Week in Feminine and Frugal Dress - Day Seven!

Tabeez long gray knit skirt - approx $10 since I purchased this with a gift card I had won.

Target brand 3/4 sleeve black T - $6 This is a cotton/spandex mix and I love, love, love it. Wish I had bought more of them when they were on clearance. Great for layering!

GAP velvet and lace top - $3 thrift shop. One reason I layer a lot is so that I feel comfortable wearing cute tops like this one. Otherwise it would have been too short and too low cut for my taste.

Silver earings - gift

Feet - bare at the moment. I wore a $10 pair of shiny black t-strap mary janes when we went out, which were free to me from Marshalls with a gift card.

Outfit total: $19

Cloth diaper deal

Money Saving Mom lets you know how to save on diapers through diapers.com
I chose to use the coupon on cloth diapers for Chase and here's how it broke down:
5 all-in-one Kushies for $55.95
plus tax and minus $10 coupon code- $48.61
Mail in rebate brings my total down to $33.64

Breaks down to about $6.73 a diaper. It could be even less if you're buying smaller sized cloth diapers.

Week in Feminine Dress - Day 6

Wool plaid skirt - free. This came in a pile of wool fabric via church member's mother. It was cut out with the teeniest waist, so I made that larger , put in a zipper and hem and voila! Free skirt. I love it.

Tall brown boots -$6 consignment shop

Denim jacket - $3 thrift store a few years ago.

Blue long sleeved T from Tabeez -about $2.

Glass amber colored beaded vintage necklace- it was my Grandma's back in the day. One of my favorites now.

Outfit total: $11

Week in Feminine and Frugal Dress, Day 5

Green cashmere sweater -$6 consignment shop

vintage leatherwork and wood clogs - $6 consignment shop

Long brown cotton skirt with tiers of ruffles on lower half - $2 at Kmart. I get more compliments on this skirt and its twin in hot pink. I never would have thought to check Kmart for clothes but I was in there to buy an umbrella stroller and passed a $2 clearance rack....

Brown knee socks - gift

Outfit total - $14

Week in Feminine and Frugal Dress - Day 4

The skirt I made last week -free from supplies given to me or I already had.

Tall black vintage boots - $4 thrift store

long sleeve navy layering tee from Tabeez.com - won a gift card so free plus shipping, about $2?

Creamy silk cardigan - label shopper years ago - $2

Necklace -Christmas gift from Sean



Outfit total - $8

Week in feminine and frugal dress - Day Three

Today's outfit cost $15.

Here's the break down:

Jones New York jersey long skirt in brown - approx $10 at a Label Shopper. Seriously, I debated for a long while whether to pay this amount but decided to since I had scoured thrift stores for months looking for just this style and fabric and color with no luck.

Turquoise/white blouse - $2 at a consignment shop

Dangly Target earings new in package at thrift shop -$2

3 of the bracelets were gifts, the other I paid a dollar for at the consignment shop.

Today we had friends over to see how we homeschool, did laundry, cooked, swept, cuddled and read, played on the floor... which brings me to the question I get as to if I only wear long skirts. The answer is no but I do find them to be extremely practical in my job and life. They are washable like jeans, more comfortable, prettier, feminine and the length keeps me modest while I'm on the floor playing or scrubbing a tub. Have you seen too much when women wearing jeans bend over with their kids. Yup, me too. So I like skirts.

Week in Feminine and Frugal Dress, Day 2

Old Navy skirt - free hand-me-up

Turquoise top - $3 consignment shop

Lands End sweater - free hand-me-up

Argyle socks -gift

Vintage WWII scarf - .99 thrift store

Outfit total: $3.99



This is more of my look in the winter. We live where it is COLD and so I layer. I love layers. These colors, teals and browns are also a staple of my wardrobe. Black washes out my pale-ness so browns are the neutral in my wardrobe.

Most people have certain things they look for in a thrift store: labels, intricate details, etc. I look for clothes in my color family: browns and grays, blues, greens and corals. That way I have a miriad of outfit options because everything generally goes with each other.

