Snow/Rain Day Activities...

I know on these snowy, ice cold days the kids get stuck in the house. That leaves you to fill in the gaps. What do you do when the kids holler at you "I'M BORED!" Well the next time the kids say this you, you will be prepared. I always like to have a variety of things especially for the younger crowd, say 5 and younger.


 I will get you set up for the rainy, snowy, ice cold days! You need to have a variety of activities, especially for younger little ones who have a smaller attention span. Its always great to have back up plans for the little ones!

Puzzles- they are a great QUIET thing to do inside. I get my puzzles from the dollar store. I make sure they are puzzles that the kids are into. For example Adyson is into the Ninja Turtles, CARs, etc. So I made sure she had puzzles that match up with what she likes. Makes things easier if it interests the child.

Playing Cards- Yes playing cards. There are MANY games you can play. There is Go Fish, Old Maid, or make something up. Have an imagination! Practice Numbers, Memory game. Even 52 pick up, Adyson gets a kick out of throwing the cards up and counting how many land face up. Practice your adding and subtracting.

Craft- You can always pick a simple craft from my Pinterest Adyson Board, Craft Board, Kid Ideas Board
 Most of the crafts require simple items from around your house. Make play dough hand prints, make play dough, water paint. One of my favorites was making soap. Its very simple. The kids had a blast making soap. You can buy soap from most hobby stores. I got 1 set of soap molds for around $3. I also bought soap dye and soap fragrance. Total cost about $15.

Nephew Jackson Soap- With my nephew's soap I went to the dollar store and bought a pack of "sea creatures" and put a sea creature in bottom of the soap molds. He LOVED them!

Halloween Soap- Used orange soap dye. Went to the dollar store and bought a bag of Halloween goodies. Put the goodies in the molds first then slowly poured the soap over. Let them set up over night.

Books- I have a few chapter books that I read to Adyson. I help her imagine the scene, I ask her questions for her comprehension. So she is learning at the same time! She gets it 90% of the time. I let her pick most of the books we read, it seems to hold her attention longer when she picks it out. She starts to guess from the beginning what's going to happen and gets so excited. I can also get her to complete tasks faster when reading a chapter book. For example we get to the end of a chapter, I tell her its bath time. She hurries through bath so I can read the next chapter.
There are TONS of kid books for the iPad, NOOK, Kindle some of them are FREE!!!!

Movie Day-  Pick out your favorite movies. Make a "special" movie treat together, even if its just apple slices and honey. Stay in your pajamas, whats the harm in getting cozy in your favorite pajamas, fuzzy slippers, favorite blanket and curling up and spending some good quality time together.

 "Craft Kits" - in the craft/art section at the retail stores. I bought a few of them. Adyson LOVED being able to make her own bracelet. The kits cost about $2-$4 each. This created 2 HOURS of fun!! Well worth it in my book.

                                  WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN IT SNOWS? RAINS?

My Make Up Table

Since I did the post about Master Closet Clean Up I have had a few emails wanting to know what all the little drawers are for. Most of you know I am OCD about being organized. Everything I own has as spot, its kept in its spot. I go crazy when things are not where they are supposed to be. Since the post I organized just a little bit more, so below is the picture from Master Closet Clean Up! 

When I was searching for  things to help organize my make up I made sure to measure the space. This way I could buy the right size organizer to fit the space. Nothing get more upsetting then bringing home the "perfect" piece only to find its 5 inches too wide. So you exchange that piece and get a piece that is now your "perfect" piece bring it home and find its too tall. So take it from me and measure. Scour the web for the best deals. Typically at you retail stores (Walmart, Target, etc) on their website they have bundle packs so you can get 3-4 pieces for 1 low price. 

I knew I did NOT want cloth drawers or fabric etc. Let me explain why. When you have children there is always a certain level of mess. Messes such as a spilled cup, such as my coffee cup because "Mommy you have to see how fast I can run" turns into a trip/stumble and bumping into my table. There is also the "Mommy see I can dress myself" turns into getting stuck in the shirt and bumping into the make up table. So you see choosing plastic made sense to me I can wipe it up no matter what gets spilled, including make up! If you still want fabric best of luck to you! I do not want make up stains. 

