January In Review

Posted on by
Reply

How things can change in just a moment. That has been the lesson of January 2026.  When I wrote these goals, I had no clue or even thought that we would be foster parents to a 6 year old in 2026 especially in January 2026. I am not sure how this will affect my goals and will have to explore and adjust as needed.

Groceries- Goal $800 per month.  We spent $501.09 for the month of January. My goal will stay the same however this may be a stretch when adding an additional person to feed in the budget. The biggest problem will be that E is very limited in his diet and we may have to buy some different items just to survive.

Gas- Goal is $400.  Total spent was $381.46.  One way that we are going to work toward maintaining this is we did purchase a car for Matt to drive to and from work.  I would like to reduce this to $300 in order to make up for the cost of purchasing the car.

Blogging-The goal will be 11 posts per month. This is post number 12 for the month! I am excited to be able to reach this month with all the sudden changes and lots of scheduling issues.

Debit-   The goal for 2026 will be to pay off the Home Depot Credit card without interest.  This is due in September and is a total of $3380.30    We had to finish paying off the new HVAC system that was installed in December.

No Spend Days- Goal for 10 no spend days a month. I totally forgot about this goal. Our lives have felt like we are running at full speed ahead and I am just holding on for the ride right now.

Health/Exercise- I am maintaining at 179.  My goal for 2026 will be to add some form of exercise 8 times a month. Yea that is a good goal… don’t think at this point it is realistic but I want to give it another month just to be sure.

5 Things Friday

Posted on by
Reply

  1.  We have been at home for a solid week due to icy roads.  I did venture out yesterday to Mocksville for a quick trip to my office and for E doctor’s appointment.  We have huge areas of ice on the roads. Both school districts were closed on Monday and have had four days of remote work days.  We are expecting a snow storm starting tonight and going through Sunday.  I am anticipating more weather closure and delays through Tuesday of next week. We will see how things go.
  2.  I am starting to feel overwhelmed in the foster care process. Plus definitely overwhelmed with day to day stuff.   Today alone, I talked to E’s guardian ad lieu as did he. I had a lengthy conversation with both his caseworker and the caseworker supervisor.  I also had a text conversation with the social worker who does visitations.  In addition, E  had a virtual speech session as well. I also talked with the person who has one of his siblings. I also received and completed a packet of paperwork from a third social worker this one in charge of the licensure process.
  3. In preparation for the upcoming snow event, I had Matt pick up an order from Walmart on Thursday including milk and I did a Dollar General delivery this morning. I did check prices before ordering from DG, the only item that was more expensive at DG was the coffee  K cups.  We are continuing to eat alot of food from our freezers and pantry but we have spent around $500 this month.
  4. To add to the adventure today, I decided to purchase a used futon. We have placed it in our bedroom and it will be a great place for Braxton to sleep when he decides to hang out with us.  Zach and I went and picked it up, he cleared the driveway of most of the ice
  5. One of my goals for the weekend is to get our taxes for 2025 figured out!

 

Monday Menu Planning

Posted on by
Reply

Snow days at our house means lots of extra food and fun!  We have been under a winter advisory for almost a week but Saturday started the official snow days. I have not been left home in three days and will hope to stay at home until Thursday when both E and I have a doctor’s appointment.  I am hopefully for several remote learning days. I did make a trip to the grocery store on Wednesday and ended up spending $82.20. This puts  my spending for January at $373.77 I am hopeful to stay under $400.  But I know in February we have a huge Costco trip that is needed.  The good news is that we are continuing to use what we have so the pantry challenge is working just not as well as I had hoped.  You will notice lots of extra food this week.

Breakfast- Saturday- Breakfast bowls.  Sunday- Sausage Crescent roll and Cream cheese crescent rolls.   Monday-Cinnamon rolls  Tuesday-Baked oatmeal , Thursday- muffins  Wednesday, Friday– find it (oatmeal, omelets, cereal and milk, sausage, pop-tarts, and eggs)

Lunch- Saturday- Sushi Bowls   Sunday-Beer Cheese Soup.   Left-overs are always great for lunches.  One of E favorite is grilled cheese sandwiches so I am sure there will be this for several days.

