Home with Tracy

So far I am not doing as well as I had hoped I would with my goals. Our month/year goals have changed a little bit since becoming pre-approved to adopt Lucas. You can read about our adoption journey here. Financial - Are our family's financial goals steering us towards being good stewards with the income God has given us? We are now beginning the process of adoption, which will cost around $27-30,000. We are still going to pay down the remaining debt we have, but it will be a little longer process that originally planned. We are starting this adoption journey with empty pockets, but we know that God put Lucas in our lives and He will provide. Nothing is impossible with God. I continue to keep our grocery budget low, around $400-$500 a month for a family of 6. I'm still trying to knock that number down lower. That does include all our household products too. Health - Am I taking care of this life that God has blessed me with.  Am I healthy enough to do the work that Go...

Today I turned these.... Into this .... (cinnamon swirl banana bread) And this... (Chocolate chocolate chip banana bread) And these.... (Breakfast Cookies) YUM! I made Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread , Chocolate Banana Bread and Breakfast Cookies. When I make quick breads, they don't always turn out in my loaf pans. Usually they get really brown and the top/center is still doughy. I solve that problem by using either round or rectangle cake pans. If you use a round or rectangle, start checking the bread around 30 mins. It usually doesn't take 50-55 mins. When I make multiple loaves of bread, I use foil pans so I can just pop them right into the freezer. I simply wait until they have cooled, cover them with plastic wrap and the lid that comes with the pans. I get round and rectangle pans 3 per package at the dollar store. It is also great because when I make multiple loaves, I usually give a pan or two away and the people I give it to don't ha...

When I started my blog, I was a completely different person than I am now. I was looking at my blog URL the other day and was thinking that I should change it. faithful               journey              through              struggles As I look back at the person I was when I started this blog, what we were going through as a family, what my attitude was, I am thankful that God is a God of grace, forgiveness and mercy. I am thankful that He changed me. I struggled as a wife. I didn't want to be one. I struggled as a mom. I didn't know how to be a mom that God wanted me to be. I struggled with not being good enough. I struggled as a child of God. I didn't turn to Him daily. I didn't have an intentional relationship with Him. But then the more I thought about changing my blog URL, I realized I don't want to change it. I don't want to forget where I was. I don't want to ...

I must confess, I am a control freak. I have a certain way that I like the dishwasher to be loaded. I have a certain way that I like the laundry folded. I have certain ways I like things to be put away. Because of this I struggle with letting go of chores that I could be giving to our children. I know that I cannot keep this house clean, organized and together all by myself. I must have help. Plus, I think children need to learn that in order for a house to run well, everyone has to help. Over the next month, I am going to make a chore chart. I have seen some great ones on other mom blogs. Our children already have their morning chores of making their beds, brushing their teeth and cleaning their rooms. All of those chores center around just themselves. I want them to branch out and know what it takes to keep the whole house running. I saw a chore chart video on  Smockity Frocks . If you have not visited her blog, I highly recommend that you do. She is a homeschooling mo...

We have been pre-approved less than a week and in that short time God has put us in touch with several other families who have adopted or are currently adopting a child from Maria's Big House of Hope. Now that we have been pre-approved, we are going to start raising funds to bring our son home. We already received our first donation. The donation was from someone we just met through Facebook. God is good! For our first fundraiser, we are asking you to become a piece of the puzzle that brings Lucas home. We are having this picture of Lucas made into a 1000 piece puzzle.  We are asking for a $5 donation to sponsor a piece of the puzzle. When you sponsor a piece of the puzzle, we will write your name on the back of a puzzle piece. Once all the pieces have sponsors, we will put the puzzle together, frame it and hang it in Lucas' room so he can see it when he comes home. The puzzle picture will be a constant reminder of God's work and how He used so many people to help brin...

I just received a call I have been waiting months to receive. WE ARE PRE-APPROVED! We have been the green light to adopt Lucas. Meet Lucas..... We are so excited! Follow our new journey  here.

When I was little, my mom would make these for us.  They are super easy and super yummy! Yesterday, one of my daughters and I mixed up a batch together. While she was helping me, she kind of had her cute little nose up in the air because she couldn't imagine that they would actually taste good. After they set and chilled for about an hour I had the kids try them and they were a big hit. Even my daughter with the cute little nose up the air liked them. It only has five ingredients and comes together in minutes. 1 box/bag of oyster crackers 1 tsp lemon pepper 1 tsp dill weed 1/4 cup oil  1 envelope (or 3 Tbsp) Hidden Valley Ranch dressing (dry, not liquid) Mix seasoning and oil together.  Pour mixture over crackers.  Stir well.  Store in refrigerator. Hope you enjoy them!

I was playing with the kids and our dog today and for some unknown reason I decided it would be a good idea to climb up on the back of the couch (yes, I know that is something we tell our children not to do). It did not end well. It all started when the dog was originally up on the back of the couch and trying to get to me. I was behind the couch. The dog realized that she needed to jump off the front of the couch and round around to the back .As she was running around, I had a brilliant idea to jump up on the back of the couch so she couldn't get me and would have to run back around to the front again. Of course, she did.  She ran back around as fast as she could. I, with all my athletic ability, attempted to jump off the back of the couch. It didn't happen. I ended up getting my right leg stuck up on the couch while the whole left side of my body gravitated towards the floor.  The front door ended up catching my fall (wasn't that nice).  My right leg eventuall...

