Thrifty Friday finds = :)

Today was a particularly profitable shopping day.  I do wish I had such luck more, but then on the other hand, I would probably end up spending wayyy too much money if I did, haha!  I actually have not been in our Goodwill in probably 2 or 3 months, and I actually only went in today to try to find some shorts.  I didn't find any, which wasn't a surprise, but I DID find some great stuff.  Some cool vintage Fisher Price toys, ones that I remember playing with as a kid, and some other random stuff.  Target also had some killer clearance deals that I snagged.  It was a long day of shopping, but I am totally siked with all my bargains!

Oh yes, and I finally, FINALLY, found some shades for my lamps, so stay tuned for a lamp makeover post.  My bedroom is getting closer and closer to being done!  Yay!  I can't wait to show the before and after.  I really love it.  :)

Both of the FP toys were 3 bucks!  The cash register didn't have the coins, but I spotted some on ebay that will hopefully end up being in my budget.  This vintage FP stuff can go for mucho dinero on there!

The other toy was $2, and baby boy loves it.  :)

The mirrored tray I have big plans for.  Spray paint is in its near future.

And the 3 frames I got on clearance @ Target for $2.48 each.  Spray paint is also in their near future.  Both the tray and frames are for my bedroom.  I'm excited.  :)

Cloth Diapers

Ok, so I use cloth diapers.  I love them.  I originally got just simple prefolds and covers, but then I discovered all the cute diapers and different systems out there.  Ahhh!  I am pretty sure I've tried just about every kind out there.  My favorites though, have got to be bumGenius elemental organic all in ones.  I have 7 and wish I had at least 12.  But, I have to keep telling myself that I am doing this to save money!!!  Haha.  Anyways, Kelly Wels, is doing an awesome giveaway on her blog/facebook.  A complete cloth diaper package, all you would need to diaper your child from birth to potty training!  Nice.  Go here to find out all the deets : Kelly Wels , and here to enter : facebook !

Awesome, huh?  :)

Discouragement and stuff....

Ugly word.

But this has been my unpleasant reality lately.

I have never been one to struggle with this, but things haven't exactly been easy the past few months.  That sounds so fickle.  Like I can only be happy when things are going my way.  My sinful person wants to just drift easily through life, but then the other part of me knows that without struggle and pain, I would end up being a blah, milk greedy, luke warm Christian.  I want to go through the fire, and come out like gold.  But, the fire.  I hate it so much.  It's a war raging within right now.  I feel so battered, one thing after another keeps knocking me down and kicking me while I'm laying there.

But out of all that, I am beginning to see something beautiful emerge.  Like a tiny flower, I see a deep deep love for the simple things in life that I have been given.  I am learning to lay down myself, and look to God for everything.  EVERYTHING.  True trust, not the kind that you talk about in passing, you know, the "Oh, I'm just trusting God everything will work out...." kind.  I'm talking about the kind that is falling on your knees and crying out to Him with everything you have, and surrendering it all to Him, kind.  Not once, but time and time again.  Clinging to His promise that He will never leave or forsake.

I have been reading through the Bible, trying to find comfort, encouragement, and assurance.  I have read Psalms 37 the past couple of days, and it has been like a cool drink of water on a hot day, exactly what I need.  The caption above the chapter says "Rest in the Lord" in my Bible.

Psalm 37:24 "Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand."

Psalm 27:39 and 40  "But the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord: He is their strength in time of trouble. And the Lord shall help them and deliver them: He shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in Him."

My children have been an amazing blessing to me throughout this struggle.  I have felt like I was at the end, and I just wanted to go find a dark hole and hide there until the storm passes.  But then my children will just surround me with their love and faith, and I will find myself smiling again.  They've shown me how to open my eyes to find overwhelming joy in the simplest things.  I'm so thankful for them.

This song was on Pandora today while I was ironing, and it really kind of expressed how I am feeling...

Hungry by Joy Williams

Hungry, I come to You
For I know You satisfy
I am empty but I know
Your love does not run dry

Chorus:
So I wait for You
So I wait for You

I'm falling on my knees
Offering all of me
Jesus, You're all this heart 
Is living for

Broken, I run to You 
For Your arms are open wide
I am weary but I know
Your touch restores my life

Chorus

I'm falling on my knees
Offering all of me
Jesus, You're all this heart 
Is living for

Hungry, I come to You
For I know You satisfy
I am empty but I know
Your love does not run dry

Happiness....

Wordless Wednesday:

A yummy recipe

This is one of our all-time favorite recipes.  A genuine old family recipe.  I got this from my MIL.  Before that, I had never tasted (or heard, actually) of ham dumplings.  It sounds a little weird, but believe me, they are so yummy.  I usually have some left over ham from the holidays tucked away in the freezer, and a cold wintery night makes me hungry for these.  I don't know, maybe every body but me is still a little burned out on ham.  Personally, I think that these are so good that even if you are burned out, you will still absolutely love these.  :)

Step 1: Mix 3 cups of flour 

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

Cut in 1/2 c shortening

Make sure you get a little help :)

Add 3/4 c milk

1 egg

Don't overstir.  The dough should be pretty stiff.  

