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Money Stress

I am stressing about money (who isn't?) Most months I have already paid all my bills by this point. But here it is Sept. 29th and I have not paid all bills and will not be able to either.

I still owe:

$168.65 electric bill due Oct. 4th (this was unexpected as my budget plan ended but I owed more than they had budgeted)
$80.06 car insurance due Oct. 8th
$70.00 gas bill due Oct. 10th
$50.00 water bill
$ .00 internet/ phone/ cable (should be $80.00, but may be a double bill)

I think I will put the car insurance on my credit card, and use my Sat. night work money ($60.00) towards the electric bill. This is technically Oct. money, but I will apply it towards Sept. bills since there are five Sat.'s in Oct.

The worst part is my debt has grown this month:

$670.00 Mastercard (increased)
$217.00 owe dentist (same)

AHHHHH!!!! I hate debt. I hate stressing over money.

I need to give this to God as He doesn't want me to stress like this. He has been so amazing in the ways He has provided over the years. I need to trust in Him, and not spend one penny on wants until the bills are all caught up and I am debt free.

How are your Sept. bills?

-Becky

Welcome new follower

Welcome UhOh! Here We Go !!!

Planet Project

Today we did a science project. The big yellow balloon is the sun (although it should be about three times the size in relative to other balloons.) The objective was to see size of planets in comparison to each other, and in order. The distance in between was not a factor in today's project.



The planets



Jason & Josh under the planets

The problem with glass

Being concerned with all the chemicals I don't want in my body or my children's, I have switched most of our containers to glass. I also try to buy food only in jars. The problem with that is that things seem to fall a lot in this house. Did you know that glass shatters when it hits the floor? Did you know that glass with sticky stuff (real maple syrup) still shatters? The worst part is that the shatters end up everywhere and are so hard to clean up.

This isn't my picture but you get the idea. This is sort of what we just cleaned up, once again (plus with half a jar syrup mixed in.) Fun.

-Becky

Our week

Mon.
first Mon.of every month field trip, other three Mondays
9:00-10:00 get up, get ready for day, breakfast
10:00 family time with God (we are reading through and doing a study on Proverbs)
10:30-2:30 school
2:30-6:00 cleaning job
9:30 Josh bed
10:30 Jason bed
12:00 me bed

Tues.
9:00-10:00 get up, get ready for day, breakfast
10:00 family time with God (we are reading through and doing a study on Proverbs)
10:30-2:30 school
2:00-10:00 watch Kaiden
2:30 leave for horseback riding
3:15-3:45 Jason horseback riding
4:15-5:00 doctor
9:30 Josh bed
10:30 Jason bed
12:00 me bed

Wed.
9:00-10:00 get up, get ready for day, breakfast
10:00 family time with God (we are reading through and doing a study on Proverbs)
10:30-2:30 school
2:00-10:00 watch Kaiden
5:00 leave for church
5:30-8:30 church
9:30 Josh bed
10:30 Jason bed
12:00 me bed

Thur.
9:00-10:00 get up, get ready for day, breakfast
10:00 family time with God (we are reading through and doing a study on Proverbs)
10:30-2:30 school
2:00-10:00 watch Kaiden
9:30 Josh bed
10:30 Jason bed
12:00 me bed
NO DRIVE DAY

Fri.
9:00 get up, get ready for day, breakfast
9:00-12:00 watch Kaiden
10:00-12:00 school
1:00-2:30 Jason writing class
1:30-2:00 Josh guitar
3:00-overnight watch Kaiden
9:30 Josh bed
10:30 Jason bed
12:00 me bed

Sat.
am-4:30 watch Kaiden
5:00-10:00 babysit (I go to their home)

Sun.
10:00 leave for church
10:30-12:30 church
4:00-6:00 Jason youth group
usually dinner with parents and siblings
9:30 Josh bed
10:30 Jason bed
12:00 me bed

We eat lunch about 1:00, and dinner about 7:00. We have some snack times thrown in as well.

A later schedule works well for me since my entire life I have been a night person. I get my energy at night and am a zombie until about 10am.

