The Abundant Wife

Living Abundantly on Less

Freezer Cooking for a Vacation

January 18th, 2012

Jessica

In the next week or two, I will become and Aunt for the first time! My sister Kerri is expecting a little boy, so Brad and Naomi will fly home to California while Oliver and I will stay to meet the little guy.

Brad and Naomi will be on their own for about a week. When Brad is in the kitchen, you’ll usually find him making peanut butter sandwiches, fruit smoothies, and “Pan” soup (something like “Stone Soup”). So before we left California, I did some “freezer cooking” to give them a little more variety. I filled our freezer with meal-sized portions of some of our favorite meals, to tickle his and Naomi’s tastebuds:

2 Bean & Meat burritos
12+ Servings of Soup (Bean Soup & Potato Soup)
12+ Cinnamon Apple Pancakes
12+ Chocolate Chip Pancakes
36+ Chocolate Chip Cookies
4 Loaves of Bread
5 Frozen Orange Juices
4 Frozen Milks

By “Freezer Cooking” I was able to prepare these items more three weeks in advance. They will save our family money because the food in our house won’t spoil, and when Brad returns to California he won’t need to purchase convenience foods. The pancakes, soups, and burritos did not take me long to prepare because I cooked them as I was in the kitchen cooking other things, or I simply doubled my recipes and froze the leftovers.

When I was a kid, my family always prepared meals to take WITH us when we vacationed, saving us the money that would have been spent dining out.

How have you used freezer cooking to save money while you vacation?

Photo Credit

Toddler Tuesday: Entertaining Your Toddler(s) on an Airplane

January 17th, 2012

Jessica

After all my years of traveling, perhaps I should just start writing a series on “How to Survive” various travel scenarios. But today, I turn my lens on air travel with your toddler(s). Whenever you travel by air, safety and obedience to regulations should be your top priority. But beyond that, here are a few suggestions for surviving those long hours confined inside the airplane cabin:

Favorite Books: Don’t pack too many or they’ll be heavy to carry around.
Coloring Books/Activity Books and Coloring Tools: Crayola has these great Mess-Free Color Wonder Activity Pads that come with markers or paints that only leave colors on the page, and not on airplane seats!
Paint-by-Numbers: When the airline attendant brings you water, save a little in the bottom of your cup for painting.
Stickers: Stick them to the seats, windows, your clothes, etc. Just remember to take them down when you’re done!
Quiet Toys: Don’t bring any that play repetitive music or make loud pops or other sounds.
Play-doh: Press it into interesting places and see what imprints you can find. (Just make sure he doesn’t put it in his mouth, and that he washes his hands afterward!)
Bathroom Breaks: Diaper Changing? Potty Training? A change of scenery can help lighten the mood.
Walk the Aisle: Go for a stroll up and down the aisles of the airplane. Greet the friendly airline attendants, and find other children who are tired of being confined. Make friends, and stretch your legs at the same time.
Running: If you’re up to it, encourage your toddler to run (accompanied by an adult) through the airport when you change flights. She’ll burn off some of that pent-up energy she’s built up on the airplane.
Talk: Talk to your toddler about what you’ll do when you arrive, and who you will see. Look at photos of people you will meet and learn their names. Point out interesting things outside and inside the airplane.
Favorite Drinks & Snacks: You’ll save money if you prepare these ahead of time. Remember, a hungry or thirsty child is a cranky child. Be sure to choose items and packaging that won’t make a mess.
Favorite Snuggle Toy: If your child usually sleeps with a favorite blanket or doll, bring it along if you can. He’ll be more likely to fall asleep with his favorite “baby” by his side.

Aside from these suggestions, I’ve found “new” items really thrill my kids. Before the trip I set aside a few special items that the kids haven’t seen before or don’t remember. Then when we get on the airplane, they are even more likely to be fascinated by the things I pull out of their bag.

What are some of your suggestions for entertaining toddlers on an airplane?

Photo Credit

Tithing Through the Hard Times

January 14th, 2012

Jessica

“Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the first-fruits of all your produce.” Proverbs 3:9

When I was a child, my parents decided to give us a weekly allowance. Five dollars seemed like a lot back then! But my parents had some stipulations. A dollar must be placed in a “Savings” envelope, a dollar must be placed in a “Gift” envelope, and fifty cents must be placed in a “Tithe” envelope. Only two dollars and fifty cents were to be used for “Spending.” This early budgeting, and the act of putting our money in the offering plate each week, taught me that my “Tithe” should always be set aside from my income.

