Please say a Little Prayer for Dino

We are once again having issues with Dino's special ed pre-school. I am not ready to get into everything right now. We are going to take him to a university to test for anxiety issues both Mike and I feel he have. The school does not believe a preschooler can have anxiety and is still insisting he as an issue with his brain. They want to see his medical records with his MRI (the one the neurologist said was completely normal).

Please pray for guidance in determining treatment for Dino. I will post more later next week when I am not so emotional.

Thank you :)

Thrifty Thursday--The First Edition (Let's Talk Responsibility!)

Welcome to my very first Thrifty Thursday! It is time to reclaim our economic future and feel good about where we are going. I really hope we can share great ways to save money in the next coming weeks.

But let's be honest. All the best spending tips and amazing coupons in the world won't help our budget if we are not responsible.

The bible states all we have is given on loan by God. Are we using our finances in the best possible way? Are we taking the steps to protect our family's well-being and future? And most important how can we be more 'responsible' for our income?

My personal tip for the week is actually very simple. Tracking down every expense. Yes, getting a notebook and recording every single purchase/check/auto-pay. The idea for this comes from a man who started out pretty dang poor named John D. Rockefeller. Starting at a very young age, Rockefeller carried a little notebook with him everywhere he went and recorded every single purchase, no matter how small or large. He called it "Ledger A".

So my tip for everyone today is create your own "Ledger A". It can be on digital on your phone or on paper. Just make sure it is easy to take everywhere with you and permanent (so no, writing on your hand is not a good idea).

The beauty of "Ledger A" is discovered after a month or so. You can add up those little expenses and see just how little they really are (Starbucks fans--that includes you). "Ledger A" can also help create a more accurate budget for your family too. 

Oh and that poor little boy John who had a "Ledger A" grew up to be one of the richest men in history. Maybe "Ledger A" can help you reach your financial dreams too!

Now it's your turn. What keeps you responsible? Please leave a comment and a link to your blog if you plan to post on it. I am embarrassed to admit I cannot figure out Mister Linky without getting one of the plans and I would rather not do that. If anyone has a minute to help me on this, I'd appreciate ;)

Taxpayer's Clearing House

This video made me laugh and cry all at once.

My Very First Menu Monday

I am jumping on the bandwagon and joining the many, many bloggers who share their weekly meal plan.

As I mentioned before, I am big on meal plans. Meal plans keep you from driving to the nearest take out spot and spending way too much money on not so good for you food. Now of course things happen and there are those times when you need to get the take-out but for the most part a meal plan will keep your kitchen organized.

I like to stick to at least one meatless meal, one vegan meal, one carb free meal, one easy grab meal and one pasta meal. In the perfect world, I would have nights for this (Meatless Monday, Fish Friday, etc.) but even I am not that 'together' ;)

I also like to take items from other nights and add them to other nights--like a whole chicken roast one night followed by chicken noodle soup a few nights later.

Anyway, before I bore you to pieces (sorry if I have already!), let me just show you what the very busy household is eating this week:

Monday: Homemade Pizza topped with grilled veggies and tossed salad

Tuesday: Lamb Stew (veggies in stew so a one-pot wonder!)

Wednesday: Wild Salmon sauteed with Kale 

Thursday: Tuscan Bean Soup (this is from an incredible soup base I use for a variety of soups--I will share the recipe next week in Thrifty Thursday) (includes leafy greens so another one-pot wonder!)

Friday:  Chicken Parmigiana with pasta and broccolinni  (sauce left-over from pizza night)

Saturday: Build your Own Sandwich Night on the panini press (I have a GNO so I will not cook!)

Sunday: Leftover lamb stew meat in pitas and small salad

**If you would like any of this recipes, please feel free to email me at verybusymomwith4@gmail.com

Making the World A Little Bit Better

Remember when I said I wanted my blog to make a difference. That's kind of fallen by the wayside--illness, ice storms...the best intentions of mice and men.

Anyway since then, things have been happening in our world. Not good things either. Really scary words are being uttered--job loss, inflation, recession, depression, nuclear arms in the Middle East, nuclear arms in Korea, and more. It is enough to make you want to bury your head under the covers and hope it all goes away. At least we've felt this way here.

So I have been trying to bring more and more troubles to God. I've been praying. I've been reminding myself and my husband God is bigger , so much bigger than any of this. There is nothing He cannot control. 

I have been praying for peace and recently I got some in the way of a blog post. My dear sweet blogger friend Amanda had a post about Paying it Forward. She was offering a little 'love gift' for her first three commenters if you made sure you did the same. Surprise--I won! (Thanks Amanda!) It made me think about the whole concept. About doing something and helping others. It brought me back to that post so long ago when I mentioned I wanted to help. And just like that I found peace.

I have found exactly what I want to do. I want to help others and encourage others to do the same. Because the economy is the most pressing item in everyone's mind, I'd like to start a new tradition here at Very Busy Mom with 4--a way to help and bring encouragement once a week. I am going to call it "Thrifty Thursday". Each Thursday I will focus on a way to stay fiscally strong and wise in these difficult times. I will have a different topic each week along with a Mr.Linky so we can all share our ideas. This week, our theme is 'responsibility'. Specifically--how to be responsible with the money you have now.

I am really excited and I hope you will join me this Thursday!

Now back to "Pay It Forward"! The first three people to comment on this post will receive a special package full of Lone Star Love sometime this year. The winners in turn will need to post their own "pay it forward" for their readers and then they will post and the general loving project will grow and grow!

So come on, I plan on sending very unique-to-Texas food items to my first three (and y'all know we have GOOD stuff down here!)!

Thank you so much for being a reader and I pray Thrifty Thursday will be a positive influence in your life!

One of the Best Parts of Homeschool

It was a warm, sunny day. A really sunny day.

"Hey mommy--it is too sunny to sit in the house or even in the car!"

Spanky was right. So this mommy took a brief a stop from the very busy homeschooling day and surprised her four children with lunch al fresco. At a place that the healthy mommy almost never ever took the four children. This was the starter.



Note the lovely sliced jalepenos. Cheddar fries just aren't the same without 'em.

And so it was the perfect break from equations, chreias and spelling. And something I can do because I homeschool. It makes up for all those crazy, insane, about-to-bang-my-head-against-the-wall-because-the-kids-are-driving-me-crazy moments; not like we have many :)



Oh did I mention bacon bits came with the cheddar fries? Another must.

WW-Someone loves my 1 lb Bulk Chocolate as Much as Me

(Yes, the photo is messed up but I think the smile makes up for the glare!)