Organizing in the New Year

Christmas is over and new Years is fast approaching. Resolutions are starting to sneak in your head and if they haven't already then they will soon. As I said in my last blog I love starting the year out with a couple of new goals instead of a crazy huge list. I am always on the hunt for new household forms, calendars and printables to keep all of my To Do's in order. There are a couple of blogs that I follow and there are always great ideas. I try to implement some of these and adjust until I find what works for our family. Tiffany at The Nest Effect has an array of free printables and helpful tips on getting your paper mess i.e.; mail, bills, files in order and staying in order! She also has a store on Etsy that will blow you away! I have not been let down by her products.
Another blog that I follow is iHeartOrganizing. I am passionate about organizing because it keeps my home running smoothly. As you may or may not know my two oldest daughters split their time between their dads home and mine. Sometimes this can be chaotic because we need to make sure that their routines are always incorporated and their spaces and rooms are ready for them. When they are here they have chores and things that we expect them to do but when they are not here I pick up their chores so some of my lists have to be easily divided and merged at any time. I love having a busy home but it also has to be clean neat. With 4 kids, 2 small businesses and this blog none of this would be possible without organization.
I am also an app junkie! 2012 brought our entire home into the Apple world. It started with an iPad for my birthday last January, then an iPhone for me, then my hubby, then spring was 2 iPod Touches for our 2 oldest for their birthday and finally a Mac replaced our old HP and most recently I was surprised by an iPad mini the day that it came out! I LOVE LOVE LOVE my mini! I am planning on doing a blog about my favorite apps but one that I highly recommend to my friends, family and clients is GetOrganized. This app contains 52 Organizing Missions and IT WORKS! Even though I am organized I was still able to use this app and it helped me get rid of a lot of clutter that I didn't see. Get Organized Wizard. If you have experience with other apps or missions I would love to hear about it!
So as the New Year is almost here I encourage you to tackle the paper monster or cleaning beast that you have been putting off! 20 min a day can take care of a lot of things that you need to get done and you will feel better knowing things are getting done rather than ignoring them.
Happy New Year!

Accomplishing goals

Hot damn! I just saw my numbers for my blogs and I can't believe how much you all visit this site. There are only 2 conclusions- 1) You like what you are reading or 2) BRG has discovered my blog and stalks the crap out of it now ;) LOL I don't really care if she did but I do care that you all are taking the time to visit my site so thank you! I have had one hell of a year and I want 2013 to know that Im not scared ha ha ha! Last New Years I wanted to accomplish a few things and creating this website was one of them. Next year my goal will be to organize it and make timely posts like 1 time a week or something. I am constantly working on something for the kids, a project around the house (or some else's house), company or the latest crisis so I am sure I will have plenty to write about. I just want to challenge everyone to start looking, if you haven't already, at what you want to accomplish in 2013. I don't like overwhelming lists so I "Keep it simple stupid" and only write down 2-3 goals. If you make too many goals or try a huge lifestyle change AND 4 other things all at the same time, I don't think it will work and later you will end up with that same guilty feeling that you have before. We all know that feeling and it sucks! So if you are willing to share your goals then I would much appreciate it. My 3 goals that I will be trying to improve on are 1) Focusing REGULARLY on my websites and companies. 2) Being nicer to those that are not nice to me, even if it makes me grind my teeth. 3) Communication. I believe so strongly in communication and the older I get the more I realize that it could have fixed a lot situations. So instead of getting frustrated I am going to communicate the best that I can and 'communication' is not German for "one way" it means that I am going to hear others out and try to understand their side. BOTH WAYS, this has to go both ways in order for it to work. Now if the other party/person fails at communication then o well but I know that I will be doing my best! I hope that the holidays bring great joy to your life and that we are all ready to take 2013 by storm. CHEERS -Adrianne

Happy Veteran's Day!

Happy Veteran's Day! Please take the time to remember the fallen and the ones that are in harm's way, their families and the ones that have yet to come home. It is so important that we also set the example for our children. Help someone today, be kind and get yourself out to one of the parades! Enjoy your family and friends ;)

