Country Living Is the Life For Me....

Down the Road a Piece--I drive by this house often and over the years it has changed hands many times. I finally decided to look it up online....pretty nice!

I fell in love!--If I could move in right now I would be a happy little lady! For now I am going to use the photos as something to aspire too. I really want to go visit this house and just breathe it all in, and say, "I'm home!"

Getting on a Budget

I absolutely love being a stay-at-home mom, and really want to continue in this amazing role for as long as possible. But lately I have been slowly becoming aware that for me to continue to stay home and help guide my children while they live and learn about their world, that I need to get my family on a budget and fast! How we have been spending is really threatening my desires to be a stay-at-home mom and if we don't make changes now I will not be able to continue staying home with my boys for much longer.

What brought about this realization? The other day I was looking at our calendar to see what we have been doing all month. I noticed that the boys and I have been indulging a little too much and too often at resteraunts. Everytime I turn around I am having to refill my car, because we have been driving here there and everywhere. I have signed us up for a lot of workshops and other events that are relatively low cost but when added together start to add up. We have been shopping like money is growing on trees. I consider myself a pretty intelligent person and able to reason but apparently I have not been paying enough attention to how much we are spending and how often. I have been letting myself and my family down by not paying attention.

So last night and most of today I have been getting serious about budgeting! I feel both spent and enlightened. I feel like I have a better grasp now on where we are at and where we need to go. I have some plans and ideas about how to make my goals a reality. But of course it will also mean that my family will have to be on board with this game plan or it will not work. They have to want me to be able to continue to stay home too!

Sometimes we are cruising along in life and don't realize that we got off on the wrong track at some point because we were not paying enough attention. We need to work on creating the reality we desire, but if we don't pay attention we will have a reality that we do not desire. If I want to be a stay-at-home mom than I can do that, but I need to sometime's reevaluate and need a good reminder of exactly the kind of life I am trying to create with my family.

I know that my family is not trying to keep up with the Jones'. We are frugal and happy living a simple country life. We are not trying to do what everyone else is doing and we don't really care what everyone else is doing. We prefer to make our own informed descisions free of someone else's control. We want to be free to pursue our passions and to learn about what is important to us. We want to raise our children to be independent free thinkers and to be happy.

This realization as it relates to my awakening means that I can be a stay-at-home mom because that is where I want and need to be right now. I have what it takes to get my family's finances back on track so that we can all continue to live this amazing life! We want our children to have the freedom to live and learn in a happy and stress-free home. I feel that my presence in their little corner of the world is the way for us all to live a good life. So if a budget is needed than bring it on!

Our Saturday

Hubby had to work early this morning, so when he got back home he took a long nap. The boys played with their dinosaurs and I bit the bullet and started to work on our taxes. So far I am pleased by the estimated return, we could really use the money right now. During my frustation a friend called and asked about getting together. She really brought me out of my computer/tax daze. Once we made plans I looked around the house and was mortified by what I saw....a disaster zone! I quickly showered, enlisted the help of the kids and hubby to get this place ship shape since we only had an hour to do so. We did pretty good...it usually takes company for us to do so. We are usually in CHAOS mode (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome), someday when the kids are long gone the house will be spotless (yeah right)!

The boys were excited to see my friend's daughter. They treat her like she is a little doll to be spoiled. When she comes over I quickly remember how much toddler's like to climb. It also makes me realize what a transition our living room has gone through since Ehric was a baby. There have been times when the living room had a padded floor, a swing set and climbing structure for the kids. The room has gradually lost a lost of its baby proofing as the boys have matured. Not to say they don't still climb though.

Its nice to have people over our house. We don't have guests very often since we live out in the boondocks. If we had guests over more often I think the house would stay a lot cleaner. Maybe.
We all enjoyed some bbq and chatted for a while. I think we all needed a change of pace on this Winter Saturday. It is hard when we are cooped up all winter.

We spent most of the afternoon and evening catching up on our shows that we tape. The boys were sent to play with their train set when there was adult content much to their dismay. But at one point Aiden fell asleep next to me and took a good long nap, until I felt my leg was wet. Into the bath he went as I changed. Luckily the couch was dry.

