Tips for sucessful Trick or Treating

Some of the more seasoned moms know well by now, how trick or treating for their little ones will go. It will either be a quick 30 minute walk which ends fast due to melt downs, or a full on 3 hour work out.
My children are a little older now, and we have tried all aspects of HOW to trick or treat. We used to try to go to other towns and go with friends/family, but then my kids would cry that they didn't have enough time or didn't go to enough houses.  But now, we live in a town with a lot of row homes and close together homes, so we can hit A LOT of houses fast. And we only have 3 hrs anyway. So...onto my tips!

1 - Feed the kids before you go out. You are probably thinking DUH, but for real, this is a new rule I have now. I used to think they will eat snack while we are out anyway, doesn't matter. But...the last few years, I have taken off work on Halloween, so I have had time to cook them a real dinner. They come home from school, eat, we fix up the costumes, and we are out there at 4pm sharp. I find they eat less candy while we are walking around and they keep their energy up a little more.

2 - Bring extra bags with handles. Don't assume that when your kids bag is full they will stop trick or treating, Nooooo. They want to keep going, and their bags get heavy, then they want you to carry it. With 3 kids, I have learned over the years. First I started out with plastic grocery bags, for their candy overflow. Then those were getting too heavy for me & ripping along the way. The last few years I evolved to the re-usable bags, because they wouldn't break. Again, they get heavy too, and by the end of the night, we had 6 bags full of candy to carry home, on top of 3 whiny tired kids.This year - I am using a backpack!

3 - Bring drinks - preferable with tight lids or screw on caps. Luckily the first time I forgot to take drinks with us, we trick or treated at a house that handed out drinks, instead of candy. Awesome! But they were juice boxes, which in turn, I ended up carrying and one spilled, then a kid cried, etc etc etc. I find that water or soda with screw top lids work the best. Just bring a few for all to share.

4 - Have a mapped plan of action. Now this is only for the serious trick or treaters like us. (we LOVE candy in our house) Many times we have gone with others, who do not have a plan of action, and my kids ended up crying because we ended up doing more walking and less candy getting. So now, we have a specific path that we take from our house, to my aunts house who fully decorates her porch with my uncle in costume, to the hot spot in town where its curb to curb kids, then saunder around coming back home.

5 - Try not to have too many extra pieces to costumes, for younger kids. My daughter once had this witch hat/wig combo, and it ended up being a windy night. Guess who carried it all night long? She has a wig this year again...what was I thinking?? Oh wait...I'll have the back pack!

6 - For the parents -- DRINK COFFEE BEFORE YOU GO!!!!

I know I am like one of the only moms who plans out trick or treating, but tryst me, after 6 yrs of just going with it, and trying to meet up with other people and all, I found this is the best way for us to get the job done. AND, by staying in town, the kids get to run into their friends all night long. 
Happy trick or Treating to all the parents out there!!!!

Crazy few days and a Halloween party

Hey all!
I know I have been MIA for a few days, but i took some time off work to get things done, and the first day ended up crazy emotional. And I am just now having a change to fill you all in.

I took work Thursday & Friday to get stuff done for our Halloween party this weekend. Well Thursday I didn't get moving until about 1pm, well because I was being lazy. Brian had his MS morning insomnia, and he wasn't feeling well, so I laid half alert for him.

Then just as I was getting motivated, he informed me that his ex-wife is cross motioning us, in our request to emancipate his almost 26 yr old son. This poor man is working his butt off, pulling full time hours with a disease that is getting worse, just to make sure that he can pay child support....for an adult. So pissed.

So between worrying about him, and know that with his condition, she is pulling this crap because she can't make her kid get a damn job, just had me emotional and out of it all day.

Friday was my day to make up for it all. I was pretty much going all day long. Decorating, cleaning, last minute food shopping for the party.

Saturday was party day. The party wasn't until 5pm, but there was still a lot to get done. And although Brian had off work, he was up at 5am that day. He did clean the kitchen for me...but I still had work to do in there, so I pretty much messed it up and had to re-clean it again. busy busy day.