It's Simply Complicated

Many things have been sparking my interest in writing on my blog again. Food, politics, child rearing. You name it and I have an opinion! I would just like to state that I AM NOT PERFECT, I make mistakes but I think that I am growing and learning and changing. I'm trying to go off of a saying that I heard a long time ago- "Keep it simple stupid." Come on how much easier can it be? It seems to me that humans (I think mostly men) feel the need to change or interfere with things that are not broke! Or if something is broke we figure out how to insert a middle man, tax it, exploit it to the fullest and then when it all goes wrong we blame it on something else all together. Lets take for example our food. We (Americans) eat processed food with chemicals as part ingredients and then when our body starts to fail we turn to our doctor who then prescribes medication that can have horrible side effects... Before we get to far into this I would just like to point out that I am not against medications, doctors, hospitals etc. I am against bad eating habits and finger pointing at our bodies for having a flaw. Is it really that hard to look at what we put into our bodies and make the connection??? That saying, we all know it, "You are what you eat." O how true it is. My husband and I recently watched Forks Over Knives and another great movie Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead. This adds to our movie list of Food Inc and Dive. I think that anyone who eats food should watch all 4 of these movies, twice! After cutting out 80% of processed foods, milk and meat I am happy to say that I have lost over 30 pounds and feel so much better in general. It is amazing what can happen with just a couple of changes and knowledge of what you are eating. I beg my fellow moms out there to watch these movies because we as moms are responsible for what we feed our families and what kind of eaters we raise.
Ill continue this discussion soon and get more in depth about each movie and why I recommend them so much.

Breathe in, Breathe out

Well I'm back. It has been a roller coaster 3 months but I am ready to write again. My mom passed away after 27 days of fighting like heck to stay with us but God was ready to have her even if I wasn't ready to let her go. Although I am deeply sadden by her passing I am so happy to be able to tell you that she did eventually get off of the ventilator long enough to tell me she loved me, to ask about her grandchildren, to smile and laugh a little. I know that she fought for the few hours we had together and we, her and I, needed it so much.
Shortly after my mom passed away, school was out for the summer and my girls were here for a week and then off to camp and back again for the remainder of their summer. My 12 year old had a friend come stay with us which was supposed to be for 2 weeks but turned into close to 5 and it really made the summer more fun. I love having a busy house and having all the kids around. We did however have a run of events that is nothing short of typical in my world. In a 2 week period I managed to back into my BFF's car, flood my master bathroom to the point that our renovation for the room that was probably going to start next year- started now, find lice on all 4 of the girls hair in the house (minor but still!), get a mole removed unexpectedly from the bottom of my foot because "it looks iffy", have one of our chickens get ate by the dog next door, and a couple of other things but I will save that for another day. So Summer 2012 has just proven to me that I am even stronger than I thought :)
Through all of the craziness that I refer to as my Three Ring Life, I actually found and tried some great things since I've been MIA here and I am very excited to posting about them and giving this blog some structure. Lets hope the rest of Summer and Fall 2012 go smooth!

Priorities Changing

Two weeks ago my mom went into ICU with critical heart failure and went onto a ventilator and was sedated. I haven't talked with my mom (I have talked a lot TO her) in the last 2 weeks but I feel like our relationship has changed dramatically. I was so angry with her before for not being the 'perfect mom' or notmaking what I thought was great decisions while she was raising me. I have had a lot of anger bulit up that I could not move past... until now. Seeing my mom in a position where her passing is a high probablility and not being able to communicate with her has made all of those things I thought were a big deal, small.
I have been, and still am, scared that I may not ever be able to let her know how much she is actually loved and appreciated by all of us. I realized that if she wasn't the mom she was then- I wouldn't be the mom I am today. So actually I owe her a huge apology for being upset. She didn't do all of this on purpose, although her health she could have treated better. I know that she did not plan all of these things to happen and all I can do now is tell her that I love her and hope she hears me. If I am lucky enough to get to talk with her again I won't take it for granted!
My mother in law flew across the country to be with our family while we try to navigate doctor meeting and trips to a hospital 40 min away to see my mom. I wish that my in laws lived here and times like this make me wish they lived here even more! I don't want to have our family spread out across the country, I want all of us to live on the same street (think Everybody Loves Raymond lol)
So I haven't been able to blog lately because my Three Ring Life is more than just a title!

Family of 6 and still organized?

Here I go with my oxymorons again- urban farming, paintetly crazy, on and on. Before I even get going on this post I have to tell you that my house is quiet, and it's kind of throwing me off balance. Im not even typing as fast as I normally do, maybe because I'm not being rushed... hmm.
I manage to stay organized even with my chaotic schedule. Most people think they can't get organized or that it takes up too much time to stay organized but they are wrong! Come on, try it ;-) there is nothing to gain but a little sanity and that is an amazing thing. Our Family Binder is a powerful tool on the road of information for our home and all the members of the family! I heard about this about a year ago and it has really helped me. The binder contains things like schedules, address and phone numbers for friends, addresses and phone numbers for the family yellow pages from dance studios to garden centers, basic medical information, cleaning schedule for the house, birthday and anniversaries, you get the point. When I need something related to any of these things, which is often, then all I have to do is pick up one binder.

