What A Difference A Year Makes...Part One

June 2013

July 2014

June 2013

July 2014

June 2013

 July 2014

June 2013

July 2014

June 2013

 July 2014

 July 2014

July 2014

Sell This House

I made up my mind last week that the entire week ahead will be spent readying our house to sell.  The kids aren't sharing a room as nicely as I wish they would.  Kade needs his own space for his massive Godzilla collection.  Kyleigh needs her own room for her kitchen & doll house.  SO many toys are in their playroom at my parents simply because their current room is too small.  I cut grass today and I saw LOTS to do to fix up the outside of the house.  Things that won't cost a dime to do.  

Cutting up a fallen tree and hauling off.

Raking up leaves & briars from said tree and hauling off.

Weedeating.

Bleaching the back porch & prepping it to stain.

These few things will make a massive difference.  And hopefully attract potential buyers.  I'll keep you updated.  Please just keep me in your prayers that we can sell this house!!

Update

So....it's been just a little while since my last entry.  We've managed to get settled back into our home since the last time I posted.  

Kade was discharged from OT May 29th.  A happy & bittersweet day for all involved.  His Occupational Therapist was a TRUE Saint.  Seriously, the most generous woman I've been privileged to meet in my life.  I've had several doctors & nurses breeze through my children's life.  I can tell the truly, genuine ones from the ones who solely do their job for the money.  Miss Cathy is anything but.  She has called to check on my child when he was sick.  She has attentively listened to anything he's had to say and let him lead therapy many times.  There were many tears shed during the day he graduated from everybody.  Luckily, I've managed to make a friend for life.  She helped my child overcome his issues with textures of foods after having his horrible, obstructive tonsils removed.  I will forever owe her for all she has done for him.  

I managed to completely potty train Kyleigh in one weekend.  She decided she wanted to poop on my parents' sidewalk one day so I ran with it.  We made the switch to ALL panties and BOOM, she loved it.  Life has been MUCH easier not having to have pull-ups and diapers in my bags.  

We signed up for our Homeschool Association & Accountability groups.  I waited patiently to hear back and worried for a while they may have too many applications for us to be accepted.  Long story short, Kade and his best friend were both accepted.  **Happy Dance** Field Trips will not be painfully awkward because we already have friends in our group!!  I finally settled on my choices for curriculum as far as Math & Science goes.  I managed to score a brand new Math textbook & manipulatives packet on Amazon for a whopping $25.  Happy mama over here.  I've also got our supplemental workbooks & his Science notebooking journal in as well.  Working on finding more deals to save us a ton.  Using them for two children makes it even sweeter.

My sweet Kade celebrated his 5th birthday June 17th.  I will be writing up his baby story as I find the time.  Kyleigh is in the terrible, horrific & difficult twos stage right now.  Therefore, my posts will be random.  Bear with me. 

Kyleigh started ballet.  I signed her up for a Mom & Tot dance class with my best friend and her little girl.  Kyleigh loves dance & loves taking it with her best friend as well.  Win for everyone involved.  I get quality time with my best friend & our daughters in one swoop.  I'm hoping Kyleigh will hopefully gain more confidence and grow a love for dance that will stick with her!

We added a new family member last week.  A 13 week old kitten that I actually fed with a syringe for a while.  His name is Godzilla (Kade is currently obsessed with EVERYTHING Godzilla.  He loves the movies, even the ones that are in Japanese with English subtitles.  

And we've also ALL been hit by a horrific stomach bug.  Different symptoms for the adults, but MUCH suffering and weakness for the littles.  Kade seriously didn't run around for 36 hours.  NOT typical Kade.  Luckily, we are all free of it now.  Hopefully I'll manage to post more frequently from here on out.

Thanks for reading!!

Homemade Laundry Detergent

So, another thing I thought would help my budget would be making my own detergents.  I saw a bunch of friends posting pictures of their 5 gallon buckets full of detergent that they made for next to nothing.  Last night, I made 5 gallons of laundry detergent based on the Duggar family's recipe.  SUPER easy, smells like heaven & did I mention CHEAP??

