Whirlwind (part 2)

Until....

We had to take the car back. Yes, that's right, we had to take the car back. We had the car for 2 days shy of one month. As a matter of fact, we didn't even have a chance to make a first payment when the dealership called and said that the bank financing us decided they couldn't finance us after all due to our poor credit. I couldn't believe it. We had to take the car back to the dealership. We got our down payment back at least, but now we have no car - well one for my husband to take to work and one for me. (How spoiled we are!)

We still have the truck I drive around town, but taking that to work everyday (100 miles a day) is going to be a killer on gas!! And this will leave me car-less! UGH!!!

At first, I was pretty bummed. As a matter of fact, I was depressed. I was so frustrated with how our life was turning out. From the horrible tradgedy our family had suffered the last couple of years, to my job loss, possibly losing our home, and now this... I was asking, "How much more do we have to go through God?" I was beginning to feel God had forgotten about us.

After thinking it through, it really isn't that big of a deal. We are a homeschooling family which means I do not have to take my children to and from school. I have the truck on the night my children go to our church for Awanas. We have a friend that can take us to church on Sundays. We live within walking distance to a grocery store. It is a quick 10 minute walk to pick up any items we might need during the day. Anything else we need can wait. I have found that I am saving money by not running to the store everytime we have a whim that we need something. This has definitely been a lesson in living more simply and making sure I am organized with my errand list on my hubby's days off.

I think the feeling that I "can't" go somewhere is the depressing part. In reality, I often stay home and don't go anywhere for several days. It was just knowing that I "can't" that makes me feel confined. Isn't that silly?

I'm not sure of the reason, but I know that God has one for not letting us keep the car. Maybe the car we bought was a lemon. We already had a couple of problems with it. Nothing with the motor, more to do with the body, hinges, windows, etc. I truly believe that God was rescuing us from something bigger. We can't always see or understand his plan, but if we wait patiently it will be revealed to us.

Many, many, many times over the last couple of years I have looked back on the things we suffered through and could see each moment with 20/20 clarity! I have had so many "ah-ha" moments when I have realized God's plan and purpose for the way things turned out. While I was in the middle of all the muck it was difficult, but my family and I are so much stronger for it! And now I can see why things happened the way they did.

I know that someday I will reflect back on this time with clarity and be able to say, "So that is why it happened that way." Until then, I just continue to pray and thank God for the wonderful things He is doing in our lives. I thank Him for the incredible love and understanding of His Word that the Holy Spirit has provided in my children. I know that each experience we face as a family, makes my children stronger and ready to face the obstacles they will face in their lives. I hope they will be able to look back on their child hood and say, "Wow, we were able to make it through all of that, I can face anything with God on my side."

"But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint." Isaiah 40:31

I know that God has a plan for us. At first I was mad that God allowed all of this to happen, starting with the accident itself. I have since remembered, God knows what he is doing. We have no idea the trouble from which we have been saved or what our future has in store.

"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven... For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Matthew 6:19-21

Whirlwind (part 1)

We have had a crazy six weeks. And we have spent it......

Sick, Car Shopping, Depressed and Celebrating a Birthday!

Right in the middle of these crazy six weeks, our family was super sick. I was first to be sick, vomiting and.... well, let's just say I spent a lot of time in the bathroom. It was awful. I stayed in bed for two days drinking Gatorade and ginger ale. After I was better, my six year old son started... I was up all night with him, shoving a bucket under him every 15 minutes or so. No sleep for me. The following night it was my two year old son's turn... and another night of no sleep for me. For the next five days, my two year old would be fine one night and sick the next. When he was finally well, my eight year old daughter was the last to be sick. For two weeks, this awful sickness swept through the family but thankfully never made it to my hubby. He was able to avoid us and go to work!!

Before we were sick, we spent the first two weeks of February car shopping. Not what we wanted to do... however, my dear sweet hubby was in a car accident. He was fine, maybe just a little whiplash the next day, but overall perfectly fine. It was a simple fender bender. One driver cut off a line of cars resulting in the chain of cars slamming on their brakes and my husband just couldn't stop in time. The car he hit had one tiny scratch on the bumper, so we didn't think it was a big deal. We have excellent, full coverage insurance so we figured our car would go to the shop, we would get a rental while it was being fixed and then all would be well. In the end, our car was totaled.  Basically, since the car was 13 years old, it would have cost more to repair it than it was worth. Yikes!

