mom
Life as a mom of 4
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Share a recipe: Boston Butt
This is one of those recipes that is so simple but yet so delicious. Before getting married, I had never had Boston Butt and when my father in law lived with us for 6 month early on, he shared a couple of his simple but oh so tasty recipes. This is the Boston Butt at its best. Ingredients: boston butt worcheshire sauce garlic salt tabasco sauce BBQ sauce I usually buy my Boston Butts when they are on sale for 99c/lb at Kroger but sometimes Aldi sells boneless ones for $1.49 and it is sure worth getting a few then too for the ease of not having to take the…
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2020 Budget Goals
Each year, at the start of the year I revisit our budget, make adjustments and outline some goals. This year, with a new tool in hand (my Budget by Paycheck workbook, see this post and this post) and a somewhat of a new budget, here are my adjustments and goals. Food budget These 4 boys of mine can eat! While my husband travels out of town 4 days of week, I still go through groceries quickly. Yogurts and snacks disappear quickly and sometimes meals don’t leave any leftovers. So I adjusted my grocery/household budget from $600 to $700. I will still strive from $600 but I will not beat myself…
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Orthodox Nativity
Since we celebrate Nativity, Christ’s birth (Christmas) on January 7th, I wanted to share a peek into our celebration. Since we follow the old church calendar, we are on the same calendar as the Orthodox church in Russia and in the Republic of Georgia. We actually spoke to my father in law on the 25th who is in the Republic of Georgia right now and he was saying the kids were just returning from school. Their school break lasts about a month and starts this week I think. Other Orthodox do follow the new calendar and celebrate on the 25th such as my parents’ church. On a practical side I…
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2020 Word: Growth!
A couple weeks ago, I started working on my 2020 planner, adding school breaks, potential vacations as well as working on my January budget. I first thought about 2019 and what I was proud of: establishing a weekly game night and spending more quality time with the kids in the evenings great family vacations (2019 might be hard to top!) having regular fun times with my sisters in law starting the blog Next I started to think about areas that I would like to improve: quality time with the hubby, more regularly prayers and reading time with the boys save more money: with increased income comes increased opportunities to save…
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December Favorites
Since I did not purchase but one article of clothing my favorites for this month are a little different! Kut from the Kloth denim Jacket I have worn this jacket 5 to 6 times already this month: I held true to my no clothes shopping month after this planned purchase on the 1st of the month. The denim is soft and the cut is perfect. I sized up to a medium. The Budget Mom budget by paycheck workbook I shared this workbook last month. If you want to take charge of your finances, see where your money goes and start paying off your debt or do a better job of…
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Our Christmas Decor
Let me preface by saying that our Christmas is not really anything fancy and extraordinary. I would describe it as minimal and homey. Most of it has been accumulated over the past few years and I usually add one or those things each year. Last Friday I shared my Nativity scenes so they will not be included in this post. I did decide that I would like to start collecting the pieces of the Willow Tree nativity over the next few years so I am hoping to see if it goes on sale after Christmas to buy my first pieces. The front door decor is simple and understated: a silver…
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Nativity Scenes
Today, I thought that I would share my Nativity scenes with you. I like to put them up at the same time as the rest of my Christmas decor so the boys remember the real reason for this time of celebration. Italy This is my oldest nativity scene. When my son was 16 months old, we traveled to Italy during the Christmas break to visit my younger brother who lived in Rome at the time. It was fun celebrating Christmas in Italy and we had many fun adventures. I found this small clay nativity scene in a village. The star came off last year and I glued it back on.…
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November favorites
Just a reminder that there will be no posts next week! As I write this I am praying my children will not bring any germs home these last 2 days of school before the break! Today, I am sharing some of my favorites for this month of November. It has been a busy month it seems with some outings, family times with the sisters in law and a little bit of shopping. Afternoon outside time If the day is not too cold nor rainy we have spent at least an hour outside in the afternoon. The children play on their scooters or bikes, throw the wifffle ball around or play…
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Friday Ramblings
Today, I am sharing a mish mash of some of my recent thoughts. Budget by Paycheck Workbook My friend tuned me in to the Budget Mom when she tagged me in a giveaway and I am hooked! I always have enjoyed working with my budget to find ways to save but go back and forth with really keeping track of where my money goes. The workbook/planner helps you budget by your paycheck whether that is once a week, biweekly or monthly. By keeping track of where your money goes, you can make adjustements to your categories, assign money to savings or to your debt. Thankfully the only debt we have…
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Friday Favorites
Well, after about 30 days of no shopping, Amazon called my name and I purchased two sweaters this week. I have been bookmarking different sweaters and cardigans in my Amazon shopping cart this past month to purchase in November since that is what I could use more in my closet. I am trying to be more thoughful with my purchases and not buying just to buy. What will I wear? What is a good value? While we just paid off my van, I had to replace the windshield this week and next week, I need to replace the brakes so I need to watch the 1 click feature on Amazon.…