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?

A year in review

                       I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas! We had a great year this year. We took a different approach to Christmas this year and I think it worked out beautifully. Instead of buying a bunch of little gifts the kids were asked what "big/most important" gift they would like. We were tired of buying the little stuff that always gets broke, lost, or never used. So this year the kids  picked out a "big" gift and that was it! It was simple, the kids were over joyed!!! 


                     I'm proud of all of my accomplishments this year! I'm glad I had the support of family and friends. My biggest accomplishment this year was QUITTING SMOKING!!! July 17 was the last real cigarette I had. I had an electric cigarette for a bit, but I don't remember when I gave it up! During week 1 I listed all my goals for 2013. 

GOALS 2013....

1- quit smoking----DONE- I feel great since I quit smoking! Everything tastes better since I quit smoking!

2- Family Time- DONE- every Sunday is family day!  This is how we spent this last Sunday. Teaching the youngest to IMessage! She was so excited that she could text her daddy, sissy and mommy.... Oh and did I mention she has figured out how to video chat too? She can call her grandmother now! 

3- Get Organized- DONE- operation-kitchen-reorganization, Adysons Room I would like to organize my room and closet in 2014!

4- Eating Healthier- DONE- I no longer buy the boxed/frozen meals. I read labels of the products I buy. I'm cooking healthy! Buying healthier cuts of meats. Buying more veggies and fruits! 

5- Exercise- I have been a little sporadic with this. I plan on improving this in 2014. I have gone through Pinterest and found 100's of pins for exercise and pinned them to my board. 

6- Read More (52 book in 2013)- My last count was 13 pleasure books and 17 educational/informational... not too far off!! 

7- Brain games- I loved this challenge. I did use up all the crossword puzzles, Sudoku books I had. Now I have them on my phone and ereader! So I can play them all the time and be more Earth friendly! 

8- Blogging- Considering this is my 1st year of blogging I think I did alright. I have lots of ideas for next year to improve! If you have any suggestions let me know! 

9- Be More Positive- This was a tough one. Everyone has moments of frustrations, anger, its just a part of life. However I really tried to keep good spirits through it all this year! I am going to focus on only positive in 2014. 

10- Crafts- I may not have done 1 craft a month (which was the goal) I did more then I had done in 2012 (which was NONE) my favorite craft was the Halloween Village, Halloween Soaps, Laundry Soap, bath soaps, Christmas Ornaments. OK so I had fun doing them all!!!! 

11- Music- FAILED-  I am going to start over in 2014! 

12- No Chemicals- I tried lots of things this year. Most of them worked. I had a few fail. The biggest disappointment was dish soap I was really hoping to make my own stuff. After tons of research and several recipes everything failed. It failed because my water is too hard! So I found commercial stuff by 7th generation that is more natural and Earth friendly. 

13- Gardening- This went OK. Not as prosperous as I thought! But I am gaining experience and thats what matters! But I did have great luck with African Violets I'm very proud of that! I plan on starting more in February!  This is what they look like now almost 6 months later! I am so proud!! I am going to do many more in 2014

I had a wonderful year. I am blessed! I learned a lot about myself and my family in 2013. I can't wait to see what 2014 has in store for us! 

See you all in 2014!! 

Week 42 & 43

The past 2 weeks have gone by so fast! Sorry about not posting last week, but I didn't have internet! The cable modem finally died. We had to go 5 DAYS without internet!!  Can you imagine? Oh it was horrid. :) 

Then Adyson and I had the crud for a few days. Let germ season begin! I have added an extra vitamin C  & D tablet to my diet along with  B complex.  I have been watching a lot of Dr. Oz lately I love his shows. I like the new up to date medical information he gives. So I am going to try his immune system booster. 

Doctor Oz

http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/easy-fixes-boost-your-immunity-pt-1

http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/easy-fixes-boost-your-immunity-pt-2

http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/easy-fixes-boost-your-immunity-pt-3

( I AM NOT A DOCTOR, I AM NOT ENDORSING ANY PRODUCT. This is simply the diary of my life that I am sharing with you, and where I got my information. Please do your own research!)

REVIEW TIME-

I have to tell you we bought a new Linksys wireless router a few weeks ago. I really like it so far.  It can handle 7+ devices at a time and comes with  the option of a Guest Network with its own password!   Also has PARENTAL CONTROLS!!! Seems to be working great for us! 

I also LOVE the body scrub I found on Pinterest a few months back. I thought I had put it into a post earlier but can't seem to find it. I have been using this scrub since spring/summer started.  I love it and have since started using it all over my body every couple days and so far this fall/winter season I have not had to use lotion! Just remember this is an oil based scrub so your shower/tub will be EXTREMELY slippery when you rinse. 