Below are some pics from our party. Hope you enjoy and maybe get some idea for a party you may be having this week!

My niece made this cake, just for my party.

This was the doorway from our LR/DR to our kitchen. All of the lighting, except the kitchen, were black lights.

 

Bats flying out of the kitchen, and right over our game.

 Spiders in the LR

 My little coffin and light show on the shelf. you cant see too well, but there were little flickering tea lights in front of each coffin.

 More bats and chains, along with vases full of skulls and birds.

Our front porch is enclosed so as soon as you walked in, you were greeted with this, before entering the main living area.

 We have had these skeletons since our wedding and brought them out to greet the guests, on the front porch.

 At the other end of the porch was this spooky pumpkin setting. The only other light in this room was an orange light bulb.

I carved the pumpkin, for it to puke my cousins guacamole.

Bobbing for apples!!

My cousin also made these cute little pudding cup graveyards.

It was a long night!!!!

Take THAT, you One Size Fits All tights!!!

As we know, One Size Fits All doesn't really mean One Size fits ALL. I have been glad to see this year, that some manufacturers have changed it to One Size Fits Most. But even that is not big enough for some of us.

I really needed striped tights this year, for my witch costume. I was hoping that some stores would sell striped leggings in all sizes, but I have had no luck. After searching and looking, I decided I was running out of time to even order online. What to do???

So I just bought the damned One Size Fits all tights, from Walmart. If all fails, they were only $4.

Of course....they didn't fit. And all the striped knee high socks I found, had designs on them which took away from the "witchy" effect I wanted.

In protest, I decided I WAS GOING TO MAKE THIS WORK.  I cut the tights, right up the middle of the crotch. You don't wanna be tights..I'll make you into thigh highs. HA   I proceeded to sew each sock to create a single leg stocking aka thigh high.

For me, they rolled down,. but stopped right behind my knee, so I now have witchy knee socks.

TAKE THAT YOU ONE SIZE FITS ALL CLOTHING ITEMS!!!!!!!!!

Halloween Series #7 - Goodie Bags

Will you be making goodie bags for a Halloween party, or for your trick or treaters?  I've got a way to make them just a little more fun.

Get yourself some latex, non-powdered gloves.  (you don't want powder all over your treats that you will be eating)  I have seen these in random stores, but they are out there. My husband gets them to wear for work, to give him more grip when working on cars, and to keep his hands from getting filthy. I would suggest checking Walmart, or even Amazon.com.

 Next, get a couple of bags of Smarties candies. You will need 5 per goodie bag.

 Put a roll os smarties in each finger slot. This will help the hand shape keep form.

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Fill the rest of the glove with other candies. Tie off the top. Voila!  Spooky goodie bags for your Halloween party, or trick or treaters.

Cheese Crisps

Need a fast after-school snack for the kiddies?Mine love these - cheese crisps. 
My mom used to make these when I was a kid, and I just recently remembered the snack and started making it for mine. 
All you need is shredded cheese and tortillas. Those 2 items have become a staple in our house, so we always have them.
Depending on the type of pan you will be using, depends on how you do this. I have 2 pizza pans, one with holes and one without.

Using a cookie sheet or pan with a solid (no holes) bottom:
*Put the tortilla on the tray, in an oven at about 400 degrees, and cook for about 2 minutes.
*Spread cheese all over the tortilla, and place back in to the oven until all cheese is melted.

Using a pizza pan with holes in the bottom:
*Spread cheese on tortilla while oven is preheating to about 40 degrees.
*Cook for about 5 minutes or until all cheese is melted.

If you use a solid bottom pan, and do not pre-cook the tortillas, they will not be horrible. Just not as crispy. They will come out with crunchy edged and a soft/chewy center where the cheese is. I have cooked them like this as well.

To put a little twist on this (and something my 7yr old often makes herself), is the homemade version of cheese rolls. This is the only thing my one daughter will eat from Taco Bell, and I hate paying for it because its sooooo easy.
Place tortilla with cheese on a plate. Microwave for 20-30 seconds, until cheese is all melted.
While still hot, roll the tortilla. This is when my daughter needs my help, and I use a fork and my nails to assist the rolling action, because it is very hot at this point. But if you don't roll it right away, you do not get the same results.

