October update

Things around here are slowly getting better. With money being tight we have lost a few things, T.V. and cell phones. The T.V. isn't too bad of a thing to lose. We got a antenna and get the news at lease. The phones are a tad bit harder to deal with. But we manage. So for now the only way to get a hold of us is through Facebook or my work number. Kids are dealing with it pretty good. In the beginning they were freaking out but after the first week they had no more complaints. The worst part is when they go somewhere and I need to contact them. David and I just make it clear the drop off/pick up times.

David's neck surgery went well. I believe it has helped him. He still is not sure. He has days where he swears the surgery made it worse, but I know better. He is complaining less and less of the real issues like numb hands and lost grips. With everything it takes time to heal fully and he just doesn't understand it.

I am still having no luck on the job front. Although I AM working 4 days a week at a bakery waiting tables. I have always said that waiting tables was my favorite job ever, and this job is honestly the best. I just love my regular customers that come in almost everyday of the week. The pay is decent, and now that the kids are older, I am not losing any money working there. I was even asked to be the weekend manager over the summer. Not sure what will be happening next summer so I said maybe.

Kids are doing very well. Courtney and Sarah are high school cheerleaders. Miss Ashley has gotten the best grades she has ever had. Some days the attitude is out of control, but then it gets better the next day. Courtney and Sarah are getting good grades as well. Court made high honor roll this 9 weeks. I am still waiting on Sarah to mention her report card... not sure why she is not telling us about it yet. I can see her grades and they are good. weird.

I am also learning new and creative ways to make products for cleaning the house. I now make my own laundry soap, as well as dish soap. I still buy dish soap from time to time because it seems the longer I use the home made there gets a light film on my dishes. It is because of our well water. So I am saving money just not as much as I would if I never bought dishwasher soap. I haven't bought laundry soap in over a year. September of 2012 I bought a 5 gallon bucket of laundry soap from a school fundraiser and I still have 1/4th of it left. I sometimes use it on really bad clothes like when David works on the cars or when the kids and I worked in the fields. No one has noticed that I switched soaps except for when I am making a gallon of it here and there.  I also have made my own cleaning solutions. I love my shower cleaner, as well as my "all purpose" cleaner. With the natural it takes a tad more elbow grease but who cares! I am now researching floor cleaners, so I am ready when I run out of my current stuff.

While our 1/2 of a side of beef is now down to ground burger, and our deer meat from last year is only burger as well, I am finding more uses for dishes using burger. I have a all burger cook book that has some good stuff in it. The hubby has started to complain less and less with my dinner choices over the last few months. He is realizing not to be picky or he will starve to death. :)

Little miss Ashley has turned into the CVS coupon diva. I have to get milk and cereal more times a week than I go to the store. so we hit up Dollar general for cereal then right next door is CVS. She always takes my keys to go to the coupon thing to print off coupons. She inspects them and tells me is we have any good ones or not. Now that CVS has gotten rid of expiration dates on all the coupons as well as the extra bucks we are making a killing on certain items. I hoard coupons for like pads lets say. then I wait till they go on sale, I buy them use the coupons and save a ton. Ashley also likes to read the receipt and tell me how much we saved that trip. She is too funny. Courtney and Sarah have started to learn about saving money as I tell them if we go here we can save X dollars and then we can buy more. They never got into the whole CVS coupon fun like Ashley does. This morning for example, I was driving through town and 1 gas station was 10 cents cheaper, so I HAD to go there. I do my stupid prepay and head out to the pump. I go and before I hit the correct button to start pumping I notice the pump is 10 cents more! I marched my happy ass back into the store and had the lady come out and look. Long story short, she had to reset the pump and redo my payment to fix it. 10 cents is 10 cents. I HATE this gas station because they make ya prepay and they are not as friendly as my fav gas station, but money is tight I need to save where I can.

