SIX!!

My baby is six! When did that happen? I told him he couldn't grow up...he didn't listen!

I love this boy so much. It has been my tradition to share what I love about the birthday kiddo so here it is, six reasons why I love my 6 year old!!

1. That smile! The cute little cheeks, the bright eyes...his smile lights up any room he is in. I love.love.love it!

2. He still SNUGGLES! While he barely fits on my lap, he will still climb up and cuddle in my lap. Or snuggle for stories. He will also snuggle with any of his siblings... as long as they let him! He is my love bug, for sure!

3. He loves to clean! He really does. I thought he would grow out of his "helper" stage but nope. He calls himself a "professional bed maker" and is always willing to wash a table, mop, sweep or vacuum!

4. He is nice to everyone. Even if he has a friend who annoys him, he is still kind. He will play with anyone and include them in his games. He would spend hours out at the park playing with whoever was out there.

5. He loves anything his brothers do! Legos, Minecraft, Star Wars...and doesn't let them tease him when he wants to watch a "baby show" like Paw Patrol, Jake and the Neverland Pirates...

6. He loves to read, draw and do puzzles.

Happy Birthday sweet six year old! Mom loves you!

Swedish Meatballs

The very first time I used my crockpot, I felt like I had cheated. I had made dinner...but I hadn't done anything. I pulled the lid off and we ate.

I felt like I had stumbled upon some great dinner cooking secret. But nope, it was just a crockpot! Now I use my crockpot all.the.time. I have had some hits and misses but I love that girl. So much so that the words have rubbed off the knob. Luckily I know them all by heart!

One of my dinner hits, that was loved by 7/7 Turners, was Swedish Meatballs. Yum!

I am sure that there are a ton of recipes floating around for these babies, but this is the one that I used. It is simple and delicious! I usually make a huge thing of mashed potatoes to go with it.

This recipe comes from a You Tube vlogger OCD Much, with a few tidbits from me, in pink.

What you will need:
*optional---> crockpot liner. One of the only items that I will pay FULL price for! Worth the money to me to not have to clean!
1 lb pkg of precooked meatballs (I use a bigger bag and fill my crockpot. My kids devour these!)
2 jars of Heinz beef gravy (we like lots of gravy so I add another jar)
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
1 16 oz container of sour cream

So here is where the "hard work" comes in...
Put all the wet ingredients into your crockpot. Combine well.

 Then add in your meatballs. Coat them with your wet ingredients. Put the top on.


Because the meatballs are pre cooked, you are basically just heating this meal up. You can cook on high for a couple of hours, or let it simmer all day. Which is nice, if you didn't think about dinner until like 3:00.

 Not that I know what that is like...

Life changes

Life has changed so much since February! Being military, we received our orders and just like that...life got busy. Really busy.

We are busy in our every day life as is, but throw in a move and life just got out of control. Packing up one house, house hunting for another, finishing school up with the kids, a funeral and then the actual packing, moving, cleaning...Need I say more?

Although we still have plenty to do to get settled, life has calmed. That calm has come with plenty of changes.

We are now homeowners.

We are now on a (modified) year round school schedule.

My kids schools & our church is much closer.

We now have a dog.

My grocery budget is still the same, although spread out differently, due to paying a mortgage.

Life is indeed different.

But my life, my interests & my goals have not changed. In fact, I have a renewed sense of wanting to save money! No longer are we able to just call housing if something breaks.

Ben & I have spent many a morning at Lowes or Home Depot picking out appliances, counter tops, paint...none of that is free or cheap.

Saving money and living on a budget will always be a part of our lives. Now, besides the normal, we have pet food and house "stuff".

Hopefully you will stick around as I rebuild my stockpile, feed & care for our new dog, updating our home, and everything in between!

Bedtime stories

 My kids have had the very same bedtime routine their WHOLE lives.

It started out when Harmony was a baby and continued until last night.

We do skip on the weekends some times but other than that, it has remained...

Bath, pj''s, teeth and 2-3 stories. Depending on length.