I also LOVE the facial toner I made during week-20-21-22. So I haven't bought facial toner since! I love the smell and the way it feels! I'm 1 step closer to a chemical free life! 

IOS7- still not working correctly. As you remember from Septembers Blog I was having issues with Photo Stream. I have uninstalled everything, reinstalled everything, signed in and out of everything. Turned permissions on and off. I am getting very frustrated with everything. Still no luck! Anyone else having issues with Photo Stream? OH and the newest update 7.0.3 still didn't fix the issue!!!! 

Movie reviews- I didn't rent any movies last week because I caught the crud last week. It's that time of the year to start taking your vitamins and drinking your orange juice! Oh it was horrible last week sinus infections kick my butt! The  it turns into the chest congestion from the nasal drainage, yuck! So I used the entire stock pile of tissues, that's right all 10 boxes! My poor nose was redder then Rudolph. 

FARM HAPPENINGS- there was a death on the farm last week. Adysons chicken went to heaven. She broke her leg. Adyson took the news better then I thought. It went something like this-

Me-  Mommy has some bad news to tell you. Chicken Girl went to heaven last night. Since she is in heaven now she is not in pain anymore.

Adyson- OOOOOHHHHHH NNNNNOOOOO! Mommy I didn't say goodbye to Chicken Girl. (she has a sad, pouty face. She thinks this over for a few minutes) so mommy when are we getting  new chickens?

ME- well I'm glad you want more chickens but we have to wait until after Christmas and then your birthday before we get more chickens.

Adyson- I get to pick them out right? And I want to paint the chicken coop with rainbows. 

Me- sure honey what ever you want. (Thinking to myself, I'm glad my kids are resilient) :)

REST IN PEACE CHICKEN GIRL

READING - I'm still working on Angels & Demons. Since I wasn't up to snuff last week all I did was relax so I'm behind, I know! What are you reading?

Find me on Goodreads.com

HOMEMADE-  Since being sick last week. I am  stepping up the whole foods/healthy foods in our house! As most of you know I do not buy "boxed" dinners. I am working on getting the rest of the processed foods out of my house. 

 So I am excited to announce that I have FINALLY used up all my couponing, stockpiled dishwasher tabs!!!  I found a recipe on Pinterest about making your own dishwasher soap. It uses simple stuff from around the house (well their around my house) So hopefully you can make some too! If you have made homemade laundry soap you should have most of the stuff on hand.

DISHWASHER SOAP-

3 cups Borax

3 cups washing soda

1 cup Epson salt ( I got a big 10 lb bag at Sams Club for around $8)
1/2 cup citric acid. (don't freak out, I found it in the canning isle of the grocery store. I used this in place of the "lemonade packets" or Lemi-Shine rinse aid called for in most recipes) around $3-$4. 

Mix all ingredients together. Use 1-1.5tbs per load! PLEASE BE AWARE IT MAY HARDEN IF NOT STIRRED EVERYDAY. You can break it up and still use it. Or you can get little ice cube trays and pour powder into trays & let sit out for 2-3 days to harden. Just remember to buy to use trays that have small enough cubes so they fit properly in your dishwasher & a container big enough to handle all the tablets! 

So far I like it! I've only used it a few times so it's going to be reviewed again in a few weeks once I give it a good & dirty test!

CRAFTS- With Christmas coming I have lots of crafts planned for Adyson to do! Thanks to Pinterest I would love to do Adyson's hand in the clay and bake it. I also love the idea of the Snowman Orniments. There is so many. But I REFUSE to push the holidays. So we wont be starting any Christmas crafts until after Halloween. I just can't wait. 




Hope everyone has a great week! See you next time! 

Week 34

               I can't believe its already been a week. Where does the time go? Well lots of retailers in my area have already put their back to school stuff on CLEARANCE!!! Go and stock up for next year!!! I have enough spiral notebooks and packets of paper to get Brittany through high school. When you buy them 75% off you just can't help yourself. I hate running into town because the kids need some "little" school supply, pens, pencils etc. So I always have a stock pile :) 

CRAFTS-
I use this time of year to replace/upgrade Adyson's stash of coloring stuff, and my craft bin :) I can always use glue sticks ($0.23 for a 4 pack of glue), stickers (Not to mention if you have little ones packets of paper for coloring, crayons, markers , etc) AND save money doing it cause you are getting everything on clearance!!!

So I bought Adyson a few little things that we will use when we play school. She loves playing school. So I also bought her a few dry erase boards. 

I have started a Halloween board on Pinterest I can't wait to try some things with Adyson this year. She is really getting into the crafts this year. I think I'm going to do the Floating Ghost with her first. You use cheese cloth and spray it with starch and it dries hard. You can see it on my Pinterest board. 

