God Provides in bigger ways than we know possible

 If you have been around here long you have heard me share the truly truly amazing things that God has done in my life.  I don't ever take that for granted or forget it.

I asked you to pray for a friend recently.
I am pretty stubborn and know the amazing  and huge things that God can do. I KNOW the power of stirring people up and the generosity of the family of God. Frankly, there were just too many obstacles and issues and I didn't see how we could help or God would fix it all.

Over $10,000 was needed in a matter of weeks just to stay where they were. I thought about fundraisers and car washes and letting everyone know. It just seemed too big. I asked you all to pray. With a day to spare the money came to them. I knew that God was there. I knew He had a plan. He does not disappoint.

Would you head over to Maggies blog:  http://www.blessingsbythedozen.blogspot.com/ and let her know that your praising God for His provision for her family and that we will continue to pray for work for her husband.

Meet my friend Maggie

 I have been meaning to introduce you to a dear friend. I want to show you how she organizes her large family. Share some of her amazing vision. Follow her around and start a whole tutorial series. But that's not going to be the tone today.



Maggie and I are real life friends. I dont just mean that in a "not on the Internet" way. We have lived side by side in the trenches. I can come to her in tears and we can cry together or hold each other up and find a way out. She is how I imagine extended family and having a sister to be.

She has been with me through so much and given he so much of herself. Her hard working husband, who has always worked at least two full time jobs and still managed to be an incredible father to their brood of ten, has lost his job. Actually, he worked for awhile while they didn't pay him. So he worked and worked and his days were taken up and money was spent driving an hour away and back for long long days but there was no money coming in.

You can meet him here: PoserDad.com 

Maggie has started a small blog and today shared her heart and the threat of losing their house very very soon. I know this scare and fear and am once again so impressed at how she handles it and has the strength and courage to share it with others. She writes not in a spirit of fear but knowing that God is in control, has a plan and they are safe in his hands. What a lesson to us all.

Their problems seem so huge right now and ones that only God can turn around...but could you stop over and say "hello" on her blog: Blessingsdythedozen.com? Maybe say a prayer today for these dear friends of mine? I wish I could do something to turn it all around but right now, I just want these dear family ot know that they are NOT alone and there is someone in their corner: routing and praying. That we can do.

Provision, Providence and Sons

I have a proud Mom story to share. Not because I am so smart and taught my son so much but because he is showing himself patient and frugal. Indulge me OK?

For Easter last year my 12 year old son received $4.00.


A few months later, while shopping with me in GoodWill, he spotted an XBOX 360 game. Perfect condition for $2.00. He purchased it with the $4.00 he still had from Easter. We don't have an XBOX 360. He loaned it to friends and waited patiently.

He went to GameStop the day after Christmas and sold the game. He was offered $6.00 or $8.00 store credit. He chose store credit and then found out they were having a special that day: 50% more for store credit. So, he actually received $12.00 in store credit.

We looked around the store and found a section of used games with no directions or boxes. There was ANOTHER special that day: buy two games get two free. He was able to find 4 games for the PS2 that we do have.


He managed to stretch that $2.00 into 4 PS2 games and $1.20 in GameStop store credit. GO Zac!

Zac is a good steward of things and takes good care of them. I know that he would like to have the best and may even deserve it. It does my heart well to see him wait patiently and earnestly and make the most of what he has.

**Huge sidenote: this kid has managed to shyly and slyly sneak out of pictures. While his brother AND sister sneak my camera and take a zillion close ups of themselves and his younger siblings shout "ME! Cheese!" There are almost no pictures of Zac. Sorry for the bad pictures in this post. Even they took some searching and scrounging.  Hmmmph.




joining the party at: EasyPeasyGrandma, 120th Penny Pinching Party, We are that Family, Wow us Wednesdays, Share Your Awesomeness, What I love about the Thrift Store,

Community and a Coming Home Story

I wonder sometimes. Why blog? Isn't it a little shallow and narcisstic? What do I really have to contirbute anyway? This isn't "real."

THEN..I see something like this.

The "blog world" acting as community. In an amazing way. Maybe blogging is silly but God can use WHATEVER HE WANTS.


Have you heard about this family


and Baby Sergey

and their coming home story?

