day trip

Tim and the kids took a trip down to southeast Missouri one day. Tim really likes this area. Unfortunately, I had to work that day.

bike riding

I came home from work Friday to learn that Makayla has learned to ride her bike. That fast? Finally! About two months ago Tim took her training wheels off, and since then her bike has been in the shed. I don't know why she decided to learn Friday, but it only took her between the time she got out of school and the time I got home. I was starting to worry about her because she's 7 years old. Would my child be normal if she never learned to ride a bike?
Sunday, we went for a family bike ride around town. It was great! I had been waiting for this for a while now. I have been wanting to go bike riding, but Makayla has been the hold up. As we were riding, my pedal started coming off so I stopped to see if I could fix it. I was in awe, when a complete stranger offer to fix it. He went back to his shed and brought back a wrench. I am not used to such friendliness. It is so awesome to know that there are still people like that out there. This has been also been a great reminder that I need to get back into my exercise routine. I was very hot and tired after the bike ride, but it gave me lots of energy later in the evening.

short-time visitor

This spider made is home on our deck during the month of August. At nights, he made a large web to catch his meals. By the mornings, the spider and his web was gone. I don't know where he has gone, but I'm glad he stopped by for a while to eat all our pesty bugs.

answer to last post...

Tim figured from her reaction that the cashier lady thought that he is not Ruben's biological father.

I have been noticing lately that Ruben has all same interested of Tim. His favorite toys are cars & trucks (his favorite Cars toy is Mater) and tools. He loves to put objects inside of other things and drag things out of my cabinets. Maybe we should have named him Timmy Jr...

Makayla has been spending as much time as possible playing with her new neighborhood friends. We found that one girl plays mean. A neighbor lady told us one day. Tim told Makayla to fight back, then maybe the girl would back down. Makayla came home this weekend upset after finding the other girl doesn't back down. We haven't seen her since Tim met her at the front door and told her that Makayla is not coming out to play with her because she is being mean.

where does he get that red hair from?

Tim walked Ruben up to the local convenience store today to pick something up. The lady at the counter awed over Ruben's red hair. She then proceeded to ask if his mom had red hair. After Tim responded with no, she looked down with an "oh" look on her face.

What do you perceive this means? I will tell you what Tim thought after I hear your response.

to my committed readers...

To all of those to who await my new posts, I greatly apologize. Many new changes have come about in my life within the last few months. I started working full time again. I have been quite busy with settling into our new home and community. Not to mention, I don't even know when I will have internet service in my home again. The internet is a very useful tool, but it's not a necessity right now. I haven't found the time to knit or do my favorite things other than just enjoy my new space with my family. On the other hand, I have been using the gym at work, and eating much better...sometimes frugal life and priorities make you do that :) Occasionally, I may get the chance to post on my lunch break at work. But not to worry, this is not the end of my blog. I will try to continue to post. I am still all about being frugal and learning new things, but I think a lot of that has switched over to Tim for now since I am away from home all week.

9 years of marriage

Nine years ago today, Tim and I stood in the middle of a pretty flower garden in the sweltering heat committing the rest of our lives together. We didn't even notice that if the pastor took one step back, he would have fallen into the water fountain. Thinking back through the last 9 years, we have been through a lot together. We have many more years to go, but it seems to get easier each year. Marriage really teaches you to humble yourself and become less self-centered. If we had never allowed God in our relationship, it never would have became so easy.

