2010 is drawing to an end!!

I love New Year's Eve and this year should be particularly fun!! We will be spending it with some great friends! Money is a little tight so I don't think I will be able to swing the usual fireworks this and it has been quite dry so it might not be that great of an idea anyway!! We are talking about making marshmallow guns though, if I can come up with the pvc pipe to do it!

I have been working on my Etsy shop adding items. It has been slow going but I have had a few sales to get me started off. I have created a new coupon just for those of you that follow my blog it is..........wait are you REALLY following or just reading. Go on over there and click the follow button; go on it isn't that difficult!! Ok now that I got you all honest here's the coupon allyblog . Enter that code at checkout and you will recieve 25% off your purchase!!

Hope you all have a wonderful New Year!!

Paybox.me

I know I have posted about this before, but I am doing it again! I just went to the site and took a survey or two and realized that my account balance is over $300. I am watching this to see where is goes, but I am pretty sure that I am going to have over $300 to spend when this is all over with. Kinda excited about the possibilities. If it doesn't do anything then I haven't lost anything by filling out some surverys and giving some feedback.

If you want in on this action go to this link....

http://www.paybox.me/r/alyeenlim

Good Deals

I had to take a sick little boy to the Dr. today and while I was waiting to be told that I was about to spend $100 on his medicines, I found turkeys on sale for $0.50 a lb!! I was all over that!!! I bought two turkeys!! I have 3 turkeys in the freezer now, because we got a ham for Christmas from Brent's office. I am feeling pretty darn good about this $1 a day thing right now!! I just hope that I can keep it up!!!

New Year's is right around the corner!!

Christmas was wonderful at our house!! We enjoyed time together and good food. When the evening hit we read about the birth of Christ and took some time to reflect! Great times make wonderful memories!

I received one item for Christmas that I am really excited about and just had to share. This book is wonderful!! Yes Team365 there is a recipe for Men's aftershave!! I will look it up for you!! My girls' received 2 kits for making their own mineral make up. One is just for eyeshadow the other is for everything except, eyeliner, mascara, and lip products. We are really excited about digging into some of the recipes and trying this out. If you would like to see the kits the girls received look at this link http://www.tkbtrading.com/category.php?category_id=69 . I bought the EZ Eyeshadow Kit and the Mineral Make Up Kit. From the reviews, we should be set on eyeshadow for a very long time!!

Every year we work very hard to make sure the kids' gifts are things that will make them better people and/or develop their talents. Just as the Wisemen brought the infant Jesus useful herbs and oils. We try to do the same. My useful gift this year was bags for my midwifery supplies (I am sure that was partly because my husband is tired of kicking around my supplies all over our room and bathroom). I am excited to get those things organized!!

As we are heading into the New Year I am finding myself looking seriously at my goals and intentions for 2011. We will see some growth and changes in our family this year. We have one getting ready to start college, one starting the youth program at church, one getting baptized and one that will start driving. In the middle of all of that I will be learning what preteen boys need emotionally, spiritually and physically to keep them out of trouble. It seems time flies!! I am sooo not ready to not have babies but it looks like it is to late for that, they are all big kids now!! Besides the $1 a day challenge, I am working on midwifery studies, getting a child graduated from homeschooling, preparing 2 children to start high school in the next 2-3 years, and tutoring a very reluctant reader. I am going to learn to make my own cosmetics, and I have an idea for a book (which is really low on my list actually). I am hoping to keep my blog updated at the very least weekly. Wow, that seems like a lot!! I am so thankful for the 2 young adult girls I have to help out with carting kids around and other projects.

I sure hope that the Holidays were wonderful for everyone and that as the last days of 2010 draw to a close you find yourself counting blessings, successes and memories of the year and that you have many more to look forward to in 2011.

Christmas Eve 2010

Well this is it! I am trying to stay out of the kitchen because I have a nasty head cold and I don't want to contaminate any of the goodies!! I was sooo geared up to make candies and goodies this year and now I am having to let my teenagers do it all.

Last night I sat down and brain stormed some dinner ideas to go along with the $1 a day grocery challenge. I really think this is doable. Now I have to admit that I am spending a $1 a day per person on groceries and then I will spend more on storage items to stock my pantry something that has gone undone for the last 6 years after we depleted alot of our storage preparing for a job loss or move (thankfully it was a move).

I found an awesome PDF file today on how to survive during an emergency. The title is "The time to Build the Cellar is Before the Storm" you can download it here http://www.justpeace.org/allinone.pdf .
There is even a list of basic food items for a 30 day supply for a family of 4. A great place to start your food storage!!