What does your week look like?

-Becky

Homeschool binders: chores

Here are the boys weekly chores (the lines indicate how many times during week each item must be done.)(They each have their own room and either bathroom or living room each week. The kitchen is my room):

Bedroom:
Make Bed _ _ _ _ _
Put all toys away _ _ _ _ _
Put all books away _ _ _ _ _
Put all cds away _ _ _ _ _
Put all dvds / vhs away _ _ _ _ _
Put all legos away _
Clear floor _
TV wiped down _
Frame(s) dusted and cleaned with glass cleaner _
Night stand dusted _
Light switch wiped down _
Inside window cleaned with glass cleaner _
Window sill wiped down _
Baseboards wiped down _
Vent dusted _
Top of door frame(s) dusted _
Door(s) wiped down _
Door knobs wiped down _
Put all dirty clothes in hamper _ _ _ _ _
Put all clean clothes away _ _ _ _ _
Floor vacuumed _

Living Room:
Put all toys away _ _ _ _ _
Put all books away _ _ _ _ _
Put train pieces away _ _ _ _ _
Fold blankets _ _ _ _ _
Baseboards wiped down _
Frames on wall dusted and cleaned with glass cleaner _
TV screen wiped down _
Top of TV wiped down _
End table dusted _
Clean train table with cleaner _
Inside window(s) cleaned with glass cleaner _
Inside window sills cleaned _
Light switch wiped down _
Door(s) wiped down _
Door knobs wiped down _
Floor vacuumed _ _ _ _ _

Bathroom:
Toilet wiped down with cleaner _ _ _ _ _ (everyday)
Sink cleaned with cleaner _ _ _ _ _ (everyday)
Mirror cleaned with glass cleaner _ _ _ _ _ (everyday)
Tub scrubbed with cleaner _
Shower walls scrubbed with cleaner _
Light switch wiped down _
Inside of window cleaned with glass cleaner _
Window sill wiped down _
Cabinet wiped down with cleaner _
Light bulb(s) dusted _
Walls wiped down _
Floor swept _ _ (Mon. & Fri.)
Floor mopped _ _ (Mon. & Fri.)
Door(s) wiped down with cleaner _
Door knobs wiped down with cleaner _

Extra Weekly Chores (to earn extra video game minutes):

Hallway:
Take toys off toy shelf _
Clean toy shelf with rag and cleaner _
Put toys back on shelf neatly _
Remove stuff off top of desk _
Dust desk _
Put stuff back neatly _
Dust and clean with glass cleaner pictures on wall _
Sweep floor _
Mop floor _

Back Room:
Pull out all shoes _
Clean floor where shoes goes (sweep and mop) _
Put all shoes back neatly _
Hang all coats neatly _
Clean backdoor with cleaner_
Clean glass on backdoor with glass cleaner _
Wipe down door to bathroom (use rag and cleaner) _
Wipe down door to garbage (use rag and cleaner) _
Wipe down door to school stuff (use rag and cleaner) _
Clean doorknobs with cleaner _
Sweep floor _
Mop floor _

Stairs:
Remove everything _
Put stuff from stairs away _
Sweep stairs _
Clean stairs with non slip cleaner _
Vacuum rugs or shake outside _

Upstairs Hallway:
Put away all books _
Put away all clean clothes _
Put all dirty clothes in hamper _
Clear desk _
Clean desk with cleaner _
Vacuum rug _

With children it is good to list everything in detail. Also they need to be shown how to do each item on the list, probably numerous times before they can do it on their own. My kids have already done about 3/4 of these chores before. This year I have added some new chores and will teach them before I expect them to do it on their own (and I do not expect the jobs will be done as well as I do them either.)

Today I showed Josh how to clean the shower walls and tub. I even gave him a special scrubby that his hand slips into and he actually had fun cleaning the shower wall.

Do your children have chores? Do they have different chores each day, each week? Do you plan chores in advance or just assign them what needs to be done at the moment?

-Becky

p.s. I use all non toxic, mostly homemade cleaners, so I don't worry about the kids using them.

