tour of my home diary

I promised a long time ago to give you a tour of the binder that I call my ‘home diary’.  I’ve procrastinated in doing so because I’m in the process of revamping all my schedules and lists, but I wanted to hold true to my word and AT LEAST show you my binder and tell you what I have (or will have) in each section by the end of next week.  By the way - posting the girl’s binders, with directions, are also on the way!!!  Nope, I haven’t forgotten, just a momentary lapse of “slippery mind”.

So - my “home diary” looks like this…

 When you open it up you find (besides a mess right now)….

A copy of the Prairie Muffin Manifesto.  If you haven’t read this or don’t already have this in your binder - I would suggest getting yourself a copy.  You can go to my links and get a copy of it.  I did NOT make this up - I found this and formatted it myself (I’m a little anal about having documents looking nice with ~pretty~ fonts.  I also have [pink] lined post it notes for my “slippery mindedness”.

Up next is where the binder really starts…

Most people’s binders I have seen call this section “planning”, however true that is of this section - it’s all about our family and what we do, so I called it family.  In this section I include the following:

• a one page calendar (I like to have a 12 month calendar to reference)
• our family’s mission statement
• list of goals (my own, for the girls; spiritual & legacy type), traditions, reading list
• a copy of our master schedule

The following section you will run into is…

This section holds exactly what it says - training resources.  I really liked an article I came across some time ago called ”The Basics” so I keep a copy of that in this section.  I also write scripture references to parenting/child training on a running list when I come across them.  It seems I can never find them exactly when I want them, so this makes it easy for me when the time arises.

Next up -

These sections are personal sections for both girls that give me a place for sample work throughout the year, notes about behaviors, funny things they say that I want to make sure to document (or blog), as well as copies of birth records, etc….  I keep track of ‘cyclic’ moods for our oldest - so I know when to be a little more ‘tolerant’

The next section is probably my fav…

If you’ve been reading my blog for any amount of time you know I love to cook and bake.  Likewise, it is always a challenge for me to find a new way to “make it myself”.  This section holds my main menu list, shopping list, journal of successes and failures, as well as my weekly menu planning sheets.  I will be posting all of the PDF’s in the sidebar links under the diary section as soon as I can get to it.

Alright, in this section I have several items - first I have a list of weekly activities for the kids to do when I’m busy doing something else.  I don’t like for them to be sitting in front of the TV all the time so, when I hear, “I’m bored…” I tell them to go pick out an item off the list that would, more than likely, have been forgotten.  Another thing I have in this section is travel pack lists, before we leave checklists, picnic planner lists, vaction idea lists, and house-sitter information.  This is also the section I write down field trip ideas as well as family-time activity ideas.

My homeschool section is, of course, the thickest.  I house everything about school in this section as well as encouraging articles about teaching the children.  I have this section broken up even better, like this…

Lesson plans, grades, class list, newspaper, and spelling.

• Lesson plans - overall scope and sequence for both girl’s curriculum for the year.
• Grades - just starting this year - for the oldest (end of Jr. High)
• Newspaper - no longer a newspaper, but rather a magazine our oldest publishes [if we can ever get technology to cooperate (again!!!)]
• Spelling - I don’t use this section, the same, anymore.  I don’t really know what I’ll use this space for.

The budget section is new to my binder as we’ve been using Microsoft Money until just recently.  It will be holding our budget which I will keep in the left pocket while the income/spending record is on the right.  I will also keep a static list of bills to pay and their due dates, credit card list, insurance records, utility/service directory, vehicle maintenance & warranty records, magazine subscriptions, etc…  for the spending record, I’m using the $.50 ledger I found at a garage sale that is geared for a full year, yea!!!  It folds out like this…

I had the most fun making this page….

The cleaning section of my diary holds my cleaning schedule(s).  I have seasonal chore checklists as well as weekly, and monthly.  The girl’s chore checklists are in this section as well as the written-out descriptions we did together for their binders.  I keep a list of tough stain removal techniques and the Cleaning Grand Plan, and 50 uses for vinegar too (again you can find a copy of both in my sidebar links)…

The next section, labeled “Imagine”, is my dream directory….

 

This is my personal section for the bible studies I’m doing (Bible studies will soon have its own section) as well as notes the girls or my hubby gives me - and of course - torn out pages from magazines in which I love the decorating (for inspiration).  I’ve decorated many a room this way!  Have I ever mentioned, to you, that I love to decorate?  Yeah, I LOVE to decorate!

Oohhh…. I just get goose bumps!!!!

