Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

How I’m Planning Christmas for Our 14 This Year

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This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

I’m planning Christmas for our tribe and I thought it would be fun to process “out loud” while I work out details!

You know I love to go all out at Christmastime. But how I used to do Christmas when there were only six of us does not work now that there are 14 of us.

I’m looking for ways to have a lot of fun without spending as much money this year also. Here’s how I’m hoping to get away with spending very little out of pocket this year.

How I’ve been saving/earning “free” money for Christmas this year

  • I’ve spent time earning Swagbucks during the past few months and made my way up to $100 free dollars in gift cards! I decided to redeem them all to use at Sam’s, so now I have $100+ to use for gifts there!
  • I got a “check” from Costco as part of their cash-back program. I plan to redeem that for free gifts.
  • I’ve been saving the cashback that we earn from our Discover card and I can use that at Amazon for gifts.

Meanwhile, I’ve found some great deals here and there and have been buying and tucking away stocking stuffers for a few weeks.

How I’m Planning Christmas for Our 14 This Year

  1. I’m looking into games that our entire family can play (which is a challenge since our kids are ages 1-25!) This Saran Wrap Ball Game is perfect though.
  2. I’m putting together these Christ-Centered Christmas gifts for our entire family, which will be the main part of our Christmas day.
  3. I’m focusing on consumable gifts again so that we don’t pile more STUFF into our house. :) Here are ideas for consumable gifts (not just food!).
  4. We’ll plan a day after Christmas to enjoy with “just the grown-ups.” So much of our life is focused on the little ones, which is exactly as it needs to be. But two years ago we started a tradition of hiring sitters for all the littles for an entire afternoon and evening. We bigs all head to our church fellowship hall where we eat and play games for hours together. It is much needed and so much fun!

What about the FOOD?!

You might remember that our traditional Christmas dinner for the past several years has been Lasagna. I’m changing that this year because 1 out of 14 of us refuses to eat lasagna. NEVER do I ever cater to one person’s pickiness on a regular day. But this Christmas I’ve decided to. Why? Because our Christmas meal is supposed to be special, and if my daughter can’t possibly put lasagna into her mouth and it causes a fight at mealtime? No thanks. Not on Christmas. (This is my gift to me.)

So we’re having a Nacho Bar. Everyone can fix their bowl or plate the way they like and everyone wins. Plus, by the time we’re hungry enough to eat Christmas dinner after a big breakfast, it’ll probably be time to pull out games anyway. So we can munch on nachos and play games in the afternoon. It’s perfect!

What about that big breakfast? I’ll make an Easy Breakfast Casserole ahead of time and bake it while we dig into gifts that morning. I’ll serve it with fresh fruit and one or two of the following (I haven’t decided yet!):

Here are a lot of great Make-Ahead Christmas Breakfast Ideas to look through!

Christmas Make-Ahead Breakfast Ideas

Do you have fun Christmas traditions or some that you’re starting this year? I’d love to hear!

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Christ-Centered Christmas ~ A Free Gift for You!

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This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

This year, we are putting together Christmas gifts for our family to help us focus on who Jesus is. We wanted to share these ideas with you in case you’d like to borrow some or all of them! Free for you: Christ-Centered Christmas!

Our kids will each receive a special gift unique to their desires and needs under the tree. But before we dig into those, our family will be enjoying a special pile of gifts with a “Jesus Is…” focus.

This special gift pile will focus on these precious aspects of our Savior:

  1. Jesus is light
  2. Jesus is kind
  3. Jesus is giving
  4. Jesus gives peace
  5. Jesus brings joy
  6. Jesus offers forgiveness
  7. Jesus is healer
  8. Jesus is good
  9. Jesus is gentle
  10. Jesus is hope
  11. Jesus is love
  12. Jesus is here

Before we open each gift, we’ll read a prepared scripture card to help us focus on these aspects of Jesus.

Like this:

Jesus is Light

Scripture Focus: John 8:12

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

After reading this passage, we’ll present our kids with a gift. Inside? New socks and flashlights which represent “walking in the light.”

Here’s another example:

Jesus is Good

Scripture Focus: Psalm 34:8

Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.

After reading this passage, the kids will open a gift that includes something tasty to enjoy together. I found this at Sam’s and it’s perfect. Everyone can pick their favorite little jar of jelly from this box!

Here’s another one…

Jesus is Joy

Scripture Focus: Philippians 2:1-2

If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.

The gift we’ll give our kids after reading this scripture is a cooperative game. Perfect, right? (ChristianBook.com has a lot of Peaceable Kingdom cooperative games to choose from!)

For the littles:

For the grown ups:

“Jesus Is” Gifts for All Ages

As you can see from the above examples, all of these gift ideas work for family members of any age. We all need socks, we all love games, and we all enjoy tasty treats. This has been so much fun to put together!

More where that came from!

We put all 12 Christ-Centered Gift Ideas with Scripture Focus into an easy-to-use printable book! (And we’re giving it to you for free right now!)

Christ-Centered Christmas includes gift ideas for each aspect of Jesus, plus scripture cards you can print to use with each gift. This entire collection is free for everyone, just let us know which email address to send it to!

Sign up here to receive this gift!

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Share with your friends!

We’d love to spread the word about this free resource and we need your help. Tell your friends about Christ-Centered Christmas by sharing this link —> http://heavenlyhomemakers.com/christ-centered-christmas-a-free-gift-for-you <— on your favorite social media site. Then send us a screen shot ([email protected]) and we’ll give you this awesome eBook too:

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Get your free Christ-Centered Christmas gift ideas packet here.

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Spiced Holiday Tea

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This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

Tasha made this Spiced Holiday Tea for us one day and we fell in love with it!

holiday spiced tea

Spiced Holiday Tea

by Tasha Hackett

Or as I like to call it the drinkable potpourri. I’ve been simmering water with lemon rinds and a cinnamon stick for the past month just to enjoy the smell, but why only use it for the smell when you can drink it, too?

