Growing up, not growing old

Every year, or actually several times a year, we carry out a financial overview where we double check our budget, our income and outgoings and make sure we’re getting the most our of our money.  Budgeting should be a must in anybody’s life but with a large family we need to be careful and aware of our finances.

The first twenty or thirty years of my life I believed myself to be invincible.  Well, perhaps not invincible, given the fuss I make over catching a cold, but immortal certainly.  Isn’t that true of most teens and twenty somethings?

By the time I was into my thirties, I started getting a niggling feeling that I might, just might, not be around forever. 

This year, at *coughty-splutter* years old, I thought maybe it was about time to consider my family if anything should happen to me.

Part of this years financial overview was to sit down and work out things like wills and life insurance.  They were things we had been putting off until another day.  There is always tomorrow, after all.  But then, what if there isn’t?  Where would that leave Mike?  Where would it leave our children?  We are a team but what if something happened and half the team wasn’t around any more? 

It didn’t make sense to make sure the car was insured, the house was insured, and everything we owned was insured but we, probably the most valuable things of all, were not.  So we finally sorted ourselves out and for less than the cost of a newspaper and chocolate bar each a day we’ve ensured that should anything happen to us, we’ve put plans into place to help our family should they need it.  It hasn’t broken the bank and it’s given us great peace of mind

It is easy to put something like this off.  It isn’t a nice thing to have to think about and something most of us prefer to ignore.  But it’s quick, easy to do and won’t break the bank.  Isn’t it worth the peace of mind?

(This is a sponsored post)

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Baking inspiration for the uninspired (or in my case, the just plain lazy)

As you are probably aware by now, I am in the last trimester of my twin pregnancy.  I'm tired much of the time and finding it harder to do the things that need to be done.

As you might also know, we tend to bake and make a lot of our own goodies.  However, tiredness (or laziness, call it what you will) tends to result in baking taking a back seat on my list of priorities.

We then have a problem in that we still want something nice to eat.  We like to try out cakes, biscuits and goodies in general.  Who doesn't?  So in order to satisfy my sweet tooth I needed to find something quick, easy yet yummy.

I spent far too much time procrastinating on Baking Mad's website, looking at pastry recipes, cakes, biscuits and everything else before finally settling on making their Bitesize Chocolate Brownies.  This recipe took less than the estimated ten minutes to whip up although I did have to quadruple it to make enough for our family.

I am now waiting for my groceries to be delivered so that I can have a go at the Low Calorie Apple Strudel recipe  in order to get through the glut of apples our neighbour had gifted us.  In fact, there is no shortage of recipe ideas that I have seen here that I want to try out.

If you find any recipes (preferably which are short on prep time) that you would recommend do let me know.  The one thing I don't seem to be tiring of is eating.

(This is a sponsored post.)

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What makes life worth living? - Guest post by Chris Jeub

Last week I had the honour of being a guest blogger on www.jeubfamily.com.  Chris and Wendy Jeub are the parents of 16 children, grandparents and business owners.  They have also written and created a number of books and resources on welcoming children, family life and frugality.  


Today, Chris Jeub will be taking over the helm here at Larger Family Life as guest blogger for the day where he talks about their latest book, "Love Another Child" and their convictions behind writing it.  It's a great book, one I thoroughly enjoyed and if you haven't yet read it you can find it here as well as through other good bookstores.

People often ask if the cover of "Love Another Child" is one of our children. It isn't. The photo is perfect, though. It shows the acceptance of a husband and wife, their arms so nicely wrapped around their frail child. It is a perfect photo to reflect the intensity of our book.

"Love Another Child" is our most intense book. Some of the themes we cover cut to the truth of how society views children — and then gives a strong rebuttal to it. Unfortunately today, couples make the mistake of avoiding children, dreading them, fearing the prospect of parenting. Our book challenges couples to rethink the all-too-common persuasion that family life should be delayed.

Truth it, marriage, parenting, grandparenting — basically everything to do with family — these are the things worth living for. Jobs, degrees, travels, money — good things, perhaps, but they pale in comparison. They shouldn’t define your lives. Those who wrap their existence around that which is artificial and material are, in our opinion, missing out on the grand game of life. Family: this is what makes life worth living.

The cover of "Love Another Child" is Kendrick Rush Stauffer. He's the grandson of one of my hunting friends, Ron. Up in a mountain at 11,000 feet altitude, Ron received the first phone call from his son,
announcing the news of his firstborn grandson. My friend — elk hunter, Boy Scout leader, business manager, genuine tough guy around a campfire of macho rifle-wielding hunters — **wept** with joy.


These stages in life bring meaning to it all. These are stages no one should miss. These are the truths explained and defended in "Love Another Child".

Chris Jeub

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