Week in Frugal Feminine Dress. day one

This is one of my favorite skirts from the J. Peterman Company (hello! Can you believe their retail prices?) of 100% linen and made is the USA - woohoo! I bought it at a thrift store a year or so ago for about $3. The safari looking top is heavy weight cotton and was $6 at a local consignment shop. My feet are bare, as always. When we go out later I'll slip a pair of high brown boots on. The necklace is shell? bone? and came from my Grandma.

Total cost of outfit including boots - $18.
In this outfit I:

scrubbed a shower and toilet

changed poopie diapers

gave three haircuts

made three meals

baked cookies

taught lessons

tidied floors

cut and sewed a skirt

washed, folded and put away laundry

and I'm sure much, much more but just to demonstrate that homemakers can look good doing all we need to do.

Prayer as an Answer to Worry

"Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition (definite requests), with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God." Philippians 4: 6

One of my biggest struggles as a mother has been in the area of worry. I worry that our son's kidneys might be worse at the next visit, I worry that my children will be injured, I worry that they will not follow God when they are grown and a million other little worries. I worry about what I cannot control. The biggest remedy for this has been to substitute the worries with prayer.

I don't know about you, but when I am stressed about something, even subconsciously, I feel a tightening in my chest, an odd sense that something is off, or not right. I'm pretty sure that the piling up of these worries and fears years ago led to a stomach ulcer that plagued me. I knew things were pretty bad and out of control if I was letting worry and fear affect my physical body, stealing time I wanted to spend with my family and landing me in bed, useless.

Now when I feel that "offness" or tightening, I take a moment to stop and pray. "God, help me to identify what is causing this unrest or stress in my body." It has worked every time.

Maybe I let something someone said hold its burrs in my soul too long or had thought about another "what if" when I shouldn't have. Once the stress is identified, I work through it mentally. "You know, I'm not going to let defamation of my name bother me as long as my character can stand up to God's Word." Or, "If that's the path God chooses for us to walk, He will give us the grace to walk it." Then I shrug that little burden off my back and go on with my day. If I'm still tempted to dwell on it, I ask God for strength and help.

This past year was full of those paths I would not have chosen to walk. The painful, trying situations that God can use to refine us, if we let Him. My flesh would have rather stayed unrefined, to tell you the truth. Off hand I can think of a handful of scenerios that we've gone through that are out of my control and I see are completely in God's control. I can do nothing to effect any change in them and am completely powerless but for prayer. So do I mull them over, meditate on them, or think how much nicer things would be if these obstacles or hurts were not part of my life? No. Instead I try to remember to pray for wisdom in dealing with them, grace to show God's love and forgiveness when I have none left to give, and thank God that even when I can't see His plan and purpose, I can trust Him.

Which brings me to the final bit of wisdom I have on the subject of worry and prayer. My heart's attitude gets an adjustment when I take time to praise God for who He is and what He does in my life. There might be this seemingly massive blockade in my life but it pales in comparison to the gift He gave me of His Son dying on the cross, or of the family He has blessed me with, the children that crowd me in the bed on Saturday mornings, or the godly girlfriends He has bestowed me with. I can thank and praise Him for all those and many more. This morning I thanked Him for the sun being out because living in the north, the cold, and the dark is no fun. At the risk of sounding like Pollyanna - there is always something to praise God for.

Remember that browns and greens

living room I mentioned wanting? Well, when the thin upholstery on the red sofa burst open a second hole and I found this sofa on craigslist, made by this FABULOUS company for a fifth of retail - we jumped on the deal and brought her home last night.

It sat in a parlor, had been recovered and never sat on. My kids will rectify that and break it in and I don't have to be neurotic.

Haircuts

We do home haircuts with a pair of clippers. I like the free-ness and the cuteness.

Goodbyes

This morning we got the call to take inventory of Natalie's belongings and pack them up. The judge gave her mama permission to take her home.

