A Penny For My Thoughts

The Struggle Is Real: part 1

2014-11-18T11:09:00.001-08:00

This will be the first in a series of many about how dōTERRA helps me clean.

As many know I have a real struggle with keeping my house as clean and tidy as I want to. I have many excuses work, homeschooling, sloppy kids, ect.

I'm too short to clean my microwave. Really! The struggle is real! I have to stand on a stepladder (dangerous) to clean it. So it doesn't happen as often as it should. My trick to turning a major job into a 5 minute job is dōTERRA Lemon oil. I put 4 drops in a bowl of water in the microwave on high for 5 minutes and all that splattered baked on food just wipes away.

If you want to order your own message me or visit my website:

www.mydoterra.com/fitandwellnesswithashleyb

I❤️Fall

2014-09-23T10:42:00.001-07:00

Words just can't express how much I love all things about Fall. Ecpecially pumpkin spice anything! I was excited when I saw a recipe with two of my favorite items pumpkin and OnGuard Oil Blend. The taste is amazing, it boosts the immune system, and it's healthy! If you would like to buy OnGuard message

me or visit my website:

www.mydoterra.com/fitandwellnesswithashleyb

Here is the yummy recipe:

2-3 Drops of OnGuard

1cup of milk of choice

1 cup of ice

2 frozen bananas

1/2 cup of yogurt

1/2 cup of Pumpkin purée

1 tsp of vanilla extract

1 tsp of pumpkin pie spice

I'm Just Glowing

2014-09-18T09:31:00.001-07:00

Recently I was introduced to DoTERRA Essential Oils. I liked the products so much I became a Wellness Advocate for DoTERRA. I am now working on incorporating these oils into my every day life. I could go on and on about their uses, so I have decided to blog about it weekly! This week I made an exfoliating facial scrub and I think it worked really great!! It was very easy to make. It smelled amazing! It brightened my mood and my skin!! There are also so many other uses for lemon oil and it's only $10 wholesale price that it quickly became one of my favorite oils.

Oatmeal Lemon Facial Scrub

1/4 cup oatmeal

1 tbsp water

5 drops lemon oil

If you are interested in essential oils send me a message. You can also visit my website:

www.mydoterra.com/fitandwellnesswithashleyb

Gotta Save that Green Stuff

2012-01-08T03:17:00.000-08:00

Money: wouldn't everyone like to have an endless supply of it? We make enough to live comfortably. My kids got everything on their Christmas wish list, except the Cookie dog that Kyra said was her #1 at the last minute. I looked all over for that dog. She got the Go Go Walking Pup instead and that poor dog is stuck in the corner of her room. Go Go hasn't been played with since the day after Christmas. That being said, maybe I should only not have even bought that dog and saved the $50 for something else. Anyway, I ramble too much. My point is I think my kids would be just as happy if they didn't get every single thing and just the couple most important ones. Like Kyra wanted the 3DS so I got them both one or it would have been a fight over it. Myles has a PS3 and PSP and I rarely see him with his 3DS. That's more money I could have saved. Why do I spend so much money on these kids? Obviously we have to give them food, clothing, and shelter and that's a lot of money, but I have bought some of the dumbest toys. The other day I bought a toy at the Dollar General and she literally broke it in the parking lot. I should have just given a dollar to the person in line behind me.

Don't get me wrong I'm not one to blow money all the time. I don't buy anything that's not on sale and most of the time I have a coupon for it. I save a lot of money that way. I don't get my hair cut often and I never get my nails done. I just end up spending that money on something else (like crappy toys). So my resolution for 2012 was to find a way to earn extra money for savings. This week while truck shopping (my husband's Tacoma was bought back because of a recall so we had to get another truck) I came across so many SUV's that I would love to have. I have been driving a mini van for too long. I'm not sure why I bought a mini van in the first place and we financed it so we ended up paying way more than it was worth. So I have decided that my goal is to put some money in savings for a "rainy day" and put some money in a new car fund. I wont save for a brand new car but I will make a "car payment" to myself. Lord willing the van will last me until I can save enough to pay cash for a really nice used SUV. I am determined that I do not want to pay a bank to borrow their money. This may take me a few years but I think I will be that much more appreciative of it if I know that I have really worked hard to save this money for a car.

