Happy Tuesday, ladies! I hope you have had a blessed April so far. Today I’ve been able to catch my breath for a minute after a very busy few weeks.

We have been finishing up schoolwork, and are almost done! As much as I love homeschooling, having a little break in the middle of the year is nice. We do continue on with some things year round…I like to encourage my children to read good books all of the time! Little by little, subjects are being completed. Hooray!

I’ve been working on Etsy orders, which has been so much fun. There have been a lot of llama and Pooh bear birthdays lately! It is such a joy to partner with parents in some small way to make their child’s birthday special. There is a 10% off sale going on in my shop right now!

Besides general family stuff, two things have been on my mind lately. Finances and goats, ha! Two very different things, right?

After working really hard to improve our finances and live frugally for three years, we transitioned into paying for a lot of renovations for our fixer upper. These renovations are needed, but they are taking more time and costing more money than I ever imagined.

I’m at the point where I would like to switch back into frugal/savings mode in a big way. I’ve been watching Dave Ramsey’s YouTube channel and reading financial books for motivation.

I’m thinking really hard about planning a “No Spend May” for myself. Perhaps this will give me the boost I need to start saving instead of spending once more. We will need to continue working on our renovations, but I think a “savings break” will help to boost my moral.

One of our big expenditures this month has been lamancha goats. We have purchased four, and have put a deposit on another. Since we decided to bring bucklings onto our land, we are now building a secure fence for them. So far, between the bucks and materials, we are in about $800. We still need to put together housing for them, too. Right now they are staying in a covered ten by ten pen, with several walks throughout the day.

I was so good at waiting to purchase doelings until we had their set up in place. I haven’t been as patient with the bucklings, ha!

These lamanchas have been in our long term plan for awhile now, and I don’t regret implementing the plan…but financially, it isn’t very fun.

Before I know it, our set up will be complete. That’s what I keep telling myself at least. And our kiddos love the goats. Our eleven year old wants to be a “goat farmer” now.

We spent some time at our cabin, visiting with my mother-in-law this week. My son cut the grass while my little guys caught crawfish and salamanders in the creek. Such fun!

I also tried a chocolate chip recipe off of the back of a Great Value Chocolate Chip bag this week. It was a winner! I haven’t bought store bought cookies in ages, and I thought it would be nice to make a treat for my family without unnecessary preservatives. I used organic cane sugar, and one stick of butter instead of one cup as the recipe called for. They are already asking for more.

I hope you and your family have a great week. April is just flying by, isn’t it?

Blessings!

He who earnestly seeks good finds favor, But trouble will come to him who seeks evil. He who trusts in his riches will fall, But the righteous will flourish like foliage.

Proverbs 11:27‭-‬28