My family binder looks like this-

Obviously I use Rosie the Riveter on a lot of stuff and my family binder is not any different. A calendar is a great go to item to have front and center. I color the days that we already know will be filed with a birthday, anniversary, holiday or vacation and I match the color on the bottom with the event (that's what I blocked out in the bottom white section). Then I put what the averages are for the month temp wise so that I kind of have an idea of what to expect. In the upper right section I have a list of my main projects for the month. This helps remind me what I need to focus on or accomplish. For April I had this website, my dance wear company, organize my laundry room and get the garden boxes filled with dirt. So there is the cover and I made it in Microsoft Publisher but if you are using a Mac I would suggest using the program called Pages.

The tabs of my family binder-

You can make up your own tabs that fit your family and you don't have to have 8 tabs either. Avery sells tab dividers in 5 as well, if you're feeling really frisky you can get up to 26 tabs but that would probably just get confusing unless you were combining your family binder with your coupon binder.

I found some great prices on my binder supplies and if there is one thing a busy mom needs- save time and money!!! I use only Avery because I believe that you get what you pay for and their Heavy Duty binders have never let me down. Because the company makes a great binder for a reasonable price I also use their tab dividers and I am loving them. So here are some links to get you started. Next week I will detail all of my sections and how I set them up.
If you have any questions please leave a comment and I will answer you!




Avery Heavy-Duty View Binder with 1.5 Inch One Touch EZD Ring, Black, 1 Binder (79695)





Avery Big Tab Insertable Plastic Dividers, 8-Tab Set, 1 Set (11901)





Avery 11902 - WorkSaver Big Tab Plastic Dividers, Slash Pocket, 5-Tab, Letter, Assorted-AVE11902

"That Mom"

I was just talking to Thor about what my niche is with this website and guess what... I don't have one! I thought for a while that I should since it seems that I just post about whatever the heck is happening at the moment but after talking about it and saying that I don't want to be "just another mom with a borning blog about mommyhood" he said that I'm not "that mom" and I will never be. It made me feel good and at the same time I wondered for a moment if I actually strive to be "that mom", you know the one I'm talking about- Cute, ditzy, car big enough for a troop but only has 2 kids and doesn't look like she ever gave birth. Yoga twice a week, lunch with girlfriends (kid free of course) here and there, hair trimmed every 6-8 weeks at a trndy salon and new clothes/shoes everytime you see her and she is polite and happy. Truth is I admire them but I don't want to be one of them and I never will. I love my street smarts, how young I am compared to other moms, how blankly I say what's on my mind, my ability to see a full corporation out of one minor idea, I love that I encourage others and give whatever it is that I can to help them when they need it. I love where I am right now in my life and things maybe rough financially sometimes but other times it is not rough. I know I am lucky to have the things and people around me that I do have and I would not trade them for the world, not even to be one of "those moms".

Should I stay or should I go???

The answer ended up being simple... Time to go. After only 14 months of being at my current job I resigned, today, effective immediately.
I loved my job, mostly the kids that I worked with but I had to do what was best for my family and myself. My boss became overbearing and harassing. After months of calling me on my days off and pawning most of his workload on me I started telling him to back off. It came to a head when he showed up in my office in the dark with a baseball hat and jacket on! Thank gosh a co worker was with me. I decided it was time to really get Human Resources attention, since they weren't responding to my multiple phone calls. I went in to Human Resources the next day and refused to leave until a represenative spoke to me. The next 2 1/2 weeks were intense as I spent time telling my story over and over again and getting the same responses- shock and aww. An investigation started, my boss was put on administrative leave, and we, the victims (yes there are multiple) and witnesses, were sworn to secrecy as we spilled the details of our boss' weird and threatening behavior. I was reassured multiple times that I did the right thing and my co-workers were proud of me for someone finally standing up to "that bully"! I was feeling pretty good about telling the uppers about my boss' horrible behavior over the last 5 months and after much thought I was 99% sure that he was out the door. Finally the programs he oversaw would be able to flourish without him holding them back. I went in for a meeting this past Wednesday and BAM, my boss was back like nothing ever happened. I was floored to say the least, and my anxiety took over- I bolted. After a couple of phone calls, driving back to my office and deep breathing, I took the rest of the day and week off. I needed to think. Well I thought and thought and thought and then I resigned. I am a good, no wait, great employee and I do not need to be worried about people hiding in the dark, or be harassed on my days off. I need to be happy so I can be a good mom and wife. My family and I are way more important to me than someone's need to feel like they are tough by picking on women and part time staff. I am feeling so much better now I feel empowered and positive! I am going to do awesome things without that part time job causing full time stress!

