Stomach {VIRUS}

OMGOSH this has been one of the worst weeks ever! All our boys were sick with this awful stomach virus that has apparently struck the whole country!

Throwing up and diarrhea is NO fun! Jaron started

And the winner is....

Please send email your address to me at tcote22@bellsouth.net so I can ship this package to you.

My First Giveaway! {FREE STUFF}

UPDATE: ONLY 7 MORE DAYS UNTIL I ANNOUNCE THE WINNER!

As some of you may already know my husband works at Wrigley's and we get a lot of free gum!

 

I wanna share some of it with ONE of my readers.

 

If you comment on this post I will put your name in a drawing for SEVERAL packs of gum and some peanut M&M's he brought home too!

{Mars Co. bought out Wrigley's so they give the employees CHOCOLATE sometimes}

Febraury 18th I will put all the names in a bowl and let one of the boys draw a WINNER!

So far I have over 20 packs and I will continue to add more until I draw a winner!

I am doing this to generate more readers and get my blog out there for the world to see. I want to learn how to make this a business I can do from home. I am just not sure where to start. Any suggestions???

If you want to get your name entered twice you can share my blog on your facebook page and let me know about it.

 

Just click below on the word "comment" and be entered to WIN!!!

 

$$$aving Money$$$

I have recently started to make our laundry soap and dish washing detergent. I love to find ways to save us money and this is a pretty big one with a family of 6 and as many clothes as we wash~OH YEAH definately a BIG DEAL!

Of course I got the idea from Pinterest and I want to share it with all of you!

It seems much more possible when you know someone personally that does this and it works. With FOUR boys we have some muddy stuff come through our laundry room but this stuff works just as good as Tide or anything else.

I found these ingredients at my Walmart in the laundry soap isle.

Fels-Naptha Soap Bar $0.97
Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda $3.24
Borax $2.98
You need a 5 gallon bucket with a lid too

Put 4 cups of hot water in a large pot grate the whole Fels-Naptha bar with youe cheese grater and add it all to the hot water. Stir continuously on medium heat until the soap is Melted. (about 45 minutes.)

fill up your five gallon buck halfway with hot water.
add the melted soap mixture,
add 1 cup Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda,
add 1/2 cup Borax
and-mixed really good.

Add more hot water to fill the bucket and stir it good

Put the lid on the bucket and let it sit overnight. It will turn into a gel. I just stirred it up some more and it was fine. All you need is 1/4 cup for each load if you have a front-load washer and 1/2 cup for a top load. This is very cheap soap!

I figure about $.06 per load!

But I still have borax & washing soda left so I used that to make my dishwasher detergent too!
I mixed 1 cup borax
1 cup washing soda
2 packs of lemonade flavor ( no sugar)
Put them in air tight container and it only takes 1 tbsp. per load.
We are saving so much money per year this way.
These days with gas prices rising almost DAILY~ every penny counts!

Oh I almost forgot to mention my new floor cleaner too!
My swifter wet jet broke last year and I hated not being able to refill that bottle anyway so I invested in a Rubbermaid one with a washable (reusable) pad and refillable bottle. LOVE IT!
Sometimes I use vinegar and water to clean the floors or baking soda & vinegar. I also add some peroxide sometimes. All these ingredients are so cheap and without all the harsh chemicals.
Actually vinegar is a good cleaner for the shower & toilet too. Peroxide is awesome for just about anything.
I plan to finish off the glass cleaner we have and make my own, so check back to see how that works out.

Vocabulary Spelling City

I've been given a Premium Membership to VocabularySpellingCity.com for a candid, personal, online review.

VocabularySpellingCity helps students study word lists using 25 different learning activities such as Sentence Unscramble, Handwriting Practice, WordSearch, and FlashCards. Parents can create their own spelling lists, find published lists already available on the site, or use any of dozens of free teaching resources on topics such as Synonyms and Figurative Language. Be sure to come back in three weeks to read about my experience.