I am determined to do a garden this year!! I am looking into combining two methods of gardening; Squarefoot and Lasagna Gardening. I am optimistic that I will have a beautiful garden this year!! (I hope!)

Some thoughts that I have had on the $1 a day challenge are:

1. Lots of casseroles with meat spread thin throughout
2. Hitting the yesterday grind sales at our local grocery store to get meat cheap.
3. Making sure I get the paper on Wed. We only have 2 grocery stores and a Walmart in our town so the sales are going to be very important to making this happen.
4. Keeping things basic. The K.I.S.S. rule applies!!

If you haven't already noticed, there is a link in the side bar to join the $1 a day grocery challenge. If you are interested please join us. There are about 17 families nationwide now participating!! The more the merrier!!

More on the $1 a day grocery challenge

Another blog to look at (and follow) is http://dateam365.blogspot.com/2010_12_01_archive.html . This is Ashley's blog that she will be keeping during the challenge this next year.

Also take a look at this site to get an idea when is the best time to buy certain items, (very interesting information) http://frugalliving.about.com/od/bargainshopping/tp/Best_Time_To_Buy_Everything.htm

PayBox

Check this out! Get paid to try out this company by doing surveys and giving feedback on their services.

PayBox

2 more days

Christmas is on the way!! Are you ready? I think I am! I guess at this point I have to be!

I was on my email and recieved an email on one of my lists about feeding your family for $1 a day per person. That got me thinking so I read on and found out that it is a challenge for the new year. I think I am in!! I like this idea! I am doing a little research and I am getting a plan together. Check out this blog
http://cjpattersonontheranch.blogspot.com/2010/12/working-on-food-budget.html
Jan has some great ideas and awesome goals for the next year.  In fact she just emailed me some information on square foot gardening and lasagna gardening. I can't wait to dig into that a little more!

I love the New Year! I love setting goals and working on them. Sometimes I get a little over zealous and have some goals go undone or added to the following year's list. What are your goals for next year?

Yeah!! My internet is back!!!

I knew what the problem was all along! Did anyone listen to me? NO!! Was I right? YEP!!! I guess I have the rep for being blonde and not knowing much about computers so when I said it was the cable no one listened! After several days of being on the phone FOREVER, the husband says, "I think I will replace the cable and make sure it isn't THAT before I ship the computer off to HP."
To which I sweetly replied, "OK honey whatever you think." (Later I rubbed it in a little that I was right!)

I am just glad to have it back! Now on to things that really matter!!

Christmas is 3 days away!!! Aah!! I still need to go shopping for stocking stuffers, and food, the kids have a show Christmas Eve with a party afterwards! Ashley and Ray will be coming over Christmas Day!! So much to do so little time!! Daphne and Jessica dipped chocolates today, Camilla made Christmas cookies and decorated them. The boys helped dad fix the computer! I took a nap and coughed alot!! Why must colds hit during the Holidays? Actually putting it all here makes it seem not so overwhelming!! Maybe I will stop for a massage in the mall tomorrow! Oh wait I still haven't gotten Brent a gift 'sigh'!! Well I guess that will be at the top of my to do list tomorrow!!

Hope y'all have a wonderful Christmas!!

Life Happens

It seems that there is always something getting in the way!! I had set a goal to post everyday for the rest of the year and guess what? The computer won't communicate with my modem so I have no internet access!! Bah Hum Bug!!

I am trying to stay on top of my goal

It is midnight here in OK and I am just now getting around to writing!! I guess the kids decided today that I am mean! Yep, it's true, I am mean!! I made them clean the living room!! Of course they will forget to mention that I went into town to buy them pizza for lunch because they helped me clean!

Christmas is getting closer and I am not done YET! Two of the kids are in a Christmas show that runs every weekend through Christmas eve. My 17 year old is a singing babydoll and my 9 year is a proper little boy singing I ain't getting Nuttin' for Christmas!! You really should go see the show if you are in the area! It is full of dancing and singing!

I need Christmas ideas for the husband. He is so hard to buy for. Maybe I will just clean off his dresser for him, that is my standard gift to him when I can't think of anything else. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

Some Freebies

I love this website-- www.finchfamilygames.com . Every month there is a free project (or two) for download. You have to purchase their download viewer for $4 I think but then every month you can download free activities. Check it out! There are also projects available for purchase. Most for as little as $1. If you are into file folder games and the like you won't want to miss this site!!


http://www.finchfamilygames.com/

Savvy Stephie: Christmas Memories: Homemade Christmas Ornaments

Check out my sister's blog! She has posted one of our favorite childhood Christmas activities. Hopefully it will give you something to do with your kids during the Christmas break!

