Friday, April 30, 2010

More from 4 Moms, 35 Kids

     I am really enjoying the topics that the bloggers for 4 Moms, 35 Kids have been discussing. This week was homeschooling, the big picture. Each article really helped me since I am new to homeschooling. It is really refreshing to read about how it doesn't have to be so focused on academics, but instead can also be focused on character training and biblical discipliship. For my husband and I this is really important to us too, for what good is it if our children are super smart but can't defend their faith or don't have the tools to grow to christian maturity. So once again I want to put in the links to 4 Moms, 35 Kids:

KimC @ Life in a Shoe
Kim @ Raising Olives
Connie @ Smockity Frocks
Deputy Headmistress @ The Common Room


Upcoming topics for 4 Moms, 35 Kids: How Moms of Many Manage:

May 6 – Picking a curriculum, method or tactics that work for a large family.
May 13 – Teaching little kids
May 20 – Teaching big kids.
May 27 – Putting it all together.
June 3 – Husbands and homeschooling.
June 10 – Keeping house while homeschooling.

Thursday, April 29, 2010

It's time for the end of the year push

This is the time of the year when the kids start counting down the days until summer vacation. This is the time of the year when they are so distracted when doing homework or chores because they want to be outside. It's also the time of the year when activities get really busy due to it being almost summer. In the midst of this I am also working on the garden, homeschooling, spring cleaning, and the general things that have to be done in a busy household, like feeding everyone. I'm also still working on getting the last of Katerina's curriculum ordered and her lesson plans filled out. Oh and we have to figure out when we are going to pull the pop-up camper out to air it out and clean it for the beginning of camping season! It's a wonderful time of year though as this busyness reminds us that we are called by God to be busy and to fulfill our God given roles. Thank you God for the people whom I love that you've given to me to take care of. Thank you for these six beautiful children whom you've entrusted me to raise to praise you.

Titus 2:3-5 (New International Version)

3Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. 4Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, 5to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.

Friday, April 16, 2010

Having Fun!

This week has been a blast! My husband and I went on our getaway. It was so much fun getting to hang out together and spend those moments where we can talk uninterrupted by kids. I love my kids so much, but every once in a while it's so nice to get away to where it's peaceful and quiet. I even got to sleep in until 8:30am! Wow! Then Thursday we spent the rest of the day in the yard. Steve roto tilled the garden for me. He kept suggesting making it bigger here or there, so what started out already as a big garden has become a really big garden. I can't wait to get out there and start planting some of things that can be planted now. Unfortunately it's raining today. But before it started raining I went to the park with the two little girls and met up with a friend from church and her kids. It was so much fun to just let the kids play and sit and talk about mommy things. After such an exciting week I'm feeling recharged and ready to go!

Saturday, April 10, 2010


I haven't posted any pics lately so I looked through the pics and saw this of Natalia. This girl knows how to enjoy her chocolate!

Super Savings Saturday

Today I hit CVS because we really needed toothpaste and shampoo and conditioner. I decided to go ahead and spend more than I usually do because we really needed to stock up on these things and a few others.

Transaction #1: Two Pantene Shampoos 2.99 each = 5.98
Two Pantene Conditioners 2.99 ea = 5.98
Stride Shift Gum 0.99
Candy for the kids from the 2/$1 section x3 = 1.50
Coupons: 2x $3/2 and $.50 ECB and $5 ECB
Total OOP $4.87 and earned a $3 ECB and a $0.99 ECB

Transaction #2: Colgate toothpaste 2.99
Skintimate Shaving Cream 3.99
Coupons: $3 and $.99 ECB from above
Total OOP $3.43 and earned $2 and $3 ECB

Transaction #3: John Freida shampoo x2 and conditioner x2 = 19.96
2 packages Playtex Sippy Cups 7.99 and 3.49 = 11.48
Charmin toliet paper 4.99 x2 = 9.98
Dawn dishwashing soap 3x 0.96 = 2.88
Coupons: $5 ECBs from above, 4x .25, .50, 2, 2.50x2, 3
Total OOP $30.57 and earned another $5 ECB

Friday, April 09, 2010

The importance of putting your marriage first

I have been told that your marriage should be something that you spend money on, but until that last month or two, I was more focused on paying off debt then I was on putting money into my marriage. I thought that date nights were something that was too "expensive". However Steve showed me that we were both feeling quite down and that marriage is something that should be cared for. So for the past month or so we have been focusing on date nights when we can and now we are planning for our first overnight getaway in three years to amish country. I cannot begin to describe what a difference this has made in our attitudes. We are both so much happier. I have heard from so many couples that say that a marriage should come first. And we've worked hard to make it so that the date nights haven't cost us much money at all. Even the weeknight away we are doing very cheaply. What we've done to help:
* Swagbucks: We've used our swagbucks to purchase resturant.com giftcards to go out to eat.
* Appitizers at a local diner. When you only purchase appitizers and pop it's pretty cheap. We've been able to do $15-20 including a generous tip.
* Go window shopping together. (Hand holding is required :)
* For the getaway we are using a giftcard I was given for a birthday present, we are packing drinks, snacks, breakfast, and a nice dinner in our cooler. Lunch is typically cheaper and so we will be doing lunch out. The place we are going to provides dishes, a grill, a refrigerator, and a microwave so we can do some basic cooking if everything else is prepared already.

I would encourage all married couples to think of your marriage and put time into it. It doesn't have to be expensive, just think outside the box. We've decided that the night away will now become a yearly thing. It is that important to us.

Thursday, April 08, 2010

Ughhh...the flu

Sorry for the blogging break but Natalia was only the start of the flu bug in our house. Everyone but the three oldest got it. I managed to get thrown up on in the middle of the night once by Katerina too. Sigh. Oh well. Everyone is well now and we've had some great family time. On Tuesday we went to visit another large (larger then us) family and we all had a great time. The kids got to play with another family that understands that kids are not a curse, but that sometimes people like kids! And us adults got to enjoy some good quality adult conversations. And we learned to play a new game called Pit. It was alot of fun and we are enjoyed the time together. Then Wednesday we were given tickets to the local minor league hockey team's game. This too was a blast! The kids got a lot of Jumbo Trom time in the begining and the person running it even poked fun at Russell as he tried to take a pic of himself on the jumbo trom. The team ended up winning in the overtime shootout so that was quite an experience. I love having these times with my family and it's wonderful when God provides a way for our large family to have a night out like this and it doesn't cost much.