Author: Angie

I love sipping hot coffee. I'm a married mom of 9 with one dog, a few grandsons and way TOO MANY flowers.

Food Waste Friday

No food waste to report this week. I did not purchase “real” groceries. They had pizza, baked chicken,rice, and green beans, boxed mac n cheese and Aldi battered fish patties, leftovers pizza and breakfast for dinner this week. I was a happy camper this week. I did not totally break the budget either.

I decided to have some grace for myself. I realized at this season of my life I need to do easier. I can not handle the crockpot cooking at this season.  The smell of food cooking is NOT going to work right now, and that is okay. My family can survive on whatever I am able to feed them. It doesn’t have to be fancy. Balanced would be lovely. Short and sweet is better and the less I handle it is better also.

FOOD WASTE FRIDAY

I am too embarrassed to list all of my food waste. Some is over the past two weeks. No excuses. Well maybe…. Morning sickness…ALL DAY SICKNESS has made it nearly impossible for me to make decent meals. I kind of throw things together lately. Crock pot is great on days when I can let it sit on my deck all day. I can’t stand the smell of food or nearly anything else.

 

I made some gluten free cornbread for myself. It taste gluten free. I can’t stomach it so the dogs will eat it. I have some spent bananas and plan to make a normal batch of chocolate chip banana muffins and maybe 6 gluten free ones. But I probably should not even attempt some for me. Just the thought makes me feel queasy. Maybe another time.

 

Someone gave me a lot of natural peanut butter, probably 6 of these containers. I think we used 4. These last 2 smell rancid. BOO! ICK!!

 

R (my husband) gave the dogs some yucky smelling brown rice earlier. It was pushed to the back of the refrigerator in No Man’s Land (pronounced like that really old television show from my youth…

LOST

IN

SPACE).

I know I can be quite the drama queen 😉

Well, I need help eek. I make list but need to know what has worked for other HyperEmesis moms who need to cook and don’t have someone else to cook for you? Or moms with chronic illnesses? How do you survive without help?

October 28,2011 Ramblings

Working on returning to blogging and other things that I find relaxing and comforting. I don’t know how to adjust to this new schedule yet. It is taking me awhile to catch up on housework. Seems like I barely maintain, let alone catch up. I am learning to let go of my perfectionism these days. Listening more to God and my body and resting. I did get up at 330am to do dishes that one of my children did not do last night. I noticed all the lights on last night and got up to turn the off. I am trying to lower all

of our bills but it seems to be a lone venture. Our power bill has been crazy expensive and I feel we are wasting resources that we currently do not have.

Our water bill has also become exorbitantly expensive so I feel we must have our utility company check for water leaks as soon as possible.

Classical Conversations has been wonderful for my boys and I. Last year this time I was quite stressed and feeling a failure as a homeschooling parent. I met a wonderful group of ladies. It was such a God match. I could not have planned it better myself. We all have a love for God and an overwhelming desire to please HIM and do HIS will, regardless of what is happening around us. I feel so blessed that God has sent me to them and them to me. Most of my self doubt in the homeschooling department has left. We give one another accountability and fellowship of common minds.

I would like to start a Challenge group for my boys. I am not sure if that is too much for me yet or not. I have gotten better at saying no, when, at one time, I used to take on too much. I need to find out what the title of Director of Challenge group entails and also figure out which or if I am interested in being a Challenge tutor. I am trying to work “catch up” with my older boys. I want to teach their level stuff but also give them Foundations learning too. All of it make so much sense and is so important. My eldest son is not interested at all in Latin. People fail to realize the roots can teach us the meanings of so many English words and helps you learn any other foreign language much much easier.

Very Short Update:

We are still around. Slowly trying to adjust to R’s new work schedule. He started a new job about a month ago. It is close to home. He rides his bike to work. He makes a dollar more per hour. He even got paid to work over time when they needed to catch up on something. He works seconds shift so it has been really awkward for me.

My girls do not have a car and live at home,  so I must get up early every morning to take them to college. Which should be fine because I am a morning person. R likes to come home and eat dinner and talk and watch television for a few hours. So I have been extremely tired. Also I am a few months expectant so I am additionally tired. I am finding it impossible to keep the littles asleep once he arrives home so noisily. He says it is okay, they can sleep in I can sleep in. But I can not sleep in.

Once a week we attend Classical Conversations and I must awaken even earlier to get wet children bathed and dressed and out the door, drop off the girls and get to Co-op.

New schedule and Update

R started nights on his job, which means he was working from 10pm til 6am. He went on job interviews and such immediately after he would drop the girls off at school. He was hired at several places. He actually took the job that was closest to our home. He now gets to ride his bike to work. He no longer works swing shift. He was a stable second shift job and make 1 dollar more per hour than he made at the job he started in August. So of course he quit that job. We were spending  almost half his paycheck on gasoline for the van. We were happy he had a job, but it really was a strain driving so far daily and I felt like I practically lived in the van. It is nice to be able to not drive all day.

