Family

  • Box Tops for School

    The girls are always on the look out for Box Tops for their school!  A couple months ago I spent an evening with the girls gluing all our box tops onto the sheets.  Every full  box top sheet (50 box tops per sheet) gave the girls an entry into a drawing and a little special toy.

    Since I have two kids I wanted to fill at least two sheets.  Each box top gives $0.10 cents to your child’s school so by filling up two pages our family would be helping the school get $10 to use.  Since it takes our family awhile to build up our stash of box tops I typically do this activity once a year, but when the girls went to bed we only had 88 box tops, we were still 12 short of filling up 2 sheets (100 box tops).  They were disappointed that we didn’t have enough for both sheets but went to bed hopeful.

    After the girls went to bed I went through the pantry looking for all the extra box tops still on the boxes of food.  And guess what!?  I found 12 more to put onto the sheet for them to take to school.  The girls were so excited to see the completed box top sheet on their bar stools at breakfast the next morning.  Love being able to make my girls smile, even if it means removing the box tops off the items still in the pantry.

    To get more information on Box Tops and how you (and your school can participate) can be found at Box Tops for Education.

  • Tips on Making Lunch Box Meals Fun & Healthy!

    School Lunch – PB&J, Chocolate Milk, Yogurt, Jello, Strawberries, Banana Pepper and Tomatoes

    This year we made the decision to pack school lunches for the girls in effort to make sure they are eating a well balanced meal at lunch and to save a little extra in the budget.  Since Jake and I have pretty much as taken lunches to work the girls thought it was a great idea.  They now take their lunch bags to school every day but Friday, on Friday they eat the school lunch (usually it is a special meal like pizza or hamburgers or something else).  Brina and Karlie have enjoyed being able to bring a lunch and most days they pick out the majority of the items they are going to take.

    Here’s what I pack:

    • Meat or Protein – PB&J, Soup, Sandwich or something easy to eat)
    • Diary – Yogurt or Cheese Stick
    • Fruit – Fresh Fruit or Applesauce
    • Vegetable – Fresh Vegetable
    • Snack – Pretzels, Teddy Grahams, Jello, etc…
    • Drink – Water, Chocolate Milk, Milk, Juice, Box / Bag

    School Lunch – PB&J, Cheese Stick, Jello, Fresh Strawberries, Juice Bag, Fresh Tomates & Banana Pepper

    It is important to me that the girls get a well balanced meal at lunch time.  One of the fun parts about packing lunches for your spouse and kids is you get to add in what our family calls a “special surprise”!  Typically the girls / Jake do not know that the surprise has been added because they were not there when I was putting the finishing touches on the lunches or I put it in later that evening.

    Special Surprises for lunch boxes:

    • Something Sweet  – about 1 or 2 times a week I will put in a homemade cookie, piece of candy or something sweet.
    • Love Note – usually on a sticky note and sometimes written on a bag or sandwich container
    • Random Shapes – sandwiches cut into shapes (squares, triangles, hearts, etc…)
    • Special Drink – occasionally I will get a special drink (like one that fizzes when they add it to their water, chocolate milk, or something Jake enjoys)
    • Mystery Smiles – I try to sneak mystery smiles into their lunches by using food, sometimes a random smile on a bag or other ways of sharing a smile (see picture below)

    The key is to let your family know that you are thinking about them. Special surprises do not need to take up a huge amount of extra time.  I keep a dry erase marker on the fridge and a sticky pad in the kitchen so they are handy for writing a quick note.  If I make cookies I just bag some up when putting them away to stick in their lunches.  Or if you find a special drink on sale stick that in the lunch box for them to enjoy.  The girls express great joy in discovering and sharing their goodies.  It doesn’t take me long to do it but it makes them feel loved and appreciated.

    A banana pepper and two small tomatoes in a snack bag make the perfect mystery smile for a kids school lunch.

    What items do you put in your spouse or kids lunches (food or special surprises)?

  • What Do You See – a Mess or a Race Track?!

    After lunch one Sunday the girls were instructed to pick up the newspaper after they were finished looking at it while Jake and I worked for a few minutes on our schedules for the upcoming week.  After about thirty minutes or so I came back into the kitchen and this is what I saw…..my first thought was “seriously, what a huge mess!”  Instead of picking up the papers they had spread all of them over the kitchen and dining room floors.  When asked as to why they didn’t pick “up” the newspaper they told me “Well we decided that it would make a great race track!”

