The big news...

The biggest news on the homefront is that we are adopting!!

I may talk about it some on here, but we started a blog/website about our journey.


You can read all about it here:  HaradaAdoptionJourney.

Big adventures ahead!

Barber Shop

Living on a budget is a lot about watching your monthly expenses and often times reducing them. We're always learning new ways to rock the one-income lifestyle.  My newest venture is cutting Mateo's hair.

We've always gotten his hair cut at Great Clips.  However, to be brutally honest, they don't do a great job.  I don't know what kind of training the staff has or anything...but we've just never been that happy with the cuts and it only takes them a few minutes.  A child's haircut costs $11 plus a tip and that's the cheapest place for a hair cut besides the beauty college which we've thought of trying since they are only $4.99 there.  But, again, if I'm paying for a mediocre haircut I might as well do it myself, right?

 First, I set up a barber shop in our master bathroom.  I brought in the lap top and found a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on You Tube. I also brought a tiny star shaped bowl full of chocolate chips in for a special treat.  I wanted it to be fun for him.

 I got out Aaron's clippers and scissors, comb, spray bottle, little broom, etc.  We also have a cape thing that can be worn.

 Next up add the 3 1/2 year old to the picture, get him ready with his cape on, and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse playing in the background.  Last time we were at Great Clips they buzzed his hair pretty short at #4.  So, I decided to be conservative and go with a #5.  I also used scissors around his ears, in the front, and in the back.  I used the clippers a tiny bit in the back as well.  I don't really know what I'm doing (yet) but I have watched him get many haircuts and decided to give it a whirl.  If he wants a more stylish haircut when he gets older I can maybe teach myself to give a scissor cut.  For now he's 3 and could care less about his hair. 

All done! He's looking sharp. 

So, I'm pretty excited to be able to cut Mateo's hair now. I may even be brave enough to try Alex's hair next.  I might strap him in the high chair, though, as he would not stay put in the bar stool like Mateo.  I think I would do a #6 on him so it isn't as short as Mateo's. 

I could potentially save $25 with each time I cut both my sons hair. Since I'm that kind of math geek, I did do the math.  If the average boy has his haircut every 6 weeks...that's 8.6 hair cuts a year., or $217 a year!! If Aaron ever lets me cut his hair again (see below), that's an additional $15-20 we'd save each time.

WARNING: Do make sure that you have the right number of clipper on before beginning.  Double check.  Triple check.  Quadruple check.  Especially if you're "practicing" on your husband who has a professional job and has to go to work the next day.  Because if you don't...you may think you have a #4 on but you might actually have nothing on and do this...

I feel bad for whoever that guy is.

Lunch on the go....

Packing a lunch.  Often a daunting task.  I don't pack lunches for myself anymore- but my husband brings a lunch with him 5 days a week. There's always the question of what to pack.  One thing that he likes to pack sometimes is a salad.  But a big guy like him isn't going to get filled up by lettuce or spinach alone.  Sometimes I'll defrost a small container of homemade garbanzo beans. Other times I will add some chickens to "beef" up his salads.  I don't have time to make chicken for him every day and usually we're packing his lunch at night when we're in a hurry.  So..... here is the solution we've come up with over the last year:

I buy a large pack of fresh (not frozen) chicken at the grocery store. This time it was about 3 1/2 pounds of fresh meat.

 I cut it into pieces, add some onion, a touch of garlic, kosher salt, pepper, and some parsley.  You could season yours however you like. I roasted it in the oven at 375 for about an hour (this will vary, of course, with your oven and how much chicken you cook).

 Once it's cooked ans has had time to cool off, I cut it into bite-size pieces.  I love using my kitchen shears instead of a knife, personally.

Last, I measure out a small portion into a zip lock baggie with the date written in sharpie.
I did a heaping 1/2 cup, though the portion could be smaller or larger depending
on what you're serving it on.

And.... TA DA!!! Fourteen small bags of chicken thrown into the freezer for Aaron's lunches. I roasted this while feeding the boys lunch and putting them down for naps.  Then once they were down I could cut and package it. 