Quick and simple and even a version the kids can do themselves. 

Mommy Scenario Tag

I have seen this tag going around YouTube, and thought it might be interesting. Although my children are older, I still thought I would do this, and answer with how we did (or still do) handle these scenarios.

1 - If your kids refuse to eat what you cooked for dinner, would you force them to eat or cook something else for them?
 
Answer: My kids are VERY picky eaters. I have one who will try anything and eat almost anything, main dish wise, but not much on veggies. Another only eats veggies really. Another changes her mind every week. So typically what I'll do it cool a meal and have side dishes choices, to ensure that each child will eat at least 1 or 2 things our of 3 or 4. if they don't want to eat ANYTHING, mine are old enough, I tell them to figure it out for themselves then - whether it be a sandwich, or cheese roll, or soup, etc.

2 - Your child has a meltdown at the store, do you continue your shopping or leave?

Answer:  Mine never really has major meltdowns at the store once they were older. When they were babies, I always had bottles and snacks, that worked. As they got older, I would talk sternly to them in a corner of the store, and that worked, they would behave. Sometimes, I would have to resort to bribing, but...I never leave a store. I don't always have time to "go back later".

3 - Your child received too many toys for their Birthday, do you return some or stash away for another time?

Answer: my children never receive "too many" toys, so we don't stash any or return any.

4 - Your child is protesting sleep in the middle of the night, do you give in and turn on a movie at 3am, or do all you can to rock/nurse them back to sleep?

Answer:  My kids pretty much as babies, just needed

5 - You have an appointment, but no sitter. Do you take you kids with you or reschedule for another time?

Answer:  Depends on the appointment and the age of the children. When they were younger, I tried my best to take minimal kids. But now they are older, and I find myself just taking them more often.

6 - You find out you are having an unexpected guest in about 20 minutes. Do you rush around to clean your house, or leave the mess?

Answer:  Depends on who the guest is and how messy the place is. If it looks like we have completely ignore all housework for days, I will clean until they get there. But if it was clean the night before and its not the bad, I won't worry too much about it. I pick up as I go along, while they are here.

7 - Another child pushes yours at the park. Do you go find the parents, or reprimand the child yourself?

Answer:  I don't like confrontation, so I was the mom who would tell their kid to shake it off and go play somewhere else.


Now that I have done this tag, and answered for what I used to do, I will try to create a Mommy Tag for older children now, as mine are 8,8 and 11 yrs.  Let me know if you would be interested!

Holiday photo cards

Hey all!
I know I have been MIA lately and I apologize. This is the time of year things get a little crazy around here with all the birthdays and parties and getting back into our school routines.
But its also that time of year where I need to start thinking about photos for our yearly Christmas card.
I used to just take my kids school pictures, scan them, and upload to a template onto a photo website. But then, we started getting the professionally done. We have friends and family who are photographers, and I thought it was pretty cool I could choose from way more then going to a store and only being able to pick a few.
Last year however, I still wanted to "posed" photo, but couldn't afford a photographer. And then i thought...Why I can't I do it myself???  So onto Pintrest I went. I browsed all kinds of ideas on how to photograph siblings. 
Then one afternoon, we went to the park we hadn't been to in a long time. And there was a woodsy trail back there, and it clicked in my head...photos in the woods.
After some more researching, I decided I wanted a few funny ones as well. I chose neutral colors for the girls outfits, because I knew we were going to have bold red props.  (their shirts has sparkle but it didn't come through in photo too well) Below is the final result.

And now, its time to research for this years card. I would love to get a family photo, to represent how we have all bonded through this tough year we have had. But...Brian doesn't like photos and I am not at a weight I wish to display.  But we shall see.

So if you like to get creative with your yearly cards, have fun with it. You can do it yourself! And Pinterest can be your new BFF to help you with ideas too.  The season is fast approaching us.

