One of those days....

Ever have one of those days? Had one on Wednesday so I was happy to be home yesterday. Well, today is another one.

Calgon take me away!!!!!!

Every once-in-a-while, I wonder just why I had kids. LOL

I love them but want to run away from them right now.

Yet I get the joy of going to a harvest party tonight with too many kids along with my own.

I think this means I'm stopping at Starbucks on the way.

I already ate 3 Reeses Peanut Butter Cups. Thank heavens for chocolate. :D

Home sweet home

I have to say, life is busy. I try to be diligent with homeschooling but then life happens and it gets put on the side. Yesterday was such a day. Wednesdays are usually pretty quiet except that I have a new mom's group that I run at church from 1-3PM and then I work at church from 6:40 until around 9PM. So the rest of the day I'm able to do homeschooling and housework. But yesterday I had made an appointment for my son who's been coughing a lot - just like 2 others in our family did last week (DH and my littlest one) but this was not clearing up and getting worse if he exerted himself or went outside so I figured it was time to go in. I figured maybe post nasal drip but I was wrong. Totally wrong. DS has walking pneumonia. Wowza!! So he's now on Zithromax and an inhaler.

So after yesterday's busy day (doctor, barber, church, grocery store, drug store, home, high school, home, church, home), today I'm reveling in staying HOME! I canceled horseback riding because I'd need to take Robby with me and I just don't want him to get exerted any more and the air is pretty chilly AND he's allergic to the horses so I don't think that will help much. DH will be picking up my oldest from the train station and my second daughter will walk to work from school so I don't have to leave until possibly tonight. But that will be OK.

I love staying home. I much prefer to be home all day over doing most anything else. Yeah, after being home for 3 or 4 days, I like to get out but now with a college student, high school student, both of them working jobs, doing stuff at church and doing things with the littles as well as the 2 days of riding means that I have no day to just be home anymore. So I'm savoring today. I'm loving today. I'm thanking God that Robby is fine and getting better and that we all can just stay home.

SIGH

In honor of Reformation Day - Reformation Study Bible for donation

The dear brothers and sisters at Ligioner Ministries has a great deal going on right now. For any donation to their ministry, they will send you a brand new leather bound ESV Reformation Study Bible. I have this Bible right here next to my computer and I really like it. It's my "home" Bible because it IS a bit big and when carrying a purse and all of the kids' stuff, it gets to be a lot but I've found the study notes to be solid and Biblical and I LOVE the English Standard Version. So head on over and give a donation and get yourself a new Bible. This would make a GREAT gift for someone or just for yourself.

http://rymoffer.com/

Happy Monday!

So, I turned on the heat and what happened? We had frost on Friday morning - it was FREEZING!!! I drove my high schooler to school so she wouldn't stand at the bus stop with a wet head. Saturday morning? 65 degrees. LOL So the heat hasn't been running since Friday although we're due to drop tomorrow and by Thursday, the high is going to be 48 degrees. That's pretty chilly. But we're ready now. :D

I just finally got DS's winter clothes out so he's all set. I put away all of the summer stuff, organized his winter stuff and I feel really good about that. All I need to do now is to check on winter boots and see if I need to buy any (probably not - we're usually good on this since I buy gender neutral colors for the big girls which then gives us lots for hand-me-downs for the littles. Oh!! I was so happy! I bought the big girls Patagonia fleece coats over the years and I just couldn't find them for the littles. I knew I had each size for them but they were all missing. Well, I found them last week so now the littles have great fall/early winter coats all set. These coats are amazing because they're so well made and very dense so that they're surprisingly warm and cozy. They don't look at all like they've been through 4 kids by the time Joanna is finished with them. I just passed the size 4 to a friend of ours and she was amazed at how good it looked. :) So while they were pricey (around $60 each), when you work it out, it's only $15 per child AND I can pass them on to another family. Not too shabby, huh??

So I worked out most of my menu for the week and I think this is it:

Monday - Crockpot pulled pork, rolls, cole slaw and carrot sticks
Tuesday - Roast beef quesadillas, salad
Wednesday - Cranberry, chicken and pear salad (we call this "good salad" - it's yummy
Thursday - Cranberry pork roast in the crockpot, rice, broccoli
Friday - Harvest Party at church - AND it's Robby's birthday!! He'll be 8!
Saturday - Family dinner for Robby - roast chicken, mashed potatoes, peas, salad, rolls
Sunday - Chicken soup, homemade bread, salad

We'll see how well I can stick to the menu. LOL

Oh - If anyone can tell me how to put the Organized Junkie "Menu Monday" thingie on my blog, I'd be forever grateful. :D

One vote

Well worth taking 4 minutes to watch

click here

I crumbled ....