There might be more free memberships available for bloggers. If you're interested, find out how you can review VocabularySpellingCity.com.

Wood Shop & Mess Free Fingerpainting!!!

The boys got these wooden toys for Christmas and they loved putting them together. We waited until the next day to paint them because the glue had to dry first.

And then I found this great idea online and wanted to try it out! Mess free fingerpaint. Justus was dying to get up and paint with the boys but he would have had it all over him. So as soon as they finished I squirted paint in 1gal baggies and taped it down to the counter. Jonah & Justus LOVED it!!!

There was no mess and sat still for atleast 30 minutes playing and making shapes and letters until......Jonah decided it would be cool to scratch a hole in his bag so he had orange paint on him and I had to trash his bag. Guess I could have taped it but I panicked. LOL

Basketball!!!

The boys have been playing basketball with i9sports and they LOVE IT! It's only on Saturdays and they are learning so much about the game. It's fun to see the out there with all the other kids having fun.

Field Trip to INK

We stayed out New Years Eve entirely too late. Enjoying fireworks and a bonfire with family we didn't get home and in the bed until 11:30pm. But our boys are usually in the bed by 8pm so waking up new years day was later than usual. We wanted to take the boys on a field trip somewhere indoors because it rained all day. I had a reminder email about INK~Interactive Neighborhood for Kids giving homeschool families 1/2 price on the 1st tuesday of the month. So we mustered up the energy and packed our lunches for our first "field trip".

Come to find out there was a mistake in the email reminder. It's actually homeschoolers 1/2 price day on the second Tuesday of every month!!! But the lady was nice enough to give us the discount anyway.

{Christmas} Happy Birthday Jesus!

We had a great Christmas! We all got more than we deserve. I have been too busy to blog. I did get a new camera and cell phone so here are the pictures we got of the boys opening gifts.

Sewing

So one day I was looking in my closet and saw a piece of green material someone gave me a few months ago. That was it~I knew it would make a good skirt~so I got out my sewing machine right then and made one!

{That started my skirt making adventure that I cannot seem to quit}

I have been making and altering skirts for a couple weeks now and I love it!

My mom cleaned out her closet of all the clothes she can no longer wear so I decided to give them all away  to girls at church that needed them.

She gave me an orange one that matches our youth shirts so know I'm on a mission to find some orange material to make more for all the girls at church.

I wonder if I could sell them in an online store? I would never ask anyone at church for money but I might think about making other things to sell online.
I really need to figure out how to make money on this blog. I read so many others that do but I just don't know where to start. I wish someone would help me learn to advertise.
Or I could sew things and try to sell them on here. I don't know....any suggestions???

Giving Thanks!

I have so much to be thankful for~here's a few things:

• my husband
• our 4 boys~Jacob, Jaron, Jonah & Justus
• our house
• plenty of clothes
• food to eat
• our church
• Jesus dying on the cross & raising from the dead
• the King James Bible
• privilege to homeschool our children
• all my friends
• God's grace & mercy & forgiveness
• all our family members
• a working vehicle
• gospel music
• Heaven~no more headaches
• heat & A/C to keep us comfortable
• a hot shower
• eternal security
• our military
• natural remedies
• a comfortable bed
• generous friends & family

I am sure after I click "publish" I will think of more things I should have added....but these are some of the things I can think of while fighting a terrible headache. We had a great day with my mother & step-dad. His brother & wife too. I cooked apple pie from scratch, mashed potatoes & green beans. They made turkey, sweet potatoes, deviled eggs, stuffing, brownies, banana pudding, green bean casserole & rolls. It was all so good and we probably ate too much! I think my headache is from this cough/congestion I've had for almost a month. Might see if I can go to the doctor tomorrow. It's probably progressed into a full blown sinus infection now. So please pray for me to feel better soon! And hope you all had a happy thanksgiving!!! {May God Bless You}

Library Books!!!

