Shocking Change in Life--Deployed

This is my gorgeous older sister, Tamara, soon to be a famous author. (her first novel, Perilous, will come out in print in August.) Teacher, business owner, currently moving out of one home and into another. Incredible mother of 2, soon to be 3 in a few months.

And that good looking guy with her is my wonderful Brother-in-Law, Mark. He's the guy that can pretty much do ANYTHING he tries his hand at. no, I mean it. ANYTHING. (history teacher, management, home remodeling, plumbing, repairs, foster care, writing, mentoring, wrestling, personal training, construction, deputy, and the list goes on...but most importantly he is an amazing husband and father) and he excells at EVERYTHING. Most likely because he puts all his trust in the Lord and never takes any of the credit for himself. He is a man of great moral courage and faith for whom I have the greatest respect.

Mark is being activated and deployed to Afghanistan for 13 months. They had less than a week after the phone call before departure this weekend. We will miss him. His sacrifice will mean he misses his baby's birth and first 10 months in addition to the special moments with his other 2 boys. We will be praying for him--and for his family--every day. This is just a small tribute for Mark's service and sacrifice for our country and for us. It cannot cover all our feelings.

Our hearts go with you, Mark. We love you.

Budget 2010: Here We Go!

We have been pretty good at budgeting groceries for the past year.

The tab includes

all food,

diapers,

cleaning supplies,

and hygiene items.

50 dollars a week, no excuses.

If I know something will cost more (like if we have a birthday coming up, a fancy meal calling for pricier ingredients, or Gwen needs diapers), then I have to spend less the weeks before to save up for it. (Formula was a bear to fit into the budget. Thankfully Gwen is on whole milk now!) Menu planning is essential.

I usually gestimate how much an item will cost (it is easier to do this once you've been shopping for that item in the past), then I make sure my plan doesn't go over 50. When I get to the store, I keep track of how much things are costing (just in case my guesses were way off) and carry a calculater to add everything up as I go along. Then it is just a matter of disciplining to not excede the budget. Just last week I had to put back a bag of oranges, marshmallows (we were planning on hot chocolate after date night), and some supportive inserts for shoes for Eric since he's on his feet all day. It'll have to be another week.

We had our budget 'talk' last night for 2010.

We are going to cut out 5,000 from our spending this year.

That will take the discipline we've been using for groceries and

carry it over into

EVERYTHING.

Don't get me wrong: we weren't ghastly extravagent in 2009. Not counting tuition, we spent 29,000 dollars (which sounds like so much money!), usually a little here and a little there. but this year, it is going to be less. No more purchases--even small ones--just for fun unless we account for it in one of our budgeted categories, no more exceeding the funds for gardening or canning, or no more spending SO MUCH MONEY on Christmas. We might only do E-cards this year... and I am GOING to discipline myself and stick to 100 dollars a year on ALL craft, cake decorating, and sewing purchases (I have been known to go sorta crazy with fabric sales)! But No More!

Here's to the New Budget for 2010!

We'll see how it goes. :)

anybody else workin up a small sweat with budgeting? What I'm really curious about is when YOU make a budget cut, what gets cut and what is last to go? I think it is interesting what different families value... for example, we have a 20 dollar a month "preparation" budget for gardening, canning, and emergency preparedness. Many families might see that as superfluous...while we would cut gym memberships, movies, and clothes first, someone else might cut out date nights and canning expenses before they'd sacrifice their daily workout or Netflix. What would you hold on to as long as possible?

Independence

A big word. With big attitude. Big "I-can-do-it-myself" gangly almost-adults, right? Wrong.

Independence wears diapers.And, pulling you all away from that adorable girl back to my thoughts, Independence leans on family and friends, rather than going it all alone.

Independence gains freedom by relying on the Lord.

Independence is not something to be squandered, but to be upheld and cherished.

Happy Independence Day. May our great nation continue to enjoy freedom through the sacrifice of so many upholding that freedom... and most especially through relying upon God's infinite power and mercy.

