What Does One Say?

Wow... I honestly thought I was done with even trying to write on my blog anymore. I have missed it but my priorities don't allow for the freedom these days. I so wanted to do techie classes on here with our Raspberry Pi or to give web site tips but that's not happening. Due to different things in life I've stepped away from teaching outside my own kiddos. I was sad to do that. I was also relieved. Isn't that terrible? Feels terrible sometimes. I'm also (trying... really trying... it's a difficult skill to get away from...) getting away from web design.

Lately my time has been spent pretty close to home with family and friends. I'm getting more involved at our church and I have to say that has been hard! I'm so much better being a wallflower then I am amongst people. People make me nervous. Hehehhe... I feel much safer online in a virtual world because it's easier to avoid the messiness of... I dunno... Life? So sad... I need to not let life scare me away from doing life though right? Yah... I'm trying. Always learning is my thing.

So... There ya have it. I have a new to me tablet that I don't have to share with the kids (that's amazing in itself) and its reawakening old hobbies that I used to enjoy. Like blogging! I went to load up some apps and lookie-lookie, there's my old blogging app waving at me. Hmmmmm... We shall see... I've installed it. It does make it a lot easier try and blog again though. Tablets are more portable. Also more distracting.... Hehehe... It'll be a love-hate relationship. I'm sure.

Follow @wishfulme

Change of Direction

I have written about so many topics on this blog, why not add another one. Right? Lately I have been toying with the idea of teaching a few techie home school classes from my home. I recently taught one in a co-op we are part of. I had a lot of fun with it! I was so impressed at how many of the kids picked up on the information and really ran with it. But I really want to teach a class on the Raspberry Pi. I don't feel I am NOT an expert in this area at all. Actually most of the time I am seriously frustrated because I cannot find the exact information I am looking for.

So my blog... I am going to start compiling my notes and information here. Techie stuff... not just for me to organize my thoughts but so other people can learn too. Maybe. And someday I can have students reference here for their project details too. Maybe...

Follow @wishfulme

X is a Wonderful Thing!

I was trying to figure out what word started with X that I could write about today. I couldn’t. I have been thinking on it for awhile too. My little list of possibilities has been what has gotten me through the #AtoZChallenge! Well… X had me stumped. Until I noticed a trend on my list. Every time I got a post written up I would cross it off with nothing other than a X. Eureka!

A X is a wonderful thing! I can count how many projects I’ve completed with each X I see throughout the day. X makes me feel a bit more organized and accomplished.

(I wish my list was THIS short everyday! No real list was hurt in the production of this post. I made up pseudo lists especially for today.)

At times I end up making my stress relieving X with whatever I may have on hand. I cannot tell you how many times a crayon has bailed me out.

So enjoy the letter X! Embrace it even! Bring it into your home and change the way you feel everyday. I think I may be getting a little slap-happy with this A to Z Blog Post Challenge.

What would you write about with the letter X as your inspiration?

I think I was more excited about working on the photos for this post than the actual post. It was fun to dust off my camera. Even for something as simple as a list with a X on it.

 
Find all my April Blogging from A to Z Challenge Posts Here 
This is Letter X for my #atozchallenge
If you want to see more of the A to Z Blog Hop Challenge, click here!

Follow @wishfulme

W is for Writing

Everyday. Maybe I should have W is for Wow! I am just shocked that I have been writing almost everyday for a month. This #AtoZChallenge is pretty amazing.

Now how do I keep writing everyday? Do I want to continue writing everyday? Part of me wants to keep writing everyday and another part of me is looking forward to not having to worry about writing everyday. (Oh… W could be for Worry! We just talked about worrying too much in our devotions this morning.) This writing everyday on my blog has helped me look at my blog in a different light. I may have some new ideas and directions for it. I just don’t know if I can pull it off.

The reason I am torn on writing everyday is because I really just don’t have the time to write everyday. I want to write. I want to do more with this blog but if I let it take over too much than my other priorities slip to the wayside. I can’t let that happen.

So I really have not helped myself much here at all. Continue striving to write everyday? Give myself a break and stop? I am pretty sure that I can come up with something to write about everyday but finding the time. Balance… Something I do not have but I am working toward it.

Find all my April Blogging from A to Z Challenge Posts Here

This is Letter W for my #atozchallenge
If you want to see more of the A to Z Blog Hop Challenge, click here!

