Natural products to keep in your medicine cabinet

Since I get a few questions on how we afford medical care for our large family I thought this would be a great post for Works for me Wednesday.

Now, I love my children's pediatrician. She is a wonderful doctor. We used to be in her office every other week but now we hardly ever have to see her and that's the way I like it. With 6 children, it would cost me a fortune if they were sick all the time. Because of that, there are a few things I like to keep on hand to try first in my medicine cabinet before we head to pay the doctor a visit.

These are the things I would never be without:

1. Tea Tree Oil

There are many uses for tea tree oil. First, it is an antiseptic. It is great to put a diluted amount on scrapes, cuts, and rashes. It's also great for you cloth diapering moms to add to the diaper pail or when you wash the diapers.

2. Aloe

Of course most of us know to use this on burns. It is very soothing.

3. Ipecac

Those of us who have small children should keep this on hand in case of accidental poisoning. It induces vomiting. Of course, be sure to call the poison control center first. They will let you know whether or not to induce vomiting.

4. Echinacea

Great for cold and flu season. They have a brand that I really like that is made for children. It is called Herbs for Kids. That way I know i'm not overdosing them.

5. Olive Leaf Extract

This is probably one of my favorite natural products to use. It is used during cold and flu season. It is also wonderful for seasonal allergies. It is an antiviral and an immune builder. The brand I use is by Seagate. It is actually a nasal spray. When I have to use it, it works pretty fast.

6. Mullein and garlic oil

This is great for earaches. It helps soothe the pain. Note, if the eardrum is perforated then do not use it.

Of course this is not a complete list of things I have on hand. It is just what we use the most. Ok maybe not the Ipecac, thank the Lord for that, but the others we do. There are so many natural treatments out there that it's hard to know which ones to use for what ailment and to know if they are safe or not. I try, for now, to stick to ones that I know will be safe.

This is just something that I wanted to share that works for our family. For more Works for Me Wednesday topics, head over to Rocks in my dryer.

Frugal Friday- Build you own washer and dryer pedestal

If you are like me and have a front loader washer and dryer set, then you know how hard it is to reach in and grab clothes out. I am getting closer to the end of my pregnancy so I just cannot bend far enough over anymore to switch the clothes from the washer to the dryer. I have resorted to depending on the children to switch them for me.

Now, when they sold us the set they tried to get us to buy the matching pedestal set for another $200.00 each! There was no way I wanted to spend that much more for them. When we got them home it did not take long to see why we might need them.

Well, being the frugal minded people that we are my dear, sweet husband decided to make our own. He was ready to build a platform with 2 pullout drawers. I had to remind him that the drawers would NEVER be used since I would not want to bend over that far. So, he built me just the platform.

We went to the habitat restore and got a large sheet of MDF for $1.00 and then we bought 1- 2x8x8 and 1- 2x8x10 for $10.00. We used paint that we already had, so the total cost to us was $11.00! Much better than the $400 it would have cost us.

Here are the before pics:




Here are some after pics:

We still had a few touch ups to do in the after pic, but you get the picture. It wasn't hard to do and it saves my back, all while saving me a bunch of money. Many home improvement projects can be done yourself for so much less. Make sure you check to see if your city has a Habit for Humanity restore. You can find all sorts of things to spruce up your home for pennies on the dollar.

For more frugal ideas, make sure to visit Biblical Womanhood for Frugal Friday's.

How do you afford all those children? - Part 2

When I am asked how we afford all of the children we have, I always point out how important it is to build up a great relationship with your children rather than buying them everything. I know that sounds like an answer you give when you are struggling to provide for your family. But before you think that my poor children are deprived of anything that would enrich their lives, that's not true. We do selectively let them participate in activities that we feel will be good for them.

Just as I covered the value of relationship within the family last time, I will try to cover a few of the actual logistics of how we can afford a big family on one income. You can read part 1 here. By all means, you do not have to do everything that we do. We try to make living a frugal life fun for our family, not a burden we must carry. We never want to feel as if we are missing out on anything. That is no example to anyone just how wonderful a large family can be.

Lately I have written a few posts on some of the frugal things we do as a family. The first thing I do is to plan a food budget, menu plan, and cook from scratch as often as possible. I have a $300 a month grocery budget but I have coming under that lately. Here are some of the posts that I have written about how we make that $300 work for us. You can also read my grocery budget series here.

