New Blog!

I am moving on...

T2CHK has a brand new site...

Christian Homekeeper Network: http://christianhomekeeper.org
Christian Homekeeper Forum: htt://christianhomekeeper.org/forums

And my new blog...
http://christianhomekeeper.org/karens-gatherings/

Come on over and visit me!!

Good Things Coming...

Hi everyone!

I am taking a blogging break for a couple of weeks. There are new things on the horizon for my blog and when I come back I will announce those changes! :) In the meantime I am going to take some time to refocus.

I'll see you soon!

A Week Off

About a month ago I cried out to Robin, "Take a vacation...STAT!!" I was really feeling some burn out! So he found the closest available week and we are finishing it up now. My how time flies when you take a vacation!! We really didn't have big plans. If anything we realized that if you take away Robin's job and homeschooling, we are still a really busy family! We did manage to have dear friends over for the day in the middle of the week; that was a definite bright spot. We also managed to catch a movie, "Hotel for Dogs." If you know to bring some tissues you'll love this heartwarming (clean too) movie of two foster children finding their *forever home.* :)
Last night Robin and Tyler headed to church for a Men's Retreat called "Men of Honor." Now here's one of the many things I love about our church. They'll use the church for retreats. No need for travelling and all those costs associated with it! Whoever decided we should install two showers in the building was a GENIUS! Robin cheated, though and came home to sleep. Tyler wanted to stay at the church. ANYWAY, I got to get the news early that a man in Robin's group (he's a facilitator) asked Jesus to be His Savior last night!! Praise GOD!!
Here are a few pictures I took this week...
Here you see Christian, who was trying to see for himself how tall Goliath would be!! I turned from, "get down off that couch!" to "Oh you're seeing how tall Goliath is? Wait, let's get a picture of it!!" LOL!!


Rachel had her 11th birthday party...a spa party!! We had all homemade spa treatments! It was so fun!! I am sharing this pic because you can't see the girls faces. :) We'll let the other spa girls keep their privacy...

On Monday we'll be back to our "jobs". I am already planning which week we'll take off next... ;)

So Long Self. Waking Up the Sleeper.

I love this song by MercyMe. I hope you give it a listen! It capitalizes in a fun way how I am feeling this morning.

Do you ever just have a moment of pure spiritual clarity? God just opens your eyes in a new way for a fresh look at the world and how He is working. He reminds you of the enemy that would thwart His work. He invites you to join Him in a new way.

A life time ago, or so it seems, Robin and I married and moved to downtown Portland (if you are from ME, picture Cumberland Ave. on the Maine Med. end with Grant St. running parallel), ME. We lived in a very rough neighborhood complete with drug addicts and dealers, satanists, prostitutes and more. It was like a foreign country in some ways. Robin had just graduated Bible College and I was still finishing up Bible College. We lived on minimum wage (or close to it). But we were young and living on love and living with Jesus and life was GOOD!

When you are in the city, ministry opportunities ooze in on you. People are hurting, needy and desparate. But more than that, they are not afraid to admit it and not ashamed to ask for help. There are soup kitchens and people desparate enough to listen to you tell them what Jesus can do for them. There are prayer needs all around you and a walk down the street isn't considered without a prayer time first!

You can't help but see the world as it is. The darkness is so dark you can't miss it. But in keeping, the Light is so Light, it is blinding. When God works the contrast is so great, it is like He is the flame and you are the moth.

Then we moved to the burbs... and then the country... I have nothing against either of them and we are still there now. But somehow I forgot how dark the darkness was and the God's Light only seemed like a flicker. Did I work for God? Well yes, I tried and God moved and things happened. But it has been dimmer. I have dwindled with it.

I do think "self", "myself" has gotten in the way of a clear vision. Robin and I have had talks over the years about that time in Portland. We have reminisced about our prayer group there and the nights of pulling out guitars and praising God with our Christian neighbors and guys from Robin's YMCA Bible Study. We have talked about how to get "back there" in our hearts, to recreate that. I have often wondered if maybe I was like the Isrealites looking for Solomon's temple. Maybe I just needed to remember that ministry in the country is different.