As an adult, I still tithe with every paycheck. We have been through half salary, job loss, and short-term positions. We have moved across the world and across the country, and increased the size of our family as we decreased the size of our paycheck. Yet we have always tithed first before spending our paycheck.

We don’t consider tithing a generosity, but our duty to care for the church and those ministries we love. God asks that we honor him in our wealth and in our poverty, with the first-fruits of our produce. We firmly believe that God blesses those who give their best to him. In fact, we would be afraid not to give, lest we risk losing his blessing over our work. Money is just that…it’s only money. We can’t take it with us to the grave. Even when we are trying to pinch every penny, we want to keep giving back to the One who gave his all for us.

“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.” Malachi 3:10

Do you tithe or have you considered tithing?

Photo Credit

Freebie Friday: Holiday Sale at the 99 Cent Only Store!

January 13th, 2012

Jessica

Recently I learned from Crystal at Money Saving Mom, that the cheapest place to find bread and seasonings is your local dollar store. I thought I would check it out, and I was very pleased to see that she was correct! I have since switched to purchasing my bread and seasonings there (although I will say that our Winco has the next best price on bread around).

While I was there I took a stroll through the aisles full of Christmas stuff. I was amazed to find the six items above on sale for $0.39 each!

3 Watercolor Poster Sets
Christmas Stationary Sets
Felt Poster Set
360 Color Stickers

Our family will be doing some air-travel soon. For any of you who have ever traveled with a toddler, you know that half the battle is won by keeping them busy. So I am looking forward to surprising Naomi with some of these fun items when we board our airplane, and praying both our toddlers will enjoy the trip!

Book Review: Parenting Isn’t For Cowards–Dealing Confidently With The Frustrations of Child-Rearing

January 12th, 2012

Jessica

As a new mom, I get a lot of helpful advice and encouragement from reading books about child-rearing. One of the best-known Christian authors on the subject of child-rearing is Dr. James Dobson. Parenting Isn’t For Cowards: Dealing Confidently with the Frustrations of Child-Rearing was written in 1987,and based on a study of more than 35,000 parents. I recently enjoyed Bringing Up Boys by Dr. Dobson, and I also enjoyed this study that focused on the differences in parenting the strong-willed child and the compliant child.

Although the times have changed in the last 25 years since this book was published, the message of the book remains the same: parents have unnecessarily burdened themselves with guilt, fear, and self-doubt. This book is dedicated to the mothers of the world, in hopes of making their task a little less difficult. I found that even though this book is written to parents of children in all stages of life, I especially enjoyed chapters 6-8 which address the parents of young children. Even if you do not have any children, I think you can appreciate the opportunity to view the family from the perspective of the parent or the child.

If you would like to read more of my book reviews or see my 2011 reading list, you can click on these links.

What books do you recommend that I read in 2012?

How to Survive Moving In With Your Parents

January 11th, 2012

Jessica

You’ve got to admit it: No one dreams of moving back in with their parents after they have reach adulthood. Especially not with a spouse and/or children as part of the arrangement. But with the current economy, more and more grown children are moving back in with their parents to make ends meet. How are you going to survive this move if it happens to you? Here are 10 tips for surviving when you must move in with your parents:

Show Gratitude. Be grateful for your parents and others in their house who are willing to let you live with them during this difficult time. Write thank-you notes, and show an attitude of thankfulness and humility.
Communicate. In addition to showing gratitude, express yourself. Discuss questions, schedules, responsibilities, concerns, frustrations, and anything else that might cause friction.
Make Efficient Use of Your Time. Be intentional about your time under your parents’ roof. Pay off your debts, do odd jobs, and schedule job interviews. Discover new hobbies and skills. Achieving something will help to keep your hopes up.
If Possible, Schedule A Date To Move Out. A deadline will help all parties with scheduling, goal-setting, and tolerance.
Take Special Care of your Spouse…who did not grow up in your family. He or she will have the most difficult time fitting in with a different family culture.
Find Times To Get Away. Schedule date nights, weekends, or entire weeks away in order to have time alone together as a couple or a family.
Pitch-In Financially. Even if you are unemployed, you can find ways to contribute. Offer to pay for some groceries, utilities, phone, or Internet. Secure your own insurance, and cover your own medical and auto needs.
Pitch-In Around The House. Wash the dishes, do the laundry, give rides, cook dinner, pack lunches, or clean the bathrooms and kitchen. Again, communicate on every topic to be sure that expectations are clear for both parents and grown children.
Don’t Assume That Your Parents Are Babysitters. Be responsible for your kids, discipline them, and clean up after them. Be respectful of your parents’ rules and things. Ask their permission before you assume that they will watch your kids for you while you’re out.
Appreciate the Perks. Your cost of living is low, you have babysitters available (who probably love your kids), you may not have to cook dinner every night, you have time to pursue new interests and learn new skills, and your kids have ample time to develop relationships with their grandparents.