Today I am contributing over at Oodles World Neighborhood Blog. "As I woke up this morning, I still had that same feeling of gloom. I felt stuck. Then God gave me a gift. A gift I could feel the instant I walked out on my front porch. God gave me the gift of renewal. God gave me the gift of refreshment."  Click here  to read entire post. Have a blessed day!

My husband and I had our first child 9 months after we were married. Our second followed 17 months later. Our twins arrived 20 months after her. Four children in three years! All of my pregnancies ended with me having a c-section. Our first child was 13 days late, face forward and had his head tilted. We tried for two days to get him to come out on his own, but he wouldn't. Our second child was laying sideways. And she was perfectly content staying that way. With the twins I went into pre-term labor around week 22. I made it to around 35 weeks. Our son, who was in the first position, was up on my left side under my ribs. While laying on the operating table, I overheard the doctor say "Is that an arm?" when they went in to get him. He was hiding well. Our daughter was head down and ready to go. Because I had three c-sections in three years, the doctors strongly recommended that I get my tubes tied. I didn't want to. I was only 32 years old. I wanted to have...

The first thought that came to my mind when I heard people talk about keeping stocked pantries and freezers was; How can they afford it? Now that I have been building up/stocking my freezer and pantry for about six months, I can answer that question. My method involved starting out slow.  I didn't just go out and buy a bunch of food so my pantry would be full.  Instead, I looked for coupons, made lists of the meals we regularly eat, and started shopping at Aldi. Now that I have been shopping at Aldi, I don't know why I waited so long.  I have to tell you though,  make sure you price check to insure you are getting the best deal.  I find that I can usually get canned goods the cheapest at Aldi, as well as produce, oatmeal, eggs (only .49 cents a dozen) and some freezer items.  Other items I find cheaper at Sam's Club.  When figuring out what is cheaper, try to go by a price per measurement.  For instance, I buy a 2 lb bag of powdered sugar at...

When I was pregnant with our twins over five years ago, I broke a tooth.  At the time, I didn't go to the dentist because I had gone into pre-term labor at about 22 weeks.  I didn't want to do anything that would put more of a risk on my pregnancy.  I just figured I would take care of it after they were born. The twins were born a little over 4 weeks premature. They were healthy, but they were little five pound babies. They needed to be fed every two hours for the first few weeks. Along with caring for the twins, I also had a 1 year old and a 3 year old at home. Taking care of my tooth was the last thing on my mind. Six months after the twins were born we packed up and moved to a different State. It was a pretty smooth move, but my husband's new job required him to work a lot of hours. Once again, I didn't get my tooth taken care of. I made sure I cleaned it well.  It didn't hurt. So I just didn't bother getting it fixed. A little over two years after ou...

Today I am going to appreciate doing laundry for I am thankful my family has clothes to wear, towels to use after we take a shower, sheets for beds where we are able to rest, in our home that provides us shelter.  We are blessed to be clean.  We are blessed to be warm.  We are blessed to have a place to rest our heads. Today I am going to appreciate doing dishes for I am thankful that I have pots and pans to cook the food that we are blessed with and get to eat on plates and bowls with silverware.  We are blessed to have nourishment. Today I will enjoy the hundreds of times my children call out mom for I am thankful that I have been given the blessing of having these children, of teaching these children, of caring for these children. Today I will be grateful for the gift of marriage and for my husband.  I will be thankful that he goes to work everyday so that I may stay home and care for our home and our children.  For if it were not for him and the g...

This year, our family is going to our first Homeschooling Convention.  We are super excited.  We chose to go to the  Teach Them Diligently Convention  in Spartanburg, South Carolina.  This is the first year for the convention.  It will be held March 15 through 17. One of the things that drew me, personally, to this convention is the strong emphasis it seems to be placing on fathers.  I sometimes struggle with the feeling that my husband is out of the loop when it comes to homeschooling. Please don't think I am saying he does not want to be involved. The children and I spend all day together.  I research their curriculum.  I teach them.  I get to see their progress.  I get to celebrate with them when they accomplish something they thought was impossible. My husband is excited to attend because he is hoping to learn how he can be more involved. We are only in our second year of homeschooling and we are still learning. At this co...

A couple years ago my husband lost his job.  That job was the reason we moved from Michigan to Tennessee. Our world as we knew it ended....thankfully! My husband ended up being unemployed for 9 months.  In that 9 months we started to learn to be frugal, although we weren't completely.  Part of us kept living like we still had his salary coming in.  Part of us lived like he was going to get a job with that same salary.  He didn't. He ended up taking a job making almost fifty percent less than he was making at his previous position, but we were grateful.  It has turned out to be a great place for him to work.  We now feel we are right where God wants us to be. I was working when he started his new job.  It only took us a few months to realize I wasn't where I was supposed to be.  I resigned from my job and came home to be the wife, mother and homemaker that God created me to be.  We also decided that I would be homeschooling our ch...

We live in a small ranch style home with no garage.  Because of this we have been creative in using every inch of space we can.  When you have six people living under one roof, it is helpful to have storage space. This past weekend we put up shelving in our laundry room in order to more efficiently use it as a pantry also. I had been looking online for shelving for awhile and we were able to get a great deal on floor to ceiling adjustable shelving.  YAY! I am still attempting to get it all organized, but it has already made such a difference.  We can walk in and quickly find what we need.  Love it! Now that we have the laundry/pantry almost complete, we are looking into making our walk-in closet (which shares a wall with the laundry room) into a family closet. I first learned of a family closet from watching 17 kids and Counting.  We don't have TV, but we were able to watch the old episodes on Netflix.  Michelle Duggar basically stated that by ...