    Although the mess was big I had to hold back from laughing.  It was a pretty cool looking race track even if it was a mess.    They were quite proud of their “track”.  So despite the fact the kitchen and dining room looked like they were carpeted with newspaper and ads I decided to let them enjoy it for the afternoon as long as they would pick it up before we left for Awana that evening.

    The silly part is that they had a blast with the newspaper.  Who would have ever thought that a newspaper could provide so much entertainment.  They rebuilt the roads several times, added new vehicles, used it as a walking track, and several other silly things all in that one afternoon.  In a matter of hours that newspaper got more love and provided more entertainment then all the other newspapers we have ever received put together.  And the best part, when asked to pick it up (the second time) the girls did it happily and in a matter of a couple of minutes.

    So was it worth me having to endure a messy house for a few hours?  Absolutely!  The girls had fun, they used their imaginations, were creative, and played well together.  The problem is I don’t always “react” well when I see a mess someone in my family has created whether intentionally or unintentionally.  Sometimes I am more worried about the mess they are making that I don’t allow them to just have fun.  Yes, having a clean has is important but if the house is always perfect then a race track would never happen.

    It was worth a temporary messy house to hear the girls giggling together over a silly newspaper converted into a race track.  Thankfully this time around I gave into just enjoying the fun moment and waited to clean up the mess later.  What do you see – the mess or the race track?

  • Intentional Living: Weekly Goals

    I made some progress last week on my goals!  Thankful for the opportunity move forward on my goals despite a busy 2012 first quarter.  Since I have a conference for part of the week the list will be shorter.

    Here is the update on last weeks goals:

    Family Goals

    1. Spend 1-on-1 time with each child everyday
    2. Read a book to the girls everyday
    3. Have each girl read 1 book to myself or Jake 5 days this week – the girls were sick this week
    4. Go on my Date Night with Jake (we got free movie tickets so excited to enjoy some time away together) – We gave away our free movie tickets because we had to cancel our Date Night, the kiddos got sick.  🙁 I am hoping to get it rescheduled soon.
    5. Get the girls Birthday Party Details Started

    Personal Goals

    1. Exercise – walk at least 5 days this week – I did it again (victory dance).  It has helped give me more energy throughout my days too!
    2. Go to bed by 10:30 pm or earlier Monday to Thursday – was bad about this one, it was after 1 am one night
    3. Finish reading Crush It by Gary Vaynerchuk – still working on it
    4. Read and listen to the next section of  Desiring God: Finding Complete Satisfaction and Joy in God by John Piper (our church Community Group is going through this book together).
    5. Get my Travel Visa Application Sent

    Home Management Goals

    1. All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one day
    2. Weekly Dinner Menu planned and written by Monday
    3. Spend 30 minutes every day picking up / cleaning the house
    4. Dinner ready by 5:30 PM (Monday through Thursday) – it was closer to 6 pm a couple of days
    5. Spend time re-organizing and de-cluttering the office
    6. Update Family & Friends Contact Information – glad to have this information updated 🙂

    Business Goals

    1. Pay all bills that come in the mail this week
    2. Work on ideas for upcoming blog posts
    3. Spend 10 minutes a day cleaning and organizing my desk
    4. Plan new implementations for blog
    5. Start working on 2011 business taxes – gathered the information and paperwork but nothing more yet

    Ministry Goals

    1. Email our weekly Community Group update including upcoming events on the calendar, praises, and prayer requests
    2. Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch

    Financial Goals

    1. Stay within Budget on Groceries $40 for 4
    2. Emergency Fund – save 3 months worth of living expenses – moving forward on this goal
    3. Start working on our personal 2011 taxes

    Here are my goals for the upcoming week:

    Family Goals

    1. Spend 1-on-1 time with each child everyday
    2. Read a book to the girls everyday
    3. Spend some time with extended family

    Personal Goals

    1. Exercise – walk at least 5 days this week
    2. Read and listen to the next section of  Desiring God: Finding Complete Satisfaction and Joy in God by John Piper (our church Community Group is going through this book together).