So if you see me at the Dollar Store or where ever and I a buying my kids something junky just cause they are begging for it; please come over and slap the back of my head and tell me not to do it LOL.

I'm Baaaaack! Didga Miss Me?

2012-01-01T03:41:00.000-08:00

Ok I know I haven't blogged in months. I wish I could say it's because I was just so busy working out and keeping my house spotless. Unfortunately, I just stopped blogging. I could list all these excuses, but nobody wants to read about how many obstacles come my way. I'm really just gonna tell you all the simple truth of it: "Old habits die hard." I haven't totally reverted back to my old ways but I took a few steps back.

Anyway, it's the first day of 2012 and there is no better time than now to get back to what I started. I want to make my resolutions on here and I'm really gonna try to keep up with this blog at least once a week even if I have to do a quick vlog about whatever the weeks topic is.   I want to get back to using this blog as my accountability and I really do appreciate hearing from y'all. I know I don't have a huge following, but to hear some people ask when am I gonna put up a blog means a lot to me. You will see my blog by Saturday January 7, 2012. I hope everyone and wonderful New Year and I will leave you with my New Year's Resolutions.

My Resolutions for 2012 in no particular order:
1. Blog every week about at least one of these resolutions or something fun like a product review
2. Stick to my cleaning schedule
3. Find a way to earn extra money for savings
4. Stick to my budget
5.  Exercise daily
6.  Don't let food have control over me! (Check out my weight loss blog for #5&6)
7.  Spend more time doing Bible study
8. Being a better wife and mother

Birth Control and Baby Fever

2011-10-30T05:23:00.000-07:00

Seriously I thought I was done having kids. I have a boy and a girl. A matching blond set. They each have their own room and are both kinda spoiled. So why now do I have this burning desire for a baby?

My youngest is a very independent four year old. She occasionally wants to cuddle with mommy, but for the most part she doesn't need mama anymore for her basic needs. My oldest is at that age where he only comes into the living areas for food. I really enjoyed when they needed me to do things for them. I feel like I need a baby. I am watching pregnancy vlogs on YouTube. I am also Pintersting more baby things than anything else on there. I think I have really caught the baby fever. Maybe it's because my daughter pretends that her baby dolls are her brother and sister, because she want to be a big sister so badly. I don't think she fully understands that a real baby would take up a lot of my time and she wouldn't be the only one that is the center of attention.   I have tried to explain that to her in a way she would understand, but she says she doesn't care. She is so cute she asked me how we would get a baby and I told her that when mommies want a baby they pray about it and God puts a baby in their belly. Well now in her goodnight prayers she prays for a baby.

When I had my daughter I got an IUD inserted. I just felt this was the best option for me. I knew I couldn't afford more babies right away and at 23 I still had time to have more down the road. The pill made me sick and I actually was on the pill when I got pregnant, because I was ignorant to the fact that it wasn't totally in my system yet. (My daughter is the best thing that ever happened to me thought, and I'm so glad she is in my life anyway!) I know there were other methods of birth control out there I just didn't like the side effects of any of them. So anyway I got a copper IUD that lasts for up to ten years and for me it has been awesome! This IUD has no hormones, and I have never had a pregnancy scare. I know of one person who has gotten pregnant with one in. I also know of someone that their IUD came out during their period. So, everyone is different, but it is rare for those things to happen. Anyway, that's my two cents about birth control. If you don't want kids for a while but aren't sure if you are totally done an IUD is the way to go.

So after that birth control spill my point is I can't just start trying to get pregnant with out going to the doctor and having this IUD taken out. This means that I have to make the final decision that I am going to try for another baby. I know that if I were to have a baby it would all work out. You just find a way to make things work, but I feel like right now I can't afford to have more kids, I don't have enough room in my house, and I want to finish a least my associates degree. I also want go lose weight so I'm not fat and pregnant. I want to be fat because I'm pregnant. On the other hand I don't want to wait on everything to fall into place, because that may never happen.