My ACE business has exploded with the introduction of new products. I am amazed at the products that SABA carries. The way they are changing lives. Not only from a weight loss point of view but the other products are amazing as well. The kids love using the Colloidal Silver on everything from rashes, to cuts, to even putting it in the humidifier this winter. This stuff is amazing! I even use it in the dogs ears. While I have no issues with sleep... ever, I have tried the Night Bliss sleep spray. It also works amazing! I have used some of the ingredients in it in the past to help me sleep, but the combo SABA blended really works! I enrolled a new Distributor today. A friend that I worked with inspecting corn. She is super excited to get her ACE cheaper as well as trying other products.

Well, I guess that is all for tonight. Night my friends!

Christmas is coming...

Well with thoughts of fall, comes thought of what the heck to do for Christmas. It seems every year we go overboard on gifts. I'm not talking about our own children either. I'm talking about getting gifts for everyone else in the world. School teachers, neighbors, 4-H leaders, family we hardly see...(and boy being in a big family there is a lot of them) ect. It seems like as Christmas gets closer, we think oh we better get something for so-&-so. With the gift of giving it always seems that there is a few extended family members that my husband feels we should buy for then the gift is never returned. I'm not talking about a gift for myself, I'm talking about for our children. We used to always buy for the kids, well now that there are more and more kids it gets harder. I still believe a gift of something is nice even if it is $5 to McDonald's. But some extended family must not feel the way my husband and I do.

So, this year, I am turning over a new leaf. I am going to go with homemade gifts for people. I follow a website called DIY Natural. Link Here There are so many many ideas I have used and have experimented with over the past year. I love reading and trying new things. So, This year kids as well as adults are going to be getting some home made items. Right now I am in the process of trying a dish soap recipe. For the times I have a few dishes and don't want to run a washer load. If it is a hit, I'll post how I made it another day.

You must spend a day reading this DIY website. It is a amazing resource, and has awesome information! Well off to finish making my dish soap and check on the chocolate chip cookies in the oven.

August news

August has been a crazy month. Back to school, hubby's neck surgery, and I'm not quite ill. Hubby is not sure if his neck is better or not. I personally think it is better and his pain is all from the surgery.

Girls are doing well in high school and middle school. State fair was amazing. Our hotel was awesome. A long long weekend but we had some good experiences. Sarah and Ashley did very well even though they didn't place. Courtney did awesome and placed 21st out of 203 in her showmanship class. I was pretty impressed with how everyone did. Well, off to nap again...

New creations!!!

On my DIY blog I get updates from I found 2 new creations that I'm going to try in the next day or so. Home made cleaning wet wipes and home made dish soap, (not for the dish washer). I am pretty excited to try these and after I make em and give them a try I'll post for all of you!

Time for school...

Where has the summer gone? I had big plans for this summer... It seems like we were busy every single day and got nothing done. Now it is time for back to school clothes shopping and I didn't save anything for it. Sigh. Courtney and Sarah will be going into 9th grade and miss Ashley will be in 6th grade. What the heck? No one at the elementary school anymore... Kinda sad. I love the staff at the elementary school.

 My garden is still going strong. I have been shredding zucchini like a crazy person. Made tons of loafs of bread. Fried so much as well. I have 1 plant that keeps growing and growing. I wish my green beans would keep going. I froze who the heck knows how much already. I keep seeing tiny beans growing, but this weather is making growing slow. I STILL have yet to see a red tomato. I have had some orange ones but then they rotted. I think next year I will give up on tomatoes and mooch off of dad's plants. We picked a watermellon, but... it wasn't ready yet. My pickle plants have been slow growers as well giving us 4-5 at the most on 1 day. I'm ok with that actually. My neighbor's green beans have stopped for the season so he tore them down and replanted some. Next year I might stagger them to have more growing later in the season.