Back in the Saddle

Ok so I have been MIA for a min, or a couple of weeks, same difference but I'm back and ready for action!
The chickens are huge and hopefully we will be seeing pellets (small eggs and I probably spelled it wrong) soon. One thing about chickens that just never crossed my mind is how much they poop! Seriously it is ridiculous and anyone who knows me knows that I can't have things messy or unorganized, let alone pooped on, ugh. Thor built a coop and it's better than either of us thought it would be! Paint and some siding and the coop will be ready for its Three Ring Life debut! During the day I let the girls, AKA our chickens, out to run and they always end up crusing around on our back patio, porch (what the hell is the difference by the way?) and they go near my beautiful picnic table and next thing I know is that I am chasing chickens away, just me and my dish towel that sits on my shoulder 99% of the time I am home. I kind of wish someone had a camera because I'm sure it is a sight worth giggling at! Anyhow so there was poop everywhere and Thor stayed home from wrestling practice to watch the kids while I went to work and somehow managed to pressure wash the back, front and sides of our house and the chicken coop AND mow the lawn! Hot damn! That man is awesome and that folks is why I married him, he knows how to multi task! :-) plus his multi tasking abilities keeps me from having a breakdown about chicken poop on our porch, patio, whatever.
The garden is sad. It is growing but I have yet to get the organic soil and actually get all the plants in their rightful places. I promise that they will have dirt this week, and since I am announcing it on here, the Internet, (to my handful of readers) then I have to follow through or I'll look like an ass. So soon you will see my dirt, organic dirt, in action, I swear!
My girls- ahh, my loves, they were here for their Spring Break and I loved it! To watch them grow into young ladies is such a beautiful thing. "Growing up is the hardest thing you'll ever do!" is what my father always told me and wow was he right! Growing up consists of so many emotions and unknowns, it's crazy! You couldn't pay me to go back to being a teen, yuck! Anyway, my girls seem to be handling it well though, given the fact that they live in two different states and all! (holy crap, right!?!) Sky says she wants to live here and I give the same answer I keep giving her, "you have to talk to your dad" I ask her if she wants me to talk to him, she says no. I suggest getting her great grandparents involved, she thinks about it and then tells me she wants her dad to go to see the family counselor with her because it is easier to talk to him that way. I told her that I think it's a great idea, even though I know he won't go for her moving out here regardless of her approach or reasoning. See as long as the girls live there, with their dad then they (dad and stepmom) win. This is all a game to the dad and stepmom, it's sad but it's true and as long as the girls are there, they win. It's not about what makes Sky and Dori happy, or who can supply more along the lines of schooling, or support with their extracurricular activities, it's about "winning". I've been told to support my girls emotionally but not to fight their dad because it just causes more problems. I'm kind of getting to the point where I feel like I am supposed to do something, I just don't know what that something is because Dori seems like she is content, but Sky is over it. I will think of something, I'm sure. Until then I hope my babies are ok and remember that I love them.
As far as everything else goes, I am writing an eBook with my talented girlfriend that knows how to sew like a pro! I am also working on my own credit repair website and my business license should be in the mail soon for my dance wear business! I have a couple of other things in the works but those are my main focuses right now, whew.
Side note- I started watching my caloric intake which is super fun (NOT) on an app called Damn Bitch, Stop Eating So Much! Just kidding, I would tell you the name but I forgot (probably from the lack of food). The thing that frustrates me is that you can add excersises to it, like choosing from activities like Boxing, Moderate Cardio, Running (ya right) for a specific amount of time, say 30 min and then the app will tell you how many calories you burned and take that off of your total calories for the day. But here is the deal- where is the excersise called "vacuuming while breast feeding"? Hmm I found "housework" and I have found "carrying infant" but not the two together while breast feeding. However there is a spot that you can make your own excersise but really, how would you calculate all that jazz? So here's a challenge to anyone wanting to find out for me, until then I give up and add 'moderate housework' which doesn't come close to how many calories I really burned, just like when I add 'light cardio' for other activities that are not represented in the excersise list wink wink ;-)
I hope you have a productive week, that's what my goal is!

Items this Ringmaster Loves Part II

As I stated before, these are items that make my life or my family's lives easier or more fun.

I bought an iPad 2 a few months ago and my husband insisted that I also but this smart cover and I am grateful he did. This thing is awesome!!! It connects to your iPad via magnet on the side. The cool parts about this cover are that it is super slim, the iPad will go to sleep when you close this cover and it can conform into a stand that holds the iPad in different positions. It is a great addition to have on something that I use everyday!