1.We have a vegetable garden that we get many seasonal vegetables out of. We do a summer and fall garden. This is a great family project that the children love to help plan and do. You can read my post about our garden here.

2.From the excess in our garden we preserve what we can. We preserve by freezing and canning. It's much easier than you think. Of course I have lots of willing helping hands that make the work lighter. Sometimes I have too many helping hands, if you know what I mean. You can read my post about preserving food here.

3.We have our own chickens that give us eggs and meat. We do not get enough meat to last us the year though although we plan to do more next year. They are so much better tasting than store bought chicken, and way cheaper than what you'd pay for free range, hormone free at the store. This is another great family project. Even the little one loves to go and get eggs for Mommy. You can read my post about our girls here. This was a post that generated alot of response. Have fun reading it.

4. We make our own laundry detergent. Now I was getting my Tide He at CVS for nothing, but my youngest daughter has very sensitive skin and reacts to many different detergents. I found out that people actually made their own detergent so I had to try it. I was pleased that it worked so well and was easy to do. I have tried both the liquid and the powder version. You can read my post for my tutorial on the powdered kind here. I have also had quite a people ask me to post my recipe for my liquid version as well, so I did that.

The next thing we have done is started paying down bills. When I was working it wasn't really necessary to pay down anything. Now that I am home we have made it a goal to have all our extra debt paid off by the end of the year. We are well on our way to doing that. It is much easier to live with less debt. Once we pay off the debt, we will start saving for a house with more land.

Scott has been taking small side jobs painting since I have quit. It was to pay for all the extras and to pay down debt. Now he has actually become quite busy with it. God has blessed him so much, he now has a waiting list. Maybe one day this will become his full time profession, although he does have a great job right now.

There are some good resources out there for paying down debt. Dave Ramsey is the first one that comes to mind. Debt is a ball and chain for many people. With the economy the way it is, it is even more important to get out of debt.

I want to mention here that we live within our means. People are always buying more and more things, or bigger houses, or new cars. Yes, we could go and buy that big country house now, or we could get my husband the truck he's like to have, but would it make us happier? No, because we would have the extra debt that comes with it. Extra debt adds stress. Even if we could manage higher payments now, doesn't mean that we always will be able to. We might have to wait a few years, but those things will come. We are content with what we have right now. Contentment is a good lesson for anyone to learn.

Now, next on the list is clothing. Many people don't see how I can afford clothing for all of my children. Well, to be honest I really don't have to spend much here. We are given clothes from people on it seems a regular basis. Sometimes it is too much, so I pass the blessing on to other people who need it. I think we are first on people's minds when it comes to giving away clothes since we have a large family. People figure that someone in the house will fit in the clothes.

Usually I just have to fill in the gaps seasonally with what we're missing. For my older girls it helps to have young aunts that pass on nice clothes. For my younger girls I sew lots of their clothes and they are given quite a bit. I do sew some of the older girls skirts too. Even my younger son gets clothes passed on to him, thanks Carlie! It's usually my 10 yo son that I have to buy for the most. It seems as if most 10 yo boys are pretty hard on their clothes so nothing is really worth passing on after they're done with them.

Next thing that comes to mind is staying home. We stay home more than the average family. That means I save on gas, I save on food, I save because we're not involved in everything under the sun. Our home is the center of everything. Yes, we go out, but like I said we are home much more than anyone else I know. We manage to stay pretty busy here. Being home most of the time is something foreign to many people. It is a simpler life than most are used to, but it is a full life.

Last thing i'd like to talk about is activities. Our children do participate in a few select activities. They are involved in 4-H, which they all love. We participate in our local homeschool group by going on field trips, playdates, and PE. They are on their puppet team at church. They also participate in Awana. The two oldest girls will also be starting piano lessons in the fall. They are trading out babysitting two hours a week for free lessons. It works out wonderfully. All of these activities are low in cost and either teach the children or give them a chance to serve. The best thing is that it's not overwhelming.

At times it takes a different way of thinking and doing things to make it work in a large family. I can't always explain it well. We are a team. We need everyone on our team. Without one member we just wouldn't function as well. Even the youngest has her part. She is learning to work along side of us in our family. She is only two now, but in a few years even she will participate much more in our daily family life.