Follow @wishfulme

Queen for the Day with Rest

Welp… I got all messed up this weekend. Right now I am sitting here watching a Hallmark movie. I love Hallmark movies! They make me cry sometimes. This one is REALLY good and REALLY distracting.

At any rate, I need to try and catch up with my #atozchallenge! I had a HORRIBLE migraine starting on Friday and finally leaving me very late on Saturday. When it left though I was left with Vertigo. Not overwhelmingly awful Vertigo but just enough to be annoying. I have not had the weekend I planned to have of being Queen for a Day and lots and lots and lots and lots of Rest! I did get the Rest but not the Queen. Hehe… And actually it’s not really a Queen thing it’s just that I have adjusted our schedule to accommodate me not performing a chore on Saturday or Sunday. I did this to help me with my feelings of being overwhelmed. Headaches and Vertigo do not help with feelings of overwhelmed. At all. Just in case you didn’t know that.

So… My plan is to make Saturday a mommy rest day. I don’t put chores on my Saturday to do list but instead fill it with things that I have been wanting to get to all week! Things like sewing, creating flower clips for my Etsy shop (I need to add more… that was something I was going to do this Saturday), taking pictures, playing a favorite computer game, etc. I try not to do things like vacuuming, making breakfast or lunch (I so wear out of making 3 meals a day! One of my toughest chores.), lesson plans, etc. Sunday is saved for lesson plans, meal planning, etc. I would use Sunday as my day of rest but by the time we get home most of the day is gone. I have recently found it so rewarding and enlightening to use a WHOLE day just for what I want to do instead of part of a day.

Queen for a day! I get to do what I want and rest. Amazing the amounts of rest that can occur even when working on something. Usually if it’s something you really love to work on. I did not get that this week due to having the world knocked out from under me. Literally at times. I hate trying to walk in a fun house. Maybe this coming Saturday I can try again. Yay!!

Find all my April Blogging from A to Z Challenge Posts Here

This is Letter Q and R for my #atozchallenge
If you want to see more of the A to Z Blog Hop Challenge, click here!

Follow @wishfulme

Overwhelmed… I am… I was…

O is for Overwhelmed. I felt it today! I tried to fight it and sort of lost and than regained my lost ground by prioritizing. That is my biggest weapon against feeling overwhelmed. Reprioritize. My other weapon is to grab the phone and call up my buddy! (@SuzyQOle! Help!) Beyond that I was a bit lost. My kids could see that I was struggling though and recommended I check out a few sessions at a homeschool conference I was attending. (They really did it in a nice way! I was touched that they were trying to help!) One of the sessions I attended was by Michelle from the Above Rubies ministry team. I didn’t know much about Above Rubies or Michelle but her topic was 10 Exits off of Overwhelmed Highway. One exit would be good for me, but 10? I’m on board.

When I entered the class I took my usual seat in the back. The classroom filled up quickly. The session didn’t start out all that awe-striking. I did not get a bunch of Ah HA moments throughout either. I was kind of let down. I did (almost unknowingly) take notes and brought those home. Maybe because the whole thing was my last session and I was just in shock mode over all that I learned? I don’t know. At any rate, I didn’t think it all made that much of a difference.

This week and half since than I have realized that I did learn more in that session than originally thought! Little statements and phrases Michelle said have stuck with me and I have applied them. Today, not so well. But here are a few that REALLY stuck with me and have helped in some instances:

- Who told you to do all of that?
I am already big at re-prioritizing my schedule often when I get flustered but this statement has really caused me to rethink whatever I start to get upset about in a big way. Who told me that I had to get the kitchen cleaned, dishes done, living room swept, dining room mopped, all of the bathrooms cleaned and full day of homeschooling in at the same time? Yah… me… and why would I think I could manage all that? Silly me… What REALLY needs done? Do that…

- Work on ONE thing that is bothering you
And get it done… just having this one thing will make your day seem better. My mom has always told me, “just go clean your kitchen sink. Right now. You will feel better with a clean kitchen sink.” Sounds silly doesn’t it? But it works! Just cleaning my kitchen sink sometimes makes the rest of what I need to get done fall into place.

- Stop, Drop and Roll
I loved this analogy!
Stop what you are doing
Drop the useless attitude
Roll onto the next project!

She even recommended that I should change the focus of my day to someone, anyone and do something nice for them. So instead of getting worked up about so many little things I should plan something nice for someone else. Of course that does help put me in a better mood! It sure is hard to do sometimes…
- If there is too much going on, focus on one thing.
 
