Thursday, June 18, 2015

Reflecting on Cinderella

We finally went to see the live action Cinderella movie with my daughters over the weekend. We love going to see movies in the theater. It is something my husband and I loved to do pre-kids. Nowadays we go a lot less and tend to go mostly to the cheap theater. (It's the same great theater experience but much less money.) This was a movie that was high on our "to see in the theater" list.

So we finally saw the movie and I adored it. And so did my girls.

As most of my readers know, our family is overrun by the female persuasion. My husband went with us to see this very feminine movie with not just me and his 4 daughters but also with another lovely lady added to the mix (a friend of my oldest). While my husband was, let's just say less than thrilled to be hitting the theater for this movie, he put a smile on his face and proudly entered that little room and selflessly helped 6 ladies pile into a row, help me get everyone situated, popcorn passed out, drinks sorted, seats arranged, baby settled, and popcorn refilled (the last two probably more of a joy to escape for just a moment). Once we had all settled and were watching the story unfold I stole a few looks at the row of little ladies I had in my midst and the strong man that was leading the crew.

Honestly, my darling husband would have likely picked any movie to see other than this one or even skipped going altogether except for one thing. That "thing" has him by the heart. It is our second daughter, Sophia. See, this is her favorite movie to watch at home (the Disney cartoon version) and when she found out there would be a live action version she was just floored. Our Sophia is quite the princess. She is always wearing dresses, loves having her hair done, changes outfits during the day to best suit the events of the moment (though I obviously don't like this), loves heels and make-up (which she only gets to wear during playtime), and everything to do with being a princess. She also loves when I get dressed up in "pretty clothes" and she always asks if she can pick out my earrings and if I'm going to wear lipstick (which is apparently the end all be all of the make up world). Her love for the movie is no surprise and her desire to see every single rendition of it is no surprise either.

Sheer excitement cannot even describe how excited she was when I told her we were going...finally. Sophia did not know that her daddy was having second and third and fourth thoughts about going. I was okay with him taking a pass, but he knew how much it would mean to be there for his daughter and so he went. And it wasn't just Sophia he was doing this for. All his girls were excited to see the movie, except maybe the baby. And all three of our girls were just so thrilled to be there...with both parents in tow.

It is the little things like this that my husband does that shows us the love he has for us, that makes all of us feel a little like Cinderella (on the 'happily-ever-after' part of the story). Even something as simple as taking a deep breath, hiding his aversion, and showing excitement for another very girly movie. Don't get me wrong, the man can be maddening. I would never try to say that he doesn't have his moments of pure insanity, we all do. But he definitely is one of the good ones. So good that he doesn't really have a clue how good even though I try to tell him and show him daily. He's always striving to be better, do better. No prince could give more.

To so many my life may not seem like a fairy-tale. We have a small house. Not a I'm-being-modest-our-house-is-really-2500 sq ft or larger house. We have a 1,000 sq ft house. We may not move from this house. Ever. And that's okay. We have a small house and small plot of land that that bank gladly accepts our payments for. We live on less than most people at our stage of life. We rarely take vacations. We rarely go out to dinner. We have debts that sometimes feel so overwhelming we want to give up. In these respects, it sure doesn't seem like happily ever after. But when you really look at my life, when you take the magnifying glass to it...gosh. There is so much more.

What we do have is a happy marriage. Sometimes it's messy. Sometimes we get annoyed. Sometimes we fight, but we always love. We always forgive. We always laugh.

We have a beautiful family that God has so graciously given to our care. Four incredibly individual daughters that keep us on our toes. That are full of challenges and will continue to push their parents to the brink of sanity (or maybe well beyond). But that also make us smile constantly, laugh unceasingly, and make us proud to be parents.

We have family that loves us. They may not always 'get' us but they love us. They respect us. They support us.

We have friends. Friends that are always there for us. That help us grow.

We live in an epically beautiful place. Seriously, we do. And we have all we need. Maybe not all we want all the time, but we always have all we need.

So here I was, watching this movie, crying at the sad parts, the sappy parts, the happy parts (cause I'm a girl and that's what I do) and all the time reflecting on what it meant to be Cinderella. I sure do feel like her sometimes, most of the time.

