Ways to Cut Spending and Environmental Impact

         We live on a very limited income and honestly some days I'm not sure how we do it. We don't buy a lot of extras. We live simply and simply live. That's kind of been our motto lately and we love it. We do some things that help cut our spending buy hundreds of dollars and helps keep our environmental impact to a minimum.   Here are some ways we do that. 

1.  No Paper Products 

   We don't buy paper products to just throw a way. We only use real plates and cloth. Yes we do dishes all the time but we don't have as much trash and I don't feel like I'm throwing my money away with each mess I have to clean up (which is a lot with littles). 

2. Cloth Diapers

   We use cloth diapers and wipes. Again I'm not throwing money away with every diaper I change or changed since both Avalynn and Treyton are potty trained. Using cloth diapers and wipes has saved us so much money. Now I don't have our exact savings but on average a family can save about $2000 from birth to potty training per kid by using cloth. I've spent maybe $200 on diapers in the last 3 1/2 years and I don't have to buy more for a 3rd kid if and when that happens!

3. Make All Cleaning Supplies

   We don't buy cleaning products at all. For one all the chemicals make me nervous with littles in the house. For two they are expensive without using coupons. I make all of our cleaning supplies myself. So easy by the way. Vinegar and baking soda are the best things I've used to clean everything and if the kids get ahold of the spray bottle I don't have to be worried they are going to be poisoned. 

4. Home Cooked Meals

    We eat at home. For us to spend $30 to eat out is about 3 meals (if not more) at home. We try to buy local as much as possible. Going to the farmer's markets helps us find really good organic fruits and veggies at a very good price. Buying local and at farmer's markets is easier in a bigger city but small towns have these things too you just have to look for them. Planning meals helps us know what we can have for dinner. We don't plan each day just because we never know what that day is going to be like and if we will really feel like spending a lot of time or a little time in the kitchen. Having a plan that is flexible has helped us stick to our meals that we have ingredients for. 

I love that we are saving money but we are also helping decrease our "footprint" on the earth. Yes I realize that sounds very "hippie" and I'm okay with that. We are a little one the "hippie" side whatever that really means. 

   What are some ways you are saving money in your day to day life?

Wordless Wednesday: Fun in the Sun

Passion Found in Motherhood

In the 3 years almost 4(hard to believe) that I have been a Mommy I have had a passion for all things motherhood. I truly believe God gave me my children to help me realize my passion and the thing that I was meant to do as a career. I love helping moms in every stage of the game. I have been devouring all kinds of books and information on the maternity crisis in our country. I want to help change the view of birth for moms from something they fear to something they look forward to experiencing. The birthing process is a truly Holy experience and I want moms and dads to see and experience that part of it.  In August I get to go to a workshop to help me learn more about supporting pregnant and laboring moms. This will be the beginning of my doula career. As a doula I will help educate moms on the risks and benefits of procedures, help calm nerves of mom and dad, and help with comfort and anything mom needs during labor and delivery. I cannot wait to help laboring couples achieve the kind of birth they desire. If you are pregnant or going to be soon please feel free to ask questions and talk to me. I love answering questions about all thing motherhood. If I don't know the answer I will find it for you. 

Wordless Wednesday: Sibling Love

Celebrating and Dreaming

Well we have had two speech therapy sessions, a birthday and lots of fun the last few weeks.
This week has been crazy busy with trips to the zoo, the farm, The Great Cloth Diapers Change, doctors appointments and just normal day errands. It was a great way for us to celebrate Earth day week. We decided we were going to take the kids to the zoo for Treyton's birthday but it was going to rain all day on that day so we went early. Both Avalynn and Treyton love to see and learn all about the animals and it was Earth day weekend so we got all kinds of goodies. We also took a little trip out to a new friends farm. I can not wait for the day that we have our own farm and are living out our dream in a very sustainable way. Our kids thrive on being out in nature and playing freely. Yesterday they were able to play with chickens and baby lambs and bossing baby goats around because they were being mean to the week old lamb. I love to watch them pure joy on their faces when they get to climb a pasture fence gate and run as fast as they can in the pasture. Climbing a fence gate is apparently easier then climbing anything at the park. Avalynn and Treyton were climbing with no fear at all and were completely free to do so. That kind of freeness is so refreshing.