The heat is on. It was 56 in the house this morning when I got up. When the car was warmer this morning than the house, then it's time to turn it on. I pushed it to 64 but then turned it back down to 62. It's comfortable.

Whew. Thank God for furnaces!!

Kicking and screaming but I think I have to give in

OK - I admit it - I'm COOOOLLLLLDDDDD!!!!!! Today is 50 degrees outside and my house is 59 right now. I'm freezing. I wanted to hold off until next week before I turn on the heat but I think I'm going to have to fold. My nose is froze, my toes are froze, my ears are froze... (think 101 Dalmations). My fingers aren't even working properly! I went to church before and it's so nice and toasty there. LOL

So I think I just may fold and turn on the furnace. Maybe I'll start the pilot light this afternoon.

OH! Yesterday the house was freezing too and I decided to make a huge pot of stew for dinner and have my dad over. It's one of our new favorite recipes because it has such a great flavor from the balsamic vinegar! Try it out!

Beef Barley Stew
From Allrecipes

1 lb. Beef stew meat, cut into ½” pieces
1 Tbsp. Olive oil
2 cups sliced carrots
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup sliced celery
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 (14.5 oz.) can stewed tomatoes
1 cup water
1 cup dry red wine
1 cup beef broth
2 bay leaves
1 tsp. Salt
¾ tsp. Dried thyme
¼ tsp. Pepper
1/3 cup uncooked medium pearl barley
¼ cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cold water
1 Tbsp. Balsamic vinegar
minced fresh parsley

1. In a dutch oven, cook beef in oil until meat is no longer pink. Add the carrots, onion, celery and garlic; cook for 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms, stewed tomatoes, water, wine, broth, bay leaves, salt, thyme and pepper.
2. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 1 hour. Add barley; cover and simmer 45 minutes longer or until barley and meat are tender.
Combine flour and cold water until smooth. Gradually stir into pan. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from the heat. Discard bay leaves. Stir in balsamic vinegar just before serving. Sprinkle each serving with parsley if desired.

Ten good things about the economic crisis

Check out Lydia's blog at

The Purple Cellar

I thought this was good. :)

Sickie Sunday

Well, it seems that the fall colds have hit our house. DH wasn't feeling well last night (went to bed early and felt lousy) and I think he'll end up at the doctor's tomorrow with a possible bronchitis. That's not good because of his severe asthma so he's back on his inhaler. Oh - and today is his birthday. :(

But this morning, he got up and got himself ready for church after I had told the woman who is kind of the "producer" of the Sunday service (bad term but she makes sure the lights are being done right, runs the projector in the first service and generally makes sure that the service runs smoothly - she does this all at the behest of the senior pastor) that Bob is not sure what he's doing this morning. Fortunately there's another worship team playing today and he had no other responsibilities so if he had to stay home, today would have been the day to do it. But he got up, showered and made it for the first service. I had taken the teens up earlier since their DOZ worship team is dancing in the service and they have to be there at 8 for a 9AM service start.

So now it was me and the littles home. DS got up early as he usually does and I hopped in the shower. Usually DD gets up a little later - she's not as much of an early bird as DS but at 9:45, I finally went in to wake her up since we need to leave at 10:15 or so. She had a hard time waking up but that's OK. But then she coughed. Croup. Great. Suddenly the phone rang and it just happened to be DH calling to ask if I could bring him a granola bar or something - but I told him that I think I'll just keep the kids home. I know DD just has a cold but she's run down (you can see it in her face) and there's no reason to get everyone else sick if I don't need to. So he'll tell the service "producer" that I can't make it in today to run the projector for the second service. That means I lose 2 hours of work time this week but that's OK. We'll just take it easy, I'll do my own Bible study this morning and I'll do a little lesson with the kids in a little while.