A while ago I was talking with someone close to me about how much Sophia loved "Cinderella." She told me she'd loved this movie as a child too but she was disappointed when she got older. She was worried that Sophia (and likewise all my girls) would feel that same disappointment. She said that no one ever told her that this was not how real life was. That real life was hard and often did not work out in a neat little bow. She said she felt cheated when she realized that not every girl meets her Prince Charming. That 'happily ever after' was not real.

I paused and thought about what she said and then my story flashed through my mind and I said with a smile, "Well, it is real for her because it's real for her parents. She sees it in them every day. I did meet Prince Charming and I married him."



Here's to happily ever after.


Happy Creations~
Jennifer

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Tax Season is Almost Over!

As the tax season winds to an end, I found myself reflecting on what's really important. As a homeowner with 4 kids we obviously get a bit back on our taxes. We are getting more than we thought and so are able to pay down some debt but really, is it ever enough?

Probably not.

We are still strapped for cash, still living on a budget, still finding ways to make ends meet. We are like so many of you. As a stay at home mom I have always looked for ways to make something...anything to help lighten the burden. I just recently started as an Independent Consultant with Jamberry (and I really love it). Even so, I am not sure I have the time to devote to it to make the kind of money I would like. And yet...even when I just think there is no way we will ever have enough money, I am reminded of some important lessons.

1. Money is not evil, but the love of money is. So we try to make sure money is not what we strive for. Instead, we strive for contentment and the peace that comes with knowing we are responsibly handling our finances.

2. The only thing that really matters is people, specifically family and friends. We make a real effort to be with our family and friends because they are what truly brings us happiness.

3. Children are a blessing from God. What could be better than the precious gifts that God has given us? If you ask me, nothing. I am so lucky to have 4 beautiful daughters and I would feel the same way if we had one or 6 or any number. I just feel so lucky that God has given us a wonderful family. Even when finances get tight, our children don't seem bothered by it and our children are not the cause. We get creative and find things to do that either don't cost anything at all or have a very minimal cost.

There are many, many more things to be grateful for and many more lessons to remember. But these three seem pretty high up there for me. When I get down about money I just look at my little baby and revel in her smiles. Or I play Sudoku with my 8 year old. Maybe it's coloring with my (almost) 4 year old, or doing hair and playing dress up with my 5 year old. No matter what it is, these things make me see things a little more clearly and focus a little less on the things that really don't matter. After all, when I am at the end of my life I would like to look back and see a life full of love and family and friends. I don't want to regret spending too much time on work and stress and  chasing money cause none of that really matters.

Happy Crafting,
Jennifer

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Reflecting on Christmas

School, activities, cleaning, laundry, cooking, visitors. Let's face it. This encompasses my whole day. Everyday. Well, minus the visitors. Our guests are usually here for special occasions or summer visits. In the case of this year it is for two things.
1. Gretchen Maria. Our newest, precious addition to our growing family. She brings such great joy to our lives and to those around us.
2. Holiday events. My two oldest darlings are performing in the Nutcracker this weekend and we are excited to be host again for that event.

And while the excitement of having visitors and fun things to do (like making Christmas cut out cookies, crafting gifts, sending packages, and decorating the tree) we should all try to remember why and what we are actually celebrating.

Christmas. It is not just a "Hallmark" holiday. We should try not to focus on the things. Let's remember that we are celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ who chose to be born into mortal flesh knowing He would die on a cross to bear our sins. Christmas is a wonderful day to celebrate the greatest gift mankind could receive from our loving God. It is a gift I intend not to squander.

So, while my husband and I enjoy finding gifts for the girls and for friends and family (a lot of which I choose to make). That is just an extra perk. An extra joy in our lives. Stressful at times. Frustrating at times. Exhausting at times. But fun and worth it for the joy it gives the giver and the receiver. It may not be the biggest, most expensive, or most sought after gift but it comes from the heart which is truly the reason for the Christmas season.

This is why, with the holiday fast approaching, my list of things to do quickly growing, my patience clearly ebbing, I must slow down and say thanks. Thanks for the visitors, the dinners, and the events. And thanks for the greatest gift of all.

Thursday, October 9, 2014

My Crummy, Mundane, Amazing Day

Today started a little crazy.

Have you ever had a day like that? Where all you could think right from the start was, "Oh my gosh...this day is not starting out well and it's just going to get worse." And then it usually does.