Please feel free to share your past ideas as well.

Baby Girls's Birthday Weekend

Hey all!  So I know I have been MIA, but its been a busy weekend. My older daughter, Madison, turned 11 this weekend!!!And although I decided to NOT have a party, I once again still just couldn't stop adding in types of celebrations, which made it a loooonnnggggg weekend.

Friday was her actual birthday and she had school. So not too much that day. We DID have her closest friends and family over for cake that night. And she got some gifts from all of us.

Then Saturday we went to my parents house, because they had a gift for her and wanted to celebrate with her.
That evening, it was shopping spree time!! woot woot   Her gift from us was a gift card for the store Justice. now I never buy anything in there, so I thought it would be a treat, it would teach her a lesson on how fast a large amount of money can do, in certain stores. WELL......not only did they have 40% off everything, but we walked in on a flash sale of an extra 20% off. So everything was basically 60% off. Didn't do too darn bad -- shirt, tank top, bedazzled hair brush, funky hand sanitizer and holder, nail polish, 2 piece PJ set -- all for $55.

Sunday we took her out, for her special BD treat. (it was also our 12th anniversary). She begged to go to Sky Zone, so we took her. For those of you who may not know, Sky Zone is an indoor trampoline park.
Before we left I got a text from her friends mom, saying her kids were bored and would we mind if they met us there. So she even got to jump with some of her friends.

After that, we met some family at Cracker Barrel for lunch.

Although I ended up NOT saving much money by NOT having a party, it was still a pretty nice weekend, without the extra stress of a party.

Birth story of my first born

Hey all! So, my oldest daughter is 11 today!!!!!!! OMG!!!!!!!!!  In honor of her BD, I thought I would tell the little story of her birth.

First off, she was completely planned! We tried for about 4 months and started to really get discouraged. Our doctor told us that we had nothing to fear, yet, and to just keep trying. The next month I decided to try one of those ovulation kits. well from that, we found out that with my own calculations of ovulation were about 2 weeks off. So with the help of that kit, BAM, 1 try and we were pregnant!!!

The next 6 months seemed to drag on. I just wanted to be pregnant already. I wanted to have a belly, I wanted to waddle, I wanted to dress in cute clothes. Then the last 2-3 months went too fast. I didn't want it to end. I was not ready to not be pregnant anymore. (Yes am that annoying women who loves pregnancy)

My due date was 10/9/03.

10/8/03: My husband had off work and we decided to go out and buy a dresser for the baby. During the shopping, I kept getting braxton hicks contractions, that would make me have to stop walking and let them pass. But they weren't frequent really at all.  That night his cousin and his new wife came over to help put together the dresser, and to tell us all about their honeymoon, they just came back from.  The pains were happening more frequently, but not as painful. I kept going as is, tomorrow I was set to have an appointment. I will pack my bag int he morning and take it with me to the docs, just in case.

10/9,  about 7:00am:  I am in and out of the bathroom, while my husband gets ready for work. I tell him "be prepared for a call today, I have a feeling the doc might send me to the hospital. My mucus plug is coming out like FOR REAL."  he asked if he should just stay home and I tell him NO, because if I end up not going, he will lose that days pay. So off he goes. (mind you he works about 45-60 minutes away)

About 8am, it dawns on me that everytime I feel like I have gas pains and go to the bathroom, the pain just STOPS. Hmmm, is it really gas???  I better start timing this. Sure enough, I run to the bathroom about every 10-15 minutes and the pain just STOPS.

8:30am - call my mom who is supposed to be taking me to the docs at 11:30 anyway. Tell her what is going on. She says "You are in real labor, I will get dressed and come over. Start getting the bag together."  At this point I decided I better eat something, so i ate some cereal. Yeah, baby didn't like that.  And from that point, baby didn't like ANYTHING I put in my belly.
Mom came over, saw what was going on and told me to call the doc office to see what they wanted me to do.  Docs told me to skip my appointment, and head to hospital to be monitored and very possibly admitted. OK!!!!!!!! Its baby day!!!! And ON my due date. I always tell people that I am ALWAYS RIGHT ON TIME. Ha Ha

By now its about 10am, and my mom reminds me to call my husband - OH CRAP! I call him and he made it home in 25 minutes.  We all get final stuff together and head to the hospital about 11:30am.