GARDENING-  
Well the hubby is home this weekend and he was nice enough to weed whack the strawberry patch. I have June bearing strawberries so my plants are already done producing. So we whack them down to about 2 inches tall. I thin them out, I pull the small/weak plants out, add some good dirt and mulch to the top of them for the fall/winter season. 

My vegetable garden id done producing. So next time hubby comes home we are going to till it up and turn it into the compost patch for the fall/winter. 

FAMILY TIME-

So this last week it was decided that Brittany shoudl start cooking dinner 2 times per week. So she understands and reads recipes, can measure properly, the costs of foods, but mainly spending time with her in the kitchen. She is learning to read labels on the packages, (your different cuts of meats, chicken etc)It was fun watching her learn. I'm very proud of her! I can't wait until next week! This week she made chicken wings and salad! It was also YUMMY!!!!!  I'm going to try REALLY hard not to burn things, in my house its a running joke that when the smoke alarms go off dinner is ready!

Brittany has also decided she wanted to play Powder Puff Football!!!! We are so excited for her. I miss going to games (she was a cheerleader in 6th and 8th grade). 

My daughter is the one wearing JEANS, when its 90+ degrees outside. She was told she wasn't suppose to play, BUT she did. Proud of her for being a trooper! You can watch her practices on my YouTube channel. The links are below! 

Brittany practice
Brittanys practice 2
Brittany Practice 3

EATING HEALTHY-  
 In prepping for the fall and winter season I was looking around the internet and books for my favorite recipes for the SLOW COOKER!!! I don't know what it is about the slower cooker in the fall and winter, but I love it. I have subscribed to The Test Kitchen of Melissa Fallis blog. I LOVE how she makes everything simple, and gives a grocery list and all for her freezer meals. Thanks so much Melissa! I can't wait to try the recipes!

I was also watching Dr. Oz(it was a rerun from last season) BUT  he talked about the flu season coming and the vitamins we should be on the look out for! We all know vitamin C helps boost our system but there are a few others. Vitamin D, B6, B12. So I am looking for foods that have these little goodies in them! Good food sources of vitamin B6 include brewer's yeast, bananas, cereal grains, legumes, vegetables (especially carrots, spinach and peas), potatoes, milk, cheese, eggs, fish and sunflower seeds. For B12, fish(salmon, tuna, cod) crab lobster beef  cheese eggs. Some foods with vitamin D salmon, eggs, milk, tuna yogurt. You can read more WebMD

We are doing great with eating healthy. Almost all the "cravings" for junk is gone. I have replaced the junk with healthy versions. I'm eating more hummus and salsa now instead of your typical sour cream dips (french onion, ranch). I'm adding stuff to meals like flaxseed to my smoothies, mashed potatoes, yogurt. The least you can do is TRY something, that's what I tell my kids!

EXERCISING- 
Loving the apps I have found in the App Store. Ab workouts, Leg workouts, Arm workouts. I finally got my SHAPE and Fitness magazines. So I've been busy  cutting out new workouts and adding them to my spiral notebook. I have also found 2 workout shows on TV, Classical Stretch and Body Electric. They come on pretty early but I DVR them and watch them when I want :) 

READING- I loved The Lightning Thief!!!!! TO me is was similar to Harry Potter. But this is one of my favorite genres!!!! Trying to decide what to read next....
You can also follow me on Goodreads.com


PLEASE REMEMBER EVERYTHING IN MY BLOG IS MY OWN OPINION. NO ONE HAS PAID ME TO ENDORSE ANYTHING. 

                                                      See everyone next week!!!! 

Week 33

                    The fair is in town. We went. Note to self for next year do not work out the day before especially my hips & butt.... I'm so sore I can barely move. (Not to mention with me eating extremely healthy for almost a month) Good (healthy)food at the fair is hard to come by. Me dying of thirst I stopped at the first place & bought a coke( technically Slice orange for those not in the South). I was excited to "splurge" on eating healthy, I took a swig and YUCK!!! It took everything I had to continue drinking the sugar bomb! I couldn't believe how much my taste buds had changed in a month. 

Adyson had the best time! She finally grew enough to go on 90% of the rides by herself. Exciting moment for her, sad moment for me. I realized how big she really is. You can see her videos on Youtube

Still smoke free!!!


READING- I'm still reading  The Lightning Thief. I know it takes forever for me to finish a book, its not that I'm a slow reader its the interruptions. If I had 4-5 hrs to sit and read from beginning to end I could finish it! I'm half way Its sounding similar to Harry Potter but with Greek mythology instead.  I love it so far!!!