long journey

We have been on a long journey. I have often compared to myself to the Israelites wondering in the dessert for 40 years before making it into the promise land. I can't say that we are to that "promise land" yet, but we are going onto a bigger step. Three years ago we sold our house, and move in with Tim's parents. Our goal was to stay here a short time while searching for a smaller community to settle in. Many changes have gone through our lives in the last years that were definitely not easy, but for the good. Ruben came into our lives, and I had the opportunity to stay home for a little over a year. God has shown me how to slow down, be patient, build relationships with my children and submit to my husband. Many people think that submitting to your husband means doing everything on his command, but that's incorrect. Submitting to your husband means trusting his decisions and respecting his judgement.
Tim left his job 10 months ago in search for another in a smaller community. It may have not been the best idea, but it has really given our family an opportunity to build relationships, sit back and see what our true desires are and most importantly learning to submit to God. We have had many insults and nasty comments from others around us, since we have lodged in my in-law's house, but only we truly knew...and only tid-bit pieces at a time...what God was leading us to do. It wasn't always easy and there were many times we wanted to leave, but we also knew it wouldn't be wise without God's will. But if you really get down to it...only in America is it unacceptable to continue living with your parents in adulthood.
I have recently accepted a full time job back where I worked before Ruben was born. It was a very hard decision for me to make since God had just spend the last year preparing my heart to be a frugal homemaker. But since then, God has shown me that he is going to use me as his instrument while I am at work. I am so excited! And I am so excited for Tim because God is continuing to work in him while he is at home. Removing yourself from everyday work life and continued interaction with the world can really do a change in you. Since I stayed home for a while, I have more confidence in myself. Tim is learning to trust God and doesn't have the day to day peer pressure. Now I'm NOT saying to become a hermit. I am saying that sometimes it takes removing yourself from the world for a short period to see things from a different perspective. And sometimes God puts you in situations to make you trust Him to stay sane. Since going back to work, I have struggled with insecurities, but this time it's different. I have learned to be strong in prayer and to not let the devil overtake my mind.
This weekend we are finally moving to our own space...an RV in the driveway! Just kidding. We are moving to a smaller, local community. We are purchasing a home that we can pay off in a few years. It's funny, we traveled all over the state trying to figure out where to move, but we ended up just a short drive from where we are already living. But we did get to see a lot of beautiful places we never would have gone. We now have a different perspective on life. Screw the American Dream! We can survive with less space and items. We don't need shiny new cars or the big fancy house. Those things would just put us into debt. We have learned the value of our family, and how to survive without relying on worldly things. And most importantly, we are trusting in God, following His will and allowing him to work in our lives.

knitted butterfly wash cloth

I knitted this butterfly wash cloth for my mom for Mother's Day. My sister and I made a lasagna dinner for her, and Makayla even picked a cute "grandma" Mother's Day card out for her. BUT I forgot to give her the wash cloth. I found it in my knitting drawer a couple of days ago. I got the pattern from Wicket Stich. My mom recently bought herself butterfly decor for her bathroom so I though this would be a great surprise for her.

P.S. When I gave my sister her knitted lighthouse wash cloth for her birthday, my mom thought it was for her and attempted to take it home with her so, of course, I had to knit one for my mom. By the way, here is the pattern for the lighthouse wash cloth. I didn't post a picture because I used a mulit-color yarn which made it hard to see the design.

where I've been lately

I am seriously back to doing Weight Watchers. I have hit a weight that I have not been at in years (not including my last pregnancy), and I have to make a commitment NOW. I am finding that coffee with cream and sugar is one of my biggest crutches. Also, I don't get enough exercise. Lori told me that strength exercises (not necessarily cardio) are suppose to boost your metabolism. Tim and I are in a competition to see who can loose 25 lbs. first. The winner gets $50 to spend however they choose. All Tim has to do is quite drinking Mountain Dew, but that's not going to happen so I may have a chance.

I am now working temporarily back where I worked before Ruben was born. I am filling in for a lady on maternity leave for 6 weeks. It's good to be back in a familiar place...even though it's a new building and at least half the faces are new. Anyhow, 5 hours a day takes up a lot of time from home so I haven't had much time to make new posts.

I will have an Easter present that I knitted for my daughter coming soon.

23 questions

I get these emails occasionally. Nobody likes to return them back to me, but I love to answer the questions so I will share with you here.

1. What is your occupation?
homemaker/stay-at-home mom; temporary, part-time telephone interviewer (I do not do phone sales or politics)

2. What color are your socks right now?
not wearing any

3. What are you listening to right now?
Dragon Tales

4. What was the last thing that you ate?
Kroger's Cinnamon Swirls in bowl of 1% milk

5. Can you drive a stick shift?
not really, haven't tried in several years

6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be?
That's hard because it depends what you are coloring...