This ties into the focusing on someone else a bit too. Really focusing on just getting dinner done instead of the million other little things might be all I can get done in a day sometimes. I should focus on that because it brings the family together though. It does help!

So what do you do when you get freaked out, overwhelmed? I still have a long way to go with this. Today was a good example to me of what not to do. The past few hours have soothed me back into reality and I have a list ready for the whole week to get me through the craziness. I know a list! So stagnant and rigid. I need this right now though. That way I don’t try and focus on something that will get me no where and I end up frazzled again. Here’s hoping it works!

(Totally funny! The song “Don’t Worry Be Happy” is playing as I finish up this post too. Ha! Perfect timing!)

Find all my April Blogging from A to Z Challenge Posts Here

This is Letter O for my #atozchallenge
If you want to see more of the A to Z Blog Hop Challenge, click here!

Follow @wishfulme

Overcoming Mommy Madness

Have you ever heard of it? I am inflicted with it. I have recently found a small amount of relief for it but have also found that it’s still really easy to give into the disease. Mommy madness (to me) is defined as a mom (me) who gets mad either easily or often. When I PMS I am consumed by mommy madness. It is embarrassing and frustrating to me and my entire family. It is not pretty.

I try to make light of my “Mommy Madness” but trust me, it is nothing to make light of. If you have never experienced it before, yeehaw! I am so excited for you and I encourage you to keep it up! If you have experienced the madness of yelling, crying, apologizing and repeating more than you care to admit… well… can I just offer you a hug? A completely non-judgmental hug. We all have our baggage to deal with and I understand that. Let’s support each other and find ways to help each other around that baggage!

I knew I needed to work on things but a major warning bell for me was when my kids were helping me pick out my sessions for the amazing homeschool conference I was able to attend. Several of the sessions they picked while looking over the list had to do with being overwhelmed. What really impressed me though was how lovingly my own children presented it to me. I was brought to tears because they wanted to help me and realizing that they couldn’t/didn’t fully understand how to help me they prompted me to seek help with someone else. Blew my mind. Broke my heart.

How did I start? Before the this conference I had already started by openly discussing my feelings with my kids. I was careful on some details of my feelings because it may have involved their father, grandparents, etc and they didn’t need the gory details. A simple, “Mommy is frustrated with someone else but that gives me no right to take it out on you.” Was all they needed to relate. I soon began to hear my kids say these words! They were recognizing that they were angry but it was at a situation and not the person in front of them. Baby steps….

1. I want MY TIME, to do MY THING, to BE ME. Now, don’t get me wrong “me time” has it’s place but not in the selfish manner I was hunting it down. Constantly hunting for my time made me resent my children. If I resent them, than of course their “interruptions” will make me mad. I seem to struggle with this concept a lot or at least once a year. I need to remember this from my Standing Up Straight post.

(Click the image for full size. Adjust printer settings to landscape for printing on one page.)

2. I need to accept who I am and where I am going. Sounds simple enough but I’ve been fighting my purpose a lot lately. I have chosen a purpose of homeschooling my kids and I need to respect that, not fight it. Homeschooling has been moved up in my priority list. I have always had it pretty high on my list but now it’s even more so. Attending this conference made me see how I’ve let other things take over and how school was creeping into the back seat. I even let myself slide into the idea that I could “send my kids to school” and be okay with that. Wow… I heard the statistic that kids in schools spend 14,000 hours away from there families between kindergarten to high school. I don’t want to miss that much time with my kids. Personally, I didn’t like spending that much time behind a desk as a kid either. Don’t some of us get enough time behind a desk as adults?

3. Sleep! Oh my… I need more sleep! I no longer let myself take my laptop upstairs (except on weekends). I can have my phone and/or tablet but no more laptop. This makes me go to bed earlier and I get more sleep. More sleep equals a much more peaceful momma! This works for me.

4. Family devotions! This is another priority I have let slip away and I am picking it up again and running with it. The kids are enjoying devotions and I am learning a lot about them and myself. Silly to me that I did not do this every day before. Very silly.

5. Turning around being overwhelmed to productive. I attended a session at the GHC conference that was recommended by my kids. They only chose it for the title and at first I thought it would just be basic information that I already knew but it really made a difference! I will write more about it later though with my letter O post in the #atozchallenge. I see the clock and my phone alarm has gone off, I need to get to bed.

I  hope something in this post may have helped you along the way or at least encouraged you in some way!