                                                   

Wondering what the white thing with drawers is? Well, my makeup. (the closest thing I could find to what I have 5 drawer 2 pack) I LOVE having these.

Top drawer is foundations, powders.
 2nd - is blushes, bronzers.
 3rd-is eye shadows.
4th -is extras such as cotton balls, extra face lotions, chap sticks etc.

So you are wondering about the gray tub underneath? It's actually holding my summer wardrobe! I waste no space in my closet. I may now have a "designer" closet but it works for me!  

Now I suppose you are wondering about the blue smaller ones. Right??? ( get them here mini drawers)OK so here it goes. The Small blue drawers on the LEFT that is sitting on top of the white dressers. Is my lipsticks, sorted by shades. On the right is all my eyeliners

Left Side Blue Drawers                                                               Right Side Blue Drawers

1- Reds & pinks                                                                         1- eyeliners
2- Nudes                                                                                    2- Waterproof eyeliners
3 -peaches and clear glosses                                                       3-crazy color eyeliners (purples, blues, etc)

On top of the blue drawers are my make up brush holders. I bought fish bowls from the dollar store and colored glass stones. I put the stones in the bottom of the bowls! Smaller brushes on the left and bigger brushes on the right! 

So after a little "Make up Table Clean up" all of my hair stuff is under the table. 

                                                  Oh the little pink, purple & flowered cases are my extra make up cases for traveling. I keep my velcro  hair rollers in them! 

Blue Drawer

Drawer 1- is ALL  my bobby pins.
Drawer 2- is small hair clips and small claws, etc
Drawer 3- is all hair ties, elastic ties, etc

White Drawer

1 - big hair clips, and 1 curling iron
2- brushes, flat iron spray, hair spray, smoothing serum.
3- LOTS of combs, small hair dryer, curling iron.
4- flat iron and curling iron. Yes I have 3 curling irons. They are all different sizes.

               

                                     Hope all of you have had a great week! 

                                         What did you accomplish today? 

Master Closet Clean Up

So we all do it. We make over the entire house before we worry about the master bedroom or the master closet. Well I decided 2014 is going to be about the master bedroom. In 2012 we did Brittany's room. In 2013 we did Adyson's room and finished it about 2 weeks ago. Now its time for me to work on the master!

I LOVE the size of my closet. I LOVE MY CLOSET, did I say that already? I just hate that we didn't have the money to do anything with the master closet. We could not afford a fancy closet organizer. So we put up a wire rack at each end of the closet. Then we shoved dressers in there, and called it a day. So I am making the best of the closet and the space it gives me!  The pictures posted below are so EMBARRASSING!!! I took them to tell the truth about what the closet looked like before the clean up!

BEFORE...

Left Side                                                                                Middle

                
 Oh did you notice all those little boxes on the top shelf? I'm sure you have a few of them hid somewhere you know the ones I'm talking about. The small digital camera that you bought 3 years ago, that you no longer have, but for some reason still have the box? Or the other electronics boxes you have BUT don't even have(use or the warranty has run out) the product anymore. I had 4 of those boxes in my closet.

                                                         Right side...

Yes you see an empty coffee creamer bottle on top of my dresser. You are right again, you do see an empty bottle of Mr. Bubbles in an empty coffee can. The reason for this is well... I'm lazy for not taking them to the recycle where it belongs and I was keeping certain containers so I could reuse them. Why are the dresser drawers not shut? Ummm... because I was lazy? No No No that's not it, I couldn't or wouldn't fold the clothes right and SHOVE them into the drawers. You see when you shove clothes into drawers most of the time you can't close the drawers afterwards. Then I just gave up trying to close them altogether! So you noticed my Bath & Body Works bag huh? Yep I still have 7 candles left from the Semi-Annual Sale in June!!!

So the first thing I did was clean my closet. I actually put stuff where it belongs. The containers in the recycle. Boxes in the recycle, etc.