As much as we did to reach out to Natalie's mom and show her and Natalie God's love, I wish we had done more. I don't think we could ever do too much to that end.

Her mom gave me a big hug as I told her we love her and Natalie and sent them off. I know our prayers will go with her.

Week in Feminine and Frugal Dress

I love being a woman. I love dressing like a lady. I also am notoriously frugal in my spending. Next week I'll be showing what I wear during the week and letting you know how cheap I really am with the cost of each outfit. I hope you enjoy!
Yesterday afternoon I dug this fine navy wool out of the stash, along with some vintage lace and sewed up a very quick, very easy a-line skirt from an old Butterick pattern. I have used it so many times and love its versatility. This skirt I made to fall right below my knee.
The wool was leftover from the boys Easter suits a few years ago and the lace was given to me by my Grandma so this was a free skirt. Even the binding and zipper were given to me. I love it when folks clear out their parents or grandparents sewing stashes and pass the goodness my way!

Elephant Blanket

We use this blanket I made Chase for Christmas for part of our morning lessons. He's jumped right onto the routine of sitting down on it once it is laid out and waiting for a special toy or puzzle to be brought to him. It buys me a few minutes to cuddle alone with Andrew reading or load the dishwasher without little hands grabbing.

Teaching your toddlers to sit on a blanket and play is very simple. All it took was me sitting with him the first few times, bringing out a toy that was saved for blanket time and then after a few minutes getting up and asking him to sit for a few minutes and play. If he got up, I'd gently set him back down again and bring his attention back to the toy. I'm always within his sight and so even my mama's boy goes for this for five minutes or so.

weekly menu

Sunday am - cereal, banana and milk
dinner - ziti, animal crackers, choc chip cookies, clementines

Monday am - pancakes
lunch - ziti, applesauce
dinner - white chili
bake pita bread!

Tuesday am - oatmeal
lunch - pitas with honey, pear slices
dinner - mac and cheese for kiddos, dinner meeting for Sean and I

Wed am - apple muffins, smoothies
(Bake bread. Take out round steak from freezer, have Sean slice.)
lunch- cream cheese pinwheels, apple slices with p.butter
dinner -brown rice, Lebanese chicken, pitas and hummus(make twice as much rice for tomorrow's dinner)

Thurs am - cereal with milk, melon slices
(Allison and her kids coming over! )
lunch- peanut butter and jelly, animal crackers, apple slices
dinner -Kalbi (korean BBQ beef), lettuce, rice

Friday am- tapioca
lunch- peanut butter and banana sandwiches
dinner- Jennifer and Tom's for dinner! (what am I supposed to bring, Jennifer?)

Saturday am -strata
lunch- Thai Kitchen noodles and broth (.50 at Big Lots), carrot sticks and dip
dinner - soba noodle salad with cucumber and mango

Grocery List:
onions
lemon seltzer
2 cucumbers
1 mango
rice vinegar
1 lime
bananas
fresh mint (gonna kill me to buy this since it grows like a weed around here in the summer!)
minced onion
saltines
deli ham
pitas? (check freezer)
cream cheese?(check freezer)
Boston lettuce
canned chickpeas
1 lemon

How we do Shoes

With eight people in our family and a minimum of forty pairs of shoes, the cost of keeping feet in cute shoes can quickly add up.

1)Only buy on clearance.

This morning I paid $2.48 for the girl's shoes and $3.47 for the little boys pair (Target). I always look for larger sizes to put away when they are this cheap and cute.

2)Before storing outgrown shoes, clean them. Sneakers with wearable life still in them go through the laundry, others can be wiped down with a damp cloth.

3) Shop second hand.

Yes, I know, this skeeves some people. I'm fine with that. I've found too many cute pairs of Hanna Andersson, GAP, Bjorn, and other nice brands of like-new (and sometimes new with tags) shoes in thrift stores to be a footie snob. Disinfectant wipes are my friend.

4) Utilize over the door shoe storage or creative storage.

