What To Do When We're Stuck

I think most everybody in the States is mostly stuck at home right now.. Whether it's self quarantine or government quarantine.. We're pretty much stuck..

Now, staying home the majority of the time is not new to us.. But there's something psychological when you choose to stay home versus being told "you HAVE to stay home"...  Honestly for us, this stuff hit at the end of the month and got bad RIGHT before grocery shopping... I had planned on going a little earlier so we had a month of groceries, no problem... then the city issued a plan to keep the kids  at home, germs at bay and only essential outings needed.

Let me tell you something about our monthly shopping trips.  I NEED help.  It's not negotiable.  Typically my help is my kids as we go when hubby is working...  I cannot do a month of shopping by myself because two of the three stores I NEED two carts.   I'm also 25 weeks pregnant.. so pushing one cart is hard on me and baby by the end of the store, but two.. Nope I can't do it.  I can't the pull and pick up options because everybody is booked out a month at least in advance... SO... we are shopping the sales ads from our local store weekly.. The problem with that? The supplier has put a limit on how many pounds of food they can order.  WHY? I HAVE NO IDEA.  So, they are only getting essentials that are needed and those are now limited.  Our fresh veggies are getting low.   EEEK.   I'm hoping we can make it to a bigger store and to get honey before the governor issues a shelter in place order...  Then I'm relying on the local store only.   And when I say we, I mean Dennis and the kids in the van with me going into the store to get what's needed for the week-with extra peppers and onions, because those are freezable.

So what are we doing?  Impatiently waiting for the weather to warm enough to work outside and in the garage...  I have many projects waiting and going on.

We've also decided we need to be serious about eating healthier... and that means looking at all the labels and figuring out what all of those scientific names are-because some of those names are vitamins.   So.... we're starting with breakfast, pasta and breads.   Now, I wasn't planning on going into ALL the breads...then I went grocery shopping.  Guess I'm making tortillas.

So what's changing with breakfast?  Mostly the cereal..  Everything else we eat for breakfast is already real food.  Which is pretty awesome.  So I'll be making granola so we have some easy breakfast around.. But my PLAN is to just start making the kids' breakfast-whether it's hot oatmeal, baked oatmeal, coffee cake.. You get the idea?  I can't just do eggs and bacon and toast because one of our girls can't eat eggs... SO it has to be other things. 

Pasta.  The pasta sauce we buy is actually pretty basic as it is.   (Prego, Bertolli and sometimes Rinaldi.)  Dennis bought me a pasta roller and cutter when he bought me the kitchen aid mixer.  That thing is awesome.  I finally found a YouTube video on how to make pasta successfully.  Flour it until you think it's too much, then you're good.  This last batch of pasta turned out great.  My next experimental pasta is going to be farfalle and ravioli.  The kids eat macaroni and cheese a lot, so that's a meal that needs changed.   I don't have the fancy farfalle and ravioli cutters-but I have read a knife or pizza wheel works just fine, just seal your ravioli.

Bread.. Hoagie rolls, garlic bread, bagels...  We're using the hoagie rolls for the garlic bread.  Bagels were actually pretty easy, though they didn't come out very uniform in size, but I'll figure it out.  Apparently I'm making tortillas..because the store was wiped out.

Hoagie Rolls

Bagels

Corn chips! 

Cinnamon Sugar Donuts

This week I made granola and German pancakes...  The German pancakes didn't go over that well.. But it's a great protein for this mama so I'll make a single batch at a time after this.  They are eating the granola this morning..  Elijah isn't sure about it, but I've seen him eat the crunchy granola bars no problem, so he'll eat it.  It smelled pretty awesome-too much sugar for this momma. 

This weekend is my pasta experiment weekend.  We'll see how it turns out.  I'm also going to try French bread instead of hoagie rolls for the garlic bread... 
I also attempted homemade corn dogs.. that didn't turn out well... Apparently the hot dogs (or in our case, brats) have to be room temperature if not warmed up a little to get the batter to stick.... So.. we'll try again..  At least the batter could be used as corn bread muffins. 