I don’t have to a mad mommy.

None of us do really.

Find all my April Blogging from A to Z Challenge Posts Here

This is Letter M for my #atozchallenge
If you want to see more of the A to Z Blog Hop Challenge, click here!

Follow @wishfulme

J is for Juggling

I am juggling too much right now. I may just burn myself out before the end of the month, but I am trying really hard not to drop anything that I have started. Have you ever heard of a flexible juggler before? Well… I am not incredibly flexible (in body or mind at times) and I am struggling a bit on how to make this all work. Flexible juggling… Never really thought of it that way before either but it makes sense.

All mom’s are flexible jugglers. We juggle our kids schedule compared to ours and our spouse. We meal plan while cleaning or fixing a boo-boo. We research an illness while making said meal we planned just a few minutes before. All of this is to be done with ease? Nope! I know that I cannot even do all of this on my own. Just like I am relying on God’s math for our income I am not working on relying on God’s juggling skills. Folks, I am just not this good. Several times today I just wanted to loose it. I had to reprioritize and bite my tongue a few times.

I just pray that I can keep this up! I will HAVE to find a few moments to my own in the next few days to just unwind and relax or I know that I won’t be able to continue my current juggling act. After all, isn’t juggling just that? An act? Most of them are. Although I have to say I can be quite entertaining to everyone with my crazy antics.

Whoops! I need to get going! Looks like the pizza dough is ready and I only have 45 min to finish baking pizza, getting us all dressed (mostly done but I laid a little down for a nap that is notorious for removing articles of clothing), hiding anything from the dogs that they may destroy and get us to our next destination! Ack… At least I have the bit of shopping that I want to do written down and planned out. Off to juggle some pizza dough in the air! (Ha! That would not end well…. dinner for the dogs maybe…)

PS- I am not reading over this again. Sorry for any grammatical and spelling errors. :)

Find all my April Blogging from A to Z Challenge Posts Here

This is Letter J for my #atozchallenge
If you want to see more of the A to Z Blog Hop Challenge, click here!

Follow @wishfulme

Forget It....

I have been trying really hard to come up with a post for the A to Z Challenge that uses the letter F. At home I was doing really well at getting posts rounded up, scheduled and ready to go. I had intended to do something on Feedly Tips. Alas, planning for the homeschool conference (I am in attendance of right now) took precedence. So while I was here I thought I would try to do something cute about FOOTAGE and take pictures of my feet during various activities of a conference. Sketchy internet, headaches, lack of sleep... nope. That is not working either.

Forget it... I have WAY too much for be working on. All you get is this tiny little paragraph.

This homeschool conference is AWESOME!

Find all my April Blogging from A to Z Challenge Posts Here

This is Letter F for my #atozchallenge
If you want to see more of the A to Z Blog Hop Challenge, click here!

Follow @wishfulme

Everything About Me

This is EVERYTHING about me. Or at least it's everything you may need to know about me? Okay so I can't tell you everything in one post because it would just take to long. How about the highlights of everything? You would probably be happier NOT knowing everything about me anyway. Need to have some mystery about me still... right?


I am joining up with the Ultimate Blog Hop to introduce Everything about ME and have a bit of a party on the side! I love a good party and 5 Minutes for Mom’s annual Ultimate Blog Party never lets me down in the fun department. As a matter of fact, if you are reading this post during the week of April 5-12, YOU still have time to join the fun too! There will be twitter parties, prizes and more!

Now for those visiting me for the first time a bit of everything about me... I feel so vain with posts like this! And that thought leads me to wanting to watch How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days. Hmmm...

My name is Mom to most of who I know. That tells you right there that I don’t know many people. Heehee! I guess I should say the name I hear most is ‘Mom’. Usually it is more like, “Mooaaahhhm! I can’t find this… I’m hungry… <insert name here> is LOOKING at me… <insert another name here> isn’t doing <insert task here>” Ae you familiar with any of that? Yah… so my name is Mom.Very few people call me Dee. I love my family and wouldn’t have it any other way!

I started this blog back when we were building our home. It was basically a place where I could journal about the madness that is building and moving. Now my blog is an addiction. That's right... I am addicted to blogging. Are you addicted to blogging? It is SO relaxing to me. Blogging with a deadline stresses me out... but that is why my blog has no deadlines. Usually... Sometimes a bit of recreational stress can be good for a person. Right? (Just nod and smile here... humor me...)