7. Last person you spoke to on the phone?
some unknown person at work

8. How old are you today?
28

9. What is your favorite drink ?
I am successfully lowering my soda intake so I will say: Diet Dr. Pepper occasionally; hot or cold flavored coffee

10. What is your favorite sport to watch?
I don't like watching sports, but if I had to I would probably choose baseball

11. Have you ever dyed your hair?
yes, but not for a few years

12. Pets?
Harley - dog

13. Favorite food?
sweets; well, if I had to choose from the four food groups I would say breads and dairy

14. What was the last movie you watched?
The last I remember...Makayla and I went to see Alvin and the Chipmunks over Christmas break

15. Favorite holiday of the year?
Christmas

16. What do you do to vent anger?
talk to my husband; pray

17. What was your favorite toy as a child?
Cabbage Patch (made by my grandma); Sunshine Care Bear (made by my aunt); Rainbow Bright; other stuffed animals

18. What is your favorite, fall or summer?
Fall

19. Hugs or kisses?
hugs

20. Cherries or Blueberries?
blueberries if they're baked in something like muffins; I don't like their thick skin

21. Do you want your friends to answer these questions on their blog?
yes

22. Who is most likely to respond?
I hate this question

23. What did you do last night?
worked; knitted

Maybe someday I will make my own list of questions that makes people give more interesting answers that people really like to read.

40th wedding anniversary...surprise!

Last Saturday we surprised my in-laws a few weeks early for their 40th anniversary. It came together wonderfully. We all pretended that we were meeting to get a family portrait taken, but secretly we were setting up for the party.

Jack & Helen had no clue!

Tim's cousin, Yvonne, has made all (excluding Michael whose not married yet) our wedding cakes including this one. She does a beautiful job.

Makayla and the chocolate fountain...need I say more?

Tim & Katie

(she's not as old as she looks)

Katie & sweet little Noah

(this picture was too good to leave out)

This is my family...

Makayla (front), Ruben, Myself, Tim, Katie

(I don't have very many family pictures. Partly because I don't like pictures of myself and partly because Tim doesn't like posing for pictures as you may have noticed.)

Most of the in-laws...

Front: Collin, Makayla, Mason, Isaac

Middle: Katie, Ruben, Helen, Sophia, Jack, Lori, Jack

Back: Adam, Steve, Angie, Tim, Myself, Jason, Michael, Brian, Noah

* I stole most of my pictures from Steve.

zero to one

I can't believe the first year of Ruben's life has already gone by. He is starting to walk and babble. His birthday fell on Thanksgiving Day this year. With our house full of family, I didn't get to just stop and enjoy his special day. We did find some time in the evening to open presents, but we were so full of pie that we skipped the cake. I saved the cake for a little get together at my sister's on Saturday.

Thanks to Aunt Angie for the Sesame Street Doctor toy set.

I haven't tired of the Cookie Monster stethoscope.

I've been a beginner cake decorating for over a year now...

I don't get in much practice.

guilt free

I know. It's been a while since I've last posted. I feel so busy. My number one priority is homeschooling. I can't seem to keep up with myself lately and it's not even the holidays that's causing it. Actually, in my first year of being frugal, I feel the least stressed about the holidays. I have no guilt about not spending money on presents. My goal is to enjoy this time of year, and give as my heart tells my to. Maybe I will make a little something for everyone. Maybe I will sit down with Makayla and help her make a homemade gift for all of her cousins and friends. Maybe we will be too busy with every day family things to do any of these things. I don't know what will transpire, but I know I will have no guilt, no anxiety and no debt!

