June's Budget

This was the first month that L and I followed our "new" budgeting system that we created. It was pretty successful for the most part - we only went over our grocery budget a little bit. This is impressive considering we had pretty much eliminated dining out (minus a couple quick meals, and one date night equipped with a paid babysitter).

I think the biggest thing that helped our budget was meal planning. We planned all of our meals around what was on sale, and worked hard to create meals with what we had in the house. I made a lot of substitutions on recipes - some worked, some didn't. Also, since there's a new babe in the house, simple meals were the focus.

Speaking of new babe, we pretty much dreaded any dining out with two kiddos, so that was good incentive for avoiding restaurants. Nothing like a crying babe and a demanding toddler to simplify living, right?

So overall, we spent less in spending than we do typically, and stayed pretty close to our grocery budget. Still, I think we could have done a little better as far as stretching meat and using even more ingredients that we had in the house. We'll see. I don't feel like I sacrificed on produce, though this month we'll focus more on the farmer's markets, so we should incorporate more fresh ingredients in our meals.

Let's hope that even with me returning to work next week (yikes!), the budget will continue successfully.

Praise of the Day:
That our God provides

White Bucket Project

I enjoy Rob Bell, and enjoyed going to Mars Hill when I lived in Grand Rapids. I recently listened to a podcast called "Bread and Buckets"... I was in tears at the end. They have started the "White Bucket Project", which started at this church service. They asked those in the church who had extra money to put it in white buckets that were placed throughout the building. They then asked those who were in need to take money out of the bucket.

Pretty amazing, using Acts 2 as an example. Check it out. While you're there, he is now doing a series on forgiveness ... very powerful and timely.

Daddy's Day Post

It's hard to believe that it's been two years since L and I became parents. Actually, it's just hard to believe that we're parents altogether. :) If there's one thing I've learned in the last month since R was born (can you believe it's been a month already?), it's how much I appreciate how much L does for his family. He works hard all day to provide for his family, and then comes home and plays/works hard with his family. He immediately sits with E and reads her stories, takes her outside so I can cook dinner, hold R if need be.

E has certainly become a Daddy's girl, and it's great seeing their relationship grow together. She'll often ask to snuggle with L on the couch, and she'll want him to go outside with her. She just wants to be with him, doing whatever he's doing, part of the fun. And L is great at including and letting her just be who she is. I've learned so much watching him parent her.

And now we have a little guy in our lives, and I'm looking forward to seeing L and R develop their own relationship. God blessed our kiddos with a pretty great Dad, and me with a great partner that is by my side supporting me.

Happy Father's Day, L! We love you!!

There's Nothing Like a Beach Day

We live in a pretty small town and so it's easy to complain about the lack of options in pretty much everything here. Sometimes we scratch our heads wondering why so many people travel here for the summer, when it's so small and there are so many other more exciting places to see. Something that we do love about our town (and apparently thousands of others do too) is the number of beaches it offers. We're surrounded, and it would be silly of us to stay home on warm days when we're just a mile or two from one beach or another.

So far we've been to the beach every day this week - thanks to Summer finally showing up. Is the water cold? Oh yes... and yet, somehow kiddos don't seem to mind the frigid temps. Even with the cold water, there is nothing like going to the beach. I wish every day was a beach day, don't you?

Thank you, God, for enjoyment.

Oh, Hello Compost Bin

You know, now that we're in a house, one of the first things we (I) wanted to do was set up a compost bin. Maybe there's a little bit of my father's blood in me (he's a big gardener), but I've been talking about it for two months now.

Composting is great for a few reasons. First and foremost, it's a great way to reduce landfill waste. It's a simple frugal way for us save a little of money, as we pay per trash bag and it creates free potting soil for us to use. Lastly, it's a great and easy way to show a little love for your garden, lawn, etc.

We decided to go the simple route in making a compost bin, because we're newbies. We used this guide, and it was incredibly easy and cheap to do. It cost us less than $10 to get started!

It's amazing how many items can be put in your compost bin! Here's a great list that covers what can and can't be used. I am already thinking that this is really going to reduce our landfill consumption - yay!

On a completely off topic, but in the spirit of my last post on gratitude, here's my ongoing list:

4. Smiling babes
5. A great worship service yesterday
6. That I still have two weeks to be home with both kiddos.

Gratitude

I think R just might be a morning person like his mom. He's a great alarm clock - every morning around 5 am, he's wide awake. Now I don't like getting up that early, but what can you do, right? Still, mornings are good. Really good.

And boy, I really love sunshine-y summer mornings. I wish I could bottle the birds chirping, the cool breeze, the sun peeking through the trees and just have it with me whenever I am feeling a little down, or during the long winter months.

I'm learning more and more how blessed I am, even in the simple things like sunshine. An old journal of mine used to keep a log of everything I was thankful for, and I'm going to start that here - to remind myself of how good God is. So here goes:

1. Thank you, God, for mornings like this, even if I didn't want to get up that early.

2. And I'm thankful for an old friend who listened to me vent about an difficult situation I'm dealing with, and found she was dealing with something similar.

3. Of course, I'm thankful for my little alarm clock, even if 5 am is early even for this morning person.

What are you guys thankful for today?

What Summer Looks Like

Eating watermelon outside...

Laying in the sun

Kabobs on the grill