So yeah, I fell asleep. Self took the front burner...slowly...over time.

Looking back I see it clearly. The veil is again lifted. I am starting to see the darkness as dark, the Light is shining bright. It was there all along. Somehow I had just put on spiritual sunglasses and I had fallen asleep. Looking back it was as though I was tethered. But I am awake now and am breaking free of the tethers!

I am trying to say "so long self"! I am trying to join God at His work. I was reminded last night thanks to dear friends who never fail to point me Godward, that Satan wasn't stupid enough to fall asleep...just me. Forgive me Lord, and thank you for waking me up!

"Awake oh sleeper and rise from the dead and Christ will shine on you." Eph 5:14

Attempt Great Things

"Expect great things from God, attempt great things for God." William Carey

Recently I filled out the tag on Facebook, "25 Random Facts About Me." One of my facts was "God keeps asking me to do things I don't know how to do...and it's a BLAST!" True, true, but I wanted to explain...

Last year in the spring, my pastor asked me if I would be our church's Children's Ministry Coordinator. It took a month of prayer to say "yes" to him. I am glad he (my pastor) didn't give up on me. Why did it take me so long to say yes? Well, the major reason is that when I take a "Giftedness Test" and I think I have taken them all...the gift that always comes out the lowest if I get any score at all is Administration! So, it seemed kind of crazy to say "yes" because the ministry he was asking me to do was so not in my gift set!

A few things changed my mind. First of all, Pastor Barry kept preaching (like, every week) that we all needed to be stepping out in faith for God. "What are you doing for God that if God doesn't show up you will look like an idiot?" It doesn't take a genius to realize that if you try to do something you know you are not good at, you seriously need God to show up and do a work! Then I couldn't deny that I actually have my Bachelors of Religious Education. True, true, I had a degree in that area! But I didn't get that solely on purpose, so to speak. I went to Bible College and that was the track they offered so it is the track I was on.

Thirdly, (and I am giving this it's own paragraph on purpose), God showed me over that time of prayer the connection between this ministry and those ministries I had done before that WERE in my *gift set*. I have always loved to come alongside others and encourage and teach. Surely I could be an encourager to teachers. I have taught every age at some point and I could use those experiences to help teachers brainstorm, etc. But even more, as I prayed God sent rushes of ideas that had me staring into space more often than the time I was alert (just ask my family). I still tend to pace around the house in a stupor!! The ideas of what we could do with Children's Ministries kept coming and coming in a rush and still do.

God is teaching me so much so fast about how He works in and through us. I am so glad I didn't say "no" because what I was being asked wasn't in my gift set! He is teaching me what it means to "join Him in His work" like I was taught years ago through a Bible study I did (Experiencing God) and to be part of a "movement of God" (rather than an institution, another recent sermon by Pastor Barry).

When I am working in my own strength at "my agenda" there is a great straining effort. It is discouraging, painstaking and convincing others to join you is difficult. You're pushing it slowly forward. But when you are part of God's work, God's movement in the world, then it feels like being on a freight train. Not only are you not pushing, you are really just trying to hang on and not fall off! That's why I think it's a blast; it's like being on a roller coaster. I pray it never ends!

"Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things--and the things that are not--to nullify the things that are so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God--that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: 'Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.'"
1 Cor. 1:26-31

Titus 2 Mentors

There have been times in my life where God has put me with wonderful godly Titus 2 mentors and times when they were removed and I felt as though I was *going it alone*. During those *alone* times, I found great solace and encouragement from godly Titus 2 women who were authors or speakers. One such mentor to me was Ruth Bell Graham, wife of Billy Graham.

I can't wait to meet these women some day, even if it be in Heaven, and tell them of the impact they had on my life! In the meantime I offer this little tribute I found and hope it spurs you to remember that not matter how alone you may feel you are actually still surrounded by a *great cloud of witnesses!*

In the Word...