    Home Management Goals

    1. All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one day
    2. Weekly Dinner Menu planned and written by Monday

    Business Goals

    1. Attend the Pro Ag Conference
    2. Pay all bills that come in the mail this week

    Ministry Goals

    1. Email our weekly Community Group update including upcoming events on the calendar, praises, and prayer requests
    2. Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch

    Financial Goals

    1. Stay within Budget on Groceries $40 for 4
    2. Emergency Fund – save 3 months worth of living expenses

    I think it is important to share and encourage each other as we seek to improve our lives and the lives of those around us.  I want to live intentionally not just hope all my dreams and goals come true.  When I focus on small steps of improvement I am able to see results as I get closer to my goals.  Some weeks I get closer to the goals I have in my life and other weeks a take a few steps back (life happens, emergencies occur, people get sick).  Once the goals are written down and shared it provides a guideline for what I aim to accomplish this week.

    Why Share My Goals?

    • To keep me accountable
    • To share a piece of my life with you as I strive to be a better Child of God, Wife, Mom, Friend, Homemaker, Entrepreneur and the many other roles I have each week
    • To have my goals consistently written down so I can gauge progress more accurately
    • Create healthy habits in my life
    • To encourage you to share your goals with me as you continue to grown and learn

    How did you do this week on your goals?  Feel free to share or link to your list of weekly goals.

    The picture above is one that I created for my own purposes, however, The “SMART” acronym was originally coined 30 years ago by Peter Drucker in his classic work, Management by Results

  • Game: Wits & Wagers by North Star Games

    In an earlier post I mentioned the Wits and Wagers by North Star Games that we received as a gift.   On the box it says “The Most Award Winning Party Game in History.”   This game quickly became a family favorite.  We have played this game many times since receiving it and have shared it with several other family and friends as well.  The game is based on facts, however, you don’t need to know all the answers in order to enjoy, participate, or even win the game.

    Our family enjoys having games nights and are excited about finding great games we can play together.  If you are looking for a fun family game you should check this one out or better yet come on over and play a round with us.  The rounds go pretty quickly and you will be surprised at how much you’ll learn.  You may just have a little fun along the way! 🙂

  • Living on a Budget: Groceries $40 for 4

    I wasn’t able to spend a lot of time shopping the sales this week with all the extra stuff going on around here (including sick family members for a couple days), but I was able to go to a couple stores and pick up some stuff.  Most of the stuff I stocked up on were items that we can use over the next few weeks.  Here is my weekly update on our Groceries $40 for 4.

    Groceries from Ingles and Walgreens

    Ingles Groceries:

    • $27.93 at Ingles for 1 loaf Laura Lynn Bread, 2 boxes Act II HomePop Popcorn, 2 boxes Act II Light Popcorn, 2 boxes Act II Butter Popcorn, 2 bags Laura Lynn Oyster Crackers, 2 jars Vlasic Dill Relish, 3 bags Laura Lynn Shredded Cheese, 1 container Deans Onion Dip, 2 boxes Yogurt (clearance for 50 cents each), 1 block Sharp Cheddar Cheese, 2 bags English Muffins, 4 tubes Laura Lynn Texas Biscuits,  2 tubes Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls, and 2 loaves French Bread.  (Everything I bought this week at Ingles was on sale, marked down, or on clearance.  I was able to pick up some more cheese on sale, and used some coupons for the items purchased!)

    Walgreens Groceries:

    • $7.27 at Walgreens for 2 gallons Milk, 1 box South Beach Granola Bars, 4 boxes Mountain Dew (12 packs),  (everything was on sale, I used coupons, registered rewards, and I received $5.99 in Register Rewards back to use towards my next purchase.)

    This week I spent $35.20 on groceries.  Even though I was under on my budgeted amount for the week I was able to stock up on some items at the same time.  I was thrilled to stock up on bread and diary items as well as other great fridge & pantry items this week.  I hope that next week is better week and we can come under budget!

    It is my goal to give you regular updates on this budget section so you can celebrate the good weeks with me and thump me on the bad weeks!  As always you are welcomed to join the journey with me.  I would love to hear your story and how you are doing too.  The purpose of our family doing this it to watch our grocery spending while allowing us to feed our family, enjoy life, share with others, and yet stay on track with our budget.