I am gearing up for a challenge put on by Fitness expert Clark Bartram. I got a signed copy of his new book, Where your mind goes, you go, A mental journey toward a healthy mind and a successful life. I really want to read the entire thing all at once but it is set up to read a chapter a day and do what is taught each day. Anyways, It also is going to have a fitness part for the challenge too. I dusted off my stepper and I'm not sure what else is going to happen. I do know that I have been seriously slacking in the fitness area of my life. Today I laid on the couch all day and napped. Not setting a good example for sure. SABA has put out a new product for our customers. It's Called Mobilite.

I am very excited to get a bottle for the hubby and my daddy to try. I have heard tons of people who have had awesome results with it, from back pain to torn ligaments, so we shall see. Here's a link of what one of my friend's hubby had to say.
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byqzLHx3pxE

Corn, corn & more corn...

Well I planned on blogging Courtney, Sarah and my experience with corn... but I didn't. So here it all is...

I started inspecting corn right after the 4th of July. It started off slow. I had no clue what I was doing. Then things picked up as more fields were cut and then I started out doing 12 hour days. It was hot, sweaty and dirty. My van started to smell as well. I was going through 2-3 pairs of pants a day. The heat was what killed me. My brain was fine and yes my body hurt everyday. Courtney and Sarah started off saying it was a easy job and fun. That lasted about 3 days. Then they got tired and wanted to sleep in. Fair week came and by then they were begging me to let them stay home from work. "Everyone else is missing days" was thrown at me.  Now that the weather is cooler I am thinking that they like it again, not too sure.

As for me, I have had fields close out and am now down to 4. I am so loving this weather I could walk in the corn all day.

I did have a few mishaps in the field... there was a crew pulling tassels and I didn't hear a guy and we almost ran into each other. Then I was driving through the field and saw a wet spot, I thought to myself... hmmm I can make it no problem. Well I got stuck. Yep. I learned that the dirt in the fields is nothing like any other dirt. It WILL suck you in. So, now I don't drive in the fields unless the ground is bone dry. Lol

So that's how things are going in the corn...

Thoughts on anything and everything...

So far everyone is still sleeping. Hubby is at work. So, I thought I would do a little blogging, because no one reads it anyways. lol Been very frustrated lately. Trying to find a full time job has become sort of a obsession and not getting any calls has made me quite... aggravated. I have been working for a friend of mine at her restaurant and while it is a fun job, it clearly is not paying any bills. It basically gets groceries for a few days. I know... it is better than nothing right now but in my mind I keep thinking that I need to find something better. Next month starts my month long job as a corn inspector. I have not a clue what that involves. I'll be heading to Indy next week for training. I wonder what the heck to do with Ashley while the kids and I work every single day of the week. I wonder when I'll have time to do normal house stuff, as well as get dinner done. How I am going to swing getting fair stuff done and 2 dog shows. So much worry.

David had a procedure on his neck to "burn" the nerves surrounding his blown disk in a attempt to hold out on Surgery. Yeah, it didn't work very well. He is in still a lot of pain and we see Surgery in the very very near future. I'm worried about how we are going to pay the bills without his income. In the past year we have lost my income of $600 a week give or take, and soon will be losing his income of $800 a week. He won't be able to get unemployment either with having surgery because the job he is on is coming to a end. My position at the restaurant is about $100 for 3 days a week, and that is not going to cover the house payment let alone anything else. Gas prices are going up and up, food is going up and up. Seems like everything is going up and up except what we make. Been trying to sell things we don't need here and there, but even that isn't making much, as people are not buying things like they used to. So much worry. Trying to keep it from the kids but when they want to go go go all summer long, and all I can think of is how much gas is, I really do not want to leave the house!

So, my plan is to take everything 1 day at a time, and as things get shut off, I just have to deal with it. So far the Internet has been down for almost a week, I have a feeling the phones will be next. We are a little over a month behind on them. I keep praying for a answer or a call back for any job I have put in for and the phone does not ring. Right now, I just wish for it to rain about $1000 my way. wishful thinking, I know, and I do know that money isn't everything, but when you are so behind on everything, it seems like there is no end in sight.