EATING HEALTHY- has been going great! I have been using oatmeal a lot lately. I have found it tastes great in anything! I'm using it in my smoothies, pancakes, and actually making oatmeal with real fruit for breakfast! No more packaged oatmeal for us! I've been using honey as a sweetener instead of sugar lately.

Blueberry & Oatmeal pancakes topped with bananas & honey!!!
YUMMY!!!!!

Long cooking oatmeal with peaches, strawberries! 

I have also found a love for wraps! Add some hummus, spinach, turkey, cheese and wrap it up!!! Or you can try my favorite which is a chicken caesar wrap! You create so many different options its unreal!

I have also been loving 4C drink enhancers! These guys do a great job for the liquid drink enhancers. It only takes 1-3 squirts to a water bottle (depending on your taste buds). I found this 4 pack at Sam's Club for about $7.50, which is an awesome deal because individually they are about $3.00-$3.75 depending on flavors, each bottle has around 24 servings, so to me you get more servings then the "other drink enhancer powders". I also like the fact that it is liquid so it mixes better, and I don't have to worry about the wrappers from the powder packets. I keep one of these in my purse so I always have it! My daughter carries one in her lunch box. Its nice not carrying 10 little powder packets, the wind blowing the powder everywhere, throwing away the wrappers.... AHHHH I love these little guys!!!!
www.4cstore.com

                         

 EXERCISING- I have an exercise board on Pinterest so I have lots of ideas. In the 3 health magazines I get every month it talks about if you haven't exercised in over a year you need to start slow to prevent injury. So in my workouts that I started August 1, I do more floor exercises right now. I need to build up the muscles I have, along with balance. I do use the video that I posted 2 weeks ago, week 31. So I pick a workout from Pinterest or from my spiral notebook, everyday (well Monday thru Friday anyway). I also do the 30 day ab workout challenge! So by September I will be increasing my workouts and challenging myself more. I'm feeling great!

NO CHEMICALS- I'm still working on this. I am slowly transitioning from boxed/packaged stuff to natural products. I haven't run out of anything lately. Although the next time I run out of sugar I want to try the new Stevia that everyone is talking about. I'm always looking at labels now and I'm more aware of the chemicals that are in everything we use. I'm still looking for a good homemade dish soap! The recipe I tried doesn't cut the grease. If anyone has any ideas leave them in the comments below PLEASE :)

CRAFTS- I am going to be starting a special project soon! I want to make my grandmother a Halloween Village for her birthday/Halloween. If anyone tells her I will be very upset! I found the idea on Pinterest!!!! I can't wait to start I will post pictures throughout the process. Does anyone have any cute ideas they are going to start/do for Halloween???

GARDENING-
NOTHING went as planned this year! The sister planting (planting corn, squash, & beans together) didn't go over well, the beans over ran the corn & killed it.

ALL (yellow, Zucchini and pumpkin) my squash died beginning of August. I have no idea why. It all turned yellow and died. 

The garden still floods when it rains. So the husband and I are going to try to raise the bed and make some new planter boxes!

The dog dug up ALL my herbs while we were on vacation. I guess he missed me! So I will have to start those over.

The 3 tomatoes that survived are doing great! The poor green pepper plants are only 2 foot tall and producing mini green peppers! HAHA Same goes for the banana peppers!
How did your gardens do this year?

MOVIES-

The Raven- Loosely based on Edgar Allan Poe's life or an adventure starring Edgar Allan Poe. It was a great murder/mystery movie set back in the 1840's? Similar to Sherlock Holmes in my opinion. Very interesting & would watch it again! 

Salt- great female "spy" movie! Loved it & might have to buy it! 

Temptation- Tyler perry knows how to write/direct movies!! loved it!!! Slow to start & a surprising ending!!!! 

The Possession- was a simple "possession movie" for me anyway. No scary parts just basically how a family deals with an issue like this.

Frankenweenie- was a Tim burton special  but all done in black and white. It was ok.

Hotel Transylvania - was a cute monster/vampire cartoon for kids. I loved it! 

Lorax- adyson loved it! I love Dr. Suess!!!

Mirrors- Seems to be the adult version of Poltergiest 3. Seeing things in mirrors and the "spirits" in the mirrors taking control. Its OK. 

Let me know what you thought of the latest movies you've seen. 

HALF WAY THROUGH THE YEAR!

Sorry I'm a few weeks behind, I'm traveling again! Weeks 26-29 have gone by too fast. 
Does anyone realize we are half way through this year already? Or in shopping terms 159 days til Christmas ?!?! I'm just as shocked as you are, where does the time go? I'm going to review my goals that I posted back in January. Make it Count is where my goals are listed. It's been the biggest challenge just keeping up with day to day life, but worth every moment.