Right now, I have 3 books that I have been reading over and over. And over again. Sometimes I hide them, so that we can read other things. They love them.

These three books are totally and completely 100%  Ivan & Mason approved.

image taken from Google

1.  "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" by Bill Martin Jr. is an "oldie but a goodie".
After reading Mason's very first report card, and noticing that he needed to do some work on his letters, I purchased it. Again. My first copy of the book, after being read numerous times to my older children, was toast. My second copy, purchased in late January, is headed the same way! We don't just read this book. We recite the alphabet. We sound out the letters. We think of people's names who start with every letter. And at the end, when "a" gets out of bed? I tickle them like crazy on the "boom-boom".

image taken from walmart.com

2. "Goodnight Ipad by Ann Droyd". It is a cute & contemporary parody of the classic book, "Good Night Moon." The boys love this book. They love when the book talks about You Tube and Facebook. They laugh when, after it is announced that it is time to turn all gadgets off, it is the Dad who replies, "do we have ta'?". It is a fun read!

3. "The Book with no Pictures" by BJ Novak. I bought this book for the boys as a Christmas gift, and have pretty much read it every night since. The book really doesn't have pictures, but it is colorful. This book, has the person reading the book, say funny things, sing silly songs and call themselves a monkey. BJ Novak, who was hilarious in "The Office" is just as funny as an author.

So there you have it. Three books that my boys are totally digging right now! What about you? Do you have these books? Do your kids like them as much as mine?

"Just get me to the church on time..."

*** This is part 1 of a 4 part series! Each Sunday in February, I will be sharing something we do to get organized and out the door for church. On time.***

 This song from My Fair Lady, often runs through my head,  on my way to church.

My big boys, including my husband, have to be at church by 8:30 in order to set up chairs. Harmony, the younger boys and I, leave a bit later.

I often wonder, why we are late to church. We are never late to school. Which starts at 8:10. It is a good question right? Maybe because we don't get tardies for being late to church?

Growing up, if we were late to church (after we had our drivers licenses) we would get the stare down from my Dad as we made our way to our seat. It was even worse if I/we had wet hair, "because if you were going to be late, you might as well be fully ready". My Dad's motto? "If you aren't 10 minutes early, than you are late!"

I don't follow his rule, but I don't like to be late either.

So how do I get to church on time? By doing as much at night as possible!!! For the kids I:



Baths---> I only have one child who is allowed to take a shower in the morning. He is up by 6:00 every morning, so I never have to worry. Everyone else takes one on Saturday. No matter what.


Church clothes---> Before my kids are allowed to play video games on Saturday, they have to have their church clothes ready. We don't take them at their word, they have to physically show their Dad or I, their white shirts, ties, socks, shoes and make sure their pants are clean. Harmony has multiple church outfits (benefits of being a girl!) so I generally don't worry about her.

Church bag---> Yes, I still take a church bag. Many people don't. Many people do. Some it depends on the ages of their children. My two youngest, for my sanity, are still allowed to bring a few things to church. Everything is prepped the night before, including a water bottle and a bag with a snack.

Breakfast---> simple & easy only. Cereal. Toast. A yogurt. Also, no syrup. Its too messy. I don't need that mess to deal with! Aprons work too!

Do you have any ideas or suggestions? I would love to hear them! Stay tuned for next week when we talk about how to get yourself out of the house on time!

Outtakes

There was a time when I wanted to have the perfect Christmas picture, card and letter. Now I settle. For whatever I can get.

One day, after pulling into the garage after church, I told the kids to not change clothes and to stay in the yard.

I ran in, got my camera and ran back out.

My threat bribe? As soon as you smile nicely, you can go take your church clothes off and eat. Worked like a charm.

However, I still got some cute ones...

Changes

In all my life of blogging, I have tried to fit my blog into a little box.

Just a coupon blog.

Just a homemaking blog.

Just a challenge blog.

Just a family blog.

But it just isn't working for me right now. I keep thinking & wondering why, if I miss blogging so much...why don't I do it more often?

Yep, I am busy. But that is mostly in the evenings. Yep, I am tired. Yep, I have a lot on my plate.

