We're In The Money Eggs!

Our chickens have discovered their purpose in life....laying eggs! We're averaging between one and two dozen a day. That's a lot of eggs, people! Even my omelet-loving family of seven can't eat that many.

So.......



We're selling them for $2.25/dozen, which is a perfectly reasonable price for farm-fresh, organic eggs.

I know that doesn't really sound like a lot of money, but since I've gotten back into CVSing (I'll tell you more about that next week), the money we get goes farther than you'd think.

But I can still use a few more recipes that call for lots of eggs. Know any good ones you'd care to share?

WW - The Sweetest Thing This Side of Heaven

Isn't that one of the sweetest faces you've ever seen???
I'm so proud of my little darling, sitting up like a big girl!

For more oohs and ahhs, check out 5 Minutes for Mom and Seven Clown Circus.

So much for the schedule...

It's official. Hubby went to work an hour early Saturday morning, and came home ninety minutes later. His boss finally axed him.

We saw this coming, and we still fully believe that God has a plan in all this. After Eric told me the news, we talked, we hugged, and then we prayed. Whatever happens, we're in God's hands. Completely. We've got total peace about it.

In the meantime, we're going to make the most of Eric's time together, which means I get to take total advantage of him take care of a few things that have been on our to-do lists for months. This week's list includes, but is not limited to:

• Cleaning the sunroom
• Making a batch of soap
• Making cheese
• Cutting firewood
• Hauling manure for the garden
• Building a gate to the chicken run
• Getting leaves on the garden
• Making an "Eggs for Sale" sign
• Straightening up the mudroom
• Hanging shelves
• Tilling both the vegetable and the herb gardens
• Sharpening my kitchen knives
• Making plans for the greenhouse
• Emptying the outbuildings of junk from the previous owner and hauling it off to the recycling center

With all this extra work (and since we homeschool year-round anyway), I'm putting school on hiatus for the rest of the week.

So much for that schedule I worked so hard on.

One Smart Cookie

Once upon a time, I was a fairly organized woman. Hard to believe, I know, but it's true. When I was in the workforce (and only had three children, who were all in public school) I was known for my organizational skills, efficiency, and serious attention to detail.

It's stunning how much can change over the years, isn't it.

When I first became a stay-at-home mom, I had (I thought) no need for making a schedule. Get up, get the girls off to school, do what needed to be done around the house, fix dinner while the girls did homework, and so forth. Simple.

And then, I started homeschooling.

Well, that wasn't too hard. I only had one of the three girls at home with me, we did our work in the morning shortly after everyone else was gone, and I still had plenty of time in the afternoon to do whatever I needed to before it was time to pick up the other two. No problem!

And then I started homeschooling her younger sister.

Okay, now I've got two kids to teach. No biggie, they're both in grade school so it's still pretty easy work. I mean, it's not like we're learning Algebra or Biology or something advanced and time-consuming like that, right?

And then, I started having more children.

Ummmm...........

Yeah, I admit it. Juggling infants and toddlers with housework and schoolwork hasn't been a cakewalk. And every time I thought I was starting to get a handle on it, something new popped up to throw me askew. Things like getting pregnant again, moving into a bigger house (more rooms for me to clean, oh yay!), getting chickens to raise (and not just a few chickens, but thirty of the silly little cluckers!), and the shocking realization that, somewhere in the midst of all this, my sweet little easy-to-teach third grader is now a high school student learning.......

(duh duh DUHHHHMMMM...)

ALGEBRA!!! (insert high-pitched scream here)


For the past eighteen months (eighteen months, people!), I've been beating my head against the wall trying to come up with a daily schedule for me and the children that's realistic and doable. This week, I finally got it!

Unfortunately, I left it on my kitchen counter. Just close enough to the edge for my two-year old daughter to reach it.



Considering how many times I've tried (and failed spectacularly) to put this family on a schedule, and considering that said schedule means early, consistent bedtimes for little ones so I can have some "me" time, I have only one conclusion.

My two-year old is one smart cookie.

When God Speaks

Eric and I talked about the job situation (as much as the kids coming in and out of the room would let us) and started planning for the contingency. As is typical for me, the reality of the situation didn't really sink in until hours later.

We just took out the mortgage on this house last April, we have five children, and no savings to fall back on.

The more those words circled through my mind, the further down I could feel myself sliding towards depression.

I sat down to the computer thinking I'd look around for something, anything, to take my mind of it. Out of habit (I suppose), I opened up Twitter. Just in time to see LifeVerse start tweeting verses from Psalm 91. I reached for my Bible, intending to read the chapter for myself. But instead of Psalm 91, my pages flipped over to Psalm 86. And this is what God spoke to me.