I also have a lot of fears about being pregnant again.  I have been pregnant three times. My first pregnancy was with Zoe. I was going to my checkup at 25 weeks and they couldn't find a heartbeat. I delivered her that night and it was the worst experience of my life. Then a year later I got pregnant again and I found out pretty early because I was trying to get pregnant. I went into the doctor becacuse I was spotting at about 9 weeks. He did an ultrasound and told me that I had a blighted ovum. I had an empty sack and had a miscarriage a few days later. So, when I found out that I was pregnant the third time I was an emtional wreck with worry. I tried to not get attached to the idea of actually getting to bring a healthy baby home from the hospital. I am not blind to the fact that it could happen again and I would not want my daughter to have to go through that with me. It was hard on me to go thru. How would I explain to her that her baby brother of sister died in mommy's tummy? I went throught that with Myles but he didn't really have his head wrapped around the fact that I had a real baby in my belly. Needless to say I have not told Kyra that she has a sister in Heaven. I will when she is older, but if we talked about it now she would want to talk aobut it all the time. My emotions could not handle talking about it everyday.

I truely believe that children are a gift from God. I wish I had that drive like the Duggers to have as many babies as God allows, I just don't feel like God wants me to have 20 kids. I want to be the best parents I can be to the kids that I do have and I don't think there would be enought of me to go around if I had a large family. So sometimes I feel guilt about the IUD in that "Is this what God wants for me?" way.  I think if God really wanted me to have another baby he would somehow make me have this IUD out. I know I'm indecivie, but some of these major life decisions are so hard.

So to sum it up yes I want another baby, but I'm going to wait until I am totally sure I'm ready. I have a few more child bearing years and even thought I'm not sure that I am done with having babies, like I once thought. How did you now when you were finished having kids and ready for the next stage in your life?

"My Friend"

2011-10-29T19:37:00.000-07:00

So this past week I had "my friend" visit. I know you ladies know what I mean. Your mom may have taught you to refer to it as something else, but we all have a menstrual cycle. It's rare for a woman to talk about it to anyone but a close girlfriend. Which is a shame, because it is a natural part of life. It's not the most pleasant thing, but why is it so mortifying to leak and have menstrual blood on your pants? I know it embarrasses me when I have a "spill". In fact it happens to me almost every time I have a heavy period. Not only is it embarrassing it is messy and sometimes hard to clean up.
Last Sunday I started my period. Like a typical first day of my period I was cramping really bad. I cramp so bad on the first day that I don't like to wear tampons. Tampons seem to make my cramps worse, but on this day my flow was really heavy so I had to wear a tampon and a thick pad to church, for fear of a leak. Well what do you know I had to walk out of church with my jacket tied around my waist. I soaked thru a pad and a tampon in less than two hours. I came home thinking there has go to be something I can do about this.

Well, a few weeks ago my bestie posted a blog link about cloth menstrual pads. My first thought was I couldn't do that. Then another friend commented on her post about something called a Diva Cup. Again, I thought I couldn't use one of those. Then after the thousandth time of cleaning up a bloody mess and stain fighting my pretty skirt I decided to give them a try. Sunday evening I did a lot of research, mostly on YouTube. I watched one lady who had several reviews on several different cloth menstrual pads or mama pads as some people call them. Anyway, I went to several of the websites that were linked from her reviews. Her favorite pad is Party In My Pants pads or PIMPS. I decided to purchase this brand because they have a free sample called curious. You pay the shipping of $3.99 and they send you the panty liner for free. I just got it today but and I am no longer on my period but I wore it today just to see how it feels to wear it. Also, they are super cute! PIMPS wrote me a personal thank you for trying there brand and also sent a small square of organic dark chocolate. I am also going to try to sew my own pads because now that I have my Diva Cup I will not need to wear thick pads. Visit www.partypantspads.com for more details.

There are other versions of the Diva Cup, but I chose to purchase it after reading some reviews. The Diva Cup to me is the best thing since sliced bread. A Diva Cup is a surgical silicone cup that fits in the vagina and catches your menstrual flow. You can ware it for up to 12 hours,and you don't have to worry about toxic shock syndrome from wearing it. I got it in the mail while my period was still heavy this week. LOL I have never been so excited to be on my period. I got to use it for two day and never had any leakage. Then second day I even wore the Diva Cup with out wearing a back up pad. Visit www.divacup.com for more details.