12:00pm - In the pre-labor room getting contractions timed and checked every 30 minutes. I am only 2 cm dilated, and nothing much is happening. But I feel like I'm dying for 30 seconds every 5-7 minutes. The nurse decides they need to send me home, and goes to get the paperwork together. I ask her "Since I am going home, can I have something real to drink?" She brings me a ginger-ale. Yeah, baby didn't like that either. As I threw up in the bedpan, I thought I peed myself. Nope, that was A LOT. Nurse comes back, we inform her of what happened, she checks and says "You really didn't want to go home did you? You are staying put for a few days." YES, I'M HAVING A BABY TODAY!!!

1:30pm - I get admitted into a room. Still only at about 4cm, I ask when I can have epidural. Of course everyone laughs and thinks it cute, and politely tell me I'm not ready yet. For the next couple of hours, I threw up with every single contraction. Every couple of minutes. I couldn't take it anymore, and was dehydrating myself, so they gave me the epidural about 4pm.. Once I couldn't feel them anymore, I stopped getting sick.  At this point, I was trying to nap but the excitement wasn't allowing me. I talked with friends on the phone and visited with family who came to see me.

10pm - My epidural started wearing off, just as the doctors told me I could start pushing. The pain wasn't allowing me to push, I just wanted to stay still and not move or do anything. The doctor was being a real meanie head about it.

11pm - doctors switched over and I got a new one.  As my old doc walked out, she said to the new doc "good luck". Excuse me????  (this mean doc is who I ended up with delivery my twins 3 yrs later and was soooo awesome that time around)  I convinced the new doc that I couldn't go on without more pain meds. She gave them to me. And we started our thing.

Apparently she couldn't just be born on her due date, she HAD to wait a few more minutes.
10/10/03, 12:06am - Madison Lynn was born. 7lbs, 18 in, and red hair.

It was like there was an elephant in the room. I looks at my husband like "OK, now what?" All that trying and excitement and now it was all over, she was here.  I didn't know how to react. I didn't feel the need to cry and gush all over her, but felt like if I didn't I wasn't being a mom. So I just held her, and stared at her. My precious baby girl that I had been dreaming about for what seemed to be forever.

Halloween Series #6 - Swarm of bats

For a fun and creative way of decorating on a budget, think construction paper. Yes, there are a lot of things you can do, but putting a swarm of bats in your house, and a pretty cool way of getting that slightly spooky effect. 

I found you can get an entire package of construction paper in just a single color at AC Moore, or other craft stores like that. 

Next, go online and find yourself a bat template. There are a lot of free sites out there you can find. Just find the one you like and print it out. 

Next, use that template to cut out a main template on something with more substance like poster board or even a box.

Once you have your template, take a sheet of construction paper and fold it on half. You can trace your bat onto one side, then cut 2 out, at the same time.

 

 (My girls just couldn't resist decorating my template)

Once you have them cut out, fold the wings both inward, so they pop off the surface a little bit. 

Lastly, get some double stick take, and  tape them to the walls in a flying pattern. If you get a large amount, you can make it look like a swarm of bats flying through your house.

How did you tell you children about.....

I posted this as a status on Google+ but didn't get too many replies, so I thought I would try asking in blog format, with more information.

How did you all tell you kids about Santa Clause? (along with all the others)

My oldest daughter will be 11 in a few days here and is in 5th grade. I was hoping that by now, something would pop up at school, and she would ask me about it, but No. She was acting kind of strange last year. She wasn't asking ANY questions about Santa. Any excuses I gave to her younger sisters about anything, she didn't chime in like usual. So I got the feeling that she knew something. But, I let it go, to see how she would react on Christmas morning. Nothing really stood out.

My parent's voluntarily told me at the age of 9. I was NOT ready to hear it and was pretty angry with my mom about telling me. I would have like the magic to go a little longer.