Dinner- Saturday- Chicken gnocchi soup and breadsticks. Sunday- Stuffed green peppers Monday-  Steak, mashed potatoes, green beans and pears. Tuesday-Chicken parmesan  Wednesday- Broccoli Cheese soup  Thursday-Fish and Chips  Friday-  Left-overs or eat on the way to swim meet.

Seven Things Saturday

Posted on by
Reply
  1. I had every intention to post a five things Friday yesterday but it just did not happen.  So I decided to change it up and post seven things today.  One of the reason that I was not able to post was that Kendall and I spent the entire afternoon at Catawba College where she was interviewed for a full ride scholarship. Although we will not know about the scholarship until March this visit helped to solidify her decision that she would like to attend Catawba next fall.
  2. We are preparing for a major ice storm and some really cold weather over the next couple of days. The current temperature is 25 at 5pm, feels like 14.The temperature is not expected to be above 40 until a week from Monday. We are predicted to reach between 1/4 and an inch of ice. The overall hope is that we do not lose electricity and get to stay nice and warm. Or the kids hope for all snow to play in.
  3. Because of the weather, our church has already cancelled activities for tomorrow. Both the school districts have sent home remote activities. If the weather remains close to the predictions, we all may be home for the next week together.
  4. We have done some things to prepare without going overboard. I took Mom to the grocery store on Wednesday night as we had a swim meet on Friday. We have created an access point at the front of the house which would allow us to run a generator to run space heaters for keeping at least part of the house warm. Chickens have been fed heavily with good bedding and water is full. We will keep a check on the water for the next couple of days.  All warm items and flashlights have been assembled. We have spent lots of time charging things.  Lots of things have talked about and planned. And we currently have load number 5 in the washer. My plan is to wash a sixth load tonight and wash probably 2 additional loads tomorrow. The worst thing that could happen is that we have all clothes clean.
  5. One of our garden beds broke with the bottom falling to the ground. Unfortunately, this was the bed that I planted garlic in. Matt and I braved the cold and moved 21 garlic bulbs. I hope this will mean we get some garlic in the summer but who knows.
  6. I did have a chance to go through my seeds.  I am actually not planning to buy any seeds this spring. I am going to buy some basil plants and some flowers but that should be it.   I will have to buy more dirt as we are adding a green stalk planter. The other big expense will be a watering system to go over the top and connect to the sprinkler.
  7. Food is always  a big deal, I made a huge breakfast bowl for lunch, Lily made sushi bowls for dinner and I have made breadsticks and Chicken gnocchi soup for dinner.

Monday Menu Planning

Posted on by
Reply

We again have two swim meets which makes things a little different for us this week. You will notice that we are continuing to use up left-overs and I have been able to move around some of my pantry. I am happy to report that I have been able to clean out the laundry room and actually made up 12 bags of dry ingredients for baked oatmeal. I think I am back on track and will actually be able to move and turn off a freezer in probably two months. We are also starting to have a surplus of eggs so they will become more prominent in the next couple of months. Another change that is occurring is that our foster child is not a huge fan of anything other than chicken nuggets and potatoes..  We are attempting to balance his preference with need to increase nutrition and variety.

Breakfast- Saturday- Sausage link Dutch pancakes.  Sunday- grits and eggs  Monday-toast and gravy  Tuesday-Zucchini bread , Thursday- muffins  Wednesday, Friday– find it (oatmeal, omelets, cereal and milk, sausage, pop-tarts, and eggs)

Lunch- Saturday- Leftovers from Restaurants  Sunday-Time Square Pizza  .  Left-overs are always great for lunches. We are also taking some prepared soups for lunches as well.  Chicken nuggets in some form or fashion happen at least every other day for now.

Dinner- Saturday- Leftovers from home cooked food only. Sunday-  Dad’s Chicken Stew Monday- Tomato Soup and Grilled cheese  Tuesday- Left-overs and snacks before a swim meet.  Wednesday- Burrito bowls made with left-overs and canned foods.   Thursday-Spaghetti and Meatballs  Friday- Corn dogs and french fries.