I know what y'all are thinking. Isn't that messy? Well isn't it all messy? Periods are just messy. I usually get blood on my hands anyway, so why not use the Diva Cup and save the money on buying a box or more of tampons every month. Isn't it gross to wash those cloth menstrual pads? Don't you usually have to wash blood out of your under ware at least once in your cycle? I know this may not be for everyone, but I just thought I would share, because I am so glad that my friends were "brave" enough to share these products with everyone on Facebook. I am also going to save a lot of money not throwing away pads and tampons, and that means a lot to this frugal mamma.

Finally Got It Under Control

2011-10-15T13:40:00.000-07:00

So it's been a couple weeks since I have blogged about my slobishness. (Is slobishness a word?....I just made it one.) So I feel like I have finally got my home under control. I still have a couple of places that are cluttered. Like my computer desk and my master bath that I use as storage. I live in a mobile home and we have no stroage building so every closet is packed. Anyway, I have gotten the main things under control just by picking up clutter every day. My husband has even complimented me several time on how nice it is for things to not be so cluttered. When we moved in we did it in a hurry. At the time I had a newborn and I just never really made it feel homey ya know. I finally feel at home here, and I finally got my hallway project done I've been blogging about..........

I was using my freakin hallway as storage for way too long. Not only did I keep a door in the hall, there was a part of a crib, empty Wii, and Wii Fit boxes, and of course some random stuff my daughter threw behind ther. I finally had enough and decided to get rid of or find and new home for this crap.........

I got everything cleaned up and finally painted the walls the same color as my livingroom (that I painted over a year ago). I put a little bench in there that my daughter is using to put her baby doll clothes in and she's using it as her babies changing table. So not only can I wald through my hallway without stubbing my toe we also have a little extra functional space in our small home. Now that I have the basics under control it is on to the next project......

Things We Should Do For Love

2011-10-08T15:55:00.000-07:00

I have been with my husband since I was just a teenager. I know that we have both grown as people since we have been together nine years. I also know things with us are constantly changing. In the big picture I have only just begun my relationship with him; if we both live to be old and gray that is. We could possibly be married another forty to sixty years depending on how long we live. I have relatives that just celebrated there 70th wedding anniversary. Wow 70 years! I can't hardy imagine being alive long enough to be married 70 years. Here are a couple bits of advice of things we should do for love.

Going by grandma's advice right now in this stage of my life is the hardest part of marriage. We have little kids, the economy is bad, and life is just stressful. Plus I am just now becoming more aware of how my husband ticks and how to handle a situation to keep from having an argument. We still do argue over little things but not as much as when we first got together. I was young and I thought everything had to be MY way. The older I get the more laid back I get. I have learned to pick my battles and wait for an appropriate time to hash it out. Fighting in the middle of Walmart just makes me look ignorant. Well I guess as a teenager I was ignorant about most things. Now I see people going at it in public and I just shake my head and Thank God that I realized how silly that is. Also fighting in front of the kids is never a good idea. We really try our best to keep disagreements between us and not let the kids in on the arguments. It isn't always easy and sometimes I lose my cool, but at the end of the day our kids know that we love each other. People should be more patient, with their partners. If you promise to be with someone the rest of your life, why make life miserable over leaving the toilet seat up or something else that really isn't a big deal.

Since I have been married I have gained a ton of weight, I used to care a little bit about fashion and I wore makeup on a daily basis. I guess you could say I had let myself go. I used to say, "I'm already married what does it matter what I look like?" Recently I have been exercising a lot and trying to eat right. I have started losing weight but I was doing it for myself for health reasons, but I got to thinking: Why in the world would somebody be attracted to a slop. My husband has never been negative about my weight, but I'm sure he wouldn't mind a bit for me to be fit and trim. So after this revelation I think about him when I need some motivation. Anyway, last Sunday after church I was thinking, "Why is he sitting beside me to watch TV?" Then I realized I still was dressed nice and had on a ton of make-up. Like every time I ware make-up and fix my hair nice he always gives me compliments and pays more attention to me. So almost every day this week, even if I didn't really feel like it, I fixed my hair and make-up the same way I do on Sunday for church. Well it worked out in my favor. He was so much more attentive to me. He did ask why I was wearing so much make-up lately. I told him it was for him and he grinned. So maybe it took me a few years to figure it out, but my man really likes for me put myself "together" for him. He would never ask me to on his own. Maybe for fear of my wrath or maybe because he didn't even realize he wanted me to. Anyway, my point is if you know what your partner likes why not do it (with in reason of course)? You are going to live with this person for the of your lives why not make each other happy.