Oh man, this was not the news we wanted to hear. What were we going to do? We are not in a good credit position since we have been struggling with my income loss and possible home foreclosure. Financing a car was going to be difficult. The small amount of money we were getting from the insurance company wasn't enough to find something reliable with low mileage from a private party. Neither my husband nor myself are mechanically inclined, so buying an old, used car that could break down was a scary thought.

Of course, I was praying that God would send the right car our way. I searched online, in the paper, had family and friends looking, but what we found just didn't make us comfortable. We went to a few dealerships and left more depressed than before. Searching for a car consumed every spare moment we had each day for two weeks. Until finally, we found someone willing to work with us.

We were able to find a 2011 Toyota Corolla. Super cute, clean, a little high on the mileage, but the main thing was that we found a dealership that was willing to help us buy this car. When everyone else said no, they told us that they would make it work. It was a great commuter car getting great gas mileage which was on the top of our priority list since my hubby drives 100 miles a day for work. Since the car that was totaled was a 13 year old car, we worried it would break down at any time. Although it was not an ideal time to shop for a car, a newer more reliable car sounded fantastic!!

I was incredibly happy our car search was over..... until......

(stay tuned for part 2!)

Organization Tip # 3

I get a little bit crazy when my house starts to explode around me. Being a home schooling family, we are home a lot! This means that we are readily available to mess it up all the time! And we do!!! And it makes me crazy! I am the type of person that has trouble functioning in messy surroundings. I need organization.

So how do I beat the house explosion blues?

We have a simple phrase we use: house sweep. This simply means we quickly sweep through the house picking up any items that are out of place. All items are placed in the appropriate bedroom, room or area of the house where the item belongs.  We pick up anything that is not where it is supposed to be - even if it belongs to someone else. We don't actually take the time to put everything away during the house sweep; we put them away during our afternoon chore/responsibility time. This is just a quick (five minutes or less) straightening up of the house.

Dad or I can call a house sweep at any time. Whenever we feel things are getting out of control or the toys are starting to trickle down the hallway, the kids know a house sweep is on its way. Sometimes my kids will even see the house getting messy and do a house sweep on their own. Each night, each child is responsible for a house sweep before bed, during their evening responsibilities/chores. This is really just to help me so that I don't have to pick up the house after every one is in bed.

A house sweep is great for any family, home schooling or not, with or with out kids, and at any time. It is a great way to quickly pick up and keep your house neat, tidy and better organized.

Reset Your Day

Have you ever had a day where you wish you could just crawl back into bed and start over? I think we have all been there once or twice or hundreds of times... especially when you have children.

There are days when we as humans just wake up on the wrong side of the bed, hence the reason that phrase came about. At least that is true for my family. Sometimes, as the day progresses, we get grumpier and grumpier. As a homeschooling family this can be extremely difficult when it is important that children cooperate to get the work done. I get frustrated when 20 minutes of work turns into 2 hours of struggling noncooperation.

What can you do in those moments of frustration and grumpiness?

Something that I do to help either myself or my family combat a grumpy day is to Reset the Day. If it is me that needs a reset, I will have my children go to their rooms so mommy can have a timeout. Then I will read a bit in my bible or inspirational book and pray. By praying, I am reminded exactly "why" we have chosen to be a home schooling family, in spite of the bumps in the road. This gives me just enough "oomph" to keep on going and change my attitude.

When it is my children that need a reset, we essentially do the same thing. First I determine if it is one or all that need a reset. If it is just one, that particular child and I will go into his/her room and read the Bible and pray for God to reset his/her day. If it is all of us that need a reset, we curl up on the couch, read the Bible and pray as a family.

Whether we are resetting the day together or separately, we talk about what might have made the bad mood start and what we can do in the future to prevent being mean, grumpy or uncooperative just because we are grumpy.

I only spend 5-10 minutes to reset the day, but in the end it saves me so much more time. It is amazing that something so simple is all that it takes for a recharge and to reset attitudes. After we take a few minutes to reset the day we can get back to our routine and continue, without the fighting or noncooperation. And the best part, is that I don't have to discipline bad behavior by letting it get out of control.

If we notice a bad mood setting in...
We acknowledge the bad mood and why it started.
We read the Bible to see what God has to say about getting along, obeying parents, etc.
We pray and ask God to help us reset the day and change our hearts with a better attitude.

If you are having a bad day, take a few minutes right now to Reset Your Day.