QUIT SMOKING- was my most important goal to accomplish this year. It took me a few tries and attempts. This last time I really had to put my mind to it. I did buy the BLU e-cig to help me. No smell, no smoke, tastes OK. So I'm proud to say I have been cigarette free for almost a WEEK! I'm also proud to say my husband has quit smoking too (he quit first)!

FAMILY TIME-Over the last 6 months we have enjoyed more family time.We don't have to  "concentrate" Wow 6 months, time flies when you are having fun! We did our annual party for 4th of July. Hope everyone had a great 4th of July. I made my famous Cajun Chicken Lasagna and my husband lights the fireworks. We had about 40 people come and enjoy the show. 

GETTING ORGANIZED- I'm proud to say every room has been organized. I started with the Kitchen in January. In March/April I did my daughter's room. The living room and dining room, well there's nothing to organize. I'm thankful I had the time to do all the little projects this year. 

EAT HEALTHY- Meal planning hasn't worked yet (especially) through the summer. I am finding TONS of healthier choices about food. I love the one with Greek yogurt. instead of buying sour cream, I have been substituting Greek yogurt for everything. Let me tell you the Greek in the BIG containers, is not as thick as the Greek in the small/individual fruit containers. 
I still haven't replaced my breadmaker. Oh how I miss my breadmaker. But since the end of the breadmaker era, we have turned to wraps! and those sandwich thins. YUMMY!!!
I have discovered smoothies! I have made all types in the last month!
Need to work on meal planning!!! 

GET IN SHAPE- I have exercised around the farm, shoveling, raking, gardening, but no actual workouts. Going to Florida in June and July and swimming, playing in the ocean, walking everywhere helps. I'm reading my fitness magazines that I subscribe to, SHAPE, Women's Health, Fitness.  I bought a spiral notebook for the workouts I find in the magazines. I cut out the ones I like and glue them into the notebook! So I don't have to keep all the magazines. 

READ MORE- According to my count I have read 22 books this year. And since I have been piling my magazines up in the floor for 4 months, if I counted 3 mags per month x 4 months = 12 mags I have read in the last week. But I have discovered iTunes U, and Podcasts on my iPhone. I have been reading about nutrition and exercise while on the go!

So I'm a little behind but still better then I thought I would be! I'm reading a new book by Carly Phillips "Perfect Fling" its funny, romantic and I love it! 

BRAIN GAMES- I fell off this wagon. I play these at least once a week (the goal was 10 minutes per day). The "good" brain game apps require a monthly/annual subscription. 

THINK, BE, ACT POSITIVE- I want to create a more positive life. Start thinking, being, acting more positive. This has worked great, trying to see the good in ALL situations. Sometimes its very tough to stay calm and positive. I think I have managed pretty well this year.

CRAFTS- We have found a few things off Pinterest, especially when it comes to the organizing projects. We have made soaps, arts and crafts and when we come back from vacation we will be working on our Halloween decorations and costumes!

MUSIC- I have practiced a little but not nearly enough. I LOVE my keyboard, I just need to plan better, or schedule time for me to play.

NO CHEMICALS- I have been doing a GREAT job of tackling this goal. I am slowly working our way to a chemical free house. We have made our own soap, laundry soap, kitchen cleaner, fabric softener, baby wipes, face wipes, facial toner. We are using up the last of the "store bought" cleaners, hopefully by the end of the year the cleaners will be gone.

GARDENING- I did have my own garden this year! I learned a lot from this. In my garden the "sister" gardening (planting corn, squash and pole beans together) did NOT work.  The idea is the beans grow up the corn stalks, (so you don't have to put up poles) and the squash plant grows at the base to keep out the rabbits and critters. Well the beans took over the corn, and bent the stalks, so we have corn stalks but no corn! My tomato & pepper plants took FOREVER to take off (remember I started them inside, and transplanted them week 2) once they were outside. My toms were about 6 inches tall when I planted them in May, they are just now producing some green toms!!!!

I have learned that creating a blog for all to see has made a huge impact in my life. Going through these goals with you guys makes the challenge all the greater. Being honest about what goals I have accomplished and failed makes me realize what I need to work on. I'm going strong, I am going to finish the year strong!

How are you doing with your goals? Have a great weekend!

Adyson Brittany and Jackie, painting Chicken's coop light purple.

Week 15 & 16

This week has been a little crazy. We have had great weather this week in the 70's and 80's. We have been outside enjoying the weather a lot!

I decided last weekend would be MY LAZY WEEKEND. I didn't do anything but RELAX! I had my movie line up and snacks ready! I'm got my "chores" done early so I had nothing to do!