Gotta love kids. They make sure that the best laid plans get creamed every once-in-a-while. LOL

2 Driving teens????

Oh heavens - help us. My second daughter drove for the first time today. SHUDDER She did really well, though but it's still SOOO scary to allow a child to drive a 2,000+ lb. machine that can kill someone or atleast take a lot of your money away from you. LOL My oldest has her license but she's not driving on her own just yet because she's not ready. Now my second has started and I'm back in the passenger seat with my heart in my throat. Honestly? Give me a house full of 2 year olds. I've mastered that age - been through it 4 times. That's easy. Teaching your kid to drive? NOT!!! LOL

Oh and guess what my 16 year old got up today (at 10:30) and suddenly screamed? "OH NO!!! THE PSAT!!!!!" Yep - she forgot that it was at 8AM this morning. This was her only opportunity to take it. SIGH Now we have to figure out what to do. I think there's a way to write to the College Board and do something else to be eligible for the National Merit Scholarship contest. "Ya know, hon. THAT is why we have a CALENDAR!!"

Oh, life is never dull.

Finally, tomorrow is my DH's birthday! Happy Birthday sweetheart!! I love you SOOO much!!

Icky migraine today but a great recipe!! LOL

OK - So a front is coming through, AF is visiting and I probably didn't drink enough water yesterday. So all that equals waking up with a migraine today. I'm going to take it easy and probably even cancel my riding today (even though Whirl was SO good on Tuesday and I'd hate for him to miss another training session - oh well) since my balance and vision are off. :( Thank God for crockpots because I had planned a pot roast for dinner tonight anyway so dinner is in the pot cooking away. No need to worry about it later. I just will peel some potatoes and make mashed potatoes and use one of those great SteamFresh veggies that just nuke up really fast. :)

OK - So my challenge last week (or was it the week before?? Don't remember) was to try a new recipe this week. Since then I tried 3 new recipes and here's the verdict:

Beef Burgundy - not bad, not the best. Won't make it again
Poulet d'Artichoke - yummy casserole, easy to make, little ones didn't like it
Caramel Apple Pork Chops - absolutely scrumptious and I'm SOOOO glad that I tripled the sauce ingredients. I had a lot of pork chops (8 pieces) and we loved the topping so much. I used fresh Cortland apples from the orchard and I need to get more of these so I can make the sauce to put over vanilla ice cream. It was like an apple pie filling on the chops! YUM!! So here's the recipe as I got it:

(from Allrecipes)
4 (3/4 inch) thick pork chops
1 tsp. vegetable oil
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
salt and pepper to taste
1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
2 tart apples - peeled, cored and sliced
3 Tbsp. pecans (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 175 degrees. Place a medium dish in the oven to warm.
2. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Brush chops lightly with oil and place in hot pan. Cook for 5-6 minutes, turning occasionally, or until done. Transfer to the warm dish, and keep warm in the preheated oven.
3. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, salt and pepper, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add butter to skillet and stir in brown sugar mixture and apples. Cover and cook until apples are just tender. Remove apples with a slotted spoon and arrange on top of chops. Keep warm in the preheated oven.
4. Continue cooking sauce uncovered in skillet, until thickened slightly. Spoon sauce over apples and chops. Sprinkle with pecans.


OK - for what I ended up doing with the recipe:

I had bone-in pork chops so I just browned them in the pan with the oil and then put them in a 350 degree oven to finish cooking (about an additional 20 minutes).

I tripled the sauce recipe and used 5 large Cortland apples (although I ate the last quarter before I had gotten it sliced - those things are yummy!). I didn't put them over the chops until I was serving them. OH - and I totally forgot the pecans. I had bought them - but forgot to use them. LOL I'm sure that they would have been yummy with this. :)

"Christian" blogs

I've been surfing some blogs and websites today and I have to say that some of them saddened me greatly. Some are so filled with hate and outright sin that it shocks me that they can still post about their relationship with the Lord. In one, a woman was angry that someone else asked for a recipe because she'd most probably claim it as her own. So the woman purposely was trying to mislead the other woman - then finally when "forced" to give her recipe, she lied and left out a few key ingredients so this woman couldn't bring it to a gathering that they were both at and claim it as her own. This woman was gleeful that it turned out gross but then was angry because some of the women thought it was her own dish that she brought rather than this "wicked crone". (yes, that's a direct quote).