We've done different things over the years for our Bible time. I try to always make sure, no matter what I choose for a curriculum, that we are spending time reading directly from the Bible, letting God *speak for Himself.*

This year, I have been convicted about the fact that I have led various Bible Studies for others but haven't fully used my gifting for my kids in leading a Bible Study and prayer time in the same fashion. Add to that, I recently went to a Church Planting Seminar where the speaker gave us a list of questions that could be brought to each passage as a way to study and easily lead. I adjusted those questions and then combined them with another "question" format and came up with these that we are using daily:

1. What is this passage teaching?

2. Is there (and list if so):
~a promise?
~a warning?
~a command on what TO do?
~a command on what NOT TO do?

3. How does this passage relate to kids or teens your age?

4. How does it relate to you? What can you do or change to obey this passage?

Right now we are going through the Epistles. If I were doing a Narrative book, I would likely add:
~Is there an example to follow?
~Is there an example to avoid?

I recently received some valuable advice from my pastor on teaching my children the Bible. He told me to make sure I repeat and repeat the gospel message and teachings on God's grace. Often times, we assume since a child has received Christ as Savior that he/she remembers the gospel message. But children, like adults, forget. So, it is important to keep reminding them of the gospel so they don't mistakenly think that their behavior saves them or condemns them before God. "It is by GRACE you have been saved, and that not of yourselves, it is a gift from God lest any man boast."

I am also making sure to ask them for prayer requests before we pray. One other thing I learned from this (as they were asking for prayer for others and not for themselves) is that they thought it selfish to request prayer for themselves. So, we had to see what Bible said about that! Many of those basics can easily be forgotten and I have found it so valuable to repeat, repeat, repeat!!

The Latest~Teaching Them

Winter is in full bloom here in Maine. No big surprise there! I do love the slower pace of winter. Mainers tend to hibernate in the winter and I am no exception. :)

I love being snowed in with my family...

I love being warm and cozy inside and watching the snow wafting down...

Though we homeschool, I cannot resist watching the many cancellations on the news! ;) It brings back homey memories of getting to stay home from school! People love to ask, "do you take snow days?" No, we don't. With everything cancelled and everyone tucked away in their homes, it is too ideal for getting lots down. Besides, we would rather take the day when the weather warms but the beaches are still empty!

Speaking of being home more than the average family... If you are you have to expect that the imagination of a child is not limited to one play room! You never know where an ambush may be lurking...in the form of toys...

Or people... Meet *Bond*...

*James Bond*

And his *lackey*...

It's not ALL fun and games! We actually did a Science activity this week. :) We dissected flowers, glued them down and labelled their parts.

Rachel said that she was sure relieved we didn't start with a frog!! LOL!! Don't worry...if dad's not there to do it with you then you don't have to worry about cutting any frogs! Ewwww...mom doesn't have the *stomach for it!*

Here's Tyler, not having quite so much fun, doing his latest Science Exam. Go Tyler!

I hope you have enjoyed this peak into our world! :)

The Financial Noose About Our Neck

I have been thinking about Ecclesiastes 5 this week. We studied this chapter in last week's Young Adult Bible Study (affectionately named, "Way Cool Small Group." *smile*)

"Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless.
As goods increase, so do those who consume them, And what benefit are they to the owner, except to feast his eyes on them?
The sleep of a laborer is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of a rich man permits him no sleep." Eccl. 5:10-12

This whole chapter is just full of thoughts to contemplate! But this little section strikes me because it tells me:
1. No matter what I have, it will never feel like enough if I give my love to money.
2. The more you have the more you spend. Then you have all this *stuff* to care for and what good is it all?
3. Having *much* is not all it is *cracked up to be*. More stuff, more money brings more headaches.

I am reading this great little book called, "The Treasure Principle: Unlocking the Secret of Joyful Giving," by Randy Alcorn.

(www.amazon.com)

This is a great book and I highly recommend it. A friend asked me, out of the blue, if I would like to read it. Since I had been praying about our finances and even our giving, it seemed like God had put it right in my hands at the right time! Don't you love when God does this?