Apple MC941LL/A Polyurethane Smart Cover for iPad 2 (Pink)

The next thing that I use often is our double stroller. We have given this thing a trip around Disneyland more that once and it does great everytime (I have also seen a ton of other people there with the same stroller). Our son is 9 months old and he has been using the carseat that matches the stroller since he was a month old. I have washed the cover multiple times and it still looks new. We have not used the stroller as a 'Sit N Stand' yet because our 3 year old is sleeping most times I get it out so until she is too big I will just continue using it as a... Sit N Sit? (lol, yes I amuse myself)



Baby Trend Sit 'n Stand Double Baby Stroller - Sonic

Last year we and by 'we' I mean 'I', decided that our family were going to become campers! I was so excited that I researched tents until I was almost able to recit reviews on models and makers almost as easily as I can recit my birthdate. Then came the day that I had saved enough money to actually buy the tent and I purchased the Swiss Gear Family Dome. Now for the funny part, umm we have never actually went camping... YET, but we will. We have however set the tent up multiple times and have even let our friends use it for camping and the tent is perfect! This tent sleeps 12 and I'm sure you are thinking that is probably a little overkill but if you have kept up with my blog then you know we rarely do anything on a small scale. Besides we have 6 members in our family and 4 are girls so we actually use up a couple extra spots with all the non camping items we take (or will take) camping, you know- when we actually go. Plus what if our kids want a couple of friends to go camping with us? Now our 12 person tent isn't sounding so ridiculous huh? The tent size makes us even cooler parents and we will take any bonus points we can get!



SwissGear Outdoor Montreaux Family Dome Tent

Here is one that actually makes my mom's life easier. It is the Ames True Temper Lawn Buddy. She uses this thing a lot and has had it for a few years. My mom stores her clippers, twine, seeds, garden tape and all kinds of gardening items in the little cart that she can pull around behind her. There are compartments for everything! It also has big enough wheels that she has no problem pulling it through the grass to get to the garden beds. The feature that I like the most is that she can sit on the lid and still do the planting or weeding without bending over or kneeling down. It is those kinds of qualities that make the difference. I have watched her garden all of my life and I am glad that even though she is not in the same good health as before, she can still enjoy her hobbies and this cart by Ames is the key reason she can still garden.



Ames True Temper 2466010 Lawn Buddy

OK last but not least- my Kitchenaid Pro 600 Series!!! O my I can actually hear the "O watcha makin Mom?" already and that makes me smile. I use my mixer at least 3-4 times a week. I make our bread, english muffins, cookies, pasta (raviolis, lasanga noodles, linguini, etc), cake batter and all kinds of other super yummy goodies. I use to make all these things by hand but then Christmas was close and when I was asked what I wanted I said "A Kitchenaid mixer PLEASE!" and Santa listened. If you are anything like me, I should have owned one a long time ago!



KitchenAid Professional 600 Series 6-Quart Stand Mixer KP26M1XQpm 6 Quart Pearl Metallic Large 10-speed Very Dark Grey beautiful color.

So there you have it, I love these products! I have provided links to these items in the hope that it helps you read reviews and find a great price because I firmly believe that researching and compairing before you buy an item is important and can save you time and money. If you own any of these items or do purchase them I would love to hear about your experiences. If you have questions please do not hestiate to ask.

Chicken Update

First off Happy St. Patricks Day!!!

The hens are getting to look like real chickens and it is pretty cool to have them pecking around in the yard while we are doing the outdoor chores. Our 3 year old daughter is the "Mommy Hen" of the group, and who am I to argue?

This is Ariel in weed heaven. She is one of the Rhode Island Reds.

Last weekend we moved the chickens box outside to the back patio area and Thor built a chicken run out of these pieces of wood from Lowes for .75 each and some plastic chicken wire mesh. During the mornings this past week I've been going out and opening the lid on their covered box then 'Mommy Hen' and I hustle them into the run. I can tell you that our cats are not very amused by the mesh lol.

They are weed pecking machines! In the evening we let them out to run/fly around the yard before we put them back. Usually they spend this time exploring everything, trying to stay in a flock and  they try to get into the house and sometimes they succeed.

Eveie in the front. She is a Plymouth/Barred Rock and she is a brave one.

Ariel and he sister Henny Penny the Rhode Island Reds.

The problem is that we do not have a shingled roof for the box or the run... And a big storm is coming through this weekend! Thor was able to put a tarp over them and secure it so the water doesn't pool. I'm sure this will be our rude awakening on how quickly we need to get the complete coop built. I could have sworn that in a previous post I bragged about how we still had another 5 weeks before they would be old enough to go outside and that would be PLENTY of time to build a coop... Oops!

Before we moved the chickens outside our other cat, Shaka, discovered that we had birds living in our house.

Some days I would find her just checking in on them

"Really?!? You won't let us in the house but you let birds in there!!!???"