One last thought. I have spoken once before on the provision of God in our lives. Sometimes there is no other explanation except that God provides for us and meets all of our needs. While we work hard to make our family run well, we know that He gave us these children to raise so He will meet all of our needs according to His riches and glory.

Graphics courtesy of Allposters.com

Making your food last by preserving it

Last time I posted I talked about our garden and how it really was worth the time involved. You can read about it here. Now i'd like to talk about preserving food.

So you plant a garden and it does well. It does REALLY well. What do you do with the abundance of vegetables out of your garden that you get? The quick answer is to preserve them so that you can enjoy your garden all year long!

Preserving food is a lost art. It sounds so old-fashioned. I remember my watching my grandmother canning food as a young girl. It brings back fond memories of staying the summer with her. Eventhough I loved to help her, I still never learned to do it myself until recently. It was one of those things that I tucked away in my mind that I loved about Grandma's house, but never ever would do myself. Why should I, when I could go and pick it up already canned for me?

While it may be rather old-fashioned, it really is a great skill to learn for the here and now. We, as homemakers in the 21st century, in the age of rising grocery prices, faced with looming recession, and tainted food are having to look long and hard at the way we are doing things. Maybe our grandmothers and great grandmothers had it right. They faced many ups and downs, but they still fed their families affordable nutritious meals. We like to think that we've been freed from the chains of homemaking, but we've just traded it for a new set of chains.

There are a few different ways you can preserve your food. You can freeze, dry, pickle, or can your extras. Freezing is the cheapest way to preserve food and many times the healthiest, since it doesn't destroy any of the nutrients. With freezing you just blanch your vegetables first and then put them in a freezer bag and pop them in the freezer. To learn how to blanch your vegetables, read here. This is super easy and doesn't take much time at all. It is well worth it though.

I will not get into drying or pickling here since I don't do them. I do plan on making my own pickles one day, so i'll let you know how it goes.

The last way is canning. Initially, canning can get a bit costly if you let it. You need jars, a water bather, and pressure canner for many vegetables. You can find inexpensive jars at goodwill, garage sales, or off of your local freecycle. Since I do not have a pressure canner I stick to more acidic foods that are sufficent in a water bath. I will tell you though, I have canned many jars of preserves without any of these things, except the jars of course. You just have to make sure that you submerge your jars entirely as you give them a water bath.

This is a picture of a canning water bath.

If you would like to learn how to can there are many resoures out there. You can start with the Ball website. I also recommend the Ball Book of Preserving . I thought about giving a step by step tutorial on the canning process but there are so many online resources that you can look up that will get you started.

Of course, if any of you live near me, we could have a get together after we harvest a bit. We do this every year with my friend, Carlie. We pick our figs and then get together to start the process of canning strawberry fig preserves. I do enough to last us a whole year. Both of our familes look forward to this every year. I'm sure our children will remember this for a long time to come.

Since I do not have my own fruit orchard, I am limited to either buying or fruit or picking it locally. Many times you can find fruit to pick locally cheaper or even free. See my post here for more information on how to find free produce. To find local places to pick I always start with looking at this website. It lists places to pick according to state and it has information on canning, including recipes. I just love this site, but I have found other u pick farms around me that are not listed here, so always be on the lookout.

While preserving food seems like alot of work, it is beneficial to learn. I found it makes it nicer to include my children and my friends. Good company makes the work seem lighter. If you've read anything i've written, you will know that I love to do things that will make great and lasting memories. I love my simple life.

Five Budget Busters: and ways to combat them

5 Budget Busters
I was tagged by Carlie at Why Ask Why for a new meme challenge-The Budget Busters Challenge. I am supposed to list the 5 things that can keep me from staying on budget.

I figured I would tie this meme into my Frugal Friday post, since I have wanted to write on how we have managed to keep on budget for those things that can normally make us overspend.

5 potential budget busters at my house:
1. Buying books and magazines
I am avid reader, so I love buying books. I also have a love for homeschooling and homemaking magazines. The problem is, most of the books and magazines I read are not ones found in regular bookstores. That means I have to order them online and then adding a shipping fee on top of it.

Some of the ways I have found to not overspend here is to give myself an "allowance" of sorts. Scott and I pay ourselves a little bit out of each check to spend for things we want. Now I tell you, this is not a huge amount since we have a goal to pay off all our debt this year. It is the one way we have found to not overspend though. When I get my money I am free to buy a book or magazine I love so if I want to.

