I can’t believe that it’s been 5 weeks since I’ve done a pregnancy update. This second trimester is flying.

I feel amazing. It’s been a relief and surprise to have such a wonderful second trimester since with Isabella (my last pregnancy) I continued to experience that extreme “first trimester” exhaustion through the entire pregnancy.

Beginning with pregnancy #8, my pregnancies have gotten noticeably more difficult, with longer and more severe morning sickness, until with Isabella I struggled through even the second trimester. I chalked it up to my age and the fact that since my first pregnancy I’ve been either nursing, pregnant or both (that’s got to take a toll, right?)

This first trimester was most difficult by far. It was necessary for me to literally be in bed (or lying down on the couch) for 15-20 hours a day. So this amazing second trimester caught me by surprise, but I’ve not been wasting it.

So far we’ve taken down the wall between our living room and dining room and painted lamps and furniture to better accommodate our new, larger living space. You may see the area I’m speaking about in our home tour posts (the wall with all the books is now gone). After pictures coming soon.

I’ve knitted a hippo for Nicholas (4),

a cable sweater for the baby,

and a doll for Isabella (1). (More clothing for the doll is currently in progress.)

I made a quilt for the baby (my first ever finished quilt),

a hand full of burp cloths (more coming)

a diaper changing kit

and am half through with a new diaper bag (need to make the lining).

I still have plans for a swaddling blanket, more burp cloths, a larger diaper/tote bag for longer excursions and perhaps some baby bedding (the crib sheets that we have are thread bare after making it through 10 children).

In addition to the projects, we’ve been plugging along with our homeschooling, hosted surprise, extended stay guests (19 people in our home during the time when our living/dining area was under construction, talk about crazy, busy…), lots of regular company, a last minute camping trip and all the rest of the amazingly blessed and busy life of a family of 12.

Did I mention that I feel great?

I do drop into bed happily exhausted each night, but I’m very grateful for the health and energy that God has given during the last few months of this pregnancy.

Here are two things I’m doing that may (or may not) contribute to the energy boost:

• Exercise – I’m doing Peak 8′s two to three times a week.
• Vitamins/supplements – I’m taking “Super Mom” , cod liver oil, vitamin B6, Iodoral (an iodine supplement because my thyroid function has been extremely low this pregnancy, a first for me) and vitamin C.

I notice a huge difference in my energy levels when I skip my vitamins for a day or two, especially the cod liver oil.

This past week it seems that the baby has gone through a growth spurt and even though I have another week of second trimester, I’m feeling more third trimester-ish. I still have lots of energy, but I’m moving a little slower and am just starting to feel ‘big’.

Remember the family-centered c-section video I posted? I asked my OB if it was possible for him to take the baby from my uterus and place him directly onto my chest. The nurses could then check the baby over while I’m holding him and we wouldn’t be separated at all.

He said, “Absolutely!”

Then he went on to say that he’s already done this once before and it will be no problem.

We have yet to talk about the remainder of the things on the video, but honestly, this was my biggest wish.

I still wish that I could deliver naturally, but I’m very thankful for the technology that enables me to have children born without injury and this is the best possible scenario for both me and our baby.

Oh, I nearly forgot to mention…swelling. My ankles have already started swelling (way too early in my opinion). Any tips or ideas for helping with that?

Pregnancy #11 posts:

• Coming August 2012
• Notes about pregnancy #11
• Week 18
• Family-centered c-section, my dream
• Week 20
• It’s a….
• Week 25: Good News, Energy and Projects

Pregnancy #11 Update: Week 25 – Good News, Energy and Projects is a post from: Raising Olives

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Pregnancy #11 Update: Week 18 Pregnancy #11 Update: 20 Weeks and Gender Pregnancy Update: Goodbye First Trimester Some Notes About Pregnancy #11 Pregnancy Dreams

One morning last week Mark said, “Hey, let’s go camping…….today.”.

Five hours later we were packed and on our way

Sadie (8) and Isabella (1) stop to look at the creek

Yes, we’re last minute like that and, trust me, 5 hours is pretty good for all the laundry, packing, shopping and food prep we had to get done, not to mention the fact that our home had to be picked up, cleaned and ready for company while we were out of town.

Colby (5), Nicholas (4) and Savannah (6)

and although we had a wonderful time hiking, swimming, fishing, camping,

one thing that did not get done before we left was my 4 Moms post.

Colby (5) and Nick (4)

So here it is several days late and re-posted from a couple of months ago.

Buy used.

Furniture, clothing, dishes, towels, sheets, home decor, etc. can all be found used. We shop mostly yard sales, but second hand shops can be useful for harder to find items (like boys blue jeans sans holes in the knees).

Buy in bulk.

Bella (1)

We do this mostly for food. We purchase from co-ops, restaurant suppliers and sometimes directly from the farmer.

Go paperless.

We generally do not purchase paper napkins, paper towels, etc. We’ve chosen to use all cloth, except for toilet paper. Check out our cloth napkin solution.

Make your own cleaning products.

We make all of our own cleaning supplies except for the detergent for the dishwasher. We mostly clean with baking soda, white vinegar and Castile soap. We also make generous use of microfiber cloths and water.

Here is our recipe for laundry soap.

Don’t buy what you don’t need.

Wouldn't you rather have a houseful of these?

Most people have too many clothes, too many toys, too many computer games, too many housewares, too much stuff! If we would simply purchase what we need, we would all have plenty to share with those who have need.

When we have too much stuff, we need more space to store it and require more time to manage it. Simplifying is an easy way to save money.

Pay cash.

If you can’t afford to pay cash, you can’t afford it.

And because I know that people will ask, we personally believe that a home is the one legitimate reason to go into a reasonable amount of debt. However, it would be ideal to purchase a home with no debt.

Recognize the difference between a ‘need’ and a ‘want’.

Cell phones: Until two years ago we had no cell phones. When our children got old enough to stay home alone, we decided to move into the cell phone world. We spend less than $10 a month for a simple pre-paid phone that we only use for emergencies. Even this is a luxury and certainly not a necessity.

Hair appointments: We do all of our own hair cutting in house. (I actually made a how-to video for boy’s hair cuts that I intend to post. Someday. )

Classes and sports: Need I say more?

Restaurant eating/Fast food: Even if you are super busy, eating out is not a necessity. It requires some planning and forethought, but people survived for centuries without fast food joints. When you chose to take the family out to eat, recognize the privilege that it is and enjoy the blessing of it.

Clothes dryers: Our family of 12 recently lived for 3 months without a clothes dryer. We live in a rainy, humid climate in North East Tennessee and this was during our cold season. We’re very happy to have a dryer again, but we know that running it is certainly a luxury and not a necessity.

Cable TV/Netflix/Video rentals: There is a library full of ‘free’ books, Cd’s and often even videos and even that is providing a ‘want’, not a ‘need’.

A second car: Our family survived with one car for many years and for many/most people having one car is a viable option.

What other money saving tips do you have?

Be sure to visit the other 3 Moms to see how they save money:

KimC at Life in a Shoe
Connie at Smockity Frocks
Headmistress at The Common Room

For more Moms of Many posts visit the 4 Moms page.

4 Moms Share Some Favorite Frugal Tips is a post from: Raising Olives

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Vanilla extract is super simple to make at home and it’s more economical to make than to purchase at the store. This is all you need:

Homemade Vanilla Extract

Ingredients:

• 6-12 high quality vanilla beans (We purchased our from saffron.com)
• Bottle of vodka

Simply split the vanilla beans in half length wise

Place them in the vodka.

I poured some vodka into a quart canning jar because I wished to avoid the plastic bottle the vodka came in. In order to ensure the vanilla beans were submerged I cut them into smaller pieces. If you’re not weird about plastic (or you purchase your vodka in a glass jar), you can simply slip the vanilla beans right into the jar.

Shake

and wait.

I did tell you it was easy.

Your vanilla extract will be ready to use in 3 – 6 months.

How to Make Homemade Vanilla Extract is a post from: Raising Olives

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Leftovers? What leftovers?

While it’s true that our family rarely has leftovers, it does occasionally happen, and being the incredibly creative cook that I am (go ahead and laugh), I do one of four things with our family’s leftovers.

If there is enough leftover from one meal to feed our family another full meal I:

1. pack up the leftovers, label them and put them in the freezer to pull out and serve for dinner at a future date
OR
2. pack up the leftovers and put them in the fridge to serve for dinner another night during the week.