Enjoy!!

Savvy Stephie: Christmas Memories: Homemade Christmas Ornaments

3 days and I am on a roll!!

This is the third day that I have posted!! Can we say writers block? Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I didn't sleep much and it is 7am?

My 17 year old made an awesome dinner last night. Chicken spaghetti--yum. She said that she will get me the recipe so I can post it. Maybe I will have her post it later today!

I am off in just a bit to conquer the Christmas list. My coupons are printed, lists made and I am ready to go (after I take the curlers out of my hair). I am excited to spend the day with a friend shopping and having a great time. It isn't often I get to go shopping for something other than groceries and the essentials.

I have been coaching gymnastics the last couple of weeks and having a blast with it (it helps pay for my 15 year old's tuition also)! The kids are fun and most of them are pretty good! There are the few that insist on making you thankful for your own children though!!! Last night I had some of both but the funnest one was a little girl about 4. We were stretching, sitting on the floor with feet in front reaching to our toes. I was calling the stretches while another coach was checking the roll. I said, "Touch your toes, if you can. I can't reach mine." This little girl says, "You can't? I will help you. I will touch them for you." I had to laugh!!

I wish it was that easy! You touch my toes, I'll touch yours and we will all be physically fit and have lots of friends!

Another Day!

Today is Thursday, only the busiest day of the week for us! I am working to get myself organized for some major Christmas shopping tomorrow!! I noticed that Dollar General has a new coupon available. Something like $5 off a $25 purchase, it doesn't sound like much but when you are needing a few extras (like toilet paper and paper plates) for Holiday guests that is $5 you didn't have! I have found a few other coupons in my mailbox lately that sure will be helpful tomorrow as I grab a few gifts for my kids.
I think the exciting part about my shopping trip is that I am going with a dear friend and when we get together we spend alot of time laughing and giggling like 2 school girls (hmm I am thinking stress reliever). 

By the way, have you checked out my Etsy Shop? You really should www.etsy.com/shop/pandamom8 . I am having fun with Etsy. I met some new people and learned a little about promoting myself!

Well I am off to get ready for the rest of the day, band, gymanstics, girl scouts and maybe I will get some studying in somewhere, somehow today!!

Just some ramblings about natural cosmetics

I can't believe that Christmas is just over 2 weeks away. Where did the time go?

I got an e-mail today encouraging blog posts everyday until 2011. Seems like a lofty goal, but I am up for the challenge! I can't promise that every post will be fascinating, but I will give it my best!!

I have recently discovered that I can't wear the make-up you buy in the store and THEN I figured out that hairspray was also causing me problems. The last couple of weeks have been somewhat overwhelming, but I went to work! I bought mineral make up (loving it) but the price ACK! I am washing my hair in apple cider vinegar, so if you see me on the street and my hair looks a wreck that's why! They say it takes a couple weeks for your hair to adjust not being dried out by all the stuff in shampoo (we will see).

I have been lamenting over the cost of the mineral make-up, thinking there has to be a more economical way to wear make up when I came across a book in the book store on making your cosmetics (Yeah it is on my Christmas list). I was amazed at what I found!! Everything from eyeshadow to foundation to zit zapper and aftershave!! WOW!! I had my 11 year old hold the book while I scribbled down the websites listed in the back of the book for getting supplies!! There was one website in particular that I really like www.tkbtrading.com . TKB has kits for making your own foundations, blushes and eye shadows as well as supplies for mascara, eyeliner, and lipstick. (Guess what my teenage girls are getting for Christmas!)
I sure hope Santa brings me that book (but if he doesn't I will order it Christmas day)!

So I have solved the make up cost problem! Hairspray, really? How can that possibly be? With a little research I found homemade hairspray recipes. I haven't tried it yet, but I did make some last night. It couldn't be simpler 2 cups water and a lemon peeled and chopped up boil until have the water is gone. Cool and put into a spray bottle. I will let you know how it works!

I am excited about making cosmetics. I already make all our bath soaps, laundry soaps, lotions and skin ointment so cosmetics just kinda naturally falls next in line! I promise there will be updates as I figure this stuff out. In the meantime check out this other site I found--plenty of good stuff here to make you think www.pioneerthinking.com this is where I found the homemade hairspray recipe and some other stuff I am trying!!