In my quest to update and make things look a bit more modern and personalized I tried to figure out how to update my living room without breaking the bank.  I had to stick with the furniture I had as there wasn't budget for new couches so I began thinking about how to update the look and since I hate the look of slipcovers the only option I came up with was new throw pillows.  However, if one buys throw pillows it can be quite pricey so a trip to the fabric store was in order.  I am very blessed that I was taught the basics of sewing as a young girl by both my grandmother and my aunt.  I find this skill invaluable as it has saved me so much money over the years.  

​ I came up with a print I liked and then I also went searching through some of my old stash of fabrics with creativity in mind.  I decided to sew a few of the pillows from the fun fabric I found and then take a very neutral fabric and paint on it to add to the fun.

The design I painted was just inspired by the printed fabric and I did it free-hand just to play around a bit.  I was pretty pleased with how it turned out.  All in all I ended up with 4 of the patterned pillows and two of the hand painted pillows.  My total out of pocket for this project? $18 (a mere $3 per pillow!)

If you don't sew, pillows are a perfect beginner project as they are just squares that you put together by sewing the fabric printed side to printed side and leaving about 3" of space to stuff, then you turn them rightside out and stuff, then sew the 3" gap.  This project was all done in one evening (probably 3 hours because of the hand painting and dry time).

I was so pleased with my new throw pillows that I decided this would be a great project for me to make for a few Christmas presents too!

My readers may remember a few weeks ago when I posted about us having to say goodbye to our beautiful Horse, what I didn't share was that 3 days after we lost our beloved horse our 11 year old beagle passed away in her sleep.  It was peaceful but it made for a VERY hard week for this mama and her kiddos.  At this point in the year my husband said we would need to wait until at least next summer before looking at getting another horse, something that though I knew to be true, broke my and my daughter's hearts.  So, I at least began looking around at shelters kind of half-heartedly to see if there were any beagles.  Guess what?  I saw a post in a local facebook swap group I am on about an older couple who were having to downsize and had a beagle who needed re-homed.  What got me was that her picture reminded me so much of our old girl who passed away.

We went to the beautiful farm that had passed into days after its former glory and met a sweet older couple.  There was a sad story that came with the little beagle.  Her owner, a man well into his late 70's or early 80's had bought her as a pup 6 years ago to hunt with.  They had some good times hunting but about 3 years in he was struck with cancer and was no longer able to hunt rabbits with his dog.  He sheepishly shared that the beagle had not been out of her outside dog kennel in a VERY LONG time and though they fed her daily, she had not had any exercise 
and little human love for quite some time.  Now I was a bit worried.  

The old man let the dog out of her outdoor kennel and she was very scared, in my experience one has to be very careful with a scared animal because they will often react aggressively due to being scared.  This dog surprised me though, other than being very shy she did not act in any way aggressive and she was so sweet and passive.  We did end up deciding to bring her home, she is a smaller than our old beagle but reminds me of her with nearly identical markings.

I was saddened for the older couple as they recounted for us their glory days of farming but that due to ailing health they were having to relocate.  The old man got teary as we were leaving, I am not so sure it was as much for this particular dog as it was for the closing of a chapter in his life, a chapter in which he no longer can participate in the activities he once loved.  We waved as we headed down the lane towards home and I did update the couple with pictures after we got our new pet home and settled.  I can't help but feel sad thinking that one day that may be us, unable to do the tasks required when one owns land.

We got home and have had to be patient with our new family member.  I imagine that she was used to different handling as she sometimes still cowers when I pet her but she is adjusting quite well and the kids all love her.  She really loves her daily runs in the back field, especially when accompanied by my husband's hunting dogs.  It has been a really neat transformation to watch her go from tail tucked between her legs and not willing to eat from my hand to seeing her anxiously awaiting my steps in the morning and tail wagging high during afternoon runs.

​Welcome, Tuesday, to our family.

Here is a picture of our beloved family pet, Lila, that passed away a few weeks ago.  She was a good dog and we had lots of good memories with her.

Let me start by saying that I realize that "cheap" is a relative term here...What I view as cheap may not be what someone else does but let me share this awesome tip with you all!  

My 3 year old son (turning 4 in a few days) has been begging for a John Deere Gator ride on toy, you know the outdoor motorized power ones?  He had seen one at another child's home and he was smitten.  The problem?  They cost a FORTUNE!!! I mean that.  Even on sale the least I have ever seen them for was $400 and sometimes they run as high as $500...FOR A CHILD's TOY!!!  Ugh, what is a mama to do.  I knew that not only my 3 year old would love this but also his younger brother as they would likely play together for hours all over the farm.  Then there were also the memories of how much fun my older children had with a hand-me-down ride on jeep that they had for years.  But, there was that price tag and there was NO WAY I could in my right mind pull that off.