 ADDITIONAL  NOTES:

*In addition to salads, we might add this to leftover rice (or quinoa) and vegetables as well. 

**Besides being convenient and healthier, packing your own lunch to work saves OOODLES of money!  $$$$$

Advent Calendar: A Christ-filled Christmas

I really enjoyed the Advent and Christmas season this year.  It didn't feel rushed or hectic and I really liked getting to see friends and family more than usual. Besides 3/4 people in our family needing anti-biotics this month...and 4/4 visiting the doctor at some point, I had some God-given peace and joy having my family all together and just enjoying the season of anticipating Christ's birth.
We try to keep Christmas fairly simple and as meaningful as possible.  Christmas is about Christ.  It's not about presents or decorations or cookies.  Those things can be fun, but I don't want them to be the only focus of the season. Mapping out a budget and doing a little bit of planning on how we'll be spending some time helped take away a lot of stress.

One fun tradition that helps keep our focus during December is the refrigerator Advent Calendar. I originally got this idea from a blog a couple of years ago when I was preparing an Advent devotion for some elementary aged students and their families at church.

The blog's ideas were for more of a secular Christmas Countdown but one could easily change the "tasks" on the back of these refrigerator cards and make them a good fit for their own family.  The blog suggested using Christmas numbered scrapbook paper which I actually did find at Michael's and cut out each number to paste on construction paper. You could also just cut up 25 squares of paper and write your numbers on it.  I got magnetic tape at the craft store, too, and used glue stick to glue a small piece on the back of each card.  The adhesive didn't seem to be quite enough to get it to stay.


  You can decorate the cards however you'd like.  Since I was doing this originally in large quantities, I gathered stickers, markers, bows, etc. to let the kids decorate.  You can use whatever you have on hand.  I also had a 26th card with DECEMBER written on it and a bible verse that picked out.  I added little things Mateo had made in Sunday school, our fam pic, the bible verse from our Christmas card, etc. to the fridge as well as a picture of the little girl we sponsor from India.  It was a fun and beautiful refrigerator "scrapbook" and devotion for the month.

 
I went through the gospel story in Luke and also chose a couple verses from the book of Isaiah. All of the tasks were printed on sticker labels and placed on the back.  You could surely do this differently. In the future, as the boys get older, I look forward to changing some of the devotional tasks to be more at their level. For now it was exciting to see Mateo begin comprehending the story of Jesus coming to Earth as a baby.
 I also left about 10 of the cards blank for each family to fill in additional activities that fit with their family. This year I used sticky notes on those blank cards to come up with things that worked with our family's likes and schedule.  I also took into account days off of my husband, which days were on a weekend, etc. 
Here is what's written on the back of each card:



1.  Read Isiah 7:14
Isaiah was written over 600 years before Jesus was born.  What did God promise way back then?

2.  Blank (Below task written on a sticky note)
"Make Gingerbread Houses"

3.  Brainstorm something your family can do (or are doing) this month to show Jesus' love to someone else (using time, money, or resources).

4.  Blank
"Christmas Craft"  Split Pea Christmas Tree**

5. Read Luke 1:26-38
How did Mary respond to the angel?

6. Blank
"Read about Jesus' birth in the big children's bible.  Tell the story of Jesus' birth with the felt set story board" (We were given an awesome set with all of the characters, animals, backgrounds, etc.  Mateo had fun creating the set.  Alex was too young to participate with all the small pieces.  Maybe next year.)

7. Read Luke 1:39-45
Why do you think God chose Mary to be Jesus' mother?

8.  Blank
"Sing Christmas Praise Songs:  1. Silent Night, 2. Joy to the World, 3. Come on Ring those Bells"

9.  Who is someone that would enjoy a letter this month?  Write one and send or deliver it.

10.  Blank
Play the Thankful Game and have prayer time (Play your own variation of this game which let family members take turns saying what they are thankful to God for).