This spiced tea was introduced to me the first time I went home for the Thanksgiving holiday with my then boyfriend. He’s now my husband, and I won’t claim this drink has brought us together because for some odd reason, he doesn’t like it. Which is completely fine with me and his mother, because that means more for us. My mother-in-law always has a pot of this drink simmering on the stove over the holidays.

Sweeten your spiced tea to taste!

 

I have stayed true to my mother-in-law’s recipe in all except the sugar content. The original recipe that she used calls for a full cup. But I’ve decreased it to 1/2 cup in year’s past and nobody noticed. This year I will add even less, but please don’t tell them!

To get started, first boil a full gallon of water in a large pot on the stove. Then turn the burner down and add the tea bags. Please never boil the tea! Follow the directions on the package of your tea to brew a full gallon—I use decaf so we can enjoy anytime of day and share with the kids without any caffeine messing up our sleep.

Once you’ve removed the tea bags, add in 5 cinnamon sticks, 10 whole cloves, and one of each limeade and orange juice concentrate. (Not straight lime juice, but the sweetened limeade in the freezer section with other fruit juices.) Basically you just used tea instead of water to mix the juice. You do not need to add extra water with the juice concentrates. Add in the sugar to taste, approximately 1/2 cup more or less. Wait to taste for sweetness until the juice concentrates are mixed in.

Let the holiday spiced tea simmer—but not boil—for at least an hour.

This tea is better tomorrow.Yum

After we’ve all enjoyed a cup, we store the rest in the fridge overnight, keeping the cloves and cinnamon sticks in the pitcher and the tea gets a stronger spiced flavor throughout the holiday weekend. We enjoy it cold or reheated. I can’t really tell you which is my favorite because I like it both ways!

What’s your favorite holiday drink?

Holiday Spiced Tea
 
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Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Author:
Ingredients
  • One gallon of tea brewed to instructions on tea package (regular or decaf)
  • Limeade concentrate
  • Orange juice concentrate
  • 5 cinnamon sticks
  • 10 cloves
  • ½ cup sugar (more or less to taste)
Instructions
  1. Brew the tea in a large pot on the stove.
  2. Once the tea bags are removed, add the rest of the ingredients.
  3. Simmer for a minimum of one hour, being careful not to boil.
  4. Enjoy warm or cold.
  5. Store leftovers in the fridge.

Tasha HackettTasha Hackett is a friend of Laura and has officially been writing since she asked for a journal for her 10th birthday. Her first novel, a historical Christian romance, Bluebird on the Prairie was released just this year, 2021, and she looks forward to sharing many more of her stories with the world. For now, you can read more about her and her fiction from her website: www.TashaHackett.com. 

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Easy and Inexpensive Stocking Stuffers

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This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

Perhaps you’ve gotten the majority of your shopping done for Christmas, but you still need a few small gifts for stockings? I’ve got you covered! Today I am sharing a list of my absolute favorite easy and inexpensive stocking stuffers!

Can you let you in on a little secret? Stocking stuffers are my favorite thing to make or buy. There is something about a stocking stuffer that’s so much fun! Throughout the years, I’ve discovered many ideas for fun stocking stuffers including homemade goodies, purchased trinkets, and other fun gift ideas!

When we were kids, our parents always put a pomegranate in the toe of every stocking. So we would open every little gift, and then fish out our pomegranate. We never purchased pomegranates any other time of year, and even now, whenever I eat a pomegranate it makes me feel like it is Christmas day!

Side note: if you, as the mom, love stuffing your family’s stockings, but yours always seems kinda empty, might I suggest you stuff a friend’s stocking, and she stuffs yours? Laura’s done this for years! She shares all the details here!

Consumable Stocking Stuffer Ideas for Everybody

Stocking Stuffer Ideas for Kids

  • A homemade gift certificate for an Experience Gift
  • Veggie Tales DVDs
  • Card games like Blink, Old Maid, Skip-Bo…
  • Regular decks of cards
  • Mittens or gloves, hats, scarves, ear muffs
  • Socks
  • Fun bandaids
  • CDs
  • Books
  • Hair clips and such for little girls (although I have no experience in this area!!)
  • School supplies

Stocking Stuffer Ideas for Women

  • Good quality pens
  • A Butter is My Love Language Shirt
  • Small (and pretty) note pads
  • Kitchen Towels
  • Earrings
  • Lotion Bars from MadeOn – this stuff works miracles on my dry skin!
  • Wooden Spoons and other Kitchen Utensils
  • Warm Fuzzy Slipper Socks
  • Flexi-Clip from Lilla Rose – because they’re beautiful and SO easy to use and inexpensive and pretty and…
  • Chapstick holder for a keychain
  • Sunglasses
  • A nice hat or gloves
  • A pretty scarf

Stocking Stuffer Ideas for Men

  • A new tie
  • A nice pair of socks
  • Good quality beef jerky
  • A back scratcher
  • A grill scraper
  • A magnetic wrist band to catch screws and nails
  • This neat pen tool
  • A pack of cards
  • A fun brain teaser
  • A bag of good quality coffee
  • A head massager

Your turn to share! What is one of your favorite stocking stuffer ideas?

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Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Homemaking Tips to Make Life Easier

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This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

Need some homemaking tips to make life easier? Yes. Me too…

Funny story (ok, it’s not actually that funny). I had a different post ready for today, then Tasha, who writes for me sometimes, texted me something like, “Hey I have something I really want to write today. Does that work for you?”

She pitched her idea, I quickly rescheduled my original post for a later date, and Tasha kicked out this post for us.

Hmm. So that story really wasn’t funny. It was pretty much just a story, and also, Tasha and I worked out a plan to take our little kids swimming tomorrow. Good talk.