Let's see... more about me. I am a bit crazy about gardening. I started my plants late (by my standards) inside this year but they are doing AWESOME! I already have some true leaves on my baby tomatoes and there are gobs of them growing. I hate the thinning part of the growing season. What if I pick the wrong little plant to chop off? Ugh! I agonize over which plant to cut down.

I am still a homeschooling mom. I am actually AT a homeschool conference right now! I have been planning like crazy for this trip and am still a bit overwhelmed. Incredibly excited to be going to a conference would be an understatement. This conference is enormous too! I may need a GPS for the exhibit hall. So much great information and I will get to SEE bits and pieces of the curriculum I am picking out for next year. Feels weird to be thinking of "next year" already. I just got adjusted to working with THIS year. Next year should be further away than it is...

Half baked hobbies used to be my specialty but now I try to make time to get something done. I love sewing! I never used to. A sewing bug must have bit me at some point in time and now I am hooked. Sometimes I am resizing costumes for a little production one of my kids is a part of or resizing a tshirt! I also sell some cute little things in my Etsy Shop. My favorite thing to work on would be my upcycled aprons I make. Love them! I've made a few of those now. Have some more to make yet too!

So... There is more about me but this little bit of EVERYTHING about me but this is just a sneak peek. I don't want to scare everyone off too quickly with everything, ya know?

If you are part of the Ultimate Blog Hop be sure to leave me a quick comment below!

I'd be happy to hop on by and learn a bit of
EVERYTHING about you too!

Take care and thanks for stopping by!
Dee

Find all my April Blogging from A to Z Challenge Posts Here

This is Letter E for my #atozchallenge
If you want to see more of the A to Z Blog Hop Challenge, click here!

Follow @wishfulme

This too Shall Pass

This has been such a fun week. (NOT) I don't even know where to begin with it all either. I hope that it's wrapping up soon though because I can only take so much more before I crack. And not in a good way either!

Our furnace broke. It's always leaking water because it's a highly efficient water heat pump style furnace. See that picture to the side there? That's an igniter/pilot light thingie-ma-jiggy. It's kind of a technical term. Just so you know though, it's not supposed to be rusted. The genius who engineered it decided that the water pipe for draining should be installed right over the pilot light. Yah... directly over top. So if the pipe for the water to drain breaks guess what happens. You got it! I'm just a house wife. Shouldn't know these kinds of the things though... I can officially report that gravity works and all the water that is supposed to nicely drain through whatever system it does in the furnace will drain right into the igniter/pilot light area of the furnace when the drain pipe breaks off. I think I should teach a school lesson on this to my kids. One of them may become an engineer someday and they will need to pay attention to these minor details.

Okay, so maybe it's not THAT simple when you are putting a monster heater together and there really has to be SOME logic to the placement of that drain (that has caused us fits since we had this house built). I will give them the benefit of the doubt. I am thankful it is working again. VERY thankful!

The financial hit to our already incredibly dwindling savings account is not what we needed right now. Really though, who ever needs hits to savings? I am very glad we have these savings! We worked hard to get them to what they are right now... or were. There is so much going on with our finances that is out of our control that I may just lose it. We will be literally losing some of it. And I was recently contacted that some of the paperwork on our tax return was incorrect and we will need to amend our return. Fabulous! What's this going to cost us?! ARGH! Was so hoping to take a really awesome vacation with the kids this year and it's most likely entirely off the table because we have nothing to pay for it. Yet again. Our second vehicle's broken fuel pump used up the first part of that savings, the furnace is working on the next half and our paycheck losses will finish it and the other part of our savings off. Oh and did I mention that I think our other vehicle may be going on the fritz? Not sure yet... it's making a lot of weird noises though.

Yet... through this all, we will continue to be thankful and to tithe. We would not have the money we have to pay for these mishaps if God hadn't helped us through last year to get where we are now. Have you ever heard of God's math? I am quite familiar with it. When times are good... times are good! When times are bad... you have to remember the good times and the promise that He will get you through it all again. And again. And maybe even again.

This too shall pass. This too shall pass. This too shall pass.

Follow @wishfulme

Homeschooling Means WHAT?

I’ve been (trying) to read more supportive books, magazines, blogs, emails, etc for homeschooling. I know I need it. (ALL the time) I put too much in expectations on myself and when I fail, I hit hard. Lately though I’m wondering.

What does homeschooling mean?