This is something I want to be apart of.

READ THIS and come back. I'll be here waiting.

Yeah. Are you crying? I LOVE that the Farley Family's blog has under 100 followers. Yet, somehow, word has gotten to every corner or the internet and sooo many people came forward and reached out in HUGE amazing ways.



 

Belt tightening and Mail order

I work in the evenings. From home. It's huge pain but helps a lot with groceries and gas. I was working Saturday afternoons through Sunday mornings. Half of those Sunday mornings my husband is also working. Not from home. We go to church on Sundays. I was working. Stuck on the phone and getting myself and 5 others ready for church. I quit those Saturdays. Just like that. Now we are "down" 25% of that food/gas money. Gas is going up and up. (it is $4.10-$4.15 here. what is where you are?)

I need to find some ways to tighten belts. All of them.

Im trying really really hard not to run out to the store for things: planning more ahead and shopping when Im taking my kids to activities. I always opted out of those kids' activities. And now here we are:) So shopping is Monday nights when my oldest is a Boy Scout den chief and Thursday nights when two oldest are at Scout Meetings. I can do this right?

The thing that I have been doing more and more of is mail order. Amazon Prime and drugstore.com.
I find things on sale (10-15% off) and then sign up for subscribe and save (another 15% off) and free shipping. We also put all our food/gas/Amazon purchases on an Amazon card and get a small percentage in points. So far I have just been collecting points but I did cash in some for gas to a filed trip to the Reagan Library.

Here are examples of my standbys on Amazon:

Baby Wipes (for those times Im not using washcloths or something spills or...)

$27.82 for a 12 pack.



Pull ups (another convenience that I can only afford this way)

$16.23 for 52




Annie's Macaroni and cheese (rice pasta)



$19.07 for 3 large bags



$17.83 for 3 large bags




 
 
$20.54 for 102


These may not be the cheapest available but I needed them and they came within 2 days:)


12 pack for $32.31


I splurged a little and got these: $21.85 for 6




AND

$22.95 for 6


It's definitely not rocket science and I'm sure my system could use some tweaking but it makes my life a tiny but more simple. Speaking of..I probably should have just added these items all to a widget :)
BTW these we are on the Feingold diet and these items are all safe on Stage 1 (I wouldn't use the pull ups for a target child though) I am also an Amazon associate. If you decide to purchase any of these items and go through the links that I provided, I will receive a small commission.
 
We also just "broke down" and got a subscription to Costco. Our nearest store is a half hour away but my husband drives by there four days a week coming home from work. Im developing a shopping list/price book for there too. What do you buy at Costco?

It takes so much energy to figure these things out. There are so many things that I DONT have figured out. I'm toying with the idea of starting a linky. Something like a Titus 2, teach me, type thing. Any thoughts? wisdom? Suggested days, inspired names or buttons or treasured tips all ready to go?



 

A little luck and a lot of Providence

We don't budget. We are budget type people and we know EXACTLY how much we spend on every little thing. Honestly, there isn't enough money; not to buy food and pay rent and pay utilities. It doesn't make sense to budget what we don't have. So we pray and God brings things before we know we need them. Sounds over simple, sounds naieve, sounds impractical. Yet here we are.

"Surprise" 4th pregnancy? Out of work, injured and now very worried husband is offered a job working one day a month. By the end of the pregnancy it turned into 30 hours a week. We didnt fit in our vehicle. 6 weeks after our baby is born (which is when I actually WANT to leave the house) we were given a minivan. By people who turned out to not even be friends later. Definitely God's hand and not some charm on our part. A better vehicle than we realized that we needed. God is very very good to us and I don't ever want to take it for granted or expect it. 

I go in to the Goodwill near our house whenever I am out and quickly scan through. They get Targets returns and overstocks. i have purchased many many lamps there and rugs. lots of rugs. I don't have time or luxury to shop like I like or maybe need to.

I have been working Friday nights through Saturday mornings and haven't been to yard sales in FOREVER. With the cost of gas and so many littles in tow it ends up not cost efficient.

My two youngest and i stopped at some garage sales Friday a.m. while my three oldest were in a geography co-op.