spreading frugality

My sister, Cheryl, asked me to show her how to make my homemade laundry detergent so she could save money. I have been giving some to my mom to use, but I wanted her to learn how to make it herself. Cheryl mention that we should get together more often with Mom so we planned a Saturday to get together and make laundry detergent.
While in the shower (my thinking zone) the next day, I decided to created a monthly mother and daughter's day. I named it "Creative Mother and Daughter's Day". I put together a sheet of rules and a motto to follow by like an official meeting. Each month we will take turns planning the 1st Saturday of the month. For October, I planned a frugal day. We took a trip to the Amish store and made laundry detergent. For lunch we went to Becky's Burger's and Cones in Pilot Grove. It's very good and inexpensive. I highly recommend this restaurant to any passersby. It's worth the 5-10 minute drive off I-70 or it's not far off the Katy Trail.
While we were preparing to make our laundry detergent, Cheryl's friend stopped by to cut Holli's hair. Cheryl told me a week later that her friend asked how our detergent turned out. Cheryl offered to make some for her and she accepted. How exciting! You never know who may be interested so share, share, share. It may not be realistic, but I dream that if a large percentage of people turned to frugality, then prices would have to come down on products. I was buying toilet paper the other day and thought how ridiculous it was to pay so much for a necessity.

frugal weight watcher's

After discovering that I have gained 10 lbs. instead of losing it, I have decided to start counting Weight Watcher's points again. It's such a great program and it works as long as one has "will power". Oh, those dreaded phrases.."will power" and "self control"...the opposite of giving into temptation. Why does it have to be so hard? It's just food, right? Tim has agreed to support me by eating the food I make as long as it's not labeled "fat free". I am at the end of my second day and I feel great! I am so afraid of eating too much that I have points left over at the end of the day. Now I have the challenge of figuring out how to eat healthier and being frugal about it. Dieting or eating healthier can be more expensive.
I also get support from Dottie's Weight Loss Zone. There I can get points for restaurants, recipes, chat with other's and more. I heard about 3 Fat Chicks in a WW meeting a long time ago, but just now visited the web site so I don't know a lot about it. I notice that it provides recipes using mostly natural ingredients instead of fat free or substitute sugars. It also provides calorie charts for food, nutrition charts for fast food and metric conversions. Also, there is a section that explains different diet fads and how they work, and fitness articles and programs (including a walking calculator). Wow, I should have look this site up a couple of years ago instead of while typing this post. Uh, I think I will be going now. I have a new web site to check out ;)

vacation

This week we took a vacation. The first time in 8 years of marriage that we could say we were taking a family vacation without it involving moving a certain family member across the States. But this time we didn't travel that far. Tim has a fascination with southern Missouri hills so we took off. I was even able to incorporate some learning field trip time for school. Monday evening we rented a cabin on Table Rock Lake. The view is beautiful and the water is clear unlike our muddy river and lakes. I really enjoy landscape photos so I took pictures with my camera hoping to they would be good enough to hang on my wall.

The evening we arrive at our cabin we went walked down to the lake to take pictures and so Tim and Makayla could get some fishing time in.

The next morning, Ruben woke us up at 5:30 so we drove down to the lake for another view, but I forgot my camera. The fog sat very thick on top the lake and made it very beautiful.

Tim or I capture this picture about 8 am as we were leaving the cabin for our next destination. You can't see the beauty of the fog in this picture as well.

Our first stop for the day was the Conservation trout fishery by the dam that dumps water from Table Rock Lake into Lake Taneycomo in Branson. Here Makayla learned about different turtles, birds and snakes aside from feeding trout as part of her field trip.

Lake Taneycomo just before all the fog lifted. Again I forgot my camera and missed the heavier fog.

Then we moved on down to the Branson strip. I didn't take any pictures. Honestly, Branson nothing more the a blown up version of the strip at the Lake. There were I few things I would have gone to if planned like the Dick Clark Museum and the Oakridge Boys because they were comfort things from my childhood. From there we headed west towards West Plains. I felt sick almost all day from driving in the hills. We took a rest at Bull Shoals Lake just outside of Theodosia. There was a nice resort and camping area there right off the lake. We didn't stay more than an hour, but I would recommend it for a weekend.

Tim and Makayla down by the shore at Bull Shoals.