Consider these quotes Mr. Alcorn shares on pg. 52-53 (and in the same chapter he talks about Eccl. 5!):
"The care of $200 million is enough to kill anyone. There is no pleasure in it." W.H. Vanderbilt
"I am the most miserable man on earth." John Jacob Astor
"I have made millions, but they have brought me no happiness." John D. Rockefeller
"Millionaires seldom smile." Andrew Carnegie
"I was happier when doing a mechanic's job." Henry Ford

We've all heard that "money doesn't buy happiness." These millionaires seem to bare the truth of it in their own lives. So what is the secret? I think *contentment in our God* is the secret!

"Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possesions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work--this is a gift of God. He seldom reflects on the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with gladness of heart." Eccl. 5:19-20

The key to happiness is wrapped up in our relationship to God and contentment with what comes from his hand.

When we live on more than God has given us, it quickly chokes us. When we have wealth but do not lay it at the Master's feet, recognizing that it has come from him, we choke on it. It keeps us up at night. Better to gratefully accept what God has given and bend our neck to follow his leading on how to use it. It's all his, after all.

This year I pray God will help me to learn to live on less, to be more content. We're making changes, not because we don't trust God to provide (we do!), but we want to live *more in* that provision and free ourselves to serve God more.

I really don't want my husband to bear unnecessary strain about our finances. I don't want to put a financial noose around his neck. What may feel like a tightening (in our budget) is actually a loosening (not feeling the strain of thinking you have to stay at *this* job or can't follow *this pursuit* for fear of the noose tightening).

It seems like the biggest task for Americans is decluttering. We gather, then have to declutter, then we regather and redeclutter. It's madness! I am stopping that train and getting off it...I pray for good!

Random Saturday Thoughts

(Love this snowman the kids made!)

Maine is in deep, deep winter! Yesterday we awoke to a temperature of -31* F and this morning it was -25* F. This is terribly cold for Maine! We have the windows that we can cover, covered and blankets rolled and placed in front of all the doors. My poor furnace can only raise our interior temps about 1* per 2 hours. So last night there was no turning the heat down. It just takes too long to warm up. I am so thankful that my children have electric blankets on their beds!

I have been thinking about homeschooling next year. Yes, I do start thinking about next year's curriculum in January. You know, when you feel the *January burn out*, thinking of the marvelous things you'll do *next year* helps. I don't know why but if you figure that out, let me know! I think it is kind of like those college days when you clean your room when you should be studying for finals! ;)

I am seriously and I mean seriously thinking of leaving the world of premade History and Literature curriculums and designing my own. I feel like after 10 years of using these, I have learned enough from them to venture off on my own. This scares Robin (dh) a little in the area of History (for good reason)but I think I am up for the challenge! Part of the reason for this is that Tapestry of Grace is going digital and as it is the things I print from them cost me a cartridge of ink per semester. It is just getting too expensive for no good reason (well a good reason for them to switch, no good reason for me to go along for the ride). Added to that, I have a very good local library (small, but caters to homeschoolers in book choices). So, I should be able to piece together a wonderful program through the library and save boatloads of money!

So I have Tyler pretty well figured out who is a Junior in High School next year:
Bible: Apologetics with a little Polemics thrown in with books we already own. Also, "Hey Andrew, Teach Me Some Greek" which is Biblical Greek and he will do Level 5.
History: US History via the library.(This will be a timeline project, multiple biographies and research papers).
Literature: American Literature via the libary.
Algebra 2 (1 semester which equals 1 year of High School Credit): College Algebra through local Community College. This is free as it is a dual enrollment program and in Maine you get your first 3 credits free.
Spanish (1 semester): Again, dual enrolled through Community College (2nd class is half priced).
English 101 (2nd Semester): Dual enrolled with no more *freebies*.
Maybe Contemporary Math?: Dual enrolled (final Math for High School...wahooo!)
Music: Guitar lessons with Sean, our church worship leader.
Art: Something to do with line and perspective, not sure.
Health: Yeah, lets get that out of the way with some Alpha Omega health (easy peasy!).
Science: Apologia Marine Biology, just cause he is interested and it will allow him to wait until Senior Year for Physics.
Gym: Conditioning

Okay, enough of that...let's talk about today... Today Robin is doing the grocery shopping (Hip Hip Horray! I have no desire to step a TOE outside!). I am going to keep warm over a hot stove! I am going to make:
Granola
Cinnamon rolls for tomorrow's breakfast
Pot Roast, potatoes, gravy, corn. This will be put on plates in the frig. in *case* we get to have my Teacher's meeting after church tomorrow. We can take our plates to church and just heat it in the microwave for lunch.