Never Forget

Just a quick post here from Eric. This is the first time, I think, that I have posted on this thingy. I wanted to write a short Memorial Day post. This is a picture of my grandfather's older brother. He and my grandpa grew up in Utah on a farm. Shortly after Pearl Harbor, my great uncle Evan and his buddy volunteered for the air force. He became a co-pilot on a B-24 and flew more than twenty missions in the European theater. During his next to last mission, he was shot down and killed in action in Germany, just across the border from Holland. I have grown up hearing stories about him and what a good person he was. I know that he is still sorely missed by my grandfather. On several Memorial Days in the past, I went with grandpa to visit Uncle Evan's grave and lay flowers and an American flag there, and, without fail, there was a tear in grandpa's eye. It taught me that there are times, places, and things that deserve our respect, reverence, and gratitude. We have debts that can never be repaid. It taught me that there are things that we must never forget.

So, to all who have fought and died for liberty, who have given their lives for their families and their countrymen in order to defeat tyranny,

Thank you. We will never forget.

Ever Had to Go Off Dairy?

When Gwen hit 2 weeks she also became extremely fussy... EXTREMELY. When we talked with her pediatrician, it was suggested we try going off dairy. I was feeling pretty deprived because, as we all know, holidays are filled with delicious foods that ALL contain dairy! I tried to be positive though. Perhaps this will be the only holiday season in which I DON'T gain 10 lbs from all the cheeseball, cookies, egg nog, etc. Well, Gwen's 'collick' got much better right around week 7-8 and by the time we were home from our Christmas vacation, she was doing so well... I thought, 'hey, why not see if she can tolerate a lil dairy now?' Just a lil dairy in a dessert, not even straight milk or cheese, and the next day I was regretting it because she bawled all day. Okay, so looks like I'll be off dairy for a lil while longer.

Do you know how many things contain dairy? Besides the obvious butter, cheese and icecream, so many delicious foods have dairy. Consider: pizza and lasagna are out, most latin-American cuisine is out because of cheese, the dairy in cheese and/or cream of 'whatever' soups pretty much makes most casserole dishes out of the question, since whipped cream is a no-no you can't have fruit salads, cheesecake is off limits, creamy salad dressings are out, many salads you would buy eating out have cheese on them, most cookies and sweet breads have dairy, no pudding, no chocolate, etc... plus many foods you WOULDN'T expect to have dairy do. For example: many breads, cereals, soups, even potato chips (can anyone explain why salt and vinegar chips need dairy?!?!) have a silent and unexpected dairy ingredient.

Well, I'm here to share with you some of my favorite 'non-dairy' alternatives. For any of you who ever have to do this, these things really help me to feel less deprived... and some are actually pretty tasty!

Tofutti cream cheese and sour cream. seriously, tastes just as good as the real thing! I eat the cream cheese every morning with a bagel and the sour cream has tasted delicious in stroganoff, on baked potatoes, and on fajitas. I love it!

Silk soy milk is good, but really any soy milk will do for cooking in general. It works in recipes same as milk. But I really like this VANILLA soy milk that Silk makes. I know some people have said it is too sweet, but I think it tastes great and love it on cereal. It is the only kind of soy milk I enjoy drinking straight.

Kashi Strawberry Fields cereal is the best dried strawberry/raspberry cereal I've ever had. Of course, you pay for it (definitely more expensive than Honey Bunches of Oats varieties, but those have dairy in them.). It is all organic, that is why it is so pricey, I guess.

Purely Decadent coconut milk ice cream... WOW!!! This stuff is AMAZING!!! I would eat it any day, except it is so much pricier than regular icecream. but it has lots of flavors and is so rich, you don't feel cheated at all!

Kraft vinaigrette salad dressings/marinades are so delicious! Definitely the way to go if you are going to avoid the creamy dressings. I love the variety of flavors. My favorites are: Asian Toasted Sesame, Sun-Dried Tomato Vinaigrette, and Tangy Tomato Bacon. The BEST part about these dressings, besides the flavor, is how healthy they are! Only 5-6 grams of fat per 2 tablespoons which is less than the 8-9 grams of fat per serving in most other vinaigrettes! I would choose these dressings to be healthy any day! DELICIOUS!!!!

Well, there you have it. My non-dairy favorites. Maybe this will help one of you someday, but I hope you don't ever have to go there. Any body else have favorite foods for certain diet/allergy restrictions?