Turning the To Do into DONE

2011-09-26T08:04:00.000-07:00

So I didn't blog Saturday. I was thinking about what to blog about while I was doing chores. I just couldn't think of anything in particular that I wanted to say. In the past couple days I have thought of a couple of things I want to blog about.

First thing is: Even if the project seems too much it is amazing what you can get done in a short amount of time with just a little focus. I used to just not do something because I didn't have the time to get it done right. However, even if something is just cleaned up real quick and not totally done it's better than it being totally messy. Saturday is the only day that I can stay home all day and focus on chores. The rest of the week I squeeze in the time for things that need to be done daily. OK sometimes I don't squeeze in the time for chores and I get backed up. Anyway, I usually right out a to do list that is as long as the 11 inch paper I right it on and expect to get everything done and I always fail. This Saturday I just wrote down the items that I thought were the most important and I wrote beside it the amount of time I wanted to work on it. When I was done with the chore I checked it off and wrote down the actual time it took me. It amazed me what I got done all because I stuck to my list and focused on only one task at a time. Also, this list will help me next week when I will have the same chores to do. I will know how long it took me last time and plan accordingly. I was so excited when I turned my to do into DONE before my time was even up. Maybe my house is not company ready but it felt like a breath of fresh air to walk through and every room but one was looking good and the floors were clean. I even had time to weed my nonflower flowerbeds before I went grocery shopping.

So you're probably wondering which room in my house wasn't clean. Yesterday my daughter asked, "Mommy why do you look so tall?" I told her, "Because I'm standing on a foot of laundry." My laundry room is ridiculous. I make my boy clean his room on Saturdays and he brought out all of his laundry from the week and I didn't make time to wash much laundry last week. So, besides the two hampers full I have a pile in front of the washer too. For the rest of the week I vow to wash this laundry and to get rid of some of these clothes. We shouldn't have so many that I could get away with not doing laundry for a week. I am going to have just what we need and get rid of extra. I don't have nice clothes I just don't get rid of clothes when I get new and that has got to stop. I haven't gotten some of the major projects done that I have blogged about yet. They are on a to do list though. The laundry beast will be done this week though and that is a priority.

So I'm doing good keeping up with chores except for the laundry. How do you keep up with your laundry? Let me know any suggestions you have for me.

The Rant Of An Unorganized Mamma

2011-09-17T04:42:00.000-07:00

Seriously I usually work on a blog on Friday morning while both kids are at school, lately I've been exercising on Friday mornings. So to get a Saturday blog up I am doing typing it on Saturday. I feel like this blog is like my diary and if I type it up on Monday by Saturday my life and mood are so different that Mondays tone doesn't even apply to how I feel on Saturday. Does that make sense? I like to ramble. That is another reason I didn't post last Saturday I just ramble......OK so I'm just gonna say it's an unorganized rant of an unorganized mamma.

Sorry to my mamma ( I feel like I'm calling out my parents on both blogs this week).

I want to give you some background of why I think I have such a struggle with keeping up with housework. Well maybe this will be a list of poor excuses, but it's my blog and I will excuse my bad habits if I want to. My mother worked a lot because my dad sucked at life. He only worked to take care of himself and even though he loved us in his own way he just never really grew up and acted like the father he should have. So, as a young child I stayed with my grandparents most of the time after school. My grandma keeps her house immaculate. I think she has OCD really. I saw how hard she worked everyday cleaning. She would eat standing up so she would be able to clean up our (there were 4 of us) messes. She really was like Super Susie Homemaker. Like Martha Stewart and Rachel Ray have nothing on this lady. On the other side of that is she never let us help her do chores or assigns us chores to do on a regular basis. I wish now that I had paid more attention to her routine. Granny never had to leave the house either so she had lot of time devoted to cleaning. My oldest aunt told me she remembers Granny scrubbing and hanging out cloth diapers in the winter and her hands would be bleeding. I think that as Americans we are spoiled now. Granny really had to work hard when she was young because she had no other choice. It's not that we are lazy but we are now a product of what modern convenience can do. The point I'm trying to get to is. I never learned to keep up with chores because at Granny's she did it for me.