I’ve read about the who cares about anything homeschool style, the scheduled to a T and even preschoolers wear a uniform to the dining room table style and then I believe there is somewhere in between. I have noticed and can relate to the idea that something has to give to homeschool. Meaning I can homeschool or have a life? Okay… maybe not that extreme. It’s more like I can homeschool and have a clean house? Serve meals? What’s up with this?! Why should I have to choose??! No… I can’t handle that. I love my kids and family. I want to homeschool. I also want to have a clean house and resemble more than a backyard scarecrow. I have LOTS of reasons for homeschooling… here’s some:

- I love the AHA moments of when my kids get it. It’s so cool! It’s exciting! It’s also very addicting… I want more of those moments… hehe…

- The school system here is (ahem) overwhelmed and we cannot afford private education.

- I am shocked at what I did not learn in school or how the way I learned did not go with my learning style and basically led me to think I was just plain dumb.

- I am more shocked by WHAT was taught in schools. I learned about sex, drugs and much more at much too young an age and it seems that the age has even lowered MORE now. Just the other day I sat in a conversation with two mom’s who were discussing how their daughters learned how to give hic-kee’s (yah, I can’t even SPELL that one) on their forearms during recess. Their daughters were 8 and 9. SERIOUSLY?! Granted these were their peers teaching them this… but wow…

So I am deciding again.

I will homeschool!

I will have a mostly clean house.
I and my children will wear clothing that matches and forms a respectable outfit.
We will all comb our hair and brush our teeth at least once a day.
We will have fun throughout the day... Maybe even if we don't want to.
I will try to lesson plan but relax if it gets all messed up. (gasp!)
My kids will learn various things throughout the year in sometimes unconventional ways.
I will stop comparing what they have learned to other kids. (phew!)
Laundry will sit around the house in baskets but the sink will be clean.
Bathrooms will be cleaned at least once a week but showers might only see a cleaning once a month.
I will start my business again even while all this homeschooling madness is happening
(mainly to hire my housekeeper back to clean my showers more often. HA!)
I will panic each time I am running late and still need to get 4 kids out the door but will continue to go!
I (sadly) will loose it at times about all this pressure but try to remember that
I need to slow down, look around and take a moment to CHILL…
so hard to remember that too.
But…

I will homeschool. Yes… I will.

Follow @wishfulme

Shift Struggle

Third shift, second shift or first shift. My husband has now worked every shift available. Originally he was on third shift and that was okay, but over time that can wear everyone down. He just wasn't getting enough sleep! The kids were hard pressed to keep the house quiet. So a chance came up to change his shift to something else and we were hesitant but ready.

I am stuck in second shift mode. I think I might like second shift best. I am usually a night owl so it seems to work well. Plus we get more time together as a family. If we weren't homeschoolers, that would totally not work.

Now to experience first shift. What a mess! I wish his schedule didn't need to keep changing. It might be one thing for only the schedule to change, but it is also his days off. The days off change is what was so hard to take this time. It seems to be working out ok. The kids are getting some great experience at helping Momma with dinner. For the past few nights one of the two older kids have actually MADE the dinner! Love those extra hands! They were completely shocked that they could make tacos (including the seasoning) and tortellini (including the sauce, but the cheese stuffed tortellini were store bought). I am glad to have some learning experiences but miss my husband a lot... but we will get through this. There may be hope that he is going back to second shift someday.

So what work shift is your family on?
Which would you prefer?

Follow @wishfulme

Easy to Make Dish Washer Soap

I finally did it! After pinning dish washer soap recipes for months and ignoring all of them, I made dish washing soap and it WORKS! And better than that it’s EASY!

See, I coupon shop. I love my coupons. Or at least I have loved my coupons. I am becoming disenchanted with them though. I am disappointed with the products that I can get in the store on sale or deep discount. I don’t trust the companies selling these items anymore. Grrrr…

All of that is beside the point though. I feel oh so domestic and liberated from buying dish washer soap and frozen pizzas ever again! Wait… what? Oh right! Yes… I make all our pizza now and it’s faster than waiting for delivery.

Off topic again! It’s been awhile since I’ve blogged. Forgive me while I try and catch you up with all that’s been happening. Can’t squeeze it all in one post though….

There are so many recipes out there but they all have the same basic ingredients. Some recipes recommend lemonade packets for scent and using vinegar too. I chose not to use the lemonade packets because there is a warning that it may turn the inside of your dishwasher yellow. UGH! I don’t want that. I think this is working great without the extra fruity scent.