Now, if you need help with preserving any excess groceries you might be able to pick up and are worried about spoiling, check out Jammerill's vlog.  She's freezing things I haven't heard of freezing before and I'll definitely keep them in mind.    Yes, I realize the length might be a little intimidating, but the awesome thing about Jammerill and her vlogging, she explains EVERYTHING so you don't have to watch, I usually turn it on while I'm lesson planning, folding laundry, sewing...  Might as well learn something while I'm doing housework, right? 

Be safe.  Don't forget to give time to God.  His peace passes all understanding, it's unexplainable.

~Tabitha

Getting Ready For Baby 2020

Yep, you read that right. We're expecting again.

Things are a little different this time.  Dennis is home more and I am extra thankful for it as this pregnancy has had it's difficulties.  He's my clear head when my hormones are going wacky and I can't think straight. He also helps keep me doing the day to day things when I just don't feel good.  It's so easy to say "ok, no school, no chores" when you are sick and don't feel like moving, but we have to keep looking at the end result (in this particular case, summer break) because the sooner we get done, the sooner we get summer break.

I've been having blood sugar issues this time around. It's been high.. Which is a little concerning for me because my numbers are usually really LOW.   We decided we couldn't do this pregnancy on our own like we have Hannah and Elijah...  That in itself has us both reeling a bit but knowing I have a midwife has taken a bit of the stress off of me.  A bit, not much...  I was told to eat a high protein diet, try to stay away from simple sugars.. Which has actually been surprisingly easy since sugar of any sort has been making me sick since I got pregnant.

The past two weeks of what seems like constant doctor visits has us all a bit crazy and the kids a bit behind in school.  But that's ok.  We'll still get done before June.  😆

Once I started testing my blood sugars, I realized the numbers were near the cutoff of gestational diabetes..  So I changed my diet the best I could- but honestly, with morning sickness it's that much harder.  The numbers weren't getting better so we went to a midwife.

Fortunately I passed the sugar tests!  I have been put on a high protein, low to no sugar diet...  I'm having sugar withdrawals.  But I'm finding fruit and whipped cream on top of waffles and cinnamon rolls is actually pretty good. 

This coronavirus crud is messing with my midwife appointments.     The nurse was kind enough to explain to me what to look for in case I need to reschedule... which I did.. And now grocery shopping is a bit in the air...  Has me a bit nervous to go, but that's a whole different story.  I was told to watch for cold symptoms with a fever... The problem?  Every time Elijah teeths, he has cold symptoms with a low grade fever... Guess what 20 month olds do? TEETH.  UUUGGGHHHH. 

Ok, ok.. Back to the baby.  What am I sewing this time?  A quilt, of course.. I'm trying my first hexagon quilt.  It's turning out super cute.  I sewed a lot of nursing pads (I'm collecting pictures or you can check out my Pinterest Sewing boards.)   I'm hoping to be able to not buy nursing pads this time, so I spent the money on water proofing material.   I need nursing covers, yes more than one.. That way I can keep one in the diaper bag at all times.. and have a few extra for when baby spits up on them-because it's gonna happen.   I'm really liking the full coverage ones.. so I'm going to attempt with some recycled fabric before I try with my brand new fabric I picked up.  I would love to make some baby in a bags that are summer weather friendly-we'll see how much time we have.. And our diaper bag is in major need of going away... But again, we'll see how much time we have. 

Right now I'm in the middle of the quilt.. I have to pause to make Hannah's birthday present (she outgrew her Miami Dolphin clothes) and Elijah is in major need of pants... Thankfully I found a ton of material when I digging out the batting for the quilt so I don't need to buy pants and pants are really easy to make. 

Add all of this to the normal craziness and trying to remember to keep the diffuser going with an immune boosting blend... Yep.  Life is crazy. 


~Tabitha

Having God in My Heart.... What Does It Mean To Me?

I can remember when I was younger my mom always finding new Bible studies. Always searching for somebody to explain the Bible to her. 

Something about that always made me wonder why.  Now, I can’t say some of those studies weren’t interesting.  I remember a study on the book of Daniel that was very intriguing. 

But any questions were always answered with “because”.  No  explanation, no showing me in scripture, no pointing me to scripture. 

I’m not saying that kids need to question when they are given instruction.  I firmly believe we need to teach our kids to follow instructions without question.  But to learn, they need to know they can ask questions and get an answer, or they will look in places we don’t want them looking. 

