New Year's Is Coming

As 2014 is coming to a close I have been thinking long and hard about the way I want 2015 to go. I realize that I do a lot of things around my full-time work schedule in the name of my girls. However I have recently realized that they probably won't even remember everything we did, but they will remember just having time together.

I have found myself often times feeling like an outsider, around people that I have seen on several occasions. I have had to stop and question why this is, and I realize it's because we don't have time to truly connect or talk. I need to slow down and focus on what is important. It is not the amount of people I meet, the amount of events I can attend, or the number of people I can call "friends". It is my family, our relationship with God, and our happiness.

I recently read an article, I believe it was from Hands Free Mamma, talking about how her life was more of a schedule, and one that always ran late with them rushing everywhere. She stopped "listening" to her kids, her husband, and felt like they had cold relationships. I realized that I am not too far off from having that type of lifestyle. In fact, we were pretty close to what she was describing. We are almost always running late and sometimes even rushing from event to another worried about hurting someone's feelings etc. What time did we have to wind down, spend time together, or take care of our own home for that matter? I don't want cold relationships in my house, which I believe would've been the next step. This article actually made cry as I wondered if my kids felt the way she described. I had turned it into what I thought we should be doing, instead of what do my daughters really want to do. I have found that rushing around constantly makes me crabby and quick to bark at my kids. They don't deserve that, not when they didn't make the schedule, and even if they did, I am the parent who should be showing them love at all times. I need my rest just like they need theirs. I have found that the older I get, the less I can run on little sleep. This is another thing I don't want my kids growing up doing, is running themselves ragged. There is enough out in the world that tears down our immune system, we don't need to add to it.

2015 is about making sure we put God first, our marriage, our kids, then family and friends. One of the things that has definitely slipped is making sure that my husband and I have time together. This is something that we have tried with a date night here and there, but not regular by any means. We recently took a marriage class that made me realize how important it is to have a regular date night, to make sure we have time every day to chat, even if it is 5 minutes of quiet time, we need time every day to connect. Date nights are important to keep that spark.

This next year is about making our marriage stronger, our family stronger, and relationships with others stronger. I want my kids to know the value of quality vs quantity and want them to remember the quality time, not rushing around because I don't want them to lead a life that is full of rushing around and no time for themselves.

Remember as we go into the new year, it's a time for you to make changes, for yourself, for your family, and most importantly for what you feel God is putting on your heart to do.

I hope you all have a blessed 2015!!

Spark Naturals - Black Friday Sale

Sorry I didn't get it up for you yesterday, however there is still time to get in your orders for the items listed in the image below at 10% off! How awesome is that?

Plus if you use couponcode: OURCRAZYLIFE247 you will get another 10% off! That's 20% off plus FREE shipping on all orders! Yay!

Happy Oiling!

Spark Naturals Deal of The Day - Citrus Kit

The Citrus Kit just came out in October and is today's Deal of The Day from Spark Naturals!

Citrus oils are great for uplifting your spirit and energy! Each one has it's own great benefits. This is a great way to get started on stocking up on your citrus oils.

Lemon and Lime oils can be helpful for bringing down fevers and reducing headaches. They are both helpful for your immune system. Lime helps with sore throats, colds, flu and coughs. Lemon can also help reduce muscle problems.

I have lemon on hand and have used it with lavender to help naturally reduce the fevers of my daughters. I use a few drops of each oil on the bottoms of their feet.

Wild Orange can help promote good feelings. I actually diffuse this daily at work and find that I am generally in a good mood all day. :-)

Grapefruit is great for vitamin C and can help with your mood as well.

This is a great price to get stocked up on these citrus oils. Happy Oiling!

Use coupon code: OURCRAYZLIFE247 for 10% off your order!

Spark Naturals Deal of The Day - Droppers

How many of you like making your own blends? Today's deal of the day is perfect for you then!

Today you can get a pack of 5ML or 15ML droppers for $2.47 from Spark Naturals.