On another blog, there were some very hateful words against Clay Aiken who came "out" in a magazine that he is, in fact, gay. Yeah - that's no surprise for those of us who have watched him but this woman had never seen him - just his picture. She said basically that she could have told anyone he's gay just by looking at his picture. Hmmm - that's interesting. Now, Clay Aiken small and has finer features than say, Vin Diesel, but there are a lot of straight men with similar features. So she can tell that someone is living a sinful lifestyle by looking on the outward appearance in a photograph? Then she went on to say some very coarse things about him. Now I certainly don't condone homosexuality and have helped to counsel someone out of that lifestyle but calling them names is not going to help. Truth will but truth with grace. Truth with love. Truth like Jesus told the truth.

SIGH. What ever happened to the fruits of the Spirit? Love? Joy?? Peace?? Self-control?? Kindness?? I guess you don't need them when you don't feel like it.

I have a few verses to speak to this issue:

Philipians 2:3 "Let nothing be done through strife or vain glory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves."

James 3:13-18 "13Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace."

And here it comes

I just realized the title of this blog post can apply to two things that are on my mind. The first being the economy and how it's affecting us and also the fall season coming on. :)

The economy - MAN, people are scared, aren't they? It seems that so many are seeing things in a way that they never did - especially in this area. I live in a pretty affluent place and most people drive big cars, live in big houses, have housekeepers and everything they want. Now they're complaining about how they have no money anymore. It's an interesting thing to watch.

We have lost money. Yeah, it's all on paper but even that is enough to make you get a tear in your eye thinking what that money would do if it was actually yours and you had it. LOL But instead, it's just numbers on a piece of paper right now. We can't touch it until years from now so I'm sure that we will be OK. What's tougher was the discussion that Pastor had with the staff this week. All discretionary spending is done at church right now. The next step if we find giving dropping off is that all staff will get a 10% cut in pay. That's gonna hurt us a bit. But I know we'll do OK. My oldest is now doing her work study AND working at the local grocery store so and the second daughter (16) is waiting to hear back about her job there too. So with both girls gainfully employed, they can now cover their own clothing, extras and parties rather than us having to pay for all of that. I'll still give them things here and there but it will be a huge burden to not have to clothe the two of them! LOL God will get us through. Even if we have to sell the house and move to a less expensive house, that's OK. We're willing to sell off the boat (which is completely paid for and we don't pay anything on it since it's my IL's Christmas gift to us each year - to pay for the boat expenses), and whatever else we need to in order to make it. But I have faith that God will provide what we need - and maybe a little of what we want too. We've been through tough times before and we'll do it again.

Then there's the season. It's fall here on Long Island and we just took down our large awning outside and started winterizing things. I'm cleaning out the basement so I can start hanging the clothes down there when we start up the furnace. It's a tiny basement with a big furnace so it runs around 85 degrees down there all winter long. Hanging a load of clothes means it's dry in 6-8 hours down there! Why not utilize the heat we have and dry clothes without the dryer??!! :) I'm going to shop around this week for firewood since we're low and I'm thinking it's going to be a tough winter (horses have their winter coats a full 2 months early this year and we've not seen that in about 12 years) and fires are wonderful when it's cold out. The place where we got fire wood last year is now running $239 a cord plus delivery and that's just sick. I'm not paying that kind of money for wood! So I need to check around and see what else I can find instead. But I think with everything else, we're set. Oh wait! I just realized I should check the kids' boot situation. Hmmm....

So it should prove to be an interesting fall/winter.

Menu Plan Monday

This week's plan:

Monday - Burgers on the grill, corn, potato salad
Tuesday - Beef Burgundy, wide egg noodles, salad (new recipe)
Wednesday - Cranberry, Pear and Chicken Salad, popovers
Thursday - Poulet D'Artichoke, rice, broccoli (trying new recipe that I saved from 2001)
Friday - Leftovers (have homeschool group til 4:30 and then small group at 7:30)
Saturday - Caramel Apple Pork Chops, steamed carrots, roasted potatoes (yet another new recipe!)
Sunday - Taco Soup in the crockpot, salad




OK - To give you an idea how my plans changed this past week, here's my last week's plan and the actual meals we ate:

Sunday - we ended up doing take-out - salad and burgers. YUM!
Monday - Wine-braised Italian Sausages and salad
Tuesday - Oven roasted pork tenderloin with herb sauce and roasted veggies
Wednesday - We'll be eating at the ILs
Thursday - Tacos, salad
Friday - Leftovers or Ravioli along with broccoli ended up eating out
Saturday - Cranberry Chicken Salad, bread was given sauce and meatballs on Friday so used that instead with spaghetti and salad
Sunday - Roast Chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, gravy had Chinese instead

"Jesus" music - I'm so glad it's changed...