While I am grateful that everyone is alive and well, that we still have a roof over our heads and food on the table, I keep reminding myself that things will get better. The next month or so will be really rough until I get rolling with this inspector position. Hopefully this will get us back above water and David's neck will hold out. He keeps saying that he isn't going to last much longer. I pray for relief from his pain just for a month or 2, so I can secure a job and so he can keep his a little while longer.

While it seems like I'm a "debbie downer" throughout this entire post, some good things have been happening. I have been doing more exercising and am down to my lowest is over a year. That's a plus! The kids are doing well. Ashley is excited about going to Tennis camp and the twins made the high school cheerleading squad.

So... I guess that is all for now. Going to sign off. kids are starting to wake up and want me to cook something for breakfast.

Lazy Summer

So far this summer has been filled with sleeping in, 4-H and cheerleading practice. Coming soon the twins will be heading to work in the corn fields. Ashley has tennis camp next week. She is very excited about that. My pretty garden is growing well. I can't wait till we can see some veggies grow.

Been a rough few weeks with David's checks being short. Internet has been out for a week. Have to do everything from my phone. I applied to another job last night... we shall see. Well, thats the start of summer here...

New Job, and more happenings...

Well, I started my new job this past weekend. It was so much fun! I loved the fast pace of it and the people are so nice! I work every weekend and it happens that David is off so he can take care of the homefront! :)
Kids are almost out of school, awards going on all week this week. Courtney already got her award for academic superbowl. She loves History, go figure. lol Ashley is enrolling in Tennis camp again this summer. Twins made the high school cheerleading squad.

Twins start work in July detasseling corn and I start at the same time as a corn inspector. Going to be hot, dirty and icky, but such a good experience for us all. I have training in June in Indy, can't wait!

Well, that's all the scoop for now! Laters!

The scoop...

So, I again haven't blogged like I planned on. Here's the scoop. Spring break is almost over. Twins spent most of it with mom and dad. Ashley had Doctors apt. She is allergic to many many out door things as well as cats and DOGS!!! Doctor says with meds, my cleaning as I do and keeping them out of her room, we should be fine. We don't have long hair dogs and we brush them often when it is decent outside. So, my OCD/ADD is finally getting put to good use! HA HA! David has been working good and steady lately. thank god!


Been rocking my ACE business lately. Enrolling people like crazy! It is so awesome to make a lil extra money and help people feel better and get healthy! Been spending a lot of time on the computer to grow, and slow and steady wins the race. With any business, you don't make millions over night!

Well, that's all that is going on right now! Happy Saturday!

My changing life... for the better

While no one really reads my blogs, I still like blogging from time to time...

The fall of last year I was looking for someone to sell me my ACE. My lady stopped selling because she was moving. I had no one around here to sell to me. So I went to Facebook. Found my old high school friend who sells ACE. And I thought... and thought... IF no one out here sells, why not sell it? From the options given to me by my old friend if it didn't work out, I would still be able to get my product for cheaper. So I jumped in. Now, if ya know me I have done a few of these type things in the past before and I'm sure who ever reads this will be rolling their eyes at me. So, I jumped in with both feet, thinking about all my friends and family who would love the added energy that I was getting.

Fast forward to recently...

Things have started to pick up and I am finally making money! MAKING not spending money! This business works! It REALLY works! I am now to the point where I can place larger orders and keep my regular customers happier! I am exploring other products that SABA has and am enjoying it!

I enjoy this company, the friends I have made, the training is amazing, and my team leaders are there 24/7 to answer my questions! My upline sets us gals/guys to be successful! I recently have moved up to Senior Associate,  and plan on moving up to Director soon!

I love the added energy that ACE gives me. I love waking up having my quite time before the kids get up, and then after everyone leaves I can get so much more done during the day. I used to lay like a bump on a log watching Law & Order all day. For Real. Now the T.V. is off (After Live with Kelly and Michael) and the music is on and I'm cleaning, doing laundry, washing walls, just something to make the place better. It always doesn't look that way with 3 kids, 3 dogs and a hubby, but I KNOW it was done, so it makes me feel better. So if ya are interested in learning more leave a comment.

