry at a time, telling your kids they may not trade toys with a playmate since it's more work for you to keep track of the borrowed toy (and return it), checking your calendar BEFORE saying yes to a playdate or event, choosing a simple generic gift for extended family for Christmas (the same book, photo calendar, tin of chex mix, etc.)

I'd love to hear what some of you ladies out there are doing to tackle and stay on top of your own emotional debt (or obligations)! Please share!

Photo: Flowers from my hubby at the end of a long week (last week).

Interview With a Work-at-Home Mom: Sarah

Sarah is an acquaintance of mine in MN where she loves her husband Jarrod, her one-year-old son Levi, and her baby-on-the-way.

What do you do?

I work from home with a team called Internet CEO MOMS and a company called Melaleuca. I set up customer accounts and I market my website to other moms who would like to be able to work from home and help them set up their own businesses.


What first inspired you to try working at home?


I have always thought about things that I could do from home to help make a little extra money, but recently it became more of a need financially in our home and so I wanted to find something that I could do so I didn't have to take my son to daycare and work outside of the home.


How many hours a day do you end up working?


It varies by the week for me, but in general 1-1/2 hours a day.


What do you love about working at home?

I love that I can work my schedule around my son and do most of my work during his nap times. I love that I don't have to expend my energy outside of my home and I can set my own hours.


What do you dislike about working from home?

There are times when I have to get something done when my son is not napping and it can be more difficult to be pulled in two directions. At this point I can't explain to him what I have to get done and why, so I just have to do my best to manage my time well.


What kinds of opportunities are there for women who are interested in being work-at-home mamas?

There are many legitimate opportunities out there for women who would like to be at home and working. I really encourage women who are looking to work from home to consider a few things as they look for what they may want to do....


1. What type of work do you enjoy or want to do? Do you want to be at home, outside of the home (if you did parties), do you like talking on the phone, do you want to work online, do you like to type, do you want to have an inventory of products, ect.


2. How many hours a week do you have to dedicate to your work? Many jobs require a certain amount of time to be able to make any money at them.

3. How much are you looking to earn from your work? There are many different opportunities out there but you also need to find something that will financially reward you for the time you put in.

4. You need to find something that you are passionate about. If you are passionate about what you are doing and believe that it is bettering people and changing lives you will be contagious!

5. You need to have a strong WHY! Why are you looking to work from home? Does your family need the extra money? Are you trying to save for college funds? Are you now working outside the home and really want to be able to be home with your kids someday soon? ect. Besides your passion, your WHY is a huge factor in your success in your business. Being a stay-at-home mom is already a huge task and responsibility. When you add working from home on top of that you must be very organized and have a huge driving reason (WHY) you are doing this! This WHY will keep you going when you have a hard day, week or month. It will push you to keep trying and remind you why you are dedicating your precious energies to working from home!

How does your work affect your schedule/children?

I really try to plan my work for during my son's nap time. There are times that this is not possible so then I try and plan appointments for when my husband is home, if I have asked him first and then only once or twice a week at the most. I really love my family time in the evenings when my husband is home so I protect that time as much as possible.

What advice do you have for new work-at-home moms?

Get out a calendar and write down your weekly schedule. Hour by hour! When you are working from home you have to plan "work" times that are just that. When you work from home it can not be just an extra thing, or a hobby. It needs to have a place of priority in your schedule for the sake of the business, your sanity, and your family. So many people think that if you are a stay-at-home mom you must have tons of time to be able to work from home, what else do you do anyway? he he! Make a place for it in your schedule, work hard during that time and then set it aside and enjoy your family!

I would be happy to talk further with anyone who wants to know more about working from home. They can contact me at sarahceomom@gmail.com and if they are interested in my work from home they can go to my website at sarahceomom.com!