Easy to Make Homemade Dishwasher Soap Recipe:
1/2 C Borax
1/2 C Super Washing Soda
1/4 C Lemi Shine (heaping)
1/8 C Kosher Salt

I add 1 Tbsp of this mix to my dishwasher soap dispenser. I add a sprinkling of lemi shine on top of that. Instead of putting vinegar in the rinse aid area I add another 1/2 Tbsp or less of this mix again. I have found that JUST using vinegar makes cloudy glasses but when I started adding more lemi shine the cloudiness stopped.

Note: Some report clumping in their homemade soap and I have found this happen before too. I found that making smaller batches seems to help prevent clumping though. I reuse a Lemi Shine container for my soap mixture now and that makes for easy dispensing too. Making smaller batches will help you to adjust the recipe to your water needs too.

If you have hard water, up the amount Lemi Shine and Kosher Salt to help.

If you want to make MORE of this soap at a time, double or triple the recipe above. I don’t want that much sitting around because I intend to use these products for other things still.

Let me know if you try it and what you think of it!
I’d love to know if you are making any adjustments to this or not too.

NOTICE: Updated January 15, 2014

Follow @wishfulme

Kentucky Horse Park

FIELD TRIP!

We love field trips! The kids look at it as all fun, I look at it as a way to learn outside the home. If you have anyone in your family that loves horses, this is the park to visit! We were there off season so we missed seeing a lot of the shows and events they have throughout the year, but it was still a blast!

First thing we decided to do was grab the carriage tour. Horses with feet the size of your head pull a wagon around while someone tells you more about the park. Tip: Sit close to the front. There’s no speakers (for good reason… I imagine microphone feedback and horses do not mix well) in the wagon, it was windy when we were at the park and it was close to closing time so I think our guide was tired. It was really cool to get a quick history of the park and what every barn was right away though! Big help in our exploring.

These horses were awesome! We found them in the barn designated for world breed's. Marwari’s are very rare horses. I recommend you do a little research on these guys. They are tuff and TALL! Their ears touch together at the top of their head. This guy was incredibly interested in what was going on outside his stall but did visit with us briefly. All the people working that we came across were super sweet to the animals.

 

 The history lesson began in the museum. Paul Revere, Comanche and horses use in the World Wars were just some of the information we gleaned. It was really neat to see so much information about horses, breeds and how they have interacted with humans throughout the years. 

We loved seeing all the Secretariat memorabilia and the kids loved the Black Stallion section of the museum.

The museum is HUGE though! We did find ourselves not reading everything and hurrying through at the end. It was a lot to take in!

The Arabian area had a neat program to engage the kids though and they could “take a horse” through the displays with them creating a scrapbook page to email to themselves for later. It was the highlight of the museum for one of our kids.

All in all the museum and grounds were beautiful, fun to explore and a perfect place to use up several hours of your afternoon. Definitely check out the children’s barns! We had it all to ourselves and the kids loved just racing around in it and pretending they were horses over the little jumps even. We enjoyed our visit!

Follow @wishfulme

I Stopped Blogging

I did... and I miss it. I thought that I was doing the right thing because I just have too much on my plate to really devote myself to blogging. I thought that I needed to move blogging to the side so that I could experience life more. I thought that blogging was hindering my involvement in my life. I was scared that my blog may get too personal and my real life and online life would cross paths.

Guess what... It's not what is "too much on my plate" that I need to move off. It's not hindering my experiencing my life, it's recording my life and helping me process my life. Now it could and probably did hinder my involvement in my life because I gave it a higher priority over everything else. Blogging should not be my higher priority. As for my two worlds colliding? I am sure it will. Someday. I will deal with it as I need to. It is probably not as big of a deal as I am making it out to be. I'm really not that important. This blog is my world and my life is my world. They've really already collided.

I am going to try this blogging thing again. I have so many things bouncing around in my head that need an avenue out. Writing is freeing to me. Once it's written down I feel like I can move on to something else. Recording things through writing strengthens my memory of the moment. That may just seem kooky to some but to me it makes sense. Guess that is what this blog is all about, isn't it?

Follow @wishfulme

The Groove

I have broken so many grooves and gotten into so many ruts it's just insane! I am working on a NEW groove though. How long does it take to settle into a groove? Isn't it a rule of thumb that it's a few months for new habits to set in but just a few days for the bad ones? HAHA! I am stuck in bad habits. Well not like BAD, bad habits. Things like staying up too late bad habits or taking on more than I can finish in a day and than getting mad at myself for not finishing it. The usual "mom" bad habits.