No, I am not always exciting. No I am not the top Mommy blogger in the world.

But I want to get back to sharing a little more of my WORLD. Not just one or two parts. I have a lot of other things that I do. That I am interested in.

It amazes me that very frequently, I am asked for advice. Maybe because I have been married for almost 17 years (how is that even possible?!), or maybe because I have raised babies & toddlers and have now moved onto teenagers. Maybe it is because I have a child with special needs. Maybe it is because I am just cool like that.

Whatever it is, I am making some additions to my blogging life. More about family life, my continuing journey to becoming organized, more about the traditions that my family has, and I am also going to *gasp* add videos!! *gasp* keep talking about menus, my new obsession with the Dollar Tree & the .99 store, saving money and couponing, and all that homemaking stuff that I love.

2015 is going to be awesome!

Back to School & Back to Work...

On Aug. 27th my life changed. A lot. For the first time, in my 15 years as a mother...all my kids are in school.

I now have a good FIVE hours to myself! Woot, woot! I get to do whatever the heck I want during that time.

So far, I have filled my free time with shopping, binging on Netflix (Hell on Wheels, Longmire...) and occasionally throwing a load of laundry in. Such is the life, right?

Except that, doing nothing is not very...fulfilling.

I took a huge long break from blogging and couponing (at least heavily) and enjoyed the break but at the same time, have missed it! I have missed having fun packages arrive on my doorstep to review, the high that comes with getting a great deal, online friendships, and sharing my life.

Now it is time to one again  fill those hours with those things that I have enjoyed. I haven't made the decision of whether to have my coupon blog be separate or not, so I will keep you posted.

I read a blog post about not giving up and just following your dreams. It's time. My time.

My green thumb...or lack there of...

I have dreams and desires of a garden. Beautifully colored flowers in pinks, purples, yellows and reds. A vegetable garden with plump red tomatoes, yummy cucumbers, plentiful herbs...

It is, at this point, still just a dream. If it is not one of my children, I apparently can not keep it alive. Yet every year, I keep trying.

And then I hear Yoda's voice in my mind, "do or do not, there is no try".

Luckily for me, my husband has a green thumb. He is just gone. A lot. So I have to pick up the slack while he is gone. Which hasn't happened yet.

Saturday morning, Ben and two of my boys headed out to Home Depot. We grabbed dirt, seeds and plants.

So far, I have managed to keep my flowers alive. A whole 4.5 days! It is so exciting. Maybe this will be my year?

Getting organized

Here is the situation...

One day while wasting time being very productive on Pinterest, I came across a pin that interested me. No idea what it was but...I clicked. Which led me to You Tube.

Now, I am not a You Tube girl. I have watched the random video here and there but that is all. I actually had a "no you tube" rule for awhile b/c I caught one of my children watching something they shouldn't have.

I clicked anyway. Walking on the wild side, what can I say?! And it was an organizing/cleaning video.

I loved it. So I watched another, and another and...I eventually was downloading the You Tube app to my phone. I have now become an addict. But, everything I have watched has completely inspired me!

I started decluttering, cleaning, organizing, labeling...I was doing awesome. Then...I got sick. Just an annoying cold. That got worse and worse.

My kitchen one day when I was SICK, how scary is that?!

Later, I realized that I had had a sore throat for about 4 weeks. I went to the DR. and was put on antibiotics and am now feeling 1000 times better!

I got back to watching the videos and being inspired again. I have a lot to do but am loving the direction that I am headed in.

Just today I got rid of 52 magazines and 25 cookbooks/magazines. Ahhh! That felt good!

A bit ago, I shared my planner with you. I have a section in there for inspiring quotes and thoughts or even just practical ones. One of my favorite "you-tubers" or "vloggers" was talking about her night time routine. How by the time she got to the end of the night, she was whining and didn't want to do it. She just wanted to watch tv or read or sleep. What did she tell herself? What was it that she said, that inspired me? Wait for it..."suck it up Princess, you are an adult". Talk about tough love right?!