The King's Missus Says:

I'm not a work-at-home mom in the sense of having a home business. (I sure do work hard at home every day though!) However, I know many women are interested in it as a way to supplement the income and for many families it is a necessity to survive. I think it's great when moms can work-at-home if they have to work and that is why I agreed to post these two interviews. MoneySavingMom just so happens to be doing a series on this very subject too. You can check it out here.

Disclaimer: I do not necessarily endorse the businesses mentioned above because I currently don't know a lot about them. So, do your research if you are interested in them. I am not being paid to post these interviews.

Interview With a Work-at-Home Mom: Lyndi

Lyndi, is an acquaintance of mine in MN where she is happily married to Brandon and raising a 2-year-old cutie named Cayden.

What do you do?

I am an independent Tastefully Simple Consultant. I sell Tastefully Simple food products through home parties. Tastefully Simple is, "The food you love and the time you deserve."



What first inspired you to try working at home?


The consultant at a party I attended was a lot of fun and was earning free trips. I love to travel and had recently become a stay-at-home mom, so the idea of being at home, but still getting to travel was very exciting to me. Plus, I didn't like the idea of losing all of my income. Going from 2 incomes to 1 was more than I wanted to do all at once.


How many hours a day do you spend working?


I probably work an hour or two a day, but more on days I have parties. If I have a party, then I probably spend about 5 hours. I leave the house around 5pm and by the time I get home and place all the orders its around 10:00pm. I try and do 1 or 2 parties a week. This works well for my family because my husband is home before I need to leave and that gives a couple of great evenings for my son, Cayden (2) and my husband to spend together.


What do you love about working at home?


I love that I get to stay at home and still get to have the extra income. I also love having extra incentives that I can earn. I know that staying at home is the most important job, but the income and rewards are nice.


What do you dislike about working from home?

The only thing that's hard is that there can always be something to do. When you work somewhere else you can leave your work behind, but when you work at home, your work is always there. I am trying to get organized so that I only work during Cayden's naps and then put it away and try not to think about it. If I work during the times I set aside than I don't have to feel like I should be doing it when I am spending time with my family.


What kinds of opportunities are there for women who are interested in being work-at-home mamas?

The opportunities are endless! Find an at-home business you enjoy and try it. I like the food Tastefully Simple sells. It is quick and easy to make and there are many ways to use the spices to improve current recipes. Also, it's a consumable product that everyone can use (it's food!) That way there is a need for reorders and I don't have to worry about not getting repeat customers. The Business Blast Off Kit a new consultant gets when she signs up has so much food in it, that I figured, If I didn't like selling Tastefully Simple, I could eat everything and I would still come out ahead. (I'm not much of a risk taker.)


How does your work affect your schedule/children?

There are times when Cayden wants me to play and I am trying to make a phone call or send an email, but other than that, I don't think it really affects him. He loves the evenings that it is just him and his daddy. (His daddy likes it too.) I try and have supper ready before I leave and even if I don't, my husband is very supportive of my doing this. Our goal is to be completely debt-free (no mortgage) in the next 5-7 years. My business really helps us pay extra on the mortgage as well as allow for some special activities not necessarily budgeted for.


What advice do you have for new work-at-home moms?

Make a schedule and stick to it. If you need to work 10 hours a week to be successful, figure out how you will divide those 10 hours and stick to it. Don't work on your business all throughout the day or you will get burned out. Set aside specific work time and then "leave your office behind."


Lyndi also shared: The average consultant sells $400 at a party, this allows her to make about $80. However, the more you sell at a party the more income with no extra work. I have been making about $100 or more per party. I figure I average about $15 an hour or more for the time I put in. (This month was closer to $25 an hour.) When I consider I don't have to pay for daycare or have somebody else raise Cayden, this is worth even more! I also have recently promoted to Team Manager--I have 3 consultants signed up under me and I will now get 5% of their sales as well as promotion and consistency bonuses. I went to National Conference in August and there were the top consultants there that make upwards of $10,000 per month just on their leadership checks (the % of those under them). I was a bit skeptical and asked how much time they put in and her response was, "I have 3 children and I started Tastefully Simple as a part time business and that's all it is. If it became more I'd quit, because I wanted my focus to be my family when I started this business."