There were a few treasures waiting for me:)

Tony Hawk jeans I don't think they are actually "skinny jeans" and they are blue. But they were the right size for my oldest son and $150 a pair.

a 3 pack of food saver containers (unused in box) for $1.00.

and peacock jeans just like these on ebay but in my size (a feat in itself) they are a little more sparkly in person, and, yes I am that flamboyant.

for $1.00

A MOPS cookbook for $1.00.

A pair of yellow slip on ballet flats for my daughter $1.50.

This was 3 different yard sales. there were things there that seemed really overpriced. There was a hall table that i wish i would have purchased. It was $20.00 and had this gold edging that I wasnt too keen on. but now I walk through my hall and wish I had purchased it.

I have been taking pictures and trying to document what I am finding and then never get around to writing a post or think it isnt that great or forget to link up:(

Do you all care what I find? I like the idea of having someone to share my finds with but it is pure luck (or Providence) on my part. It's not like I'm finding old furniture with this amazing creative eye and turning it into beauty. I don't have that eye. Should I continue to document and share? Is it helpful or encouraging?

With God all Things are Possible

Here begins yet another post about how amazing our home is. Not because of my decorating or our amazing hospitality or anything like that. That's not it at all.

Nine years ago we moved into a modest rental with 3 children under 4.  Our landlord was a sweet kind women who was a single mom and didnt do much upkeep on her home. There were mildew problems, there was one plug in the kitchen and only one row of counter and cupbaords on one side of the kitchen. There was one living room and it was small and akward, two small bathrooms that could fit one person if that. I found cancer and had surgery, my husband injured his back and was out of work for three years. God surprised us beyond belief and added two more blessings to our little family. We wnated to move--We searched and searched and no one would even talk to us. If they did they were gone when we told them how much money we made or that we had 5 kids. No luck for us.

Then one day I got turned around and lost and happened upon this amazing home just outside of town.



3,400 square feet, 5 bedrooms, two fireplaces, outside built in BBq and fireplace, two living rooms and a loft...HUGE kitchen with a 4 foot by 7 foot island, eat in kitchen and dining room. I tried to explain to my teenagers that they wouldn't rent to us. They did.
 
It was a weird situation and before we knew wether we had the house or not  we had to buy a refrigerator and put in notice on our old house. We had to start utilities (electricity required a $750 deposit) The whole time I couldn't decide if I was incredibly blessed or really gullible.
 
I do my best to explain how amazing this house is. It is very grand and was the model for the area. People believe me but when you walk in you kind of gasp and realize how amazing and grand it really is. I came across a sticker at the Dollar Tree that reads " With God all things are Possible" and thought, if we get this house I want to post this on the wall so that when you gasp you know why. It's God. All Him.
 
I searched and searched for just the right decal and found the perfect one. found just the right decal. Then it sat there for almost a year while I over thought it.

One night it became now or never and I climbed up on a ladder and got started. It was a lot harder than I thougth it would be. I started to wonder what business I had attempting a craft, especially one that requires patience. I was up there until almost 2am. and this is the result:
 


 


This is just before Christmas, hence the trees and teapot and chalkboard...can I leave the trees there year round? I like them:) 

I'm trying to figure out how to photograph the house so you get that gasp. This is an alcove area in the dining room. The vinyl lettering is two foot by three foot. It really is HUGe and you can see it when you first come in the door:)  
 
 
 
Linking up at Motivate me Monday, CraftoManiac Monday, Take a Look Tuesday Show and Tell, What I Whipped up Wednesday, Favorite Things Friday

New to Me Christmas Post

This year I am sooo incredibly thankful for our home. A year ago we were cramped into a little house with so many problems and this year is amazing and magical. Honestly, I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. Our home still seems to good to be true.

Christmas trees are a big issue every year. Is it a justifiable expense when you need food and want your kids to have something to open on Christmas morning. Every year, I tear eyed grumble, "YES"  We were given a small tree by dear family friends.
It had been theirs for years and years. Then we were given another 7 1/2 foot tree that did not fit in our house.

Then when helping a friend move we ended up with another.


Can you see our third tree hiding back behind my two littlest bakers? Have you ever baked with two toddlers? I always seem to forget how much WORK it is!!