If there are not enough leftovers to feed our family another full meal I:

3. put the leftovers in the fridge and at the end of the week plan a lunch or dinner (depending upon the amount of leftovers collected) buffet where everyone gets to choose the leftovers of his/her choice to eat
OR
4. put the leftovers in the fridge and instruct someone to eat them for lunch in the following days.

I realize that my plan is not creative, but it works and my family doesn’t mind eating leftovers.

Now it’s your turn to share how you deal with leftovers in your home. Please play by these rules:

1. You must link to a specific relevant post on your blog.
2. Your post must include a link to at least one of the 4 Moms blogs.
3. The post you link to must be completely family friendly.

If your link is deleted, you probably didn’t follow one of the rules above. Please feel free to add your link again once you have fixed the problem. If you don’t know why your link was deleted, please ask.

The other 3 Moms are:
Smockity Frocks
Life in a Shoe
The Common Room

For info about our parenting ebook or bios of all four moms visit 4Moms35Kids.com

For more Moms of Many posts visit the 4 Moms page.

Cooking with Leftovers : 4 Moms {Linky} is a post from: Raising Olives

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This week the four moms of many are talking about how to homeschool through pregnancy or a chronic illness.

First take a big breath, close your eyes and ears to what the world (and other homeschooling moms or dads) say is important for your child’s education. Now turn to God’s Word and grab hold of His standard.

While I’m absolutely convinced that God will give us everything we need to raise and educate our children for His glory, I’m also relatively sure that He may not give us the strength, endurance or finances to keep up with the homeschooling family down the road.

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Keeping in mind that our standard is the Word of God, I think that there are a some practical things that we can do to prepare our children for educational success, especially when you are less capable of spending time teaching and overseeing.

Educate your children year round. – The idea that our children should be learning from August to May and then get a break is (sorry for my bluntness) silly. Learning shouldn’t be relegated to a season.

Humans are always learning, we may not always be learning things that are beneficial, but we are always learning.

As parents we should emphasize beneficial learning all day, every day. Our children’s education may look different during different seasons, but isn’t that the way that God designed all of life? He teaches us different lessons at different times of our lives.

Help your children become avid self-teachers. – For fun our children cook, sew, draw, write poetry, study nature, plant seeds, make bows and arrows, hunt, build forts and read books about history, science and theology, etc. I often think that our children learn much more in their free time than they do during ‘school time’.

The first key to raising children who are avid self-teachers is to eliminate the drivel from their lives. Our children rarely (less than once a week) watch a DVD or play a video game. We don’t own many ‘fluffy’ books and have gotten rid of most of our ‘fluffy’ toys and games. We encourage productive activities and tend to limit activities that are merely entertainment.

A second key to raising children who are avid self-teachers is to give them interesting opportunities to learn. Our children have access to sewing machines, fabric, knitting supplies, cookbooks and food, art supplies, musical instruments, wood carving supplies and wood working equipment, etc.

They have (independently) designed and made dolls and doll clothing, skirts and purses, truffles, soap, chap stick, body lotion, boats, life-sized rafts (that actually carry people across the pond), chairs, trash cans, etc.

They have planned and planted gardens and, with help from some friends, made beautiful bows (with arrows) and fun replicas of rifles.

Matthew, Carter and Colby with the guns and bow that they made

Another thing to consider is introductory classes. I took about 8 weeks of art classes and have been able to continue learning on my own and have been able to teach our children.

A third key to raising children who are avid self-teachers is to ensure that they have adequate free time. If your kids are busy with planned activities, homework and classes from morning till night they won’t have time to learn how to learn independently.

Children who are taught or take a class for everything are more likely to wait for someone to teach them and less likely to discover how do it on their own.

If your children aren’t frequently learning on their own, if they say they are bored or if they are coming to you to ask what they should do next, then perhaps it’s time to encourage them to become more adept at learning and entertaining themselves.

Three year old Nick 'reads' to one year old Isabella

As I began to recover from morning sickness this pregnancy I was amazed at all the children had learned and accomplished while I had been extremely ill.

Stick with the basics. – During the first trimester of each pregnancy I focus on my beginning readers and I try to spend at least some time every day reading aloud to everyone. If nothing else gets done, that’s fine.

Teach your children diligence. – Our children have several subjects that they do every Monday through Friday, whether or not we’re ‘doing school’, whether or not mom or dad tell them to and whether or not we check their work. They reliably (for the most part) do these things on their own (Bible reading, Greek, math and one hour of productive reading).

Dads are teachers too. – During the beginning of this current pregnancy Mark took over all of the children’s ‘schooling’. He told them what he wanted them to accomplish during the day and then checked up on them at night. He’s always been involved in teaching the kids, but for 3 1/2 months it was all him.

If we try to live up to the world’s standards we will surely fail, but if we fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, and strive to do that which He has given us to do we will, through His power, succeed.

He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? ~ Micah 6:8

You may also be interested in:

• Our Summer Schedule (2011)
• Teaching children dilligence
• 6 Homeschool distinctives as we try to conform to God’s standards
• Finding time for Play

What tips do you have for homeschooling during illness?

Also visit the other moms of many to read their thoughts and ideas:
Smockity Frocks
Life in a Shoe
The Common Room

For more Moms of Many posts visit the 4 Moms page.

Homeschooling Through Pregnancy or Chronic Illness is a post from: Raising Olives

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Lilla Rose, beautiful, feminine hair accessories and jewelry.

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Homeschooling Kids With Learning Differences: 4 Moms Husbands and Homeschooling: 4 Moms Encouraging Verses for Homeschooling: 4 Moms of Many Q & A: Homeschooling while Pregnant, Sourdough Starter and Handling a Large Family Some Notes About Pregnancy #11

Each Sunday evening we open our home to friends from several different churches in the area that do not have an evening service. It’s always a delightful time of food and fellowship and a restful, encouraging way for our family to spend the Lord’s Day.

This week is my friend’s 30th birthday, but she and her family were unable to attend Sunday evening, so some of those who were present took a minute to let her know that she wasn’t forgotten.

By the time we shot this video the kids had demolished the cake (even the piece that I set aside for you), but we love you anyway!

Happy Birthday to My Friend is a post from: Raising Olives

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Today the 4 Moms are answering reader questions. I’m answering one because we have a houseful of unexpected guests.

Here’s a question where it would be nice to hear some of your input. Jul asked, “I am wondering where are some good larger family friendly cities/states to live in? I cannot tell you how long I’ve been praying for the Lord to send Godly mentors our way and, I find it a rather dismal commentary on our times, that it’s pretty rare to find in one’s own community.”

I’d like to focus this answer on the what I think is the more important aspect, finding Godly mentors.

It’s much less about being “larger family friendly” and much more about finding an area where there is a community of believers who are passionately committed to the Word of God. If you find a community of believers who are passionately committed to following Christ, they will be large family friendly.

Mark and I have been talking about this a lot, trying to put our finger on why we have such wonderful, lovely, encouraging, faith building fellowship with some groups of believers and struggle to get past a casual “Hi, how are you doing?” relationship with others.

Our conclusion has been that when you find people whose first obligation is to the Bible, everything in their lives becomes subject to that standard. They will change how they view children, how they worship God, how they educate their children, their church affiliation, how they live their life, they will change everything to be more conformed to the Scriptures.

These Christians will change their lives in order to build relationships with other Christians and this is what we’re talking about when we talk about mentors, other Christians who are willing to sacrifice themselves in order to build the faith of others.

This type of commitment is unusual in Christians today. Most Christians do not believe that Christianity will change our lives, churches and the world, but if it doesn’t then it’s not true Christianity.

We’ve been very welcomed and loved in places with mostly smaller families and we’ve been in places with mostly larger families where we felt isolated and alone.

So what are some signs of people who are passionate about following God’s Word wherever it leads?

• They rejoice in being with other believers and make time in their lives for fellowship with other Christians. (John 13:35) They are committed to hospitality. (Romans 12:13, 1 Tim. 3:2, Titus 1:8, Heb. 13:2, 1 Pet. 4:9)
• The men primarily choose to talk about doctrine, God, the Bible and how it impacts their worship, food, education, activity choices, budget, children, etc. They don’t just about sports and work. They do not shy away or avoid talking about difficult issues because they are passionate about iron sharpening iron and learning God’s truth.
• They are unafraid to admit they are wrong and to change course.
• The men, especially church leaders, are characterized by a humble, sacrificial, servant-leadership.
  