When I was a young teenager I did a pretty good at keeping up with the house work. Again, mom was working swing shifts and not at home most of the time so I cooked dinner after school and took care of alot of the housework. I feel like there was never a big emphasis on keeping things neat and orderly at home. Mom was tired from working and she had health problems so she would do like a power clean when things got really messy. My dad was not around much he was too busy hunting and drinking to care about if we made our beds.

All that being said I didn't realize until adulthood that this is not OK with me to live like a slob. I have been struggling with this for the past eight years. For some reason I just don't stay on my cleaning schedule. I do have two hyper active children that I have organized many chore charts for. I have printed off every kind of chore system I can think of. I have even gone to a website http://www.mychorechart.com/ . It is a really cool site that kids can earn points to exchange into money for doing simple chores. I really try to get them involved in this so that when they grow up they will be able to properly take care of themselves. I also need the help. I feel like I live a bunch of slobs. Myself included, we don't but things away right after we use them. The dishes don't make it to the sink. The laundry stays in the bathroom floor until I put it in the the hamper. There is alot to do and I don't think I should have to do it all myself. On the other hand when they do help I usually end up redoing it. I honestly have so much trouble keeping up with putting away clutter that I don't get to do deep cleaning alot and that is my goal. I know my house will never be like Granny's, but my goal is to not cringe with embarrassment every time somebody knocks at my front door. I do clean daily. I'm not like a crazy hoarder, but I just never seem to get it all done. I know what to do I am just having so much trouble sticking with it. It is like being on a diet. I know what not to eat but I eat it anyway.

Last blog I challenged myself to turn my bedroom into a relaxing place to be. I did get it cleaned up but I still have a computer desk that is an eyesore. My goal is to get that cleaned up this week and have a before and after posted for y'all. You wont believe how much stuff is piled on this desk.

My challenge for this week is to get my home back it order. I am doing a power clean today. Then I am really going to stick with my chore list. I will not got to sleep with toys in the floor, dirty dishes on the dining room table, or unfolded laundry. I also have a bid project for my hallway that I want to get done this week.

Week One of Reforming Me

2011-09-03T19:18:00.000-07:00

Well this blogging my goals is really working for me! I have ben doing more deep cleaning and it feels good to be getting organized!!! Saturday is the day that I make the kids clean their rooms. I usually clean my daughter's room myself, but this time I made her do it. She fought me on it at first, but I told her she wouldn't get to go to the pool party she wanted to go to and it didn't take her long to pick her toys and make her bed. She did a good job too! I think sometimes we underestimate what our kids can do. I vacuumed and helped her dust but I am really proud of how well she did.

I started getting my kitchen cleaner on Sunday by cleaning all the grease splatter off my stove and back splash. After cleaning that stove I know why Granny always said wipe and swipe those appliances after you cook. Talk about having to use some elbow grease. I don't know how I let things get so bad. I guess I have just been skating by on doing as little house work as I could get away with and cleaning appliances just wasn't in my cleaning regimen.

Monday I spent FOREVER cleaning the grease off my fridge which is beside my stove. Then I MammaBishop actually pulled out the fridge and cleaned behind it. I thought I was going to pass out for all the dust but I got through it. I can now sleep better at night knowing that my refrigerator is clean behind it. I then went to the spice cabinet above my stove. Ugh what at jumbled mess that was. I would just take what I needed out and throw it back up there. I ended up throwing out quit a few spices that were out of date.

Then I went on to clear off the top of the fridge. There were things up there that had no business being up there. With a toddler if there was something I didn't want her to get into I just put it on top of the fridge. I also have a problem with not putting items back where they really belong. I have a pretty nice pantry cabinet for food storage but I put the food on top of the fridge. I also used the top of the fridge for a medicine cabinet because my little angel girl would climb on the bathroom sink and get in the medicine cabinet. Well now that she is four and a little calmer it is time to get my home back in order. It is also the perfect time to teach the kids how to stay organized. Maybe they wont have as hard of a time in their adulthood if I organize them now. I have been kinda like my mom was. Just put things like where ever and leave it till I need it.