One more thing (another funny story perhaps?) and then I’ll turn it over to Tasha: It is worth noting that I’m an older mom and she’s a younger mom, and now that I’m back to raising littles again, I found it weird at first to be an older mom hanging out with younger moms. Like, hello, I have a 23-year-old and other adulty children. But then God showed me how cool it is to hang out with younger moms like Tasha. We parent together, learn together, and who really cares how old we all are because we all just need each other for lots of different reasons.

God’s awesome, huh?

So hey, Tasha? Thanks for letting God use you to teach me stuff. And thanks for making it not-even-hard to hang out with friends who are different seasons than I am, except that oh yeah, here I am also in this “raising little kids” season again.

Truly, God is amazing.

Ok, now I’ll let Tasha have at it. I loved how she put all of this together. (And yes, I did read it. You’ll know why I said this when you keep reading her post…) :)

Homemaking Tips to Make Life Easier
By Tasha Hackett

I told my family I was working…

Homemaking is hard sometimes, but homemaking doesn’t have to be hard all the time. Just now I shut the bedroom door, settled into the corner of my bed (with no sheets because the 3 year old had an accident on my bed last night. Rude.) and I’m letting everyone else complete the morning chores. “I have to get another article written right away!” I said. Haha, and then I opened my homemaking bundle and went shopping. I’m sneaky like that.

Raise your hand if you would like to buy special and unique gifts but you never get to go anywhere because you have little people who do things like pee on your bed and you are so over it, but you still can’t go out because the baby takes two naps and then there’s this virus going around and who even knows if the stores are open?

So I bought some stuff online

Tasha here! (I’m Laura’s younger mom friend who likes to write stuff about money.) Currently my 8-year-old is walking around the house whistling while Dad is handing out laundry to put away. Can’t complain about the chores being done, trying not to complain about the whistling: “Which is not annoying at all,” said no-one-ever. Because I am good at life and can do hard things, I soldier on and despite the whistling I’m putting sentences together for you AND just bought my sister her Christmas present from Hope Ink and my brother his birthday present from Strawesome.

Ultimate Homemaking Bundle 2020

Here’s my secret to neat gifts: Ultimate Bundle Bonuses

Every year your favorite bloggers bombard you with all the great reasons you should buy the Ultimate Something-Or-Other Bundle. “Your life won’t be complete unless you buy it! Buy stuff! More stuff!” (No, really, if you haven’t bought all the things you can’t possibly be happy or organized or motherly or love homemaking enough, therefore… buy it!!!)

What’s up with that? Are they really trying just to make a buck? How can we even believe these products are worth any of that money? Don’t they know I’m trying to get out of debt and save up all my money to build a house? I’m not a blogger, I’m just a friend of a blogger. Laura lets me write stuff for her, and I don’t even know if she reads it. I could be posting about hippopotamuses and how they like to swim in pink jello in the arctic…

But, I’ll get to the point: Because I’m awesome, I buy other people stuff when I see great sales for great stuff. It’s great to start planning Christmas stuff way before Christmas… And I use the word “stuff” entirely too often because sometimes words are hard because of sleep and not having enough and because of kids and having enough.

hackett family

Tasha, the budget girl, bought the Homemaking Bundle

I wasn’t going to. Money is weird like that; not having much money for too many years created a habit of feeling bad anytime I do spend it. When I make a poor purchase, an impulse buy, an overpriced something-or-other that I end up not using, I do not allow myself to feel guilty anymore. Marie Kondo helped me over that hump–instead I accept it, and move forward. I say to that item, “Thank you for teaching me a lesson.”

So when the Ultimate Homemaking Bundle became available again, I said, “Nope! You’re not fooling me. I didn’t even use you last year!” But then Laura’s promotions won me over and here’s why I bought it: Neat gifts available through the bonus coupons, Motivated Moms Planner, and Green Means Go. I looked through and found a couple things that I was absolutely going to use, so I know for sure that I’ll get my money’s worth.

Bonuses!

I spent $30 on the bundle and then I immediately went to my Hope Ink Bonus and got my freebies. This “freebie” cost me another $20. But without the discount, my total would have been well over $100. The artwork is beautiful, creative, and inspiring and who doesn’t enjoy supporting another woman’s creative business? I’m keeping two prints, gifting two and I’ve received a free file to print my own cards.

Then I went to my Strawesome Bonus and bought three discounted re-usable glass straws and the straw cleaner. My total was $6.38 (Don’t tell my brother what he’s getting for his birthday. Happy 24th!) I’m saving the world, one plastic straw at a time. I will be a repeat customer with Strawesome, even without my bonus coupon, their prices are immensely affordable.

I’ve registered for my Free Around the World Stories, a completely free resource worth $38. It includes 10 different 3o minute audio stories from 10 different countries. Each story includes bonus material for added learning: Recipes, activities, some language and facts about the country. This will be great to use for our homeschool next year, and just for listening to a good story when I need the kids to go away and be quiet for half an hour if you know what I mean and I think you do.

Feeling motivated yet?

Next, I printed out two pages from my Motivated Moms Planner. MY FAVORITE! I’ve used many different house cleaning checklists in the past, so far, this is my favorite (And I’ve used it before and know that I will use it). She has every chore I could ever need spread out over the year. If I am able to complete just a few a day, it keeps my house company-ready without the mad dash, if you know what I mean and I think you do.

For example, today I need to wipe down the deep freeze among other things. I am assigning that job to the whistling 8 year old. Otherwise I will wipe down the deep freeze NEVER and years from now it will be absolutely disgusting and I’ll wonder how I became such a slob. Homemaking doesn’t have to be as hard when we let someone else do the planning.

The Green Means Go ebook is a lovely activity I am going to “play” with my 3 and 5 year old this week. This helps young people to deal with big emotions. First we identify “How Do I Feel?” and an exhaustive list of emotions are provided with pictures. Then we assess, “What Can I Do?” and there is another list of positive responses to those emotions and then we talk about “My Calm Self.” For example: When I feel embarrassed, I can hug my teddy bear, and then I reassess and I feel peaceful. My plan is to go through the cards and options with my little guys when they are in a good mood, so that we have strategies to handle life when we’re not in a good mood.