  You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all.” ~ Mark 10:35

• Their lives and families will look different than the world, at least here in the God hating culture of America.
• They are committed to sacrificially serving each other in the name of Christ because they realize that everything they have is from God and it to be used to serve Him by serving others.

All of that said, perhaps a good place to start looking for a specific larger family friendly area (and more importantly a church that is passionately committed to following Christ), is the NCFIC website.

The NCFIC website provides a directory of family-integrated churches. When you click on a specific church you can see what that church believes, their style of worship, their denomination, etc. They also provide contact information so that you can speak to someone directly.

Mark and I have lived in Kingsport and Bristol Tennessee and Bristol Virginia (all one area) and then in Knoxville, TN. In both areas we’ve found churches and communities that fit what I described above.

Do you live in an area that is large family friendly? What tips do you have?

We’ve come up with a creative solution for those who already bought our 4 Moms Parenting ebook but wish they had waited for the Kindle, and we have a treat for those who are among the first to buy the Kindle version. For further details see The Common Room, but hurry, because this offer ends Saturday night at 7.P.M. Central Time.

Be sure to visit the other 4 Moms to find out what questions they are answering:

KimC at Life in a Shoe
Connie at Smockity Frocks
Headmistress at The Common Room

For more Moms of Many posts visit the 4 Moms page.

Q & A: Finding a Large Family Friendly Community is a post from: Raising Olives

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Laying the Foundation: 4 Moms and Large Family Logistics Coping While Exhausted: 4 Moms and Large Family Logistics Large Family Transportation: 4 Moms Large Family Food Storage : 4 Moms Managing Clothes for a Large Family: 4 Moms

Here is a great opportunity to get your hands on more than 35 practical, encouraging, helpful and popular ebooks at a significant discount.

Some that have caught my eye are:

• Smart Sweets by Katie @ Kitchen Stewardship, one of my favorite whole foods prepared naturally, bloggers.
• Not a DIY Diva about “embracing your authentic style and way of living at home so that you can be content, even in this “perfect image” world we live in”.
• That Works for Me – more than 800 of the most popular “works for me” tips in one easy-to-navigate format
• 4 Moms, 35 Kids Parenting – Terrific parenting advice from 4 moms of many. (Obviously my fav.)
• Tell Your Time by Amy @ Blogging with Amy (who I met in real life in an airport

This collection is only available from now until 8 a.m. on April 20th. There will be no late sales offered.

When purchased separately, these ebooks are worth $375, but from now until April 20th, you can purchase the entire collection for just $29!

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Get Lean Recipe for Success by Nisha @ Healthy Mom’s Kitchen ($37.00)

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How To Cook For Yourself: A Complete Beginner’s Guide by Rachael @ Kitchen Courses ($35.00)

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2012 Confident Mom Weekly Household Planner by Susan @ The Confident Mom ($9.00)

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The sale ends at 8 a.m. ET on April 20th, and there will be no late sales offered, so don’t wait.

Simplify Your Family Life Ebook Sale is a post from: Raising Olives

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As we headed into the ultrasound room, with the children waiting outside, we explained to the tech that Mark and I wanted to know the gender of the baby, but didn’t wish for the children to find out just yet.

After we knew, the tiny ultrasound room bulged with 10 children and we all enjoyed watching the newest member as he/she happily moved across the screen.

Nick (3), holding onto the foot of my bed, bounced up and down saying, “That’s our baby, that’s our baby.”

Sweet baby #11 mouthing it's hand

“Is it a boy or a girl?” “Are you going to tell me what it is?” “When are you going to tell me what it is?” “I really want to know what the baby is.” from Colby (5).

The others chatted, amazed at the miracle on the screen before them and still trying to guess the baby’s gender.

“Aww, look how cute, the baby is sucking it’s hand.”
“Look, I see it’s fingers”
“That’s it’s spine.”
“I can see it’s feet.”
“Mom, can you feel the baby moving?”

The original plan was to wait until Friday evening (we found out Thursday) and to have an egg hunt (something our littler ones had never done). Inside one of the plastic eggs we would put a note that said that the child who found that egg would be able to look at the ultrasound picture on which the tech had put the baby’s gender and then tell all the others whether they were having a brother or sister.

But none of us wanted to wait overnight, so we stopped by the store and purchased some half price Easter candy and plastic eggs and held our hunt.

Nicholas (3) found the egg with the note. So he had the privilege of telling the others that we were having a baby

BOY!

After the cheers, clapping, jumping, laughing and “I told you so-s” subsided the name debate began.

Picking a name used to be much simpler.

Mark and I simply had to agree on something that we both liked, but now everyone wants to have a say and while the kid’s opinions are not the deciding factor, we don’t want to name a baby something that none of his siblings like.

And so at nearly every mealtime and car ride and sometimes at odd moments during the day, we launch into the name debate, receiving suggestions and vetoes from every corner of the table, car or room. And Mark and I, we try to rally the most support for our favorites, trying to convince the other by sheer force of numbers.

So for the moment, the boys narrow the gender gap in the Olive family, 5 boys to 6 girls.

Pregnancy #11 posts:

• Coming August 2012
• Notes about pregnancy #11
• Week 18
• Family-centered c-section, my dream
• Week 20
• It’s a….
• Week 25: Good News, Energy and Projects

It’s a … is a post from: Raising Olives

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Lilla Rose, beautiful, feminine hair accessories and jewelry.

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Pregnancy #11 Update: 20 Weeks and Gender Family Centered C-Section: My Dream, a Reality? Pregnancy #11 Update: Week 18 Coming August 2012 Some Notes About Pregnancy #11

As parents we are commanded to train our children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord (Eph. 6). We are to speak to our children of His words when we lie down, when we walk by the way and when we rise up (Deut. 6). Our standard for raising our children is the law of God and what better way to faithfully remind us and them of that standard than to turn to Scripture.

What is the Child Training Bible?

I love what the Dunn family has done to make turning your children to Scripture simpler and easier. They’ve created the Child Training Bible.

The Child Training Bible uses a system of cards, tabs and highlighters with a standard-sized Bible to create a Bible that is easily marked and tabbed to allow you to quickly and easily locate the passages of Scripture that apply to many of the areas of sin that children and adults struggle with.

The Child Training Bible is simple to assemble, although it does take a bit of time to complete.

Is your child struggling with anger? The Child Training Bible has many passages of Scripture that talk about anger marked with color coded tabs and matching highlighting on the specific verses. This makes it fast and easy to locate the appropriate passages as you and your child deal with specific issues.

The Child Training Bible covers more than 20 topics including: disobedience, fear, fighting, defiance, lying and impatience. Each topic has eight or more Scripture references, some heart seeking questions (“Are you showing patience in this situation?”), some application questions and a simple prayer for help with this problem.

What we thought of the Child Training Bible.

We love the concept of taking our children directly to the Bible when we have need to correct and discipline them. We’ve done this for years and the Child Training Bible certainly makes it quick and easy to find applicable passages.

Bella (1) enjoyed playing with the CTB tabs while I assembled

We love that you and your children are reading from a real Bible instead of a book that has some applicable Bible verses printed in it.

We love that it’s adaptable. We can add and mark our own Scripture passages for some of the topics they’ve already covered.

We were a little disappointed in some of their Scripture choices for some of the issues. (i.e. For defiance the Child Training Bible has Phil. 2:8 “And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on cross.” but not 1 Sam. 15:23, Deut. 13:5 or any of the other passages that speak about the severity with which God views defiance or rebellion.)

We would like to see a more variety and specificity in their chosen passages. Our solution to this has been to mark additional passages for many of the topics.

The Child Training Bible charts are available from the Dunn family for just $9.

The Dunn family has offered to give one Raising Olives reader a complete Child Training Bible kit.

Your kit will include an English Standard Version of the Bible, tabs, highlighters, clip and set of Child Training Bible charts. Everything that you need to complete your Child Training Bible will be included.

To enter:

• Leave a comment on this post telling me why you’re interested in the Child Training Bible.