Homeschool binders: earning video game time

In my last post I wrote how I have made binders for the boys for schoolwork, earning video game time, and chores. On the back of their school work page is how they can earn video game time (the one motivator that works with both of them.)

They can earn up to 60 min. a day but can not play until all daily schoolwork and chores are complete. They also must be done playing by 8:30 pm (so they have to start by 7:30.) That way they can have some calm time before bed (9:00 for Josh, with 30 min. read time with me, making his lights out time 9:30. 10:30 for Jason.)

Earning Video Game Time:

You can earn up to 60 min. a day

Wake up to 10:00am – worth 10 min.
take medicine (Jason) _ _ _ _ _
eat breakfast _ _ _ _ _
get dressed _ _ _ _ _
be ready for school by 10am _ _ _ _ _
no arguing or fighting with brother or mom _ _ _ _ _
no unwholesome talk _ _ _ _ _
no hitting or kicking or yelling _ _ _ _ _

10:00am-2:00pm – worth 10 min.
do all school work _ _ _ _ _
no arguing or fighting with brother or mom _ _ _ _ _
no unwholesome talk _ _ _ _ _
no hitting or kicking or yelling _ _ _ _ _

Chore time – worth 10 min.
do all daily chores _ _ _ _ _
no arguing or fighting with brother or mom _ _ _ _ _
no unwholesome talk _ _ _ _ _
no hitting or kicking or yelling _ _ _ _ _

Verse – worth 10 min.
Say weekly verse from memory _ _ _ _ _

Extra chores – worth 20 min. (can do 1 a day)
Hallway _
Back room _
Stairs _
Upstairs hallway _

Homeschool binders: schoolwork

We started school on Friday. This year we are trying a slightly new system. Each child has their own binder. Each week they get a new sheet of what they have to do for school, chores, and to earn video games time.

Jason with his binder (he didn't want his picture taken so he made this face)

Jason's weekly school work

Jason's schoolwork sheet says:
Mon. date __________
Jason, each week by Friday 12:00pm you must have done:

*Bible:
Read 30 min. daily (120 min. total), and write what pages you read _ _ _ _
Do 1 devotion daily (4 total for week) _ _ _ _
Write 1 verse daily (4 a week) _ _ _ _

*Journal:
Write 7 sentences daily in your journal. Must be neat, check spelling, and punctuation.
_ _ _ _

Pre-Algebra:
You must have all lessons for week plus test done _ _ _ _ _ _ test _

*History:
Mon.-read chap. __ _
Tues.- do test questions _
Wed.-listen to chap. on cd _
Thur.- activity pages _

Reading:
Read ______________________ _
Do report on book _

Writing:
Assignments for class _

*Science:
Tues.-read chapter __ in book _
Wed.-do activity pages in book
Thur.-project
Everyday-moon observation _ _ _ _ _ _ _

* must do everyday, all else just have done by Fri. at 12pm


Josh with his binder

Joshua's weekly school work

Josh's schoolwork sheet says:
Mon. date __________
Joshua, each week by Friday 12pm you must have done:

*Bible:
Read 15 min. daily (60 min. total), and write what pages you read _ _ _ _
Do 1 devotion daily (4 total for week) _ _ _ _
Write 1 verse daily (4 a week) _ _ _ _

*Journal:
Write 3 sentences daily in your journal. Must be neat, check spelling, and punctuation. _ _ _ _

Math:
You must have all lessons for week plus test done _ _ _ _ _ _ test _

*History:
Mon.-read chapter __ _
Tues.-do test questions _
Wed. –listen to chapter on cd _
Thur. –activity pages in book_

Language Arts:
First Language Lessons for the Well Trained Mind _ _ _ _

Spelling _ _ _ _ _

Reading:
Read ______________________ _
Do report on book _

Map _ _

*Science:
Tues.-read chapter __ in book _
Wed.-do activity pages in book
Thur.-project
Everyday-moon observation _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Practice guitar 10 min _ _ _ _


* must do everyday, all else just have done by Fri. at 12pm


So far they have done most of their stuff as you can see by all the check marks.
These sheets help the boys stay on schedule and also will serve as records of what we did all year.