Hear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. Guard my life, for I am devoted to you. You are my God; save your servant who trusts in you. Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I call to you all day long. Bring joy to your servant, for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.

You are forgiving and good, O Lord, abounding in love to all who call to you. Hear my prayer, O Lord; listen to my cry for mercy. In the day of my trouble I will call to you, for you will answer me.

Whether my husband ends up unemployed or not, I'm not going to be afraid. I'm listening for when God speaks next.

At A Loss

I just got off the phone with my husband, and I'm at a loss as to what to think. He couldn't talk long, but what it boils down to is this: His boss is trying to get rid of him. Hubby was told that he needs to decide whether he wants to step down as Assistant Store Manager, or risk being fired. My husband told him he'd need to talk to me about it, and should have an answer for him by Saturday.


I don't know what to think about this, and I certainly don't have a clue what advice I can give him. Our savings account got wiped out a couple months ago after too-many-things-to-count needed to be repaired or replaced. The van is kaput, again. I think it's the fuel pump, but I have no way of finding out because I can't even afford to have it towed to a shop, let alone looked at. So, having no income for any length of time is not what I would consider a very tenable position for us at the moment.

Stepping down could have its benefits. My husband would no longer be subjected to working 70+ hours a week for 45 hours of pay. He'd have a much more reasonable schedule, and if he did have some occasional overtime, he'd get paid for it. But there's no telling how much of a pay cut he'd be subject to, and that's not something we can take lightly. Plus, he'd still be working for the man who, pardon me for saying this but it's true, has been intent on making Eric's life a living hell for the past eight months. Not to mention the principle of the whole thing. When the manager is gone on vacation (about once a month, I kid you not), the store runs a lot smoother under my husband's leadership.

The truth is, Eric has saved this man's job several times since he transferred in, and now he wants to replace him?!?!? Personally, I think he feels threatened by Eric, but whether that's true or not doesn't help us figure out what to do.

The only thing I can think of is Romans 8:26-28: "In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

ALL things.

WW - Milestones

Mary has reached a new milestone recently. She's discovered...

FOOD!!!

"What is this stuff??"

"I don't know...but I like it!"

She's come so far in just five months. Cutting teeth (she's had two since November), holding herself up on her arms, rolling back and forth, scooting around....

Wait a minute...that's what the last two did, and everyone said they were hurrying up to...

NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Looking for more WW? Try here, here, and many other fine blogs near you.

Goals = Love

I don't know about you, but I don't make New Year's resolutions. I've always thought it was just another way to set myself up for failure, and really, who needs that kind of self-inflicted pressure? I prefer to set some goals for myself, and then take it one day at a time. If I succeed, fabulous. If I don't, keep trying. So, last week (before New Year's Eve rolled around) I decided on a few goals.

One of my goals is, naturally, to get back in shape. Mary is five months old now, I think that's been plenty long enough for me to put off exercising, thankyouverymuch. I'd lost thirty pounds before I got pregnant last year, and I've gained back twenty of it. (Ugh!) My ultimate goal is to lose at least fifty pounds by the end of the year. With a lot of hard work, I should have fifteen gone by my birthday.

With that in mind, I chose Saturday as my day to boost my routine up from twenty minutes of aerobics to forty.

Oh. My. Word.

I forgot how much squats hurt my thighs! Can you say, "Shaking like a bowl of jelly?"

But I'd forgotten a few other things as well, things I'm glad to be reminded of, despite my weak, quivering muscles. Things like how good it feels to work up that much of a sweat, how much I genuinely enjoy exercising, how proud of myself I can be for not giving up.

And most importantly, that it's okay to love myself.

How did I get that out of a 40-minute workout? Well, the truth is, I haven't been very happy with myself for quite a while now. To say that I haven't liked myself would be putting it mildly. I've spent the past several months alternately depressed and angry with myself, and feeling like a failure. I've been floating through my days with little motivation and even less energy. Most days, it's seemed that the only things I managed to do was keep the kids fed and have my husband's clothes ready for work. (Bonus points if I remembered to set the coffee pot for him.)

It's been hard to remember that there's more to my life than changing diapers, shooing kids off the computer, and wondering for the fifth time in a day what on earth I was going to fix for dinner. Whether it's because we've started a new year or whatever, I don't know, but I think I'm finally getting back to the person I know I am, the woman I know I can be, and the wife and mother my family deserves. Setting goals for myself helps me not only focus my priorities, but remember that being good to myself IS a priority, one that my whole family benefits from.

I don't expect it to be easy (nothing worthwhile is, right?) and I know there are days when I'll fail in spectacular fashion. But that's ok, because every day gives me another chance to work towards my goals.

How about you? Did you make resolutions you're struggling to keep? Or have you set some goals for yourself that you can keep working towards? I'd love to hear your thoughts!