Beginning of a Journey

Posted on by
Reply

This blog has always been my record of life. I have been debating for the past week what and when to share.  I have decided to share my side of this journey so that I can always look back and be yes! God had a plan and purpose.

Foster care and adoption have always had a special place in my heart but I did not know when it would become part of our story.

On Thursday 1/8/2026, I found out that one of my students that I have served for two or three years, was removed from his mother and was sleeping at the DSS office due to no foster placement being available. I offered to take him home. We started the process and everyone was on board. We have all worked together to make this happen.

We picked up E on Saturday morning 1/10 from the DSS office. This past week has been an adventure for sure.   Some facts that complicate things is the he is currently on a modified day due to elopement and safety concerns. He was attending school till 11 am.  Attendance and tardies have significantly impacted his education.  The good news is that his day has been increased to 1pm and he earned his first reward this week.  Lily and Kendall have rearranged their schedules to pick up E from school each day which is a trip that takes an hour and half. Matt is waking up early to help him get dressed each day. Zach has been able to make sure he gets in the car with breakfast each morning and is his go to person for church.  I am dropping him off at school each day before going to work myself.  In addition to trying to arrange all types of medical visits and still keep some sense of normal around here.

We moved some things around and what was my office is now his bedroom.  This actually took many hours and help from friends as well as family.   We have received an outpouring of support from our church family. Not only are they praying for us, we received a bed, enough clothing and shoes for at least six months, and some monetary support as well.

We are not sure how long this journey will last or what the outcome will be but we are commit to show the love of Christ by it.

We are currently considered a non-biological kinship placement which means we are not eligible for a stipend.  Medicaid pays for medical expenses but not for gas or time.  God will provide and protect us!

Saving on Saturday- Pantry Challenge

Posted on by
Reply

I am proud to say that I have not been inside a grocery store for three weeks. I will admit that I did send Zach to grab some sour cream on Thursday.   My rule for the pantry challenge is that we only buy items we are totally out of.

Sour cream was the exception or maybe it actually qualified. We had two containers in the fridge.  Unfortunately both were moldy.   Zach spent $1.83 for the sour cream.

We actually ran out of rice on Thursday. I usually purchase large bags of rice at Costco in March but this year we used more than expected.  At Walmart today, I really debated if I wanted to grab a small bag and wait to get at Costco. However the price difference was over three cent an ounce, so I just could not justify. We ended up with a 20 lb bag which only filled one bucket about 3/4 the way. I will still plan to grab another bag from Costco when we go.  As we were walking through Walmart, I found split wings that we will use for Junk Food Sunday. They were reduced to $19.84 for 8 pounds so we purchased 16 pounds. We have opened and used most of a carton of shelf stable milk so I grabbed a gallon of milk as well.   We have been attempting to use up all the meat and chicken from our freezer.  I have used up all the shredded chicken, and all the canned chicken. I wanted to make Chicken stew tomorrow so I went ahead and purchased a whole chicken. I normally would not have purchased but I decided to go ahead because we were out.

Now for the splurge, I grabbled a bunch of bananas and a loaf of bread.  We experienced a MAJOR life change last weekend. I am going to hopefully post about it soon but these were things to make my life easier.  I ended up spending $51 at Walmart today. This means that I have spent $291.57 in total for the month.

Monday Menu Post

Posted on by
Reply

Due to some major life changes, this week we are just going to hold on. Grocery spending is currently at $239.29.  I am ok with this as the life change may cause the groceries to go up as well.

Breakfast- Saturday- I had grits  and eggs Sunday- Chocolate Chip Waffles Monday-Egg bites left over from camping , Tuesday,- Baked oatmeal, Thursday- muffins  Wednesday, Friday– find it (oatmeal, omelets, cereal and milk, sausage, pop-tarts, and eggs)

Lunch- Saturday- Leftovers from Panda Panda Sunday-Baked Ziti  .  Left-overs are always great for lunches and I have a stash of crackers and other snack items as well. We are also taking some prepared soups for lunches as well.