In my next post I will show the other pages of their binders.

-Becky

Yard Work

Three hours of yard work and we still only did about 1/4th of what needs to be done.

We still have to:

-mow half the yard
-weed whack front yard around decorative stones
-weed whack edges of side yard (it is a slight hill and can't use mower there)
-weed whack entire back yard in front of neighbors fence
-cut huge pile of limbs into three feet pieces, bundle with rope, put to curb (these fell in storm)

I can do all of the above, except the last stuff as we have no way to cut the limbs, unless we use Josh's hand saw which should take about 8 years that way.

A bonus of today is that I discovered in my garden (that produced almost no produce this summer) there are green tomatoes, a few green peppers, and 2 white eggplant. At least my garden was not a total bust this year.

Another bonus is that yard work is good exercise.

Now off to empty out homeschool closet and organize it to fit this year's progress, and cook dinner for my sister who is coming over at 6.

-Becky

First Day of School

Today we officially started school again.

We started our day with:

opening up back to school presents (a hammer, a nail clipper, new t-shirt, a bendy book light, a new journal, and dye free cotton candy.)

opening up back to school presents (a hammer, a nail clipper, new t-shirt, a bendy book light, a new journal, and dye free cotton candy.)

Then we wrote verses and journal entries about the summer:

Josh writing in new journal

Jason writing in new journal

We also had some outside time:


Joshua first day of third grade

Jason first day of 8th grade

too cool for school

back to school sentiments

-Becky

Bills and debt

Currently all my household and regular bills are caught up and / or paid in full.

My Kohl's charge is paid off and my Mastercard is at $200. Praise the Lord!

My current debt:

$120,000 (about) Mortgage
$217 owe dentist (which I may put on charge so they are at least paid)
$140 Mastercard

I also need another $500 by mid Oct. to pay my home insurance. It is due annually and the bill is $1,200.

How are your monthly bills? Debt?

-Becky

Declutter Update

I have a goal to declutter 365 items in 2011.

My rules are it only counts if I give it away, not throw it away or sell it; and the item must have been in my house before 2011 began; oh and if an item goes out to replace something that just came in it also does not count.

Basically I want to actually have 365 less items in my home by the end of the year.

As of Sept. 1st I was at 290 items. Since then I have given away 1 pair of boots, 10 pairs of too small pants, 6 books / old curriculum stuff, 6 pairs too small shorts, and 2 too small bathing suits. That is 25 more items.

My new total is 315 items given away in 2011.

It feels good to have less stuff.

-Becky

So blessed

I just went in my shed. I found for fall for boys:

Jason:
5 pairs size 16 jeans (his waist is 14, but he wears 16 for length)
2 men's size small sweatshirts
3 men's size small dress shirts
6 men's size small long sleeve shirts / thermals
2 men's small nicer shirts (look sort of like thin sweaters)

Joshua:
12 pairs size 10 or 12 jeans / pants / khaki's
2 pairs church pants
2 medium sweatshirts
12 medium long sleeve shirts
2 medium nice dress shirts

Jason has two pairs of shoes that fit. Josh has one.

We are so blessed, all the items in the shed were hand me downs, but some of the stuff still has tags (the other person didn't wear.)

Stuff we will still need to get through to spring:

Jason:
pj's (he has none that fit)
winter coat (boys size 18 or men's small)
snow pants (boys size 16 or 18)
snow boots (men's size 8)

Joshua:
another pair sneakers

I also have to go through all the socks and underwear to see if they need any of these.

I feel so blessed that we have to get very little clothes to make it through to spring. And I have a $10 coupon, $7.50 merchandise credit, plus 15% off for Kohl's that I hope to use for Josh's second pair of shoes.

God is so good to us!

-Becky

2011 Walk for Life

2011 Walk for Life

Please help me raise money for our local pregnancy center. They helped me 14 years ago when I was pregnant with Jason. They really care about people and all the services they offer are free, they rely only on private donations! The above link will take you to my very own fundraising page, but I can take donations off this site as well.