Extra entries: (Please leave a separate comment for each entry)

• Share a link to this giveaway on Facebook. (You may use the FB button below.)
• Share a link to this giveaway on Twitter. (You may use the Twitter button below.)
• Tell your blog readers (on a public blog) about this great child training resource and link back to this giveaway and the Child Training Bible site. (5 entries, please leave 5 comments).

Giveaway will end April 20. Free shipping for U.S. and Canadian residents.

Our family was provided with a Child Training Bible for the purpose of this review/giveaway. No other compensation was provided and all opinions are our own.

Child Training Bible {Giveaway} is a post from: Raising Olives

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Many people in today’s society don’t believe that they can raise their family on one income, add to that a larger than average number of children and homeschooling and just surviving may seem impossible.

This week 4 Moms who have lived this challenge are going to share our thoughts on saving, tithing and thriving with a large family on one income.

The 4 Moms are:

KimC at Life in a Shoe
Connie at Smockity Frocks
Headmistress at The Common Room
and Me

I think the issue of saving and tithing are completely different. Saving, while it’s wise, is optional. Tithing is not.

Malachi 3:8-10

Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.

Tithing

Mark and I have always given 10% of our income to the Lord. There are times when this has taken more faith than other times, but God promises that He will provide for us and He has.

I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread. Psalm 37:25

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? … But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matthew 6:25-33

We have seen first hand the promise of Malachi 3 and God’s overflowing abundance.

Our first year (and more) of marriage our income was less than $12,000 a year. On this income we not only completely supported ourselves, we moved to a nicer rental home, had a baby and saved enough money for a down payment on our first home.

Our best tip for supporting a large family on one income is to tithe, to seek first God’s kingdom because certainly God will add all these things unto you.

Saving

As I mentioned, saving is wise, but I don’t believe it’s required. There may possibly be times when a family is unable to save.

That said, despite the fact that our family’s income generally puts us beneath the U.S. poverty line, we’ve always been able to save a small percentage of our income.

We have chosen to pull out a percentage of our income to save before we begin to budget or spend money because once we start thinking about how much money we’d like to have in the various budget categories, we’d have nothing left to save.

4 ways to save money:

1. Live on a budget.

Living on a budget is simple, but it does require discipline.

First take out 10% for your tithe. Next figure out your necessary, fixed living expenses; housing, taxes, insurance, some utilities, etc. Then divide the remaining income between those variable living expenses; food, clothing, utilities, gifts, entertainment and savings (if you haven’t already pulled that out), etc.

Since these variable expenses can be extremely variable. We’ve learned to live with what we have available for each category. We clothed our family for less than $25/month up until about a year ago (11 people). Mark and I lived on less than $100/month food budget for more than a year. We’ve had times when we’ve had nothing in our entertainment budget and less than $10 a month for gifts.

All of this works when you start with the premise that God has given you everything that you need. If there is not enough money to spend a little each month on clothing or gifts, then then clothing or gifts are obviously luxuries that your family can do without.

2. Be content.

If your family income is $10,000 a year, you are wealthier than 84% of the world. If your family income is $50,000 or more a year, you make more than 99% of the world.

We are rich. You are rich. We should be giving out of our abundance to those who are really in need. Instead most Americans want more, think they need more and go into debt in order to have more. Shame on us!

for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content ~Phil. 4:11

Be content by:

• Staying home
• Thinking of other’s needs before you think of your own.
• Remembering the sovereignty of God – Any complaint is really a complaint against God’s perfect plan for your life.

We are so very blessed and so very wealthy.

3. Buy used.

If you are willing to patiently shop at yard sales you can clothe your family and decorate your home at a standard much higher than you could otherwise afford.

Several years ago, when we were expecting our 6th baby, our neighbors asked Mark how we dressed our children in such beautiful clothing. We laughed because we never paid more than 50 cents an item for children’s clothing.

4. Pay cash.

It’s simple. If you can’t afford to pay cash, then you can’t afford it.

You may also be interested in:

• 7 Simple Money Saving Tips
• Yard Sale Rules
• Feeding a large family on a budget
• Feed your family for 50 cents/person
• Affording clothes
• Simple, frugal birthdays for kids

Visit the other moms of many to see how they tithe and save:
Smockity Frocks
Life in a Shoe
The Common Room – The HM gives a great argument for why we should tithe and why it should be at least 10%.

Tithing and Saving on One Income: 4 Moms is a post from: Raising Olives

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We’re at the half way mark in this pregnancy and this second trimester has been smooth sailing. I have lots of energy and in the past few weeks our home has returned to it’s normal, busy pace. Earlier this week we even rearranged furniture and deep cleaned in our main living areas.

The Olive children on Easter Sunday - Amber (15), Kaitlin (14), Matthew (12), Alyssa (11), Carter (10), Sadie (8), Savannah (7), Colby (5), Nick (3) and Isabella (1)

My singular concession to this pregnancy is that I’m trying to get to bed a little earlier than usual. By evening I’m tired. I’m not willing to say it’s all pregnancy because our days have been jam packed, but whatever the cause getting a good nights sleep has become a necessity.

Bella (21 months) is finally sleeping through the night and so, for the first time in nearly 2 years, am I.

Tomorrow is our big ultrasound scan where they check the baby from head to toe to make sure that everything looks like it’s developing properly. We’ll also probably find out the gender of the baby.

A few evenings ago our family, plus our company, guessed the baby’s gender. We thought it would be fun to let you in on guessing.

Nine of us guessed boy and five of us guessed girl.

I’ve been correct on guessing gender for 8 (I guessed boy) of the 10 and Mark has been correct twice (he guessed girl).

Our gender pattern has been girl, girl, boy, girl, boy, girl, girl, boy, boy, girl.

I do not carry differently with boys/girls nor feel more sick with one or the other.

The only thing that seems to have worked as an indicator of gender (sometimes) is the baby’s heart rate, high rate = girl, low rate = boy.

This baby’s heart rate has been 155, Mark says that means girl.

Your turn: Boy or Girl?

How is your pregnancy progressing? Any new babies?

Pregnancy #11 posts:

• Coming August 2012
• Notes about pregnancy #11
• Week 18
• Family-centered c-section, my dream
• Week 20
• It’s a….
• Week 25: Good News, Energy and Projects

Pregnancy #11 Update: 20 Weeks and Gender is a post from: Raising Olives

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A while ago I told you all about a lovely DVD, “Children Are a Blessing” and now you have the opportunity to see the film for free.

Perhaps the reason that I watched this DVD with tears in my eyes is because I feel a heavy burden for thousands of Christians who believe the lie and refuse the eternal blessing of children in exchange for perceived physical and/or material comfort. Perhaps it is because, despite my efforts, I will never be able to communicate the indescribable heights of love, joy and peace that arise from willingly accepting the gifts which God chooses to send. Perhaps it’s simply because the film brings with it remembrance of our merciful and gracious God who has showered blessing upon blessing on our undeserving family.

You may read my entire review here.

During the month of April you may purchase “Children Are a Blessing” (a semi-finalist in the San Antonio Christian Film Festival) for only $10. Even better you may view the entire film online at Moore Family Films for free until April 30.

The Moore family has also produced More Than Making Maple Syrup and two “It’s Your Life” films, one featuring the Moody family and one featuring the Moss family.

Don’t miss your opportunity to see “Children Are a Blessing” for free and once you’ve seen it, spread the word so that others may be blessed and challenged by this thought provoking film.

Watch “Children Are a Blessing” for Free During the Month of April is a post from: Raising Olives

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Welcome to this weeks edition of 4 Moms, 35 Kids: How Moms of Many Manage since all of us are bloggers we’re talking a little about blogging today.

For us the purpose of Raising Olives has always been clear:

• Offer practical help, advice and encouragement to younger moms. (Titus 2)
• Tell a little of our story, the joys and the struggles, so that others would know that they aren’t alone.

We accomplish that by focusing on:

• Creating content and answering reader questions
• Being available to readers (I am often available to speak with blog readers on the phone and we’ve had several readers and their families into our home for a meal.)

When we started the blog we thought that RO might be beneficial to those we personally knew and those who others sent to us with questions. We never imagined that RO would have any significant reach, but we immediately saw that the Lord had other plans and realized that perhaps this was a ministry that God had called our family to at this time.

At that point we clarified what role the blog should play in our family:

• God, first.
• Family, second.
• Church and personal friends, third.
• Blog, last

and we set up some guidelines, the primary one being:

• No blogging when children are awake.