The King's Missus says:
I'm not a work-at-home mom in the sense of having a home business. (I sure do work hard at home every day though!) However, I know many women are interested in it as a way to supplement the income and for many families it is a necessity to survive. I think it's great when moms can work-at-home if they have to work and that is why I agreed to post these two interviews. MoneySavingMom just so happens to be doing a series on this very subject too. You can check it out here.

Disclaimer: I do not necessarily endorse the businesses mentioned above because I currently don't know a lot about them. So, do your research if you are interested in them. I am not being paid to post these interviews.

If you wish to contact Lyndi, leave her a message in the comment section or e-mail her at linners99 (at) hotmail.

Pretty Things

Hard to see from the pics, but there are embroidered flowers all over this skirt in a variety of colors.

I tried this skirt on 7 months ago when I was looking for some fun things to update my wardrobe. I hardly ever go in the clothing boutique where it was because it's so pricey but they do have some great clearance items. Even at half off, it was more than I wanted to pay, $32.50, and I had lots of other ideas for how to spend my birthday cash.

When Ali and I had a mother/daughter date this weekend, we decided to pop into the store since they were advertising a one-day-only 85% off sale. I was DELIGHTED to see this lovely skirt still there, the only one left, in MY SIZE (what a rarity!), marked 85% off! Because the $65 skirt was now less than $10, I happily purchased it, as well as another beautiful, black long skirt with black cotton eyelet trim for $5.70 marked down from $38.

Nice gifts from God that I'm thankful for today!

Great Read

I've mentioned before that my new favorite blog is Holy Experience. Every day, her posts seem to hit me right where I need it, encouraging me to keep my focus on the Lord. This post was especially meaningful to me as a mom, talking about all the "unseen" work we do and how we often crave recognition for it, or place too high of an importance on doing the things that can be seen by others.


All of you weary moms facing a disaster-area home on this Monday afternoon should read it.

Breathing Solace

This day will go down in history as one of the worst days of my life turned wonderful. Today I cried like I have never cried before. Wailed would be a more accurate description. My day began with the same old heavy feeling I've felt all week. Though I received much encouragement from friends in the last week, heard verses of encouragement continually, prayed constantly, and "knew" with my head knowledge that it would all work out, God's presence seemed very distant. I kept begging Him to be close, my theme verse being, "The Lord is close to the broken-hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit." Psalm 34:18

I just couldn't feel Him. We began the day still basically homeless with the thought that we would soon be living in a camper in my parent's pasture or in someone's basement, our closest friends left for Kansas, and I had to take Jeremiah to the doctor for a nasty red lesion on his leg that looked majorly infected. Alathia was very naughty, hurting her brothers all day long causing the loss of many of her favorite priviledges and getting many consequences. About the time she informed me that Jer had had an accident on their bedroom rug, I noticed for the first time that she had snuck a pink marker into her room the day before and had decorated a 6-foot section of wall, her sheet, and her legs with pink. So that explains why Jer's face was pink yesterday too! I thought he had done it while they were coloring at the table. After getting out our carpet shampooer and cleaning up the wet mess, I did many loads of laundry while trying to keep track of Justus who is always pulling everything off my pantry shelves or digging in the trash. Today was no exception as someone left the bathroom door open again and of course he was splashing in his brother's potty chair. Ick! Next, I tried to clean up the saltine cracker disaster they had made in the kitchen. A while later, I discovered Jeremiah had not taken a nap at all, but had put his swimming trunks on, taking his nap-time diaper off in the process, and had pooped in his swimming trunks. What's worse is that he didn't tell me about it and tried to wipe himself and clean up, which resulted in poo on the bathroom floor, the crib, etc. I put him in the bathtub for his second bath of the day. He's been doing great with potty-training recently but today was definitely an off-day. As I cleaned up poo I absolutely lost it! It's not even PMS week either!



