Home with Tracy

In December I started making a monthly meal plan.  I was excited, but a little nervous about how it would all turn out.  I must say I was pleasantly surprised at the outcome.  It didn't take as much time as I thought it would. I made the meal calendar for the month and then wrote down all the ingredients I would need.  That part was a little overwhelming at first.  I separated the lists into perishables and non-perishables/freezable.   Now I do a once a month shopping trip for the non-perishables/freezables and then a bi-weekly shopping trip for perishables.  I don't stick to the menu every day, but I know that I will have enough meals for a whole month.  When making out the menu I tried to put similar meals back to back.  Like one night we will have meatloaf and the next night we have shepherd pie.  I use the same ingredients 2 days in a row.  It saves time and money. My once a month shopping trip consists of bulk buying...

We were blessed to buy our first home last fall.  We have rented our entire marriage but decided to attempt to buy early last spring.  We found a house and one of the biggest blessings is that it is $300 less a month!  Woo Hoo! Our home is nothing special.  It is a simple 1284 sq ft home.  With 6 people in this home I have had to come up with some creative ways to make room for us all.   On thing that we miss is that there really is no place for quiet time.  When we go out into the living room/school room/dining room the kids hear us because their rooms are right off from it. I read another homeschool mom's blog about her need for a quiet place and that her husband built her a little area in the back of the laundry room.  That got me thinking.  We were not able to put anything in the laundry room since it is already used not only for laundry, but also as a storage area/pantry.  I was not going to give up, there had to be somepla...