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Here is our announcement slideshow that we put together if you haven't already seen it!
We feel very blessed! I'm looking forward to what the rest of the year brings us!
Family
Thursday, May 29, 2014
Adding another birthday to the calendar!!
So, it's been a really long time since I've written a post! Our family has been busy with life! We are happy to announce that our family is growing and we are expecting #7! We are very excited for this new addition to our family. We are very happy that the baby is doing great! I had my first ultrasound on May 16! My due date is January 4, 2015! I've been much more tired with this pregnancy than the others. I've had moments of nauseousness, not always in the morning, actually a lot in the evenings. Smells are the worst for me. Something will sound great to eat, then once I cook it, the smell gets me and I don't want it anymore. I got sea bands for the nauseousness and they are helping alot. The kids are very excited for the new baby! They are very anxious to find out if it is a boy or girl!! Mason and Kyndal have already placed their request for a baby sister! We should know sometime in July!!!
Sunday, February 2, 2014
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.
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.
Thursday, January 23, 2014
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.
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.
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