How Do You Afford To Live

Ok, so inflation is the word and I really kept thinking, "I don't really see how the cost of gas can make me so broke!" I know it is more than the gas, etc. I guess until now I did not realize that about all of our expenses have gone up about 30% and we are holding on here. How about you?
How are people living off of one income, ok, modest, income at this time? We just moved our AC to 80 degrees, for anyone who knows us, that may just do us in!
I am curious how others are making it, what percentage is your house payment to your monthly income? I feel our house is modest, I love our house and do not want to let it go and my husband said "it really would not make that much of a difference to move, we can't afford to LIVE!"
So, share with me how your making it work!
Our house payment at this time, with my husbands OT cuts is now 45% of our monthly earned income. Yup, that is over what it should be huh! Groceries are at 20%, utilities are at 20%, gas is 20%, so that about does us in!
Ohh, yeah, we are still going to Disney, no comments please, lol! The trip is paid for and seriously, it would not make a dent in life, it would be like getting an extra paycheck because we have downsized the trip! So, we are going to have a bit of fun on our way out, hehe! After a year and a half of CPS, foster care hell, we are taking it!
In HIS love
Leah

I Suppose An Apology Is What You Need

I suppose an apology is in order;
I must have done you wrong.
I suppose that when you look around you ,
You see that I am the one who doesn’t belong.
I suppose that you think that it is my fault, my doing,
It was me that abandoned your child.
You don’t look in the mirror or to your family;
They way that everyone left her, how it drove her wild?
I suppose that because I loved and that because I gave;
Must be the way I am wrong, I’ll take that to my grave.
I suppose it must have been the hugs, the prayers, the kisses, the fun
That did us in.
I suppose you just wanted her to sit and wait and cry until you began.
Until you began to see that you wanted more, until you chose to heal;
The way you treat me for loving her, in my mind is unreal.
I suppose an apology is what you need because with me she sang a song.
She could have been hurt, abused, or felt like she did not belong.
She and I will take the hit, we will pay the price.
Because to you the love we feel is not wanted, needed or advised.
It seems to me that you need me to apologize.

I love your daughter because she grew in my home.
I love your daughter because our family is where she has roamed.
I love your daughter because she was given to us to love.
I love your daughter even though it hurts to love.

I suppose I should say I am sorry to you, for getting in the way;
I can only hope that you should see that she is better for it one day.
It was not always easy or always fun;
A broken child can drain you, can drain anyone.
Yet I did not leave her, I did not walk away.
I have stayed loving, supporting and providing for her to this very day.
Yet for now I will apologize because that must be what you need.
I am sorry that you have hate for someone who served your family indeed!

Trying Something New...

Monday, July 20, 2009

Friend Makin' Monday: Vacations
Hi Everyone! I just found out about this "Friend Makin Monday". Something that Kasey @ All That is Good has started! If you need a quick update on the rules and such, you can go here. You can link up at the end of this post with the direct link to your post for Friend Makin' Monday. Monday's task was~ VACATIONS!!
This task has two parts {numbered ever-so-nicely for you}. You can do either one or both ~ it's up to you!1. Tell us about the best {or worst} vacation that you've ever taken.2. Tell us FIVE places/vacations that you would like to take at some point your life. It doesn't have to be next year...maybe it's the vacation of a lifetime or somewhere you just dream of going years from now.
So, even though I am late, I am trying to see if I have this right, as I am new to Mrlinky too...
So, here is the try:

Our best vacation: I pray is still to come (we are going to DISNEY in Sep.) Yet I have had some great ones already. I have been to Italy, Greece, Bahamas, Florida, S Dakota, etc. My BEST so far may be the cruise with my husband for our honeymoon. It was to the Bahama's yet it was the time on the boat that rocked (no pun intended!)

Since I am late on this game...I'll stick to one task this week and look forward to seeing about doing this again next Monday... If it works out for me!

Mark and Me ;)

I think this may be one of just a few pics of Mark and I alone!

It is something nice to have!

We had our family pictures today! The photographer was great, Shanna Simpson, you can see more at http://shannasimpson.com/blog/

These photos are the sneak peaks she sent... I can't wait to see everything and get some up on my walls! Micaela has always wanted a family picture to include her. She would often say "I'm not in that picture" really sadly when looking at the ones we had done before she came to us! I know she may not be here much longer but we are a family and this is our photo~ 2009

What a blessing it was to have Shanna come out to the house. With this many kids JC Penny's seemed like a nightmare! Thank you Shanna!!!

IT's BACK....

OK, so I have previously posted my concern to ever again regain the desire to home educate my children! Well, it is easing it's way back into my life! I have done our first week of "summer school" last week! We did quite well! Nathan is in football now and that routine of his has helped a lot! Brianna has enjoyed file folder games and an All About Me lapbook as well. This week I plan to add in Micaela with her ETC A,B,C book set. I am learning that with this many kiddo's in different levels, I need much more time to get things done than I previously needed! The problem of course is this little man who thinks sleep is over rated and that my arms are his domain! So, hopefully as summer ends and as Sep comes around he will be better at resting and playing without me! I just thought I would share that YES, when you are DONE, IT can return!
I went to Gheens (teacher resource place in KY) today and laminated more games, name plates, etc and really got myself in the groove for next week' school work!
You can find the fun file folder games that I am using at Shanna Clark's website
http://integritasacademy.wordpress.com
In HIS love,
Leah

VENTING....