Our pastor pointed something out in a sermon.. We need to yearn for the word of God as we yearn for food.  Reading the Bible is our spiritual food, if we aren’t being fed spiritually, our relationship with God will starve and whither away.   We wouldn’t eat food that’s already been chewed, why would we read Bible passages that have already been chewed?  Why would we go find a book that somebody else has written about the Bible when we have the Bible? 

The only way to get to know God is to study the Bible. Really STUDY.  Not just read through, not try to beat somebody else to read through a book or the entire Bible.  Sit down and chew on the word.  Take your time, UNDERSTAND it.  God will show me what he wants me to see. 

I had thoughts for a bit to have a blog about my Bible time.  To write out what I’ve been reading and then what I think on it.  I see now that that is not my place.  For one, I’m a woman.  While God says that’s perfectly ok for me to teach my children, younger children and younger women.. I cannot guarantee that’s it’s just women that read my blog.  It’s not my place to be a pastor.  I’m a woman, women are not meant to be a head in the church. 

So if you disagree with that, you might as well stop reading this blog here and now. 

My job, as a Christian, a wife, a mom… is to fear God. To Love God. To Obey God.  To Follow God. To obey my husband.  To Love my husband. To SUBMIT to my husband.  To follow my husband wherever and in whatever he does-as long as he doesn’t go against God.  To take care of my children. To love my children. To  teach them that to  be a Christian is a wonderful, though hard, thing to do.  But it’s got the greatest reward we could ever have.  Heaven! 

I know that I cannot be a teacher on my blog.   But I also know that I cannot write another blog without intertwining God with it.  I cannot-and I will not-separate God from any part of my life again. 

Being a Christian is a lifestyle.  It’s not just a culture and it’s not just a religion. It’s my life.  My WHOLE life.  Everything I do needs to be centered around God. 

That doesn’t mean I’m perfect. That doesn’t mean I won’t sin.  That simply means I am striving to do my best to follow God in what I do. 

~Tabitha

Restarting A Blog...

To start a blog, you need a plan.

We plan…I’m still convinced that sometimes when we plan, God laughs.

So what’s my plan?  Great question.

A friend once told me I needed to have a set day to publish a blog every time, that way my readers know when new content is available.   So that’s a first plan.  But I don’t have a plan, because my first job is mom and sometimes “moming” interrupts plans… So I am not going to promise when I’ll get blogs out.   The next plan is make a list of blog topics-that one’s hard for me, because first I need to establish what it is I will be writing about. 

I could do many different topics, in fact, this  blog started off as a money saving blog….  Well, that severely limited the content I felt like I could put on my blog.  So… I think this time I’ll just do a blog about me.   Apparently I’m a really interesting person. 

Huh. Who knew?

So.. About me, Tabitha. 

I’m a Christian.  So many people don’t know what that even means anymore..  So what does it mean? That means that I am a born again, baptized, accepted Christ into my heart to live a new life to the best of my human ability.  Does that mean I’m perfect?  Ha. No (excuse me while I pick myself up off the floor laughing).   I’m so thankful that God is patient with me and gives me His word to learn to live like him.  I’m also thankful that we found a Bible-believing church whose other members are also patient and understand that we all mess up.

I’m a wife.  My husband’s pretty awesome, if I do say so myself-though I might be a little prejudice in that opinion. Lol   He loves God, he loves me, he loves our kids.  He takes care of us, he does his best to treat me like a princess like I don’t deserve.   Who could ask for anything more (now, if you sang that, you get bonus points.. no the points aren’t good for anything)?  The Bible tells me that God comes first, then my husband.  That’s often a struggle for me.  To be anything to anybody,  I HAVE to put God first, otherwise everything else crumbles.  To be the wife my husband needs, I have to learn what kind of wife God wants me to be.  Dennis (my hubby), knows that and reminds me when I’m not honoring God first.. From my attitude to my sewing creations lol.   To some of you, that may sound weird, condescending… patriarchal even..  But you know what?  I’m good.  Dennis isn’t condescending, he honors God in what he does and what he says. 

