A Lifetime of Love

My grandmother was the biggest Bon Jovi fan. She had full-length posters of him in her laundry room, bought every newspaper or magazine that wrote an article about him, and recorded every interview with him. She attended several concerts (including traveling out of town), even going back stage to see him personally. Can you guess why? Jon Bon Jovi was my grandmother's great-nephew. His grandfather was the brother to my grandmother. I don't remember when he passed away (it could have easily been before I was born, I honestly have no idea), but my grandmother and Jon's grandmother were very close. My grandmother would visit her in New Jersey, and Aunt Lizzie even came to Akron to visit my grandmother (which is when I got to meet her). My grandmother was very proud of Jon and his accomplishments. Many family members helped Jon to attain the success he enjoys today (but that is another story far too complicated to share), and my grandma was proud of all who were involved in ...

"The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in in the house of the LORD Forever."  Psalm 23   The tears are flowing as I write this, and sleep just wouldn't come to me last night. Just before bed, I received a phone call informing me my grandmother had passed away. I knew this day was coming, had been expecting it for years, but death's blow was shocking nonetheless. I thought I was prepared mentally, but obviously I wasn't. The above Psalm kept com...

Along with feeding my family, the next common question I receive has to do with chores: types, what ages, pay/no pay, and how often.  I thought the easiest way to address this question was just to write it out since it is a rather complex issue. Before I begin, I want to share that I have really just had an epiphany moment on this very subject. Don't get me wrong, my kids have been doing chores for years, but I often struggled in this area. I had a difficult time enforcing chores on a regular basis because of guilt. As a child, I had chores to do. My mother worked and I was required to help around the house. As I got older and the responsibility increased, I became angry at having to do so much. Now, as a mom, I struggled with my own children because I didn't want them to become resentful towards me. It was a constant inner battle that often resulted in me trying to do everything that needed to be done...and accomplishing nothing! The past few weeks the Lord has been show...

I am often asked about how I feed our growing family of 8 without breaking the bank. Of course, my number one response is couponing, but along with using coupons, the types of meals we eat also contributes. I was just asked this question again this past weekend, so I thought I would take a few moments to share some of our regular menu items and, time permitting, some recipes!    *Notes: I serve a salad with supper every night. All my kids love salad so lettuce (Red leaf, Green leaf, Romaine, or Mixed Greens) is a staple purchase item. I purchase the head lettuce and wash/prepare it myself (cost-cutter). We usually go through 2 heads each week. Salads are not only healthy, but we eat our salads AFTER our meal (an Italian tradition, at least among those I know) so they help fill up stomachs.  =) I buy my meats on sale, and when it's on sale, I try to buy as much as I can afford. We have an extra freezer so this makes it possible. We are, however,...

I haven't posted in a while because the busyness of the holidays took over. Well, that's not exactly true. The boys did their Sandy Hook fundraiser that ended up being a huge hit! Someone notified the newspaper about it and that sparked more interest, resulting in them baking, cutting snowflakes, and me shopping for supplies. The final tally was 5 dozen banana-chocolate chip muffins, 12 loaves of Amish Friendship bread, 3 dozen cookies, and over 100 paper snowflake ornaments. They collected a total of $241.02 and mailed a cashier's check (donated to them by Family Trust Credit Union) on New Year's Day. They enjoyed every minute of their efforts, and I am so proud of them! Since then, we are back into the routine of school and such. I was able to get caught up on paperwork and am researching options for next year. I am considering doing year-round school simply to afford us more breaks throughout the year instead of all during the summer. The breaks would give the boys...

My children, particularly Thomas & Tanner, were deeply saddened by the events that transpired in Connecticut. They really wanted to do something for the families of the children who were killed...so they did. Monday we forwent our original school lessons for the week, and instead the boys set about baking banana-chocolate chip muffins, cutting out paper snowflakes, creating flyers describing their cause, and packaging up goodies to distribute at various places in town. I also sent out an email to church friends and posted about their plan on Facebook. The response has been overwhelming! They sold dozens of muffins, ornaments, & loaves of Amish Friendship Bread. Between Monday and Wednesday, they raised over $100! They are overjoyed and I am extremely proud of them. They have displayed many godly character traits such as compassion, kindness, selflessness, and worked together to accomplish their goal. Although this wasn't in our schedule for school, they learned far more...