I wailed hysterically, probably scaring my kids into thinking that poopy messes make their Mama crazy! I felt like I had hit rock bottom and could absolutely not handle one more thing. I know there are many folks out there with much worse problems, but with everything going on, I felt completely crushed and weary. I begged God to help me get through the day. I pleaded with everything in me and told Him I couldn't handle it. That it was too much! Anguish.






After cleaning up the mess we drove to the pharmacy to get his prescription for his bump. Everywhere I drove in town reminded me of places we had gone and things we had done with our friends who are now gone, bringing many tears. Back at home I then served the world's most unhealthy supper. Ramen noodles with white hot dog buns with cheese on them (leftovers from the Youth Group's hot dog night). Don't forget saltine crackers too. No kool-aid or twinkies though. After supper Josiah went to pay our rent and talk to the landlord about when we would need to be out.

When he returned, there was peace. Twenty thousand pounds. That's how much lighter I felt when he reported that Paul had decided to wait until April or May to raise the house. He had realized how limited our options were and decided to give us a break. He even offered us first dibs on buying this house when the foundation is done.

Breath.

Rest.

Peace.

Tears of joy.

Thankfulness.

As I headed to the public library to read my new Homeschooling magazine and soak in some quiet and thankfulness this evening, I felt like a soldier returning from a battle. The exhaustion of the day lingered but a joyful shakiness welled up inside. Looking up at the denim-blue night sky I saw one twinkling star. Nightime stars have always seemed like valentines from God to me. I felt Him whisper, "I was here." Even when I couldn't feel Him. Even when He seemed to be silent while we struggled, even while I wept, even while door after door was closed. He knows what He's doing and what He has planned.



Though I may not understand this side of Heaven exactly why hard times are allowed to come, I do know that they build endurance. Sometimes broken-hearted is the best place to be if it makes you pray as you've never prayed before. The Word becomes life to you. You find out who your friends are. You get to see the kindness and generosity of those around you extended in so many ways. You get to be a showcase for God's awesome power before unbelieving friends and relatives. You become more thankful for the basics, and are reminded not to take them for granted. Life becomes much simpler. You are humbled by your desperation and need for God and for others. Your kids learn that God does answer prayer. You can better empathize with those who are truly suffering and have much worse problems than you.




I do wonder if this is part of God's plan to get us into home ownership. Our town has impossible prices (three times higher than homes in my husband's hometown), and because we are cautious and saving slowly due to a low income we may have never started looking at real estate without this trial. But because of viewing lots of fixer-uppers these last two weeks we have gotten a taste for what we are looking for and what we can afford and my hubby is prayerfully considering a project that might bring about a home for us. If it works out, we could work on it while living here until the spring, but if it doesn't, at least we have 6 months to "house-shop" and won't be pushed into buying a junky home we really don't like out of desperation. Was all of this part of God's way of answering my recent prayers for a home of our own? Maybe! Someday we'll know for sure.



The ache of friends gone is still very real, but I know we will stay long-distance friends and that God is our comfort in this loss. He has not left us without friends. This difficult time has made my church family that much more precious to me.



So, we're breathing much easier tonight. Tomorrow will be a day of joy and praising God for the home we have to live in for the next 6 months. Saturday I will unpack boxes and take Ali on a mother-daughter date to spend time with her as her behavior has been showing she is feeling the strain of these last two weeks. Monday we will be back to homeschooling (hurray, we've missed it!) after a very chaotic week and a half off.



For those of you who prayed, offered basements or campers, called with real estate tips, or encouraged me in some small way, thank you. It meant so much to us. It was amazing to me how my brothers sought to help me too in whatever ways they could. Wow!



If there is anyone out there experiencing a trial, big or small, that's got you flat on the floor, would you please let me know so I can pray for you? Also, this sermon really blessed me the other day if you want to listen to it. It's called, "When My Heart is Overwhelmed."