I'm thinking of renaming my blog something like "Fun and Frugal". Not really, that would take to much effort. I would like to write a little bit about frugal living right now though. I have a lot of great ideas when it comes to living on a tight budget. Budget aside it's good for anyone to try to consume less, although so challenging. Several months ago I had the idea that we would only shop second hand. That lasted little over a month. It turned out it was often cheaper to buy items new and on sale. Besides as a woman it is only natural to like and want STUFF. I got weak. So when I talk about frugal living it is a similar situation. I can do really well on a tight budget when I have to, but when I don't have to is when it becomes really difficult. 
 Recently we had an incident. I don't want to share the details, but through little fault of our own and involving student loans, we ended up in a really tight spot. Tight is an understatement, but I can't think of a better explanation. I don't get to upset when these situations arise because I know it won't last and I like the adventure. So I dug my cloth diapers out from the back of our storage room. I am so grateful that I kept them, and that they fit Violet. I started baking bread and treats everyday. I love to bake anyways and in the process found the most amazing recipe for rolls. If you are someone that sees me on a regular basis and have noticed that I'm looking a little bigger around the middle it is not because I am pregnant. It is the baking. I'm just kidding. I'm still running all the time to balance out the sweets. I also found a bunch of candy canes in my food cupboard and made yummy chocolate peppermint crinkles. What a treat. When I bake I put half of everything in my freezer for another time, or if someone else needs some cookie cheer. My freezer is full. 
 Another thing I started doing is walk/running my kids to school. I have a double stroller which I am very grateful for and the weather hasn't been that bad this past week. Miete and Lilli cheerfully rode bikes the first few days, while I ran behind with the stroller. It was only when it started to rain one day and we had to beat it from Lilli's school to Leif's pre school that Miete really started to complain. The worst part about that morning was I arrived at Leif's school only to realize I had forgotten his snack at home. Thankfully his teacher had extra snacks that day so he didn't have to eat the soda crackers I had in back of the stroller. Also my dear friend who's daughter goes to preschool with Leif offered to drive him home after, even though it was out of her way.
 So these are not major things but I do want to continue using cloth diapers, at least while at home. I want to continue walk/running to school with the children when the weather permits. Gas prices are ridiculous right now. I may not bake quite as much or my waist line really will start to grow. We buy a lot of produce and I want to buy less snacky garbage for the kids out of convenience.
 I do want to mention how grateful I am for the help and thoughtfulness of my good friend and some of my family members. I really feel blessed and loved. I hope none of this sounds like I am complaining because I really am not. I am happy and life is good to my family. We are healthy and we live in a safe and protected country. Not to mention beautiful.

Here are some photos

                                           Violet changing her bears diaper

                                             
                                      Lilli and Miete received some pretty new pens from
                                     Rae-anne and this is what they did with them.

                                           A rare loving moment between little rascals

I am having trouble uploading photos today, so this may be a photo free entry. How boring
Just a simple update today:
 Violet is fierce, and can throw a tantrum unlike any of my other children. She is strong willed and stubborn like Lilli, but loves to cuddle. Lately she is really into babies, and carries dolls around, feeding them bottles, rocking them and kissing them. It is very sweet. I think she might also be the best dancer of any of my children at this age. She loves her blankies more than her parents. She is starting to say more words but mostly still speaks in her own language. For the most part she has a very happy disposition.
 Leif used to be a really sweet little boy. Up until the age of 3 I thought he was a perfect child. He rarely cried, he loved to take naps and went to bed easily. He always said please and thank you, and he adored his sisters and parents. he played quietly by himself and rarely got into mischief,  and he loved to cuddle. Well, although he still loves to cuddle, most of those other things no longer pertain to him. He whines and cries constantly, he demands everything and rarely uses manners. He tries to come into my bed on most nights, fights taking naps, although he really still needs them. He also seems to think that he can do whatever Violet does and get away with it. He throws everything, hits Violet a lot, although she probably hit him first and whines, whines, whines. When he's really having a fit he actually makes a "waaa" cry. Of coarse we tell him that is unacceptable. I guess children can't be sweet forever. At least
I have the memories.
 Lilli is having a tough time lately. She really hates school. She struggles with the work and it really effects her self esteem. When I go to pick her up after school she always looks so sad and dejected.  She frequently asks me how many days are left in the week, and is it a half day soon. For some reason beyond my knowledge she doesn't often have kids to play with. She tells me that she asks the other girls to play with her at lunch, but they are all playing with someone else, and she can't play with them. She's even tried to bribe them to play with her by giving away parts of her lunch. She's also taken to spending a fair amount of time in the school sick room. Sometimes at recess or during class she says she has a stomach ache so she can go lay down in the sick room. It's kind of odd to me, but she is very comfortable there. It's like her own personal bed at school. She is begging me to let her come back to home school, and I am considering it. I miss my Lilli being happy.
 Miete enjoys homeschool for the most part. she has normal complaints about doing the work, but does it anyways. She has such great opportunities to show her creative side working at home, and I really enjoy working with her and seeing her imagination in action. She continues to have anxiety issues at church and achievement day activities, or any really social situation. I think she really just wants a good, close friend but doesn't have anyone she really clicks with yet. She is young for her age, and that makes it hard for her to relate to the other girls, so she often plays by herself or around the other girls. It makes me sad, but I'm glad I am there to be her friend so she isn't completely alone. I hope that she soon meets another girl in her homeschool group that she clicks with. girls really do need that social interaction. I'm so glad her and Lilli have each other.
 I don't want to talk about myself and Christopher. We are stressed, exhausted, busy parents, but we love each other and we get along fantastically so that makes even hard situations easier to bear. And we share the responsibilities of raising our children equally. I am a lucky woman.
Pictures to come in next entry.