I don't want anyone to worry, we do not let the cats near the chickens when they are out of the run. In fact I think the cats maybe a little baffled at how big the hens actually are... either way, we keep a close eye on the chickens.
That is my update so far. From what I have gathered the hens should start laying eggs around 5 months of age and that would be around the end of June and I already have plenty of friends that have asked for eggs ;-)

Items that this Ringmaster loves!

Part 1

I was looking around at the inanimate objects that I use often because one of my girlfriends recently commented that "You always have cool stuff". I was flattered, that is an awesome compliment! When I thought about it I realized that I often put some real thought behind my purchases and usually do research for reviews and comparisons. We are not financially wealthy so when we do decide to purchase something I want to know what I am getting myself and the Fam Bam into. I am going to break down my list of things that make my life or my children's lives easier, more fun or what have you.

#1- My Canon DSLR Rebel T3i Camera
     My latest addition to my arsenal of making myself into "That Mom"! This camera has been one of our biggest purchases in a while and I have never been so happy with a camera, EVER! I really had a tough time with making the decision to put that amount of money into something that I have no experience with but luckily I have a cousin who is a professional photographer. He took the time to have a conversation with me about the pros and cons of Nikon and Canon and between the point and clicks or the DSLR. After I hung up the phone I felt comfortable diving into the world of DSLR's. If you are ready to buy a new camera I feel confident that you would like some of the reviews that I also read.



Canon EOS Rebel T3i 18 MP CMOS Digital SLR Camera and DIGIC 4 Imaging with EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Lens

The link below is my favorite review because he took the time to take pictures with the Nikon 6100 (Canon T3i equivalent) and to show the differences.
http://thediscerningphotographer.com/2011/08/28/nikon-d5100-vs-canon-rebel-t3i-camera-review/

This is one that upgraded his camera and is happy with his T3i
http://www.digitalcamerareviewing.com/canon/canon-eos-rebel-t3i-user-reviews/rebel-t3i-successful-dslr.html#comment-177

#2- Metal shelves in my garage
     I know that this may sound silly but I have had these 2 shelving units for a while now and we are going to be buying 2 more. They really helped to organize my stockpile and extra items in the garage. Trust me when I say that our poor garage needs all the help it can get! We actually bought ours at Costco a few years ago but I have seen them at many stores. My suggestion is to buy a couple, load them up and enjoy the new found space!

#3- 12ft Play Parachute for Kids
     This parachute has entertained everyone from my husband and I down to our 8 month old baby boy and all the kids in between (and their friends). I saw a play parachute for sale in a School Supply store about 3 months ago when I was buying some items for our kids' playroom but the problem is that they wanted almost $80 for the 12 ft parachute and over $100 for the 20 ft! I searched online and found one with great reviews and a very reasonable price. After many kids playing with it and over 2 months of being thrown around it is still in great condition! I will be buying the 20ft parachute soon because my older daughters (11 and 12) love the one we have now but they want to be able to make it "bubble up" so that they can sit down on the ground and have it hover like a dome. Check this out, you and your kids will love it!


12' Ripstop Playchute Parachute


#4- Baby Bullet!
     This is an amazing helper when it comes to making your own baby food! I understand that that is exactly what it is supposed to be but I am always happy when a product delivers on what it promises to do. I have ran out before to get something that I thought would be a great product only to find out that it sucked at doing what it said it would do. Being a busy mom it really ticks me off to have to take the item all the way back to the store. So when I asked for this a Christmas gift and here we are a few months later and it still works perfectly, I am happy! Once or twice a week I will make food for the baby and freeze part of it in the tray provided. Our household has made the switch from eating processed food to organic, fresh food and the Baby Bullet has been the perfect compliment.


Baby Bullet Complete Baby Care System

I am going to stop here and review the other items that I added to my amazon list in a later post. If you have any questions, comments or reviews of the items that I discussed please feel free to leave them!

Housewives need to grow a set

Don't these housewives have anything better to do? What the hell! I thought it would be interesting to see what my fellow housewives are posting out there on their blogs. It is the same crap over and over again. If I see one more headline about "Confessions of a something something Housewife" or "I'm a retro housewife" I may throw up! Here's some confessions.
A) My 3 year old daughter threw up all over my bed this morning and since it takes 4 loads of laundry to wash my bedding and I have a crazy busy life, we will all be sleeping on a bed that is half ass put together.
B) Yes I said WE WILL ALL... because we all co sleep, the 3 year old, 8 month old, the hubby and I. Why? Because we don't have the guts to get them out of our bed. They cry, we feel bad, and they are back. One day I'll fix it, today however is not the day.
C) Our house is a fucking mess! My girlfriends think I've got this whole being a housewife thing down pat, which is a huge compliment but I don't exactly. Open my cabinets and drawers and look in my office and it is uggglllyyy! I'm working on it but mean while I am busy, being a mom, working part time, starting businesses and helping friends clean up their credit reports!
D) My OCD, yes I really have OCD is a pain in the ass to my husband more than me ;-)