Ultimate Homemaking Bundle 2020

So there you have it

I found a few things that I absolutely know I’m going to use and love. And if I happen to not open anything else, but I’m sure I will, it is a worthwhile purchase. I’m interested in reading: Celebrate Nature: Memory and Copywork (poetry copywork for my homeschool), Cleaning with Essential Oils and How to Design a Room from Start to Finish, (because I am not naturally good at interior design stuff).

Lastly, I’m going to email Laura a screenshot of my receipt ([email protected]) because she promised to give everyone who purchased the bundle through her link a prayer journal and a handwritten note. Now excuse me while I go ask my whistler to please take his whistling self outside.

Get your bundle here! And be sure to let me know what item makes your homemaking life easier.

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Note from Laura: I have loved receiving your emails telling me which of these Prayer Journals you want me to send you and why. While freebies are nice, you guys aren’t in this for the freebie. You’re in it so that your relationship with God to grow while you work hard for your home and family. I praise God for this!!!

Ultimate Homemaking Bundle 2020

Then send me your receipt and tell me which of these journals you want!

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

How to Have Stress-Free Christmas (Hint: START NOW!)

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Is it possible to have a stress-free Christmas? Yup! Tasha shares how!

Hey Everyone! Tasha here. I wrote a Christmas Budget script for us to read together. I put on my brown tweed blazer and I was immedietly inspired. (The equivalant to my thinking cap, because it’s winter in Nebraska and cold in my house; not just because I think it makes me look like a sophisticated Mommy-turned-naptime-writer.) This play will be a hit! Someday you’ll see it on a marquee and you will stop and take a picture and tell all your friends, “I know the girl who wrote that!” and it’ll be grand.

Naptime writers unite! I promise wearing a blazer makes you legit.

The Best Financial Christmas Story Ever

Enter Tasha and HH Reader

Me: Christmas is coming soon! Only 300 and something days left! I can’t wait to start my Christmas Budget.

You: Tasha, no… please stop. It’s February.

Me: I know, right?!?! Only ten months left to plan. I’m so excited!

You: Tasha, you’re out of control! Nobody wants to plan Christmas right now. We’re so DONE with Christmas. I mean, really. Some of us haven’t even taken the decorations down.

Me: Yikes! Better get on that. But really. Let’s talk about Christmas for this year.

You: Do we have to?

Me: Yes.

You: No.

Me: If you trust me, I promise to deliver the most stress-free, relaxed Christmas you’ve ever had in your life before. It’s simple and easy.

You: Mmmmk, keep talking…

Simple and Easy Christmas Budget

Me: Whew! I’m in! [Wink to audience.] Okay, so here’s the sitch: According to multiple sources, Americans are in BIG credit card debt, and many of them, perhaps you, will be paying for Christmas well into the summer months.

You: Well, yeah. I want to Go All Out for the Holidays. How else can I do that?

Me: By starting now, or preferably last month, in January. The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear, and by deciding how much you are going to spend and start saving for it now. Tada! That’s the plan.

You: But how do I know how much I’m going to spend?

Me: That’s a tricky one. A good amount to plan for is one percent of your total income. $500 is 1% of $50,000. Can you spend more than 1%? I don’t know, can you? Here’s an example of my Christmas budget:

  • Immediate family gifts at approximately $30 each = $180
  • Extended family gifts, make or buy $10 each = $160
  • Gifts for 11 little cousins, make or buy $5 each = $55
  • Special and delicious holiday food: $200
  • Extra Gas for travel: $200

This brings me to: $795 / 12 = $67 a month to save. This is way over the one percent guideline for our household, but spread out over 12 months it’s doable. In past years when we were on an extreme budgeting plan we spent a total of $300 for Christmas. That covered, gifts, food, and most of it went to travel costs to see family.

Gifts for everyone?

You: 16 extended family members and 11 little cousins to buy for? Really?

Me: Buying or making presents is a choice. I like to do it, it’s fun to make something or find a little something special for each person.

You: How can you find anything of value for $10? Giving junk Christmas gifts is never appreciated.

Me: True, so glad you asked! Part of the joy of planning Christmas right now, is that I have a list of everyone I need to buy for in my planner, and when I’m out and about during the year, I will pick up something wonderful and special and unique for the right person at the right price. We love Christmas shopping at summer yard sales. I have found beautiful china tea cups for $1 and quality Melissa and Doug toys for cheap. Thrift stores, antique shops, yard/garage sales… all places to go Christmas shopping throughout the year. When you wait until December to buy your presents, it’s almost too late, my friend.

One year we made the little cousins a huge batch of homemade playdough with sparkles and Christmas smelling oil: $5 for 11 kids. That’s 45¢ a kid! For something they really liked! They played together with it for hours throughout the weekend.

This is how we do snack time with 8 little kids in the house for the holiday.

BUT… I have a secret. Because I am so wise, I also cheat the budget for Christmas. If you want to go all out, like Laura, and you wrap up socks to put under the tree, don’t take that out of your Christmas budget!

Ways to cheat the budget when it comes to Christmas

Me: Your monthly budget should have an item line for Clothing and Shoes, or maybe even another for Athletic Gear. If I buy socks to put under the tree, that will come out of the Clothing Budget. If I buy a tennis racket to put under the tree, that may come out of the Athletic Gear or School Budget, if I buy a lovely book of poetry and a globe, that will come out of the School Budget.

So that covers the Christmas money issue. Please don’t go into debt for the holidays. You’ll thank me next June. Decide how much you’re going to spend and save up for it throughout the year. That’s the only way that makes sense to me. I don’t know about you, but I don’t have an extra $500 (or more or less) sitting around in the bank during the month of December.