There was a time where we just didn't have any extra at all, so I would check at my library for any books they had. I also used the interlibrary loan option. Another thing I did was to sell extra books that I wouldn't read again on ebay and then I would use the money to buy new ones. I still do this! I keep the money I earn in my paypal account so I always know what I can spend. I also ask for gift certificates for my birthday and Christmas. I love amazon or ebay gift certificates.

2. Hobbies/Crafts
I am the type that always has to have some kind of project going on. I get bored easily, so I am always learning something new. I never took the time to learn any crafts while growing up, so now I want to learn them all! I have taken up cross stitching, sewing, crocheting, knitting, and gardening...so far.

As i'm sure you already know, these can all be a big budget buster if I let them! What I have done to keep within my budget is to once again use that allowance, if I have any left. I also have picked up craft items on my local freecycle, at yard sales, and on clearance.

This is another good thing to ask for gift cards for! Hobby Lobby, Joann's and even Walmart carry giftcards. Use them when they have a great clearance to make your buck stretch even more.

For my sewing, I fit that into our monthly clothing budget. I love sewing sweet little dresses for the girls. I still get to practice a hobby I love, as long as I stay within that preset budget. Who knows, maybe i'll start selling some of the little dresses I make to pay for some of my hobbies.

3. Eating out
This can be a big budget buster for us. Just bringing all of my family to McDonald's costs around $35.00. This is why we don't do it very often at all. If we do, we order pizza.

I make a menu and I stick to that faithfully. I prepare in advance now for dinner so that i'm not left at 6:00 with nothing cooked. A little time and planning on my part helps in the eating out department. We used to have to pick up food at least 2-3 x's a week, now I don't have to do that anymore.

Not wanting to totally deprive ourselves of ever having a nice night out to dinner, my hubby and I always go out for our birthdays and anniversary. We also take the whole family out when we get a nice sized check. this is usually income tax time or when Scott finishes a nice sized side job.

4. Gasoline!
Have you seen the prices lately? Gas just went up here again yesterday. I think I saw it at $3.45 for regular unleaded. I know that may not be as much as some of you are paying, but it's the most i've ever seen it here.

You can read my recent post here on what we're trying to do to keep as close to our set budget as we can.

5. Home improvement projects
Our house is always a work in progress. It seems as though the list of things we need to do or want to do grows continually. When we finish one project, we add two more.

While we have no set budget for this, we just put aside money until we have enough to do our project.

We have gotten things we need for our projects from freecycle and the Habitat restore to save money. We have also learned to do everything ourselves. We are even building a set of bunkbeds this weekend. This saves a ton of money! Although we are ever greatful that people hire painters. It helps provide for our livelihood.

The biggest thing that helps, is being content with what we have. Many people overspend here because they want everything beautiful all at one time. While it's nice to dream, we are content with things the way they are. God has blessed us and continues to do so.

There you have it. While we may occasionally go over board and bust our budget, we do much better than we used to. It helps when you have a goal in mind.

Take a minute to think about your own budget busters. What can you do to help bring the cost down to where you can stay within your budget?

Works for me Wednesday: Getting blood and ketchup stains out of clothing

I know some of you may already know this tip, but I know others may benefit from it. An old tip I learned from working at the hospital for so long is that peroxide takes blood stains out of clothes.

It also will take out ketchup stains. For those of us with little ones, this is a wonderful thing to know since they tend to spill ketchup on themselves as often as possible.

What you do is pour some peroxide on the stain, let it bubble for awhile, and then blot off. Repeat until there is no more bubbling and the stain is faded enough. You can then treat it as you would any other stain and wash as normal.

I always treat with a little spray and wash, then take a bit of my liquid laundry detergent, and put it directly on the stain. I then take my laundry scrubbing brush to get it in really good. It works every time. I do have a recipe I shared, here, that tells how to get out stains that just won't come out any other way. Hope this helps someone because it has worked for me many times over!

For more Works for me Wednesday tips, visit Rocks in my Dryer.

How do you afford all those children? - Part 1

The first thing i'd like to say is that I will be writing this in two parts. The first part will be a background of sorts that has nothing to do with the financial side of raising children, but is just as important to say. The second part will cover the practical how to's that we apply in our family to be able to afford raising our children. So let me get started.