Those are confessions! Saying that you like a tv show or that your guilty pleasure is Bon Bons (when you're obviously chunky) are not confessions!!! No one cares that you love the color pink, write something that is interesting!
Anyhow, ugh! All I wanted was some inspiration to bring to my blog and all I got was pissed off at housewives.
My computer locked up so fingers crossed our friend who is an IT whiz will fix it. I'm heading outside tomorrow with chickens and yard work so I'll post pics. Maybe I will be a little more calm too, lol.
BTW when I say someone needs to "grow a set" I think back to Betty White saying "why would you want balls? They are tiny and sensitive. If you really want to be tough, grow a vagina!" I probably just messed that up but you get the point. After giving birth to 4 children I have to agree 110%

The Conservative Hippie

I really don't know another way to explain myself sometimes. I believe we should be able to arm ourselves but do everything we can to be more green. I can picture it now, a Terminator type dude sorting his recycling lol! But in all seriousness one of my pet peeves is that some of my closest friends roll their eyes when I talk about my garden, chickens or what's in the supermarket food. The encouraging part though is that for every 1 friend that rolls their eyes there are 4 friends who feel the same way I do and are trying to grow gardens, buy organic and/or shop at farmers markets. I so badly want to point out that the ones who think that I'm a little crazy and that buying organic is too expensive are also the ones who have a $400 car payment, eat out often and drink soda like water. Then they will turn around and say that the reason for the car with a $400 car payment is because the car has great safety features or something along those lines. Hmm so putting food into your kids mouths that is not covered in pesticides or grown from genetically modified seeds isnt a saftey feature or costs too much??? To me it is all in the same boat as far as buying stuff that is good for us. Listen, I'm far from perfect and I am sure that finding something I do wrong wouldn't take long but this is my blog and my opinion. I get to be on my soap box whenever I feel like it :-) There is always a balance between costs, safety and whatever each of us finds to be important. I just don't like to be told that buying organic would cost too much so that person never buys one thing organic. Here is the deal, buy organic and don't eat as much or plant a garden to offset the costs. Gardens= nothing but positive things- time spent outside, kids get to spend time with mom or dad or both and help, plus watch what they planted grow, you get to eat healthier, get exercise and save money! I just told a friend the other day that I'm not raising 6 chickens because I think that we need that many eggs. We have 6 chickens because I want to be able to give my friends eggs often. I want more than just my family to benefit from our efforts to go green. This conservative hippie is out to arm friends with knowledge and free fresh organic eggs ;-)

Our Ladies (AKA Hens) are Growing Fast!

I haven't wrote about the chickens lately but they are doing great. Growing so fast! They are 4 and 5 weeks old now, tomorrow they will be 5 and 6 weeks old. Soon we will be putting them outside a lot which means we better get a coop up and fast! The lady at the feed store said that at about 7-8 weeks old the chicks can go outside and then at about 5 months old they should start laying eggs! Eek!

From left to right- Henny Penny (Rhode Island Red), Betsy Ross (Americana or AKA Easter Eggers), Zee (Plymouth Rock or AKA Barred Rock), Rosie the Riveter (Americana or AKA Easter Eggers), Ariel (Rhode Island Red), & Eveie (Plymouth Rock or AKA Barred Rock)

What is the difference in the breads? and What's up with the names you wonder? As far as the breeds go the Americanas, Betsy & Rosie (get it?) will lay blue or green eggs, that is also why they are called Easter Eggers- and the kids in the neighborhood think they look like hawks! The Rhode Island Reds, Henny Penny & Ariel (clever huh?) should be a beautiful deep reddish brown color and will lay Large-X Large brown eggs and sometimes 2 a day! The Plymouth Rock, Zee & Eveie (Eveie is always in the other hens' business and my husband's old neighbor from his childhood home was always aware of the min we arrived and would greet him and chat up a storm, she was a riot! We had to name her Eveie.) They will look like zebras when they are full grown and will lay light brown medium-large eggs.

Hopefully this is what our egg cartons will look like this summer

This past weekend when we were working on the yard and garden stuff we decided that we should bring them outside to enjoy the warm day and play in the grass. Since we haven't filled in the planter boxes we put them in one of those. They can fly out but they only jumped on the edge and would jump right back in. They had a blast scratching around and pecking at everything that moved or looked like it maybe eatable.