Well, that is how my day started. After a very late night (like most of my nights these days-thank you, baby Gretchen) I had to start early. My 5 year old daughter had a doctors appointment that had all 5 of us girls leaving for the day earlier than normal. After some planning, I decided that an hour and a half should do the trick of getting everyone ready and out the door (this didn't include time for breakfast). So, I set my alarms accordingly...and yes, I said alarmS...as in the plural. I really didn't want to start my morning off badly.

So, this morning comes around and my oldest ends up with my phone (which is where my alarms are set) while I'm still in bed with the baby feeding her. I tell my oldest that she can use my phone quickly but needs to bring it back because I have my alarm set (I usually don't need an alarm thanks to my children). At this point, I'd had a nice long interrupted 3 hours of sleep, give or take. I was feeling wide awake. Hence the need for the alarms. I wanted to make sure I had back up in case I dozed off while feeding Gretchen. Which I did. I needed to have my phone to have my alarm to wake me up. Which I didn't...so I didn't...and I...didn't.Yep...when my brain fluttered back into full consciousness after being drowsy during the baby's feeding well, let's just say I knew something was wrong. I did not have an hour and a half to get everyone ready, I did not have an hour, I had about 35 minutes...

Oh sugar!! (That's my "bad" word-hey, I have kids people.)

That's where that phrase from earlier crept up on me. Crummy start to a crummy day. While getting ready I even inadvertently sprayed perfume in my eye...yeah. That felt great! It still does, in fact. I even got our dinner in the crock pot! In 45 minutes we made it to the van and onto the freeway. I made it to the doctor's office with about 1 minute to spare.

The rest of the day was running errands from one town to the next all seemingly just a touch behind schedule. Stress, frustration, stress. My 3 year old had many minor meltdowns due to a lack of nap, my 5 year old had some struggle with her sense of entitlement, my 7 year old was asking a billion questions that my brain and patience couldn't process not to mention her ability to pick on her sisters, and my one month old was sick of the carseat. All those things happened. All today. All with a very tired mamma.

But, I got to text and visit with a few friends that I haven't spent time with in a while. That was positive number one. And as I was driving home I realized many other positives. See, I have the privilege of being a mommy not once over but four times over. I get to see their beautiful faces every single day. I have the privilege of driving a mini van that I love (that my husband just did a bunch of work on and yeah, I know...I'm totally a mom). I have a wonderful husband. Period. And I have the grace of God who forgives my wrongs and guides me to do right, gently corrects me when I'm wrong, allows me to forgive and ask forgiveness, and literally fills my life with joy. 

My day started out crummy. It was full of the mundane. And it was absolutely amazing!

Pretty neat, huh?


Monday, August 4, 2014

Activities Planner


With the impending arrival of our fourth child, I've been working furiously to get things ready for school. I looked around and found a few different Homeschool Planners that I liked but really hated the price tag. Now, I love to get something for free, anything for free that I can use, but I'm also willing to pay to have a neat version of something done for me. I love to create but I hate to waste time. So, I continued to search and finally realized that I was not pleased with any of the planners I found. With that disappointing fact, I decided to make my own. I had a list of things to include but as I started working towards the completion of this planner, I realized I just couldn't include everything I wanted in one planner. It would just be too massive. So...I just included the basics. (Here's a few pics of the planner. They are not great shots as I was in a hurry but you kind of get the idea. There are a few other pages and details but these are the basics.)


After finishing, printing, binding, and labeling my homeschool planner I fell in love...and then decided I needed to make an activities binder to include all those things that I missed out on with my planner. My intentions are to include a birthday's and anniversary's two page spread, a party planning section with numerous copies for those numerous parties, a Christmas planning section, and a few other odds and ends that I would like to have. I'm nearly done with the party planning phase of this book and am getting excited to see it finished! I have to admit that I've been using odds and ends of freebies from the web for a few years to prep for all these times but there have always been things I didn't like about them. I suppose this is the case with any kind of planner you purchase or print. I have big plans for this planner (pun intended) and am hoping that others will like it too.

It will be an extension of my homeschool planner, meaning the same basic style and fonts. I like to keep the headers and typing simple for a few reasons: less space taken for style and more available for what it's intended use is. So here is a question: Would you pay for the digital copy of something like this? Or, like me, would you rather just download a free version or create your own? Or...would you pay to have someone else to print and bind it for you? I'm not sure I really want to create my own headaches by printing and binding for other people but it's always a thought.