I just hope this doesn't get stuck in your mind like it has mine...

The Blessing of "Stepping In"

On Friday, we had our homeschool group and I was just kind of walking around talking to some of the moms and helping with any of the issues that come up on our first day. There was a wedding that was going to happen Saturday that one of our men was going to do some cooking for so he was in the kitchen preparing to make sauce for pasta and meatballs. I walked in to say "Hi" to him and he was trying to peel a ton of garlic but didn't know the "trick" of smacking it with the side of a knife to make it easy to peel. So I washed up, took a head of garlic and helped him to peel all of it and it only took a few minutes (would have taken him MUCH longer at the rate he was going not to mention now there were 2 working on it and not just one). We had a nice visit while doing this and I also helped him to cut up the herbs he was using and open the cans of tomatoes (4 cases of canned tomatoes!). Then I was called away so that's all I was able to help with.

When I came back later that evening, he had everything done and was cleaning up so while waiting for my daughter, I helped with that too. It was just natural to step in rather than standing and watching him do it all and I'd hope that if it were me, someone would help me too. Well, he told me he had something for me - a huge tray of meatballs and sauce! It was huge! I took it home, gave some to my dad for HIS dinner and we had a hearty spaghetti and meatball dinner last night - thanks to Mr. Kelly.

We shouldn't expect rewards when we help others - and I certainly was not expecting anything on Friday. I was doing it because I like it, I wanted to help and it gave he and I some time to chat. But the extra blessing of dinner was wonderful! But may I always be willing to step in where needed - not for the reward - but for the fact that there is a job that needs to be done and I was available to do it. May I always be be sensitive to where something needs to be done and not be so busy that I can't do it.

Recipe Challenge

OK - I'm straightening up my "pile" in the kitchen (come on, admit it, you have one too) and I'm finding a bunch of recipes I've pulled out of magazines - or even the whole magazine with recipes marked! So I took the recipes and put them in my "to try" pile which is now getting to be a whole shelf in my cabinet. Uh-oh!! I think it's time to try some of these out.

So my challenge to myself and everyone here is to try a new recipe over the next week and atleast 3 over the month of October. I'd love for you to tell me the recipe then try it - and report back as to whether if it were good or not. If it's good, we must have the recipe too. :)

So, I'm going to try a beef burgundy from the Ladies Home Journal Family Favorites Cookbook (one of those little thin cookbooks they stuff in the plastic sleeve they ship the magazine in). It looks simple, hearty and oh, so yummy for fall! I'll let you know how it goes.

My Letter to Sandi

Sandi's note to Candy:

I am depressed, but I am saved also. My trouble is my DH is saved but does not do what i s required from a husband. For 10 years he has been talking about doing everything for the lord, but his actions do not correlate with his words. The man is supposed to be the leader AND provider of his family. Yet, his job situation does not provide adequately for my family of six. The bills barely get paid, and my growing children are often hungry. We can't afford doctor or dental visits so I have to try to diagnose the children myself and make homemade cures if they are afflicted with something. I pray to be relieved of financial stress...to have the ability to feed,cloth,buy shoes,and take care of them medically without feeling I am "splurging" to cover their basic needs. Ten years is a LONG time to wait for my husband to provide this. He is talented in many areas and could get a steady job that would ease our money issues, but I am beginning to wonder if he is just too selfish. So, while sit and I pray for deliverance from my husband's apathetic interpretations of his christian duties I am making a sparse lunch for my 4 children as he is eating out at Taco Bell. Depressed? YES!
Sandi



Dear Sandi -

I am so sorry that you are struggling right now and I can hear your frustration in your note. It is so difficult when circumstances seem so difficult and we are at the end of our ropes to figure out how to get out of the hole we're in. But there is one thing I want to let you know that may be of help to you. You cannot change your husband. Whether he's the most amazing man or the poorest of wretches, there is nothing YOU can do to make him a better husband, father or man of God. Not one Scripture tells us to do anything to make another person better - all we can do is deal with ourselves and our own hearts in the matter. So here's my advice to you:

1) Pray. There are a number of issues to pray for that I see in your note. One is that God would speak to your own heart and help you to find joy in all of your circumstances. Read Philippians 4:11-13 which reads "Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. " Remember that Paul had gone though some extreme life circumstances yet still chose to be content. It's a hard thing when we are pressed on all sides but when you find your joy in the Lord through whatever may come, I think you will find that your responses to the hardship will be very different. In addition, you are teaching your children the same lesson because they learn from example before they can ever learn from words.