But now at the age of 11, I think its time I just tell her, so she isn't shocked or "the kid who still believes" if it comes up at school. But at the same time, she can't keep secrets very well.

PLEASE HELP!!!!

How to organize your holiday decorations

Once the Halloween decorations come out, its seems like a never-ending job for the next few months, of pulling out decorations and putting them away. But a tip that can help it go a little easier. Now, this will cost you about $5-$10 per holiday, but it should only be ONCE, for a few years.

BUY BINS!!!!

I know some of you might already have some bins and have a great organization system. If that is you, then feel free to move along. This post is for those who, like me, have just started really getting into the decorating thing, and are investing in new decorations each holiday.

It all started last year, I began to buy more decorations for the smaller holidays that I typically used to ignore. I used to only decorate for Christmas. But then we had a small flood in our basement which ruined a lot of boxes we had. And our decorations were just getting older and the cheap stuff was looking cheaper, so I started from scratch. Also, now that we live in a house, I wanted the decor to change with the seasons.

I bought a small amount, last year,  for Halloween and Thanksgiving. Then when it came time to put them away, I didn't really have anything to put them in, as I never really had Fall decorations before. So I bought a small bin that fit everything. However, I have bought A LOT of Halloween stuff this year, so I will need to get a new/bigger bin before I un-decorate. Then I will have all the Halloween stuff in its own "Halloween" bin. And if you buy these during the season, you can get them in colors to coordinate with the holiday. For example, I am going to buy an orange one for Fall stuff. I bought a few red ones last year for Christmas. I also have a clear smaller one for a few Valentine's Day items.

I prefer the clear ones, so you can see if what is in them, is really what you think is in them, without having to pull it all out and open it, etc. So my red ones, are see through red, so I can see if its lights, or garland, or what-not.

My one last tip -- if you haven't used it in a few years, and it doesn't have family sentimental value, get rid of it. That way you can make room for new more modern items you might want, or new traditions you want to start with your own little family.

Here's to a great 2014 Holiday season!

My Fall Must Haves

It's FFFFFFFFFAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!   I love love love this time of year. I love it so much that I treat it more like Spring cleaning. I must have change out the clothes, the make up, the decor, and I want everything freshly clean and.....OMG I love it!!! And I wanted to share with you all, the things that I love and MUST HAVE when Fall comes around.

1 - Must change out the aroma's in the house. All of my sprays, wax melts, candles all change to smells like pumpkin, apples, and reminders of walking through the woods.

2 - Decor. Now this happens in 3 spans of time. First is September, which is when I bring out the reds and apple type things (back to school - get it??). October its time for Halloween stuff. November is all about harvest type decor with pumpkins, and browns and oranges, hay and scarecrows.

3 - Darker nail polish. break aware from the bright colors of summer, its time to break out the browns, maroons, and of course Vixen by Revlon.

4 - Darker make up. Yep, break out my mauve eye shadow and lipsticks.

5 - Body spray & body washes. Yes I am one of those who has to change out her perfumes/body sprays that go along with the season as well. Right now my fave for cooler months is Twilight Woods, by Bath and Body works. 

5 - Hair. Bye bye golden highlights, Hello deeper reds. And this is also when I give the cut a freshness as well, since I wear it down more in the cooler months.

6 - Boots!!!!

7 - Sweaters!!!!!!!!!!! Nuff said.

8 - Back to nightly cups of hot tea before bed (and hot chocolate for the kiddies).

Shoprite Weekly Highlights - Oct. 5 - Oct. 11

 

It's that time again, for a quick review of the Shoprite Weekly specials. Again, this circular is local to my area, but most stores I believe have the same sales, minus a few BIG deals/coupons.

