Week 45 & 46 Winter Prep!

                  Its been a slow 2 weeks. I have not done anything really exciting. I am preparing for the winter months. I know Tennessee doesn't have "rough" winters but it never hurts to be prepared.  What have you been doing the last 2 weeks? I know I have been slacking! I am sorry! 

I'm sitting here watching The Brady Bunch the  T.V. show as I am writing the blog today. I am remembering a simpler time. No computers, internet. People took pride in their families, jobs, in themselves. Crime wasn't as bad or crazy. Everyone appreciated what they had. I think I will make a goal about this for 2014. 



Prepare for Winter- I guess you can say I have been playing squirrel. Going around and making sure everything is secure for winter. I have been making sure I have plenty of canned veggies/fruit in case we need them. Making sure there is propane in the tanks of the grill/BBQ. I put 5 jugs of water in the garage for the toilets in case we lose water. Some people say I am paranoid. All I can say is at least I'm prepared! I also try very hard to keep my pantry really stocked over the winter so I am not the one running out at the sound of the word "storm" or "blizzard". 

I make lots of meals in the crockpot over the winter. I always have left overs that get put in the freezer.

I also have all my animals to think about. So I make sure to keep extra feed bags in the garage just in case. 

So I have been making sure the kids are up to date on doctor appointments. I have been reading up healthier foods to eat in the winter that gives us the booster for our immune systems. 



Reading-  I have not been reading the last couple weeks. I am still working on Angels & Demons by Dan Brown. 

Updated Reading List

I promise by next blog post I will have read the book and hopefully watched the movie! 



Family Time & Crafts - With a teenager in the house its hard to get family time. So me and the hubby puts some rules in place for our teenager. My favorite is the Sunday rule, so everyone is home on Sundays to spend time and recoup together. No one is allowed to come over, no one goes anywhere. Its great!  We did crafts last week. They turned out great! I can not wait to decorate the Christmas tree Thanksgiving weekend!!! 

We did the snowflakes and snowman ornaments and glitter ornaments

REVIEW TIME-  So I am still LOVING my Shark Rotator Lift-Away Vacuum. Its works great! Its sucks everything up! 

Dishwasher soap- So I have given this a try for a few weeks and I am not quite happy with this. Its starting to leave a residue on the dishes. I guess it needs to be stronger.  It does NOT get the greasy stuff off at all. Here's the recipe that I started with. I'm going to do more research and tweak it a bit! I'll let you know in a couple weeks. 

So PhotoStream is still not working quite right. I have been on the phone over 5 hours in the last month with Apple. My issue in October and September still has not been fixed. This is why this blog post and others in the past don't have as many pictures! 



GOALS-  I have been looking over the goals I set in week 1. I am very proud that most of them have been accomplished. Especially my number 1 goal, quitting smoking!!!!  There is only 1 that has been put to the side. Which I am not going beat myself up over it, but it will be in the top 5 goals for 2014. MUSIC... I keep forgetting to make time. 



PROUD MOMMA MOMENT-  Brittany is getting 2A's and 2B's in school!!!! So proud of her! 

Adyson used her ALLOWANCE, (yes my 4 year old gets an allowance, she EARNS every penny) to buy herself something. TMNT pillow! 

Until next week!!! Have a great weekend! 

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 38 & 39

                  I'm sorry its been 2 weeks! You know how life can get away from you. The seasons are changing. Its finally getting a little cooler here. Does everyone realize that there are only 88 days left until CHRISTMAS?!?!?!?! I have already started looking into what the kids want.

Just a moment... I need to say Happy Anniversary to my Husband. 5 years ago this week we married. I have been blessed ever since. I never thought I would find a man a good as my husband. I'm glad I snatched him up. He is my everything. He doesn't have a clue the effect he has on me. The smile on his face lights up the room. I just can't picture my life without him. Happy Anniversary!!!

I must admit  I have been in a BLAH mood for a few weeks. I have not wanted to work out. Anyone else feeling the same way? Is it the seasons change? But I am going to say I have not been sleeping well at night either. I have got to get back on the wagon. So of course what better day to start then a Monday!

UPDATE- My husbands grandmother Mimi Sam has FINALLY come home!!!! She's been home about a week now! She is doing great and glad to be home. Thank you for all your prayers! Love you Mimi!!

Adyson enjoying her Mimi's back scratcher! 

IOS7 Update- Anyone else having problems with Photo stream not loading to your computer? I'm trying to write this blog and figure out what is going with my phone. I had to sign out of iCloud on the computer and on the phone, and sign back in!Ok never mind that didn't work either!
If anyone has a anything to suggest PLEASE DO!!! Very upset that my photos are no longer saving to my computer!!! 

HOMEMADE- So yesterday I was CRAVING brownies. so I dug through Pinterest where I found a perfect recipe for brownies. They came out gooey, and thick and fudge like. Oh I had 2 when they came out of the oven. The best part is I know everything thats in them!!!! Best part is you can make up the dry stuff ahead of time and put in a ziplock bag and add wet stuff when you are ready to bake.

My dessert board on Pinterest. Keep in mind this is homemade. So the batter is much thicker then store bought.

My Version of Homemade Brownies-

2/3 cup cocoa
2 cup sugar
1 & 1/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla
1 stick melted butter + enough vegtable oil to make 1 cup
1/4 water
1/4 vegetable oil (yes 2 different amount of oil)

Mix together. Grease 9x13 pan. bake 360 for 22-27 min depending on how gooey you want them.

Oh did I mention they were AWESOME!!!

So Adyson has been into Cat in the Hat lately. She read Green Eggs and Ham SEVERAL times over the last 2 weeks. So she decided she wanted to try to eat green eggs and ham. So I made some for her.

                             

So because my eggs and ham didn't look EXACTLY like the book she wouldn't eat them. But at least I tried. 



READING- I've read the Fifty Shades of Grey series- I LOVED IT! (Besides the obvious sexual content which is not a big deal to me) I loved how the story had a real purpose. 2 people who have issues and learn to work through them. I just had to see what all the hype was about. I really liked the actual story throughout the series! Which leads me to my next question of HOW are they going to turn this into a movie? Cause 75% of the first book Fifty Shades of Grey is sexual content. So it will be interesting. Oh & after reading the books I can NOT picture the cast they have hired for the roles in the movie.

Next on my reading list is Sundays at Tiffany's by James Patterson. The movie came on last weekend so I DVR'd it. So I think from now til the end of the year I'm going to read books turned movies. I'll read the books & watch the movies. I've always wanted to do this! Please post in the comments below for suggestions!

You can look me up on Goodreads
You can also be a Nook friend, trying to figure out how to throw a link out there but can't find one.

Anyone have any suggestions?

MOVIES- 

Life of Pi- I've tried to watch it 2 times & fall asleep within 15 minutes. I just don't understand what all the hype is about with this movie. 

Sorry this post is so short. I really need to keep better track of things and use the app on my phone. I know I have more to say, but nothing comes to my mind. Well until next time!!!! 

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