I don't know how you do it.

One thing we get asked A LOT is "How do you do it?" or other similar variations "I don't know how you do it," or "I could never do that!" If you would have asked me at the beginning of 2018 if I would like to add 3 children to my household by the end of the year I probably would have had a similar mindset. "I don't know if I could handle that." Thankfully no one asked and it all just kind of happened because I wouldn't change it for the world! I love our large family and even though I'm not sure how long our foster kiddos will be with us, I'm enjoying their presence while I can.

Honestly I don't really have a short answer for "how do you do it?' We just do. But, I do have some tips and ways I do things that certainly make life a little easier. Do we do life the same way we did when we only had 2 children? Absolutely not. I'd probably go insane. Adjustments had to be made, expectations had to be changed, and schedules had to be moved around.

Part of why I started writing again was to have a place to put all of the ways we do things to help life run more smoothly. Including meals that don't take very long to make but are still healthy and inexpensive (crockpot meals are perfect for this), budgeting for groceries and other activities with such a large family, side hustles to help boost your income because we all know that kids are expensive, and much more.

I'm obviously not an expert in the matter of raising large families, but I do have a little bit of an insight and would like to share how I do things in hopes that maybe you'll get a few tips you find helpful to use in your household!

Comments

I will not be deprived!

It's been 1 week without meat and all I want is a milkshake. So being that I am who I am, I will still attempt to get my "milk" shake and not break any vegan "rules." Since I've been wanting one for a few days I decided to google vegan ice cream recipes. To my surprise there were TONS. Ice cream flavors such as cake batter and peanut butter chocolate chunk. I can make those and add in some coconut milk or soy milk and VOILA milkshake. Honestly, meat does not even sound appetizing to me. But meat hasn't sounded appetizing since I watched that documentary. Now, I would very much like some cheese or yogurt, but I am surviving. I absolutely love the new things that I am trying, though. I've made black bean hummus and black bean burgers. Both are ABSOLUTELY amazing. I love that my refrigerator looks extremely healthy and I can grab any snack that I want and not make a "bad" food decision. On a side note, tonight is our nigh

My Vegan Experience: Cake Pops??

Over a month ago I committed to making cake pops for a friend's gender reveal. Well now that I've changed my eating habits, that means cake pops are out of the question, right? WRONG! It took a few google searches and a little bit of planning, but I actually did it. I made vegan cake pops and surprisingly...they were REALLY good. In case you're interested in making vegan cake pops yourself, this is how I did it: Ingredients: 1 cup white sugar 1 small avocado 1/2 cup apple sauce 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 cup vanilla rice milk Combine all ingredients and bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. I use a cake pop pan for this. And then for the "icing" coating. I bought "allergy-free" semi sweet chocolate and combined coconut oil to help it melt and then dipped the cake pops in that mixture. End result: ABSOLUTE DELICIOUSNESS! Photos by Kristin Marie Dustman Photograph

My Vegan Experience: Day 0

I know I created this blog to blog about my pregnancy, well I managed all of 2 blog posts. On the bright side, I now have a beautiful baby girl. Now, I bet you're wondering why I titled this "My Vegan Experience." Basically, my husband and I have decided to go vegan for 1 month. Why would meat-lovers go vegan, that's absurd! Recently a friend of ours was diagnosed with a lot of food allergies so we decided to (starting on Monday) support her by eating the way she does. This means no: dairy, soy, tree nuts, hops, peas and lima beans. AND about an hour after we decided we were going to support her in this way, we had the bright idea of watching the documentary "Forks over knives" and unfortunately it made some very compelling points. Starting on Monday, we're giving up ALL animal products for 1 month. I mean, we were already giving up diary, right? Which also means I'm giving up my 3 favorite food groups: chocolate, milkshakes and Chick-fi

Liszak, Party of 3

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