So, I began looking everywhere for a used one, I looked at garage sales, craigslist, swap sites, etc.  I mean I was on the hunt.  I kept coming up short.  This hunt went on for months...Even super old and beat up ones were going for around $150+.

Then it happened.  Just this week.  I was looking on craigslist and there it was...a post for a used gator.  It was a little rough, but I hoped that a little TLC would make it at least a fun toy for the kids.  And if not for Christmas then for birthday, afterall that could be a gift for 2 kids at once!

Here is what I came home with....yup- its a little rough.  But just wait till you see it's transformation!  And I only paid $75 for it

It worked, it was only a few years old, and I had a plan.  On the way home I spent another $8 on spray paint for plastic toys.  Here we go.  My sons helped to wash it (notice they are trying to drive away with soap suds on the hood).  The gator had obviously been outside for some time as it seriously needed a bath.

Bath complete and now it was time to disassemble, these things seriously come apart into a hundred or more pieces, great for painting though!  And, we were lucky enough to get the manual with ours so when I called the company (Peg Perego) I learned that if I wanted I could even order replacement parts.

Once apart, I began the makeover, just look at that amazing color!  All from spray paint I bought at Lowes (just be sure to buy the kind specific to plastic)

The kids went down for a nap with the promise that daddy would put it all back together and it should be dry for them to use when they woke up.

To say that mom and kids were pleased is a serious understatement.  I was ecstatic!!!  My total out of pocket for this project was $83, and some elbow grease.

I know for a fact I could turn around today and sell it for over $150 so that made it all the better (no, I was not planning on selling it but it made me feel good to know that I could totally get my money back out of it plus profit with no problems)

The boys ran all over the place with it until the battery was dead and it had to be recharged.  This thing can hold up to 130 lbs so I know that for years to come this should be an enjoyment!

Fall is my favorite season.  There, I said it, I hate to admit it because it does mean that winter is right around the corner and I really hate the cold, but oh the colors of fall.  I love the crisp mornings, the cool nights, the warm sunshine afternoons.  Most of all, its the colors though.  The bright sunset reds, oranges and pinks as well as the almost golden yellows.  

I recently watched my children playing outside and it was almost surreal as though I was watching a movie in technicolor.  It is days like these that I just want to hold on to and replay in my mind.  They are only young for a fleeting moment (though in the thick of it, it seems like forever) and these days are all too short.  But I want to remember the vibrancy, the colors, the laughter, all of it.

Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower; 
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf,
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day
Nothing gold can stay. 

-Robert Frost-

14 dozen eggs
30 rolls of toilet paper
24 rolls paper towels
3 lbs coffee (mom and dad NEED this)
12 lbs cheese
3 lbs sour cream
8 lbs butter
9 gallons milk
15 lbs flour
12 lbs sugar
6lbs peanut butter
 
No that is not the list for a big party, it is part of my shopping list for the monthly  grocery budget for a family of 7. I have been asked by a number of people recently what our budget looks like for large family cooking/household items and so I thought I would share our most recent break-down.

 I cook/bake most things from scratch and I try to shop monthly except for weekly milk runs.  I recently had to overhaul the budget because we hadn’t updated our grocery budget since baby #4 was born and we now have 5 kiddos plus mom and dad.  So, coupling that fact with the increases over the last several years in grocery prices and we have been busting our budget monthly,  it was well overdue time to re-evaluate.

The other thing to consider is that our family eats almost 21 meals at home.  Yes, 3 meals a day times 7 days a week so around 84 meals a month, give or take.  Because the children are homeschooled I have to plan for meals/snacks throughout the day, even when we are going our separate ways I typically pack their lunches/snacks to save money.