Last week D. came in second in the school race against Pine Lake Prep. It was a first time in a long time. He just looked green that day. I think the pollen got to him? He did great despite not feeling well. I am proud of my tough,strong son for sucking it up and doing what needs to be done even when not feeling well. He is NOT a complainer and works so hard at everything he does.

Kl is working at our local grocery store. Usually several days per week.

The 3 little boys are doing great so far with home school. We are doing Classical Conversations. We are having lots of fun learning.

Kr continuing to heal from major surgery last December. She is doing well at school.

DJ is really into reading lately. So I am trying to keep him well supplied with really good books.

Praise and Reflection

I have definitely been super über busy. I want to document this time in my life so I may remember how God moves in HIS timing. Also seeing how things look so very odd from the outside, even to me, I see HIS hands in our lives. Everything isn’t easy, I do have peace in the midst of it all.

R has been working a few weeks now I think for an agency as a contracted temp to hire. We are still behind in bills, but at least we have a chance to catch up with income coming in. He works a swing shift. It is now 2 weeks on a shift before switching. Next week is night shift.Since we have one car….

( his died….their is an entire ordeal surrounding his car that makes me to angry to detail… short version.. his/our nephew took it apart to pieces and sold them. The carcass sat in our driveway a few weeks before I called a junk yard to haul it away. We could have gotten a few hundred dollars had we sold it a junk yard originally. Instead of giving much-needed money away when R wasn’t working and causing an eyesore to our neighborhood. I felt sick every single time I went outside until I  had the thing removed!)

I have been on the road a lot. I have had lots of time to pray alone and quiet times with God. We are spending too much on gas and putting lots of miles on the van. R HAS A JOB!! PTL!! YIPPEE SKIPPEE!! So I can not complain. I just count on God to get me through the day. Some times I am so tired. It has been great to have 2 weeks worth of meals preplanned. I religiously use my crockpot. I have found some wonderful recipes online for healthy meals.

My current life is a series of notes and notebooks. My little boys are officially in Classical Conversations. I felt led to join or try knowing at the time R had no job and we are in dire circumstances. When praying felt led to join anyways. I thought maybe we would be able to officially join by Christmas and told the Director this.  God laid it on the heart of an anonymous donor to pay for the two little boys to join now! I have started unofficially teaching the older boys at home. I could not even imagine what God had in store for our family. I just knew that this is where he wants us. The same with staying home with the children. I have felt bad for months even though I felt a sense of peace in my decision. R agree also. That I belong at home with the children. Some people no longer speak to me because of my choices and feel I have taken this have faith thing a little too far.

I am finding a sort of freedom in being alone. No pressures from the outside.

I have a collection of notes I will peruse and decide if they are post worthy.

No time.

I haven’t had time to blog.
R has new job, starts on Tuesday.
I have so many things to get done on my to do list before starting school in a week.
We have one vehicle, so I had to make a schedule that I stick to strictly. I have had to get littles going to bed much earlier.
I will be rising at 430am instead of 530am this year. One hour is a big deal. I will be okay, I just need the little boys in bed early and my older kids need to be quiet all lights out by 1000pm and no later.

I have a camera full of pictures I need to download. I have a few post I have written in my notebook while waiting at the doctor’s office for my appoinment

I spoke with the bank, some how they will work out payments with us to keep us from loosing our home.

Today we are supposed to be going to a reunion a a church we attended years ago. Me and the older children are going, R is staying home with the littles. I would rather stay home, I am too tired to go anywhere. I despise feeling so tired. The hematology/oncology office will call and set up an appointment for me to spend the day at the hospital receiving an iron treatment. I told the Friday is more convenient because my daughters do not have class on Friday. They start Fall semester this week. We are waiting for Kayla also to be scheduled with her new job. She is supposed to receive two weeks training.

My days will be long. David’s cross country practice will be in the afternoons now instead of mornings, like it has been the past month.

Lots of my home school books have started selling on Amazon.com under the name SimplyFreeLife. I am trying to sell all of my books that I don’t use or do not plan to use, at least any time soon.

Going to rest a moment before I get dressed.

 

A Morning Call

The Agency called R and told him, he passed the background test. He goes in Wednesday for a drug test and should be able to start work on Tuesday. He will be trained on first shift working 6am till 2pm. I am working on getting my little people into bed by 7pm. I am also trying to get my school planning done up through December 2011.  We are excited, now trying trying to work with a company to prevent foreclosure on our home!