Exhaustion

Have you ever felt this tired??? I know I seem drained lately. My daughter and I were working on her projects Saturday night. I had to walk out to feed the inside chickens for a minute while she thought on the next step. I came back in to find this..her asleep on the exercise equipment. It is right next to our desk in the den and the kids often sit right here to dictate what they would like typed. I will say that she was probably very comfortable as this provides an excellent stretch of the back in this position. It seems like we are overly busy lately. Between projects, quilts, extra curricular events, a few of these little naps would do anyone some good.

Blackberry Cobbler

My younger two love this time of year. Around our yard you can pick lots and lots of blackberries.

I could not believe how big some of them are this year, I suppose it has to do with the nice level of rain we have had.

We decided to make a cobbler out of them. The house smelled very yummy.

Big Bad Wolf

Sometimes I feel like the Big Bad Wolf. Do you ever feel that way?

I have had to say no to some things that family wants to do lately. 

For example my husband wanted to go to a local brewery across town this afternoon, his brother and family are going to be there. It would be fun. We own the pilsner glass so the cost is nothing, you get three free tokens and can drink for free with those. However, we would have to spend money for gas to get there. Honestly we don't have that gas money. 

So, I said no, not this time. He was a little upset

The moment has passed.

I had to tell my daughter no last night to a trip with a friend and her friend's family this summer.

The cost $150, we don't have that. Also its a trip with the dad and his new wife and we don't really know them. I don't feel its a good idea.

I know she is disappointed.

The moment has now passed.

Last night I had to say no to our son Zekaryah. 

We had one chilis card left from a friend who did something nice for our anniversary.

Paul wanted to have a date last night and see a movie at the $2.50 location in Tomball.

Zekaryah wanted to go- I said no.

Then he wanted to go to a friends house. 

I did say yes, however he never reached him.

He then wanted us to wait around, it was already 6:30 to ensure his friend would not call.

Again I said  no.

We went on our date.

We did not go to the movie. 

I decided dinner only cost $5 but the movie would cost additional money

We didn't really have it

We came home, a little disapoointed

The moment already passed.

I made our menu for the week. The family members that participated all had some grand ideas, many I had to say no too. We just need to keep things as cheap as possible for 6 months. We are using up as much as we can in the stockpile that I had from all that Kroger couponing a year ago. I really miss their double and triple coupons and matching with sales to get some great prices. It is a little scary to think we are having to depend nearly soley on the stockpile but I am trusting the Lord has a great plan in 6 months time or less - when the stockpile is exhausted, when our freezer, deep freeze and pantry is bare. So I made my list. I have our $20 from my friend who sent me a kind note this week. I have our $100 gift card that another friend sent and we are prepared for the store. I have decided to just do our list one week at a time. I had planned to buy our foods that were non perishable all today with the gift card but then I decided the Lord might move mountains and help our items we need to go on sale so we are shopping for this week not the month.

Here is our list.

Household                                                                                                     Bread

Borax                                                                                                             Tortillas for fajitas

                                                                                                                      French Bread

                                                                                                                      Sandwich Bread

Dairy                                                                                                            Produce

Milk (later in week)                                                                                        Onion

Eggs                                                                                                               Peppers

                                                                                                                      Tomato

                                                                                                                               

Frozen

Okra

Canned/Processed                                                                                    Meat

Prego                                                                                                          Ham Lunchmeat

Spaghetti Noodles                                                                                       Bacon

 I pray for this coming week that we continue to stay strong.
Last weekend the porch steps- bottom two collapsed. Zekaryah created a temporary fix.
This weekend the rain has caused a huge drainage issue. Our trenches stopped holding. We need 4 inch pipe.
I have a $50 gift card to Home Depot so I am praying that will cover those expenses.
I get frustrated at times when we think we have a plan and then it get sucked down the drain so to speak.
I am trying so hard to not use our credit cards. We already had to break that since 2012.
Taxes for our land went on the credit card, gas money, Jakob's dental visit this past week was $104, we didn't have it, more gas money, then to mail my two quilt orders and the sewing machine I had to charge those shipping fees yesterday too. Its sad to see that my balances that were going down, just went back up, so we start February with more debt than we had in January. I know the Lord will continue to help us.
We just need to continue to pray, try to be faithful and I need to continue to say No to the things we do not need, but rather just want.
Eventually maybe they will stop asking?
Probably not, but it is a good thought.

The Weekend What a Busy Time

So to tell you how our weekend went. Friday started with moving boxes from a friends storage unit, of things her family did not want, that were her mother's, who passed away last year. She gave them to us in hopes we could make a little money doing a garage sale. Right now they sit in my den. It will be alot to go through. I am hopeful that it will all work out though. Then I dropped Paul off at his brother in laws for his weekend trip, which I told him over and over it was probably not the best timing.. Guess what it wasn't. Its funny how I am always right about these things. I just knew it was such a busy month and he really does a lot to help me with scheduling on our weekends. I depend on him.

On my way back home, after dropping my husband off I found out our daughter wanted to go to a  friends after school, which sounded fine because at the time I wanted to work on a quilt to list on ETSY this week.