As a result of awesome budgeting, my Christmas contains a complete lack of stress and guilt. I don’t feel guilty for spending money I shouldn’t have spent. I’m not stressed about having enough in the bank to pay the high winter utilities. There’s enough to do for Christmas, like play games and eat food, I don’t want to waste my limited energy worrying about money.

You: I think your script is terrible. It’ll never see the stage. But thanks for the budget tips.

Me: Well, you can’t win ‘em all.

Exit.

Standing ovation. Amiright? No, of course not, you’d spill the Warm Pumpkin Custard Drink you’re sipping. I get it. It’s one of my favorites too.

Hey, while I have you here. I’m sure you’ve heard by now, Laura went and started her own club. Have you joined? I LOOOVE the recipe organization and all the included Homeschool resources. Meal planning is a breeze. A BREEZE. Not like a Nebraska winter wind that makes you cry because you live in a place where the air hurts your face. No. Not like that. Just click, browse, click, browse, click, print. Done. That’s how I do it anyway.

#WhatsForDinner

P.S. In case you’re wondering, I’m having a version this pot pie for dinner, except I’m using shredded pork because it’s what I had on hand, and a bag frozen mixed veggies instead of all that pesky chopping. It’s ironic because Laura also tried writing a script in that recipe post? I think mine is better, yea? What’s your vote? And do you have a Christmas Budget?

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Dear Mama, You Are Worthy

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Hey Mama, Wife, Friend, Aunt, Sister, Daughter, Dearest Child of God: You are Worthy!

Remember my friend Tasha? She’s the one that wrote Does Family Really Come First at Mealtime? She may become a regular voice around here because she’s got a lot of good words to share with us, plus she cracks me up a lot. She and I are raising babies together – Tasha, because she’s a young mom and me, because I’m an old mom raising babies for the second time. Who knew I’d get to be cool enough to hang out with the young moms again?!

Please enjoy Tasha’s words of humor and wisdom…

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Dear Mama, You Are Worthy

(Laura’s alternate title: I’m Not Naming Names but Someone Needs an Amazon Intervention)

By Tasha Hackett

Taking care of my baby, I have been surviving on roughly 3-5 hours of sleep per night for a few months. Total hours. Not even all at once. Pretty sure when God made the moon and sun and then the animals and humans he designed us to work in a rhythm that included the humans sleeping at night. I’ve told my husband, Ben, on more than one occasion, “I feel like I’m slowly dying.” 

During the long and seemingly endless nights, sometimes I read the Bible on my phone, and sometimes I remember that I need to change my Subscribe and Save order because I do NOT need another 25LB bag of rice. And sometimes I order a super cute sundress and when it arrives it turns out to be not nearly as cute on me as it is on the model.

One time I opened a package and found boho style parachute pants with peacock feathers designs on them and I did not have a memory of ordering them. Truly! I tried them on, and they fit. But I wondered who had sent them. Amazon knows. My orders show that I did indeed buy them two nights prior. I thought they looked ridiculous. Ben said, “You will wear them.… and let that be a lesson to you.” And wear them I did. With tennis shoes, obviously. Turns out they are the most comfortable pants EVER. My sleep-deprived subconscious apparently knew what I needed. I wore them all day, and all night, and the next day, etc… shhh. Don’t tell my Grandma.

Note from Laura: You, too, can have a pair of pants like these.
Also, if anyone can pull them off, it’s Tasha. Am I right?

My 3 am Amazon deals haven’t gotten me into too much trouble yet. I pushed the limit last week with the middle of the night purchase of the ever-coveted Blendtec. Yea. That was me. I’m the one in need of an Amazon intervention. I blame Laura. She talks and talks and talks about the Blendtec! Give us a break already! How are we to hold up against such constant nagging persuasion?! Also, it was on sale. Like, SO MUCH on sale. AND. IT’S FOR THE BABY! If I make the baby super yummy and healthy food he will grow strong and healthy and he will thank me someday. And maybe sleep?!?

Here’s Laura, nagging about the Blendtec.
You should get one.
You should so get one.
Get one! Get one now! Hurry up!
Now back to what Tasha was saying about how great it is that she bought a Blendtec…

So. Click. I bought it. Do I love it? Yes. Yes, I do.  In the first three days I made three types of baby food (with all the extra frozen into cubes and bagged for later), ground-up oats and coconut into flour, two smoothies, tomato sauce, ice cream, applesauce, frappuccino, strawberry whipped dessert…

Stevia Sweetened Chocolate Frappe

Buying the blendtec that night was a splurge. I had been considering one for over a year; my defenses were broken down that sleepless night. So, so, sleepless. I know this season of my life is just that. A season. I joke about many things, and I am enjoying parts of life, but I am surviving it one day at a time, one afternoon at a time, one hour… and sometimes the next ten minutes.

This past year of poor sleep has been one of the most difficult of my life. Okay, so I have an Amazon addiction. You want to know a little secret? This is a fairly new addiction. A couple of weeks ago, I decided that I needed help. Like, really needed help.

My physical, emotional, and spiritual red flags were waving. I decided that I would rather pay for that help than save up for a vacation that I had no energy to go on. I now pay someone to come clean my house once a week, I pay a highschooler to come babysit for an hour twice a week, I pay a neighbor to mow my huge lawn, I am meeting weekly with a counselor. …and, I started buying more things for myself. You know why? (I mean, besides the fact that it’s 3 in the morning and I’m scrolling around on Amazon.) It’s because I decided that I am worthy. I am worthy of using my money to buy things for myself. *GASP* 

I am not encouraging you to buy a bunch of stuff you don’t need. Please don’t. But if you are that Mama that scrimps when taking care of herself, is it because deep down you don’t feel like you deserve it? Like somehow you’re not worthy of having nice things? Are you so busy running around that you forgot to eat again? Did you “find time” to shower? 

So it has taken me two weeks to type this out because: motherhood. But tonight I have something amazing to share with you. The baby has begun to sleep. Praising God every morning. Last night was a full 8 hours at once. But with a clearer head, I have something important I wanted to tell you. 