Chicken, Chicken, Chicken

I'm going to take a page from my friend Sarah's Blog and post about my Chicken from last night. I found a recipe for a whole chicken in the crock pot then using the leftover's made chicken broth. I found the recipe here.

So I seasoned the entire chicken with Garlic, Salt and Pepper. I put some butter under the skin and put it into the crock pot. No broth or anything in the crock pot with it. To me it seemed so wrong but I did it anyways. I put it on low and left it for 5 hours. My chicken was 3.5 pounds. 5 hours later, I go to take it out of the crock pot and... lol it totally fall apart. As in it came out in chunks. The kids thought I ruined it. It WAS funny getting it out of the pot! I really wish I would have taken a picture but I didn't. It was so tender I had to scoop it out onto a cookie sheet. After dinner, I separated the meat from the bones and tonight's dinner is going to be BBQ chicken in the crock pot!

To do the broth... I left all the juice in the crock pot and put all the bones, and skin back in there. Then I filled it up with plain tap water.

Then I put the crock pot on low all night while we slept. In the morning I shut it off and let it sit for a few hours to cool off. I have a mesh strainer I used to scoop out what I could and toss it. Here's my set up:

See the metal strainer? It is perfect to get all the tiny bits out of the broth. I found out that the regular muffin cups are exactly 1/3 Cup, and the mini cups are 2 Tablespoons. So that is how I am going to measurement them. Now, I used the 1 Cup as a scoop and poured it into the strainer, works perfect so my hands don't get all messy. Then I used a ladle to pour into the muffin tins. 

I'm now letting them cool on the counter for a while because they STILL are super hot! Then I'll freeze them. When they are frozen, I'll use my Food Saver to seal them up. They will keep with this method for months! If you don't have a food saver you really need one! This seals food so much better than zip lock and food keeps so much better. Not to mention things are flatter making it easier to put more stuff in the freezer! This is the one we got and you can get baggies for it at Menards!

I never actually used chicken broth as a seasoning to cook with because I would only need a small amount then the whole can would be wasted, so I am very excited to use these small cubes to cook with! The website says there is going to be a layer of fat on the top and to scrape it off, but mine is still cooling so I'll let you know later, that is IF I can edit this posting.

Let me know what you think. Have you made broth before? How did it turn out?

Edited: 

 This is what my cups looked like once they had time to cool. 3 I left the grease on and 3 I took the grease out so you can see the difference.

Then they go to the freezer. Here's what the finished product looks like:

 

So, let's see how much I have saved... I ended up with a total of 9 cups of broth.  Total of 72 Ounces. I looked on line and 32 ounces of Swanson Chicken Broth costs $2.38. SO..... Looks like I got a round about savings of 5-6 bucks! Not too shabby!

Wool Dryer Balls....

My next project is making Wool Dryer Balls.  I subscribe to DIY natural, and they recently sent me a email about these dryer balls. They are supposed to beat the close to get rid of wrinkles and dry the clothes faster using less gas, and shortening the dry time.

Here's the link to the page I viewed: Click Here

They seem very easy to make, I just need to get the right type of wool, and knowing where I live this is harder than you think. I'm even thinking that this would be a fun thing to get the kids to help me make or even make them for gifts.

I have used this DIY site to get ideas to make a bunch of different products. I highly suggest everyone check out the site and maybe save some money or learn something new! I could browse this site all day!