I was really tired last night so I went to bed around 10pm. This is early considering for about a month now I have been going to bed around midnight/1am, because I usally can't fall asleep. On the flip side, Daddy and Ehric stayed up a watched a Harry Potter movie. We thought that was funny because hubby usally goes to bed by 7pm because of his early shift.

For the most part our Saturday was pretty low key.

Our Day at Home

I had planned on taking us to the Toy Library this morning but Ehric slept in until 9:30am and Aiden kept crying over every little thing. So plans changed. I spent most of the day sorting papers and then filing papers into my new filing cabinets upstairs. I also worked on laundry and cleaning up the house. So the boys had a pretty lazy day and watched a lot more TV than they should have. Atleast it was educational TV.

Usually the boys go outside when Daddy gets home but Daddy was tired today. The boys didn't mind, because they had fun making Valentine's cards for our party with our Lego group tomorrow. They also spent quite a bit of time blowing up balloons and drawing on them. Ehric said he was blowing them up for the party tomorrow.

Aiden's eye area and cheek are so yellow. I think his suture area looks good, no infection.

Tomorrow I really want to get the boys outside...we have been cooped up too much lately!

Some other things the boys did today:

Living Skills:
Vacuumed rug (they initiated this activity)
Got out cereal when hungry for a snack

Hands-On Activities:
Made Valentine's Cards and drew pictures for Momma
Blew up balloons with a balloon pump and then drew on the balloons with dry-erase markers.
Played with various toys.
Aiden- built a speed boat w/Handy Manny kit
Ehric-added to train track setup and built a brick wall with Duplo blocks

Books Read-Aloud:
Farmer Smart's Fat Cat by James Sage
How Kind! by Mary Murphy
DK Fire Engine Book
Good Night Gorilla-Peggy Rathmann

Ehric Read-Aloud:
Catch Me, Catch Me: A Thomas the Tank Engine Story
When the TV Broke by Harriet Ziefert

Listening:
Momma made up a story about Red the firetruck from CARS and a story about a Bat in Diego's house.

Watched:
Various PBS Kid's Shows
Lost (w/parents)

Computer:
PBS Kid's Island games
Jumpstart.com

Our Beautiful Monday

We got a new couch finally!! It is a very comfy sectional.

I am so glad that we finally have somewhere to sit.

What a difference a few weeks make. Today was so beautiful.

The boys had fun playing in their sandbox.

Flowers are even starting to pop up! Yeah!

A few of our chickens enjoying a nice walk in the sun.

Ehric helping me stack some wood.

Daddy and a friend having some fun of their own.

The boys and I went for a walk in the woods with neighbor friends.

Our Amish Wall

Our Amish Wall

Each Tuesday, I will be trying to post a photo that represents 'Simplicity' in my eyes. If you would like to see other Time Journal photos or would like to take part in this weekly meme please visit: The Simple Woman's Time Journal.

March Nature Table

I got inspired to change our nature table setup after seeing Melissa's nature table at In the Sparrow's Nest. In the cubbies I added rocks and feathers we collected last year; a guide on rocks and minerals; and magnifying glasses. On top of the shelf, I added our nature guides; a poetry book; and a vase with some tree branches. You will notice that I added shamrocks on the tree branches to give it a St. Patty's Day feel. Besides the shelf there is a basket with nature craft books.

The boys are liking the new setup and have been using the rocks in their play. Aiden likes to stack them on top of the cardboard bricks we have. Ehric likes walking around with the magnifying glass and looking at things up close. I figure once Spring gets here we will add new nature items to our collection. I also hope that by having all the guides handy we will start using them more.

March

The sun is nervous

As a kite

That can't quite keep

Its own string tight.

Some days are fair.

And some are raw.

The timid earth

Decides to thaw.

Shy budlets peep

From twigs on trees,

And robins join

The chickadees.

Pale crocuses

Poke through the ground

Likes noses come

To sniff around.

The mud smells happy

On our shoes.

We still wear mittens,

Which we lose.

- John Updike, from A Child's Calendar

Organizing Sunday

I know that Sunday is supposed to be a day of rest; but today wasn't very restful for me. I awoke with an urge to create an area for all the kid's craft supplies. I got an idea for a kid's craft closet in a magazine and decided to kind of create something similiar. I have a plastic storage cabinet that I thought would do. But to put the cabinet where I wanted I had to move a few things. So I started moving some of my pantry items to the kitchen. As I moved those items I thought that some of the storage containers I had those in would be a good container for my toiletries. So I left the pantry items to straighten up my toiletries. After spending time straightening up my toiletries I then go back to the pantry items. Once I moved those items off a little plastic shelf, I moved the shelf into the kitchen for the time being.