You are so worthy!

I am crying out to you right now, please hear me. Did God send his only Son down here to be born as a tiny, crying, hungry, wet, and bloody baby for us to say, “Oh, I don’t deserve ____.”

Wow, isn’t God amazing?! Jesus came down here to be subject to a mother’s teaching. I guarantee you as a toddler he fell and scraped his knee and cried and Mary took him in her arms and dried his tears. The God of the whole universe came down here to be with us because he wanted you to know, to really really know, how much you are loved. You are his beloved. 

You are worthy of love. You are worthy of being happy. 

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How We Save Year Round So We Can Enjoy a Big Christmas

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Earlier this week, I shared that I go ALL OUT at Christmas time and I don’t feel bad about it. Today I’d like to share some ways we save money all year round so that we can enjoy a big Christmas without guilt or challenge.

We definitely splurge here and there on fun treats throughout the year. But for the most part, most of the time we try to keep the special treats special. Here are some examples…

How We Save Year Round So We Can Enjoy a Big Christmas

1. We don’t frequently buy coffee from a coffee shop.

If we’re traveling or out for a fun event out of town, you bet we’ll enjoy a special drink from a coffee shop. But the hefty receipt reminds us why we don’t splurge on that treat regularly!

At home, we always have a pot of coffee ready to brew. We buy fun add-ins and enjoy delicious coffee in our own mug for a much cheaper price tag.

2. We rarely eat out.

Again, we reserve this for times of travel or for being out of town for an event. When we’re home, we’ll occasionally order pizza when there’s a great deal online or when I’ve had a full day from going to court or meetings for our foster kids. Otherwise, we mostly eat at home, which saves hundreds or thousands of dollars since our family is large.

3. We rarely go to movies.

Once a year or so, there’s a movie that Matt and/or the boys like to see in the theater. Otherwise, we wait for the movie to come out on Redbox. Lots of money saved, but still a lot of fun to be had!

4. We buy ice cream from the store instead of from a restaurant.

Ha, this is a silly one, and also a confession that we now frequently buy ice cream to keep in our freezer. :) What can I say? We have a lot of teenagers in our house. And a dad who likes ice cream.

All sugary confessions aside, here’s how we save money on this treat: We’ve found that we can go to DQ and spend $3.50 per person, or we can go to Walmart and spend $2.98 for our entire family. We don’t even just get the boring kinds. We get cookies and cream, chocolate chip cookie dough, peanut butter cup, chocolate mint, sea salt caramel. (Don’t look at the ingredient list…don’t look at the ingredient list…if you don’t know what’s in it, it can’t hurt you. Heh.)

So we’re getting the same deliciousness as a DQ Blizzard at a fraction of the price.

5. We don’t have cable TV.

We have zero channels, and we have Netflix. That’s it, and yes we miss watching sports sometimes but that’s what friends with cable are for. (We offer to bring food in exchange for watching the World Cup. It’s a win-win.)

I have no idea how much this saves us each year, but thousands I’m guessing. Hundreds at least.

6. I buy Christmas wrapping paper and decorations 50%-90% off after Christmas to prepare for the next year.

I took a friend with me last year to take advantage of the huge discounts. We’re still laughing about how much we got – and high-fiving about how much we saved!! It’s hard to pass up such inexpensive wrapping paper, right?

I always get lights to have on hand next year to replace broken ones, gift bags, tags, ornaments, paper plates and napkins, and whatever else I feel we can use. Oh my, and lots and lots of wrapping paper.

None of this is a judgment against those who regularly enjoy cable, coffeeshop coffee, ice cream outings, etc. This was just me sharing that we choose to enjoy treats at home more often than enjoying treats out.

And then when Christmas rolls around, we have extra money to splurge and enjoy extra special treats and outings. I don’t consider this a sacrifice – like we’re saving all year long so that we can have a big Christmas. This is simply our lifestyle, and it means that at Christmastime we kind of go nuts, because it’s fun and we feel that THIS is the time to go all out!

How about you? How do you save and when do you splurge!?

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Why I Go ALL OUT For Christmas (and Feel Good About It!)

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This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

With many talking about how to save money at Christmas time, how to have a minimalist Christmas, and how to do less for Christmas, I’d like to share today about why I go ALL OUT for Christmas. And why I don’t feel bad about this.

I’m not normally a stuff buyer or a gift-giver. Every other month of the year I am a cleaner-outer – a girl who feels that less-is-more. But at Christmas time? GIVE ME ALL THE CHRISTMAS!!!! And let there be lots of presents!!!

Allow me to explain…

Why I Go ALL OUT For Christmas (and Feel Good About It!)

Part of me can’t explain my “why” except for the fact that I really, really love Christmas. I look forward to it, make big plans for it, am super creative with it, and do everything I can to give my family the best day ever. This, in turn, makes it the best day ever for me, because I get to watch my favorite people having tons of fun on my favorite day.


Wow, this picture was many years and fewer boys ago.

So because I love Christmas so much, and I love watching my kids (young and old) have fun with this day of celebration, I tend to go ALL OUT making the day fun and festive. Can you believe this…

Last year I made our Christmas morning last from 8am until 2pm.

Yes I did, thank you very much. We sat in the living room (and/or at the breakfast table) Christmasing together for six beautiful hours. Then we cleaned up some of the mess and had a late Christmas dinner together: Lasagna, because it can be made ahead of time and bake while we are Christmasing. It’s become our family’s Christmas dinner tradition!

What does our very long Christmas morning look like? Keep reading if you dare. :)

Well, first I should backtrack and say that instead of drawing names, all of our boys buy a gift for all of their brothers. (With our growing family, this in and of itself turns into a lot of presents under the tree because 5 boys times 1 gift each to all of the others, plus a gift from each for Dad and a gift from each for Mom…I can’t even do the math. And this year there are 7 boys, plus Mom and Dad, so we’ll have to figure out how we’re going to include the babies in this since they’ll obviously care more about ribbon and boxes than anything else.)