Ready to change the subject again?? Let's talk menu's! This month is very financially tight(join the crowd, right?). This has caused us to live more with cash and less with the debit card. I am keeping receipts, tracking spending. I have my little envelope system. Seeing the money and what is left really helps me keep my budget more on track. This also means *menus* and warning the family to please *stay away* from eating those ingredients! ;) I plan to keep this up even if things loosen up...I really am feeling God's prodding to pay off *everything* and to live on way less but I'll talk about that in a minute...

(Here's what happens if you let the pizza dough rise with the toppings on it for way too long...it was really yummy though!)

Here are our menu's for this week:

Sunday:
~B~cinnamon rolls.
~L~Pot roast, potatoes, gravy, corn.
~S~Tomato soup and grilled cheese.
Monday:
~B~Everyone gets their own cereal or bagels or granola or granola bars.
~L~Spaghetti soup.
~S~Turkey dinner (.79 per lb this week!), mashed taters, gravy, green beans, beets.
Tuesday:
~B~homemade pancakes
~L~Mac and Cheese
~S~Chicken breast, face down baked potatoes, broccoli
Wednesday:
~B~everyone gets their own
~L~Carbonara with turkey bacon
~S~Leftover turkey and gravy over rice, corn
Thursday:
~B~everyone gets thier own
~L~Homemade pizza
~S~Chicken soup made with leftover chicken breast and homemade stock.
Friday:
~B~homemade pancakes
~L~homemade turkey soup
~S~Grocery Day!
Snacks: apples, grapes, cucumbers or raw carrots, pretzels, oven popped pop corn.

Speaking of foods, have you ever tried to make a crustless quiche? My friend Kristina brings this to Bible Study every so often and I really don't miss the crust! So I tried using my own recipe for quiche and put it in the pie plate and it was quite yummy without the crust!

Here is a pic!


Well, I am out of time now...but I'll come back later and talk about finances! I know most of us are in the same boat...so if you have written about living on less on your blog, let me know and I'll mosey on over later on... :)

Contrasts

"In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation." Ps. 5:3

I am learning that for me, I must be up early before everyone in the house to have a good time with the Lord. Yesterday I woke up late and didn't have time to start out well with my reading. I still did it but it was loud in the house and I had a harder time focusing. I was *off on the wrong foot* all day long.

Last night, before bed, I prayed and prayed that the Lord would help me to get up earlier. And I did...what a difference!

This year, for my reading, I am doing the One Year Bible. I read it online at
One Year Bible Online. Then I read the One Year Bible Blog. What I love best about the One Year Bible Blog, is that the author posts a song from YouTube that relates to the reading. It really helps me to worship. I also go to Bible Gateway because they have various versions of the Bible there and I can easily compare versions.

What works for you? I know lots of people like to read at night. I have a Christian book going for before bed, but I find I am too tired for much heavy concentration. I am not normally an early morning person but I am fervently praying that God will help me to continue to get up early becuase that seems to be all that works for me in this season of life!!

What Am I Doing??

(This has nothing to do with my daily post...I just think my dog is cute!!)

Yesterday we returned to our regular homeschooling schedule and our curriculum. We had done a little last week but it was really review and stuff we don't usually have time for. So, we came back after two weeks with the typical cobwebs in our brains that we always have after a break. I always forget that there will be those cobwebs (because I am throughly *webbed* as well), but I was reminded real quick when my history buff child asked, "What is feudalism?" "Ummm, let me think, only the social, economic, government system that we studied for about the whole two months before Christmas!!" No, actually I just said, "Does the word 'serf' ring any bells?" "OOOOOHHHH," he said. Light dawned!