God Bless!

Organization & Thrifty Tip #2

Yep, that's right, my next organization and thrifty tip are all wrapped up in one neat little blog post!

Ready? This one is super easy!

Plan your meals ahead of time.

Yep, that's it! It's that easy. Plan them ahead of time and you will save time and money.

It's up to you how you decide to plan your meals. I know some people that plan a month at a time, 2 weeks at a time, one week at a time, or just a few days at a time. Only you can decide what will work best for your family. I tend to plan only a few days at a time since my hubby's schedule is so sporadic and our family is a little spontaneous with our activities (because we never know when we can do fun things with him!) I need to make sure our dinners coincide with his schedule, which changes rapidly.

After deciding on a few meals, I write them down on my daily dockets for the week. This keeps me on track each day. (You can find the download for the daily docket I use as well as several other great organizational tools -all FREE- here: http://simplemom.net/tools/downloads/ ) If I have a busy day planned, I make sure my meal is one I can throw in the slow cooker. That way, after a super long busy day, when it is time to fix dinner it is already done - for the most part anyway.

When I was a full time working mom, my sister called me the "Crock Pot Queen." I used my crock pot EVERY DAY, even days when I didn't work. I found that after a long day of work, I was in no mood to "figure out dinner" and instead would drive through the nearest burger joint. However, if the main part of my dinner was already cooked, it was easy to boil noodles, cook rice, steam some veggies, etc. Most of the thinking was already done and all I had to do was to pull it all together. Plus it is wonderful to walk in the house with the scrumptious smells of dinner making everyone hungry and ready to eat.

Another way planning your meals will help you save time and money is less trips to the grocery store! Obvious time saver! Plus, less chance to spend money on impulse items. Stores are known to place items right in front of you to help fill that basket. If you are there less, then there is less chance to make those impulse purchases... money saver!

Hope you can use my thrifty organizational tip!

Blessings to you!

Never Say These 10 Things to a Mom

I wanted to share this article on Redbook's website that is just - oh so true - on both sides of the coin. 10 things never to say to a Stay at home mom and 10 things never to say to a working mother. I have been on both sides of these conversations. I always want to say to people, "You worry about your family and I will worry about mine."

Follow this link to read the lists here:

http://www.redbookmag.com/kids-family/advice/stay-at-home-mom-pet-peeves?src=soc_fcbk

 

The truth is we are all meant to be right where we are. We all have our own choices to make. And if we choose to be a working mom or a stay at home mom, that is our prerogative. Why is it anybody else's business anyway? Big pet peeve of mine.

 

Now if only I had a list of 10 things never to say to a home school family....

 

Have a great weekend.

 

(Do you thing Puxatawny Phil will see his shadow or not? I hope not, I am ready for spring to be on its way!!!)

Good Things Come to Those Who Wait

I know, I know... all those great tips I promised I'd blog and here it's been almost a week... and no blog!  Please be patient, this has been a CRAZY week for us. I don't think one single day went according to our routine/schedule - we just had so much going on!!!

I just wanted to drop a little note and tell you about a couple of the blessings that filled our days and that I have some great blogs in the works.

One of the activities on the top of my priority list was a mother/son date on Tuesday. My six year old son worked super hard to earn this date and he chose to go to Red Lobster for lunch. He ordered Snow Crab Legs and Clam Chowder. What can I say? He loves seafood!!

My hubby and daughter had a date on Wednesday and she chose to go bowling and then go to the music store to look at guitars. She is saving up to buy a new one. She also worked super hard this week to earn her date with Daddy.

We also had the priviledge of watching our friend's one year old for the day today. He was the sweetest little fellow and super good. Of course my eight year old daughter thinks all babies are just live dolls to carry and dress and love. It was a fun day.

So.... please be patient.... as you can see I have had much more important things going on this week. More important than sitting at the computer. However, I have several blog posts that are in process. One of them is about how my kid's earn their special dates with Mom and Dad. I am working on a 3 part series explaining how we use our responsibility (chore) chart, one on tax time organization and one on helping kid's to whine and complain less! I know that one appeals to just about everybody!!! I also have a couple homeschooling blogs in the works - how we set up our history time line, how I break up the day, and another about how to encourage your kiddos to keep going!  I just haven't had a chance to fine tune, add pictures or post them yet.

Good things come to those who wait! I hope your week is filled to the brim with blessings as well. Thank you for your patience!!! There is so much more to come!!