11. Read and discuss Luke 1:46-56

 12. Blank
"Christmas Craft: Make a tissue paper star with the verse Matthew 2:2" ** 


13. What do you think Jesus would want as a "birthday present" as we celebrate his birth this year?

14. Blank
"Write/tell the story of Jesus' birth from the perspective of the stable animals."

15. Read Luke 2:1-7 What do you think Mary and Joseph were feeling.
"Drive around after dinner and look at Christmas lights. Lights can remind us of the star the wise men followed." 

16.  Sketch a picture of what the manger where Jesus was born might have looked like.  What animals do you think were there? 

17. Blank
"Christmas Craft:  Christmas Tree with paper Pattern Block Shapes"**      

18. "Make cookies for the neighbors and deliver them with Christmas cards"

19. Read Luke 2:8-12
What was the great news that was for all people?  Why was it so great?

20.  Blank
"Go visit the capitol and look at the lights"

21. Pray together.  Thank God for sending Jesus to be our savior.

22.  Blank:
"Christmas Craft:  Tree Crayons" **


23. Read Luke 2:13-20 
Where did the shepherds go and find Joseph, Mary, and baby Jesus?

24.  Blank
"Tell the story about Jesus' birth with the felt set story board"

25. "Sing some Christmas praise song such as 1. Silent Night, 2. Joy to the World, and Come on Ring those Bells"

Now of course schedules change, you forget to do the calendar one day, people get sick, and sometimes you BUY cookies to give to your neighbors instead of make them from scratch.  I'm pretty convinced those alterations don't really matter.  The point is being intentional with your family and honoring your God. I'm already looking forward to next year with my boys :)

**Christmas Crafts:

Christmas Tree Crayons We made these as gifts. Check out link for directions.

Split Pea and Lentil Christmas Tree.  Draw a Christmas tree template and use the dried split peas and lentils like glitter. Add a star on top.

Christmas Tree Pattern Block Template.  I came across a neat site that had a variety of templates available to print.  I had a lot of di-cut shapes from my teaching days to glue on tape.  You could cut out your own shapes or even just color it. 

I cut out a star shape from white paper and glued it on black paper.  I wrote the verse Matthew 2:2 in white crayon.  Mateo could either cut or rip pieces of yellow tissue paper and glue them on.  He wanted to rip :)

A new twist on the 12 Dates of Christmas!

I somewhat randomly thought of this idea to wrap a date night up in a gift bag.  We watched 12 Dates of Christmas on Netflix the other night and I was remembering last year when we tried to have 12 dates.  Last year, though, it just consisted of us making a list of 12 things we wanted to do together in December and some included the boys.  This year is much more fun.  No kids allowed and since Aaron is very busy at work I decided to surprise him by putting together all of the bags myself.  Basically, I put all of the items that we'd need for the date (as much as possible...as size limitations obviously exist) in the gift bag and labeled them #1-12.

This idea is especially nice for us since we don't have a large Christmas budget and usually just do $25 of stocking suffers or something simple.  Wrapping up the dates makes spending time together like a gift, which it is.  These 12 dates will give us something to look forward to during the entire Advent season and will encourage us to spend time together. I spent just a few dollars on items for the bags.

We're in a season of life where we don't really have many opportunities to get out by ourselves.  We don't have family in town and haven't found a new babysitter since our previous one started college.  So, date nights at home are important to get us spending time together and remembering to enjoy each other's company. Right now the boys are both down by or before 8pm...so if we work hard to get dishes done before bedtime then we'll have a couple hours free!  Early bedtimes won't last forever, so might as well enjoy them now!

Tomorrow is December 1st and I can't wait to start having dates!!

 

 The corner of our bedroom has 12 labeled gift bags.  I also wrote the minimum amount of time that would be needed complete the date.

 

I will post pics and a description of what's in each bag after we have our date so I don't ruin the surprise (in the off chance that Aaron sees this post).  Stay tuned!  If you want ideas in the meantime, I can e-mail you.  

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Date #1:  Devotions Night

Time:  30 minutes 

Contents:  2 packs hot cocoa, mini marshmallows, bible, and printed out Advent devotion.  

Consensus:  We enjoyed having some focused time to think about Advent.  We liked this devotion okay but decided to do the Christmas Edition of Our Daily Bread for the rest of Advent.  This is a tiny book devotion that is free and many churches have copies or you can order one. We'll each read it during our day and chat about it at night. 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Date 2:  Poker Night!