How in the world do you afford to feed and clothe all those children? Your husband must make really good money. I hear it all the time. I will say this, that while we are not living below the poverty line, we are by no means rich either.

I was just reading an article today that quoted the latest Dept of Agriculture's figures on how much money it takes to raise a child. They say that each American child costs an average of $204,060 to house, clothe, educate and entertain until the age of 18. I'm sure that does not include the cost of college either. That means it take $11,337.00 per year to raise one child.

If that were always true, then that means I would be spending $68,022.00 a year on my six children. I can definitely tell you that I am not spending that much. Does that mean I am depriving them? I think not.

The questions I get on how we actually make it work are legitimate concerns for most people. They just don't see how in the world I can really give all my children what they need. While this is not a post telling you to have a big family, I do want to show people that raising children can be done for less than what you think. Without making your children feel deprived, of course.

What do your children really need? Of course a home to live in that keeps the cold and the heat out, good food to eat, clean clothes that fit. That about covers the basic material needs for survival. Anything else we give them materially just adds comfort. Then, most importantly, they need need love, nurture, safety, support, guidance, relationship, training, and discipline. These are not written in any particular order, of course.

So then, why is it so expensive to have children? Is it really the rising costs of living? Let me share with you something I looked up. In 2006 the median family income was $48,201.00. By comparison, in 1955 the median family earned $4,919 (worth about $35,857 in 2006 dollars). That is less than what we make now, on average. Also, the average family size back then was 3.7 children. I think it is hovering right over 2 now.

Yes, things do cost more. I really think though, what has changed the most is our perception of what is needed. There is a difference between what we need to raise our children and what we want to give them.

It's completely natural to want to provide for, and give things to your children. It's what a loving parent wants to do, but don't let the things you give them be how you show them love. That's where it gets confusing for most of us.

I know that when I became pregnant with my first baby I told my husband that I wanted to give her everything that I didn't have. Now mind you, I wasn't neglected, but at a younger age I wasn't able to be involved in many things nor did I receive many of the things I asked for. I resented that.

As we added more children to our family we had to step back and evaluate how we were doing things. I felt that if I didn't let them be involved in more activities or give them more things, that my children would resent me too, like I did my own mother. I think it was at that moment that I realized that it wasn't the lack of involvement or the lack of things that I resented. It was the lack of relationship.

After that my priorities became clearer. I understood what my responsibilities as a parent were. Yes, I still give my children things. Yes, they are still involved in some extracurricular activities, but it is the relationship that I have with them that matters more than anything.

One thing I want to share with you is that we set goals for our children. A few of these goals are to:

*Raise our children to love the Lord

*Raise our children to become productive citizens. We want them to know how to run a household, how to have a good work ethic, etc..There are obviously more goals that we have for them, but I just wanted to share a quick glimpse with you.

So, what do we have to do as parents to help our children reach these goals? This is how we approach things when making decisions about what we give them or what they're involved in. It makes it much easier.

The responsibilities that we, as parents, have are those I listed at the beginning of this post. Besides the basics of providing them with food, clothing, and shelter. We are to give them love, nurture, safety, support, guidance, relationship, training, and discipline. When we apply these things, it's puts perspective on what's important and maybe not so important for our children.

Like I said, what I have written tonight isn't exactly the practical how to's that i'm known for, but this was just as important to say. It gives value to things that aren't material and encourages family relationships.

Home Organizing Binder

Today is Wednesday and it's time for another, "Works for me Wednesday." One thing that really worked well for me is a home organizing binder.

One of the biggest questions I get asked is how I keep up with everything and stay so organized. Ok, those of you who really know me can stop laughing now...really!

Seriously though, I love my lists! I have a list for everything. I have a to do list that covers anything that I have outside of my normal schedule. I also have a grocery list, a list for all of the weekly sales, a daily, weekly and monthly chore list, etc. You get the picture.

I love the feeling of knowing how my day should run. I thrive on a schedule. I am so busy taking care of my household, that without my lists and my schedule I would be lost.

The problem I began to have over time though, because of my list obsession, is that they began to take over. I had lists at the computer stand, at the table, on my headboard. They were everywhere. Of course with 6 children they would get misplaced and then I would panic and start having heart palpitations.

One day, while complaining to my sweet husband, he suggested to me that I keep all my lists in a central location. In something I could carry around with me. He actually gave me a binder and told me to put everything in there. Can you hear the choir in the background as that lightbulb went off in my head? Wow, why didn't I think of that?! Yes folks, he is a genius.