*Borden Shredded cheese -- Buy 2/$5 and get once Borden chunk cheese Free    *Campbell's Condenses soup -- 5/$5 -- There are coupons out there to lower the price more *Campbell's cream of chicken or mushroom -- 0.75    *Capri Sun drinks, 10 pk -- 1.99    *Colavita pasta -- 0.59    *Danon and SR yogurt -- 10/$5    *Duncan Hines Cake mix -- 0.99    *Francesco Rinaldi pasta sauce -- 1.00    *Glade classic air freshener sprays -- 0.99    *Glade premium Scents, wax melts, plugs in, etc -- 4/$4.96 -- MUST BUY 4 items - or reg. price will ring up *Greek yogurt, various brands -- 10/$10    *Hall Cough Drops -- 0.99 -- Cpn from paper $1.00 off 2 *Herbal Essence shampoo -- 1.99 -- Cpn out there will drop this price more *Nivea lip care -- 0.99    *Perdue oven roaster whole chicken -- .99/lb.    *Red or Green seedless grapes -- .89/lb    *Smart Ones Classic frozen meals -- 1.88    *SR 2-liter soda -- 4/$3.00    *SR cereal -- 1.49    *Sunny Delights -- 5/$5.00    *Swiss Miss Hot Cocoa -- 0.99

What did I do all day??? Why is the house still a mess???

Do you often look around your house at night and think to yourself  "WHY am I so tired?  The house is still a mess, and there are still things that need to be done. WHAT did I do today????"

As moms we sometimes put pressure on ourselves to be that Super Mom who gets it all done. In an ideal world, we would all go to bed with a perfectly clean & organized house, and no chores to have to do the next day. But life doesn't work like that, unless you have the money for a maid. Even stay at home moms don't always get everything done.

Here is an insight into what my day looked like today. Just so you can see, you are normal, and its OK that everything is not done each day. Its called life!!!

*715am to 9am -- get the girls up and moving. This includes helping 1 out of 3 pick out her clothes. Checking the weather because with it being fall, its still unpredictable.
Keep pushing them to keep getting ready.
Make the coffee.
Check the folders and sign what needs to be sent back.
Take the first one to school, just to rush back and finish pushing the twins to get ready.
Dropping the twins off at school.
Running to the produce place to get veggies for the pot roast, because its a busy night and the oven isn't working either.
Come back with enough time to spare to type up a quick blog post and check some personal emails.

9am to 2:250pm -- Its time for that thing called work. Luckily I can work from home, so I need to log in. Answer emails, and do orders,etc etc. All while, throwing a load of laundry in, doing a small amount of dishes here and there because we don't have a dishwasher, and with a family of 5, its constant battle.make myself something to eat for breakfast then again for lunchtime. Drink more coffee.

2:50pm - 3:15pm - Take my only 30 min lunch break to go pick the twins up from school,  just to rush back so I can log back in and do more work.

3:15pm - 5:30pm -- constantly break up arguments, reminding them to do their HW, pouring the drinks, answering questions, try to listen to the stories about their day they are telling me as I politely give "Uhuh, really?, oh wow", as I am really paying attention to the customers email in front of me where they ask me a question I clearly answered in my last reply. Now time to make threats or promises of they are quiet as a mouse, while I sit on a phone call listening to other people talk, while I await my 5 minutes of fame on the call. Ok, call over, now time to catch up on the work I didn't get a chance to do while on the call, again, while reminding the girls that we have places to go and people to see tonight so they need to get the HW done and clean their faces, etc etc.

OH CRAP - THERE IS STILL LAUNDRY SITTING IN THE WASHER. Run down to correct that issue.

5:30pm - DONE WORKING - log out. But now is where speedy crunch time mom kicks in, especially on Thursday & Friday nights because we have Dance and Acro classes!!  Rush the twins to put on shoes, because we have to go pick up the first child from after-school. Come home to rush around to make dinner plates for those who WILL eat what I made, all while listening to Child #1 tell me stories about her day. "Uhuh, really? oh wow" .  And for those who won't eat what I made, I need to assist them in figuring out what they want because ya know..."there is nothing to eaaaatttt"  (even though I went out at 8:30last night to pick up almost $200 worth of groceries for them to eat). Make sure the child who has class is dressed, and ready.
Ahh, I can sit and eat now -- QUICKLY!!