Treyton turned two! It's hard to believe he is already two. My sweet hard headed little man is growing up way too fast. In just two therapy sessions we have already seen so many improvements in his talking. He now prolly says between 10-15 words. That is a huge jump from the not even 5 he was saying 2 weeks ago. It is so awesome to hear him actually use words. He still doesn't really like to use them all the time but that will change I'm sure. Treyton has also decided that he is too big for diapers. He really hates having to put one on the go to bed but I don't want to have to change sheets everyday so he wears it.

Avalynn is still doing preschool type things just not as structured as wee were being. The more I read and learn about "unschooling" the more I love it. We are basically letting Avalynn decide what she wants to learn and when. If she doesn't want to learn till she is 7 that's cool she doesn't have to learn till she is 7. She has already expressed that she want a sewing machine and hot glue gun for her birthday so she can learn how to make things. So come September my then 4yr old will be learning to sew and use a hot glue gun properly and safely. Avalynn loves to learn about animals but not from books she wants to see it and play with it. Yesterday she was chasing chickens trying to pick them up. She can point out which ones are roosters and hens and which ones lay different colored eggs. It's awesome how fast she has learned these things. So for us unschooling is how we are going to be learning.

Tony and I have started learning how to make soaps. It is very fun. However not as easy as we thought it was going to be. We are not giving up though. Tony is still loving coffee and making beer. He is getting really good at making beer and really enjoys it. He will also be heading out to camp pull a shot in June for a week. He is beyond excited about 30/30 giving him this opportunity. I'm still learning everything I can about breastfeeding/lactation process and childbirth. I'm also loving learning about sustainable living/homesteading. It's truly amazing how far our world has come from these practices and we as a family are wanting to get back to this simpler way of living. Simpler doesn't always mean easier or less work and that is what we are looking forward to.

Being a mommy

So many decisions to make when you're a mommy. From how to feed your baby to what kind of diapers to use to how you are going to educate your kids. Some are very small things but some are very very big. Being a mommy is very hard especially now in the "Pinterest age". Mommies are being tricked into believing that all moms are doing all these amazing crafts and making all kinds of yummy food everyday. I'm here to tell you that is definitely not the case. There are days at my house I can hardly keep up with making a PBJ and you know what that is perfectly fine. My kids aren't going to remember the spotlessly clean house and the crazy perfect crafts or the food that most of the time they don't/won't eat. My kids are going to remember me playing silly games and loving on them when I think I need to be doing something else "productive". My most important job is being mommy. My dishes and all the toys on the floor can wait. This lie that mommies are told that they have to be perfect at everything and do every little activity they have pinned on their craft board is making mommies have major "mommy guilt". Mommies don't buy into it! Remember you are the best mommy your kids could ask for. You mommy are what your kids want. Your attention and time is the most important thing to your kids. Yes all the other stuff can be fun but we shouldn't feel like we aren't having fun when we aren't doing huge art projects. Those simple moments are the most fun. The unprepared and impromptu activities are the memory makers. Find those simple memory makers and lets not stress about the rest.

Evaluation Day

Well we finally had Treyton's speech and overall evaluation today. He is pretty much right on with all of his development except speech. He does have about a 40% delay putting him at a developmental age of 14ish months for his speech. So we are going to be doing speech therapy once a week for an hour at a time in our home. It was so fun watching him interact with the ladies doing the evaluations. It normally takes him a little bit to warm up to any one new. Today he was pretty much instantly drawn to what they were doing. He did most everything they were asking him to do. He is still very stubborn and if he doesn't think it's fun or interesting he isn't going to do it. Talking over the evaluations and what the ladies saw and thought about each thing was amazing. They really got a true read on Treyton today. He played just like he would have if it were just us. Our 6 month goals will be for Treyton to be making more letter sounds and word approximations, which would be like saying tup for cup. We are very confident that he will meet these goals and surpass them.