Things that I'm learning.

As a woman who grew up doing the whole "Church thing", I thought that I knew so much more about the Bible than I actually do. Yesterday, at church, I heard the story of Gideon for the first time. It's a pretty huge story in the Bible, and yet, I didn't know it. Of course...part of that was probably my fault. I was pretty boy crazy/distracted no matter where I went...so more than likely, I had the opportunity to hear and study those stories, but I chose not to.

I consider myself to be a relatively new christian, and am always learning new things when I study the Bible (shocking, right?!). I've been going to BSF for a little over a year, and I know it's not for everyone, but I've gotta tell you...it's made a HUGE impact on my life. Right now, I feel like I need to study the Bible in depth. I need to dig deeper than just reading through, and skimming. My soul needs to learn as much about my Lord as it can. 

Do you know what else I've been learning throughout these past few years? My heart desires to spend time with women who trust and serve the Lord. To spend as much time as I can, soaking up their wisdom, and praying with them. Women who are my age, and especially women who are older than me, and have been through my stage of life. It's so important that I can talk and share and be vulnerable with those that I trust. Who I know will pray for me and with me when I'm walking through trials. 

So, here I stand today, convicted, because do you know what? Deep down, I know that my kids need the same thing. Yes, they're only three and one, but they, too, need to know that someone greater than their mom and dad loves them, more than we EVER could. Someone who send HIS SON to die for THEIR SINS. They need to be with family and friends who will teach them about their Lord and Savior. Not only that, they need me, someone who feels so inadequate, and so small compared to my Father, to teach them about Christ's unfailing love for them. 

The most important thing that I can do for Charlie and Maddie is to pray for them. Every day. Every night when I go to bed, I need to pray for their sweet souls, that they would grow to love Christ at an early age. That they will stand strong in the faith. That when they are called to do something impossible, they can hold on to the promise that their Father in Heaven, has everything planned out, and has gone before them. That they will share their faith with others. For their character traits that can seem so frustrating to me, but that God gave them. That God would help me to be the mom that HE made me to be, and that my kids need me to be.

Thrifty Tuesday

Here we are again!
I'm actually really excited about this past week, I feel like I really remembered that we wanted to save money, and we did!
Here's how we saved last week:
*We only went to the store once. I kept thinking of more things that I wanted to eat, but had to keep reminding myself that we have plenty to eat, in the apartment!
*We didn't go anywhere special. We went to cubbies and to BSF and that was it.
*We kept Charlie in underwear all day, instead of using pull-ups more often
*I bought snow pants and boots for both kids at once upon a child, and only paid about $20 total!
*We didn't eat out, but had leftovers for lunches

That's about all that I can think of...but I feel like by staying home, we really saved this week! Hurray!

How did you save money last week?

Pregnancy snacks

Every time I've been pregnant, I've promised myself that I would try to eat as healthfully as I could. And then...I get sick. I generally feel awful from week 6-17 or so...it's a miserable 11 weeks! Now that I'm feeling better, I'm trying to DO better. 

I'm finding myself constantly starving, which I would guess is pretty common when pregnant with the 3rd baby. I don't have time or energy to make many snacks, and instead finding myself grabbing a boxed granola bar, which really does nothing, but makes me feel worse!

Today, I made up some dried apricots, dipped in dark chocolate.

It might sound kind of strange, but they were SO good and SO addictive! Dried apricots are loaded with iron and vitamin A, and dark chocolate is....delicious.

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler (or a microwave...but we don't have one!) dip the apricots in them, and refrigerate until the chocolate sets! Believe me, you won't be able to stop eating them! 

Here's a list of other snacks that I'm making/eating this week!

Pregnancy Snacks

*dried apricots dipped in dark chocolate

*pumpkin cream cheese dip with apples

*tomatoes with cottage cheese

*peppermint smoothies

*hummus with veggies

*homemade jr. mints

*fruit

*hard boiled eggs

That's all I've got for now, but I'm sure that the list will grow...as will my belly! :)

Thrifty Tuesday?