6:30 - last minute bathroom calls, and push to get shoes back on. (why can't kids just leave their shoes on ALL day like I do????)
6:45 - out the door to head to dance classes. Drop off child with classes, run over to home Depot to pick up spray paint for Halloween craft/ decor. meet sister and one other child at Arby's to exchange items and give each other the 'here is what's going on, here is what is coming up, yada yada.", because neither of us has time to talk on the phone anymore.

8:15 - dance class over, let's go HOME!!!!

Once you get home, its still not done. Now its time to make lunches, try to do more dishes and clean up from dinner earlier, and don't forget to bring up some clean laundry because we all know that the kids would rather go to school in PJs then have to go in the basement to get their clothes the next morning. (and you aren't going to feel like it either at 7:15am)   Try to convince at least 1 out of 3 kids to get in the bath and get done quickly, so there is still hot water for you to take a shower later.

*10PM - BEDTIME!!!  ( I know, my kids have a late bedtime. But trying to get them down any earlier makes them stay up later and they are all A students so....whatever) This is a 15 minute process in itself to get them upstairs and to stop talking to each other, but then......10:20 Daddy comes home from work. DADDYYYYYY KISSESSSSS!!!!!

 *Go back downstairs to give hubby a run down of anything he needs to know, questions I have and what's for dinner.

*Jump in a quick shower (which ends up being 20 minutes), then I can finally go to bed. But of course, NOW I am not tired. Check my phone to help me tire and finally get to fall asleep about 12:15 or so. Only 7 more hours before I start all over again tomorrow!!!

And THAT....is why it looks like we mothers have done NOTHING all day.

Halloween Series #5 - Dollar Tree stuff

Hey, it's me!
Last week, it was brought to my attention that Dollar tree had so much cute stuff out. But I had to wait until pay day - whomp whooomp. However, I finally got to go last night!!! I was so excited because I got so much cute stuff. But of course, now I feel like I STILL don't have enough going on in this house. UGH  (Who else gets that way? You buy tons of stuff and still feel like your house looks empty?)

Color changing votive/fake candle things. They flicker and change color behind the designed screen. Also some goodies for a prize box.

 

Those glitter skull also flicker and change colors, out of the eye sockets. A few more spiders to crawl the walls. I keep seeing these crows - not sure what to do with them yet, but I wanted them. Ava likes to walk around with one on her shoulder. 

Had to get some kitchen stuff. There is a set of 4 fall shade of purple cups, cute Halloween canister, and the decorative hand towels.

 

Two cute little gravestones, black and silver skull garland, witches dessert menu sign, some wall hanging things for decorations, and a toilet seat decal.

Savingstar.com -- no clip coupon savings site & App

With today's technology, there are so many more ways to save money, other then clipping coupons. There are lots of sites out there you can utilize. And some of them even have coordinating apps.

Savingstar.com is a clip less coupon site that also has an app.

First, you create an account, and add all of your store cards, for the local participating stores they have listed.

Then, save all of the offers for products you buy, want to buy, or think you might buy in the near future. (Or just save them ALL list I do)

The way it works, is that you save offers on their site for products that you purchase frequently. It looks like a coupon. But instead of saving offers on your store card, it records offers that you purchased with your store card, and gives you credit for it. Your own little SavingStar savings account.
These savings do not come off, at the time of purchase, when you are checking out. You can use other ecoupons or paper coupons for that. This just gives you the credit amount, on your account.

Once you have reached $5 in your account with them, Savingstar will credit you that $5, by one of the options they have -  Paypal, direct deposit into your checking account, or www.Amazon.com credit.

If  you have the app, you can scan your receipt from participating stores, that do not have store cards like Dollar General, Family Dollar, Sam's Club, Target, Walmart, and more.  This will record any of your saved SavingStar deals, that you purchased on that receipt, and credit your account.

Below is the link for the website, and a direct link to their page that tells How it Works.

I have gotten payouts from this site before, so I can validate that it is legit. I hope you all try it, and it ends up benefiting you. Have fun!



Website:  https://savingstar.com/
How it Works:  https://savingstar.com/how_it_works