Teaching...well kind of

It was not so bad.
Really rather easy.
Well...I say that kind of jokingly because it was easy for me being a sub, not a teacher. Being the teacher means you are the one preparing everything for the class, being the sub means you are the one following what the teacher already prepared. And any nervousness I felt was eased after much prayer. I know God was with me, and continues to be.
Yesterday for my first class, my husband graciously went in with me to introduce me and lay down some rules for the kids seeing how they were a more 'energetic' class. Having him there that first day helped tremendously and I found my confidence.
And it really is more like watching than it is teaching. I'm there to help if needed but for the most part the kids are working on projects at their own pace.
Today was day two and it went well. Only a couple more days! And Oliver is doing great, as he was at home today with a friend to watch him. What a blessing it is to have friends available to watch our little guy. They may not realize it but what a help they are to us! I made one of my friends one of my latest projects that I'm selling on Etsy- barrettes. And I plan to make another one for my other friend that is watching Oliver. I love how they are turning out and I have sold one so far,  which is exciting- thank you God for each little drop in the bucket! You can see them here if you'd like to check out what I've posted so far. I have plans to make more, but we'll see how that goes. This week has been busy with me working and we plan to go visit family over the weekend so I don't know how ambitious I can be with adding new projects to my list.
I also had a chance to finish another fabric toy for a friend that just had a baby girl. This time I added a jingle bell in it so that it jingles along as you pick it up or roll it. I love how this one came out! Here's a photo of the ball:

I have really enjoyed making things with my hands. There is something about touching fabrics and seeing the colors come together right before you eyes that is very satisfying. It makes me wonder if I would have done better in school if I had been taught with more visual, hands on examples.
I also wonder if Oliver will learn better with books and words or with shapes and colors. A visual learner like me? Or a very disciplined scholar like his daddy?
I hope to provide a well rounded education for him either way, and I'm not sure if that means homeschooling or not. We have yet to make that decision.
Either way, I am loving all the creative projects as of late and I'm still seeking God for balance with my time. I've found that the evenings (when Oliver is in bed) are usually a good time to work on fabric things as I have to take out a huge container of items that little hands would love to get into.
I'm not sure where this newfound/evolving hobby will go. Maybe nowhere! Maybe it's just a hobby.
I do know I love making gifts for others. It's so much fun to watch them open a gift you know you spent hours on, and you know that they will really appreciate. So satisfying.
I better go for now, even though I put Oliver down for a later nap today (grocery shopping after work, so it was a long day) I can hear him talking and kicking and moving all over in his crib. Someone is not taking a nap, that's for sure! Oh dear, I hope he isn't outgrowing his second nap already!!

Work!

I am back to work this week!
I'm nervous about it all because I am actually going in as a substitute. I've never taught a day in my life, so this is certainly a little unnerving. I have always admired others that are able to walk in front of people and well speak.
I am not a natural in front of crowds. In fact I'm more of a hermit. I like to close my mouth and just watch and listen.
I guess that won't work out so well for me tomorrow?
I guess I will have to speak!
This is just one more way that God is stepping in, taking care of us, and stretching me in the process.
I have loved being home with Oliver, loved it! It is such a joy to be right where you know you are called to be. In this faith journey of quitting my full time job, I knew I would be open to opportunities for income as they came up. Even though I will be away from Oliver for a short time this week, it couldn't have worked out better. I am working only half days for a few days and God has graciously been relieving all my fears.
I did not eagerly jump at the chance to be a substitute. I get pretty nervous in front of people, generally large groups of kids, so it wasn't an immediate 'why yes!' I am in awe of my husband that has so much confidence in front of crowds, in front of groups, and kids. He can speak with authority and earn the respect from those listening. This is a God given gift, something that does not come easily to many! I am so proud of him and how much he has grown in his role of teacher and leader.
But as for the job... I prayed about it and I realized that I was willing to do this. I was willing to let the Lord stretch me in this area, because thats exactly what I felt I needed. Being home with Oliver has made me realize how much I am a teacher. Not a classroom, textbook one, but an everyday one. What can I learn during these days in a classroom that I will apply at home with my little one? What does God want me to learn? These are the very thoughts that made me come to the decision of yes. And, it also provides income we can use. So here we go!
I am thankful that God brought this into our lives, thankful that Jonah had my full support if I said yes or no. And so thankful for friends that are willing to watch our little boy for a few hours, free of charge. Now that is how God takes care of us. Always in the details, always caring about every little thing.
And speaking of our little one....