Our girls have their shoes stored using the over the door method and my shoes? They are stored in an apple bushel basket in my closet, since our current closet is about two feet wide. Sean's are stored on a floor shoe organizer.

5)Buy extra shoe laces to have on hand when you need them. New laces can give new life to a pair of shoes. I found an eight pack of laces recently at the Dollar Tree that I have on hand now when the boys inevitably decide to use a pair of sneaker laces for a long bow or rabbit snare or whatever.

6)Never, ever buy shoes at retail price. Or at least don't make a habit of it.

If you shop ahead sizes and seasons (sandals in October, boots in March) you will always have what you need. I can remember paying full price for a pair of shoes twice in the last ten years. Once for myself when Sean sent me out to find a nice comfortable pair and I recently paid full price for a pair for Andrew at Marshalls with a Marshalls gift card that we got free from our credit cards reward program.

So tell me, how do you do shoes?

Say hello...

One of my very, very sweet friends who I love much has begun blogging. Won't you stop by and say give a hello!

Prayer

Please pray for the Livesay family, serving in Haiti, in light of the earthquake that hit this afternoon.

Reading List

I had the thought that I should keep a list of the books I read this year, as I am striving to make more time to read. So, nothing exciting, but here it is!

Read with the kiddos:
Sign of the Beaver
Wagons Ho!
By the Great Horn Spoon
Jack London's Dog
Gold Fever
The Bite of the Gold Bug: A Story of the Alaskan Gold Rush
Life on the Ranch
Mary Emma & Company
The Children's Guide to the Orchestra
Organic Gardening for Kids
Brave Harriet
A Quilt for Baby
Keep the Lights Burning Abbie
Floss Cat Stories by James Herriot
Barn Cat
Abe's Fish
Rise and Shine!
The Three Trees
The Christian Mother Goose
Animals of the Bible

Independent Reading:
Open Heart, Open Home
The Sane Woman's Guide to Raising a Large Family (can't remember if I read this is Dec. or January, but here it is - GREAT book!)
Family Feasts for $75 a Week by Mary Ostyn
Homeschooling with a Meek and Quiet Spirit
In the Womb by Peter Tallack
The Handbook of Midwifery
Sean Conway's Cultivating Life
Mini Farming on 1/4 an Acre
The Amish Cook
The Amish Cook at Home
The Mission of Motherhood
Free Range Learning
Instant Sewing
Transforming Rural Churches in America

2011 Reading List

Kids:

US Kids History: Book of the new American Nation

Yankee Blue or Rebel Gray: the civil war adventures of Sam Shaw

A Nation Torn: the story of how the civil war began

Hannah:

The Great Physician's Rx for Women's Health

The Complete Guide to Making Cheese, Butter, and Yogurt at Home

Lost Arts: A Celebration of Culinary Traditions

Home Cheesemaking

Vintage Style Beaded Jewelry: 35 beautiful projects using new and old materials

Vintage Fashion Accessories

The Body Ecology Diet

Making Vintage Jewelry

Fabric Jewelry

Weekly Menu

Sun brunch - crepes with apples and caramel sauce, fresh pineapple
snack - yogurt, apple or pear
dinner- BLT's

Mon am - biscuits and gravy
lunch - bean soup, crackers and cheese
dinner - India Night! naan, barrah kabob, coconut burfi, brown rice
BAKE BREAD

Tues am - oatmeal with raisins, cinnamon and brown sugar
lunch - yogurt with granola, apple slices with peanut butter
dinner - veggie and barley soup in crockpot, biscuits
MAKE TAPIOCA

Wed am- sunshine tapioca, toast
lunch- peanut butter and apple butter sandwiches
dinner - potato latkes with smoked salmon and sour cream sauce

Thurs am - cereal with bananas
lunch -carrot sticks and dip, garlicy noodles
dinner - Thai beef and brown rice

Friday am- rice pudding, smoothies
lunch - cheese soldiers, apple sauce
dinner - mac and cheese for kids

Sat am - blueberry pancakes
lunch - grilled cheese, soup
dinner - broccoli and spinach rolls

Arranging the Living Room....

again....

