Ultimate beef stew

http://www.laurenslatest.com/irish-beef-stew-mashed-potatoes/

Getting off of assistance part 1

Let me start by saying, getting help from the government is not a bad thing in itself, there are people who really need it. I have been on it for 11 years now and I am happy to say I am now free of that bondage.
When I lived in Washington state, we could barely survive and so government help was a welcomed thing. Our lives were made easier by their help. I have had a secret wish for some time now to be free of that because of how much flack you get for being on it, especially if you have a lot of children.
I decided enough was enough and I also realized we were able to buy extra stuff whenever we wanted so why wouldn't we be able to afford it.
I sat down and wrote down our expenses plus Jason's income, plus the money we get from renting and finally I added how much we got from assistance ($927). We could do it!!!!
I was beyond excited and so we made a plan tobe more ccareful about how much we spent while on the help so at the first of the year, we could be independent. Well you know God has his own plan and our answer to that came the morning we were supposed to get out food stamps...it wasn't there!
Seriously I was so overjoyed..not sad or mad; maybe a bit scared, but ready. So I have been meal planning like crazy and working hard to think of ways and meals to save us money. What the government gave us was nice, but I want to do better for our family.

I will be posting frugal recipes and giving tips to stretch your food..with a large family, every penny counts.

Always being open

Always being open -click here for article

Completely luv this article and the writer hit the nail right on the head.

The baby war- The Creation, Acceptance, and Causes of birth control

http://bywhatstandardmedia.com/

-What has the church done by accepting this?
-As a Christian how do you feel about birth control?
-Do you realize what birth control really does?
-What is God's idea of marriage?
-How can we move forward after gaining knowledge from this video?

My orange rhino challenge!!

My goal is to stop yelling at my kids all together; it's going to take baby steps!
I might have to do it one day at a time or one week at a time, but the goal is to be better at NOT yelling at all.
I miss out on so much when I yell and I have experienced the time when I did not yell at all and it was so nice. I want that again, I want them to say I have a nice mommy who doesn't yell and who handles things calmly.
My goal is a week for now and we will see how that goes. I want to make it for a reasonable amount of time first and then longer the next time. I hope I can get some friends to come along on this trip because that is what makes goals better, right?
http://theorangerhino.com/12-steps-to-stop-yelling-at-your-kid/ 

Angel's 1st birthday cake and treats

I loved this theme and making this cake..it turned out really cute I think! It's funfetti with a blue vanilla frosting. I put on white pearl sprinkles and the fish sprinkles that came with the frosting.

I also made separate cupcakes with octopus on top made with sour gummy worms, gumdrops, and black frosting for the face.

Aquarium jello!! yummy Swedish fish, gumdrops, and sour gummy worms.
I think everything turned out great and tasted good too!

My perspective on the child-free life

As many of you have most likely seen this or heard about this, I am wondering what your thoughts are on the subject.
I don't have to even read the article to know this is selfish (even though claimed not to be) and not biblical; we have gone from being OK with picking and choosing when to have children by adopting the birth control concept, to killing our own flesh and blood out right, and now we say n our society that we don't need children at all???!!!
When did we get to this point?, How will this help us or society?
This makes me quite angry because even Christians are seeming OK with this idea! Jesus tells us as Christians to be set apart:
1 John 2:15
Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.  If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 

This should include anything the world says that is acceptable and right for they do not love the things of God!

Philippians 2:21
For everyone looks out for their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.

Jesus calls children a blessing and a gift; to say no to children purposely is saying no to God's blessings.
When we do things without prayer or seeking the Lord's will, it IS selfish!!!

Philippians 2:3-4
 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves,not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

No matter how you look at it, it is a big concern on society as a whole; Who will carry on our family name?, What are we to gain ultimately from excluding children? What happens to the family picture and traditions?
How many years down the line will it come to when we finally take a step back and realize our mistakes?

Just to keep in mind having fertility problems has nothing to do with this issue as this is a conscience effort to keep children out of your life whereas having fertility issues is a painful subject because of the lack of children, but wanting them! I have come to realize this pain in some respect because I seemed to always was able to conceive before and when we tried for our little boy angel, I found it not so easy and like I had taken my fertility for granted. I felt the disappointment and long waiting times and sadness of it not working over and over so I can somewhat understand, but just to say no all together for no apparent reason than to fulfill some desire you have of being able to do what ever you want with out distraction or consequence or responsibility, well I will call it: THAT'S SELFISH!!!! 
If the shoe fits, so to speak. I am calling it like it is because it is and especially for a child of God who belongs to God should read their bible a little more about all the verses that call us to be mothers and better wives and how to instruct our children and being a servant and selfless...OK I am done, but not about my conviction in this area, just ranting!
I hope we can look a little closer at the repercussions of actions that may affect our families and history and even our relationship with our Father, God!

1 Corinthians 10:31
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.