He was watching me take some photos outside today and was not happy about being behind the glass door. Oh sweet boy. Even when he's naughty and crying he makes me laugh at his antics. He went from having his hands on the glass to his face, and his cheeks, his nose, and even his mouth was open with his lips and tongue pressed on the glass at one point!
I love my men, and I am sooo thankful for them!

Walking!

I knew it was coming.
Oliver has been becoming braver and braver with his steps.
Yesterday he was 'taking off' on multiple occasions, from our ottoman to a toy, from a toy to a chair, from Jonah to our ottoman....and on it goes. He was so funny to watch! Even though he missed his regular naps (church) he was so wound up from his newfound freedom. Our sweet boy is getting so big.
Soon those rolly thighs will be gone, and replaced with leaner boyish legs. Sigh. All too fast are these baby days!!

juice for Oliver

Today's shopping trip was a little simpler than last weekends. I picked up a few toiletries and some other foods we ran out of like yogurt and milk. I still had to split my trip between a few stores, CVS being one of them. I have been taking advantage of their Extra Care Bucks by only buying things that offer them, and that I can also match a coupon with. This is the best way to save a lot at pharmacy. Their normal prices are never usually worth it as they seem to price things a lot higher than any other store. But using their reward system can be like getting some things for free.
Actually I did get some things for free today! They have a machine in CVS that lets you scan your card (you have to have this little Extra Care Bucks reward card to scan and use at every purchase) and it prints out coupons for you. This time it printed out two free items, one a pack of CVS brand bandaids, and one candy bar- Caramello. As it turned out they didn't carry that kind of candybar, so I was able to pick any Hershey brand bar and use the coupon. Since I rarely buy candybars, or candy for that matter, it was nice to have my pick. Literally like a kid in a candy store! I chose a dark chocolate bar. Yum. I'll be sharing it with Jonah....well maybe :)
I know that it can be overwhelming when you start out, to try to figure out the saving, coupon and CVS thing, but it was worth it to us when I can save on things like deodorant, feminine products, shampoos and mascara. Who really wants to pay full price for those anyways? We use them so often it's worth the effort on my part.
But my trips today were Oliver free as Jonah was home with him for me. It was an easier trip because of this, not having to tote Oliver in and out of the cart and into the blazing hot heat we've been having today. (thankfully it's raining now and will hopefully cool things down!)
My bargain deal today was at Kroger. I was walking down the natural food section and I saw a discount label on organic juices for kids. I looked closer and realized they were clearancing it out for good. The regular price was around $5 per bottle and they were marked at $1.57!
I haven't really given Oliver juice, just water and milk, and every now and then some really watered down orange juice. I wasn't crazy about giving him sugar. But these were made to be first juices and the ingredients were purely fruits and vegetables. (carrots, bananas, and apples) What a great deal! I bought all four that were left on the shelf.

Plus when I went to check out they rang up at regular price- so I asked if I could go double check the tag to be sure I was correct on the discount and item. The checkout lady didn't believe that they were discounted, but I checked and they were- even after they had another worker come check too. I've really learned to be bolder when it comes to sales. I'm not afraid to check and double check if I don't get the discount I had planned for, and I'm not afraid (usually, still learning) to put the item BACK if I was wrong.
That's the tough part.
In fact I did the exact opposite the other day in the thrift store. I really shouldn't have even gone in. But I did, it was hot out, and I was killing a little time before we headed to meet Jonah for lunch. My buy? A portable charcoal grill by Charbroil. I payed around $16 for it, only because when I put it in the cart I thought a certain color was half price- including the grill. When I got to the checkout I realized I had been told the wrong color by a sales associate in the store. Darn. So I payed full price, even after I had talked with Jonah about it- we agreed we wouldn't spend more than $10. So there you go. I'm still weak when it comes to making the best decision all the time. And now, I'm going to see if I can sell it on Craigslist, because when I opened the box at home, I realized it was brand new in it's original packaging. Wow, pretty nice.
But in the long run we really try to stretch our dollars as far as they can go since we don't have many of them!
God knows my heart, and He knows I desire to be wise with our budget and groceries and purchases, and He knows how hard I'm trying and that I still fail. For that I am thankful, because I know He owns everything that goes through our hands and I don't have to fear anything resting in His provision. Even if we don't have a grill if we sell this one, He'll provide a way for us to grill those steaks we have in our freezer (from our 1/8 cow share).

love

I love this boy.

milk guzzler extraordinaire.

even though you make big messes.