Then I went through the clothes in the dresser... This was a little time consuming. But I kept the rule in my head. IF IT DOES NOT FIT DO NOT KEEP IT. My problem is I am SUPER skinny, so when I gain weight I'm excited! I was excited to try on clothes to have them be too tight! But if you are one of those who fluctuate in weight then KEEP your clothes! So there is also 1 more rule, IF YOU HAVE NOT WORN IT IN 2 YEARS TOSS IT!!! If you scroll back up and look at the LEFT SIDE picture, in the upper left hand corner there is a rack of office clothes. Since I gained weight 2/3 of this wardrobe went. PLUS since I had not worn any of it in 5 years, I tried on every piece and what didn't fit went.

 Now that all the clothes have been gone through, I tried on EVERYTHING on the hangers next. Keeping the rules in mind.
- If it does not fit, do not keep it.
- If you have not worn it in 2 years, toss it


AFTER...


Left Side...                                                                        Middle...

              



  Right Side...                                                                  Bottom of Right/Middle...

                 

Oh you say something is off about the right side??? You are absolutely right. I cleared out so many clothes that I didn't need the dresser anymore. I hung up everything that stayed. I had so much room left over on the left side after nothing fit...I was able to put what did fit from the dresser on to hangers! So I pulled the dresser out of my closet. To take some clutter out of the master bedroom I pulled my makeup table into the closet! I love having my table in the closet!!! Please keep in mind this took about 3-4 days to complete. I took my time organizing, cleaning, vacuuming, etc.


Questions comments or concerns leave them below! 

I am feeling very accomplished!!!

Adyson's Room Make-Over

OK so last March we decided it was time to give Adyson's room a make over.  We upgraded from the youth bed to a twin. Adyson picked the color of her room. I found TONS of ideas on Pinterest (so you know I created a board on Pinterest for it). I wanted to compile all the ideas and take the best ones and incorporate them into my plans.  (read about the start and curtains of the project here)

THE PROCESS---

Adyson picked a purple that she loved and we painted ALL the walls the same purple. She didn't want to get rid of her flower wall boarder. She insisted on keeping it. So it stayed!


I wanted Adyson to have a coloring area. She loves to color, we already had her favorite Cars table and 2 chairs. I did not want to get rid of the table so I had my husband create a shelf and paint it. We hung it above her table. The shelf holds all of her coloring books! We also screwed in hooks to the bottom of the shelf so she could hang buckets. The buckets hold her crayons, markers, etc.
                                 
                                                     

Next because she had so many book, as you can see from the full bookcase, I wanted her to have a reading area! So... the bean bag on the floor next to the bookcase! (Yes the Cars table gets moved, its also used as her night stand Per Adyson's request its her room!)

 

       BEFORE....                                                        AFTER....

Next I insisted opening up her closet. My husband was not happy about this but Adyson has had a ball with this. 

                                                    BEFORE...

AFTER...

                           

Because we opened the closet we were able to put her play kitchen and her Play tool bench in her closet. We also got rid of the dresser and used the closet organizer and hangers! So now Adyson can reach and get to everything in her room! 

I put her bed on bed raisers so I could utilize that space as well. Her Papa got her a Toy Story Car box that holds ALL of Adysons cars it has wheels on it and Adyson can push/pull it when needed. So that gets pushed under her bed when she is not playing with them! 

Adyson LOVES her room. I tried to keep everything in mind while redoing her room. Can she reach it without my help? Can she push/pull it without my help? Can she get it out with out my help? Can she put it away without my help? What does she play with the most? How long is this room going to be functional for her? Is this going to last? My child is taller then all kids her age. So everything we did was a little bigger/taller then most rooms of kids her age. I wanted her to start learning to be independent so I made sure she could get to everything she needed! 

QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, CONCERNS? LEAVE THEM BELOW IN THE COMMENTS!! 

                                                      

                                                   HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!!! 

Half -Homemade Beauty Recipes

                    Over the last year I have found several beauty recipes for face wipes, baby wipes, facial toners, etc. There was trial and error while I made these. Some required expensive ingredients, others required 2-3 days to "set up" before you could use it. There were a few that I absolutely LOVED. To make it a keeper it had to have a few things. They had to be SIMPLE to make. The recipe had to be CHEAPER than the "original" version. The ones I LOVED so much I actually ditched the commercial brand and made them a  permanent part of my beauty drawer. 

RULES OF MAKING WIPES...