I'm looking forward to your thoughts.

Happy Creations!
Jennifer

Thursday, June 19, 2014

Crockpot Pork Chops

I am embarking on a new adventure that has been long in the making. I'm sticking to a budget.

Crazy, huh? Well, the darling hubby and I have always had the best of intentions but we always seemed to get a little away from the "budget". Something we never quite had planned perfectly. So, with this change in life (baby number 4 on the way and me no longer working) we have decided to really buckle down. I've been implementing many different things to help make that money stretch. With some determination, will power, and God's grace, I'm sure everything will come out well.

One thing that is helping immensely is the concept of monthly grocery shopping. I can't say I planned the last month out well, but I basically did one last shopping trip to stock up on needed items (like milk, bread, and eggs) and then decided I wouldn't go to the grocery store for as long as possible. While I have made a couple of trips to the store for small things (like bananas, spinach, and broccoli) I have stuck to the plan. One way to accomplish this monthly shopping is to plan a menu for a month at a time. Well, I hadn't done that. What I have done is make sure that we scrape the pantry and the freezers. I have found a few things I didn't know we had in there. And we're using it well.

One of those things is pork chops. I knew we'd bought some from Costco a long while ago and had made some of them up when we got them but I clearly forgot about the last three in the freezer. So, last night I put them in the fridge and this afternoon I threw them in the crock pot. I wasn't exactly sure what I was going to do with them so I just threw some things at it.

They turned out great!! My kids had seconds and thirds and fourths!! I didn't take any pics since I wasn't expecting anything spectacular but I wanted to share the recipe anyway. So without further ado...here it is.

Ingredients:
3 large pork chops
Barbeque sauce
Teriyaki sauce
Minced garlic
1 can Chicken broth

I didn't do a lot of measuring since I was just seeing what I could come up with but here goes.

Place pork chops in crock pot. Pour barbeque sauce over the top of each one. Add about 1 - 2 teaspoons of minced garlic per pork chop (I just put the garlic right on top of the barbeque covered pork chops). I then drizzled teriyaki sauce over each pork chop. Finally, add about 1/2 to 1 cup of the chicken broth to the whole thing.

Cover your crock pot and cook on high for about 2 hours.

Take off lid, flip pork chops over and add more barbeque and teriyaki sauce to each one. I also needed to add more chicken broth as the liquid was cooking down a little too much. I didn't quite use the whole can of chicken broth (I had 1/2 cup left that I used for a frozen chicken crockpot meal). Cook on low for another 2 - 3 hours.

During the last few hours I checked on the pork chops and flipped and flipped them so they would be nice and soaked in the sauce for flavoring. Serve with steamed broccoli and rice.

UPDATE: I should have said this was an easy freezer meal too. Just add all the ingredients (minus the chicken broth which will be added that day) to a freezer safe zip lock bag. If doing it that way, I would add about 2 cups barbeque sauce, and 1/2 to 1 cup teriyaki sauce and the regular amount of garlic. More can always be added later if you'd like or notice it needs a little more flavor to it. Just take the freezer bag out the night before and set in the fridge so it partially thaws before adding to the crockpot.

The pork chops were just delicious and nearly fell apart. We didn't need any knife to cut them, our forks did the job wonderfully.

Hopefully yours will be as good as mine. And let me know if you have any questions.

Happy Creations!
Jennifer

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Amazon gift card

I was just working on my finances the other day and came across a great deal. If you are a member of Pacific NW Federal Credit Union and a fan of accessing your banking info through your smart phone, there is a new app you'll want to sign up for.

Log in to your account at Pacific NW Federal Credit Union and you'll see a message about this very deal. All you have to do is follow the link they provide, fill out your info, then download the app. Once you do that, you'll receive a $10 Amazon gift card. You can't beat that!! It says you'll see it in  your inbox in about 4 weeks.

I already did this and will be on the lookout for the gift card. It's a great deal for just downloading the app (which I would have done anyway). Just don't wait. It's only good for a few more weeks!

I mean seriously, who doesn't love getting something for free?! And by the way, if you really don't want it just do it and send it my way! :)