Ways to save money!

I have been trying to find ways to save money with our large family.  The kids are getting so big and eating more and more.  So, I decided to make some food in bulk and freeze it.  I took this afternoon and made waffles, pancakes and burritos.

The kids love waffles and pancakes for breakfast, but I don't have time to make the daily especially during the week.  I can't afford to buy frozen waffles from the store.  The kids would eat a couple of boxes in one sitting.  So, I made a bunch of waffles and froze them.  Flour is pretty inexpensive.  It was so easy and cheap.  Then the kids just have to grab them out of the freezer bag and pop it in the toaster!

 They are always hungry when they get home from school, so I thought I would make some burritos up too and freeze them.  A couple of minutes in the microwave and they're defrosted.  I love to cook!  It is so much cheaper to take a little time and do this rather than buy already frozen food.  Plus it doesn't have all the preservatives.

I also bought a pork loin for about 20 bucks this past week.  I cut it up into pork chops.  One pork loin made about 35-40 boneless pork chops.  I know to buy boneless pork chops already cut up is very expensive.  Then I put it in freezer bags of about 7-8 a bag for different meals.  I didn't get a chance to take any pictures of them.

Another way I try to save money is by making my own laundry detergent.  It's so easy and it lasts me about a year.  It usually costs about $10-20 for all the ingredients and it's enough to make it again with all the stuff.

There are always ways to save money.  Having a large family is a little more expensive, but if you watch what you buy and how you buy it, you can save money.  Some people with smaller families aren't usually so careful in how they spend their money and some spend as much as we do if not more.  We usually don't go out to eat because that is so expensive for our family.  But we do try to watch for specials when some restaurants do kids eat free nights.  It's nice to eat out every once in a while.  I love having a large family and they are way more important to me than having nice things that are of earthly value.    

Update on Ethiopia

Some have asked how the adoption is going.  We submitted our application back in November 2013.  Our agency put a hold on all applications for 6 months because they were getting too many and the wait list was becoming very long.  So, our application is on hold now. 
There have also been problems arising in Ethiopia.  The Minister Zenebu said "the government is working hard to end foreign adoption and facilitate situations to raise the children within their community".  While they are working towards doing this, they are trying to change the laws and making it harder to adopt from Ethiopia.  No one knows what the laws are going to be, but there is talk on my adoption boards about maybe not allowing singles to adopt.  They may have a maximum amount of children you are allowed to have at home already.  A lot of people are scared they aren't going to get to even finish their adoptions that they are already in the process of.  We have been praying for clear direction from God on how we should handle this situation.  We don't think it's wise to put a lot of money into it and then it be shutdown and the country keep all the funds.  They don't transfer funds to adopt from a different country.  All of it would be lost.  Adoption is already an emotional roller coaster without adding all of this in.  Right now we are on at least a 6 month hold.  So, we will see what happens over the next 6 months.  Thanks for all your prayers.

Getting Back To What's Important!

Children are such a blessing!  I forget sometimes to just slow down and enjoy each of them at the age and stage they are at.  Life can get so busy to where you feel like you're running nonstop.  Either through having too many commitments to other things, or social media, & etc.  I just recently realized that our life was so full of stuff that didn't need my attention, and I didn't feel like I was spending quality time with my children.  I will have time when they are all grown to help outside the home with other things.  I decided I needed to reevaluate my priorities.  I sometimes over commit myself to things forgetting that I'm not like everyone else.  We have a large family that needs a lot of my attention.  And I am definitely okay with this! This is the stage of my life where my commitments are with my children over other things.  God blessed us with these beautiful children and he has trusted me with them!  I take that very seriously.  We only have so very few years with them to mold them for God.  I feel like Tyler is getting so old and before I know it, he will be off on his own.  I want to know that I have raised him to love the Lord and serve Him. 

I feel like social media can sometimes take over my life.  It's very easy to open facebook and get lost on what's happening in others' lives.  When this happens, I feel like I don't talk to anyone cause I already know what's happening with them from reading it.  It really takes away being personal with others.  I hardly ever call anyone anymore cause I feel like I'm communicating with them by just reading their posts.  But the truth is, I'm Not.  I tried to deactivate my account on facebook a few weeks ago, but our families want me to keep it.  For them, it's the only way they see our family and know what's going on with us.  None of our family lives near us.  They all live in Mississippi, Utah, California and areas close to that.  So, I am going to keep it for now, but just won't be reading through others posts very often. 

I'm trying to get back to what's important.  Since cutting back other stuff, I've really made it a priority to read my Bible and spend time with God everyday.  Jacob and I are reading through the Bible together.  We are doing a reading plan of reading through the Bible in a year.  I'm really enjoying it and so is he.  We are also trying to do a devotional as a family.  All of the little kids are in Awana and they love it.  Tyler is in a great youth group and loving it.  They do a junior high bible study every week and then the youth group meets every week.  They are a very active group.  While they are all doing that on Wednesday nights, I get to go to a Bible study that I am really enjoying.  We missed a few Wednesday nights from life being so busy, so I am happy to be back and so are the kids!

I just thought I would share what I was feeling in my heart.  I'm sure others feel the same way sometimes.