So, here it is…We have readjusted our monthly budget for food/household items and toiletries to a whopping $720 a month.  That breaks down to $180 a week in groceries, toilet paper, makeup, shampoo, etc.  This is a large readjustment because as I mentioned we haven’t re-worked this budget for about 3 years and we were constantly breaking it so it was time.  Our previous budget had been $450 but that was also not including meats as we for years were blessed to be getting a side of beef from my parents.  We are planning to re-visit and do a side of beef and a hog again as this is truly more economical for all large families (if you don’t do this you should DEFINITELY look into it as it is a cost saver and so much healthier too!)  I am not sure that at this point that I could get the budget any lower, if you are a large family and your budget is lower than this, please share areas that you are saving on so we can compare notes.
​
Now for how I buy all this and what I do with it.  I have for quite some time tried to shop once a month with the occasional weekly run for milk and maybe a few fresh fruits.  For me it is just better to spend several hours at the store and a day or two after working on meals then to run to the store weekly with my crew of monkeys.  So for the most recent run I spent 3 hours shopping (Costco, Aldi and Walmart).  I then came home and spent the weekend on and off repackaging meats, making meals for the freezer, browning beef, etc.
Here is the back of my car after the Costco run…a whopping $495 worth of food and household supplies as well as toiletries (remember that is for the WHOLE month)

​Here is my cart at Aldi $136.02.
And I forgot to take a picture of the Walmart cart, it was a smaller haul for $69.30.
Not bad, right at $700.32 which leaves me $20 for milk runs for the rest of the month.  

I will share later this week what I came home and did with all that food (besides spending over an hour putting it all away!)

If you have been following me for any length of time you may remember this post I did almost a year ago now about a ring sling I had made and had given away to a sweet missionary mama. (post here) She is faithfully serving now as a missionary in Nepal and she has her own blog if you care to read, it is amazing how encouraging she can be in the face of uncertainty and tragedy.  She experienced first hand the recent earthquake that occurred and she has blogged about all of it with a graceful candor that I stand amazed by.  She is doing a 30-day blog challenge for herself and if you need any encouragement, read it! ​https://ambertaube.wordpress.com/2015/10/29/30-day-challenge-introduction/

Here is the picture she promised me, the one of her wearing the ring sling I gave to her, thank you for sharing the picture my friend!

Her background is waaaay better than mine!

                I have heard your voice countless times as you lament about concerns for your children.  Your concerns that they don’t stay children long enough, that it is hard to find ways to keep them young and innocent, that they just grow up too fast.
                I have also heard your grief that all of their friends are able to go to that latest movie that was released and your child is being left out, so you conceded and let your child go.  I have heard your concern that finding modest clothing is impossible, especially for a formal event, so you choose a lesser of the evils and instead of skin tight, you opt for shorter than you would like.  That is better, right?  I have listened as you have expressed concern about what they might be doing in an online world, but also heard your whispers that there is nothing you can do because you don’t understand it all anyway.   You mention that you don’t really like the style they are choosing and the clothes they are wearing but you want them to be an individual so you stay quiet.  You have commented that you don’t really like the person of the opposite sex that they seem to be spending so much time with, and you are worried about what may be going on, but when that person calls you allow your child to go.
                I have listened, and I dare say, I do not concur.  I am not mean or snarky about it and I don’t believe that you are intentional in what you are allowing, I believe you are just overwhelmed.  I fear that you don’t understand the consequences of your silence on issues you feel strongly about. Here is my analogy…If you are standing in a river and the current is so strong that it causes you to be unsteady or to waiver, you have few choices.  You can choose to lift up your feet and coast with the current which is the easiest option, or you can choose to stand though the waters around you feel so strong that they threaten to sweep you away, especially if you continue to venture into them.  The further you submerse yourself into our popular culture, the more impossible it is to stand against the current.  One can stand in a river current that is strong, dare I say you can actually walk against the current if you are only in ankle or calf deep water.  But as you submerse yourselves and your families into the water you are swept away by the current the deeper you go, you often cannot control the current at that point.
                What this means is by the time you have begun to waiver on your ability to find modest clothes for your pre-teen daughter the current has become strong enough that it threatens unsteadiness as you concede to more and more.  First it might be shorter shorts, after all finding long Bermuda style ones is hard.  It then leads to tighter and more revealing because let’s face it, she is still more covered than some of her friends, but is that the best standard?
                By the time you start to become concerned about the online world that your child is immersed in many waking moments of the day, it may be so far over your head that you are unsure how to proceed.  How much do you take away, you want them to have a social life, right?  That current gets very strong, very quickly my friend and the only way is to stop it all together until you understand it.
                When your child’s style is becoming so outlandish or bizarre that you have trouble deciphering reasons behind it you may have to question who is funding it.  If it is you, why not stop it.  I know, that current is strong and so is the backlash you would experience.
                Then there is the person of the opposite sex that is interested in your child.  Your child has a lot of really good things to say about that one, but your mom instincts don’t.  That current is very strong too, that one can sometimes lead to a waterfall ending so be careful.  Make it stop.
                I think you are worried.  You are busy.  You are overwhelmed.  You feel alone.  You look around at the other moms and they all seem to be going along in the current too.  They share with you that they are also concerned, but they don’t do anything different then you do, they are coasting too.
                Have you ever watched one of those documentaries or read one of those stories that talks about bystander apathy?  When something happens, let’s say someone is struggling because they dropped a few cans from their bag of groceries and most people walk by without so much as batting an eye?  That is what you are doing with your children.  That is what is happening when you look to other moms who are experiencing some of the same things you are, and they are not standing up and stopping it.
                Friend, just say no.  If you don’t like the music, turn it off.  If  you don’t like the clothes, quit funding them.  If you don’t like the person, don’t allow them around.  If you don’t understand it but your child does, have them teach you or just get rid of it all together.  You really can do that.  Yes, there will be backlash, there will be wailing, it will be hard.  But, it is YOUR responsibility.  YOU are the parent,  YOU still have control and it is okay to be the mom who says, “no.”  Your children will survive, they might even thank you for it later.
                I recently had a conversation with my 15 year old about some things I did not allow her to do when she was younger, yet many friends at her previous school were allowed to do.  She shared with me that she was so angry at the time, I remember it well.  I questioned myself, I wondered if it was really an issue I needed to stand strong on, I may have even waivered a bit.  But in the end I decided that it was something I needed to say “no” to.  I did, and there was backlash, but, it was so worth it.  Now when we discuss it years later, she has actually told me I was right to say no.  I began walking against the current of what all the other moms were allowing and doing, it was hard.  So hard.  Do you know what though?  It gets a little easier with each step.  Each time you take control back and stop lamenting about what you wish things were like.  It is like that current, did you know you can actually walk out of a current?  You can swim out of one too when you are completely submerged, just look at the riptide warnings at a beach, they tell you there is a way out.
                So, to the mom who is carried by the current, just stand up and stand strong.  Don’t let yourself be influenced by those around you who are going along with things.  It isn’t easy, but it is worth it and you really can say, “no”.  God gave you the children you have, and he created children to be protected by their parents so stand up and be that parent who says “no” and who knows, maybe you will help someone else out of the current too.