Well she ended up riding the bus home instead of going home with her friend, because she couldn't find her which pushed Jakob and I late to find a book or two for a report assigned Friday, research being due Monday. We met with the dad and her friend at the library, got into the library to find someone checked said book out 30 min prior to us being there. We jotted down some info from a reference book quickly as the library closes at 4 on Fridays. I really wish they stayed open until 5. It makes life difficult if children are assigned projects Friday during school, due Monday morning, or even Tuesday. We then  rushed to a local bookstore- to find out they are closing. Everything is 60% off and nothing really left. That said book- sold 30 min before we got there. I am at a point of frustration now..

I rushed home, got online, reserved the book and another at Barnes and Nobel in a location that my husband nearly always drives through because I nearly always get lost.  I printed maps, dropped Zek off at a friends for the night and we left in search of the bookstore. We got there searched a couple sections for more books on symbolism, to find there weren't any. I was thankful I had reserved my two. We went to pay for them, the one we really needed, that we hunted for twice already, they didn't have ready, nor did they have at the store like they said online. The one we paid for, not very useful, it is more a dream definition book. At this point I was wasting gas and we were starving so we stopped in at Denny's. I am thankful he is my practical child who ordered from the cheap menu. We still had to drop clothes off for Kenzei and finally got home near 10 pm. It was a long day!

Saturday started at 8. Waking Jakob up to write out his words, went to the college library in search of a reference book they were supposed to have on symbolism. We searched, finally asked for help for the reference librarian to be in utter confusion at the fact they didn't have the book. What is it with this book! We went to the regular section, her thinking that maybe it was re-shelved in the wrong place and it wasn't there either. I am so thankful that at this point we did find TWO other books, not online in the catalog section, that did work. We don't have a card for this library so we had to sit there and write all the words and info out, so he looked each up and dictated what should be written down because I had a feeling I would be typing it, and wanted to be able to read the writing. At least I could plan ahead for something...at this point I am thanking the Lord for answering some prayers, feeling guilty that I am not at SOS volunteering but thankful at the same time I was spending time with Jakob.

We left there still needing one more word, got lunch, went to the library in town wrote up everything else he needed from the book from Friday afternoon, that thankfully could not be checked out by anyone else since it was a reference book. I dropped him off at home, secured Zekaryah staying with another friend, Kenzei going to a birthday party with Friday's friend at another friends and went to SOS to work until 5:30. Got home made us some eggs and bacon to get a call from Kenzei that she needed clothes, she had not packed enough. I just wanted to lay in bed and watch a movie at this point. But duty calls. I text the mom where Zekaryah is because I was already headed out, and didn't want to do it again later that night..thankfully he is a boy he and didn't need anything- heck he probably didn't even shower.

Dropped off Kenzei's clothes, on the way home Jakob and I got sundaes at McDonald's. I ate my Sundae, decided to put in a movie, I really needed to de-stress. Then I get a call after the movie at 9:30 to find out that the approved party at the bowling alley was in fact not at the bowling alley, which was not her fault, they were under renovations. The mom dropped 5 12/13 year old girls off at a movie theater across town that is huge and has a bar! I did say dropped off as in no adult stayed. So needless to say my precious daughter never called to let me know of the change in plans, and should know better,I like to know where my children are. I am protective that way. So I called and told her to get her stuff together she was coming home. There went my evening. Her in the backseat, feeling I was out of line and she was very upset, not talking to me. I felt upset because she should have called to let me know they were going somewhere else, and I really am not comfortable with them being at a location like that alone.

I picked up Zek at 10 Sunday, finally kenzei was talking to me again so she went along. Came home and guess what? I decided to top off my emotional weekend by going through every one of mom's totes...

Oh wow, I am sad to say that the majority of it I can't use for quilting. Its more clothing material I am thinking. Some of it I don't even know what it is called. I sorted what I wanted, sorted what I knew I could sell online because it has a tag etc on it, to tell me what it is, and then the rest I stacked together in an area for now. I am praying someone will come along and tell me what it is, so I can sell it online or locally.

This is an example of a stack I will list on ETSY, it is very good fabric, just have to figure out how to do it all.

I finished my evening by tagging 11 buckets of clothing from SOS, which I will take back today, and picking up Paul. I tell you ...what a weekend, and he will be lucky if he gets to go again. I am sure I will come back to my senses, but it is hard to have him away like that with school in progress.

All I could think of when I woke up this morning is that, in my efforts to clean house Sunday, it looks worse and I have three boys coming over Friday night for Zekaryah's birthday- we are doing hot dogs and smores and playing board games. And guess what Paul has a side job early Saturday morning...hoping next weekend has better luck.

I am so thankful to our heavenly father that he watched over us the whole time. I may not have gotten the kitchen done, the house clean, my quilt made but I was able to find the bookstore with help from a friend. Three other friends helped me maneuver children this weekend. Just having Jakob made it easier. I can't imagine trying to find time to drive them to where they wanted to be too. I am also thankful that despite all the time that Jakob lost looking for the books for this paper for English, he was able to get all his other homework done on Sunday. I pray for him today as he goes into Spanish probably not as prepared as he would have liked, for his oral speech. I am also thankful he did his art portion of this project while I worked at SOS Saturday afternoon. It is simply amazing!

He had to choose 7 words from ideas of his personality. Then he looks them up finds their symbolic meaning and draws a picture to display that. It is a hand holding a pawn, that has a shadow, he also has fire in the picture with ash shooting across both sides the dark in black and gold and the lighter with white and blue. 

He also has to write a 3 page paper. I admit outside of driving him around, I don't have to help much at all. Boy am I thankful for that.

It was an interesting weekend full of obstacles and time spent together somehow..