I blog because we believe that it is something that God has called our family to do as a means of ministering to the body of Christ. For this reason, blog time stays on my to-do list.

All of this to say that your reasons for blogging will determine when and how you make time for it, how you manage it and what you spend your blog time doing.

I almost always blog early in the morning before the children get up. Sometimes I will spend some of the children’s afternoon rest time blogging or answering emails. (I’m hopelessly behind on emails as I really haven’t gotten back to it since the beginning of this pregnancy, sorry if you’re waiting on me.)

My Best Blog Tip

The one idea that works best for me as I seek to manage the blog is to have a basic weekly posting schedule. Back when I was posting regularly it went something like this:

• Monday – Funny/humorous or personal post about life in a large, homeschooling family. Most of these were “Not Me” posts (Some favs; Dames, Trains and AutomoBeetles, Why I don’t Post Regularly, Tubs and Toes and Dinner Disaster
• Tuesday – Practical, thoughtful or useful post. (i.e. cloth napkins, mega-bulk freezer cooking and tutorials.
• Wednesday – Picture of the kids, often of some of their crazy antics. (i.e. Cleaning windows, Olive style and table manners)
• Thursday – Whatever I felt like posting or an off day. This has now been taken over with 4 Moms posts.
• Friday – Product review or giveawy, telling readers about something we use and love.

I miss those funny posts and pictures as well and hopefully will get back to more of that type of posting soon.

Questions?

Something that you would like to see on Raising Olives?

Be sure to visit the other 4 Moms to read some of their blogging wisdom:

KimC at Life in a Shoe
Connie at Smockity Frocks
Headmistress at The Common Room

For more Moms of Many posts visit the 4 Moms page.

Managing Blog Time and A Blogging Tip: 4 Moms is a post from: Raising Olives

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Our 10th baby, Isabella, was our first c-section. Here’s why we came to the decision to have a c-section after two home births.

Because of our birth history and Nick’s brachial plexus injury at birth, any more children we have (including the little one currently being formed) will be born via c-section.

Our first c-section was wonderful, Isabella was handed to me shortly after birth and I was able to hold her while they finished stitching me back up, but Mark and I have been talking about how to make it even better.

Yesterday I saw this video posted at Grateful For Grace. It’s amazing and brought tears to my eyes. I would love to be able to watch my baby be born, to have the privilege of discovering his/her gender and to have the baby immediately placed on my chest even while having a C-section.

I’m praying that the Lord will open our OB’s heart to helping us come close to this type of birth in 4 1/4 months.

If you had to have a C-section, would you choose something like this?

Pregnancy #11 posts:

• Coming August 2012
• Notes about pregnancy #11
• Week 18
• Family-centered c-section, my dream
• Week 20
• It’s a….
• Week 25: Good News, Energy and Projects

Family Centered C-Section: My Dream, a Reality? is a post from: Raising Olives

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My brother-in-law gave us the idea for this simple DIY compost bin in a trash can. Since we had just put our house on the market, and since the compost pile out back was less than desirable, this contained option seemed like a good solution.

The trash can keeps the compost contained and “neighbor friendly”.  The black color of the can attracts heat and aeration is simple since we are able to turn the trash can on it’s side and give it a couple rolls.

You will need:

• Black trash can with locking lid
• Drill with 1″ bit
• 5 year old boy and chalk (both optional)

Mark delegated the responsibility for making the composting trash can to Colby (5), who did a fabulous job.

We used chalk to draw circles so Colby would know where the holes should go. We were  random with the hole placement.

The holes provide ventilation that allows air flow and facilitates the decomposition process in addition to providing a space for  “juices” to flow out.

Drill holes.

There were helping hands available as needed,

but Colby soon got the hang of it.

and felt like a big man using a power tool and tackling a project “all by himself”.

Don’t forget to drill holes in the bottom of the can.

Slightly elevate your new composting trash can so that air can circulate underneath and it can drain. You may use whatever you have handy, we used rocks. We have tons of rocks in our yard.

How to use a composting trash can

To use the composting trash can, simply use the ratio of 4:1 brown (dead leaves, coffee filters, coffee/tea grounds, shredded paper, etc.) to green (fruit, veggies, grass clippings, etc.).

We keep a pile of leaves near the bin and add a handful of leaves whenever we add kitchen scraps.

Compost ingredients:

• coffee grounds and tea leaves, filters and bags
• egg shells
• uncooked waste from fruits and veggies  or overripe fruits and veggies
• grass clippings
• leaves
• shredded newspaper
• ashes
• weeds
• sourdough starter waste/overflow

Do not add dairy or meat products to your compost. They may introduce unwanted bacteria and cause a stench.

Continue adding to your compost bin, agitating, by turning the can onto it’s side and rolling (be sure that the lid is on a locked) about once a week.

Once your trash/compost can is full, continue a weekly agitation. Your compost will be ready to use sometime between several weeks to several months. The time it takes will depend upon your compost’s composition and the weather conditions.Finished compost should look like nice black dirt.

At this point, you may wish strain the compost through a wire screen to eliminate particles that have not finished composting. These particles may be added to your next batch of compost.

We’ve found that it’s useful to have two composting bins to use in rotation. This gives us a place to put new compost while waiting for the first bin to finish composting.

Do you compost? What tips do you have to share?

Linked to Frugal Friday at Life as Mom.

Composting Trash Can Tutorial is a post from: Raising Olives

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Menu planning and cooking for a large family, keeping up with the laundry and housework, homeschooling and being a wife and mother, when does a busy mom of many find time to balance the budget?

In our house the answer is simple, I don’t. For the first several years of our marriage I was responsible for the budget. Mark and I would set it up together and then I spent a couple of minutes a couple times a week in the evening and kept track of our income and expenses. Eventually we realized that this arrangement lent itself to me having most of the control over our finances rather than Mark.

Mark just didn’t feel that he had all the info necessary at any given time to make a knowledgeable decision about our purchases. So years and years ago, Mark took over all budgeting responsibilities.

Here’s the thing, I don’t like to spend money. Mark tends to fill that role in our home, so him having full knowledge of the budget and that responsibility works well for our family.

I know what my grocery budget is each month (and try to stay within it) and at the beginning of the summer, I get an allotted amount of cash to use for yard saleing. Other than that almost all of our purchases are joint decisions.

Finding time to budget is simply a matter of priority. It should only take a few minutes a few times a week and this can easily be done one evening after the children are in bed.

Mark and I carry no debt and talk about changes in our financial situation as they come up.

Currently, we are preparing to purchase a new-to-us van as we now drive a 12 passenger van, but will soon have 13 people in our family. Mark has been saving for this for a while and we both know the amount of money available, so when the time comes and the right van appears we will pay cash and there will be no need to change anything in our budget.

How does your family tackle budgeting responsibilities?

Psst! Speaking of budgets, would you like an opportunity to supplement yours? The response to the 4 Moms Parenting ebook has been terrific.

“I’d have paid the money just for the info in the appendices.” – Jenny

“Just have to say that I bought the 4 mom’s book & I LOVE IT!!! It is well worth [the money]… There is so much practical advice even for a mother of just 4 ( so far).” – Renata

And now we’re giving you an opportunity to share the joy. With our new affiliate program you will earn 50% of your sales. That’s more than we earn since we divide the remainder of the 50% four ways. Excited?

We want your help to spread the word, so visit our affiliate page for more info, a great sale code and to join the 4 Moms’ team.

Be sure to visit the other 4 Moms to read what they have to say about this topic:

KimC at Life in a Shoe
Connie at Smockity Frocks
Headmistress at The Common Room

Psst! Speaking of budgets, would you like an opportunity to supplement yours? The response to the 4 Moms Parenting ebook has been terrific.

“I’d have paid the money just for the info in the appendices.” – Jenny

“Just have to say that I bought the 4 mom’s book & I LOVE IT!!! It is well worth [the money]… There is so much practical advice even for a mother of just 4 ( so far).” – Renata

And now we’re giving you an opportunity to share the profits. With our new affiliate program you will earn 50% of all sales made through your link. That’s more than we earn since we divide the remainder of the 50% four ways, but that’s okay,

For more Moms of Many posts visit the 4 Moms page.