-When making wipes ALWAYS use BOUNTY paper towels. The generics do NOT hold up. 
- Always use DISTILLED water, this is not the same as filtered. 
-2-3 drops of Tea Tree oil is good to add to prevent mold/mildew in your wipes
- keep them out of the direct sun. Put them behind a picture frame, throw a towel over them, in a cupboard, etc. The sun heats up the wipes and causes the mold/mildew
- find a container big enough for the wipes. I use a 2qt pitcher, I pull the wipes through the pour spout it works fabulous!!! (At the store-Go to the towels and get a roll, then go to the container isle and try and stuff them into the container, it should be a tight fit.)


BABY WIPES-

1 roll BOUNTY paper towels (cut in half)
2 cups DISTILLED water
2-3 drops tea tree oil
1-2 teaspoon baby shampoo

Put your paper towels CUT SIDE down into your container. Mix all your liquids together by stirring. Do not shake them as this will activate the bubbles and you will have a sudsy mess! Microwave 30-45 seconds. Pour over the paper towels starting on the inside cardboard and work your way out. Let it sit 5-10 minutes, then flip and sit for 5-10 minutes. Pull the cardboard out of the middle, and this should start the roll. If it does not then pull out out of the middle. Do not pull out of the sides, it will not work well! 

FACIAL WIPES/MAKE UP REMOVER WIPES

1 roll BOUNTY paper towels (cut in half)
2 cups DISTILLED water
2-3 drops tea tree oil
2 teaspoon coconut oil *
2 teaspoon of facial soap (do not use the "scrubbing/exfoliating" washes, the "scrubbies" will sit on top of your wipes)

I LOVE this as my facial cleanser. Its very mild and half the chemicals! 

Put your paper towels CUT SIDE down into your container. Mix all your liquids together by stirring. Do not shake them as this will activate the bubbles and you will have a sudsy mess! Microwave 30-45 seconds. *Make sure you melt the coconut oil, so it seeps into the paper towels. Pour over the paper towels starting on the inside cardboard and work your way out. Let it sit 5-10 minutes, then flip and sit for 5-10 minutes. Pull the cardboard out of the middle, and this should start the roll. If it does not then pull out out of the middle. Do not pull out of the sides, it will not work well! 




FACIAL TONER

2 GREEN TEA bags
3/4 cup DISTILLED water
1/4 cup witch hazel
2-3 drops tea tree oil
container to hold 8 oz (I just refilled my empty bottle)

Heat your water in the microwave for 1 minute. Drop in both tea bags. Let them steep until they are at room temp. Pull the bags out. Stir in the tea tree oil and witch hazel. Pour in the container and its ready! Use just like you use your current toner! 

BODY SCRUB

1 cup Olive Oil
1 cup Sugar
2 tablespoons used coffee grounds
2-3 drops Essential Oil/Perfume oil -(When using Essential oils or Perfume oils a little goes a LONG way.) I only use these so the my scrub smells pretty! This is optional.
16 oz bottle

Pour/Mix all together in a reusable bottle 16 oz bottle. Shake the bottle very well to mix everything together. I LOVE this recipe. I use it every time I get in the shower, especially in the winter. I went to Hobby Lobby and bought a soap perfume (which means its safe for skin, do not buy a candle perfume!!) to add to my oil, I bought LoveSpell it smells wonderful. I want to try Orange Blossom Essential Oil next! 

 CAUTION- shower may be slippery after using this, make sure you spray a little cleaner/vinegar afterwards!!!! 

Make sure you choose a bottle with a pea-size spout to pour out of. 

 

The blue spout the right has a squared spout and does not work well with the scrub. You need a spout similar to the gray spout (which is from a reused bottle of V05 hair shampoo)
Follow the recipe, that way you have enough room to shake the bottle to mix everything
. 

I hope you have as much fun making these as I did. Let me know if you have any questions! I would be happy to answer! 

What a week!

It has been a very cold week here in Tennessee! The good thing is everyone and all the animals have survived the freezing temperatures. I'm very proud of my daughter Brittany and I, for helping each other deal with the animals all week.  We have carried 5 gallon buckets of water down to feed the animals every night,  because the water hose down to the animals has been frozen! 

Adyson has enjoyed the weather too! She got out there on Monday and made snow angels on the deck! She was so proud of herself. 