I love the funny little things you do, like trying to 'blow' up this beachball.

my little thumbsucker.

How much I am loving these days at home with our boy.

the weekend

So this weekend was busy, and we thought maybe it would be a costly one too.
First I planned out my grocery trip using my list from my 2 week meal plan. I then figured out how much I thought we'd spend overall. This was after I had researched what was on sale at the stores I would shop at, and what coupons I would be able to use for items on my list. Normally I would not want to spend time shopping at various stores, but because we live sooo close to 2, and because Jonah was home with Oliver, it was worth the travel to different stores. I also recently discovered the joy of Aldis. If you have an Aldi near you I would encourage you to go see what they sell. We've found some great items there with good quality (and few) ingredients on their labels. And the price was great, lower than our other grocery stores. Some great items I picked up included olive oil, cinnamon, fish (wild caught and frozen) and juice for great deals, which is their everyday price. It saved us a lot overall by adding that store into our regular shopping trips. We don't go there as often though since it's a little more of a drive.
But my estimate was around $100 for the two weeks of groceries, and guess what? I came in under that. Around $96. Amazing to me!
Really knowing where you can find things at the best price and not being willing to compromise, or by being flexible enough to rework some items in your meal plan is helpful.
I also was able to use some items we already had at home, so I didn't have to buy absolutely everything.
I may not have had a ton of coupons either, but by shopping smart I was able to get some good deals. And by deals I mean in season, or on sale items. Aldi's doesn't take coupons since all their items are their own brand, but the prices there are so low it's still worth it to add it into your trip.
After my outing, I came home to help Jonah with our washing machine. The day before it seemed to just stop after a cycle and wouldn't drain out and finish. So after some searches online for our model, my handy husband figured out how to take it apart and what pieces to search for the problem. I am amazed at how much we learned by doing this, and how relatively simple it turned out to be.
Thinking it was a clogged drain, or possibly a broken pump, we were prepared to pay for something new. After finding out the drains were not clogged (and several soaking towels later) Jonah popped out the pump to discover a wire was stuck in it. You know what that wire was?
My underwire.
Yah, I never really thought about that happening.
After a little 'ping' noise, the wire popped out and we thought that surely that wasn't the reason the whole machine wasn't working. Surely the pump must have quit, right?
After thinking this through we decided we'd at least try to put it all back together and see if it would run now. This decision was made while we were in the process of almost ordering a new pump.
I had been praying it would be a relatively simple fix and nothing too costly.
Guess what? It worked! It really was just a little wire stuck in the pump system in such a way that it couldn't turn and push the water out.
I am so grateful for how God took care of us in this situation! It's a small thing to some, but when you are living on little (in means of money) every little thing matters, and God reassured us of His provision.
I am seeing this more and more, and when I want to waver and doubt I give it up to Him again, asking for that assurance of His provision, and He answers.
I've started a list of ways He's provided and I can't wait to look back on it in a year. It's so encouraging and continually reassures me of our decison for me to stay home with Oliver.
Speaking of Oliver, today I found him sleeping in such a sweet pose during his nap. I snapped a picture of him, so that I wouldn't forget. Ahh sweet boy, how much we love this little guy!

both of his hands are up by his face, so sweet

Meal planning and chalks

precious kisses from Oliver!