Anyhow -

Friends, in my diary, is most other’s ‘phone’ section.  I just thought “phone” sounded way too overused, so I called it friends.  This is where I have the phone directory, emergency numbers, birthdays and anniversaries, Christmas card lists, phone message pages, and library information.

Well, that’s it for my home diary.  I hope you enjoyed the little tour!  This book is truly an extention of my brain!  It sits in a very convenient place in whatever house we happen to be in and is used by everyone (well, not hubby - he has issues getting into my purse and my planner).  This allows me to know who, what, when, where, how, and why for most situations.  When put to use, this little book is a lifesaver!!!

Do you have a personal binder too?  What does it look like?  Take a tour of your binder and link back here in the comments so we can all take the tour with you!  I’m anxious to see!

 

six-year-old-perspective

The other day our six year old was in the kitchen helping me make bread when she, out of the blue, started a conversation that went something like this…

6 year old:  You know Mom, I love all the homemade food you make.

Me:  Well, thank you lady - I’m glad you enjoy it (insert big grin from me and visions of abounding legacies)!

6 year old:  But it doesn’t make sense Mom…

Me:  What doesn’t make send six-year-old?

6 year old:  Well, you spend all this time in the kitchen making homemade food for us and it disappears in just five minutes.  It doesn’t make sense to spend so much time MAKING food when it just disappears as fast as it’s made.

Hhhmmmmm?!?!?!  Good point!!!

The conversation went on a little while with the conclusion being that she is  planning to make homemade food for her family [when she grows up] because she knows it’s good for them, but she still thinks “it takes too much time”.

I love when these moments happen!

 

frugal homemaker a-z: a is for advertisements

Frugality seems to be a large topic of interest in the blogosphere, so I have decided to start another weekly series covering just that; frugality.  I will be exploring a frugal way to cut costs, right in own homes, starting with the letter ‘A’ through the lettter ‘Z’.  Yep, 26 weeks of money saving tips.  I use most of these in my own home with great success.  Let’s get started….

A is for Advertisements

 

Advertisements are a huge help to the frugal homemaker because, as we all know, comparison shopping is one of the best ways to cut your costs.  Shopping only at one store not only limits the selection and variety you’re receiving, but also the cost.  I don’t subscribe to the daily or weekly paper, but I do have a list of stores of whom I go to the websites and view their weekly ads online.  Just to name a few…

• Wal*Mart
• Target
• CVS
• Walgreens
• Dollar General
• Hobby Lobby
• H.E.B

But let us not limit ourselves there.  Just because an ad doesn’t belong to a specific store doesn’t mean it isn’t an advertisement chuck full of savings.  There are, literally, hundreds of these ‘flyers’ hovering over us in cyberspace.  Check out my list of coupon sites down on my right tool bar.  Likewise, check out your favorite brand’s website.  Kodak, is all the time, having specials to get free things.  Betty Crocker is always promoting freebies.  And those fast food places we can’t seem to fit in our budget anymore are feeling it too.  Signing up at your favorite restaurant’s website will include you in their “bait and hook” promotions giving you high price items for free.  Meaning - if they can bait you with a coupon for “whatever”, they figure you will buy more.  Save your coupon for that once in a while outing and save yourself $3.  I understand this sounds like a lot of work, and a lot of junk-mail, but sign-up for their email specials.  There are things you will be sent via email, as a “favorite customer” that never reaches the “public”. 

WARNING:
I would, however, suggest doing this, create a special email account for this alone.   Your regular email account will be littered with offers and you won’t be able to decipher, at quick glance, genuine email and super savings.

One more quick tip - coupons are the coolest and they come IN those ads you’re throwing away!  When I first started using coupons I justified NOT using them because I used the ‘off brands’ anyway - I was already getting the best deal, but that didn’t prove to be the case.   When you find coupons and use them in conjunction WITH a sale, you get the item for nearly FREE!  That price can’t be beat! 

For instance -
Last week CVS had Sally Hansen nail polish on sale for $.99 per bottle.  I had already purposed I was going to get four (4) bottles.  I had two $3 off any two bottles coupon.  Two bottles, on sale, equalled $1.98 which was within the coupon limits - I received four bottles of nail polish FREE. 

It takes purposed time to do it this way, but I’m testimony - it works.   Carve out an extra 45 minutes in each day to check ads and plan your savings.

Here’s a challenge - something for me and you.  Beginning today, start keeping account of the money you save using coupons and sale ads.  At some point in the, more distant, future I will post my savings and you can tell me what you’ve saved!  These days - a penny saved, is a penny earned!