First for an inspiration photo:

I saw this photo with the leopard print rug from House Beautiful on The Inspired Room and was struck at how it looks slightly similar to our living room. Our living room, in its sorry state, really needed some arranging and love.

This morning the kids helped me slide furniture, move our old dining room enameled top table into the kitchen where it'll sit until craigslist sends me a buyer, and clean up the bzillion little toys from behind the couch.

We bought this couch and a matching chair about a year ago for $60 and its life is coming to an end. It is very sturdy but my loveable toddlers dug a pit to China in one of the cushions. There is a huge and overwhelming upholstery project awaiting me with a seven foot long couch but I am secretly hoping for a great sofa to come up on craigslist so I can avoid that headache and mess. Anyway, the couch stays for now.

I pulled a wool rug we bought years ago at auction downstairs. The vintage leather and linen suitcases we used for side tables got stacked. Coffee tables aren't practical for our family right now. I could tell story after story of the inventive ways they have been broken, scratched, or fallen off of. Ottomans pose enough of a hazard with a house with three creative toddlers.

Old houses have no lighting (Sean put in the sconces for me!) and so I don't have the means for a beautiful chandelier like the model photo, although I've got a great antique one hanging in the garage.

It is a whole lot of red (I prefer greens and browns) but it is what I have and adding it up quickly, everything in the room was under $150, some of it free. I really love it arranged this way.

He built me a farm table!

An eight foot long, gorgeous, beautiful, wonderful one! Our living room turned workshop this morning (it was twelve degrees in his workshop) as he finished the table base and top and coated it with a few coats of linseed oil.

The wood he used for the frame is wood we had milled on site from our land up north, pine and ash, I believe. The top boards are Lowes. :)

While I absolutely love our white enamel topped table with cute three drawers that came from auction via an old bakery, we have long since outgrown it for meal times. It'll be sold on craigslist since I can't think of a home for it here. If you have kids, I highly recommend an enamel topped table. There was nothing I couldn't wash off of it: paint, playdough, food coloring...

How to paint a brick fireplace

Our brick always looked dirty, even if it wasn't. I sprayed it down with some all-purpose organic household cleaner, let it dry and went to town with a can of Valspar semi gloss in a creamy white (from their reject pile, most likely, because you can't beat a $5 can of neutral paint!) and a paintbrush.

So much better and brighter! Check out more winter home tips here at The Inspired Room!

Highlights of the Year past

~ We paid off the minivan!

~ Paid off the truck too! Now to chug away at our mortgage, the only remaining debt....

~ Watched a simple faith begin to blossom in a girlfriend as she began her own love story and journey with God. Priceless. One of the true highlights of my year!

~ Overwhelmed by the support our friends showed us in watching our children every Wednesday night so we could take the state's fostering class.

~ Welcomed 23 month old Natalie into our home in October.

~Celebrated my 30th birthday.

~Celebrated a 1st, 3rd, fifth, seventh, nineth and 32nd birthday with those I love most.

~Raised a bottle fed lamb.

~Learned how to butcher a lamb.

~Taught pre-k, kindergarten, second grade and fourth grade without losing my mind.

~Spent many days and afternoons at the lake or swimming holes up north, savoring our brief summer.

~Listened and watched as our older two kids asked to be baptized and were.

~Participated in our first musical with the oldest two children.

~Began writing for a homeschool publication.

~Won a nice giftcard from Pioneer Woman.

~Fell deeper in love with my husband. Celebrated our 11th anniversary!

~Took up running again after ten years. Promptly quit when the cold weather came. I am a fair weather runner, I've decided.
~ Practiced hospitality as much as possible.

~ Watched my husband raise bees and harvest the honey. Grieved with him when the hive swarmed in late fall and the remaining bees died. Still not sure why, maybe the farmer neighbor's round-up spraying? Looking forward to giving it another go this spring...