Today I went back to my scheduling. This makes it what day 3?  Well thats a record for me.
Just kidding... kind of.
I had it in my mind today that I was going to do the one thing that I am horrible at- meal planning.
Some women are so wonderful at this. They love love love getting into charts and lists and little details.
Me on the other hand, well I would rather have a book of images to browse through and choose what we'll eat that way (hence, go to the store and buy for the week by what I see then make meals at home, which equals another trip to the store to pick up a couple things I missed....and so on).
I'm such a visual person. I guess thats why I loved Pinterest almost immediately, it's so inspiring and feeds into my way of learning and thinking.
But thats another post to come.
So, for meal planning, I have figured out that I love to buy what is in season first- which means half of our groceries each week are produce. I like to make meals that are nutritious, whole foods based which means not using processed and refined foods.
Now I am not 100% unprocessed. We still buy condiments, salad dressings, pastas and breads, and a variety of other things. But I have learned to be conscientious about what the ingredient list is, and this helps me narrow down our choices even further, because I opt for things that don't have heaps of sugar, high fructose corn syrup, lots of soy product and weird chemicals. We are not all organic. Hardly. If I could swing more organic items into our weekly groceries I would in a heartbeat, but I am okay with buying seasonally for our foods because it has the most nutritional value anyways. Yes maybe some pesticides too, but I have realized I have to compromise somewhere and right now in this season in our lives it's going to be there.
I have realized how quickly you can be obsessed with food choices when you switch to more wholefood all natural items. The more you learn about food, where it comes from, how it's made can completely consume you. I have to take baby steps in this area, pray for wisdom in the decisions I do make, and guard my eyes, and time in the matter.
With that being said, I sat down and made a point of finishing this huge chore! I prayed my way through it too, knowing I have a tendency to get discouraged and overwhelmed at the task before me.
Soooo, what did I end up doing?
My first item was to organize my menu binder I keep in my kitchen. It's a 3 ring binder that holds printed recipes that I know we like and I know I'll make again. I got this idea from a friend of mine that keeps one in her kitchen for her 2 week rotating meal plans. I liked that idea and saved it for later- and later was today!

my little tabs- I plan to make real tabs, these are just tape

I took some time to type up recipes I had written here and there on scrap sheets, and then decided that my best approach for recipes keeping was to provide seasonal ones. Right now we are in summer so I have an organized book filled with ones I have really liked this summer. I then organized them further to be in categories: chicken, beef, veggies, side dishes, snacks, dessert etc.
My plan is to switch it out with fall recipes as we enter that season, and as the foods change in the store. So, once I had that to my liking I then started on my meal plan. Yes the dreaded meal plan.
Instead of doing a full 2 weeks, I kind of cheated and only did one full week, and plan on doubling the recipes to freeze and eat the next week. Because it took so much time just for one week, I'm glad I did this.
I found a handy dandy little sheet to write out our breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. You can find that here: money saving mom
I used the seven day meal planner that has a square for each category. So handy, and not something I would have come up with myself.
I used my menu book to choose my recipes, and also loved that there was a place for snacks on my list so that I can include this in my grocery shopping. I have a tendency to be a snacker, and Oliver gets one snack a day too, so this was great to think of.
Once my menu was done I then decided to make an itemized grocery list. Are we feeling like we are in home ec class now?

But once I had that done, I was glad to have made it. NOW I can compare what I need to what is on sale in my grocery stores and what coupons I can use to match up to them. Useful sight for that: southern savers. Sorry to all you northerners, I don't think you have the stores listed on this sight. I wish there was something like this for all those that shop in different parts of the country.
Is it all worth it? I am hoping yes. I plan to keep this finished menu and list for future use, when I can rotate it back into our meals. I would like to make another 2 week menu and just swap them back and forth.
I did all this while Oliver was napping. I was also able to get some dusting, vacuuming and mopping done. It's an amazing thing this scheduling stuff.

our beautiful masterpiece

Oliver and I had some creative play with sidewalk chalks! He wasn't so sure about them, but enjoyed being outside, and would occasionally try to eat the chalk. But it was a lot of fun. I haven't used chalks in a very long time! I found a great site that offers little printout sheet for 'tot school' which I am eager to try out. I am trying to be more intentional with our play time together, but without going overboard. He has plenty of time to just play and learn alone too.
I have really been enjoying being home with this little guy. It's challenging, thats for sure. We are working on NO quite often, and it can be tiring when you again have to say no to something that you JUST said no to a minute before. I am praying over each day, and as the weariness sets in and I feel a little undone, I pray again. Truly God is helping me as I train up this little man. And then Jonah comes home. Yah!! It's wonderful when he walks through the door and Oliver smiles adoringly up at him and says, "da da". Precious are these days.
Our little baby is no longer, he's now a boy, a toddler and I am loving this stage. He is so smart and learns so quickly I am amazed to watch it all. No walking yet, for which I am kind of glad. I know that once he gets up on those rolly thighs, the baby-ness will be gone. Savoring these days!

love this boy. please excuse the window that NEEDS to be cleaned!