I'm still working on goal number 2. (So I have found an app "Meal Board" in the App Store. I LOVE this app. It has a pantry, shopping list, recipes, the works!!!! You can also go and get recipes from websites (there is about 15 websites connected to this app) I am going to be using this app a lot in 2014! I am very excited about it. MEAL PLAN BETTER) I'm going to be hitting this one hot and heavy this weekend.  The freeze and the kids being out of school extra time through me all off! 

Glad the temperatures are back to normal! The kids are enjoying not have to bundle up like Eskimos to go to the car! Now time to hit the normal routine!

What did you get accomplished today? 

Winter prepping on a farm!

Tennessee is due to have an extremely cold spell over the next 2 to 3 days.  To prepare for it, we went and got hay for the animals.  Made sure their stalls were clean and put down fresh bedding. Today was also family day so everybody joined in to help. 

 

The cows always try to overpower us when we feed them! 

Poor Brittany trying to hide behind a tree and fool the animals.... It didn't work. 

The water buckets have been emptied cleaned and refilled. The heated water bucket has been plugged up. Hoses have been disconnected from the pipes. All the animals have been fed. The hay has been covered. 

We went yesterday and got groceries. We bought five cases of water, had to get eggs and bread. I made sure I had 10 gallons of water out in the garage. We checked our propane tanks and our grill out on the back deck. 

Now it's time to start on the inside stuff. I'm doing loads of laundry in case my pipes freeze tonight and tomorrow. All the dishes have been washed everybody's taking showers. All in all it's been a very successful Sunday afternoon! 

WHAT DID YOU GET ACCOMPLISHED TODAY? 

Adyson chart

Adyson will be 5 years old in February. She will start school in August. So it's time for the behavior and chore chart. I found pictures to match the behavior or chore I would like her to complete. 

ADYSONS CHART-

There is no whining/crying- we've been having the issue lately of crying/whining when asked not to do something, or when being told no. So trying to stay positive in 2014, I want to reward good behavior! 

Eating-(you'll see breakfast, lunch and dinner listed on chart) Adyson has the issue of not eating. She fidgets, talks, "I'm not hungry".... Etc... We have to set timers, threaten, it justs makes meal time the most frustrating times of the day. So from now on it is what it is, if you don't eat then you don't get a sticker, no more negotiations. 

Brushing teeth- She's still excited to brush her teeth, but she ASKED for a sticker for this, so what harm is there in giving her a sticker for what she loves doing! 

Learning- We try to learn something everyday. Whether it's a letter, number, math, but something. So if she can sit and focus and learn then there needs to be a reward! 

Cleaning up- I usually let Adyson play where ever and we clean up before bath. That means no fussing about doing it either. Clean up means ALL the toys from  everywhere in the house get picked up and put where they belong. Not thrown somewhere! Also her room gets cleaned too! 

Bath time- We've been having a problem with Adyson and getting water all over everything! Floor, toilet, sink, walls, floor mats get soaked. I'm tired of cleaning and drying the bathroom EVERY DAY. So hopefully the positive of getting a sticker will help! 

Bedtime- This is a bit of a problem.  Getting out of bed several times for various reasons. Drinks, hungry, potty, scared, her "friends" told her to play, etc. So maybe the sticker will be the positive reinforcement! 

I'll give you guys an update in a couple weeks to see how this works out! I'm excited, Adysons excited. I've just got to keep the excitement going. Children learn what they see, not what you try to teach them (my opinion).  You can't expect your child to have manners if you don't show them, and use manners yourself! 

What did you get accomplished today? 

Breakfast with leftovers & Saving Money

Today I was feeling nice and I decided to cook breakfast for my family! So I picked a recipe off of Pinterest that I have been dying to try.

 Apple slice pancakes- I added a few extra ingredients to the pancake batter.

I used golden delicious apples and thinly sliced them. Dunked the apple slices into the pancake batter and cooked them as usual. 

Recipe- (I got the recipe from -pancake mix) this makes a huge batch of pancake mix. Then you just measure out what you need

 And tweaked it a little bit

2 cups pancake mix

1.5 cups water

1/3 cup oatmeal

1 scoop protein powder

2 eggs 

3 tbs oil 

Mix together & dunk sliced apples into batter and cook as normal. They were so good. 