After two weeks away from our curriculum I have to say my response to going back was, "What AM I DOING?" Now, I do have a great curriculum and I don't mean to complain. But somewhere along the line I forgot that the point was to EDUCATE not to check off reading lists and assignments! When it comes to schooling I can be a "ready, MARCH!" kind of mom. Well it's time to pull in the reigns...on me, not them!

So, today we'll linger more over our Bible reading and actually DISCUSS it. We'll stop Math and do some review as everyone is struggling with the review sections. I might even go really crazy and let Tyler skip ONE LAB in Chemistry since it is an experiment he has done before.

I am praying God will give me ideas and help me breathe life into our studies. When you are keeping 3 grade levels going it is hard to stop and smell the roses. But there must be a way!

Yes, it's January, homeschoolers, can you tell?

Questions in My Head...

I've got some deep questions rolling around in my head. Today during the sermon, Pastor Barry asked what we would be doing in 2009 that would require faith. Are we stepping out or just living day by day going through the motions?

Last year at this time I was definitely going through the motions. Alot has changed since then. Yes, in some areas I am surely stepping out. My ministry challenges me. The possibility of failure is very real to me. I am stepping out in that I have a dream that I am hoping I am right that it is God's dream and He will bring it to pass. I want to see the kids at Lakeside Community Church not only saved but trained and reaching the community for Christ. I want them to grow up with reaching out to the unsaved for Christ and church planting and missions being as normal and expected as breathing. I don't have any earthly idea how to do that or what I am even doing. I am trying to help bring them to a destination that I haven't reached yet and so I am hoping we can go there together. I don't know the answers but I just keep trusting that God knows. I pray and walk and pray and walk. I fail...I procrastinate...I lose track of things...but for some reason God saw fit to call me to this so I will keep plugging on hoping and praying God will work through me in spite of me.

One really really big advantage I have is that, in my church, I feel very supported and encouraged. The people there...well they make me feel like I belong...that I am loved. I felt that when I was very young in my home church but now it is even more so. My family feels it too. I can tell and I see the fruit growing in them from going to a church where the Word of God is taught and preached and the people are really really real.

Let me tell you that when you mix a relationship to Christ with the love and support of other believers, your spiritual walk soars! They challenge me, they love me, they help me to look to Jesus and be more of the *me* He wants me to be. I come away from conversations with my church family wanting to read my Bible more, pray more, repent more, get right more, serve more, *be* more for Jesus. It's not about me *being* anything more than *real," but "real" in God's hands.

I am 43 years old and I have been saved a long time, since I was 11 years old actually. I've had my spiritual ups and downs. So here is the question...

Will I ever get to a place where I will be so spiritually strong in the Lord that I could do "it", whatever "it" would be that He would assign me, without all that love, support and encouragement of other believers on fire for Him? Could the joy and excitement be sustained without all those "walking partners?" What if God called us overseas? Could I really carry all that I have here with me in my heart? Or would I fizzle and grow downtrodden? Could my family and I be that for each other? Or Robin and I when the kids are grown? I really don't know the answer to that... What I am doing now feels like stepping out in faith. Will He call me to more? It only make sense that He would. Was the last desert supposed to be a desert or a neon sign telling me to move on?

I have had other times in my life before where I sense God's presence and see Him working before my eyes so strong that I know that I know that it is Him and there is no denying. I have had other times when I felt so weak and God seemed so quiet and I didn't think I would survive another day in that desert. Oh the desert is so hard. God uses it but I have no desire to go back.

God made us to need each other, to have each other. He tells us to bear one another's burdens, to speak to one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, to use our gifts to build one another up. So maybe I am suppose to need my "walking partners".

I trust my future to God, I do. I pray that He won't let me miss something He wants me to do, because I really do want to do what He wants. I pray that I will keep growing in Him and being vital for Him and strong in my walk with Him. I am cherishing this time. I am marking it with my own sort of "memorial stone." I am hoping it lasts...but trying not to hold to anything too tightly.