Wait, you can save even more buy using couponcode: OURCRAZYLIFE247 and save an additional 10% off of your order.

Don't forget yesterdays deal of Juniper Berry is still available as well until Wednesday at midnight.

Happy oiling!

Spark Naturals Deal of The Day - Juniper Berry

Did you hear that Spark Naturals will be having a Deal of the Day every day this week?! I am excited!

Today's Deal of the Day is Juniper Berry Oil. Oh, and did I mention that with the purchase of Juniper Berry oil you will also receive a FREE roller bottle?!

5ML $13.00
15ML $29.70

Juniper Berry oil is good for colds, flu, acne, cellulitis, gout, rheumatism and more. If using on skin, use in diluted amounts with your favorite carrier oil.

Looking for something to diffuse, this has a woody smell and blends great with cedarwood, sandalwood, rosewood, clary sage, and even citrus oils like orange.

If you take advantage of today's deal, don't forget to use couponcode: OURCRAZYLIFE247 to receive 10% off of your order. 

Crazy Busy Weekend of Fun!

So this weekend I about over did it. I had to put shopping for Thanksgiving off one day so I had a little time to breathe.

Saturday we started off with one dance class that left us running to get a errands done before rushing back for my daughters group photos for her recital. I don't have the group photo yet, but I did snap one of her in her costume.

After the second dance class we were on a mission to get a white t-shirt to finish the greaser look my husbands costume. We were able to find some grease to use in his hair too. We had a blast, and my friend is amazing at decoration for parties and goes all out!

We finished up Sunday night with an early Thanksgiving dinner celebration! Everything was delicious and it was a nice way to end the weekend and we played a few games as well.

I was even able to figure out what I wanted to make for our Thanksgiving meal. I am trying out a few new dishes this year as well.

Turkey
Sweet Potato Casserole
Mashed Potatoes and Gravy
Sauteed Broccoli and Mushrooms
Roasted Cauliflower with Bacon and Cheddar Cheese
Deviled Eggs
Rolls
By request of my middle daughter, Macaroni and Cheese

What are you all having?
Have a great Thanksgiving everyone! 

Oh How Fast Time Flies

We have not gotten back to any of our work at home just yet. We have been busy having fun. This last week was no exception.

We started off Saturday morning with our first dance class.

We then meet up with some friends for a Turkey Handprint craft. We just traced the hands, cut them out, used glue to put on some feathers and googly eyes and then used clothes pins at the bottom for feet so they could stand. Of course we finished that playdate off with a free children's ice cream cone.

Then we went home so I could check on my middle daughter who the night before had a fever. So I told her to be safe she would stay home to make sure the fever doesn't come back. I felt bad that she missed out on the craft and after checking to verify there was still no fever, took her to PizzaHut so she could redeem her bookit personal pan pizza. She got all sorts of cool things.

Then I needed to finish our batgirl costumes for Superhero Sunday at church. The girls were so excited! I made the batgirl logos out of felt, and then use satin fabric for the capes and some black and pink ribbon I found to tie them on. The masks I purchased from Amazon.

Sunday we were there for first and second service as both my oldest daughter and myself help in the classes and stay to hear the message as well. Afterwards I went to pick up a sewing machine from a friend so I could finish up my poodle skirt since my machine is missing a part. I had also purchased chiffon fabric so I could cut a scarf to go with the 50's theme and ordered some glasses off of Amazon to complete the look. This coming Saturday is our Adult 50's Theme night we are going to.

After this was grocery shopping and getting ready for the next couple of weeks. Time goes by so fast, but I know this time with the girls is only temporary, so I try to fill it up with as much fun as we can do together before they off doing their own thing.

Healthier Meal Planning

Meal planning alone can be tedious, esp when trying to be healthy and make it fit your busy schedule. There are so many different "diets" out there anymore what is the right one? Well for me, I am trying to just cut the processed foods as much as possible and stick to the basics, proteins and produce.