I’m a stay at home mom.  So many people think that’s a detriment.  It’s not.  I have the great honor and privilege of being blessed with our kids and being blessed to able to stay home with them.  No, it’s not all fun and games.  Yes, most days are crazy.. and a little aggravating.  I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

I’m sarcastic.  Have you picked up on that?... lol  I cook from scratch to the best of my ability, I am learning to sew and crochet.  Things get interesting around here.  I’m also learning to garden. 

We homeschool.  I do mean WE.  My hubby helps.  Now granted, sometimes that help is the kids see daddy doing his school and know it’s not just them getting tortured.  Lol Seriously though, our kids love school-they go a little crazy when we get more than a week off.   5 or 6 years ago I was bound and determined that I could everything for free.  If you know exactly what the kids should be learning and you can get every. Single. Subject.  I’m sure you can, but I cannot.  After listening to a sermon on the benefits of homeschooling, the pastor made a comment about needing to pick a curriculum and stick to it.  After talking to an experienced (and now “Retired”-all her kids have graduated) homeschool mom,  I learned that it’s best to give a curriculum at least 2 years.  Not only would we be getting used to a routine that was new to us, but I would be fitting something made somebody else into a way that I do something-probably completely different.   A 2 year trial is a good thing.. We started off with Abeka.  Now, I love Abeka, but it’s just not for us past kindergarten-maybe first grade…  I love their cursive programs, the kids love their books, I also like their phonics program… And that’s about where it ends.  So now we have a mix, Abeka and ACE PACE and still working with some freebies (thank you homeschool mom bloggers who put out free resources, I cannot tell you how much I appreciate your hard work!).  The kids are LOVING ACE PACEs. 

Now for the monkeys.  I mean the kids. Monkeys? They do climb a lot…. I digress

I have a 14 year old.  You won’t hear about her, though… She has chosen not to be part of our lives.  So we pray for her… and I cry thinking about her.  That’s all I can do.

Dennis and I have (for now) 5 kids… Under 10.   Yep. 5. In a 1800 square foot house.  3 bedrooms.  Don’t mind me, it’s still a little unbelievable.

Andrew is 9, Eva is 7, Grace is 5, Hannah is 3, Elijah is 1. 

Our hands and our hearts are full.

We live in South Dakota where the summers are unbelievably hot and the winters are unbelievably cold.  

~Tabitha

Stepping Away....

I'm stepping away from the blog...

I just can't keep up with things and adding something else to the mix is not working...So I've made the decision to just step away.  There will be no new blog posts. 

Thank you for reading. 

God bless
~Tabitha

Grocery Shopping March/April

I bet you're wondering what happened to me.. It's usually not this long between meal planning and shopping posts. 

Well. Snow. 

Then Rain, snow and sleet.

Then floods.  

Thankfully our house is not near a major river, but there are major rivers between us and town and in town... So we went from being snowed in, to being rained in... To FINALLY being able to go SOMEWHERE ANYWHERE.   

We still have plenty of snow on the ground, but the birds and squirrels are saying spring is finally on it's way. 


So how'd we do?  

Hubby was shopping and we were getting low on provisions... Need I say more? 

Aldi
Almond milk, butter, eggs, chicken breast (on a discount!!), ground beef, pork chips, chips, cereal, cheese, sugar, tortillas,  Syrup, dark chocolate of course.  Salsa-I love their salsa variety.  Pudding, jello.. Hubby loves their pita chips.  Spinach, snacks and supplies for the trail mix.  
Gave us a total of $184.39

Sam's 
flavored water, sweet peppers, tator tots, hot pockets, pita bread, more cheese, hoagie rolls, chicken breast tenderloins, chicken nuggets, chicken strips, chicken patties, teriyaki chicken.  (We hate chicken, can't ya tell? 😝) Flour, sugar, cinnamon rolls, ketchup, pepperoni, more cereal.  
On saver was Lucky Charms, ketchup, chips.. we saved $8.50
Total $305.15
I did have that total down to $250... but... well.. yeah.. 