    Living on a Budget is a series of ways our family uses a budget to help keep us accountable with our finances.  Life doesn’t always go as planned.  We have used some of the ideas I will be sharing for years while others are ones we are just starting to implement as we continue finding ways to be creative and have fun with what we have been given.  Having a plan in place allows us the freedom to be smart with what we have been given, get more creative when it is a tight (week, month, year or a season) and when necessary live a much more simplified life.  A budget helps us stay on track so we have more opportunities to enjoy the many blessings we have been given as well as share what we have with others.  There is so much more to life than having all the stuff.  We may not have the newest or greatest items in our house, we drive used cars, and wear hand-me-down clothing…..however, if our family is taken care of and have love for each other and others we have more than all the riches in the world.

  • Recipe: Pizza Cups

    Pizza Cup

    Our family enjoys pizza cups.  This main dish contains only 4 ingredients and easy to put together.  You can make them from scratch or if you have leftover spaghetti or lasagna meat sauce you can make these pretty quickly.  These are simple, fun, and delicious for the family to eat for dinner (plus you can use up some of your leftovers).  The girls like helping put these pizza cups together and taking them to school.

    Pizza Cups:

    • 1/2 pound lean Ground Beef
    • 1/2 (12 oz) jar Spaghetti Sauce
    • 1  (8 count) can Biscuits
    • 4 oz shredded Mozzarella Cheese
    • Pepperoni Slices (optional)

    Brown the ground beef in a pan, drain the excess oil.  Add the spaghetti sauce to the meat and heat until begins to boil then turn down to simmer.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Cut the biscuits in half, flatten them, and press them into a greased cupcake cups (16 count).  Use an ice cream scoop and put the meat mixture into the biscuit cup, sprinkle shredded cheese over it, and bake for 10 minutes (or until the cheese melts).

    Whole Biscuit

    Cut the biscuits in half

    Biscuits pressed into a cupcake pan.

    Scoop meat sauce mixture into the individual biscuit cups.

    Sprinkle shredded mozzarella cheese over the meat mixture

    Baked Pizza Cup

  • Family Activities: Enjoying the Simple Things in Life……

    Jake pulling Brina and Karlie in the wagon (Brina’s waving at me).

    When the weather is beautiful you’ll often see our family outside.  After more than a year without the mower we finally were able to get it fixed.  My Dad and Grandpa actually found a local mower repairman that fixes older lawn mowers in his garage (we were thankful for the help in locating someone to get the mower repaired for a reasonable price, isn’t family awesome). You don’t realize how much you use a mower until it is broken.

    When there isn’t the extra funds to fix it or to buy a new one you make do with what you have.  We did purchase a walk behind cylinder mower (the one with just the blades, no motor) for a $6 dollars at a yard sale that helped hold us over until the mower could be fixed.  With the push mower (and you really had to push with all the weeds in our yard) and weed eater we were able to keep the weeds down and made the front yard presentable which bought us some time.

    Since the mower was working again and the girls had been helping they were given a ride in the wagon.  It is amazing how just a simple ride in the wagon can bring out the giggles in the kids.  If you take a simple activity like pulling the wagon behind the mower and make it an adventure the kids will have fun.

    It didn’t take much of Jake’s time to give them a ride around the yard but it meant a lot to the kids.  Even if you cannot do something big or fancy for your kids taking a walk, pulling them in the wagon, collecting funny looking sticks, or playing catch can be great opportunities to spend time together.  The point is to deliberately spend quality time with your kids everyday.  These precious memories are ones that you will look back and smile at because before long they will be all grown up.   What are some fun activities that you do together in the yard?

  • Family Activities: Yard Clean Up Day

    Karlie Kool Kat bringing down the compost and helping in the yard.  Both girls are wonderful helpers (for the most part) when it comes to doing chores around the house and yard.  Karlie picked out her “outdoor” outfit complete with her fancy hat.  She cracks me up….peeking out from underneath her hat!

    Brina Bee bringing down some drink refills!  It is amazing how thirsty you can get when working out in the yard hauling branches. 

    The fire was too big and hot to cook over so Jake cooked up some yummy hot dogs for everyone to enjoy. 

    We have had some funky weather over the last several months in South Carolina.  One afternoon we had a tree and several branches come down in the yard and our neighbor had one of his trees fall on the edge of his workshop.  We gave away all the good fire burning wood to a local family for the winter since they had a wood burning stove.  When all that wood was picked up we still had all the limbs down so it was decided to have a family yard clean up day.  The girls helped pick up all the branches so we could burn them in the fire.   As it got dark and cooled off we rounded out the night with marshmallows and hot chocolate around the fire.  I love being able to work and rest together with my family.  We got a lot done working in the yard that day!