So with that being said, we also have to try and watch what we spend, and when you start buying the "basics", it can be more costly. What?! All the sites say eating healthier is cheaper! WRONG! It depends on what your lifestyle was before, which is why I get so frustrated when people tell me it's cheaper to eat healthier because it's cheaper than fast food. I think, have you looked at what I spend money on? Because let me tell you, it's not fast food, or at least not as often as you think. Do I buy fast food, or deliver? Yes, but not multiple times a week like these sites show you. I just buy what is cheaper from the store and make it work for our family. So not buying processed foods and buying fresh foods, increases what we spend instead of saves us money.

There are ways to save, like comparing places like Costco to your regular grocery store, frozen to fresh, etc. So below is what I came up with to help us get started.

Breakfasts will consist of mainly scrambled eggs with frozen vegetable blend that sounded good and sausage or bacon.

Lunch will hopefully be left overs from dinner the night before. However just in case I purchased some ham lunch meat and swiss cheese to make sandwich wraps. I will wrap them up in a piece of butter lettuce.

After my shopping trip, I was able to work out the following meals. I don't really have recipes per say, but will list what I use and you can adjust for your family. :-)

Pork roasts ended up being on sale so I have 4 bags filled with sweet potato quarters, baby carrots, pork roast, and onions and minced garlic. I didn't add liquid to the bag, so when I dump into the crock pot I will add some chicken broth and seasoning to taste at that time.

We also purchased thin cut steaks to make grilled onion mushroom steaks, and there was enough to freeze for grilling to top salads or stir-frys.

We also bought some Italian sausage, which will last more than the two weeks I have planned, to make some spaghetti squash.

We purchased chicken breasts from Costco as well and used some to make bacon wrap chicken, and cut the rest into four freeze bags so they are ready for stir-frys.

We also bought some frozen beef patties so we can make some bacon cheese burger wraps with homemade baked sweet potato fries. 

I cannot claim that this is the healthiest way to go, but it is healthier than we have been eating and we are trying our best to stick to fresh or frozen produce with proteins. I am excited to be on this journey and share it with you all.

Happy eating!

Halloween Fun

So this weekend instead of doing any "work", we just did a Halloween Craft. Of course we still had dance classes and then Sunday evening was our Harvest Festival at Church.

Saturday after dance classes were over the girls were ready to get started on their work for the weekend, however I thought we will just have some fun. So I cut out two orange pumpkins for them to decorate.

Sunday evening was the Harvest Festival at our Church, Love Life Church. The girls first went last year and have been looking forward all month to going again this year. :-) They had a blast at all the different game booths and then of course in the different bounce houses.

We also had a nice surprise left for us Sunday afternoon by some family. I have some medical issues right now and have had to cancel some plans I had for the girls and felt a little down about it. So my sister and brother dropped off some goodie bags for the girls and myself. So we can do the fun Halloween crafts at home instead! <3 They were super excited and I will share next time what they have been working on.

Have a safe and happy Halloween!!

Using Your Basic Package from Norwx

My mom purchase a Basic Pack of cloths from Norwex. This has an Enviro Cloth and Window Cloth. With just this pack, you can get a good bit of cleaning done around your home without the use of any chemicals or other cleaners, and no papertowels!

She decided to take the challenge to see how well a cloth can clean her mirrors and windows and shared the before and after pictures with us.

All she did was use the Enviro Cloth damp to wipe down the mirror and window, and then went over it with the Window Cloth to dry it. Pretty amazing how great they look, no streaks, and they came clean! All without using chemicals or cleaners of any kids.

Norwex Cloths are Anti-Bac, with silver woven into the microfiber. This means that while the microfiber is picking everything up, the silver kills the germs. So all you have to do after cleaning, is rinse your cloth and let it dry out. You can use the same cloth for at least 2 weeks before having to wash them! This is amazing!

