Most people celebrate the end of summer with a day by the pool or campground, but we choose to use a morning at home to do a financial check-up. ?It’s never a bad time to review your yearly finances, but the unofficial end of summer seems even more timely! ?The calendar is showing a slow-down to pop-up cookouts, weekend road trips, and high gas spending- so we can evaluate where we’re at and what expenses we have coming up. This …
A hard lesson for all of us (and one I’m still learning) It seems just like yesterday, but it’s been over 3 months since my mom and I vacationed with the kiddos in Ottawa, Canada. Ottawa had amazing architecture, a world-class tulip festival, but most important to my children was – THE WIGGLES WERE BROADCAST ON LOCAL TV (preschoolers are cultural nuts)! We had literally planned our day around the 3:30 pm showing of the Wiggles. ?We’d walk across the …
Mr. Yoder Toter and I have always been frugal food shoppers, but having three children has added a dimension of buying things that we never did before. ?Whereas I used to eat the only bowl of cereal each morning, there are now 4 bowls of cereal. ?Or instead of using 4 pieces of bread for a sandwich, we’re up to 8 or 9. ?All of this change has prompted some?modifications to how I shop. Aldi has swept in and become …
“He has sent?me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners… to comfort all who mourn,? and provide for those who grieve in Zion– to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes,? the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a Spirit of despair” ?Isaiah 61: 1b-3a When the words I’m trying to say or write don’t come easy, ?I’m at …
Guys & Gals, There is something that a few people have told me lately and it really gets my goat. ?Pretty much since baby #3 was just a bun in the oven?I’ve often heard, “You need a bigger house.” I don’t get this statement (and I have?to curb the need to say, “You need a smaller mouth” LOL). Here’s the reality: I don’t need a bigger house.? Our family of 5 lives in a humble 1300 square feet. ?When Brian …
Read moreWhy we need to stop saying, “You need a bigger house.”
It’s 9:19 on a weeknight…. and no one needs me. The children and the husband are asleep. The house is quiet. Sure the kitchen is still showing its?post-dinner exodus – a dirty stove-top and unrinsed dishes. ?Thomas the Train has spewed his track all over the living room floor and there is a pile of graham cracker crumbs on the side table. There is no one to ask me for another cup of milk or if the budget is up-to-date …
You may have gotten the gist from the blog that we plan to homeschool our children. Jackson is quickly approaching kindergarten and I’m knee deep in trying to pray and research and network my way into a curriculum that works for us.? I’ve passed on some knowing that this season where I still …
I recently went to the Memorial Service?of a friend’s grandpa. ?Now, I had only met his grandpa one time, but after hearing the speeches at?this service, I could have given a short synopsis of this man’s servant heart and his love for God and family. The eulogy is like the window into the true heart of a person. ?You won’t hear about the size of their home or the 37 cruises they took, but you WILL probably hear about the …