4 Moms Make Time for Managing the Budget is a post from: Raising Olives

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Whew, that was the most difficult first trimester that I’ve experienced. I’m not sure if I did much rejoicing in the morning sickness, but our family did survive thanks to a terrific husband and very helpful older children who all happily pitched in.

I’ve been feeling great for the last 3 weeks and we definitely jumped back into life with both feet. We’ve had a house full of company nearly non-stop and are thankful for the fellowship of the saints and to be able to focus on others, instead of just focusing on surviving.

In the past three weeks, we’ve spent time visiting friends in the hospital, cleaning homes (including ours), taking meals to several families, watching extra children, lending girls to be momma’s helpers, hosting several get-togethers including a screening of IndoctriNation.

In God’s providence one of the men involved in making/promoting ‘IndoctriNation’ and one of the men who was featured in the film (Robert Ziegler) were visiting our church the morning of the ‘IndoctriNation’ screening and were able to come and answer questions for our group.

We also found made time to head to the ER in a lights flashing ambulance. (Thanks to a bike ride down the hill in our front yard that ended up in crashing into Isabella (20 months). The bike hit Bella’s head and she was knocked over and hit the other side of her head on our concrete drive. She was then unable to focus her eyes or walk and we couldn’t keep her awake. She ended up being fine with just a little scratch on her head.) We’re thankful that a sweet friend was willing to pack up her two small children and come sit with the additional 12 kids who remained at our home.

The kids have been outdoors nearly non-stop since the weather turned nice. We’re calling it ‘spring break’, although we’re still doing our everyday basics (Bible reading, Greek and a little math) and I’m encouraging them to write or complete nature journal pages about what they’re doing and learning.

They’ve found multiple bird’s nests (one in the WINTER wreath on our front door *rolls eyes*), lizards, tadpoles, etc. and our house is teaming with life.

We’ve planted a spring garden and started all of our summer garden veggies from seed. We are beginning to harvest some of our variety of lettuces and praying that God will provide buyers for our home so that we might be able to move to a place with a little more property.

I must say that once I get past that first trimester, my pregnancies are smooth sailing (except that I cry about nearly everything, happy or sad).

In mid-April we will have an ultrasound to make sure little one is developing normally. We will also find out the gender of the baby, unless we decide that we want it to be a surprise.

We’ve chosen to be surprised with 5 and we’ve found out the gender with 5.

Do/will you find out the gender of your baby?

Pregnancy #11 posts:

• Coming August 2012
• Notes about pregnancy #11
• Week 18
• Family-centered c-section, my dream
• Week 20
• It’s a….
• Week 25: Good News, Energy and Projects

Pregnancy #11 Update: Week 18 is a post from: Raising Olives

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Once a month the 4 Moms take some time to answer reader questions. This month, I’m continuing to work my way through the fabulous list questions that you all came up with on Facebook last month.

Michelle Givler asked, “Do you believe in courtship or dating and what does that look like to you and your husband, especially in regard to girls?”

and Amy Bass Powell wondered, “How you have taught your pre-teens thru teenagers to be pure and holy?”

Since these questions seem to go hand in hand, I thought I’d tackle them together.

The focus of this post will be from the perspective of parenting daughters.

Our oldest (a girl)  is 15, so we’re speaking mostly in the hypothetical as we’ve had almost no experience when it comes to courtship and dating.

Also, these are our ideals, our ‘prefect world’ scenario. We know we don’t live in a perfect world and we trust that as we navigate this unknown territory that God will grant us mercy and bless us with wisdom.

When it comes to purity, courtship and dating, this biblical principal is our goal and standard:

You have heard that it was said, “You shall not commit adultery”.  But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. ~ Matthew 5:27-28

Jesus clearly tells us that the goal is not merely a physical purity, but also a purity of mind.  Our goal therefore is to be able to present our daughters to their husbands as young women who are pure both in mind and body.

Physical purity

Most married men and women, have a pretty good understanding of what is appropriate behavior between the sexes.

For example, most would deem it inappropriate for a married woman to walk around the mall hand in hand with a man who was not her husband. Most wives would not be happy with another woman resting her head on their husband’s shoulder, giving him a certain type of hug, a goodnight kiss, etc. Most married woman don’t appreciate it when other women speak and interact in a flirtatious manner with their husbands, even if there is no physical contact involved.

However, those who would apply this type of standard to singles are viewed as somehow extreme.

When considering standards for our children, we remember that we are raising young men and young women who will, Lord willing, one day be married. Our goal is for our children to save all those intimate actions and words for their 0ne-day spouse.

To this end, any action or attitude that we would view as unacceptable behavior for two people who are married to two other people, we view as unacceptable for our single children.

We do not expect our girls to flirt, hug, hold hands, kiss or do anything with a  male friend that they would not be comfortable doing with another man in front of their husband.

Emotional purity

As the Matthew 5 passage indicates, our goal is more than simple physical purity.

Just as it’s easier to refrain from the actual act of adultery than it is to keep from even thinking about the possibility, it is easier to remain physically pure than to remain emotionally pure.

It is because we are working toward a goal of emotional purity that we prefer for our children to ‘court’. Now this  means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. In our experience, it most often simply means ‘date’ with parental supervision or permission.

This is not what we mean by ‘court’.

Our goal is that when Mark walks our daughters down the aisle, he will be giving them over to the only man that they have ever committed to emotionally.

Some ideas before courting:

• We encourage our children to be friends with people of both genders.
• From the beginning, we socialize as a family, building friendships and relationships with people of all ages and genders.
• From the beginning we encourage deeper friendships and relationships with those who will encourage us and our children toward godliness and righteousness and we caution about the damage that poor relationships will cause. (Proverbs 13:20 and 27:17)
• We discourage ‘particular’ friendship with anyone of the opposite gender.
• We exhort our daughters to guard their hearts. This will  require careful discipline and diligence.
• We remind our girls of the potential deceitfulness of the human heart and that we want what is best for them. We explain that there may come a time when it seems like we do not want their best, but we want them to trust us through that.
• We protect our girls by providing supervision.
• Unless both the boy and girl are ready for marriage emotionally, physically and financially, it’s not time to even think about courtship, dating, marriage or a ‘particular’ friendship.
• Our girls (and boys) know that everything is forgivable and that we will love them no matter what.

Some courting ideas:

• We hope and pray that both sets of parents will be involved in the process.
• We hope that the young man would first approach Mark for permission to pursue a relationship with our daughter.
• In order to enter into this relationship, we would have to believe that it is likely that this man would be a suitable husband for our daughter.
• The girl has the final say-so. If she says, ‘no’ then the answer is ‘no’!
• The ‘couple’ should know each other well before entering into this type of relationship because we believe that this is the point that the heart-guarding begins to be let down.

Courting between long time friends

In the easiest scenario, the boy and girl would have known each other for a long time before this point. The families would know each other well and the parents of the ‘couple’ (and the ‘couple’ themselves) would have a good indication as to whether or not this was a good match.

In that case, ‘courting’ would be a period of time for the ‘couple’ to form a particular friendship and the heart guarding to be somewhat let down as this relationship would be quickly heading toward marriage.

We would hope that the time between this relationship and marriage would be fairly short.

New friends

In the event that the boy and girl are newly acquainted, but both are ready for marriage, we would desire that there be a time period of getting to know each other with continued heart guarding on the part of the girl.

It would be our preference that our daughter not know the boy’s intentions at this point in the process (for heart purposes), but that both sets of parents be involved and approving.

Getting to know each other over a distance

This seems the most difficult scenario, but, of course, not impossible. We would once again encourage a time period of getting to know each other before any type of emotional commitment is made.

We realize that perhaps we are idealistic and we certainly don’t claim to know much of anything about this.

Some people would consider what happened between Mark and me to be courting. I would say that it was dating with parental involvement. So we’re really new to all of this and are praying that God will give us wisdom as we begin to navigate through this new territory.

 Amy also asked, “What resources other than the Bible (if any) you have used and at what age you have taught ‘the facts of life’?“

You will want to read this post about Teaching Children about the Facts of Life.

How do you plan to handle (or have handled) these issues with your children?

Visit the other moms of many to find out what questions they’re answering today:
Smockity Frocks
Life in a Shoe
The Common Room

You can still get the 4 Moms Parenting ebook for $3!