No paper towels to drag around with you with the cleaning bottles. No waste, no chemical residue left over! Keep in mind you can also use the Enviro Cloth for wiping down all your counters, sinks, walls, outside of the bathub/toilet, dusting, and more!

If you are interested in ordering, please do so HERE, or you can contact me HERE if you are interested in learning more or hosting a party!

DIY Vapor Salve

It's that time of year where colds are more common. I don't know about you but I have been trying to be more natural with what we use in the house instead of instantly grabbing an over the counter medicine.

Right now Eucalyptus is the item of the week at Spark Naturals and is a great oil paired with Peppermint to make your own vapor rub.

The recipe below is good for a 4oz jar. I like using metal tins for my salves.

DIY Vapor Rub

1/2 cup coconut oil
2 TBS beeswax pastilles
20 drops eucalyptus oil
20 drops peppermint oil

Instructions

Melt beeswax and coconut oil together in a double boiler and then remove from heat.
Add oils and then pour in your jar or tin.

This is great to rub on your chest, under your nose, and on your feet.

Remember to use OURCRAZYLIFE247 to get 10% off of your order, and all orders $55+ ship free.

Happy oiling!

Oh Meal Planning - You Allude Me

Meal planning sometimes seems like such an easy, and at others seems so tedious and hard to stay caught up with when working full-time. At least for me, but that could also be due to how many other various activities I have packed into our week nights and weekends. One thing for sure, my kids can never say they had a boring childhood staying home all the time, lol.

So this weekend we purchased more tortillas (still have plenty of Mexican cheese) for some chicken and cheese quesadillas.

We also purchased some rotisserie chicken to shred up for pasta. We still have plenty of Mozzarella cheese, pasta, and sauce to use.

I did buy some more macaroni and cheese and of course bread for sandwiches.

I never did make the rice casseroles that I bought the salsa for so I will be making some rice tonight as well as pasta to get a few dishes in the freezer that we can just pull out when we need them.

We also picked up some cantaloupe, bananas, grapes and still had some apples on hand. Costco is perfect for produce!  Also grabbed some baby carrots and snap peas.


I had some very personal issues come up this week, so after we get through these next few weeks with what we have on hand and purchased, my whole diet will be changing to make sure I am setting myself up for proper weight loss. We believe I have a cystocele, and regardless of if we do surgery or no surgery, weighing less will help from what I have been told and read. I am also uplifting this situation to our Daddy in Heaven and praying for healing.

Sorry I am not much help in the planning out meals right now, but that will change since I have to set myself up for success now. I do not want to be one of those people with a medical condition that has the ability to make it better, but I don't.

Happy meal planning everyone!!

Week 8 - Catch UP

I know I said I am letting go, and for those that know me know it is hard for me to do so, lol. The girls just love their papers! So I didn't plan as much, we were able to sit down and get done in about an hour. Not bad and it kept the time peaceful for the most part.

So for Makaylah, we had some catching up on with F, G and H. I used the Letter Hunt pages from Confessions of a Homeschooler for all three letters. This is by far one Makaylah's favorite thing to do. I love it because she is having to recognize both upper and lower case letters.

We also had her trace her letters and then pick out four pictures that start with that letter. I didn't take pictures of these sheets, and am not sure off hand where I got them. I believe they were also included in the curriculum I purchased from Confessions of a Homeschooler.

We then did a couple crafts for the G and H letters. She loves cutting things out and gluing the, coloring not always so much lol.

The Groovy Grapes craft we found on DLTK-Kids as well as the H Horse craft.

For Arianna we did handwriting practice by her tracing then writing a scripture verse. I was able to get this from a free download awhile back.

Then we had some fun with Pumpkin Math! This was also another free download I was able to get a little while back. Check out The Frugal Homeschooling Mom for free downloads you can get!

For fun Arianna also colored the Letter H Mini Book, which will be included in her reading for this week.

Sonya has still been doing her art work in her free time, and we will start picking projects back up since she seems to have a good handle on her homework now.

Happy Homeschooling!