I am sooo thankful for our new to us trees and a home that fits them all (Christmas trees and bakers)

It feels odd to be searching thrift stores for practical things right now. But my boys have outgrown their pants. All of them. So, I wandered into a thrift store this week and found THIS beauty!!
Isn't she wonderful??? $6.00. My big dilemma became: "Do I buy something for ME" which soon turned to "Do we use it now or wait until Christmas?" I guess no matter how blessed one gets there are always dilemmas ;)


Linking up at Twice Owned Tuesday, 65th Penny Pinching Party,

 

Please pray for wisdom with our son's Scleroderma

I have so many fun posts planned! I actually made something crafty and I have a great giveaway in store...but right now my heart is heavy and I need you friends.

Our son Nate, 14, was diagnosed with Scleroderma Coupe de Sabre about a year ago. This is a rare disease and not much is known about what causes it or what it will do. It is considered untreatable. His doesn't not seem to be systemic (which would be fatal) and has remained superficial (only affecting his tissue and muscles.) His started on his chin and is continuing up the left side of his face. He has discoloration on his chin, and above his lip. The disease has taken the left side of his lip, and he has lost all flesh and fatty tissue. He now has skin on bone until right below his eye.

Nate is experiencing a very rare and not very documented disease. It is referred to as an "orphan disease." No one really knows what it will do. It affects people very differently.

The next season is crucial for him. He has had two episodes of pain. The pain normally associated with this disease and Parry Romberg Symdrome is excruciating and untreatable. It is referred to by Drs as the "suicide disease." His pain hasn't been that bad. Pray it doesn't continue. With the onset of this pain many experience seizures and stroke. Our hope and that of his Dr. would be that because his manifestations have been superficial so far they wouldn’t cause these symptoms. Because there is no true pattern this disease follows, we are left to speculate and wonder. I have talked to two families whose chidlren showed the symptoms Nate does and then developed seizures and one a stroke.

Some lose their organs. It appears that Nate's eye will not be affected by the disease but losing the fatty tissue in that area can cause the eye to sink bank into the socket and disrupt sight. There is a woman on youtube who "looks fine" but describes her Sceleroderma and deteriorating sight.

Nate is being referred to a neurologist, an ophthalmologist and will have blood tests done. These may or may not show us what is going on but will serve as a base line to anything that does happen. Nate is being prescribed medication that we aren't sure about. There are also some routes that we would like to take nutritionally. The drugs that are typically prescribed would inhibit the immune system (because his is attacking himself.) I have not seen cases where they truly help the way that we would like to see. There are some nutritional things (like shitake mushrooms) that can help calm his immune system and balance. He was prescribed anti-inflammatory drugs. There are things that can be done nutritionally to do this but they would drastically reduce his diet.(no diary, wheat, corn or eggs, among other things) Keep in mind that nothing has been shown to slow down or combat this disease. We, as the parents of a child afflicted are trying to find a cure for an incurable disease.

Please pray for wisdom, for answers, for peace. For the physical and emotional energy we will need during this time. For unity and laughter for us together as a family.

Nate continues to have an amazing attitude through this all. His parents are worried yet trusting God. How will we pay for any of this? How can we quickly figure this all out when the experts can't? What is going to happen to our son? What is his future? Where would a stroke, loss of eyesight, seizures or chronic pain leave him? What about all the dreams we have for our first born?

I have no eloquence right now.  I included pictrures of Nate because he really doesn't look that bad. He does have severe facial deformity but because of it's placement it needs to be pointed out. So far. These are especially odd pictures because he is ALWAYS smiling. Even when it really isnt the right time to be:)



There is some information online that will better explain the things that I had trouble with
Sceroderma Coupe de Sabre:





Parry-Romberg syndrome:




Neuropathic Facial Pain and TN (Trigeminal Neuralgia)


God Bless!