Why do all the boys get a gift for all the other boys? Because everyone loves it!

Everyone makes a wish list and it includes things like a new phone case, soccer socks, dress shirts for work, windshield wipers for their car, and all sorts of other fun and practical requests. This is obviously an example of the  “big boy” list. The little boys’ lists are easy, and I make those based on what they need. :)

Once everyone has made a list, the boys take turns shopping with me for their brothers and Dad. It is truly special seeing them pick out gifts for their brothers as they say things like, “Oh, he’ll love that!” (Dad takes the boys shopping for me separately.)

Most of our gifts to each other are practical. This is the main reason we can buy a lot of gifts at Christmastime. When our boys need something – new soccer cleats or shin guards, work clothes, school clothes, something for their car – they put it on their wish list. Some think this is boring, but we think it is fun. IT IS FUN TO OPEN A BIG PILE OF PRESENTS!!!! Or at least we all think so – even if the gifts include socks and tools.

So there are many presents under the tree because everyone buys something for everyone. Phew.

But wait. There’s more.

This is the part where I go crazy and probably sound crazy, but boy do I have fun!

Matt and I do something unique for our gifts to our boys (and by “Matt and I” I really mean I, while Matt smiles shrugs and nods shakes his head and lets me have my crazy fun). Besides all the presents under the tree from one another, this is what the boys wake up to on Christmas morning

Piles.

Many piles of gifts. That must be opened in order. AFTER THEY HAVE SOLVED A RIDDLE TOGETHER to determine what is in each pile.

I know, I’m nuts. Thankfully the boys love it and look forward to it and have now come to expect it. So for instance…

Pile #4 last year was a stack of gifts that included new York College beanie caps. They needed new beanies, everyone got a different one, we get an employee discount at YC, and they are great quality hats. Here’s the riddle the boys had to solve together before opening this pile of gifts:

What, you’re still cold? It’s ok, we are on it
This is much better than a cap or a bonnet
They’re special, don’t lose them, they cost a bit more
Thank goodness Dad gets a discount for doing his chore

They take turns reading the riddles, work together to solve, then take turns opening their gifts to reveal who got what beanie. (Trading is allowed.) For the record, we got Brayden (5) a fun beanie from Walmart that he loved just as much but cost a little less. :)

Another riddle gift we got last year included everything we needed for a Family Movie Night:

Another throwback, you say? Don’t mind if I do
We’ll enjoy this along with something to drink and to chew
You’ll remember the VHS variety, and it’s time to improve
These gifts make for a fun night as the sweeps make their move

Can you guess? It was a Mary Poppins DVD, which was a favorite when our first set of boys was little. Since we’ve got young ones again and Mary Poppins brings back such good memories for all of us, we thought getting the DVD was a perfect family gift. So for this pile of gifts, one person opened the package with the movie, and everyone else opened a present that included a snack item we’d enjoy while watching together.

Other piles from last year included gifts like:

  • Slippers – see how practical? But if we need them anyway…
  • Board Games – last year they included Candy Land and Hi Ho Cherry-O since we had landed back in a place with littles (and ha, little did we know that God would bring us more babies this year!)
  • Socks – with this riddle to go with it:

Nothing special here, but it’s something else to unwrap
They are fancy and fun, not a shirt or a cap
Keep what’s in your sack or feel free to trade
These can replace those in your drawer that are starting to fade

But wait. There’s still more.

I know. It’s crazy. BUT IT’S SO FUN!

After the boys solve the riddles and open the piles, there is one more Riddle Gift they have to work together to solve. This one includes a Day Out that’s become a tradition – so this gift is about an outing we enjoy together on December 26. See how the fun just keeps on keeping on, even after Christmas day??! (Then on the 27th I’m all done and ready to move on into well…summer.) :) :)

For this gift, Matt and I have chosen several fun things to do in Lincoln (45 minutes from our home), then I write riddles for the boys to figure out so they learn what our Day Out will include.

Two years ago, it looked something like this, though of course, the boys had to solve riddles to figure out all that we were doing:

  1. Grab a coffee from Captain Red Beards on our way out of town (our local shop that we love but hardly frequent because we make coffee at home every day instead!).
  2. Head out of town and go to Play It Again Sports where each of us got to choose a used tennis racket (they loved this so much!).
  3. Go to the indoor tennis courts where we rented space for two hours and played 3-on-3 and made fun of ourselves because most of us were…unpracticed.
  4. Go to lunch at Raising Canes, one of our favorites.
  5. Walk the mall, choosing one inexpensive item each (after Christmas sales, whoop!)
  6. Dinner at our friends’ house (extra special because we don’t get to see them often)

After all the riddle gifts – and I should mention that somewhere in there we’ve paused and eaten our Christmas breakfast – the boys open their gifts from each other and Matt and I open gifts from the boys and each other and there are boxes and paper everywhere!

It’s a lot of Christmasing, it costs some money, and it is actually kind of excessive (what with all the piles). But I love it and I feel no regret about this. After all, we are frugal all year long, rarely eat out or buy coffee from shops, almost never to go movies or splurge on anything that we can make or do ourselves at home. But one day each year, for Christmas, we go ALL OUT. It’s an absolute blast! (And yes, we still shop sales and see how we can save on all the gifts and outings!)

Where’s Jesus in all of this?

Oh trust me, He’s there. He’s in every bit of it as our family has spent the entire year striving to look outside of ourselves and serve selflessly. Jesus is in every moment of our days, so you can bet He’s a part of our Christmas, even while we go a little crazy with gifts and silliness.

Jesus is in our laughter and our time around the tree and our mealtimes. He’s in our Christmas Eve extra-long family prayer time while we sit at the tree with all the lights out except for the Christmas lights. He is the reason for the season and without a doubt, He makes our Christmas completely full of joy.