Sweet Saturday

(This is my little *blast from the past*. I think this was Easter 2006.)

Today is my Sweet Saturday. I hope to get ALOT done today!! It comes down, not to motivation for me, but DISCIPLINE! I'd like to sit and knit and there will be time for that if I can work hard. But there are just things that need. to. get. done.

1. Make sure we are fed for the weekend! Robin made up some pasta dough for me and we made homemade ravioli from it. I made up some meatballs for meatball subs. This was all because (a) I had ricotta cheese that needed a use, thus ravioli (b) I had sub rolls that needed a use, thus the subs. I also want to made 2 homemade pizza crusts so tomorrows *after church* lunch can be quick.

2. Make sure Children's Ministry stuff is organized. I am seriously thing of keeping it all at church as I just don't have room here. I might ask to use the computer there for labels and name tags, etc. Here is just cylces around the house and gets messy.

3. Clean the bedrooms. Mine is a dumping ground. It needs a new identity!! The kids...well we are in the process of getting rid of clothes and toys that have become unnecessary.

4. Get Christian and Rachel's school plans for the month in writing. I have head my head in Tyler's High School plans so deeply, I have let the other plans slip!

That should be enough to keep me busy today, eh?

Thank God every day when you get up that you have something to do that day which must be done whether you like it or not. Being forced to work and forced to do your best will breed in you temperance and self-control, diligence and strength of will, cheerfulness and content, and a hundred virtues, which the idle will never know.
~Basil Carpenter

My Friend Laurie~On Being Frugal

Here's what my friend Laurie had to say about how she saves on money:

One of our big ones it to PLAN leftovers into the menu. One or two nights a week we all have something different, but I'm not throwing food OUT.

I shopped at Save-A-Lot this past week. Yes it's a tiny bit of a drive, but the prices were SIGNIFICANTLY less, and I shopped for 2-1/2 weeks.

Combined that trip with a trip to CVS for some free or dirt cheap items. Two things of dish soap for .49 cents thankyouverymuch

Adding a can of beans or corn (or both) to meals like taco's to 'stretch' them further.

Baking from scratch! It costs me less than 60 cents a loaf for bread to make it (not counting oven electricity) vs buying. And it's without HFCS!

Using the messy woodstove.

Pulling curtains when it starts to cool off ~ leaving them closed on cloudy cold days ~ which really bothers me...I'd rather see the sun.

CLOTH DIAPERS!!! It's work, but it saves me around $80 a MONTH in diapers! And I can dry them on my drying wrack near my messy woodstove to help put humidity back in the air.

Make a menu...breakfast included!

Asking people for coupons. Lots of people get the paper with coupons in it. Just ask around.

Shop around for internet (we're getting ready to save on ours & we get free cable for a whole year!)

If you do have $$ to eat out order in instead of eating out. Save on the tip and waste. Our family (granted they are little mouths) can order in Chinese for less than $15 vs going out to dinner!

You can find Laurie at her blog:Peanut Butter and Fluff

My Friend Robin~On Being Frugal

My friend Robin answered my previous question regarding ideas for saving money. She said:

Ways we are saving money are:

Washing our hands in a large mixing bowl in the bathroom sink and using that to flush the toilet each time.

Showering less.

Driving less.

Not using the gas heat that this house has, using 2 space heaters instead. (I'll find out for sure next week, but I think it is saving us close to $200.00 a month)

Closing off rooms that are not needed during the day.

Using beans & lentils in place of meat.

Not purchasing 'extra' foods, such as deserts, chips, candy, soda (except for baking a few Christmas sugar cookies this week)
I often see grocery carts stuffed full of 'empty' foods. All that money spent...

Wearing clothes for more than one day, instead of washing after every wearing.

Using half of the amount of clothes washing detergent recommended UNLESS we have done yardwork or otherwise made the clothes filthy.

There's more, I'm sure!

You can find Robin at The Blog at Stokesbury.