Instead of syrup I used peanut butter and honey! They were amazing! Since I have so many leftover I decided to freeze them individually to have breakfast all next week! As cold as it's going to be in the morning all next week I think this is a great idea for a hot breakfast before school. 

Take them out of the freezer open the Ziploc bag and pop in the microwave for about 45 seconds. Instant, homemade, and wholesome breakfast in seconds! 

After breakfast I thought it was time to do the annual piggy bank dump. So I helped Adyson dump her piggy bank and sort all the change. Adyson gets all this change from making change at the grocery store, picking change up off the ground, us paying her allowance to her in change and she turns and keeps it in her piggy bank. Every year I help Adyson dump her piggy bank and we take all the rolled change and put it in her savings account.  She gets so excited to count her change and roll it! 

                                                  

She was so excited when she was counting her money to find out how many quarters, nickels, dimes and pennies she really had.

For whatever reason Adyson insists on having three piggy banks and I'm not complaining. At least she knows how to use the piggy bank and where to put the money and how to save it.  That's all that matters to me!

                                                      

She  needs a few more coins in each slot for the money holder to fill each one of them up. So basically, Adyson has saved $44 in change for the year 2013! Not bad for a four-year-old! Her goal for 2014 is to make more money, she wants to save $50! 

Speaking of saving this is the first week of January and I am going to do the Facebook challenge that's been going around about saving money. Only I'm going to do mine in reverse. It's supposed to be save a dollar week one saved two dollars week two save three dollars weeks three etc. 

Since I want to use this Facebook challenge as a way to save Christmas money, I'm going to do it in reverse. Week one I'm saving $52, week two I'm saving $51, week three I'm saving $50, etc. So the closer to Christmas the less I have to save and I'll already have a majority of my money in the savings account! It will also be easier as it goes through the year having to save less money as the weeks go by.  So until I get my Christmas savings account set up at the bank I decided to make me an envelope! 

My mad money envelope is just a little envelope that I keep a little extra money in for those days when the kids and I want a little pick me up. It may be a treat to Subway or a treat to go get a milkshake, rent movies. The mad money envelope comes in handy when were just having a bad day or a rainy day or for whatever day! I try to put $5-$10 in it every week. It's never let us down yet! 

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So what did you accomplish today?

Tackling the Christmas Warranties~

                       Feeling very frustrated right now! I had been keeping notes all day of what I was doing and organizing and apparently I didn't save them! BREATHE, BREATHE. OK I'm over it! So Like I said I have started organizing -the master closet, master bedroom, master bath closet. I am going to move a little furniture around in the master bedroom too.

                      Tackling the desk is a big job! Its the catch-all of the master bedroom. I get so upset every time I look at the desk. I know its there somewhere but, its just buried in the junk I don't want to deal with. So today I it was time. I started gathering my receipts for taxes! Little by little I could see the desk. You guys should know by now that I am a complete organizing freak.  I started creating file folders for the new items we got for Christmas, I create file folders for ANYTHING that has a warranty. Around January  EVERY year when I create new file folders for the new stuff we got for Christmas, I go through ALL the folders and toss expired warranty paperwork/information. Do you just LOVE the envelopes I created for taxes!!! I also created a hanging folder for the Armada, yes I know I bought it 3 months ago, yes I know I am behind!

                       

My receipt catchers are awesome! HAHA

I am very proud of myself for tackling the desk. Cross my fingers that I will keep up with it in 2014. Over the next couple days I am going to be cleaning out more closets, finishing my bedroom up. Hopefully by Sunday I will be able to post about the meal planning app I found and how my cleaning schedule is going to go for 2014. I am still playing with it! 

I am still reading Six Times a Charm, I'm on the 3rd book in the set.  Carpe Demon by Julie Kenner Its funny and I can picture me in the book :) 

Today was a great start to 2014. How did you do today? What did you get accomplished? 

Happy New Year!!!! 2014

                 Hello ya'll! I hope everyone had a great and safe New Year! We had a blast with our neighbors. Staying at home, us girls did some online shopping while the guys went out and put the husbands tractor back together! So we accomplished a lot! It was great catching up with them. 