Roll out with plenty of flour.  Yes, my rolling pen has sharpie on it.  That is the art work of my 4 year old.  I am sure more of his art work will show up in the future.  Keep an eye out.  ;)

I roll it out to be thick, but not really thick.  <--I hope you understand what that means, lol.

Cut into squares, or whatever shape you choose.  I obviously don't take too much time or care about uniformity....

Make sure your ham broth is boiling nicely.  This is about to get yummy!

Make sure your dumplings are well coated with flour.  I usually add some extra.

Let your children help you drop them in the boiling broth.  *important, this can burn hands if you drop them in and the broth splashes.  Just make sure to gently put them in...speaking from experience here...

Put a lid on it, turn the heat down and let slowly simmer for about 30 minutes.  *important, don't take the lid off or the dumplings will fall....speaking from experience here....again....

Add your ham.  And add seasonings.  Personally, I don't think I could cook without Serendipty.  It just adds that extra flavor that makes every body rave about whatever I just cooked.  I use it on/in everything.  I ran out recently, and substituted with Lawry's, (and I know that Pioneer Woman uses Lawrys....whatever....she would go crazy over Serendipity, I am pretty certain) and it is definitely not even comparable.

Mix 3/4 c milk and 1 Tbs. flour and add it to the broth/dumplings.  Mixing it in a cup before hand makes so that there are no nasty flour lumps.  I hate flour lumps.

This picture makes me hungry. 

Serve up in your best dishes and enjoy!  :)

It's a new year!

2011.  What will it hold?  I have lots of thoughts swirling around in my head, not really sure I would call them resolutions, more like goals.  I love having goals, but I tend to be an impatient person when it comes to progress.  Especially when I have big goals.  Which I have for this year.  I'm sure my goals are pretty much like everyone else's haha, but they are things that are going to take a new, conscience effort on my part to achieve.  

Number one on my list is being more consistent with my personal Bible study.  Last year was spotty at best in this area, more like nonexistent if I'm really being honest.  Which I'm ashamed to admit.  I have learned though that I don't do well without a book or some sort of outline of what to study.  I need some direction.  I'm not one of those people that can open the Bible and pick out something to study.  I don't know, maybe it's because I'm lazy and need to work on those skills.  Also related, I want to be more intentional with my kids too.  It's all to easy for me to slide along and rely on the church for my kids spiritual welfare.  Another thing I'm ashamed to admit.  Not sure why, but it seems like these things are the easiest to put on the back burner in our busy lives.  I am headed to the book store here soon (as soon as I can dig up my coupons!!!) and I'm going to find a book on a certain subject that I know needs some serious work in my life.  

Next on the list: debt.  Such an ugly word.  We are your typical American couple, and we do have credit cards, praise the Lord.  (Dave Ramsey is cringing right now.)  And we do have credit card debt.  But I wouldn't say that it is because of frivolous spending.  2009 wasn't the best year as far as income, so we used our credit cards for all the fun stuff, like clothes and other necessary evils.  Thankfully, God always provided for our basic needs and we never got behind on our bills.  2010 was way better, and since we learned some valuable lessons in 2009, we pretty much avoided adding to our debt.  So, 2011 is officially "Pay Off the Credit Cards" year.  Can you hear the excitement in my voice? Seriously, I am excited that hopefully these will be paid off, eve though it is going to take some serious effort.  I have a budget written out, and I have DH on board.  I really wouldn't consider my self a big spender, but who doesn't enjoy a little retail therapy every now and then??  I just pray that we would get a steady income this year!  (One, just one (!) of the many perks of owning your own business)  

I would say those two are the biggest things on my list. I do have other, more uninteresting ones, like keep my house cleaner, work out more, and stuff like that.  But mostly, I'm going to focus on the big ones.  I am looking forward to what God has in store for us this year, and I am excited about seeing how much our lives have changed at the start of 2012.

Big sister's desk before and after:

I got this desk at a huge antique/junk (mostly junk, but obviously some good stuff....still tons of fun to shop) sale that goes along a road for miles.  I think I paid $50 for both the chair and desk.  It is exactly what I was looking for for Big Sister's room.  I got some pink patterned scrapbook paper to use as desk liner.  I sanded and spray painted the chair, and I sanded and brush painted the desk.  Learn from my mistake, if you ever try something like this: spray paint is mucho easier to get to look nice.  I tried my hardest to not get brush lines on the desk, but they happened anyways.  Also, I got some super nice high gloss paint, but I still think it will eventually chip off and look terrible over time. (And knowing my daughter, that probably won't be too long)  I think a small roller probably would have eliminated the brush lines, but I still think the spray paint looks better and is easier.  Oh yes, and I really REALLY wanted some of those vintage looking pink glass handles, but they were close to $4 a pop, and I just didn't have that to spend. Luckily Lowes had some porcelain ones that were the perfect color to match for only .97 each.  Much better, but I think they look kinda 90ish, lol.  Oh well, they will be vintage one of these days, right?

Before:

Ugly 70's mustard color.  Even though I got both of these at different places, they almost looked like the same person got ahold of them with the "antiqueing" stuff....ugh


After:

Didn't take Big Sister long to fill it up with all her papers and other little kid treasures.  :)