                                     I have my bread basket back!!!! (Can you tell we love bread?)

I actually used the cabinet space above the refrigerator to store medicines that I did not dispose of. This cabinet was nearly empty before. What was I thinking?????? I am excited now to get more places in my home that have become a dumping ground organized.

Tuesday I barely got all of my regular chores done. I had to take my son for a checkup and med review and it always take two hours in that doctor's office. I got all my laundry folded and it was 11:30 pm. I was debating on whether to even do my extra cleaning project, but I am soooo glad I did. My kitchen island needed cleaning BAD. There I keep my small appliances. I had a rotisserie that was on it's last leg. In fact I don't know why I put it back down there in the first place. I found a Bi Lo Catalina coupon under it that expired almost a year ago. I just keep thinking to myself, "Why haven't I been doing this regularly? It's not that hard to wipe down the kitchen!"   Tuesdays project only took me like 30 minutes, and when I do it regularly it will only take five.

The rest of my week was pretty busy so it was hard to do any extra deep cleaning. Friday I finally got the Boon Frog bath toy organizer I ordered from eBay a couple weeks ago. So I got the bathroom toys out of the mesh bag they were in. My daughter even got on board with my "less is more" saying. She got rid of several bath toys. I got her some foam numbers and letters and told her she could have them if she gave most of her other bath toys away. That made a BIG difference in my small bathroom. Saturday I we went through my daughters room and got rid of a trash bag and a large box of toy. Don't worry she is in now way deprived she still has a large toy box and her dresser and shelf headboard are still full of toys. I think cutting back on the toy clutter will help keep things so much nicer.  She now knows where all her things belong and she has enjoyed cleaning her room this week and making her bed.

I have worked with both kids this week about being more responsible for their own things. My son takes out the trash, vacuums, puts away his own laundry. This morning I tough him how to fry his own eggs. He was proud of himself for making his own breakfast, and both kids did the dishes today. I will be rewashing when I go clean up from supper in a few minutes, but I think it is never too early to teach your children how to take care of themselves.   I love doing things for my children but I feel like if they are helping me I can get more things done around here.

Next Challenge: Get My bedroom decluttered/organized. I want to want to hang out in my room to relax. Right now my room is a dumping ground for everything that doesn't have a "home".

The Truth Is.......

2011-08-27T05:01:00.000-07:00

I would like for people to think I have it all together. I have well behaved children, a wonderful marriage, an awesome well paying job, lots of money in the retirement fund, and a nice house that is squeaky clean. The truth is.....my kids are wild like yard apes sometimes, my husband gets on my nerves and I get on his, I don't have my ideal career not that I don't love what I do, I am frugal but I have no money saved back for old age, and my house is a mess! So on my other blog I am giving myself a challenge every week to help me lose weight. I want to use this blog to become more accountable for everything else in my life. I will focus on one topic every week. Maybe when I put all these things together I will be closer to the person I want to be. Don't get me wrong I am a happy person and enjoy my life. I just want make my quality of life a little better. I know that I have been considered an adult for like nine years but I'm really just learning to what I want my life to be like ya know. I guess what people say is true; you don't really know who you are until you're around 30.

Another thing that has really helped me on my journey of change is prayer. The days that I pray in the mornings for focus and strength I always have a better day. I want to make that my goal for everyday to be closer to God. I am thankful everyday for the joy that I have in my heart because of Jesus. So if in some of my blogs it sounds like I am complaining about my life just remember that really am happy; I just in vision more for my family and myself and I'm blogging for a little motivation. My blogging may be helpful or just entertaining to you too, but I'm probably not going to have any great tips for life that are working for me now. I just want you to come along for the ride.

This week I will be working on my home and my daily cleaning schedule and some decluttering/organization projects. I will try to post some before and after pics next Saturday. Stay tuned........

It's A Blessing Giveaway!