The countdown has begun

Still don't feel ready for school. I got organized, made a schedule, made chore charts, moved some furniture around, keeping having pep talks with my kids and long cleaning sessions. Now Im tryign to shove some more fun Summer stuff in before Labor Day. We still have birthdays between now and then:)

Holidays are an event for me. I LOOVE them all (except for maybe Halloween:)My kids really are my world and I want them to know how special they are. If not on their birthday then when? My time is so packed as it is and it's hard to fit anything else in. I cannot make a boxed cake. Seriously. you would not believe how many nights before birthdays I have spent in tears. We live on a very limited income. We have been so blessed with 5 children. ALL summer birthdays. We don't buy expensive or extravagant gifts. BUT if we plan a special birthday dinner or buy themed paper plastes there goes our budget. One of the problems with not having family traditions to pass down is the temptation to pass down all of everyone elses. Do you see my dilemma?

Our 3 year old turns 4 on Friday and our 9 year old daughter turns 10 on Monday. My husband is working and then on Saturday I am working....when?

WELL! We have this new friend. Great great friend. Who asked if she could come over with a birthday cake? Uh YES PLEASE!! We have another sweet friend who offered to take pictures of the progression of Nate's Scleroderma. On the same day. INSTANT PARTY!! and here it is:










And here are some pictures of Nate. I had no idea how hard it would be. Apparently one of the points of photography is to use light that softens imperfections and hides features. that isn't what we were looking for:)


She was able to take over 100 in differnt lights and at different angles. CVS is having a print one 8x10 and get one free special this week. I also had $2.00 off. I was able to upload and print photos to take to his Drs visit next week:)




Feeling pretty accomplished and at peace. Mostly just very blessed:)

PRAISE GOD for His tender Mercies!!

I got the results from my biopsies yesterday.

I DO NOT have cancer!!


Amazing thinking of all that could have been. What a relief.

Our van is done. Our mechanic looked us square in the face and said, "this is when you don't drive it anymore."


My husband was made full time AND given a raise (both of which were not "possible.")

Life is such a constant mixed bag.

I don't like not having a vehicle. Not being able to go to church as a family and going to the grocery store at midnight when everyone else is asleep. But right now. I am so thankful that I can. So grateful. We were given this vehicle. We were also given the truck that my husband drives to work. Even in this we are so so blessed. We were given a van (that we bougth for a dollar) and we drove it for 4 years. I don't know what comes next and I don't want to ever expect anything from anyone or demand from God.

My husband was working this Sunday and we weren't able to go to church. My daughter and I made a double batch of crescent rolls. It was our first really baking, having fun in our kitchen. We actually had a plug to plug in my Kitchen Aid mixer and didn't have to kneed by hand. We had this amazing Food saver to freeze the food after. Both gifts from an amazing woman that God has put into our lives. We have been in this house for 4 months now and it is still so amazing to us. "Our" warming drawer and oven actually have a "proofing" feature. I got the recipe from an amazing blog and looked at it on my laptop at the little desk in the kitchen. The whole time astonished at how very very blessed we are.

Dishes

I really like dishes. If I had my way I'd have many many sets. Many many sets. o mix and match and make me smile.

As it is, I buy a set every few years. plates and bowls for 8. usually at Big Lots or the 99 cent store. Somewhere under a dollar a piece. I bought some gorgeous red plates at Mervyns when I worked there one holiday season. They cheaped too easily. I bought a pckaged set of Better homes and Garden dishes on clearance at Walmart. They chipped way too quickly. It would seem that cheap dishes don't last long--that it takes dishes of quality to stand up to life in our house. My 13 year old and 11 year old sons do all the dishes, and ironically, it is usually I who break the dishes.

That is, until we moved in here. our sink is now in an island made of marble. Apparently when you bump a dish into marble, it breaks. Our kitchen floor is travertine tile. It is very tough. My kids were playing a board game and dropped a die on the tile. It shattered. Seriously. We have broken melamine like crazy.

SOOOO I was feeling sorry for myself on Mothers Day and when we ran out of diapers I headed to the store and stopped by Goodwill. Something caught my eye.

Not really the color scheme I would have chosen but... Have you ever had that feeling of recognizing something as good quailty and a good deal and knowing it has to be? This was one of those moments.

I bought nine of the cereal bowls and nine of the salad plates for....49 cents each. Apparently they are Vallarta made for Pier One 2005-2006. They sell for quite a lot elsewhere. They did have more pieces and now I'm wondering if they are still there:)

How often do you buy dishes? Do you have a a pattern/style that you love? Where do you shop for dishes?

I'm linking up at:



and

2nd time around Tuesday
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