I then emptied out the plastic storage cabinet that I had upstairs. Hubby was busy doing something so I carried it down stairs by myself. I have moved quite a few things by myself over the years. Then I brought it downstairs. We had to move our baker's rack to fit the cabinet in the spot I wanted.

Then I got the idea to put two-drawer style containers next to the cabinet. I spent quite a bit of time adding supplies to the cabinet and the drawer-style bins. I added papers, markers, stickers, clay, playdough, bingo daubers, and whatever other craft supplies I had. The drawer-style bins worked perfectly for the different types of papers, stencils, watercolor books, coloring books, etc that I have for the boys.

Of course, as I was putting things into the craft cabinet I had to rearrage some of the storage containers they were in. I ended up moving several items to different storage containers to better fit into the cabinet. On top of the drawer-style bins I added a container of Family Fun Magazines, craft books and how-to draw books.

The shelving unit that originally held my pantry items was moved next to a matching shelf that held our winter boots. It gave me a spot to put the boys bicycle helmets, cross country ski boots and other items. To do that I also had to move a bureau holding VHS/DVDs and cleanup some of our recycling. After all that was said and done I still had to find new homes for all the pantry items. That was no small feat.

I put together a Sunday Box for the boys. I took a plastic storage container and added: a toddler Bible, a children's prayer book, a soft prayer book (contains pictures of family to pray for); our Noah's Ark toys; a dry-erase book about Jonah; a binder on creation I made that has a creation game; a Jonah and the Whale dry-erase book; and a few story books. The boys used the Noah's Ark characters with their aluminum foil bridge we made yesterday.

Amazingly, I also finished the book I was reading, Daughter of Jerusalem by Thom Lemmons (Great fictional book about Mary Magdelene) and watched a few of our shows that we have on tape.



I also helped hubby cut his hair. I absolutely hate cutting hair because I am always afraid of really messing up the cut. But I think it came out pretty good. I planted a seed during the cut by telling hubby that he should shave his beard off too. For anyone who hasn't seen my hubby... he has been growing an Amish-inspired beard for the last year or so. (I miss seeing the clean cut version of my husband.) But he obviously thought about what I said because he really trimmed his beard up. Much improved I say!

Hubby took the boys outside to go cross-country skiing but plans were changed because our dog, Nanook (a siberian huskey) was trying to escape from his pen. Nanook was caught in the fence and hubby had to do some digging to get him out. So Nanook spent some time inside the house playing with the boys while Daddy fixed his fence.

The boys had a playdate with the neighbor girls so hubby and I relaxed and caught up on some of our shows. Overall it was a very productive and pretty good day.

Another Snow Day

We are getting hammered with snow today. I heard one report that said we were going to get 15" of snow today. Everytime I look out the window I am amazed at how fast it is coming down. When hubby got home he said that the roads were absolutely horrible, especially in our neck of the woods. Our road is usually one of the last to be plowed out unfortunately.

Our snow blower is still on the fritz so we have to wait for our neighbor to plow us out. I feel bad that we are relying on him so much to clean our driveway out, but our driveway is a little too much to do by hand. Hopefully next year we can get a truck with a plow.

Since we were stuck inside today I decided to organize my tupperware. That is a feat in its self! I decided to put them right near the fridge so that I can easily get to them. It looks so organized right now and it makes me smile. I hope it stays that way!

January Nature Table

I decided to change my nature table over from Christmas to a snowman theme for January. A friend of ours gave us a very pretty fir center piece for Christmas. It is still very green. Although you can't see them in the pictures there are also a few pine cones in the wooden box. The candles have little snow men on them. Aiden has been hiding the candles on me the past few days. They turn up in very funny places.

The poem displayed is from "A Child's Calendar"- Poems by John Updike

January

The Days are short,
The sun a spark
Hung thin between
The dark and dark.

Fat snowy footsteps
Track the floor,
And parkas pile up
Near the door.

The river is
A frozen place
Held still beneath
The trees' black lace.

The sky is low.
The wind is gray.
The radiator
Purrs all day.