Since I decided to do all my chores early I wanted to make sure all the laundry was done. As I put the load in the dryer it started blinking "AF" on the screen. After some research online I found out it meant "air flow". So I pulled the dryer out cleaned the wall vent. Restarted the dryer. It still showed AF. So... I researched some more online and found out there could be dust clogging up the inside of the dryer . So I decided to take apart my dryer!!! Took off the top & front. And to my surprise it was filled with dust/lint everywhere. So I swept it out. Then took the back off ( I forgot to take a pic of this), same thing dust/lint everywhere. I put everything back together and IT WORKS!!! No more error code!!!!

Top of the dryer off

front of the dryer off! 

Putting the front back on! 

All the dust that was INSIDE my dryer! 

* UPDATE- The dryer is still running great no error codes!

MOVIES- all 10 of the Ma & Pa Kettle movies! All 5 twilight movies!

MORE READING- Read some GREAT books the last 2 weeks.

The Naturally Clean Home by Karyn Siegal-Maier This is an awesome book, I went out and BOUGHT it! Lots of homemade "recipes" for all the cleaning supplies needed to clean your home.

Soapmaking for the first time by Linda Ortin- This is a simple starter book for those looking to make your own soap. Its for "first time" soap makers and a great book! Its on my "buy list" but I can't find it anywhere.

The Complete book of Essential Oils and Aromatherapy by Valerie Ann Worwood- BOUGHT THIS BOOK! This is a "natural" book of 600 + "recipes" for most health issues, common cold, upset stomach etc.

The best of Top Secrets Recipes by Todd Wilbur- Who doesn't like to make their own McDonalds Big Mac, Taco Bell Nachos, KFC Fried Chicken, at least this way you KNOW whats in your food! Love this book and BOUGHT IT!

CRAFTS- Now that I have gotten Soapmaking for the first time by Linda Ortin from the library I went to Hobby Lobby and picked up a few things I needed. So hopefully over the next week I will be making soap! I bought 1 soap mold and fragrance oil, goat milk soap, shea butter soap, glycerine. I would like to make Adsyon a fun soap.

GARDENING- I've been very lazy about this. I need to get myself up and going and get my plants and seeds in the ground! I have corn, beans, squash, tomato plants, green pepper plants. Oh and lettuce, spinach!

NO CHEMICALS-  This has been going great! I LOVE the make-up wipes and baby wipes I made a couple weeks ago! (Click Here for the wipes recipes) With all the family members I had "try" my homemade laundry soap it was already time to make more! If you need the recipe Click Here and read week 6. I also made what I thought was a small batch of DISH SOAP (the small 1/2 gallon) but after it sat overnight, it gelled up so I had to add some water and move it to a GALLON milk jug! So I made a gallon of dish soap for a $1.

DISH SOAP- to hand wash dishes.

 1 BAR GRATED Kirks Castile Soap
3 tbl WASHING soda (NOT baking soda)
4 cups water plus extra
3-4 drops Essential oil (for smell, this is optional)

Bring water to ALMOST boiling, add grated soap and mix until its dissolved. The smaller the soap pieces the faster it will melt/dissolve. Once the soap is melted/dissolved you can add washing soda. Stir until dissolved.
DO NOT ALLOW THIS TO BOIL. Once everything has dissolved allow to cool for about 1-2 hours. Fill your gallon jug about 1/2 full with water and add the soap mix. shake well. At this point you can add your essential oils. You can not add them in the beginning because the essential oil will evaporate in/with the steam.
I have noticed with this recipe my dishes are clean. Sometimes I do see a "cloudy" buildup on my glasses. To solve this use 1 sink for soaping up dishes, use your other sink as a rinse sink. Fill your rinse sink with water and add 1/2 cup vinegar. The vinegar acts as its own "rinse agent". Your soap still might gel up from time to time, all you have to do is shake it before you use it! Remember this is a homemade recipe, it will not bubble like the store bought stuff. It will also make your "wash" water a little cloudy, this is the soap WORKING!

Most of this week Adyson has had some coughing spells(nasal drainage due to allergies/season change), I tried the OTC crap and nothing worked. So I scoured the net. Looking for a homemade anything to help her coughing at night. I came across multiple websites that suggested putting Eucalyptus oil on your child's feet. You only use 2-3 drops per foot, massage it in. Put socks over their feet (so you don't get the oil all over the sheets) it WORKED!!!! I was so pleased that she had a peaceful night sleep! PLEASE DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH ABOUT ESSENTIAL OILS, they are toxic if ingested just like the OTC stuff.

Oh did I mention that Adyson's eczema is doing wonderful! Its almost gone! The homemade stuff is working great! Click here for week 10!