-Becky

Happy Birthday Eric

Today is Eric's birthday. We all miss him so much! It is very hard to not have him here, especially this week as it was my mom, sister, and Grandmother's birthday's this week, as well as Eric's today.
Happy Birthday Eric!

My hair stylist

This is my friend Courtney. She is awesome. She has 11 kids and is a great mom. We have been friends since high school. She came to NJ to visit this weekend without kids, so we had a girls night out. It was so much fun. I wish she still lived in NJ.

-Becky

My birthday gift to my mom

me Sat. morning


from the back Sat. morning

and finally
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me Sat. afternoon

My mom has wanted to me to cut my hair for a long time. I have not had a hair cut since Oct. 2002 (except an occasional 1-2" trim.) So for my mom's birthday I decided to go ahead and get a drastic cut (my girlfriend did it for me.) Over 10" was cut off. My mom sure was happy. I like it, but am still in shock.

What do you think?

-Becky

Birthdays

Yesterday was my mom's birthday. Today is my sister's, Grandma's, and cousin's. Happy Birthday to all you special ladies. I love you all!

Food Budget

My food budget is now $300.00 a month. It breaks down to:

$10.00 a day

or

$2.00 breakfast
$3.00 lunch
$4.00 dinner
$1.00 snacks

This has to cover food for all above meals and snacks for four people. So it breaks down to:

$ .50 per person for breakfast
$ .75 per person for lunch
$1.00 per person for dinner
$ .25 per person for snacks (all day)

I want to try and keep up with my food goals, as I really want to feed my family real food.

My food goals are:

-no artificial food dyes (THIS IS NONE NEGOTIABLE)
-no high fructose corn syrup (THIS IS NONE NEGOTIABLE)
-no corn syrup
-no white or brown sugar
-no white bread or white food products
-drink lots of water (so that we we are eating when hungry and not actually thirsty)
-organic as much as possible
-5 or more fruits or veggies daily (fresh first, then frozen, finally canned)

I think this will be interesting, especially with my two very hungry, growing boys and with sensory issues regarding food and food dye allergies limiting some of our choices.)

What is your food budget? Do you have any food rules or goals?

-Becky

So good

I managed to squeeze some money from somewhere to go to Wholefoods (plus I still had about $20.00 on a gift card.) I needed my GoodBelly's (priobiotic drinks that help with my IBS) as I had not had any since before hurricane last week. Also after all the junk food we ate during the hurricane, I was craving some healthy food.

Here is what we bought (I also bought the GoodBelly's but didn't count them here):

$5.00 1 lb ground beef
$3.00 organic hamburger rolls
$2.00 5 ears local corn on the cob
$2.50 Feta
$2.50 organic spinach
$3.00 organic romaine
$3.00 local tomatoes
$2.00 organic croutons
$3.00 package chocolate chip cookies
$5.50 coconut water

$31.50 this covers one entire dinner and dessert for 5, plus I can use the rolls to make sandwiches tomorrow for lunch, and then there is still enough salad to have with lunch and dinner tomorrow.

I had a salad as soon as we got home from Wholefoods. It was good. Then for dinner I made hamburgers. I put Feta inside mine and my sister's. It tasted so good, but it was painful on my throat. Still worth it though. I also made the corn on the cob. Fresh Jersey corn is better than so good. I don't even put butter on it, alone it is just delicious. We had yummy cookies for dessert.

I have been missing food as I have been so sick and sleeping a lot. I am still sick, but getting better.

What did you have for dinner?

-Becky

Check out this blog

I read this blog about a single mom who lives in a trailer with her 4 kids. Not a mobile home but a travel trailer in an rv park. This mom lost her good job 3 years ago and has been trying to survive since. Anyway this month I felt like she really needs to blessed. So please pray for this family and go read her blog here.

Also if you feel lead donate a few dollars or more to this family here.

This mom is short on this months bills, plus she has added expenses with 4 kids and back to school. So maybe you can help ease some of her burden?

-Becky