Dog Training

Dog training has finally started. We train in a unheated very large barn close to the house. Every week, I get out the box of collars, leashes and supplies, these dogs "Know" where they are going. They love training. The kids love training, heck, I love going to training. Sarah and Courtney are in their 6th year and Ashley is in her first year. The puppies are almost 9 months old and are doing very very well. Bella ended up with a pinch collar, and she is a totally different dog! Dozer has started out from the get go like he has done this before. Molly... well, she is Molly. I have a video section of our training, but I have to fix it, so I'll upload it later today. For some reason it is sideways. LOL When it is training day, This is our game plan. I take Ashley and 3 dogs to training. Drop off Ashley and Bella at 6, then take Dozer and Molly back with me to the school to pick up the twins. The twins then change clothes in the van on the way back to dog training. Ashley's class is over at 6:45 and then the twins start at 6:45. We end at 8pm. This past week, David was home and actually went to watch a session and he picked up the twins so I could watch Ashley and take a video. In the 6 years the kids have been in dogs, that was THE first training he has ever went to. He finally got to see what it takes to get the dogs as good as they are. The kids were so excited to have him join us.

We have THE best trainers in the state I think. They have to be in order to take Sam in his second year of dogs and turn him into a State champ in Agility. I just might be biased though, I'm sure everyone who trains dogs thinks their trainer is the best. These gals really care about the kids, and the dogs.

Courtney is in the lowest level that she can be because she has a new dog. She's already working towards moving up levels before fair. She already thinks he will take a trophy in her class. We shall see what the future holds. Sarah is just going through the motions with Molly. She just likes to have fun with training while Courtney is out there to WIN. Courtney already has eye's for someone she wants to beat at fair. LOL Ashley is working hard and wants to get Bella to do everything right, right now. She's impatient with her and wants her to be like Molly. During our second class, Courtney was getting frustrated with Dozer because he wasn't doing a "finish" like he should. I had to remind her it was the second class and she never worked him in-between classes, and that it takes time.

Busy Busy days ahead

Well, the twins are getting older and after school activities become plentiful. Between going to the orthodontist, bell choir, basketball, dog training, academic super bowl, 4-H, shooting sports and junior leaders I might as well live in my van. Last night, I got the girls at 1:45 went to portage to the orthodontist, then took them back to the school, we were 7 minutes late for basketball, then came home to check Ashley's homework, make dinner then took Ashley and 3 dogs to Dog training at 6. I picked up the twins from basketball at 6:30 with 2 dogs along for the ride, then went back to dogs for the twins to train. We didn't get home till 8pm!

My ACE business has picked way up since the new year. I have 1 bottle left, and need to order more. I got slammed the past 3 days with people interested in ordering and getting bottles. I just love hearing from people that I helped them gain energy and lose weight! Well, Short and sweet tonight! I'm off here to get dinner done!

2013

Been too long. Seems like every blog post of mine starts out this way. I'm going to try and put a stop to that.

As we roll into 2013, many of my friends share their resolutions. So, I will share mine as well. This year I plan on blogging more, not sweating the small stuff, and I will get back into running. I have missed it over the summer.

The family is doing well, The twins are in basketball. Sarah hates it but she joined so yes she will finish it. Courtney goes back and forth depending on how well she did at practice. Ashley is doing much much better with her asthma management and we go to see the asthma specialist on Friday. My Grandma lost her boyfriend of 9 years last week. Very sudden and very sad for the family. I can't help but thinking my motto that everything comes in 3's. My thought was what will happen next? AND my motto is true, there were 2 deaths that affected people in my family within the few days after Bob passed away. So, this year will be better than the last year. Dog training starts full swing tomorrow evening. 3 kids, 3 dogs in the van heading off to training. Hoping that the puppies do not puke in my van.

I have gotten back into workout mode. Today is yet another rest day because my legs are still sore. I don't want to push my running too hard and then not make it to the race in Feb that I want to do. Because of the cold, I have been training on the treadmill and quite frankly, I hate it. I would much rather be outside running. I'm not worried about the cold, because I have good gear, I am more worried about the ice and snow covered roads. There are no sidewalks out here, so I run on the side of the road. I am really scared of falling on the ice. So to the treadmill I go. This week it is supposed to warm up so I just might brave the back roads of my area and hope there is no ice waiting for me.


Well, that's all for now!