The days leading to Christmas, we help people in our community to be sure their holiday will be extra special too with plenty of food and special gifts. But we’ve decided it is important to hold December 25 as sacred for our family. Christmas day is the one day every year we close our door and focus inward toward our family unit.

This year, there will be 9 of us. Matt, me, our five boys and our two foster babes. I absolutely cannot wait!!

So now you know. Laura goes crazy at Christmas and has no regrets. It is the most fun and the family loves it!

I believe that there’s no one right way to “do Christmas” because Jesus can be in it when you choose to let Jesus be in it. Christmas is joy, God is love, and no matter if you’re big into gift-giving or choose to take a minimalist stance, Jesus can be at the helm.

I’d love to hear what your Christmases are like. Big, small, get up early, sleep in, wear jammies all day, dress up fancy, go all out, keep it simple…

Whatever you do, choose Jesus as your center. He’s in it all if our hearts are focused on His Truth.

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Coming up next: Ways We Save All Year Round So We Can Enjoy a Big Christmas!

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97 Real Food Dessert Recipes for the Holidays

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Christmas time is the time we tend to “need” a few dessert recipes to choose from. Today, I’ll hand you 97 real food dessert recipes for the holidays!

This ol’ blog has been around for quite some time. Eleven years to be exact.

When I began writing and sharing recipes back in 2007, I was fairly new to the “real food” scene. I had in mind that if I substituted white flour for whole wheat, and white sugar for sucanat, I was healthifying a recipe. Oops.

You can’t help what you don’t know, and you can’t do better until you know better. And shucks, I still don’t know what I don’t know, so I’m sure to come back in the 2020’s to share how much I’ve learned since 2018!

But I thought it was worth a mention, and before I send you looking through all 97 of these recipes, you should know this: The earlier the post, the more sugar-loaded the recipe will be! Yowza. I’ve edited many of these through the years to cut out some of the high sugar content. But I haven’t caught them all. Anyway, you’ve been warned. Merry Christmas. ;)

At least they all do call for real food ingredients. Real butter for the win!

97 Real Food Dessert Recipes for the Holidays

  1. Banana Cake
  2. Brownie Sundae Bar
  3. Butterscotch Bars
  4. Caramel Apple Dip
  5. Caramel Brownies
  6. Caramel Frosting
  7. Caramel Oatmeal Bars
  8. Caramel Sauce
  9. Carrot Cake – Low Sugar!
  10. Cheesecake Brownies
  11. Chocolate Cake – Low Sugar!
  12. Chocolate Caramel Cups
  13. Chocolate Caramel Truffles
  14. Chocolate Cheesecake Dessert – Low Sugar!
  15. Chocolate Cheesecake Pie
  16. Chocolate Chip Brownies
  17. Chocolate Chip Cookies
  18. Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cookies
  19. Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
  20. Chocolate Frappe – Low Sugar!
  21. Chocolate Frosting, Honey Sweetened – Low Sugar!
  22. Chocolate Fudge Frosting
  23. Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake – No Bake
  24. Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups
  25. Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie
  26. Chocolate Peanut Butter Pudding Cake
  27. Chocolate Snowballs
  28. Chocolate Whipped Cream on Strawberries or In Your Coffee – Low Sugar!
  29. Christmas Spice Cookies
  30. Coconut Cupcakes
  31. Coconut Flour Brownies
  32. Coconut Macaroons
  33. Cranberry Orange Scones
  34. Cream Cheese Fruit Dip
  35. Creamy Pudding
  36. Crustless Cheesecake Cups
  37. Dark Chocolate Peppermint Mousse
  38. Death By Chocolate
  39. Flourless Fudge Cookies
  40. Flourless Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
  41. Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies
  42. Fruit Crisp
  43. Fruit Pizza
  44. Fruit Topped Cheesecake
  45. Funnel Cake
  46. Gingerbread Men
  47. Homemade Ice Cream
  48. Honey Peanut Bars
  49. Honey Pecan Pie
  50. Hot Chocolate Mix
  51. Hot Chocolate Souffle
  52. Hot Cocoa
  53. Ice Cream Sandwiches
  54. Icy Cold Milkshake Treats
  55. Lemon Pound Cake
  56. Mini Apple Pies
  57. Mint Oreos
  58. Mock Frozen Yogurt
  59. Monster Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars – no flour!
  60. Mudballs
  61. Oatmeal Butterscotch Chip Cookies
  62. Orange Cream Cheese Cutouts
  63. Peanut Butter Apple Cookie Bars
  64. Peanut Butter Brownie Cups
  65. Peanut Butter Cake – Low Sugar!
  66. Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cake
  67. Peanut Butter Honey Bars
  68. Peanut Butter Honey Fudge
  69. Peanut Butter Raisin Balls
  70. Peanut Butter Truffles
  71. Peppermint Cream Cocoa
  72. Peppermint Patties
  73. Peppernuts
  74. Pineapple Cream Dessert – Low Sugar!
  75. Pistachio Pudding
  76. Pumpkin Cheesecake – Low Sugar!
  77. Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake
  78. Pumpkin Pecan Pie Squares
  79. Pumpkin Pie
  80. Red(less) Velvet Cake
  81. Reindeer Cuties
  82. Reindeer Brownies
  83. Rice Crispy Treats – the healthier way!
  84. Salted Caramel Apple Crisp
  85. Snickerdoodles
  86. Snow Ice Cream
  87. Strawberry Jelly Roll
  88. Strawberry Shortcake
  89. Twinkies
  90. Very Berry Brownie Cups
  91. Very Vanilla Cookies
  92. White Chocolate Peppermint Popcorn
  93. Whole Wheat Chocolate Cake
  94. Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies
  95. Whole Wheat Vanilla Wafers
  96. Zucchini Cake
  97. Zucchini Brownies

Reading the list kinda makes me want to drink a glass of water to wash down all the sugar. :)

Need some Real Food Low Sugar recipes? Me too!

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