OHH I am so ANGRY! I woke up and thought here we go, great school day! We are going to get on track. I had told the kids after camp that we were going to start school back up so that our time off in Disney and our slacking last year due to having the baby etc. would all hopefully even out! Well, DAY 1... I just wanted N,11 to do a math lesson, his first lesson in Writing Strands and play a file folder game! Well, WS went OK... Math is still going an hour later!

Gotta get cha WOOHOOO back!

I was sharing with my aunt this past weekend, as we were at Kings Island and at my gmas house on the lake, that I miss my WOOOHOOO! One might ask "what's a WOOOHOOO?" Well, your WOOOHOOO is when you let it all out and just have FUN! I remember when I was younger, any ride at K.I. was game! I LOVED the fastest, tallest coaster rides and spin me around baby as fast as you could because I was going to WOOOHOOO all the way through! NOW, as I was in line for the Diamond Back, I was calling Mark to say my final goodbyes and stated how the only reason I was talked into that ride was because IF I died I would at least leave them rich when KI had to settle! On the lake, I thought, "I'll tube with Brinley" because I know my aunt y'all... people go flying off the tubes....I was one of those WOOOHOOO'N awhile back as I body slammed into the water! Well, you would not believe this but she dumped me AND my 2 yr old! It was a AGHHHH moment!
"Why would one loose their WOOOHOO?" You might ask!
I think in my case it is because I have had some children in my life that once the WOOOHOOO would start they did not know how to calm back down. So, I thought that if I just would think of my kids as a boiling pot of water, that if I just kept the lid on, they would not boil over, out of control. So, I started to lid up my WOOOHOOO's to control theirs and well I think that I need to get them back out more often! As I was in line for that coaster, I saw people twice my age there and twice younger too. I am not TOO OLD to have a WOOOHOO! Then as I drove home I remembered how I used to sing SO LOUD in the car and I said next time when they are all awake, I am going to sing LOUD again and if it drives me a bit bonkers to hear all of them singing then well, I am gonna WOOOHOOO through it!
Being a mom should not always have to be SO SERIOUS. I think when we loose our WOOHOO'S we may start loosing fun parts of ourselves that God could use to make our children laugh and show them that loving HIM can be a fun lifestyle full of WOOHOO moments!

Post some WOOOHOOO moments on my blog and well... GET CHA WOOHOO BACK TOO!

Bridges

I feel like I am a divorced woman awaiting for a bridge to be built with my ex for the sake of my child. I am a foster mom. A mom who has been raising a little one for 17 months now, from the time she was 2 and a half to now 4 yrs old! She is to be reunited soon from what they now say. I have to start thinking about helping her to transition into her new home. I am going at this blind and with a heavy heart. I do not have a relationship with the birth mom, this is all new and it will be a "process" so I am told. I do however know this little one and I know she has no idea that she would ever wake up one day and not be mine. I am mommy to her, my husband is daddy and our children make up her family. I know that she is going to be sad if bridges are not built. I will be broken hearted if I am never able to share with her birth mom the stories that I hold dear to my heart in concerns with our little one. I want her to know the kind of oatmeal she likes, I want her to know how much she loves Toby Mac and how she is a worshiper with music. I have so many funny moments, so many personality growths, so much knowledge about this little one to share. What will my little one feel like to have lost the routine of how she was tucked in for the past year and a half? I hope a bridge can be built. We know that the children of parents who are divorced do better if the parents communicate. This mom struggles having a conversation with me. I do not know if the bond her child, our child, has with me is too painful. I do not know if she feels judged, etc. I only know I want a bridge. I need one, my little one needs us to put us away and her first! Please join me in prayers for a bridge to be built!

Jumping, Bouncing Baby Boy

Sweet little Bryson who loves to be on my hip,
Daddy got him a bouncer to see if he would sit!
He enjoyed the toy for a moment but then puffed out his lip,
He thought, "mommy bounces when she walks", and he threw a fit!
Bryson knows that toys do not make up for mommy's hold,
I pray that this hip bouncing is not his favorite way, as he gets old!

Thank you Shanna Clark - File Folder Games are GREAT!

Brianna really enjoyed playing the Rainbow Ice Cream file folder game that Shanna Clark created! I loved that the cones did not use the correct colors to spell the color names, like some games do, that give away the answers! Brianna actually had to read each color word and the add the correct topping to the cone! She really felt proud when it was all said and done and asked "mom, can I play another one?" I thank you Shanna for reminding me of this great homeschool tool and encouraging me to use them more often! I look forward to adding to my collection!

Proud little one...

You really should go and get some yourself! The Clark's sell their FF creations at their online website that is full of inspiration and fun! Just click on the link below!! All of their file folder games are available for purchase individually or as a collection on their Collection 1 Cd-ROM!

http://integritasacademy.wordpress.com/file-folder-games/

Shanna Clark's File Folder Games ROCK!