Courtship, Dating and Purity: 4 Moms Q & A is a post from: Raising Olives

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Doubts: 4 Moms Q & A Keeping Little Ones in Worship: 4 Moms Building Strong Sibling Relationships: 4 Moms of Many Laying the Foundation: 4 Moms and Large Family Logistics Coping While Exhausted: 4 Moms and Large Family Logistics

With only a couple of glitches, ’cause we wanted to prove that we are just sahms, not the tech gurus that some may believe (ok, well some of us may be tech gurus), our parenting ebook is now officially launched and currently available for $2 $3

We’ve had a marvelous response (so terrific that 87 of you got it for 50 cents, instead of just the first 50). So this $2 $3 price may not last long.

From outings with only littles and training your children to sit through worship services to nap times and tackling big projects, the 4 Moms of Many tackle 17 of your parenting questions in this 195 page large family parenting ebook.

We also included a chore chart and fruit of the Spirit printable.

We would love to hear your feedback as we hope to make our future books even better. Just use this contact form and put ‘ebook feedback’ in the subject line.

And don’t forget to hurry and get your copy of the 4 Moms Parenting ebook for $2 $3.

4 Moms Parenting Ebook $3, Limited Time is a post from: Raising Olives

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4 Moms Parenting Ebook Sale Begins Today at Noon EST Win a Copy of the 4 Moms Parenting eBook 4 Moms Make Time for Managing the Budget Large Family Parenting Style: 4 Moms Simplify Your Family Life Ebook Sale

Beginning today at noon EST, you can get the 4 Moms Parenting Ebook for:

• 50 cents for the first 50 customers.
• $1 for the next 100
• $2 for the nest 200
• $3 for the next 300
• $4 for the next 400

Wish you could sit own with 4 experienced moms of many and ask question about parenting? This ebook offers you that opportunity. From solving sibling disputes, spending individual time with your children, parenting styles and being fair, this 195 page parenting ebook answers your most frequently asked parenting questions.

We will be monitoring the Parenting Ebook sales page  and publishing new codes for each sales level. (So you’ll know what you will be paying before you purchase.

You still have a few more hours to enter to win a free copy of the parenting ebook by spreading the word about our huge launch sale. The winner will be posted before the sale starts at noon today!

4 Moms Parenting Ebook Sale Begins Today at Noon EST is a post from: Raising Olives

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Win a Copy of the 4 Moms Parenting eBook 4 Moms Parenting Ebook $3, Limited Time Simplify Your Family Life Ebook Sale Large Family Parenting Style: 4 Moms 4 Moms Make Time for Managing the Budget

Congrats to Jeanine for winning a free copy of the 4 Moms ebook!

If you have enjoyed the 4 Moms, 35+ Kids posts, you will love the 195 page   4 Moms, 35+ Kids Parenting ebook.  The 4 Moms have answered all of our most frequently asked parenting questions in one handy, dandy ebook, divided into 17 easy to read chapters, including:

• Nap Time
• Parenting styles
• Keeping Your Patience
• Church time with Children
• Shopping with Littles
• Accomplishing big projects
• Giving Individual Attention
• Keeping things fair
• Talking to Kids About Sex
• And MORE!

Sales begin Monday, March 19 at 12pm EST!

Regularly priced at $7.99, we’re celebrating the launch of our parenting ebook with a limited time, super-duper, blowout launch sale.

• The first 50 people will pay only 50 cents!
• The next 100 customers will only pay $1.
• The next 200  will pay $2.
• The next 300 will pay $3.
• The next 400 will pay $4.

The super-duper blowout launch sale begins on Monday, March 19th at 12pmEST.

You can win a Free ebook by letting your friends know about our launch sale.

There are several ways to enter, please leave a comment for each entry.

• Post about our launch on Facebook and link to this post. (1 entry)
• Post about the launch on Twitter, linking here. (1 entry)
• Post about the launch on a non-private blog. (3 entry, please leave 3 comments)
• Leave a comment telling me why you’re interested in this ebook.

Winner will be announced on Monday BEFORE the noon EST launch time.

Win a Copy of the 4 Moms Parenting eBook is a post from: Raising Olives

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4 Moms Parenting Ebook Sale Begins Today at Noon EST 4 Moms Parenting Ebook $3, Limited Time Large Family Parenting Style: 4 Moms 4 Moms Make Time for Managing the Budget Simplify Your Family Life Ebook Sale

Unless we want to live in a home much like this (but with considerable less charm),

Photo credit leslieiv

our family must have a system for controlling, managing and minimizing ‘keepsakes’.

Keepsakes can come in all shapes and sizes. That little dress that Aunt Barbara knitted for your first baby, journals and scrapbooks, photos, awards and trophys, children’s drawings and art creations and even pretty rocks, bird’s nests and an innumerable amount of minutia that children find attractive or attach with special memories.

Storing and managing all these ‘precious’ possessions can be a challenge to any family, but it presents a particular challenge to larger families.

Storing Photos

Up until our eighth baby (Colby) was born, I regularly printed out the best of our photos carefully labeled the back of each one and put them into simple sleeve albums. It’s nothing fancy, but the children love looking through our albums and reminiscing.  I highly recommend this.

After Colby was born, I decided I no longer had time to do that, and besides, wouldn’t I enjoy printing and organizing photos more when I didn’t have oodles of small children running around? It would be nice, when Mark and I were all alone in a quiet home, to go through and beautifully scrapbook these bits of reminders of our children’s childhood.

As a result, I have 6 years worth of photos on CD’s and backed up in computers. The younger children have no idea what they looked like when they were babies and I’m wondering if there ever will be a time when Mark and I are all alone in a quiet home. After all we will start over again on this beautiful journey of parenting in August and our oldest is 15. It’s  possible that we will be blessed to go right from small children running around to small grandchildren running around.

Oh, and if you have any tips to help me get caught up on my photos, they are always welcomed.

Storing Children’s Art Work

I have a filing box in which we keep the children’s art that we are going to keep. I have one hanging folder with each child’s name and I regularly look at their current creations and pull out pieces that I particularly admire.

We all enjoy going through the files, comparing and laughing at each child’s first ‘person’, Alyssa’s yarn girl and Amber’s giant frog.  Love it!

Art work that isn’t going to be kept long term is displayed on the magnetic wall in our dining room. We allow the children to switch their drawings around as they see fit.

3D artwork such as pottery, pipe cleaner creations, etc. is displayed on a set of shelves in our family room.

If the item is particularly special to the child, they may keep it with their ‘special things’ or we will take a picture of them with their creation and they may keep that picture with their ‘special things’.

If the artist is willing, their creation is donated or thrown in the trash after it has lived it’s display life.

Storing Kid’s Keepsakes

Each of our children has a box for storing their special things. They may keep anything that fits into the box with one exception, no organic matter allowed. (Trust me on this one.)

If our child has more than will fit in their box, they go through and decide what to get rid of. The box must be able to close.

One exception is that if our children take the time to create a scrapbook and/or journal (I’m not talking about the 4 year old throwing together some drawings. I’m talking about a child who has taken the time to write out their thoughts and experiences and has included mementos and/or photos.) These are kept on our bookshelves with our family photo albums. At this point in time, we only have 3-4 journals of this type.

Storing Schoolwork

The short answer is that we don’t.

I do add outstanding projects or papers to our children’s art folder (see above) occasionally, but for the most part, we get rid of most of the children’s schoolwork at the end of each school year.

Each child is free to keep their favorite projects in the notebook that they will use for the next year’s work or they may keep things in their ‘special’ box.

At the beginning of each year they look over their notebook and evaluate what they wish to continue keeping. None of our children have over-stuffed notebooks, they are good at purging (or asking mommy to put it into their art folder).

The one exception to this is our children’s nature journals. We keep these with the family photo albums as they are finished. At the rate that our children fill their journals one journal lasts for many years, so this has not become a storage issue.

Storing Baby Keepsakes

My plan was to complete a baby book for each baby.

The first five children have lovely books with lots of journaling, pictures, locks of hair, 1st birthday cards, etc. and all their firsts diligently recorded. I highly recommend this!

The next 3 children have the same, minus the pictures and with a little less detail in the journaling. This is certainly acceptable.

The last two children have a file in the file box where I keep all of the little trinkets that I will one day put into their baby book, plus a calendar with some of their firsts written down. Plus I write about some of the funny things they do and post pictures of them here on the blog – does that count for anything??