 

believer’s authority: ground work

One of the blogs I visit weekly [daily] recently wrote a post that relayed some of my innermost beliefs, in my life, as a Believer of Jesus Christ; the authority we have because of His death on the cross (you must be a believer for this authority to be applicable).  My blogging buddy seemed to get a lot of people who don’t understand what she was trying to say and, although she was right on, I wanted to revisit this topic, in support of her post.  I do believe this will take more than just one or two posts to cover, so I am planning this to be a weekly series for the next six or seven weeks.  I turned away from blogging once before because of posting this type of post and the confrontational tone it presents, but I’m not doing it for the argument.  I really just have a sincere, heart-felt concern for those believers that battle ailments with “if it’s God’s will…”.  It’s NOT His will and I am about to debunk those beliefs.  So join me - I believe there is a way to show you exactly what I’m talking about, by scripture itself, and not just posing my opinion.  But first thing’s first, I need to lay the groundwork….

I want to establish - the Bible is the infallible word of God.  EVERY word in the Book that sits to my north, right now, is Truth and I live my life by it [as best I can].  I believe that God is the same yesterday, today, and forEVER, however, God, Himself inserted an ellipses; His name - Jesus.  Enter in, the New Testament -

The New Testament = New Covenant = New Will
From Dictionary.com  ‘testament’ means: 

a will, esp. one that relates to the disposition of one’s personal property. a covenant, esp. between God and humans.

What I want you to see is that the NT is God’s will for us.  Not will as in “if it’s your will God…” , but will as in the document or contract that speaks of what the “passed on” wants to do with his estate.  The NT is God’s way of showing us what He’s passed on to us, not in the physical [as much], but moreso in the spiritual.  What God, Jesus, and the Spirit wants for our lives after  He departs.  We are the heirs to the (His) entire estate.  It is what He wanted for all of His children’s lives.  However, in order to have a “will” you must have a person that is already “passed on” so the NT truly begins in Romans (Jesus is not yet dead in the Gospels).  But don’t skip over those crucial books - I am, by no means, suggesting that or discounting them in the least!

Secondly, I want to establish that God is the source of all authority.  He made everything we are, everything we see - He. Made. It. All.  Not only did He make it all, but He owns it all.  Everything you and I are, and are doing, God made it.  BUT - He made His creation to have the ability to choose  to love and submit to  Him.

John 1  (1) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  (2) He was in the beginning with God.  (3) All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.

The last thing [for this post] I want to suggest is - sometimes we mix-up the things that Satan and God do.  There are times we attribute the works of God, to be from the devil (because we  can’t imagine things would go “this way” if it were from God).  But other times - we attribute to God, the works the devil is actually doing (I will go into this later on in the series).

I encourage you to get into the Word yourself - don’t take my word for it!  I encourage you to look up the scriptures about the authority God has given you - and open your eyes to what YOU read.  Don’t allow your only feeding be what another believer has told you, even if he is a highly esteemed pastor or priest.  The Word only comes alive in you  when you  take it in yourself.  As I said before, I will be doing this series for the next [at least] six weeks - next Monday will be about the fall of Satan - so come back.

 

simple summer swap

My partner for the Simple Woman summer swap was Julie over at Keepers At Home. This was my first swap with any blogging buddy and I have to say - I loved it! I had so much fun putting everything together [a couple times over].

I received from Julie a box full of goodies!  We had to send each other something new, something to share (from your own home), and something bought at a thrift store.  However, everything we sent, to the other, had to remind us of summer in some way.

The NEW, Julie sent me was a cute box of dessert plates -

Here they are out of the box…

 

Next, the SOMETHING TO SHARE (from around your home) was an arange-it-yourself vase.  We will be getting some wild flowers for this later on this evening Julie.

For the SOMETHING-BOUGHT-FROM-A-THRIFT-STORE item (although she says the above vase ALSO meet that criteria) she saw that I LOVE glass jars so she found me one.  As you can see - I’m already using it for our homemade buttermilk!  Thanks swap partner - I love it!!!

And then of course, as she states in her blog, great mind think alike…she sent us these popcicle molds to enjoy together.  I already had one set of these, but the ones Julie sent are bigger than ours and the girls are ALL ABOUT the bigger!!!!  I bought juice over the weekend and we’re going to make them today!

Thanks for all the great gifts Julie!  I love them and enjoyed gathering all yours as well!  Glad to have a new friend!

 

principles of christian dress

I found this list on another blog, but the list is such a great resource I wanted to pass it along!  Thanks Angelina.