I have found a replacement for my Swiffer pads for mopping the floor! I found some awesome dish clothes with a scrubber patch (for the muddy days) on them & I also bought the new Handi-Wipes (reusable/washable for the lighter days) at Walmart! Now I have the Swiffer Vacuum. So I can attach my own pad and mop and vacuum at the same time! Since mine is the vacuum my "pads" are smaller than the actual Swiffer wet jet and other similar products.So I was able to cut these in 1/2 and get 12 pads from them! I run these over my floors all the time!

Now for the solution to clean the floor. I wanted something that would CLEAN and not leave a film/sticky floor! I bought a rectangular container (cause like a dummy I threw away the Swiffer container) that fit the wipes/pads in it!
FLOOR SOLUTION

1/2 cup water
1/2 cup vinegar
2-3 squirts dish soap
3-4 drops essential oil (for smell purposes)

Mix it all up and add to container, fold your pads and place in the container. Let it sit for 10 minutes, flip the container over( so the top pads get wet) and they are ready to use! If you don't use essential oils, the vinegar smell goes away once the floor are dry.

Well its off to cleaning I go! Let me know if you have any questions!  Have a great weekend!

Week 13 &14

Farm happenings- the vet came out to see the cows... The girls got their wormer, vaccinations, and exam. We were told that Hamburgerella has week lungs probably from pneumonia when she was born, and She shouldn't be bred, don't want to pass the "week lung" trait on to the next generation. But Steaktessa would be great for breeding. And they both got a clean bill of health!!!! Yippie!

SMOKING- I fell off the wagon about 2-3 weeks ago, but as the old saying goes "try, try, again!" Its harder then I thought it would be! 


ORGANIZING- So proud of myself! Took ALL those "rewards/store/perk" cards, registered them all online. Threw out what I don't use, and registered all the cards with the apps on my phone AND got a spare key ring and put them all together on 1 ring in the pocket of my purse!

Adysons room is still under a little construction but  as soon as its done I promise I will post before and after pictures. I'm LOVING it so far. 

CRAFTS- I found the idea from Pinterest. I was getting tired of always wearing black bobby pins in my hair. So Brittany and I had fun painting some! We lined the bobby pins up on cardboard (we used a cereal box) and used nail polish and created the colors we wanted!

I also found an idea on Pinterest about room decorating. I bought Adsyon 2 bookcases for her room. I didnt like the "all white" look. So I started looking for ideas, I didn't want to paint so the challenge was even bigger to find something different. I ran across an idea. I went to the store and found a KING size sheet set. I took the "fitted" sheet and cut them to fit the back of the bookcase! I stapled the fabric to the backboard, then nailed the back board to the bookcase! 

fabric stapled to the back of bookcase!

My Aunt wanted to make matching curtains for the window & the closet opening! It worked out perfect! We had enough fabric to do BOTH bookcases, window and closet opening and still have some left over! Best part is it all MATCHES!!!! So for  $10 for KING size sheet set, and got basically 2 sets of curtains, and extra fabric for the bookcases..... NOT BAD!

curtains! 

closet opening!

NO CHEMICALS- Update- Adysons eczema is doing great!! The homemade ointment from a few weeks ago! Her patches have gone from red and cracked to pale pink! They are no longer cracked! I have been doing the ointment about every other day. 

I a FEW new things over the last couple weeks, and so far LOVE them! 

Make Up Wipes- You heard me! I am tired of paying $6+ for 32 little make up wipe removers! So I scoured the internet and found a "recipe" that I LOVE. It works for MY combination skin type! 

 1.5 tbl  of Coconut oil   (Walmart for 14 oz $6.50)

1.5 cups of DISTILLED water- (distilled water prevents molding/mildew cost $2.50 gallon)

2-4 pumps of your favorite face wash

3 drops tea tree oil  (Walmart 2 oz $ 6)

1 roll of BOUNTY paper towels (the cheaper ones do NOT work) $2

SHARP not serrated Knife.

container large enough to hold the paper towels, I found a 2 quart pitcher works! cost $3)

Lay the roll of paper towels down and cut them in half. This takes a minute! Pour all your   ingredients into a cup and microwave about 30 seconds to a minute, just enough to melt the coconut oil. Stir well. Put 1 of your cut halves in the container CUT SIDE DOWN. Slowly pour the liquid over the paper towels let it sit 3-5 minutes. Then you can pull out the middle cardboard section and start using.  You should get about 70 wipes, (depending on the size of your paper towel roll) WARNING- keep out of direct light, heat this will cause mold/mildew. 

These cleaned all the make up off my face, and left it feeling clean and moisturized. There was no need for me to "wash" my face or use lotion afterward! I also made a batch for my aunt and daughter, they love them too! 