2011-08-21T05:31:00.000-07:00

http://its-a-blessing.blogspot.com/ Check out this site or like her facebook page. She is giving away a beautiful Finding Joy bracelet.

.....now I'm the wicked stepmother!

2011-08-20T17:51:00.000-07:00

I met my husband when our son was three. He lived with my husband and he was really well taken care of. That is what really attracted me to my husband. My boy was part of the package. I love him just as much as I would have if I had given birth to him myself. He was so little when my husband and I got together that he never seemed to resent me for being with his dad, or want his mom and dad together. He couldn't even remember when his mom and dad were together anyway. Poor kid moved backed and forth several between his mom and dad when he was little. He adjusted well with every move and he thought that moving back and forth was just something that you do. As he got older it became obvious that he should not keep changing school. His mom was sick so he moved in with us permanently. I have been his primary care giver since he was nine and every time he lived with us before then. Of course his dad helps, but I run the household. I have never been like fix your kid something to eat or help him with his homework. He is treated like my own.

I obviously have had to make him mind and sometimes he would get mad at me for that. He is a hardheaded kid that doesn't like to take no for an answer, but for the most part we got along really well. Then came my beautiful baby girl. There is an eight year age difference so for a little over 4 years he had me all to himself. I suppose it is part sibling rivalry part preteen hormones but now I'm the wicked stepmother! Every time I do something for my daughter that I don't do for him he says he is so deprived! He has more chores to do because he is older than her. He thinks I'm a slave driver and it's unfair to him. If I would have given birth to him and he waited eight years to have another child (I didn't wait eight years on purpose, but that's another blog.) maybe he would still say I play favorites to her. Either way how fair is it for either one of us that he feels this way.

I don't want him to feel like an outcast or that I don't love him just as much as I love her. I know that one day when he is older he will realize I was his parent not the wicked stepmother that he thinks I am. I try to spend good one on one time with him, tell him, and show him how much I love him. I guess that being a stepparent is like being a parent to any kid they don't know it at the time but you are doing the best you can to help them turn into a responsible self-sufficient adult. Maybe one day he will read this and know just how much I love him, my oldest and only boy. All kids act like they don't like their parents. My daughter say she hates me sometimes too. It just seems to cut deeper when he gets mad at me. So if you have a stepchild love them lots even if they act like they don't want it they do.

First Day Of School WHOOT WHOOT

2011-08-15T03:47:00.000-07:00

Yay it's the first day of school. Well she thinks it's BIG school, but she is going to her first day of W.E.E. school from 9-12. More importantly the boy is going back to middle school and that means that for eight hours five days a week......180 days give or take a few sick days I will not have to play referee with my kids. Also after discussing with myself for the past couple of years to home school or not to home school it decided that my kids and I just don't work that well together. I am getting better everyday on having patience with the kids, but I tell ya sometimes they just don't listen to a thing I say. How could I educate them in book learning when I can't even teach them the life lessons I want them to learn. Well maybe that's not all true, but some days I do feel that way. Some days though my girl will clean up her toys and make her bed without me even asking and my boy amazes me with some of the things that comes out of his mouth. Just when you think he isn't listening he does something that makes me so proud I want to cry. All in all I guess my kids could be worse. In fact I know that they would be totally out of control without parental discipline. Some kids (like my baby brother) are born disciplined and some just have to have really good parenting. Anyways, I know it's not Saturday and I am working on a Saturday Blog but I just wanted to share. If you had the chance would you home school your kids? Why or why not? Comment below :)

Hello Bloggers!

2011-08-13T16:03:00.000-07:00

So......I'm not sure why I'm starting this blog. I don't know where this is gonna lead. My husband asked, "Why don't you do a blog?", when I told him that my friend is doing a blog and really enjoying it. I told him I don't really have anything to say, but then I thought everybody has something to say. Maybe people wanna listen to me maybe not but I might as well give it a shot. I love to coupon and shop so I will probably post some of the great deals that I find. I have two extremely active children so I will have a lot of stories to tell about those little angels. I have been struggling with an addiction problem that not many people wanna talk about so this may be a "rehab" blog for me (Hi, I'm Ashley and I am addicted to food.). My goal is to write a blog every Saturday. I guess I will have lots to say so stay tuned.........