 At any rate, I see so much that I want to do but I am also trying to clear my plate so that I can get to that new stuff. I hate leaving projects unfinished. Drives me a bit nuts. Maybe I am OCD about that? I should blog more because of that shouldn't I? (Whoops! Did I just call myself out on the lack of blogging?) I have a few web sites that I am finishing up for some other people. They are fun jobs and not really stressful but the people I am doing them for have not been pushing to get them finished either. I want them done though so I will do that. I am having fun learning more about photography. I have a TON of things to post in my Etsy shop but I need to bring in a bit more income before I can warrant the fee of selling online. (Kind of stuck in a Catch 22 there!) I have some parties booked for my little direct sales business that I love. (That's where I intend to get a bit of my cash for the Etsy.) Still plugging away at homeschool with the kiddos. They are learning in leaps and bounds right now! Never fails that I feel I should be getting new curriculum in the winter to keep up with them instead of in the fall. (Hey! That might not be a bad idea for planning next year!)

And right at this very moment... it's lunch time. Getting three meals a day on the table is not my fav chore in the world. I like cooking and I can plan meals without an issue but actually getting into the kitchen to make them. Ugh... It's worse than doing the more mundane chore of dishes. Wait... making food makes dirty dishes. Vicious cycle!

Follow @wishfulme

Late Nights

It gets dark just way to early around here now.

And I find myself out in this just way too often. Sigh…. Until summer…

I am linking this Wordless Wednesday post to:
5 Minutes for Mom
Dagmar's Momsense

Follow @wishfulme

Marriage is a Partnership

I think sometimes this can be hard to remember. Especially when you are under attack by outside forces. It’s easy to slip into the idea that EVERYONE is against you, including your spouse. My Husband and I just recently had fun (not!) with this very issue. I ended up really low from it all.

I cannot imagine not having my Husband there to stand beside me. I forgot how much I rely on and appreciate his support! He is an anchor for me. Which is as it should be! We are partners in everything and we forgot that for a bit. He is not against me and I am not against him. In our conversation we thought back through the whole event and reassured each other that even at our lowest it wasn’t each other, it was the situation we were dealing with at that time. Sigh!

At any rate, so glad to have repaired our skewed views again. I am sure we will fall into this trap a few more times throughout our marriage. Maybe it’s a harsh reminder to be grateful for what we have? I’d like to think that I can remember this lesson without experiencing it again. Probably won’t work that way, will it? Hehe… Ah well…

Give your spouse a hug today! Try to flip your view a bit… what are they dealing with that may make them lash out at you? I hope you can side with them better than I did with my Husband. I left him high and dry in his fight because of what I thought as anger towards me.

Follow @wishfulme

Life is Busy...

I like it that way. Keeps me from having to think. I worry about being overly busy though because it means I am missing something that I shouldn't too. Somewhere. I know I am missing something. What? I'm not really sure. QUALITY time with kids is probably something. Definitely time with Hubby is something, but he is busy with his projects, work and new schedule to get accustomed to. Quiet time is something I am sure I am missing but I don't want it. It includes down time to think and that usually just leads to... to what? To... thinking. That's kind of lame isn't it? I don't like thinking right now is all. Tired of thinking. Matter of fact I am just plain tired. All the time. Not sleeping well at night does that and it's not just the kids keeping me up at night. I feel like I've hit a brick wall on sleeping and it just doesn't happen. Oh well... most likely a phase that will pass.

At any rate, back to the busy business. It's a pretty good busy at least. I have work! I started up my direct sales business again and have 3 parties this month. I rarely book in December or January though so it will be holiday/reorders for those months. My little fun creative spot on the planet, my Etsy Shop, is gathering about 2 orders a week right now and that just makes me feel good. I like that! I am working on some Christmas flower clips and a few more aprons too. I can't wait to get them finished and posted! I am also picking up my camera and running with photography like I've never done before. I love photography. I have always loved it. I just never had the guts to throw myself at it like I am right now (which isn't much of a throw mind you but I landed a wedding gig). What else... oh right! I am a web designer still and I am working on 1 site with another in the future. So I have 4 jobs? Crazy... I may be getting myself too busy and regret this later. For now... I'll avoid the quiet for a bit longer.

Off to prep for a party and work on packing an Etsy order before we start school.

Follow @wishfulme