Our family of four lived with my parents for almost exactly a year, and lived to tell the tale. You can survive too!

If you’ve had to move back in with your parents, how did you survive?

Toddler Tuesday: Animal Magnets

January 10th, 2012

Jessica

Six months ago I was able to get these awesome Melissa & Doug Animal Magnets for free from SaveMore.com using a deal I saw posted on Money Saving Mom. They have been a big hit with our kids!

Here are some ideas for using them for educational purposes:

Ask your toddler to point to each animal as you name it.
Ask your toddler to name each animal. Remove correctly named animals until no animals remain.
Ask your toddler to make the sound each animal makes as you point to it.
Ask your toddler to group similar animals. (ex. Which animals can swim in the water?)
Give your toddler clues to find specific animals. (ex. Which animal goes, “Moo”?)
Use the animal magnets to sing a song like “Old MacDonald” or “Rise & Shine.”
Ask your toddler to help pick up the magnets, singing Barney’s “Clean Up Song.”

What other ways can you suggest to use animal magnets as a teaching tool?

2011 In Review: Top 10 Keyword Searches

January 9th, 2012

Jessica

Google Analytics is the program I use to analyze the data gathered about my blog. One of the more humorous aspects of Google Analytics is discovering how readers have found my blog. Here are the Top 10 Keyword Searches that have brought googlers to “The Abundant Wife”:

As you can imagine, I am especially amused by #2, a brief little link I posted in the first weeks of my blog. You just never know what will bring someone to your blog!

2011 In Review: Thanks for Reading and Referrals!

January 7th, 2012

Jessica

As we begin a new year, I just want to say a big “THANK YOU” to my loyal readers. If it wasn’t for people like you, no one would have ever heard about a 9-month-old blog called “The Abundant Wife”! It’s so fun to hear from friends and family in my comments or when I’m out and about, regarding something they enjoyed here. So thank you again for stopping by, and sticking around. 🙂

Second, I want to say a big “THANK YOU” to my Top 10 Referral Sites. Thanks to you, people I have never met before have found my blog! I encourage my readers to check out these websites, as they touch on many topics similar to those found here. Without further ado, my Top 10!

Thanks again for your encouragement and support of this “Abundant Wife”!

Miscarried Hopes

January 6th, 2012

Jessica

“So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.” Matthew 18:14

On December 9, Brad and I received the news that we were pregnant again with Baby #3. I walked around our house all afternoon in stunned silence. Brad jumped up and down with joy. He couldn’t stop smiling. We were startled and delighted as we began planning for our August arrival. At night we cuddled under the covers discussing names we had liked (but didn’t get to use) from the past two pregnancies, and wondered when we should tell our parents. We prayed for our littlest Christmas gift, and planned what we needed to get done before his or her arrival.

On the evening of December 18, I began experiencing some spotting, and by the morning of December 19 I knew I was miscarrying. I had just been reading in What to Expect that our little one was about the size of a blueberry. Now I found myself staring into the blood, and wondering if my little blueberry was in there somewhere. I wondered if I had done something wrong, and chastised myself. My mother had six pregnancies without a single miscarriage. Had I done something to cause this?

On the other hand, I knew that miscarriage is common. I found myself opening What to Expect again, this time turning to the section on miscarriage. Researchers estimate that over 40 percent of conceptions end in miscarriage, and over half of those occur so early that pregnancy is not even suspected yet. 80 percent of miscarriages occur in the first trimester. When I visited the OB/GYN, he assured me that miscarriage is normal and that it was not my fault.

As we processed our loss, Brad and I found ourselves wondering how to grieve. On the morning I miscarried, I cried curled up in Brad’s arms. We called our parents and told them, and I took time to write in my journal while the kids napped. But then I had to keep moving forward…Naomi and Oliver demanded it.

While I am sad, I have been surprised at the depth of gratitude I have felt through this loss. It has been so comforting to hold Oliver and Naomi, and I feel so incredibly blessed to have them. I am even more grateful for the ease of their healthy pregnancies and the speed of their births.

As I look around me, I am reminded that we live in a broken world where loss is, unfortunately, far too common. But I am also reminded how very blessed I am. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit (Ps. 34:18-19). He will comfort those who mourn (Matt. 5:4). I am so grateful to the Lord who has and who will continue to deliver us.

“The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.” Psalm 34:18-19

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