So now I have everything I need in my binder. It is my lifeline. Our main schedule is in there. I write all of my lists in there. I keep tips and tricks i've learned, my grocery price book, our chore charts, and more in there. Basically everything I need to run my house is in that binder.

I have since found that other women do the same thing, imagine that! If you are interested in making one for yourself, you can do a quick online search to get an idea of how others are making theirs. A really good one is Keepers at Home's Organizer. If you look at her page, it will give you an idea of just what you can include in your binder. Just remember that everyone's will be different because every family is different. I have tweaked mine several times over the years to fit our changing family.

Another great thing about my binder is that I hope to be able to share it with my girls one day, when they are ready to run their own household. I am actually working on one that I am decorating beautifully. I plan on doing the same for them. It's a little bit of me that I can pass on to them.

The Family Dinner Table: Making Memories

We all have memories of our childhood, whether good or bad, they are they engrained in our minds. As far as I can think back, I remember sitting on the couch eating dinner on tv trays in front of the tv. Mom was great at cooking dinner every night. As soon as it was done though, we all rushed to grab our food and eat in front of the tv. I can't even tell you what we were in such a hurry to watch.

Think about it. What are your memories of dinner time from when you were a child? I'm sure some of you have very fond memories and then others, not so fond.

Early in my marriage I continued the tradition my parents had started. Neither my husband or myself felt that it was necessary to eat at the table, so in front of the tv we ate. Eating dinner at the table was only for special occasions, like Thanksgiving and Christmas.

We continued to eat like this for many years until Scott and I started working opposite schedules. I worked nights and he worked days so we never saw eachother. We decided to start eating dinner at the table so that all of us could at least see eachother every day.

It was ok. We enjoyed it, but as I started cutting back hours at work I was home more. We slowly started reverting back to our old ways of doing things. It was the children who brought up eating together as a family again. We didn't realize it had made such an impact on them. They had never told us how much they loved it and how special it was to them.

At that point we talked it over together and decided to make it a point to eat together at least at dinner time. We did this initially for our children, but we have found that we love it as much as they do.

Is it always a wonderful experience where no one bickers and we have great, meaningful conversations? Not with 6 children! At first we had to train them, especially the littles ones, how to sit and wait for their food, to say grace, and then not to get up until they were given permission. I can guarantee that while it is not always picture perfect, most of the time things are great. It is actually quite humerous. We just enjoy being with eachother.

So you say, "What's the big deal about eating together at the table and not in the livingroom instead? Aren't we still eating together?" Yes, you are eating together, but you're missing the point. The point is to foster togetherness while building healthy relationships within the family. Your focus is on eachother and not the tv.

I have 5 great reasons why I think it's important to eat together as a family:

1. I've already mentioned this one earlier. It builds healthy relationships in the family. Are you to just sit at the table and eat in silence? No, of course not! Talk, laugh, be quiet at times. Just enjoy eachother.

2. It makes lasting memories that you and your children will be able to look back on with fondness. Hopefully, they will pass on this wonderful tradition to their familes too.

3. It forces you to slow down for just a bit. We all have such busy lives nowadays. This forces you to sit back and relax with your family for awhile.

4. It's a great time to have family devotions. It further opens the door for communication and gives spiritual training at the same time. Our children have felt more comfortable asking questions that they might be too embarrassed to ask in church. It's really wonderful to see a spiritual truth "click".

5. I had to throw this in, being frugal like I am. It usually means mom will have dinner planned, and cooked rather than eating out. Now it's not always the case, and even we order out at times. As a general rule though, you do plan meals and cook more.

Now, Scott works late at least a few days a week. God has blessed him with extra work, but it does make him late at times. On those days that I know he will be late, I serve snacks late and then we all eat together. I have little helpers that set the table and the olders are in charge, with mom's oversight of course, of making the table look pretty. After a hard day's work it sure is nice to sit down to a tastefully decorated table along with a hot cooked meal.

Can we always eat every meal together every day? No, sometimes we have something that comes up. We busy ourselves far too much at times. After seeing the benefits of eating together though, I have purposed in my heart to eat together at least once a day. We're making memories one meal at a time.

Tell me, do you find eating together as a family at the table important? Are there any special mealtime traditions that you do as a family?