Being a stay at home mom, I sometimes find it difficult to feel content with staying at home, EVERY DAY. We do get out on Thursday mornings, and head over to our local BSF Group (If you haven't checked this out...please do! I have learned SO much while actually STUDYING the Bible, instead of just skimming it, and the fellowship with other women is something that my soul needs. More on this in another post.). We do have a zoo pass, and once I'm feeling completely like myself again, we will definitely make it there more...but, that's pretty much it! That leaves 4 days of the week that I have to find something for the kids and me to do. I don't know about you, but I get pretty restless after a day or two!

Usually we end up going to Target to grab one or two things for a new recipe or craft that I've found...and of course we end up buying 5 more things that we don't need, or even have room for! I end up feeling guilty, and frustrated every time I leave the store. 

This brings us to right now. Today, the first Tuesday in November. I made a mental goal to spend as little money as I possibly can this month. BUT - here it is in the open. I'm telling you all, because I want to/need to be held accountable. I'm excited, but nervous! I've done this before, and failed miserably every other time I've tried it. I'm feeling motivated, but cautious. I don't want to fail - again. 

Which again...brings me to TODAY! Each Tuesday this month, I'm going to share any tips that I find on how to save/not spend money. I'll also share what we did during the previous week! So, for the first week in November, here's what's been happening:

*We voted. Totally free outing!

*We haven't eaten out at all yet, and instead I've made up my mind to stick to our menu this week!

*I'm making homemade pizza for supper this week, and sticking one right into the freezer for another night!

*We did our grocery shopping at ALDI

*I'm working on printing coupons for diapers/dish soap. Do you know HOW MUCH you can save when you you coupons? It's kind of crazy.

*Checking out other bloggers who are into the same things as me (saving money, eating real food)

That's my list so far. Check out the links below to see some of my favorite money saving blogs!

http://www.duggarfamilyblog.com/

http://www.thehumbledhomemaker.com

http://www.myhumblekitchen.com

http://www.moneysavingmom.com

Birthday Parties

My kids were born 5 days apart. Ok, Two years, and five days. 

Birthday girl!

I wanted to make sure that their birthday parties were special, but because we don't live super close to our families, we had to have them on the same day. It surprisingly worked really well! 

Maddie had a Pink Lemonade party, and Charlie had a Firetruck party! We kept it pretty simple, with simple decorations, and food. The whole time, I kept thinking, "I'm hosting TWO birthday parties today, but I feel less stressed than ever!"

First Birthday Cake

It was so much fun to watch Maddie at her party. I'm not sure that she really knew what to do! 

Charlie in his fireman gear!

Charlie's party was very relaxed, I think we were all worn out after eating, and presents at Maddie's party! We opened presents, and then...

At the Fire Station

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...went to the Fire Station! A few weeks before his birthday, I found out that the fire stations do free tours for birthday parties, so I called right away and scheduled a time for us to come! Charlie LOVED it! We learned about what they do, and how the station runs on a volunteer basis. Charlie got to sit in all of the fire trucks, and got to meet the fire fighters! 

It was a VERY long day, but it was so, so good!

Around the House

Summer flew by, and the mix of staying up late and not having a set schedule has come to and end. It was a great summer, filled with ice cream, bare little legs, zoo trips, grilling, flip flops, parades, fair food, and extra baths!

 Sweet baby

On the scrambler with my dad, and nephew

Charlie riding the motorcycles with his cousin

This year, Charlie was able to participate in the parades!

We had a WONDERFUL summer, but boy am I loving this beautiful fall that we're having!

Update

Guys, it's been way too long. The end of the summer, was a mess of finding out HUGE news (Yep, we'll get there!) sickness, and trying to enjoy the last few weeks before fall came.

In the summertime, I love enjoying an iced coffee from Starbucks, but instead of them making me feel good, and cool...I ended up feeling sick. EVERY TIME. It seemed so unfair, but I didn't really think anything of it. A couple weeks after giving up on coffee, we figured out the answer. I'm pregnant! We're so excited to welcome a new little one in early April, right around Eastertime. It's crazy thinking that Maddie will be a big sister, and I'm definitely unsure of how it will work...living in a two bedroom apartment, but I know that God has big plans for this little one. Now that I'm FINALLY feeling better, I'm hoping to get back into a regular blogging routine! I have a lot of new ideas and recipes to share, and of course some funny kidisms too :)