This is one of my favorite pictures. The clouds may look a little scary because of the sepia, but the skies were blue and the clouds were white and fluffy.

We came upon this rainbow somewhere in the hills between Gainesville and West Plains just before entering into rain.

This trip gave me an opportunity to review rainbows, fogs and clouds with Makayla. We stopped in West Plains for the night and continued back north on Wednesday. Eventually we found ourselves eating lunch at Ha Ha Tonka state park outside of Camdenton. Here Tim was able to teach Makayla about caves, springs and sink holes.

Tim and Makayla fishing the Lake of the Ozarks at Ha Ha Tonka.

Natural cave spring at Ha Ha Tonka.

From there we ventured home traveling the back side of the Lake of the Ozarks, and discovered some Amish country.

A thought came to me while traveling. I don't like to journal so I may not put my thoughts into practice, but it's an idea for others. I recall listening to my parents talk with other relatives about vacations and not being able to remember who all was present. I was thinking that creating a timeline would be helpful for my children. I could record the dates, places and events that we venture to with our children so when they get older they will know where they've been, and it may even help them keep their memories of where they went if we review the timeline every so often.

beautiful missouri day

Genesis 1

11 Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree

that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth”; and it was so.

12 And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the

tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was

good.

13 So the evening and the morning were the third day.

Today is the first beautiful day we have had in some time. It was only about 50 degrees outside at 8 am. Our widows are open and we are enjoying the fresh air. This weather energizes me to clean and organize. I am getting a lot done inside while Tim is outside cutting down limbs and playing with fire...men like to do that for some reason.

Summer is coming to an end, and fall is moving in. I didn't used to think much about fall because I get cold easily, but as an adult you seem to look at things from a very different perspective. The cool breeze, the pretty leaves, apple cider, fall festivals... I could go on and on. The downside is that the sun goes down earlier. The sunlight makes me happy. Without it, I get depressed easily...and I'm afraid of the dark.

Also, Makayla's homeschool material, My Father's World, uses a different topic for each lesson (i.e. sun, leaf, apple) These all fall right in the season so we can go outside and explore these topics.

bargains & quilts

Saturday, we went to visit my sister. We took the long way and stopped by the Amish store. I love that place! You can get almost everything you need there, and the price is right. I have been putting off buying orange peel from Walmart because it cost over $5. I got more quantity from the Dutch Bakery than I would have at Walmart for a much lower price. I also purchased lemon peel, dry mustard, white and yellow powdered cheese sauce, and wheat germ. Tim found some good knifes he can use for his wood carving, and Makayla chose some chocolate covered raisins for her treat. Something for everyone :) If we were settled in our own place, I could have used so many things from there for my frugal cooking and baking. In another direction from where we live, there is an Amish community that I have never been to before. There is supposed to be several stores with food, quilts, furniture, etc. I hope to venture that way next.

Speaking of quilts, I broke out my old quilt my grandma made for us when we first got married. It's still in perfect condition since I didn't use it very long before we converted to a king size bed. Tim and I were tired of waking up with very stiff backs so we decided to purchase a new bed Sunday. I have been wanting a new look on my bed, but not willing to fork out the funds for it. Since we downsized to a queen I am able to get that new look again. My grandma originally made the quilt for a full size bed, but it fits my new queen perfectly. On the downside, the main color is hunter green, which is the color I chose 8 years ago when it was "the color". I don't care for hunter green, but the quilt really gives a new look aside from the old comforter. Maybe I will post a picture soon. It almost inspires me to make my own quilt. I pieced together the top layer of a lap blanket 4 years ago. It's on my "finish projects" list once we get settled.

pretzels

Holli complained to me that her mom never uses her bread machine so this morning I asked her if she wanted to make cinnamon rolls or pretzels. I never made pretzels before, but we gave it a try. Although I was thinking of traditional pretzel twist, the girls had other creative pretzels in mind. The pretzels came out a little hard. I have been wondering how to make breads with a soft outer crust. It came to me today that maybe if I lower my oven temperature and bake longer the outside of my bread will be softer. Does anyone know if this is correct?