 I have been trying to take the boys to the library once a week to check out books and educational videos. They love learning about animals and math. They are all so smart but it seems math comes easiest to all of them. So we usually check out our maximum 50 items! Jacob and Jaron both love to read and I think Jonah can almost read too! He read the front of a magazine in walmart one day. Jonah loves to look at books and occassionally will sit still long enough to let me read to him. The other day at the library that had "Kids & Kritters". A lady came from the humane society and brought an animal. She read a few books then took out a baby goat to let the boys all pet it.

Justus is saying a few words but not much! He does a lot of squealing and screaming to get what he wants. He will be 2 years old Dec. 1st and it'll be time to start potty training {yeah} I'm so excited! Potty training isn't easy but it's nice to not have to buy diapers. These are cell phone pictures and I finally figured out how to convert them and get them on the blog. I am so sleepy and need to get in the bed. Lots to do in the morning before Thanksgiving dinner. {Goodnight}

Coupons

A while back I signed up all of us to recieve Zaxby's coupons online. So every year on our birthdays we get coupons for free food and on Mother's Day and Father's Day we got cookie coupons. And even though we don't celebrate Halloween we did appreciate the coupons for free food from them. So {since I dreamed Zaxbys} dinner was free tonight and that is about the only good thing that came out of Halloween.

I try to use coupons whenever I can. Raising for boys can get expensive and they are growing fast and eating more all the time. I try to buy generic everything and only buy what necessary. No extras. Coupons have been lifesavers at times and I am so thankful for them.

My camera is still not working and I am sad to say I cannot put my cell phone pictures on here. We have all been sick coughing and stuff but hopefully it will all go away soon.

~[Set Apart]~

So as you know we do not celebrate Halloween in our family. There are many reasons and here are some of the Bible verses that back up our decision.

1 Thessalonians 5:22 Abstain from all appearance of evil.

So we don't watch scary things on tv or dress up in scary costumes.

Ephesians 5:11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.

2 Corinthians 6:14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?

Revelation 21:8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

When we claim to be "Christians" we are saying we are "christ-like". And in order to be Christ-like we need to obey the Bible. Not just parts we want to pick out. We apply the whole Bible to our whole lives and when we do that it convicts our hearts about the things in our lives that shouldn't be there.

Don't get me wrong~we are not perfect by any means but we are trying daily to live "Christ-like".  We fail Him every day and make mistakes but He knows the desires of our hearts. Christians are supposed to be "Set Apart" from the world, not behaving just like them.

~Happily Humbled~

We are not rich by any means, but God has given us a home and 4 children. He has taken care of all our needs. Most of the time all our bills are paid and we barely have enough for groceries and gas. We pinch pennies living from one paycheck to the next.

But I am happy to say that being broke keeps us humble and forces us to trust in God for everything. There are times when our faith gets weak and we wonder how or when God will take care of our needs, but then He always shows up right on time every time! We are so thankful that He hears our prayers and uses His people to do His work.

Here just a few of the verses in the Bible that talk about being humble:

Proverbs 16:19 Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud.

Proverbs 29:23 A man's pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit.

Matthew 23:12 And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.

James 4:6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.

James 4:10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

 1 Peter 5:5 Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.

1 Peter 5:6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:

{Candid Camera}

Being a mother means I put my children before myself and there are lots of times I am behind the camera taking more pictures of them than me. I avoid the camera because I don't always have my hair fixed or make-up on. We do take some but not many. I want to share some of these precious memories. (Just try to look past the messy hair.) I want my boys to have pictures of me holding them and loving on them, having fun with them and taking care of them. They don't notice the weight gained or the messy hair & no makeup. They love me unconditionally for who I am and nothing more.

 Just after Jaron's first surgery in the hotel room.

Listening & Talking to baby Justus in my belly.

I'm not comfortable with my body after having babies and don't usually post any pictures of myself. But my children don't care what I look like and I wanted to take a moment and post this for them. One day they'll read this blog hopefully {and I may or may not be alive} but they will have all these pictures to remember me.