Those are the happy highlights of the year. I've touched on some of the things God has taught me through the not so pleasant events and plan on doing so further, as God brings us through this difficult valley we are walking now. I have so much to be thankful for and all the praise and glory goes to the Lord.

Dish Mat

In an effort to use up or pass on the stash of fabric I've been given, I made this simple dish drying mat out of some stretchy 1970's terrycloth and calico. The back side is plain terrycloth so the whole thing can go in the washer and dryer every few days. I don't fancy those bulky plastic drying racks, so this works perfectly for me.

To-Do List

I can remember the years (I'm sure my mother can too!) when I was not the least bit organized. It was this way in our first few years of marriage too.

I like to think that it (disorganization) all goes along with being a creative thinker. The truth is, having a large(r) family has wooed and coerced me into organization until I've gotten to the point I'm at now. I love organization! It makes my life easier!

Now, I'm sure I have farther to go. I sort of learn as I live what works best for our family and you should too.

I remember once reading an organizational book that advised to label each bin in your attic with a number and to put the coordinating number in a little notebook, alongside which one was to write the contents of the box. I did it. But then the contents of the boxes changed with seasons and with life and I realized this was the LEAST best way for me to organize my boxes. Just because something works great for another family, doesn't mean it will work well for yours. And that nugget of wisdom can be applied to discipline, homeschooling, family rules, mealtimes, etc.

What does work for our family? Big clear plastic bins with lids. A pack of inexpensive sticky white labels and a pen. One bin for girls infant clothing, one for size 12-24 mos clothing, one for boy clothing size 4, and so on. Each bin has a white label on the side with the size and gender. They stack easily, close tightly, and I can see what is inside at a glance. Boy bins are stacked to the right in the attic, girls to the left.

A to-do list is one of my favorite home organization helps. I make a computer list with the weekly menu and grocery list, an overall "to-do" list for the week of things I need to get done, a homeschool list of activities to do with the kiddos, and a honey-do list of things around the house that need Sean. He asked me to do this as I didn't want to nag and so I wouldn't mention things more than once. This way, he can check it out as he has time and I don't feel forgotten. :)

Another great idea is to organize your home so that your children can be as much of a help as possible. Our everday dishes are kept in a hutch in the dining room where the kids can grab them to set the table or place them as they come out of the dishwasher. The family closet, too, has made putting away and taking out clothing a quicker activity because it such a kid friendly system.

What systems or nuggets of wisdom have you found regarding organization? I'd love to hear them....

Make and Mend for Victory

I was so thrilled to find this book at a barn sale this summer. Thrilled! I had heard of its existence but had never seen one. As a big fan of the techniques and wisdom used during our countries hardest times, I've loved pouring over the sewing details and learning new tricks of the trade. Here are some of my favorite pages:

Today.

Am I the only one that sometimes just NEEDS to be out of doors? Like a breathing air, food and water sort of need?

Today was one of those days, with snow flakes falling in big clumps all day and the quiet of the earth blanketed in snow, and rosy cheeked children and warm (32 is warm, yes!) air.

We walked the fields behind the farm from which we get our milk, pulling babies in wooden sleds, watching the kids laugh and groan at pulling their own sled and fall in a heap with their Papa

taking a tumble down a hill, marveling at animal track and corn still on the stalk, and woodpecker pulling his lunch from a cold tree.

Thrilling from the feel of arms and back aching from pulling babies, snow on my eyelashes, rubbing cold noses with Chase and smiling, I stood.

Face to the empty fields and the majesty of the day filling my heart. Healing. Soothing.

I whispered, to the wind, the words in prayer I knew God understood, heart open, bare before Him. The stillness in the midst of the snowstorm. He is there.

One by one, little legs grew tired. I hoisted Chase into my arms and we walked back to the farm, rubbing noses again, breathing warmth onto chilled fingers, holding little Ella's soft mittened hand in mine.

Milk pails filled, we headed home. Papa and the kiddos fell into sleep or respective chairs and couches with books. Home. Sweet home.