Head in the clouds

Contentment.   Some of us struggle with it (puts bag on her head).  

For me, it’s not that I am not grateful for what I have—I am.  Very.

And it’s not that I doubt that this is where God has placed me in this season of my life.  Blessedly at home.

I am so, so blessed to be able to stay at home with my children.  It’s a privilege that many women in this day and age, due to varying circumstances, do not have the privilege to do.  

But some days, I have this feeling that I need a change.  I need to get out, to stretch my wings, to realize my “potential.”   I long to return to school, or have days of leisure where I don’t hear “mommy” 10 million times an hour.

From the ends of the earth I call to you, I call as my heart grows faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I. Ps61:2

Does anyone else struggle as I do with feeling fine just where they are?

Some days I spend so much time in the clouds, when the real sunshine is down here, in my wonderful life I am so blessed to call my own.

You make known to me the path of life;
   you will fill me with joy in your presence,
   with eternal pleasures at your right hand.  Ps 16:11

I resolve to be contented with where the Lord has placed me in this season.  To cherish the moments, the everyday moments that are fluttering by.  Before I know it, this season will end.  I want to be able to remember these blessed times.

10 Tips for an Economical Easter

Plastic grass.  Cadberry cream eggs.  Peeps.  Remind you of anything? Yep, dear readers, that's right.  Easter is right around the corner.  And you mommies know what that means---time to start thinking about easter baskets again so that you don't forget until the night before and end up going out and buying one of those overpriced, giant, cellophane wrapped monsters at Walgreens.
 

Being on a single income, I need to be creative.  Here are my list of hints to have an economical Easter:

1) This one seems obvious, but do not buy one of those overpriced, giant, cellophane wrapped monsters at Walgreens.   Case in point.


2) Re-use the Easter basket/eggs/grass from last year. Try and keep your laughing to a minimum, dear. I may be too late for many of you on this one, but you can save yourself a good amount of green over the 10 years or so that each of your children will need a basket (or more...my last Easter basket as a "kid" was hidden in my wedding dress that was sitting in my closet leading up to the big day).  Just make sure to put it away in a safe spot this year.  And buy something durable.

3)Use a smaller basket.

4) Think volume, not numbers.  In other words, when putting together your basket for your kids, find things that take up a lot of room, but don't cost alot.  One thing I got for the baskets this year was bags of Easter-themed marshmallows which were on sale for .89 a bag.   They take up a huge amount of space in there! This will save you money as opposed to buying gajillions  of itty bitty things and then buying more cause the basket looks "empty"

5)Give them things that you were needing to get them anyways. This applies to all holidays.  For example, if your kid needs more crayons, put them in the Easter basket.  Flip flops broke? What better spring gift than a new pair?  Running low on construction paper? Perfect.  That one will take up a lot of room.

6)Take the kiddos to community and church sponsored events that are free.  Re-use the little plastic eggs (etc) that you will inevitably accumulate.

7)Make Mexican confetti eggs.  Martha Stewart has a great tutorial.  In order for this to be saving money the eggs contents must be used :)

8)Instead of making an Easter basket, stage your own Easter egg hunt in your home.  Fill eggs with a few jelly beans each, and in some, put "tickets" to redeem with mom for inexpensive or handmade prizes. 

9)When dyeing eggs, you needn't purchase an egg dyeing kit.  All you need are some plastic cups, vinegar, water, and food color. (And eggs, of course)

10) And lastly, consider focusing less on the "stuff", and more on the Savior.

Clean it, Clean it good!

Something that I really enjoy dabbling in is making your own cleaning products.  You can truly make these for pennies on the dollar to the storebought varietes, and they really are just as effective!  Here are some of my favorite recipes.
For Disinfecting:
I use a dilluted bleach solution, the ratio being 4 teaspoons bleach to 2 cups water (which is the same as the 3/4 cup bleach to one gallon water that is reccomended by health agencies, but I had to downsize it because I haven't had that big of a mess yet.)  This fits nicely in one of those 16 oz sprayer bottles found in the cleaning tools seciton at your local Wal-Mart.  Just make sure to label this bottle with what is in there (amounts and everything.)  Mine says "Bleach Solution, 2 cups water to 4 tsp bleach)
This solution works great, and just leaves a very slight bleach odor.  It's great for bathroom floors, counters, toilets, kitchen counters, etc, to disinfect them.  Just spray it on there, leave it to set for a couple minutes, then wipe off and rinse and let dry.  Super clean!
I worked this out to only costing 4 cents per 16 oz bottle---what an incredible savings!
For Shining Windows and Mirrors:
A simple solution of 1/2 water and 1/2 white vinegar (in a 16 oz spray bottle, you can just use 1 cup water and 1 cup vinegar.) This is fantastic for a streak-free shine.  You can wipe it with a microfiber towel or newspaper to save on the cost of paper towels.  You can also shine the faucet fixtures with this mixture.
Scouring Powder (a.k.a. Ajax)
You can simply use baking soda and it works great!  Just use exactly as you would use ajax or any other abraisive scouring powder.
Drain Cleaner
Remember that science project when you were a kid where you mixed vinegar and baking soda to make a volcano? Pour 1/2 cup baking soda down the drain, then add 1/2 cup vinegar.
Links to more "from scratch" cleaner and laundry recipes:
Make your own laundry detergent with the Duggar Family (scroll down to see a recipe for both liquid and powdered)
Homemade all-purpose cleaner, Homemade Soft Scrub, and Homemade Oxiclean recipes all at MoreWithLessToday.
Floor Cleaner and Furniture Polish at TheDesignSPonge
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