Storing Family ‘Heirlooms’

The doll that my mom crocheted for me when I was 11, the teapot that belonged to my great-grandmother, most of us have things passed down to us from family members or items that we (or our parents) kept from our childhood.

Purge – Simply because something belonged to someone you love doesn’t mean that it should be kept. Evaluate and keep only those things that will be used and enjoyed byyour family.

Toys – We have a couple of toys that were ours when we were kids (including the hand-crocheted doll). We encourage our children to play with and enjoy these. Currently, Bella (1) is carrying around, cradling and sleeping with that doll. As things wear out we throw them away, happy that our children were able to enjoy something that we loved when we were young.

Keepsakes -  At this point, this is not much of an issue for our family because we only have a handful of items that have been passed down.

Our plan is to keep only those items that are useful and/or truly loved. I figure that something that belonged to my great grandmother, but is stored in a box in the attic throughout my kid’s childhood will have little meaning to my children. The things that we’ve chosen to keep, we’ve also chosen to display and enjoy. (Yes, with 10 children sometimes things get broken, but my children have many happy memories of playing with and listening to the music box that played with and listened to at my great-grandmother’s home when I was a girl.)

I have a figurine that belonged to my grandmother. When I was  little she allowed me to sit on her bed and play carefully with this lady that I called ‘Cinderella’. That now sits on the dresser in our bedroom for our children to look at and hear stories about.

And the little sweater that Aunt Barbara knitted? Our children wear it. Each time we have a baby it comes out of the box and is used and loved. Perhaps we’ll pass it on to our grandchildren or perhaps we will wear it out, but either way I’m sure that Aunt Barbara will be happy that it was so well-loved.

Enjoying what we have is one of  our guidelines when deciding which things we will keep (which is why I really need to get some pictures printed and into albums).

Some quick tips:

• Give kids a limited amount of space where they may store whatever it is that is important to them. The fact is that we will always have a limited amount of space, so learning to prioritize and de-clutter is a necessary skill.
• Take pictures. In the day of digital, it is easy and inexpensive to take pictures of items that hold special meaning, but which you do not have room to store.
• Enjoy! It makes no sense to me to spend time and energy storing, organizing and caring for items that you don’t use and enjoy just because they were owned by someone you love. Sometimes the best way to enjoy is to get rid of ‘stuff’ (or simplify)’ so that you have the time, energy and space to enjoy the ‘stuff’ that you do keep.
• Prioritize. We have one file box and a few shelves where we keep all our ‘keepsakes’ (photo albums, drawings, journals, etc.) Anything that doesn’t fit needs to be let go.

How do you handle keepsakes?

Visit the other 4 Moms to read about how they keep up with all those ‘keepsakes’.

• The Common Room
• Smockity Frocks
• Life in a Shoe

Get the 4 Moms Parenting eBook. Come back tomorrow, Friday, March 16 at 9am EST for more details and a chance to win!

Keeping Up With Keepsakes: 4 Moms is a post from: Raising Olives

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Keeping Little Ones in Worship: 4 Moms Keeping Your Patience: 4 Moms Managing Clothes for a Large Family: 4 Moms Laying the Foundation: 4 Moms and Large Family Logistics Large Family Food Storage : 4 Moms

Feeding a large family on one income certainly adds interest to menu planning. This week the 4 Moms are challenging ourselves (and you) to feed your family for $.50 per person.

Our normal budget for the evening meal is $1 per person, but we have several meal options that are less than this (and lots that are more).

This week each of the 4 moms are  sharing how we feed our families for  $.50 per person.

Lentil Chili – This pleasantly spicy lentil dish is a family favorite. I almost always prepare this by substituting the pound of ground beef with another pound of lentils. Using homemade salsa is another way to decrease the cost of this meal. Since our family has grown (and we have some big-time eaters), I serve this with brown rice and raw veggies.

Favorite Black Bean Soup – This soup is very spicy and another of our favorites. To keep the cost under $.50 per person, you will probably want to omit the optional sour cream. Also, this recipe will usually provides leftovers for our family of 12.

Breakfast for dinner – Prepare eggs, any way you like them, add some homemade whole wheat toast or sourdough pancakes or mix-up a batch of homemade tortillas, saute some onions and peppers and serve egg burritos. A fruit relish is our favorite side dish. (but I’m not sure that would slide under the 50 cents a person limit)

Turkey Frame Soup – We do not have a recipe for this. Simply take the left over bones from a turkey and place in a large stock pot with a splash of white vinegar (this helps to get all the good-for-you marrow and stuff out of the bones) some garlic and onions. Cover with water and boil. We let it boil all day.

At the end of the day we strain out the bones and cartilage and pick through to reserve any meat that may be left. We add the meat back to the stock and then add spices (salt, pepper and oregano OR basil OR marjoram OR thyme), veggies (canned tomatoes and any other vegetables we have on hand) and a grain (we usually chose rice, but pasta, barley and a wide variety of other grains work as well).

Mexican – We make our own re-fried beans, taco seasoning, tortillas and salsa. Add cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, etc. as you can afford.

Now it’s your turn to share how you feed your family for $.50/person.  Please play by these rules:

1. You must link to a specific relevant post on your blog.
2. Your post must include a link to at least one of the 4 Moms blogs.
3. The post you link to must be completely family friendly.

If your link is deleted, you probably didn’t follow one of the rules above. Please feel free to add your link again once you have fixed the problem. If you don’t know why your link was deleted, please ask.

Visit the other moms of many to read about how they feed their family for $.50/person.

Smockity Frocks
Life in a Shoe
The Common Room

For more Moms of Many posts visit the 4 Moms page.

Feed Your Family for $0.50 a Person: 4 Moms is a post from: Raising Olives

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I’m answering another question from Facebook today.

Amanda wanted to know some of my frugal tips.

Buy used.

Furniture, clothing, dishes, towels, sheets, home decor, etc. can all be found used.  We shop mostly yard sales, but second hand shops can be useful for harder to find items (like boys blue jeans sans holes in the knees).

Buy in bulk.

We do this mostly for food. We purchase from co-ops, restaurant suppliers and sometimes directly from the farmer.

Go paperless.

We generally do not purchase paper napkins, paper towels, etc. We’ve chosen to use all cloth, except for toilet paper. Check out our cloth napkin solution.

Make your own cleaning products.

We make all of our own cleaning supplies except for the detergent for the dishwasher. We mostly clean with baking soda, white vinegar and Castile soap. We also make generous use of microfiber cloths and water.

Here is our recipe for laundry soap.

Don’t buy what you don’t need.

Wouldn't you rather have a houseful of these?

Most people have too many clothes, too many toys, too many computer games, too many housewares, too much stuff! If we would simply purchase what we need, we would all have plenty to share with those who have need.

When we have too much stuff, we need more space to store it and require more time to manage it. Simplifying is an easy way to save money.

Pay cash.

If you can’t afford to pay cash, you can’t afford it.

And because I know that people will ask, we personally believe that a home is the one legitimate reason to go into a reasonable amount of debt. However, it would be ideal to purchase a home with no debt.

Recognize the difference between a ‘need’ and a ‘want’.

Cell phones: Until two years ago we had no cell phones. When our children got old enough to stay home alone, we decided to move into the cell phone world. We spend less than $10 a month for a simple pre-paid phone that we only use for emergencies. Even this is a luxury and certainly not a necessity.

Hair appointments: We do all of our own hair cutting in house. (I actually made a how-to video for boy’s hair cuts that I intend to post. Someday. )

Classes and sports: Need I say more?

Restaurant eating/Fast food: Even if you are super busy, eating out is not a necessity.  It requires some planning and forethought, but people survived for centuries without fast food joints. When you chose to take the family out to eat,  recognize the privilege  that it is and enjoy the blessing of it.

Clothes dryers: Our family of 12 recently lived for 3 months without a clothes dryer. We live in a rainy, humid climate in North East Tennessee and this was during our cold season. We’re very happy to have a dryer again, but we know that running it is certainly a luxury and not a necessity.

Cable TV/Netflix/Video rentals: There is a library full of ‘free’ books, Cd’s and often even videos and even that is providing a ‘want’, not a ‘need’.

A second car: Our family survived with one car for many years and for many/most people having one car is a viable option.

What other ‘wants’ are we tempted to claim as ‘needs’.

7 Simple Money Saving Tips is a post from: Raising Olives

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