Time: 1 hour

Contents:  Poker themed chips, plastic poker chips, poker hand ranking print out, and a deck of playing cards  

Consensus:  A lot of fun. Pandora.  Snacks.  Great company.  We learned some stories about each other and I learned a couple of new kinds of poker that I'd never played before.  

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Date #3:  ??

Time: 2 hours

Consensus:  

What do we put stock in?

Well, Aaron and I are marking this as our worst Thanksgiving ever and hoping to file it away in the books and move on soon. 

I've cleaned up more than my share of throw-up this week, to say the very least.  I've spent way too much time in the bathroom, to say a little too much.  I lost 6 pounds, saw each family member slowly drop like flies, dealt with an unbearable baby, canceled one thing after another due to sickness, and have now officially spent an entire week cooped up in the house. 

So, no, we won't be eating stuffing today, traveling, seeing family, making turkey shaped goodies, or any of the other festive things one traditionally does today.  I'm not the type of person to be depressed.  I try to keep things in perspective.  But, in all honesty, it would be a lie to say this hadn't been a quite depressing and discouraging week. 

But maybe in situations like this, we need to consider that we shouldn't only be thankful for things and stuff and the All American obsession, FOOD (Oh how I love food).  We all love things and stuff.  But in the end, all of those things will fade away.   

What are we thankful for regardless of our circumstances?
That's a hard one.  I remember mentioning to Aaron that even though we are all really sick and it sucks and blah blah, that at least we are together and at least we are in a warm home being sick. 

But what if you didn't have a family?  Many don't.  And what if you didn't have a home?  Many don't.  Do you truly have nothing to be thankful for? I don't believe so. 

A quite thought-provoking passage in Philippians 4:11-13 of the bible shows the apostle Paul talking...

"..I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. ¹² I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. ¹³ I can do everything through him who gives me strength."  

We can be content in every situtaion...not because of the stuff that we have, the people who help us, or the money we possess.  But...we can be content because GOD gives us strength to do everything through Him.  Now that's somethign to be thankful for.

Yes, I'm thankful for my things.  I'm thankful for my home.  My husband.  My babies.  My food.  My clothes.  I don't mean to sound rude or ungrateful.  But thankfulness to God goes beyond that.  Christian believers in 3rd world countries don't have a fraction of what we Westerners have and they are more joyful yet. Plenty of people don't have what we have and they're still happy and thankful.  Corrie Ten Boom never married and her life is an amazing testimony of dedication to God. 

So...think deep.  What are you thankful for, regardless of your situation?

I'm thankful for a loving and gracious God who gave me life.
I'm thankful for God's mercy forgiving my sins.
I'm thankful for God's promise of salvation and Heaven that awaits me.  
I'm thankful for the opportunity to live this life. 

Cool Beans: 7 Layer Burritos!!!

This is one of my favorite dinners.  We are having leftovers tonight actually.  Yet another reason to love this...it makes plenty for two dinners (and a lunch probably too)!

What you need:

• Homemade Pinto Beans About 10 cups of dry pinto beans( or 1/3 of your crock pot...they will grow when soaked overnight) or about 3-5 cans.  Doing this many homemade beans in your crock pot will make enough for two dinners plus possibly a container to freeze for later use (unless your family is really big). 

• Spanish rice mix or make it yourself with one cup white rice, 1 can diced tomatoes, 2 cups water, and some seasonings (i.e. herbs, onions, buillon, salt, etc.) 

• Other toppings.  You can use whatever your family likes but here's what we usually include to reach our "7" layer minimum :)

• tomatoes, diced up
• letuce, shredded
• onion, diced
• cheddar cheese, grated
• salsa
• Others could include:  tortilla chips, guacamole, sour cream, etc.  Sky is the limit!

• Tortillas!  I love me some flour tortillas.  Aaron has to have corn tortillas which are pretty terrible for burritos so he ends up making more of a rice bowl and a couple mini burritos.  

This one is definitely in the rotation!