Secondly pray for your husband. I do not know your husband and all I can get from your note is one side. I do not know the struggles he has or his heart in this matter but that's OK. God does. Pray for him for wisdom, for clarity, for a heart that is given over completely to the Lord. Pray that he would have other men in his life to feed into him who can sharpen him in his walk with the Lord. I know nothing of being a man or being the head of a home but I can safely say that it must be a very difficult position to be in. Not all men are wise in their leading but there's nothing we can do to change that - other than beseech their Creator. He can do great things when we step out of the way and allow Him free access to our husbands.

Lastly, pray for your circumstances. Pray that God would allow you to be able to provide for your family with the resources you have. Pray that God would bless your work as a wife and would multiply your food and your resources like He mulitiplied the oil of the widow to be able to feed your family and to keep them healthy.

2) Spend time in the Word. Make sure that YOU are seeking the Lord in all that you do and that you are seeking His voice each day. My recommendation to you would be to read Philippians for the entire month of October - it's an amazing book of Scripture that deals with much of what you're going through. Meditate on God's Word. Memorize portions of Scripture so that you can hide it in your heart and play those words over and over again rather than the words in your head saying "If only...."

3) Take your focus off of your husband and your circumstances and keep them on the Lord. Don't look at others thinking "Well they have ..." or comparing yourself to others. I know it's hard but when you do this, you are looking at worldly measures and not the absolute measures of God. Prosperity and success are not in this world - nor is our comfort.

4) Practical stuff:

a) Sit down and figure out the budget with your DH if he's willing. See what you absolutely have to spend and stay within the budget. Of course this is depending on your husband and if he chooses not to do this, you need to abide by that. But understand your finances and work within them.

b) Learn skills to save money on your groceries, clothing and medical. I'm sure you're already doing this but step it up a notch if you need to. I don't know if you've got $20 to spend on groceries a week or $200 but learn how to save as best you can. Yeah, you might have very little and maybe not even enough to spend on food for your family. I know women who literally haven't had a penny to spend on food. Look to help from your church and other local churches in the area and, if necessary, look to something like foodstamps for a time. I'm not one to be big on government hand-outs but they're there for a reason and we've paid into them. If you absolutely have nothing on your table for your family, then look into it. Just a warning though. If you do get the government involved, they will make you get a job outside the home and that may not be what you or your husband wants you to do. So the foodstamps is an absolute last resort, IMO.
For clothing, befriend people and ask them for hand-me-downs. "Oh I love what Johnny wears - he always looks so nice. If you ever have any clothes that he's outgrown, I'd be more than happy to give them a new home." is not a terrible thing to do (I've done it myself). If you can afford it, shop cheap. If you can't afford anything, you'll need to do your best to find very inexpensive or free clothing. Garage sales and the Salvation Army are good places to find inexpensive clothes. I've also heard of many women being happy to ship a box of clothes to someone they know online when the request comes in on a board or though a blog. Sometimes we need to get creative.
Look into possible state insurance. I know New York State has something called Child Health Plus and it's an insurance through the state that provides insurance to the uninsured. It is VERY cost effective and covers not only medical but vision and dental. It's very generous in it's guidelines so that it's free to many people and even when there IS a portion that you have to pay, it's VERY little (like $5-50 a month) with a per-family cap. See if your state has anything like that.

I do pray for you, dear sister Sandi. You are at a place of pain right now but part of that pain is your own heart view of your circumstances. Seek the Lord - call on Him while He is near. Do not let your heart be troubled. The Lord your God is with you wherever you go. He is faithful and will supply all your needs - your true needs in this life. If you do happen to read this, I would really love for you to get a hold of me. I'd love to be able to speak to you and pray for you knowing a bit more of who you are. But if not, God knows you and can still answer my prayers. We serve an awesome God.

Love, your sister in Christ,
Ann