Dinner- Saturday- Chic a Fil (treated by a friend)   Sunday- Disney Loaded potato soup Monday- Magnolia Beef. Tuesday- Chicken Broccoli Casserole.  Wednesday-KFC bowls  Thursday-Cheese Quesadillas and Mexican rice. Friday- Swim party.

Monday Menu Plan

Posted on by
Reply

I talked about my word of the year “Reduce” yesterday, I also mentioned how it goes really well with my pantry challenge.  I have decided to try and include an update on the pantry challenge on my Monday Menu Post. I did make a pretty long list (65 items) of meals we could have. I decided not to share because I was not specific enough with some of the items and I will be sharing what we are eating regularly so that should help.   This marks the first full week of the pantry challenge as I did grab some drinks and chips on December 30th. We have been focusing on using up the left-overs from Christmas as well as starting to organize and use up items from my pantry. We have ran out of two items, thyme and ranch powder. I decided to add them to my Azure standard order so that I will not be tempted to shop anywhere else. So far that order is $72 and I am thinking that I can get my Amazon subscribe and save ($147) down as well so currently $250 for the month of January is the plan. You will notice that we did not use any prepared meals this week as we had enough left-overs from the party to continue to use.

Breakfast- Saturday- I had grits Sunday- I had Fried eggs and toast Monday-Egg bites left over from camping , Tuesday,- Baked oatmeal, Thursday- muffins  Wednesday, Friday– find it (oatmeal, omelets, cereal and milk, sausage, pop-tarts, and eggs)

Lunch- Saturday- Leftovers  from Smoke Pit Sunday-Brisket  .  Left-overs are always great for lunches and I have a stash of crackers and other snack items as well. We are also taking some prepared soups for lunches as well.

Dinner- Saturday- Tomato Soup (used remaining tomatoes from party and a bag of frozen tomatoes)  Sunday- Sandwiches with discard sourdough bread. Monday- Lily (Chicken pasta using the rest of our canned chicken and left-over chicken from Smoke pit)  Tuesday- Turkey pot pie (Turkey and veggies are all from Christmas party) I also made another one of these and froze for later use.  Wednesday-Spaghetti and meatballs Thursday-Eating on way to swim meet. Friday- Corn dogs from freezer.

Word of the Year

Posted on by
Reply

Fun fact is that I have never made a “New Year’s Resolution”.  I have in the past and even made a couple of goals for this year.  But I am have been thinking and figured it would be a good time to try something new. I am going to chose a word to focus on this year.

REDUCE

This might seem strange but I need to spend some time and energy reducing things in several areas of my life.

First up is my pantry.  Kendall will graduate from high school this year.  She is already deciding on a college and then in two additional years she will be off on her own adult adventure. Zach at the same time will be graduating high school and staring his adult adventure.  I am guessing that within 3 years we will have an empty nest. That means we will probably need less than 1/4 of the pantry that we currently have. In reality, if we don’t consume and use up most of the “non favorite” items now then they may be here forever.  The pantry challenge is going to help with this idea. I am also planning on not purchasing any meat unless I find a deal I can’t pass up until June. I definitely want to empty out and turn off our chest freezer and move the convivence freezer out of our bedroom. This should definitely help reduce the clutter in my room as well.

Along the same lines, I am currently storing items in our pantry, the laundry room and our shower room. I would like to reduce this to having all the food in the pantry, using the laundry room as a storage area for paper products and then laundry items. This would leave the shower room for self care needs. In reality, I need to sort through all the items in the shower room and decide which ones can be thrown away, sold or simply need to be thrown away. This would also allow me to clean out the bathroom cabinets as well. Overall, I want to reduce the number of items that we keep on hand to a maximum of 6 months with most items reduced to three months. This will translate to a year supply for two people much easier than now.

Next on the reducing list is the number of clothes that I am keeping. I need to have a really good closet purge and reduce the items that I am holding on to. That is definitely something that will be waiting till the summer.

I have already shared plans to reduce our debit and spending this year as well. The overall goal is to be debt free except the mortgage in 5 years and totally debit free in 8 to 10 years.  Neither Matt nor I will be or can really increase our incomes at this point so REDUCE is definitely a must.

REDUCING Clutter and REDUCING my Stress yeap Reduce is a good word for this year.