She was saying this to herself, but I really resonated with it! I am an adult. As much as I want to just sit around and do nothing, I am an adult. I have things that need to be done, whether I want to or not.

I am tired of my house being in a state of chaos. No more!!

Are you considered organized? Got any tips? Do you have any You Tube channels you watch? Let me know, I would love to hear it!

My brain

My planner has changed amongst the years.

From small to big, from 3 ring to 6 ring to a spiral bound.

I have tried notebooks and...seriously a lot of different types, varieties and colors. I don't do digital because for me, I have to write it in my own handwriting. I am just not a tech girl!

I call my planner my brain because it remembers everything for me!

 However, right now I am so happy with what I have. It has been perfect for me and my needs.

So here are a few hundred pictures on how I organize my planner!

First off, the binder itself. It is a hard bound 3 ring binder. I believe it is an Avery brand, but now that the sticker is no longer on there...well I have no idea :) It was purchased at Wal Mart but I have also seen them at Target. It has a clear front and so you can slide things in the front & back. I have a picture of my kids on the front and a to do list on the back.

I do have to be careful not to wipe it off on accident!

In the front  pocket I have stickers. Stickers from a previous calendar, some smiley faces, and some of our family labels.

The first section I have is my calendar. I purchased the calendar pages  from the Martha Stewart line at Staples. It has a monthly overview page and than a 2 page spread for each week. On the monthly overview I don't really fill out too much. Unless it is like my husband being out of town for a week or longer.

However, the weekly pages are FULL! There are 3 sections every day for Morning, Afternoon and Evening. There are also 2 small squares at the bottom. I use those for my weekly meal plan and the zone that I want to work on that week. At the bottom of the page, I have a list of who is doing what for family night that week. That way we are sure to rotate it correctly! Then of course it is filled out with all appointments, meetings, activities etc. EVERYTHING!

Why won't this rotate?!

List for the side hee hee!

The volunteer tab, includes any info that I may need for the things I have volunteered for. I am a room Mom for two different classrooms, and I help out with Cub Scout day camp. That is all kept in that area. Things like email lists & phone numbers, schedules etc.

Contacts is pretty self explanatory! Although, with all the variety of therapists our family goes too, I do now have a section for business cards.

This sexy picture of my husband is what starts my "family section" of my binder. Under my husband's section, I have all of his work numbers, work address, command name, etc. Whenever I have to fill out paperwork, and he is not around, I can just look in that section and not bug him. LOL

Each child has a section with their school schedule (5 kids--->4 schools) phone numbers for their school, passwords & pins for their grade trackers, the names & numbers of any coaches, leaders and people in charge of their activities. I also keep teacher emails and schedules of activities. All those things that pertain to that child. Each kid has a pocket with their picture and in the pocket I will keep cards or tickets from their events. Just little reminders & keepsakes.

 

 

 

 

After my family, is the section just for me! It says CEO of Turner Inc. because that is literally what I am! This section includes my weekly schedule of family activities, the things that are the same week after week after week. I also have my daily routines (both evening & morning), things that need to be done on a weekly basis, my list of zones (a Flylady thing that I changed for my needs).

I also have a family section where I include,  a list of restaurants and my families favorites at each place (this has come in handy soooo many times!), clothing & shoe sizes, and any other little info that I tend to forget!

 I have a tab labeled "motivate me". I write thoughts, quotes and sayings that make me want to do & be better. I look at them whenever I need a little pick me up. It also includes nice things people have said to me.

The last section is for menus. I write the plan and then keep it in there. That way, if I am grocery shopping and haven't planned, I can look at those and get ideas & inspirations.

So, phew that was a lot! But I really wanted to go through it. It works so well for me. I can add and subtract as I go along. I have contemplated going to a soft bound binder of the same size but am still on the fence. I like the flexibility of the soft bound, but love having a place to put a picture on the cover. My family is the reason that I do what I do. So it is an awesome reminder for me. Plus they are pretty dang cute to look at :)

If you have any questions or comments feel free to ask! I would love to hear how others organize their crazy lives!