DAVID CHRISTOPHER

Looking a little closer, I've realized that poor Davey was never announced on my blog!

(Now you know why I was too busy to post!)

He is a wonderful, amazing baby!

Here he is: David Christopher  June 11, 2010

I'm Back?

Well, I can't guarantee that I will be back regularly..

But, boy, if you could read my mind! I've composed many blog entries there!

It's just that none have made it to the keyboard yet!

As we are preparing for Christmas, we are also preparing for James to start a new business.

So, things are crazier than usual... We are excited for 2011 and very excited to celebrate another Christmas together. We are so blessed!

Stay tuned.. maybe in the near future, I will actually post something worth reading !

Katie

Beebub

Just a short note about my incredibly cute 2 (almost 3) year old.
He has made up a word and he uses it ALL of the time: Beebub.

He says it means "Awesome".

The constant, I'm a 'beebub, your a beebub' chatter is so endearing.

Oh, and I guess I should mention (that it doesn't go missing in his scrapbook!), after about 2 months of potty training, he is about 90% done. He is getting to be such a big boy!!

"Green" by necessity: An interesting article!

Big Families, the New Green

I just read this article linked to by an online friend. I thought you might enjoy it, too!

'Earning $100'

So, this is how I save our family about $100 every 6 weeks or so.Haircuts!

These are sort of a tutorial, so, they are a bit long. But, if you are interested in how insane some tasks are around here, you might enjoy them!

Silly boys

Seamus (10): Mom, Do you remember when you said that you thought you were having a girl because she was 'stealing your beauty'? Well, it looks like boys can make you look that way, too!

Francis (8): Response when being scolded for cheating while playing a sport, "But, Dad, I want to WIN"

Mike (2): "Mom/Dad, My eyes are COLD" (ie. I want to wear goggles/glasses!)

Timmy's words 18 months old:

"oh" (Common response to almost anything we say!), 

Baba (bye bye), Lela (alleluia), Titty (kitty), "boll" (bottle OR book!)

An amusing conversation:

Peter (5) and Mike (2):

Peter: You're not the boss!

Mike: You're not the boss!

Peter: Mom and dad's the boss!

Mike: I'm the boss!

Peter: The REAL dictator of words is GOD.

Frugality in our home: What it looks like.

Well, we have instituted some new frugal measures in the Fifelski household. 

Yes, raising a bunch of boys can be less expensive than raising girls.. when you refer to clothing and personal hygiene products. But, then, they say that boys 'eat you out of house and home". (Wouldn't our house also be our home?) Well, it's true. We only have one teen so far, but, we can see the signs. We see it coming. It won't be long before they all have monstrous appetites! Then, of course, there is the thought of our first child going to COLLEGE in a few years! So, here are some changes we have made:

-Cloth Diapering- yep, I'm back to the cloth diaper world. Yikes! Overall, it isn't going so badly. I like the concept of cloth. It's a little more work. But, 2 babies in diapers costs about $60 a month in disposable or about $200-$300 for the "diapering" life of the babies. Within 4-5 months, the switch will be completely paid off and diapering practically free. 

-Raising our own meat. We will raise meat chickens again this year. We hope to raise about 50 and sell about 20-25. Selling will pay for our own meat, making our chicken free! (Other than the yucky, mucky summertime work!~) We may try to raise a couple of pigs this year too.. but, we are not sure. If not, we will buy meat in bulk again from another farmer.

-Oatmeal. We are eating more oatmeal and less cereal!

- Once a week shopping. We are doing 3 SMALL trips a month and one BIG trip. Cutting out little trips in between really helps with budgeting. 

-Couponing with couponmom.com, coupons.com and smartsource.com. Doing ounce to ounce comparisons, and shopping at Aldi's!

-Hair cuts. I am trying to wait a longer time between cuts. And, I now cut everyone's hair, including James and Patrick. (I haven't cut theirs in a couple of years). See the fun video coming soon!

-Cutting the 'drive-thru' habit. This is a big one! Use the crockpot, plan ahead!

- FInancial Peace University... we are taking classes and using the envelope system. And it's working (mostly!)

Feel free to comment about your own frugal tips!

Come back to see my video in the next day or 2!!

Changing Gears... The Big Blog Changeover

Hello dear friends!
For a couple of years I have used this blog as a 'scrapbook' of our family life.
It is now time to change things!

I am now hooked on digital scrapbooking, which has made my scrapabooking efforts move forward again. It is easy and quick.. and I don't have to keep putting ALL of my events on this blog.

So, I am going to go with a the Tidbits theme.

I want to share silly things my kids do/say, how we celebrate the church year in our family, ways we are trying to be frugal, big family/farm/homeschooling adventures.. and tidbits on raising boys. (lots of them)

Thanks for being a reader.. and I hope you will enjoy!

Timmy's 1st Haircut! October 21 - 14 months old!

School and Extracurriculars Fall 2009

James is teaching the boys Catechism.. outside!

Peter: Our Kindergartner!

Football Season: Pat played with the Washtenaw Stallions 7/8ers for the 2nd year., and loved it!

And then.. we have scouts!

Liam: Tiger, Francis: Bear Seamus: WeBeLoS II

Seamus and Scotty cooked dinners in tin foil for a scout project!

Visiting a boy scout troop for a rocket activity!

 

Martial Arts!

Home School Connections:

Fun classes and lots of friends!

Peter, Liam, Seamus and Francis all took Gymnastics. This is Peter's class of 3-5 yr. olds

 

Pat sang in the choir.

 

Seamus and Francis were in my Middle Ages History Class!

Liam's Favorite class: Book Cooks with Mrs. Randolph!