I'm working on dish soap, a replacement for my Swiffer wipes, Lysol wipes so check back and see what I make! I must admit I am loving making my own stuff. The best part is I know whats in everything!

See everyone in about a week! Hope you have a great week! 

Our newest Kid, Adyson named her "Poopey", who knows why.......

Week 6

I'm trying to figure out if the weather knows what its doing. Cold & windy, tornadoes, rain now today its 55 outside, during the middle of February! I can't wait for spring. I am trying to wait patiently but I'm running out. 

I just realized that the last "update" Apple did screwed my phone up. It erased my icloud back up, erased all my notes, so far. Trying to restore from computer now. ughhhh So if this week's review gets a little weird you know why :) ok 11 minutes later & still no notes!!! Now on the phone with Apple tech, the update didn't "update" like it was supposed to. I have lost my all of my Notes!

Smoking- DONE! 

Family time- Has been going better this week. Eating meals together, chores together. Still need to come up with something fun for all of us to do. If anyone has any ideas put them in the comments! 

Organizing- Well Adyson's room is coming along. I got her involved in the process of her room. She wants it painted purple. She wants to get rid of all her babies & "junk" (she calls it) that go along with the babies. "I don't play with babies" is what she tells me. So this makes it easier to get stuff out of her room that she doesn't play with anymore. Her and I have this discussion all the time, if you don't play with it let's give it to someone who will. Adyson seems ok with this, she actually packed the garbage sack full with her babies & baby stuff, might I add she is very proud of herself!

Healthy eating- haven't bought anything junky from the store yet!!! still trying to eat up what we have here. I haven't bought a boxed dinner this year! (I did buy a few boxes of mac & cheese BUT I looking for a homemade recipe) I have found some great recipes on Pinterest ( I comment on the recipes I have tried).

Exercise- haven't done any yoga or stretching this week, BUT I have been active in the yard.  I have weeded/dead headed my strawberry plants, weeded the front walk way & made a compost pile this week! 

Reading- still reading lots of gardening books this week. I have ordered Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion (turned into a movie, it just came out) from the library, waiting for it to come in.


Tips for Container Gardening from Fine Gardening- This was great for flowers, not too much info about vegetables

The New Self Sufficient Gardener by John Seymore- This book was GREAT! Great tips!

The Weekend Homesteader by Anna Hess- This gives you  month by month steps on how to prep everything. It was OK. A few tips and some good kid activities.

The Vegetable Gardener's Container Bible by Edward C Smith- AWESOME book, I bought it! Explains in detail the soil types for your veggies, depth of pots, what plants you can grow together  and the plants you should keep separate!

Cleaning by Real Simple & Kathleen Squires - this didn't give me the information I was looking for. I thought this book would give me homemade cleaning solutions to the commercial brands. All this book gave me was a "schedule" (daily, weekly, monthly, annually) of what to clean in my house. 

Brain games- Haven't found anything new this week. Still having fun with the ones from last week. check them out here

STILL BLOGGING-

Positive thinking- its still a challenge to remain positive about everything BUT I am getting better. 

Craft- Adyson doesn't seem to want to help with Valentine cards. I think I need to show her the "finished" product, maybe she will want to help then!

Music- Only got in 30 mintues last week. I really need to buckle down and schedule myself music time everyday. 

No chemicals- I made my own DISH soap & LAUNDRY soap. It was not as bad to make as I thought. I did have to go and buy a 6 gallon pail/trash can. I have kept all my milk jugs, my soap did make 8 gallons & 3 laundry soap bottles. So approx 9.5 gallons & it cost me about $10!!! Cleans just as well as store bought. No perfumes. No dyes. 


 Adyson LOVED helping me stir everything. 

I had to buy Fels-Naptha soap, Borax and WASHING soda (not baking soda) I found all the items in the laundry isle of my grocery store. Then I used this video from YouTube for the PROCESS on how to make soap! 

For Dish soap I found Frugally Sustainable on You Tube,watch her make  dish soap
My ingredients were Kirks Castile Soap grated, WASHING soda, white vinegar & HOT water. VERY simple to make. Just remember- this IS NOT like store bought! It does not bubble much, and yes, it will make the water cloudy. . . Bubbles do Not make your dishes clean! The cloudy water shows there is soap in there-- Soap is what cleans, not bubbles.

Gardening- My African Violets haven't sprouted new shoots yet takes 4-6 weeks its only been 2 weeks. I planted a cut leaf in soil, and put a clear plastic bag over them to create a green house effect. The veggies I planted inside are doing great, my tomatoes are 4-5 inches tall. My cucumbers are 8-10 inches tall. I will have strong plants to plant this year! 

This year has been wonderful so far! I love being able to blog, and share my stories and adventures with you guys!