First you start out with your ingredients:

 5 gallon bucket with lid (obviously) ($5.00)
4 cups hot tap water
1 bar Fels-Naptha Soap ($1.25)
1/4 cup Borax ($5.00 for the box)
25 drops Lavender Essential oil (optional) ($11.00)
1/2 cup Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda** ($1.00 for box)

**If you can't find Washing Soda, I found a way to convert baking soda into washing soda.  You measure out your Baking Soda, pour it into a glass dish & bake for 30 minutes on 400 degrees. It crystalizes & works every bit as well.

Grate Fels-Naptha & add to saucepan with water. Constantly stir over medium low heat until soap dissolves & melts.

Fill 5 gallon bucket halfway full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda & borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top, stir, cover & let sit overnight to thicken.

Stir & fill a used, clean laundry soap dispenser half full with soap & rest of the way with water.  Shake before each use (will gel).

Yields 5 gallons. 
.
The bottle I'm going to use to fill with detergent is a 1.75 gallon bottle.  I'm estimating it's gonna save me somewhere in the neighborhood of $100+ because I buy detergent in the large bottles at Sam's and i'll only have to fill it halfway each time.

By the way, I used the Lavender and it smells like heaven.  I loved making this detergent & am looking forward to putting it to use shortly ;)

I'm THAT Parent

Tonight my baby had his first real soccer game.  

It was chilly & super windy.  It had rained this morning, so I came to the game equipped with folding chairs to avoid a wet butt.

Aside from that, I became THAT parent.  The one who yells to guide their child in the right direction.  

"Kade get the ball!" 

"Kade go with your team!"

"Kade run, run, run!!"

Yes THAT parent. 

When I watched my little cousins play soccer and saw how truly obnoxious some folks can get over youth soccer, I swore I'd never be this kind of parent.  But tonight I realized this: my child looks to me to guide him in the right direction.  The coach has 7 children to watch over and can't constantly be directing my child the whole time.  If I don't tell him he's going the wrong way, he can't learn to go the right way.  If I'm not telling him how to steal a ball & what team we're against, he won't know because he's too big of a sweetheart to just take things.  If I don't teach him in each and every little area of life, I can't say I've really done my job as a parent.  From sports, to education, to relationships with others, I will be THAT parent until my children are both old enough to make their own decisions without my interference.  So, tonight I also realized it's okay to be this way.  They're only little for so long.  And I intend to serve them as well as I can until they're grown =)

I'm A Soccer Mom

My baby boy had his first and second soccer practices this week. The first practice included: lots of playing with dirt, minimal listening & a tad bit of soccer.  Not to forget, an overly nervous mama who was constantly correcting.  When we left the first practice, his main concern was "I need a whistle like the coach has!!"

By the second practice, I'd had a pep talk with Kade.  He'd been told that we have plenty of dirt at home to play with and at soccer we were to play with friends, listen to coach & kick the ball.  And at the second practice, he applied what he'd been told.  And he's actually getting good.  We have another week of practice ahead next week and then games begin.  Wish us luck, i'll keep you updated on this new adventure ;)

My 1st Attempt @ Chicken Pot Pie

One of my absolute FAVORITE foods ever is Chicken Pot Pie.

I found a recipe that seemed simple enough.  Again, my food isn't Pinterest quality as far as looks go but was devoured in no time.

1 box refrigerated pie crust (on a Monday I have NO time for made from scratch)
1 1/2 lb rotisserie chicken, shredded
1 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup milk
1/4 tsp. thyme
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. poultry seasoning
3/4 tsp. salt
1 3/4 cup chicken broth
1/3 cup all purpose flour
2 medium potatoes, peeled & diced
3 large carrots, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 tsp. minced garlic
1/3 cup onion, chopped
1/3 cup butter

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

In a pot, boil water and add potatoes & carrots. Cook until tender.

Next, in a seperate saucepan, saute onion with butter.

Add garlic & celery, cook until tender.  Then stir in flour, whisk until well-blended.

Slowly add & whisk chicken broth.

Add seasonings & continue to mix.

Add milk & keep on medium heat until you have reached your desired thickness.

Add carrots, potatoes, peas & chicken.

Roll crust into 9 inch pie pan. Add filling & then layer with other piece of crust.

Bake 50 minutes.  You may want to let the pie sit for a few hours to keep it intact when you cut.  I wasn't so patient ;)