                 The husband got out there this morning and tested and ran the tractor! I cleaned up the cow stall. I checked the cows for bugs/mites, and good news everyone was CLEAN! I just love it when my animals are bug free! I have been thinking about a lot of things I would like to accomplish in 2014. 

So here goes my list of goals for 2014:

1- You know I LOVE books. But I think my husband will start throwing out books if they dont get read. I made a good dent in the books in 2013, but I still have many, many, many more to read. Sooooo..... I am not going to PURCHASE any books in 2014. (If its FREE that's not a purchase) I must read what I have already been blessed with. Read more! I want to read 30 books! 

NO PURCHASING BOOKS IN 2014. 

2- You know I love to be organized. So I have found an app "Meal Board" in the App Store. I LOVE this app. It has a pantry, shopping list, recipes, the works!!!! You can also go and get recipes from websites (there is about 15 websites connected to this app) I am going to be using this app a lot in 2014! I am very excited about it. 

MEAL PLAN BETTER

3- Ya'll know I have been moving towards better foods for my family. So in 2014 I am moving a little closer to CLEAN EATING. I have read some terrible things about the chemicals, hormones, pesticides, and all around junk in our food. So I have several goals in the category lined up. The first one is no more fast/fried foods. I also want to master a homemade hummus recipe this month! I have tried a few and can't seem to master any of them! 

MOVE TOWARDS CLEAN EATING. 

3- Adyson- Sometimes I feel that her needs are pushed to the bottom of the pile. For example, Adyson loves to go to Story Time at the library. Sometimes I just cant get going fast enough in the morning to take her. I feel bad that she misses out on that time, its only once a week!! Also I feel bad that I don't read to Adyson at night. By the time bedtime comes I am just ready for the house to be quiet and lights out! Adyson deserves my undivided attention for 15-20 minutes everyday.

4- Brittany- Her and I never have time to just hang out! There is always an excuse, - can't find a sitter for Adyson, there is work to do around the farm... She is a teenager and does want to go out with her friends but we don't get the chance to do much together. 

5- More Positive- I worked on this in 2013, I fell off the wagon a few times, it happens. 2014 is going to be the year! No more yelling. No more getting frustrated with things I can not control. I need to learn to ENJOY life. I will step in JOY! 

6- Blog on time- Life happens, lazy happens, but this year I will be more aware of blogging on time. My biggest issue is doing exactly what I'm doing now and thinking and typing at the same time. I need to take notes throughout the week so when its time to blog its easier! I plan on posting a lot more this year! 

7- Continue with natural cleaning-  I am going to continue with finding as many natural cleaners and making what I can! I can't wait to find recipes for window cleaner, tub scubs, floor cleaners, etc. 

8-Work out 3 days a week- I jumped on this band wagon for about 2 months in 2013. I lost interest when it got cold outside. Sorry I am not fond of the cold. Yes I know I can exercise inside, I guess I just needed the "cold" excuse. I am going to pick random work outs from my Pinterest. I'll work on getting a routine when I get into working out!

9- Music- My wonderful husband bought me a keyboard for Mothers Day 2012. I have learned a few songs, but dying to learn more. So this year I am going to try to teach myself to read music and play! I am hoping to be able to play 12 songs (1 song a month) by the end of the year. I would love to be able to play some Christmas songs next year! Anyone know of a good music app that will help me read sheet music?

10- Christmas stuff- I would love to make our own ornaments and decorations this year and have an "old fashioned" Christmas. I have found lots of ideas on Pinterest on my Christmas Board. 

11- Do more myself- I hate when I can't do something and I leave it for the husband to do. I am tired of always giving him a "to do" list. So 2014 is the year I will learn to be more "manly". I will learn to use a drill, level, and a whole bunch more! 

12- Schedule- I need to create a schedule and keep it! I have certain things that I do on certain days (I will start blogging about all this, this year). Since the holidays have kept me hopping and has blown my schedule out of the water. I need to plan a little better this year! 

In case you haven't noticed my "theme" of goals this year is to take a step back and enjoy life. Try not to be so rushed. I'm going to start small so its not so over whelming. 

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Happy New Year! What are your goals? What are your resolutions? How are you going to make 2014 count?