Dollar Tree
After two months I FINALLY made it to Dollar Tree!!.. And I forgot stuff. :/  
Bag clips, hair stuff, root beer water flavor (hubby likes it), popcorn tubs-SORELY needed,  organizer for the desk and calendars for the kids.  We only spent $23.43

Walmart 
Non food
Bleach, Hangers, Butt Paste, coffee filters, duct tape, bath duck, teether, baby wipes, Glade Plug Ins, food scale.. $52.45
Food..  
Supper, frozen broccoli, breaded okra (ah man I forgot the ranch!!), salad kits,.... more cheese?... pizza sauce, chocolate covered pretzels and m&ms for trail mix.  Smithfield pork loin-so good y'all!!!  Yogurt out the wazzoo, yogurt covered raisins, sesame seeds, water flavoring.. and we splurged on donuts.  Total of $121.48

That makes for a total of $611.02.. $152 a week. $25.46 a person, a week..   We were talking about the uptick in our grocery bill, it's because we are doing other meals besides peanut butter and jelly for lunch for the kids.  Which is good, but it also costs more. 

Have a great week y'all! 

~Tabitha  

Meal Planning March/April

It feels like we have been snowed in for a month. 

We've gotten a lot of snow this month.. Making for the van getting stuck three times in the driveway and me walking to a few meetings in single digit weather so I didn't have to reschedule AGAIN.   

Let's put it another way...  Typically we get out twice a week for church and a few other times for miscellaneous things...  So.. probably 3 times a week.  This month, we've gotten out 4 times. 4 times.  FOUR.  The kids can't get in the back yard (literally.. it's snowed in)...  We are on break from formal school waiting on books.  We literally CANNOT LEAVE THE HOUSE much at all.  

This is our backyard.... That's a five  foot chain link fence

Hello cabin fever, how are you this year? 

Dennis and I have been staying busy with business training and regular housework.  Elijah is teething which makes for an interesting time doing anything else.  I really do miss teething tablets.  The big kids are feeling it and have been sorry when they utter the words "mom, I'm BORED".

It's become apparent this month that the kids are big enough that cereal just won't cut it anymore.  So we're going to try a few different things breakfast for them.  On the plus side, we can get $10 in animal crackers at Sam's and get snacks for all of us for the month..about 3-4 days a week... That's not too shabby. Too bad they aren't the iced ones. 

Through our business training, I'm learning how to utilize my computer more...  Now ask me how much I remember.  lol  So I'm switching from paper to computer for many things.  I'm learning Google calendar along with the Word Office Suite...  So my meal planning has been switched to Google Calendar, which also syncs with my phone.. so I'm finally able to use my painted chalkboard again. Woohoo!!  

Ok so.. Meal Plans
Breakfast... eggs, bacon, juice, oatmeal cups, muffins, waffles, farmers casserole, omelets, cinnamon rolls... 

Lunches
Weekdays-chicken sandwiches with avocados, hot pockets with chips, PB & J with jello cups or pudding cups, mac and cheese. 
Weekends-sloppy joes, sandwiches and trail mix, chicken strips and tots

Dinners
Pork Tenderloin, broccoli, potatoes
Spasagna
Pizza
crunch wraps
fish, broccoli and rice
teriyaki chicken sandwiches and potatoes
chili
pork chops, broccoli and potaotes
chicken parmesan bake
honey sesame chicken, fried rice
stuffed lasagna shells

Now.. Do I know how to take a screen shot with everything I have on the meal plan this month  like I did last month?...No.... no I don't.  Because I changed how much stuff I have on the calendar......


Part of our business training has been time management...  I mean, learning how to manage your time, what easier goal could there be to getting everything done and not feeling like you're drowning? Not to mention living simpler....

Clearly the guys doing the training don't have kids.  😂😂

Now, on the plus side, I have made it through the kitchen cupboards, we have a desk put up in the living room (the office is uninhabitable)... My computer's new home is on the desk, so I only have certain time frames I can use it unplugged... And my battery is starting to get low.  

Our desk.. Two filing cabinets.. one with extra height from miscellaneous boards because the new filing cabinet was smaller than the old.  The top is an old closet door.. I have since added quite a few things for organization.. but as soon as I can I'll hit up Dollar Tree and see what else I can find. (don't worry, that's a clean diaper)

I have baking days, cleaning days, catch-up days and sewing days on my calendar... We'll see how that works out.  lol  Along with a to-do list that integrates with my calendar... and gives me notifications when I don't get anything done.... When do I get anything done?

Have a great week! 

~Tabitha