Since this week is going to be in the 60's we will have to wait until the weather is a bit warmer and the sun is out to do this again. But it was awesome to see the chicks out and about in the yard. We have been talking about it so much that to see the hens take the big leap outside, even if it is for the afternoon, is exciting!

Square Foot Gardening

We got our garden beds assembled!!

 I was looking into soil and my mother in law mentioned that she saw something about Square Foot Gardening. After reading into it I was able to go to http://www.gardeners.com/ and use their layout design to plan my beds. My daughters and I had a planting party last week and we were able to get a lot of different things planted into solo cups.

 I also ordered more seeds from Ark Institute and will hopefully get those planted soon. I took time to buy organic seeds, find Redwood to make our boxes and research planting methods and I don't want to buy soil that is just a bunch of bark and empty filler type material. I don't have the time to compost 96 cubic feet of organic soil. I am going to take some time and call around for places that sell organic soil by the cubic yard because buying it by the cubic foot from Lowes is going to cost about $11.00 each bag! Ouch. Last Sunday when the girls and I went to the local dairy to get milk I saw some guys shoveling manure into the back of a truck so maybe that would be a good place to start. I could at least use it as a mix in right? Who knew there was so much to this!

Saying NO! Nicely

We are constantly drilling it into our children to be polite to others, use their manners, smile and say thank you, but what about teaching them that it's okay to say NO? My parents raised me to always be polite and curtious which I really appreciate now because I am sure that my manners and the occasional "Yes Ma'am" have helped me out more than I'll ever know. They did not however tech me that it is just as acceptable to tell someone No when they ask for help say moving or for a ride when you know you will be rushed and possibly late. I have done many favors for people and wasted a lot of time just because I didn't want to say No. We are raised to please but at some point we need to also learn that the first person who should be happy is ourselves. After all if we are not taken care of then how can we adequately take care of others?
In the words of my father "When your emotions are up, your logic is down". When I get asked for help I want to always say yes because I want everyone to be happy but then I usually say yes nd panic later as I am reworking my schedule. Now when asked for something that could mess with my schedule I don't give an answer right away if possible. I might say I need to check my calendar or discuss plans with my hubs first and will get back to them. This way I can take a moment to look over my To Do List, breathe and decide from there. If I jump to saying yes right off the bat and later get rushed, I will be frustrated and maybe rude to my friend. Situation= me grumpy, my friend who needed help will be confused by my rudeness all because I had no tact in saying No. When the moment arises a good thing is to thank the person for thinking of you. Politely say "I'm sorry but I can't watch your kids on Thursday but thank you for asking me."
Showing our kids how to decline a request for help in a nice manner cn save them frustration and waisted time in the long run. Just like everything else I encourage small steps when trying to change something. So don't drop out of the carpool but maybe cut back to only 3 days a week. Good Luck!

My Potato Project

 Recently I was sent the video below. I shared it will my friends on my Facebook page and it sparked some good discussion between some of my fellow moms. Please take the time to watch this 2 min video now.

 

 

 

 I know that there are some people out there that think this stuff is made up so I wanted to do my own potato experiment. I was also thinking that my potato would grow vines right away since I only shop at Henry's and buy mostly organic. So at first I got a regular sweet potato and put it in water. 

 

After 2 days I didn't see any sprouts... Weird, I probably should give it a couple more days, put it in the window with some sun and then it will sprout...

 

 

 

3rd day after a day of full sunlight.

 

4th day and still nothing. I'm really confused. I will go back to Henry's and buy one of their organic sweet potatoes and start another experiment with that one.

Day 2 for the organic, Day 6 for the regular.

Day 4 for organic, Day 8 for regular

Day 7 for organic, Day 11 for regular. Yikes...

Day 10 for organic, Day 14 for regular. 

This is obviously not working. Now I'm frustrated. Like I said before, I buy mostly organic produce. To see the potatoes not sprout made me look up Bud Nip. Disgusting to say the least. I encourage you to research it.

Today I am heading to San Diego to spend some quality time with a bestie. We have been friends over half our lives and she is really into the organic food scene. She is going to take me to a farmers, organic, vegan market tomorrow. I hope that the sweet potatoes from there will sprout like the one from the girls video.  I will keep you update on what happens with those potatoes.

I am so glad that this video was sent my way because it has been a great experiment for the kids to see and helps my case for raising our own chicks and building a pretty big family garden. Some of my friends treat me like a hippie or call me an Amish Mama but it's all compliments to me ;-) as a mom and the one who is responsible for what goes on their plates I have to be informed. We're talking tumors, kidney failure, heart disease. Never mind the fat content in butter... What chemicals were sprayed on your apple?

Thanks for reading this post especially! I hope you get inspired to look into what your family is eating. 

 

 

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