Principles of Christian Dress:

1. Modesty - Does it cover me sufficiently?
(1 Timothy 2:9)

2. Not Worldly - Is it a fad or trend of the world?
(1 John 2:15)

3. Difference - Does it immediately identify me as a male or female?
(Deut. 22:5)

4. Unoffensive - Would it cause my brother or sister in Christ to stumble?
(Romans 4:7,8,12,13 - 1 Cor. 10:23 and 8:13)

5. Glorifies God - Does it glorify God or bring attention and glory to me?
( 1 Cor.10:31)

 

homemade buttermilk

I was a bit nervous about doing this, but seeing how high the cost of buttermilk is these days, I thought I would try this (at least until we get our OWN milk to make butter, and buttermilk).

 

Ingredients

one-quart glass jar
2 TBLS. existing buttermilk (storebought or previous homemade batch)
milk (whole preferably)

In the one-quart jar put two (2) tablespoons of store bought buttermilk, filling the jar the rest of the way with milk (I used whole).  Close jar tight and place in dark, cool(er) cupboard for about 20 hours (I let mine sit a little longer and it’s just fine).  After the sitting period is ‘up’, you have a full jar of real buttermilk.  Place your jar of buttermilk in the fridge and use in all of those recipes calling for buttermilk.

 

today’s blessing - blessed berries

Blessings come, every day, in different forms, but today’s blessing came in the form of wheat.  I was getting close to being out of the wheat I make bread from, but a wonderful woman from our church called and asked if I needed any wheat.  I told her I’m always open to getting wheat as the cost of it has gone up so greatly.  She informed me that she had about 150 lbs. that she is not planning to use as well as 45 lbs. of corn that she wanted to give me.  Ah - blessed berries - hallelujah!

God is so good to take care of us, whether we are abasing or abounding - His provisions never cease to amaze me!  I now have enough wheat to get us through Christmas!

What was your blessing for the day?  Share with us in thanksgiving - regardless of how small you may think it may be!  I’d love to hear!

 

the loss of our rights: stand-up and be heard

When you think of your rights being taken away, by the government, what do you think of?

• anti/pro abortion laws?
• no prayer in schools?
• breathing?

Ok, so maybe breathing is a little extreme, but there are laws, already in motion, that are [just about] as extreme. 

As Daniel and I were having a discussion about the “legal issues” of septic systems, the other day, he mentioned something to me that really struck a chord.  Did you know that, in the state of Colorado (and other select states), it is illegal - to collect rain water and use it?  Yep - rain water collection has been banned in Colorado (according to the state constitution) because “the rain that falls from the sky over Colorado belongs to the state” (a state resource).  So according to the state officials of that state, the water-cycle evidently belongs to them?

Hmmm…I always thought in order to own an idea you needed to have thought up the idea [yourself] and then purchase the patent.  In this case, I do believe the credited ‘inventor’ and patent holder would be GOD.  What is wrong with this picture?  I hope you understand my exaggeration with taking away the right to breath now.

Where is the line drawn of our rights being taken away?

My point to this whole post is to encourage us to stand-up and be heard for the sake of our rights.  It seems to be becoming more and more needed for our Voice to be heard.  We need to stop worrying about what others will think and just take a stand for what we know to be right, in the name of Christ.  Paul did it!  Peter did it!  Mary did it!   Why shouldn’t we?

Just a little something to make you go - hhmmmm…..

 

for the love of hubby: little things

 

Upon an email request that I received, I’m going to begin a [hopefully] weekly series on the things we can do to show our husbands how much we appreciate the hard work they do.  I hope, through this series, you will be encouraged to honor your hubby - showing just how much you love him.

Daniel’s love language is affection and words of affirmation.  Mine is the total opposite of his, so I have to be extremely deliberate to show my affections, through words and actions.  Do you know what your husband’s love language(s) is?  If not, I highly recommend this book to find out.

Every night, regardless of the time, my husband scratches my back.  This is something I love [just about] more than anything, but he doesn’t like to have his back scratched; it “tickles”.  However he does like to have his back and feet rubbed, therefore I am going to make it a priority to rub his back and rub his feet a few times every week.  I’m choosing to do this only a few times per week because hubby, himself, has told me that he appreciates something much more when it doesn’t happen all the time; every day.

This will be a small token of my gratitude toward him for all hard work he does to take care of his family.  Not to mention, it will give him some time to really relax after a hard day.

How about you?  What creative ideas do you have to show that man of yours, you love him?  Leave a comment and share with us - we’d love to hear!  (please remember to keep these suggestions appropriate, never know whose reading)