We had been very lucky thus far and as we had our Tennessee Walker Mare for over 6 years we have only really had to deal with one health issue, and that was minor, it was a very common thrush in her hoof.  All of my children, as well as anyone who comes to visit the farm, have enjoyed giving our mare treats, brushing her and riding her.  However, we have come to a place where we are quite perplexed.  

We noticed a month ago that our "fat girl" as we lovingly called her was loosing weight and at such a rate that by the time we realized it she had lost a significant amount.  She began not drinking and not wanting food.  We called out the large animal vet and had a number of blood tests done, had her teeth checked and an overall exam all of which yielded no answers.  She was getting to the point of only drinking 5-7 gallons of water a day when a healthy horse should be drinking between 12-16 gallons a day.  She stopped eating all of her favorite foods, carrots, apples, all of it.

We have been getting creative in our care at this point, we have covered all the bases we know to try and have wormed her, given her antibiotics, and even horse pepto bismal type medicine for her upset stomach (I had previously not even known such a thing existed). Dare I say, I have even begun cooking for my horse...yes you read that right.  In a desperate effort to get her to eat something, anything, I began cooking carrots and oats and adding syrup to try to entice her.  It hasn't been successful but at least I feel better then not doing anything.

We so love this horse and continue to pray for her recovery as she has been going though peaks and valleys of getting better for a few days and then taking a turn for the worse again.  I never thought I would be cooking for a horse of all creatures, but if it helps her get better I am willing to do it.

As I sit down to work on this post that I started about 2 weeks ago, I am saddened to report that we had to say goodbye to our beautiful "Stormy" at the end of last week.  Her health was continuing to decline, she would no longer eat anything nor graze on the 5 acres of field that was hers alone.  She also stopped drinking.  Though the vet we called to the farm assured us that there was nothing else we could have done we still all took it hard.  When you live on a farm these are just things that you have to get used to but sometimes, with some animals, we take it harder.

To add to the sadness as we were just trying to keep our kiddos from pining out the window after the empty field we awoke Sunday morning to find our geriatric beagle (she was almost 12 years old) had passed away peacefully in her sleep.  It was some comfort that she looked so peaceful and had been warm and cozy sleeping on her bed in the laundry room but it was still a sad day.

I know that such is life on a farm, but it has been a rough week for this farm mama.